“Shut. Up!” Isabel finally yelled.

Romero wouldn’t even look in her direction, but she saw how tight his jaw was.

“Sweetheart, I’m just agreeing with what you said. Your future with him was uncertain.” Michael continued and at that, Romero glanced up at her. “Now I think the choice is pretty obvious. You can come back over from the dark side.”

Her sister was trying to get everyone back in their seats. Valerie suddenly hurried away from Isabel toward Alex who was now stalking toward Michael. Isabel rushed after her. She’d never forgive herself if they arrested Alex also because of her.

“I want him out!” Alex yelled to the cop trying to interview Michael. Valerie reached him just in time and held him by his arm. “This is my restaurant and I reserve the right. Get him out or I’ll throw his ass out myself.”

The cop gave Alex a bored look. “Alright, sir. Calm down. We’ll walk him out just as soon as we’re done here.”

Sal was there now. Like Valerie and herself, he probably spotted Alex charging in Michael’s direction and rushed over. Isabel hadn’t even noticed he was right behind her. “What happened? I saw them take Romero away.”

“Romero beat the shit outta this guy,” Alex said loud enough for Michael to hear, though if he did, he pretended not to.

Isabel walked away from the group when she saw her mother and father approaching. Her mother looked at her sternly. “Isabel, I want you to tell me the truth.”

Isabel sniffed, and the tears still dripped from her eyes. But she stared at her mom. “The truth about what?”

“Is he on drugs?” her father asked.

Isabel turned to her father. “No!”

“Then what was the matter with him?” Her mother demanded. “No one in their right mind does that—no matter how angry.”

“No...” Isabel thought about the liquor she’d smelt on his breath. “He had a few drinks but that’s it. Look, this was my fault—”

“That he turned into a crazed lunatic?” Up until now, her mother had been accepting of Romero, even though Isabel knew she wasn’t thrilled that he had no education beyond high school, but she was furious now. “Is that what you’re gonna say when you make him mad and he turns on you? That it was your fault?”

“He’d never turn on me.” For an instant, the memory of him holding her arm the night she insinuated she might turn the tables on him came to her. But he’d let go when she asked him to. “He wouldn’t.”

“Isabel this is not the time or place.” Her mother glanced around and lowered her voice. “But we need to have a serious conversation about this. Your father and I are extremely concerned for you. You know I don’t care about his career choice. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, even if had chosen to skip the education, but this… this is unacceptable.”

Feeling all the emotion she’d felt over the evening come to a shattering peak and now hearing this, Isabel could barely speak. “Well, I’m a grown woman, mother. You can’t ground me anymore and refuse to let me see him.”

“He’s no longer welcome around the family, Isabel. And that’s final,” her father said, adding to her already battered heart.

Without saying everything she wanted to, because after tonight she didn’t even know if her and Romero would still be together. And because she could feel that at any moment she was going to fall apart completely, she walked away without saying a word. They called after her but she ignored them, hurrying as the tears came even faster now, burning down her face.

CHAPTER 21

Aftermath

Romero was past the hurt and the anger. All he felt now was numb. He lay there in his old bed at his uncles’ house staring at the ceiling like he’d done so many times in the past when he’d felt let down or just pissed. Only now, the only person he was pissed at was himself. He’d lain there the entire night since his uncles and Alex had bailed him out.

Alex had obviously filled his uncles in on what happened because all Manny had said when he got out was, “What I am I gonna do with you?”

His uncles had already been in contact with their lawyer and Romero knew this much: he was looking at felony assault charges. If convicted, he’d not only do time, but he’d lose his P.I. license and his right to carry a gun, which was necessary to run his business. His temper had finally cost him dearly. Not only was he looking at possibly ruining what he’d worked so hard to get, he’d lost the one thing he didn’t know if he could live without—Izzy.

He closed his eyes and for a second an image of Isabel in Michael’s arms flashed before him. He sat up in a violent jerk. Suddenly he felt the deep ache again. The one he’d felt for hours as he sat in the jail cell. Isabel had gone over to talk to Michael about them—to vent—to tell him her future with Romero was uncertain.

He knew every one of her expressions now and when he’d glanced at her in hopes that he’d see anger at Michael’s lies, he saw guilt instead. She’d already admitted what she’d done. What he’d tried so desperately to hide from all this time was out there now. If there was any doubt before yesterday, it was gone now. He was beneath her.

What an idiot he’d been to think getting her a ring could seal the deal. As if that’s all it took to hold on to someone like Isabel. It was just a matter of time before she figured it out for herself and turned to someone like Michael, a f**king commander or whatever the hell he was—someone more at her and her family’s level than he ever would be.