Page 49 of Yours, For Now

"That's probably the case. I might check my emails or something after I take the documents to my dad's office. You want to come with me? I think my mom is going to be there tonight."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why is your mom here? Have you told them anything about us?"

"They have an event I think. She comes to pick him up sometimes. And no, I haven't told them." He lifted a shoulder. "It'll come up. Soon, I think. Until then, I thought that it'd be best to keep it vague… it would prevent them from connecting the dots with the advice I asked of them. It'll look way more natural to them this way, right? Easy to see, that we spent all this time together and it led to more."

He smiled as he said that, an arched eyebrow betraying the irony of it all. I didn't share with him that the irony had started to evaporate for me, because all this time together coiled in my heart with building tension. Changing things slowly. Scarily. And I couldn't do much about it, except try to ignore it and hope for the best.

I sighed. "I'll go with you, then. I'd love to meet your mom."

"She's wonderful. She and my dad are." He smiled. "It's why I do everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I work this much and I have my whole damn future planned because I love them so much. They sacrificed a lot when they moved here. I was tiny— I don't remember, but when I understood…" He released a wistful breath. "You probably have seen something similar with your family. My parents worked so hard. I'm not about to let their efforts crumble down, just because it means I have to press pause on the rest of my life for a little bit longer. They trusted me to keep the Sotomayor Group going, to make it grow. I'm going to make it my number one focus, until I've achieved the next stage."

A surge of mixed feelings overtook my chest, a tear in the space between my lungs. His words made it clear, what was between us would stay a farce with an end in sight for him. They also highlighted our differences: his focus was on his family. I couldn't say that I worked for the same reasons. I admired Gabe for his choices; maybe having a family like the Sotomayors, so caring and supportive, made it easier to have an uncomplicated goal like the one he'd just shared.

I must have been showing some of my emotions on my face, because he frowned.

"Something wrong? Or you don't feel the same?"

"No, I just… I can't say I'm working this hard for the same reasons."

The printer had stopped working, but Gabe made no attempt to retrieve the papers.

"Why are you doing it?" he asked.

"Because I want to." I shrugged. "I want to be in this business, and trying to make a company that's already there grow makes more sense than starting over. Because as long as my dad gives me his stake and Enrique keeps wanting to stay away from the company, Icanmake it happen. I just need to survive the time before."

Gabe dropped his head to the side as he considered me. "I see why you need to be so determined and persistent."

My body stilled at his words, a semi-frozen state, because of course he'd sensed the strength of my will. I breathed through the comment, trying to process that his words were delivered with kindness rather than the condescension I was used to. I could take the words in; I didn't need to shield myself from them.

His eyes still searched my face. "Imagine what you could do, if your family supported you."

His voice delivered a lance to my heart, the spear flying past a crack in my walls. "Imagine."

He leaned toward me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I can't make what you want happen, but I can be there for you."

No wonder I was losing all sense of irony. My heart knocked at the closed door inside of me, wanting it to open wide and ask for more. For the first time in a long time, the idea didn't seem completely out of the question. Except that Gabe had just shown me that, if he were to ever accept my heart, it would be after he'd achieved his company's goals.

"Thank you, Gabe. For caring enough to be here."

He smiled. "Ready to take the papers to my dad?"

I nodded and put my things away while Gabe collected the documents and put them in a folder for Don Raúl. We left everything in his office, except for my heels which I put on, and we made the short trek to his dad's space. I followed him into it.

"Hola, hola," he said to the room. He put a hand on my lower back and pushed me forward, showing me to Vi, sitting across from Don Raúl and next to an elegant woman. The latter looked at me with kind eyes, a few lines on her face marking the million smiles I could guess she offered the world. "Lina, that's my mom there, Sonia. You know my dad and Vi."

"Hola a todos." I waved at them.

"Oh, Lina! This is a surprise." Vi got up from her place and gave me a quick hug. "I've heard that you've been spending a lot of time around here; I wondered when I might see you again."

"Yes, Gabe and I have been busy with the project. You'll probably see the results of what we've done so far, soon."

Gabe's mom stood as well, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Nice to finally meet you." Her accent was soft and comforting. "Raúl has been telling me about this project."

She glanced between Gabe and I, a twinkle in her eyes. Don Raúl put a hand on my shoulder in hello, and then hugged his wife sideways.