That night, after the shock of seeing Charlotte, Angel cancelled his plans with Katie and rescheduled for two days later. He couldn't face her so he dove into things with the club. The side of them she didn't know, or he thought she didn't know about, was slowly imploding and needed his attention. He gave it all even in the most menial tasks just so he wouldn't have to think about Katie and Charlotte
When he picked her up for the overdue dinner there was a sense of excitement between them.
"Hey," she said, getting in behind him. "Ready?"
"Yep," he said, before driving off down the street.
They sat, the tiny mom and pop restaurant was full with the dinner rush, and ordered their dinner and drinks.
"How've you been?" She asked casually.
"Busy," he told her.
Katie smiled and nodded. "All that scrap," she laughed.
"Copper brings in good money," he explained.
"I know," she assured him.
They chatted as they always did, casually, and ate their dinner downing drink after drink. Finally, Angel worked up the nerve to say what he has been aching to.
"How long we been doing this?" He asked, his intense eyes locked onto hers.
"Doing what? Having sex?" Katie looked at him and pouted as she thought. "About 7 months."
"Nah," he shook his head. "Pretending like this ain't more than hanging out, drinking,-"
"And tacos?" She said suggestively as she pushed her half empty plate aside.
"I was trying to be serious," he sat forward and leaned on the table. "But you said it," his smirk appeared and disappeared quickly. "How long we gonna pretend that we don't care?"
"I'm not pretending," Katie said casually.
"Now you're just lying," he huffed, sitting back again. "I see the way you look at Coco and EZ, like you wanna hug em' and cook em' some big old white girl meal, and you play all sweet with Bish. You're always right there with your lil kit when we get banged up, checking up and checking in."
"And do you see the way I look at you, Angel Ignacio Reyes?" She asked before abruptly standing and hurrying out of the tiny Mexican restaurant.
"Shit," Angel didn't expect it. He clumsily got up, tripping over his own feet, then threw what cash he had down on the table and ran after her. "Where you going?" He hollered down the street. "You don't have a ride."
"I got feet," she said over her shoulder. Katie stopped, a face catching her attention from the front page of a paper at the newsstand.
"They found him."
"They did," Angel jogged toward so they could talk quietly. "IRA, Kate." She just silently nodded, her back still to him. "Let me in. I trust you, all your fucking secrets and shit." He suddenly softened and leaned closer to whisper into her ear. "I wanna protect you, mi dulce, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what's unraveling and what could be coming at you and me and my club."
Turning, Katie touched his cheek and whimpered softly. "We should go back, we can, uh, stop pretending and talk."
—
They arrived back at the yard, much to Katie's dismay, so Angel could check in with Bishop and clear his night. He knew he was in for a long one.
"Where's everyone?" He asked Chucky rather curtly.
