Felix shook his head. “I can’t just let this go, Noah. But I’ll be cool. I swear to you.”
Noah frowned and brought Gio quickly up to speed since he was looking at them so confused.
“Oh, hell no,” Gio said, turning back to Felix. “Most cops carry guns even off duty.”
“He can’t carry it on a cruise ship that ports internationally,” Felix said, picking up his phone to check the time.
“How and why do you know that?” Noah asked immediately.
Now Felix did smirk. Maybe he should’ve kept that little tidbit to himself. Truth was, as pissed as this made him and as much as he’d like to give Grayson a good Quasimodo makeover, he had every intention of staying cool—for Ella’s sake.
He started out toward the front door, ignoring Noah’s question but explaining about the car he had coming to pick them up later. “Don’t worry about shutting things down. I have someone coming to clean and take care of all that later.”
“Damn it, Felix!” Noah said, walking after him. “What time is she coming in so I can at least know what time to start checking the news?”
Again, on another day Felix might’ve laughed at that, but the heat was building again just thinking about everything that asshole had said to Ella.
“Three o’clock.”
“Well, at least you have some time to calm your ass.”
“I will,” Felix assured his worried trainer, but his fast heating insides said otherwise.
Last night’s conversation had gone long. Felix had wanted to know everything the asshole had been saying to Ella all this time. He’d punched his mattress a few times, and the more he thought about it now, the hotter it made him. He pushed the front door open, saying goodbye one last time to his worried friends as he stalked out.
He was halfway down the stairs when Gio called out for him from the door. “Dude, all the freeways are fucked up right now in Long Beach for construction. And there’s some festival going on this weekend that’s probably gonna make traffic in that area an even worse nightmare. Why don’t you wait and do this another day?”
Nice try. He turned and attempted a smile even through his black mood now. “She’s coming into San Pedro. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” Noah walked out behind Gio, not looking at all convinced of this. “I know what’s at stake here, guys. But I gotta do this.”
He waved one last time before heading out. It was late enough that he could call Ella. He needed to hear her voice now more than ever. She answered on the first ring.
“Hey, baby.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.
“Nothing’s wrong.” He was almost amused that she picked up on his sour mood from just his greeting, but he did ease up. “You on your way back to me?”
“Yes,” she murmured. “And I can hardly wait.”
That’s all it took. He was instantly in a better mood. This was exactly what he was counting on. If the sound of her voice alone was enough to pacify him so easily, seeing her would be that much more effective in helping him keep his cool later.
It was a short talk because she was on her way up to have breakfast, another thing that quickly had Felix grinding his teeth. She’d already told him last night that Grayson had managed to get them all assigned to the same table in the dining room for all meals. It wasn’t mentioned and Felix refused to even bring up the guy’s name. He was going to have a hard enough time staying cool. He didn’t need to add fuel to the already smoldering fire.
~~~
With a loud kachink, the keys landed on The Great Preston Style’s desk. Felix sat down in the chair in front of Preston and waited without saying a word. Preston took one look at them and sat back in his seat, looking almost bored.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What is this?”
“If you think I’ll be doing any crawling, you’re out of your mind,” Felix said. “But I do need you back on my team, so those are the keys to my Lamborghini.”
Preston chuckled, picking the keys up and examining them for a second before tossing them back on the desk toward Felix. “I don’t want your car, Sanchez. I can’t say I even want your business, but I am curious. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you have to come back and worm your way into my good graces?”
Felix barely lifted a shoulder, staring at him straight-faced. “I need a publicist, a good one, and with this fight just a few months away, I don’t have time to break in a new one.”
Preston nodded, taking that in for a moment. “What happened to the hot little Ms. Lazardi?” He lifted his hand up quickly with a smirk. “Wait. Let me guess. You fucked her too, and now you can’t get away from her fast enough?”
“No. It just didn’t work out. That’s all.” Felix hated to have to mention it, but he knew getting back on Preston’s client list wouldn’t be an easy sell. This might help his cause. “For the record, I have a girl now, so there’ll be no more fucking random chicks for me. And since I’ll be training nonstop from now until the fight, you’ll be happy to know there also won’t be any more late nights or boozing or even smoking for that matter.”
Preston’s brows jumped instantly in an annoying overly surprised expression. He smiled even bigger then laughed. “I see what’s going on now. You got a girl now who either caught you banging Lazardi or found out you’ve been banging her all along, and now the little girlfriend’s given you an ultimatum.”
Felix sat up as every muscle in his body instantly went taut. “My girlfriend’s got nothing to do with this,” he said through his teeth. “So let’s just keep her out of it, okay?” He stood up, unable to sit anymore. He was already losing the patience he’d sworn he would make a bigger effort to hold onto when it came to having this conversation with Preston’s pretentious ass. “I need a publicist, Styles. Are you in or not? I don’t have time to waste.”
“Sit down,” Preston said suddenly very seriously.
Felix sat and waited, but he already knew it wouldn’t take much for him to stand up and walk out if Preston pushed the wrong button. Maybe today wasn’t a good day to do this. He was just hoping it could be one of the first things he informed Ella of when he saw her today—that Adelina was gone.
