Page 61 of Reckless Love

Out of the corner of my eye, Raul’s presence is a constant as he drinks more and more. Normally, I’m happy when he’s this drunk. He’ll go home and collapse in bed and expect nothing from me. Tomorrow, I’ll have to play nursemaid as he moans about being too old to drink so much.

It’s much better than the temptress performance I thought I’d need to get me through the night. Maybe he really won’t remember the altercation with Stephen or why I have his index finger and thumb imprinted on my bicep.

Could I really get that lucky?

The cocktail party and auction wind down, and Datu seeks me out to say that Raul is already waiting in the car. God, if he’s passed out, I will thank all my lucky stars.

When I slide into the rear of the vehicle, it becomes immediately apparent that Raul is still pissed off rather than passed out.

“We’re going to get Landon,” he says.

“Landon is spending the night at Gage and Ember’s house. I took all his stuff there.”

“I’m bringing my son home.”

“That’s ridiculous.” I check the time on my phone. “It’s midnight. He’ll have been sleeping for hours.”

“And he’ll sleep again just fine in his own bed at home.”

“We can get him in the morning.”

“It’s already been decided.”

“You’ve had too much to drink. You’ll be hungover tomorrow. Why do you need him in the house when you’re not going to want to be around him? Are you forgetting how much energy he has at six in the morning?”

“Sir?” the driver asks from the front seat. “Gage Tucker’s house or home?”

“Where’s Datu?” I ask.

“He’ll be trailing us. Wanted two cars with the ruckus at the event.”

“Gage’s house,” Raul says, ignoring me. “My son is coming home.”

Frosty silence sits between us as the other security guard, whose name I can’t remember, navigates a route I’d never take to get to my brother’s house.

“I will be pressing charges,” Raul says. “You can tell your boyfriend that.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. There’s nothing going on between us. I swear on my company and on my son’s life. Nothing has happened that you need to be so angry about.”

“I saw the way you were looking at him, Ava. I’m not so drunk that my eyes don’t work.”

“You’re right. All that alcohol must have given you super vision on the dimly lit patio to know what the look in my eyes was from where you were standing.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“Then don’t make up things that aren’t true. I just asked why he’d been taken off our security detail.”

“He’s not fit to be on it. Clearly he has a temper he cannot control.”

“I have a bruise on my arm. Who’s the one with a temper he cannot control?”

Raul undoes the top button of his dress shirt to reveal the red mark that may turn into a bruise of his own. “Perhaps both of us is the answer. But I’m not letting this go. Either he pays for his behavior or you do.”

If the red mark on his neck turns into a bruise, it complicates what would have been a simple he said/he said argument in court with me as Stephen’s ally. That’s evidence I can’t easily dispute.

I’m saved from having to answer when we pull into Gage’s driveway, and Raul exits the car. Rather than staying, I get out too. I can only imagine what Gage is going to think with us showing up here in the middle of the night to get our sleeping child. It’s selfish, unhinged behavior.

“I’ll call Gage,” I say, “don’t…” But Raul is already laying on the doorbell, ringing it over and over. “Wake everyone up,” I finish.