Two Sides to Every Story (Love Spectrum Romance) (18 page)

“
Habla ingles, Mama,
” Raphael said, turning his head toward Angela. “This is Angela Reed.”

Angela watched while the woman glared even more viciously, then turned her head.

“We met,” his mother snapped.

“Mama
, ella me amo
.”

That Angela understood.

“You’ve had nothing but problems since you met her, Raphael. Look at you. You never got shot before.”

Angela was wishing that he’d not bothered telling his family to speak in English. She’d rather not understand that they blamed her for his getting shot; she already blamed herself.

“Don’t, Mama, I love her,” Rafe repeated, squeezing Angela’s fingers.

“Does she love you? She didn’t even know your given name. She calls you Rafe. I haven’t heard her do any of the talking. You’re doing it for her. Can’t she talk for herself?”

“You’re glaring at her. You think she’s going to talk now? She’s been through a lot tonight. Leave her alone. I can answer your question because I know the answer. Yes, she loves me.
Ella me amos
.” Raphael answered, looking at Angela, knowing that she’d understood.

Angela didn’t dispute him nor did she say yes. It wasn’t the time, not with them glaring at her. She wondered if he’d heard what the men said, if he knew she was the reason he was lying in the bed. She wondered if he’d love her when he remembered. She looked down at him, saw the way he looked at her.
No
, she thought,
he had apologized for the walk
.

He beat her brother, now she’s screwing him
. A shudder went through her entire body. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t know these things about the two men in her life in the very same night. Rafe was staring at her. He’d risked his life to save her. What did she do now?

Angela stayed close to the bed, trying to remain unobtrusive, trying to pretend she wasn’t there while one by one Raphael’s family came in to see for themselves that he was fine, then left. And one by one they glared at her as he admonished them to talk in English.

When the old woman who’d smiled at her outside in the lounge entered the room, Angela sensed a difference. She wasn’t glaring. Instead, she was smiling warmly at her. Angela looked away as the woman talked with Rafe, noticing that he did not restrict her Spanish. Angela suspected they were talking about her.

“So Raphael didn’t tell you his name?” The woman smiled. “He hates it,” she grinned. “He was named for the angels. Archangel, our Raphael. And you’re his angel, he tells me.” She grinned. “That’s why we don’t call him Rafe. Raphael is an esteemed name.”

Surprised at the woman’s friendliness, Angela smiled back the first smile since Rafe had gotten shot. “Is everyone mad that I wasn’t treating him like an angel?”

“You could say that. Raphael is very special.” She leaned down and patted his cheek. “He is an angel.” She whispered some words to Raphael, then smiled at Angela.

“She is my angel, Nellie. I love you, don’t I, Angel?” he switched to English. Then back to Spanish
.
“
Te amo
, Angel.”

Angela blushed at the endearment that he used in front of the woman, wondering why he was behaving so differently with her than he had with his family.

“Angel, this is Nellie, my
madrina
, my godmother. I call her
Titi
Nellie, Auntie Nellie,” Raphael explained.

“Hello, Angela. I guess like Raphael’s mother I also didn’t hear your answer. Do you love Raphael?” the old woman asked.

Angela didn’t answer.

The old woman continued smiling. “There’s no need to answer, it’s there in your eyes. Is your love as strong as your hate?”

“Nellie!”

“What?”

“Stop that,” Raphael said, then lapsed into Spanish. Angela attempted to walk away but he held her hand even tighter. “This is one of those Spanish times,” he said, holding her gaze.

“
No la asuste
.” Raphael said.

Angela watched while the old woman patted Raphael’s cheek, and then smiled as she left the room.

“What was that you said to her?” she asked.

“I asked her not to scare you. I told her we were no longer fighting, that it had been a long time since you hated me. I told her not to worry, that you love me. You do love me don’t you, Angel? You don’t hate me any longer, do you?” he grinned.

“There was no way you said all of that. But I’m not going to call you on it. And to answer your question, I don’t hate you.
Te amo
.” She bit her lip. “Is that why the rest of your family was giving me the evil eye, they know about our feuding?” She was trying to keep it light. Now was definitely not the time to say anything about what she’d heard.

“Of course they do, but don’t worry,” he grinned. “In time they will come to love you. Just as I do, Angel.” Then he fell asleep.

