by Roxie Rivera
"Because you don't," he replied tersely. "The fact that Jonah Krause sent a man into your bakery to intimidate you this morning should have driven that point home, Benny."
"So what? I cave? I sell out my family's history?"
"Better to sell out now than to go bankrupt in a month or two and have nothing to show for it!"
She reeled back. Her eyes suddenly glistened. His gut clenched painfully at the realization that he'd hurt her so deeply with his stupid retort. "Benny…"
"Screw you." She scrambled off the floor and started jerking on her clothes. "I'm out of here."
He pushed up onto his knees and snatched away her skirt before she could grab it. "No. You aren't leaving like this."
"The hell I'm not! Give me my skirt, Dimitri."
He shook his head. "I'm not letting you fly out of here upset. You could wreck. Now sit down and listen to me." She started to tell him off again but he cut her off with a pleading look. "Please, Benny. Just hear me out."
She crossed her arms and huffed but eventually sat down. Still staring angrily, she said, "I'm listening. Talk!"
Kneeling down in front of her, he put his hands on her bare thighs and held her hurt gaze. It killed him that he'd upset her like this. "Benny, I'll support whatever choice you make. I've got your back. I need you to know that up front. Do you believe me?"
Her jaw tightened and relaxed. With a growl of frustration, she admitted, "Yes."
"Then believe that I wouldn't tell you to sell if I didn't think it was the best idea." He cupped her face and brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. "I want what's best for you, Benny. I think if you push back against Jonah Krause it's going to end badly. He has millions of dollars on the line and you are—forgive me—a nobody in the great scheme of things. He won't think twice about striking at you."
She gulped and her lower lip wobbled. "Dimitri, I can't just walk away from the business my grandparents built. You, better than anyone, should understand what it's like for immigrants to come here, to work hard and build something so successful."
"I do, Benny. But this business is failing here." She started to cry and he felt like the biggest asshole in the whole world. "It's not your fault. I've seen how hard you work. I've seen what you've sacrificed to keep this place going. You inherited a dying business in a dying neighborhood. You can't make it work here, sweetheart. Please don't let it drag you down."
She sobbed loudly, the ragged sounds tearing at his heart. Gathering her close, he moved onto the couch and cradled her on his lap. She wept in his arms, her hot tears spilling onto his chest and dripping down his skin. He ached for her, his gut twisting and his chest constricting. The knowledge that he was the one who had forced this ugly discussion made him feel so low.
Shit. Maybe Yuri was right. He should have bought the fucking diamonds.
Chapter Seven
Still feeling groggy, I gulped the last of my coffee and refilled my travel mug. I'd been up for an hour but I couldn’t get moving. Last night had drained me, emotionally and physically.
After I'd finally stopped crying, Dimitri had whispered such sweet and tender things to me. He'd made love to me again, this time gentler and with such intensity that I'd had tears in my eyes again when we were done. Even though I'd protested, he'd followed me home and walked me inside the house. Apparently he took his promise to protect me very seriously.
It had been so very painful to hear Dimitri tell me the unvarnished truth. Even though I'd reacted so badly, I understood he was trying to protect me by being brutally honest. He'd said aloud what I'd been secretly dreading for so long. The business wasn't going to be profitable in this location. Something had to change.
Change? That seemed to be the only way to describe the current state of my life. I was in a constant state of flux. The bakery's future was up in the air. Johnny kept dodging my calls and refusing to come home. Dimitri seemed to want to pursue something long-term with me.
Confusion welled inside me as I dumped a hot cocoa packet and a scoop of sugar into my coffee. The spoon whacked against the inside of the mug while I tried to get a handle on my wildly vacillating emotions. I had to get a grip!
The front door opened, the hinges squealing loudly. After it was pushed closed, I heard the telltale creak of the floorboards in the living room. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. "Johnny?"
