The next three days went by in a blur for everyone. When Angel had returned from Arizona, they had been convened to a meeting to discuss the problem that had arisen. Then, in order to verify everyone's phones and whereabouts, Bishop had put them all on lockdown at the clubhouse. Isabella on her side forced herself in her own lockdown as her mother's first chemo session had taken its toll on her, making her sick and weak. She was surprised that neither Angel nor Bishop had reached out, but then stopped focusing on that, giving her mom and Samuel all her attention. She was debating whether to bring Samuel already up to college where he could enroll in their pre-college summer program, as he seemed to be turning around in circles and getting bored. She made a mental note to discuss it with him.

"I've had just about enough," said Bishop angrily as he looked around the room. "Someone in here is responsible for the missing goods. Just because nothing was found on your phones, doesn't mean crap to me. The rules of this club are known to all and so are the consequences for breaking them. Now, I'm going to give whoever is behind this one last chance. If the packs are back in the stash by tomorrow morning, that's where it ends. If not, I'm going to start digging into your personal lives and families and no one is going to like it."

He looked at his watch. "It's 10pm. You have 24 hours, and the clock starts ticking now. Now get the fuck out of here!"

All the men evacuated the clubhouse, grabbing their phones from the table, more than happy to finally get freedom and go back to their families or girlfriends.

"Any news from Bella?" asked EZ as Angel looked at his phone.

"No. It's too late for me to head over there; Maggie's first chemo session was a couple of days ago."

"Yeah," replied EZ as he looked at his phone. "Samuel says she's been bad, they admitted her at the hospital and Bella's been by her bedside ever since."

"Shit man, I told her I'd be there for her, that she could lean on me."

"It's not your fault. I'm sure she'll understand."

"How the hell am I supposed to explain to her that we've been on lockdown for three days so that Bishop could sniff out a rat who stole Galindo's drugs?"

"Don't give her all the details. Just say it was club business and you were out of State."

"We were already out of State, EZ!"

"Don't get mad at me. I'm trying to help you. No matter what, you have until tomorrow morning to figure out what you're going to tell her, but something tells me that if she's been this wound up over Maggie, she's not going to care. I'm going to sleep," he said as he headed out.

Isabella opened the door of the diner and walked to one of the booths. Luckily, even though it was 10pm, it was open 24 hours a day and as Maggie was recuperating well, she forced her daughter to go home to get a good night's sleep. But Isabella wasn't ready to head home just yet, needing to wind down.

"What's it gonna be, for you doll?" asked an older waitress.

"Just a cup of coffee, please."

Even though she hadn't waited on her the last time she had been here with Bishop, she recognized Isabella. She went to the back kitchen, took the phone off the hook, and dialed a number.

"It's Lupita," she said when the line picked up, "you told me to keep you posted if I saw her. She's here."

"She just got here," she replied after listening to what the other person said. "Are you sure?" She grabbed a piece of paper and pen and wrote down what she was being told before hanging up.

She filled up two cups of coffee to go and headed back toward the woman sitting at the booth.

Isabella looked at her puzzled as she placed the two cups down in front of her. "I thought this was opened all night?" she asked.

"It is," she then handed Isabella a folded piece of paper.

Isabella took it even more intrigued, then unfolded it.

Would love to share a coffee with you, Bishop.

Beneath it was an address which she imagined was his as it wasn't the clubs. She looked up at the waitress and gave her a side look.

"Don't shoot the messenger," replied the waitress before walking away.

Isabella took out a ten-dollar bill and placed it on the table, before taking both cups, standing, and walking out.

"You are something else, you know that?" said Isabella as she reached Bishop's front door, where he was waiting for her, in his button-down shirt and jeans.

"I was worried about you, so I asked a friend to tell me if you showed up."

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you had called me?" she replied as she handed him his cup.

"I've been unavailable for the past few days, otherwise I would have," he said entering the house, making it obvious that she should follow him inside.

"Then I guess you're lucky I was there, otherwise you wouldn't have known."

"Must be my lucky day," he added as walked through the house and out back and sat in one of the chairs.

"I thought I had offended you with wanting to pay you back for the car" said Isabella as she sat in the only other available chair.

"You didn't offend me. I would have been offended if you hadn't offered; if that makes any sense."

"It does."

"I wasn't angry or ignoring you, it's just been a few hectic days at the club that ended up taking up all my time and attention."

"I take it everything is back to normal if you're here."

"I hope so. But enough talk about the club. How are you?" he asked as he reached his hand to place it on Isabella's that was on the armrest of the chair.

"Mama's first chemo session was brutal, and they kept her at the hospital in observation. It's been three days. She forced me to go home."

"Good to see you listened. You won't make it if you don't also take care of yourself."

"Can we not talk about this either?"

"Sure. We don't need to talk. We can just enjoy the quiet in each other's company."

They sat in the silence of the night as they drank their coffee. Whereas he spent most of that time looking at her, she looked up at the stars in the sky. She knew she had to, because if she looked at him, she'd never be able to look away. There was this sort of magnetic pull emanating from him and she was drawn to him.

When he finished his coffee, he stood and walked toward the middle of the backyard and in turn looked up at the sky. She joined him and looked up.

"You know, I can't remember the last time, I looked up at the stars," he said.

"I do it every chance I get. It helps me put things in perspective. It's one of the most beautiful things to look at."

He lowered his head and looked at her. "I agree, but there is something else just as beautiful. You."

She shifted her attention from the sky to him and the way he was looking at her was so intense that she blushed. He broke the gap between them placed his hand on the side and back of her neck and brought his lips over hers. His kiss was gentle, not forceful, and when he pulled back, she was the one to come back for more.

He placed his arms around her, pulling her further against him as their kissing intensified. When their lips parted and their tongues collided, she felt as though a hundred butterflies were fluttering in her stomach, resonating throughout the rest of her body; something she hadn't felt in long time, and it felt good. It comforted her to feel that way with him, knowing she would have been disappointed if it hadn't been the case. He was the first man she'd ever let approach her since Samuel's father, which had a lot of meaning as to how she felt about him.

He pulled back searched her eyes. "I don't want you to leave, Belita."

"I don't want to either," she replied in a half-whisper.

He didn't need to hear more. He took her hand, led her back up the yard, past the porch and back into the house.