Nacho Figueras Presents

by Jessica Whitman

  But they didn’t.

  Maybe that didn’t matter, she thought. There had been something between them once; maybe things would grow between them again over time. What was important now was Max.

  She kissed Jacob harder, desperately hoping for something more. He shifted against her with a little groan. “Ah, Noni,” he said, “I’ve missed this so much.”

  She broke away suddenly, hearing the echo of Enzo’s voice in Jacob’s words. She panted softly from the exertion.

  He looked at her and smiled gently. “It’s okay,” he said. “We can take this slow. We have a lifetime ahead of us.”

  * * *

  Enzo lay in his bed, watching the moon through the French doors to his balcony. It was late, but he couldn’t sleep.

  Seeing her had shaken him up badly. He wished he kept a bottle of booze in his flat; the effects of the night’s drinks had worn off long ago, and he was stone-cold sober now. But he didn’t want to be.

  He was fairly certain he had lost her for good. That last kiss had communicated so much. It had been filled with so much regret and longing…

  He wondered if he would ever get over her.

  What a fool he’d been all those years, making up reasons to hold back, refusing to act, wasting all the time they could have had. His excuses seemed so flimsy now that there was a real, immovable reason they couldn’t be together. Who cared if she had money or not? Who cared who her family was? He knew, deep down, that she had never wanted him to be anyone but exactly who he was. She had literally told him that. Why had he ever doubted her? What exactly had kept him so stubbornly, stupidly frozen?

  He shifted in his bed.

  Fear. He’d been afraid he would hurt her like he hurt Agustina. He had thought that he would just be bringing about another disaster, that he would break her heart just like he had broken his wife’s. But now he realized that he had never loved Agustina at all, really. That what had been between them had been insignificant—child’s play—compared to what he felt for Noni.

  Pilar had been right. He had loved Noni from the first moment he had seen her.

  And he would never, ever stop loving her.

  He turned over onto his other side, facing away from the moon, and then onto his back. He closed his eyes and thought of that first night at her house, out on the balcony. What had she said, exactly?

  That it was not always like this. That it was almost never like this. That people can go their whole lives looking for something like what they had just felt between them—and die never finding it.

  He had taken her back to her bed then. Literally carried her, kissing her the entire way there. He had laid her down on the bed and opened her robe and just stood back for a moment and looked at how beautiful she was. Her lashes, her lips, her breasts, her hair, her long legs, her creamy skin. And she’d lain there, calm and open, the look in her eyes filled with nothing but stars and heat.

  He had trailed the tips of his fingers down her cheek, down her arched white neck. She shivered in pleasure and closed her eyes when he circled her breast, taking the time to graze her pale pink nipple, which hardened under his fingertips and made him throb with desire.

  He had gone to his knees at that point and buried his face between her legs. God, he would never forget the taste of her—like sea and spice. The feel of her velvety thighs against his cheeks as she arched up against his mouth, laying herself open to him, crying out for more.

  He grasped himself in the dark, thinking of her, and slowly began to stroke.

  He remembered the way her breath quickened, the way she reached down and grabbed his hair in her fists, corkscrewing her hips against him as he licked and kissed, the way he felt her peak under his mouth, her whole body arcing in ecstasy, lifting off the bed as she cried out his name. The way he kept going, bringing her to higher and higher heights until she was trembling all over, thrashing under him, begging him to never stop.

  He climaxed to the memory of how he had slid into her afterward, and she had instantly come again. He had never seen a woman so beautiful, so uninhibited, so wild and completely lost to her own pleasure. It was something he knew he would think of for the rest of his life. It was something he knew would come to him on his deathbed.

  He was certain that he would leave this earth thinking of how beautiful Antonia had been.

