Emery
I headed to my room to pack after I sent Rafael out of my office with a bag full of stuff for his brother. I felt hot and flushed as I pulled an empty duffle from my closet and started loading it up with shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, flip-flops, two purses, and a few bathing suits. After adding my floppy hat for good measure, I headed back downstairs. Rafe and Alejandro were seated at the kitchen island while Kaya was at the sink mixing the plant food into the water pails I’d pulled from the pantry.
I dropped a loud kiss on her cheek as I hefted the bigger of the two pails from the counter. “Love you for this,” I said as I made my way out to the sunroom. She came out a minute later with the smaller watering can, and the two of us worked as a team to get everything watered. Several of my plants only needed watering on Saturdays, which meant our timing was perfect, but the ones that needed daily water were on a timer that had to be adjusted by hand. I’d spent a small fortune having a misting system put in, but it only worked if it was set to vacation mode—otherwise, it didn’t water as often because I liked to water each plant by hand when I was home, and Kaya did as well.
After we’d rinsed out the cans and put everything back in the pantry, she looked over at me with a sly grin. “How would you feel about doing a little housekeeping before we go?” she asked.
I looked at her with confusion. “Like what?”
“We’ve got two strapping guys with us which means now is the perfect time to toss Elliott’s shit out. “
“Oh, no,” I said as I shook my head. “I don’t want to bother anyone—”
“I want to do it,” Rafe called out from behind me. “I agree with Kaya— let's get his shit out of here now. He is no longer in your life—there’s no point in waiting.”
“And I agree with my brother and my Bellezza,” Alejandro offered.
Elvis cawed three times in quick succession, apparently agreeing with the Cruz brothers and his auntie Kaya. I wasn’t surprised considering he’d never taken to Elliot. I’d assumed it was because he didn’t like men, but seeing the way he was with Rafe made me question that. Elvis had plenty of room in his heart for people he cared about—but absolutely none for people who annoyed him.
Outvoted, I surrendered. “Let’s do it.”
We sent the guys out to the garage to grab the storage bins Elliot had brought with him when he moved in. While they did that, Kaya and I went up to my office—the room Elliot had claimed for his own—and started taking down the dozens of photos he’d hung on my wall. Once Rafael and Alejandro were back, they made quick work of tossing Elliot’s clothes into trash bags before they dismantled his furniture and moved it out. In less than forty-five minutes, all traces of Elliot had been relegated to the garage and my office was back to looking the way I liked it, except for the three dozen nail holes in the wall Elliot’s bed had been next to.
I didn’t verbalize it, but as we put the furniture back I couldn’t help feeling that my house wasn’t my home anymore. Something indefinable had changed, either due to Elliot’s energy or the paparazzi camped outside. I worried that I’d never feel as content in the house as I once had. I’d felt secure in being off the beaten path in Malibu but once the press showed up, all that went out the window. I suspected I’d need to do something about that sooner rather than later.
When we came downstairs, we found Elvis sitting patiently in the kitchen waiting for us. He perked right up when he saw us come around the corner in the room. Jumping down to the floor, he looked up at me as if to ask if we were finished.
“We’re good to go,” I told him.
He scurried off as if I’d just told him we were going to a party. I’d never imagined I’d see the day my baby didn’t want to stay home but it was evident to me he wanted to go back to the Cruz’s. I wondered if he too was feeling the same way I was about the house—or if he just liked being near Rafe.
Everything was going perfectly as the four of us exited the house and I locked the back entry behind us. Impatient, Elvis jumped up onto the wall and headed over to the Cruz yard—and that’s when all hell broke loose. His frantic, angry screams cut through the air, the ones that told me he was defending himself against something.
My stomach sank when a voice I didn’t recognize yelled, “Fuck! Shoo! No! Bad! Jesus, fuck!
