Orlando: Boyle Heights #4

by Elizabeth Reyes

  As usual for a Monday, the county offices were packed. The hearing had gone well, but Danica still wasn’t clear. She’d have to be back next month after jumping through a few more hoops, but Blaine promised her they were getting close. Danica walked slowly through the long parking lot, contemplating what lay ahead. Sure, she was closer to being free of her past mistakes but not close enough. “Will you give me just a minute, please?”

  Once again Danica had been so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed the person passing alongside her wasn’t passing her but walking with her. She glanced up, instantly feeling annoyed, despite Ted looking as dapper and handsome as always in his crisp navy-blue suit. “I don’t have a minute,” she said as she continued walking. “I have to get to work.”

  “Where are you parked?” She motioned to the parking lot ahead of them, even though she was parked way over at the very end of it. “I’ll walk you to your car, then. I’ll keep this short. I promise.”

  Looking straight ahead, Danica crossed her arms in front of her, refraining from rolling her eyes. But she reminded herself to be mindful that, if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t even be this close to getting her felony charges reduced. Not for a long time anyway because it’d be that long before she could afford to do so on her own. So, she’d at least be civil, but that was the most she’d give him.

  “Look. I know I fucked up, okay? I should’ve never put my hands on you. I should’ve never spoken to you the way I did. I should’ve never tried to dictate your life. I’ll do anything to make up for it. We can start over from the beginning, and it’ll be different. I know what it’s like now to lose you, and I’d do anything to keep it from happening again.”

  Like make sure to never give Danica the chance to sneak out of his house the way she had? Danica chuckled, shaking her head even as he went on. It was the same thing she’d heard before. Ted continued to make every promise under the sun and pleaded for a second chance the whole walk to her car. By the time they reached it, she’d heard all about how much he’d changed. How he’d seen the error of his ways and he just wanted a chance to prove it to her. Civil. Remember how bad you need Blaine.

  “We’re too different, Ted,” Danica finally replied as she reached for the handle of her car door. “You’re this up-and-coming politician, and I’m a hood rat, remember?” She gasped when he dropped to a knee.

  “Look at me,” he said, holding out his hands to either side of him, his expression as pained as she’d ever seen it. “I’m begging you to forgive me, Danica. I was an idiot and I see it now. I swear. But I’ve been so fucking miserable ever since you left. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I need you back, baby. Please. We can do it slowly. You don’t have to move back—”

  “Stop.” Danica shook her head, glancing around, hoping his making a spectacle hadn’t caught the eye of too many, and spoke through her teeth. “I can’t, okay.”

  “Danica, please.” He reached out for her, his red-rimmed eyes all out flooding. “Don’t do this to me.”

  Panicking, Danica took his hand. “Stand up,” she hissed, glancing around again as he stood up, swatting away his tears. “Stop this right now, Ted.” Only he would go to these lengths to get his way. “This isn’t gonna happen, okay. You need to stop with this. Stop following me—”

  “I didn’t follow you here.” He wiped at the corner of his eye, glancing away with a sniffle, looking a little embarrassed suddenly. “I work here, remember?” He motioned to the city offices adjacent to the courthouse. “Blaine told me you’d be in court today, but it’s all he’d tell me. Said, if I wanted to know any details about the case, I’d have to ask you. I was looking out, and I saw you walking out of the courthouse. I figured it might be my only chance. But it’s not the only reason why I’m here. Regardless of what’s going on with us, I still care about you, baby, and I wanted to know how it went.”

  Danica nodded, remembering how the thought of possibly running into him whenever she’d have to appear in court again had crossed her mind when she’d first broken things off, especially given who her attorney was. But there’d been so many other things inundating her mind since then that she’d forgotten all about it. Only because she wouldn’t be a complete ingrate, and she had nothing to lose in doing so, she gave him a quick update on what was going on with her case. “There are still some loose ends that need to be taken care of before the DA will sign off on agreeing to reduce my felony to a misdemeanor. I come back to court next month.”

