Tangled: A Moreno Brothers novella (16 page)

“Manny!” Aida protested loudly. “I was just throwing out
possibilities. I could be way off.”

“Nevertheless, it’s a good theory, and listen, boy, before you
get too worked up. Maybe this is a good thing,” Manny said, but his worried
tone only alarmed Romero further.

Romero had officially lost it. He was speeding home, already
listening to these two through his speakers. A good thing? “What’s her theory?”
Romero asked, squeezing the steering wheel,
needing
to hear something
positive about this whole thing—anything.

“Aida thinks maybe Izzy started having feelings for this guy,”
Manny said, and this
was not
what Romero was hoping to hear. Damn it. He
squeezed the wheel even tighter and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. “Maybe
they both started having feelings for each other. That wouldn’t be uncommon.
Shit like this happens all the time, you know?” Manny’s guarded tone went hard
suddenly. “I knew I didn’t like that fucker on Thanksgiving, but . . . but,” he
said as if catching himself, “being the good wife and mom Izzy is, she cut it
off before anything happened, and Aida thinks—”

“Stop saying
I’m
the one saying this!” Aida snapped at
him.

“Okay, we both think it,” Manny corrected himself, “that maybe
Izzy is having a hard time dealing with it. You know—feeling guilty, maybe even
a little broken up. Like I said,” he continued, very calmly now, “it’s not
unheard of to feel attracted to someone you work with so closely on a day-to-day
basis. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing either, as long as neither acts on
it, and Izzy wouldn’t. I still think the only thing you’d have to worry about
is her working with guy too much longer.”

“I gotta go,” Romero said, suddenly unable to wait until he got
home.

His call went to Izzy’s voicemail, and he threw his phone back on
the passenger side. His heart literally hurt to think she could possibly have
feelings for anyone else. He wasn’t sure who he was angrier at: Manny and Aida
for actually suggesting this could be the case—
believing
that Izzy might
actually have feelings for another man that she could be so broken up over she
was crying about it openly—or himself for being like so many of his clients he
called saps because even with all the facts and blatant clues in front of them
they
still
were holding out hope that it wasn’t true.

Not once this whole time, even with all the annoying misgivings
he’d had about Elliot, had Romero considered looking further into the guy. Okay,
maybe the thought had crossed his mind once or twice, but each time he’d said
the same thing. It didn’t matter what he found out about the guy. Even if this
guy was attracted to Isabel—had feelings for her—Romero had been adamant that as
long as Izzy didn’t reciprocate said feelings, he had nothing to worry about.
And he had believed in his heart that she
never
would.

As much as Manny and Aida were trying to tone the whole thing
down, this changed everything.

There was no fucking way he was going to wait and go snooping to
get answers. He was going straight to the source and getting his answers
tonight
.
He nearly hit his neighbors’ trashcans lined up on the street for tomorrow’s
pickup as he drove into his driveway.

Trying to calm himself as he jumped out of his car, he stopped
and took a deep breath. He hadn’t even driven all the way up to the back of the
driveway. He was in such a hurry to get inside. But he had to remember the kids
were home. He
could not
go off on one of his rages. The kids had never
seen him in one, and he’d be damned if they ever would. That part of him had
been dormant for years until it began to awaken just recently. But he was
determined he wouldn’t lose it in front of his kids
ever
. Hearing Manny
say that fucking professor had kissed Izzy was proof that side of him was still
alive and well. It was still there, lingering, waiting. Even after Aida had set
the record straight, saying he’d only kissed her hand, it was enough to light
the fire. He’d known it even at the beach when he’d overheard Izzy and Gina,
but he’d reasoned that he’d been able to calm himself fast enough. This time he
wasn’t so sure he could. The beast had been awakened, and it felt impossible to
snuff the all-out blaze inside him now.

Romero
had
to take control of it before it controlled him.
“Not in front of the kids, damn it,” he said through his teeth as he walked up
the porch steps.

“Look, Daddy!” Amanda ran up to him as soon as he walked in, smiling
big. Her front tooth was missing. “It fell out today.”

