Orlando (Boyle Heights #4) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,72
all about good people with addictions. I lost my brother to it, okay?” He reached for his beanie and took it off. “This is his. He wore it the night they found him dead in a hotel room.” Feeling the emotion swell his throat, he squeezed his eyes shut. “His girlfriend found him with the needle still in his arm.” Closing his eyes, he took a quick deep breath because this was the last thing he thought they’d be talking about when he brought her up to the apartment. “It was his favorite and he was my hero.” Clearing his throat, he shook his head. “You don’t have to justify shit to me, okay? Not about a sibling you’d fight to the death for, nor good people falling into the hell of addiction. I get it.”
She shook her head, her wide eyes searching his anxiously. “I’m so sorry, Orlando. I had no idea—”
The knock at the door had them both turning to it, and Dani dropping his hand. “Give me a sec.” Orlando started to the door.
To his surprise, it was Felicia. She smiled, holding up a bag. “I was in the area and thought I’d bring you lunch—” She stopped mid-sentence as she glanced behind him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Alonso just said—”
“No, no worries.” Trying to hide the annoyance of the interruption, he opened the door further for her and stepped back to let her in.
“I can wait downstairs if—”
“No,” Dani said quickly. “We’re all done here.” She smiled at Felicia, wiping away at lingering tears, then turned to Orlando. “If there’s anything else you need to know, by all means just ask. I’ll get back to work now.” She nodded at Felicia as she walked by them. “Enjoy your lunch.”
Felicia continued to walk all the way into the kitchen. “You two having a work meeting?”
“Something like that,” Orlando said, closing the door.
“She seemed upset. Everything okay?”
“She’s got some personal things going on at home,” he said but absolutely refused to offer more.
Felicia glanced up from the bag she was pulling food out of, lifting a brow. “Nothing too bad, I hope?”
“Nah, she’ll be okay.” He opened the fridge to pull out a couple of sodas since she didn’t walk in with drinks. “I’d skipped lunch, so thanks for this, but I don’t have too much time to hang out.”
“I don’t either, but I’m getting my oil changed.” Explaining about her car needing to be serviced badly, Felicia said she picked up food for them from the taco truck up the street. “I know you like their tacos, and I figured it was lunchtime and I’d have to wait for my car anyway, so I thought we could eat while I waited.” They ate, and for the most part Orlando could hardly focus on anything they discussed. His mind kept going back to Dani. He hated that she rushed out and was possibly thinking he took Felicia way more seriously than he ever had. More than anything, he hated that she’d actually think he’d be mad at her for her past or the kinds of friends she hung out with. He needed to get her alone again and remind her about his friends. Orlando may’ve known of Beast and Nine before he’d done any time, but it was when he served time with them that they’d all bonded the way they had. So, he absolutely got what she was talking about when she spoke of bonding with good people making mistakes or being hopelessly addicted. He was only glad he’d at least been able to share about his brother. Ironically, Beast and Nine were the only people, aside from his mother, he’d ever shared with about his brother’s death.
When they were done eating, Orlando escorted Felicia downstairs to get her car. “I love you too,” Dani said as Orlando and Felicia reached the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, you’re such a sweetheart, babe. So, what hotel did you book us at?”
Orlando turned to look at Dani, feeling an instant and overwhelming heat inundate him. One he’d never felt before. She winced when she glanced up and saw them. “I gotta go. I’ll see you in a bit. No, I can’t right now, baby.” She lowered her voice but not low enough because Orlando still heard every fucking word, and it made him nauseous. “Okay, okay, love you. Bye.” She glanced back up at them but turned away from Orlando and addressed Felicia instead. “Are you leaving already?”