I stifle a yawn as Alejandro drives us through the streets of LA. It’s two a.m. and I’ve already done a full day’s work with Lucia but we needed to collect on a debt that he was owed and this is the kind of business I much prefer. It’s been a long time since we’ve handled something so trivial ourselves, but sometimes one of us needs to blow off some steam and beating up people who have fucked him over is a good way to do it. Tonight, it was him who called me, but I can’t deny that I’ve been feeling a lot of pent up frustration myself these past few days.
“I forgot to ask, how did Lucia do today?” he breaks the silence.
“With Toni?”
“Yeah.”
“She was great,” I reply, rubbing a hand over my jaw. Fuck, she was better than great. She was incredible. She is always incredible and I am going to burn in hell for all eternity for the things I think about doing to her—and for the things I’ve already done. And now all I can see is her face when I told her I regretted what we did a few nights ago. I should have told her the truth, which is that I don’t regret a single fucking second of it, but how do I do that to her? Isn’t it kinder to let her hate me and move on? I have nothing to offer her and she deserves everything. “She knocked Toni on her ass,” I add.
“What?” Alejandro laughs out loud. “My girl knocked Toni Moretti on her ass?”
No, my girl knocked Toni Moretti on her ass. “She sure did.”
“She’s something special, isn’t she?” he says, his face full of pride and I feel a fresh wave of guilt washing over me. What the fuck have I done?
I don’t have a chance to answer him because his car is filled with the sound of his cell phone ringing and Lucia’s smiling face appears on the screen on the dash of his car.
“Speak of the devil,” he says as he frowns at the screen. What the hell is she doing calling at this time of night?
“Hey, mija,” he says when he presses the button to answer.
“Papi!” Her voice trembles and my heart almost stops beating. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”
“It’s never too late for you to call me. What’s wrong?” He glances sideways at me, the worry on his face matching mine.
“Somebody just tried to get into the apartment.” She sucks in a breath as though she’s desperately trying to hold it together. “They picked the lock. The only reason I heard them was because I was up late reading.”
“Where are you now? Are you and Matthias safe?”
“Yes, we’re okay. Whoever it was has gone and Mr. and Mrs. Cates from next door are here with me. They wanted to call the cops, but I—”
“We’ll be right there, mija. I’m five minutes away. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He ends the call and then curses in Spanish. “I knew I should have made her stay at the house until she found a proper place to live,” he snarls.
“She needed her independence, amigo,” I remind him.
“What if someone had got to her, Jax? To both of them?” he whispers and I recognize the fear in his voice because it’s the same fear I feel in my bones. The thought of anything happening to her and Matthias makes me feel like I can’t breathe.
Alejandro drives to Lucia’s apartment as fast as his old Mustang will take us, cursing the fact that he’s not driving his Bugatti. As soon as he screeches to a stop outside her apartment building, we jump out of the car and to the door as her neighbor buzzes us in. I have never taken stairs so fast in my life as I do running up to the fourth floor where her apartment is. Her door is open and her neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Cates are waiting in the hallway. Alejandro nods to them in greeting and appreciation but rushes past them. As soon as she sees him, she falls into his arms, as though she’s been holding everything together until he got there.
“Papi,” she breathes and he hugs her, smoothing her hair.
“It’s okay, mija. We’re here now.”
“Thank you for everything,” I tell her neighbors. “We can take it from here.”
“If there’s anything she needs at all…” Mrs. Cates says, worry etched on her face. “We should call the police.”
“Mr. Montoya is handling it, dear,” Mr. Cates says as he puts a reassuring arm around his wife’s shoulder.
As soon as they’re gone, I inspect the front door. There is clear damage to the lock where someone has tried to pick it, but none to the rest of the door. I close it behind me and walk inside. Alejandro looks at me over Lucia’s shoulder, a frown on his face.
“The lock’s still working but we’ll get it replaced obviously just to be sure. No other damage to the door. I’ll get the security footage from the building and I’ll check the feeds from anywhere else around her that might help us.”
He nods his agreement and then he turns back to her. “What happened to your face?”
She brushes her fingertips over the cut on her lip. “That was just Toni.”
“Oh, yeah. Jax told me you were great,” he says proudly.
“He did?” She glances at me but I don’t meet her eyes.
“Yeah,” he says but then seems to remember why we’re here. “Now you’re coming home with me.”
“No. Matthias is asleep. He doesn’t even know anything happened. I’m okay now. I overreacted. I just got so scared. I heard him breathing at the door, Papi.” She shudders. “But he was probably just looking for something to steal. If you could just check around outside and downstairs, then I’ll be fine.”
“But what if he wasn’t just looking for something to steal?” I ask.
Alejandro shoots me a warning look but Lucia is a grown woman and this is the reality of our world. We have many enemies.
“You think he targeted me?” she whispers.
“It’s a possibility,” Alejandro agrees but we both know it is way more than a possibility.
“Has anything else strange happened?” he asks her.
“Like what?” she shrugs.
“Anything weird or unusual. Meet anyone new?” I ask.
She scowls at me.
“No. I haven’t met anyone new.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“Have you upset anybody? Rejected someone’s advances?” I probe further.
