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Chapter 13

"Come on, Jesse, we're going to be late!" I call to him from the living room, glancing up at the clock. He honestly takes longer than I do. "You know better than I do how Marta gets when people are late!"

"Querida, you just met her 2 weeks ago!" Jesse exclaims from where he's getting ready, laughter in his voice.

"Yes, and the first thing she did was yell at you because you were late for you tux fitting!" I call back, chuckling as I get up and go over to the mirror, checking my hair one more time. Tonight is Marta's rehearsal dinner, where I'll be meeting the rest of Jesse's sisters. And his mom.

"Dios. Susannah...you take my breath away. Maybe you shouldn't go to the wedding, you will take all of the attention away from the bride," Jesse says a few minutes later, sneaking up on me.

I laugh a little and turn around, smiling. "And all of Marta's friends will be all over you, you handsome devil," I tell him, sliding my arms around his neck.

"Too bad for them I only have eyes for one woman," he whispers, leaning in and giving me a short but breathtakingly sweet kiss.

I giggle and look over at the clock. "Jesse, we're late, let's go," I say, kissing him quickly and taking his hand. The last few weeks have been pretty much perfect.

While Jesse's job still worries me senseless, I've gotten better about it a little bit. And Jesse always tries to get back to me as soon as possible, knowing how much I worry.

There are some days, though, where he can't get back in a few hours. Once, he was gone for a few days and, of course, he couldn't call or anything for fear of blowing his cover. But he promises me that he doesn't have much longer on this case, which is good.

I've also found an unexpected new friend in the form of his sister, Josephina. She understands my anxiety and on those few long trips I'd find myself calling her and asking her to stay with me, which she always does.

"Are you ready to meet the rest of my sisters, querida?" Jesse asks me as we get in the car.

I give him a weak smile and reply, "I've been trying not to think about it. I'm so nervous."

"Well don't be. They'll all love you...well, I'm hoping they will. With Mercedes you never know," Jesse says wryly.

"Is she really that bad?" I ask anxiously and Jesse grimly nods his head. Josephina told me the other night that they've barely spoken in years.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from her though. Who knows, she might be in a good mood. Her husband and kids will be there as well, and she's usually in a better mood around them than if she's alone," Jesse informs me. "Her husband is a computer technician, his name is Pete, and she had twins 2 years ago, Gabriela and Christopher."

I nod my head, trying to remember. "And your mother...what is she like?" I ask as he stops at a red light.

"My Madre is the best woman I know, no offense," Jesse says, smiling over at me.

"None taken," I reply, laughing. The love Jesse has for his family never ceases to amaze me. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"As are you," he responds, taking my hand in his and kissing it softly. He doesn't let go of it until we pull into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant, the place Marta chose for the dinner. The actual rehearsal was earlier but Jesse didn't make me go to that, seeing how I'm not in the wedding itself.

He pulls into a parking spot and stops the car, turning to me. "Ready, mi querida?" he asks, kissing my hand softly once more.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I say, waiting for Jesse to get out and open the door for me. He gets quite offended if I don't allow him to do this.

He helps me out of the car and offers me his arm. "My lady," he says and I giggle, linking my arm through his and kissing him on the cheek.

We walk into the restaurant and immediately I hear a shriek and Josephina rushes over to us, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek and doing the same to Jesse, "You're here! I'm so glad!" she exclaims.

"Wouldn't miss it," I tell her, grinning, my nerves calming. She seems to have that effect on me and Jesse as well, because he seems visibly less tense now that his favorite sister is here.

"Is everyone else here?" Jesse asks, his hand resting against the small of my back as Josephina starts leading us towards the back of the restaurant.

"Everyone except Cedes and Pete, they said they'd be running a little late," she tells us and at just the mention of her name, my stomach is a ball of nerves again.

"Don't worry Suze, I love your dress by the way. You look fantastic," Josephina adds to me with a little smile as we approach the VERY large table full of people.

I can pick out his sisters and mother right away. Especially when a girl who I'm guessing is Anna-Maria runs up to us, screaming, "JESSE!" and jumps into Jesse's arms.

"Ahhh, mi querida, you have grown!" Jesse says, looking down at her affectionately. Anna-Maria rolls her eyes but smiles none the less.

"God, shut up, Jesse, you'll embarrass me in front of Jacob," she mumbles and Jesse and I both look up to see her boyfriend standing a few feet behind her.

"Oh...now enlighten me, dearest Anna. Who is this...Jacob?" Jesse asks her, his features immediately turning speculative.

"My boyfriend," she says, sighing dreamily and looking over at him. "He's the greatest. You'll love him, I swear."

"I'm sure I will," Jesse says, his voice low as suddenly 2 women start heading our way.

I stand off to the side while he greets his sisters and mother and after a few moments, he takes my hand. "Madre, Kat, Anna, this is Susannah," he says.

"It is so nice to finally meet you, Susannah," his mother says warmly, a smile on her face as she hugs me. "My Hector talks about you all the time these days."

"And I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you, all of you," I reply, smiling. "It's wonderful to finally meet you."

"Were you nervous? You looked nervous," Anna-Maria says to me and I can't help but flushing a little bit.

"A little," I admit and Jesse chuckles, putting his arm around me, which calms me down a little bit.

"Well Mercedes isn't here yet, so no need to be...oh...I spoke too soon," she says, causing my eyes to widen a little bit. Unexpectedly I feel an arm reach out and squeeze my arm a little bit. Turning around I see that it was Katiana who did it, smiling gently at me. Jesse told me a few weeks ago that she and Mercedes had never gotten along.

