Emiliano
WHITE KNIGHT brOWN VAQUERO
Since the elevator incident, the Pineros family has been on a makeshift lockdown. No one goes anywhere without security.
My longtime and favorite security guard, Hector, sits on one of my chairs, reading a self-help book of some kind.
I didn’t catch a good look at it, and he holds it with the cover and pages he’s already read bent over the back of the book.
But he’s quiet, near invisible, which isn’t easy to be when he’s almost as large as I am.
He’s joined every meeting, even the ones with partners included. No one bats an eye, no one asks questions. Still, it grates at my nerves, feeling like I’m being chaperoned. Or even like it’s “bring your kid to work day” except my “kid” has a gun, a baton, and a black belt.
He used to be my personal security guard when I was in college. And when I travel, he comes with me. But having him around all the time again makes me feel like the stupid-ass kid I once was.
While I think I’m perfectly capable of handling my own safety, I accept this annoyance for my family’s peace of mind.
I knew Mami wouldn’t take her trip. We tried to tell her she’d be safer under her brother’s care, but she wasn’t hearing it. Instead, she’s taken to hovering even closer, demanding I come see her as often as I can.
She may not verbalize that she loves me, but I see it ways others might not.
“You ready?” I ask Hector, and he tucks his book into the back of his pants and covers it with his suit jacket.
I stand, prepared to gather my things and hit the road with Hector in my passenger seat.
Nas tried to force me to use my driver again, but between him and Hector, I’d lose my fucking mind.
Besides, after he delivered the flowers this morning, I told him to take the day off but keep an eye on his phone just in case.
I’m supposed to meet Mami for lunch, but the sound of my cell has me stopping short. Mierda.
I know this number well.
Who the fuck do I need to bail out now? And it better not be fucking Carlos. Again. Pinche estupido.
“Yeah?” I bark out, hungry and annoyed. It’s bad enough I can’t even take a piss by myself and my mother won’t stop calling to check in.
“Hello?”
Her small voice is like a punch in the gut that delivers a sweet ache to my groin. I recognize her from the one word alone.
I’ve never heard her so timid. So sweet.
And then I remember where the call is coming from.
“Are you okay? What happened?” My mind races with infinite possibilities. Had the Russians found out that I like her when they were watching me? Did they come for her too?
Her sigh is deep, and she doesn’t immediately answer. I hear the static of the line, but she isn’t speaking.
“Hello?” I try again, wanting to shake her so she can tell me why the fuck she’s at the police station.
“Yeah, I…accidentally hit a police car while I was trying to leave a parking lot. I still had your number in my pocket, so I figured I should try and see if you can help me.” I picture her standing at the phone, an officer breathing down her neck, and I immediately point to Hector and tell him to give me a second alone.
He gets up and steps outside, closing my door behind him.
“You hit a cop ?” I ask, perching myself on the corner of my desk. A hefty mistake to make, but once they knew who she was, they didn’t let her go?
“Can you help me or not?” she asks, her voice lowering an octave.
Not smart, Ms. de la Matta. But I know I can make this go away with less effort than a sneeze. I’ve made felonies disappear.
“I’d tell you to stay put, but I don’t think you have much of a choice. I’m on my way.” I’m about to hang up when I remember. “What name do I give them?”
She’s silent a moment, almost as if giving me her name is a bridge she wasn’t quite ready to cross. With another sigh, she says, “Taina. Taina de la Matta.”
Taina .
“I just—I don’t want to bother my parents about this,” she tells me, her voice still low as if they’re in the same room she’s currently standing in. Likely to avoid the cops trying to connect her with her parents.
I nod before assuring her that I won’t need to inform them. She’s an adult, after all.
I think back on her mother calling her a girl, and I wonder just how sheltered she is.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re busy…” she trails off.
The phone statics, and I want to tell her that the idea of having a chance to actually get to know her trumps anything else on my plate today. The fact that I’m her one call makes me feel like maybe she likes the idea of me a little .
Or she just needs an attorney and to get the fuck out of there.
I’ll clock this under pro bono hours and make her stint in jail disappear. If only so I can try to get on her good side.
And because she shouldn’t be sitting in jail, at the mercy of some of those piggish motherfuckers in uniform.
