"They will in time. We've only been togethera couple of years now," she reminded him soothingly, guilt lacing aroundher heart. Standing at the edge of the open shower door, she could feel thespray of the hot water on the back of her legs and backside and reached for thehem of his shirt as her thoughts drifted to her family.
It was true, her family did adore Cade. Eversince he had moved into their apartment building years ago, her family hadadopted the boy and his mother into their own. His mom, a pretty brunette fromFrance, had married a black American soldier and spent fifteen years going frombase to base all over the world with her husband and their son. After Cade'sfather died of cancer, Cade's mom was forced to move to New York for work;Maritzia's parents had taken one look at them and practically adopted them.Cade was like a son to her mother and father; they would no doubt be just as relievedto hear Bethany was finally out of Cade's life. They might just plan a party,she thought, knowing her Dominican family would use anything for an excuse tohave a large get-together.
Taking off the last of his clothes with her help,Victor gave her a sensuous smile, completely unaware of her wandering thoughts.Feeling guilty, Maritzia reigned in her attention and smiled invitingly back atVictor and stepped backward into the spray so that he could follow her in.
When they finally got into the bed, Maritziayawned for what felt like the tenth time. After some heavy petting and lots ofkissing, they finally moved past the topic of Cade. Earlier, after theirshower, they had sat down for a light dinner and she forced herself to stayattentive and actively listen as Victor recounted the latest gossip. Alltidbits he had picked up from his position in the equipment room, a positionthey were both surprised he kept for as long as he has. At long last hisstories had wound down and she was finally able to crawl into the cool sheetsof her bed with a contented sigh.
It was the kiss at the back of her neck thatjolted her senses, and Maritzia stilled as she felt Victor's questing handsbeneath the sheets. She was too tired for this, she inwardly groaned. She feltthe collar of her sleep shirt being pushed to the side and Victor’s lips traila line up to her ear just as she felt him shifting closer into her, pressinghis firm arousal against her backside. She wanted to tell himnobut shekept her lips sealed as he pulled her onto her back. In the low light of theirroom, she could see the glimmer of urgency in his eyes, a desperate need shehad not seen with him before. Guilt turned her stomach and she found herselfopening herself to him, the spark of triumph burning brighter in his dark eyesat her acceptance. With subdued movements, she reciprocated the love he neededas her mind gravitated back to Cade. She had always sensed a little bit ofjealousy from Victor when it came to Cade, even before they started officiallydating. Cade had moved up at the department with unnatural speed, everyoneknowing it was because of her uncle, the chief, who had also happened to bedating his mom for the past few years. After only a few years in uniform, bothshe and Cade were moved to a quasi-detective position handling simplebreak-ins, missing persons, and all the other menial cases that tended to stackup. But like the two kids that sat eagerly and watched crime documentaries andwhodunnits all weekend growing up, they had accepted the position withenthusiasm. She could understand Victor's jealousy, she really could. Here wasCade, an army veteran who got along with practically everyone he met with hisdimpled smile and god-like sculpted, six-foot-six body, just comes out ofnowhere and takes up a coveted position not only at work but with her family.Accepting Victor's kiss, Maritzia forced herself to return some of hisenthusiasm even as she blindly reached over to her nightstand and grabbed herlube from the drawer. She didn't want him to feel insecure—she truly loved him.
Cade was just a childhood crush. Cade was justfamily. He was not the man that secretly broke her heart when he finally cameback to New York with a girlfriend in tow. Cade was her partner and bestfriend, nothing more.
Chapter3
"Yes, of course," Maritzia tried to cutin with the talkative woman. "But…but as I was saying this case isbecoming more of a civil matter than a criminal matter, Mrs. Martinez,"she explained. "From your account and a few other witness statements, weknow that it was your ex who took your kitchen appliances—" she was forcedto pause as the woman began to argue again. "—but Mrs. Martinez, this iswhere it gets complicated." She leaned both elbows on her desk and willedthe difficult woman to listen to her. "Your ex, Mr. Martinez, claims hehas complete right to take them because he can provide receipts that he boughtthe items."
Holding the phone away from her ear, Maritziaclosed her eyes and listened to the flurry of anger from the woman.
A ding on her computer drew her attention awayfrom the woman's rants and Maritzia clicked on the notification at the cornerof her screen. Pulling up the email, she smiled at the beautiful images of theSwiss Alps. Leaning back in her chair with the phone still cradled on hershoulder, Maritzia looked at the occupant of the desk opposite hers. Leaningback in his own seat, Cade gave her an eyebrow-wiggling grin before mouthing"let's just escape."
Good Lord, she wished.