Angela held onto Raphael’s hand. She was trembling. She couldn’t blame his family for their coldness. After all, she’d tried to get him fired. A relationship between them had been the last thing on either of their minds months before.

She looked toward the door. If his family hated her before, she wondered how they would feel when they learned that she was in part to blame for Raphael being shot.

Angela looked down at the man she loved, not wanting to believe that he was one of the cops involved with beating her brother. But why had the men said what they had?

Tears seeped beneath her lashes as she looked at her bloodied shirt. The picture of Rafe shoving her out of the way to protect her flashed before her. Would a man that would beat a man senseless risk his own life to save the woman he loved?

Angela wasn’t sure and she had to be. She couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes. Too many people were counting on her. She hated being forced to wait to see her brother but right now she wasn’t leaving Rafe’s side. She owed him that much. Besides, she didn’t know if she was back on the visitors list. It was a good thing because the way she was feeling as she looked down at Rafe, she would be tempted to go to the district attorney herself with the new information.

Chapter 20

Three days after Raphael had been released from the hospital, Angela received word from her father that Adrian had restored her name to the visitors list.

Despite the hostilities of Rafe’s family, she’d packed a small bag and stayed at his side, knowing he’d not gone to his parents’ home because of her. She wasn’t welcome there, that much was obvious.

She wasn’t welcomed by them at his home either, but he wanted her there, so they had no choice but to tolerate her, as she in turn tolerated them. After all, she had more knowledge of the situation and believed some of their anger toward her was justified.

When the call came from her father, Angela anticipated the reaction of Rafe’s family. She played it out in her head. Though they didn’t want her around, they would most assuredly balk at her leaving, if only for a short time.

But this was something that couldn’t wait. Angela had no intention of wasting time in confronting her brother.

She ignored the looks of Rafe’s mother as she sniffed and asked her if she was leaving Raphael to fend for himself. That had almost made her smile. If Raphael so much as sighed, three or four people would be immediately at his side, pushing her away.
Fend for himsel
f
?
What a joke.

Angela’s attempt to explain that she was only going to be gone a couple of hours had meant nothing to the woman. In the end it hadn’t mattered. Angela had to go and see her brother.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long,” she assured Rafe and kissed him, ignoring the looks his mother tossed her way. She saw doubt creep into his eyes, but he didn’t verbalize it. “I’ll be back,” she repeated and left.

* * *

Neither the sneer nor the overly long pat down bothered Angela. She had one goal in mind: to see if her brother had had anything to do with Rafe being shot.

She spotted his cocky long-legged walk before he even reached her. He didn’t reach out to embrace her and she didn’t move toward him. This wasn’t a social visit.

“So what do you want?” Adrian asked the moment they had entered the common room.

“I want to know if you had anything to do with what happened.”

“You’re talking in riddles. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t be cute. The warning you gave me, did you do something?” she asked pointedly, looking around the room, trying to keep her voice low, still not wanting to be overheard.

“What are you talking about?” Adrian asked.

“Rafe, I’m talking about Rafe.”

“The only thing I have to say on that subject is what I already said. If anything happens to him you have only yourself to blame.”

“Why you…”

“Watch it, little sister.”

Adrian stood and grinned at her. She couldn’t believe it.

“I think it’s time for you to leave now.” He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. You’re smart, I’m sure you have sense enough to do the right thing now.” He walked away from Angela and after a moment she had no choice but to leave.

Adrian had warned her before Rafe was shot. Now he’d warned her again. She couldn’t keep playing with Rafe’s life no matter how much she wanted to be with him.

* * *

“How did everything go?” Rafe asked her when she returned to his apartment.

“Not so good,” she admitted honestly but refused to say more.

Raphael had been home for a week and was still constantly surrounded by friends and family. Angela felt in the way. Not only that, she received glares and heard curses muttered at her in Spanish. She knew enough dirty words to know them in any language. She’d put off what she had to do long enough. After the talk with her brother she knew she had to break things off with Rafe. It wasn’t safe for him to continue being with her.

“What’s on your mind, Angel? You look as if you’re about to do something really awful,” he peered into her eyes, “like break up with me.”

He ran his fingertips down her bare arm and she felt her skin burn as it always did when he touched her like that.

“So tell me, what is this really about, Angel?”

