introduction

introduction •

Grace Kennedy is smart, beautiful and kind. She’s studying to become a doctor one day but before she can afford all the expenses, she works with her mother in her bakery.

Her mother’s bakery has been around since Grace was born, holding her favorite memories. She recently learns that it will soon shut down if her mother cannot make up three years of late payments, more than she could handle.

Grace turns to her father who’s in a bunch of shady businesses that keeps him away but realizes that he won’t help and has to turn to tan offer thought to her by a man she didn’t expect to ever meet.

A man who’s entire world revolves around his four year old daughter and his younger brother. A man who battled addiction before he met the glasses wearing beauty that catches his eye.

Mariano is a man of charms and far too handsome for his own good. Emerald green eyes that could be mistaken for the actual jewel itself. His entire life revolved around his four year old daughter and his younger brother.

After recent events, Mariano has to prove that he can take full custody of his daughter, in order to do that he needs to have a spouse in his home.

That’s when he brings the offer to the glasses wearing beauty who he finds working somewhere she doesn’t belong.

Grace knows the offer is perfect for her but she can’t help but feel that there’s something more to him, something dangerous and something she wants to keep away from her.

Doing her best to keep the charming man at arm’s length, it was hard to do when he knew exactly how to rile her up.

He was already a man who handled addiction in his past but nothing compared to how addicted he was to Grace. 

She was his Beautiful Addiction.

aesthetics •

GRACE HERA KENNEDY • 24

MARIANO DELROSA • 33

warnings •

mature language & scenes.

• sensitive topics

authors note •

Welcome to Beautiful Addiction! Mariano finally gets the book he deserves.

After this book the Romano Series will be over !

Even though his last name isn’t Romano, he is still heavily considered one.

There is different things about this book than what you’ve read in Chaos !

Thank you for reading & hopefully you enjoy ❤️   Mwah ! 🍓

disclaimer

•

Beautiful Addiction © Eroticroses 2022 All Rights Reserved

This story may not be reproduced, republished, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission by the author. Expect the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and are resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locals is coincidental.

one

“Thank you,” I said kindly to the woman who had given me a tip for helping her choose something to bring for her son’s birthday.

She leaves with a smile and pushes the fallen curl from my bun behind my ear and assists the next customer who asks for a box of chocolate chip cookies.

I turn around and find my mother already reading the customer’s lips and preparing the white box with her logo in the middle. I bring out the twelve freshly baked cookies and help her pack them before giving them to the customer.

My mother suffers from severe hearing loss, mine wasn’t severe but I did have to use my hearing aid to help me.

I use sign language to communicate with my mother, it was the first thing I was taught after I learned how to talk and read.

Mother’s beauty never failed to surprise me, she looked young for her age and I could only hope that I would age as gracefully as she is.

Her curly hair was out in an afro, covering her brown glasses from the side that looked like my own but mine were black. I inherited the small beauty marks that scatter along our cheeks from her along with the brown eyes and nose people would say complimented our soft features.

I go around the counter to the tables and collect the stack of dishes that the customers kindly stack instead of leaving all over the place, making the job of cleaning them up easier.

That’s when I hear the door ring, signaling that someone has entered, I finish up in the back and wipe my hands before going to assist them.

I stop my sudden rush when I realize it’s just Flora.

My mother goes and places a cheesecake on the small plate and places it in front of her with a kiss on her cheek. My mother and Flora’s were close friends and mother loves Flora as if she was her daughter.

Flora and I have known each other since we could talk, she was my childhood friend.

She is stunning, her black hair was always in long and braided twists, and her eyes were dark brown that could pass for black but it only added to her sharp features. Her cheekbones were prominent, her lips had a natural red tint to them.

Flora loves food more than she loves herself, she made sure to find someone who could cook for her and knew all her favorite foods. It was perfect that her girlfriend was a chef.

“This is the only reason why I wake up in the morning,” She says, using the fork to take a bite of her cheesecake before closing her eyes.

“Something fun happen last night?” I gesture to the red mark on her neck that she doesn’t try to hide at all.

“I gave Daniella an early birthday present” She shrugs her shoulders, a smile coating her face at the memory of whatever they did together.

“It looks like she gave you one too” I join her, going back to the counter and preparing the next order that was called in.

“How’s studying going?” She asks and I place an iced coffee down beside her.

“Expensive” Is what I tell her with a sigh.

I’m studying to become a doctor, and paying for online classes and books that I need have been a huge toll on me. That and all the time I spend studying have also been a lot.

It’s been something I’ve been wanting to do since I was younger, I use the money that my mother pays me at the bakery to buy the things I need.

I didn’t want her to pay me but she tells me she doesn’t mind and would rather me help her here in the bakery.

I meet with a professor twice a week either in person or online for extra help and lessons.

“Just wait until you’re a doctor, it’s going to be worth it Grace” Flora says as she wipes her mouth with a napkin and I nod my head.

“Oh I just remembered, Daniella is having her birthday party tonight, and you’re coming” She doesn’t give me a chance to accept the invite.

“The reason why I’m telling you that you’re coming and not asking is that I know if I let you go home tonight that you’re going to sit on your couch and be on your laptop until the next morning” She pays for her drink and her food.

“I’ll even call Romero and tell him to drive you because he’s coming no matter how much he messed up with Nadia, she’ll be there too because she’s Daniella’s friend” She reminds me of what happened a few months back.

“Fine, I’ll stop by and ask him to come. I have to go and visit my father, he’s back” From his two-month disappearance I say in my head.

My mother and father have been divorced since I was fourteen, it wasn’t new that he’d just disappear, but two months was new, he’d only ever be gone for a week or two and randomly show up at the doorstep of the bakery.

He owns a shady boxing ring, making money from the bar inside and the fights he hosts daily.

The only decent thing he’s done is keep that side of his life away from my mother and me.

Mother hates to think about all of the stuff he does, I’m sure she knows but it’s not something she wants to see.

“Alright, I have to go pick up her parents from the airport and pick up the decorations, wear black to match the theme!” That is all Flora says after kissing me on the cheek and leaving.

I remove the apron with the adorable frog that mother made for me herself, go to the corner of the bakery, and open my laptop to catch up on the studying I needed to make up from falling asleep last night.

When the car stopped in front of the boxer’s ring, it reminded me that I didn’t want to be there.

I could hear the loud crowd from outside as I sat in the car but I could only hear it more as Kenny came and opened the door.

Kenny was one of the nicest and bulkiest men that I have ever met, “It’s good seeing you again Grace, he’s waiting for you upstairs.”

He opens the door for me and I thank him and enter the building. The smell of different liquors and the smell of weed hit me as I stepped foot inside.

Going through the hallway, I saw how packed they were tonight, people were watching two men punch each other until the other one couldn’t stand anymore from the bar.

I continue down the hallway until I find the stairs. One of the men who my father informed to let me go upstairs, removed the black rope guarding the staircase, and let me go up.

I make it to the black door and take a deep breath. I haven’t seen my father in two months and I know he’s probably talking to some guys about whatever his business is.

I knock and await my father, when the door opens it’s not my father but it’s Romero and a smile reaches my face that it’s him welcoming me in a hug and not my dad.

Romero was another close friend of mine aside from Flora.

I’ve known him since high school, I can count on Romero for anything and trust him more than I can trust myself. He’s always been by my side since the day we met and I think it’s because he doesn’t like other people.

Though you couldn’t see it if you saw him for the first time, Romero was a sweetheart. His eyes probably were the kindest thing about his appearance, he was a very bulky person and that’s because he loved to box.

His eyes were a very light brown, which brightens more with all the gold jewelry he wore that complimented his dark skin, low cut hair that he never failed to keep nice. His smile was bright, his white teeth shined whenever he did.

Most people think Romero is a rude guy because of the scar on his cheek but they have no idea how much of a sweetheart he is.

His french accent was one of my favorite things about him along with how protective he was.

He understood that my relationship with my father wasn’t my favorite but since he worked with my father, he had to give him at least one percent of respect.

“He told me you’d be here” He moves out of the way and lets me enter.

That catches my dad’s attention and he turns around as he and three other guys sit on the couch and drink beer and smoke.

My father stands up and comes over to hug me and it catches me by surprise so I can’t step back and avoid it.

“I’ve been waiting for you to arrive, how are you?” My father kisses me on the cheek, it’s the same way my mother greets me whenever she sees me, they both have done this since I was first born.

“I’m doing well, studying still” This is all I can manage, he acts as if he didn’t disappear for two months and randomly appears again.

I’m also a bit uncomfortable that the men waiting for him on the couch are just waiting for him to introduce me but it seems like he isn’t.

My father always told me to be careful with who I interacted with here, the men he worked with were either dangerous or people he didn’t trust. It never made sense to me why he brought me around then.

I knew I could only trust Romero so I stuck by him while my father excused himself to go back to the guys awaiting him on the couch.

“Studying?” Romero says as we stand by the bar behind them.

“I didn’t know what else to say, what do you say to a man who’s your father and who constantly disappears off the face of the earth” I try and keep my voice down.

Romero shakes his head with a small laugh, “So about this birthday party…” This time his eyes are straightforward.

“Yes Nadia is going to be there but that shouldn’t be a problem right?” I raise my eyebrows but he just clears his throat.

“Why would that be a problem?” He uncrosses his arms and goes to his phone.

Nadia was Romero’s girlfriend for four years, no one knows the real story of how they broke up but I do remember it resulting in her moving away for a year and coming back.

It was sad when they split because Romero did love Nadia and it was clear he still did to this day.

When father finishes his meeting about something I couldn’t hear because I was busy talking to Romero about the birthday event, he comes over and tells Romero he can wait for me downstairs and that he wants to talk to me.

When Romero leaves my father asks me to take a seat on the couch and asks about my mother and the bakery.

“You should come and visit her and ask her yourself, we haven’t moved,” I say, mother, doesn’t mind my father, she wouldn’t mind him coming and checking on her.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Grace, but I do hope everything is well,” He says and I huff.

“Where have you been for the past two months?”

I’m not mad at my father, just disappointed that he didn’t keep in contact with us, even though they divorced. He still made an effort to come and visit but recently he’s stopped completely since he opened this boxing ring.

He sighs and stands up, “You know I can’t answer that Grace…”

I knew it was coming, I stood up and said goodbye to my father who called my name once and let me walk out of the building.

“Everything okay?” Romero asks me and I just tell him I want to get to this birthday party before it starts and he understands, immediately driving me home.

When he takes me home, I hurry up my apartment stairs and unlock my door to find a reminder that the rent is coming up as the month starts to come to an end.

I remove my shoes as I enter my room and go into the bathroom to start a warm shower.

While I wait for the water to heat, I go into my small closet to find a black dress.

When I find one, I lay it out on the bed and go and take a shower while Romero uses the spare key I had given him and Flora to come inside and wait for me to finish.

When I come downstairs, I find Romero in my kitchen eating the cookies I had baked.

“Ready?” He turns around at the sound of my voice with a cookie in his mouth and nods.

“You know if you ever stopped baking, I would die” He takes a few more cookies and says they’re for the ride, and offers me one.

I roll my eyes and tell him to hurry so we can stop by and pick up the desserts from the bakery and take it to the restaurant.

“It’s true, your baking is the only thing keeping me alive honestly.”

two

Romero parks his car in front of the restaurant, it was just as Flora described and I made sure to follow her black attire theme.

