by Jadyn Chase
My hand flew to my heart. “Oh, my God! I’m sorry. I thought you were….” I couldn’t finish.
He eyed me with that dark mistrust blocking me from him. I wanted to run far, far away from that face. He started to really look like Diego when he glared at me like that. “I know what you thought and I’m not him.”
“I know you’re not.” I put the mop back on the floor. “I’m sorry.”
He lunged at me and caught the handle. His strength stopped me from moving. “Stop doing that! You’re not here to be my maid.”
I stared up at him and opened my mouth to argue, but no words came out.
He tugged the mop out of my hands. “You’re my guest here. I don’t want you keeping house for me.”
My heart sank. “You don’t?”
“No! I don’t want you treating me like Diego.”
My spirits soared once. Then they crashed into my shoes. “Well, if I don’t do this, what can I do for you? I only want to repay some of the kindness you’ve shown me. I don’t know how to do anything else.”
“Don’t do anything,” he replied. “You don’t have to repay me. On second thought, if you want to repay me, you can get your life together and don’t go back to that son of a bitch. Get out of it and don’t go back. That’s how you can repay me.”
I stared down at the floor. I understood what he meant. God knows I wanted to leave Diego. That was how I wound up in this situation in the first place. I just didn’t really see it happening. All my efforts to get away from him and change my life ended up digging me into a deeper hole.
I started to believe I belonged with him. I let myself suspect I wasn’t good enough for anything else, that he was the best I could hope for.
My hands felt empty without the mop in them. I glanced around for something else to do, but Francisco’s massive presence wouldn’t let me move. He told me not to do anything. His words worked a spell on my brain that held me fixed in place.
He yanked open the fridge and took out a plate of plastic-wrapped tortillas. He lifted one corner and plucked off the top tortilla. He bit into it while he replaced the dish.
“Oh, my God!” he murmured while he chewed. “These are the best. Thank you.” He rolled it between his fingers and reclined against the counter. “What’s your plan for today?”
“I don’t have a plan.” I fidgeted from one foot to the other. “I should go check on Teresa.”
He nodded. “I thought you might say that. I’ll give you a ride.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I told him. “I can manage.”
“I know I don’t have to do it,” he returned. “I want to do it. Have you eaten?”
I wriggled like a bug under a microscope. “Not yet.”
“Why not? You did all this and brought me breakfast in bed, and you didn’t eat yourself?” He shook his head and snorted. “That’s gotta change, girl.”
“I’m just not used to it, is all,” I mumbled.
“Let me guess,” he snapped. “Diego made you wait and eat after him. I’m telling you that has got to change. You have to stop thinking of yourself as a servant. You certainly aren’t one here.”
He got out the tortillas again and laid two of them on another plate. Then he filled them with scrambled eggs from the pan along with a strip of bacon each. Then he poured a line of salsa along each one and handed it to me. “Eat up.”
I cracked the biggest grin of my life staring down at that plate. That was the second time he made me breakfast, and that was two times more than someone made me breakfast in the last seven years.
I took the plate and sat down at the table. Francisco sat down opposite me, but he didn’t move. He studied me while I rolled up the tortillas with all that luscious food inside.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m watching you eat.”
“What for?” I asked.
“We’re leaving after this to go visit Teresa, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, but don’t you have something else to do?” I asked.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.” I waved toward the door leading to the garage. “Don’t you have some oil to change or something?”
He exploded in roaring laughter. “That’s a good one!”
“What’s so funny about it?” I didn’t like his tone.
“I did that last time, remember?” His eyes twinkled. “Oil to change! That’s priceless.”
I glared at him. “I still don’t see what’s so funny about it.”
He pointed at my plate. “Just eat your breakfast so we can go.”
His wish was my command. I always jumped when Diego barked his orders at me. Now I did what Francisco wanted, not because I feared he would attack me if I didn’t, but because I wanted to make him happy. I wanted him to be satisfied with whatever I was doing. I wanted to please him, to make him smile like that and to know I was the one who made him smile.
I picked up my food and ate it while he watched. I didn’t mind being under his inspection now. I wanted him to see me doing what he asked. I wanted to show him that I would.
When I finished, he took the plate and put it in the sink. He led the way to the garage and climbed onto his bike. He gave me that curt nod all bikers use to tell you to get on the back seat.
I wrapped my arms around his wide back and his protective aura folded me in a magical halo of bliss. I rested my head on his shoulder and settled into the most peaceful contentment I could remember. I didn’t have to worry about Diego with Cisco around. I didn’t have to worry about anything.
I could be vulnerable and broken around him. I was good enough the way I was. I didn’t have to strive or pretend to be something else. I could let go of all my cares and just let him drive.
The bike rumbled down the street to the hospital. Francisco parked, but he didn’t dismount when I got to the sidewalk. I waited, but he sat where he was in the saddle. “Aren’t you coming in?”
“I wasn’t planning to,” he replied. “I was going to wait for you here.”
