Breaking Brandon (Fate) (24 page)

Romero puffed his chest, making Regina laugh. “Yeah my sister would definitely disagree.”

Just as Romero began to protest, there was an outbreak of laughter, wheezing, and snorting coming from the table behind him. “No fucking lie!” His uncle was saying to Regina’s sister Patricia, pointing
at the other guy at the table. “Just ask him. Tell ’er, Max. And don’t leave shit out.”

“Hey!” Romero called out loudly with a frown. His uncles both looked up at him, still laughing. “Watch the language. There’s a bunch of kids around!”

“Not to mention ladies,” her sister Patricia added with a raised brow and a smirk.”

“Where?” his uncle asked, looking around as animated as ever, and the laughter erupted once again.

Romero rolled his eyes, turning back to Regina. “Okay, maybe not everyone’s matured.”

Regina laughed, but something distracted her. “I still mix them up,” she said, looking in the direction of the driveway with the smile. “They all look so much alike. Which one is that one?”

Both Brandon and Romero turned at the same time. “That’s Angel,” Romero said, waving him over.

Again as if frozen in time, Brandon watched as Angel waved but motioned he’d be over in a bit. Both he and his wife, who Brandon remembered as Sarah, his girl from way back, were surrounded by Regina’s mom and some of her other
relatives greeting them, including Valerie who’d resurfaced from within that back sliding door. This was a fucking nightmare—Brandon’s
worst
nightmare. For a moment, he actually considered that he might be getting punked.

“They’re gonna trip out when they
find out you’re Gina’s new man.”

“Why?” Regina asked smiling—obviously oblivious as to what was unfolding before her eyes.

Brandon turned in time to catch Romero wink at her. “You gotta know the history. We all go way back.”

It had just dawned on Brandon
that since he realized who Regina’s brother-in-law was and that he’d shortly be reunited with the
last
family on earth he ever wanted to be reunited with he hadn’t uttered a single word—he’d gone mute.

“I know
that
one,” Regina said. “That’s their sister, right?”

Swallowing hard, Brandon didn’t even want to look. He kept his eyes on Romero, who glanced in the same direction Regina was focused on—the driveway. “Yep, that’s Sof.” He turned back to Brandon with an evil grin. “Betcha remember her, huh, Brandon?
”

Feeling his insides warm by the second, Brandon knew there was a choice to be made here. Either he turned to look at Regina, who he could feel staring at him or turn in the direction of the driveway. Still hoping this day—this whole fucking situation—cou
ld be salvaged somehow, he chose the latter and turned in the direction of the driveway.

Sofie was addressing the little girl whose hand she was holding. Eric walked up next to her, holding a sleeping baby against his shoulder and was quickly mobbed by a f
ew women wanting a better look at the baby. The little girl had the same huge brown eyes as Sofie. Then Sofie glanced up, meeting Brandon’s eyes for a second before looking down at the little girl again. Not a second later, her head jerked up, and their eyes locked.

Chapter Twenty

Regina

Betcha remember her, huh, Brandon?

It wasn’t so much Romero’s question as it was Brandon’s reaction to it that had Regina slowly coming unglued. As if watching the uncomfortably long moment he and Sofia shared when they first saw each other hadn’t been enough to make Regina’s skin crawl, what Romero had said suddenly sunk in. Brandon grew up with these people,
the junkyard dog brothers who didn’t like him around their sister.
Brandon had practically frozen at the sight of her then was in no way able to recover casually from what seeing her had done to him.

Sofie.

This was the girl from Brandon’s past—the
only
girl he’d had such heavy feelings for before Regina—the girl who’d started off the chain of events that ultimately led him to give up attachments of any sort, to stop living.

Regina wanted to think rationally. That was a long time ago. Sofia was happily married now and had been for years. Brandon was in love with Regina now, and she abso
lutely believed that—his feelings for her were practically tangible. But that moment he and Sofia shared had spoken volumes. There was still something there, and Regina, who’d never once been insecure, was now drowning in utter jealousy. As special as Brandon made her feel, Sofia was even more special to him. She’d been his very first
real
experience—the only girl to have touched him in such a way he’d never forgotten her. Evidently, no matter how many years had gone by, he was still feeling something.

Regi
na had always liked Sofia. She’d always liked the entire family. They were beyond pleasant to be around, and she’d even had some great conversations and good times with Sofia and her sisters-in-law at gatherings like this one. There was never anything
not
to like about them, until now. She knew what growing up around them had been like for Brandon, but, at that moment, Regina knew she could very easily hate Sofia.

It was irrational, she knew. Sofia had never been anything but sweet to Regina, but it killed
her to know Sofia was the cause of Brandon’s first broken heart. Regina knew now that Sofia had used him to alleviate her curiosity, but if she’d been the least bit interested in him in any other way—she’d been his first choice—Sofia might be here with Brandon instead of Regina. The only reason Brandon had even noticed Regina to begin with was because she’d reminded him of Sofia.