“First of all, I want you to know that when we parted ways I swore I’d never work with you again. I thought you were an arrogant asshole headed right down the same path as so many young celebrities who end up screwing their lives up or dead. But I spoke with Rene a few days after the last time you and I spoke.” He paused for a moment as if to think about what he was going to say next. “He told me about your son.” Felix stared at him, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
Felix nodded but said nothing. Instinct had him wanting to get up and leave. This was the last thing he thought they’d be discussing today. He’d sooner talk about all the bullshit stipulations he knew Preston was going to give him before agreeing to work with him again.
The only thing that kept him there was Ella. He’d spoken to her about Preston in length. She knew all about how things went down with Preston. So she’d know that coming here today and doing this wasn’t an easy thing, and still he’d done so for her.
“I hope you’re not going to be upset with Rene for telling me. He was only defending you when I’d bad-mouthed you saying you were like all the other immature celebrities out there. But he explained how hard that had been for you and that losing your son was what really started the spiraling out of control.” Felix was about to stand and bolt out of there until Preston spoke again. “I lost a child too. It was a long time ago, but to this day it still hurts. Mine was around a little longer than yours though. Still I was in love with my daughter before she was even born, so I know regardless of how long she’d been here on earth it would’ve been just as painful. Hazel was five and the light of my life. She was hit by a car when she ran into the street, chasing after a ball at a park. My wife at the time was there with her. They were on a play date with a couple of the other stay-at-home moms in the area
, and I was very angry. Very angry.”
Felix’s hard-assed former publicist stared out at nothing for a long awkward moment without saying anything. Then finally took a long slow breath in. “Anyway long story short, I know what it’s like to fall so deep into depression you lose all care for anything else around you. It cost me my marriage because I was so angry at the world for being so unfair and at my wife for not having watched Hazel closer. So when Rene told me about what happened to you, I immediately got it. I’m glad it seems things are turning around for you. It took me a very long time to get over it.”
Preston leaned back into his chair for a moment, a little pensive. Felix wanted to tell him he was sorry about his daughter—that he understood the despair of being so angry at the world—but obviously Preston already knew Felix knew this or he wouldn’t have shared this with him. Preston also just confirmed what Felix had always suspected—that he’d never get over the loss. Time and love, like the one he’d found in Ella, would lessen the pain, but it would always be there.
Sitting up and straightening out suddenly, Preston cleared his throat. “Okay, back to business. I will take you up on the offer, but there will be some very stiff stipulations.”
And so it began. Felix sat through Preston’s speech about not being in the business of babysitting and while part of his job was to do damage control there was only so much he’d put up with.
The call he had to make when he left Preston’s was not one he was looking forward to, but it was necessary. Felix was determined to get this all taken care of before Ella got back, so he hit speed dial and waited. Adelina answered after the first ring.
“Felix, I have a call to take in ten. Will this take longer? I can call you back if you want.”
“No, it won’t actually,” he said, getting straight to the point. “Cortez will be in touch with you to handle the legalities, but I’m gonna have to go with another publicist.” Before she could ask why, he continued quickly. “The other night I had to explain to my girlfriend about you spending the night at the cabin. For a minute, I thought this arrangement might actually fly,” he said, feeling even stupider about that now. “Then last night she asked if I’d ever slept with you.”
“So she’s making you dump me,” Adelina said dryly.
“She’s not making me do anything,” he said, wanting that to be perfectly clear. “I just want to avoid any future problems.”
That silenced her for a moment, so he went on assuring her she’d be fully compensated and she’d get all she was owed for the Mercedes-Benz endorsement. “If you need a letter of recommendation or anything of that sort, feel free to ask. This has nothing to do with your work ethic. I was completely satisfied with that. But I hope you understand why I have to do this.”
“Well,” she said in a strange chirpy tone. “I had a feeling I was playing with fire when I decided to get involved with you that way. I guess if you play you get burned, right?”
“Sorry it worked out this way” was all he offered.
“At least it burned real good while it lasted.” She laughed softly.
Not wanting to comment on that, Felix cut the call, saying he had to go, and didn’t give her another thought. His mind was already on the next task at hand.
Felix thought of what he’d assured Preston just minutes ago, aware of the irony. He’d promised him he’d changed his ways and would stay out of trouble, and now here he was on his way to San Pedro to confront Grayson’s ass. His reasons for needing to keep his cool when he did so just doubled. Maybe he could use this to his advantage when the time came. He’d remind himself that he had even more riding on his staying in control today.
But even this wouldn’t stop him from doing what he had to do. He was only determined to do this the right way—the mature way—for Ella’s sake.
Chapter 21
Ella
Breakfast had already been her first unspoken message to Grayson. She might not cut him off completely because she didn’t think it necessary to be so dramatic about it, but major changes were coming. Their relationship from here on would mimic how she’d behaved toward him at breakfast. She’d courteously said good morning to him as she did to everyone else then sat as far away from him as possible without exchanging another word.
