Also by Elizabeth Reyes
Moreno Brothers Series
Forever Mine
Para Mi . . . Por Siempre (Spanish version of Forever Mine)
Forever Yours
Sweet Sofie
When You Were Mine (Included in the MB Novella Series)
Always Been Mine
Romero
Making You Mine
A Moreno Brothers Novella Series
When You Were Mine
Tangled
5th Street Series
Noah
Gio
Hector
Abel
Fate Series
Fate
Breaking Brandon
Desert Heat Series
Desert Heat
Felix
5th Street #5
Elizabeth Reyes
Felix
5th Street #5
Elizabeth Reyes
Kobo Edition
Copyright © 2014 Elizabeth Reyes
This book is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover Design by Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design
Edited by Theresa Wegand
This one is for my readers. Thank you for hanging in there and waiting this long to get Felix's story. I hope you enjoy getting back to the world of 5th Street as much as I did.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
A Note to My Wonderful Readers
An excerpt from Desert Heat
An excerpt from Abel the 4th book in the 5th Street series
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Prologue
“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have.”
~Unknown~
Felix
The crowd roared.
The stands rumbled.
The entire place went crazy as Felix Sanchez entered and walked through the sold-out Vegas venue with his entourage. Of all the fights he’d been in, this was by far the biggest of his career. Winning the professional titles to begin with had been huge, but the hype leading up to this fight had been unprecedented.
In the past two years, he’d buffed up enough to now be fighting in a heavier bracket. He’d be defending his title against Pauly Grecco, the up-and-coming Italian phenomenon with an impeccable record. He was the first contender who was actually thought to have a slight chance of taking the title from Felix. So far, no one had even come close.
Felix had made more appearances on shows all over the world to discuss and hype this fight than he’d had in the past. Win or lose he stood to walk away with his biggest paycheck to date. Many of the critics suggested that maybe that’s why he wasn’t taking this fight as seriously as he should have been. It had been reported that, while he’d been busy promoting and flying from country to country and touring the states to make different appearances and shows, Grecco had been training nonstop and not taking this fight for granted as Felix was being accused of.
Smiling as he stepped into the ring to the crowd chanting his name over and over, Felix shook off the annoying thoughts of what all the sports commentators were saying, and waved out at the crowd. He then brought his attention to Athena as she made her way out to the center of the ring. As the provocatively dressed young pop diva was introduced, the buzz in the crowd was very telling of what everyone was thinking. She was there because of him.
Not so. That was entirely his publicist Andy’s doing. It was no secret that Felix and Athena had had a thing going a few months prior. He’d been seen with her several times in the last month, but things were in no way getting serious like the tabloids were implying. As usual, Andy seemed to think any publicity was good publicity, and since Felix didn’t care what anyone thought, he’d let the public come to its own conclusions.
When Athena was done belting out the national anthem, the crowd once again went wild in anticipation of one of the biggest fights in years.
As soon as the bell rang to start off the first round, Felix knew he might be in trouble. Grecco went right at him, putting the crowd on its feet, and the entire place thundered as Felix wobbled when Grecco landed a left hook.
Felix shook his head, trying to catch his bearings. He’d been in the ring no more than a few seconds, and already he felt shaky. Abel hadn’t been kidding when he said Grecco had a wicked left hook.
“Focus and readjust!” Noah yelled from the sidelines.
Refusing to panic because every punch that Grecco had thrown so far he’d landed while Felix hadn’t landed any, he pulled away and focused. Just as Noah said, he had to readjust. Clearly his opening plan was not going to work. When Abel had warned him of Grecco’s left hook, Felix had countered that it was wicked and dangerous when he landed them. Felix had thought he was too fast and didn’t think Grecco could throw it fast enough to catch him. Now, less than a minute into the fight, Grecco had already proved him wrong.
Not a problem.
Felix just had to rethink his strategy. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to, and he’d always come up on top. The round was coming to a close, and Felix figured he’d take the time between rounds to refocus.
Very mindful of Grecco’s left hook now, Felix kept his eye out for it with his right hand up to block any sudden jabs. The ten-second warning bell rang, and Felix knew he was home free, though admittedly he was far more exhausted than he should’ve been after just one round.
Grecco’s right jab came out of nowhere, landing a massive blow to the left side on Felix’s face. The last thing Felix saw was Grecco’s stunned expression before Felix’s face hit the canvas and everything went black.
Chapter 1
One year later
Felix
“I’m not going to jail. I didn’t kill anyone. I paid for the damag—”
“You’re missing the goddamned point!” Preston Styles, Felix’s current publicist, threw his arms up in exasperation.