  No sooner was she done explaining a little more about what needed to be done in the next month than he was back to trying to convince her to give him another chance. “I can give you your space.” Ted sniffed again, though he’d since managed to compose himself. “It’s what I’ve been doing, right? It’s just, that seeing you again . . .” He shook his head. “I had no idea how hard this would be. I’m just asking for one last chance.”

  Dani shook her head but not as adamantly as she wanted to. He might be an asshole, but she kept reminding herself his son was the one helping her get her life back in order—at Ted’s expense. Still, she didn’t want him using the excuse of wanting to know how her case was going, so she’d give him something. “I’ll talk to Blaine and tell him it’s okay for him to share with you what’s going on with my case.”

  Ted stared at her, looking hurt. He was a jerk, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what that meant. There’d be no excuse for him to be staking out the courthouse next time she was there. His eyes flooded again, and it was all Danica could take. “I gotta go, Ted.”

  “Can I just hug you good-bye? One last time?” Leaning into him because at that point she’d do anything to get the hell out of there already, Danica meant to just make it a quick one. Of course, Ted wouldn’t make it that easy for her. He pulled her to him, bringing his arms completely around and embracing her firmly, the smell of his expensive cologne inundating her senses. Not wanting to make a scene and jerk herself away from him, she gave in instead but refused to hug him as he hugged her. Instead, she tapped his back gently, rolling her eyes in the process. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear. “So much.” Just like that, she went completely tense again then pulled away. He wiped at the corner of his eye but turned away, avoiding looking at her. “Take care,” he said before walking away in a hurry.

  Danica stood there stunned for a moment before getting in her car. She never would’ve believed it had she not seen it with her own eyes. Her heartless, controlling, hard-ass ex had actually fallen to his knees and begged through tears. Delia would be floored when she told her, or she might think the very thing Danica had when he first fell to his knees. That it was all a contrived act to convince her he was truly a broken but changed man. Just like all the other times he’d pissed her off and he had to backpedal. Though she had to admit the tears did seem genuine and spontaneous, as did his embarrassed demeanor after the fact. Danica decided she’d wait until she got home tonight to tell Delia about this. She needed time to let the whole thing simmer.

  For once, since things had taken a turn between her and Orlando, Danica was actually lost in thought about something else. She thought about it all the way to the shop where she was meeting Orlando to pick up Oreo. Since she’d broken things off with Ted, the first few times he’d called her and begged for a second chance, she hadn’t bought that he was genuinely remorseful about the way he’d treated her. She hadn’t believed for a second that he would actually try and change. Only that he’d say and do anything to change her mind about him. But after today, his apology and sincerity about at least wanting to try and change for the sake of getting her back, and holding on to her, felt truly genuine. Unfortunately for Ted, it was too little too late. Pulling into the shop’s parking lot, Danica smiled at the reminder of just how little and how late Ted’s sincere apology was. By the time she walked into the shop, her heart was all aflutter as it had been since the morning Orlando told her about breaking things off with Felicia. She hadn’t even finished parking, and any thou
ghts of Ted and his emotional plea were already a very distant second.

  Orlando

  As usual, the moment Orlando had spotted Dani in the parking lot, he’d been smiling from ear to ear. He’d rushed to wash his hands because he could hardly wait to get them on her. He was done being discreet at work. It wasn’t something she’d asked him to do. They hadn’t even addressed it, but he’d just assumed she might feel a little uncomfortable. Except idiots like Alonso just weren’t getting the fucking hint about her being off limits, so he was taking matters into his own hands and putting it out there. Once it was out there, he wouldn’t have to be so touchy-feely, but they’d know, and his warnings about getting all cute with her would be for an even bigger reason now. He took a quick call at the counter in the lobby, glad Alonso and a few of the other guys were within eyesight of the counter. “Hey.” He smiled as she walked in, and he hung up the phone.

  “Hey.” She smiled back, ambling toward the counter where he stood.