Instead, she got caught up deep in conversation with her dad and Margie. Already they were planning to go to a Dodgers game when they got back. This made Ella happy. After last night’s conversation with Grayson, she’d been a little worried that maybe Grayson had put Margie up to acting so interested in Ella’s father. But it appeared her interest was sincere and Margie’s wanting to hang with her dad would extend beyond the cruise. Good. Ella was certain Memo would be just as pleased with this turn of events.
When breakfast was over, she’d excused herself, once again smiling politely at Grayson when she said goodbye to him. They’d still had a few hours before they docked, and she didn’t want to spend any time alone with him today—or ever. She explained that she still had some packing to do and then went back to her room and grabbed her book. She spent the rest of the morning reading in a cozy secluded area of the ship she’d discovered the day she’d taken off exploring.
The waiting to board the ship had been exciting, now it felt like an eternity as they waited to disembark. She knew her anxiousness had everything to do with the fact that she’d soon see Felix. She could hardly stand it, and the more she thought about it, the more anxious she got.
Finally, they made their way down the escalator to the lower part of the arrival station where awaiting families stood. Once they reached the bottom, Ella, her father, and Margie moved aside and waited for Drake and Meri, who’d gone back when Meri realized she’d left her sunglasses on the upper deck. Margie explained that Grayson had some kind of issue with his credit card being overbilled and had also stayed back to clear that up.
So now they waited because Ella’s dad didn’t want to leave Margie all by herself. It was frustrating to say the least, but Ella agreed. They should wait with Margie. It’d only be a few more minutes before they could get going and she could see Felix finally.
The hand and arm that came around her waist startled Ella, making her flinch. Her first thought was that somehow she’d missed Grayson coming down the escalators and he’d snuck up from behind her. She turned, ready to push him away, but her mouth fell open and she was immediately choked up at the sight of Felix holding a huge bouquet of roses for her.
Ella brought both hands over her mouth for a second, overwhelmed with emotion, and then wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Jesus, I’ve missed you so much,” he said, squeezing her tightly and burying his face in her neck.
“I’ve missed you too,” she said, pulling back to look at him and taking the dark glasses he wore off him.
She wanted to see his eyes. The dimple as he smiled was amazing. It flabbergasted her now that she’d never noticed it until after Carmen pointed it out. Back then she only talked to him once and it’d been blindingly nerve-wracking. She knew now she’d missed a lot.
Felix handed her the roses, and she took them, smiling so hugely she was sure her face would hurt later, but it couldn’t be helped. The flowers were beautiful.
Her dad pointed at him, wide-eyed. “I know you!” he said loudly as a few people’s head’s turned.
Ella quickly put the glasses back on Felix and shushed her dad before they were mobbed.
“Daddy, I was gonna tell you about this,” she said, pulling Felix a little further away from the crowds still spilling out of the escalators. “Yes, this is Felix, and you know I’ve been working full-time at 5th Street now. I met him a couple of months ago, and, well, one thing led to another, and now we’re seeing each other.” She turned to Felix and smiled. “This is my dad, Guillermo.”
“I’m her boyfriend now, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Felix said, reaching out his hand.
Her dad stared at Felix’s hand, stunned, before shaking it, then turned b
ack to Ella suspiciously as if maybe he were being punked.
“It’s true, Dad.” She laughed. “I just hadn’t told you because I was waiting to”—she gave Felix a quick glance—“to be completely sure.”
“And you are now, right?” Felix asked, slipping his hand in hers.
“Yes.” She smiled, her insides instantly warming because this felt surreal. “Yes, I am.”
Not only was this one of the very first times they’d been out in public like this, as an official couple, but she would’ve never imagined her father finding out this way.
Felix smiled at her then looked up behind her, and that breathtaking smile went flat. Ella didn’t even have to look. She already knew who he was looking at, but she turned anyway. Grayson was looking down right back at Felix as he came down the escalators, and he smirked.
Margie said something to Felix, but Ella had no idea what it was, and she knew Felix hadn’t heard a thing either. Grayson walked straight to them.
“So you want me to meet you at your place?” Grayson asked, completely ignoring the fact Felix was standing there holding her hand.
“No,” Ella said, immediately noticing Felix squeezing her hand.
“No?” Grayson said, exaggerating his surprise. “I thought you’d want me there—”
“Why would she want you at her place?” Felix asked, taking a step closer to Grayson, and took off his sun glasses.
“This is between her and me,” Grayson shot right back.
“The hell it is. And let me tell you something,” Felix said, taking another step forward. His body seemed to swell a couple of sizes bigger somehow, and Ella tugged at his hand. He turned to her and smiled sweetly. “I just wanna talk to him, sweetheart.”
“So talk, tough guy.” Grayson egged him on. “You think you’re gonna stop me from going to her place whenever I want? Just like you stopped me from spending the weekend with her?”
“You’re damn right I’m gonna stop you.” Felix said in a strangely calm voice. “Not even this stunt got you anywhere with her, did it?”