With a guilty look on his face, he slinked into the kitchen. Even with the island between us, I could smell the sour scent of alcohol and weed rolling off of him. I wrinkled my nose and held a hand to my face. "When was the last time you had a shower?"
He put a self-conscious hand on his chest. "Yesterday."
If that was true, I didn't even want to think about where he'd spent the night. To smell that awful, he must have been in a terrible place. I prayed it wasn't one of those low-rent whorehouses the Hermanos were purported to run.
Hoping to avoid a fight, I gestured to the short stack of breakfast burritos wrapped in aluminum foil. "I made breakfast."
"I'm not hungry."
We stared at one another. With a sigh, I said, "Okay. Let's just clear the air. Why did you steal from the business?"
"I didn't steal. That's my money, too."
"It's not your money. It's not my money. That money belongs to the business. That money belongs to our employees and our vendors."
"It was three hundred fucking dollars, Benny! It's not a big deal!"
I gawked at him. "Not a big deal? You stole from your family, Johnny! That's a big deal."
He swore nastily and reached into his back pocket. My eyes widened in shock when he pulled out a dirty envelope. Hundred dollar bills fluttered onto the countertop. "There! There's your fucking money! Happy?"
I swallowed hard as I stared at the cash on the counter and the cash still in the thick envelope. "Where did you get that, Johnny?"
"Don't ask me stupid questions like that, Benny. Just take the fucking money and shut up."
My jaw clenched. "Don't talk to me like that!"
"Or what? You'll call Dimitri to come kick my ass?"
"I've never asked Dimitri to hurt you!"
He laughed. "You're so full of shit."
"Believe whatever you want, Johnny. I know the truth."
"Yeah? Well I know you're fucking him. I saw your car there last night and the night before that. Is that how he pays his rent now?" He shouted it at me, his lips curled with disgust.
I took a step back. The disdainful look on his face made my cheeks and ears burn. "It's not like that, Johnny."
"Then how is it, Benny?"
"It's none of your business. I’m allowed to have a personal life and privacy, Johnny."
"Yeah? So am I." He waved the envelope. "My personal life. My business. You stay the fuck out of it."
Angered, I gathered up the money he'd thrown on the counter and squashed it into a tight ball. I threw it at him, hitting him in the chest with the dirty money. "Then take your money and get the hell out!"
He scowled at me and picked up the money I'd thrown at him. "I'm not going anywhere. This is my house. Why don't you go move in with your gringo?"
"I'm not moving anywhere, Johnny. Like you said, this is my house too."
"Not for long," he snapped back. He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and produced a folded stack of papers. My mind flashed back to the moment I'd discovered the stolen money. Hadn't my desk drawer been open?
"Is that our business contract? The one we signed just before Abuelita died?"
"I talked to a lawyer about the guy who wants to buy the bakery building. He said you can't stop me from selling my share. He's going to help me get my half of the house too."
My blood ran cold. "Johnny, what are you saying? You agreed to sell your share of the bakery to UpStreet?"
The briefest glimmer of regret flashed across his face. It vanished quickly and his expression turned hard. "It's mine. I can do what I want with it. I want the money. I need the money."
"For what?"
"It's none of your damn business, Benny."
"The hell it's not! You're giving away our family's history to a man who wants to tear it down and build a stupid shopping center. You're pissing on the memory of everything that Abuelita and Abuelito and Mom worked for their entire lives. I want to know why?"
He slashed his hand through the air. "I don’t have to tell you shit, Benny."
Turning his back on me, he practically ran out of the kitchen. I chased after him. "Johnny! Johnny!"
"Fuck off, Benny!" He dashed upstairs and slammed his door shut. The walls rattled when he turned on his music and blared the reggaeton beats.
Shaking and on the verge of puking, I stood at the foot of the stairs and fought the urge to run up there and smack him. How could he do this? The betrayal of Johnny going behind my back and making a decision without even consulting me cut so deeply. If we were going to sell, it should have been done together, as a unified front, so we could get the best price. I shuddered to think what kind of stupid deal he might have agreed to sign.
