Arranged Alliance

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next day, we are sitting at the table on the patio eating breakfast when Miguel comes out to take his place at the table. Looking at me he says "I just spoke to Bishop. We'll go after breakfast for you to meet him." he tells me and I nod. "Thank you." I say and he smiles softly. After eating, I go to my room and finish getting ready to go when there's a knock on the door. "Come in." I say. Emily walks in holding my nephew and says "You look nice." I smile softly and say "Thanks. Em?" I ask and she sits on the side of my bed. "What do you think about this?" I ask her. "Gloria, I understand why your father set this up. But Bishop, he's a good man. An honorable man." she tells me. "You've met him?" I ask. "Yes. I have." she tells me. "I'm not doing this because of my parents. The only reason I am agreeing to this is because I respect the man my brother has become and he's asking me to do this." I tell her. "I know. But this is a good thing. I promise." she tells me and I hug her before we head out.

Pulling up to the clubhouse, Miguel and I walk up and see a man standing on the front porch. "Taza. Hola." Miguel says as he shakes Taza's hand. "Hola Miguel." Taza says. "Bishop around?" Miguel asks. "In Templo, waiting for you." Taza says and leads us inside the clubhouse and to the room that Taza called Templo. We walk inside and Taza leaves us alone with Bishop. "Miguel." Bishop says as he greets my brother. "Hola Bishop." my brother says. "This is my sister Gloria. Mana, this is Bishop." he tells me. "Hola Bishop." I say and he kisses my cheek. "Hola Princesa." he says. Bishop pulls out a chair for me, next to where he was sitting and takes his seat. "I'll let you two talk." Miguel says before seeing his way out. "How are you with all of this Querida?" he asks. "Still figuring it out. I didn't know about this until yesterday." I say. "I know it's a lot to take in but I want you to know, I'll protect you." he tells me. "I believe you. When are you wanting to get married?" I ask. "That's up to you sweetheart." he tells me. "I don't want a wedding. Just find a justice and get married." I tell him. "We can do a wedding if that's what you want." he tells me. "I never wanted a wedding. I don't see the point in spending thousands of dollars on a dress that my mother will pick out and be completely uncomfortable just to wear it one time and have to rub noses with people at the reception that I don't know. People that are only there because they know my brother or my parents." I tell him. "If you want to just go in front of a justice, we'll make it happen. How does your brother feel about that?" he asks. "One thing about me and my brother, we completely support each other and are loyal to each other." I tell him. "Marcus said you were younger than Miguel." he says. "Only by three minutes. We're twins. But he makes sure I know he owns those three minutes." I tell him laughing. "Bishop, our father raised us to believe that blood makes you related but loyalty makes you family. My brother and I are loyal to each other and he's the only one that I rely on." I tell him. "What about your parents?" he asks. "After finding out our parents' secret, I...I realized they weren't as loyal as we thought they were." I tell him and he looks at me concerned. "What happened Sweetheart?" he asks. "We'd been told our entire lives that our older brother Cristobal died at six months old of pneumonia. We found out that another cartel kidnapped him and made demands of our father and he refused to meet those demands because his empire was more important than his child and our mother did nothing to stop it so I don't trust either of them. My brother, however, did what was needed to get his son back and my sister-in-law stood by him in doing so. That's loyalty. I want that." I tell him. "You'll have that Querida." he tells me. "I hope so." I tell him. He takes my hand and says "I want you to be okay with all of this." I look into his eyes and say "I am. Are you okay with all of this?" I ask. "I am. I've been alone for a long time. I'm ready to settle down and start a life with someone. I'm ready to have a familia of my own." he tells me. "Me too." I tell him. Placing his hand on mine, he says "I'll be loyal to you." I smile softly and say "My brother was right. You are a good man." I tell him. We sit and look at each other for a minute and I stand. When I stand, he stands as well. I place my hand on the side of his face and he leans into my touch, his eyes never leaving mine. We just look at each other for a moment and I say "Bishop?" He takes my hand that was on his cheek and asks "What is it sweetheart?" I sigh. "Will you do something for me?" I ask. "Anything." he says and I smile softly. "I don't want our first kiss to be at the altar." I say and he smiles softly. Placing one hand on my hip, he cups my face with the other and softly presses his lips to mine before deepening the kiss just a little. When we separate, I place one more soft kiss to his lips and say "Thank you." He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close and says "I got you Bebita." I wrap my arms around him and we just stand there, holding each other before finally walking out into the main room of the clubhouse...hand in hand.

