Ironically, the scene at the port the day she and Grayson arrived back from their cruise put a damper on some of those stories. The video some of the bystanders took went viral. In the following weeks, it was all the tabloid shows could talk about. It was nonstop because it seemed each day someone else would have a different angle on the scuffle or a better recording of the actual words exchanged.
Clearly, Felix had gone there to tell Grayson to stay the fuck away from his girl and was even being praised for having stayed cool for as long as he did. Grayson had come across as the asshole he was. The video was remixed and songs were added. The ones in which they stopped and gave a close-up of Felix grabbing Grayson’s neck and Grayson’s eyes bugging out were fucking hilarious.
To Felix’s and his lawyer’s surprise, Grayson hadn’t tried to sue him. They said it was likely because, being a cop, he knew the video had enough evidence that Felix attempted to handle the situation calmly without violence and that it was Grayson’s taunting that had ultimately caused the argument to erupt. Felix’s previous lawsuit where he’d ended up coughing up so much money was a lesson well learned. It was why he hadn’t punched Grayson but had gone for his throat instead. His lawyers said that likely had to do with why Grayson hadn’t sued. If Felix had punched him, there would’ve been much more damage than what he’d done to the guy at the club. The rage that had been building from the moment Felix found out about Grayson being on that cruise was like nothing he’d ever experienced. It only got worse when he heard Grayson continue to insist that Felix wasn’t taking Ella as seriously as he was. Then it finally erupted when he’d heard Grayson disrespect her. There was no doubt in Felix’s mind that Grayson would’ve been seriously hurt.
Felix thought there was also more to Grayson’s not suing. The arrogant bastard was likely already too embarrassed by how pathetic and stupid he was being portrayed in the media. The guy was being heavily criticized for his behavior especially given the fact that he was a cop. He was probably hoping this would all go away soon, not looking to prolong it by taking Felix to court in what would certainly be a media circus.
Still, Cortez warned Felix that Grayson’s phone was no doubt ringing off the hook by hungry lawyers promising to get him a hefty settlement.
Months later, Felix wasn’t worried about it anymore. The idiot may’ve even been warned by his superiors to lie low because the story had been so sensationalized it even brought back to light other cops behaving badly in the past. The press had taken the story and run with it, and for once, Felix’s name wasn’t the one being dragged through the mud thanks to Grayson’s stupid ass.
But while Ella was the quintessence of poise and confidence when it came to their relationship, Felix wasn’t quite there yet. Her threat to get a restraining order on Grayson had been with a condition, if she had to. So far she hadn’t, but Felix still had to deal with the annoyance of hearing about Grayson being around her. For example, when Memo had gone with her dad to look through his things, Grayson had offered to haul back some of the stuff in his truck.
Grayson had already called and texted her to apologize for his outburst at the port. Ella told Felix that when he’d come to drop off the stuff he’d been very polite and well-behaved but he did ask to speak to her alone out front. To Felix’s utter irritation, even though Grayson had already done so, he just had to apologize again.
Ever since, Grayson was still showing up every now and again at her place and even once at the gym. But according to Ella, it was always for good reason: to sign off a fix-it ticket for her brother and then to drop off extra Dodgers tickets he’d gotten from work for her dad. The time he’d showed up at 5th Street was to drop off flyers for the L.A.P.D.’s cancer run, and, of course, he was the only one in the entire department who could do this. Since the whole cancer-awareness thing at 5th street was already fast on track and Ella was running that show, Grayson saw fit to drop off the flyers himself and have Ella be the one who walked out to get them from him. In the process, he’d kept her out there for a good ten minutes, which drove Felix nuts.
Of course Felix trusted Ella, but a small part of him struggled with the idea that she might still have feelings for the guy. The stories the media were still pumping about not just Adelina but him and Athena, and the now Oscar-winning actress Avery, didn’t help. It worried Felix that Ella would eventually get sick of it all. The media had begun to hound her too, and though she insisted she was okay with it, there were times he could see she was visibly bothered by it all.
Ella also assured him she was no longer having personal conversations with Grayson, but each time a new story broke, Felix couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be until Ella maybe vented to her ex. Maybe she’d admit he’d been right about this lifestyle not being for her and that the asshole had been right—her life was better suited for someone like Grayson.
Felix knew this stemmed from his past experiences with Bianca and Shelley. The fact that he was the famous Felix Sanchez hadn’t meant shit to them because their feelings for someone else had been that powerful. Felix knew all too well now how strong and impossible it was to just kill feelings for someone. He didn’t think he’d ever get over Ella now if she ever dumped his ass. And he sure as hell didn’t think he could take hearing that she might still have feelings for someone else—least of all Grayson.
For several weeks now, Felix had convinced himself that the fact that he’d been burned before was what was causing his paranoia. There’d been more than a few times now that he’d suspected she was keeping something from him and that she’d been acting weird. But he kept telling himself it had to be all in his head. Ella loved him. He knew this, and he needed to cut this shit out already before he blew it.
