Basement Level 5: Never Scared (32 page)

He’d just sat down on one of the plush couches in the living area when he heard the children’s innocent laughter. He smiled as Ky and Alex bounded toward him. He chuckled as they pummeled into him.

“
Papa,” they both screamed.

Kendrick was close behind with the other children. “Hey,” he said, leaning against the arm of the couch. His hand was clutching his chest, like he was out of breath. “I need to work out. This is the third time they beat me in a race.”

Dro greeted Kendrick with a hug. “What’s up? You look comfortable.”

“
I am. Feel that breeze?”

Dro had never seen his friend look this relaxed, especially in light of everything that happened. From the looks of it, Kendrick had already benefitted from the nice, mild weather in Spain. He was dressed in khaki colored linen pants and matching shirt. He wore no shoes.

“
How is the family?” Dro asked. “Are they adjusting well?”

“
Good, considering everything that happened. They love Spain, though.”

“
It is beautiful,” Dro agreed. “Chase really outdid himself on this.”

“
I know,” Kendrick said. “All of the homes are beautiful.”

Dro gazed at his two children. He rubbed Ky’s hair and looked into her matching steely eyes. “I missed you, baby girl.” He smoothed a hand over Alex’s hair. “You too, hijo.”

Ky squeezed his waist. “I missed you too, Papa. We were gone for a long time.”

“
When are we going home?” Alex asked.

He embraced his children again. He never wanted to let them go. “We are home. This is our new home. You like it, don’t you?” They bobbed their heads. Dro opted not to explain what happened yet. He needed a moment. “I’m going to put my things in my room and then I’ll come down and we can talk, okay?”

The children cheered and then bolted out of the room. They screamed with laughter as Kendrick chased them through the house.

Dro climbed the massive staircase to the second level, which housed the bedrooms. The master suite was situated on the south end of the house. As he entered the room, he felt the sea breeze whip across his face. The glass windows leading to his private terrace were open, allowing the air to flow through the room.

The huge en suite bathroom was separated from the rest of the room by French doors. The bathroom had a fireplace against the wall and a giant whirlpool tub. As he took in the ceramic tile on the floors and the walls, he thought about all the changes that were about the take place. For once, he was looking forward to living life on his terms without the shadow of Martinez looming behind him.

After he explored the walk-in closets and sitting room attached to the bedroom, he sat down on the edge of the bed and enjoyed the breeze. He rested his elbows on his knees and lowered his head. He felt the cool tips of small fingers on the nape of his neck, lifted his head, and gazed into the smiling eyes of his wife.

***

November 8, 2011, Alexa’s Hospital Room
:

Dro glared at Lei, his eyes like a raging thunderstorm. “I said handle it.” Lei rolled his eyes and left the room quietly.

When Dro turned back to Alexa, her eyes were open. “Why are you being so nasty?” she asked with a scratchy voice.

“
You’re awake.” He picked up a cup of ice water off the table and held it out for her to take a sip.

She coughed lightly. “I told you not to bring me to the hospital.”

He kissed her chapped lips and skimmed her face with his hand. “You scared me half to death. The bullet hit a vein. You were bleeding to death.”

“
Really?” She tried to sit up in the bed and winced in pain.

Dro could hardly believe he was talking to his wife. “I was going out of mind. I was ready to kill everyone.”

“
I can tell.” She coughed again and he gave her another sip of water. “You really should try being a little nicer.”

He kissed her again, trailing his fingers across her face. When he backed away, she tried to sit up again. She cursed and held her hand over her chest.

“
Maybe you should stop moving, baby?” he suggested. “You’re all bandaged up. They had to pull the bullet out, so it’s going to be tender. Luckily, Dr. Lambert was able to do the surgery without getting more staff involved.”

She grunted as she shifted in the bed. “We need to talk. Go get the others.”

He hesitated, wanting to keep her to himself for a little while. He wanted her happy, though, so he walked to the door. As he opened it, he looked at Lei, Pop, and Kendrick. “Lei, you’re right. We need to talk. So, let’s do it.”

The men followed him back into the room.

“
Why are y’all looking like someone died?” Alexa asked, covering her mouth as she coughed.

Dro watched a gamut of emotions play across each of their faces. Pop rushed over to her and held her until she begged for mercy. Once Pop let her go, he moved aside to let Lei and Kendrick greet her.

Kendrick messed her hair. “Don’t you ever do that to me again?”

She smiled at Kendrick. “I promise, which leads me to my point.” Glancing at Dro, she reached for his hand. “I’m tired, baby. It’s time. I can’t do this anymore.”

“
I know,” Dro sighed. “I’m going to make it happen. I’ve already been working out some things. You’re right, Alexa.” He caressed her face and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m the boss, and I promised to always make you happy. I understand you want something different for our children. I want the same thing. So, here is the plan.”

***

November 21, 2011, Alicante, Spain
:

Dro faced his wife. When she opened her mouth to speak, he planted a searing kiss on her lips. Pulling back after a couple of minutes, he drank her in. “I missed you,
novio
.”

“
I missed you too,” she breathed, beaming at him.

Dro had laid out the whole plan to the group that evening in the hospital room. Chase had already gone ahead to the house in Spain to get it ready for them. Dro explained to her that the surest way to make sure she wasn’t sucked back into the life was to “kill” her. Of course, the fact that she really did get shot put made it easy.

Dro would work with Lei to give Alexa a new identity. To the world, she would be known as Lena Ky Hernandez. They’d had to pull Dr. Lambert into the plan, but he helped them make sure everything worked out in the hospital.

Once Dro had decided to make her disappear, Pop had suggested they use the same drug he used on his sister to knock Alexa out. Kendrick rigged the monitors to go off as if she was in code blue. When they injected her, Dro panicked. The drug would take fifteen to thirty minutes to work. The monitors went off as planned and he immediately wanted to abort the whole thing. But he knew this was the only way.

