His head came up, his eyes were burning into mine (now, in a different way) and my breath caught at the sight.

"I gotta have a taste of you and I gotta watch you come, I don't..."

My fingers at his waist dug in and at that second if he let me go I'd collapse in a puddle at his feet.

"Your mother is downstairs," I breathed.

Hector's mouth came to mine. "The walls are thick."

"She'll wonder what we're doing!"

"No she won't," he returned.

"I won't be able to concentrate." I kept trying.

I felt his mouth smile against mine. "Mi corazn, you won't need to concentrate."

Oh my.

That got a stomach pitch.

Even so, I kept at it. "I can't, not now. Maybe later."

His mouth moved away an inch. "Yeah?"

Oh my God!

What had I done now?

I had to keep at it. My hands went to his shoulders, my heart skipped a beat, I ignored my heart and nodded.

Before I could go back on my promise, he kissed me quickly and muttered, "Pack a bag, you're spendin' the night again. We'll try it, you can't deal, we'll stop and watch a movie."

"Okay," I said but my stomach was twisting, my heart was in my throat and I was having difficulty breathing. This was partially panic but it was also partially anticipation and I wondered which one would win that night.

Hector watched my face and his arms got tight. "Sadie, seriously, you can't deal, you tell me, we stop," he repeated in a way I knew he meant it.

The partial panic disappeared and before I thought better of it, I leaned into him, tilted my head back further and smiled.

His face warmed, his mouth descended, he gave me one of his slow, sweet kisses (with tongues), my toes started curling, we heard a muted, "Hola! Anyone home?" and Hector groaned his frustration in my mouth.

His head came up briefly but he leaned back in, gave me a quick kiss and told me, "Get dressed, mamita, that's my sister Rosa. Gloria's been busy."

I did not think this was a good thing and the look on Hector's face confirmed it.

He let me go, I watched as he grabbed some clothes and then left the room.

I dressed but while I did so I heard two more "holas" (one male, the other female) and I searched for my Ice Princess thinking maybe just a hint of her would get me through breakfast with the Chavez Family.

My Ice Princess was feeling lazy so by the time I was dressed (all but my shoes, barefoot was the only way to go or I'd look like a snooty, Rich Bitch Freak), I knew it was just me, Sadie, who was going to face Hector's family.

And she was just going to have to do.

Chapter Thirteen.

Agent Chavez, oo, Agent Chavez.

Sadie.

It was mid-afternoon and I was in Art.

Sitting on the edge of my counter was Daisy, legs crossed and mouth shouting her ideas (or, more honestly, her orders) at Ralphie and Roxie. They were both arranging paintings on the floor in the positions they would take on the walls when Ralphie and I installed them on Monday for the opening that evening.

I was behind the counter with Shirleen and Ava, the three of us were leaned forward on our forearms pouring over the final catering menu I had to sign off and fax by three o'clock.

That morning I had breakfast with Hector's very loud but very sweet family, all three younger sisters, Gloria, Rosa and Elena, and his older brother, Carlos. Carlos brought his girlfriend, Maria, and Eddie did a flyby mostly to show his face, pour warm coffee into his travel mug and he also gave me a one-armed hug and a kiss on the side of the head like he'd known me for years, not days (no kidding!).

During breakfast, I found out that Hector's Dad had died a few years ago, that Blanca was not happy at the snail's pace of Carlos and Maria's relationship (this somewhat alarmed me as they'd only been together two months and Maria was moving in with Carlos that weekend) and that Blanca and Jet's mother Nancy had made some decisions about Eddie and Jet's wedding that needed a Reunin de la Familia. Hector explained (by whispering in my ear which, by the way, felt nice) that this was a family meeting and that Blanca called them often.

After they left, Hector took me home and Ralphie was waiting to take me to the gallery. We were going to open late but I didn't mind. The morning with Hector's loud, loving family in Hector's crazy, jumbled house was something I'd never experienced before in my life.

And I liked it. I liked it enough to take the time to memorize it so one day, later, I could take out the memory and savor it.