He’d been sparring for a while in the ring with Abel. Noah and Gio were real happy with how his training was going. They all agreed this rematch should be a guaranteed win for Felix. It still pissed him off that he’d blown his first fight with Grecco so badly. The guys had tried in vain back then to get his dumb ass to train formally as he was doing now—shut everything down and prepare nonstop like he’d always done. But he’d insisted he had things under control and the training, what little he’d done, had been a joke.
Nellie walked into the room with some paperwork for Noah. Felix and Abel had stopped sparring, and Abel walked over to talk to Nellie. She pecked him then turned to Felix, who was taking a drink of his water. “So I guess Ella took the whole day off. She said she might be in later, but I haven’t heard back from her, and she isn’t here yet.”
“She just blew off her class?” Felix asked, surprised and a little alarmed.
That wasn’t like Ella at all.
“No, I saw Carmen in there just now, so I’m assuming Ella asked Carmen to cover for her.” Nellie laughed. “That girl would never blow off a class just like that. You know that.”
“Let’s take these off,” Gio said, untying Felix’s gloves. “We’re gonna work on technique now and endurance.”
Gio said something else about no hard punching and wanting to know what knuckles were connecting, but Felix hadn’t heard much else. He was still caught up on Ella having taken the day off. She hadn’t mentioned anything about this to him, and he couldn’t help but worry now.
“Did she say why she was taking the day off?”
“Not really. She just texted to say—” Nellie stopped and pulled her phone from her holster and smiled. “Speak of the devil.” She motioned at Felix with her phone then showed Felix the text.
Sorry. After I talked to Carmen about covering for me, I completely forgot to text you and let you know I’d never make it there in time. I’m a ditz.
All’s well. I just lost track of time. I’ll see you tomorrow. J
Nellie looked up from her phone at Felix. “There you go.”
That still didn’t make sense. She would’ve mentioned something to him last night. “So what did she originally say she was taking the time off for?”
“Oh, she just said
she had a few things to take care of,” Nellie said then turned back to Abel, who asked her something about the baby.
Felix knew he’d have to wait to check his phone and see if he had any texts from her. He’d given Gio and Noah the go-ahead early on to crack the whip on his ass and not let him slack off. That meant no checking his phone during his training. Ella was aware of this also, so he wondered if she’d even bothered to text or call him and let him know.
As expected, the rest of his training was pure shit. The whole time he could barely focus because his mind had been on Ella. Theories of what she’d been up to all day and why she hadn’t bothered mentioning this to him inundated him. Not that she was expected to give him her exact schedule every day or anything, it just seemed odd. He would have thought she’d mention something, especially since they usually took off together once she was off and he was done training.
When training was finally over, the first thing he did was check his phone. He had a missed call from her and several texts from other people. Her text was the latest one he’d gotten, and he clicked on it.
I had a few errands to run today and just ran out of time, so I didn’t make it into work. I’m pooped and will be jumping in the shower then going straight to bed. I’ll miss seeing you tonight, but call me and we’ll talk.
Okay this was really odd. He wasn’t just imagining shit now. Even Ella couldn’t possibly think he wouldn’t find this unusual. She takes a day off without ever mentioning she had to and just blows him off like that? They’d been together every night since they’d gotten back from the cruise. Ella even said it was the best part of her day. The unease crept in as he almost hit speed dial; then he thought better of it.
As much as he knew he should respect the fact that she said she was tired and he clearly hadn’t been invited over, he needed to talk to her, and he wanted this conversation to be in person.
Felix took a shower in record time then changed and rushed out of there. He was so tempted to call her because the more he thought about it the more he needed to know now.
“It’s all in your fucking head,” Felix had begun to mutter as he turned onto her street, and then he saw it.
A truck was parked in her driveway. Felix was still more than half a block away, but he’d already been expecting to see a squad car there, so seeing Grayson’s truck there instead was even worse. Had he been there all day? Or had he hung out when he dropped her off after their day together?
Felix’s stomach had already taken a dive, and then he saw Ella walk Grayson out and stand by the porch, smiling as Grayson said something to her before getting in the truck.
The moment her eyes saw Felix’s car, her smile flattened. She glanced down at her phone then slipped it in her pocket. Felix swallowed hard as the truck drove away. He didn’t know if Grayson had seen him or not, and he really didn’t give a shit. He tried to calm himself as his heart went into overdrive. This wasn’t what it looked like. She’d explain soon enough. He just needed to stay calm.
He drove into her driveway, staring at her as she walked down the porch steps and toward him. She was so beautiful it hurt. Bracing himself, he got out of his car as terrified as he was angry. He didn’t even have to ask because as soon as he was out of his car she explained.
“He stopped by to drop off another one of my textbooks.”
Felix stared at her, unable to ward off the feelings of betrayal he was already feeling. This made perfect sense. Just days after the cleanup of her house they all began to notice things missing. Some things that shouldn’t have been moved out by the cleanup crew had inadvertently ended up at Grayson’s place. Memo’s phone charger, the blender they actually used, and a few of Ella’s textbooks were among the few items that Grayson had come by to drop off already.