The ring of his own phone demanded his attentionand forced her to tune back into the current rant on her phone. Even throughthe woman’s now frantic tirade, Maritzia still managed a smile at the image onher screen. Clear blue skies, no doubt crisp air, the snowcapped mountains inthe distance of the rolling green valleys, it all looked like a dream. She hadalways wanted to travel abroad, more so than the trips to Mexico and theDominican Republic that she had taken with her friends and cousins. Realtravel that required special clothes and gear, that required the basicknowledge of a new language—an adventure.
It seemed from the time she graduated highschool, her life had been a predestined, greased slide shooting her down thebarrel of life. When she had told her Uncle Andres, in all seriousness yearsago that she wanted to be a police officer, he had told her exactly what shewould need to do to be accepted, and once she was ready, he would transfer herto his station. From high school to college, then directly into the academy, itfelt like her life was starting to run on an automated course, no longer needingher consent. Only two years in now to their relationship, Victor had begundropping little hints about their future and starting their own family. Aconversation she knew that would soon escalate from mere hints to actuallyhappening—something she desperately did not want to happen.
She hadn't even been able to travel and see theworld like she had always wanted, dammit! Yes, she was fortunate to have thecareer she always wanted, especially considering the complete nepotism that puther in that position. She should be happy, a phrase her mother hammered down onher head whenever she even sensed her only daughter's wanderlust.
Maritzia could imagine her mother's flurry ofSpanish aimed at her.
"You said you wanted to be a police officer.Well, you got it, thanks to the kindness of your uncle. Not everyone can get achance like this. How would it look now that you got promoted and then leavefor weeks to go off and have fun?"
And she was right. For years, Maritzia held offon taking any serious vacations, stacking up her paid leave and busting her assat work to show not only her uncle, the chief, that he did not make a baddecision, but also to show everyone else that her promotion, though a flagrantuse of her family connections, wasn't just means for her to goof off and nottake it seriously. She just couldn’t help but wonder when she would ever get touse the time she had saved and live the dreams she wanted.
~*~
"Hey, where have you two been? We've beenwaiting." Carlos called out from the other end of the lunchroom.
Holding the door open for Maritzia, who still hadtheir basketball resting under her arm, Cade gave Carlos a tired look as Ritzanswered.
"Oh really? For what…" Maritzia held upher watch and returned a critical look to her brother. "Ten minutes,now?" She gave him a doubtful look. "That was just too long to bear,was it?"
Sitting next to Valerie and across from Victor,Carlos smirked as all three of them waited for Maritzia and himself to walkacross the empty police cafeteria. It was a little past one o'clock and all thepersonnel had gone back to work after their lunch break, leaving the cafeteriadeserted and the little café shuttered. It was just the five of them in the bigempty room.
Approaching the table, Cade glanced from Carlosto Victor and stopped himself from sneering as the man watched Maritzia comecloser. The look on his face was a mixture of surprise and humor as he took inher attire, as if a quip about her clothes sat at the edge of his tongue.
Cade glanced back at Maritzia as she pulled outher own seat next to Victor. Dressed in a pair of grey basketball shorts and at-shirt that read "Bronx Police" across it in colorful lettering,Cade smiled. He liked her laid back, sporty look. With her thick hair pulledinto a messy bun at the top of her head, he enjoyed seeing her natural curlsfighting to be seen again in the areas where she had sweated. He liked thesheen to her brown skin and thought back to the time when he had left for thearmy when he was eighteen and she was only sixteen. There were so many of herbasketball games that he had missed during his service. Games he had beenforced to watch recorded, sent days later from one of her brothers or cousins.It just wasn't the same. He had to cheer on his best friend from a foldingchair in the barracks halfway across the world, knowing the game had long sincebeen over and the winners already determined. But playing with her now, seeingher sweat and glare at him as she attempted to cross him up on the court morethan made up for those lost chances.
"Yeah, well," Carlos sighed loudly."You don't have to listen to Victor explain how he thinks the Celtics arereally going to pull through and defeat the Heat in the playoffs.”
"Oh, yes I do, believe me," Maritziagrumbled and Cade didn't miss her eye-roll.
More of a sports player than a sports watcher,Cade knew Maritzia did not necessarily appreciate Victor's almost fanatic lovefor talking and watching sports.
Cade sat down at the head of the table, withMaritzia on his right and Valerie on his left. Handing him a yellow and whiteTupperware container, Valerie gave him a friendly smile before passing one toMaritzia and the rest.
Cade felt the warmth of the food and felt himselfgrow excited.
"My god, Val, I have no idea how you keepguys from banging down your door every day," he said, giving her a broadgrin.
