“Then no, I don’t mind,” I said as I stood up. He took my hand and pressed a kiss into the palm before leading me toward my room.
And just like that, I lost another piece of my heart to Cruz de la Vega.
I watchedin wonderment as Cruz knelt in front of Ryan’s wheelchair and began talking to him like he’d been doing it for a lifetime. There’d been a little bit of nervousness on Cruz’s part early in the evening when we’d arrived at my dad’s house, but he’d adjusted quickly and within minutes of meeting Ryan, he’d picked up on how to interact with my brother. He’d spoken to him like a regular little boy, not a child with a disability, which Ryan had definitely responded to because he’d opened up to Cruz much more quickly than he normally did with strangers. My dad had been hovering by Ryan’s side protectively at first, but as soon as he’d realized Ryan was okay with Cruz, he’d joined me in the kitchen where I’d been putting the final touches on Ryan’s costume. I’d wanted to ask my dad about the missing money from the White account, but he’d accosted me with questions about Cruz instead. And when Cruz had shot me a warm look from where he’d been sitting in the living room talking to Ryan, I’d pretty much been a goner and my dad had seen it. I had no doubt that just as soon as he managed to get me alone, he’d be peppering me for more information.
Not that I had that much to give, although it was more than I’d had this morning.
During and after lunch, Cruz had told me about his family and childhood. Both he and his brother had been born in Colombia, but had immigrated to the US with their parents when Cruz was just a baby. The stories I’d heard lent themselves to the fact that Cruz’s childhood hadn’t been an easy one, and while he hadn’t come right out and admitted it, I suspected he and his brother had been abused. Between his less-than-perfect childhood and the scars I’d seen this morning on his body as we’d showered – the remnants of the brutal attack he’d endured two years earlier – I was in awe of how grounded the man was. I wondered if a lot of that had to do with his brother, since Matias had been the topic of many of Cruz’s stories. Cruz had admitted that his brother hadn’t been the same after the attack, but we hadn’t had the time to really talk about it much. It was a topic I definitely wanted to come back to, since it clearly was causing Cruz a lot of pain.
“I think we cleaned them out,” Cruz said as he and Ryan reached me where I was standing on the curb. Since most of the houses in my dad’s neighborhood had steps leading up to the front door, many of the homeowners had come down to meet us on the walkways leading from the sidewalk to the houses to give Ryan his candy after he used his computer to say, “Trick or Treat.” For those few people that hadn’t come to us, Cruz had done the most amazing thing. He’d gently picked my brother up out of his chair and then trotted up to the door with him and then chimed the phrase on my brother’s behalf. I’d been able to tell just from my brother’s garbled laugh that he’d loved it.
“Did you get a good haul?” I asked Ryan.
“Big time,” came the response from his computer. I leaned down to drop a kiss to his head. I’d fallen as in love with my brother as my dad had, and I lived for these moments where he was just a regular little boy.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s go home and see how you made out.”
Ryan held out his hand in what I knew was his high-five motion. I gently smacked my palm against his, then watched Cruz do the same. I reached for Cruz’s hand as we began heading back to the house. I loved that he never hesitated to show me affection in public.There were lots of things about Cruz de la Vega I was coming to love and I knew it was just a matter of time before I lost my entire heart to him. I had to remind myself that such a thing wasn’t possible, but then I remembered my dad’s words to me when I’d once asked him what it was like to fall in love. I’d foolishly thought maybe I’d felt that way about my first boyfriend, before the whole freak thing.
You just know, Elliot. I knew with your father the very moment I laid eyes on him. Didn’t matter how many people told me love at first sight was just a myth. I was as much in love with your father on the day he died as I was on the day we met.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said.
“The night’s not over,” Cruz reminded me.
“No… no, it’s not,” I said with a smile.
It took just a few minutes to round the last corner before my dad’s house. My focus was on Ryan as he maneuvered his wheelchair up the walkway, so I didn’t notice the car and the man standing next to it at first. But when I did, I recognized him instantly and came to a grinding halt.
Declan Barretti.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as the familiar cold went through me. My father was dead because of this man. He might not have pulled the trigger and he might not have been the one who’d ignored my father’s pleas for help, but he’d condemned him to death just the same.
“I need to talk to you and your father.”
I knew I was probably squeezing Cruz’s hand too hard, so I turned to send him a silent apology, but found that he wasn’t looking at me at all. His eyes were on Declan and his mouth was pulled into a tight frown.
Worried that he’d figured out who Declan was and that he might go after the man, I started to step between them, but stopped suddenly when Declan said, “I’m sorry, Cruz. It couldn’t wait.”
A chill ran down my spine when he said Cruz’s name. The way he’d spoken to him, it was like… he knew him.
“You two… you two know each other?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure which man I was even asking.
“Let’s go inside, Elliot. It’s safer to talk in there,” Cruz said calmly.
I dropped his hand as if I’d been burned. Why the hell wasn’t he denying it?
“No,” I whispered, as understanding slowly dawned. “No,” I said again with a shake of my head.
Cruz grabbed my upper arms in a firm hold. “Elliot, look at me—”
“No!” I spat out as I tore free from him. “How do you know each other?”
Cruz was clearly agitated and looked from Declan to me and back to Declan again. When Declan nodded, Cruz said, “Declan asked me to keep an eye on you after you were attacked a couple of nights ago. He was worried for your safety.”
Bile crawled up my throat as I realized what he was saying.
“Oh my God,” I whispered as I took a step back. Then another. “Oh my God,” I repeated dumbly as things began to click into place.