What’s past is prologue. What’s past is prologue.

Regina closed her eyes for a moment in a desperate attempt to calm herself. She reminded herself that if things had gone differently in her life, she, too, might be here with someone else, her
husband,
Ryan. Regardless of why and how things had come about between Regina and Brandon, everything happened for a reason, and that’s why he was here with
her
now.

Brandon tugged her hand. “Your sister’s calling you, babe.”

Regina snapped out of her thoughts to turn in Pat’s direction. She was standing with her cousin Claudia and Ricardo, motioning for her to come over.
Great.

Forcing a smile, she turned to Brandon, who’d now snapped out of the stupor Sofia had put him in. He smiled back at her in what felt like a hopeful smile. Hopeful of what? That she hadn’t caught the gazing exchange between him and Sofia? Or that she still
hadn’t picked up on who she was? Starting toward her sister, she pulled Brandon along with her. “Come on. It’s time to meet Ricardo.”

Ironically, coming here today, she’d thought this might be the most uncomfortable moment she and Brandon would be dealing
with. Pat wore a mischievous grin. Before she could say anything, Regina shook off the unnerving thoughts of Brandon and Sofia. She smiled big and hugged Claudia. “Hey, where have you been hiding? I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“I know,” Claudia said, pul
ling away. “I’ve been so busy trying to get my business going. It’s been crazy.” She turned to Ricardo, who was smiling nervously at Regina, and wrapped her arms around his arm. “This is my boyfriend, Ricky. Honey, this is my cousin, Gina.”

Regina had met
Ricardo the year she decided to take the summer off school and came home. She spent most of her time on the beach where she met the former US Junior Surf Team member trying to go professional. He was working as a part-time surf instructor in the meantime. While he was very nice on the eyes and made for an exciting summer fling, other than trying to make the US team, he truly was a beach bum. He had no real aspirations of doing much else with his life, and her sister Pat had been the first to point that out.

Pat was probably the reason why the fling went on longer than it might have. Unlike her sister Bell when she first brought Romero around to her unimpressed older sister, nothing was more satisfying to Regina than seeing Pat’s disapproving face whenever sh
e walked into a family gathering on the arm of her eye-candy beach-bum boyfriend. Maybe if Regina had been serious about him, it might’ve bothered her. Instead, she got a kick of annoying her sister to pieces.

She and Ricardo had both agreed neither was lo
oking for anything serious, and Regina knew her stay in Southern California was only temporary. By the end of the summer, the fling had run its course, and Regina had the perfect excuse to end things. She was going back to New York. They agreed to keep in touch, and they had for a few months, until all communication had slowly tapered off.

Regina smiled, holding out her hand and waiting for
Ricky
to either come clean about knowing her already or pretend not to. She’d already decided if that was the card he wanted to play she didn’t care either way. She saw her cousin once or twice a year, and they’d never been close, so it didn’t matter to her. Not surprisingly, Ricardo cowardly chose the latter. “Nice to meet you, Gina,” he said, reaching out his hand.

Regi
na went along, introducing them to her boyfriend while her insides still roiled about the real elephant in the room. After some small talk, they got back to the topic of Claudia’s house cleaning and landscaping business and how she and Ricardo had met when he applied as a landscaper. Pat immediately gave Regina a knowing look.

“That was way back when I was first trying to get things going,” Claudia said.

“Yeah,” Ricardo added as if Regina really cared. “I was just looking for a job on the side, but I was still doing surf lessons at the same time.”

“Now he runs the landscaping part of the business, and I run the housekeeping side,” Claudia said proudly. “We stay real busy.”

Brandon gave Ricardo as much attention as he deserved since he was such a complete nonissue. He glanced away often, though Regina had to wonder if his indifference with Ricardo was intentional or if he truly was too distracted with
other
things to care much.

Glancing behind Ricardo, Regina’s eyes met with Valerie’s. Valerie, who was standin
g with Sarah, smiled big. She tugged Sarah as they both made their way toward her and Brandon. Regina wondered how much about Brandon and Sofia either knew. Sarah smiled as big as Valerie when she saw Regina, but there was no missing the way her mouth fell open when she saw Brandon. Both she and Valerie spoke in voices too low for Regina to hear as they approached, but the big smiles were back once they were close enough to reach out and hug her.

Pat was busy grilling Claudia about the business she’d starte
d up, so Regina could focus on Valerie and Sarah.

“Oh my God, you look so good,” Valerie said, hugging her. “Isabel told me you were moving out here. You’re staying for good, right?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure,” she said, pulling away from Valerie’s tight hug then hugging Sarah. “The job I’m working on now will take at least a year, if not longer, but I like being close to the family, so I think I’ll stay.”

