Mari slanted a hard glance at Kata. “If you’ll remember, we liked Gordon once, too.”
That knocked Kata back in her chair. Mari was right. Years and years ago when her mother and Gordon had been dating, he’d been a peach. Once, he’d taken her, Mari, and Joaquin to an amusement park, then for ice cream later that night. He’d always brought candies and toys when picking up Mamá. He’d done magic tricks and sang karaoke, played Super Mario Brothers . . . And after Gordon and her mother had married, he’d slowly morphed into the ass**le they all knew and hated.
“Kata, think about it. You don’t know anything about this guy except that he’s a Navy SEAL and good in bed.”
Great in bed, but Kata understood her sister’s point. She so wanted to believe that Mari was wrong that it was like a physical ache. But the warning dredged up all her own uncertainties and magnified them. Mari could be dead-on. Kata really didn’t know.
“He’s just . . . really protective,” she said, oddly determined to make her sister understand that Hunter had good qualities.
“He claims that he’s protecting you, but don’t you think that cutting off communication from all your loved ones and making you take a leave from your job is awfully extreme?”
“A professional assassin was after me.” Kata defended Hunter—even as Mari’s words sank in. Hadn’t Kata told him just yesterday that the marriage had been a rash mistake? So why was she trying to sway her sister?
“How do you know that isn’t what he told you so he could lock you away for himself?”
“Hunter wouldn’t lie about that. Besides, the shooter pushed his gun to the base of my skull.” Kata shivered just thinking about it.
“I’m not saying that you weren’t in danger. But how do you know it wasn’t one of Villarreal’s street punks or someone else you pissed off along the way, rather than an assassin? How does Hunter know?”
“The gunman told me that he’d been hired to kill me.”
Mari pressed her lips together. “Would a professional assassin bother to announce that? I’m concerned about your safety; don’t get me wrong. I panicked when I heard you’d nearly been shot. But Hunter’s behavior concerns me, too. I could be way off base here . . .” Her voice said she didn’t think so for a minute. “But you should think seriously of getting out of this marriage before he smothers you.”
Her sister’s words made Kata go numb from the gravity of the situation. Her own confusion weighed her down even more.
Mari finally held the sheaf of papers out to her. “I took the liberty of drawing these up earlier today.”
Kata took the papers with cold fingers and opened them. Petition for Divorce. Even though she’d talked to Hunter about ending it, seeing this document . . . Her knees buckled.
“All you have to do is sign them and get Hunter to do the same; then it’ll be over. If he really cares about you, he can always call you, date you like a normal guy, make the effort to get to know you. If he doesn’t, if he fights this like I know Gordon would fight Mamá, then ...”
Then she’d know. Thing was, she couldn’t picture Hunter just dating her. The way he’d immersed himself in her, tied them together almost immediately . . . he wouldn’t have bothered if he’d merely wanted to date. Besides, Kata had mentioned ending the marriage earlier, and Hunter had flatly refused. But Mari had a point, though Kata wished her sister didn’t. In fact, everything inside her resisted it. Then she looked at Mamá, pale and drained, lying frail in the hospital bed. A woman so unlike the vivacious mother she’d grown up with.
If she stayed with Hunter . . . could this be her in twenty years?
Kata clutched her middle, anger and confusion ripping her apart. She’d known Hunter for three days, and they’d been apart half that time. The thought of leaving him shouldn’t hurt so badly. But she already missed him now.
As she bit her lip, tears welled. She fought them, but the last few days and her mother’s ill health stacked on top of her until she struggled under the weight.
Mari crossed the distance between them and hugged her. “You like him?”
How did she answer that? What she felt went way beyond like. “I hate the way he argues, especially when he’s right. Then . . . two minutes later he’s everything I could have ever wanted and more, and . . .” She sobbed. “I don’t know if I want to go back to life without him.”
“Are you in love with him?” Mari sounded incredulous at the possibility.
For her sake, Kata wanted to say no. But she couldn’t. “I—I . . .” She blew out a deep breath. Part of her had been relieved when Hunter had been called away. Part of her had been terrified and bereft. “I don’t know.”
Mari looked shaken. “It’s possible?”
Given that Kata had never responded with such abandon to any other man? That everything inside her had begun dancing the samba when Hunter had said he loved her? “Maybe. But he scares the hell out of me.”
Her sister didn’t look at all pleased but somehow managed to smooth out her expression to something neutral. “I haven’t met him, so I should reserve judgment. But those papers give you power. Sign them, hermana. If there’s really something between you two, do this the right way, not by skulking off to a ratty chapel in Vegas for a drunken wedding. Get to know each other, meet your respective friends and family, then, when you’re ready, stand up in front of us all and profess your love.”
What Mari said made a hell of a lot of sense . . . in her sister’s ultra-logical world. Kata wasn’t wired like that; she didn’t make decisions with her head. And every emotion she had now was one huge jumble.
Kata gnawed on her lip again. She either needed to throw herself into this hypersonic relationship or end it now, before a decade passed and she was older or too dependent or—God forbid—had to drag kids through a divorce.
Kata put the papers in her purse. “I’ll think about it.”