Danielle Spellman is Juice Ortiz's older sister. She shows up at TM one day and quickly works her way into the family. One night, when she's out with a few of the old ladies, she meets the president of the Mayans, Marcus Alvarez. She's immediately i...
Dani looked up when the bell over the door of the shop dinged to see Trixie striding in with a serious look on her face. She nodded to Esai, who was sitting in a chair by the door before motioning with her head toward the back. Dani nodded and followed her as she walked into the storeroom and shut the door. She winked at Dani as she sat down on a couple of crates.
"I didn't think your guard dog would follow us in here."
Dani snickered and nodded. "Maybe, but I guarantee when we open the door, he'll be standing in the hallway. I do get to go to the restroom by myself, so there's that."
Trixie shrugged and winked at her. "Yeah, but look at it from Esai's point of view. Would you want to be the one to tell Papá that something happened to his pequeña?" She chuckled as Dani rolled her eyes. "I'm thinking son or not, he'd be a dead man. Does he follow you home too?"
Dani nodded, glaring at her friend when she burst out laughing. "It's not funny! I feel like I'm in witness protection, and he scares the shit out of Pedro."
Trixie snorted and shook her head. "Well, Pedro's a sketchy fucker anyway. Won't hurt for him to have to watch his back for a little while." She pointed at the ceiling. "How close are you to having the apartment ready?"
Dani sighed. "Freddie says another couple of days. She's sanding the floors now."
Trixie grinned. "You do realize that as soon as you've moved in, Marcus will be too, right? He's not going to leave you unprotected at night and he's damn sure not going to leave that to the prospect out there."
Dani grinned. "Well, that won't bother me. We've had almost no personal time together since we've started dating. It's always one thing or another coming up, and the fact that I live with my brother certainly puts a damper on things. Well, that and the fact that I'm not allowed to step foot in Oakland."
Trixie pointed a finger at Dani. "Speaking of, I've worked on some of the paperwork you gave me and I think you're right about the sex trafficking. I'm seeing large sums of money being deposited in Zion's accounts from different countries that coincide with missionaries being sent to those same countries."
Dani shook her head in disgust. "I was really hoping that I was wrong about all of it."
Trixie sighed. "I know. I was too, but you aren't." She eyed her friend. "You know that there's only going to be one way to prove it, right?" Before Dani could answer, there was a knock on the door. Trixie grinned. "We have time. We'll discuss it later, ok?"
Dani nodded and opened the door to find Marcus standing on the other side. "Marcus! What are you doing here?"
He lifted a brow as he nodded to Trixie. "I had some free time so I came by to take you to lunch. Why are you two hiding in here?"
Trixie grinned and patted him on the chest as she walked out of the storeroom. "Ya know, just girl talk. See ya later, Dani. Marcus."
Marcus shut the door behind her, engaged the lock and turned back to Dani with a grin as they both heard Trixie laughing from the hallway. "I've missed seeing you, mi amor. Too many things have kept us apart these last few days, si?"
Dani bit her lip as he moved closer, caging her in against the shelves at her back. "I've missed you too. Where are we going for lunch?"
Marcus grinned. "Well, since you can't leave town, the diner will have to do, but first, I think you should show me how much you've missed me."
Dani smirked as she let her hands glide up his chest to wrap around his neck, pulling his head down to meet hers. As their lips met, she sighed and relaxed, feeling content for the first time in weeks. Marcus brought a hand up to cup her cheek as the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer. As he deepened the kiss, Dani melted further into his arms, releasing a small moan as his lips left hers to leave a trail of kisses to her ear. He bit gently on the skin of her neck right below her ear, making her catch her breath. She felt him smile against her skin before soothing the sting of his bite with his tongue.
"Sostienes mi corazón en tus manos, pequeña." He lifted his head to smile at her. "How long until you can move in upstairs?"
Dani smiled as she traced his lips with a finger. "Freddie says a couple of more days then I can start moving in furniture."
Marcus nodded before dipping his head down for another kiss. "Bueno. Then I can have you all to myself, si?"
Dani chuckled. "That works both ways, Marc."
He nodded and grinned. "Si, Querida." He took her hand and unlocked the door, but before pulling it open, he turned back to her with a serious look. "Whatever you and Trixie are planning, it stops now, si?"
Dani looked at him, feigning innocence. "We're not planning anything, I swear."
Marcus shook his head. "Jax warned me, but I suppose I needed to see it for myself. Anytime the two of you are together alone, nothing good comes of it, Dani. I'll only repeat myself once." He took her face in his hands and brought her eyes to his. "Whatever you two are planning, it stops now. I won't have either of you hurt because you wouldn't listen to reason."
Dani stopped herself from rolling her eyes and simply nodded, mentally crossing her fingers. After all, they hadn't really planned anything yet. "I promise."
Marcus grinned and leaned in for another kiss. "Bueno."