Before he left, Hector told me he needed to give me something and I waited in the hall while he jogged back out to his Bronco.

I found I was nervous as to what he might give me. He hadn't had any time to shop; it wasn't like he was going to produce a bouquet of red roses or anything.

He came back in, stopped in front of me and held up a device. My eyes grew round with excitement.

"This is a " he started but stopped when my hand whipped out and I snatched it from him.

"It's a stun gun!" I cried, so excited I was being nearly as loud as his family. "Veronica Mars has one of these!"

I lifted happy eyes to him and saw he was grinning. "Yeah, mamita, but be careful with that."

"Is it for me?" I trilled happily.

His hand went to the side of my neck and slid up, fingers in my hair, thumb at my hairline.

"Yeah. Keep it in your purse where you can get to it. It's got fresh batteries. You turn it on, touch the prongs to your target, a one-second touch causes an incapacitating jolt, three seconds it'll take someone down."

I lifted the stun gun between us, stared at it in awe and murmured, "Aces."

I came out of my stun gun euphoria when I heard his soft laughter and my eyes went to him.

"What's funny?" I asked.

His fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulled the stun gun from between us and he closed in, his other hand sliding to the back of my head.

"You don't know, mamita, it'll be more fun to watch you figure it out."

Then he kissed me, another slow, sweet one (with tongues) that again lasted until I wrapped my arms tight around his waist and melted into him.

Then he was gone.

Ralphie and I went into Art and at eleven thirty Ralphie picked up the phone and dialed.

"Jet, you pretty girl, I'm callin' in a delivery," Ralphie said into the phone as I watched in stunned surprise. "Sadie and I will simply expire if we don't have two of Tex's specials. Can you send someone over with them? I'd come get them but, see, Double H says I'm in charge of Sadie's safety during the day. We opened late, we can't close down just to get coffee and I can't leave her alone."

I stood beside Ralphie still staring at him wondering when Hector made Ralphie "in charge" of my "safety" while Ralphie nodded and said in the phone, "Un-hunh, un-hunh," then, "Oh, 'Double H' is Hector, stands for Hispanic Hottie'." I heard laughter through the receiver, he finished with, "Toodles," and put the phone down.

Then he turned to me calmly and said, "Daisy'll be over in ten with two specials."

At this point, I rewound my life back six weeks.

Six weeks ago, my father was in prison, my days were spent with Ralphie in Art and my nights were spent either at yoga class, a movie (by myself) or curled up with a book in my living room.

I had no excitement except a scary call or a buzz up from one of the Balducci Brothers but that wasn't good excitement, that was bad excitement.

I was alone and, albeit frightened, my life was my own and my destiny was decided by me. Except for the Balduccis, I was in complete and total control.

Now I was never alone and I made no decisions for myself. When I did, they were circumvented. Ralphie thought he was my bodyguard. Blanca was going to teach me how to cook. Tom thought I was the reunited member of "the whole family". And Hector was going to put his mouth between my legs that night (and, by the way, the very thought made me shiver).

And then there was the imminent arrival of YoYo the pug who was being delivered tomorrow night.

Instead of reveling in this which I should be doing, I was planning to disappear.

For a second I wondered if I was crazy. Then it hit me that I wasn't.

First, a lot of people were going out of their way to make me safe and that wasn't right or fair. They had better things to do and furthermore, they barely knew me.

Second, even though they all appeared to like me no matter who sired me, I'd never forget and I'd always know I was the odd girl out.

Last, because Hector was a good guy (maybe even the best guy ever born), when he found someone, she should not be a Belinda but she should also not be a drug dealer's daughter.

And she certainly shouldn't be the tawdry, broken, throw-around toy of the Crazy Balducci Brothers.

I knew I had to ride this out, keep my plans to myself and, when things were all ready, I'd sit down with Ralphie and Buddy and explain. Then I'd sit down with Hector and explain. Then I'd go and let them get back to their normal lives being good people and having nothing more to worry about than their Z Gallerie credit cards (not that Hector had a Z Gallerie credit card, more like Home Depot).

