“He left me in the car when he went to pick up Charlie at the Center,” she spat.
The Center referred to the charitable youth center that Charlie ran which worked to help wayward kids, especially those dealing with their sexuality, gender issues, abusive or nonexistent parents, runaways, and more. Charlie often worked with Genesis who was a social worker managing a huge caseload. Both of them had degrees in child development.
“Okay, so why is that a problem?” I treaded lightly not wanting to make her angrier, not that I thought that was possible.
“She gave him the slip.” Charlie snorted as she entered from the backyard where they’d probably been playing with Amber and Rory. I watched as she set an empty beer bottle on the counter and headed to the fridge.
Mmm…beer and enchiladas sounded heavenly. My stomached growled loudly.
“I did not give him the slip! ¡Mierda!” Now the word shit I knew. Everyone in this house knew all the Spanish curse words courtesy of growing up with our girl.
“Cursing in Spanish is not acceptable either, Liliana.” Mama Kerri turned her head and looked at the Sprite over her glasses.
“Lo siento.” She mumbled sorry before setting the spoon in the holder and lifting the pot and setting it on a cooling rack next to the enchiladas. “I remembered I needed a new mascara and Mama had mentioned needing some Epsom salts, so I left the car to visit the Walgreen’s across the street. I knew it would only take a few minutes. Honestly, I thought I could make it back before he did with Charlie. You know how she’s always dragging her feet.”
I pressed my lips together really hard. I knew the laughter was going to roll out of me any second.
“Don’t put your bad behavior on me, sister! Besides, I do not drag my feet! I run the entire center, Lil. It takes time to close down a building and make sure everyone is out for the day and night.” She flicked the lid off her fresh beer and held it aloft pointing the neck of the beer at Liliana. “Don’t pull me into your crap because you got a talkin’ to by a hot guy and you’re embarrassed.”
“A talkin’ to?” I asked, now super-interested in what went down.
Liliana glared at Charlie and then turned to me, hands on hips, attitude at a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. “El idiota arrogante yelled at me the entire way home. Telling me,” she pointed at her chest with dramatic flair, “how I made bad decisions and could have been hurt or hurt mi hermana. I did no such thing. I went to the store. For five minutes!”
“Well, not saying that you were wrong or anything, but he was hired to keep you safe. You leaving the car probably freaked him out pretty bad, no?”
She narrowed her pretty eyes. “Are you on his side?”
I shook my head and lifted my hand in a placating gesture in front of me in order to ease her ire before she took away my ability to eat her awesome food. She could be scrappy like that. “Nope, not even close. I’m just saying it takes time getting used to having a bodyguard and the guys Blessing hired are serious about their jobs. Just this morning Blessing and I got our own talking to. So, you aren’t the only one.”
She tipped her head to the side. “You were yelled at too?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Hmmph. Blessing should give a call to those jerks’ bosses. I mean, she’s the client, not them.”
I did not think it was a good time to tell her my guard was the boss. It would do no good.
“Jerk isn’t a curse word, but it isn’t pretty, chicklet,” Mama warned getting out a stack of plates and setting them on the counter where the rest of the food was laid out.
This was also when Jonah entered the conversation. “Actually, right now I’m going to take the position of ensuring all of your safety.” Simone cuddled up against her man’s side, arms around his waist and back so her head could rest on his chest where he stood.
“We’re going to have to get on the same page. Each and every one of you needs to be protected. Thankfully, I was able to smooth over the security issue with our chief but only because Blessing happened to hire a team that not only has one of the highest success rates in the biz, but they are also