Broken Bridges (Bridges Brothers Book 2)

by Lia Fairchild

  Pulling open the door, she twists back to face me. “I won’t bother you again, Mason. And I do wish you well.”

  I nod but don’t say anything because I don’t want to prolong this. And just as she’s about to step out, she turns back. “But I will see you at the Hirota Grand Opening party, right?”

  The gleam in her eye is disturbing and her question catches me off guard. I’d forgotten that was this week. The client came from our connection to The Meyers Group so of course Megan would be there.

  We both know I should be there too but given what just went down, I’ll need to rethink it. “I know my dad will be there, but I might have a conflict.”

  “The client will want to see you there…but I suppose that’s another mistake for you to make. Take care, Mason,” she says as she shuts the door.

  My fist and jaw clench simultaneously as I stare at the door. Don’t give her the power. I draw in a cleansing breath, head to my desk, and turn all my attention to recent mockups the architect sent me on one of our projects. It’s one of the best parts of my job—the planning stage. And as I review his notes and plans, I get excited for my own venture into taking a property and turning it into something beautiful…and profitable.

  ***

  Two hours later, I find myself outside Alex’s front door, ready to knock and get this thing over with. I dread coming face to face with Ari’s ex, even if I do want to rearrange his. Keeping my promise to help her has to take priority over my feelings, so I raise my fist to the door. I’m surprised by what faces me when he opens it. He is smaller than I imagined. I suppose most people think of a man who hits a woman as being big, but he is probably about five nine or ten and maybe a hundred and fifty pounds—still bigger than Ari, but I bet she holds her own with him.

  “Alex Gomez?”

  He ticks his head up. “What do you want?” I can hear loud talking in the background, like a TV or radio, and I can’t help but wonder what everyday life was like for Ari living here.

  “I’m a friend of Ari’s and I—”

  “I know who you are.”

  “You do?”

  “I saw you guys here, that night. Good thing I got those locks changed, right?” His wry grin holds no anger. The response throws me, so I don’t answer right away. When his eyes drift over me to the street, I see a hint of uneasiness in his gaze.

  “Nervous about something?”

  “Naw. What do you want, man? Ari has anything to say to me, you tell her to come talk to me.”

  I lean in so there’s no doubt in my words. “I’m speaking for Ari now.”

  “Yeah? Well, I don’t have shit to say to you.”

  He moves to close the door and I put my forearm against it. “Hang on, Alex. She just wants her stuff back. Anything you paid for I’ll pay you, but her personal things…she needs them.” I pause to see if I’m getting through. I don’t know this guy so he could be messing with me, but he almost seems to have a little sympathy. “Come on. What does it matter to you anyway?”

  He shrugs. “It doesn’t. And she can have her shit back, but she needs to come get it. She needs to ask me personally. And apologize for fucking up my car.”

  “Not going to happen.”

  “Then I don’t know what to tell you, man.” He tilts his head toward my arm to indicate I move.

  For about five seconds, I contemplate busting the door down and forcing him to do what I’m asking. He must have seen it in my eyes because he pulls the door back so my arm comes off. Then he steps out and closes the door behind him. “Don’t get any ideas, bro. You wouldn’t want to mess up your fancy little life.” He’s right in my face now and gives me the once-over. “You’re out of your element, gringo, and we both know it.”

  He’s probably right but that doesn’t mean I don’t have options. “Then how about I call the police?”

  A smirk forms on his smug face and he tilts his head. “Go for it,” he says, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and holding it up. “And I’ll just show them Ari destroying my property.”

  I look around the quiet neighborhood and try to imagine what went down that day. I have to know if he’s bluffing so I say, “Let me see the video.”

  He kinks his mouth to the side. “It’s not pretty, man…but okay.” He taps a few times on it, then turns the face to me. The view is a ways back but I can hear her distressed voice before it zooms in on her. My chest tightens. She probably sounds angry to the average person hearing it, but the fear and frustration is evident to me and my heart clenches. When the camera pans closer, it shows Ari taking a rake to the hood of the car and banging away. Alex was right and I look away. “That’s enough.”

