Delgano: A Dark Contemporary Interracial Romance

“Because you love her?”

“It’s not necessarily that, no. I like being around her, I like talking to her, and I like making…” He paused. Their lovemaking wasn’t anyone’s business but the two of them. “And I like making her laugh. But with Sayeda, I feel safe. I was not expecting that.”

Hannah quietly studied his face until a looming shadow drew their attention to the hulking man standing over them.

She stood, dusting off her pants. “Hey, Trev. The ‘kid’ is all yours. I’m gonna go clean up…whatever that looks like all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.”

Trevor took her vacated space, leaving a wider gap to accommodate his bulk. “I’ve already bothered Lee,” he began. “I’ll get to Hannah later, and I’m not sure I’m interested in anything Spettro or Barnes might want to have a conversation about. Especially Spettro. Barnes…something’s not right with him and wildlife. Still, I’m the captain of this vessel, and my job is to get to know the mates on my ship.”

Adrían stared at the fiery ball at the edge of the landscape until he saw a shadowy duplicate when he looked away. “Thought you already knew everything about me?”

“A file can only tell someone so much. For instance, what’s your favorite color? I don’t know your favorite color.”

“What is this, a date?”

“If that’s what you’re asking your dates, mate, I’m going to need you to explain how you made off with two girlfriends.”

“My looks.”

“I’m better looking than you are.”

“Which is a sentence no one will ever say.”

“I think we’ll get on just fine, kid,” Trevor said, chuckling as he stretched the small barges he carried around as arms above his head. “But Gano, help me understand something. You were part of a gang. One of the biggest gangs in South America. Yet, you isolate yourself. Gangs are supposed to be about brotherhood, but you don’t trust easily. Then, you get in my truck the first night you meet me.”

“For Sayeda.”

“So, is she your girl or not?”

“She’s my girl.” Joining the commotion, a racket started from the base of his throat to the deepest part of his midsection. “She’s mine until she can’t be anymore.”

“As in, when we leave?”

“Yes.”

“Shit sucks. I remember thinking…I’m a man. It won’t hurt. But I’ve broken bones that don’t hurt as much as knowing I’m not where Lilly is.” Trevor shook his head. “Also, mate, Lilly’s the only woman I’d give more than half of my money.”

“Don’t you have a sister?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Adrían, chuckling, scratched his eyebrow. “I do have a question. What happens to Sayeda once I’m done with all of this?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. You want to make sure she’s taken care of?”

“For the rest of her life, if possible.”

“As long as you don’t have to do it next to her,” Trevor finished. “You want her cared for financially, but that’s about it. Sound about right?”

He offered his silence as a response.

If something happened to her, it would hurt, but he would recover. However, had he been able to offer any more of himself, and then he did, losing her would destroy the few remaining intact pieces he had left—pieces he desperately needed if he intended to build a bridge back to a close copy of his old self one day.

“I lost my mother when I was young, too,” Trevor shared. “Different circumstances. She was sick, and she was sick for a long time. Me and my sister had to watch her go from a spry, bubbly woman to…a shell of a human. I was on track to being a different kind of kid, a somebody kind of kid, until that happened. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if it wasn’t for the military.”

“Where was your father?”

“Never knew him.”