Fernando - Bad Boy Love (Bad Boy Love Series Book 1) (6 page)

Walking away from Gwen without acting on the impulse to kiss her had probably been the hardest thing Fernando had done in his life. He knew she’d wanted him to kiss her. Her eyes couldn’t betray her feelings for him. But he also knew she’d never forgive him if he didn’t stick to her rules.

Stupid rules.

He kicked a can along the sidewalk. Everything about Gwen was confusing. Her feelings. His feelings. The whole absurd situation. He didn’t fall for her kind. And especially not for a probation officer. He must have lost his mind.

Fernando chuckled dryly. He’d not only lost his mind, but heart, soul, and body as well. Being with Gwen today had felt so good, so right. It wasn’t just the sexual attraction, there was much more to it.

The advice she’d given him during their first meeting replayed in his mind. “You need to find your reason to change.”

You are my reason, Gwen
.

He promised himself to try harder. No relapsing. He’d make the effort, and once his probation was over, there wouldn’t be anything to prevent him from wooing her. Even though twelve months was an awfully long time. Eleven months and three weeks, he corrected himself.

About a block away from his place, he ran into two of his former gang members. F
ormer
in his mind, not theirs. One of the conditions of his probation was to stay away from his gang. He’d figured that would be easy, since most of them were in prison. He nodded a quick hello and tried to continue on his way. But they had other plans in mind.

Tito lifted a hand. “Yo, Fernando, don’t run off. We’ve got something big planned. Real big.”

“Guys, I’m not…”

“Don’t bail on us,” Tito said, a warning glint in his eyes. “Everybody else is in prison, meaning you’re the only one with the skill to get past the security measures.”

Fernando sighed. “What are you casing?”

“A warehouse over on South Street,” Carlos responded. “Tito heard they’ll receive a new shipment of smartphones and tablets in the next two weeks. Easy money on the black market. We stand to make a killing on this one.” The two young men high fived each other and then looked expectantly at Fernando.

He watched them, knowing that without him they didn’t stand a chance. For a moment, he was tempted to say yes. If the deal was as big as they said, it would be the last robbery he’d need to pull because they’d make enough money to last for a year or more. Enough for him to get on his feet. To prove himself to Gwen.

But as quickly as the thought arrived, it disappeared. It would never stop. They’d always go for more. The image of Gwen’s sweet face appeared in his mind.

You need to find your reason why. It will carry you through the hard times.

Suddenly, it was easy to make the right choice. “Sorry, but I’m out. I’m on probation, and I’ll be up shit creek if I’m even caught talking to you.”

“Come on, man. Just one more job and we’ll be all set. We won’t get caught. We’ve scoped out the place and their security is pitiful.”

Fernando stood his ground. “Sorry, my answer is no.”

Tito glowered at him. “You’re family. Family helps each other out.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m helping keep your ass out of prison.”

“Don’t play all holier than thou with us,” Tito challenged him. “You’ve been part of this gang for more than ten years, remember? You’re the best picklock around. We need you, man.”

“I know I screwed up in the past, but I’m trying to turn my life around. I can’t live like this anymore.”

“What? You? An honest, upright citizen?” Carlos sneered.

“Yeah. Like I said, I’m out. I’m not robbing that warehouse.”

“But we will. This could be our last job ever. And then we might even join you in your quest to become honest,” Tito added.

For a moment Fernando believed him. What did one more time matter? And then they’d leave him in peace. Maybe even turn over a new leaf as well. Hadn’t Tito said it himself? But one look into their eyes told him it was a lie. That would never happen.

“Sorry, guys. I can’t do it.” He turned on his heel and walked away. But he hadn’t even taken two steps before someone grabbed his shoulder. Fernando clenched his fists, ready to fight.

Carlos released him and stepped back to stare at Fernando for a moment. Then he smirked. “Who’s the chick?”

“What?” Fernando asked, stupefied.

“You know what I’m talking about. You’re becoming bourgeois. There must be a woman behind that change of mind. Who is she? Your probation officer?” He laughed, a harsh barking sound. “Haven’t you learned by now? They all try to change you. Get you over to their side. But man, it’s a trick.”