They both turned to Brandon. Before Regina could figure out whether she should introduce him as if they di
dn’t know him, Valerie turned to him. “Isabel said this was her first time meeting your boyfriend. I take it this means you and Brandon are an item?”

Regina nodded, her knotted insides getting tighter. She wasn’t sure how she should address the fact that,
unlike her and Ricardo, Valerie was not going to pretend not to know Brandon. “Yes, we met on the base two months ago.”

“Oh,” Valerie turned to Regina, still smiling but her brow lifted significantly. “So it hasn’t been long?”

Without giving Regina a chance to respond to that, Sarah turned to Brandon. “What a small world.” She smiled sweetly, turning to Regina for a moment. “Brandon and Angel and his brothers grew up just a few houses away from each other and went to the same schools.” She then turned back to Brandon. “How’ve you been, Brandon? Obviously, life in the Marines suits you well.”

“Always has,” Brandon said with a small smile. “And I agree,” he added, looking around, the already small smile waning a bit. “It’s a very small world. But I’ve been goo
d. It looks like the family is really growing.”

Just then one of the twins ran over to Valerie, screeching as
The Taz
caught up to her, holding something out with an evil laugh that made the little girl scream even louder. Even Valerie braced herself. “What is
that
?” she asked, her face contorted in disgust.

“It’s a worm!” his sister screeched, hiding behind Valerie.

Out of nowhere, Alex swooped down and lifted him easily over his head and onto his back. “Boy, didn’t you promise you were gonna behave?” he asked the now-laughing-hysterically Taz. “Drop the worm,” he ordered, trying to sound firm, but Regina could see he was holding back a smile.

With the worm dropped, Alex began putting him down, tapping him on the behind. “No more worms, you hear me? Go take
care of your sisters.”

Just behind him Angel now approached, also putting down his own son, who quickly took off after The Taz. They were both headed at top speed toward Mandy’s outdoor playset.

Alex kissed Valerie then turned to Regina with a smile but addressed Brandon first. “Billings?” he said. His smile wasn’t quite as bright as when he smiled at Regina. “Long time.”

Brandon nodded, glancing around. “Yep. Long enough. I see the second generation of Morenos is growing fast.”

“That it is,” Angel said, wrapping his arms around Sarah’s waist from behind. “What about you? Any kids yet?”

Brandon shook his head, and Sarah smiled then winked at Regina. “You never know though. He and Gina have been dating for a few months now.”

Bell and Romero approached them. As usual, Romero wore a huge grin. “Isn’t this crazy?” Romero asked. “Gina and Billings. I never thought I was gonna see this guy again. Now we just may be related someday.”

“What is that you guys always say,” Pat suddenly chimed
in. “
Easy!
They’ve only been dating for a few months, and Brandon hasn’t been made to jump through all our hoops yet.”

Feeling Brandon tense, Regina turned to Pat, trying not to sound as annoyed as her comment made her. She hoped Brandon didn’t think she
meant all of them as in the Morenos as well. Regina knew Pat meant her family, but with all of them standing there, it could easily be construed as all of
them
as well. The last thing she needed today was for her sister to add to the already mounting tension. “Pat—”

“You see here,” Romero’s uncle Max stuck his phone in Pat’s face. “That was me back in high school.”

With a frown, Romero suddenly scoffed. “Will you stop trying to convince her you were good-looking once upon a time.”

“
Once upon a time
?” Max lifted his collar on both sides. “I’m a fucking chick magnet. What are you talking about?”

They all laughed, and for a few minutes while Romero, Max, and Pat went back and forth, the attention was off Regina and Brandon. The phone got passed around to the gu
ys, who all laughed and poked fun at Max for the clothes he was wearing in the photo.

“Check out the Fonz.” Romero laughed.

Sal and Grace arrived. They came over and chatted and said hello to Regina and Brandon. Much like the other two brothers, Sal was civil but not overly friendly to Brandon. They were the only couple who arrived without kids.

“You don’t have any kids, Sal?” Brandon asked, and he seemed to have loosened up just the tiniest bit like Regina, but neither was completely relaxed.

Sal and Grace smiled at each other. Then Sal patted her belly. “Third one is on the way, and the other two are with her sister and my cousin Vince. They’re married but holding off on the baby making for now, so they often take our two rug rats for the day or even the whole weekend. But, yeah, we have two: boy and a girl. They should be here in a few.”

“Where did Sofie and Eric go?” Bell asked, looking around. “I saw her earlier, didn’t I?”

With the exception of Romero, Max, and Pat, who were still caught up looking through the photos on Max’s phone, there was an obvious shift in the mood of the group. Alex’s jaw actually tightened as he, too, looked around.