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My legs ached, and I slowly stretched out my calves.
“I’ll talk to her, see what she has to say. Maybe if I let her know how risky everything is, how much danger she’s really in, she’ll understand why this is important.”
“Good plan.” Tino clapped me on the back. “I wish you luck. Just remember, after every good fight comes even better makeup sex. And if she feels guilty, like the fight was her fault, you’ll usually get a pretty good blowjob out of it.”
Laughing, I exchanged goodbyes then texted Joy.
Where are you?
Watching a movie in your bed.
Our bed.
Whatever.
I found her curled up in my massive down comforter like a mummy, her wide eyes focused on the large screen against the wall at the foot of our bed.
I shrugged out of my shirt, then my pants. “What are you watching?”
“Shhhh, it’s the season finale,” Joy waved her hand at me, “I think he’s going to finally figure out that Stella’s been cheating on him with the dog groomer. Nobody’s poodle needs that much trimming.”
Laughing, I jerked the blanket way and pulled her squirming body toward mine. She wore cotton pajamas and a ratty old t-shirt, or as she called them, her ‘I’m on my period leave me alone’, outfit that she’d worn to bed for the last few days. I thought it was cute as hell, but she’d been a little testy so I decided just to hold her for a bit and let her enjoy her show while I watched her instead.
She cuddled right into me, even shared some of her blanket, then started to explain the plot in a whisper, as if the people on the screen could hear us.
Smoothing her hair back, I traced the profile of her features with my eyes. “I thought this is a reality show?”
Darting a glance at me, she snorted. “It’s reality TV, not reality real life.”
“I don’t speak chick; translate for me.”
She elbowed me, but her voice held no anger as she said, “It’s totally scripted, and everybody knows it, but we all like to pretend it’s real.”
“Makes sense.”
I waited until the end of the show to breech the subject I’d been mulling over. “Joy, I need to talk to you about something.”
Right away she turned then sat up, wrapping her arms around herself in a defensive manner. “Okay…”
With a sigh, I tugged one of her hands free and held it in my own. “I have a huge favor to ask you, and you’re not going to like it.”
“What?”
“I’m asking—no, I’m begging—you to finish up school online.”
“What? No, I’m going back for the last month of classes. We talked about this.”
I hesitated, debating on giving her a hint as to how much danger she was really in. “I had a meeting with Tino tonight. He laid out why he feels that you going back to school on campus is dangerous. Complete with a power point presentation.”
The last bit I’d added to try and get her to smile, but instead she grew still. “Why is it dangerous?”
“There have been a few…incidents where we’ve spotted people watching you. It’s to be expected, you’re a kidnapping target simply because you’re my woman, but Tino is an expert at protection and, if he feels this strongly about it, I have to ask you at least consider it.”
“Ramón, I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. I don’t want to feel like I’ve just been given my diploma without earning it.”
My proud, stubborn woman. “Nobody said anything about you not doing your work, or giving you anything. These past few weeks, I’ve seen how much classwork you do, how much time you devote to getting the best grade you can. You’re bright, and driven, and I admire that more than you’ll ever know, but I’m asking you to be smart about your personal safety, please. I’m not trying to scare you, but the world is a fucked up place, the kind of place where a mother would sell her own son for money. With people like that out there, people that are willing to do anything, break any rule, to get what they want, I need you to be as safe as possible.”
Tears filled her eyes, and I felt like a complete piece of shit. “Okay.”
I should have been happy she was agreeing to this, but instead I felt the ugly shadow of remorse in my heart for bringing her into this mess. “I’m so, so sorry, Joy. Things will get better, I promise.”
Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, Joy said, “Can I still tutor?”
“Tino didn’t like it, but yeah. With only after school activities going on when you do your tutoring, and the security they have there, I believe you’re safe. Besides, even criminals don’t want the kind of attention a kidnapping at a school would bring. That’s the kind of thing that gets the public up in arms and thirsty for blood.”
