Summer Nights (18 page)

“Feel better?” Stella asked.

I chuckled. “Oddly, yes.” It was like
toxic gas had just been cleared from the room. It was one thing to
say you were walking away, but it was completely different to
actually do it. Luckily, I was walking towards something a hundred
times better.

CRUZ

“We just got the delivery,” Ramon
announced, dropping the envelope on my desk.

The moment I saw no return address, I
knew it was from Rondo. He’d come through for me.

“Make a copy of all of these and put
them in a new unmarked envelope.”

“You aren’t really going through with
this, are you?”

“Do you have a better idea?” I knew it
was a risk to walk in without back up; I knew it was a risk to
threaten the big boss of a huge criminal operation, but she was
worth it.

“Jaffe, Tony and me will be sitting
ducks a couple blocks away in case something goes down.” It was the
closest to a compromise I’d get from my best friend.

“Suit up then, but get my copies
first.” I grabbed my keys and tucked my cell phone into my wallet.
“Eli and Zach, you’re taking the Estavez jump alone. Don’t fuck it
up. I’ll give you each a bonus if you do it by the book without
denting the company vehicle. Sean, you and Alex take the Guzman
jump. The same rules and reward applies.”

“Here. I used the color copier. We have
the originals, the copies are in here,” Ramon said, passing me the
envelope.

I looked at him. “Anything happens to
me, make sure you take care of her for me, okay?”

“Nothing’s going to happen. You better
know what you’re doing.”

I couldn’t say for sure I did, but
people do crazy things for love.

***

I pulled up to the warehouse. Every man
with a vantage point drew a gun. I walked past them to the bay
doors.

“Where do you think you’re
going,
cabron
?” The
guy stuck out his arm and blocked my way. Build-wise, we were
nearly evenly matched.

“I have an unscheduled meeting with
your boss.”

“He doesn’t take meeting
requests.”

“Trust me. He’ll want to take mine.” I
crossed my arms, waiting for him to send one of the goons off to
alert the Rodriguez.

“Let’s go.” Two men flanked my sides as
they escorted me into the warehouse and immediately up a set of
stairs. He knocked twice, before entering with the
entourage.

Victor chuckled at the sight of me.
“You have a death wish?”

I didn’t respond. I waited for him to
send the guys away. Finally, he flicked his wrist, dismissing most
of the men. Those remaining I knew were his closest confidants, if
such people could exist in crime rings where money ruled
loyalty.

“What do you want?” He sat behind his
desk. He had a large window overlooking the warehouse below. He
could see everything that happened from this seat.

I withdrew the envelope from my cargo
pocket and slapped it down on the table in front of him.

“What’s this?” He seemed annoyed more
than anything.

“I have the originals and more copies.
I’m not here to bust up your drug ring. Hell, I don’t even care. I
probably should, but I don’t. Your brother got caught because he
was stupid.”

“Don’t talk about
mi hermano
,” he snapped.
His men pointed their guns my way.

“I’m speaking the truth, and you know
it. I came here to make you a deal though. You leave me, my crew,
family, girl, anyone connected to me alone, and I’ll make sure
these pictures never see a police desk. Hell, I’ll do you one
better. I’ll even bail your brother out again if he’s eligible; as
long as you make sure he keeps his court dates straight next
time.”

“Pat him down for wires,” he
ordered.

“That’s a cheap shot.”

“Yeah, well, I’m all about covering my
own ass, regardless of how I have to do it.” Hector adjusted his
suit as one of his men frisked me and then proceeded to lift my
shirt up anyways. I didn’t bother fighting him.

“He’s clean,” the guy
announced.

“Guts I can admire, but follow-through
is more important,” Hector stated. He laced his hands together on
the desk in front of him.

“No. I’m not coming into this. I will
remain a neutral party and not get involved. I won’t be a pit stop;
I won’t bend the law to accommodate you in any way. All I’m asking
is that you and your people keep a distance from me and my people;
in exchange, I will bail your brother out again, if he’s eligible,
and I won’t let those pictures see a police desk.”

“And how am I supposed to know if you
plan to keep up your end?”

“You don’t; the same way I don’t know
if you plan to hold up yours.”

“So you want to bring trust into
this?”

“I want to bring safety to this for
both parties.”

“You know if you get caught with this
evidence, they’re going to bring you down with us.”

I’d already considered all the angles.
I knew the risk I was taking, but she was worth it.

“Then make sure your guys don’t fuck up
and get caught,” I demanded.

“I’ll agree only if you agree to bail
out any of my men who catch charges.”

“As long as you make sure they don’t
jump, I’m good with that.”

“You screw me over and she’s the first
one we go after.”

“You go after her and I’ll pull bond on
every man I’ve posted for and do one better on the photos by hand
delivering them to the FBI.” I narrowed my eyes at him, clenching
my teeth.

He ran his hands through his cropped
black hair. “Fine. Sam, escort him out.”

I felt the weight lift off of me. I was
free; Summer was free. While I knew there would be others, I
doubted any of them would come close to Rodriguez. He typically
killed execution-style, showing no mercy, or so people claimed. The
prosecutor had never been able to directly link him to any
murders.

I couldn’t wait to call Summer
later.

SUMMER

It’d been a little over a month since
I’d seen Cruz. I still talked to him every day; my heart still
fluttered every time I saw his name on the caller ID. Every day I
looked forward to going home and reconnecting with him.

I shook my head, struggling to focus on
the numbers on the screen in front of me.

“Hey, boss?”

