Free Loving a Bad Boy by Erosa Knowles

home I knew I was leaving.”
    Julio’s interest was piqued. He’d always
wondered how she’d had a choice where they lived.
    “ Daddy said no of course.
We argued. I became depressed and threatened to end my
life.”
    He shot forward and looked down at her.
“What?”
    She shrugged, “I was desperate and
determined not to live or die like mama. We argued constantly until
the doctor became concerned and talked with him. I was underweight;
not eating right and it was affecting my son. Once daddy realized
that he could lose me and his grandson, he offered a compromise. I
could return stateside and stay with his new in-laws, but I had to
change my name and allow for discreet security.”
    “ Gerald’s not from
Kansas.” He wasn’t rushing her, but he wanted his questions
answered.
    “ No he’s not. He’s from
Atlanta. He was visiting one of his friends when we met at the
library. You were ten months old. By that time I was almost
nineteen and lonely for male attention. Plus he was cute.” She
smiled.
    “ Um hmm.”
    “ Anyway we started
talking. He fell for you right away and that made me fall in love
with him. We talked back and forth when he left for his
assignment.” She frowned in concentration. “It’s been so long, I
don’t remember where he was based at the time, but we decided to
get married. Daddy insisted on coming over and explaining a few
things to him.”
    “ Wow.” His respect for
Gerald rose. “Were you scared your dad would send Pops
running?”
    “ Yes and no. I don’t think
I could fall in love with someone who couldn’t stand up to daddy. I
was more afraid of how he would feel about the Cartel connection.
We had to live incognito. No one could know I was Benito Cardenas’
daughter or that there was another Cardenas.” She pointed at him.
“You. Daddy was scared someone would try to take you out if they
knew he had an heir. Gerald and Francisco promised to make sure
that didn’t happen.”
    “ Whoa, they got along
then?”
    She shook her head. “Not really. You know
how Francisco is, he lives and breathes this stuff, always has.
Gerald wanted you to have a broader view of the world. They clashed
big time.”
    “ Hmmm, I wondered if
they’d ever been cool,” he said looking at her. “Go on.”
    “ We lived all over the
world and no one found out. Periodically, Francisco would call, pay
me a visit, just to make sure everything was good.” Silence
permeated the room as they reflected on all that was said and not
said. It figures Francisco had been a shadowy part of his life, the
man had a blueprint for his training the moment he came on board
years ago.
    He bent forward and kissed her forehead. “I
know that was an abbreviated version of what had to be really hard
for you. Thanks for sharing it with me. My respect for you and
Gerald is through the roof. Love you, Ma.”
    She patted his face with closed eyes. “For
you, I’d do anything to keep you safe. You are my world and I am
proud of you. You wanna know why I gave up and stopped bugging you
about joining Francisco?”
    Curious, he nodded. She’d never said and
he’d always thought it was because she agreed with him about saving
Smoke. Maybe that wasn’t the case.
    “ Daddy was special. If you
saw him walking on the street, you’d never guess what he did for a
living. My friends thought he worked at the bank. He dressed in
suits, carried a briefcase, even had a car that picked him up. The
Feds were never able to bring him down either. He was legit enough
that it cancelled his other stuff. You’re like him. You can fit in
any situation and own it. I’ve watched how you talk differently to
different people, making them comfortable or scared as hell. It’s
like you have this gift of dealing with people. It was his greatest
asset, kept him out of prison and you’ve got it in
spades.”
    Floored, Julio stared at her speechless. He
hadn’t seen that coming. Most times he didn’t know what to say to
people and