by Ariel Ellman
The lights were on and Ani could smell scones baking, but the rest of the kitchen was alarmingly empty.
“Oh my God A,” Sawyer called, poking her head out of their walk-in freezer where she was pulling a tray of frozen muffins out. “I can’t believe we both slept in!”
“Do we have much in there?” Ani asked her sister in alarm, pulling ingredients out hastily and tying an apron around her wrinkled dress.
“No,” Sawyer grinned wryly as she took in her sister’s disheveled appearance. But it looks like we both got lucky last night so that’s positive,” she laughed, pulling the scones out of the oven and sliding the muffins in.
“Nicki’s back from California?” Ani asked, expertly mixing up pumpkin bread batter and pouring it into muffin tins.
“Not exactly…” Sawyer hedged guiltily as she dumped butter and cream cheese into the mixer.
“You little tart!” Ani exclaimed teasingly.
Sawyer made a face at her sister in reply. “When the Mackenzie girls fall from grace, we fall hard,” she sighed dramatically.
“You’re looping yourself in with me?” Ani raised her eyebrow. “Must have been some night….,” she murmured with interest.
“It was,” Sawyer sighed again, surprisingly closemouthed.
“You drop a bomb about falling from grace and cheating on Nicki and that’s all I get?” exclaimed Ani, pulling pans from the oven and sliding whatever she could find in the freezer in.
“She’s Japanese,” Sawyer murmured dreamily, picking up a tray of scones to bring out front.
“Of course she is,” Ani replied with a laugh. “What is it with you and Asian girls?” she teased. “Talk about fetishes……”
“Their skin is like silk,” Sawyer called back from the front of the bakery.
“Whose skin is like silk?” Sebastian called teasingly from the doorway as he paused to tie the laces of his paint-splattered converse.
“Asian girls,” Ani replied with a grin.
“Ahhh…….” Sebastian replied with an understanding nod.
“What would you know about Asian girls?” Ani asked, tossing a pot-holder at Sebastian’s head. “You’ve been in prison for fifteen years.” She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
“Yes, but he’s been out for seven months,” Sawyer called to her sister, grabbing another tray off of the counter. “First thing I’d do if I’d been a nun for fifteen years would be to get some Asian pussy,” she declared with a grin, laughing at the shocked expression on Ani’s face. “Oh my God A, tell me you didn’t think Bast didn’t fuck anyone when he first got out.” Sawyer stared at her sister like she had three heads.
“Of course not,” Ani protested, her face scarlet red, but it was obvious from the way that she was staring at Sebastian that that was exactly what she had thought.
“A,” Sebastian laughed, slipping his arms around her. “Pussy and booze are the first stop for all cons when they step outside. But the only one who I ever wanted was you, and you damn well know it,” he murmured against her neck.
“No more time for chit chat lover boy, we need to bake,” Sawyer called out, coming back into the kitchen and stopping to stare at Sebastian as she took in his bare chest and arms. He hadn’t bothered to put his t-shirt on when he’d followed Ani down the street to the bakery.
“Jesus, no wonder you couldn’t get out of bed this morning A,” Sawyer exhaled in admiration. “Bast, your body is fucking ridiculous!” She walked over to Sebastian and ran her hand over his chiseled chest, sculpted abs, and bulging arms.
“Hey, hands off,” Ani yelled at her sister as she slid a tray of cookies into the oven.
Sebastian grinned at Sawyer in response and ran his fingers over her arm lightly. “You’re looking pretty hot yourself these days Soy,” he replied, giving her an appraising once over.
“Hello??” Ani called from across the kitchen. “Standing right here, at least go somewhere else if you want to ogle each other,” she teased.
“Actually I’m going to go back to the loft and take some measurements,” Sebastian said, walking over to Ani and leaning down to kiss her. “Especially since you haven’t made any coffee yet,” he teased.
“We’re a little backed up in case you haven’t noticed, why don’t you stay and help,” Sawyer coaxed. “You can make us coffee.”
Sebastian laughed in response, “I’ll make the coffee, but then I’m taking off,” he said with a smile. “I want to take advantage of not being on the water today and get started on the loft.”