Daisy and Ava showed with the coffees, taking me out of my unhappy thoughts.

They stayed and gabbed.

When I said they "gabbed", I meant they filled in the gaps as told by the reporters and they shared with Ralphie and I the stories of how Indy got together with Lee. Indy was somehow mixed up with why Terry Wilcox disappeared. I knew Terry; he was a contemporary of my father's. He was creepy and I was glad he was gone (and my father had been super happy when he disappeared) but I was sorry he made Indy's life a misery before he left.

Then they told me how Eddie and Jet got together (Jet had nearly been raped too, but, luckily, she was saved at the last minute).

Roxie "popped" around (said she was shopping at 16th Street Mall and she had about a dozen bags to prove her story correct). She found out what we were gabbing about and then she shared how she and Hank got together. She'd been stalked by an ex-boyfriend, he found her at Hank's house, beat her up and took her for a wild ride across three states before Vance, or Native American Hottie, found her and eventually her ex got his hand shot mostly off (again by Vance) at one of Daisy's society parties (I'd heard about it, but, obviously, hadn't been invited).

Then they shared how Vance and Jules (the black-haired lady from the drag show) got together. Jules had gone on a vigilante mission to take down drug dealers (which meant I might not be her most favorite person) and she ended up getting shot twice (something, the girls told me, Hector blamed himself for though I didn't get it, it seemed an honest, though heart-wrenching, mistake). Vance and Jules were the only other "Hot Bunch" (as Daisy called the Nightingale Men) and Rock Chick couple who were married and they had a newborn baby.

Finally, Ava shared how she and Luke got together. I found out she knew Ren too and I also found out that Ren's cousin, Dom (who I knew too, but not as well as Ren, Dom used to be kind of a jerk but I'd heard that he'd turned into a rather keen family man). Ava's story was kind of confusing, had to do with con men and somewhere along the line she'd been violated too. Though not as bad as me, still, did one put degrees on these things? Violation was violation, simple as that.

I already knew about Stella and Mace.

After they were done talking, I was seriously weirded out but I also had food for thought. Mainly because it would seem I wasn't the first girl to catch the eye of one of the Hot Bunch who caused some significant worry, out-and-out scares and visits to the hospital.

While I was thinking this, Daisy, Ava and Roxie took off to The Market to get us sandwiches.

They came back with Shirleen who was taking her lunch "hour" (an hour that lasted two) and they chipped in to help with the final touches for the opening. I asked Roxie for Jet's number and called her to warn her about the Reunin de la Familia (because that was the nice thing to do). She muttered some choice words, thanked me in a way that seemed very genuine (and even relieved), we hung up after agreeing to meet up sometime and then I turned to the catering menu.

"You need some pigs in a blanket," Shirleen advised, casting a critical eye over the menu.

"You don't have pigs in a blanket at an art opening," Daisy said to Shirleen.

Shirleen's head popped up. "Sure you do. You just make 'em with those little, baby sausages."

"It's an art opening you need vol au vents or shit like that," Daisy said.

Shirleen turned back to me. "Ask 'em if they have pigs in a blanket. They wanna make it fancy; they can wrap 'em up in Pilsbury crescent roll dough rather than biscuit dough. Trust me, people full of champagne and pigs in a blanket'll buy a lot of paintings."

"How do you know?" Ava asked.

"Because I'd buy a painting if someone gave me a glass of champagne and a non-stop supply of pigs in a blanket, especially if it was wrapped up in that crescent dough. Have you tasted a Pilsbury crescent roll?"

Ava nodded and smiled. "Yeah, there was a day when I'd bake and eat a whole tray of crescent rolls all by myself."

"Not hard to do," Shirleen muttered with the voice of experience.

The gallery's phone rang and I was so wrapped up in thoughts of Pilsbury crescent rolls, and wondering how hard it was to make them, I didn't even think when the operator asked me if I'd accept the collect charges.

I just said, "Yes."

"Sadie?" my father said in my ear.

My torso snapped up and my mind shut down.