The black silk fit nicely on my body and matched the color of my heels. My curls tried to slip from the hairstyle but the pins kept them in place.

I fixed my glasses before we entered and Romero pulled his suit jacket down and fixed the cuffs of his shirt underneath.

We were met with the sound of soft and slow music, the restaurant was filled with people I have never seen before, all being Daniella’s friends and family and I tried to spot Flora through them all.

She found me first and greeted me with a hug and a nervous look on her face. She looked amazing in her black pantsuit and heels.

“You look amazing Grace, others… not so much,” She said, pulling away from the hug and Romero gave her the middle finger.

“Everyone looks amazing” I look at all the family and friends that came for Daniella who wasn’t here yet.

“Her parents are just the sweetest” Flora pointed to the two people standing by the window. I realized where Daniella got her looks from, it was from her mother.

They turned and signaled Flora to come to them, their Latin accents were so welcoming and her mother waved at me before Flora excused herself to go over to them.

“I’m going to get a drink,” Romero said from beside me, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“You want one?” He asked and laughed, “I’m kidding, I’ll ask them if they give apple juice” he used his elbow to bump me before walking off and laughing at his joke.

I shook my head because he knew that I didn’t drink and walked further into the restaurant, one of the waiters offered me a small plate of food and I accepted it.

I sat at the empty table and waited for Daniella to arrive. When she finally arrived, she was first greeted by an excited Flora that welcomed her with a happy birthday and then a very long kiss.

Daniella looked great, her long black hair which would usually just be flowing down her back was now in a bun that sat behind her head, she wore a vest and slacks so the tattoos on her arms were showing.

Flora kissed her on the lips and then on the cheek making Daniella smile and laugh before returning the same gestures.

I look around for Romero and I find him standing at the bar as if he’s afraid to move and soon realize why he looks like a deer caught in headlights.

Nadia is one of the many people in the middle dancing with a smile.

She’s stunning, wearing a beautiful burgundy sari with a bit of gold that matches the jewelry she wears. Her brown hair flows with her as she dances, she suddenly stops and goes to take a seat by the drink waiting for her.

“You know you can go and talk to her without just standing here,” I say to Romero who jumps because he didn’t know I was next to him.

“She’s not going to want to talk to me,” He says, requesting more of the bourbon-colored drink in his glass.

“You won’t know until you try” I could tell however they ended up being serious because he didn’t even tell me.

“You’re so worried about me and yet you won’t even talk to any of the guys looking at you” He pointed to all of the men I hadn’t noticed throwing glances my way.

“I’m not worried about them, I’m worried that you’re going to down yourself in drinks all because she’s there, if you don’t want to talk to her, stop staring” I hit his shoulder gently.

He turns around and finally takes his eyes off her, “Man, Flora didn’t tell me she’d be here”

“Because she knew you wouldn’t come if you knew” I responded, and the bartender behind the bar offered me a drink. I decline.

“How would she know? I’m not leaving am I?” He throws back another drink and I take his drink from him, reminding him that he can’t get drunk.

“Because you want to see how beautiful she looks tonight” I poke his shoulder and he groans.

“I’m going outside for a while” He walks away from me, making a straight line for the entrance as Nadia is caught up in a conversation but she does catch a glance at him.

Her brown eyes follow him outside with a bit of shock that she’s spotted Romero, she was distracted by him suddenly exiting the restaurant and the person she was talking about pulled her back into their conversation.

“I’m not letting you stand here all night” Flora takes my arm in her own, bringing me along to speak to the people surrounding each other in a circle with drinks in their hands.

One of the guys that Romero had pointed out that had his eyes on me earlier completely stops his conversation with the person next to him to introduce himself to me.

“Preston” The red-haired man smiles at me and keeps his hand out, I take it to introduce myself.

“So you’re the one Flora talks a lot about, it’s nice to finally meet the face behind the stories” He raises his glass and takes a chance to finish eyeing me up and down.

“Are you a friend of Daniella’s?” I question, never hearing Flora bring him up before.

“Co-worker but I do consider us friends, but they tell us that you’re studying to become a doctor” He explains and I knew Flora would go around and introduce me to other people before I got the chance to do it myself.

“I am, along the lines of studying how to treat people and their mental health” I have to raise my voice a little bit because the music grows louder and so do the cheers.

“That’s kind of you, most people I know never really have the helping others aspect in mind when they tell me they want to become a doctor” Preston takes a step closer and that’s when Flora comes over.

“If you like the desserts, Grace made them herself” She leans her arm on my shoulder.

“My mother helped me too but I did make the cheesecakes” I knew what she was doing.

“They’re delicious, probably the best I’ve ever tasted. Wouldn’t you agree Preston?” Flora says to him and he nods.

“Well, then I’ll let you two get back to it then. Also, Grace, Preston is one of the top chefs in the country right now, second to Daniella of course” Flora smiles as Daniella comes over to us and they join hands, Flora placing a kiss on her cheek.

I look around and realize Romero hasn’t come back inside, “I’m sorry, I need to go find someone” I excuse myself from the conversation with Preston and go find Romero.

Nadia is still inside the building so I check outside and hear two voices laughing vocally together and the smell of weed coming from where Romero parked his car.

The closer I get, the closer I can see him speaking to someone who’s leaning against their car.

“Ohh Grace, come here. I’ve been looking for you” I walk over to his side and he places his palm on the top of my head and I have to hold my glasses in place.

“Looking for me? I’ve been inside the entire time, waiting for you to come back inside” I shake my head and move his hand away from my head.

I remember that he was talking to someone and glanced my eyes toward them and realized it was only Romero who was smoking and that he was the only one high.

My eyes find their way back to him and realize that he’s been looking at me the same way that I have been looking at him.

His eyes were a forest green, they weren’t too dark and they weren’t too light, they were a perfect shade and the shape of his eyes had a low look to them that was entrancing and they looked familiar.

His hair was dark brown, it wasn’t too long but it had length, his freckled face gave a soft look to his hard and sharp jaw. Pink lips that only moved to greet me and I brought my eyes back up to his.

I had never seen him before and I was sure of it, I would’ve remembered if I had.

“Grace, this is a good friend of mine, Mariano Delrosa” Romero throws his arm around my shoulders.

“Pleasure to meet you beautiful” His voice matched his appearance just as his name did.

“Nice to meet you too” I try to get Romero’s heavy arm off of me but he only continues to laugh.

“I was just talking about you, I told him about all the things we’ve done together from all the years we’ve been friends, even the funny ones you tell me not to say” Leave it to Romero to act drunk when he’s only high.

“Romero, I told you not to get so high or drunk” I hand him the bottle of water I brought with me, it’s probably not going to help.

“But I had to, she’s in there and probably hates me” He groans, pushing the water bottle away.

“I’ll take him home” Mariano suddenly says, grabbing Romero’s arm and placing it over his shoulder so Romero could use him as balance.

“He’s kinda is my ride home,” I say as he opens the passenger door to his expensive-looking car.

He stopped when Romero got inside the car, “I’ll be back then” He shut the door, and Romero waved at me through the window. I shake my head because it’s never a good idea to let him mix drinks and weed.

Mariano goes over to the driver’s side and opens his door, “Enjoy your time beautiful, I’ll come back to take you home” is all he says before he enters the car and shuts the door, I stand there and watch them drive off.

I sigh and go back into the restaurant and Nadia comes over to me, “Hey um did Romero leave already?” She bit her lip.

“He wasn’t feeling well so a friend of his took him home” I watched her face drop a little bit but she quickly covered that emotion.

“Can I ask you a question?” She hesitates a bit and I tell her she can.

“Is Romero… seeing someone?— God why did I ask that, you don’t have to answer”—

“He’s not seeing anyone” Which was true, Romero hadn’t been with anyone since Nadia and I don’t think he ever tried to find anyone.

“Do you think you could ask him if we could meet to talk soon?” Her eyes look like they’re pleading with me to say yes.

“Of course” I respond and she immediately smiles but goes to cover it, we trade phone numbers and she tells me she’s leaving now.

Flora joins me and leans against me, “You know I’m beginning to think she only said yes to coming because I mentioned Romero.”

“They’re both so cute, it makes me wonder why they split” I check the time to see it’s about to reach twelve.

“You are so cute Grace” Flora starts to laugh a little bit and I look at her in confusion.

“You love the idea of relationships but you don’t want one for yourself” She sits down with me.

“One bad experience shouldn’t make you feel like relationships are a bad thing” She places her hand on mine.

“I’m too busy for one Flora, I’m focusing on studying before thinking about getting into another relationship, I learned that the first time” I stand up and she does too.

“I should get going, Romero’s friend is taking me home and I don’t want to keep him waiting for long,” I tell her, and she hugs me.

We say our goodbyes and I wish Daniella one last happy birthday. Flora tells me they’re ending the party early because she has more plans for her and that’s when I finally walk out of the building.

I spot Mariano easily, his fancy car has bright headlights and he’s leaning against the passenger door on the phone with a smile on his face.

One hand is stuffed in his pocket as he talks, he spots me and finishes up his call before I start walking over and he opens the door for me.

I thank him as I enter and he goes over to enter on the driver’s side, the car roars as he pushes the button next to the steering wheel.

He suddenly gets on the road and hands me his phone and I only look at him.

“I need your address to take you home beautifully” He keeps his eyes on the road and takes his phone.

“You know my name is Grace right?” I didn’t mind the compliment but he said it as if it was the name Romero introduced me to.

That’s when he finally turns his head to look in my direction, he eyes my face a little bit.

“Beautiful suits you more,” He says, taking back his phone to see the address I had entered.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I can feel his eyes on me and I turn my head to him.

“You don’t strike me for the person Romero told me you were” Is all he says with no explanation.

“What type of person did he say I was?” Romero was drunk and high, he could’ve told him anything in the world.

“Well I did believe him when he said you want to be a doctor, you strike me as the type,” He said and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I cross my arms and an amused smirk appears on his lips.

“It’s nothing bad beautiful, but you strike me as the type that wants to be a doctor to help people and not the type who’s thinking about the money aspect” He turns onto a street that tells me we’re close to my apartment.

“Thank you. You strike me as the charming type” I say and the amused look on his face only grows, his eyes still on the road.

“You think I’m charming? I’ve been called a lot of things but charming is new” He drives with one hand as we stop at a red light.

“I think you try to be charming, I never called you that” I point out and signal a small laugh from him as the light turns green.

I just realized that I was going into a full conversation with a stranger.

“I’m not trying to be anything but thank you for calling me charming” He stops the car and I look out the window to find my apartment, a couple of people sitting around the steps.

“Thank you for taking me home” I go and remove my seatbelt and open the door to find him doing the same.

I don’t realize that he’s getting ready to take me inside until he’s stepping out of the car and locking the door as we both get out.

“You don’t have to”— I don’t get to finish before he’s already walking up the stairs and opening the door for me.

“Lead the way beautiful” Is all he says as I make my way up the steps and enter the building.

I pressed the button to the elevator and we both entered in silence as it brought us up to my floor.

When the elevator opens, I’m the first to step out and retrieve my keys from my bag. When I unlock my door before opening it, I turn around to find Mariano already staring down at me.

“Thank you again for taking Romero and me home, and also for walking me up here.”

“No problem, beautiful” He stares through my glasses and looks deeper into my eyes for a little bit before he turns around and goes back to the elevator.

