11. Saint
“Gregorio?” A shocked, lightly accented voice said, bringing Rio’s head up from his plate that evening at the restaurant. “Look at you! Finally out of the military and home to make some beautiful grandbabies for your mama.
Rio’s throat worked as he swallowed, looking at me and back at the woman. “Se?ora Lopez,” he said to the woman, who appeared to be around sixty and who stood barely five feet tall. “Ana did not tell me that you were accompanying her.”
The woman brushed that off with a wave of her hand. “What are you doing here, hijo? Who is this?” She looked at me critically.
“This is Michael Durand,” Rio said. “We’re staying in town for a few days.”
She hummed, looking between us meaningfully, and I smiled encouragingly at Rio. Obviously, he knew this woman, so the relationship cover wasn’t ideal, but then surely she knew he was out? What was this about babies for his mother?
I smiled brightly at the woman. “It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am. I’m Michael.” I held out my hand.
She sniffed at me and looked at Rio. “Still?” She asked.
Rio seemed to deflate. “Sí, Se?ora,” he said. “Michael is my boyfriend.” His voice was a mixture of hesitance and… pride? That was unexpected.
“Ugh,” she said, raising her lip in disgust. “I had hoped that your tour would have brought you to your senses, but I suppose not with all of those men around.” She shook her head, giving us both hard, disapproving looks. “Your poor mother,” she added before walking away.
I stared after her and sighed. “I’m sorry, Rio,” I said and he shook his head.
“Ana’s mother,” Rio said. “They both know, obviously, but where Ana doesn’t care, her mother is not so accepting.”
I reached across the table. “I’m sorry,” I repeated.
“It’s fine,” Rio said gruffly. “Let’s just finish eating.”
Rio was silent through dinner and the walk back to the hotel, and when we got there he opened his laptop and buried himself in it.
“Did you get any information from your friend?” I asked after a few minutes.
“No. Reading a few things,” he said in a tone that clearly suggested he didn’t want to be bothered. I sighed, unable to deny a certain measure of hurt feelings, but I also knew how badly Rio was probably feeling.
“I’ll just be drawing then,” I said. He grunted once in reply, so I sat down on the bed, pulled out my pad and began to work on a new piece.
I was beginning to think about bedtime when I heard Rio’s phone go off. He looked at the screen and sighed, then swept across the screen. “Papi, hóla.”
Rio’s tone put me on immediate alert, but I carefully stared at my pencil scratching across the page. Distantly through the phone, I heard a deeper voice speaking rapid Spanish quite loudly through the phone, while Rio sat stone-faced and silent. I didn’t get it all, but I heard enough to know it must be his father who now had both news of Rio having a boyfriend and how Rio was bringing poison in the family and encouraging others to do the same.
I remembered that Shiloah’s best friend was engaged to Rio’s cousin, then, and thought that it was probably related to that. Rio’s father must have gotten several pieces of news today.
Rio said barely five words the whole time the other man was on the phone, merely listening to the ranting until the other voice asked a question. “No,” Rio said calmly. “I’m not going to do that.”
The voice got even louder and Rio heaved a small sigh. “Sí, papi. Aidios.”
He hung up the phone and stuffed it into his computer bag. I pulled in a breath but he shook his head. “No. I don’t need anything. Just. No.” He stood up and stalked off to the bathroom, and I heard the shower turn on nearly immediately.
I closed my book and laid my drawing supplies aside. I had seen a reaction like this before and while I couldn’t keep it from hurting my feelings considering, I understood. Whatever he had just been told was bad, it was toxic homophobic bullshit from his own father and I was well aware of how that felt. I hoped that they had reacted at least a bit better than my parents had, but in my line of work I had no illusions.
Rio stayed in the shower for a long time, and I puttered around the room while I waited for him. I didn’t want to push myself onto him when he came out, but I wanted to make sure he knew that I was here if he wanted anything from me. In the end, I turned down the bed and changed into my pajamas – I didn’t want to assume he would be up for anything after all of that – and then sat down on the edge of the bed to wait.
Rio was very well scrubbed when he came out of the bathroom, his hair still dripping, and he wouldn’t look me in the eye. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he said quietly. “None of that was your fault.”
“It’s okay,” I said, not getting up. I would wait to see what he wanted from me.
“It wasn’t.” He sat down within arms reach of me but not touching. He sighed. “Paloma announced her engagement. Se?ora Lopez also called my mother today and let her know I’m on vacation with my boyfriend.” He pressed his lips together. “My father wasn’t happy.”
“Your cousin is Shiloah’s PA’s fiancée, right?” I asked. “Alma?”
Rio nodded. “I’ve never met her, but some of the family has. They were ‘friends’ because Alma and Shiloah were… whatever they were?”