Romero smiled, thankful for the welcome reminder of what a
beautiful life he had. He bent over, examining the gap in his daughter’s front
teeth, then kissed her forehead. “Guess this means the tooth fairy comes tonight.”

“Yes!” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He hugged her back, lifting her off the floor for a moment before
setting her back down.

“And look!” Romeo, who was on his knees on one of the dining room
chairs, said, pointing at the gift on the dining table. “We get to open another
Christmas gift early.”

Izzy stood next to him, smiling, but she looked tired—drained.
Even if Manny and Aida hadn’t let him in on what they’d seen, Romero would’ve
still noticed she’d obviously had a rough day.

Swallowing back what that did to him, he frowned instead. “Manny
and Max again?”

“No,” Amanda said, rushing to the table. “Professor Banderas,”
she said, climbing onto the chair next to Romeo. “Mommy’s boss. He got us gifts
and said we should open them before Christmas.”

Romero turned to Izzy as this only fanned the flames. “He came
here?”

“No,” Izzy said just as he noticed the empty, folded Macy’s bag
in her hand. “He gave them to me today and said they might want to open them
before Christmas.”

She took a few steps toward him and kissed him hello. That should’ve
calmed Romero. At least the bag he’d given her at the mall was not a personal
gift to her. The idiot had the foresight to know that might piss Romero off.
But it didn’t calm him. Thoughts of the guy whispering something in her ear,
kissing her hand, and her crying were making him crazy now.

Amanda dug in the box full of tissue and held up a crystal figurine
of what looked like a baseball mitt and bat with a string. “It’s a Christmas
tree ornament.”

The word “champ” was engraved in it. Romeo held his up, making a
face. It was a crystal tiara with the word “princess” engraved on it. Isabel
glanced at Romeo’s scrunched up face and laughed. “I think you two got it
backwards.”

They quickly traded as Romero continued to stare at his wife.
There had to be some other explanation for what Manny and Aida had seen at the
mall. He could hardly stand not being able to ask her already.

“Look, Mommy. There’s another one in here.” Isabel turned to the
box with that same frantic expression as that morning. “Maybe this one is
yours.”

“Don’t open it,” she said too quickly. “I can wait until
Christmas.”

“Why?” Romero asked, not even trying to hide the glare.

“I just prefer to open my gifts Christmas morning,” she said,
reaching for the box.

“But he said to open it before,” Mandy said, staring at the box. “It’s
probably another ornament.” His daughter lifted hers in the air again,
oblivious to the inferno going on inside of her dad that moment. “We can hang
them up together.”

“I’ll hang mine up Christmas morning,” Izzy said, pointing at the
tree. “Go hang yours up now.”

The kids hurried off to hang their ornaments, giggling. “Daddy, Mommy
fell asleep today and was mumbling while she slept,” Mandy said then giggled
some more.

Romeo laughed too. “Yeah, she was dreaming about E.T.”

Romero couldn’t take his eyes off Isabel. He didn’t even comment
about her talking in her sleep. That came as no surprise; she’d been doing it a
lot lately, a testament to how tired this job was making her. She turned to him
for the first time since the kids had run off, likely noticing the way his eyes
were burning a hole through her. Her brows pinched together.

“What?” she asked, seemingly unaware of what was about to go down
because he was done being Mr. Patient.

“Open the gift,” he said, staring deeply in her eyes. “I wanna
see what he got you.”

The flash in her eyes nearly pushed him over the edge. He didn’t
know what it meant, but one thing was for sure. She
did not
want to open
it, and he wasn’t buying her bullshit about wanting to wait until Christmas.
She glanced down at the gift, looking a bit defeated, as if she too had a
feeling it was going to piss him off.

It felt as if she was opening it in slow motion. Romero had to
fight the urge to grab the fucking box and open it himself. No surprise it was
another ornament. The kids were back at their side, waiting eagerly to see it. “It’s
an angel,” she said, smiling at the kids.

“Sweet Darling,” Amanda read the engraving out loud.

Romero looked up at Isabel, who turned away quickly addressing
the kids. “Let’s get this on the tree.”

