The men of the family drug Mariano out the back door to the patio with the help of Casita. Agustin shared a look with Felix before nodding and leaving him there with the young man whose nose was broken from the second punch he received from Dolores's father. Mariano fell into a chair as casita pulled the tiles from under him and moved a chair to where he would fall.
"Mariano." Felix grumbled at him, anger evident in his expression. He almost gulped in how angry he looked. His mouth went dry as he settled into the chair, awaiting his fate while he wondered what was happening to Dolores upstairs. He didn't blame her for where they were sitting now, having finally been discovered. In the moment he was roughly pulled away from her he could see in her blissful expression she had truly become unaware of the sounds outside of them. They had finally found something that would turn off her hearing, so to speak. Apparently, some deep kisses and intimacy would do the trick.
Pepa joined the two brooding men in a flash of lightning. She too looked angry and he was unsurprised when she was the first to speak. "How dare you try to bed my daughter when you are unwed!" she jabbed a finger at his chest. "How dare you try to bed my daughter when we both know that you know exactly what is being arranged for you!" Sorrow began to tinge the anger. "Allowing yourselves to become so closely involved romantically, not to mention physically, is devastating enough heartbreak when you inevitably marry Isabela as Mama has planned with your mother."
"Senora," he bowed his head respectfully, not angry with either of them, "I am deserving of your anger. I now know more about the pain this is causing, but I cannot deny my love for Delores. She is the only woman I want as my wife." he looked up imploringly, begging them to understand. "We had gotten to know each other last year over the course of the summer season after we met at one of the many weddings that took place that time of year. Dolores knew who I was before I even opened my mouth to tell her how beautiful she was and how elegant her dancing was. She knew, even then, that there were whispers of an engagement, though they were only rumored possibilities at that time." he continued, somberly. "It wasn't until quite some time later that my mother and yours began to meet to discuss organizing an engagement, but by then she had already stolen my heart in its entirety and I was loath to let her slip through my fingers." It was almost a surprise for them, for someone like Mariano with such a confident air about him and usually calm demeanor to break down crying while confessing his feelings to his lover's parents.
But still, he continued to explain himself. "She broke our relationship off immediately. She said she knew her fate and had hoped for it to change for years." Pepa swallowed thickly, realizing immediately he was referring to Bruno's vision that he had told Dolores ten years ago when she was twelve. Felix squeezed his wife's soldiers in an attempt to help ground both himself and her. "She told me her Tio Bruno predicted this, but pushed for her to come back to me. It was I that was not strong enough to stay away, not Dolores. I was unwilling to take no for an answer in my pursuit. I did not mean for us to end up in her bed tonight." He promised. Pepa and Felix blinked at him, feeling at ease somehow in his genuine defence of Dolores, so willing to take full blame to protect her from any of the fallout. They both instinctively knew he would throw his own life away should it mean her happiness and safety were even remotely possible.
With squinted eyes, Pepa inspected Mariano up close. Blood from the broken nose was beginning to dry all the way down to his chin and one of his eyes was beginning to swell, both injuries acquired from her husband in his quick anger upstairs. She had been quite pleased with the sound of his nose breaking at the time, but now she just felt bad for him. For his part, Felix scrunched up his nose slightly as he contemplated the young man's words. He may still be miffed about finding him above his daughter in her bed, but he couldn't deny this attitude of utter devotion was all he could ask for in a partner for his beloved daughter. He wanted only the very best for his baby girl, and if this was the man she wanted, he decided he couldn't really complain. Really, she could have chosen much worse, at least he knew this one genuinely loved her. In a way, it reminded him of how he himself had fallen in love with his own beloved Pepa.
Pepa and Felix shared a glance of agreement before she glanced behind them to check for her mother and his. Whipping back around she hissed lowly, "If you really love my daughter and want to marry her you have to find a way to convince your mother that is what you want. Don't tell her you know about the engagement she's already planned, that will only make her suspicious, especially because they both think Dolores doesn't know. Recruit Isabela if you have to, but for her sake..."
"Do not mess this up." Felix followed her lead and finished her sentence while fixing him with a serious and solemn look. Her heartbreak would only be worse, knowing how much she was being fought for only for it to end in a disastrous pain with him marrying her cousin. So, for her sake, they all three agreed, he had better find a way to be on a path to her.