3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
“Why are you so damn quiet?” Cavalari asked from the front seat of the vehicle.
“So, now you want to talk about feelings?” Bronx asked. “Not going there with you.”
“No one said anything about discussing feelings, Bronx,” Cavalari stated. “I simply asked why you’re so quiet. That’s all, but forget I asked.”
“I will,” Bronx said.
“Frankly, I prefer it when your mouth isn’t flapping, so I’m not complaining about the silence,” Cavalari continued and then made a loud scoffing sound.
“Trust me on that. It’s like a mini vacation not having to hear your voice.
Kind of reminds me of the two weeks I was on vacation.
That was fourteen blissful days without hearing the annoying sound of your voice . . .”
“Shut the hell up or I swear I will reach over this seat and strangle you with my belt,” Bronx grit out.
Cavalari began to laugh. “You’re funny, Princess,” he said. “I’d have you subdued long before your arms entered my personal space.”
“Yeah, you’re a regular Special Ops Ninja,” Bronx muttered to himself.
His gaze flicked to the rearview mirror and he watched as Cavalari kept passing him curious glances in the reflective surface.
He looked menacing with his aviator sunglasses concealing his honey-colored eyes but Bronx wasn’t about to stroke his already inflated ego by telling him.
Neat, dark eyebrows were visible just above the tinted lenses and a surprisingly straight nose that was almost flawless except for a tiny bump about halfway down the ridge.
There was a small scar near the bump that Bronx only noticed when he was practically nose-to-nose arguing with Cavalari.
He didn’t remember the scar from years ago and sometimes wanted to ask how he got it but it always felt too .
. . intimate. It was a stupid detail to be curious about but he was.
It could’ve happened while he was a police officer or when he was deployed in the middle east with the Marines or perhaps even a car accident.
Bronx thought he remembered Cavalari talking about his military years with Rex but he couldn’t recall the details and he had no intention of asking him.
It was too personal and he and Cavalari didn’t do personal and they never would.
“What?” Cavalari asked with an edge to his voice.
Bronx flinched at the sound of Cavalari’s deep, raspy tone then made a sound of irritation before he turned his focus to the outside traffic moving along on the road beside them.
“You were staring at me,” Cavalari said a little louder this time. The gravelly texture of his statement sent goosebumps skittering across Bronx’s skin but he ignored what the man’s voice did to him.
“How would you know I was staring at you unless you were staring at me ?” Bronx questioned.
“You sound like a twelve-year-old girl,” Cavalari teased.
“Shut up and drive,” Bronx commanded. “The sooner I get home the better.”
He didn’t have the strength for their regular sparring today.
Things were already high enough on an emotional level just seeing Dagger’s new son without adding in the stress Cavalari always brought with him.
The anxiety Cavalari caused followed him around like a dust cloud.
Frankly, Bronx needed time to decompress after what they’d witnessed at the hospital.
He still couldn’t believe Dagger was a father.
Sure, they’d been talking about it for what felt like five years instead of about five months but still. It was a lot for Bronx to process.
He rubbed at his forehead and allowed the images of happy fatherhood to flicker through his head. He’d never seen Dagger and Ryan that happy before and it made his gut twist with an emotion he couldn’t quite name.
The king of rock had a new baby prince and that was a big fucking deal, no matter how you looked at it.
The proud fathers’ lives were sure as hell changing.
But it seemed every one of their lives were changing—everyone’s life but Bronx’s.
Nothing was changing for him except his address when they moved to Vegas but even that was a temporary thing.
Vegas.
Bronx was really looking forward to settling into the MGM and enjoying the city in his down time.
Truth be told, he was also looking forward to cutting loose and enjoying some of the adult-themed fun the city was known for.
Not the drinking because that part of his life was behind him, but there were lots of other things to do in Sin City besides get drunk and gamble.
At the very top of Bronx’s “to do” list was the all-you-can-eat man-meat buffet.
Jesus, he needed to get laid. Maybe then he’d be able to eradicate this unnatural fixation he had on the one man walking the planet he shouldn’t want, but did anyway.
Allowing that last thought to rattle through his head made Bronx sit up straighter in his seat.
He couldn’t possibly want Cavalari. No fucking way. He needed to wash his brain with bleach or something to kill anymore thoughts like that one.
“Are you okay back there, Princess?” Cavalari taunted. “You look like you’re two seconds away from hurling. Warn me before you blow chunks in the back seat, so I can pull this vehicle over.”
“Your face makes me want to hurl,” Bronx said. “Just keep driving.”
Cavalari started chuckling softly and Bronx glanced at the gentle shake of his guard’s broad shoulders while he laughed. The guy was as solid as a tree and about as tall as one. He bet all that muscle and brawn would feel damn good pressing him into a mattress.
“Goddammit,” Bronx mumbled. He needed to get his head squarely back on track.
He didn’t like Cavalari. Not after all the arrests Cavalari had facilitated on him and the very obvious fun he’d had while doing so.
