Outside in the back lot of her family's privateapartment building, they all ate as a family under the twinkling lights strung upfrom one end of the lot to the other. They laughed and joked and basked in eachother's company. Sitting side by side, Cade held her close in a silent displayof possessiveness that made Maritzia feel like years of dreaming were finallycoming true.
~*~
Her new bedroom was everything Maritzia neverknew she had always wanted.
Turned around completely from where it used tosit, her new white bed sat at an angle in the middle of the room with thefootboard pointed to the large window. With only a tall matching chest ofdrawers against the wall and a small blue velvet chair that sat low to theground to replace the stuffy old wingback, her room now had a modern airy feelto it. Not at all like the cramped room it was weeks before, lined with heavytraditional furniture covering damn near every square inch of the wall. Now itwas open and free of clutter. The shiny wood flooring and its sparse designgave it a bohemian loft feel, she thought.
Smiling again at the magnificence of her room asshe emerged from the bathroom, Maritzia pulled the towel from her hair, lettingthe semi-wet black locks hang free. With her comb in hand, she sat on the edgeof the bed and let her feet dangle above the floor. Smiling to herself, shegently combed out her damp hair so she could part it into two French braids forbed.
The bedroom door opened behind her and Maritziabreathed in the fresh, familiar scent of Cade's body wash that suddenly infusedthe air. Without needing to turn around, she knew he was coming into the roomfor the night. Though it was never agreed to or even acknowledged, they bothknew that they would be switching from the guest bedroom to the newly renovatedmaster bedroom together.
There was a click of the door closing shutfollowed by Cade's gentle footsteps around the bed.
Pausing only for the briefest of seconds, shewaited for the inevitable press of his weight into the mattress behind her.
The new plush mattress dipped only slightly,signaling his presence. Her smile grew warm in satisfaction as she finished herlast braid and turned around to face him. Leaning back against the headboardwith one arm bent behind his head, Cade gave her a quiet penetrating look thatmade her nervous and curious all at once. Shirtless, his honey golden skinshined under the dim light of her lamps as if he were set under the heady glowof candlelight. She wondered if the dim light did the same to her? Maritziamentally snorted. Who was she kidding?! She knew it didn't.
Smiling wider, she tilted her head slightly,prepared to ask him what he was thinking when he suddenly spoke.
"I know you saw Victor today," Cadesaid coolly.
Maritzia blinked and stared at him. Staringdirectly into his searching eyes as she processed the calm accusatory sentenceover again in her mind.
It had been nearly a month since she came backfrom Jamaica, and in all that time she had successfully avoided any meetingwith Victor. With both of their jobs keeping them on one side of the station,Cade and her uncle's orders of staying clear of him were kept quite nicely.That was until today. She had just come up from the locker room after workingout and was passing by the downstairs meeting rooms when she saw him. Dressedin his usual full police uniform, just without the vest and the equipment belt,Victor stood in the deserted hall as if he had been waiting for her.
"Can we talk?"
"Do you think we should?"
"Yes, of course. I mean, we can'tjust…" Victor's words trailed off as he looked over her shoulder andMaritzia turned to see a pair of female officers walking through theintersection of halls as they chatted. Turning back, Victor gave her a crookedsmile before pointing his thumb to the empty meeting room next to him."Let's go in here."
It was the last thing she wanted to do, honestly.But deep down, Maritzia knew this conversation was coming eventually and shemay as well get it over with now. Following him inside the abnormally coldmeeting room, Maritzia crossed her arms under her breasts. Goddamn, it wasfreezing in here! Looking around, she spotted two massive vents at the top ofthe wall and glared at them. It was as if all the building's vents were pointedinto this one room. Cold and a little impatient, she leaned against the longmeeting table and gave Victor a waiting look.
Searching her face as if looking for somethingand not finding it, Victor gave her a half-smile. "How are youdoing?"
"I'm fine," Maritzia said nodding, hertone a little clipped. "I'm doing good."
"Yeah, it seems that you are." Victorbegan toying with the back of one of the mesh office chairs. His fingernailsliding back and forth creating a dull zipping noise in the cold room.
Oh God, here it goes. Just what was that supposedto mean?
Seeing that he wasn't going to elaborate, sheplowed forward, hoping to be done with this conversation. "I gave a box ofyour things to your cousin. Did you get it?"
"Yeah, I did, but I was hoping…" hisvoiced trailed off as he gave her that all too familiar look of wistfuldisappointment she had come to hate.
"Hoping what?" she snapped. She was toocold and so beyond being the beholder of his life's disappointments.
Victor frowned. "I was hoping you would meetme in person. I wanted-"
"You wanted me to come running back toyou," she answered for him. "After you left me at the resort?"she asked, appalled she was really having this conversation. "You reallyexpected me to do that?"
"After I left you on a fully paid vacationto sort out your damn feelings," Victor yelled, stepping away from thechair. "I was hoping you would see that I was serious, Ritz!"
She suppressed the urge to shudder at the use ofher nickname. He didn't have the right to that anymore. "That makes nosense. How the hell is leaving me, after writing a passive aggressive notegoing to make me see that you were serious?"
"Yeah, well I guess it doesn’t matter, doesit, because I found out," he spat out, his eyes flashing in fury.
Angrily she blinked at the sudden shift in theconversation. "Found out what?"