“Sit tight. Be there soon,” I tell her before I hang up, grabbing my bag as I head out of the door. I’m happy I picked up a little something for her and stashed it in my car. Now I have a reason to give it to her.
I think about how I’m supposed to meet Mami for lunch and fire off a quick text to let her know a work emergency came up.
Not entirely true but not entirely false.
Hector isn’t standing outside my door anymore, and I wonder if he went to take a leak. I don’t have time wait, and I’m a big boy anyway. I’ll catch up with him when I return.
“Headed to lunch?” Meena calls out from where she sits at her desk, eating a salad.
“Something like that,” is all I respond with as I stride toward the exit, ready to be Taina’s white knight.
I hope she prefers a brown vaquero , though.
The elevator takes a few minutes to get to my level, and just as the doors close, I hear Hector call my name.
If I’m being honest, I don’t care for his presence while picking up Taina. I’d rather not have the reminder of who I actually am while trying to rescue her. I don’t need him slipping up, scaring her. I don’t need his presence causing her to ask questions I’m not ready to answer.
All she knows is that I’m an attorney. That’s all I’d like to be right now.
I’d just like to feel normal again for the first time in days.
I want to see a beautiful woman, pick her up from jail, take her to get some lunch, and try to talk her into giving me a chance .
I don’t need a fucking security guard to accomplish any of those things.
I can only assume he’s rushing down the stairs to meet me at my car, but I’m already in it and pulling off by the time he exits the stairwell. As I drive away, I see him holding up his arms in my rearview mirror. He becomes smaller and smaller as I pull off.
Not two minutes later, when I’m merging into traffic, my phone rings.
“May as well get this over with,” I mutter before answering. “Hello?—”
“Do you think I do shit for my fucking health, Emil? You think I’m giving up valuable men to babysit you all and put their lives on the line for you to do some dumb shit like this?” Ignacio speaks rapidly, his angry voice filling my car. “I should beat your fucking ass, pinche pendejo .”
“You and I both know I can take care of myself,” I respond once he’s finished with his emotional spiel.
“You’re not understanding me: I don’t want you to, estupido .” He pauses for a beat, surprising me. “You shouldn’t have to ever fight for your life again.”
He last sentence is lower, less angry. And I see it for what it is.
“I’m picking up a girl,” I rush out, running my hands through my curls, hoping vulnerability will help him understand my perspective. “And…I just want to be fucking normal, Nas. Can you give me a night off to try?”
I don’t know what I expect him to say or if he’ll even give a fuck. But I am a man before I’m anything else. And he’s the one who pushed me to find someone.
“How long are you planning on keeping her from the truth?” His question has me jerking my head back. Because I much prefer looking at it the way I explained rather than me lying to her .
“Once I can convince her to give me a chance?” I toss out, already embarrassed that I’m sharing as much as I am.
“If she needs convincing, leave the broad alone,” he mutters. But he hasn’t seen Taina, hasn’t tried to crack her shell.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about,” is all I offer in response.
“You think I’ve never liked someone before?”
I’m surprised by his question.
“No,” I tell him over a chuckle. “I actually had no idea. I’d love to hear about it.”
He’s silent, and I wonder if he regrets his own moment of vulnerability. But if you can’t be open with your brother, who can you be vulnerable with?
“It was a long time ago,” he starts before clearing his throat. “Things were different back then, anyway. It was never going to work.”
Hearing about this side of Nas makes me question every lens I’ve seen him through.
He’s given up so many things to be in the position he’s in.
He can’t just take a woman out without security, can’t meet someone out and trust that they’re not going to perish by a potential enemy or that she wasn’t sent by his enemies.
Sure, we all have a certain degree of that, but Ignacio? He’s got it the worst.
And it sounds crazy to be so eager for this woman, but I can’t get her out of my fucking head. I’ve heard that brujeria is often dabbled in when dealing with Caribbean women. Is this what they meant?
Did she cast a spell on me?
“One day you’ll find someone, hermano ,” I murmur, switching lanes to head toward the exit where the police station is.
Ignacio scoffs, and I wait to hear him deny it.
Instead, he says, “We’re not normal, Emil . We’re Pineros.”
And then he hangs up the call.