She’d figured something out about Elliot. He wasn’t just good at expressing himself. He was masterful at it. He really did have a gift for mesmerizing audiences, not just with his words but how he delivered them. As silly as she thought so at first, the idea that he was trying to use his gift on her was beginning to feel more plausible.
They didn’t award PhDs to just anyone. Even with all her highly accomplished family members, Isabel was certain she’d never met someone as intelligent as Elliot. He was as close to a genius as she’d probably would ever meet. He could say things to her without actually saying them. Make her feel things without doing a damn thing.
Mind fucked.
She’d heard the ugly expression before and never thought she’d ever say this, but it was really beginning to feel as if that’s what Elliot was trying to do to her. She wondered now if maybe he’d been trying to tell her something else when he talked about liking what women did to his mind. Maybe it was a turn on to him—something he practiced and enjoyed doing to women—playing with their minds.
He knew she was married and pregnant, knew she wasn’t stupid or the type of woman who would cheat, and she was certain Romero had gotten his unspoken message across loud and clear on Thanksgiving that he too had picked up on something disquieting about Elliot.
What’s more, like the first time she blurted out her reminder about being married with kids, she’d reiterated the fact plenty times more. Albeit not as stupidly as that first time, but he knew without a doubt she was hopelessly devoted to her husband and family. Yet she couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that all these things were a challenge to him, and that challenge was a turn on for him. She got the feeling that maybe he’d mistaken her unease for allure.
She even wondered now if he’d ever had plans for Thanksgiving at all. Was his telling her about his excitement about Mammoth, because he’d otherwise be alone, his way of garnering sympathy from her so when the time came he could pull what he did? Only someone as smart as Elliot would be so conniving and think that far ahead. What better way to get a sneak peek into her world—her marriage—and see for himself just what he was up against.
A man like Elliot likely never felt challenged. He was probably enjoying this. Of course there was still the possibility that she was way off. But if there were any chance that she wasn’t, she was glad that the risk of Romero picking up on anymore of her discomfort when it came to Elliot wouldn’t be for much longer.
There was no way Isabel could be too hard on Romero for feeling something was off-kilter. Only there was no way he could possibly know what was really going on.
~*~
“You guys can’t call Mandy Mother Theresa anymore.” Romero said, tossing another piece of wood in the bonfire. “I already told you Izzy doesn’t like it.”
“But we’re just teasing,” Manny said with a frown. “Mandy knows we’re just playing.”
“Yeah, it’s all in fun,” Max added. “We don’t mean nothin’ by it.”
Romero knew just as they’d called Romeo a momma’s boy for years, Mandy had been Mother Theresa to his uncles for just as long. According to these two, Izzy had created both the roles. Romeo was a momma’s boy because she coddled him to death, and Mandy was turning into Izzy. Romero loved that his daughter was just like her mom. Already she’d skipped the first grade, so she obviously had Izzy’s brains, but she was also just as much a stickler about keeping things clean and organized. She often got on Romeo’s case about not putting their toys and books back just so. And since his uncles were like immature kids still incapable of cleaning up their language, they too got scolded by Mandy many times. So she’d since been labeled Mother Theresa.
Like his uncles, Romero didn’t think Mandy minded the name. He could tell she got a kick of ratting her uncles out or calling them out when they let her and Romeo do things they weren’t supposed to be doing. Because like her mom, even at her young age, she was smart enough to know that even if Manny and Max as the adults gave their permission, Izzy would likely still raise a brow and tell her she should have known better.
Normally, this was funny as shit to Romero. Not only did half the time his six-year-old daughter have more sense than his grown ass uncles, but they knew it and playfully resented it. But tonight he was still too damn on edge to appreciate the humor of it. “Yeah, well it upsets Izzy.” He placed his hands over Romeo’s ears. “So knock that shit off already.”
“I heard you had some apologizing to do to Isabel’s sister earlier,” Alex asked with a smirk.
Romero frowned. “Yeah, I snapped.”
Sal bent over to pick up his youngest. “Is that right? You and Pat still not getting along? I thought that’s been water under the bridge for years.”
“Nah, not Pat, Gina,” Romero clarified.
“What?” Angel asked, surprised. “You snapped at your baby sister?”
“I misunderstood what she and Izzy were talking about. That’s all.”
“Oh, I gotta hear this,” Alex laughed. “Valerie said you were groveling all over the place.”
Romero rolled his eyes, unamused, motioning to his son standing in front of him as an excuse to not have to give them the embarrassing details, but just then Mandy walked over holding Romeo’s heavier jacket. “Mommy said to put this on and come over and sit with the kids,” she said to Romeo, who crossed his arms defiantly, refusing the heavier jacket even after Romero nudged him. “The parade is gonna start soon,” she added with a big smile just as Izzy did when she was trying to coax Romeo into something.
With that, Romeo’s eye widened as he let his sister put his jacket on him, even waited patiently while she zipped it all the way up. She took him by the hand and they walked away. The rest of the kids who’d been gathered around the fire ran off with them.
“No excuses now, Romero,” Eric said, taking a sip of whatever the hell he was drinking. “Let’s have it.”