He leans his head back before the phone rings and his smile reappears from the side view of him, his smile was unbelievably beautiful.

He got into the elevator, catching me staring, and threw a wink my way before the doors closed and I hurried into my apartment.

I dropped my bag and removed my heels, the cold wood of my apartment hitting my feet instantly.

I want nothing more than to fall asleep and start a new day.

three

I had given my mother the day off today, mainly because she said she had gotten a headache from keeping the bakery open for so long.

Romero enters the bakery and I shake my head as he rubs the back of his.

“About last night, I’m sorry Grace. I never know my limits with drinks or smoking, I think I’m going to quit starting today because I can’t deal with another headache like this one” He sits down on the stool in front of the counter as I wipe it down.

“Really? You’re going to quit smoking and drinking? I don’t believe you at all” I cross my arms, I don’t remember when he started.

“Okay I lied but I am sorry. I don’t know why I let myself get that fucked up, actually, I do know why. I just don’t want to think about it” He says as he drops his head down on his arms resting on the counter.

“Well, then I guess you don’t want to know what she said after you left” He raises his head at such speed I think he had forgotten about his headache.

I grab my rag and go to wipe off the other counters and he follows me, “What did she say?”

“You said you didn’t want to”—

“Grace, this is serious. What did she say?” I almost laugh at how badly he wants to know.

“She asked if you were seeing anyone and I said you weren’t, then she asked me to give you her new number so you two could meet up and talk” I explained while cleaning the counter. I turn to look at his reaction and he looks stuck.

“She wants to talk? Like, talk to me?” He questions and I roll my eyes.

“Give me her number” He suddenly says and I stop wiping the counter, taking out my phone and showing him her phone number.

“A please and a thank you would get you so far in life,” I say as he types in the number on his phone.

“I don’t know if I can call her, let alone talk to her,” He says, “But I’ll try because there’s a lot I want to say to her.”

“Call her when you’re ready, don’t rush it” I pat his shoulder, he nods, and puts his phone away.

“How’d you get home?” He asks and I’m surprised he doesn’t already know.

“Mariano took me, your friend,” I tell him and his eyebrows raise for a quick second.

“It’s not like you to trust someone that quickly.”

“I don’t trust him but I know that you do so that was enough for me. I still have no clue if he’s a good person or not” I finish wiping down the tables and set them up with the little white flowers in the middle inside of the small vases.

“Is he like one of the guys my father hires or works with?” I ask, wanting to know more about the man who took me home last night.

I thought it was kind of him to make sure I got safely inside before he left.

“Mariano doesn’t work with or for your father, I mean their work is similar but their more of competitors than companions but the reason he decided to settle down here was to leave that part of his life behind and be with his family” He explains as I start a coffee for him, placing one of the croissants on a small plate for him.

“Similar to my father’s? As in that shady stuff, I can’t stand?” I place one of the silver spoons in the coffee for him to mix.

“Wasn’t his choice, he has a family to take care of” Romero defends his friend.

“I didn’t take him to be the marriage type” I started another pot of coffee for other customers.

“That’s because he’s not. When I say family, I mean his daughter and his younger brother” He clarifies and I’m a bit taken aback when he says that he has a daughter, I mean when he said family I thought he just meant a wife.

“So does he still do all the things he did before?”

“You know you’re interested, something happened when he dropped you off?” He raised an eyebrow and I shook my head.

“Nothing happened, I wanted to know more about the guy who took me home last night and whether or not I should watch out for him. You know I don’t like my father’s business, I want to stay as far away from it as possible” I shrug my shoulders and he understands.

I trust Romero, he was the only person who worked for my father that I could truly count on.

“I have to get to work but I’ll stop by later” He places a roll of cash in the tip jar and pays for his food and drinks before leaving.

I helped the woman request another danish and a cheesecake for her son bouncing happily in the seat beside her and it made me smile, he was adorable.

The bell rings and this time there’s a frown on my face when I see who enters. Igancio walks in like he always does, constantly ringing the bell in front of the counter with the usual ugly smirk on his face.

I pull it away from him, seeing the woman who isn’t his wife standing next to him. She’s eyeing the place as if it’s not up to her standards.

“Can I help you?” I force a smile on my face and he leans on the counter, tapping the cash register as he pretends that he’s deciding to order.

“You can help me in many ways Grace” He winks and my face twists in one of cringe.

I didn’t like Ignacio, no one in the neighborhood ever did. He was just another rich man who inherited the buildings from his parents, he was a womanizer who didn’t care about the ring on his finger that he didn’t care to wear while flirting with other women.

“Is there something you’d like to order? There’s a new customer-only policy so if there’s nothing you’re going to order you have to leave” My tone only made him laugh, he reached his hand to touch one of the curls and I took a step back.

“Don’t touch me Ignacio” I said sternly hoping my mother was in the kitchen.

“You need to be nicer to me Grace, I would hate to have to close this cute little bakery before she even gets the chance to catch up on payments” He fixed his watch, looking at my confused face with another smirk.

“What are you talking about?” I didn’t want to talk to him longer than I had to.

“Haven’t you noticed the piles of letters we’ve been sending? Your dear mother is so far behind in her payments to keep this place, she’s only two months away before I close it down” He says and I’m almost in shock, I didn’t know anything about this.

This was why she was so upset whenever I brought the mail to her, she didn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know whether to be upset or feel bad but I was feeling a bit of both.

“Neither of you makes enough money to pay that much back and I know you’re trying to become a doctor, so why don’t you come and work for me? I promise I’ll make it worth your while” I’m still in a state of shock which allows him to rub my cheek before I get the opportunity to slap his hand away.

He moves back and takes the hand of the girl beside him who hadn’t said anything since she walked in, he averts his eyes to my mother and laughs a little bit before they’re walking away.

“I’ll let you think about it” Is all he says before he leaves and I use a napkin to wipe the part of my cheek that he touched.

“Did he want something?” Mother came into view and signed as Ignacio left, I debated on whether to tell her that I knew but if I did, she would feel bad for not telling me.

“He just came to be a bother” Is all I say, I was still shocked at how far behind she was in payments but at the same time, I wasn’t.

Mother’s prices were affordable so they didn’t make her enough money to match the total of the space she rented the bakery and pay for her small apartment above.

If I confronted her about it, she would tell me she didn’t want me to worry and to just focus on my studies and she would handle it.

She went to assist customers even though she should be resting.

I didn’t know what to do, and as much as I knew she wouldn’t want me to tell my father. He was probably the only one who could help since he had some sort of ties with Ignacio’s family.

“He’s busy right now” One of the guys in front of the doors stopped me from knocking on my father’s door and I told them I needed to see him.

They must’ve been known because all of my father’s workers knew who I was. I wish Kenny was working today because he would’ve already let me through the door.

That’s when my father finally heard the commotion and waved the two guys off who slightly glared at me before they moved.

“This is new for you, visiting me twice in one week” He closes the door behind him.

“I need to talk to you” I don’t even sit when he offers me the seat, I cross my arms as he goes to his office chair and takes a seat.

“What happened?” He closes his laptop and gives me his attention, seeing how serious I am about this.

“I found out that my mother is behind in payments for the bakery, three years behind. She can’t make up the money she owes and the last thing I want is for the bakery to close” I start feeling my heart beat a bit faster because I know how important the bakery is to her.

“Ignacio showed up?” He said it more as a statement than a question.

“He threatened to close it and offered not to if I went to work for him,” I say in disgust and it doesn’t faze my father.

“How do you think she’s going to pay that money?” It’s like he didn’t hear the part I had just said.

“That’s why I came here, she’s not going to raise her prices so it’ll be hard for her to reach that amount of money with the time they gave her. Can you talk to Ignacio for us? To give us more time to get the money” I finally took a seat and my father ran a hand over his chin.

“I can’t do that, Grace, Ignacio and his family are really big partners when it comes to this place. He’s the one allowing me to keep this thing open and without it, I lose all my hard work and business” He explains and I can’t believe it.

“I’m not asking you for money, you know how important the bakery is to her, how important it is to me and you won’t do one thing?” I don’t even want to hear what he has to say anymore.

I was going to find another job so I could assist my mother in paying the money she owed and I was hoping my father would ask Ignacio to give her some extra time, it was far too much money to earn all in a year.

“Grace”—

“It’s okay, I’ll figure it out” I stand up and he does as well and I open the door to meet those familiar green eyes from yesterday.

Mariano raises his eyebrows slightly when he sees me and my father behind me.

I didn’t know what to think seeing him here but I remember when Romero told me that they were competitors.

“Can we finish this some other time?” My father says to me and it takes everything out of me not to roll my eyes at him.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s already finished” I sternly say to him.

“Excuse me” I calm my tone when asking Mariano for room so I can leave the room.

He moves aside, eyes still on me as I walk past him and down the stairs to leave the building.

I had been busy finding any open jobs or money offers I could take.

I wanted to help her as much as I could and as fast as I could.

My door opened and I knew it had to be either Romero or Flora because they were the only ones who had keys to my apartment aside from my mother.

I was sitting on my couch with my legs crossed with a laptop on my lap that was being taken from the person behind me and told by the hands it was Romero.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I ask him, wanting my laptop back.

“I was at work but then Mariano told me he saw you leave and thought you looked upset” He was reading my laptop but I focused on his words.

“He told you?” I was taken aback, I mean I was terrible at hiding my facial expression but I didn’t think he would care enough to tell Romero.

“He did. Why are you looking for jobs?” He comes over to the couch and sits beside me, taking or of the freshly cut mangoes I cut for myself.

“I need another job… books and classes are becoming more expensive” I don’t tell Romero about my mother’s bakery, it was mainly her business and I know she wouldn’t want other people to know.

“You know I’ll help you with that, how much do you need?” He goes to reach for his wallet and I stop him.

“I’m looking for a job to pay it off myself Romero, you wouldn’t have any good ones in mind, would you?” I ask him and he sits and thinks.

“You wouldn’t like any of them but I’ll let you know if I find something, stop stressing yourself out and give yourself a break” He gives me a side hug and immediately stands up and goes to my kitchen.

Opening my fridge and taking out the cheesecake that I had baked yesterday.

“I think I might have something in mind, I’ll let you know about it tomorrow. I have to get back before your father notices I left” He grabs a fork and takes the cake and I ask him to at least save me a piece.

He cuts me a slice and puts it back in the fridge and takes the rest.

When he leaves, I get up and grab my laptop once more and continue to hunt for another job.

Another hour in, I found absolutely nothing and just decided to give up.

I couldn’t believe I was going to do this.

I was outside of Ignacio’s club, ready to ask him to push back the time he had to give my mother.

If my father wasn’t going to do it, then I would attempt to do it myself.

No matter how much he wanted to push that side away from him, Ignacio grew up in my neighborhood. I never liked him as a kid and I don’t like him now as an adult.

He’s always had some weird crush on me since we were kids, that’s when his family started their own shady business and grew wealth which built his ego even as a teenager.

The loud music made me want to leave, but I pushed through the crowd and found men and women being entertained by strippers everywhere.

I couldn’t find Ignacio and that’s because I didn’t need to, he found me before I had the chance to really look for him.

“I knew you’d take my offer” His hand touches my lower back and I immediately turn around and back away. I hate how he thinks he can just touch who he wants because of who he is.

