Chapter Eight
Diego sat next to Lilí at the table in one of the station’s interrogation rooms. He’d wanted to handle the photo array identification process in the break room and make it a little less intimidating. But cops where milling about, grabbing late-night snacks and coffee, so he’d been stuck following protocol and bringing her here.
The stark room with its tan walls housed a sturdy table bolted to the floor, a small window with industrial blinds, and three plastic chairs with metal legs and no armrests. Purposely the opposite of warm and inviting.
Undeniably a place he despised Lilí’s having to become acquainted with.
He’d dragged the third chair from the corner. Typically the second cop sat in it behind the alleged perpetrator or witness’s side of the table. Out of view, giving the illusion of privacy between the cop asking the questions and the person giving the answers. But this wasn’t a regular photo array ID. Not by a long shot.
So instead of sitting off to the side, behind her, he’d set his chair right next to Lilí’s. Leaving no doubt that she wasn’t alone in this.
“You doing okay?” he asked, pitching his voice low for her ears only. Though odds were the microphone and surveillance camera were already live.
“Uh-huh.”
No eye contact. Dull tone.
He watched her alternate between nervously picking at her cuticles with her thumbnail and smoothing it down with the pad of her finger. She clasped her hands and put them in her lap, only to bring them back up on the table seconds later to pick at her nails some more.
She hadn’t said much on the drive over. Nor when they’d entered the building. Some young cop Diego didn’t know had moved in to frisk her before she could head upstairs to the offices. Diego’s glare had sent the rookie packing.
His hand on the small of her back, he’d gently guided her up the steps. Sure, he knew she’d been here before, but this situation was different. This time she was here as a victim.
She didn’t deserve to be in this situation. All she wanted was to do what was right for her clients and the kids at the center.
As they’d walked up the steps, the need to protect her had engulfed him, tightening his chest.
Now, watching her nervous gestures, he had to tamp down his caveman urge to locate Tito González in the building and pummel him into the ground. Losing his shit on the man might hinder the case. That definitely wouldn’t make things easier on her.
Feeling like a powder keg one flick of a match away from exploding, Diego leaned his elbow on the table and stared passed Lilí, pinpointing his focus on the doorknob directly in his line of sight. Relying on his TACT training, he concentrated on centering himself. Similar to what he’d learned in martial arts as a kid, the Tactical Arousal Control Technique of centering he’d studied at the academy allowed him to slowly breathe out his anger, leaving a calm awareness at his core. It radiated through him, banking his instinctive emotional reaction.
Years of practice had him back in control after a few deep breaths. Confident he would now be more help than hindrance, Diego snagged his water bottle and took a chug.
Lilí had declined the offer of coffee earlier, so he’d asked for a couple waters instead.
Together they waited while Jordan and Shapiro, who’d been on the scene earlier tonight, rounded up an independent administrator to videotape Lilí’s photo array ID.
“It might help if you took a sip.” He tapped her drink with the back of a finger.
“No thanks. I’m good.”
He caught the tremble in her hand as she reached up to brush her wispy bangs out of her eyes. It took nearly everything inside him not to put his arms around her, tell her everything was going to be okay. But they weren’t really a couple. Despite how hot and heavy they’d gotten at his place.
Plus, she was known here in her professional capacity. He’d do nothing to undermine her reputation by making her look weak in front of the cops she often butted heads with when it came to her clients and what she believed was right.
Just like she’d done with him at Melba’s house that first night barely a week ago.
Through the window Diego watched cops carrying on with their business. Typing reports, yammering into their phones about one problem or another, eating a sandwich in their chairs while they worked late into the night. At a nearby desk, a man in a dark suit and tie, his white shirt wrinkled and stained, shook his head in disagreement. Despite the light sound-proofing, the guy’s raised voice could be heard inside the interrogation room.
The female cop speaking with him pushed back her chair to stand when the businessman did the same. Anger scrunched his craggy face and the cop held both hands up, palms facing him. Several other policemen abruptly stopped whatever they were working on. Sharp looks that gauged the situation shot their way.
Diego didn’t have to hear the conversation to know the cop was trying to get the guy to calm down. Not make his situation, whatever it might be, even worse. So far, it wasn’t working.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you tried to make something right, it didn’t matter. Life, and the job, had taught him that much.
“How long do you think this is going to take?” Lilí asked, interrupting his musings.
She twisted her wrist, then double-tapped her Fitbit, making it light up and display the time: 9:45 PM shown in white electronic numerals.
“It shouldn’t be much longer,” he assured her.