“No.” She shakes her head but then her expression changes.
“What?” Alejandro snaps.
“There’s this guy on a social media app. He keeps messaging me and I keep blocking him—”
“Lucia! What have I warned you about social media?” Alejandro barks.
“It’s one app, Papi. I don’t put any personal information on there. There are billons of users on it. It’s probably just some creep.”
Alejandro glares at me and I nod my understanding. “I’ll look into it. I’ll need all of your passwords, Lucia.”
“Okay,” she swallows.
Alejandro rolls his eyes in frustration. “Right, well if you won’t come home tonight, I’ll stay here.”
“No,” she shakes her head. “Mom will be worried about you. Nobody is going to come back here tonight. I’ll be fine.”
He stares at her—Lucia is right that Alana will worry if he stays out all night—then he looks at me. Fuck! “Okay. Then Jax will stay, right?”
“No,” she snaps. “I’m fine, Papi. I’m sorry I called you.”
“Hey.” He takes her face in his hands. “I am your father. You always call me. No matter what. You got that?”
“Yes.”
“Jax. Can you stay here?” he asks me again.
She glares at me, but how do I say no to him? Then I would have to explain why I don’t trust myself to be alone all night with his daughter. Except that we won’t be alone. Matthias is here. Thank fuck!
“Of course I will,” I say, because what choice do I have? Besides, I don’t want her here alone any more than he does.
“Fine,” she snarls but then smiles sweetly at her father. “Thank you, Papi.”
He wraps her in a hug. “I’ll check outside before I leave. Jax will look after you until the morning and then we’re going to discuss your living arrangements.”
“But—” she starts but then closes her mouth again. She can wrap him around her finger about most things, but when it comes to her and Matthias’ safety, he will stand his ground.
“Goodnight, mija.”
I walk him into the hallway. “Thank you for this,” he says.
“Any time, amigo.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He gives me a quick hug and another wave of guilt slams into me. “You’re the only man I would trust to protect her like I would.”
Fuck!
“I would do anything for you and your family. You know that,” I say.
“Because we’re your family too, right?” He frowns at me.
“Yeah,” I nod because that’s true. No matter what happened between Lucia and me, they are my family.
After Alejandro has gone, Lucia hands me some spare blankets and a pillow. “The couch isn’t all that comfortable actually. You can take my bed if you’d prefer?” she offers and I almost choke on my breath.
“I won’t be in it, Jax,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “I could sleep with Matthias.”
“The couch will do fine,” I tell her. The thought of sleeping in her bed, surrounded by her smell and her warmth while I wonder at what she might do in it when she’s alone, or even worse when she’s not, is too much.
“Fine,” she snaps and turns on her heel but before she reaches the hallway she turns to me. “Thank you,” she whispers and I hear a crack in her voice that makes me walk over to her. And against all of my better judgement, I wrap her in my arms.
“It’s okay, Luce,” I breathe against her hair. “I’m always here for you. Nothing will ever change that.”
She nods against my chest. “I know, Jax.”
My cock twitches at the way she says my name and the feeling of her soft body in my arms. I could pick her up and carry her to bed right now. I could bury myself inside her until both of us felt better. But that would make me an even bigger asshole than I already am.
So instead I kiss the top of her head and let her go. “Night, Luce.”
“Night, Jax.”
Ilie on Lucia’s sofa, listening to the soft ticking of a clock somewhere. I’m so tired but I can’t sleep. I keep picturing her lying in bed. Alone. Half-naked? Is she still upset? What if she needs me?
She doesn’t!
But what if I need her? What if the throbbing in my cock can only be fixed by burying myself in her hot, tight cunt and making her whimper my name as her walls squeeze me tighter? The memory of her soft skin, the way she squirmed when I kissed her all over, the way she looked up at me when I made her come, the taste of her sweet pussy—I can’t get any of it out of my head. I will my cock to stop twitching. I can’t even give myself any relief because the idea of her or Matthias walking in here and catching me jerking off is unthinkable. So I close my eyes and try to think of anything but her.
The sound of high pitched shrieking pierces my ears followed by a tiny human ball of energy jumping on my head.
“Matthias,” Lucia warns him. “Please be careful.”
“Jax,” the kid shouts, unable to contain his excitement. “You had a sleepover.”
I blink in the sunlight. I must have fallen asleep after all.
“Hey, buddy. I sure did,” I push myself up and pull him onto my chest, tickling him and making him squirm and giggle hysterically.
“I’m sorry,” Lucia mouths.
“No problem at all,” I reply with a wink. I mean, I love this kid. “Any chance of some coffee?”
“Sure.” She ruffles Matthias’ hair. “Don’t wear out your Uncle Jax, munchkin,” she says before she disappears out of sight.
“Why didn’t you wake me up when you got here?” Matthias says when he’s finally stopped giggling.
“It was very late and you were sound asleep,” I tell him.
“You should have come got me. You could have stayed in my room.” He grins at me.
“I could have, huh?”
“Yeah. Next time you sleep over will you stay in my room with me?”
“Sure, buddy,” I smile at him, but all my deviant brain is thinking about is how much I’d love another sleepover with his mom.
