Romero (19 page)

On his way to Isabel’s car, after the dinner was finally over, Isabel began to apologize. “Stop.” He shook his head. “That was
all
your sister in there. You have nothing to apologize for. Has she always been that conniving? To have your ex show up because she thought I wasn’t coming?”

“I’m not defending her, because when she found out he was making Lieutenant Commander and he was still single, I’m sure the idea of him and me reconnecting crossed her mind. But that wasn’t the sole purpose to invite him here tonight.” Romero held back all the sarcastic remarks that came to mind. He had no doubt that was
exactly
why her sister had invited him. “It’s also
really
important to her that my dad makes mayor. Jacob has connections now. He could be a big asset to the campaign, so she’s really counting on that.”

The guy was going to be around for the whole damn campaign? “How long did you go out with this guy?”

They reached her car and she stopped at the door and searched in her purse for her keys. She was stalling and it irritated him. “Izz?”

She turned to him and he pinned her against the car. “It was a long time ago. This was the first time I’d seen him or talked to him in
years.
”

The thought choked him, but he wouldn’t put it past her sister. “Was he your first…
everything
?”

“Do we really have to get into this right here? Right
now
?”

That burned him up even more. “It’s either a yes or a no.” Just like all those saps that hired him to find out what they already knew—he knew the answer just by looking in her eyes and it killed him.

“Yes, he was.” She caressed his face. “But what does it matter? There’s a reason why we didn’t stay together.”

“And what was that?” He needed something—anything to keep him from walking back in there and telling her sister off. Pat had brought out the big guns tonight.

“There was no spark.
None
, and after talking to him tonight it only confirmed it.”

“What do you mean?” He felt a panic he’d never felt before, thinking of all those fucking medals her family had such a hard-on for. “Were you
looking
for a spark?”

“No! Are you crazy?”

Damn. He was. For
her
. Romero hugged her burying his face in her neck, taking in a deep breath of her—all of her. He was going to blow this. “You love me?”

“You know I do.”

He breathed in deep, knowing he had
that
much. He only hoped he could remember that every time he had to be around or hear about this fucking lieutenant commander, Jacob—her
first
. “I love you
too
much, Izzy.”

Trouble

Since Isabel had an early morning staff meeting to attend, she was out of the apartment before Romero. He finished getting ready. Not wanting to eat alone he decided to stop at Moreno’s for a breakfast burrito, maybe catch up with the guys. He hadn’t hung with them in a while.

To his surprise, Sal was the only one of them there when he got there. He was leaning against the bar reading the paper.

“Don’t act like you read.”

Sal looked up and smiled when he saw him. “Funny you’d walk in. I was just reading about your future father-in-law. Alex had mentioned it but said Valerie told him it wasn’t a for sure thing. I didn’t know it was official.”

Sal walked away from the bar to put in Romero’s order. Romero turned the paper around and read the headline:
Superior Court Judge Arturo Montenegro III Announces Run For Mayor.

Isabel and her family’s picture had made the front page. He skimmed the story and the few other pictures, flicking Pat’s face with his finger before turning the page to see the rest of the article. There were more pictures including one of Isabel and Jacob standing alone talking. Feeling that inner heat that had become too familiar these days, he scanned the rest of the pictures. There was another of them in the background of one of her father. Fucking Pat stood with them with a big toothy smile. She sure as shit loved the up-and-coming Lieutenant Commander. Except for the picture where Isabel stood alone with him, Isabel appeared annoyed.

His eyes were back on the picture of Isabel and Jacob. Almost obsessively, he studied how they looked at each other. Was this the moment she’d been looking for the
spark
?

“Who’s that with Isabel?” Sal asked.

“Her ex-boyfriend.” It wasn’t until then that Romero realized how tight his jaw had become and the words he’d spoke were through his teeth.

Romero filled him in briefly about her damn sister and her ex being a big shit in the Navy—in no way hiding his aversion to the whole situation.

“Heads of military are not going to get him far ahead in an election. He’s better off sticking with the people he already knows. Being a judge, he probably already has all the connections he needs. City council members, legislators, and a bunch of city officials, who I’m sure owe him a favor or two.” Sal took the paper Romero was still staring at and tossed it on the counter behind the bar. “Will you stop? She’s with you now, not him.”

“Yeah, but if it were up to her fucking sister, Izzy would be with
him
.” Everything he’d felt the night before when he found out Jacob was her first, came flying back at him. “I’m no match for that shit, Sal. They all got their master’s degrees, Izzy’s gonna start working on hers soon—her dad’s running for Mayor for Christ’s sake!”

A waiter brought out Romero’s breakfast burrito and placed it on the bar in front of him. “Thanks Julio,” Sal said, and then he frowned, pouring Romero a soda. “First of all, it’s not like you’re
trying
to get the girl. You already have her. Right? And last time I saw you two together, she seemed really into you—shocker.” He laughed. “I’m kidding, but here’s my second point: I hope to hell you didn’t sit there with that mouth of yours and talk the way you always do in front of her family and would-be in-laws. Did you?”

Romero chewed and covered his mouth, remembering Max the night Isabel met his uncles. “No! As a matter of fact, I’ve been trying to tone it down. Ever since I realized how much my uncles fucki—” He caught himself and Sal rolled his eyes. “How much they cuss.”

