Arranged Alliance

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My name is Gloria Galindo. I'm the younger sister of Miguel Galindo, although it's only by three minutes, he's still older. "Good morning Gloria." my brother says. "Good morning Miguel." I say as he kisses my cheek. Taking his seat at the head of the table, with Emily next to him on one side and our mother beside him on the other side and me beside Emily. I look up from my plate of fruit and see Devante come out to join us. Emily and my mother, Dita are both looking down at their plates, silently and Miguel asks "You heard anything else about my son?" We all look at Devante and he says "Los Olvidados. Adelita is their leader. She's the one that has your son." he says. We all look at Miguel and he asks "What is she wanting?" Devante sighs and says "We don't know. Hopefully we will hear from her soon." he says and Emily gets up and walks back into the house. I look at Miguel and say "I got her."

Walking into the house, I find her in Cristobal's nursery, holding his favorite blanket, tears in her eyes. "Em?" I ask. She turns to me and I wrap my arms around my sister-in-law as she sobs. "Miguel will find him and he'll be home safe before you know it." I tell her. "I hope so." she tells me. I can't imagine what is going through her head. She gets calmed down and we head into the office where Miguel, Devante and Dita had moved to and I hear Miguel yelling. Emily and I walk in and I hear Miguel say "You lied to us. All our lives, you and father lied to us." I look at him and ask "Lied about what?" Miguel looks at our mother and asks "Would you like to tell her?" Our mother doesn't say anything but looks down at her hands. Miguel looks at me and says "Our loving parents lied to us about our brother Cristobal." he tells me. I look at her confused and then he says "Apparently our brother didn't die of pneumonia." he tells me. I look at our mother and she still won't speak. "What happened to our brother?" I ask. "Lobo Sonora Cartel took him from out from under our noses. Told your father that they wanted money and for your father to give up the empire that he was trying to build and your father wouldn't give them what they wanted so they killed your brother." she tells me. "He was a baby. Why didn't Papa do something?" I ask. "Because he was trying to build an empire, Mija." she says. I look at her shocked and say "That was our brother? His empire was more important than his family?" I ask. She looks at me and I say "Of course it was." Looking at Miguel, before I can say anything he says "I am not our father." I look at our mother and say "I know you're not." Miguel's office phone rings and Devante answers. Putting the phone on speaker, "This is Miguel Galindo." my brother says. Adelita is on the other end of the line and tells Miguel that she wants seven million pesos and he agrees. We head out to the border and two days later, we are home with Cristobal.

Sitting in the living room watching Emily with Cristobal, I am sitting with my brother and our mother is on the other side of the room. "I'm proud of you Mano." I tell him. He looks at me and I say "You put your family first and you're negotiating with Adelita to keep it from being more violent than it has to be. And Em, she's stood by you. You two are an amazing couple. I want that someday." I tell him. "You'll have it." he tells me and I shake my head no. "Why not?" he asks. "The minute someone finds out that I'm your sister, they run for the hills, Miguel." I say as I stand up. I walk over and kiss the top of my nephew's head before walking into my room, laying down and sobbing.

Back in the living room, Dita looks at Miguel and says "Did your father ever tell you about his plans for Gloria?" Miguel looks at her and shakes his head no. "He knew that building an empire, you can't trust anyone outside the circle. For a mate for her, he wanted someone strong. Someone that would protect her. Someone that is not in the cartel." she tells him. Miguel looks at her and she says "Talk to Marcus Alvarez. Your father spoke to him about an arrangement for your sister." she tells him.

The next morning, Miguel is meeting with Alvarez. "What can I do for you Miguel?" Alvarez asks. "My mother said something last night about an arrangement that you and my father had. One regarding my sister." Miguel says. "I know what you're talking about Mano." Marcus says. "What arrangement did my father make with you?" he asks. "Your Pop wanted to make sure your sister had someone that would protect her. Someone that would know how to handle being associated with her family. So, he picked a husband for her. Before he died, he asked me to make sure that when you came to me about this, that I would help make sure what he wanted, was carried out." Marcus says. "Who did he pick for her?" Miguel asks. "My cousin Obispo." Marcus says. "Bishop?" Miguel asks and Marcus nods. "So, where do we go from here?" Miguel asks. "You tell your sister?" Marcus asks and Miguel shakes his head no. "Tell her. I'll let Bishop know it's time. Call me when you talk to her and we'll get the ball rolling." Marcus says. "Easier said than done." Miguel says and Marcus pats Miguel's shoulder.

Miguel walks into the house and sees me sitting on the floor with Emily and Cristobal. Dita is sitting to the side watching us. Miguel kisses the top of my head and then kisses Emily softly and I can't help but smile. He sits on the floor with us and says "I need to talk to you." I look up at him and he starts explaining. "Our father set up an arranged marriage for you. He didn't want you to be alone but he wanted someone that could handle being associated with this family." he says and I look at him shocked. "What? No. I'm not doing that." I tell him as I stand up. "Mana, listen..." he starts. "No Miguel, I won't listen. Our father put his empire before our family. I won't do anything he wanted." I say. Dita speaks up "Gloria, your father wanted..." she starts and I cut her off. "No. You don't get a say in this Mother." I tell her. "Gloria, I think it's a good idea. You said yourself that you don't think you would find someone that could handle this family. The man father picked out is a good man. I've known him for years." he tells me. I look at him and he says "His name is Obispo Losa. He's the President of the Santo Padre charter of the Mayans MC. You know Marcus Alvarez?" he asks and I nod. "Obispo is his cousin." he tells me. I just look down at my hands. "He's a good man. You can trust him." he tells me. "Can I think about it? At least have some kind of say?" I ask. "Of course." he tells me.

I get up and head out to the patio. After a few minutes, Miguel comes out. "You okay?" he asks. "Yeah. It's just a lot to take in." I tell him. "I think this is a good idea." he tells me. I look at him and he says "He's a good man. He will respect you and protect you." he tells me. "Yeah. Okay." I tell him. "You'll go through with it?" he asks me. "Yes. But I get to meet him first. I don't want to meet my husband at the altar." I tell him. "That's fine. I'll set it up." he tells me. "And I don't want a wedding. I just want to find a Justice and get married." I tell him. "Gloria..." he starts. "No. I don't get a say in who I marry, at least let me have a say in how." I say. "Okay. But can I still give you away?" he asks. "I'd love that Mano." I say before he pulls me into a hug and we just sit.

Back at the Mayan clubhouse, Marcus walks in and walks up to Bishop. "Can we talk?" Bishop nods and they walk into Templo and close the doors. "What's going on?" Bishop asks. "Miguel Galindo came to me about his sister Gloria." Marcus says. "She know?" he asks. "He's telling her tonight." Marcus says. Bishop runs his hand down his face. "You still good with this Primo?" Marcus asks. "Yeah. I'm good." Bishop says before taking a drink of his beer. After sitting for a while, Marcus' phone rings. After getting off the phone, he looks at Bishop and says "She wants to meet you before the wedding." Bishop nods and says "That's fine." Marcus looks at him and says "You can back out if this ain't something you want Primo." Bishop shakes his head and says "It's good." Marcus pats Bishop on the shoulder before seeing himself out, leaving Bishop to his thoughts.