He placed a hand on her back to offer comfort. She flinched at his touch.
Swallowing his disappointment, he drew back. “They’ll bring in a set of pictures, usually about six. You’ll look at them and point out the one with your assailant. Take your time, then indicate if you see him.”
She slanted an annoyed glance at him out of the corner of her eye. “I know what Tito looks like. If they picked up the right guy, I’ll ID him immediately.”
“Okay, I’m only trying to give you a lay of the land. Not sure if you’ve been with a client during an ID or not.”
“I have.”
Lilí leaned back in the plastic seat with a huff, wincing slightly, no doubt from the injury to her shoulder blade. Arms folded across her chest, her brows furrowed in frustration. And probably unease. She flicked a quick glance at him before turning to stare out the window.
“You don’t have to stay, you know,” she grumbled. “I’m fine.”
“I drove you here. I’m not leaving you.”
“This is one of your simple right-versus-wrong situations. I either see his photo or I don’t. When it’s over, I’ll call a cab to get back to my car. No big deal.”
The nervous tap-tap-tap of her sandal on the vinyl flooring told him differently.
Her “right versus wrong” comment let him know she hadn’t forgotten about their argument back at his place. Regret weighed on him.
“We’re gonna have to agree to disagree when it comes to my sister.”
Lilí’s toe-tapping stalled. Chin tucked to her chest, she slowly shook her head.
“No, what?” he asked.
Like a witness pleading the fifth, she gave him the silent treatment.
Swiveling in his chair, Diego put one hand on the table in front of her, the other behind her on the back of her chair. His thumb snagged the material of her orange blouse and the image of it flying through the air earlier flashed in his mind.
If only they could go back to that moment. Before he’d been dumb enough to bring up his sister. Seeking that connection with Lilí again, Diego rubbed his thumb up and down her arm.
“You can’t agree to disagree?” he pressed.
“Sure,” she mumbled. “Whatever.”
Petulant wasn’t quite the reaction he’d wanted. “Then why the head shake?”
She heaved a sigh weighty with resignation, but finally turned to face him, her lips pursed in an exasperated pout. Her knees bumped his left one as she slid around to sit with her legs in between his.
“Because I have a habit of leaping without looking. Like tonight, in your living room. Rosa’s always harping on me to ‘think first, act later.’” She air-quoted her sister’s advice with her fingers. “But I never seem to listen.”
“Personally, that’s a leap I’m happy you took with me.”
She blew out a breath on a laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure you are. But the head shake? That’s for me.” Lilí pressed a hand to her chest, self-reproach filling her beautiful hazel-green eyes. “Because I should know better. No matter how hot you are, you’re a cop. I’ve worked around enough of you for it to compute by now. It’s like you said, everything’s always black and white. And me? My bleeding heart, as some people around here call it, and I hang out a lot in the gray area. Where emotions intersect with actions. Where feelings are explored to find out the ‘why’ something happens so we come out stronger in the end. So this”—she waved a hand back and forth between them—“this can’t go anywhere.”
Talk about a thanks-but-no-thanks brush-off. And while lust pushed him to grab her knees, tug her toward him and show her exactly what she’d be missing, what they’d be missing together, he banked the carnal need. Because she was right.
He’d seen too much. Lived through too much to think differently.
Until Tito, maybe even despite him, she believed in good.
Lilí’s lips wobbled in that sad version of her usual spunky grin. Even though she was pushing him away, or more like because he knew she was right to do so, he sought to lighten her mood before the others returned. Hoping to ease her turmoil.
“So you think I’m hot, huh?” he teased, arching a brow and giving her an exaggerated smoldering look.
Lilí’s lips twitched seconds before she threw back her head and laughed. The low, throaty sound wrapped around him like a lover’s caress, warming his blood.
“Ay, que hombre,” she murmured, staring up at the ceiling.
The delicate curve of her throat beckoned him to move closer. Diego tightened his fists, fighting the compulsion to press his lips against her smooth skin, breathe in her intoxicating scent.
It would be good between them. Hell, based on how turned-on he’d gotten simply dry humping in his living room, he bet it’d be amazing. The need to taste and touch all of her, lose himself in her passionate nature until the rest of the world and all its problems faded away, thrummed inside him.
Yet, she deserved better than a hookup that would only burn fast and bright. Right up till it exploded in the face of their ideological differences.
Her phone vibrated on the table next to her water. Lilí sat up in her seat, leaning forward to read the display.
“Speak of the devil.”