“I’m not here for that, I need to talk to you,” I tell him and that creepy smile appears on his face, he tells me he wants me to follow him to his office but I don’t trust him.

“Fine, we’ll go in here” He opens a curtain and reveals a much quieter space with a bar, people were sitting around so I didn’t mind going in there.

He sat down and ordered two drinks, “I don’t drink,” I told him and it only made him grab the drink he wanted to give to me and drink it himself.

“What did you want to speak to me about if not about wanting to be one of the workers?” He eyes one of the strippers that walk past us.

“I need you to give my mother extra time to pay off her bills, if you do I promise that I’ll help and contribute to whatever she owes you” I try and wait for his answer.

“No matter how much I want you for myself, I just can’t do that Grace. If I do it for you, I have to do it for every other person who wants to keep their apartments or their shops, and that doesn’t look so good for me does it?” He snaps his fingers for a refill on his drink.

“You gave her a year to pay off almost an amount equivalent to a mortgage, that’s not nearly enough time to pay all that off” I try to keep my voice low and it seems like he doesn’t care.

“She should’ve been paying in the first place, no harm in raising prices for her little cupcakes and macaroons which are heavenly by the way” It angers me how to smirk he is.

“But, I’ll think about pushing the time if you agree to work here,” He says, downing yet another shot glass and requesting another.

“I told you”—

“Before you say anything, I’m not talking about working as one of the entertainers. I need a new bar girl after I fired the last one” He goes on.

“If you agree, I’ll take away some of what she owes every day you show up to work.”

I think about it for a while, I can’t sit around and wait for Romero to find something for me.

All of me knows I’m going to regret this but I accept the job and it brings that glint back in his eyes.

“I knew you’d come around, I’ll call you when I need you.”

• ❤️

four

Flora invited me to breakfast with Daniella and her. We sat at a small cafe close to their apartment.

When I got there, I found them sitting down and Flora was fixing Daniella’s makeup before they both saw me and smiled.

I sat down in front of them, noticing that they had ordered me a plate of waffles with whipped cream and a strawberry on top.

“How are you?” Daniella says to me first, I notice the new lip piercing she’s gotten.

“I’m good, really good actually” I know it was an overstatement but I didn’t need or want anyone to know how badly I’ve been struggling so far.

After asking Ignacio for the job, I waited for his call which had yet to come.

I went back to studying and attending classes to realize that the semester was coming to an end which meant I would have to pay yet another large amount of money to sign up for classes.

“We missed you, Grace, we barely hear from you these days” Flora frowns a bit and stirs the spoon in her latte.

“Classes are starting again so I’m trying to pay for the best professors” I explained to her.

“Don’t overwork yourself, I know you’ll get your degree” She says to me and it makes me smile.

They go back to speaking to each other and my phone buzzes with a text from Ignacio, through the number he gave me which was his business phone number.

It said that he needed me to work for him tonight and not to be late. He needed me there at eight and that if I showed up, he’d subtract some of the money that my mother owed.

I replied to him that I would be there.

I haven’t told my mother that I knew about the money she owed him, if I did she’d be upset at herself if she knew that I had to work for him to help her and I didn’t want her stressing herself.

“You know Preston asked about you” Flora drew my attention away from my phone.

“He did?” I hadn’t forgotten about Preston, I thought he was a kind person.

“He wants me to give him your number but I thought I’d let you do that yourself. So we’re inviting you on a double date with us” She clasps her hands together and Daniella laughs, telling me that it was all Flora’s idea.

“Tonight? I can’t tonight, I have to meet one of my professors and I have a class” I tell her and her hands unclasp themselves.

I don’t have a class or have to meet my professors and I didn’t want to lie to Flora but I did have to work for Ignacio today.

“Fine then we’ll change it to five o’clock because I know your classes are at seven anyways,” She says and I don’t say anything because she’s right.

“Please don’t call this a date, I’ve only met him once” I begin to cut in the soft and delicious-looking plate of waffles in front of me.

“Preston is a good guy, probably the only guy I’d ever recommend you get to know. Daniella’s worked with him for two years now” She looks at Daniella who was focused on the breakfast sandwich in front of her.

“He’s a cool guy, a great chef, too. Maybe I’ll ask him to cook for us tonight instead of going out” She suggests and Flora tells her that’s a good idea.

“I wouldn’t mind that, as long as you didn’t tell him that it’s a double date,” I say and she tells me that she hadn’t told him anything yet and takes out her phone to call him and excuses herself.

That’s when Flora scoots closer to the desk, “Last night I told Daniella that I love her in the heat of the moment and she kinda froze and used her safe word and we spent the entire night and morning ignoring it”

I could tell this was bothering her, her eyes seemed to water the more she explained it.

“She probably was overwhelmed, you’re her first relationship Flora. I think you two should talk about it after this” She sighs but she agrees.

“I just don’t want to make her uncomfortable,” She says and I reach across the table and place my hand on hers and tell her to talk to her about it.

Daniella joins us again and informs us that Preston is fine with hosting dinner at his house.

I would have to make sure I left a couple of minutes earlier so I had time to make it to Ignacio’s in time to start the shift that I wasn’t looking forward to doing.

I dressed in a black skirt so that I could wear it when I went to Ignacio’s after this. I was the last one to show up at Preston’s house because of how far I lived from it.

The outside view of his house was huge. I rang his doorbell while holding my purse in front of me while I waited for someone to open the door for me.

“I’m glad you decided to come” The door opens and I’m met with Preston’s eyes lighting up when he finds me standing there waiting for him.

“Thank you for offering to cook for us” I step inside and he closes the door behind me.

“You look amazing,” He says, leading me to the dining room where the smell of the food fills the air and my nose.

I thank him again and we enter the dining room where both Flora and Daniella sit next to each other and Preston hurries to pull my chair out.

“You’re just in time, he just finished” Flora points over to the oven that dings, and Preston goes to turn it off and brings plates and glasses to serve us.

He pours them and himself wine and a glass of water, “That’s so sweet that you remembered she doesn’t drink” Flora bit in.

I can easily see how much she wants us to get to know each other but I wish she would just let me do that on my own.

“If you do want to drink, I have non-alcoholic drinks as well” He adds, and I tell him the water is fine and he goes and brings the food and sets it in the middle.

“How long have you been cooking for?” I ask, the lasagna in front of our smells and looks great and it reminds me how hungry I am.

“My dad taught me when I was younger, he wouldn’t let me become an adult in his house unless I learned how to make myself food” He brings the silverware and sits next to me.

“My mother did the same thing but when it came to baking, it was probably the first thing she taught me how to do before she taught me how to walk,” I say and it makes him laugh.

I take a bite of the piece of lasagna that I had put on my plate and I almost want to take another one before I even finished the first one.

“This is almost as good as mine,” Daniella says, making us laugh and I tell him how good it is.

“I’m glad you like it, I was kinda nervous about it when Daniella said that I was cooking dinner for you guys and mentioned you were coming” He admits and I think it’s adorable.

“Nervous? You were more than nervous” Flora begins to laugh and Preston smiles with a blush on his face.

“Who wouldn’t be,” Preston says lowly but I heard what he said and continued to eat as Daniella and Flora joined in their own conversation.

“You don’t have to impress me, this is enough,” I tell him, placing my hand on his knee because he looks so tense every time I take a bite of the food as if I’m going to somehow hate it.

“I just want to make sure you like everything, I want to get to know you Grace” His hand finds mine and he places it on top of my own.

“I wouldn’t mind that but only if we take things slow” He nods his head at my response and I go for another piece of lasagna.

“And as long as you keep making this” I take another bite.

“I’ll make it for the rest of my life if I have to” He pours more water into my glass and I shake my head and tell him that he doesn’t have to try so hard, that I’m already impressed.

I wouldn’t mind getting to know Preston, he was attractive to me as much as he was sweet.

After we finished dinner, Preston invited me to sit with him on his balcony to watch the city lights and look at the full moon with him.

“Flora says you’ve been busy with classes lately and I wanted to tell you that you could always ask if you need help with studying, I was always good at that sorta thing.”

“That would be nice, you’re a nice person Preston” My answer makes him smile.

I check the time on my phone and notice how close it’s getting to eight and I tell him how I don’t want to cut this short but I have to get back before one of my classes starts.

He offers to walk me out and to wait for a car to come and get me. I say goodbye to Daniella and Flora and they hug me goodbye.

Preston waits with me as the car pulls up in front of us, he opens the door for me.

“Thank you for coming Grace,” He says as he looks at my lips then back to my eyes, and lets me sit inside the car.

I tell him I hope to see him again.

I thought I would be working at the bar with the rest of the bartenders but instead, Ignacio has me working in his office, serving a group of five men who sit on a couch as he talks to them about some businesses.

The short black skirt I wore that he said was a part of the uniform didn’t help how it was in the room.

He would signal me with the snap of his fingers when he needed me to pour them more drinks.

Being around Ignacio, even more, told me how much of a douchebag he was, and how he loved to brag about himself to make himself feel better.

He snapped his fingers and I grabbed the expensive bottles of vodka “Leave them and come here” I put them down and didn’t know what he was going to ask of me.

When I walked over to him, he pulled my arm and made me sit down next to him.

He dismissed all the men in his room which left us alone, “This is not what I agreed to”

He wrapped his arm around my waist as the door opened and Mariano Delrosa walked in with confusion written on his face as he saw me.

“Mariano, come in and take a seat. We have lots to discuss” Ignacio says, holding me still and I stop fighting against him.

Ignacio whispers for me to relax as Mariano only keeps his eyes on the arm wrapped around my waist, clearly seeing that I don’t want it there.

“I don’t think this conversation is made for her” Mariano sits on the couch, leaning one of his arms back on the rest while letting his legs slightly open.

He didn’t even look at Ignacio, he only stared at me with an expression in his eyes I couldn’t read.

“Go get him a drink and go downstairs” Ignacio removes his arm and lets me go to the bar, I bring Mariano a shot glass.

“I don’t drink, water will be fine,” He says, sliding his eyes up my legs to my eyes. I gave the shot glass to Ignacio who immediately took it and I went back to bring him a cold bottle of water.

“Leave us” Ignacio sternly says and I leave the office and go downstairs to help out at the bar.

The music and the people demanding drinks makes me want to leave already but I had another hour before I could leave.

I wondered why Mariano was here, if he had any ties with Ignacio, I was going to be wary of him.

Even though Romero told me he wasn’t a bad guy, he seemed to have known both my father and Ignacio, two men whose businesses dealt with either hurting people or handling drugs and alcohol and possibly weapons and I didn’t like any of it.

“This isn’t a place you should be in beautiful” I didn’t see him coming over until he arrived at the bar.

“And how would you know that?” I pour the man in front of me five shot glasses and he takes them to the gambling table in the back.

“Because you look like you’d rather be anywhere else in the world right now” He sits down, tapping his index finger on the counter.

“What are you doing here?” He firmly asks.

“I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Delrosa” I shoot him a glance and notice how nicely he’s dressed tonight.

“Well if you must know beautiful, I’m here to take care of a few things and I just happened to find you in the arms of the asshole looking at you from behind” His eyes switch to behind my head and I’m guessing that Ignacio is there.

“I work here, that’s why I’m here” I admit and that catches his attention.

“You work here? For someone who wants to become a doctor, this is a very odd start” He runs a thumb underneath his bottom lip.