  I back up a few steps and with my hands on my hips I say, “This isn’t over. You caused this whole thing. How you treated her… What you did to her…” Steam infuses my head and I raise an arm and step toward him again.

  “Mr. Gomez?” a stern but quiet voice says to my right.

  We both look over to find an elderly woman standing on her lawn.

  “Hey, Mrs. Weinstein.”

  “You said there’d be no more disturbances.”

  “Just a salesman, Mrs. Weinstein, so cool your jets and go back inside.”

  The old woman snarls at us and walks to her front porch where she stays with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Guess you better get going, man.”

  I hesitate and weigh my options—which are none at this point—before walking away.

  “I’m not a monster,” I hear behind me but keep walking. “You ask Ari. We were good together most of the time. Some shit went down, but we were solid.”

  I keep my focus on my car as I round the front and go to my door. I don’t give him a second glance as I enter and then drive off. I want to forget what he looks like, the sound of his voice, how he says her name. But the whole way home all I can see is his face and my failure to do what I promised Ari I’d do.

  Chapter 18

  Ari

  I count my tips from this afternoon and hope I have enough. I appreciate Mr. Phan giving me a job, but he doesn’t really need me. I’ve only worked a few shifts so far and it’s been slow each time. Though Mason offered to work out rides for me, I can’t let him take care of me. Well, more than he already is.

  After I pay the driver and he pulls out of the driveway, I turn and my breath catches. I glance left and then right, my heart racing with both fear and anger. “How did you find me?”

  He shoves his hands into his pockets and shuffles toward me where I’m frozen in place. “God, are you really that afraid of me, mi petarda?”

  I cringe at the nickname he used to call me. My firecracker. “What do you want, Alex?”

  “I just want to talk.” He glances toward the front door. “Can we go inside?”

  I scoff and roll my eyes. “Said the wolf to la oveja.”

  “Baby, you might be a sheep now, but you never were with me.”

  For some reason his words get to me. I fight the burn behind my eyes as a flood of memories hit me. I refuse to cry in front of him. I walk toward him to show I am unafraid. “I asked how you found me.”

  “Your sugar daddy didn’t tell you?”

  My brows knit before I can stop them and he sees it.

  “Guess not yet.” He grins. “He paid me a visit today. Pretty easy for Sergio to run his plates.”

  Great. If Alex is here, I can only guess things didn’t go well for Mason. Guilt pours down my spine that he took that on, but the emotion quickly turns to fear and I lunge forward and grab his arm. “What did you do?”

  “Tranquila, mama. Nothing happened.” He laughs to himself and rubs his jaw. “But he did get to see your performance on my phone.”

  “Hijo de Puta!” I raise my hand, but the smirk on his face causes me to step back. It’s exactly what he wants. I purse my lips and breathe deeply through my nose. “What do you want from me, Alex?” My voice is shaky, but I feel in control. When he doesn’t answer, I pull my phon
e from my pocket and pretend to read a text. “Mason will be home soon, so can we please get this over with?”

  “Home?” He says it sarcastically and then backs away toward the door, where he was standing when I pulled up, and I notice a bag sitting on the ground. It’s too small to be my stuff, so I stay where I’m at until he reaches it and picks it up. He turns and offers it to me.

  “What is it?”

  “A peace offering.”

  “If you wanted peace between us, you’d have brought my things.”

  He walks slowly toward me, the bag outstretched in front of him. “I didn’t bring your things…because I want you to come home.”

  I snatch the bag from his grasp. “Never in a million years.” Then I open the bag and look in. The tears I’ve fought so hard to keep at bay puddle in my eyes, a few spilling over. I reach inside and pull out the doll my mother gave me when I was a child. It looks the same, old and worn, just like the last time I saw it, but looking at it always reminds me of her. I hold it to my chest and look at him. “Thank you,” I whisper.