“Well then, enlightening me, Preston!” Felix yelled right back. “Because you’re acting like this is the fucking end of the world and it’s not.”
“You hired me not just to help manage your career but to do damage control with the mess you and Andy made of it. And ever since, all you’ve done is continue to go downhill. It’s almost as if you’re trying to ruin your career.”
“Oh yeah? And what career would that be, huh? My boxing career? Because I think we can both agree that ship has sailed. I’m just trying to enjoy my life now.”
“How? By getting drunk ever
y night and partying ’til you pass out? By starting brawls and beating the shit outta every nobody that calls you a has-been?” Preston followed Felix into the next room of his penthouse suite. “You’re not washed up, Felix. But if you keep treating your body the way you have been this past year—staying up every night, fucking every girl who throws herself at you, and partying up for days—you will be. Hell, even your dick’s gotta say I’ve had enough sooner or later.”
Felix laughed, taking a swig of his glass of bourbon. “Not a chance.”
“You don’t think so?” Preston asked as adamantly as only his obstinate ass could. “You don’t think one of these days or nights you’re not gonna stick that thing in the wrong whore and it won’t ever be the same again or that all those fucking cigarettes you smoke and drugs you take won’t make you go limp sooner or later?”
“I don’t do drugs anymore,” Felix snapped, setting his glass down and pulling out a smoke.
“Yeah, well, drinking that hard shit and starting your chain smoking at seven in the morning isn’t much better.”
“Look—”
“No, you listen to me,” Preston said with conviction. “This isn’t just about you anymore, okay? I know you think the world revolves around your pretentious ass, but I have a reputation to keep up too. You may not care about your career anymore, but I care about mine. Potential clients are watching, and when I took this job, the deal was you’d listen to what I had to say. You’d do whatever I decided was in your best interest, and so far, you’ve done neither. If I walk away now, I won’t be losing much. Do you really think anyone would blame me? So I couldn’t clean up Felix Sanchez’s sorry ass. You’ll just look like the pathetic lost cause that everybody said even “The Great Preston Styles” couldn’t fix. But if you expect me to stick around and not just cut my losses now, you need to get your head out of your ass, slow things down, and start listening to what I have to say, or I’m out.”
Felix stared out of his hotel window at the Vegas strip below and took a deep breath. He had known this was coming and had since decided what he’d do the day Preston made him choose between him and the freedom to live his life as he wanted to.
Did this guy actually expect Felix to answer to his ass? Felix was paying him a small fortune to be his publicist and do damage control, not to run his life.
He chuckled now at the guy’s ridiculousness. Who called himself “The Great”? Preston Styles that’s who.
“What’s it gonna be, Sanchez? Because believe it or not I have other clients I need to tend to. I don’t have time to be dealing with your bullshit twenty-four seven.”
Felix turned around slowly and took a drag of his cigarette. Letting out a slow stream of smoke from the corner of his lips, he glanced up at Preston. “Get the fuck out.”
Preston smirked, shaking his head. “I can see I was right about you all along.” He grabbed his coat off the chair as he walked through the front room. “There’s no helping someone who’s already given up. Your only hope is that agent of yours. Rene and I have been friends for a long time, and he’s one of my best golf buds. A hundred bucks says he has you crawling back to me within the week.” He turned to look one last time at Felix, who was leaning against the doorway of his penthouse bedroom now, taking another drag of his cigarette, and refusing to react to the asshole’s comments. “Just know this. When you do, if I decide to take your sorry ass back, my price will have doubled. It’s the only way I’ll deal with you, and even then, I’d only be doing it for Rene.”
“You should know better than anyone, asshole, I answer to no one. Not you or my agent. So get that fantasy about me crawling back to you outta your wet dreams. I’d sooner give you to the keys to my Lamborghini than ever crawl back to you.”
Preston let out a humorless scoff before walking out the door without another word.
~~~
The early misty Vegas morning still lingered as Felix sat on his balcony, smoking a few more cigarettes almost an hour after he’d dismissed Preston. “So much to do,” he murmured.
He’d been in Vegas four days now. As much as he loved Vegas, it was still too long to be in one place. He snuffed his cigarette out and picked up his phone from the table next to him. Hitting speed dial, he waited to hear what he knew would be a groggy voice on the other end. “Victor, get the plane ready and fueled for Cabo. Also, I need you to get some calls in for me: Rene, Cortez, and that Lazardi lady. I’m gonna need a new publicist when I get back.”
There was a brief silence before he heard his assistant clear his throat. “What about Preston?”
“Preston’s gone,” he said, standing up and making his way back into his room. “I’ll be ready to leave in about two hours, but have the car pick me up in one. I have a few stops to make before I get to the airport.”
