He pushed the small black box on his key chain and the garage door opened. It slid up without a sound. Entering the garage, Alex glanced at the other garage door that led to the backyard, then lowered his head and studied the lime-green ’70 Hemi Clone. If he ever got the car restoration completed, he planned to have it painted black with gold lines along the side. He hadn’t gotten much done on the car, and he was coming to realize what everyone said to him was true: he didn’t know enough about car restoration to do what needed to be done. Before he could change his mind, Alex put his bag on the floor, then pulled out his cell and scrolled through the contacts until he got to the entry for Maestro. He pressed it and lifted the phone to his ear. Alex leaned on the car and waited.
“Who is this?” A deep masculine voice came over the line.
Alex frowned, then said, “I’m looking for Maestro.”
“This is he. Now answer my question. I don’t recognize your voice, so who are you, and how did you get this number?” The tone was unfriendly.
Alex gritted his teeth, then stated calmly, “I was given your number by Miguel. My name is Alex—”
Maestro cut him off. “Ah… the infamous Alex Hayes, who bought a car and thinks he can fix it himself by reading a book.”
Alex didn’t appreciate the mocking tone. “Are you usually such an asshole?”
“When it comes to know-it-alls who don’t know shit about cars, much less how to fix a ’70 Hemi Clone, I am,” Maestro retorted. “I’ll be by to retrieve the car before you do any more damage to it.”
“No, you won’t. I thought about it, but after speaking with you, forget it. Me and my book will be fine on our own, Maestro. What the hell kind of name is Maestro, anyway?” Alex demanded.
“One I earned, since I’m a virtuoso of cars.”
“And arrogant about it. I think it’s all hype, and people have made you believe your own self-importance, Maestro… or whatever the hell your name is.” Alex gripped the cell phone harder.
“Probably. But I’m good at what I do, and I take it seriously. I’ve been meaning to set up a meeting to discuss some marketing for my garage,” Maestro said.
Alex’s eyes narrowed at the change in conversation. “After being so rude, you really want to talk to me about marketing?”Alex couldn’t believe this guy.
“Yes. So when can we meet?”
Alex shook his head, then stopped when he realized Maestro couldn’t see him since they were on the phone. “Not we. You can meet with my partner, if you wish.”
“Why not we?”
“I don’t work with people I don’t like.” Alex enunciated his words sharply.
Maestro laughed, a booming that echoed in Alex’s ear. Alex’s breath caught at the joyous sound.
Maestro’s laughter calmed, and then he spoke. “We haven’t even met, so you don’t know if you like me or not.”
“From talking with you, I know I won’t, so we have no reason to ever meet. Let’s keep it as it has been.”
“Isn’t it weird? We have the same circle of friends who do a lot of stuff together, yet we have never met.”
“It’s been fate we haven’t. And from this conversation, they sure had it right to keep us out of each other’s vicinity.” Alex clenched his fist.
“Why?”
“Because if I saw you, I might give in to this urge to deck you.” Alex bared his teeth.
Maestro laughed again, then spoke. “I have that effect on people.”
“Maybe if you were polite instead of an arrogant prick, then people would be nicer to you,” Alex suggested.
“I’m always polite.” Maestro sounded offended.
“Really?”
“No need to be snide, Alex. If I wanted to, I could come take the Clone from your garage.”
“How do you know it’s in a garage?”
“From what Robert has said about the way you feel about the car, it’s in the garage. And I’m sure your Toyota Matrix is under the overhang on the other side of your house.” Maestro sounded very sure of his information.
Alex walked to the opening of the garage and looked out at the area that was darkening as night descended. “There is no way you could know that… unless… you’ve been to my house.”
“Nope. I’ve passed by your house on my way to Miguel and Robert’s place,” Maestro replied.
“Oh. Well, you can’t take my car. I don’t need or want your help,” Alex said firmly.
“You’re the one who called me.”
“Which I regret doing.”
“Too late.” Maestro’s cheerful voice irritated him.
“It’s my car.”
“And it will stay that way, once I get it fixed, then return it to you.”
“If you take my car, I will….” Alex breathed in and out to calm down.
“Do what? Call the cops.” The man had the gall to laugh. “Go ahead. But I’d talk to Del about what calling the cops on me gets you.”
“Huh. What do you mean?”
“You missed the fun when we set up the furniture at his house last week. I thought I would finally get to meet you when we did. Where did you go, anyway?”
“I had business out of town,” Alex answered automatically before he realized he had. “You’re very aggravating to talk to.”
“I’m easy to talk to. You’re just tired and cranky.” Maestro’s voice softened. “I figure you just returned to Mapson, and before even going inside, you checked on your car. Then you called me, since you know you were useless at fixing it yourself. That was a smart thing to do. Now, go inside and get something to eat, then get some rest. Once you’re not so cranky, you’ll see my taking the car is for your own good.”
“My garage has security. You’re not moving it anywhere out of my garage. I don’t need your help. Goodbye, Maestro. It was not a pleasure talking with you.”