Diego caught the name “Rosa” flashing across the screen. “She’s called twice already, hasn’t she?”
Lilí nodded. “I swear, it’s like she has some sixth sense and can tell when I’ve got something going on.” She reached for the phone, her hand hovering above it, as if afraid to grasp the device. “If I don’t answer this time, she’ll worry. I was supposed to touch base with her after work.”
“Go for it. C’mon,” he urged when Lilí slid him a nervous glance.
Setting one elbow on the table, she rested her forehead on her open palm as she snatched up the cell and tapped the screen.
“Hi, Rosa, how’s it going?” she answered, her voice overly chirpy, even for her. “Uh-huh. Bueno, I’m . . . actually . . . don’t freak out, okay?”
Diego pressed his lips together, barely containing his huff of disbelief. Hell, even he knew that wasn’t the right thing to say to a woman. Especially one who, according to Lilí, had a mile-long worry streak.
Sure enough, Rosa’s screech came through loud and clear. So loud Lilí pulled the phone away from her head. Rapid-fire Spanish blew from the speaker. It reminded him of his mom and the way she used to get on him or his sister. He smiled at the memory, picturing his mamá wagging her finger, or with her hands fisted on her round hips, as she lectured them about one thing or another. Always out of love.
The screeching eventually quieted and Lilí pressed the phone back to her ear. “Are you finished? Can I talk now?” She paused for a beat. “No, I’m not being disrespectful.”
Diego grinned at the big sister–little sister banter. Despite the heavy topic and the scary news Lilí was about to share, he relished this peek at her family dynamics.
“Bueno, la cosa es que . . . um, well, the thing is . . .” She repeated the words, her voice shaking at the end, and he knew she was struggling with how to tell Rosa about Tito’s attack. Earlier she’d admitted wanting to wait and tell her sisters face-to-face. That way they could see for themselves that she was fine. On the outside at least.
He placed a hand gently on the center of her back to offer comfort.
Lilí looked at him, unease turning the color of her eyes a tumultuous deep green.
No way could he ignore her need for reassurance. Not when she so willingly gave it to others. Holding his other hand out, palm up, he wiggled his fingers, indicating that she should give him the phone.
Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, “Yeah, I’m here. Hold on a sec, Rosa, okay?”
He nodded his encouragement, taking the phone when she gingerly extended it toward him.
“Hello, Rosa? This is Diego Reyes. I’m a . . . a friend of Lilí’s.”
“Where’s my sister? What’s going on?” The brusque questions were insistent, no nonsense, tinged by the same fear he’d seen on Lilí’s face when he’d arrived at the clinic earlier.
“She’s here with me.” His gaze remained locked on Lilí’s, willing her to understand and believe that she could count on him.
“Like your sister said, she’s physically fine,” he told Rosa. “But there’s been an incident, and we’re down at the police station to ID the perpetrator.”
“The police station?! ¿Ay Dios mío qué pasó?”
“I think Lilí would prefer to tell you in person, or at least once I get her back home.”
Lilí jerked her head up and down in agreement, her big eyes wide with apprehension.
“My husband is out of town. I can’t leave my children or I’d drive into the city right now,” Rosa answered. “Let me . . . let me call Yazmine. If Tomás is home maybe she can come here and I’ll head to Rosa’s.”
“No, no, no, please,” Lili murmured. She leaned toward him, panic blanketing her face.
He cupped her shoulder, trying to ease her worries while he did the same with her sister.
“Hey, it’s late,” Diego said into the phone. “You probably don’t want to make that drive now. I’m a Chicago cop and I’m sticking with her, so she’s safe.”
There was a long beat of silence before he heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “You promise?”
Two simple words that carried a load of responsibility.
“Sí, te lo prometo,” he answered. He squeezed Lilí’s shoulder, silently making the same promise to her.
She covered his hand with her own and mouthed the words “Thank you.”
“I don’t know who you are, Diego Reyes,” Rosa told him, her earlier fear replaced by a steely firmness, “but I am trusting you with my baby sister’s care. If anything happens to her, you will answer to me. As well as our oldest sister, Yazmine. ¿Me entiendes?”
“Yeah, I understand.”
It wasn’t anything he didn’t already expect of himself. Keeping Lilí safe, that is. It had been his goal from the first night they’d met. When she’d been crazy enough to take Melba González home with her.
Sure, the reason might now be more personal. No longer simply because she was a citizen he’d sworn to protect. More because she was an incredibly sexy, giving, strong-willed woman who intrigued and enticed him. Made him yearn for good, even when he didn’t deserve it.
