be sorry.” We turned to see Edward collapsed on the grass, where he’d been flung from the vehicle, across the hill. “Both of you,” he panted, “will be sorry.”
Alejandro’s hands tightened on me. I looked up at him in terror. “Don’t kill him. It’s not worth it. Remember you promised you’d never leave me....”
“Kill him?” He looked at me incredulously. “Why should I? Look at him....”
For the first time, I noticed the odd way Edward’s arms and legs were stretched out in unnatural directions on the grass. But even his body wasn’t as contorted as his face.
“I’ll tell the world,” Edward panted, “how you all committed fraud. I’ll ruin your lives—both of you—the old woman and that baby, too....”
Alejandro glared at Edward, parting his lips to answer. But someone else beat him to it.
“Calm down, dear. You’re acting crazy.”
Maurine stepped calmly between us on the hill. She peered down at Edward benignly, as if about to offer him cookies at a party, and the upside-down SUV behind us, with its crushed steel doors and a wheel still spinning, was just a decoration, like fairy lights or balloons. “Whatever you think is wrong, Alejandro is my grandson.”
Edward gave a hard laugh. “It’s a lie.” He coughed. “I’ll prove it when I get the court order for a blood test....”
“You know, I always wondered.” She smiled, then looked at Alejandro, who was still on the ground, holding me protectively in his lap. She gave a brisk nod. “I was about to tell you, before all the fuss broke out. The hairbrush. You’re my grandson, Alejandro. Really and truly. The grandson of my heart.” She gave us a broad, self-satisfied smile. “Also a grandson of a DNA test.”
I felt Alejandro jump. His face was pale.
“What...?” he breathed.
“The silly secret was just causing such a problem between you two.” She looked between us severely. “And the way you were botching things. It just was ridiculous. Honestly, I’d always wondered why your mother stayed on as housekeeper for all those years, even when my son wasn’t paying her. And then there was that family resemblance.... Anyway. It never mattered to me one way or the other. Until it started to interfere with your happiness.” She grinned. “So I took your hairbrush and had a DNA test. You are my grandson, Alejandro. By heart, as you always were. But also by blood.”
“No!” Edward screamed. Then he was suddenly quiet. I think he had fainted from pain.
Rather vengefully, I hoped he had. Although I didn’t want him to die, of course. I didn’t. Really, I didn’t.
Alejandro’s eyes were wide. “Is this true, Abuela?”
She nodded. “Remain the Duke of Alzacar, and if anyone wants to check if you are my grandson, let them.” She looked at him and said quietly, “There is no one left in the family to inherit, if not you. No one you’re cheating of his rightful due. And let me tell you something more. You’re the finest duke of them all.”
I saw him blinking suspiciously fast. He rose to his feet, helping me to rise, as well. He hugged his grandmother, then pulled me into the embrace. When we finally pulled away, I wiped my eyes, then glanced over at Edward, still unconscious.
“We should call an ambulance, do you think?”
“I can see him breathing,” Maurine said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “He’s fine.” She sighed. “But I’ll call.” She glanced at Alejandro. “And I expect the policía will want to come, as well....”
She went toward the castle, and Alejandro looked at me.
“She’s right. We have only a few moments before the police arrive,” he said quietly. “A choice must be made.”
“So make it,” I said, trusting whatever he’d decide.
He clawed back his hair. “I am tired of secrets. Tired of lies.” He turned to me. “I never want another secret to shadow the light between us.”
I nodded, unable to speak over the lump in my throat.
“So.” He smiled at me, blinking fast, then gave a decisive nod. He walked over to Edward, who was still unconscious, his legs stretched out at a painful angle. He put his fingertips to the other man’s neck, then straightened.
“Is he—dead?” I said. Not hopefully. Really.
He shook his head. “His pulse is strong. He will recover.”
“Too bad,” I said.
Alejandro looked at me in amazement. Coming back, he wrapped his arms around me. “It’s not like you to be bloodthirsty, mi amor,” he murmured.
“I can be dangerous—” I reached up my hand to caress his cheek “—when it comes to protecting those I love.”
“Yes.” The corners of his sensual mouth quirked. Then his expression became serious. “But are you brave enough to face what lies ahead? There will be scandal. Or worse. Though perhaps I can protect Maurine....”
“How?”
“I will say that she was distraught over her family’s death, and that I tricked her into believing I was her grandson.”
“Oh, she won’t like that at all.”
“No,” he agreed. He looked at me, emotion in his dark eyes. “Can you bear it, Lena? The storm that might come? Miguel will lose his legacy....”
“You’re wrong.” I put my hand on his cheek. My eyes were watery. “His legacy is more than some title. It’s doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.”
“And love,” Alejandro whispered, pressing my hands together as he kissed them fervently. “Loving for all your life, with all your heart.”
“It’s family, always and forever.” Looking up at my husband, I smiled through my tears. “And whatever may come—our forever has already begun.”
* * *
There are all kinds of ways to make a family.
Some ways are big, such as the way Maurine took in an orphaned twelve-year-old boy and insisted on claiming him as her grandson.
Some ways are small, such as when I sent an invitation to my wedding reception to my cousin Claudie.
Autumn had arrived at Rohares Castle, and with it harvest season for our tenants. The summer heat had subsided, leaving a gorgeous swath of vivid colors, of morning mists and early twilight, full of excuses to sip oceans of hot tea with milk in the morning and go to bed early with my husband with a bottle of ruby-red wine. Every night, we lit a fire in the fireplace—and in our bed. And that fire, as months passed, seemed only to get bigger and brighter.
Just that morning, Maurine had caught us kissing in the breakfast room. She’d laughed. “I don’t think the honeymoon will really ever end for you two,” she said affectionately. Then the doorbell rang, and