“Everyone starts somewhere if you’re not going to ask me for a drink. I’m going to get back to work” I turn around and realize Mariano was right, Ignacio is just staring at me while he has one of the dancers on his lap.

“You intrigue me, so kind to others, and yet such an attitude when it comes to me. Did I do something to deserve this?” He comes around to where I’m facing and that same pleasing expression is written on his face.

“I’m not one to be kind to criminals” My sentence makes him smile, the light above us shining down on his freckles and his teeth.

“You wound me beautiful, I don’t think of myself as a criminal let alone in the same category as him or that father of yours” My eyes widen a bit when he mentions my father.

“How did you”—

“There’s a nice family photo of you two in his office, you know I asked about you and he didn’t want to tell me anything. I’m guessing he doesn’t want you around any of the shit he does. Am I wrong?” He furrowed his eyebrows a little.

“I don’t have time for this” I remove the small black apron that’s tied around my waist and walk from behind the counter and through the hallway to find the employee room.

“If you think I’m a criminal, I would hate to know what you think of them” He follows me.

“Following me won’t get you anywhere” I enter the room and so does he, I find my locker and turn the lock to get my bag and my phone.

“I would’ve thought I had gotten somewhere from our chat in my car yesterday” He leans against the door, stopping me from leaving.

“Is there something you want from me?”

“I want you to find another job” He straightens up and I question why he cares.

“You don’t like criminals and out of all of the places, you chose to work here. And I’m guessing Romero doesn’t know because if he did, you wouldn’t be standing here in a hurry to leave. After all, he’ll be here soon with your dad” His arms are crossed and since his shirt is short-sleeved I can see the hints of tattoos on his biceps.

“I need the money okay? Is that what you wanted from me? If I don’t do this job, he’ll take something important away from me” I finally let out, wanting nothing more than to leave before Romero gets here, not caring if my father sees me.

“Don’t tell Romero please, I don’t need him to know” I can’t believe how stupid I sound right now.

“If it’s money that you owe him, I have a better offer than whatever he said he’d give you” He placed a hand on his chin and only looked at him.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because he’s a liar, a pathetic one too,” He said and I was willing to listen to him and told him to go on.

“It’s too much to tell you here and Romero will be here soon, but we can discuss it tomorrow. You just need to tell me when you quit and I’ll tell you more about it” He removes his phone from his back pocket and holds it out to me.

“I don’t usually ask for phone numbers before the first date but this will be my first and only exception” He grins.

“How do I know if your offer is any good to me?” I typed in my number on his phone, not sure about it at first but thinking about not having to work here anymore made me do it.

“You’ll just have to wait and see beautiful.”

• more chapters to come!

• I love you all ❤️!

five

I sat at the small cafe, with a coffee in front of me as I waited for Mariano after I called him and asked if we could meet and discuss his offer.

I was interested, if it was anything that didn’t involve me working near or for Ignacio, I would take it.

I lifted my head when I heard his voice, he mentioned my name to the woman behind the counter and she pointed over to me.

No matter where this man went he looked expensive. I placed his cup of coffee closer to his side of the table so he could see it.

“Beautiful” Is the first thing he says as he sits down, addressing me as the compliment he’s turned into some sort of nickname for me.

The round table separating us is too small for his long legs, I can feel them brushing mine which makes me retreat them backward and cross my ankles so he has more legroom.

“I didn’t mean for us to meet so early,” I say, keeping my hands on my lap, messing with the material of my dress which his eyes glance at.

“Don’t apologize beautiful, I’m not complaining” He uses the small spoon on the side of him to mix his coffee before adding some of the sugar.

“I want to discuss your offer, I told Ignacio that I no longer wanted to work for him and he told me he’d always save a spot for me and the last thing I want to do is have to go back and ask for my job back” I explain, really hoping the offer is something I can accept.

“You don’t have to worry about that, I’m sure you’ll agree to my offer” He sounded confident which made me a bit nervous.

“I’m only hearing you out because of Romero, him trusting you is enough” I make it clear, if it weren’t for him being close to Romero, I don’t think I would be sitting in front of him right now.

“What exactly has he told you about me?” He seemed curious, drinking his coffee and asking the waiter to refill my glass of white jasmine tea.

“He told me that he trusts you, that you aren’t a bad guy and that the reason you moved here was for your family” I give him the narrative that Romero had given to me.

“And how much of that do you believe yourself?” He questions me, a hand on his chin as he looks deeply into my eyes.

“I believe enough of it” I responded and it felt like everything I said he found amusing.

“It’s true, what he said. I did move here for my family but there’s more to it” He doesn’t go on further than that before placing the black file he walked in with on the table.

“I’ve recently been trying to gain full custody of my daughter. But some lawyers believe that I’m unfit to be a single parent. Now to receive full custody over her, I need to be at least engaged or married to be able to fully support her” He explains to me.

“Wait” I start to put the pieces together and as he notices, “Is your offer for me to marry you?” I almost let out an unbelievable laugh.

“As much as I think we should wait and see where this goes before we think about marriage, but yes that’s part of my offer” He adds.

“It won’t be real, just for the papers and for them to see that I’m more than qualified to have custody over my daughter” That’s when he hands me the black file and I read through it.

It was the details of his case, and it was the details of his offer. Mariano was willing to pay me to pretend to be his wife, he was willing to pay me more money than I had thought, and that’s how I knew that he was serious about this.

The further I read down, the more my eyes widened a little bit.

“I have to move in with you?” I look up at him with an unbelievable tone.

“It wouldn’t look right for my wife to live two cities away from me, now would it?” He finishes his cup of coffee and I realize he has a point.

“It would be up to you whether you’d want your room or if you’d rather stay with me. Either way,  I wouldn’t complain” He mentions and I know he’d rather the second option.

“There’s so much I have to think about” I continue to read and realize I might need a day or so to figure out if this is something that I could sign my name to.

“You don’t have to give it to me today, you can look it over by yourself and decide then,” He says, seeing how unsure I was about this whole thing.

I tell him that’s a better idea and we stand, I go to pay for the drinks but he’s already left money on the table and extra as a tip for the workers.

He holds the cafe door open for me to exit first and I stop as sudden questions fill my mind.

“What will Romero say if I agree? Won’t he be suspicious?” I never thought it would look from Romero’s point of view.

“You can tell him you’re helping an old friend” He keeps his thumb on the side of his lips, I didn’t know what he meant by an old friend and I asked another question as he used his keys to bring his car to life with a simple button.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why’d you pick me? We’ve only just met” I keep the black file close to me, hugging it to my chest.

“Haven’t you noticed? You intrigue me beautiful. In more ways than one but it hurts me deeply that you don’t remember me” He turns around and I don’t notice how close he was. His hands are stuffed in his front pockets and I look at him with a sign of confusion on my face.

“What are you talking about?” I ask and he smirks. I don’t know why part of me tells me that I’ve seen those green eyes before but my mind won’t seem to let me remember.

“You wound me deeply, how could you forget me so easily when I still remember these pretty brown eyes of yours? I didn’t accept your apology for calling me a criminal because it wasn’t the first time you called me one” He refers back to when I spoke to him on the phone first.

“I think you need to be more clear” After I said my sentence, I wished I had said a different set of words because when the sentence came out, Mariano took a step closer. The space between us almost looked non-existent.

“But I’d rather you figure it out yourself, I know that smart mind of yours can” He was leaning down to my ear now and my breath stilled.

“Now come on, let me drive you home” He went to open the passenger side door and I was still stuck on the edge of the sidewalk, trying to put a puzzle together and coming up with nothing.

“You do things like this on purpose” I accept his offer to take me home, not wanting to wait an hour for a car to take me two cities away.

“You’ll grow to like it,” He says as he shuts the door for me as I get inside and put on my seatbelt, reopening the black file and thinking about the offer sitting right in front of me.

“We’ll see about that.”

Mariano was in the middle of taking me home before his phone rang, whoever was on the other line made it sound like it was an emergency.

Mariano had asked me if he could hold off with taking me home and I told him it was fine. He turned his car around until we were driving into a big and expensive-looking home that I could only guess was his.

The black exterior only told me that there was a matching black interior. I followed Mariano out of the car as he hurried to open the door to his home, letting me in first before we were met with the sight of Romero crouching down by a couch with a little girl cuddling herself.

“I couldn’t find her meds,” Romero said, his eyes looking at Mariano and then at me and he seemed confused about why I was there and left it alone and focused on Mariano.

“She said it was her stomach and now her head hurts, we went out for a little and that’s when I realized that we didn’t have her medication” Romero explained to Mariano who crouched down to the little girl holding her stomach.

She was his daughter, from the freckles that were scattered across her cheeks and her big green eyes that mirrored his. The only difference was that her hair was brown which could pass for black.

Mariano asked Romero to bring him something from upstairs, he wasted no time in heading up the long row of stairs.

Mariano kept his attention on his daughter, soothing her curls back and feeling her forehead to make sure she didn’t grow a fever.

“She could be dehydrated…” I suddenly said, and he turned his head towards me. Mariano stands up and goes over to his kitchen that’s the size of my apartment itself and gets a glass of water for her to drink on.

He sits her up and lets her drink some of the water and Romero returns with a purple kit.

Mariano looks through it for a specific bottle and opens it and lets her take it with the water. I notice how he immediately checks her heart rate by pressing two fingers to the side of her neck.

She hugs him afterward and he whispers a name quietly as he holds her and it only makes my heart warm at the sight.

It was clear that he was a good father, she clung to him as much as her small body would allow.

I’ve always found it adorable to see children and their parents show affection and love toward each other.

“What are you doing here?” Romero comes over and asks me.

“He offered to take me home, he was at the cafe I had been studying at” I made up some of the details of our meeting and Romero nodded his head.

“Do you want one back?” That’s when Mariano turned his head slightly as if he was waiting for my answer and I told Romero that it was fine.

“I have to get going, your father does want to speak with you soon,” Romero says the last part lowly, knowing that I haven’t spoken to him since I walked out of his office a few days ago.

“I’ll find the time, I’m still figuring some things out” That Is all I tell him and he tells me to talk to him about it whenever I’m ready.

He goes over to the little girl and hugs her and she returns the gesture, both he and Mariano give a respectful nod to each other before Romero is walking out the door.

“I’m going to take her upstairs” Mariano stands and lifts her from the couch, her big green eyes are now fighting their way into sleep as she easily hugs him.

“You can sit down,” Mariano says to me as I just idly stand by the side of the other black couch.

When he disappears up the long row of stairs, I take a chance to gaze around the huge house.

There were many windows, the dark tint of them shielded the outside gaze as you could see it clearly from the inside. The furniture and decor had to be more than anything I have ever owned before.

Part of me knew that seeing how he was with his daughter was going to make my decision easy.

Not only would I be helping him and helping mother get her bakery out of debt, but I could also use the money to pay for higher classes.

I then hear his voice asking me if I like what I see as I turn around to find him already at the edge of the stairs, watching me.

“You have a nice home,” I say as he comes closer to me, those green eyes that I find myself needing to be cautious about.

“It can be yours as well, I don’t mind sharing” He gazed down at the black file still in my hands.

“Is she feeling better?” I don’t want to pry and ask what was wrong with her so I keep it simple.

“She will be, she just needs to rest” He looked worried as he carried her up the stairs, he exhaled deeply.

“She’s adorable” I decide to change the mood of the conversation and as I did, he went back to his usual self.

