The Doctor And The Don

The Woman Before Me

A woman named Camila showed up at the house three days later, gorgeous and self assured, kissing Marco on both cheeks like she had every right to do it.

“An old business partner,” Cynthia explained, watching my face with something close to amusement. “Her family used to run shipping routes with the Morenos. There was talk once of a marriage arrangement between her and Marco.”

“An arrangement.”

“Before your time, Doctor.”

I told myself it did not matter, that whatever history existed between Marco and a woman who looked like she had stepped out of a magazine was exactly that, history, but I still found myself unreasonably tense through the lunch Cynthia insisted I stay for.

Camila was charming in the specific way people are charming when they know exactly how much power they hold in a room. She asked about my work with polite interest and then spent the rest of the meal directing comments at Marco in rapid Spanish, laughing at things I could not follow, resting a hand on his arm slightly more than necessary.

“You are quiet,” Marco said, once Camila had excused herself to take a call.

“I am fine.”

“You are doing the thing where you say you are fine and mean the opposite.”

“I do not speak Spanish, Marco. I do not know your history with her. Sometimes I feel like I am catching up in my own relationship.”

Something in his expression gentled, and he reached for my hand across the table. “Camila and I were never together. Our fathers wanted an alliance. I refused it, more than once, long before I ever met you.”

“That is not really what I am upset about.”

“Then tell me.”

“I am upset that there is an entire world you belong to that I may never fully understand.” I hesitated, hating how small the admission felt. “Languages I do not speak. History I was not there for.”

He was quiet for a moment, considering. “Then I will teach you the parts you want to learn. Starting with exactly how little Camila means to me, and exactly how much you do.”

He said something else then, low and warm, entirely in Spanish, and though I did not understand a single word, the way he looked at me while he said it told me everything I needed to know.