I looked left and right along the street.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Do you want me to come in?”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the hospital entrance. “It’s just that…..you said we should be on the lookout for Diego.”
“He’s not likely to come after you in a public place like this.” He must have seen the stricken expression on my face. He changed his tone. “But I can come in if you want me to.”
He removed the keys from the ignition and slung his long leg over the seat. He strolled at my side walking into the lobby.
I asked the front desk and found out Teresa’s room. We rode the elevator to the Post-Operative Ward and I peered into her room.
She sat up in bed reading a magazine. Her eyes popped when she saw me. “Hey! I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
I rushed into her arms. “Thank goodness you’re all right. Was it bad?”
“Not too bad. They say the bullet just nicked the lung. It’s no big deal.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed. I couldn’t stop drinking her in with my eyes. “I’m so sorry this happened. I feel awful for bringing Diego down on your head.”
She clasped my hand. “This was not your fault. You could have been killed. I’m glad you got away.”
I waved toward the door. “You remember Francisco? He’s the one who called the ambulance.”
Cisco wandered into the room, but he hesitated to come too close to the bed. He nodded at Teresa. “I’m glad you’re okay. You were a mess at the house.”
She raised her face to gaze at him. “I remember. I remember you telling me to lie still while you called 911. Your voice comforted me. I knew everything was going to work out as long as you were there.”
He closed his eyes and gave a small smile. Teresa turned back to me. “Now tell me what’s going on. What are you going to do about this asshole? You can’t keep running from him for the rest of your life. You
have to do something.”
“Yeah, I know. I was going to call the leader of his club and tell him I want to leave. He’ll call Diego off.”
Teresa made a face. “You can’t count on that. He might insist that you go back to Diego, or else Diego might ignore it. He might be so bent on punishing you for leaving that he doesn’t stop. What are you going to do then?”
I glanced over at Francisco for help. I half-hoped he would jump in and reassure Teresa that he would take care of me, that I had nothing to worry about as long as he was around. He didn’t say that, though.
Instead, he scowled down at her chart where it hung from the end of the bed. He didn’t appear to hear our conversation at all.
I patted Teresa’s arm. “You don’t worry about me. You concentrate on healing up. I’ll handle my own life.”
“That’s the problem,” she countered. “You don’t handle it.”
Just then, a bevy of nurses bustled in. They crowded around Teresa and one of them gave me that patronizing smile all nurses must practice in front of the mirror when they start nursing school.
“We’re moving her down to the General Ward. That’s good news, isn’t it? It means you’re not in danger anymore. You just have to get better. Then you can go home.”
They shunted me to the side and unlocked the wheels under her bed. In a second, they pushed her out of the room.
Teresa waved to me between their arms. “See you later, Isabel. Come visit me tomorrow if you can.”
“I will.” I waved after her. “Take care of yourself.”
A moment later, they left Cisco and me alone in the room. My shoulders slumped. “I guess we can go now.” He didn’t answer. I looked over to see him frowning at me. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was your sister?” he asked. “Why did you say she was just your friend?”
I blinked. “How did you find out?”
“She has you listed as her next of kin. Her name is Teresa Williams and her next of kin is Isabel Williams. Why did you lie to me?”
I cringed. I just said it. I never thought telling a harmless little fib like that would end up meaning so much between me and him.
I rubbed my fingers together in agitation. “I’m sorry, Cisco. I shouldn’t have lied. I never thought I would see you again. I thought you would drop me off at Teresa’s house and that would be the end of it. I didn’t know…..I didn’t think….”
He clenched his jaw and his eyes darkened. “Is there anything else you’re hiding from me that I should know about?”
I opened my mouth. Should I tell him what I just found out about my mother? Did it really matter in the end? He didn’t really need to know that, did he?
At that moment, all the nurses filed back into the room. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave. We need to clean this room and get it ready for the next patient. There’s a visitor’s lounge at the end of the hall. You can talk there.”
Cisco squared his shoulders and stormed off the ward. He barged to the elevator and jabbed the button. Should I follow him? Should I intrude on his life any more after all he did for me?
I rode to the lobby. I should just say goodbye and let him go his own way. He didn’t need to deal with my problems. He had his own life to lead.
I would have let him go a lot sooner, but he didn’t stop. His long steps carried him through the lobby to the parking lot. He walked so fast I had to race to keep up with him. He didn’t look sideways at me until he got on his bike. Then he put on his shades and I lost sight of his eyes behind the glass.
I hung back on the sidewalk. This was my chance to say thank you and goodbye and watch him drive out of my life once and for all. My throat hurt at the prospect, but I’d made up my mind.
He scanned the parking lot. I did the same, and that was when I noticed a man dressed all in black leather with dark shades sitting on a Harley across the street. I couldn’t recognize him from here, but my blood ran cold.
Cisco jerked his head back. “Get on.”
I didn’t wait to be told twice. I took the seat and held on while he fired up the bike and thundered away. The wind stung my eyes and I bent to hide in the shelter of his neck.
