Surprised that he was here, the only thing I said was “Hey.” It wasn’t that I didn’t see Rio often; it was just that he normally texted before he came over.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, walking past me and into the house. I didn’t miss the tone of his voice. It was strained and upset. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or something else.
I closed the door and turned to look at him. “What is it?” I asked, my mind already running through all that it could be.
He ran a hand through his short hair and locked his gaze on me. “Do you remember when I told you to be careful with Saul?” he asked. “I warned you and you, you didn’t listen to me. I know him. I’ve known him since we were sixteen.”
“What is this about, Rio?” I asked, feeling panic building inside me. Of all the things I thought he had barged inside upset about, Saul and I hadn’t been one of them.
“Saul is a loyal friend. He’s a fucking saint of a son. God knows I would have walked out on his mom years ago if I were him. But he’s not perfect, Henley. He’s so fucked up from the shit he’s lived through.” Rio sighed loudly and stared at me hard. “Are you in love with him?”
I was. I had accepted it and even embraced it. I hadn’t told Saul yet, at least when he was awake. Telling Rio before I told Saul seemed unfair, but then the way Rio was acting right now I wasn’t sure I could lie about it.
I finally nodded my head yes.
“Dammit!” he growled. “I was afraid of this and I fucking let it happen. He was different with you,” he said, pointing at me and then beginning to pace back and forth in front of me. “I thought, I thought because he was with you all the time and he was so damn possessive of you, I thought it was over. If I had known it wasn’t then I would have told you sooner.” He stopped pacing and looked at me again. “I wouldn’t have lied to you and let you get hurt. Know that. You’re… well, you’re my sister. And I’ve not known you long but what I do know I’m proud of the fact I’m related to you. If you’d known my mom, you’d get it. She was… she wasn’t something to be proud of. But you, well, you are. It doesn’t matter that Saul is my best friend. I would have told you. I wouldn’t have just warned you to be careful.”
“Rio, what are you talking about!” I interrupted his anxiety ridden ranting. He had my stomach in knots and he wasn’t getting to the point. He was making it worse with all his talk about protecting me.
Rio took a deep breath. “There’s this woman. She’s older, married… and well, Saul and her. He sees her. He has never brought her around but I’ve seen him with her sneaking around. So has Drake. It’s been going on for three years, I guess. I’ve ignored it and pretended like I didn’t know. There were always other girls. Fleur was the latest until you came along. I hadn’t seen Saul with the woman in a while and I thought he’d stopped that shit. Hell, she’s even got a kid,” Rio stopped and looked at me.
I wasn’t sure I was breathing. My chest hurt and my knees were weak. I needed to sit down. “How do you know it’s still going on?” I asked, but my voice was barely a whisper. Images of Saul and Isla at the Hendrix were playing over in my head. That gut instinct that told me something wasn’t casual about that meeting. I ignored it. I wanted to believe it wasn’t anything.
“When I came home from work, Saul’s duffle was at the foot of the steps and there was an empty beer, his beer, on the counter in the kitchen. Drake hates Saul’s beer. I assumed he’d come in and then come over here. I didn’t think anything more until I was on my way to get some takeout and drove past this street. His truck wasn’t here either but your car was and your lights were on inside.”
Rio sighed and shook his head. “I wondered where he was but I didn’t think about it too hard. It wasn’t until I pulled into the Crab Shack and saw his truck pulling out of the Hendrix parking lot and not headed toward your house or ours that… I got suspicious. I just knew. I followed him. He went to some fancy ass neighborhood and pulled into the driveway of one of the houses. When the door opened, it was her. Whoever the fuck she is. He went inside and she closed the door. I… I didn’t know what to do. I just knew I had to come tell you now. Before he came back here. You need to know the truth. He may fucking hate me for the rest of his life, but I can’t overlook this shit because his life has been hard. He has demons. A lot of them but hell so do I. My mom was fucked up too and I don’t go around having affairs with married women.”