Page 2 of Yours, For Now

"Interesting." I inspected her face. "How do you feel about grabbing lunch sometime? We could talk more."

"Well…" she gazed at me as she considered. "I'd like it to be a bit more formal than a casual conversation over a meal. I've been preparing a presentation."

My eyebrows went up. "Okay. Intriguing. I can ask my dad to be there."

"I would love that. Hearing what Don Raúl has to say would be helpful. Can I reach out to your assistant to schedule something?"

I had barely started to nod when we were interrupted by a booming voice.

"Pero si no es Gabriel, how are you? How's your dad? That's a good man, Raúl."

"Buenas noches, Don Miguel. How are you?"

I shook his hand while Miguel dropped heavy slaps on my shoulder. He grinned. "Good, good. I hope our Lina here isn't talking your ear off about a telenovela or something? I don't know what women see in those shows, I swear."

Miguel's smile was confident and wide, the kind that only a man with no concerns could feature.

His comment and lack of awareness built disgust in my gut, but I hid it. "I'm the one who approached her to talk, actually."

"We were talking about work, Tío," Lina said.

Miguel smirked, a teasing look on his face. He didn't respond to her, and talked to me instead. "Sometimes I think work is all she can think about. What about marriage? And kids? She's thirty, you know?"

He didn't seem to notice or care that this statement was a total contradiction to his previous comment on Lina's interests, nor that it was completely misogynistic. And this was Lina's uncle. And boss.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes, but was pleased to see Lina didn't.

"And you?" Miguel continued, still engaging me. "Getting married soon?"

"Nope. Single." I crossed my arms. "And I'm thirty-two."

"Young people." He shook his head like those words said it all, but his smile never wavered. "Well, you're a man. But if you ever change your mind, you may consider dating my niece—"

"Tío!" Lina exclaimed and her uncle laughed.

Miguel shook a hand in the air. "It's just a joke, relax. Anyway, it was good to see you, Gabe. Tell your dad we should go out for drinks sometime. Just because we said no to his acquisition attempt years ago, doesn't mean we can't be friends. Lina, I wanted to introduce you to someone. Come with me?"

I nodded in goodbye. Lina and her uncle turned and walked away; I let my face contort in a scowl as they disappeared among the crowd.

I didn't like Miguel and his machismo. Nor how he treated Lina. It sucked that so many Latine men still thought that way… and I was protected from it, being a man. Lina had to live with it every day.

I wasn't sure if I'd see her again at the gala, but when she came to my dad and I with her proposal, I'd keep an open mind.

Chapter 2

ThestrategicmeetingatMartínez and Associates was well underway and, as always, boring. I sipped from my life-saving coffee and watched Tío Miguel and my dad discuss the projections for the next quarter.

Although eight people filled the boardroom, the two brothers mostly listened to each other. They'd made me the Chief of Staff, after I diligently climbed the ladder in the family business. I was in charge of client relations, basically. Keeping the people paying us happy, and helping close deals. But the two ran the company, and everyone knew it. The other officers were used to keeping their mouths shut while they made decisions, unless my dad or uncle asked them a direct question. I was the only one who dared add my two cents to their conversation.

Such small business minds. Still running the company like we were the tiny family venture they’d begun.

Despite my skills and hopes, I hated that when they looked at me they didn't see possibilities.

Oh, how I wanted to prove them wrong.

I tapped my fingers on the table and waited for my moment. Dad opened the final folder to be discussed. "This is the Municipal bid in Richmond. Thomson is running it. Same kind of requirements as usual, but this time they have more proposals, from what I was able to find out. We have a bit more competition this time. Thoughts?"

I opened my mouth to respond but tío Miguel beat me to it. "It's fine. Thomson likes us. This one should be in the bag."