Chapter 6 #3
I clutch my container and shoot to my feet. Coffee sloshes in the cup as it tips over and drips on the concrete slab. My pulse hammers like another code blue blaring through the intercom.
“What are you doing here?” I’m stunned. Almost speechless.
“You haven’t been answering my calls or texts.” He closes in on me. Puffing out his chest and glaring at Massimo, who’s slowly rising to his feet. Taking the crumbled container from my hands and putting both his and mine on the bench. “Now I know why? You’re out here cheating on me with some kid.”
His broad chest rises as if he’s the one being threatened. His tan eyes darken, narrowing into a glare that I’ve never seen before. That carefree smile is long gone. Now he looks downright scary.
“Sofia doesn’t have a man to cheat on?” His voice is low. Fists coiled and ready to swing. Full protector mode. It’s flattering but a bit misguided. I can handle myself. “So, who are you?”
My fingers graze Massimo’s arm. They barely get a reaction as he’s half a step ahead of me and ready to spring into action.
“I’m her husband. Not that I need to explain that to you.” He points his finger at me. The grim underneath his nails tells me he’s in places he shouldn’t be. More than likely, gambling to get by instead of real honest work like me. “Sofia, tell this fool who I am.”
Two sets of eyes bore into me. One is as dark as the night.
The other is a toasted cinnamon. Massimo easily has the advantage in height and weight.
My ex looks leaner than the last time I saw him.
Skin stretched tight across his cheekbones, deep lines cutting his lips from smoking, and his tight curls are longer and frizzier.
“Jose, you’re my ex husband. And you didn’t care too much about being my husband when I caught you cheating, so let’s start there.”
“This dirtbag cheated on you?” Massimo grits through his teeth. Taking a step toward him. This time, my fingers do more than graze. They clutch his arm and hold him back.
“Yeah, but that was a while ago. We’ve been divorced for six months.” I answer Massimo, but my stare never leaves my ex. “What are you doing here anyway? Like really?”
Tension courses through my hand and into his arm. I squeeze drawing strength, and he remains coiled. Ready to take over. As if he’s been in a fight or two and knows how fast things go down.
Jose, for his sake, has the good mind not to come any closer. Not to challenge this big guy next to me. It’s an interesting turn of events. One I’m relishing in even though I shouldn’t. My ex has a way of popping up like a damn jack-in-the-box at the most inconvenient times.
“Come on baby, I just need to talk to you. Alone.”
“Not happening,” Massimo replies for me. Without hesitation, he continues, “Say what you came here to say and get out. Sofia’s had a rough day and doesn’t need your bullshit.”
Jose shuffles his feet. Like prey sizing up his predator.
He’s easily got six or seven inches on me, but Massimo has five or six on him.
Although my ex loves a good street fight, he knows it will get me in trouble here and wouldn’t dare jeopardize the gravy train he still views me as.
His dark eyes shift from my protector to me, throwing in an odd smile that sends chills over my skin.
If I weren’t still holding onto his arm, I’d add more space between us.
“You know, baby. Times are tight, and I just need a little to hold me over. You know how it is for me. Not all of us work at fancy hospitals making bank.”
For his part, Massimo is silent. Observing and waiting on me. But I don’t have money to spare. I splurged this month by buying Paco a new dog bed and some toys. A cute new dog tag in the shape of a bone hangs from his collar.
“I don’t have any. Money has been tight for me too. I’m not getting as many double shifts right now.” I don’t know why I blurt all that out. It’s not his business. It’s no one’s business.
“You heard the lady. No money here, man. So hit the road.”
Massimo pulls away, forcing my hand to fall as he tries to shepherd my ex toward the door. He reluctantly obliges, stumbling over his feet while trying to look past the big protector bearing down on him.
“Sofia, come on. Don’t be like that. I know you send money home to your Mami.
Just give me some of that,” he pleads, darting in and out of view until he’s forced off the path and into the greenery.
Massimo is relentless in his mission to get him out of here.
And for once, I like a man taking over. Handling something for me that I don’t want to handle.
“No, Jose. You need to find someone else to get money from. What about that puta you were fucking in my bed?” I raise my voice, then instantly regret it when Massimo twists his head in my direction.
I’ve heard him mumbling into his phone when I let my native language slip.
As if he’s trying to learn it. It’s obvious he knows that derogatory word.
“I didn’t—”
“Leave, dude. You’re not getting any money out of her without coming through me.”
It’s his last threat.
Keeping his hands to his side and using his massive size to intimidate my ex to leave.
“This isn’t over, Sofia!”
Then it’s over. The garden is quiet. I fall with a sigh back into the bench.
Adrenaline rages through my body, and my hands shake, but I’m safe.
Massimo ensured I was. It immediately changes how I view him.
He says it’s only sex, but maybe it’s more than that.
Maybe he just doesn’t know how to voice it.
Or maybe I’m suddenly hoping for things that I shouldn’t want. And probably that I don’t need.
“Now that he’s gone, tell me about your shitty marriage while we finish eating.”