Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
I’m thankful Aunt Evie took me away from Emilio. I needed a breather. He has a way of consuming my entire being and I forget where I am, who I am, and what I’m supposed to be doing. Like pretending I’m not in love with the man.
“Okay, bathroom is through here. I had some new dresses brought in from the store for you. They’re hanging in the closet,” Aunt Evie says.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I tell her. “I’m only here for the weekend and I packed a bag.”
“I wanted to. Besides, this will be your room for whenever you want to visit. I’ve always loved you like a daughter, Frankie, and now, well…” My aunt looks around the space. “If there’s anything you want to change, let me know and I’ll have it done.”
I don’t know what to say. I know what she thinks. I came here with Emilio. It’s exactly what I thought people would think. “It’s not like that,” I say quietly. “We’re just friends.”
“What?”
“Emilio and me, we’re just friends,” I clarify.
“Oh, I thought… never mind. It’s only a matter of time. Oh, wait! Your mom wanted me to video call her when you got here.” Aunt Evie takes out her phone.
“She knows I’m here?”
“Yes, I called her as soon as E told me you were coming. I was excited.”
The sound of a ringing phone comes through my aunt’s device, and then my mom’s voice follows it. “Is she there?”
“I’m here, Mom,” I say.
“Frankie, you cannot just go off to Mexico for the weekend and not say anything. Now tell me everything. Oh my god, Evie, it’s finally happening!” Mom squeals.
“Hold up. Mom, nothing is happening,” I insist. “You two really need to give up this dream of having shared grandbabies. It’s not happening.”
“What? But you went with Emilio?”
“Because I wanted to see Aunt Evie and Tío E, and it was a free trip to Mexico. Why wouldn’t I come?” I explain.
“Evie, turn the screen around. I need to look at my daughter,” Mom says, and then I’m staring back at her. “Frankie, are you telling me nothing has happened? With you and Emilio? Nothing at all?”
I blush. I can’t help it.
“I knew it. Something has happened. Look how red she just went, Evie!” Mom squeals again.
“Mom, stop. It’s nothing and I really don’t need these rumors getting back to Dad… or Alfie.”
It seems everyone is on Team Emilio and Frankie except my dad and oldest brother. I’m pretty sure Hudson would help Alfie get rid of Emilio’s body too if he were asked.
“Frankie, I’ve told you before: Do not let fear of the unknown hold you back from something your heart wants. If I did that, I never would have married your father.”
“Are you suggesting I run off and get hitched in a Vegas chapel?” I laugh.
“Absolutely not. This is a wedding Evie and I have been planning since the day you were born,” Mom tells me.
“Right, well, I’m not sure I’m ever going to marry anyone,” I mutter.
“I said that once too. Then I met your Tío E. Well, actually, he kind of kidnapped me. I think I probably have that victim thing where they fall for their captors.” Aunt Evie smiles blissfully. She is so in love with Tío E.
“Hey, I heard you were here.” Elias, Emilio’s older brother, comes into the room and hugs me. “You staying long?”
“Just the weekend,” I tell him.
“Blink once if you were brought here against your will. I’ll get you out,” he deadpans.
“Do you really think I’d ever let someone take me against my will?” My arms fold over my chest.
“No. But I know my brother and how… convincing he can be when he wants something.”
Oh my god, does everyone know? How are we supposed to keep this a secret if everyone knows? I should have thought this whole plan through more.
“Elias, make sure my daughter returns home to me safely. Don’t corrupt her while she’s there,” my mom says.
“Aunt Charlotte, I would never corrupt Frankie. I can’t say the same for Emilio, though.” Elias chuckles. “I’ll keep an eye on them both. Don’t worry. Scout’s honor.”
“Why do your kids have a thing with mentioning the scouts? They were never scouts, Evie,” Mom says.
“Who knows why these boys do anything they do? Sweetheart, if you need something, let me know.” Aunt Evie walks out of the room while rambling on to my mom.