“What are you doing to our loft?” Sawyer asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Sebastian offered to build us some walls and I asked him to paint a mural for Raffi’s room,” Ani explained to her sister.
“Oooh, I want a mural too,” Sawyer exclaimed, picking up the finished trays of scones and muffins and taking them to the front of the bakery to stock the case.
“Oh I know what kind of mural I’ll paint for you,” Sebastian called after Sawyer in a lewd tone. “And I’ll make it double D.”
“Good. I look forward to it,” Sawyer called back unabashed.
“Nothing embarrasses her,” Ani sighed, slipping into Sebastian’s arms and resting her head against his chest.
“Have a great day baby,” Sebastian whispered in Ani’s ear, kissing her softly before he turned to go.
Chapter Sixteen
The next few weeks flew by in a blur. Ani and Jordan avoided each other as much as possible, dropping Raffi off and picking her up with as little interaction as necessary, and Ani spent her solo nights at Sebastian’s apartment, slowly discovering the man who he had become.
Ani learned that Sebastian never slept more than five hours straight and he startled awake instantly at the slightest touch. She noticed that Sebastian liked to work out at night an hour or two after dinner, and sometimes Ani would just sit on the edge of his bed, watching him do sit ups and push-ups as the sweat streamed down his neck.
Ani also discovered that Sebastian didn’t like crowds, and when they walked home together from the grocery store or pizza place down the street from his apartment, his entire body was alert and watchful as he guided her alongside him with his hand resting on the small of her back. He reminded her of a panther, this new Sebastian. The laid back all-American football player and boy scout of Ani’s youth was gone. There were no traces of the boy who would leave his wallet on the counter of the diner while they ate their breakfast or offer someone from the neighborhood a ride home. The easy grin that used to flash across his face at a moment’s notice was reserved for her and Sawyer now, and rarely made an appearance when they were not alone.
This new Sebastian was careful, Ani decided, watchful, his eyes never missing a thing. Even when they stopped in for a drink at his cousin Sean’s bar below his apartment, Sebastian never sat with his back to the room, and he studied his surroundings quietly, assessing the people around them with his serious eyes. He tucked a hunting knife into the back of his jeans when they went out at night, and always kept a smaller knife in his pocket during the day. There was an intensity to this new Sebastian that took Ani’s breath away, and a raw sexuality that radiated from his hard, tattooed body.
Sebastian had spent the last month working at the loft whenever Ani was with Raffi, but Ani had been so busy balancing the bakery and managing Raffi’s new living arrangements with her at Sawyer’s, that she hadn’t had a chance to stop by and see what he’d done.
“Hey, are you around this afternoon?” Ani asked her sister when Sawyer popped her head in the bakery just as Ani was closing up.
“I am…” Sawyer replied, raising an eyebrow at Ani. “Why, what’s up?”
“I’m going to go check the loft out, want to come?” Ani asked, opening her umbrella and holding it over both of them as she locked the bakery door and they stepped out into the rain. It was a late spring day and you could smell the hint of the coming summer in the warm rain that fell lightly around them.
“
I’m dying to!” Sawyer replied. “I tried to peek last week and Sebastian made me promise I wouldn’t,” she complained, sticking her tongue out.
The sisters made their way down the street, sharing Ani’s umbrella and occasionally splashing in the puddles playfully. They looked so much alike today they could have been twins, despite the contrast in their hair color and Sawyer’s multiple piercings. They were both wearing matching hot pink polka dot wellies that they had bought together on a shopping day last year, and sexy little sundresses that they had found at a funky new boutique that had recently opened up in the neighborhood. Their dresses were different, each suited to their individual personalities. Sawyer’s was a geometric retro pattern in a wrap style, and Ani’s had spaghetti straps and deep blue and green flowers that made her eyes stand out against her golden hair. But both dresses were sexy and playful, hugging the curves of the sisters’ bodies and ending just above their knees in a flirty A-line.
“Damn mijo, you didn’t tell me your women were this fine,” a deep unfamiliar voice called out in a whistle when Ani and Sawyer walked into the loft.