Grudgingly, Romero reminded them of the time he’d shared about his client with the almost cheating wife and how he’d recorded the wife confiding in her sister about it.
“This guy”—he pointed at Manny, shaking his head—“has been all up in my face about his theories about Izzy and the professor she’s working with and how I better keep my eyes and ears open because that kind of shit happens all the time.”
“Don’t even tell me,” Sal said, his mouth falling open. “You grilled her sister?”
“No!” Romero said, disgusted as if what he’d done was any better. “I just overheard them talking and it sounded bad.” He glanced back to make sure Izzy wasn’t anywhere nearby. “I walked up behind them just when Gina said she was surprised I hadn’t suspected anything. Izzy even said she was beginning to fumble her lies.”
“What lies?” Manny asked, not looking nearly as amused as the rest of the guys, who were already laughing.
“I guess she’s got a big surprise for me for Christmas.” The guys laughed even more now. “What are you two laughing about?” He addressed Angel and Alex. “Like you two wouldn’t have been thinking the same thing if you were in my place?”
It didn’t stop them from laughing, but Alex actually nodded. “Maybe,” he agreed.
“But I wouldn’t have snapped at her sister,” Angel said.
“I didn’t really snap at her. I was, well, you know how I can get when I’m hot.” They all laughed again, nodding as if they knew damn well. “I never talk to her like that is all. So I felt bad.”
“You sure that surprise thing isn’t just some bullshit story she’s feeding you, and maybe they was really talking ’bout that professor?” Manny asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Romero said with as much conviction as he could muster.
“Of course it’s not bullshit,” Sal said, looking a little surprised that Manny would even suggest it was.
Alex put his hand on Manny’s shoulder. “Yeah, Manny, why you getting my boy all stirred up? He’s bad enough as it is. And we all know Isabel wouldn’t do something l
ike that.”
“Even if she ever did,” Eric said but then quickly added looking right at Romero, “and we know she wouldn’t, but if she ever did, she’s too smart to be discussing it openly here in front of the whole damn family with the kids running around and all.”
That made Romero feel even stupider. Izzy was the one always going on and on about Mandy being a sponge. She soaked up everything she heard and asked a million questions. There was no way Izzy would risk discussing something so damning within earshot of her daughter. Within earshot of any of them. She’d been sitting right by Aida too.
So why couldn’t he shake the idea that there was more than just a Christmas surprise that Izzy was keeping from him? There was more to the unusual moods she’d been in lately?
The girls and kids called the men over to sit with them because the parade was about to begin. The lighted boats started their way around the marina, each one brighter and bigger than the last. They all watched oohing and aahing.
Romero snuggled up against his wife under the blanket she’d brought. She smelled so damn good and not like that new perfume she’d gotten either. Another thing that had made him a little nuts for about a day there. All these years she wore the same damn perfume, the one he always told her he loved. The one fucking year she decides to go back to work—side by side with another dude—and she decides to change it? But it was true. The new perfume she’d bought wasn’t sexy at all. It was soft, sweet, girlie. Most importantly it was very subtle. Not something you’d wear to get someone’s attention. She even said she’d be putting a bottle of it in Mandy’s stocking. That’s how sweet and innocent a fragrance it was.
He glanced down at his kids sitting with the rest of the kids as Mandy pulled the blanket she was sharing with her brother over his shoulder to make sure he was covered all the way. For the first time in a while, he smiled genuinely. He was surrounded by the people he loved most in the world, and from the looks of it, none of them were going anywhere. They’d always be this close, and all their kids would be growing up just as close.
Romero couldn’t have asked for a more perfect life, and at that moment, he decided he was going to just drop the whole paranoia about Izzy keeping something from him. She obviously had something big up her sleeve, and maybe getting it all to come together the way she always wanted everything to be so perfect was becoming a pain now that she was working. He’d seen it firsthand more than once when they planned something like one of the kids’ birthday parties or the baby showers she threw for Valerie. Things usually got pretty intense when it came down to the wire.
Last year when they’d gotten the kids bikes for Christmas, it was imperative that everything was planned out just so. Right down to the kind of huge bows they used. Like with everything else she put together so painstakingly perfectly, this surprise could be what was making her moody.
In any case, Christmas was less than two weeks away. If she was still acting strangely even after then, he’d have to deal with it head on, but for now he’d back the hell off and just enjoy his perfect life.
Ten
Mind Games
I
sabel had just finished pouring herself a cup of tea when Romero rushed into the kitchen.
“I gotta go,” he informed her. “Your car’s in the way. Where are your keys?”
Isabel turned just in time to see him heading for her purse on the counter. Without thinking, she practically lunged toward it and grabbed it before he could. He froze on the spot and stared at her until she looked down at her purse, feeling like an idiot. Without asking, she already knew what he was thinking.
“What’s that about?” he asked, glaring down at her purse as she fished her keys out.
“I gotta go too,” she said. “So no need to move my car. I was just leaving.”
He was still peering at her with that telling heat in his eyes, and he tilted his head. “Anything we need to talk about?”
