Ride or Die

“Carlos, for the millionth time, go away!”

“No can do Em, you haven’t been sleeping, so I’m staying in here.”

“Carlos, I swear to all that is Holy, that if you don’t get out of my bed…” I trail off as my phone starts to ring on night stand.

“You going to answer that?” He asks me, smirking when I give him the finger.

I pick the phone up and flip it open, “Hello?”

“Em, for fuck’s sake, why haven’t you been answering?”

I groan at the sound of Vince’s worried voice, “because I didn’t want to talk to you.”

Carlos snorts, putting his hand over his mouth to try and cover it up as I glare at him.

“Who was that?” Vince asks.

“Nobody. Now can we get back to me not wanting to talk to you?”

“Then why did you call me earlier?”

“It was a mistake Vince. You’re married, with a kid, and I’m…” I trail off, looking down at my hand, now missing a ring, “not.”

“Where are you?” Vince asks for the second time today, only this time sounding worn out.

“About fifteen miles from Mia’s. Grabbed a hotel until I decide where to go next.”

Vince hangs up the phone so I sigh and turn it off before flipping it shut. When I turn around, I notice Carlos, shirtless, in the bed with the sheets up to his waist. I sigh and kick my own jeans off before slipping under the sheets and turning onto my side, closing my eyes. Carlos flips the light off and rolls over throwing his arm around my waist and pulling me against him.

“You watch your hands now Carlos,” I mutter.

He chuckles and mumbles his agreement before yawning.

Faces; flashes of face after face, after face. Letty; Jesse; Mia; Dom; Vince. Always coming back to that one last face; Vince. Blood, screaming, gun shots; more screaming.

“Emilia!”

I jolt awake, my heart racing and my skin slick with sweat; Carlos has the light on and is sitting on the bed next to me, his eyes sad as he looks at me. I suck in a few breaths and sit back, leaning against the headboard and staring up at the ceiling. Before I can fully breathe, Ricky walks in, his eyes on the ground but his hand pointing behind him into the sitting room.

Carlos gets up, his jeans slung low on his hips and walks up to Ricky before turning to face me, “don’t move.”

I nod my head, watching as he walks out of the room with Ricky behind him. Ignoring his words, I get out of the bed and pull my own jeans back on before quietly walking to the hotel door.

“Vince?”

All three men turn in my direction, Carlos looks irritated and Vince looks relieved when he sees me. Ricky shrugs and gives me a smirk before heading back to the couch, his eyes closing as soon as his head hits the pillows.

“What did I say?”

I smirk at Carlos and walk into the room, “I don’t remember. Before or after we fell asleep?” I ask him.

He shakes his head and walks over to me, putting his hands on my waist to turn me around, but I resist, smirking up at him when he raises an eyebrow, “I bet he’s here to talk to me.”

Carlos shrugs, “I don’t care. Bed.”

I frown, “you’re not my father.”

Vince snickers, but Carlos ignores it as he looks down at me, “I care about you, I thought I made that obvious when I explained I was staying with you instead of going back when the job was done.”

I can feel the color burning on my cheeks as I narrow my eyes, “we are not having that conversation in front of him.”

Carlos smirks, “who?”

I chuckle and shake my head, “I’ll go back to bed after I talk to him, okay?”

He shrugs before moving to sit in the chair a few feet away, his eyes on Vince.

“Carlos, seriously?”

“No voy a dejar solos.” (I’m not leaving you two alone.)

Vince shoots a dark look at Carlos, but I nod my head in understanding before looking up at Vince and shoving my hands into my pockets, “so what do you want V?”

He smiles slightly at the use of his old nickname before he takes a few steps closer, putting us closer than most people would stand but not close enough to make me uncomfortable, “I needed to make sure you’re okay Em.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and nod my head, “I’m fine” I lie, as the bloody faces flash through my head.

He takes a few steps closer, his hands going to my shoulders as he leans down, putting his face directly in front of mine, “I call bullshit.”

“Esta es su única advertencia. Retrocede.” (This is your only warning. Back off.) Carlo mutters dangerously as he stands up from the chair.

Vince shoots him a glare, but doesn’t move away from me, his eyes snap back to mine, “Come back with me. We could use your help; it’s just one last job.”

