Chapter Three
Water sluiced over Abriella”s skin as she let the hot shower wash her work troubles down the drain. Her and her girlfriend Lily had a new, strict rule to leave work at work, and the only thing that helped Abriella keep up her end of the bargain was a blistering, scalding shower after every shift. The overwhelming amount of stress the FBI piled on was enough to put a strain on any relationship. Adding Lily’s burdensome work as a White House doctor and a consultant with the CDC would have crippled them if they hadn”t enacted this new rule. Their joint work on the infamous oversight committee working against the domestic terrorism that had affected them all personally got added to the list of work troubles better left at the door.
By the time she was finishing up, delectable aromas of vanilla and sugar had begun to infiltrate the air. Abriella smiled to herself and hurried to don her loungewear even faster. Her sweet Lily was baking again. With her mouth already watering, she left the bathroom amid a cloud of steam and went to investigate whatever delicacy was on the horizon.
“Mi corazón,” Bella slid into the kitchen with a grin. “What are you spoiling us with tonight?”
“Your favorite.” Lily looked like a delicacy herself in a fluffy robe with a messy bun.
“Trés leches?” Bella swept Lily into a hug with a twirl. “Te amo, mi corazón.”
They dissolved into laughter that was soon silenced with a shared kiss that threatened to become more before the timer on the oven interrupted. It would take hours for the cake to be completely done, between cooling and the time it would need to soak up the magical mixture of milk three ways. Abriella wouldn”t dare interfere with a single second of the preparation time. The sooner it was out of the oven, the sooner it would be in her mouth.
Once the cake was out of the oven and cooling in the evening breeze coming through the kitchen window, Abriella and Lily retreated to the living room for their nightly ritual of guilty pleasure television shows and cuddles on the couch. She lived for these quiet moments of togetherness and bonding. They’d been together less than a year, but the intimacy between them was a soothing balm that just grew deeper with every day that passed. Despite how chaotic their lives were and how demanding their jobs could be, they managed to carve out this time to simply be together.
They fell into their spots on the couch with perfect synchrony, wrapped together under a light throw blanket despite the residual heat of the summer temperatures. No matter how high the mercury might climb, Abriella would never pass up an opportunity to pull Lily against her chest and keep her there. The fact that Lily never once complained about the smothering was a testament to how much they both craved this closeness when they could have it. By unspoken agreement, they loaded up the next episode of the most recent series that had caught their attention and let the moments melt into hours.
A couple episodes later, Abriella’s phone disturbed the peaceful quiet of their nightly bonding. The clamorous ringtone had her instantly reaching for the device. Connor had become more and more withdrawn and disgruntled in the months that had come and gone in the aftermath of losing his job and grappling with the death of his colleague and friend. The fact that he was calling well after dark had the hairs on her neck standing on end.
“Ay, Biggs! Como estas?”
“Um… hi. I”m sorry to bother you.” A voice Abriella didn”t recognize came across the line, although the level of noise in the background made it nearly impossible for her to hear it.
“Who is this? Why do you have this phone?” Abriella nudged Lily”s body until they could both sit up.
“Your friend was trying to call you. He… needed a little help with that.”
“What’s going on? Is he okay?” Abriella searched Lily’s face for a thread of calm as her worries grew.
“He”s kind of a mess. They tossed him out of the bar after an altercation. He dropped his phone trying to call you so I tried to help.” The voice faded as if the caller had pulled it away to talk to someone else. A moment later, it came back clearer. “I can call him an Uber if you want to give me an address?”
Abriella stifled a laugh in lieu of spewing Spanish expletives. It wouldn”t do anyone any good if she started ripping Connor a new asshole via a third party. “No. I will come to fetch this pendejo. Where are you?”
“JR’s. I can text the address.”
“Ay, dios mio,” Abriella scrubbed a palm down her face. “He’s alone? I know the place. I”ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Yes, alone. We’ll keep an eye on him, but I don”t think he is going anywhere any time soon.” The mystery caller’s voice carried a hint of stifled laughter. Bella already regretted this and she”d barely climbed off the couch in search of shoes.
“Gracias. I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone and grabbed her wallet and keys from the table near the door. “Fucking loco.”
“Bell? What”s wrong? Do you need me to come with you?” Lily fidgeted with her fingertips, her eyes going wide.
“No, you stay comfortable. Connor is sloppy at a gay bar. I will probably need to kick his ass before I drag him home.” Abriella darted back to the couch to press a kiss to Lily’s forehead. “I will call when I find him.”
“Oh,” Lily’s eyes snapped saucer wide, matching the O-shape her lips formed. “Please do call.”
With a nod, Bella headed toward the door with a determined set to her jaw. Connor had been spiraling for months, but he’d never gone this far. She had more than a few choice words for her best friend, and the sooner she got to him, the better. Tossing a colorful string of expletives into the night air while mentally imploring the angels above for patience, she climbed into her car and set off for her destination, already rehearsing the lecture she wanted to berate him with.
