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Just as I was contemplating climbing into the passenger door and clambering across to the driver’s side, a guy appeared at the side of the beat up old Chevy parked beside me.
“Sorry!” he called. He smiled, but it didn’t look genuine. “Just give me a minute and I’ll move.”
“No problem,” I replied through clenched teeth, forcing a smile. What I really wanted to ask was why the fuck he had parked that way in the first place, but he was still smiling and I didn’t want to come across as an asshole.
The guy was older than me, maybe around the age of my brothers. He had shortly cropped dark hair and sunglasses covered his eyes. He was tall and bulky looking. If I weren’t so pissed, maybe I’d even think he was kind of cute.
Needing to do something other than stand and stare angrily, I pulled my keys from my pocket and made my way slowly to the back door on the passenger side. I busied myself opening the door to load my bags into the back seat while also trying to keep an eye on what the asshole was doing. Why the hell wasn’t he just getting in his car and moving it already?
I leant right into the back to place my bags on the seat, taking my eyes off of the stranger for just a moment. That was all it took.
I sensed movement at my back, but before I could turn, something touched bare skin at the nape of my neck and a feeling of agony tore through me. I didn’t have time to panic or even think. Everything went black.
MATT
“Papá!” Liza yelled through the door of the home gym. I had only been down there for around ten minutes, so it figured one of the kids would be hollering for me already. I knew I should consider myself lucky I got ten minutes to myself. Not that I was complaining. I loved my family just the way it was, even if our home was constantly in chaos. At least it was the fun kind.
“In here, mija!” I called back as I dropped the weights and sat up on the weight bench. Did I miss the hours of uninterrupted workouts I got to do before the kids came along? Absolutely. But I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. I had everything I had ever dared to dream of – a spectacular wife who I loved more than I could ever express, beautiful, smart, and funny kids, and my brothers at my side.
Liza burst into the gym moments later and looked at me with the cheekiest smile. She was starting to get so big now, and the idea of her all grown up and going out into the wide world terrified me more and more each time I looked at her.
“Mom said to tell you dinner’s in ten minutes,” she told me.
“On my way,” I assured her as I got to my feet and grabbed a towel to wipe away the sweat I had just begun to work up. “Did you finish your homework?”
“Yep and mom already checked it, right before she started yelling at Tom,” she told me with glee. There was nothing my daughter liked more than her siblings getting into trouble.
“What’s he been up to this time?” I sighed.
“Don’t know,” she shrugged, “but he got detention again, all week, so it must be bad.”
I cursed in Spanish, as I did more and more nowadays around the kids. Tossing my sweaty towel into the hamper in the corner I grabbed my cell and made my way over to the door where Liza still stood watching me.
“Is he in trouble?” she asked.
“Isn’t he always?” I sighed as I moved to wrap my arm around her. She dodged me and backed up as she looked to me with disgust.
“Ew. Don’t touch me! You’re all sweaty!”
“Fine. Go help your mom with dinner while I grab a quick shower,” I told her. She nodded and hurried away. “And Liza.” She stopped and turned back to me. “No taunting your brother about his detention,” I added. The last thing Livy needed was the two of them arguing.
“No promises,” she replied cheekily before she shot up the stairs away from me.
I was sighing once again at her antics as I made my way through the house and into our room where I quickly showered and pulled on some clean sweats and a t-shirt. I had spent the whole day in a suit. It was a relief to get something comfortable on, even if I hadn’t gotten my full work out in beforehand.
My cell started to ring just as I was leaving the bedroom. With yet another exhausted sigh I picked it up and flopped down on the end of the bed. I was just praying it wasn’t my assistant with another issue on the case I was currently handling. I’d been putting out fires all day and I didn’t have the energy to face it all again until the next morning. I just wanted some time to relax with my family. I loved my job, but I tried very hard not to bring my work home with me.
Thankfully it was my mom’s contact flashing up on the screen when I checked, and so I answered with a smile on my face. I always had time for my parents. They were the reason I was who I was. I hated to even contemplate who I would have been had they not taken me in as a kid.
“Hey mom,” I greeted.
“Oh Matt, thank heavens!” she cried, and I instantly tensed at the sound of her voice. She was obviously very upset. “Are you with Kade and Kyle? They’re not answering their cells.”
“They’re in the other room. Why? What’s wrong?”
“”Your father…they need to call him,” she sniffled.
“Why? What’s going on? Are you both okay?” I asked with worry.