Walking out into the main room, my brother is at the bar with Taza. "Everybody, get over here." Bishop says and everyone walks over, including their 'mascot' who I learned is named Chucky and a young woman named Letti that is Coco's daughter. "Guys, this is Gloria Galindo. She's Miguel's sister..." he starts before looking at me and saying "...and my Old Lady." Everyone looks at him shocked. "Their father made an arrangement before he died that he wanted someone from our club to marry her and I volunteered." Bishop tells them and I softly squeeze his hand. "Nice to meet you guys." I say after they all introduce themselves. "So, when are you two getting married?" Hank asks. Bishop looks at me and I say "We can do it tomorrow if that's okay?" I ask. "That's fine sweetheart." he tells me. "That doesn't leave time to plan a wedding." Angel says. "We're not having a wedding." Bishop says. "Why not?" Letti asks. "A wedding is what my mother wanted. She's lied to us all our lives so what better way to say fuck you than to not let her plan a wedding and get married the way I want to?" I ask and you see Miguel and Bishop both smirk. The rest of the guys look at me shocked. "What? Didn't think I had it in me? I am a Galindo." I say. "Only until tomorrow." Miguel says and I stick my tongue out at him and the rest of the guys laugh. "Bishop, be careful with her. She can be a handful." my brother says. "How's that?" Bishop asks, looking at me. "He says I am but I had good reason." I tell him, defending myself. "I gotta hear this." Taza says. "Okay. Miguel is my twin. He's only older by about three minutes but at one time, he thought that he could control everything about me once father died. Even told me what to wear. I'm more comfortable in jeans, t-shirt and my boots. But he thought that I should have been dressing more professional." I say. "She proved me wrong." he says. Bishop and the rest of the guys look at me and I say "I called a friend of mine who owned her own salon and had her color my hair." I tell them and they all look at me confused. "How was that being a handful?" Coco asks. "Because she colored her hair purple." Miguel says and we start laughing. "What's wrong with a few little streaks?" Angel asks. "Oh no. Not only was it not just purple, but it was bright, electric purple. Almost neon purple but it was not just a few streaks. It was my entire head of hair. Not only did Miguel flip out and completely lose his shit but our mother almost had a stroke. It was epic. Two for one. And I kept it purple until it finally faded out." I tell them. "Wow. Just full of surprises." Creeper says. "Oh you have no idea. I can be fun. But I also don't put up with shit. I stand up for myself and I don't let anyone run over me. If I have a problem with you? I'll come to you and talk to you. I'm not one of those crazy chicks and I'm not weak. I don't need a man to handle my shit. Do I Miguel?" I ask. "Nope." my brother says. "Do we get to hear this?" Angel asks. "She was dating this guy back right after we graduated college. She found out he was cheating on her and when she confronted him, he smacked her." Miguel says. "What did you do?" Bishop asks me. "I broke his hand and laid him on his ass and told him if he ever touched me again that I would make sure there wasn't enough DNA left to even know he existed." I tell them and Bishop pulls me closer. We spend the next little bit talking to the guys before Bishop walks me out to my brother's car. "I'll see you tomorrow Querida." he says. "Tomorrow." I tell him before he kisses me softly and I get into the car to leave. "So, what do you think?" Miguel asks. "I think I'll be okay with it." I tell him and he grabs my hand and smiles softly. "Love you sister." he says. "Love you too brother." I say back with a soft smile on my face.