Every step of the way, I'd included him in discussions about the bakery and the house. Even when I knew he wasn't listening or didn't care, I'd still taken the time to sit him down and go over the accounts. When I'd stopped taking a salary, I'd talked it over with him first and shown him the balance we had to live off of in our bank account. When it came time to consider selling the house, I'd put it all on the table for him. We'd talked about real estate agents and a listing price.
I thought we were partners. Apparently, we weren't anything.
Feeling hopeless, I returned to the kitchen and pushed the lid onto my travel mug. I switched off the coffee pot and stared at the burritos I'd made for breakfast. My stomach lurched at the thought of eating so I tucked them into the refrigerator. With my purse in hand, I left the house and locked the door.
The early Saturday morning traffic was light. My mind wandered as I drove. I would need a lawyer and quickly. There were contracts in place protecting the business and delineating our rights as owners. I didn't know how long it would take to untangle all that mess but I assumed it would be expensive. If Johnny had been talking to UpStreet about selling his share, I felt certain they'd probably agreed to provide him with a business attorney.
Dimitri was right. I was going to get screwed six ways to Sunday.
* * *
After a fitful night of sleep, Dimitri slid out of bed and into a hot shower. Though he and Benny had made up and parted well, he couldn't shake the worried feeling twisting his gut. Coming home to an empty apartment felt bleaker than usual. One night with Benny in his arms and waking to her feel her pressed against him had spoiled him. Now he wanted that all the time.
What would Benny say if he casually mentioned getting a place together? If she sold her house and the bakery building, they'd both need places to stay. Wouldn't it make sense to live together?
As he got dressed, he wondered if that was a conversation they were ready to have. They'd been friends for years but this romantic entanglement was so new. She'd given him the "moving too fast" speech last night but he didn't think she really meant it. Yuri's talk of establishing boundaries and seeking reassurance made sense now.
He was drinking his first cup of coffee when he heard the bakery van beeping loudly as it backed into place at the loading dock. Certain they could use his help this early in the morning, Dimitri put on his shoes and headed downstairs. He found Marco and Adam looking over a list and discussing the best way to load in the mountains of bakery boxes.
Marco immediately put him to work. He was happy to do it, knowing full well it would ease some of the stress on the team as they tried to juggle the event and the usual day-to-day needs of the bakery. Dimitri desperately wanted this to be a success for Benny. Even if she ended up selling and moving locations, this would still be a good way to introduce herself to new customers. Lena was smart enough to get them to follow Benny wherever she moved.
Half an hour into his work, he checked his watch. Benny was running late. A quiver of concern pierced his chest. Was she simply running behind or was it something else? He wanted to whip out his phone to call her but decided to give it another ten minutes.
He was sliding the last rolling tray of cookies into the truck and latching it into place when he finally heard her sweet voice. Heat streaked through him as her silly laugh echoed in the backroom. She chattered away in Spanish, making little jokes with Marco and letting Adam tease her.
Dimitri had picked up enough Spanish during his five years living over the bakery to understand that Adam was talking about him. The two older men, Marco and Adam, treated Benny like family. He'd been expecting some push back from them but only Marco had given him the side-eye so far. Dimitri hoped his willingness to volunteer this morning would put him in Marco's good graces.
Hopping from the truck to the loading dock, Dimitri finally caught sight of Benny. Instead of her usual bakery uniform of jeans and a shirt, she wore a flirty little dress. It hugged her body in all the right places. His gaze flicked to the playful hint of cleavage. It was just enough to tease him.
One look at her face and he knew she was hiding something. She smiled but there was such sadness in her eyes. There was only one person in the world who could hurt her that badly—Johnny.
"Lupe has breakfast for us." Marco consulted his watch. "We have half an hour before we leave. You should eat."
Benny shook her head. "I'm not hungry."