  * * *

  Noni and Jacob reclined in deck chairs, side by side, drinking wine and watching the flames in Jacob’s Fire sculptures. The statues were two balls of metal, one about eight feet in diameter and one about five. A mix of iron and steel, polished to a high shine. Noni still remembered treating the metal with various chemicals until they managed to get the exact look that Jacob envisioned. The metal was stretched into long circular bars, wrapped round and round, with small, lace-like holes throughout. Inside the balls were spaces for fire, which, when lit, reflected over and over on the lustrous metal and illuminated the pieces in their entirety.

  It was truly great art, thought Noni, and when they were both lit, side by side, it was especially dramatic and beautiful.

  She stretched in her chair and reached down lazily for her glass, sipping the dark, delicious wine, enjoying the heat and flickering light pouring off the sculptures.

  “Noni,” said Jacob, “I think we should leave for Mexico sooner rather than later. Like, maybe right after the party tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. “Jacob, I told you, I can’t just leave my job like that.”

  He turned to her. “What is more important? Your job or the three of us? You, me, and Max? I feel like there’s something coming between us here, that I can’t reach you the way I used to. Your family, your job, something is in the way. I don’t want to wait to have a clear path. I don’t want to hold back.”

  She sat up. “Jake, come on. Just an hour ago you were saying we could take things slow. You said we had plenty of time. And I told you how important—”

  “Antonia,” he interrupted her. “I’m in trouble.” His voice was different. Low and ragged. He sounded desperate.

  A chill ran down her spine. She turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”

  “I wasn’t in Germany. I didn’t get a call from my agent. There is no exhibition.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I was in the city. I was talking to my lawyer. I…I have a trial coming up.”

  She sat up in the chair. “What happened?”

  He wouldn’t look at her. He stared into the fire. “After I left Cecelia, money got really tight. I haven’t been selling much lately, and I haven’t had time to make anything new, you know? So I just figured if I could make enough money to live on for a little while, I could get back to work.”

  He slowly picked up his glass, took a drink of his wine, and swallowed.

  “I knew some guys. They told me it would be an easy sale. I was supposed to bring the stuff from Germany, sell it in New York, and that was it. A one-time thing.”

  “What stuff? What were you selling?”

  “Heroin.”

  She groaned softly. “Oh God, Jacob. How could you? After Astrid?”

  “I know. I was desperate. But it made this cosmic sense to me somehow. Drugs had ruined my life. I thought that maybe now they could fix it, you know? It seemed like poetic justice.

  “It was just going to be that one time, and then everything would be fine. Max and I would have been fine. But…there was an undercover cop.”

  She closed her eyes. “God, Jake.”

  “I tried to run, but she caught me, and now…my lawyer said we could make a plea deal. That I could name the guys I got it from to begin with, that I’d probably get five or ten years instead of twenty or thirty—but, Noni, that’s too long. That’s a huge chunk of Max’s life—most of his childhood. And I’ll never get my career back if I’m away that long.”

  He stood up and poked at the fire, causing a shower of sparks to fly through the metal and rise up into the night sky. “So, I thought…I
thought that if the three of us…could just leave. Go to Mexico, like I said. They’re not going to come after me. They won’t bother. They know I’m small time. And with your money we could—”

  “Jesus, Jacob!” Noni stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. She was suddenly freezing. “Is this why you came to find me? For my money?”

  He turned to her and caught her by the shoulders. “No! No, I swear. When I told you I wanted to be a family again, my lawyer was still saying that he thought I could get through this with no jail time at all. I never thought I’d be locked up. I thought that all of this was like, a sign—leaving Cecelia and then getting caught, and then seeing you. I thought it was a second chance. That I could start our lives over, me and Max and you. But when I found out that I couldn’t get a better plea deal, I just thought, why not go? Get out. Who needs to live in the States, anyway? Plenty of people leave and never come back. You’ve lived all over the world. This isn’t your home.”

  He let go of her and ran his hands through his hair. He had tears in his eyes. “Please, Noni.” His voice was ragged. “This is our chance. Our chance to get it right this time. For Max. He needs me. He lost Astrid. He lost you. I’ve been his only constant.”

