Chapter 9

ALEJANDRO IT HAD BEEN A LITTLE OVER THREE WEEKS SINCE MY MOM’S VISIT AND THINGS between Alana and I were less strained. Hugo was working out well as her personal bodyguard, and it made me feel more at ease to know that she never left the house without him. I didn’t spend much time around the house, but when I was there, I noticed that she appeared happier. We seemed to have come to an unspoken arrangement whereby we could be civil to each other when we were in the same room. She went out almost every day with the charity ladies and I supposed chugging champagne and cocktails every afternoon was a pretty good way for a spoiled princess to pass the time. I’d started to think she was finally content, until I’d overheard her and Magda talking earlier that morning. I’d heard her say she felt like a prisoner, always surrounded by armed guards, and how much she missed her place in New York. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have