Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
There aren’t many times that I’ve wished my family were different. More on the legit side of the law than where they are. But right now, it’s one of those times. Right now, I really wish they weren’t involved in the underworld.
I know something big is happening. The men walking around the house, the fact that in the last hour, all my aunts and cousins and my mother were brought over…
Emilio hasn’t come out of his father’s office.
Whatever they’re planning, he’s going to be involved.
They also called Ezekiel in, leaving me to stew on my own.
I’m worried about Emilio, about my dad, about my brothers who are also in that office. I don’t like it. I want everything to go back to last week, where I was blissfully happy and unaware someone was trying to kill my boyfriend.
“You look stressed.” Eliana comes and sits next to me on the deck chair. I’ve been out here for about twenty minutes. I need the space, the quiet. It’s starting to get busy inside.
“Aren’t you?” I ask her.
“Nope, my papi is the best and so are my brothers. No one is going to take them out,” she says with so much confidence. “You should have faith in them.”
“I do,” I tell her. “I just…” I look out towards the garden. “I took too long to finally allow myself to feel this, and now I’m worried I’ve wasted time I won’t get back and our future will be cut short because some asshole has a bullet with my boyfriend’s name on it.”
“Well, lucky for you, your boyfriend is good at what he does and he’s not going to let that bullet hit him anywhere vital,” Eliana says.
“Vital?” I parrot. “I would prefer it didn’t hit him anywhere at all.”
“Yeah, well, I would also like to be able to date in the open without knowing my father or brothers will skin the guy alive, but that’s never going to happen either.”
“You should start with Emilio. He’d be the easiest to break, because he knows what it’s like to be on the other side.”
“Emilio once saw a boy at school give me a flower. He beat the crap out of him, Frankie. Almost killed him. All because of a flower.”
“Seriously?” I ask, not sure why I’m shocked.
“Yep.”
“That’s insane.”
“That’s who you’re sleeping next to.” She side-eyes me.
“I thought my brothers were a lot to deal with. Yours are ten times worse. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, but I do love them.” She smiles.
“Oh, I know.” I laugh. She’s just as protective of them as they are of her. “Maybe Aunt Evie will get through to them all, and if we can set the other boys up with girls, we can out number them eventually,” I tell her.
“Mmm, I like that plan.” Eliana smirks. “They won’t even see it coming. They’re leaving soon.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna head in. You coming?”
“Nah, I’ll stay here. Make them all come to me. They won’t leave without kissing me first.”
“As hard as they are on you, you’re really lucky to have them,” I say before I step inside. She’s loved beyond measure by an army of men. Sure, they’re overbearing and intrusive, but that love is priceless.
Guilt eats at me for how I spoke to my dad earlier. I’ve never threatened to not talk to him before. I was desperate, though. But I know how much that would have hurt him. The thought of losing me is one of his worst nightmares…
I walk down the hall to Tío E’s office. There are two guards standing at the closed door. “Is my dad in there?” I ask them.
“Yes.”
“I need to talk to him,” I say.
I wait until one of the beefy guys knocks on the door. A minute later, my Tío E opens it. “Frankie?”
“I need to talk to my dad,” I tell him.
Tío E runs his eyes up and down my body. “You okay? You need something?”
“Yeah, my dad. Is he in there?”
My dad is then shoving Tío E aside and walking out of the office. “I’ll be back,” he says to the room. “Come on.” He puts an arm on my shoulder and leads me down the hall.
He opens a door, and we enter an empty room. I’ve never been in this room. It’s another office, but not as fancy as my Tío E’s.
“What’s wrong?” Dad asks me.
“I’m sorry.” I start crying. I can’t stop the tears. “I wasn’t nice, and I shouldn’t have said what I said. I’m sorry.”
“Shh.” My dad wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. His lips press down on my head. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t want you to think I don’t love you,” I say through my tears. “I do.”
“I know you do, princess,” he says. “I’m sorry too. It’s not easy for me to let you grow up.”
“I know, but I kind of already have,” I remind him.
“Yeah, I still don’t like it.” Dad leans back. His fingers wipe my wet cheeks. “You really love him?”
“I do.” I nod.
“And he makes you happy?”
“He really does.”
“Okay,” Dad huffs. “I don’t like it. I wanted more for you than this life, Frankie. I wanted you to find some boring accountant, live a boring white-picket fence existence and grow old.”
I laugh. “That sounds… boring.”
“It sounds safe.”
“Emilio will always protect me. He always has,” I say.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when we were sixteen and he got arrested? You had to pick us up on Christmas Eve from the police station?”
“Yes.”
“It’s because we were arguing. I was mad at him and at myself.
I met someone else that night, and the boy I met…
he got handsy and trapped me against a wall.
I couldn’t get him off me, but Emilio turned up.
He stabbed the guy a few times and then dragged me out of the alley.
I was angry that he was insisting that I had to go home. ”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dad asks. “Who was he?”
“It doesn’t matter. Emilio killed him. But the thing is, he’s always been there bailing me out of trouble. He loves me, Daddy.”
“It’s not like you’re hard to love, princess. He’s fucking lucky to have you.”
“We’re lucky to have each other.”
“As long as he continues to treat you right, I will try to back off.”
“Thank you. And he will, because I won’t let him not. I know what love looks like because you showed me my whole life.” I smile up at my dad.
“Good. Don’t ever forget it.” He kisses my forehead. “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t want you going out without knowing I was sorry.”
“I already knew,” he tells me.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure nothing happens to him. Whatever you guys are planning on doing, make sure he comes back.”
“I’ll do my best,” Dad says. “But those Lopez boys are like cockroaches, fucking hard to kill.” He laughs.
As we walk out of the office, everyone else is making their way down the hall. My eyes connect with Emilio, and his face instantly softens before it shifts to worry.
“Why are you crying? What happened?” He stops in front of us and cups my jaw, not caring that my dad is right next to me.
“Nothing. I’m fine. Promise,” I insist.
Emilio looks from me to my dad and then back to me. “You sure?”
“Mhmm, wanna tell me about these war plans you guys are all up to?” I ask.
“You really want to know?” Emilio counters.
“No, she fucking doesn’t,” Dad grunts. “Don’t tell her shit she doesn’t need to know, Emilio.”
“I’m not lying to her. If she asks me something, I’m going to tell her,” Emilio grunts back.
“Omitting the facts is not lying.” Dad storms off down the hall, muttering something about fucking truth tellers.
“I don’t need to know. I just need to know that you are going to be safe and that you are coming home,” I say once we’re alone in the hall.
“I will be home,” he promises.
“Good. Te amo, Emilio Lopez. Don’t go breaking my heart by dying.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Te amo, Frankie Giuliani,” he says before leaning in and pressing his lips to mine.