His eyes darkened with lust as he replied, “The only person I’m seeing is you.”
I wriggled free and stood in front of him with my hands on my hips. “Then why did I see you with a blonde in Santa Cruz?”
A look of complete astonishment flashed across Diego’s face. “You were in Santa Cruz?”
“Uh-huh. I was. Tell me about her.” He seemed way too cool for my liking. Now the anger came back with a vengeance. “So is that how it’s going right now?”
Diego stroked his chin. “One minute you’re hot and the next you’re cold, mamacita. I waited for you, I understood you needed time. Now I know why…but we’ll get to that. Second of all, that blonde was my ex. Ain’t nothing going on there. Been there, done that. I'm a man of my word.” He pointed to the banner behind him. “See that on the wall. It’s all about honor and trust.”
I looked at him silently and he studied me for a minute. “Well, what was I supposed to think?”
“You jumped the gun. That could have been anyone. You’re supposed to trust me. Back to you. Now it’s your turn. I’m going to give you an opportunity.” Diego’s eyes glowered.
“I guess I have something to tell you.”
He nodded his head with smugness. “You sure as hell do. Funny how it didn’t come from you. And you have the nerve to question me.”
“You know?”
“Of course I know. So your brother is the president of Las Balas. So it seems like we have a predicament… If you told me earlier then I might have been able to prevent what’s going to be coming for you.”
My hands trembled. Diego was too calm for my liking. “Diego, what are you going to do? I was scared to tell you. I don’t want anything to do with what my brother's club is doing. I couldn’t care less. That’s why I didn’t tell you. That’s the whole reason I haven’t seen you for three weeks! Because you sure as hell didn’t tell me you were in a club from the get-go!”
“Same reason you didn’t tell me. I wanted to get to know you. At the time I felt like it was none of your business,” Diego responded.
“None of my business that you’re in a motorcycle gang? Are you kidding?” I pressed.
“You’re sneaky and you didn’t tell me you’re directly related to a dirty motorcycle club. Ours is legit. We had to handle it. I’m not supposed to even be seeing you.”
“What the fuck!” I snapped back.
“Look, let’s stop fighting. Come here, mama.”
“No. You know what, my brother was right. He told me to stay away from you. Have fun with the female that means nothing to you.” I delivered the last blow.
“Same thing I got told. Not to date you. You’re bad news, so here we are,” he said coldly.
“You know what? I should have known.” I glared at him, storming back out to go home. I could feel his eyes on my back as I made it to my car.
THIRTEEN
DIEGO
All of the lights were out inside the warehouse except for one. I was sitting at the desk, staring at the computer, wondering what just happened. She saw me with Crystal, goddamn. I shuffled the papers around on my desk. In a fitful moment, I slid them off. I paced the warehouse thinking and thinking some more. Las Balas. Palo Narvaez, what do I know about this guy? I sifted through my mind. I’d never heard Ryder mention him before.
I thought about it some more and headed back to the computer. I looked up the chapter, Las Balas. As I scanned through all the pages, each member had an individual profile. Palo was a short dude with a mean mug in the photo. He had his arms crossed. I read what he had to say.
We are a brotherhood and we stand for Unity. We aim to empower men in the chapter as a stand for solidarity. When you join Las Balas, you’re joining a family. We welcome you.
I searched the internet for more information on Palo. I was surprised to find an article about him, another picture with him shaking hands with a Latino not-for-profit organization for kids. He didn’t have his jacket on though. I looked closer and he had the name of an organization on the top of his shirt and I couldn’t make it out.
My fingers itched to call Misty, I wanted to know what she knew. Her body and the way she moved like water on earth. Her lips, everything in my manhood wanted to go to her. The secret code of conduct in our organization was if you broke the rules, your tattoo was burned off and you were kicked out. Our connection would cause a huge divide.
I didn’t have to worry about not calling Ryder; he called me.
“Hey Ryder, how you doing?”
“Good here. Did you break it off?”
