It’d been days since the scandal broke—days since Bianca had last seen Gio and an eternity since she’d last kissed his lips. She hadn’t even been able to say goodbye properly. What was worse was that this could go on for much longer.
Both Bianca and Gio had assumed that the story would die down soon enough. Not only had it not calmed down but they were turning it into a full-blown soap opera. The paparazzi were relentless in their pursuit of a statement from any of the three parties involved in the, now internationally talked about, love triangle. Because they were all Hispanic, even the Spanish tabloids had gotten in on it.
Bianca dropped the only class she’d taken on campus that spring because the once respectful photographers and sleazy journalists were on her now, as Nana so nicely put it, “like flies on shit.”
Gio had been fined for flinging one photographer’s camera across the 5th Street gym parking lot. They were forced to lay low for now. The media wanted nothing more than to get more of the story that had everyone talking. At first, Bianca didn’t understand why it was such a huge deal, but then she remembered Andy. Felix’s publicist always said any publicity was good publicity. Felix’s fight was just weeks away, and Andy was probably loving the media circus surrounding Felix. If she didn’t know any better, Andy was probably working around the clock to keep refueling the story himself. If she was right, this wouldn’t die down at least until after Felix’s fight two weeks from today. Bianca groaned at the thought that it might be that long until they could be together again.
Nana and her mother who’d, as expected, been upset about the dangerous situation she’d put herself in, were over it now. She knew they’d understand that she would’ve never even considered doing something like this unless she was crazy in love. Her mother even offered up her theory on why this had happened. It was simply meant to be. Bianca thought about that a lot. It made perfect sense—all the unlikely circumstances that led them to one another.
As usual, Nana had managed to shock her into silence when she told her she’d seen the twinkle in that boy’s eyes way back when he’d first been in the shop. Nana said that was the reason she made her comment about Felix being a fool to leave Bianca alone with such a good looking boy. Needless to say, neither her mom nor her grandmother were too surprised about how things turned out.
Having already been forced to drop her only class that semester, and most infuriatingly being forced to stay away from Gio, Bianca refused to let the media frenzy dictate any other part of her life. So when Nana suggested she take some time off and stay home so she wouldn’t have to be hounded as much, Bianca adamantly refused.
She drove up the street toward the shop. Her grandmother had since made sure the paparazzi knew they weren’t welcome anywhere near her property, which included the parking lot, but they knew the law. As long as they stayed out of the parking lot, they could still stake out the place from the street.
On top of the usual photographers’ parked cars she’d become familiar with, there was a news van today. A reporter stood facing the camera, speaking into the microphone as if she were covering some important news story. “Oh, give me a break,” Bianca muttered as she drove past the reporter and into the shop’s parking lot.
Both she and Gio had agreed to stop reading or watching any of the ridiculous tabloids. Each day they came up with another twist to the story that as far as she was concerned was over. She wasn’t even able to see him now. How could there be any more to add? She’d made Toni promise again to keep anything new she heard to herself. Bianca didn’t need to know even one more stupid unfounded detail of what they were saying.
She heard the cameras as the photographers stood in the street, blatantly snapping away. Why the hell they wanted more photos of her walking into her grandmother’s shop was beyond her. As she had all week, and unlike Gio, she refrained from flipping them off.
To her complete surprise, Felix was waiting for her inside. The last time she’d heard from him was the morning he found out. He’d obviously been furious, because both texts were utter filth—the F bomb among other outrageous accusations. When Toni had gone to pick up Bianca’s things from Felix’s place, she hadn’t even been allowed on the property. Felix had one of the drivers meet her at the gate with a trunk full of Bianca’s belongings. The media had a field day, posting pictures of the very van from the incriminating “caught red-handed” photos driving up to Felix’s gate.
She stared at him speechless. No words, none at all, came to mind. She hadn’t bothered to prepare anything to say to him if she ever spoke to him again because she honestly thought she never would.
“Can we talk?”
Bianca glanced at her mother and Nana who stood behind the counter. He’d obviously already spoken to them because they didn’t seem to have an issue with walking into the back room and leaving her alone with him in the otherwise empty shop.
Curious about what he could possibly have to say to her, Bianca nodded. She walked around behind the counter and waited.
“I wanted to apologize to you.”
Bianca kept her jaw from dropping open as she stared into Felix’s genuinely remorseful eyes. She shook her head unable to find the words.
