Chapter 14: Ghost Clients and Locked Doors

System Locked

Carla paced the edge of the couch, bra in hand, muttering into her phone.

“No, I didn’t change the damn encryption ... Yes, I know what the compliance flag is... Mierda, we’re wasting hours.”

She hung up and tossed the phone down, sighing.

“Bad day?” I asked, still under the blanket we’d been tangled in all morning.

“Security audit.” She groaned, rubbing her face. “Third time this quarter. I can’t access my own files until someone upstairs resets the profile.”

I reached for her. “Then maybe it’s time to stop pacing and start cuddling.”

Carla glanced at the clock. “Fifteen minutes until the next call.”

“That’s enough.”

Time Theft

She dropped her bra on the armrest and crawled under the blanket. Warm skin. Bare back. Weight pressing into me.

Carla laid her head on my chest and let out a breath like she hadn’t in hours.

“Your heartbeat’s slow,” she murmured. “It calms me.”

I kissed her hair. “You should let me calm you more often.”

She smirked against my skin. “If I let you really calm me, I’m gonna miss that next meeting.”

“Tempting.”

She didn’t move. Just curled closer.

Across the Fence

From her kitchen window, Mama Caceres saw the bare shoulder ... then the arch of Carla’s back.

She froze. A cup of tea half-raised.

They weren’t even pretending anymore.

Her daughter lay tangled in Eli like she belonged there. Like the couch, the sun, the peace—all of it was theirs.

Mama sat down.

Didn’t sip.

Didn’t look away.

She couldn’t.

She told herself it was worry. Told herself she just wanted to know if Carla was okay.

But her hand slid lower, fingertips pressing just beneath the waistband of her lounge pants.

“Ay, Dios mío... ” she whispered, but didn’t stop.

Front Steps

Yenni had come to drop off a box of cleaning supplies.

That’s all it was supposed to be.

But she paused at the top step, saw the open blinds, saw Carla wrapped around Eli’s chest like a secret she didn’t want to share.

Yenni stared.

Her hand clenched the handle of the box.

She remembered the way Eli had kissed her cheek the week before. Not flirty—sweet. Thoughtful.

It had made her stomach twist and flutter.

But now ... watching them...

She turned away, fighting something hot behind her eyes.

Yenni didn’t knock.