Page 89 of Forbidden Fate

“Do what?” I ask.

“A reading.”

“A reading?” I repeat.

“Yes.”

I blink. “Like tarot cards?”

Esmeralda wrinkles her nose. “In a way.”

Mercedes rises from the table and goes to a drawer near the stove. “But we use regular cards. No need for that fancy shit.”

Señora Valentina sighs, but she doesn’t stop them.

Cruz rubs a hand over his mouth. “This is new.”

Mercedes returns with a deck of cards, sits down, and shuffles them. “Who first?” she asks.

“Him,” I say, pointing at Cruz.

Cruz lifts a brow.

Mercedes grins and sets the deck on the table. “Cruz first.” She taps the deck. “Cut.”

Cruz hesitates but then reaches forward and cuts the deck once.

His hand is big against the cards. Strong fingers. Scarred knuckles. A small nick near his thumb I hadn’t noticed before.

I shouldn’t be noticing his hands.

Mercedes takes the top card and lays it face down on the table. She looks at Esmeralda.

Mercedes flips the card.

Ace of Hearts.

For a second, no one speaks.

Then Mercedes slaps Cruz’s arm.

Cruz frowns. “What?”

“Oh,” Esmeralda says. “Oh, Cruz.”

“What?” he asks again, this time with impatience.

Mercedes turns the card toward him. “Ace of Hearts.”

He sighs. “I can see that.”

“It means love,” Esmeralda says.

“Love,” Mercedes repeats, drawing out the word.

Cruz looks at me.

Oh, God…