As soon as Vince mentions me doing a job, Carlos is practically on top of him, yanking him away from me and throwing him easily towards the door, “out!”

Ricky is immediately awake, jumping to his feet and his hand reaching for the pistol at the back of his jeans, eyes wide as he takes in the scene before he relaxes a bit, taking his hand off the pistol but not going back to the couch.

“Get the fuck off of me! Emilia, I’m fucking serious! They need your help and you need their help. What ever happened to family? Huh? Dom has NEVER turned his back on you, NEVER! And that’s what you’re doing now!” Vince shouts at me, pushing passed Carlos and taking a few steps towards me.

I narrow my eyes at him, “you don’t get to talk you fucking asshole. They told me what you did! And why Dom ever let you back in is beyond me! What, because you saved my sister from a position that YOU put her in!?”

Carlos sighs and walks between the two of us, putting his back to Vince as he grabs me by the waist and lowers his head to mine, his lips tickling my ear, “go back to bed mi amor, please.”

My heart thumps loudly against my chest as my head does circles around itself; he had never called me his love before, and even though I could feel the sexual tension between us, I never once guessed it could be more.

I nod my head, stunned into silence before turning and going back into the bedroom of the hotel, my mind swirling as I hear Carlos arguing quietly with Vince. I shut the door behind me and slide my jeans off before crawling back into the bed while pulling the blanket up around me. I had never thought anything of the relationship between Carlos and me; not until tonight, and now I can’t get him out of my head. He was definitely worth looking at, he isn’t much taller than Vince, but his short, dark hair is cropped close to his head, his eyes are a deep brown, almost black, and his year-round tan are enough to make my heart rate pick up again. Closing my eyes, I can picture him out in the sitting room, arguing with Vince, his muscles tensing as if readying themselves for a fight.

~~Vince~~

“Você precisa deixá-la sozinha. Você é um homem casado e tudo que você está fazendo é quebrar seu coração.” (You need to leave her alone. You are a married man and all you are doing is breaking her heart.) Carlos mutters at me, his body rigid and his jaw tense.

“You aren’t her family; you have no business getting in the middle of this. I love her, and that’s all that fucking matters right now,” I growl at him, clenching my fists.
“Love?” Carlos scoffs, shaking his head and glaring at me, “you don’t know anything about it. I love her. I have been there for her since day one! Protecting her! Holding her when I can’t wake her from the nightmares! And where have you been?”

I glare at him, but say nothing because I know he’s right. He smirks in satisfaction before pointing to the hotel door, “leave.”

Turning around, I stomp out the door, slamming it shut behind me and picking my phone up as I walk back to my car.

“Hello?”

“Dom, I found Emily.”

“Where is she?”

“If I tell you, will you come get her?”

~~Emilia~~

The door slams shut, breaking me from my thoughts. I look up when the bedroom door opens, revealing a softly smiling, Carlos.

“We need to talk,” I tell him, earning a nod.

When he settles himself on the bed, he’s facing me, still with a soft smile on his face. I swallow loudly before mumbling, “What you said out there…”

“I meant every word. It is why I have continued to pay Ricky to be your body guard; you need one when I’m not with you. Someone I can trust.”

I nod my head, “I don’t know what to say Carlos, this is…” I trail off, shaking my head and still not quite grasping it.

“Take your time. But know, that I will wait an eternity for you, mi amor.”

I feel the blush on my cheeks as I look down at the blanket with a small smile on my face; I chide myself inside my head on how much of a girl I’m being and letting a guy get the better of me. His fingers find my chin, tilting my face until I’m looking him in the eye, another blush coating my cheeks as he grins at me.

“Can I kiss you, just once?”

I nod my head slowly, keeping my eyes on his and he leans in. My heart skips a beat as his lips brush against mine in a soft, chaste kiss. Before I can react, his lips are already leaving mine.

I smile shyly up at him as he gets off the bed, “I’m going to keep watch, in case he decides to come back.”

I nod my head and curl up under the covers, closing my eyes and praying sleep will come to me. It must have only been twenty minutes that I had been asleep when Carlos is suddenly shaking me awake, “up. Now.”

I groggily open my eyes, startled when Carlos throws my pants up at me and begins shoving everything he can into bags, “we’ve got company.”