“Security is a smart thing to have. When you get your car back, it will be restored,” Maestro stated.
“Are you deaf?”
“Nope. But I’m determined. I get my way when I set my mind to it. I’m going to save your car the damage your amateur work will do to it.”
Alex rubbed along the bridge of his nose. “I’m too tired to even know how to reply to that.”
“There’s nothing to say. Get some rest.” He gave the order and hung up.
Alex stared at the phone, then glanced back at his car. “Maestro might be determined, but he hasn’t dealt with me before.”
Alex clicked the box on the key chain to close the garage door, picked up his bag, and went around the car to the door leading into the house.
“ROBIN, HE had the gall to laugh, like my calling the cops was a joke. I shouldn’t have listened to any of you about calling this Maestro joker. He’s annoying.” Alex slapped the steering wheel with his right hand.
From his spot in the passenger seat, Robert Berkus laughed. “Del learned the hard way that it’s useless calling the cops.”
“I’m not finding any of this funny.” Alex glared at him, then returned his attention to the road. “Maestro said something about Del, but I didn’t know what he meant.”
“Well, let me enlighten you.” Robert proceeded to tell the story.
In disbelief, Alex listened as Robert filled him in on what had happened last Sunday. He glanced at Robert again. Robert was laughing so much as he told the story of Maestro blatantly taking all of Del’s vehicles and dismantling his Escalade that he was crying and his nose was snotty.
Alex interrupted him. “And you all went along with this?” He couldn’t understand how they would.
“He didn’t plan to keep them, and he was going to put the Escalade back together. Harper even told Del so.” Robert chuckled, making a snorting noise.
“Like that mattered. What did Del say to that?”
“He still insisted he would call the cops and went inside to do exactly that. Del was muttering to himself too. He was loud enough that we heard him in the dining room. Ramirez told H
arper that Del had lost it, and asked if Harper wanted him to get Del. But Harper told him to leave him alone, he was calling the police. And Ramirez screamed he was the police. We all laughed our asses off then, even Del.”
“You all are a bunch of lunatics.”
“That’s what Del said.”
“Which way do I turn?” Robert gestured to the right and Alex made the turn, then asked, “So did Del call the cops?”
“He did, and they came. The chief of police himself came. Spoke with Del.”
From Robert’s tone, Alex knew that there was something more. “For the love of God, tell me the story already. You know I hate it when you make me pull it out of you.”
“And that’s why I do it.” Robert laughed, then said, “I’ll stop dragging out the stories I tell if you stop calling me Robin. You know that irritates me.”
“But Robin… I like irritating you.” Alex glanced at him briefly again. “You know what I want you to do to stop me from calling you Robin.”
“Not this again. You’ve been bugging me since you moved here. Just give up already.” Robert crossed his arms over his chest.
“Never. I’m going to wear you down,” Alex promised.
“Humph. That isn’t happening.” He paused. “But I’ll make you a deal. You convince my brother, and I’ll do it.”
“That’s not fair. You know Aristotle won’t agree. I was hoping once I got you on board, we could work on him together.” Alex scowled. “That’s not fair, Robin, if I have to tackle Aristotle.”
“I know.” Robert sounded smug. “If you’re able to get him to agree, we’ll do it in front of the poker crew at one of the Saturday games.”
“Fine. I’ll accept that.” Alex glanced at him, noting that grin, as if Robert knew he’d never get what he wanted. “Your lack of faith in my persuasive abilities is insulting.”
“I have all the faith in you. Faith that no matter how charming you are, it won’t work on my brother.”
“It might. Aristotle likes me.” Alex thought of the man in question, then sighed. “But he hates people. Why couldn’t you pick one of your other brothers?”
“He doesn’t hate people. He just prefers solitude. It wouldn’t have mattered if I chose Dante or Lawrence. They wouldn’t have done it either. But I picked Aristotle so that when we do our kickboxing, he’ll make you pay for every time you bug him about it.”
“You’re a mean man, Robin.” Alex pouted. “It’s your fault I even know about you all.”
“We did it for you fifteen years ago on your birthday. You would think you’d have forgotten about it by now.”
“It was the best gift I ever received.” Alex smiled, remembering the performance that made him start calling Robert “Robin” in the first place. “It’s not every day a guy gets serenaded for his nineteenth birthday. I wish I had thought to tape it.” Alex paused. “Then again, your brothers would have probably confiscated it.”
“I was young, foolish, and thought I was in love. Not to mention enamored by the sex.” Robert laughed.
“We had good times.” Alex put his hand on the seat between them, and moments later, Robert gripped his hand. “And we came to our senses and realized we made better friends than lovers.”
“Best friends for over fifteen years. We’ve been through a lot.” Robert squeezed his hand. “But before you moved to Mapson, for the last few years you’ve been distant. Something was going on in Rhode Island, and you didn’t tell me or any of my family.”
