Page 166 of From Rivals to I Do

"It's okay," Rafael said a little too quickly. He paused, and the silence was thick.

"Listen," he said, "this job…it won't be forever, okay? It's just a part of your parole, right? Plus, with the experience you'll get here, you can use it to get better jobs later."

"I appreciate it," said Abel, his voice thick with guilt.

Rafael nodded. He regarded his younger brother thoughtfully, his lined face making him look hard and stern, even though that wasn't what he was trying to convey. Rafael was a big man. In both height and weight. He often looked more ferocious than he was. Abel knew his brother, though. As intimidating as Rafael appeared, he was no threat to Abel.

Rafael smiled a little, pulling Abel into a hug with one enormous arm around his neck. "You be nice to Camilla," he said. "She's a little stiff, but she's fair and smart. She has been running that business for a long time and knows what she's doing. So give her a chance and be patient with her. Okay, 'mano?"

Abel sighed. "Okay. Wish me the best."

Without another word, Abel got out of the car. He paused to straighten his dress shirt a little, tucking it in his slacks.

He walked into the store and saw a woman behind the counter talking to one of the employees. Abel was struck by how naturally beautiful she was. Curvy with shiny dark hair pulled back into a bun and away from her youthful face. She had a smattering of freckles across her nose and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to shine in the reflection of the sunlight.

As beautiful as she was, she dressed conservatively. She wore a simple pink blouse with simple black slacks and flats. Abel thought she looked sharp and professional. Too sharp to be working in a pizzeria.

"Excuse me—" he said.

"One second," she responded without looking up, appearing overworked and a little stressed. She was leaning over one employee's shoulder as they pressed buttons on the digital cash register. She was completely involved in whatever training was happening, and it was like he was not there at all. Abel stood there, feeling a little miffed at her rudeness. Finally, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

"I'm here for the interview," he tried again.

"I said, one second." She glanced up at him, her eyes boring holes into him. When she turned back to the cash register, Abel rolled his eyes, feeling defeated, and started to walk away.

"Yeah, never mind. Thanks for nothing," Abel said.

She looked up as he turned around and said, "Hey! Where are you going? Aren't you here for an interview?"

Abel turned around to her, smirking. "Oh, so, now you see me. I hope you do not treat your customers like this. A pretty crappy thing to do, ignoring people that walk into your establishment."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you Abel? Rafael's brother?"

"That's right, but I can see this was a mistake."

She scoffed at him. "Ah, well, I didn't know guys like you cared where they worked?" He clenched his jaw as she stared at him expectantly. "Are you sure you want to walk out of here?"

They stared at each other for another moment, then Abel huffed and walked back to the counter. "All right," he said. "Let's talk."

She nodded stiffly, then put her hand out to him. "Camilla Nunez. I'm the owner."

He shook her hand but said nothing in response. She glanced over her shoulder at the teenager at the counter, looking at Abel with tentative uncertainty in his eyes. Camilla smiled and put a comforting hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Go put those boxes together in the back."

The teenager jumped to attention and hurried away, clearly more afraid of her than Abel.

"So," she said, walking to one of the tables and sitting down. Abel followed suit, sitting across from her. "Rafael tells me you just did fifteen years in Jackson."

Abel sighed, his every instinct telling him that this entire thing was a bad idea. However, she was already judging him. "It was ten, actually," he said shortly.

She nodded slowly; her eyes narrowed. It was then that Abel noticed that her eyes were more than just blue. They were more of a color he had never seen on a person before. Maybe it was the light from the window next to them, but to Abel, they looked turquoise. They were distracting and made him a little uneasy.

"I need someone to work in the kitchen," she said. "You don't have to worry about having experience. I will train you. I make the pizzas a particular way here, and I will need somebody who can follow instructions and is ready to learn. Can you do that?

He scoffed. "Shouldn't be a problem."

She cocked her head at him, detecting his insolence. "I sincerely hope not. However, I need you to understand that this restaurant was inherited to me by my father and means a lot to me. I am very particular about how things are done and expect nothing less than perfection." she replied. "I need to know that you can follow my instructions and the rules of the restaurant, or you'll find somewhere else to work. As I understand, you don't have a lot of options outside of working here."

He huffed. "As I understand it, neither do you."

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