“Stop calling me that.” She turned from him wishing she didn’t have to do what she was about to do, but knowing it was the only way to keep him safe.
God, if there’s any other way to protect Rafe without my leaving him, show me. Please
. She sighed. There was no other answer. She had no choice but to break Rafe’s heart and break her own in the process. He’d saved her life. Now she intended to save his.

With her arms folded across her chest Angela looked around Rafe’s apartment. She closed her eyes and shook her head. There were too many people there. For what she had to do they needed privacy. “We need to talk…alone.” He tried to touch her but she moved away and waited until he went to his family. She heard the raised voices. Comprehension of Spanish wasn’t necessary to know they were pissed off on being put out.

“Okay, my family is gone,” Rafe said a few minutes later, coming back into the room. “What is it that you wanted to say to me, Angel?”

“I’m serious, Rafe. I don’t like your calling me Angel, so stop it.”

“No,
mi amor
.”

“I’m not your love, you’re infatuated, that’s all.” Angela attempted a smile. “You’re just glad I’m not filing complaints and trying to get you into trouble anymore. After all of that anything would look like love.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I moved to Pilsen for a purpose. You’ve made me forget that. I moved here to get information to clear my brother, to show that he’d been framed, to find the cops that beat him and make them pay. I love you. But tell me, how am I suppose to forget what we both heard?”

“So that’s it. You think you may have found one of the cops. Am I right?”

For a moment Angela stared at Rafe. She’d been talking about the men who had shot Rafe and their connection to Adrian. She blinked as understanding of what Rafe was saying dawned on her.

“Do you think I’m a dirty cop, Angel?”

“Yes.” She shifted her gaze on seeing the pain in his eyes. She’d never intended to hurt him like this in order to protect him, but he’d given her the perfect pretext. “Yes, Rafe, I think you’re no different from any other Chicago cop.”

“Then I guess you’re right. If you don’t trust me what’s the point?”

“Did you beat my brother?”

“I don’t know.”

Despite wanting to protect Rafe, since he’d brought it up, she now wanted to know the truth. “How can you not know? Either you did or you didn’t.”

“It was crazy that night. Two officers were injured, and we were getting the worst end of that deal, Angel. Did I hit anyone? Yes, Angel, I did. Was it your brother? I can’t say. Did he deserve it? Probably. Would I do it again? Yes. It’s my job. What would you have had me do, Angel? When I ran in on that scene it was crazy, gang bangers all over the place. They weren’t going down easy. They were firing on cops. People were swinging on me and I was swinging back. I don’t know if your brother is innocent. He says he was just in the neighborhood when everything went down, that he wasn’t in on the drug deal that went bad.”

“He wasn’t.”

“So he said, Angel. But all of the bangers that went to jail that night said they were innocent.”

“You knew why I was in this neighborhood. I confided to you. Why didn’t you ever tell me that you were involved? You lied to me.”

“You said you didn’t want to know anything about my job, that we were not to discuss anything real. You told me to stay out of what you were doing.”

“You’re using my words against me. You lied to me.”

“Yes, I lied by not telling you everything. I lied because I couldn’t stand the way you looked at me, the hatred in your eyes. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Is that why you wanted to sleep with me, to make me stop hating you?”
Please, God let him say no.

Raphael groaned. He should have told her. He had been wrong not to. “I was wrong for lying to you but none of that had anything to do with what happened between us. I made love to you, Angel, because I wanted to. I had to,” he amended. “I had to know if I would incinerate from your touch.”

Angela fought to keep from shivering. She prayed for the courage to leave the only man she’d ever loved. Regardless how she felt hearing of Rafe’s involvement in the gang war, it wasn’t Adrian she was concerned for now. It was Rafe and she’d protect him in the only way she knew how. She’d leave him. “Rafe, I have to go.”

“You’re being a coward.”

“I don’t want to fight with you. But can’t you see after everything that’s happened our being together is a bad idea? What kind of future do we have, Rafe? Too many unanswered questions still remain.”

“I was going to tell you, Angel. Don’t you remember? I told you I had secrets I wanted to share with you. I wasn’t planning on keeping it from you forever.”