Alex removed his hand and gripped the wheel between both hands. “You all have been talking about me.” Robert had hinted about wondering what was wrong with him, but never came right out and said anything.
“We’re worried about you. You’ve changed, Alex.”
“For the better!” he snapped.
“Not in our opinion.” Robert touched Alex’s arm. “You’ve become closed off. Aristotle even commented on your lack of dating. According to him, there’s a limit to how many weirdos are allowed in a group.”
Alex snorted. “He really shouldn’t talk that way about himself, Lawrence, or Dante. Although there are a few more adjectives I’d add.” Alex released his grip on the steering wheel. “My dating is not your business.”
“We care about you, Alex. I know you don’t believe in commitment, but—”
“Let it go, Robert,” he said harshly.
Robert went silent, then squeezed his arm before releasing it. The tone and the use of his name seemed to convince him Alex was through talking about it. Robert’s small gesture almost undid Alex. There was so much he could say, but just as he hadn’t been able to find the words then, he couldn’t now.
He doesn’t know. You never told him or anyone.
Robert’s voice brought Alex’s attention back to him as he went back to their original subject. “Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”
Alex gratefully went with it. “Fine. So, did the police arrest Maestro?” He smiled at the thought.
“No. Del didn’t listen when Maestro—actually, we call him Les or Leslie when he’s not in his Maestro mode.”
“I’m afraid to even ask what his Maestro mode is.” Alex shook his head. Leslie, or Maestro, seemed to be a bossy, overbearing know-it-all.
“It’s when he’s working on his cars, and he gets grumbly and irate when someone is acting stupid about it. He says it’s his responsibility to ensure the cars he’s in charge of are treated correctly. They can’t speak for themselves, so he does. That is exactly what the chief of police said when he refused Del’s request to arrest Maestro for stealing his cars and wrecking his Escalade. He even explained to Del that it would be running so much better if he let Maestro have his way. Told Del to keep out of his way. Del looked like he was going to explode when they told him.” Robert started laughing again.
“He has you all swallowing a load of shit.”
“Del should have listened to Harper. Maestro helps out with the police motor pool, and he really is a genius with anything on wheels,” Robert stated.
“He might be a genius, but he needs to work on his people skills. He’s a rude know-it-all.”
“He’s that too. Turn left here.” Robert shifted in his seat.
“I’m glad I’ve never met him, because I swear, Robin, I would be tempted to deck him.”
Robert studied him before he spoke. “He really has you rattled. Why?”
Alex knew Robert was right. Usually he was even tempered, and it took a lot to push him over the edge. “I don’t know. Just something in his tone.” Alex looked out the windshield and realized they were in a part of town he hadn’t been before. “I don’t recognize this place. Where the heck is poker being held today?”
He appreciated the beauty of the houses they passed as he drove. The area they were driving through had comfortable, larger homes that were older and in various architectural styles. So far, the ones he had seen were well maintained, from the lovely landscaping—each house sat on at least one acre of land—to the outside structures that he could see.
“Pull in here.”
Alex did as Robert said, pulling into a long driveway already filled with vehicles he recognized as belonging to some of the poker crew. Alex studied the house he’d parked in front of. The gardens he could see around the house were immaculate and eye-catching. The house was a split-level ranch and had a stone façade. From what he knew of the people in the family, Alex figured it was the work of L&R Construction, the same company that had done his. The company was owned by a few of the Rodriguez cousins and some of the Longoria family.
“You’re finally going to get to meet Maestro face-to-face. Try not to deck him.”
Alex turned as Robert spoke. He glanced back at the house, then noticed that, a little distance away from the main structure, two buildings flanked either end of the house and went out of view beyond it. He focused back on Robert.
“This is Maestro’s place?”
“Yep. You always seem to be out
of town when we play here. I’ve been waiting for you to see his house. It’ll make the renovator in you perk up. It’s as beautiful inside as out, but knowing you, you’ll see things to improve on.”
“Probably. You know me too well, Robin,” Alex said.
Alex exited the car, putting his arms on the top of the doorframe. Moments later, he heard the other door open and close. When Robert joined him, they walked toward the house. Alex was busy studying the area around the house and trying to see everything at once. He went up the steps and stopped before the tri-part wood door with a beveled glass design.
“Has Aristotle seen this?” Alex asked. Aristotle designed furniture and other items.
“Not in person, but Leslie let me come by and take pictures of this and inside the house. He was amused by my enthusiasm. I warned him Aristotle will probably pop in one day and invite himself on a tour. I don’t think Aristotle has looked at the pictures yet.”
“He’s been busy with the new orders he’s been getting since he moved to Mapson. Once he gets to see the pictures, he’ll be coming here, and knowing your brother, he’ll be dragging us and your other brothers along with him.” Alex touched the door. It was a work of art. Whoever made it was an artisan, and he would have to meet them.
“I already mentioned that. It only made Leslie laugh. Maybe you can be nice to him, and he’ll give you a tour,” Robert said.
Something in Common (Dreamspinner Press Bundles) Page 62