twenty-six
Cricket wasn’t nervous. Really, he wasn’t. It was just that he’d never imagined being opposite the POS guns-slash-drug-slash-cartel—or whatever he was—leader, talking about dating his little girl.
Victorjia had failed to mention that her daddy was freaking Manuel Contreras. She was just his toothpaste girl, and that had been enough for him. And now he was in over his head because he was absolutely attached to this woman, and she was attached to trouble. Trouble he didn’t know how to distance himself from because he was totally unwilling to call it quits with her.
They hadn’t spent a ton of time together, but every moment they had, starting with that stupid little chat in the general merch section of the grocery store meant a hell of a lot to him. It marked the start of a hopeful new future, and he was so on board with all that it promised and more…except for the potential father-in-law.
Could he really see himself connecting to a woman whose daddy was so corrupt? He was smart enough to make the distinction between them. Victorjia was not her father. If anything, she was the opposite. That’s why he was struggling so bad with this.
“If you’re going to date my daughter, you’d better be prepared to make an honest woman of her,” Manuel was saying from his cigar chair where he was, coincidentally, chewing on the butt end of an unlit cigar.
“She’s not pregnant,” Cricket said defensively. She wasn’t. She’d assured him she was on birth control, and he’d used condoms during all of their sexcapades. They weren’t at the stage of talking marriage either, not that he hadn’t entertained the idea a few dozen times.
She was just so damn perfect for him. Call him a poor sap, but he was completely taken by her. In love wouldn’t be a far reach. But this bombshell of her parentage was enough to make him take a breath and think with his big head.
Manuel’s narrowed eyes and the impatience pouring off him was unsettling, like looking into the eyes of a shark with deadly intent. Cricket wasn’t easily shaken, but it wasn’t where he wanted to be. It was one of those “I’m doing this for you” kind of things that he hoped Victorjia recognized and appreciated.
He cast her a sidelong glance and found her eyes on him. She wasn’t comfortable either, which made the alpha in him sit up and toughen up because he wasn’t about to be weak when his girl needed him strong.
“Look, I’m into your daughter. She’s a great woman, and I love spending my time with her.” He smiled at her and continued. “I have no idea where this is going—we just met—but I’m hoping it ends up someplace great. But I can’t sit here and promise marriage when we hardly know each other. That’s not fair to either of us, and I’m not going to put her in that position. So while I respect what you’re trying to do here, which I think is protecting your daughter from people like me, or men in general, cuz, shit, I would too if I were in your shoes, I’m just not going to get on board with you right now. But I can and will promise to treat her right and do my best not to hurt her. But I’m a man, so I’m going to guarantee I’ll fuck shit up along the way. I’ll just try not to.”
Manuel glared at him, and Victorjia twisted her hands in her lap. Cricket prayed for the best. Her daddy was looking like he wanted to jump him, maybe drive a knife through his chest, and Cricket didn’t want to have to lay him out in front of his girl, but he’d put a bullet in the bastard’s head before he let him put him in the ground before his time.
“I don’t like you,” Manuel declared, “but I also can’t keep you from sneaking out of the house and hitching rides to meet up.” With this, he looked at his daughter, who stared at the floor looking guilty as sin.
Cricket had no idea what was going on between them, but he had a feeling they sure did.
“I’ll be keeping my eye on you,” Manuel warned Cricket. “If I feel like anything at all is going on that I don’t like…let’s just say you won’t like what happens next.”
“Papito—”
Manuel held up his hand, cutting Victorija’s attempt to scold him off. “This is how it will be,” he declared, ending any further argument on the spot.
Cricket didn’t particularly like how he spoke to his woman, but he wasn’t going to correct him. This time. If they made the journey together, though, he’d be sure to put the asshole in his place if he stepped even a toe out of line.
Appearing embarrassed and more than done with this whole shenanigan, Cricket decided it was time to get Victorjia out of there. Announcing their plans for the evening, Cricket reluctantly shook hands with Manuel and guided his woman out of the mansion to his bike. As he placed the helmet on her head and got her fit up against his back, he could feel her father’s eyes boring a hole through his head same as any bullet, but he didn’t let it get to him.
A reasonable man, he could understand where the man was coming from, and that was where he was going to try to keep his head. Peace. That was the name of the game, and starting a fight over things like ego wasn’t wise. Now that Blake had secured a tentative agreement between the Spartans and Contreras, it was in all of their best interests to maintain it and try to strengthen it.
Besides, Contreras made a good faith effort by giving up his main supplier. A big player like Rubio off the market was a huge win for everyone. Not only did it mean a chance at a normal life again, with their turf unthreatened, but it meant that their town could start to heal. That anyone Rubio’s organization had touched, anywhere he had his fingers, had a chance to heal. That was priceless, as far as he was concerned.
Twenty minutes into their ride to nowhere in particular, Cricket pulled the bike over, parking it at the top of a hill that overlooked their little town center. Rolling hills covered in lush, green trees, little houses interspersed along the winding neighborhood roads, a swimming hole peeking out from a forest stared back at them. But Cricket’s attention wasn’t there. It was on the woman sitting behind him with her arms clamped around his waist as if she was afraid to let go.
Cricket pulled off the glove on his left hand and covered hers.
“I’m sorry for my father,” Victorjia said before he could speak. “He comes off strong, but he means well.”
“I know. I don’t blame him,” he said, even if he kind of did. He couldn’t help it; he didn’t like the man.
“I hope you won’t hold what he is against me,” she said with a tremor in her voice.
Cricket understood, with just that little shake, she was in as deep as he was. So neither of them had a chance in hell of rewinding this whole thing. Huh…that was interesting. Almost amusing.
“The only thing I’ll ever hold against you is my body,” he teased, and they both tightened their grip. Comfort, that’s what they offered one another. The world was so cold and unforgiving, and yet, just like his brothers, he’d managed to find that warm, soft sliver of paradise. Imagine that.
As they sat there staring out at the incredible view, Cricket couldn’t help thinking about how everything had come together. All the struggle, the carnage, the heartache and loss and pain had all led up to this point, and in an unlikely turn of events, two opposing sides had come together with one mutual interest: the love of another person.
Manuel Contreras was a monster. But he was also a father. In the end, he cared more about his daughter and Rena, the new woman in his life, than he did about all the money in the world—not that he didn’t already bathe in the shit. He’d cut a deal that could just as easily sign his death warrant as it could set him free. That impressed Cricket because not a lot of people would do that. Manuel gave up a lot, but he was gaining so much more in return. Maybe that’s why he did it. Maybe he had ulterior motives that none of them had realized yet. Only time would tell.
Cricket was praying for the best possible outcome, because he still had hope for the world being a better place someday, and this felt like a good step in the right direction.
“What do you say we go get some ice cream, head back to my place, get naked, and make a mess.”
Victorija’s blunt teeth bit playfully down on his shoulder. “I say that’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all day.”
Oh yeah, Cricket thought as he revved the engine and shot off back down the hill. They were definitely headed toward something great.