“I was mad when I found out—real mad and hurt like hell—but I shouldn’t have said those things to you. I’m just glad I was too proud to call you. I didn’t want you to hear the hurt in my voice. I probably wouldn’t have even made it through the call the way I was feeling. You probably think I’m the biggest hypocrite in the world now. I should be …” He took a deep breath and glanced away. “I should be the last person on earth who’d buy into the media crap, and maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I have to know. Is there any truth to what they’re saying?”
Bianca blinked, not understanding exactly what he was asking. “What they’re saying? They’re saying a lot of things, Felix. Most of it is all made up or assumptions, but those pictures …” she gulped back the wave of guilt that threatened to drown her. No regrets. “The pictures were not doctored or anything if that’s what you’re asking me.”
“No, I know that. But I know I wasn’t completely honest with you before about Shelley, and now that she did the interview, I got to thinking maybe there is some truth to it. Maybe you did already know, and that’s what drove you to—”
“What are you talking about? Because just so you know, I haven’t watched or read any of it for days.”
His eyes went wide for a second before he recovered and stepped forward. “So you don’t know?”
Now she was getting annoyed. She’d gone out of her way to avoid hearing anymore of the madness, and now here was Felix, of all people, forcing her to hear what the latest stupid story was. But she had to admit she was curious. It was big enough to have him come see her. “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Shelley.” He scratched his head. “When I told you about having seen her again even after me and you had become exclusive, I didn’t tell you everything. You were so mad already, I was afraid to.”
Just like he had the day he confessed the first time, his eyes bounced all over the room before coming to rest on her. A few customers walked in, forcing them to pause their conversation.
Bianca smiled at them. “Someone will be right with you.”
Having heard the bells on the door, Nana was already out from the back. The customers stared at Felix, obviously recognizing him, and then their wide-eyed stares were on Bianca. Bianca motioned for Felix to follow her in the back. “Where did you park? I didn’t see any of your cars out front.”
“I came in through the back. They still saw me but didn’t have as good an angle as they would’ve had if I came in through the front.”
Bianca walked through the small storage room all the way to the back door and stuck her head out. If there were any photographers out there, they hid well, because she didn’t see any. But then there’d been plenty of photos of her where she’d clearly been oblivious to the photographers because she didn’t remember seeing any of them when those particular photos were taken. Those were the ones that crept her out the most.
She turned back to Felix. “You think any of them are out here?”
“If they are, don’t worry. My bodyguard is out there. They already know him. He does the same thing I saw Gio do to one of their cameras.”
Bianca had to laugh as she stepped outside, remembering the image Gio had downloaded and texted her of him hurling the guy’s camera clear across the parking lot. That was one of the last times either of them had checked or read any of the stories.
She turned back to Felix, ready to hear the rest of his story. It was odd that they both stood there smiling even if for just a fleeting moment. She crossed her arms, ready to finish this and cleared her throat. “So, you were saying?”
His wandering eyes started up again, wearing her patience thin. She didn’t want to be out here all day. “Shelley’s pregnant—with my kid.” Again Bianca held her jaw up, but it was harder this time. “I didn’t tell her she should have an abortion. I just said that at that time in my life I wasn’t ready for a kid. But that’s what the headlines everywhere are saying. And the only reason I didn’t tell her about you was because by the time I found out she was pregnant I’d already fallen for you hard. I was afraid she’d keep the baby just to spite me, and I treated her pretty badly—said some really nasty shit to her in hopes that she wouldn’t wanna have my kid, because I was scared to death of losing you. I broke it off completely, Bianca, I swear to you. You changed everything. You changed me. Everything was different with you—”
Bianca raised her hand. She’d heard enough. “Okay, you can spare me all the bullshit, Felix. None of that matters anymore now, does it? I honestly don’t care if you’ve changed or not. Just explain to me why you felt the need to come here and tell me all this now.”
He looked down at his feet and moved the snow around with the tip of his boot. Just another way to keep his eyes off hers. “You really didn’t know any of that?”
Bianca crossed her arms again and shook her head exasperated. “No, I didn’t Felix. What difference does it make now anyway?”
“Well, now that Shelley sold her story to the tabloids, they’re saying maybe you did this to get back at me. That maybe that’s why you and him aren’t even together anymore: you just wanted to hurt me like I hurt you.”