Marco caught Dimitri's gaze. He understood what the older man was silently asking. Clearing his throat, Dimitri said, "Well I am. Let's have breakfast before you leave."
Benny frowned and glanced between the two men. She seemed to realize they weren't going to let her spend an entire day on her feet without a good meal in her belly. With a dramatic sigh, she acquiesced. "Fine."
They made their way to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of orange juice and breakfast burritos from an insulated cooler. She spoke to the ladies in the kitchen, talking to them about the day's business. He waited patiently, but the moment she was free, he took her hand and dragged her into the office.
Wanting privacy, he locked the door behind him. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He pointed to her desk chair. "Sit and eat. We'll talk when you're done."
She plopped down in her chair and dropped her breakfast on the desk. "I don’t really feel like talking anymore this morning."
Putting down his food, he leaned against the desk and stared down at her. "What did Johnny do?"
Her gaze jumped to his. "How did you know?"
"He's the only person who gets under your skin like that." Dimitri steeled himself for the worst. "Tell me, Benny."
She blinked rapidly, her dark eyes shimmering with tears. "He came home stinking like booze and weed. We fought about the money he stole. He pulled out this envelope that was stuffed with cash and started throwing hundred dollar bills at me."
"Did he say where he got the money?"
She shook her head. "He told me to mind my own business."
Dimitri doubted Johnny had said it that nicely. "I'll talk to him."
"No, it's done. I'm over it. If he wants to ruin his life, let him."
"You don't mean that." She could talk tough but he knew how much she loved her brother. "You're not cold enough to turn your back on him. You have a big heart, Benny."
"A big, stupid heart," she grumbled. "He told me that he's already talked to a lawyer about selling the building. He wants the money from the house, too."
Dimitri sat back in surprise. "Just like that? He made all these decisions without talking to you?"
She nodded. "You know, if he'd come to me and talked to me about why he wants to sell or why he needs the money, I would've been happy to find a way to restructure to give him what he wants. But to do it this way? To threaten to take me to court? He's such a monster."
He'd wanted to spare her all this heartache but it no longer seemed possible.
"I'll call Yuri and see what lawyer he recommends."
"Dimitri, you know I can't afford the types of lawyers he would recommend."
"Let me handle it."
"No. This is my mess. I'll clean it up."
"Benny." He said her name sternly and in a tone of voice he'd never used with her. "We're partners now. I want to help you. Please don't fight me on this."
Her determined expression softened. She gave a tiny nod. Eventually, she admitted, "I love that you're willing to help me, Dimitri. Really, I know how lucky I am. I just don't want you to feel—"
"Obligated?" he guessed.
"Yes. Obligated."
He leaned forward and put both hands on the arms of her chair, trapping her in place. "I don't feel that way. I'm helping you because I want to help you. I'm helping you because it makes me feel good to take care of you."
She drew a strange shape on his shirt. "When you put it like that…"
He grinned and pressed his mouth to hers. She relaxed under his slow, easy kiss. The taste of hot chocolate and coffee tantalized his taste buds as he swept his tongue against hers. Their foreheads touched. "Benny, don't ever hesitate to ask me for help. I'd do anything for you."
She ran her hands up and down his arms. "I know."
He felt like they were finally making some headway. It was going to be an uphill battle to get her to feel comfortable asking for his help but he was willing to fight it. "Now, eat your breakfast so you can go to this food thing and dazzle everyone."
She groaned. "I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get through this. The business is imploding as we speak. My brother is probably dealing drugs or pimping out prostitutes to make money. Somehow I'm supposed to plaster on a smile and gush about my stupid pastries and cookies?"
A devilishly wicked idea took hold. He lowered his mouth until it teased across hers. "I know how to put a smile on your pretty face."
"Oh?"
With a quick shove, he pushed her chair back against the wall and dropped to his knees. She gasped with surprise and tried to push his hands away from the hem of her dress. Whispering hotly, she insisted, "Dimitri, we can't do that here! Someone will hear us!"