Elias stares at me in a way that makes me really uncomfortable. I imagine this is the look he gives his victims right before he guts them.
“What?”
“Don’t fuck my brother around,” he says, his tone harder than I’ve heard him talk to me. “If you hurt him, you hurt all of us. Remember that.”
“Why would I hurt him?” I fire back.
“Because you’ve been doing it since you were sixteen. You have no idea the things he’s done for you, Frankie. If you’re not really in this with him on the level he’s in it, then go home,” Elias says.
“What do you mean? What has he done for me?” I choose to ignore the part about me being in this with him. That’s between me and Emilio, not anyone else.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Emilio stands at the door.
“Just giving our guest the famous Lopez hospitality. See you around, Frankie.” Elias turns and walks past his brother.
“What the fuck did he say to you?” Emilio grunts, his jaw tight.
“Nothing. Just that he missed me and I’m his favorite cousin,” I lie.
“No, he didn’t.” Emilio shakes his head. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Don’t,” I say. “This is what I was afraid of, Emilio. I don’t want to cause problems with family. Not yours and not mine. And why the hell do they all know about us already?”
“They don’t know anything you don’t tell them. They just know that I’ve wanted there to be an us for a long time.” He shrugs.
“They really are protective over you. Your siblings. That’s a good thing.”
“We all protect each other. It’s the only way to survive in this lifestyle.”
“Elias mentioned something about you doing things for me that I don’t know about. What did he mean?”
“Nothing much, a little murder here and there. If it was anything you needed to know, you would know,” Emilio says.
A little murder here and there, as if murdering people is like baking a cake.
“I wish I didn’t ask.” I fall onto the end of the bed.
Emilio closes the door and walks over, kneeling in front of me. “I told you not to ask questions you didn’t really want to know the answers to. I don’t lie to you, Frankie. You know this.”
“I know,” I tell him. “It’s a lot, Emilio. Both our families think we’re together and our mothers are off planning our wedding.”
“Let them think whatever they want to think. The only people who are in this relationship are me and you. No one else,” he says.
I laugh. “Have you not met either of our families? That’s not how this is going to work.”
“Well, they can assume. It’s still up to us what we do. Not anyone else.”
“What happens if we don’t work? What happens if you decide I’m a lousy lay or I really am a bitch, which I am by the way. And then we end up never wanting to talk to each other again and every Christmas will be awkward.”
“First, you’re not a bitch,” he says. I raise a brow and he smirks. “Okay, you can be sometimes but it’s part of your charm. Second, you’re not a lousy lay. I’ve been listening to you fuck yourself with your little vibrator through our shared bedroom wall.”
My eyes widen. “What?” I squeal and push him backwards as I stand from the bed. “You what?”
“It’s not like I put a listening device in your room, Frankie. The walls are thin and, well, you’re kind of loud when you come.” He smirks. Asshole.
“You didn’t think to knock on the wall and let me know that you could hear me?”
Oh my god, if the world could swallow me whole right now, please…
“Why the fuck would I do that? You would have stopped and my nights have never been better than when I get to listen to you.” Emilio walks up to me.
“The only thing that could possibly top hearing you scream my name through a wall is being the one to make you scream it. Seeing you come apart beneath me.”
“You see, when you say things like that, I get the idea you’re a lot more experienced than just five people, Emilio.”
“I said five. I didn’t say how many times I fucked any one of those women. Can we stop talking about past people and start focusing on what’s right here? Us.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I tell him. “I didn’t know I had a jealous streak.” My hands land on Emilio’s shoulders, and I push him backwards until he falls onto the bed. I jump on top of him, something I’ve fantasized about doing for a really long time.
Emilio’s hands grab hold of my hips as I straddle him. My arms wrap around his neck, and then I press my lips to his.
“Mmm, why didn’t I do this years ago?” I murmur against his mouth.
“Better late than never, right?” Emilio says, pulling my body harder against his.