Somehow, it didn’t surprise him that Pat was a pest. Isabel had only texted him once the entire time and it had only been three words. The only words he ever needed to hear from her.

I love you.

They finished their drinks and Romero was finally done with it. He’d done it and came away unscathed—hadn’t dropped the F bomb even once. Sal would be proud.

He called Isabel as soon as he got in the car, placing the earpiece on as he drove out the driveway.

“How’d it go?”

“Good.” He smirked. “I beat your brother’s ass.”

Isabel laughed. “Even I can beat Art at golf. He’s always hated it.”

Romero caught her up on how for the most part the few hours he’d spent with her dad had been uneventful. He told her about telling her dad that his old man was in jail and how he didn’t ask much else. That seemed to surprise her. “He’ll probably be asking me about it.”

“You could tell him. I don’t care.” Since it was Saturday, Isabel’s day off, Romero had taken the rest of the day off as well. “So what are you up to? Are you home?”

“No. Actually on my way to a late lunch with my sister.”

“Gina?” Romero knew Isabel wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with Pat, hadn’t been for most of the week, ever since they got into it about Jacob. It had been exactly one week since her day with him at the mall and when Isabel asked Pat to not schedule any more of her time campaigning with him—the argument had ended with Isabel hanging up on her.

“No, Pat.”

Romero thought about overhearing Charles on the phone. He remembered the last time Isabel told him she was meeting with Pat it turned out to be a blind date. After last weekend, he wouldn’t put anything past Pat now. Maybe she set up some other kind of double date for them now. The heat was on again and he gripped the wheel. “Just the two of you?”

“Yeah, she wants to talk.”

He remembered Charles’s exact words. After this, I’m all yours. Something was up. “You’re not lying to me are you, Isabel?” There was a silence on the other end and the heat he felt, now scorched through his veins.

“Why are you calling me a liar, Romero?”

“Is he gonna be there?” His heart pounded now like it had when he found out she’d spent the day with Jacob.

“He who?”

“Jacob!”

“No! Why would you think that?” She sounded almost exasperated. “It’s just me and Pat.”

He stepped on the accelerator, suddenly feeling the need to be with her. The need to look into her eyes when she said it to him. She’d lied to him before, but she’d promised she never would again. “Where are you meeting her?”

“Maxwell’s on the base. What is the matter with you? Why are you so upset?”

That only enraged him further. “I’m more than f**king upset. Your sister’s up to something. Why the base?”

“That’s just where she was at today. So she asked me to meet her there. Jacob’s gone, Romero. That’s what she called to tell me. He left yesterday and he’ll be out at sea for weeks so I don’t have to worry about running into him at the campaign office.”

Both relief and suspicion seeped through Romero, and he still felt the tension in his arms—his shoulders. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, now will you tell me what set you off?” She lowered her voice. “Why did you call me Isabel?”

Romero still didn’t understand why she hated that so much, but the only time he did feel compelled to call her Isabel was when he felt ready to explode. “Because anytime your sister’s involved now, I don’t know what to think. I don’t trust her for shit.”

“Yeah, well you need to start trusting me. I hate when you get like this.”

As if she could see him, he nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Izzy.” He really was. He didn’t want her hating anything about him and he could hear it in her voice, she was losing patience with him and that made him nervous. Trying to sound much calmer he asked, “How long are you gonna be?”

The momentary silence made him even more nervous. “An hour, maybe… I miss you.”

He exhaled slowly. Finally, something he could smile about but it reminded him of Charles’s phone call on the golf course. Maybe Pat cancelled on him last minute to meet up with Isabel instead. Who knew? Who cared? All that mattered is that his Izzy hadn’t lied to him. “I miss you too, baby. Hurry home.”

He made a U-turn and headed back to the apartment. He’d started heading toward the base as soon as she’d said it. Visions of flipping over the table they all sat at when he got there had crossed his mind. Sal’s words came to him suddenly. The smallest of scuffles with this guy and it’ll be all over the papers the next day. Somehow, he was going to have to get a grip.

***

Pat waved at Isabel from her table. She was on her phone. Isabel made her way to her table. Pat was one of those people who talked as loudly as if she were in the privacy of her own home when on her cell phone. Isabel always walked away from crowds and spoke softly so that no one could hear her conversation. She could hear Pat even before she reached the table. “When will you know how long you’ll be gone? Don’t they tell you these things?” She paused, giving Isabel an annoyed look as she sat down. “All right, all right. Just let me know as soon as you know something. Okay, honey. I love you.” She hung up, tossing her phone in her purse. “I swear I’m getting so sick of these surprise trips they keep sending him on. They expect him to just drop everything and go.”