Never Just Friends by Katerina Winters
Chapter 4
Locking his jeep with a beep, Cade crossed the street half-heartedly jogging towards Maritzia's apartment building. The cold April air whipped around and through his light sweater, making him grit his teeth. As usual, his jacket was in the backseat of his vehicle and he was far too lazy to go back and get it. Punching in the code to her building, Cade let himself into the quiet lobby. A large wide space, the lobby was one of the best features about her apartment building. With black and white marble floors and a crystal chandelier, the lobby looked as if it belonged to one of those high-dollar apartments on the Upper Eastside instead of nestled on a quiet street in The Bronx.
Nodding to the watchful doorman, Cade pressed the gold button for the elevator, taking it up to the top floor. Getting off, he stepped out into the silent hallway and turned right, walking to the very end and turning a small corner to the last apartment.
Opening the unlocked door, he was greeted by a wave of warm air and a clamor of talking and laughing within.
Throwing another one of his shitty parties, Victor sat on the large sectional with a dozen or more other guys crowding Maritzia's living room to watch the NBA championship game. Most of the faces were familiar, some guys from the station, a couple of Victor's cousins Cade had met in passing, and Carlos, who lounged in a chair off to the side holding a beer.
Nodding at a few greetings, Cade scanned the large room once more and frowned. Catching Victor's eyes in silent command, he gave the man a questioning look. "Hey, where's Ritz?" he asked, not bothering with a greeting.
Victor glanced back at the TV, Cade practically watching the man consider the option of ignoring him, but turned back to give him an annoyed look. "She didn’t feel good, she's laying down in the bedroom."
A part of Cade debated just turning back around and walking down the hall to the bedroom, but his instincts told him if he just walked into another man's bedroom, no matter how piss-ant the man, there may be a problem. Though, technically, this wasn't even the asshole's place, Cade thought, staring at the side of Victor's head. Luis and Carlos had bought this place for their sister and it was in Carlos's and Maritzia's name. In Cade's eyes, Victor was the goddamn guest. Looking to Carlos, Cade shared a silent look with the man.
"She's fine," he said, raising his voice a little over the sudden eruption of glee as a team on the screen scored a shot. "I don't think she wanted to put up with all this tonight," Carlos waved a hand at the guys littered across his sister's living room.
Nodding, Cade turned around and walked into the open kitchen, and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Popping the top, he leaned back against the counter and observed the others. Having been to plenty of gatherings at the DeLeon's, Cade felt he had enough authority to know this party was off. From Carlos's bored expression to his sister's absence, Cade knew he wasn't the only one who felt the odd dynamic of the party and knew who to blame. Taking a sip of his beer, Cade watched Victor interact with his friends. The man was unjustly pompous. There was a "king of the land" type aura around the equipment officer that made no sense since he wasn't the king of a goddamn thing in this place. It was as if there was always something this man was trying to prove, but all Cade could see was that the man proved he could not throw a decent party.
Thankfully, Cade didn't have to wait long for Victor to become inebriated and fully engrossed in the game. Catching Carlos's eye, he nodded to his friend and turned around, grabbing a few beers and a plate of food. Without notice, he slipped back down the short entryway hallway and turned right down a smaller connecting hall that led to the guest bathroom and master bedroom.
Knocking once, he opened the door a crack and peeked in. Sitting on the bed wearing pink and white lounge pants and a matching sweater, Maritzia looked up from her phone in her lap with a scowl before smiling as she realized it was him.
Stepping in, he closed the door fully behind him. "Why are you in here?" he asked, setting down the food and drinks on the nightstand beside her. "Normally, you can stand watching the championship game, at least."
Letting her phone drop to her side on the bed, Maritzia gave him a shrug. "I wasn't in the mood."
This was the first time he had ever been in this room, he realized. Grabbing the back of the wingback chair in the corner near her nightstand, Cade glanced around the room as he dragged it closer to her side of the bed. The room was a little dark but very comfortable looking. A knot formed in his stomach as he glanced at the empty side of the bed and realized Victor slept there each night next to her. The thought made his head swim with so many emotions, but anger was definitely the most prevalent.
Looking back at her, Cade frowned at the tiredness in her eyes and the slight slump of her shoulders. Sitting down in the chair he had moved, he was a little below eye-level to her now.
"You okay? They told me you didn’t feel good."