“I’m no pendejo,” Sebastian called back in reply from above them. “A smart man never brags about his mamacitas, he keeps his treasures hidden.” Sebastian grinned, poking his head out from behind a drop cloth covered wall that shielded the loft bedroom that he had built for Raffi.
“Ani, Sawyer, this is Ramirez. Remmi, my mamacitas,” Sebastian introduced Ani and Sawyer to the man standing on the steps that he had built leading up to Raffi’s bedroom. Remmi was attractive in a Mexican gang boy way, about average height, with a buzz cut and a goatee, which partially hid his face. He was bare-chested like Sebastian, and the hard ink-covered muscles on his dark olive skin glistened with sweat.
“So I’m one of your hot mamas now?” Sawyer laughed, raising her eyebrow at Sebastian.
“Oh he told me you only like panochita, mama,” Remmi interjected, sweeping his eyes over Sawyer’s body appraisingly.
“I loooove panochita,” Sawyer corrected, mimicking Remmi’s appraisal of her body as she ran her eyes up and down his in response.
“Híjole mamacita,” Remmi muttered, adjusting his balls under Sawyer’s smoldering gaze.
“I love your ink,” Sawyer murmured, mesmerized by the intricate design on Remmi’s chest.
“That’s your boy’s work,” Remmi replied with a grin, nodding over to Sebastian. “We get requests for it all the time, but Papi always tells the customers it was a custom job, right cookie?” Remmi called over to Sebastian with a grin.
Sebastian gave his friend the finger in response to the teasing cookie nickname and ducked back behind the wall. “I’m almost done in here baby, and then you can see it,” he called down to Ani.
“Cookie?” Sawyer asked Remmi with a wide grin.
“Ramirez was my cellmate inside for my first ten years,” Sebastian called out. “He thinks he’s cute holding onto to my old cookie monster nickname.”
“Yeah, I heard you got tough after I left cookie, earned yourself a few more names but I don’t buy it,” Ramirez called back, winking at Ani and Sawyer as he walked down the steps. “You’ll always be the cookie monster to me,” Remmi laughed.
“What tattoo customers were you talking about a minute ago?” Ani asked, walking over to Ramirez to study the tattoo on his chest that Sebastian had designed.
“My cousin, Little Hector, has a tattoo shop and cookie does some custom design work for him. He’s one of his best designers, everyone wants this cabrón to design for them,” he explained, his voice filled with respect.
“Of course they do,” Ani murmured, reaching out a finger and lightly tracing it over the design on Ramirez’s chest.
“Your woman is touching me mijo,” Ramirez called out to Sebastian. “I told you no women can resist the Hectors,” he laughed.
“Ani, take your hands off of Ramirez,” Sebastian yelled back. “You wouldn’t want him if you knew where’s he’s been.”
“You insult my wife Papi?” Ramirez yelled back incredulously, taking a step up toward Sebastian.
“Never Remmi,” Sebastian replied seriously, walking down to them. “Maria is a saint, but the women who came before her…..” He let his voice trail off with a teasing grin as he leaned forward to kiss Ani. “I’m covered in paint,” he murmured, holding his body away from her as his lips gently brushed against hers.
“You design tattoos?” Ani murmured questioningly as she pulled Sebastian back for another kiss.
“I’m a man of mystery and many talents,” Sebastian replied teasingly as he caught Ani’s bottom lip between his teeth.
“You mentioned the Hectors are irresistible to women,” Sawyer called over to Remmi. “Are you and your tattoo cousin both Hectors?” she asked with a grin.
“All the Ramirez men are Hectors,” Sebastian laughed, “and half of them are in prison together. The other half are in prisons around the country. That’s why we called this one Remmi,” he joked, nodding over toward his friend.
“The Hectors make mistakes,” Remmi admitted forlornly, “but mostly we’re just misunderstood.” He grinned devilishly.
“Yes, big Hector’s chop shop is all a big misunderstanding,” Sebastian snorted. “And they all get married a lot,” he shared a knowing grin with Ramirez. “For the boneyard visits.”
“Boneyard visits?” Ani asked with a raised brow.
“The conjugals,” Sebastian laughed, leaning forward and brushing another kiss across Ani’s lips. “Massachusettes doesn’t allow them, but California does, and half of the Ramirez clan is locked up in LA.”
