“I will not see it. He loved Evelyn too and look at that one. I know bad girls when I see them. Alex is losing his career for this one. That’s not good.”

“I’m losing mine too!” I shouted, almost at a piercing level. All eyes quickly swung to me, shock shrouding everyone’s faces. My chest heaved up and down erratically, sending exhales through my nose like a raging bull. I couldn’t believe I had lost it like that, but I had to admit that it felt good.

“I’m just getting started in the Corps, and my career could already be over. You think I’m making out on top while Alex takes all the heat? No! I had an opportunity to get myself away from all of this even after the fact, and I turned down all deals that came to me. I fell in love with your grandson, Guadalupe, and I’m sorry it was under the wrong circumstances, but I’m not sorry for falling. I’d do it over again if I had the chance.”

Adriana came and stood next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder and smiling up at me. I was still breathing heavily, but it felt good to get my feelings out in the open, regardless of how it made anyone else feel.

“Abuelita, you’re upset, but you’ll see Cassie is a really good girl. And no matter what anyone else says, I am going to make her my wife.”

Guadalupe looked up to Alex and smirked, sending a sinister vibe to him that glided over to me. “You go to jail for this girl, Alejandro. And you lose you career all because you are a man and you can’t keep it in you pants. I will not watch this. You marry this girl, and I do not know you. I raise you to be smart and right now you are stupid. I want no more of this.”

The hacking cough she’d had earlier came roaring back. Imelda ran to her mother’s side, holding her as tears fell down her face and onto the floor below. I could see her internal struggle. She was caught between her mother and her son. I wouldn’t have wished this on anyone because as much as it was hurting me, I could see it was destroying her.

“Let’s get you to bed, Mama,” Imelda softly spoke, trying to move her mother. Guadalupe was still coughing, wheezing a bit as well. The sight of her stunned Alex, making him go to her, holding her in his arms as his mom tried to move her out of the living room and to the back.

“You make a choice, Alejandro. But you remember, I do not accept this. I do not accept you if you go to her.”

“Come, Mama,” Imelda prodded, moving her mother along.

Alex, Adriana, and I stood there, flabbergasted by what had just happened. I knew things would be rough, but I had never imagined it would get to this level. I wished we had never come here, and Alex had just given them the scoop over the phone.

“She’ll come around,” Adriana said, trying to soften the mood.

“How can you say that?” I asked. I was done with everyone trying to make it seem as if Guadalupe would magically have a change of heart, giving Alex and me her blessing to be married. The woman hated my guts, and today had cemented that fact.

“She’s just upset, Cassie. When she sleeps on it and see what she’s done to Alex, she’ll backtrack.”

I looked over to Alex who stood there, still red faced but with a single, solitary tear falling down his face. Naïve or not, when it came to the women in his life, he was hurt, and I hated seeing him in pain.

“Alex?”

“What?” he barked, startling me.

“Are you okay?”

“No, Cassie. My grandmother hates me. My mom questions me. All because I fell in love with you. No, I’m not motherfucking okay.”

“You watch your voice, Alejandro Esteban Cruz, and you keep your voice down. Your grandmother is sick and hurting back there.” Imelda said, walking back towards us, her face stern and motherly.

“And that’s my fault?”

“This isn’t about fault. It’s about a very hurt old woman back there who loves you and is scared for you.”

“What can I do to help that? I tried to smooth things over and look at what happened. She blames Cassie for this, and won’t even let me show her that I had a part in it too.”

“I won’t lie. I’m scared for you. You’ve worked so hard for everything you have, and now it’s going to be gone just like that. I like Cassie, but if it comes down to everything you’ve earned or her, I’m afraid that I want you to have your career. You two have only known each other for a short time—”

“Let’s go,” Alex gruffly said, forcefully pulling me out of the living room by my hand.

“Alejandro, where are you going?” Imelda asked, chasing after us.

“I’m getting out of here. I wanted to come here and fill you all in on what was going on, make us into one united family before I face the biggest event of my life on Monday, and you and Abuelita have done nothing but further add to my anxiety. You think I’m not scared about what could happen to me and my career?”

