Free Chasing Marisol (Blueprint to Love Book 3) by Lauren Giordano Page A

abuse. But her mother— her sisters— had been victims as well. From witnessing the physical damage he'd inflicted, to dealing with her emotional baggage in the aftermath.
    Her sisters had also paid a price in their parents’ hyper vigilance. Their dating lives had been shoved under a microscope. Between Manuel and her father— no Ortega girl in the dating pool had left their apartments without the distinct possibility of being tailed. The sisters held strong suspicions their father had called in favors to have background checks performed on one of Caridad’s boyfriends and several of Serafina’s dates.
    "Is it Hector's mother? We'll all be there for you, carina. Whatever you need."
    Relieved, Mari took the easy way out. "Yes," she lied. Under no circumstances did she want to discuss Jeff. Her feelings were too new— too strange. "Just nervous about the hearing."
    "But that's months away, love. Shelve your worries until the time gets closer."
    She leaned in to kiss her mother's cheek. "You're right, Mom. I’ll try. Is Sera showing up today? I'm starving."
    Thankfully, Bridget Ortega's scattered thoughts turned to her youngest. "You know Fifi— she'll bolt in at the last minute claiming one distraction or another. She's always late." 
    "Mari, I'm hungry." Hector chose that moment to bound into the dining room. "When is supper?"
    Bridget mussed his hair, smiling when he protested. "Your aunt is late again, querido."
    Hector frowned. "Serafina is always late. I think we should eat without her." He peeked into the kitchen. "I want to have cake and I can't have it 'til I eat the vegetables. I need to get started."
    Bridget chuckled as she reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone. "Here, love. Call your auntie and tell her she needs to get here, pronto."
    ***
    Mari rinsed the last dish and placed it in the dishwasher. It had been a perfect day. A loud, delicious dinner with her family, Caridad's fabulous cake and Hector nearly droopy with fatigue after playing in the yard with Manny and her father. Hopefully, he would sleep most of the way home. She was just about to rap on the window to signal it was time to leave when they came storming through the screen door.
    Manuel dropped a kiss on top of her head. "So, little sister— what's this I'm hearing about the new man in your life? Do I need to schedule a trip to Arlington to check him out?"
    She drew in a startled breath as the after dinner racket died away. She turned in the sudden stillness to face the stunned expressions of her mother and sisters— and the quiet intensity of her father. Silverware stopped clanging into the drawer. Caridad stopped tickling Serafina. Her mother froze, dish towel in hand, an expression of horror on her face— as though Manny’s announcement had been about her posing for a men’s magazine instead of about a pizza date.
    Before she found her voice, Hector piped in. "He's Jeff. He's really good at baseball . . . an' he promised to teach me. An' he's buildin' Mari's addition. He even said I could help."
    Caridad was the first to recover. With ginger hair like their mom, her eyes were a copy of her father's serious brown ones. A conversation with her was like tackling both parents at once. "Oh, really? Tell us more, Hec. Your mommy has been here all day but she somehow forgot to mention him to us."
    Hector innocently obliged. "He took us for pizza on our first date. And then he took us to the park. And then he took us to the park again yesterday. We had a picnic and I went on the swings."
    Mari finally found her voice. "Hector, please go get your backpack ready. We're leaving in ten minutes to drive home."
    Serafina waited for him to leave the room before she pounced. "Ooh— sissy's got a boyfriend."
    "He's not my-"
    "What's he look like? Is he cute? Tall?" Her sister's eyes lit up. "Is he rich?" Her younger sister scarcely came up for breath. Painfully aware of her father's suddenly intense interest, she answered carefully. "His