Fernando shook his head. “No woman is trying to change me. I’m simply tired of playing roulette with my life. I want something different.”

Gwen doesn’t play tricks. Or does she?

“Tell you what, we’ll give you some time to reconsider our request. You’ll get tired of playing nice. You belong to us. You’ll never change.”

He merely laughed and walked away, hearing them shouting after him. “Fernando, you’ll regret betraying the gang. No one does that and lives to tell.”

He didn’t respond, didn’t even slow down his steps. Those two were no threat to him, and they knew it. But their words echoed in his head. Were Tito and Carlos right? Once a fuck up, always a fuck up?

Gwen completed the paperwork she needed for tomorrow’s court hearing, but her thoughts continued to drift to Fernando. And their kiss.

Their phenomenal kiss.

It was like nothing she’d ever experienced, but as fantastic as it was, she wasn’t willing to risk her career for a man. Still, her conscience continued to plague her. It happened under extraordinary circumstances and wouldn’t be repeated. Only her elevator phobia had driven her into his arms. Yes, that was it. She just had to make sure never again to enter an elevator with him, and she would be safe.
Safe?
In his arms, she’d felt safe. Protected. Wanted.

You’re just infatuated with him. He has a super hot body and a panty-melting smile. But it’s just his bad boy charms that have you swooning. All that will fade with time.

And if it didn’t? Her stomach clenched at the prospect of seeing him every week for one long year without being able to act on their attraction. But according to the statistics, chances were high he’d fall right back into his criminal behavior and land in jail before his probationary period was up.

Gwen honestly hoped he would beat the odds. But another part of her toyed with the idea that he would violate his probation sooner rather than later and wind up in jail. That way she wouldn’t have to see him again.

“God, Gwen. Some probation officer you are. Hoping your clients fail just so you won’t have to deal with your hormones?”

She closed down her computer and left the office, locking the door behind her. Once she was on the road, she used the hands-free option on her dashboard to call Vivian. As always, she smiled when her friend answered with a loud, “Hi, Gwen!” as if she hadn’t spoken to her in years.

“Hey, Viv. Got a few minutes?”

“Always for you. What’s up?”

“I’m on my way home from work.”

“That rough of a day?” her friend asked.

“Not really. I actually had a pretty light load today. This morning I accompanied Fernando to a job interview.”

“How did that go?”

“Down in smoke. The woman who interviewed him was a bitch of the first order and didn’t even give him a chance.”

Vivian made a tsking sound. “He’ll probably get that a lot, given his record and lack of education.”

“Yeah, I know. I helped him revise his resume, so maybe that will help.”

“Sounds like you spent quite a bit of time with him.”

Gwen debated whether to tell Vivian the whole story or not. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her friend completely with this sensitive information, but Vivian wouldn’t like it one bit. Still…she needed to speak to someone about it.

“We had an incident after his interview.”

“Incident?”

“The elevator stopped.” Gwen shuddered at the memory.

“Oh no! Gwen, are you okay?” Her friend all but shouted into the phone, very familiar with her phobia.

“It took me a while, but…yes, I’m okay. Fernando was actually very helpful.”

Vivian chuckled and teased her friend. “I bet he was. Did he hold your hand and assure you everything would be alright?”

“Yes. And then he kissed me.”

“Whoa! Back up a minute. You let him kiss you? Gwen, you need to get this guy out of your head. This has disaster written all over it.”

“I know, but I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“You’re his probation officer. This could destroy your career. You know that?”

“Yes. What do I do?” Gwen pleaded with her best friend. She’d racked her brain the entire evening, but nothing remotely viable had come up.

“Well…apart from ripping him out of your foggy brain?”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried that?” She’d reached her turn and exited the highway. If Vivian didn’t come up with a better idea, all hope was lost. She might as well lock herself into her house and never resurface again.

“Hmm…what about transferring him to a colleague of yours? It doesn’t happen often, but I’ve seen it done.”

“Gosh, I don’t know if that would work. In the year I’ve been in this job nobody has done that.”

“It might be worth looking into,” Vivian said.

“Yes. I’ll do some discrete digging around.”