A little over an hour later he was finished with his first stop. He kissed Avery, the young Oscar contender he’d met a few weeks ago at a movie premiere. “Thank you for the send-off.” He smiled against her lips. “It’s just what I needed.”
He started to pull away and off her when she slipped her hands around his waist. “Did you give any thought to what we discussed?”
Felix smirked, giving her another quick kiss. “The Oscars sound like a blast.”
Not really.
If they were anything like the Golden Globe awards, he couldn’t think of a longer more agonizing way to spend an entire Sunday. And he’d heard the Oscars were even longer. People who watched these shows on television didn’t realize just how long these shows really were. The after parties . . . Well, now she was talking. He could do that.
“So is that a yes?” Her eyes brightened.
“I’m afraid it’s an ‘I’ll have to get back to you.’ I’m still not sure I’ll be in town. I have several projects I’m working on, and now I gotta find a new publicist. But I’ll call you. I promise.”
His entourage snuck him out the back way of her hotel to his awaiting car where he promptly poured himself another glass of straight bourbon and lit up another smoke. He thought of what Preston had said to him earlier.
“Slow things down?” he said, taking a drag then letting very satisfying stream of smoke out the open window. “He must be out of his mind.”
~~~
Felix made note of two things when he first met Ms. Lazardi: A) She was a hell of lot younger than he’d expected, and B) She was no different from all the women he’d ever been in contact with. Except for a few of his close friends’ wives, who seemed to be the exception, most women either bluntly put it out there for his taking or, like Lazardi, put on a class act of indifference at first. The outcome was always the same in the end.
“I read the email you sent me, Mr. Gallardo” she said to Felix’s agent Rene. “I understand that Mr. Sanchez’s—”
“Call me Felix,” he said before she went on.
He stared at her straight-faced from behind his dark sunglasses as she stopped to look at him. “Okay,” she said with a smile and quick flutter of her lashes and then continued.
Felix watched her as she explained that she knew how different Andy and Preston were as publicists and that she was confident she’d fall somewhere in between. For a while, he entertained himself, watching how she’d occasionally lose her train of thought when she’d look his way. He hated all these formal meetings, but he knew it was necessary, so he was thankful for the diversion. This was much better than sitting across from some snooty publicist like Preston or the car salesman type like his first publicist Andy, who talked your ear off. It was the only thing that kept him from dozing off. She was your typical young starry-eyed girl, only she did her best to hide behind the sophisticated-looking business suit. Watching how hard she attempted to stay poised kept him amused momentarily until, as he did in all these drawn-out meetings, he began to get bored.
Ms. Lazardi, who’d since asked all three men to please call her by her first name, Adelina, went over her philosophy for her relationships with her clients. She
was determined to become as close as she could with Felix as she was with all her other clients without, of course, cramping his style. She smiled big. “My ultimate goal here,” she said, “is to keep Felix, my VIP client, continually relevant in the media, but in a positive light only, and do a little damage control. I’ve gone over all the past incidents, and I don’t think the situation is too bad. And, of course, I need to keep Felix happy—at all times.”
Felix sat, legs crossed, across from Ms. Lazardi and next to Rene. Continuing to lean his chin on his hand, he casually glanced at Rene, fighting the urge to smirk because he could already see his agent’s brow lifting in concern. Rene gave him that look to which, of course, Felix responded with his utmost expression of innocence.
They concluded the meeting after Fernando Cortez, Felix’s longtime attorney, went over some of the legalities and stipulations he wanted to make sure were on the contract before Felix signed anything. Felix made arrangements to meet with Ms. Lazardi the next day for lunch to go over the plan of action, and they were free to leave. Easy peasy.
“You see.” Felix smirked as they entered the elevator. “And you were worried. What can possibly go wrong?”
~~~
As he sat on the balcony of yet another hotel room, this time in Santa Monica, California, Felix did his best to calm Rene down on the phone. He took another drag of his cigarette as Rene went on and on about how this was highly inappropriate and could lead to nothing but more bad publicity and downright trouble.
Ironically, Rene called for that very reason. He hadn’t wanted to discuss it in front of Cortez yesterday and hadn’t had a chance to call Felix since, but now he had and the first words out of his mouth when Felix answered were “You better not get any funny ideas about Ms. Lazardi.”
Felix had given him the unfortunate news that he was too late. “We’re just getting acquainted,” Felix assured him with a chuckle, keeping his voice low. “Relax, okay? I’m out of here tomorrow. She works here in L.A., and I won’t be back for months. I got that thing in Miami, remember? From here on, she and I will handle all business via email and phone. You saw her yesterday. You can’t say this was all me.”