“Let’s not,” Romero said, unable to tone down how infuriated he
was feeling at that moment.
Sweet Darling? Was this guy fucking kidding?
“Kids,
your mom and I need to talk. Go upstairs for a few minutes.”

“But, Daddy—” Amanda began.

“Go!” he said firmly, trying not to yell.

Amanda took Romeo’s hand and headed toward the stairs. He waited
until they were all the way up. “Sweet Darling?” he tried but failed miserably
to keep his voice down. “What the fuck’s that about?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s just an ornament, Romero.”

She set the box down on the dining room table and headed in to
the kitchen. They didn’t argue often. In fact, he couldn’t even remember any
argument since they’d been married where he’d been this heated. But he was sure
she was moving him into the kitchen for the kids’ sake. It was furthest away
from the stairwell.

“Where’d you go today?” he demanded, following her.

“Besides work, the mall.” She walked all the way to the other
side of the center island and turned around to face him. “I was getting some
last-minute things.”

“Anything you wanna tell me?”

“About what?”

Unbelievably, she looked genuinely confused. But it gave him the
hope he needed to calm his frantic heart. Maybe Manny and Aida had
misinterpreted what they’d seen.

He shrugged. “About the mall.”

The confusion was still there. That he was certain of. He knew
every single one of her expressions.

“What about it?” she asked, peering at him curiously “It was
packed. I almost didn’t even stop after all because the parking was so bad.”

“That’s it?” he asked as the feelings of agitation mounted. “That’s
all you wanna tell me about your little trip to the mall?”

“What are you asking me—?”

“What about that you were there with Elliot,” he finally snapped.
“Why wouldn’t you mention that?”

Her reaction to that was not what he’d expected. He’d been
expecting surprise, dread, maybe a little remorse even. Instead, she looked
angry
.
“Were you following me?”

“Manny and Aida saw you,” he spat back.

That didn’t lessen the anger in her eyes still. “Okay, so I ran
into Elliot. I also ran into Brandon. Am I supposed to list everyone I run into
for you? Amanda’s teacher was there too. We stopped and chatted for a little
bit. I was gonna tell you about that later or would that be wrong too?”

“They saw you crying,” he said, and the fact that she apparently
considered her run-in with Elliot innocent didn’t lessen the ache in his heart.
“They saw you two hug, and he kissed your hand.”

She shook her head. “He was just saying goodbye—”

“He whispered something in your ear,” Romero said a little
louder. “And you were crying, Isabel. You wanna explain that? What the fuck is
going on between you and this guy?”

“I was crying because Brandon showed me his gift to Gina,” she
said, coming around the center island, and stood in front of him, looking him
right in the eyes. “It was very sweet, and it made me emotional. And there is
nothing
going on between Elliot and me. How could you even think that?”

“How can I think that?” he asked, his head reminding him to keep
his voice down, but his heart was ready to burst. He jabbed his finger in the
direction of the dining room. “What about that fucking ornament. Sweet Darling?
You gonna tell me that doesn’t mean anything? That there’s not more you’re not
telling me?” Finally, he’d hit a nerve. He was onto something. “What did he
whisper in your ear?” Romero asked, searching her eyes for clues.

He needed more. There was more to this and he knew it. Felt it.
His gut couldn’t be this off. Something was up with this asshole, and he wanted
answers now.

She didn’t even have to think about it. “That he hoped it wasn’t
goodbye forever,” she said, but the conviction in the way she’d spoken to him
earlier waned. “I’m not going into class tomorrow, and I let him know already
that I won’t be coming back after the Christmas break.”

She explained about leaving early today and how she’d mentioned
she was going to the mall. She said she hadn’t thought to ask if he’d be okay
with her not going in tomorrow until after she’d left work, so he’d caught up
to her at the mall with the gift and said goodbye.

Romero stared at her now that he knew the truth, that she, in
fact, had been saying goodbye to this guy. Something else came to him.

Maybe she’s having a hard time dealing with it.

“Manny and Aida said they saw you go into the restroom and you
were in there for a long time. When you finally came out, you looked like you’d
been crying. Your eyes were all red and puffy.”