“Nope,” she said trying to sound playful, but he still wasn’t smiling.
In fact, his glare had gone harder. “You hiding something from me, Isabel?”
“Yes,” she admitted, trying to smile genuinely, especially after hearing him call her Isabel. She leaned in and kissed him. “Christmas is just around the corner, baby. There are things hidden all over, including my purse.”
They stood there facing off for a moment more before he leaned in and kissed her back since he hadn’t so much as puckered up the first time. “I’ll be glad when I find out what this surprise of yours is because it’s making you jumpy as shit.”
She smiled, nodding without another word as she walked off and he followed. They both thanked her mom again as they walked out of the house. Isabel was so glad Christmas break for her was just two days away. Her kids were already out of school, and her mom had offered to come over and stay with them for the four hours Isabel had to work.
With the mornings being so cold lately, her mom didn’t want her taking the kids out for no reason. It was such a welcome assistance because, with the kids sleeping in, there was no running around trying to get them ready or having to drop them off before or pick them up after school. The last couple of days since her mom had been staying with the kids had been so much easier than normal.
Even as she watched Romero get in his car with that eyebrow still riding high, she knew he wasn’t entirely convinced her stupid reaction to him nearly going in her purse was all about Christmas. It didn’t help that the alarm hadn’t gone off this morning and they’d been running late. He was already in a tense mood, and then Elliot’s text that morning had made him even tenser.
Her phone had gone off on the counter just as Romero poured himself coffee. Even though he hadn’t actually read the whole thing, he did glance at her phone and saw who it was from and the preview of the message. She didn’t even have to ask who it was from. Just looking at Romero’s face she knew immediately.
“What’s going on today?” he’d asked as he handed her the phone.
She looked down at the text that explained why he was asking. The preview on the text read:
Excited about today? I am!
Before she even read the rest of the text, she’d reminded Romero that she was doing the lecture today. The whole thing again. Romero’s only response was to nod, but she knew her husband too well. Elliot’s excitement about her lecture was not something that would thrill Romero. If anything, he looked even further irritated by it.
Thankfully, he’d walked out of the kitchen when he got a call from a client, and Isabel had been able to read Elliot’s message in its entirety. She had a feeling the rest of it might be just as galling for him, and she’d been right.
Excited about today? I am! Just wanted to let you know we’ll be in the lecture hall today, not my classroom as I thought. Looking forward to being fascinated again. ;)
Things had gotten even tenser when it came to Elliot in the last few days. Her morning sickness would strike out of nowhere, and she was forced to leave the room suddenly some times. It was why she kept the bag of crackers in her purse and why she’d been so quick to lunge at it when she saw Romero going for it. She knew Romero would remember she did the very same thing when she’d been pregnant with both Amanda and Romeo. Keeping a bag of unsalted crackers in her purse was something her doctor had advised way back when she’d first been pregnant. Some days it’d been the only thing she could keep down. Romero had often reminded her to make sure she didn’t leave the house without the crackers because he knew how bad her nausea could get. It was something he’d definitely remember, and it would be a dead giveaway.
It was also impossible to be in a cheery mood as she normally was this time of year when she was feeling like crap most of the day. It wasn’t just the morning sickness anymore. She’d been getting increasingly emotional lately, and she knew it was the hormones going nuts. She’d been tempted on more than one occasion to just tell him the truth and be done with it. Romero would understand her sudden mood swings completely
if he knew the truth, and she could tell right now they only confused the hell out of him. But Christmas was so close now.
Even better, this was her last week working. It would alleviate some of the tension she knew Romero was still feeling about Elliot, and then just a few days later he’d know about the baby. She could hold out a little longer. The moment she told him, she was certain any and all discomfort he might be feeling about everything she’d had to do to surprise him would be gone.
As if her nausea weren’t bad enough, her stomach was in knots now just thinking about her lecture. The one she’d done last time was nerve-wracking enough, and that one had been in the classroom. Now Elliot had informed her they’d be in the lecture hall. It was three times bigger, and Elliot always packed in a full house.
To her pleasant surprise, the lecture hall wasn’t as packed as it normally was. Elliot said it was likely due to a lot of the students already being done with their classes and already on the way home for the holidays. That was when he told her these last few days weren’t even mandatory for his class.
At first, Isabel had been stunned. As usual, she’d jumped to conclusions. But he did need her here this week. While finals were last week, this week they were correcting them. Not all were on Scantron. As expected, Elliot was one of those professors whose finals included a good part to be handwritten—essays. Those took much longer to grade, so it did stand to reason he’d want her there to help. Though today she probably could’ve stayed home.
When she’d finished her lecture today, she’d been just as excited about it as the last time. The lecture hall may not have been filled to capacity, but there had still been a lot of students there. Isabel assumed they’d all been expecting Elliot to do the lecture.
Elliot had sat in the audience this time, and she saw him make a few notes. As the students filed out of the lecture hall, he made his way to where she was gathering her laptop. She’d used it for the PowerPoint presentation she’d given to make her lecture a bit more visual. Something Elliot often did.
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