The interrogation room door swung open and Officer Shapiro stepped inside.
“Look, Rosa, we have to go now. I’ll have Lilí give you a call later, once we’re done here.”
“Diego, I am counting on you,” Rosa warned.
“I know.” And he didn’t intend to let any of the Fernandez sisters down. Especially the dark-haired, feisty beauty staring at him with trust in her soulful eyes.
* * *
Lilí waited on the sidewalk next to Diego’s car while he grabbed his cell from the center console.
His parking karma was great and he’d found an open spot about a block down from her condo, directly under a street lamp. Sure, it offered lighting for safety. What she also didn’t mind was that it provided great lighting for her to admire the view of his black jeans stretching over his butt as he bent and leaned across the passenger seat in his car.
Pity, she’d not get a chance to feel that butt under her hands. Not now that, based on their non-conversation at his house, it was clear her initial impression of Diego that first night at Melba’s was bull’s-eye accurate.
He was a one-track-minded cop. Right and wrong, no room for in-between. Unwilling or unable to recognize the value of communication with others.
A sliver of guilt wedged in her chest at the brutal description.
He’d been supportive tonight throughout the whole identification ordeal. Patient. Reassuring. Gently reminding her that she could decline to be videotaped if she felt uncomfortable.
As nervous and out of sorts as she’d been, used to her role as a voice for the victim rather than the victim herself, she had agreed to the recording. No way would she leave any room for Tito and whichever public defender caught his case to weasel out of the assault charges.
“You ready?” Diego backed out of his car, pausing to click the lock.
Lilí quickly swung her gaze to the empty street ahead. No need to be caught admiring his goods. The man’s ego was big enough without her inflating it more.
“Yeah,” she answered. “I was ready to be home over an hour ago.”
Reaching her side, Diego motioned for her to proceed with him down the sidewalk.
He checked the time on the black sports watch strapped to his left wrist. “I hadn’t anticipated them asking Melba to come over from the women’s shelter tonight.”
“Me either. I figured it was late enough already so they’d wait until tomorrow.”
“Smart move, though. Hearing what happened to you seemed to flip some kind of switch in her, don’t you think?”
Lilí nodded. She added a yes when she realized he may not have caught her nod in the shadows created by the street lamps.
After she had IDed Tito, Officers Jordan and Shapiro had snapped a couple pictures of the bruises Tito had left on her right arm. She’d even gone to the bathroom with Shapiro so the female cop could check out Lilí’s achy shoulder blade. That had resulted in a few pics of the bruise coloring the upper half of her back.
Unbeknownst to her until later, the images had all been shown to Melba when they’d told her about Tito’s attack on Lilí.
Protocol demanded the two of them be interviewed, go through the photo array ID process, and make their statements separately. Lilí hadn’t even been aware that Melba was at the station until they’d met in the open office area a little while ago.
Melba had been forlorn and remorseful. Worried about Lilí and whether or not she’d refuse to see her. Lilí had opened her arms to hug her friend and the woman had burst into tears.
“I’m relieved to know she’s pressing charges,” Lilí admitted to Diego.
“That makes two of us.”
A group of teens approached them, heading in the opposite direction. One kid shoved another playfully as they joked.
Sidestepping behind Lilí, Diego deftly moved to walk between her and the group. He swung his right arm behind her, looping it around her waist and angling his torso as if to shield her from the boys. She caught him placing his other hand on his hip, right by the five-pointed-star-shaped police badge he’d clipped to his jeans waistband.
One of the kids must have noticed Diego drawing attention to his star because the teen elbowed the guy next to him. That kid mumbled something and swatted at the guy walking backwards, arms flailing through the air as he regaled them with some story. The third one craned his neck to see what his buddy indicated, spinning around as soon as he saw Lilí and Diego.
The group quieted, their expressions serious. As they passed by, the boys exchanged classic cool-guy chin juts of respect with Diego.
Like she’d taught the girls in the self-defense class last night, Lilí made eye contact with two of the boys. It let them know she was aware and unafraid of their presence. Not that she expected them to try something, but it leveled the playing field of power in her mind.
The teens moved on without incident, their chatter starting up again once they’d passed Lilí and Diego.
She expected Diego to step away from her once the boys were gone and the sidewalk leading to her building was clear again. Instead, he kept his arm around the small of her back, his large palm hugging her right hip. The same palm that had fondled and teased her breasts earlier. Her nipples puckered at the delicious memory.