“That’s my girl. Gotta run. Don’t forget about the barbecue at my parents’ house this weekend.”

“How could I? It’ll be the highlight of my week.”
Apart from kissing the sexiest man alive.

“Good. Why don’t I ask my brothers to invite some of their cute friends to come with them?” Vivian giggled into the phone.

Gwen had reached her home and was pulling into her parking space. “Vivian, if you do that, I’ll never speak to you again. You’re supposed to be my best friend and best friends don’t meddle.”

“Says who? I think that’s part of the definition of best friend in Webster’s. Expert meddler.”

“Viv, you know I love you and your brothers, but I would die of shame if they knew how far I’ve fallen. They’d never stop teasing me. Promise me you won’t say a word – to anyone.”

“Promise. See you, sweetie,” Vivian answered and hung up the phone.

Fernando reached his place and opened the door to find his sister sitting on the couch. “Hey, sis. What are you doing home?”

Amada grinned from ear to ear. “I got the confirmation letter from the college.”

He hugged her tight and whirled her around the room. “This calls for a celebration.”

“Ravioli?” Amada suggested, breathless when he sat her down.

“And wine.” He answered.

“Wine?” His sister eyed him suspiciously. This was the first time he’d suggested she drink alcohol.

“Well, this is a very special celebration, isn’t it? One glass is all you get.” He grinned and both of them entered the kitchen, where she started pulling ingredients from the cupboards and the refrigerator. They worked in tandem, and while they waited for the water to boil, he opened a bottle of wine and poured them both a glass.

“This is to my terrific baby sister who will one day be a famous psychologist,” he toasted.

Amada laughed. “Don’t set the bar too high. I haven’t even started college yet.” She took a sip from the wine and asked, “How did your day go?”

Fernando sighed. “It started out horrible and went down from there. On my job interview, I got turned down by this bitch of a woman.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, hugging him briefly.

Leaving out the exhilarating part of his day with Gwen, he continued, “Yeah, and a few minutes ago I ran into Tito and Carlos.”

“You need to stay away from them.” Her voice was tense, and he knew she was worried about him. It was the first time he consciously noticed it, and he wondered when their roles had switched, and his baby sister had started worrying about her big brother?

“I know. I wanted to sidestep them, but they stopped me and…” He hesitated – a mistake as he soon found out.

Of course she’d picked up on it and asked, “And? What did they want?”

He sighed, the celebratory mood all but gone. “They want to rob a warehouse over on South Street and expect me to help them disarm the security system.”

“You can’t do that.” Amada jumped up, almost spilling her wine.

“I know it violates my parole, but they’ve checked it out, and it’s a big score. Really big. Maybe if I only did it one more time.”

She pushed her hands through her hair, then pressed her fingertips to her temples. “Fernando, are you listening to your own words? This is crazy. Outright kamikaze. You know there’s never a last time. There will always be another job. Another way to make a big score. Always.”

“I know. But I could make enough money to last us for at least a year.” Their money was quickly running out, and someone had to pay the rent. And Amada’s college tuition.

Amada sighed, then inhaled deeply before meeting his gaze again. “Why don’t I postpone college for a year and work full–?”

“No!”

She held up a hand, beseeching him to listen. “You’ve been taking care of me for so long now, and I know it hasn’t been easy. Let me take care of you for a while and you can finish high school. Then you could get a well-paying job.”

“Not gonna happen. You go to college, and I will think of something.” Fernando was too macho to let his little sister take care of him. No way this would happen. Ever.

“Promise you won’t do anything that might send you to prison,” she demanded. He looked at her, shaking his head, but she put on her best puppy face and continued, “Who’s gonna take care of me when you’re in prison, Nando?”

Of course she would fight dirty to get what she wanted. How could he leave her to fend for herself? “I promise, but this is the end of the discussion. You are going to college.”

He didn’t miss the spark of victory in her eyes. While they returned to the kitchen to prepare the ravioli, his chest filled with pride for her. There was no way he would let her sacrifice her career and future for him. No way in hell. He’d been taking care of her since their parents died, and he would continue to do so. Until she’d graduated from college, had a good job, and could take care of herself.

He’d manage. Somehow.