“What?” she gasped.
“And, and ...” he added quickly, his previously wandering eyes now fixed on hers. “If that’s true, then I deserve it, Bianca. I understand why you did it. It makes sense now why you stopped sleeping with me. I suspected you might know—even suspected you might be having some kind of flirtation with someone because of it, but I never imagined that you and Gio—”
“That is not why I did it,” she huffed. “Believe it or not, Felix, I never set out to deliberately hurt you. I can’t believe you would even think such a thing. It just happened.”
“Okay, okay.” Now he held out his hands. “Maybe it was just karma then. Maybe I just deserved to be hurt, which is what I was really thinking this whole time. I was a total dick with Shelley, but now that’s all out in the open.” He tilted his head. “And now that we’re even, maybe we can still work something out.” His eyes went all sad on her, and Bianca could barely believe what she was hearing. “I know after what I just told you, you probably don’t believe this anymore, but I really am in love with you. I would’ve never even considered trying to work something out with any other girl after something like this, but I’m telling you, with you, it’s different.”
The sincerity mixed with alarm made her nervous. And then he let out a breath and frowned. “Andy wanted me to threaten her—threaten to go after her with everything I had—dig up any skeletons she might have and threaten to go public with them, all for the sake of intimidating her into having the abortion.” He looked away, and Bianca sensed he couldn’t look at her anymore. She was almost afraid to hear more. “I might’ve done it if this had happened before I met you. I actually considered it, but then I thought what if it was you? What if this had happened when I first ran into you again, before I really got to know you, and I’d done this to you. I didn’t know much about her either, but I kept thinking she could be just another sweet and special girl like you, who I’d be screwing with just to cover my own ass—I couldn’t do it. That’s when I realized I’m not the same guy I used to be and it’s because of you. I’m giving her whatever she needs, and I plan on being there for my kid, but there’s nothing else going on between me and her. So I guess …” His eyes looked deep into hers for a moment then looked away again. “I guess I was hoping this was just your way of giving me a taste of what I deserved but maybe now that you had you might consider giving me a second chance.”
Bianca stared at him, flabbergasted for a moment before shaking her head and speaking. “Felix, I’m sorry that I hurt you. I really am. But let me assure you I am not that type of person. I would never play those kinds of games just for the sake of revenge. I wish that I could explain to you why I did it, why it happened, but I don’t even understand it yet myself.” She brought up her hand and waved it over her head. “And this. All this craziness with the media is why Gio and I haven’t been together lately, not because we’ve stopped seeing each other but because I don’t want to give them anymore to write about. I want it to just go away already so that seeing him won’t be such a circus.”
The disappointment in his eyes made her feel guiltier, and at that moment, she knew everything he’d said about how he’d changed after falling for her was true. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. “I believe you, Felix. I believe you’ve changed and that’s good for you. But my heart is in another place now. I can’t do anything about that. I don’t want to.”
They spoke for a little longer before he apologized again and actually wished her happiness with Gio and she hugged him goodbye. Just as she’d known from the very beginning, Felix did have a good heart. It just took him a while to figure out his heart could be happy in only one place.
~*~
Gio walked into the gym office, ready to pack up his stuff, just as Jack stood from the desk where he and Hector had been playing chess. “He beat you again, Jack?”
“Yeah, damn it. I’ll get him one of these days.”
Hector laughed. “Not likely. It’s been a long, long time since anyone’s beaten me.”
“Abel’s right, you smart ass,” Gio said, throwing the paperwork for the new youth boxing classes he was trying to get going into his backpack. “You should join the chess club at school. There’s gotta be some kind of scholarship you can pick up as good as you are.”
Hector rolled his eyes. “Don’t get him riled up on that again. I walked in there once and walked right out. Nothing but nerds, and don’t get me started on the chicks in there.” His face soured.
Gio glanced at Jack who was over by the wall heater, fiddling with it. “Well, you’re not there to pick up, ass. You’re there for the possible scholarship.” He turned back to Jack. “I thought you had that fixed.”
“I did,” Jack said without turning away from the heater. “But it stopped working a few days ago.”
That thing was so ancient Gio didn’t know why Jack bothered with it. It didn’t even heat much either when it did work, and it always stunk like gas. Gio had warned Jack a few times about getting it checked again.