Twenty minutes later, it became very clear that no lecturing would be happening. Illegally stopped in a crosswalk with the hazard lights flashing, Abriella stood in shock and disappointment near the curb, flabbergasted over the scene laid out before her. Connor was slouched against a garbage can clutching a duffel bag to his chest, one eye already swollen shut and promising an impressive shiner come daybreak. That wasn”t the most shocking part of it, though. The thing that had her heart squeezing painfully in her chest was the devastation written across his face. His voice was wrecked, but it did nothing to stop his sobs.
“Connor,” she lowered her voice and stepped closer to crouch down in front of him. “Mi sol, what’s wrong.”
“ ‘verythang.” He hiccupped and choked out another sob. The pungent cloud of whiskey breath was nearly enough to intoxicate her by proxy.
“Let’s get you home.” She reached out and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. “Vamos. Up.”
“Ain’t got,” he stumbled over the words, releasing a shuddering breath before trying again. “Ain’t got no home.”
“Mierda,” Abriella exhaled. Her heart sank as she put the few pieces of the puzzle she had together. “Come with me. We will figure it out tomorrow. Tonight, you come with me.”
It took every ounce of muscle she possessed to get the belligerent bulk of her best friend vertical. It took strength she didn”t think she possessed to keep him that way. Only sheer stubborn grit gave her the power to drag him toward the passenger side of her car. Somehow, by the grace of God, he pulled himself together enough to climb into the seat. Once inside, he went limp again, resting his forehead against the dashboard with another despondent sound that tried to be a sob but landed short of the mark. She got the door shut and exhaled the uncomfortable tension rising in her chest.
“Oh, hey. You got him?” A young man clearly dressed for the prowl jogged over with a small smile on his face.
“It was you that called?” Abriella skimmed the man head to toe before extending her hand. “Gracias.”
They shook before stepping farther apart. “Yeah. He seemed like he needed a little help.”
They both looked toward the car in unison before Abriella replied. “Si. Do you know what happened?”
“Oh, the black eye? Yeaahh… he was pounding whiskey at the bar. A twinky little thing rolled up and tried to flirt. Your buddy lost it. Crying, shouting. Pushed the guy away. A spectator played defense and clocked your guy in the face before a couple others dragged him outside. I came out a little while later for a smoke and saw him there struggling with his phone.”
“What a mess. Thank you. He”s not normally this bad. On his behalf, gracias. Your help tonight is—”
“Think nothing of it. We’ve all been there before. Good luck,” the guardian angel stranger called, backing away to the curb with a grin and a wave.
Once inside the car and back on the road toward home, Abriella reached out and settled her hand between Connor’s shoulder blades. She”d never, ever seen him this utterly destroyed and the intensity of his anguish was terrifying. She knew better than to try to get him to talk when he was this distraught, but the unknown weighed on her worries. She wondered if he would ever run out of stamina when he was still crying as she parked the car in front of her building.
She left him to his sorrow and pulled out her phone. Texting Lily had slipped her mind in the wake of Connor’s pain, but she wanted to give him a little more time to settle down and sober up before she tried to drag his ass up the stairs.
Abriella: Sorry I didnt text im outside
Lily: Is Connor all right?
Abriella: with me
Abriella: not ok
Abriella: u should text Theo
Abriella: Connor said he had no home
It took a minute for a response to come. It usually did when Bella sent her flurry of back to back texts. This time, it took even longer. Eventually, the most perfect encapsulation of the situation appeared on her screen.
Lily: Well, shit.
Abriella snorted out a soft laugh and clicked the screen off. Leave it to Lily to digest everything into a simple two word response that was as blunt as it was accurate. Abriella stole a glance toward Connor as the sobbing gradually turned to hiccups.
“You vomit in my car, I shoot you.”
“Please?”
She didn”t even think. She just reacted. Whipping her hand out, she smacked the back of Connor”s head. “Cabròn! Get out of my car and never say that again. Dios mio, I will give you a matching eye on the other side.”
She huffed and shook her head before sliding out of the driver’s seat. The door slammed hard enough to rock the vehicle on its axles as she rounded the front and moved toward the passenger side door. She whipped it open and grabbed at Connor’s shirt again, dragging him bodily from the car. He went willingly, albeit unsteady on his feet, but at least he looked duly chastened for his dramatics.
“Sorry, Smalls.” His sibilant slur was more whisper than word, but the message was clear enough as he hung his head with a shallow, whiskey-wrecked sigh.
Tough love worked when it was necessary, but she knew her friend better than anyone. Hell, she knew him better than he knew himself. And she knew, on an instinctual level, what he needed right now. Once he was steady on his feet, she tugged the duffel bag out of his death grip and dropped it to the ground. A microsecond later, she had him held fast in her arms, squeezing tighter and tighter until he gave in and flung his arms around her shoulders.
Nearly a foot taller and double her width in muscle and bulk, Connor typically dwarfed Abriella. That wasn”t the case now, though. Somehow, despite their vast size difference, he managed to fold in on himself as he melted into the embrace with a shuddering whimper. She had no clue what was going on, but she didn”t need to yet. He”d tell her eventually. Right now, he needed her. And damn it if she wouldn”t do everything in her power to be there for him.