Page 161 of South Beach Bodyguards

“Of course I care,” he snapped. “Look, I may not be perfect but I do have fucking feelings.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him. “That’s reassuring,” I said dryly. But I reached into my wallet and I gave him twenty bucks. “Get yourself a ride. Do what you need to do.”

Max shook his head. “I don’t need your money.” He stuck his hand out. “See you around, man. Take care of Miranda.”

I was suspicious of him and his words, but I decided it didn’t matter. “Miranda isn’t mine to take care of. She’s her own woman.” I took his hand and firmly shook it. “Be safe.”

“You too, bro.” He gave me an enigmatic smile. “I’m either going to disappear again or I’ll end up in prison. Either way, I’ll probably never see you again.”

I just nodded and he walked away. It was more closure than I had ever expected to have. Despite how angry I was with him for threatening Miranda, I was ready to be done with the past.

Getting in my car and driving away, I called Miranda. I wasn’t sure if she would pick up or not but I needed to talk to her about a restraining order against Max, just to be safe.

“Hello?” Her voice was soft, tentative.

“Hey. I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to let you know Max is out on bail. I think you should file a restraining order against him.”

She paused. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I don’t want to piss him off.”

“I think he’s already pissed off.” I headed toward home. I needed a shower to wash away the stink of my late night. Drinking that much had been stupid but I had been too torn up over Miranda to be rational. I hadn’t even enjoyed myself. Women had flirted with me and whereas in the past I would have loved every minute of that, I hadn’t been able to get the image of Miranda naked, shattering below me, out of my head. I couldn’t have sex with another woman. Not yet.

“The thing is that if I turn on him, he’ll turn on me. I was there, Alejandro. I found out that Max was dealing drugs, and I didn’t do anything about it.” There was a pause and she added, “I transported for him twice. It was so stupid, I know, but I didn’t know what else to do. He would have been so mad at me if I didn’t and I was so young and naïve. But if I file a restraining order, he might tell the cops about that.”

I believed she was telling the truth. Miranda was a trusting person. “Did you ever think that you were in an emotionally abusive relationship? I’m being serious. Max had you completely under his control.” It made me wish again for the thousandth time I had done something about it. I should have stolen her from Max back in the day. But that thought made me roll my eyes. Because a twenty-year-old woman was going to dump her boyfriend for his fifteen-year-old brother.

“Maybe. I never thought about it in those terms. But I am still responsible for my actions. I feel guilty that I wasn’t stronger. I was going to meet up with him, you know. We made a plan. I was going to run with him like some Bonnie and Clyde fantasy.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me, too. And you’re right. I need to file a restraining order. There is nothing that he can do to me that I can’t handle. Besides, if he has dirt on me, I have more on him.”

“That’s my girl.” I was proud of her for finally standing up to him. She had allowed him to dominate her life far too long. “Let me know if you want me to go to the station with you.”

“I’ll be fine, but thank you.” Her voice was soft. “Thank you for everything.”

I had a lump in my throat and it wasn’t from the drinking. “Yeah. Talk to you later.”

We hung up and that was that.

That night I went out drinking again and I made out with a brunette who looked nothing like Miranda.

thirteen

“Don’t throw up,” I coached myself as I parked in Alejandro’s driveway and smoothed the front of my sundress down. My palms were damp and my heart was racing. I lifted the bakery box off the passenger seat and exited my car.

I didn’t think I would actually puke, but after almost three months of morning sickness I had come to expect the urge to hit at random intervals for various reasons. Even though I had thought it was a little early for ovulation I had wound up pregnant.

It was almost Christmas and I had kept my mouth shut because I had been terrified to miscarry after telling Alejandro, especially since I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. So I decided to wait until I had almost reached the second trimester to share the news with him.

Amazed, I had been navigating the nausea and the idea that I was going to be a mother with some hard-core soul searching and healing. Alejandro’s words about Max being emotionally abusive had caused me to really dig into his emotions and my behaviors. I needed to have my head on straight before this baby was born.

I also knew that I loved Alejandro. He was a good man, who cared about people in general, and I admired and respected him.

So here I was, surprising him with a cake on his birthday, and a Christmas gift, planning to make a plea that we should give it a go. My stomach flipped again. Maybe this was the world’s stupidest idea. I contemplated leaving the cake on his doorstep and bolting but that was a cop out.

His front door opened and he appeared, shirtless and sweaty. “Miranda?”

Too late to run. And I had a sudden horrible thought that he was bare-chested and out of breath because he was in the middle of having sex with a woman. A birthday bang. I cleared my throat. That would be awkward as hell and make me hideously jealous, but it was possible. Alejandro was a favorite of the club girls. I knew that.

---