We all raced toward the ladder, but Rafe got there first. He ran up the rungs like the devil himself was at his back. The bang, bang, bang of his footsteps against the metal rang out as he went up the ladder on my side and down the one on the other. I was hot on his tail, only waiting until he was up and over before I was running up myself. Coyotes weren’t unheard of in Malibu and if one had gotten ahold of my still-screaming boy, I would lose it.
As I climbed over the top and got onto the ladder on the Cruz side, I heard Rafael start talking to Elvis.
“Look at me, little man. Everything is okay.”
When I dropped to the bottom of the ladder and turned around, I immediately saw what the problem was. Equal parts amused and mortified, I hurried over toward the spot where Elvis had a man who looked almost exactly like Rafael trapped against a wall. I say trapped because my baby had spread his feathers to corral him and the guy looked freaked.
“Elvis,” I chided softly as I walked closer. “What are you doing?”
I stopped walking when he yelled a few times and looked at me in a panic like he was afraid if I came closer the man would harm me.
“Everything is okay little dude,” Rafe said calmly.
My poor baby appeared genuinely miffed as he looked between Rafe and me. His expression said everything is not okay and you’ve both lost your minds.
“Well, that answers that question,” Kaya announced as she came to my side. “I wondered if he would know the difference between Rafe and Diego. He does.”
“I’m kind of freaking out that this bird is eying me up like he wants to eat me alive,” Diego called out. “If anyone could assure me that he’s not violent and I’m not about to meet my maker that would be great.”
“You’re going to be fine,” Alejandro said calmly. “Just… don’t make any sudden movements.”
“Jesus Christ, Jandro. That didn’t help at all, you dick,” Diego groaned.
As they spoke, Rafe reached out, took my hand in his and held it up as he called out to Elvis. “Buddy,” he said calmly, “look at Mommy and me. We’re right here. Come to us, little dude.”
Tugging my hand, Rafe guided me a few steps closer before stopping. Once again, the simplest touch from him made me feel tingly all over, even in a crisis. What was that all about?
Elvis eyed us up suspiciously as we got closer to him. When we stopped, Rafe guided me to crouch down next to him. “Call him,” he murmured.
“Come here, baby. Mommy needs Elvis kisses.”
He retracted his feathers slowly as he looked between where Rafe and I were to the spot where Diego was trying to morph into the wall. As he was trying to make up his mind, Rafe let out a short whistle. Immediately, Elvis backed away from the wall and came to us. When he stopped, he alternated between rubbing his face against mine and giving Rafe boo-boo eyes.
“It’s okay, little dude. That’s my brother, Diego.”
Elvis looked from Diego—who still looked scared shitless—to Rafe suspiciously.
“He’s okay, Elvis,” Rafe assured him. “I’d never lie to you.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kaya and Alejandro walking to Diego. “Elvis,” Kaya called softly. “Diego is our friend. He lives here, too.”
His whole body was stiff as he watched Kaya reach out and loop her arm through Diego’s. “Friend,” she repeated. “He’s good.”
He looked back at Rafe and me as we both nodded our agreement with Kaya’s words. “We like Diego,” I told him.
I could feel all the tension drain from his little body when he laid his head down on my leg so I could scratch his neck. Letting go of Rafe’s hand, I smiled up at Diego as I ran my hands over Elvis’s feathers.
“It’s okay now. I’m so sorry—apparently seeing someone who looks just like his best friend was a little traumatic for him.”
Diego let out an uneasy laugh. “I’m so traumatized I need new shorts.”
Rafe laughed as he stood. “Did you really shit yourself?”
Diego gave his brother the side eye. “No, but it was close. He’s terrifying.”
“Later I’ll have you feed him some b-r-e-a-d,” Rafe spelled out. “He will take to you—he is just very protective of his mom and Kaya.”
“Uh, and clearly of you,” Diego pointed out.
It was impossible to miss the happiness that brought to Rafe.
“Hey,” Kaya said as she pointed at Rafe suspiciously. “What was with the whistle and why did he respond to it?”
Rafael looked over his shoulder at me guiltily before he turned back to Kaya. “Don’t be mad. I’ve been teaching him to come to me when he hears it.”