  “You’re here earlier than I thought you’d be.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall then turned to her as she reached him. “How’d it go?” He lowered his voice a bit. “Did you get the charges reduced?”

  “Not yet.” She shook her head. “But my attorney assures me we’re close. My next court date is next month.”

  “Good.” Pulling her to him, he saw her eyes widen a bit “It’ll happen.”

  Before she could put too much thought into what he was doing right there in the middle of the lobby, he planted a kiss on her so deep he could feel his dick come alive. He knew this would surprise her since he’d yet to even hold her hand at the shop. But the satisfaction of knowing the guys had likely witnessed their public display of affection was fleeting, because as he leaned in to kiss her neck, he stopped cold and pulled back to search her eyes. “Is that men’s cologne I’m smelling? Seeing the obvious panic in her eyes had him widening his. He stared at her as she pulled her blouse to her nose, taking in the obvious lingering stench on herself. She started to shake her head but stopped when her eyes locked with Orlando’s. “I ran into Ted after court.”

  Feeling his brows jump, Orlando’s struggled to stay cool. “And now you reek of his cologne? Why was he even there?”

  Now Danica shook her head adamantly. “He works at the city offices,” she explained quickly. “They’re right next door to the courthouse and share the same parking lot. I ran into him in the parking lot.”

  His head spun with all kinds of questions, but he spat out the most pressing one. “Why the fuck do you smell like him, Dani?”

  “He hugged me good-bye.” She shrugged as if trying to make less of it. “And he’s always worn strong cologne.” She tugged her blouse again, taking in the smell of it with a frown. “Yeah, that is pretty strong.”

  “He hugged you?” Orlando asked, searching her eyes, still ignoring her last comment.

  “O,” Byron said, sticking his head in the door. “Nine needs you—”

  “Tell him I’m busy right now,” Orlando said, not bothering to even look his way since he couldn’t take his eyes off Dani.

  Byron huffed. “He just—”

  “Give me a minute, will you?” He finally pulled his eyes away from Dani to address Byron. “I’m in the middle of something, okay?” Byron nodded without another word and walked back out to the shop. When Orlando turned back to Dani, she was glancing around, a bit confused. “Is that the baby I’m hearing?”

  Orlando leaned over the counter and picked up a baby monitor just as they heard another whimper. “I guess he’s up.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Upstairs.” Instantly, Dani was rushing up the stairs with Orlando right behind her. He still had a million questions, but at the moment this did take priority. They reached the portable crib Orlando had set up in the small front room of the apartment. Seeing Dani smile the moment she saw the baby’s eyes brighten at the sight of them warmed him. But he was still feeling too hot to really appreciate it the way he usually did.

  “My Oreo is up!” Swooping him up in her arms, she cuddled him tightly and kissed him all over as he repeated mama, mama, between squeals. A few seconds later he turned to Orlando and reached out for him. “Da,da,da,da.” It was the only thing that lightened the intensity he was still feeling as Orlando took Oreo in his arms and kissed him.

  After some baby talk and smooches with Oreo, Orlando glanced down at Danica and got right to it. “Why’s your ex still hugging you?”

  “I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in over a month.” She paused for a moment even as Orlando continued to search her eyes and inhaled. “He was a little emotional and—”

  “Emotional?” Orlando asked as the annoyance about this continued to mount. “About what?”

  She inhaled deeply again before going on. “He wants another chance and begged me to forgive him. Claims he’s changed.”

  “Forgive him?” This confused Orlando. “For the ultimatum he gave you?”

  Dani closed her eyes for a moment, pressing her lips together tightly. “When I first told you about us breaking up, I left a lot out. Only because nothing had happened between you and me yet, and I was trying to spare you the details. He really was pushing to move the engagement along by getting a ring, and he had begun to threaten with ultimatums, but I knew he’d never follow through. He’d gotten excessively controlling, so I left him one morning when he wasn’t home and moved back in with my sister.”

  “You lived with this guy?”