But he saw it in her face. Heard it in her voice. There was something askew. She looked . . . He almost didn’t want to even think it because he knew it was unfair and it was his warped mind and his past that had him thinking this way, but, damn it, she even sounded guilty!
“Where were you today?” he asked, his eyes fixed on hers as he slowly walked around the car.
As much as he tried, he wasn’t able to hide the coldness in his tone.
“Running errands.”
Was she really going to be this damn vague when he obviously needed more than just that?
“Errands?” he asked, losing his patience fast. “What errands, Ella?”
The way she glanced away before she started didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ve been so busy leaving the house so early in the morning every day and then not getting home until way late there were a few things I’d been neglecting. My car needed a smog check ASAP. I told you it’s been weeks since I last visited my grandpa at the hospice, and my dad had mentioned weeks ago his therapist asked if Memo and I could sit in on one of his sessions. Memo has, but I haven’t.”
She’d glanced at him a few times when she was talking but hadn’t held his gaze for long at all. It was so unlike her. Felix could almost feel her unease. She was leaving something out, and she was nervous about it.
Felix held his hand out to her, and she took it. He pulled her to him, closing his eyes as she leaned against his chest, and he held her, squeezing her a bit tighter when he got his arms all the way around her. It was subtle, and if he weren’t so on edge and trying to decipher every one of her actions, he may not have noticed, but he did. She pushed him away ever so slightly, so he let go of her completely, and this time he pulled back to better look in her eyes.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, trying not to glare, but he seriously felt on the verge of losing it now.
“Nothing,” she said, reacting more in her usual manner finally. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re acting strange, Ella,” he said, walking away from her, his hands on his hips. “This isn’t just my imagination.” He wasn’t even sure who he was trying to convince now: her or himself. He turned back to her, holding up a hand. “You . . . You take the day off without so much as mentioning it to me. You blow me off with a text. I show up, and that asshole’s here—”
“He’d just gotten here, Felix. I swear to you. All he did was drop off the book. He knew I needed it.”
“Is this what he’s been doing? Dropping off one thing at a time every day?”
“No, he hasn’t. I’m hardly ever home, remember?” Ella took a few steps toward him, reaching for his hand, and he let her. She brought it to her face and leaned against it. “Felix, I promise you that you have nothing to worry about. Please believe that. Today was just a weird day, but then the past few weeks have been weird.” She shook her head, looking around. “My life’s in a complete tailspin. It’s not like me to let things go like I had, and I just needed to catch up. I didn’t say anything to you about it because I kept saying I was going to do this and then wouldn’t. Today I just decided at the last minute that I couldn’t put it off anymore.” She kissed his hand. “I didn’t mean to blow you off. I was just tired. I haven’t had such an exhausting day in a while.”
Feeling an enormous relief but at the same time worried about the frustration that her life was so different now, Felix felt some of the tension drain from his body. He hugged her again only this time not as tightly as the first time. It could stand to reason that he might occasionally forget his own strength, and it made total sense that with what she made him feel he’d likely go overboard on how hard he squeezed her sometimes. That’s probably all it was earlier, but he’d been so strung out on the adrenaline pumping through him he’d snapped.
“How do you do that?” he asked, kissing the side of her head.
“Do what?” she asked with a soft laugh.
He pulled away and kissed her softly then a little more crazy like he really wanted to. When he was finally able to pull his lips off her, he stared into her eyes.
“I always think I couldn’t possibly love you anymore than I already do. Then with just a few words you prove me wrong again.”
<
br /> It was true. That she’d been able to calm him from exploding right there in her front yard and doing something idiotic like put his fist through his own car window just to calm the hurricane he was feeling inside was a feat in itself. But that she could make him love her even more each time when she did something like this—put things so easily into perspective and remind him just how perfect she was—left him in awe every time.
“Good,” she said, looking up at him with a big smile. “No matter how much you love me, it’ll never be too much.”
“But I can be too much,” he said with a frown. “I’m sorry I snapped. It’s not fair for me to jump to conclusions like that. I’ll work on it. I promise.”
“I believe you.” She grinned then squeezed his hand. “Since you’re already here, you wanna come in and hang out? I can make popcorn, and we can watch TV for a while.”
He shook his head immediately. “No, babe, you said you’re tired.”
Secretly, he was really hoping she’d insist. He was so not ready to leave yet. He felt addicted to her now, and he needed his nightly fix. Watching TV with her dad in the other room or possibly in the same room wasn’t making love to her like they usually spend their evenings, but it beat spending the evening without her.
She pouted. “I’m not that tired. I was planning on talking to you all night on the phone anyway.”
That didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he wouldn’t argue. This sounded as if she were insisting, so now he grinned. “You sure?”
She nodded, smiling even bigger, and pulled him with her toward the front door. She made him what tasted like the best sandwich he’d ever had in his life. The tension he’d started feeling from the moment Nellie informed him Ella had taken the day off had really worked up his appetite.
Spending several hours with her cuddled in his arms, watching television in her humble little front room on her small television set, felt like heaven. She’d gone back to acting normally, or at least he decided to stop reading so much into everything, and he’d been able to relax and just enjoy his time with her.