“Ga-damn, Charles. Why didn’t you introduce me to your beautiful sister-in-law sooner?” He stepped up closer to her. “You can’t be serious about this guy right? Your sister said he’s not exactly a winner.” He stood so close she could smell the rancid liquor on his breath. “You haven’t been with him very long. You think I might still have a chance?”

Her face was very hot now but she was also annoyed. As mad as she was at Romero, she wouldn’t allow anyone to put him down. “My sister knows very little about him, so she’s not exactly qualified to be passing judgment.”

Charles walked away to answer his phone. Michael took a swig of whatever putrid liquor he was drinking and stepped even closer to her. “You didn’t answer my question.” He smiled wickedly.

She glanced over to Romero whose eyes had locked on them now. Feeling the lump suddenly in her throat again, she made a hasty decision. Romero may’ve gone crazy a few times because of her sister’s doing, but he’d never felt the hurt she was feeling at that moment. As stupid as she knew it was, she smiled back at Michael. “The future is always uncertain.”

“I knew it.” He smiled even bigger. “I’m a bit of an expert in body language and I could tell you weren’t having the time of your life over there, earlier.”

She lifted a shoulder and continued to smile but felt the tears begin to fill her eyes.

Suddenly Michael looked concerned. “What’s wrong, honey?” He put his arm around shoulder.

She couldn’t believe she was going to let herself fall apart now, in front of Michael. “Nothing,” She breathed in deeply, willing the emotion to pass. “I’m fine.”

“Isabel, what the hell’s going on?”

She and Michael turned at the same time to see an infuriated Romero charging toward them. Alex was right behind him. He had everyone within hearing distance’s attention, including her father and the reporter.

Michael didn’t pull his arm off her. “She’s venting. Can you give us a moment?”

She saw the shock in Romero’s eyes then the rage. “Fuck no! I won’t give you a moment with her!” He turned to Isabel. “What are you venting about?”

Without thinking, her own angry words shot out. “Us!”

His eyes opened wide. “You’re telling this f**ker about us?”

A crowd had begun to gather, including the reporter who now seemed more interested in them than in her father.

“Hey, watch your language.” Michael held her even closer and now that Romero was close enough, the smell of the perfume still on him assaulted Isabel, making her even angrier.

Romero’s eyes were immediately on Michael’s arm and Isabel could see it was a struggle for him to not lose it completely. He spoke through his teeth. “Get your f**king hands off her.”

She didn’t turn to see Michael’s expression but she could hear the smile in his words. “Maybe she wants them there.”

She tried to smile when Romero turned to see her response to that, but the tears nearly blurred her vision. She was done with this game. It hadn’t made her feel any better. Knowing she made a huge mistake she tried moving Michael’s hand off her shoulder but he stupidly wouldn’t let go. “Stop, Michael,” she said still trying to move his hand, as he stubbornly held her to him. The next thing she saw was Romero’s fist flying into Michael’s face.

Alex pulled her away and what followed was pure chaos. Romero was like an enraged animal. There was no stopping him. With her hands at her face, she gasped. She’d seen him angry before but never like this and this was all her fault. “Stop, Romero. Please!” She turned to Alex. “Stop him!”

Alex watched as Romero got a few more punches in before making a move. There were already other bodies attempting to stop the brawl, but so far they had been completely unsuccessful. One guy even got Romero’s elbow to his face as Romero cocked it back to pound Michael again.

Valerie was suddenly next to Isabel and squeezed her arm.

“Oh my God. This is all my fault.”

“No it’s not!” Valerie tried convincing her. “C’mon.” Valerie pulled her away from the crowd of men trying in vain to stop Romero’s rampage.

Isabel couldn’t pull her eyes away. Alex had finally pulled Romero away but she saw what a huge struggle it was to contain him. Michael’s face was already a mess and Romero wanted more?

She didn’t think it possible but her heart sunk even further when she saw the uniformed police rush in and make their way through the crowd. Within seconds they had Romero shoved against the wall. Isabel covered her mouth with her hand. “What did I do?”

“This. Is. Not. Your. Fault.” Valerie insisted.

“I want that f**king animal arrested!” Michael yelled at the officers patting Romero down.

The cops that stood in front of Michael, tried settling him down. Belligerent, loud and obviously humiliated but trying to play it down, Michael scoffed at the officer who asked if he needed paramedics to look at him. “Nah, I’m fine. This ain’t shit, son! I’ve been in wars. He didn’t do shit to me. But it’s enough to throw his ass behind bars where this loser belongs.”

Romero was already being handcuffed and Isabel fell apart. Valerie put his arm around her. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Michael’s mouth was still running and Isabel wanted to scream at him to shut up! “You blew it, you idiot!” Michael taunted as they walked Romero past him. “Probably the only chance a loser like you had with someone like Isabel.”