“You think I’m adorable?” He turns his head a little bit with a grin and I shake my head.

“I think you need this more than I do” I point to my hearing aid. “You seem to be hearing what you want.”

“There’s a lot of things I need beautiful, and a lot that I want” He can tell that he’s done it again, saying something for the second time today that has made my mind go blank when going to respond.

“But it’s a shame isn’t it” He waits for me to ask and I debate if I should, knowing he was probably going to respond with something that left me stuck for a while.

“What is?” I wanted to see where that grin of his was going.

“That you only date nice guys, unless that rule of yours has changed after a year?” He spoke as he was giving me hints about something.

At first, I didn’t understand what he meant. That was until I put the pieces from earlier together, and the more I stared at him right now, the more I figured out where I’d seen him before.

A year ago, when I first applied for an internship to have the chance to have first-hand experience with what it was like to work at a hospital, I met a stranger while I was finding a file for one of the doctors.

That stranger was Mariano who was attempting to steal a patient’s file from the room. I now remember it so clearly because of how dirty the words he said to me were.

He stood so close to me in that small room, I called him a criminal is why he told me it wasn’t my first time calling him one. I stood there and told him that I was into nice guys and he told me he could be both, that he would bring me flowers and fuck me into the next morning.

My face heated as I remembered it, my hold on the black file tightened and I tried to regain my composure.

“Is that a yes?” He snapped me out of the memory that had clouded my mind.

“I have somewhere to be” I remove my phone from my bag, and walk my way towards his door.

“Something wrong beautiful? You seem distressed” He speaks from behind me as I keep my gaze forward while walking to his door.

“I’ll let you know my answer soon, there’s just a lot I need to unpack” I don’t turn my head to face him, I can already feel his presence behind me.

“Again you have my number, use it whenever you need me” He’s quick to open his door for me and I use the app on my phone to call for a car.

His last sentence is “Goodbye beautiful” before he’s making sure I step into the car and close the door before he shuts his home door.

I opened the black file once more, the only signature left was mine as I clicked the pen that he had given to me at the cafe. I had finally signed my name on the black line that waited for me.

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

But I was willing to find out.

❤️

six

“I don’t know if you’re taking this seriously Mr. Delrosa. If you are not, you need to start” My lawyer sits in front of me, the smell of coffee coming from his mouth and into the air between us.

“I’m more than serious Willy, all I asked was how was your son? And how would you feel if the only way you got to see him grow up depends on your marital status?” My legs are up on the desk separating us as we sit in his office and discuss my agreement.

“I know it’s unfair but you have to realize there were points brought across from your past, I tried to fight them as much as I could but you aren’t exactly an angel” He explains to me and goes for another sip of coffee and I take the mug away from him.

“You don’t need any more of this” I place the mug down and stand up, brushing off my shirt.

“With this case, I’m going to need all the coffee I can get. You told me you found someone to sign the marriage papers and I still haven’t received them, the total members in your family haven’t changed, I’m starting to believe you don’t have anyone” William takes his mug back, drinking the last of the coffee inside.

“She just needs a little more time, I’m not exactly asking her the easiest favor” I sigh, thinking about the glasses-wearing beauty that I managed to meet twice in my life.

I haven’t received anything back from her for three days now, “Before you confirm anything with her, I think it’s wise to do a full background check on her. What’s her full name?” William gets up to get himself another cup of coffee.

“You don’t have to worry about her history, if you met her you wouldn’t think she ever stole something a day in her life” I look outside his office window to find a busy road.

Grace didn’t seem like the type to get herself wrapped up in her father’s business. She seemed like she’d prefer to stay far away from all of it.

“If you say so, maybe she needs to do a background check on you before she agrees” His response makes me laugh.

“I’m not one to dwell in the past, and neither should you Willy” He doesn’t expect me to be behind him and I place a hand on his shoulder, “Besides, she’s not interested in who I am.”

“The court would like to know if you’re still attending therapy. If so, bring me all the dates you attended and how long you were there” He takes out another file and I don’t respond.

“You have been attending your therapy sessions right?” He turns his head to me, his glasses sit at his nose and I only go over to his desk and lean against it.

“I take the pills, isn’t that therapy enough?” I crossed my arms, I hadn’t seen my therapist in so long, I almost forgot her name.

“You don’t make my job any easier” He rubs his eyebrows and types away at his laptop.

“I’ll go see her this week if it’ll make you happy” I pat the side of his face and he shoves my hand away.

“When the woman you told me about brings you her signature, bring it to me immediately so we can move this along. I’ve been your lawyer for four years now, I deserve a six-year vacation from all of this” He sighs as if he needs a cigarette.

He escorts me to his door and out of his office building, “You make me seem so bad” I grin as we enter the elevator.

“You are never serious Mr. Delrosa, I think that’s what makes you so difficult” The elevator opens and he’s walking with me out of the building.

“Difficult? I like to consider myself as a complex being in a fucked up world” I remove my car keys from my pocket and William shakes his head.

“I truly do pray for her if she accepts, she’s going to need all the support she can get having to be around you for so long” He pats my shoulder.

“I’ll support her in any way she needs me to” I give William a wink and he doesn’t wait for me to enter my car before he’s walking back into his building.

My phone rings with Grace’s name appearing on the screen as I get onto the street.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting long, I already signed the papers, I just wanted to ask you how you wanted me to give them to you…” The background music slightly overpowers her voice.

“Beautiful if you just want to see me, all you have to do is ask. I want to see you too” The phone is being held with my left hand as my right controls the steering wheel.

“You’re even worse on the phone” From her soft voice, I can hear music in the background.

“So you like me better in person, noted” I barely catch her laugh as the music grows louder behind her and I ask her where she is.

“I’m… at Ignacio’s, I’m trying to talk to him about quitting and he’s more stubborn than anyone I have ever met. Anytime I bring up quitting, he just offers me drinks or tells me about how he’s striving every day” She sighs, the frustration clear in her voice.

Anyone would be frustrated when talking to an idiot like him, it was like talking to a brick wall.

“I’m just going to give up and leave, I don’t want to be here longer than I have to” She excuses herself through crowds of people.

“I’ll be there to pick you up” I turn my car around, going in the complete opposite direction.

“You don’t have to do”—

“I insist, besides I’m close by anyways” That was a lie hardly close by but she didn’t need to know.

“Fine— Are you driving and on the phone with me right now?” She finally stepped outside, and the music in the background died out.

“Are you worried about me?” A slight smile found its way up to my lips.

“I’m worried about the other people around you, and for your car” She responds quickly, leaving no time to deny my question.

“Don’t worry too much about me beautiful, I’m safe” She mutters something to herself that I don’t quite catch.

“I thought you said you were close?” She suddenly asks and I can imagine her arms crossed as she looks for my car on the road.

“I didn’t say how close I was” I was two more turns away from her when I reached the destination, and I found her standing on the sidewalk.

“I never took you as a liar Mr. Delrosa” Her eyes rose from the ground to the only sleek, black car and I caught her reeling her bottom lip back into her mouth.

Grace was exactly the nickname I gave her, she was beautiful and even more.

Beautiful brown eyes that glowed along with her brown skin underneath the sun above us. Black glasses framed her face that suited her well, and her curls fell to her shoulders, moving along with every head movement that she made.

My eyes followed down her body, from thick and smooth thighs that I could only imagine in ways that would make her flush, to her long legs that allowed her to reach my nose.

Just as beautiful as I remember.

All of me wondered if there was something more to that kind of exterior of hers.

“Beautiful” I spoke first as she finished eyeing me as I stepped out of my car and made my way to her.

“You have wandering eyes, Mr. Delrosa” She hung up her phone and slid it into her purse.

“I could say the same for you, not that I mind your eyes on me” I never corrected her when she addressed me formally because I knew she did it. After all, I never addressed her as Grace.

She doesn’t say anything but walks to my car.

“Where are you taking me?” She goes to open my door and I take her wrist and turn her around.

“To my place, I want to make sure the room meets your standards” Her back hits the door of my car gently and it’s clear she didn’t expect it with how fast her chest heaved.

“And if it doesn’t?” She raises her eyes to me with a playful gaze.

“Then I’ll tear it down and rebuild it until it does” I place my hand on the handle of the car door, allowing me to lean closer to her.

“That sounds a bit dramatic” She keeps her eyes on mine, not shying away as I would expect her to do.

“Anything to keep my wife happy.”

I open my front door and my leg is immediately welcomed by my flower running from where she sat all the way to embrace my leg with her small arms and giggles, “I missed you, daddy!”

“Sir you’re back— oh I didn’t know you were bringing a guest, I can start on lunch if either of you is hungry” Maritza gets up from the couch after watching Iris’s favorite cartoons.

I lift my flower into my arms and press a kiss to her cheek until she keeps laughing, “Don’t worry Maritza, I’m going to show her upstairs”

Maritza nods and bows at Grace who doesn’t know how to respond, “Ms. Grace is it? Would you like something to drink?”

“You can call me Grace and thank you, water will be fine” She smiled at Maritza and looked back at me and how my flower was gazing at her.

Maritza bowed once more and went to the kitchen to prepare her food and water and I led Grace up the long row of stairs, keeping Iris on my shoulder as she seems to have grown shy.

“I don’t think I need a tour if every piece of furniture in this house is black” She stops in the hallway before we reach the room that Maritza prepared for her earlier.

“If you want to add things, go ahead. This is your house as well” I open the door for her and stand aside so she can enter before me.

She stops as soon as she takes a step inside, admiring the overly large room with the large bed in the middle, and black see-through curtains on either side of the bed to block the sun from reaching her beautiful eyes as they wake up in the morning.

“This is… more than I expected?” She goes to the window with the white drapes, the only room in the house with sheets that aren’t black.

“I take it you like it?” She turns around and peers at me then Iris who asks me to set her down and I do, my flower goes over to the bed to climb and sit on the white silk sheets.

“I think she likes this room more than I do” Grace looks at her with a smile Iris holds her hand for Grace to take which she does and Grace sits on the bed beside her.

“I don’t mean to bother but lunch is ready and if you don’t mind, I need to see Iris for a second” Maritza knocked on the door to signal us that she was entering the room.

She placed her hand out for Iris to take and led her to her bedroom across the hall for her afternoon check-up.

“Does she feel better now?” Grace asks as she gets off the bed and fixes the sheet.

“She does, we enjoyed the cupcake you delivered after you left” My legs guide me to her where she stands at the side of the bed, not expecting me to have tasted the red velvet cupcake that had been delivered an hour after she left that day.

“I’m glad you liked it though it wasn’t intended for you” She keeps her head up eliciting a short laugh from me.

“Somehow you knew red velvet was my favorite,” I notice how she’s using the bag in her grasp to keep the distance between us.

“No, I knew red velvet was my favorite and decided on that” Her eyes were directed behind me and I turned around to find my younger brother.

“Red velvet is disgusting, I don’t think either of you has good taste in cupcakes” Emilio enters the room after standing there for a second.

“I don’t think we got to properly meet the other day, I’m Emilio. The better-looking sibling” He holds his hand out and Grace with an amusing laugh takes it and introduces herself.

Emilio was now seventeen and more talkative than ever. Since he was younger, he had a severe stutter until his speech started becoming clear as I took him to speech therapy, and that’s when Emilio decided he would never shut up.

