CARMEN POV

His phone rang, cutting through the heavy silence in the car.

He exhaled, pulled his hand away from my thigh, and answered the call. The tension in the car remained—like a storm waiting to break.

He didn’t speak at first, just listened. Then:

“Okay,” he said simply, glancing at me before ending the call.

“That was your mom,” he added. “She’s not coming home tonight.”

I nodded. “Yeah. She called earlier,” I murmured, eyes glued to ...