Half an hour passed before the door slid open again and Candy stepped inside. The deep scowl on his face wasn’t good. “I’ll be putting Cachi in protective custody with the rest of his family until the cartel’s contract on their lives goes away and we have all of them in custody.”
“You’re doin’ that?” He nodded silently. “Thanks, Candy.
The disappointment on his face was easy to read. “I just thought you might want to know.”
I nodded as what he said dawned on me. “Cachi?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
I grunted, clearing my throat as the weight of his words hit me. “It’s just that you always call him Mr. Adams.”
He shook his head, smiling sadly. “Not with family, Rex.”
My heart hammered in my chest. “What’d’ya mean?”
“Do you hear me call Joshua, Mr. Calder anymore…or Wes, Mr. Chaudry?”
“No, but—”
“Well, isn’t Cachi like family, Rex?”
I frowned. “You don’t…you can’t—” I shut up.
He sighed deeply. “Rex, there are things I admire about you and one of those things has always been your honesty.”
I blew out a long breath. “What’s your point?”
“My point is you’ve always been a good man with a massive heart. Hell, you’ve always been a glass half full kind of guy, not the opposite. To prove my point, all I have to do is look at Lola. You were the one who gave that darling, little girl a second chance at life.” He poked a finger into my bicep. “You did that, Rex.”
I frowned again. “Yeah, so what are you sayin’?”
He shrugged. “I’m saying like attracts like, Rex. If we’re good, caring, and loving to the people around us, we attract those kinds of people to be a part of our family.” He held up hishand to stop any argument. “And I think Cachi is just like you. So, don’t you think he deserves to know the truth?”
“Which is?” I growled.
“That even if you’re stuck in a chair for the rest of your life, don’t you think you should give him the chance to decide if he wants that life for himself instead of lying to him about your feelings and sending him away?”
“He lied to me!”
He frowned. “About what?”
“He says it don’t matter if we can’t be intimate.”
“That’s your fear, Rex, but don’t you see? It’s not him who’s afraid, it’s you. You’re driving him away for something that hasn’t happened and may never happen. I think you know that.”
I closed my eyes and turned away, knowing that Cachi had relayed our whole conversation to him. I was so embarrassed.
“Rex?” I glanced back at him. “This job…the job we do…comes with blood and tears and a hell of a lot of stuff that we see that we can’t unsee every day. Cachi’s seen more than his share of that this last week alone, and you won’t even acknowledge that he’s still here…he’s been here…worried about you, waiting for you.” I just stared at him, unable to say anything without crying. “So, my friend, you think about that while you lie here feeling sorry for yourself.” He started to turn away before glancing back. “Let me know when you’re ready to see your brothers.”
With that, he spun on his heel and walked out, leaving me alone to think about everything he’d said. I glanced down at my useless body. The bullet that’d torn through my back had accomplished much more than it’d intended, but the real injury I’d suffered wasn’t the loss of my legs.
It was two broken hearts.
Chapter Fifteen
CACHI
Rex’s rejection as soon as I told him I loved him, hurt more than I could have imagined. Though we hadn’t known each other very long, I’d already seen the huge heart he possessed. He was a good man. It was easy to see in so many ways. His friends respected him, and his sweet Lola adored him. If he wasn’t a good man, he wouldn’t have gone to the lengths he had to adopt her. Or built her a little ramp so she could go outside when he was at work, and made sure she ate special dog food to keep her healthy.