Not to mention, the one time he’d made a pass at Cavalari and he’d shown absolutely no mercy when he promptly declined Bronx’s offer.
Those facts were long-standing and he shouldn’t need to remind himself about that.
But Jesus, the man was gorgeous—either that or it had been so long since he’d slept with someone that even Cavalari was starting to look good to him.
“Do I need to pull over?” Cavalari asked with his eyes filling the rearview mirror.
“No!” Bronx growled. “I was just thinking.”
“That’s a dangerous thing for all of us,” Cavalari teased and Bronx rolled his eyes.
A full minute of silence passed and Bronx began to fidget in his seat.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” he finally asked Cavalari.
It was stepping into personal territory and Bronx immediately regretted asking the question but it was too late.
His words were out there. “Never mind. I don’t really want to know your answer. ”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about having kids,” Cavalari replied. “I’m not sure I have the right kind of job to be a good father, though, and I definitely don’t want to be an absentee father like mine was.”
“Aren’t you kind of old for fatherhood?” Bronx asked with a smirk he knew would irritate the hell out of Cavalari, which was always a bonus.
“Fuck you! I’m not old,” Cavalari argued. “I’m thirty-eight. Wait. I just had a birthday, so that means I’m thirty-nine, which still isn’t old. I’m pretty sure Dagger is older than I am and he just had a baby, so . . . fuck you. Again.”
“When was your birthday?” Bronx asked, hating the fact he actually sounded interested.
“While I was away on vacation,” Cavalari answered.
“Figures you’d be an Aries—sign of the ram,” Bronx said and laughed softly.
“Don’t tell me you’re into that shit,” Cavalari scoffed.
“Not especially but it’s hard to ignore how some of us are a lot like our astrological signs,” Bronx explained.
“Okay, I’ll play along,” Cavalari said. “What’s your sign?”
“Gemini and it fits me to a T,” Bronx admitted.
“I think the element associated with Gemini is air and you’re ruled by the planet Mercury which does fit you because you’re flighty and . . . erratic,” Cavalari said.
“Jesus, for someone who isn’t into the zodiac signs you sure seem to know a shit-ton about them,” Bronx pointed out.
“Nah, I’ve just come to know a lot of useless information,” Cavalari admitted. “I spent a lot of downtime riding around in squad cars when I was on the force. My partner and I had to get creative with conversations to keep ourselves awake on some days.”
“Do you miss it?” Bronx asked, “being on the force, I mean.”
“Every day.”
“Then why did you leave the department?” Bronx questioned.
The vehicle came to an abrupt stop and Bronx glanced out his tinted window to see that they were parked in his driveway in front of the four-car garage.
“Our arrival time at your house is perfect because I’m not discussing that subject with you,” Cavalari said in an icy tone that damn near left frost on the inside of the windshield and then he slid out of the front seat. “Have a nice day, Princess.”
Bronx remained in his seat for a moment and watched Cavalari begin to move toward the house.
The words they’d exchanged on the way home played on a loop inside his head.
For a brief few moments their dialog had almost seemed cordial—like on some level they could actually tolerate each other.
Was the next stage when they began to like each other?
No, that still seemed like an impossible feat for them to accomplish.
The disdain would continue to lurk just below the surface and Bronx knew that to be the truth because of the fastidious way Cavalari shut him down when he’d asked a personal question about him walking away from being a cop.
Cavalari spun around and put his hands on his narrow hips. “Are you too fragile to get out of that big vehicle by yourself?” Cavalari asked. “Do I need to assist Her Majesty?”
“Fuck off, Calamari,” Bronx said as he opened the door and hopped down to the paved driveway.
“Not my name but whatever gets your dick hard,” Cavalari said.
“There isn’t one part of you that would get my dick hard,” Bronx argued. Yes, I know. It’s a partial lie. There are a few parts of him that manage to make things stir for me.
“I’m so relieved,” Cavalari said dryly when he hit the stairs leading up onto the deck. Rex was standing there near the railing and shook his head.
“I see you two are still BFFs,” Rex commented.
“You know it,” Cavalari agreed with his co-worker. “Bronxy is having special friendship bracelets made for us that match.”
“Suck it, douche bag,” Bronx said and slid the glass door open, going into his kitchen.
“I’ll take a pass on that but thanks for the offer,” Cavalari said. He grinned at Bronx’s retreating backside and put great effort into not allowing his eyes to drop down to that perfect ass.
“Has it always been like this between you two?” Rex asked Cavalari.
“Pretty much,” Cavalari admitted. “But it’s probably been about a decade since the last time I saw him prior to taking this job.
Working for him has dramatically enhanced our animosity and reopened old wounds.
The best thing would be if he just didn’t talk to me at all but he can’t seem to keep his mouth shut and then the anger boils over. ”
“Exactly how did you know him?” Rex asked.
The question felt a little too personal and Cavalari was hesitant to give away too much information. “I knew him when I worked for NYPD,” he answered. “Let’s just say he was a problem child back then and we’ll leave it at that.”