  I take the doll to the short brick wall that lines the front of the house and sit with it, stroking the thick dark hair. Last time I saw this was when I packed it away after moving in with Alex. I suppose seeing it now is affecting me more because I’m upset and I’ve been thinking lately that I’d never get any of my stuff back. Lost in thought, I don’t notice Alex has taken a seat next to me. I turn and lock eyes with him, the man I once knew looking back at me.

  “I’m sorry, Ari.” His voice is soft and filled with remorse.

  I only nod and then look back down to the doll. We sit in silence for a moment, both waiting the other out. I finally give in and say what I know I need to say. “I’m sorry too.”

  “You don’t have to say that.”

  “I know.” My tone is firm when I turn my attention back to him. “Maybe you don’t even deserve it, but I did wrong too and I’m owning up to that.”

  “Thank—”

  “But I swear to God, Alex, if you don’t give me back my fucking belongings, I’m going to bring you down.”

  He chuckles in my face. “There she is. I was hoping that strait-laced dude didn’t suck el especia out of you.”

  This is going nowhere and I want him gone before Mason gets home. “Why are you doing this to me? If you cared at all…”

  “I still care, Ari. That’s why I’m here.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve changed. I’m clean and going to therapy. Shit, anger management too.” He points a finger at me. “You know, you should look into that too.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  He cocks his head. “That’s it?”

  “Sorry, I’m glad you’re getting help. I’m happy for you. But if you’re moving on, then why won’t you let me?”

  “’Cause I’m not moving on. Mi corazón aún te pertenece.”

  Dammit. That’s the last thing I wanted him to say. Telling me that his heart is mine, that he’s changed like none of this happened. Like I wasn’t driven to the streets after he laid a hand on me? I take a moment with my response, and then I know exactly what to say. “My mamá told me forgiveness is one of God’s greatest gifts.” Alex touches my hand that rests on my thigh and I pull it away. “Someday, I will forgive you. But this isn’t that day.”

  He hops off the wall and faces me. “Hey, I can respect that. But I’m not giving up.”

  I sigh and glance down at the doll in my hand. “And you’re keeping my stuff for what…ransom? Insurance?”

  “It’s not like that. I know you’re coming home to me…where you belong. All your things will be waiting for you.”

  I set the doll beside me and stand to look him in the eye. “Alex, you may have changed, but so have I. I’m not coming back.” I don’t know how to make it any clearer than that.

  “Little niña ingenua, you haven’t changed that much.”

  “I’m not naïve!”

  “You’re kidding yourself if you think you belong with this guy. You and me…we are the same. We live in the moment. We know where we came from. This dude can’t make you happy and you…well, you’re just going to make his life…”

  I yank my brows together, scowling at his implication. “What?”

  “Baby, you’re hot…in all the best ways, but you’re a lot to handle. I don’t think your man is up to the task.”

  That stings. Partly because maybe it’s true. It doesn’t matter what I say at this point. Alex has always been as stubborn as me. “Goodbye, Alex.” I keep my eyes pinned to his until he averts them with a veil of indifference.

  “You’ll come around,” he says, backing away.

  I turn and grab the doll and head to the door as Alex walks down the sidewalk to his car. Just as I’m opening the front door, I hear him again.

  “Your man saw a little piece of you on that clip he wasn’t too happy about. Once it comes in real life and he kicks you to the curb, I’ll be waiting.”

  I pretend I don’t hear as I walk in and softly close the door I want to slam. I lean against the back of it and work to control my breathing while letting the tears slide down my cheeks. I’ll allow myself this moment, to let go of the emotions and pull myself together before Mason gets home.

  I take a long calming bath and change into comfy clothes, finishing up just as Mason comes through the door. I don’t want to be in a bad mood but I am…because Alex brought reality to this little world I was enjoying for a while.

  I quickly set aside my mood when I see Mason. I sense the tension in his gait, the quick glance of his gaze, and his short greeting. “How was work?” he says, heading to the kitchen.

  “Good, but slow.” I follow him over and stand behind the counter. “Maybe the weekends will be busier.”