“So are you moving in soon?” He asks suddenly, making Grace look at me in a flash. I put my hand on the back of his neck and guide him out the door and I tell him to go wait downstairs.

Emilio didn’t know about the marriage until he went into my office and started looking for a paper he could use until he found the contract and decided to read it.

“He knows about the fake marriage?” Grace looks at me for confirmation and I nod.

“I explained it to him fully, you don’t have to worry about him knowing why you accepted the proposal. Emilio is understanding of both sides” I assure her and though she doesn’t say it, I know she’s thankful that I didn’t mention that she was getting money out of this.

“Hungry?” I ask her, not wanting to let the lunch Maritza cooked go to waste.

“I want to tell Romero about this tomorrow when he comes over to help me move if that’s fine with you?” She grabs my wrist as I turn around and immediately drops it, not expecting herself to do that.

I reach for her hand and come closer to her, bringing her up to wear my lips but I keep them a space apart.

“Beautiful, you can tell the whole world if you want to. My name looks good next to yours in ink and it even sounds better when it comes from that pretty mouth of yours” I watch her blink a few times before I let go of her hand.

“Shall we?” I gesture down the steps and she doesn’t respond before walking past me and heading down the stairs.

I was going to make this interesting, for both of us.

• new banners made by RoseEmiliaSnape

❤️.

seven

“I’m guessing you like the room?” I turn around at the sound of Emilio’s voice, standing in my doorway as I look out the large window with soft pink curtains blowing from the soft wind.

“I do” I had finished packing about two hours ago and was just admiring the beauty of the room and the balcony that I was blessed to have added to the room already.

This morning as all my things were being brought by the moving trucks that Mariano had sent to help take my things here, I had taken my mother out to breakfast.

I let her know that I was moving out of my apartment and she was happy for me, I told her my new place was further out of town but that I would still come back and visit her.

On the ride here, I made sure to remind myself that I was doing this for two good reasons to calm the sudden anxiety I had felt when I concluded that I was now in a fake relationship and marriage until he faked an engagement.

It all disappeared when I entered the house, there was no sign of Mariano but Iris was being fed by Maritza and Emilio was studying on the kitchen counter and I was greeted by their smiles.

Romero had stopped by early to come and tell me that Mariano had already explained the situation we both agreed to and he was okay with the idea that I was moving in with his best friend and that we were “soon to be engaged.”

It was clear that Mariano hadn’t told him that he would be paying for this to avoid Romero asking what the money was for and I was thankful for that.

“Good, he hoped you did,” Emilio says, pointing out the nice plant that I noticed in the corner of the room, on top of a bookshelf.

“He hoped?” I look at him and he nods his head.

“He wanted to make sure you felt comfortable, I think that’s why this is the only room that doesn’t have a black interior besides Iris’s room” Emilio goes on to explain, standing up.

I didn’t know how to react, it was kind of him to want to make me feel comfortable given that this was something that wasn’t a normal situation.

I can’t imagine Mariano telling me this himself, his remarks were always so flirtatious and dirty.

Sometimes I couldn’t tell if it was just his way of messing with me and trying to get a reaction out of me or if he was serious and hinting at something.

“Maritza asked me to bring you downstairs to eat something,” He says and I realize how incredibly hungry I had just become when he mentioned food.

He opened the door for me first and I exited, thanking him as I walked down the stairs to the dining room where Maritza was pouring a glass of water for me.

“Thank you, I didn’t know I was hungry until now” I slightly laughed and she smiled, her smile was always so warm and kind.

“You’re welcome and I’m glad you settled in nicely, Mr. Delrosa will be pleased to hear so” She places the plate in front of me and goes back to the kitchen to give me a fork.

“Is he not here?” I had been in my room for so long that I had no idea if he returned or not.

“He’ll be back later, he’s too busy for his good” She shakes her head, and I began to wonder how busy he was exactly and wondered if any of that had to do with my father and his business.

“Do you know what his job is?” I ask Maritza as I bite into the delicious food in front of me.

“He’s a businessman, I wouldn’t limit him to just having one job” Is her answer and I don’t know whether it was a good thing or she didn’t want to say too much about it that he did.

“Well I called him a criminal each time we met and I kinda hope that I was wrong both times” I admit and she turns to me suddenly.

“Oh dear, I wouldn’t label him as such. He’s far from anything that would qualify him as a bad person. I didn’t know the two of you met before the arrangement” Her last sentence reminds me of when Mariano had informed me that only Emilio, Maritza, and Romero were aware of our agreement.

“I don’t know much about him other than the fact that his choice of words is very interesting” I don’t know if she knows what I mean but the small corner of her lips that let a laugh pass tell me that she’s been around him long enough to understand.

She’s not able to get her sentence out before Emilio comes down the stairs with Iris in his arms as if she had just awoken from a nap.

He places her down and she runs over to the dining table and Maritza brings them both a plate.

I’m surprised when Iris chooses to sit next to me and she smiles at me and picks up the smaller fork that was perfect for her smaller hands.

“I’m Iris” She bites into her food and waits for me.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Iris, I’m Grace” I find it adorable and she repeats my name and starts turning into a mini song.

“You have a pretty name” She moves her head from side to side.

“Thank you, I think your name is even prettier,” I tell her and she says thanks before going back to the plate in front of her and I’ll still never get over how cute she is.

She had Mariano’s freckles and curly brown hair but her skin was darker and yet still held a bit of tan and her eyes matched him perfectly.

“You don’t have to lie to her” Emilio jokes and that causes Maritza to shake her head and hit his shoulder.

“You used to be so kind to her, a sweet uncle and now all you do is mess with her,” Maritza says to him as she places a drink down on the side of his plate and I finish the last bit of food in front of me.

I remember Mariano mentioning that Emilio had a speech impediment, a stutter that was worse when he was younger and went away as he grew older. You could still hear hints of it but it wasn’t as bad, I also remember Mariano telling me that since it began fading, Emilio has become more talkative.

I get up and bring my plate to the kitchen which still amazes me, the size and how everything you would need was in the kitchen.

I bring my plate to the sink and turn on the water, ready to wash it myself before Maritza turns her head and comes to me.

“Don’t worry about that dear, I’m sure you want to get some rest after all that packing” She drops the small towel in her hand on the counter.

“No please let me help, it’s the least I can do after the food you made” I pumped soap onto the gray sponge and began cleaning the plate and she rested her hand on my shoulder and thanked me.

Then the sounds of smaller feet came to my side and Iris held up her clean plate to me, “Thank you Gracie” She said as I took the dirty plate from her and added it to mine in the sink.

It was also mentioned to me by Romero that she was a fan of giving nicknames, she loved to address Romero as Mero. Emilio was Milo and Maritza was Mari and now I was Gracie.

I smile at her and tell her that she’s very welcome. Maritza takes her hand and tells her that she needs to check her heart rate and Iris nods and follows her upstairs.

Romero had already explained a small amount of Iris’s condition, sometimes she got a random ache in her chest but it was her heart speeding faster than her small body could handle.

“You’re not going to ask?” Emilio is next to join me in the kitchen and I know he’s talking about Iris.

“It’s not my business or my place to ask,” I tell him, thanking him when he helps me dry the plates and put them in the cabinets above us.

“You’re studying to be a doctor right? I heard my brother and Romero talk about you last week” He mentions when I wonder how he knew about my studies but I nod my head.

“Does that mean you know a lot about things like… the heart and stuff?” He asks me as if he’s nervous to do so but I tell him that I do.

“Can you explain it to me then, why she gets like this, why her heart beats so fast?” He turns off the faucet for me and turns to face me.

“I don’t know anything about it, but if it’s anything like I think, then it’s her body pumping out blood to her heart faster than it should” I try to explain as best as I can.

“She takes medication but it doesn’t seem to help or stop it” It sounds like Emilio has a hard time accepting Iris’s condition.

“The medicine was prescribed to help slow her heart rate. It slows down her blood flow instead of letting it overwhelm her heart” Emilio thanks me for explaining it to him.

It was late at night when I had woken up from the nap that I didn’t realize I had taken.

I craved cold water and pushed the covers from my body. The warm air of the heater bringing heat to my room comforts me as I slip my feet into the pink slippers waiting for me at the bottom of my bed.

The pink slippers match the pink silk nightgown and I grabbed the cover up to keep in my body heat before I opened the door and was met with dark halls I put my glasses on as I walked towards the stairs.

I didn’t know if Mariano had returned home or not, I remember falling asleep after washing the dishes with Emilio and that was in the afternoon.

I made it to the last step and didn’t realize the kitchen light was turned on but it was very dim.

The only thing I could see was the outline of a shirtless man who was Mariano.

There was a bottle of vodka in front of him, along with a small glass.

His hands braced on the counter and his head hung low as his eyes were shut closed, he sighed and tilted his head backward.

My eyes trailed over his nicely shaven stubble down to his Adam’s Apple.

I found myself just standing there and just admiring until the moment I learned the bottom stair had a small creak in it which caused him to open his eyes and turn his head to me.

“Can’t sleep?” His green eyes ran over my nightly attire and he raised his eyebrows and his eyes had that glint in them again.

“I got thirsty, I’m guessing I’m not the only one” I walked into the kitchen to retrieve a glass for myself, and the more I got closer to him, the more the light shined down onto his shirtless body.

He turned my way, thus causing me to get an eyeful of every inch of him, from his chest to his long torso to where it stopped where his black pajama pants hung on his hips.

His chest was littered with tattoos, the art was scattered across his chest and down his right arm to his forearm. There was another tattoo that was like a tree starting from his hip onto his side as if it was growing and had some meaning behind it.

His stomach was incredibly toned, the six-pack was staring back at me and so was the small trail of hair that disappeared into the waistband of his pants.

I took a deep breath and looked back up to his eyes to find them staring directly at my thighs.

I hadn’t realized that my robe had untied and now my stomach and legs were on full display.

I catch his eyes moving up and eyeing the heart-shaped belly piercing that is now exposed.

“I thought you didn’t drink” I broke the silence that was caused by our wandering eyes.

“I don’t” He simply said as if I didn’t see him debating if he was going to take a shot in the middle of the night but I didn’t push the topic anymore and went to reach for a glass.

He grabbed it before I could even touch it, I turned to him and said nothing as did he.

“Everything to your liking?” He asks me as I try and reach for the glass and he pulls it backward.

“My standards have been met, now can I please have the glass?” I reach one more time and he clicks his tongue and I go to grab another glass.

“Is there any way I can exceed them?” His sly smile appears and he takes a step closer.

“By letting me get the water I came for and go back to my room” I take another glass and walk to the fridge and the water begins to fill it when it senses the cup.

“Is that an invitation? And here I thought you’d be the type to take things slow” His response makes me laugh and shake my head, I put my glass of water down and walk over to him and his eyebrows raise.

“I prefer a bit of both, the slow build-up and the fast pace ending. It’s more fun that way don’t you think?” I tilt my head a bit and my words only do the opposite of what I wanted them to.

“I’m more of the slow ending, dragging it out to save every minute of it. I’d be more than happy to demonstrate, all you have to do is ask” The way the light shines above us and lightens his toned body didn’t help the fact that my entire body just heated itself.

I wanted my words to leave him stuck like his words make me and now I’m the one who ended up looking like a deer in headlights.

“I never took you for the dirty-minded type, beautiful, there’s so much to learn about you” He taps his index finger on his lips with his right hand in his pocket.