The next instant, the world vanished in a thunderous storm of chrome and steel. The surroundings blurred and I curled into a small, fragile ball against his back. I didn’t need to be anywhere else. I didn’t need to solve the world’s problems as long as I was with him.
I didn’t see where he was going, and I didn’t care. Streets and trees and houses whizzed past. What difference did it make? As long as he wasn’t dropping me off and saying Adiós, I didn’t mind where we went.
After a while, he slowed down. The bike bounced and I looked up to realize we were nowhere near the city. My heart flipped. What was he doing?
He parked the hog in an out-of-the-way parking lot with a few other cars in it. He dismounted and took off his sunglasses. A stab of fear gripped my insides. “Where are we?”
“We’re going for a walk,” he announced and set off through the trees.
He followed a trail into nothing. I couldn’t see anything beyond the foliage. Was he going to cap my ass and leave my body to rot where no one could find it?
In a few minutes, the dusty path started to climb. He didn’t look over his shoulder to ask how I was or whether I wanted to go for a walk. He just headed off into the wilderness without a word.
I kept casting wary glances behind me. I couldn’t get back to the city if I tried. I mean, I could hitchhike, I suppose, if push came to shove. If I really thought he meant to do me harm, I ought to turn around and make a run for it right now. Cisco wouldn’t hurt me, though. Would he?
After almost an hour of walking, he broke out of the trees. The trail meandered along a curved ridge and ended at a bare overlook high above the city. A lone wooden bench gave a sweeping view of LA far away. The flat blue ocean stretched to the far horizon.
My jaw dropped at the sight. “Wow!”
“Not bad, huh?” He stretched himself out on the bench. His enormous arms and legs took up almost all of it. “I love it up here. I come up here all the time. It helps me clear my thoughts.”
I couldn’t stop staring at the countryside rolling away as far as the eye could see. “This is amazing.”
“You’re the first person I’ve ever brought up here,” he remarked.
I spun around to gape at him. “Really?”
He looked away and chewed the inside of his cheek. “I’m sorry I snapped at you at the hospital. That was out of line.”
I started to say, “It’s okay,” but he cut me off.
“It’s not okay,” he barked. “You had no reason to tell me she was your sister. I guess I just never thought until then that you would have any reason to hide anything from me. I mean, why shouldn’t you hide it from me? What am I? I’m a Diablo and you’re La Muerta. Of course you wouldn’t tell me.”
“It’s not that,” I began.
He didn’t hear me. “I didn’t realize I felt that way about you. I thought…. Well, I don’t know what I thought, but it certainly wasn’t that.”
Without thinking, I sank onto the bench next to him. “I’m sorry I lied to you about it. I shouldn’t have. I should have told you the truth. I didn’t think of it, either, until after the fact, but I realize now that I should have trusted you.”
“You have no reason to trust me,” he countered. “We’re enemies.”
“We’re not enemies!” I gasped. “God, please don’t say that. You’re the one person in this world who isn’t my enemy.”
He indulged in a little smile, but it lacked the sunshine of his usual expression. “It’s nice of you to say so.”
I took a grip on myself. “There’s something else I haven’t told you, but I’m not sure if I should.”
“Don’t,” he snapped. “Don’t tell me anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because as soon as we go back to the city my Boss will tell
me to hand you over to La Muerta and I’ll never see you again. Anything you tell me now will only make it harder later.”
I cocked my head to one side. “Make what harder?”
He scanned the coastline to its farthest edge. He compressed his lips and narrowed his eyes. His brows shadowed his features so I couldn’t make out what he was thinking.
“Cisco?” I asked. “It would make what harder?”
“This.” Faster than I could think, he whipped around and leaned toward me. He slipped one giant hand against my cheek and kissed me.
I froze to my seat. Did he just…..? What was he….? Was he trying to make this harder than it already was?
That was what he was trying to tell me. I already knew I felt that way about him, but I never let myself fathom that he could feel that way about me, too.
Before I knew what was happening, his lips seeped their intoxicating heat into my brain. I couldn’t pull away even as a voice screamed at me not to let this happen. He was right. This would only make it harder to part later on and he couldn’t possibly expect to do anything else.
He couldn’t want someone like me. I was too damaged. He would want someone as glowing and fun-loving as himself. I couldn’t give him that and he could have any woman he wanted. He only had to snap his fingers and any woman would melt at his feet—just like I was doing right now.
His other hand materialized on my other cheek and my soul caved to the overpowering emotion tearing me apart. How could I feel so much for him so soon? How could I face the world without him?
As quickly as it started, he pulled away. He took those blissful hands away from my skin and left me cold and dead. He trained his flinty gaze on the horizon and his body closed off from me, never to open again. “We better be getting back. Come on.”
I never even got a chance to admire the view.
8
Francisco
I never should have kissed her. I should let her go. Didn’t I say it would make it harder? Well, it did. It made it astronomically harder to drive back to LA with her holding onto me from behind knowing I would have to send her back to La Muerta any minute now.