  “Yeah.” He’s staring into the fridge and then closes it without getting anything.

  I slip onto a stool and wait for him to turn around. I knew the moment I saw Alex I couldn’t tell Mason he was here, but I need to know what happened with those two. “How was your day?”

  “Busy.” He opens a drawer and pulls out a take-out menu. “Pizza tonight?”

  I lift one shoulder and let it fall. “Sure. Busy is good, though, right?”

  Mason drops his head like he’s studying the menu when we both know we’re going to order the Monterey. With mushrooms, onions, and artichoke hearts, it’s one of the rare things we agree on totally. “In theory, yes. Even without The Meyers Group, business is still coming in. Add in the extra work of closing on this new property we’re flipping and things get crazy.” He sets the menu down next to his phone. “I’ll call in a bit unless you’re starving.”

  I slip off the stool and meet him as he comes around the bar. “I can wait.” I take one of his hands and lace my fingers in his. “Everything okay?”

  “Just a long day.” Our eyes lock and I see something new that disturbs me, and I know I put it there. Just like Alex said. Because of me, he’s upset and he won’t tell me.

  I want to be annoyed he’s not telling me about his visit with Alex, but now I’m keeping something from him too. The problem is, my mind is spinning with why he isn’t telling me. Is it because he feels like he failed? Or, worse, he’s upset at what he heard. What he saw. The reality Alex mentioned has set in and now Mason is stuck in this situation…with me. Because now that I analyze it, his is the face of regret. The truth neither of us wants to verbalize stings, floods my eyes with liquid. “I’m sorry.” I close my eyes, a weak attempt at stopping the tears.

  His hand brushes down my hair. He caresses my cheek and then tips my chin up with his fingers. “Hey, what have you got to be sorry about?”

  I move my head back and forth, the words on the tip of my tongue but I’m too selfish to say them. “I don’t know,” I whisper. “I just…feel bad, adding to everything you’ve got going on.”

  A breathy laugh escapes him and he brushes his lips against mine. “Currently, you�
�re the best part of it all.”

  “Right.” I let my forehead fall to his chest and then I feel his hand on my back.

  “It’s true, Ari. You’re what makes the busy feel…good, instead of stressful.”

  He might be kidding himself now, but I won’t ruin things for him. “Mason, promise me you won’t do anything about Alex. Just let me handle it.”

  His brows meet in the middle. “You said you trusted me.”

  “I do. But I can’t have you taking care of my problems. Not anymore. Please.”

  His expression goes thoughtful and he seems to be debating what to say. Maybe he’s wondering if he should tell me about seeing Alex. But then he smiles. “Let’s take a shower.”

  “What?”

  He takes my hand and tugs me down the hall. “We’ve both had a long day. We need to relax and clear our heads before we have any more deep discussions.”

  I stop us before the door, already feeling disarmed, a teasing smile forming on my lips. “Well, I already took a bath.”

  He unbuttons his shirt, pulls it open, and slides it past his shoulders, obviously not above playing dirty as my eyes so easily give in and take a gander. “You don’t want to join me?” His seductive tone shoots to my nerve endings and chills slide down my spine.

  “I didn’t say that.” I reach over and assist him with undoing his pants, my mind now hijacked by the hard edges of his chest and stomach staring at me.

  When his pants fall to the ground and he steps out of them, I lift my shirt over my head, my long thick hair falling back and forward, slightly covering my bare breasts.

  He reaches out and brushes the pieces over my shoulder so he has an unobstructed view and then his chest rises with the full breath he takes in. “I can never get over how gorgeous you are.”

  His reaction to me causes my blood to pump faster. I step toward him and wrap my arms around his neck, pressing our bodies together and looking up to him. “Let’s go get wet.”

  “Damn,” he says on a breath. His arms come around my waist, and he lifts my feet off the ground. He walks the couple feet to the bathroom before setting me down. “I forgot to tell you. Well, ask you. Would you be my date this Friday night?”