  She started to wince but recovered quickly. “Yes.” She nodded, looking strangely defeated. “But not for too long. He wasn’t so bad in the beginning, but he got progressively worse as the time passed. It only took a few months for me to realize just how controlling he was, and I left him.”

  “And he just let you?”

  She took the baby, who was reaching out for her. As soon as he was in her arms, her nose scrunched. Grabbing a diaper and wipes out of the bag next to the crib, she put him down and began to change him as Orlando waited impatiently for her to answer his question.

  “Believe it or not, it wasn’t as drawn-out a breakup as you might think given how persistent he could be. It’s actually been surprising that he’s respected my wishes to stay away and stop calling me, but he did show up at my sister’s to try to get me to come back home with him that first day. Only I refused and he left.”

  Orlando wondered now how much else she’d left out about their breakup. “And he didn’t come back again?”

  “Nope,” she said very matter-of-factly, but Orlando wasn’t buying it.

  “Why am I finding that hard to believe, Dani? The guy’s begging you back first time he sees you, but he stayed away all this time?”

  She finished with the diaper change and handed Orlando the balled up dirty one. He tossed it in the trash can then turned back to her. She was now holding the baby again, who cooed happily in her arms, cuddling up into her chest. As much as he usually enjoyed watching Little Man’s response to her, Orlando couldn’t take his eyes off her. She closed her eyes for a second before going on. “My sister pulled a gun on him that day. I’m sure that had a lot to do with his staying away. That and my threat to go to the press about him being so controlling and even abusive.”

  “Abusive?” The blood thrummed in Orlando’s ears at the very thought. She’d left a whole lot of shit out about this guy. “He abused you?”

  “Not really,” she said quickly as if backpedaling after hearing Orlando raise his voice a bit. “He never physically abused me while we were together, but he was furious the morning he got home and saw I’d packed and left without notice. He showed up at my sister’s on fire, accusing me of seeing someone else, and it’s why I’d really left him.” She closed her eyes as she kissed the baby’s head as if the memory was still a tough one. “He just grabbed my arm when I wouldn’t get in the car with him and tried to force me to. It’s why my sister pulled out her gun.”

  The visual alone had Orlando feeling rea
dy to kill. “Just grabbed your arm?”

  “I mean—”

  “Dani, this fucker put his hands on you and attempted to abduct you.”

  “Well, when you put it that way”—Dani gasped wide-eyed—“it sounds terrible, but he’d never done anything like that before. I think it was just the shock that I’d actually up and moved out without giving him so much as a warning.”

  Orlando took a few steps closer to her, leaning in when he remembered the few females he’d known in his life who’d suffered at the hands of an abusive man. Calming a little, he kissed her softly. “Baby, don’t make excuses for his ass. It is terrible. I’ve been around enough scum in my lifetime to know this. There are two types of men in the world when it comes to this shit. The kind that slap women around and the kind that don’t—no matter what. The kind that don’t wouldn’t have it in them to even be grabbing a woman roughly and trying to force her to do something against her will. If he had it in him to do that, trust me when I say that you got out of his clutches just in time. You said he’d gotten progressively worse. What do you think he would’ve done if you’d tried to leave him and he’d been home?” He clenched his teeth just thinking about it. “Without your sister there pointing a gun at his ass, you would’ve been black and blue. I guarantee it.”

  Dani stared at him, still a bit wide-eyed. “It was scary.”

  “And now you’re letting him hug you?” The calm Orlando had managed to summon was slipping away again.

  “It was awkward, Orlando,” she explained as her shoulders slumped in that odd way he’d seen her do often when she was explaining something to him. “He made this whole show of begging and tearing up. Even got down on his knees for a few seconds there. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and in my car. So, when he asked if he could hug me, I just let him so we could be done with it.”

  There was a knock at the door and Orlando frowned, turning to it. “Come in.”

  “Don’t kill the messenger,” Byron said, holding up his hand. “But De La Hoya’s here. We thought they’d just deliver his car, but he showed up with it. Beast is on his way now.”