him from his home, and away from me. I missed him, and Giuliana seemed to as well. She was grumpier than usual, and would cry for long jags at a time.
So when the fourth morning rolled around and I just couldn’t take waiting around anymore, I packed up Giuliana and took her to Mason’s house. Then I drove to the tattoo shop, determined to tell Javi the truth.
When I got there, I waited in the car. Javi had often left during mornings to go to “Donuts and Discussion” at Get Ink’d. At the time, I was happy he had people who worked to create a feeling of family and community and not just another workplace. Now I was glad I had a chance to catch him before he got tied up with clients.
But as Trinity came and opened up, and Dane brought in the telltale box of pastries, Javi didn’t show. Finally, Reagan pulled up, and he spotted me right away. I braced myself as he stormed over to my car. I haven’t done anything wrong. But I hoped to hell he’d give me a chance to prove it.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he growled as I climbed out of the driver’s seat.
“You know that you guys managed to miss all of my threats to Kyle and catch us right as he made a pathetic last play, right?” It took effort to sound confident and not cowed. Reagan was tall and I’d seen how protective he was of Javi. I liked that about the man—at least until he was protecting Javi from me.
He grunted. “I figured. You strike me as a good guy.”
My spirits lifted a little. “I am a good guy. And I need to talk to Javi, and tell him what really happened.”
But Reagan was a boulder, unmovable. “He isn’t here, and you need to give him time. You asked that of him, right? It is only fair you give it in return. He’ll come around, I promise.”
There wasn’t anything I could say to argue with that. I had to move on to another plan. “Okay. But if he asks?”
“I’ll tell him you stopped by, and what you said about what we saw,” Reagan promised, clapping me on the shoulder.
Shit, was this how Javi had felt when I’d asked him for time to deal with Kyle? Because this sucked. It hurt and it gave me the kind of anxiety that made it feel like my body might shut down at any minute, heart and adrenals overtaxed. No wonder Javi had been ready to believe the worst when he’d seen Kyle and I through the window. I was such a fucking idiot.
But I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
My next stop was the center, but Mike was as resolute as Reagan had been. “He asked for some time and privacy, Gordo, and I want to honor his wishes.”
“Do you think he’ll come back soon?” I was at the end of my rope and didn’t hide the desperation in my voice.
Mike shrugged in defeat. “I hope so. He’s been like an angel to me and to the kids. Hell, Andrew is going to thrive here because of Javi. Speaking of which, would you mind saying hello to Andrew? He’s been asking after Javi, and you’re another familiar face, at least. I think it could be very grounding for him. He’s in the rec room with his new translator.”
The rec room looked much improved from my last few visits. I spotted a new ping pong table and a bookshelf filled with books, neither of which had been there before. Andrew was on a couch, signing back and forth with a woman who looked to be in her early twenties.
I waved, making sure Andrew saw me. Then I signed, slow and clumsy, “Hello, Andrew. How are you?”
Andrew beamed, and his hands flew so quickly it was difficult to track. The translator caught my stunned look and spoke. “Andrew said it’s good to see you and he’s impressed with your signing.”
“Thank you. How have you been?” Only, I was pretty sure I got it wrong, because his nose wrinkled and his translator signed to him. He replied to her, a teasing grin on his face.
“Okay, I’m not so impressed, now,” she said.
It startled me, the way she shifted to ‘I’. “Excuse me?”
“Oh,” she said, “I’m here to help translate. I’m practicing for my university class. It is better to act as if I’m not here. Look at Andrew and not me when speaking, and