Chapter 3 – Mine, and only mine

Alone in his room that evening Esteban took a hand to his bruised ribs again to palpate the area carefully. One of them was probably broken, but he didn't care.

Not long ago he had made an excuse to retire early to bed, blaming his discomfort, but he was about to ride back to the pueblo to see Victoria again. After the fight she had kindly bandaged his ribs tightly with some dressings and, for a moment, the contact of her hands over his naked skin had taken all the pain away miraculously. He didn't have much hope for anything to happen that evening as she was Zorro's girlfriend, but he believed a late-night visit was worthy to keep her interest. Judging by the way she had treated him that afternoon, that interest seemed already sparked. So, his over-flirtatious nature would not have it any other way: he had to see her again as soon as possible, broken ribs or not.

From his room, he could still hear the voices of the elders and occasionally Diego talking in the library. He carefully opened the window, got out as silently as he could, and on the way to the stables he cut a single red rose from the garden, a beautiful specimen with a long stem.

ZZZ

After all the customers had left the tavern Victoria got on her knees to scrub the floor. While she was trying to get rid of the wine stain, she blamed the vaqueros for all the trouble caused. However, she had to admit she had enjoyed the day greatly thanks to them. She chuckled inwardly while remembering Diego slipping on that same spot, staining his clothes with the wine while lying on his back like a helpless beetle that could not turn over straight.

That afternoon she had noticed her friend looking jealous for the attention she was giving to another man, right from the start when he introduced her to his cousin, so she had shamelessly flirted with Esteban after the fight to provoke Diego. As she was engaged to Zorro, Victoria didn't want to admit it to herself, but she had always had a soft spot for him. However, since he came back from Madrid, Diego had always seemed distant and uninterested in her, or in any other woman in California, for that matter. Something had changed today, and he seemed truly annoyed with his cousin while she tended for his ribs while ignoring his black eye. In retrospect, she felt a bit guilty about it because Diego had tried to be brave, although he had failed miserably on the fight despite that first, impressive punch he had delivered at the start, which probably had been a lucky hit.

Esteban, like his cousin, was a handsome man. He was a few years younger than Diego and a little bit shorter, with the same dark hair but with hazel eyes instead of blue, and a charming personality, very likeable. On the whole, he seemed much braver, practical, and down to earth than Diego, and Victoria wondered what could have happened if Diego was more like him. She fantasised with the idea that she probably would not be the girlfriend of an outlaw, and she would have a house full of children already.

ZZZ

With the black mask on, Diego checked on the mirror that the dark tinge around his bruised left eye wasn't easy to spot through the holes in the cloth. The eyelids were puffy and swollen, but thanks to the mask it wasn't too obvious. Just in case, he made a new mask with smaller holes, one that fit perfectly around the eyes, and didn't left much flesh to show. As he wasn't anticipating any trouble, because he only wanted to make sure Victoria was alright with a quick visit, he didn't mind his peripheral vision was affected by the tighter mask. Satisfied with the result, he jumped on Toronado and headed for the pueblo.

ZZZ

"Don Esteban! You gave me a fright! What are you doing here?" Victoria said, standing up quickly with a hand over her racing heart. She had forgotten to close the front door, and he had walked in unnoticed until she saw his legs approaching, in front of her face.

"I'm so sorry, Victoria. I didn't mean to. I only came to make sure you were all right tonight. And please, drop the formalities. Call me Esteban."

"Thank you for your interest, Esteban. Yes, I am all right, don't worry. Just cleaning up the mess because I didn't have time before."

"What happened here must have frightened you a lot."

"To be honest, it wasn't that important, or unusual. I appreciated your intervention, of course, but things like that happen in a tavern more often than you may think. Men and wine can be a bad combination for women. But I can take care of myself."

"That is exactly what Diego said."

"Did he?"

"Yes. When I suggested we should teach those men some manners, he said we should not get involved as you were used to deal with their kind all by yourself."

Hearing that, Victoria wasn't sure if Diego's words were due to the trust in her wit and determination, or because he could not be bothered to get involved in anything.

"Really?" she said, frowning. "Well, yes, I am. But most of the times it is Zorro who takes care of such things for me."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Here, this is for you. I couldn't resist taking one of my uncle's beautiful roses, for a beautiful lady," he said, producing the rose from under his jacket. "I may get in trouble for this later," he added, laughing, "because he seems a little bit obsessed with his precious garden."

"Thank you, Esteban. It is certainly beautiful," she said, taking the flower, which reminded her of the ones Zorro always brought her.

ZZZ

Zorro came into the tavern through the back door to the kitchen, but when he was about to go through the curtains into the main area he heard voices and he stopped there, listening. It was Victoria talking to a man. Recognizing that voice, he felt the anger and jealousy creeping up to his throat again. His cousin was talking about Diego, making him look like a jerk for not wanting to help Victoria.

