“Peachy.” I nod. “Wouldn’t be a good look for a cop to visit him. Alone. During an active investigation.”
A smile flashes on her lips, then she sniffs. “I’m security, now, private sector. I miss the shiny badge. I’m here to tell Dario how lousy he is. As his brother and an attorney, I gather, you’ll hold it against me in court?”
“Nah, the hearing will last a year, at least. I’m too tired to give a fuck about Dario.”
She’s laughing when I notice Papi strolling back into the room. I excuse myself and ask him, “You say all you needed?”
“No. Dario refused to see me. I’m done, Dominic. Next time you see him, tell ‘em he’s been disowned. I’ll take Mami’s wrath in heaven over another look at that!”
Won’t be a next time for me, but I’ll explain that to Papi when he calms down. “Okay. I have a meeting to get to. I’ll drop you off at the house. Later, croqueta?”
“Bueno,” he mutters.
Per Yasiel, Aria moved out of her apartment the day she left the hospital. It hurts how we share one friend in common, and she didn’t cut ties with him too. The day I returned from New York, history repeated itself. However, now, I watch her from afar. It’s funny. She’s living life, and I’m on pause. She moved back home with her abuelo.
I’d followed Aria and Roslyn to an abortion clinic. It took everything out of me not to intervene as they sat in her car. Was she getting rid of my child? Dario’s child? I’d gotten closer, rain drenching down, but they drove off.
It took a while, but I found that Roslyn’s belly’s growing, not Aria. This is their second week in Lamaze class, though they’ve taken other courses here.
In a business complex, couples stream out of the class on the second floor. From the parking lot below, I brace myself for Aria’s exit, not taking a single inhale of oxygen. She walks out, laughing at something Roslyn says. With a small crowd around them, I can’t take my eyes off her as they wander down the cement steps.
Aria glances in my direction. I stare relentlessly, unlike when she hid behind trees while jogging after me. I catch her eye, making contact for a fragment of a second. The glow in her face dims until she focuses on responding to her crew.
Now, I’m on personal terms with the pained vulnerability behind her eyes when admitting she loved me. Shit hurts. They start past me. At the last second, she stops.
“You’re the worst, Dominic. I counted six palm trees for you to choose from when I walked down.”
Maybe it’s my imagination, but I try to believe there’s no fire in her gaze as she smiles at her own joke. That the flawless makeup on her face and how her lips curve into a soft smile are all show. She can’t be happy. I’m fucking miserable.
“No hiding from me, mami.”
A breeze jostles a few kinky strands across her face.
I ask, “You still need more time?”
Licking her lips, she glances toward the ground. “Dom, we’ve officially unknown each other. It’s been four months. Hell, the good times didn’t last this long.”
“One hundred-twenty-four days to be exact. Doesn’t matter. I miss you every day. Sounds like you’ve counted too.”
Reluctant brown eyes catch my gaze. “Find another chula, Dom. Someone not like me or Alejandra.”
“You’re not like Alejandra.” I clasp her hand, bringing her closer to me. I’d kept my distance, uncertain how my resemblance to Dario might catch her off guard. Make her think of my hermano.
But I can’t let her go. The crown of her head rests beneath my chin. Her soft breath teases the opening of my button-down.
“I can’t stop loving you. I made the mistake of guarding myself, not admitting the truth sooner. Aria, you watched me about the same amount of time before I found you—”
“Did I?” The warmth of her hands feels so good against my chest like embers, until they burn, pushing at me.
“Sí!” I clasp tighter.
“What if, on some of those occasions, I unknowingly watched Dario?”
I can’t take it, his name exiting her mouth. It’s insanity. “Then talk to me, Aria.”
“Tell you all the times I assumed I was screwing you, not your brother?” she shouts. Embarrassment flames across her cheeks as an expecting couple glowers at her while passing by.
“I caught feelings for him too. Should we discuss that, Dom?”
“I don’t care how you felt about him, Aria.”
“Why?”
I toss a fist at my chest, done falling apart. “Because every second he touched you, you thought of me.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Aria
Tears transform my vision into a kaleidoscope. The couple who glowered at me like scum has disappeared. My sight’s yellow. The sunlight dominates all my senses, blaring down on me. I squirm beneath the light of honesty.
“Let me go,” I beg, voice hoarse. My fingers tug, but he holds me captive. “I’ve started to realize my relationship with him pretty much extends back as far as my relationship with you. The entire time, Dominic. There you have it. The truth.”
“Bueno, mami,” he says, knuckles gliding through the tears on my cheeks. “I’m good with the truth. Let’s start there.”
I wheeze over the words. “Okay, so we can dissect how stupid I was?”
“Dario manipulated you!”
“This isn’t all his fault, Dom. I fell too hard! My feelings for you blinded me. So in love with you, exhilarated by the way you looked at me, touched me. I created nirvana around the thought of you. Then, that bastard—”
His fingers knot into my hair, rubbing softly. “Slow down for me, mami, breathe.”
“When you were in Cuba, Dario and I . . .” I begin, struggling to stay anchored to this plain. What if I say too much? But if I don’t, I’ll explode.
Emotions blanched, I murmur against his hard chest, “Goodbye, Dominic. Your mother was a wise woman. So, I’m saying goodbye. You deserve better than history repeating itself.”
My sanctuary crashes around me as Dominic’s ropy arms fall to his sides. He steps back. Heart thundering in my chest, I move one foot in front of the other. Maybe my heart will detonate in my chest later. I’d rather shatter into a billion pieces and die than Dominic decide my revelations are too much later.
If I tell him about the rooftop restaurant or the gym, he may have strength enough to stay. But what happens when I share how Dario and I declared our love to each other while he was in Cuba? My hands tremble at the thought of the photos I’d taken of Dario, with Dario. The devil blinded me.
I dare not look back while pacing along the side of the building where Roslyn parked. She’d chosen a shady tree, pretty far from the general area. As my eyes roam over the parking spot, I mumble, “Ros left me! She friggen—”
My body’s pressed against the wall, hands raised above my head. Dominic glances down at me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I squeak. “I could have PTSD!”
“You have chili peppers in your blood. You’re good, mami.” He towers over me. “Also, walls are the only place where I can get it through your thick head to listen to me.”