I nodded. “He was closeted until very recently, and Alma and Shiloah were pretending for an assortment of reasons on both their parts. Alma and Paloma’s engagement pushed him out of the closet and now he’s with Jackson Lee from your agency.”
Rio hummed. “I certainly didn’t know Paloma was a lesbian. I wish I had, it would have been nice to feel less alone.”
I nodded. I understood that feeling. I had known about Shiloah for a long time but had kept his secret. I didn’t blame him for wanting to hide it, but it had been lonely to go through everything without anyone, not that I would have let him go through the things I had.
“But I was a dick and I’m sorry,” Rio said. He scooted closer and laid his hand over mine.
I turned it over and entwined our fingers, leaned in, and kissed him lightly. “I forgive you. You were trying to hide in a way, weren’t you? I’ve seen that in some of the kids before.”
Rio huffed a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah, that’s pretty accurate I suppose. I try to blend in. I do my job.” He shrugged.
I nodded a little. “That’s where that gruff demeanor comes from…” I said, then tried out a teasing smile. “Except I’ve seen what’s under there…” I attempted an alluring head-tilt and he ducked his head with a grin.
“Nobody’ll believe you,” he said, and I was happy that his voice was lighter, happier. “I have convinced the world of my asshole-ishness over the past ten years. Just ask some of the guys I served with.”
“It’ll be our secret then,” I said. I kissed him again and he hummed softly, putting his arms around me. “Want to lay down?”
He nodded and we wound up the opposite of what we were earlier, with Rio’s head on my shoulder while I stroked his back. “Christ, though, Rio, you are so fucking built… I bet you could pin me to a wall even though you’re shorter than I am.”
Rio chuckled. “Do you like a good pinning?” he asked.
“Well…” I drawled. “Now and again.”
Rio shivered. I had intentionally played up my accent because I knew he liked it, which was a little strange, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
We didn”t have sex that night, but early the next morning I woke up to Rio”s morning erection poking me and I laughed softly. “Turnabout is fair play?”
He thrust into me lightly. We hadn”t done that yet, indulging in mutual blow jobs yesterday instead, but maybe…
We were kissing, his hands kneading my ass in a way that made me want to offer it for any purpose he could think of, when my phone rang. I growled when it didn’t stop for a long while and flung my arm over to grab it. “What?” I demanded.
”Oh… Look at this… Are you hiding from me, my dear brother?” Ginny sing-songed. “Too bad it’s not going to work,” she added, drawing out the last word. She chuckled manically and a sliver of fear raced down my spine.
Rio was sitting up, body tight, watching me. “Ginny,” I mouthed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m on a little getaway with my new boyfriend.” I raised my chin and looked at Rio. “He’s gorgeous,” I continued, refusing to be cowed.
Ginny laughed. “I’m sure… afraid you’re going to get shot? Was he a fag too? I’ve heard about him. Still, one down is better than none. Would you like a copy of the video? You looked SO surprised, it was such fun!”
I clicked my tongue. “Should have let one of your friends pull the trigger, you always were a shit shot.”
She snorted. “I did. I shouldn’t have, I certainly wouldn’t have missed you. Next time I won’t, and you won’t even know until it’s too late.” She chuckled. “I am so looking forward to it. Goodbye.”
The call disconnected and I laid the phone down on the bed next to me. “Christ fuck she’s insane.”
Rio watched me carefully and I held out my hand. We laid down again, the mood broken, but his hand sweeping up and down my back was very nice. “What did she say?” Rio asked after a long time. I told him, my voice flat through the recounting. “I should ask her for the video, then we can send it to Lee and whomever else, right?” I certainly didn’t plan to watch it.
Rio hummed. “Having it wouldn’t be a bad thing but I would be very hesitant to engage with her. Maybe she’ll get sloppy and post it somewhere? I’ll send Marcus a text, if he hasn’t already thought to, he can put up an alert.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I certainly don’t want to reach out to her.” I ran my lips along his collarbones contemplatively. “How likely do you think it is that she’ll show up here? Do you think they know where we are?”“I doubt it. We left quietly, everyone who knows where we are won’t say anything, and they don’t know about Ana so…” He tilted his head back to make more room for me and I obliged by continuing up the side of his neck. I wasn’t exactly in the mood anymore, but his skin was warm and soft and this was nice for what it was. “Hmm?” I asked when I reached the hinge of his jaw. His deep hum was an affirmation and he ran his fingers through my hair, petting me in a way that made me tingle all over. I trailed my mouth to his and kissed him, and by the time we came up for air, I was more than interested. I slid my hand down his body and found him in a similar state, smiled into his deep brown eyes, and stroked him slowly before I claimed his mouth again.