Chapter 2

"Elliot, did you actually see Jorge with another woman?" Nancy asked.

She rushed over, grabbing my shoulders, her voice trembling with urgency.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're more worked up than your mother. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're the one dating Jorge."

I stared at her, looking for something in her eyes.

And there it was: all the color drained from her face. She froze, caught off guard.

"Elliot, Nancy's just worried Jorge might be playing me," Catalina chimed in with a sigh, trying to cover for her daughter. "You know, with our age difference and all..."

I shrugged. "Could be. I only caught a glimpse. Might've been someone else entirely."

I was lying, of course. I'd made the whole thing up just to see their reaction.

And sure enough, Nancy let out a deep breath of relief, her face slowly regaining color.

"Catalina," I said, keeping my tone casual, "mind if I ask you something a little personal?"

She nodded. "Go ahead, Elliot."

"Does your boyfriend's family know about you two? Are they fine with it?"

I leaned in a bit. "Also... is this relationship of yours, uh, strictly platonic?"

The air in the room turned to ice.

"Elliot, what the hell is wrong with you?" Nancy snapped, rushing to her mom's defense.

They were always tag-teaming.

Catalina tugged on Nancy's sleeve and whispered, "Sweetie, what's ‘platonic' mean?"

I let out a short laugh and answered for her. "It means no physical stuff. All spiritual, no touchy-feely."

I locked eyes with Catalina, waiting.

Her wrinkled face turned beet red in a flash.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Relax, Catalina. I was only teasing," I said with a smile, then gestured toward the balcony. "Let me grab this."

Out on the balcony, I held the phone to my ear, pretending to talk, but my eyes were on Nancy inside.

And right on cue, she grabbed her phone too, looking frantic.

I eased open the balcony door just a crack, back turned, ears wide open.

"Jorge, where the hell are you?" she whispered sharply. "Are you with someone else?"

I let out a cold scoff—Nancy really was something else, bold and reckless all at once.

But then again, who could out-bold Nancy? She was marching a man straight into the house, right under my nose, like she owned the place.

That old saying? "The safest place was the most dangerous one." They were living it.

A minute later, Nancy ended the call.

When I came back inside, she was humming to herself, all sunshine and roses. Jorge must've smoothed things over.

"So, Elliot," she said sweetly, "you still heading home to visit your parents?"

"Yeah," I said, playing along. "Just got off the phone—early flight tomorrow."

She beamed, like she couldn't wait to see me gone. She probably couldn't wait to throw herself into Jorge's arms the moment I left.

And that was when I made up my mind.

If they were going to play me like a fool, I was going to make them regret every second of it.

But I knew next to nothing about Jorge and even less about when things started between him and Nancy.

One thing still made no sense. If Nancy had fallen out of love, why didn't she just ask for a divorce?

Why choose to cheat, of all things?

I decided to start with Catalina. She still looked guilty, and that was my way in.

Later that afternoon, she said she was going out to buy fruit. I jumped at the chance.

"I'll go with you," I offered. "You shouldn't carry heavy bags alone."

Catalina smiled. "Elliot, you're a good one. Not like Nancy, always bossing me around."

On the way, I decided to bait her. "How's your luck at poker lately? You doing okay for cash?"

I knew she loved cards, but her luck was always garbage.

She'd borrowed money from both Nancy and me before, though not recently.

"Oh, don't get me started," she groaned. "I lost again yesterday. I swear, they must be cheating!"

Once she started, there was no stopping her.

"Sounds fishy," I said, nodding. "Could be a setup."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "No way anyone's that unlucky naturally."

"Here," I said smoothly. "Let me transfer you some money. You probably need it, right?"

She waved her hand. "No need, I've got enough. But you're a sweet kid. Honestly, Nancy doesn't deserve you."

So she did feel guilty. That was interesting.

"Marrying Nancy was a blessing," I said with a grin. "By the way, what does Jorge do for work? You know how it is... a guy his age, even if he's not chasing women, they're still going to throw themselves at him.

"Don't worry about Jorge," she said quickly. "It's not like he and I—" She stopped.

"Like you and he what?" I prodded.

Catalina smacked her lips, realizing she almost slipped. "We've known each other a long time, that's all."

"Oh? How long?"

"Too long to remember. Let's just get these fruits and head home," Catalina said.

Message received. She wasn't ready to talk. Fine by me. One step at a time.

Back at the house, Nancy was lounging on the sofa, grinning at her phone like a teenager, probably flirting with Jorge again.

She suddenly looked up. "Elliot, sleep in the guest room tonight, okay? You'll wake me up with your early flight."

I stared at her.

The image of her wrapped around Jorge flashed through my head, making my stomach churn.

I swallowed hard, shoved the bile back down, and walked right up to her.

Leaning in, I murmured, "Nancy... I might be staying with my parents for a few days. What do you say we make tonight count?"

She flinched. Her eyes flicked with disgust.

"I just got my period," she said quickly.

"This month? Again?" I raised an eyebrow. "Might be worth seeing a doctor about that."

"Just some hormonal stuff. It'll pass," she muttered.

Then she pushed past me and vanished into the bedroom.

But not before Catalina intercepted her at the door.

Even though they were whispering, I heard every word:

"Nancy," her mother hissed, "you need to humor Elliot once in a while, or he's going to get suspicious."

"Yeah," Nancy muttered. "God, you nag like crazy."