Page 189 of From Rivals to I Do

“Hey, hey,” said Camilla. “Let’s not do this in here, okay? Let’s just talk this out. Outside.”

They looked at each other over Camilla’s head, then Abel took a step back, glancing over his shoulder as if he could sense trouble coming.

“All right,” he said. “Come on.”

The three of them walked back through the club and left through the front door. They weren’t even two steps out on the sidewalk before Rafael pushed him in the back, sending him stumbling.

“Hey!” said Camilla. She grabbed Rafael’s arm to pull him back, but he yanked it away from her, advancing on Abel.

“I told you, Abel. I told you to leave her alone!”

Abel scowled at him with anger and confusion on his face. “Yo, back off me, man!”

“Back off? BACK OFF?! After everything, you still want to go out with her?? Are you out of your mind?”

“Are you?? What is wrong with you, man?”

“I put in too much time with her for you to come and mess it all up,” Rafael shouted. “Spending time with her at church and at the restaurant and prayer meetings, you think you can just swoop in and—”

“Whoa, whoa,” said Abel. “Are you serious right now? What are you even talking about?”

Camilla could do nothing but watch in stunned horror. Rafael…? He was a friend. He’d always been just her friend. This couldn’t be real.

“She’s my girl,” he said. “Mine. I laid the groundwork with her so she’d give you that job when you got out. And now you think you can just walk all over me like this?? You ungrateful dirtbag. This is how you do me after everything I’ve done for you?”

Abel just stared in disbelief at him, unable to speak or even move. Rafael suddenly whirled around to Camilla.

“Do you remember all those times in church,” he said, his eyes pleading with her, trying to will her to share his memory. “You and me praying together. You would be right next to me and, and your hand would touch mine and—”

“Oh, my God, Rafael!” She shook her head, stepping away from him. “That’s not what that was about!”

“You want me, Camilla. Not him. Not him. I am the better man.”

Abel stepped in, taking Camilla by the hand and pulling her away. “Let’s go,” he said.Rafael grabbed him by the shirt and punched him, sending him to the pavement. Abel got up an instant later and lunged at him, driving his shoulder into his brother’s stomach and sending him tumbling onto the concrete.

“Stop it!” Camilla shouted as the two of them rolled around, punching one another. “Stop it!” She ran over to them and grabbed Abel, pulling him away from Rafael. The two brothers got to their feet, and she stood between them, holding Abel back while Rafael paced the pavement, nursing his swelling lip.

“He’s a killer, you know!” he shouted at her.

Camilla just stared, and Abel shouted at him, “Go sleep it off. You’re either out of your mind or you’re stone drunk.”

Rafael stopped, looking Camilla in the eye. “July 10th, ten years ago. Your father was killed in a poker game by some kid. That’s what your mother told you, right? It was some gangbanger. A kid from the neighborhood. Well, that poker game was at my house, and that kid was my brother.”

She shook her head. “No, no. Abel…Abel wouldn’t—”

“He was charged with manslaughter,” Rafael went on. “He’s the guy that killed your father, Camilla. That’s why he’s the wrong one for you. That’s why you can’t be with him.” A dead silence swirled between the three of them, and Camilla’s blood suddenly went cold.

“Why…?” she said, turning fully to Rafael. “Why would you say that? Why would you say that about your own brother?”

“Because it’s the truth,” he said. He looked down at her like a wounded creature, bruised face and pleading brown eyes. “He killed your dad, Camilla. He shot him down in cold blood—”

“You son of a—” Abel lunged at him, but Camilla pushed him back.

“Stop it!” She looked up at him, the hurt starting to pierce her heart. “Just stop it!” Abel stood there, his eyes jumping from her to Rafael quickly. She stepped into his line of sight, stopping him with her own gaze.

“Is it true?”

She watched as Abel’s anger drained out of him. He looked away from her for a moment and swore. She touched his hand, bringing him back to her. “Is that what you went to jail for?” she pressed.

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