“Hey Mexicans are lovers not monks like you padre,” Ramirez taunted. “We procreate mijo. Why do you think I have so many cousins?”
“His family is huge,” Sebastian agreed, “and they all came to visit every day. Someone was always stopping by to cry all over this punk or sending him a care package with bags of pork rinds and plantain chips.”
“Bast wouldn’t let me visit,” Ani murmured to Hector helplessly, her eyes darkening with sorrow as she stared at Sebastian’s unreadable face.
“Ay Papi’s a complicated cabrón,” Remmi agreed, locking gazes with Sebastian as they contemplated each other silently.
“The place looks amazing,” Sawyer commented, breaking the silence that settled over them.
“It does,”Ani murmured in agreement as she gazed at the walls that Sebastian had painted in a swirl of muted colors with flecks of silver, blue and green. The color scheme reminded Ani of the sea on a stormy day, and Sebastian had somehow managed to create three separate bedrooms while still maintaining the overall open spacious layout of the loft.
“Want to see Raffi’s room?” Sebastian asked Ani quietly, holding a paint-speckled hand out to her.
“Yes!” Ani replied, taking Sebastian’s hand and following him up the steps to the room that he had built.
“Wait one second,” Sebastian said as he climbed to the top of the steps and whipped the drop cloth off of the privacy wall that he’d built to enclose the loft bedroom.
Ani let out her breath in a whoosh of awe as she stared at the outside of Raffi’s wall.
“The Archangel Raphael, the Patron Saint of Healing,” she breathed, walking up the steps and trailing her fingers across the beautiful painting of the angel.
“May he always be with her,” Sebastian murmured, taking Ani’s hand and leading her into Raffi’s room.
“Oh Bast,” Ani whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s amazing!” She stared around the room in wonder.
Sebastian had transformed the tiny space into an enchanted forest straight out of an Irish faery tale. Blankets of silver mist rolled over a stormy sea on one side of the wall, giving way to an emerald forest that stretched across the rest of the room. Tiny faery folk peeked out from the twisted limbs of an ancient tree that sprawled across an entire wall. Sebastian had even strung tiny lights across the wall, weaving them throughout the limbs of the t
ree. The floor was covered in a thick, soft, nubby carpet the color of pine needles, and the ceiling was painted in a swirl of dreamy pale blue and white, evoking images of a perfect sky. A handmade wrought iron light fixture dangled from the ceiling, filling the room with soft light.
“It’s unbelievable,” Ani murmured, slipping into Sebastian’s arms and burying her face against his chest. “Did you make the chandelier too?” she asked him in wonder, staring up at the iron fixture that was a tangle of twisted flowers and vines.
“Remmi did, he’s a hell of a welder,” Sebastian replied shaking his head in admiration. “It’s amazing what he can do when he’s not working on cars for his cousin.”
“I’m speechless,” Ani whispered, staring around at the beautiful room and taking in all of the tiny details.
“I wanted to make her furniture, but I haven’t had a chance yet, and I wasn’t sure if she would want to pick out her own stuff,” Sebastian confessed a little uncertainly.
“I think it would be amazing if you would make her furniture,” Ani murmured, still in awe over the room.
“She’s going to love it here, and she’s going to be fine,” Sebastian whispered into Ani’s hair, lifting her chin and lowering his face to kiss her.
“Can I see?” Sawyer called out, walking up the steps and poking her head around the wall. “Wow,” she whistled in awe, shaking her head in wonder at Sebastian as she gazed around the room. “You’re something else O’Reilly. Is my mural done too?” she teased.
“Oh your wall’s done baby,” Sebastian replied with a devilish grin, leading the sisters out of Raffi’s room and down the steps.
“Yo Remmi. Sawyer wants to know if her mural is done,” Sebastian called out to his friend.
“Palabra chica!” Remmi called out to Sawyer with a grin. “Ay the chichis, the culona….” he exclaimed, cupping his hands in front of his chest to squeeze imaginary breasts, and scooping his ass appreciatively.
“Chichis and culona?” Sawyer exclaimed with a laugh. “Lead the way to my tits and ass baby!” She swatted Sebastian on the behind.
