Texas Pride. Gerry Bartlett

you know that dumb ass Jaime Reyes had let his expire? Then the law starts looking at him funny. Because he’s Latino. Well, what do you know? Cop asks to see his green card.” Albert picked up a trophy Billy had won in a golf tournament and held it in one fist. “Why the hell should he have a green card when he was born in Pasadena fucking Texas?”

      “I have a feeling I know where this is going.” Billy got up and wrenched his trophy from Albert’s fist. “Don’t bend that. I suck at golf. I only got that because I was in a foursome with friends who can putt.” He put it back on the shelf. “So what happened?”

      “We moved in, surrounded the asshole cop and Jaime. Let the fucker know that when you’re born American and have served your country, you sure as hell don’t carry no green card.” Albert’s English was getting rougher and his face redder. He was six-five, red-haired, and his face flushed easily.

      “I have a feeling the cop was calling for backup about then.” Billy eased Albert into a chair. He pulled a bottle of water out of his mini-fridge and tossed it to him. “Calm down. Obviously, it ended all right or I’d have spent the weekend dealing with this.”

      Albert drained the bottle then handed the empty back to Billy. He took a steadying breath and pulled the tie from his hair to shake it out. “It still makes me so damned mad, Bill. The prejudice. You know?”

      “Yeah. I know.” Billy sat in the chair next to him. The gang Albert ran was diverse and the stronger for it. He’d always liked Albert for his world view on racial matters.

      “Anyway, backup came and who should show up but a Latino cop.” Albert chuckled. “I tell you, it did my heart good to see that white cop’s face. He picked up his walkie, like he was going to call in someone else and that other cop gave him such a look. He just strolled up to Jaime and they started jabbering in Spanish. Seems a few questions about parents and grandparents and everything was cool. Both cops backed off and we were free to go on our way. Jaime got a warning to get that license taken care of, that’s all.”

      “Good. So why are you here?” Billy sat back and relaxed.

      “To see Mai, of course.” Albert laughed. “I made up an excuse, but I really just wanted to ask her out. She’s been playing hard or next to impossible to get. Her family wants her to marry a man with a Japanese background.” He looked around the office. “You got something stronger than water in that fridge?”

      “Sure. Beer?” Billy got up and opened the mini-fridge built into the bookcase. “Corona okay?”

      “That’ll hit the spot. Join me.” Albert took a cold bottle gratefully and popped the top. “You know Mai’s family would shit a brick before they’d accept me. But she’s enough of a rebel that it just might suit her to bring me into the fold, so to speak.” He took a deep swallow.

      “Don’t steal my assistant, Albert. She keeps this place running.” Billy sipped his beer. Not a good idea since he had a lot of work ahead of him today. But maybe it was a good idea to talk to Albert about this. “How did you get her to give you a shot? You two are very different.”

      “I’ve been wearing her down. I had to find out what she liked. That acrobatic troop. Cirque de whatever. Heard her on the phone with her sister. So I bought the tickets. Then there’s the fact that her auntie’s fixing her up with guys who are bound to be, no offense, lawyers, doctors, straight arrows. I’m different. You may not know it, but women like Mai get sick of the same old, same old.” Albert grinned and finished his beer. “Women all secretly want a bad boy.” He unzipped his jacket sleeve and stretched out his arm covered in tattoos. “I’ve literally got danger written all over me.”

      Billy laughed. Sure enough, there was “Danger” in bold letters up one forearm. Bad boy. He’d been one before he’d realized that he needed to clean up his act if he wanted to make something of himself and fit in with the society folks who could afford to pay well for his legal services. Now he was so groomed and sanitized he could hardly remember what it was like to be the wild teenager who’d made girls scream when he drove up into their yards and whisked them away for a night of what they’d called naughty pleasure. He had a sudden brainstorm—and here was someone who could help, sitting right beside him.

      “Hey, Albert. I’ll let you borrow my Beemer for your date tonight if you’ll let me ride your Harley. What do you say? Just for one night.” And a plan was put into motion. He had to swear on a stack of bibles he’d treat Slash’s Harley right or he’d be lawyering for his gang pro bono for years to come, but it would be worth it.

      * * * *

      “I don’t see how linking Calhoun Petroleum with that lawyer is going to help the company’s image, Shannon.” Caroline Wilson had decided that she was the boss and she wasn’t going to call her underling Ms. Calhoun. It apparently grated on her last nerve. As did the announcement that they were partnering with Billy Pagan on the charitable donations.

      “We don’t have a choice, Ms. Wilson.” Shannon stood in front of the woman’s desk. She hadn’t been invited to sit. She thought about collapsing in the chair next to her anyway, but she was determined to play this game to win. “Cassidy approved it. Mr. Pagan is willing to front the money to save our pride, if you want to call it that. It is unbelievably generous of him.”

      “Are you sure he won’t let it leak that he’s all the money behind this?” Wilson frowned. “What an embarrassment that would be. Do you trust him? Should we get something in writing? A nondisclosure?”

      “Since he’s acting as our in-house counsel at the moment, I don’t know how I could ask him for such a thing.” Shannon gave up and sat. God, her feet were killing her. “Look. He’s a family friend.” Yes, that was the way she was spinning his offer. “He’s doing this as a favor. Because he realizes that his own image, as a lawyer who has represented some pretty shady characters, could use some polish. Donating to local charities is good public relations for him as well as for us. He’s promised to keep his mouth shut that he’s footing all the bills as long as I stay by his side for the events on this list.”

      “Oh my God! This is a dating scheme.” Wilson smirked. “Seriously? You’re willing to go out with the man to save the company embarrassment?”

      “I’d date a chimpanzee if it would keep us from becoming the town laughing stock.” Shannon slammed the papers down on the desk. “In case you aren’t paying attention, that’s my last name on the company. My father built it from the ground up. If I have to go around with Billy Pagan on my arm at a few charity functions, then that’s a no-brainer, Caroline.”

      She marched—or tried to—back to her cube. Too bad she was limping now. What would happen if she showed up in flats tomorrow? Oh, who cared? She fell into her chair and almost landed on her butt when one of the rollers fell off. Great. She’d obviously been given a piece-of-crap chair to sit in.

      The papers on her desk rustled as she tried to straighten them with shaking hands. Had she blown it? Would she be fired on her first day? No big deal. The consequences were merely her entire inheritance. She looked up and realized Caroline was standing in front of her desk.

      “I’ve been giving you attitude.” The vice president frowned. “Get up.”

      “What?” But Shannon struggled out of the wobbly chair anyway.

      “Someone’s idea of a joke. Friday was a nightmare. Six people laid off. Everyone knew a Calhoun was coming in on Monday while they were out of a job.” She walked around and grabbed the chair then rolled it awkwardly over to another cubicle. “This one’s better. I’m sorry about that.” She tested the new chair, then brought it back and slid it over to Shannon. “Can we start over?”

      “I’d like that. I went over your head about the charity thing. I’m sorry.” Shannon held on to the chair back. “My inheritance rides on my performance here. If I’ve screwed up already…” No, her voice did not crack.

      “Actually, your idea is perfect. We won’t let down the charities and Calhoun is still seen as philanthropic.”