“What do you need, Jerome?”

“You sure that ring’s real?”

My eyes left the computer screen to
focus on him. I lifted a brow. “What does this have to do with
work?”

Ever the flirtatious troublemaker of my
team, he proceeded. “We’ve all been talking; and since you got the
ring, you can’t produce a picture and you haven’t gotten any
flowers; there’s nothing to show that he’s real.”

I tabbed over on my computer. “Jerome,
you’ve been unavailable for eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds
and counting. I don’t think my personal life should really be your
concern right now considering your available time has consistently
been an issue the last couple months.”

“Alright, alright.” He threw his hands
up in surrender. “I’ll get back to the phone so you can dream up a
few more details to throw at us about your imaginary
fiancé.”

CRUZ

I watched her interact with the
employee. She looked better than I remembered, certainly more
delicious and beautiful than the woman broadcast over my webcam
nearly every night. She stood up, giving me a full view of her. My
cock ached at the sight of her. It’d been too long. Her curves were
hugged by a black skirt that ended at her knee and began above the
normal waistline. She wore a long sleeved button up blue shirt. It
was tucked into her skirt professionally despite the bust area
being slightly snug. She wore the closed toe, black high heel shoes
that, when combined with her hair being pulled tightly into a bun
atop her head, screamed power.

“Jerome, shut up and leave boss lady
alone.” A young girl a few desks down tossed a pen at him, which he
effortlessly managed to avoid.

“I’m just sayin’, the situation seems a
little suspect to me. I mean she goes away for a weekend without a
boyfriend and comes back with a fiancé, but has no pictures of him.
That’s too damn quick to go from single to engaged. I mean, who
gets engaged and doesn’t have a picture of their
fiancé.”

“Jerome, need I remind you that your
unavailable time is climbing?” I loved the way she placed her hand
on her curvy hip. I could see her scolding our children the same
way. I decided it was time to jump in.

“Give him a pass this time, especially
since you won’t need a picture now,” I said, coming into the line
of view.

Her mouth flew open, her eyes watering
immediately.

“You’re her fiancé?” Jerome’s eyebrows
couldn’t get any closer to his hairline.

“Yeah, and if I hear about you giving
her a hard time again, I’ll be knocking on your door. I’m a bounty
hunter. I’ve got connections.”

He threw his hands up as he backed
away.

“Hey, Cruz!” Stella waved from her desk
a few aisles over from Summer’s. I waved back and then I redirected
my focus on who I came for.

She smiled. “I can’t believe you’re
here.”

“I flew over five and a half hours
and-“

SUMMER

I closed the gap between us, yanking
him to me. I claimed his lips and pressed my body into his,
satisfying the longing I’d suffered every day for the past month.
He felt even better than I remembered. His hands reached out and
touched my face; he held me exactly where he wanted me.

I heard cheers and whoops sound off
around us, but I was too caught up in him. He plunged his tongue
between my lips, his flavor awakening my taste buds. My body
immediately warmed up against him. His touch was electrifying and
his scent was intoxicating. My heart clambered in my chest. He felt
right. He felt like home.

He pressed a few more kisses to my lips
before pulling back. He smirked. “Now that’s what I call a
welcome.”

“You’ll get a proper welcome every time
I see you then.”

“I want to see you every
day.”

I thought of the distance between us
over the past forty days. Phones and webcams weren’t the same as
physically being with someone. “I’ve missed you.”

“We’re going to talk about that later.
For now, we have a lot of different catching up to do.” He grabbed
my hand. “Stella?” he called.

“I already took care of it. She’s free
the rest of today and tomorrow.”

“You knew?” I couldn’t hold back my
surprise.

“Of course. Have fun you two.” She
waved us off.

“Ooh! Bye, boss lady.” Chenile
waved.

“Bye, Summer.” Natasha turned towards
us.

“She better come back in a good mood,
man,” Jerome said.

“I better have nothing but good reports
when I come back. No unavailable time above half an hour outside
your scheduled breaks and lunches. See Stella with any questions or
issues,” I stated. I grabbed my purse from my drawer, locked my
computer and logged out of my phone.

Cruz pulled me in front of
him. “Let’s go have some fun,
mi
amor
.” He leaned into me, nibbling my
neck.

“At least wait until we’re off company
grounds.”

“This is nothing compared to earlier.”
He kissed my neck as I pressed the elevator call button. I turned
in his arms and kissed his chest.

He brushed his hands along my hair.
“Are they gone?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you file the restraining order
like I told you?”

“Yeah.”

There was some glint in his eyes I
couldn’t identify. He gently kissed my lips. “I love
you.”

That’s when I realized what it was. It
was love; the single biggest thing I’d had to learn on my own in
life. Now that I had found it though, I was never going to let it
go. “I love you too.”

EPILOGUE

“Oh, dear Lord. Forgive me God for I am
going to kill this girl.” Stella tilted her head towards the
heavens.

“Oh stop,” I fussed.

“Summer, it is eighty-seven degrees in
the middle of February. I’ve got a waterfall starting between my
legs already, half a water bottle between my breasts, what feels
like only water in my lungs and I haven’t even made it to the
second median. I don’t know how the hell I ever let you talk me
into giving up my life and moving here with you.”

“You are so full of it. You know it
wasn’t me that sold you on the move; it was Ramon.”

“All I have to say is he better have
air conditioning units in every window and fans plugged in every
damn outlet. And they better not be those baby fans he tried to
pass off for an adult before,” she grumbled.