  He broke away as a sob ripped through him.

  She stared at him, numb. “I need you to take me home now, Jake.”

  “Noni—” He stepped toward her.

  She raised her hand, stopping him. “I’m not saying no, okay? I just…need to think. Please, take me back to Pilar’s. We’ll get through tomorrow first. There’s so much going on. We’ll talk again after the party.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Noni opened her eyes to see Max standing by the bed, a tray in his hands with coffee and fruit, a croissant with a lit candle in it, a single yellow rose in a vase, and a hand-drawn picture of what looked like her two dogs. “Happy birthday!” he trilled. “Happy birthday, Noni!” He turned back to the door. “I did it, Pilar! She’s awake!”

  Her dogs looked up from their place on her bed, tails thumping in unison.

  Pilar stood in the doorway, beaming at him. “Que bueno, hijo.”

  Antonia had to smile. Max looked so pleased with himself, his little cheeks pink with pleasure as he handed her the tray. “Pilar made the coffee, but I cut up the fruit. Blow out your candle!”

  “Don’t forget to make a wish,” added Pilar.

  Noni closed her eyes and paused, holding her breath. She truly did not know what to wish for.

  * * *

  Her mother showed up in her red Miata just as Noni was leaving the house with Georgia and Kat.

  “Happy birthday, darling!” Benny swept Antonia into her arms and rained kisses on her face. “I can’t believe you’re thirty! I mean, how is that even possible seeing that I’m still twenty-nine?”

  She looked around, laughing at her own joke.

  “Mom,” said Noni, detaching herself from her mother’s grip. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Well, of course I’m coming.” She swept back her long blond hair and straightened the red cotton romper she was wearing. “I’m your mother. It’s your birthday. But”—she looked from one woman to the next—“where are you going right now?”

  “Haven. It’s a spa in Sag Harbor,” said Kat. “Birthday treat. Do you want to join us, Benny?”

  Antonia’s heart sank.

  “Oooh, wonderful!” cooed Benny. “Just let me get my purse.”

  * * *

  Noni sat next to her mother in the back of Kat’s Mercedes, lost in thought.

  Georgia turned around. “I feel bad hogging the front seat, Noni. It is your birthday, after all.” She looked at Benny. “Or maybe you’d like to sit in front, Mrs. Black?”

  “For God’s sake, call me Benny,” said her mother.

  “You’re like thirty months pregnant, Georgia,” said Kat. “Now stop trying to be a martyr. You have to sit in front because you’re so dang big, we’d never be able to pry you out of the backseat.”

  “Do you know what you’re having?” asked Benny.

  Georgia sighed. “Twin girls. And I’m terrified.”

  Benny made a face. “I would be, too. Can you imagine what twins will do to your”—she gestured south—“down there? God, one kid was bad enough. I don’t think mine was ever the same after Antonia was born.” She dropped her voice. “She weighed almost nine pounds, you know.”

  Kat laughed.

  “Mom!” said Noni, pulled out of her thoughts. “What is wrong with you?”

  Georgia shook her head. “Believe me, she’s not saying anything I haven’t already thought about pretty much obsessively. I mean, I pee every time I sneeze and that’s only after one fairly little kid.”

  “Here’s the spa!” sang Kat in her Southern accent. “Massages, mani-pedis, facials, steam room, mud baths!” She reached back and patted Noni on the head. “I’m so glad it’s your birthday. This is going to be awesome.”

  * * *

  Noni tried to enjoy herself. She had a hot stone massage, but her masseuse said she’d never worked on someone so tense before. She had a full-body scrub, followed by a seaweed wrap, but she’d felt panicky and claustrophobic, lying there waiting for her toxins to be drawn out.

  Now she sat neck-deep in the whirlpool, her face covered in yogurt and crushed caviar, her hair pinned up in a towel. Her mom and Kat sat next to her, each with a different colored mask on. Georgia sat on the edge, just dangling her feet, since she couldn’t do high temperatures because of her pregnancy.

