"Yo Alfredo." Lucas called out, drawing the attention of Alfredo who'd just entered the bar. Luckily, this was a bar with only light rock music to facilitate communication without people having to shout over loud music.Alfredo headed towards them, his eyes flashing with wariness for just a second when he looked at Raul. Then reaching their table, he bumped fists with all of them before taking the seat that flanked Adam and Lucas and directly faced Raul."What's up?" He turned to look at the barman. "A bottle of beer." The order was delivered in a matter of seconds."Your brother here was just telling us about how much his relationship has progressed with June." It was Lucas who spoke.Alfred snorted. "That's all he talks about." The words were delivered in a tone too cool not to be purposefully bitter.Raul seemed to stiffen, struggling to not let the smile slip from his face as he focused on Lucas. "Seriously, Lu, it's not that I'm shunning you guys. June just makes me feel like be
Eva groaned for the umpteenth time, glaring at her computer when she came up with no plan concrete enough to at least begin the processes that would lift the company from its crisis. Now that they didn't have the support of Brandon's family, she'd promised her mum that they would work through this together, and she needed to come up with something soon.The ringing of her telephone was a welcome distraction. Picking it up, she brought it to her ear and spoke into the mouthpiece. “Yes?”“Miss Eva... I mean Eva, someone is here to see you. Doesn't have an appointment but claims you wouldn't refuse to see him.” Then she rushed on as if she was dreading what Eva would say. “I called you because you saw the last person who came without an appointment and...”“It's okay, Suzzy. I'll see him.” Eva sighed as she placed down her receiver. Frankly, she was beginning to get frustrated by how Suzzy, the new secretary she'd hired three weeks ago, behaved like she had to walk on eggshells around
From the corner of his eyes, Adam saw Eva's eyes widen. Was she that shocked that he'd introduced himself as her boyfriend? What had she been expecting him to say?Ma'am, your daughter and I really don't have a label, but we fuck a lot so I guess you can call us fuckmates?He would've rolled his eyes if Rebecca's gaze wasn't fixed on his face. A long silence passed and she was still giving him that pointed look. Why the hell was she looking at him like that?Just when Adam was beginning to get extremely uncomfortable with her stare, she seemed to snap out of whatever daze she'd been thrown into, eyes transferring to Eva.“You have a boyfriend, and you never told me?” Hurt wove through her voice.Eva stepped forward, looking guilty. “Mum, I'm so sorry. It hasn't been that long since we began dating and I thought we needed some time to build our relationship more.”The disappointment never leaving the woman's face, she returned her gaze to Adam. “Young man, what do you do for a living?”
Shocked was an understatement for how Raul had felt when Alfred had revealed he was in love with him. Flabbergasted was more like it, even if Alfred's constant snide remarks about his and June's relationship had finally made sense.Raul shoved a hand into his hair and tugged. He'd seen the pain in his stepbrother's eyes during the confession and it still haunted him. Five long years?Memories and peculiar moments he'd never really cared to recall rolled in his mind. Alfred telling him how gorgeous he was, Alfred complementing his big dick all the time, that one steamy, drunken kiss they'd shared which they'd both laughed over.Had Alfred done such an impeccable job of keeping his feelings secret or Raul had chose to ignore it all this while, telling himself it wasn't what it seemed?God, this was so fucking messed up. He'd only ever seen Alfred as his stepbrother. They were practically brothers, for which the gravity of the reality still weighed so heavily. He had a gut wrenching fee
“Adam...” Rebecca croaked, voice hoarse as fresh tears fell from her damp eyes. “When you. . . when you told me your name was Adam Garcia. . . I. . . I. . .I told myself it wasn't you even though you looked so much like Refugio. But it. . . it's you. It really is you. My. . . my son.”What? She was happy to see him? Then damn Adam loved her to the pits of hell.He noticed the movement of her hand and quickly caught her by the wrist before it could touch his cheek, having a deep feeling that another damned touch from her was going to wreck more havoc than it'd already done.She winced, probably because he was squeezing her wrist too tight. Good, she deserved far more than that. “Your son, huh?” He chuckled. “So now I'm your son? You fucking remembered now that you have a son?”“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You don't know how much...” She trailed off, her body quavering as sobs racked through her body.Adam was damned if he felt even an iota of pity for this woman, but he knew all too well
Eva tapped on Adam's number, dialing once again. Between two hours ago and now, she must've called about fifty times. Earlier, she'd gone to Adam's house the time they'd scheduled for dinner. She must have pressed on the doorbell ten times, yet nobody had opened the door. After spending an hour in front of his door and dialing his number repeatedly, she'd finally left and headed for June's house. An hour later and he still hadn't picked up her calls or returned them. Irritated, Eva hang up when the phone dialed about halfway through. Damnit Adam. Where the fuck are you?“He's still not picking up?” June asked, slumping on the couch beside Eva and placing the box of ice cream on her lap. It smelled of vanilla.“No. I don't know what the fuck is going on.” Eva groaned.June scooped a spoonful of the icecream into her mouth. “Don't worry. I'm sure he'll call soon.”The assurance did nothing to abate Eva's worry. “He's never done something like this, June. He's always punctual about o
Adam felt like his soul was being ripped right out of him, watching the paramedics try desperately to revive his father. Wishing that the ambulance would move faster even though he knew they were already moving at a crazy pace.Every time the defibrillator was placed on his father's bare chest, jolting him and yet failing to generate any response from the heart monitor, it felt like the piercing of a sharp-edged sword right through his heart.He flattened his palms on his forehead and run them up along his messy hair, tugging furiously as anguish burned through his brain. But he could care less if his hair was ripped out of his skull. Not when his dad was on the brink of death and he could only watch helplessly.Suddenly, the paramedics stopped fussing over his father, disposing off their device, faces grim. Adam's heart skipped a beat. Had they given up already?One of them came to stand right in front of him. He saw her lips moving, but it wasn't until she patted him on the should
Entering the hospital room, Adam slowly made his way to his father's bedside. Suddenly, the man looked so different, skin pale, wrinkles more prominent. How could a person change so much in appearance overnight?Sitting on the chair that stood beside the bed, he continued watching his father for a few minutes before finally taking his hand into both of his.“You know, growing up, I always thought you were a weak man for letting your wife's rejection and abandonment break you, for not crawling out of it soon enough. Well, guess what?” He chuckled softly. “I've seen how wrong I was.”His voice broke, and unable to take it anymore, he broke down right then. “Why dad? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell, Guile? How could you have kept your sickness to yourself for a whole year? Why? We could've stood by you through it all. Helped you get through it. Why?”Was it shame? Guilt?Growing up, his father's alcoholism had prevented them from getting as close as a father and son should, b