For goodness sake, Esteban! What a pain you have become, he thought. He loved his cousin, but if he was planning to interfere with his love life, of all things, they should have a serious talk. Then he chuckled, rejecting that thought. No, Diego would not need to do anything. Zorro would make him know who was in command. It would be much more fun that way.

Zorro came through the curtains then holding the rose in his right gloved hand. There, he found Victoria holding a similar one. They looked almost identical.

"Zorro!" she said, blushing, looking at him like a surprised deer caught in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

She looked at the rose he was carrying, and then to the one in her hand. Could that be…? She had wondered about the origin of the roses before, realizing they looked like the De la Vega's, but she had always rejected that stupid idea. No, Diego cannot be Zorro, don't be silly, she told herself one more time.

By the way she was looking at the roses Zorro had a good idea about what she was thinking, so he came up with an explanation quickly.

"I see someone else has been helping himself to Don Alejandro's garden," Zorro said. "Who are you, and what are you doing here, if I may ask?"

"I am Don Esteban de la Vega. I came to make sure Victoria was fine after the unfortunate events this afternoon."

"I heard about that. You and Don Diego fought a bunch of misbehaving customers. Thank you very much for that," Zorro said, bowing with respect with his right hand over his heart. Then he turned to face Victoria. "I'm sorry, querida. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you before. I hope everything is all right. Is it?"

"Yes, don't worry, Zorro. You cannot be everywhere at the same time. Only God can do that."

Zorro walked a few steps to get closer to Victoria, ignoring Esteban, coming between them. Esteban stepped back to give them some space, visibly annoyed by the interruption.

"Here, mi amor. Another one for your collection," Zorro said, placing the second rose in her hand with the other.

"I often wondered if that was where you got your roses from: Don Alejandro's garden."

"Everybody knows Don Alejandro has the best flowers in Los Angeles. And you, my dear, deserve only the best," Zorro said kissing her free hand. "I'm sure he doesn't mind."

She smiled then, satisfied with that explanation.

"So, you have been stealing flowers from my uncle," Esteban said, serious. He unsheathed his Toledo sword without much thinking, almost like an automatic move as he was so used to fight anybody for the flimsiest of reasons it didn't really matter what it was. Surprised by his own move, he found himself facing Zorro with his sword up and ready for a duel and his bruised ribs hurting badly.

What the heck. If what I heard about him is true, he is not going to hurt me, he thought, staring at him with determination.

"Put that down, please. I'm not fighting with you," Zorro said ignoring the sword pointing at him, but Esteban insisted.

"Yes, you are," he said, waving his sword's tip close to Zorro's masked face, adopting the on-guard position.

"Put that down," Zorro repeated, starting to lose his patience, but Esteban insisted like a spoiled brat.

"No. Come on, show me."

"Put that sword down NOW!" Zorro shouted then, startling Victoria, who jolted in surprise. She had never heard Zorro using that imperative tone before. It was harsh, authoritarian, and had a ring to it that should prompt any listeners to follow at once whatever instructions they were given, or else.

Esteban sheathed his sword immediately, obedient like a well-trained dog.

"All right. This is silly, I know. I don't really want to fight you, Zorro, of course not. Actually, what I would like to ask you is to practice with you at some point, in a friendly manner, so maybe I could learn some new fencing skills from a master. Of course, I would never use whatever techniques you can teach me against you, I swear."

"We'll see about that if you behave, señor De la Vega. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to my fiancée. Alone," he remarked.

Victoria looked at him, surprised again. It was the first time he had used that term to refer to her in public, and it sounded so nice. So nice indeed.

"There's the door," Zorro said, pointing at it, turning then his back on Esteban to concentrate on Victoria.

Esteban sent a last embarrassed look to her, blushing, and walked outside without looking back, like a dog with the tail between his legs.

"Where were we?" Zorro said, taking her hands in his.

"Fiancée," was all she could think of.

"My fiancée, indeed," he said, leaning over to find her lips. When he did, embracing her, she melted in his arms and let go of the roses in her hand to find his shoulder, lost in such delicious kiss.

See, Esteban? She's mine, and only mine.

ZZZZZ

A.N – only after I wrote and re-read that "Put that sword down NOW!" I realized it sounded familiar. Try with "Cookie" instead of sword. Some may know what I am talking about, LOL. (If you don't, Google it)

For popular demand I changed "Green finger" for "Green thumb" in chapter one. In British English we use "green fingers" instead of thumb as Americans do. But, as I used the singular, you were right: "finger" is wrong. Nobody says "a green finger." To me, as Spanish, neither of them make any sense. We don't have green appendages to be good gardeners, hahahaha. I always found that term funny, anyway.

Thank you dear readers for you kind reviews. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Much more conflict on its way, of course, but I still have to write it, so it may take a while.