Imelda stood shocked, eyes bulging as her hand lay firmly over her heart. Alex’s admission was news to me as well, but I wasn’t about to say anything.

“I’m scared shitless, but my family turning their backs on me scares me more than anything that the Marine Corps could do to me. This fucking destroys me, and neither of you seem to care.”

“I only want what’s best for you, Alejandro. I have nothing against Cassie, but—”

“There are no buts. I love her. She’s what keeps me going, what makes me whole. I’m fucking giving that up. I was hoping to add to my family, and instead, you guys are pulling away. So be it. I can’t wait around for you to figure it out.”

“Alex, don’t do this!” Adriana yelled. “Everyone is just tense right now.”

“I don’t have time to wait for their shit, Adriana.”

He pulled us out of the house and over to his truck. Tears pooled in his eyes, but he worked hard at containing them, making sure not to allow any to escape down his face. Imelda stood in the walkway, arms folded as her tears fell in droves. Adriana came running to the truck, pleading with Alex not to leave like this, but he wasn’t having any of it. He had been broken by the people who had worked their entire lives to keep him whole—to strengthen him, to make him who he was. I found it a bit ironic that they had made him this strong, conviction holding person, yet when he held to that, they had a problem with it.

My eyes were bloodshot, my head was spinning, and my heart was beating so roughly that I thought it might come loose and break through my chest. I hadn’t seen Alex like this since the night he rescued me from Allen, and even then he wasn’t broken and battered the way he seemed to be now. This was something more, and it stabbed at me with a dull knife, further torturing me as the sight of him pushed that knife deeper and deeper.

“You figure it out, Adriana. I’m done,” I heard Alex say to his sister. She was now in tears and wiping furiously as she continued to plead with him. “We’re getting married tomorrow. I’ll let you know when and where if you want to come.”

“Of course,” she responded, wrapping her brother in her arms. The bond the two of them shared was special, and in the midst of this fucking hurricane, it was the calm that made everything seem as if it was worth it.

Alex hopped into the truck and pulled off, leaving his crying mother and sister, and hysterically angry and sick grandmother in the dust. I couldn’t believe how badly things had gotten, and how I’d had to defend myself when it was never my intent.

Alex’s white knuckled grip held the steering wheel as we drove off onto the freeway that looked to be taking us back to Huntington Beach. Neither of us said anything. We stared blankly out the window, and I occasionally wiped away tears as I looked out, pondering how we would move forward from this.

The air grew milder as we inched closer to the beach. My head was a jumbled mess of thoughts, pictures, and confusion. It seemed easier to be skirting the Corps and hiding than it did to be out in the open. Alex didn’t say a word. He pulled into the stall and sat for a moment, head back against the headrest before looking over to me and taking my hand in his.

“I can’t apologize enough to you, Blondie. I knew they would have a hard time with it, but I never expected it to go there.”

Tears ran down my face as I looked into his eyes, so full of hurt and concern. Our world seemed to be unraveling every which way we turned. Nothing seemed to be working in our favor, and the thought of it all had me sick to the point of wanting to vomit.

“I can’t live my life for anyone but me, and I hate not having my fucking family around for this, but I need to move forward. If they want to step out of my life, they’ll just have to.”

His words sliced me to the core. Alex had the family I wished I’d had growing up. They were encouraging, loving, and supportive, and yet, everything they were, they had turned away from. Alex was making a choice that they were forcing him to make, but that didn’t mean it came lightly. It was a silent killer, and even though he was ready to move forward with me, I could tell a large piece of him was dying inside.

He took my hand and kissed the top as more tears streamed down my face. “What’s the matter, Blondie?” I shook my head, unable to formulate words. “Fucking talk to me, Cassie. I hate watching you hurt. Let me help you.”

“I can’t, Alex… I just can’t.”

“You can’t what?”

I looked up into his eyes, the saddened hazel orbs staring into my soul, willing the words out of me. I felt sick and heartbroken, but I couldn’t go on with jumbled feelings any longer. More tears fell as I tried hard to catch my breath. I was floundering, struggling to survive as I watched the man I loved more than anyone else on this earth stare into my soul.