“Try harder, dude.” Sal tossed a few napkins in front of him. “No one’s perfect. I’m certainly not, but why call attention to your imperfections with something so obvious as your overuse of the cringe-worthy language. From what you tell me, I can guarantee you her family doesn’t toss around the F-bomb as much as you do, and especially not now that they’ll be in the eye of the public. Everything they do or say from here on will be scrutinized. And if you’re going to be rubbing elbows with all these big-shots, you don’t wanna embarrass Isabel or do something that would taint her dad’s campaign in
any
way.”

That pissed Romero off. “Why would I do that?”

Sal raised his eyebrows and tossed the paper in front of him again. He knew exactly what Sal meant. He thought the same thing last night. Romero didn’t look at it. Instead, he took a bite of his burrito and said nothing.

“These elections get ugly, Romero. His opponents will be looking for anything and everything to use against him. And your temper gets pretty ugly.”

Romero stared at him but kept chewing. Needing to change the subject he finished chewing and asked, “What do you know about golf?”

Sal’s eyebrows pinched. “Enough. I play a few rounds a week. Why?”

“Her dad mentioned maybe playing a round or two. I’ve never played. I told him I never have. He said I’d catch on.” Romero shook his head. “I don’t wanna make an ass of myself.

Sal lifted a shoulder. “I’m outta here as soon as Alex gets here. So I’m free for the rest of the day. We can go to the driving range and I’ll show you the basics.”

Romero shuffled his schedule around in his head, then swallowed the last of his burrito. “Let me make some calls. I can probably do that.”

***

Sal was definitely the most patient of the three brothers. He laughed at times like when Romero was sure Angel and certainly Alex would’ve been done with him. But it was a give and take. Alex or Angel would’ve just showed Romero how to stand and swing. Sal explained the steps one by one, from the proper way to shift your weight to the importance of the back swing and the rotation of the shoulders. Then there was the transition, the impact and finally the through swing and finish. “I’m going for one round of golf here, Sal. Not trying to take Tiger fucking Woods down.”

Sal wasn’t laughing. “I thought you were working on toning the language down?” He pulled on Romero’s arm, straightening it out. “And this isn’t rocket science, Romero. This is just the basics. ”

Romero frowned, concentrating on his
transition
. After about an hour of hitting balls, Romero couldn’t believe Sal was still completely committed to making sure Romero had it right. “Remember to keep your wrist locked when you’re transferring your weight to your left leg.”

Romero did as instructed, huffing and sighing through most of his
lesson
, but in the end, he was grateful Sal was so damned anal. He at least had the basics down. “So what else do you know about politics?” he asked, as they walked back to Sal’s car. “‘Cause I don’t know shit. All I know is they’re a bunch of fucki… a bunch of crooks.”

Sal laughed. “That’s your uncles talking. They’re not
all
bad. Some actually want to make a difference.” They reached his car and Sal opened his trunk. He swung his golf bag in. “I wouldn’t worry so much about that. Something tells me he’ll be more interested in talking about you. What
you
want out of life. What
you
have to offer his daughter.”

Romero frowned. Jacob and all his damned medals came to mind.
Fuck.

“Don’t sell yourself short, man.” Sal closed his trunk and they both walked along either side of his car. “You’re a good guy, and most importantly, you genuinely care about his daughter. That’s what
really
matters. You just gotta watch that mouth of yours.” They got in the car. Romero thought about his and Isabel’s family ever meeting—what a nightmare that would be. Sal shoved Romero’s shoulder just as he pulled the car out of the parking space. “What are you frowning about? You started your own business all by yourself and it’s doing well. Not too many can say that. Hell, offer to do some security for him. He’s gonna need it now. This may even open a few doors for you. Security in politics is huge.”

That reminded Romero of the conversation he overheard in the restroom.
Open doors.
He still didn’t know who had said it and which daughter he’d been talking about but he’d for sure be on alert from here on. “He’s got security already.”

“He’s gonna need more. Trust me.”

Romero stared out the window. It wasn’t a bad idea. “Maybe I’ll bring it up.”

“One thing, dude and I wasn’t playing when I said this earlier. You better keep that temper of yours in check. If her ex is gonna be around, you better be cool. Don’t blow this. I’m telling you. The press will eat it up. The smallest of scuffles with this guy, especially at one of these events, and it’ll be all over the papers the next day.”

Romero squeezed his hand into a fist, taking a deep breath. Just the thought of this guy trying anything or her sister pushing to get them together again would set him off. “I know.” He tapped his chest a couple of times with his fist and forced a smile. “I got this.”

Normally he really meant it. This time he was worried.

***

It wasn’t like Pat to show up unannounced, so when she did, Isabel worried. She opened the door quickly. “Something wrong?”

“No, not at all.” She glanced into her apartment. “Are you alone? Or is
he
here?”

Isabel stepped back to let her in. “
Romero
is working late tonight. He won’t be home until later.”

Pat’s head jerked back to face Isabel, the alarm screaming in her eyes. “He moved in?”

“Well… no but he’s been staying here a lot.” Isabel and Romero still hadn’t talked about moving in together. She was beginning to wonder if they even had to. He was there all the time now anyway.

Pats mouth pinched to one side. “It’s only been a couple of months, hasn’t it? And he’s already staying here
a lot
?”