I turn around and immediately spot Mercedes. She comes over and hugs everyone except Jesse, Katiana and I. "Hello, Jesse, Katiana," she says coolly as her eyes fix on me. "And you must be Susannah."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," I say politely, trying not to show how nervous her presence makes me.

The awkward silence is broken by Marta saying, "Please, everyone, take your seats. We'll have plenty of time to talk later."

The rest of the night flies by without any problems and after being around Jesse's family I really feel accepted by them by the time dinner is over.

"I'll go grab our coats," Jesse says as we get ready to leave. He kisses me softly before walking away and I smile after him, my smile fading when Mercedes comes up to me and says, "Susannah? Can I speak with you a moment?"

"Yeah, of course," I reply immediately. She nods her head and takes me hand before leading me away from the group over to a corner.

"You seem like a nice girl," she begins, giving me a small smile. "Which is why I feel I should warn you. Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?"

"Oh...uhm, what do you mean?" I ask her, alarmed. I hadn't been expecting this.

"What has Jesse told you he does for a living?" she asks and I sigh, shaking my head. "Mercedes, I know all about Jesse's undercover work," I tell her.

"...And you're all right with it?" Mercedes demands, briefly turning her head to call out to her husband that she would be right there as he calls her.

"Well, I wasn't at first, but I am now," I reply, nodding my head. "It worries me a little, but I trust him."

"You're a fool," she then sneers at me. "A stupid, stupid fool."

"You know all about his past then, I assume?" she asks and I nod, not knowing what to say. "This work is just an excuse to slip back into his old lifestyle. He'll hurt you. Just like he hurt us."

"I...I really don't think he will, though. He seemed absolutely revolted in his former self, Mercedes," I say in defense of Jesse.

She chuckles and shakes her head. "You don't know him like I do," she replies. "I'm warning you: you better get out while you still can. I know he's had a violent streak."

"Thank you for your input, Mercedes, but I'm a grown woman and I think I can decide upon these matters for myself," I tell her, not wanting to hear her words anymore.

She shrugs and says, "I warned you," before walking away just as Jesse comes up to me, smiling. "Ready, querida?" he asks, handing me my jacket.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm ready," I say, smiling, as he helps me into the jacket carefully.

We say goodbye to his family and are walking out to the car when he asks, "So what did Mercedes say to you?"

"Oh, you saw?" I ask him, feeling guilty for some reason.

"Yeah...I figured she wasn't saying anything good," he replies, chuckling a little as we approach his car.

"She wanted to warn me. To tell me to get out while I could, basically," I tell him.

He stops and looks down at me incredulously. "She...I can't believe she said that to you!" he exclaims.

"Uhm...yeah. She was really, really angry," I say, feeling bad immediately. I don't want Jesse to be upset with his sister.

"I can't believe it!" he exclaims, looking like he's about to go back and say something to her. "She can be so insensitive. I'm so sorry, Susannah."

"Jesse, please don't worry about it. Tonight was really, really lovely. Don't let Mercedes spoil it with her comments," I plead to Jesse, stepping in front of him and putting my hands on his chest.

He sighs and glares in the general direction of the restaurant. "I'm really sorry," he tells me. "I hope her behavior hasn't ruined your view of my family."

"Absolutely not. They all seem really, genuinely nice Jesse. You know how I feel about Josie especially," I tell him earnestly.

"The way Mercedes acts sometimes...it just makes me so angry," he says, sighing and leaning against his car. "The rest of the family has forgiven me. Why can't she?"

"Maybe it was because she was oldest? I mean, even though Josephina is only two years younger than her, that is still a big difference mentality-wise," I suggest.

He shrugs his shoulders sadly. "I don't know," he says. "I absolutely hate myself for what happened. She has to know that."

"I think she's so angry at you that she's making up things in her mind. She thinks you're only in this case so you can start using again," I say, my voice small as we get in the car finally.

The look on his face as he hears this makes me want to cry. I reach over and place my hand on his shoulder, a feeble attempt to comfort him

"I know you'd never..." but the look of pure devastation on his face makes my voice die and tears fill my eyes.

"My own sister..." he whispers, shaking his head back and forth before putting his face in his palms.

"Jesse..." I gently stroke his hair, not knowing what else to do. My heart hurts for him. I wish I could take his pain away. I hate seeing him like this.

"Don't worry about it querida. I've had to deal with this for the past 10 years," Jesse says, sighing and leaning back against the headrest.

"I wish you didn't," I reply, still stroking his hair. He shakes his head and continues, "I'm just mad that she said something to you. She has no right to say that. No right at all."

"Jesse, baby. It's over, there's nothing we can do about it and I don't want you to be upset with your family," I plead to him.

He sighs and nods his head, smiling over at me. "How can I deny you, querida," he says, reaching over and gently touching my face.

"That's a good answer," I reply, letting myself giggle a little bit.

He grins and leans closer, kissing me before starting the car. "Let's go home," he says.

"Home sounds good," I reply, nodding my head and grabbing his hand after he gets on the main road.

He squeezes my hand as he drives, glancing over at me every few minutes. "What?" I ask, smirking.

"Nothing, querida. Nothing at all," he says, that smirk still evident on his face. I sigh but drop it, knowing that when the time is right Jesse will tell me what was on his mind.