Unnerved by his effect on her, Lilí veered to her right a step, aiming to put a little distance between them.
Diego’s hand slid off her hip. It skimmed her butt, sending tingles to places in her body that had no business coming to life around him.
Glancing over her shoulder, she searched the shadows, making sure the boys had continued down the street before she said, “It’s pretty amazing what the flash of your star can do.”
“It’s not something I take for granted.”
She couldn’t quite make out Diego’s expression in the shadows, but she heard the conviction in his deep voice. Angling her head, she peeked at him from under her lashes. His dark hair, black clothes and sneakers gave him a stealthy aura. Like a thief in the night, capable of stealing her heart if she wasn’t careful.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” he said.
She chuckled. “A fan of Spider-Man comics, are you?”
“Uncle Ben was a wise man. And if the adage fits.” Thumbs tucked in his front jeans pockets, Diego lifted a muscular shoulder.
“Not everyone thinks that way,” she mused.
They reached the glass front door to her building and Diego reached to open it for her. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t take any responsibility, any person, for granted.”
Lilí paused in the entryway. Her gaze snagged on his. Intense. Certain. Like he really wanted her to know he meant what he said.
Diantre, she could totally fall for this guy. And wind up getting hurt.
All the more reason to let him walk her inside like he insisted, then wave good-bye. With Officers Shapiro and Jordan handling her case and Diego’s partner a contact for anything having to do with Melba moving forward, she should delete his number from her contacts.
“Hey, Reyes!” Bill Ryan popped up from his seat behind the security desk in the lobby. The lanky older man hurried over, his black rubber soles soundless on the tile floor. “Thanks for texting me the news. I’ve been pulling a few extra shifts just to be safe. Happy to hear the guy’s behind bars tonight.”
They clasped hands in a hearty shake.
“I appreciate you and your team keeping an eye out in this area,” Diego answered.
“Anything for Ms. Fernandez. She’s a real gem, this one.”
Lilí smiled at Bill, an embarrassed flush heating her cheeks. “Thanks. You doing okay tonight? Need me to bring down some coffee for you?”
“You see?” Bill gestured toward her with his thumb, but tilted his head at Diego. “Always looking out for someone else.”
“That she is.” Diego eyed her speculatively, making her squirm under his close scrutiny.
Before he could add a dig about how that’s what had gotten her into this mess in the first place, Lilí said goodnight to Bill and hurried toward the bank of elevators.
The trip up to the sixteenth floor was fast and quiet. Lilí dug her keys out of her messenger bag and prepared her “thanks, see you around” speech in her head.
At her door, she slid her key in the dead bolt and turned to Diego.
“I appreciate everything you did tonight. Coming to Velma’s and my rescue. Sitting through the long wait at the station.”
She purposely left out the time at his place. Seemed kind of awkward to thank him for the make-out session on his couch. Regardless of how amazing it’d been.
Diego frowned, his dark brows angling down. “You don’t want me to go in, check the place out?”
“For what? Bill’s downstairs. Tito’s in lockup. It’s fine.”
She twisted the bolt open, then did the same with the lock on the doorknob.
Diego stepped closer. So close she couldn’t miss how the scruff on his face had thickened through the evening, giving his chiseled features a rugged, bad-boy appeal.
“I told your sister I’d make sure you were okay,” he insisted.
“And you did. You have. I’ve taken up enough of your time. Your rescue is complete.”
“Come on, Lilí. Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
She was trying hard to come off as nonchalant. In reality though, no way could he come inside. After everything that had happened today, her nerves were shot, her willpower low. If Diego Reyes in all his hunky glory followed her in, no telling what foolish thing she might do.
“Look, I know you’re busy,” she said. “If something comes up, I’ll call Officer Shapiro. She gave me her card at the station.”
Diego reared back. “Shapiro? Why would you call her and not—”
Lilí’s front door swung open and they both jumped in surprise.
Yazmine stood on the other side, her tall, slender frame barring the entryway. One hand holding on to the edge of the door, the other fisted on her trim hip, she glared at both of them.
“Bueno, are you two going to hang out in the hallway arguing all night, or come inside so I can grill my baby sister?”
One dark brow arched for added emphasis, she pierced first Lilí, then Diego, with a don’t-mess-with-me big sister stare.
Lilí gulped. This was the last thing she needed.
“Figure the odds,” Diego murmured.
She watched, stunned, as he stepped toward Yazmine and wrapped his arms around her for a hug.
“It’s good to see you again, Yaz,” he said. “Lilí was just inviting me in.”