“No, maybe not forever, just until you thought there was no turning back. After you knew for sure that I loved you. I’m not stupid, Rafe. I know now that’s why you did that whole romantic trip. It wasn’t to seduce me; it was to make me forget that this has to end, that I was right to hate the police department. It’s probably part of your oath to lie to the public. How can I believe you now? How can I believe anything that you say?”

But she did. She didn’t doubt his love for her. Angela wanted badly for Rafe to say something that would fix what had happened. It had taken all of her life to get here to this point where she loved someone as much as she loved him. She didn’t want to let go of it so easily, but what could she do? Her family had been right. Her brother, for all his arrogance, had been right also. Her falling in love with a Chicago cop had led to trouble.

“I have to find the answers,” she continued. “I promised my brother that I would. He said there is a woman who can clear him. I have to find her.”

“Have you asked yourself why, if there is a person that can clear him, why he wouldn’t give the name to the police? Why didn’t he give it to the detective your family hired? Why only you?” Raphael saw her quizzical look.

“Yes, Angel, I know about the detective. Why did your brother think you could do what the professionals can’t? Why isn’t he worried about your safety here without protection? And ask yourself this, if you already haven’t: Why did those guys want to shoot you for being with me? They knew your brother, Angel, and it wasn’t what he told you. There was no Black against Hispanic thing going on. One was Black and the other Hispanic. They were gang members but they were on the same side. At least in that you’re not blind. I know you heard everything they said.”

“Yes, I heard them.” She sighed. “How can you still think you love me after what you heard, after knowing that it was my fault?”

“Your fault, Angel?”

“Yes, my fault. If it hadn’t been for our involvement…” She sucked back a sob, remembering her brother’s warning to her, a warning she’d ignored, a warning that had almost gotten Rafe killed. She had to be careful. She’d almost confessed to him her real reason for leaving him. If he knew he’d never let her go. He was too stubborn for his own good. He wouldn’t think about protecting himself. He was too macho to worry. And he loved her too much to let her go because of a threat. She’d have to be the sensible one. She couldn’t let him love her. It was too dangerous and she didn’t want something more happening to Raphael.

As for whether or not he’d beaten her brother he hadn’t denied it. He’d even admitted that if he had it all to do over again he would. Her family might think she was being disloyal for loving Rafe, but she didn’t. She did know she wouldn’t be disloyal to Rafe by staying with him knowing that Adrian’s threats were all too real.

“Angel, I know that you love me. I’m not just going by the fact that you told me you would love me forever. I’ve seen your love in your eyes. I feel it in your touch when we make love. I’m not in it alone and believe me,
mi amor,
we both know it’s not just sex. I heard you call me
poppi
, Angel. You love me.”

“I do love you Rafe, but you lied to me.”
Just as I’m lying to you now
, she thought.

“I admit that I was wrong to lie to you. But you have to believe I was going to tell you. I always planned on doing that from the moment I knew the truth,” Raphael confessed.

“You once asked me what I would do if I found the man responsible for beating my brother.” Angela sucked in a deep breath. “I told you it wouldn’t make any difference. I couldn’t allow it to make any difference. But you saved my life. I guess that makes us even.”

“Even.” He walked toward her, a deadly glint in his eyes. “Is that what it makes us? Even? You want someone to bring down? Do it. You think I’m a dirty cop? Prove it,” he said, his voice rising more with each word.

“I’m not going to beg you. I don’t care what my godmother said. You either love and trust me or you don’t. And if you don’t, then I don’t want you. Leave, Angel. Leave now before I forget how much I love you and throw you out.”

Tears threatened to spill but she couldn’t let them, not if she wanted to convince Rafe of her reasons for leaving him. His anger permeated the room but it was his pain that did her in. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, beg him to go away someplace with her where Adrian couldn’t carry out his threats. Daring a glance at Rafe, she knew it was no use. He would never run from a fight. She moved around the room gathering her belongings, not wanting to leave, knowing she had no choice. She blinked and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then walked out the door without looking at Rafe. If she did she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

* * *

He’d watched while she gathered her things and left. Even, was that what she’d called it? He’d known from the moment he’d met her that she would be trouble. He’d also known from the dozens of screwed-up relationships of the cops on the force that falling in love was the worst move he could make. But damn if he hadn’t gone ahead and done it anyway.

And he’d put aside all the little bits of information he’d dug up on Angela’s brother. From where he sat her brother didn’t look so damn innocent.