"Yeah, it's fine. I just said that to leave," she admitted, looking at the blank TV on the other side of the room opposite the bed.
Leaning back further in his chair and stretching out his legs, he gave her a searching look. You shouldn’t have to make excuses in your own home, was what he wanted to say but didn't. He reminded himself it wasn't his place.
"And besides, we’ve been arguing a lot lately," she confessed hesitantly, still not looking at him.
Cade sank into the chair's arms and imagined Victor out in the living room right now laughing it up with his buddies. "Anything in particular?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his voice neutral.
"Just stuff,” she shrugged. “You know the normal relationship stuff. Nothing…too big."
There was so much Cade wanted to say, so much fighting to claw up from the churning anger in his gut, but he kept it down. He thought of all the times he had entered their squad car with the same defeated and angry attitude from a night arguing with Bethany. Maritzia had listened to him each and every time with gentle, understanding silence. She had told him when he was being an ass and told him when he was right. She had offered tips on how to approach and handle Bethany, things to do to work past their anger. Hell, it was probably Maritzia that helped keep his and Bethany's relationship going for as long as it had. When he had been beyond ready to throw in the towel, Maritzia was there to gently talk him down and reconsider. He wanted to give that to her now, to offer her the unrelenting support she had offered him even if it was for the very person he loathed. But the words were like acid in his throat. How could he encourage her to work it out with a prick like Victor?
"I'm sorry. I wish I was like you and knew what to say," he finally whispered.
"It's ok." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Just being with me now is perfect."
Nodding, he didn't trust himself to say more. Reaching behind his head with his other hand to her nightstand, Cade grabbed the TV remote and pointed it to the TV.
"Let's watch one of those international renovation shows where Americans buy dirt-cheap, fucked up properties and get in way over their heads and have nervous breakdowns," he offered as he searched for the right channel.
Maritzia laughed and nodded her head. "Yes, let's. Their suffering will act as a balm to my soul."
It was his turn to laugh and he squeezed her hand that still held his. Settling into their spots, hers on the bed next to him and him in the chair they ignored the laughter and cheers from the living room and sank into their own world.
Cade opened his eyes at the sound of the door opening. The TV was still going at the foot of the bed, playing a commercial as Maritzia slept next to him curled up close to him on the edge of the bed. Looking at his arm that still rested on the bed, Cade noticed with disappointment that at some point their hands had come undone. Turning his head to the intruder, Cade blinked away the lingering sleep as he stared at Victor's burning gaze. Looking from him to Maritzia, for once Victor's gaze turned shrewd, picking up all the pieces before him and recreating the scene. Cade ignored the fury dancing in the man's eyes and over the man’s shoulders where Carlos stood lingering beyond the doorway nosily peeking in.
"Get out," Victor hissed, bringing Cade's attention back to him.
Taking his time, Cade stood up quietly from the chair and looked at Maritzia's beautiful face. At some point during the night, she had grown tired of the ball she had worn her hair in at the nape of her neck and had taken it down. Loose and fully curly, her black hair lay messily around her like a silky, fluffy black cloud that begged a man to touch it. Standing at his full height, Cade turned and looked down at Victor, wishing the man would just start this fight that had been brewing between them for years now. All he would need to do is take one step forward, to crowd the man in a silent act of challenge, and Cade knew he would get the fight he desperately wanted, but again, he restrained himself for her. He would not want to do it here, not now. He would never wake Maritzia up in fear like that. Turning, he walked past the man and followed Carlos down the short hall to the front door as Victor closed the bedroom door behind him.
Stepping out into the hall, both Cade and Carlos paused at Victor's voice.
"Hey, Cade," Victor's voice was thick with anger as he waited for Cade to turn around and look at him. "Don't ever come back here again. You may be her partner, but you're not invited back here."
Carlos looked momentarily stunned before a smile formed at his lips and he looked back at Cade.
Leaning one shoulder against the door jamb Cade looked from Carlos to Victor and back to Carlos. "Hey, remind me who exactly owns this apartment again?"
"I believe that would be myself and my sister," Carlos answered happily.
"Yeah, no," Cade said, replying to Victor directly now with a tsking sound as he looked at Victor's angry face. "That doesn’t seem like a decision you can make, now does it?"
The door slammed in his face and both his and Carlos's laughs echoed down the quiet hallway.