His phone rang just as he finished zipping up his backpack. He pulled it out of the backpack’s front pocket and saw it was Noah, so he answered. “What’s up?”
“So what happened?”
“With what? The paperwork?” Noah was going to be helping him get the classes going.
“No, with you and Bianca. You ain’t seeing her anymore?”
Gio pinched his brows together. “No. I am.”
Noah was quiet for a moment. “They’re saying she’s back with Felix. Roni saw pictures. She’d told me earlier this week that’s what the rumor was since you two haven’t been seen together. I told her it was bullshit until she showed me the pictures of the two of them just today. She’s laughing in some, and then in another one, they’re hugging. They’re calling the whole thing with you and her a publicity stunt for his fight. You haven’t heard about this?”
As much as Gio knew the media was full of shit and how ninety percent of everything they printed was completely made up, he hated that his heart was already beginning to beat a little harder. This had to be some kind of bullshit story. “I don’t read or watch that shit anymore. I’m sick of it. So, no, I hadn’t heard anything about this, but just like the rest of the crap they write, it isn’t true either. She’s still with me and those photos are probably old.”
“The stories are probably a lie, but the pictures aren’t old.” Noah said very matter of fact. “They were taken today. Did she tell you about seeing him today?”
“I haven’t talked to her. I was just now gonna check my messages and texts, but my phone rang. I’ll call her right now.”
Anxious to get this straight now, Gio was off the line with Noah in seconds. He did have a text from her and he clicked on it.
Call me when you can. We need to talk.
No x’s and o’s or smiley faces like she usually added to her texts. Gio gulped, hitting speed dial. He wasn’t jumping to any conclusions. The damn paparazzi had done enough already by keeping them apart this long. He wasn’t about to let them mess with his head. He’d get this shit straight right now. Thoughts about how the last two times he offered to drive up to see her and she discouraged it popped in his head. She had perfectly good reasons for it. It’d been a media frenzy up there ever since the story broke about them. His showing up now would only make it worse. Not once had it even entered his mind that she might be blowing him off.
When it went to voicemail, he sat down in front of the computer on Jack’s desk and set the phone down. He logged onto the Internet and googled Bianca Rubio. Immediately all the endless articles about the scandal came up. He scrolled through the newer ones: the ones he hadn’t seen or heard anything about.
BOXER’S LOVE TRIANGLE ALL A PUBLICITY STUNT TO HYPE FIGHT. EXCLUSIVE FIRST PHOTOS OF SANCHEZ AND RUBIO BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.
He clicked on the link and froze. The pictures of Bianca and Felix were dated today. Like Noah said, these weren’t old. In them, they were engaged in what seemed like a happy conversation, since in some of them they were not only smiling but laughing. Then there was the one of them hugging, Felix’s arm tightly around her waist, her arms around his neck, face resting against his chest, eyes closed—today.
His phone rang just as the thrumming in his ears started up. With his heart in a near panic, he glanced at the caller ID. It was her.
“It smells like gas in here.” Hector’s words barely registered as Gio answered his phone, still staring at the picture on the screen.
“Bianca?”
“I have to make this quick, Gio. I’m rushing back to my car right now. I tried to make a stop at the market. Bad idea. This is getting out of control.”
Gio clicked on more of the headlines.
LOVE TRIANGLE PLOY TO BOOST PUBLICITY OF SANCHEZ/BAUTISTA FIGHT. COUPLE HAPPILY BACK TOGETHER.
“Were you with Felix today?” His own words sounded odd, like he was hearing someone else say them.
Bianca sighed on the other end just as Jack banged the heater making Gio look up.
“Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Gio straightened out in his chair, feeling a bolt of something almost electric sear through him. “So these pictures were really taken today?”
“Pictures?”
“Yeah, Bianca,” he stood up unable to sit anymore. “Pictures of you and him together laughing—hugging—his fucking arms around your waist.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “They have pictures of that already?”
It all sunk in at once: The realization that the photos weren’t fake. They weren’t old. She’d really been with Felix today. Her sudden declining need to be with him. Noah’s theory. The pungent smell of gas in his nose as he looked up to watch Jack take that last hit at the heater with a screwdriver that caused a small spark.
The explosion was massive, sending Jack flying across the room. Gio’s body was lifted into the wall behind him, whipping his head back violently. The desk with everything on it flew right into his face, and everything went silent.