  Noni was trying very hard to look like she was having a good time, but she knew, from the worried looks that kept passing between her sisters-in-law, that she wasn’t fooling anyone.

  Except for Benny, of course, she thought wryly. Her mother was chattering happily about everything from her latest bikini wax to her next art opening. As usual, she was completely oblivious to anything that might be going askew with her daughter.

  The spa attendant came in to tell them it was time to remove their masks. They all got out of the water, toweled off, and wrapped themselves back up in thick, soft terry-cloth robes.

  Benny latched on to Kat’s arm as they headed back to the salon, telling her she thought her own life story would make an amazing movie. Georgia hung back with Noni for a moment.

  “Hey,” Georgia said. Her wide hazel eyes looked even bigger under the creamy green mask she wore on her face, “is everything okay?”

  Noni smiled. She had liked Georgia from the moment her sister-in-law had first signed on as veterinarian for the Del Campo team years before. She was warm and smart, and Antonia desperately wished she could confide in her.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Noni said.

  Georgia cocked her head. “Of course.”

  “You’d do anything for Tomás, right? I mean, anything to protect him?”

  Georgia wrinkled her brow. A glob of the mask chipped off and hit the floor with a little splat. “Of course. Wouldn’t any mother?”

  Noni looked over at Benny wryly. “Well, most moms, maybe.”

  Georgia laughed.

  “So, even if the thing you had to do to protect him was unethical or dangerous? Or even if it was something that meant you’d be giving up a lot—giving up everything, really. You’d do it?”

  Georgia nodded. “Look, Noni, I would die or kill for Tomás if I actually thought he needed me to. But I’m dearly hoping it won’t ever come to that. What is this all about?”

  “Nothing.” Noni shook her head. “I just wondered.” She hugged her sister-in-law. “Thank you for taking me out today. It’s been great.” She looked at Georgia and laughed. “Oops, smeared some caviar on your robe.”

  * * *

  She locked herself in the bathroom and called Jacob.

  “Noni?” he said. He sounded relieved. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you until later.”

  “Can you meet me?” she said. “I’m in Sag Harbor.”

  * * *

 
She’d told them she was running out for chocolate. That she wasn’t going to survive on green juice and salad all day. It was her birthday, for goodness’ sake. She was going to sneak in some of the good stuff.

  They all agreed that it was a great idea. “Maybe we should get a pizza, too?” offered Kat. “And wine? I didn’t realize the menu here was limited to nonfat everything.”

  “That sounds perfect,” said Noni. “I’ll get it all. We can sneak a picnic in the rock garden after we get our toenails done.”

  “But I’ll go,” said Kat. “You shouldn’t have to do that.”

  “No, no,” said Noni, hurriedly heading out the door. “I’m already dressed.”

  * * *

  Jacob was sitting in the coffee shop waiting for her. He looked exhausted and rumpled, though Noni was pretty sure she didn’t look any better herself.

  He stood up when he saw her and kissed her on the cheek, his prickly beard scraping her skin. “I’m so glad you called,” he said. “I mean, I was willing to try, but I don’t know if I could have made it all the way through the party.”

  She smiled nervously. “Let’s sit down,” she said.

  They sat down and she bit her lip. “Jake,” she said, “you know I really care about you, and I would do anything for Max.”

  He looked hopeful. “So—”

  She raised her hand. “I haven’t stopped thinking about this since last night. I’ve been round and round.”

  He nodded and grasped her hand.

  She looked at him and then took a deep breath. “First of all, I will get you the best lawyer there is.”

  He pulled his hand away. His eyes went flat with dread. “You’re not going to do it.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t make any sense. Think about it. I mean, how would we even be able to leave the country? Do you and Max have fake passports? Even if you did, think of what this will do to Max. We’d always be on the run. What kind of life would that be?”