Dr. Lambert pronounced her dead, and Kendrick whisked her away from the morgue that night. The antidote was administered by Dr. Lambert at a deserted safe house. When Alexa came to, Dro had sighed with relief.

Pop suggested they hold a memorial for her within two weeks which would give Alexa time to heal from her gunshot wound. It would also give her and Kendrick the time they needed to pick up the children from Pop’s villa in San Jose and fly to Spain. Dro agreed because he wanted her out of the country before the memorial service.

Time passed by quickly, as he tied up loose ends at Martinez and played the grieving husband. But there was a large part of him that wasn’t acting. The thought of Alexa really being in that casket had forced him to go through a real grieving period. It was probably the combination of everything that had happened, along with the fact that he was ending a major part of his life.

When it was time for the funeral, Kendrick was already in Spain and decided not to come back. It was too close to home for him since Alexa had almost died. It was too real to all of them, and because of that, Dro knew he was making the right decision by letting Martinez go.

When everything was said and done, the decision to leave life as he knew it wasn’t hard. It was the execution of everything that caused the doubt. There were so many uncertainties, so many things to do.

Fortunately, Owens was no longer a threat. He was found hanging in his cell a couple of days before the memorial. When they received the news, Dro remembered the smirk that crept across Pop’s face.

Dro snapped out of his thoughts and stared at Alexa standing before him. She lifted herself up on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on his mouth. He cradled her face in his hands and poured his soul into that kiss. He wanted her. He wanted to make love to his wife. It had been so long.

Just when he started luring her to the bed, there was a soft knock on the door. He reluctantly pulled back from her. “Come in.”

Ky and Alex burst into the room. “Papa! Mama!”

The kids ran into both of them. Dro didn’t think it could get any better than this. He picked Alex up in his arms. “Hijo, you’re getting so big. Both of you are.”

Ky squeezed his waist. “Are you happy to see Mama?”

Dro slid his hand up Alexa’s back and into her hair. Pulling her closer to him, he grazed his lips against hers. “Very,” he murmured against her lips.

Alexa blushed as Dro raked his eyes over her. She was a vision to him, dressed in a white linen, floor length sundress. Her skin was kissed by the Spanish sun, and he noted she dyed her hair a warm brown, which brought out her eyes and her golden skin tone. And the best part? She hadn’t straightened her hair. It was just the way he liked it, wavy and flowing down her back. She was glowing. He couldn’t help but stare.

“
Ugh, Papa,” Alex groaned. “You opened your mouth when you kissed Mama. That’s gross.”

Alexa giggled and Dro let the sound wash over him. He grinned at his son. “You won’t think so in a few years.”

“
Sí
, Alex,” Ky told her little brother. “That’s just what adults do when they’re in love.”

Dro raised his eyebrows. His daughter was growing up so fast. He patted her head affectionately. “Right, that’s what adults do. You have a long time before you can do that, Ky.”

Alexa smacked Dro’s shoulder playfully. “Papa has a double standard, Ky. He’s right, though. You need to wait for the right person first.”

“
Unlike her Mama,” he whispered against her ear. Even after all these years, he still hated the fact that Kendrick gave Alexa her first kiss.

Dro kissed Alexa again and Alex buried his head in his papa’s shoulder.

“
Stop, Papa! Nasty,” Alex screeched.

He barked out a laugh at his son’s antics. He ran a thumb over Alexa’s plump lips. “Okay okay. Let’s go downstairs. I’m sure Mama told you some of the things that are going on. I want to make sure you’re both all right with everything. There are going to be some important changes in our lives. Everyone should be downstairs by now and we’re going to have a big family dinner.” Dro set Alex on the floor and both kids bolted out of the room. He looked at Alexa again. “I love you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his chin. “I love you, too.”

EPILOGUE

December 2, 2012
:

It was the Christmas holiday and everyone was gathering in Spain.

Alexa spent an enormous amount of time getting the house ready. Her parents were flying in from San Jose. Chase and Kendrick’s parents were flying in from Canada. Everything had to be perfect.

The weather in Spain during the month of December was mild, but it was too rainy and cold for the children to play outside. So she had a house full of stir crazy children running around.

The hoard of kids traipsed through her living room, screaming at the top of their lungs. Kendrick’s kids were there, playing while they went shopping. CJ was there as well. “Go down to the gym, children. You’re making me nervous,” she yelled, wishing she hadn’t given Sara the afternoon off.

A chorus of ‘Okays’ sounded as the children ran to the gym on the lower level. She shook her head and smiled to herself. The children had flourished since the move. It wasn’t hard for them to catch on in school because they already knew the language. Spanish was a requirement in the Martinez household. And they had each other for a support system. The kids reminded her of Chase, Kendrick, Lei, Dro, Ari, Makayla, and herself while they were growing up. When they were young children, they had promised to always stick by each other. They kept that promise as they grew into adults.

She sighed as she focused on the mounds of Christmas decorations piled up in the living area. There was still much to do around the house. She had managed to talk Dro into helping her put the nine foot Christmas tree up the night before, but he disappeared when it was time to put all the decorations on it. She reached into the box of ornaments she insisted on bringing with her when they flew to Spain. Dro wanted to start over on everything, but she couldn’t bear leaving her special ornaments—ones given to her throughout the years by the people nearest to her heart like her Daddy and Dro’s mother, Laila. Even Enrique had given her a couple ornaments before he died.

She thought of Laila and Enrique often. She wondered if Laila would’ve been happy Dro found a way to distance himself from the life that suffocated her. She convinced herself that even Enrique would be proud of the business acumen his son had.