Justice For Juniper (Tatienne Richard) novel Chapter 134

Orders Part II

Fermín moved to take his seat across from Juniper again and looked at his father. “Papa, I apologize for my language.”

“It was certainly not a good introduction to my granddaughter,” he huffed with annoyance. He looked at Juniper sadly, “I am sorry, my darling girl. This is not the way this family usually behaves. My son is being an overbearing,” he mumbled a word she didn’t know while he shot Fermín a dirty look.

“What does that word mean,” she asked Phineas who chuckled.

“Asshole,” Phineas translated with a smirk.

Food resumed passing around the table and for several minutes it was quiet with the exception of cutlery scraping plates and the occasional request to pass more dishes around. Inigo was once again holding Juniper’s hand and Phineas was feeding her bites of food.

Her eyes kept flicking to Fermín concerned by the way he couldn’t even look at her in the moment. Inigo was squeezing her hand reassuringly, but she felt his disappointment at her mother’s reaction as if it were her own.

Juniper finally looked at Fermín and asked quietly after one particularly loud sigh from him, “are you okay?”

“Why was she not excited? I would think she would want to come right away.”

“Like I said, she really does not like flying.”

“But it’s important.”

“She’s also very likely freaking out. We sprung all of this on her without any warning and it’s also two in the morning back home. She was probably sleeping when she got the text of your photo from me. She is the consummate mama bear, but she’s also incredibly sensitive and sweet and you were just growling at her like she was a petulant child.”

“She was acting like one.” Fermín snorted, “also, she liked it when I growled before.”

She bit her lips to keep from laughing, “how wrapped up are you in one night of memories?”

“It was the singularly best night of my entire life, Juniper. Why does she not want to come see me?”

The vulnerability in his voice made her blink. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“And now I’m the one behaving like a child.” He gave a shake of his head as if to dispel his thoughts. “I’m fine,” he waved his hand with nonchalance. “For the record, I am very excited to meet you. I’m thrilled. I’d like very much for us to get to know each other better.”

“You told my mother you were very wealthy. What do you do for a living?”

Fermín gave a laugh, “she changed my life in a night. When I tell you that she stole my breath the minute she walked into the bar where I was with my friends, I’m not lying.”

“I know that feeling,” Beni said as he looked at Juniper. “Juniper did the exact same thing to the three of us. We just all hid it from each other because she was married, and we were getting ready to destroy her marriage.”

“He cheated?” Fermín said with a tone which made Juniper’s hackles raise at the back of his neck. He shot a furious look at the three men at the table, “is he alive?”

“Yes.” Juniper snickered at the question. “They can’t kill a man because he cheated on his wife.”

“He cheated on my daughter. He can most assuredly die.”

Juniper looked around the table as all the men shrugged like what he was saying made sense and begged Abuela with her eyes to say something.

The older woman laughed, “enough. Let’s finish our meals. I feel the minute Anna gets here; it’s going to be a scene.”

Juniper looked at Abuela and then to Fermín with concern, “is she really going to hate me?”

Fermín exchanged glances with his father and shook his head, “no, Juniper. She’s not going to hate you, but she is going to love you, quite possibly to death and once she descends on you, none of us are going to get a word in edgewise. She’s been missing my sister desperately for years. Having you and your mother in her life is going to fill a hole in her heart.”

Inigo lifted Juniper’s fingers and kissed her knuckles, “welcome to our family, Juniper. You’re going to know love like you’ve never known before.”