Orlando (Boyle Heights #4) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,54

to spare Beast the details, says he has enough to deal with already with the baby and another one on the way. But he and his mom’s boyfriend got into it again, and they both ended up in jail overnight. Kid’s got a temper to boot. According to Beast, his mom said, ever since his first love was killed in a car accident at only fifteen, he ain’t never been right.”

“Ouch.” Danica winced, gulping back the emotion, but kept to herself that she and Byron had three big things in common. She knew all too well about flaring tempers and arguing with stepparents. But sadly, she also knew the horridness of losing someone you cared for so suddenly and tragically. He explained how his girlfriend’s untimely death had affected Byron. Orlando always thought the kid a bit of a player all this time. He was always talking about chicks and hot dates, but as far as he knew he’d never taken any of them seriously.

“Beast’s relationship with his mom and brother is a little complicated. I’ll have to tell you about that another time, but he wasn’t around when all that went down with Byron’s first girl. Beast didn’t even know about that until a few months ago.” Danica listened, trying not to look as flabbergasted as she felt sitting there casually admiring every one of Orlando’s masculine features. While he was definitely rugged and not afraid to get his hands dirty, he was always so well kept. Now that she was able to stare at him for a little longer than usual, she wondered if maybe he got his eyebrows cleaned up because they were perfectly shaped. Not plucked or anything feminine like that. Far from it. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him the first time she staked him out, Orlando was the epitome of a man’s man. A very attractive and sexy as hell man’s man.

With his tattooed covered arms, if it weren’t for the fact that she was sitting here in his equally well-kept home, and seen how lovingly he interacted with his boy, she might think him a bad boy. She had wondered about the name of the shop and what the story behind that was. So, given the tats and the foul language that bounced around the shop all day long, she figured there was or maybe had been a little bad in Orlando at some point. Trying not to be too obvious about taking him in so extensively, Danica went back to concentrating on his explanation of what happened with Byron that morning. “Pretty sure Beast doesn’t know the extent of it, but according to Byron, his mom’s been relying a little too much on her pain meds lately, and Byron blames her boyfriend for it. Says he’s the one who got her popping them in the first place. He talked about the possibility of getting his own place today and getting away from them altogether.” Orlando lifted and dropped his big shoulder with a frown. “Probably for the best. The guy’s temper is as bad as his brother’s. He just started college, and he swears, if he was on his own, he’d just concentrate on that instead. I asked him about the last girl I’d heard he was seeing. Maybe he could use that as a distraction from his mom’s issues, but he said he was done with her too.” Orlando laughed. “He’s swearing off youngins. Says they’re cheaters and full of shit. Like age has anything to do with that. Being a liar or a cheat comes at any age.” The baby giggled when the Orlando bounced a ball in front of him. Orlando looked up at Danica, wide-eyed, then bounced the ball again. Once again, the baby giggled heartedly. It was such a sweet and contagious laugh. Danica was momentarily relieved from the unease she’d begun to feel over Orlando’s last comment. “I’ve never heard him laugh like this,” Orlando said, bouncing the ball again.

This time the baby laughed so long and hard he nearly lost his breath. Both Orlando and Danica were laughing now too. It just couldn’t be helped, despite the heaviness that had begun to mount in her belly. It went on for a while as Orlando continued to bounce the ball and Danica reached for her phone and started filming. It was absolutely adorable, and the most beautiful sound Danica had ever heard. She’d seen the laughing-baby videos on YouTube many times. But it was