Page 72 of Love at First Ink

A fucking cop.

He remembered vaguely Archie had called out for someone to call the police, but he hadn’t expected someone to make the call, much less them getting here so quickly. The second officer stopped before he reached Cisco and leaned down to help Archie up.

His murderous expression did little to ease Cisco’s nerves that this would end in any other way than him being booked.He pointed a finger at Cisco and yelled, “I’m fucking pressing charges. Get him out of here now!”

“No!” Marisol cried.

At that moment, Cisco’s heart broke. Not for himself, but for his girl. He knew how hard it was for her to be around her mother, especially when her mother was disappointed in her. Now Marisol would have to deal with this.

Cisco didn’t regret punching Archie. The bastard deserved it. But he did regret the look of pure terror and confusion written across Marisol’s face.

He hated being the one to have caused that.

“What is going on?!” Travis yelled again, his pale face flushed red. “I demand answers!”

Luciana hurried to her husband’s side, tears in her eyes. Cisco wasn’t convinced they weren’t for show though. There seemed to be a wicked delight aimed at him when Luciana looked his way. “Cisco attacked Archie. I told you, honey, he isn’t any good for our daughter! He’s embarrassed us in front of our friends and family on your special day. We can’t allow this.”

“That’s not the whole story, and you know it,” Marisol cried. Instead of running toward her mother, she ran to Cisco. The second cop tried to grab for her, but Marisol easily avoided his grasp.

“I’m so sorry, Cisco. I’m so, so sorry. I’ll fix this. I promise,” she said, tears streaming down her face. He had only ever seen her cry this hard once before, when Snowball ran away. It had pained him then, and it pained him even more now, knowing he was the reason for it.

“Don’t worry about me, Princesa.” But even as he said it, he knew it was stupid. If the roles were reversed, he’d be nothing but worried about his girl. “I’ll befine.”

“This is all my fault?—”

“Absolutely not.” Cisco’s voice came out firmer than he meant it to. When he spoke again, he tried to be gentler. “Don’t for one second blame yourself for this. Archie had it coming, and I would do it again. I’ll be fine.”

The cop holding him cuffed him, reading his Miranda rights, but Cisco was barely paying attention to any of it. His gaze was locked on Marisol’s. Her devastation was palpable, and he wanted to yell at someone to comfort her since he couldn’t be the one to do it.

Luckily, someone did come up. Lola wrapped her arms around Marisol, murmuring something into her ear. Marisol didn’t appear to be listening. She was crying too hard to take anything else in. He wanted to reassure her one more time before dealing with the shit he was about to go through, but he didn’t get the time.

The officer turned him around and pushed him forward. Every eye in the room was on him. He saw the judgment being passed on him, and as much as he wanted to say it didn’t affect him, it fucking cut him deep. Each penetrating gaze made him question his own worth. Maybe he was the monster these people tried to make him out to be. But if being the monster meant punching bastards like Archie for a woman he loved, then he’d be her monster.

Their eyes followed him outside, where the cop opened the door to the back of the squad car and pushed him in. The last thing he saw before being driven away was Marisol’s broken face before he couldn’t make out her features anymore.

CHAPTER 32

Marisol

She couldn’t watch Cisco being escorted away, knowing this whole thing was her fault. It didn’t matter that Cisco didn’t blame her. Marisol blamed herself. She should know better. Her mother had never hidden her true colors, so she had been a fool to think this could have gone any other way. Granted, she had not expected Cisco to get arrested, but she had a bad feeling about this party since this morning.

She should have listened to her own intuition. It was a mistake she didn’t plan on making again.

Contrary to popular belief, Marisol didn’t like being the center of attention. Every eye in the room was on her. Their stares of judgment and contempt made her stomach churn. She had to remind herself that they didn’t matter. Their opinions were irrelevant to her life.

“Marisol,” Lola whispered from next to her. She barely registered her sister’s arms around her. It didn’t bring any comfort. The only comfort she wanted right now was on his way to get booked. “We should go. Javi will take us to the police station?—”

If there was more her sister said, Marisol ignored it. Her attention zeroed in on the man who had caused all of this and the woman comforting him. It sickened her to see her mother reassuring Archie, but it also served to cement the fact that this woman would never be the mom she so desperately craved.

That realization fucking hurt. But it had been a long time coming.

Right now, Marisol channeled all of her anger at Archie. She had half a mind to punch him herself, but she wanted to say her piece, once and for all. She approached the man. Something in her expression must have given him pause because he tensed.

“Marisol, do you now see the type of person you willingly brought to your father’s opening party?” His voice was nasal from the obvious broken nose he was sporting. She hoped it hurt when it was set back in place.

“Archie, shut the fuck up,” Marisol seethed. Shocked gasps from the guests around the room didn’t deter her, though she was pleased to see Lola smirking from the corner of her eye. She at least had one person in this room on her side.

“Marisol! What has gotten into you?” her mother sputtered. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, eyes darting around the room, probably surveying all the people she’d need to do damage control with.

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