“Is that why he’s always over here?” she asked incredulously.
“No, no,” Rafe assured her. “I only do it when you and Jandro are out.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a stern look. “Hmph. I can’t believe you’re over here teaching my nephew secret tricks.”
That got us all laughing, including Elvis who lifted his head, threw back his neck, and cackled several times.
“Oh sure,” Diego snorted, “he laughs. No one’s going to believe me when I tell them I was almost killed by a laughing peacock.”
At that Elvis stopped laughing. Turning, he gave Diego a look that said— in no uncertain terms— that the jury was still out as to how he felt about him. If he’d had hands he’d have made the I’m watching you motion. Rafe tickled the top of my baby’s crown to get his attention. “Dio is okay, Elvis,” he said firmly. “You be a good boy.”
When Elvis rubbed his head against Rafe to indicate his understanding, I had to bite back a laugh. It was crazy to me how much the man next door had come to mean to my little man in such a short period of time.
“Since it’s a home day we’ve got two choices,” Alejandro announced. “Either we hit up the movie room and watch some shit or we spend some time out here in the pool soaking up the sun. I’m about the outdoors, but majority rules.”
“Pool,” Kaya and I replied at the same time.
“Pool it is,” Rafe declared. “Let Jandro and I bring your stuff over the wall and then we can all get changed.”
“I’ll help,” Diego said.
Before I could utter a peep, Kaya said, “We can help too.”
All three Cruz brothers looked at her like she’d spoken Swahili.
“Our parents find out we let you two help lug shit up and down ladders and there’d be hell to pay,” Jandro said in a very matter-of-fact way.
“But they aren’t here and it’d be quicker to let us help,” I pointed out.
“There are security cameras all over the place and the maids are in and out cleaning from breakfast. Somehow, some way, our parents would find out. Already came close to losing my balls today,” Diego said. “Not gonna go for round two.”
All three men burst out laughing.
“Dio is correct. Somehow they always know.”
Turning, I watched as Mateo Cruz and his beautiful wife came out the side door. I couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy that rolled through me as I watched how they walked, hand in hand in a way that said they did it because they needed to be touching. I wondered if there was something in the Barcelona water that made the Cruz men love their women the way they did. Antonio, Mateo and Alejandro all wore their love and affection with pride, making no attempt to hide it. My gaze immediately went to Rafael as I wondered if he’d love his woman in the same way—and the very idea made my cheeks heat.
“Emery,” Mateo called, “let me introduce you to my wife, Ava.”
Standing, I dusted my hands off as I stepped forward and met Ava half way so we could shake hands.
“Thank you so much for having me,” I said.
“It’s me who has to thank you—and Kaya— for saving me from certain insanity,” she said dryly. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am that our vacation includes other women. The boys and their competitive ways can become a bit much.”
Rafe barked out a laugh as he came forward and poked at her arm. “Who’s competitive? None of us, surely.”
Ava rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to me. “You’ll see what I mean soon enough. When all the Cruz brothers are together, they don’t miss an opportunity to make things a challenge.”
Turning her attention to my feathered sidekick, she smiled down at Elvis sweetly. “I’m also really excited to have your little man here,” she said. “I only met him for a few minutes last night but I’m already enamored. He’s such a handsome boy.”
Rafe, Kaya and I groaned in unison as Elvis cawed three times before he started shaking his little body and fluffing his feathers to preen for her.
“Gotta watch the H word around him,” Rafe told her.
“Ah,” she laughed, “he enjoys compliments.”
“Immensely,” I confirmed.
“I’ll keep that in mind the next time he’s trying to kill me,” Dio said wryly.
We all laughed as Elvis continued performing. I couldn’t explain it, but something about the happiness I was feeling was different than anything I’d had before. There was something beautiful about the Cruz family, something I wanted to immerse myself in and become a part of. I wanted that almost as much as I wanted to touch Rafe, an urge that grew in intensity with each passing minute.