“I should go back to my room, it’s getting late” I grab the water that I so desperately need.

“Back to being quiet? Alright then, you first” He shuts off the only light in the kitchen and gestures for me to go up the stairs and I do.

I can feel his eyes behind me and when I make it up to my room, I remember that he is right next to mine and I reach the top of the stairs.

Before I can open my door for myself, his hand reaches behind me and opens it for me.

“I’m a man of my words Grace” The door opens fully and I walk in without a word and shut it before he says anything else and I hear his footsteps go to his room next to mine and I hear his door open and close.

I sigh and finish my glass of water, putting it on the side of my bed where my lamp is and remove the silk robe off of my body and tie my hair with the black scarf on my pillow.

I hated the way he spoke, he spoke as if everything dirty thing he ever said to me would soon turn into a reality and he said it to a point where I could almost picture it and I didn’t know what to think.

I went to bed with every word of his on my mind.

• Sorry loves, I’m going to try and be better with updates ❤️.

eight

“A fake relationship wasn’t what I had in mind when I said you should try dating again…” Flora says as I explain everything to her after she realized that I had moved.

“I didn’t do this because I wanted to try dating again” Sometimes I think she hears sections that stick out to her more.

“I know it’s for a good reason but are you sure you can trust the guy? I mean you said he does similar work to your father and you don’t know exactly what his job is right?” She begins to eat the crepe that I had baked for Mariano and them before I left and brought her one.

“I had my concerns also but Romero assured me that he understands how to separate his work life from his personal life. If you see the way he is with his daughter and younger brother, you would grow a small amount of trust for him” I explain to her and she nods her head.

“As long as you’re okay with this, then I am too. I just can’t believe this is the same guy who said all those things to you a year ago, I remember how you were at a loss for words when you told me” She drizzled more chocolate on the crepe and added some powdered sugar.

“He hasn’t changed since then, trust me” I remember last night and don’t even know what propelled me to try and beat him at his own game.

“Does this mean you can’t see Preston anymore? I think he has feelings for you, the other day he asked if you were busy or anything because he hadn’t got a word back from you after the double date” She mentions and I start to feel bad.

“I hadn’t had the chance to respond to him since I moved in with Mariano” I didn’t know the extent of the contract if seeing other people would breach it or not.

“I think you should text him, he’s a nice person and I think the two of you got along during the double date, even at the birthday dinner.”

“I will later today but Preston and I agreed on being friends right now, I don’t want to move into anything fast and he understands that,” I tell her because I know how Flora likes to play cupid with men that come into my life.

“Fine but that doesn’t mean I still won’t wait for the day you two start seeing each other as more than friends” She shrugs her shoulders.

“That day might never come, you have to accept that idea as well” I grab her plate when she’s finished and take it to her kitchen.

“We’ll see.”

I returned to Mariano’s house after Emilio texted me and asked if I could come back to help him with something and I called a car as soon as I saw his text light on my phone.

“Sorry I know you went to visit your friend but Maritza called and said she wouldn’t be able to come today I wanted to check Iris’s heart rate but I’ve never done it before…” He didn’t have to finish and I dropped my bag and my phone and went over to help him.

“Thank you for the breakfast, by the way, we all enjoyed it” He hands me the stethoscope and I crouch down to Iris who’s sitting on the chair and kicking her feet as she greets me.

“Gracie!” She stretches out her hands and tries her best to pronounce the word crepe.

“Can I check your heartbeat?” She nods her head and places her hands by her side and lets me press the stethoscope to her chest.

“I would’ve asked my brother but I wanted to try and do it myself. Can you explain it to me?” Emilio comes near me and I tell him that I’m more than happy to.

I let him place him, hold it and hear her heartbeat as she sits down and takes the necessary breaths.

“Listen carefully and try to count the beats for thirty seconds and tell me how many you counted” The silence helps him count in his head and when he finishes I tell him to multiply it by two.

“They were a bit fast… does that mean she needs to take her medication?” He removes the stethoscope and tells me the number and I ask him to hand me the pill bottle.

“Only give her one if they are slightly fast, if they are fast to the point where you find yourself losing count then you give her the shot” I explain to him, and give her one pill exactly and thanks me.

That’s when Mariano walks down the stairs on the phone and eyes the situation in front of him, he finishes up his conversation and Iris gets down from the chair after Emilio gives her water to take her pill and she runs over to grab onto his leg.

“Gracie helped me” She pointed to her chest and smiled at him and that made him smile. I had to say that he had such a nice smile and his teeth were just as perfect.

“Is that right?” He lifted her into his arms and looked over at me and I went back to helping Emilio put away the things he brought out.

“I asked her how to teach me to check myself” Emilio chimes in and offers to put the bag back in Iris’s room and I tell him that I would do it myself and that it was fine.

I gaze at Mariano one more time before I’m heading up the steps and leaving the family downstairs. 

Her room was painted lavender and it was the room that I would have loved to have as a child. She had a fan in the shape of a flower spinning around on the ceiling, a huge teddy bear next to her bed, and a lamp in the shape of a fairy that looked like it could change colors.

I opened her closet and placed it on the part of the shelf that was empty.

“If I made you feel uncomfortable last night or any other time, you can tell me” I’m startled by his voice, finding him entering the doorway as I slide the closet closed.

“Is that what you think?” I hold my right arm with my left hand and lean on the wall as he comes in and sits on the edge of her freshly made bed.

“You don’t make me uncomfortable, I can assure you that’s not the case” He looks at me for a few more seconds to see if I was serious or not, and when he finds the answer he was looking for he stands up and comes back over to me.

“Then tell me what it is because I don’t know how I feel about you avoiding me for the next couple of months until this is over” He knew my next words to come.

“I’m not avoiding you” I shake my head, I didn’t think he felt like I was.

“I’m not a detective beautiful, but I know when someone is purposely avoiding me” He can tell that I don’t know how to respond so instead he takes a step back.

“I’ll be taking them out for dinner tonight, you’re welcome to join us if you’d like” He offers but he can tell by my face that I’m going to decline.

“I’m”— He cuts me off before I can apologize for declining.

“You don’t owe me anything beautiful,” He says but before he walks out I take his wrist to stop him.

I don’t want him to think I’m avoiding him, that would be rude for me to do and I don’t want him to perceive me as rude.

It was probably because I had left before he had awoken, Emilio and Iris were already at the table eating and the car I had called to take me to Flora’s house had been waiting outside for so long.

I didn’t want to keep the driver waiting anymore.

“I’m visiting my mother tonight, for the first time since I moved so far from her. I’m not avoiding you and I’m sorry if I make you feel like I am” I rush my words out, I don’t like it when other people are upset it only causes me to become upset.

“It wasn’t my place to know but you should’ve mentioned that moving here would mean you’d be so far from your mother” He looks down at my hand around his wrist, my thumb resting on the silver bracelet on his right hand and I clear my throat as I pull my hand away.

“It’s not a problem” I assure him but I don’t think he believes me. “I video call her every night.”

“Family’s important Grace, I’ll have someone drive you to visit her frequently” He states, he even says my name for the first time and I can’t even begin to explain how nice it sounds when his Spanish accent slips out.

“You don’t have to”—

“It wasn’t a suggestion, paying for trips back and forth isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’ll have a car outside for you in an hour” He pulls out his phone and walks out of the room leaving me stunned.

I joined the family back downstairs, Iris came up to me and asked if I’d help her get ready since Maritza was not here and we went back to her room.

She wanted to pick a red dress and went with the dark maroon-colored one. I helped her bathe and used the products to define her freshly washed curls before sitting her on the bed to put on the ruby-red diamond earrings that I could tell were real.

She pointed at the necklace that she wanted to wear, the closer I looked, the more I realized that the pendant was in the shape of an Iris flower.

It was the same gold necklace Mariano wore around his neck and it was cute that they shared matching necklaces.

The flower also reminded me of the same one tattooed on his right hand that I had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of whenever he pulled out his phone.

“Daddy bought me it, he said it’s because I’m his favorite flower” Iris kicks her feet as I put the necklace on for her.

“You are a very beautiful flower,” I tell her and she giggles and hops down from the bed to choose her shoes.

“Gracie? Are you not coming to dinner?” She holds up the sparkly black flats with the bow in the middle and I help her put them on.

“I’m not but I’ll bring you back another cupcake” I mention when I see her face slightly frowning and the part about the cupcake cheers her back up.

“Daddy’s favorite is red velvet, Milio is very picky and I like chocolate!”

“I’ll keep that in mind” I take her downstairs to meet Emilio dressed nicely and waiting for Mariano who still hadn’t finished in his room.

When he did finally come downstairs, he was fixing his cuff links.

His brown hair was slightly darker and still a bit wet and he looked expensive like he always did.

There was an untied tie hanging from his neck, and his usual black attire and gold jewelry would always seem to compliment him well.

“This must be a very special dinner,” I say my thought out loud and when he finishes with his cuff link, he effortlessly ties his tie and looks at me.

“It’s dinner with another close friend of mine and his wife” He looks over to Iris who’s humming about.

“Thank you,” He says to me and I tell him that it was no problem.

He walks over to the large television stand and opens the drawer it sits on top of. Inside are six other car keys he picks one and tells Emilio and Iris to wait for him in the car and I go to open the door for them.

“The driver will be here soon, enjoy your time with your mother. He’ll wait as long as you need” He walks over to me as I hold the door open, stopping in front of me and I lift my head a little bit to look into his eyes.

Without heels, I’m at the height of his lips.

“Thank you again, I appreciate it” My hand is still on the doorknob and for a few seconds he doesn’t say anything and his eyes seem to like traveling all over my face and landing on my lips.

I adjust my glasses as an excuse to look away and break eye contact first and he takes something else out of his pocket and holds it out in his hand.

There were the same pair of keys that he owned.

“In case you come back before us” He takes my hand and places the pair of gold keys into the palm of my hand and I close my fist around them.

“Have a nice dinner Mr. Delrosa” I bite the inside of my cheek as his lips curl upwards before he walks through the room and I close the door after he walks down the steps.

After visiting my mother, I surprisingly had gotten a call from my father and he asked if we could meet over dinner and discuss a few things.

I asked the driver Mariano sent, Alexander, who told me it was fine to call him Alex if he was okay with one last stop. He didn’t complain and told me he’d take me anywhere I needed him to.

He was kind with a taller build, he wore a professional shirt and like Mariano’s attire, it was all black.

“I have no plans tonight so take your time” He assured me as he opened the door to the restaurant I entered and told him that it might end quicker than he expected.

It depended on what my father had to say and I didn’t know what exactly he wanted to speak about.

When the hostess brought me to his table, my father stood up and came over to hug me.

He told me that he missed me and I returned the action and the words and he smiled and sat down.

“I want to apologize about how our last exchange went, I shouldn’t have just pushed you away and decided to protect my ass. I know how much that bakery means to both of you and I talked with Ignacio yesterday” He sighed after mentioning Ignacio and I didn’t expect him to come and apologize.

“Before you get to that, I want to apologize as well. I shouldn’t have asked you just to talk to him and demand things of you, I guess I was still upset about how you left and that you didn’t say anything about leaving” I don’t realize how fast my words came out.

Mother would say that I get too emotional for my good and tell me that I can’t rush all my words out at once or I’m going to do that thing where I keep my hands on my lap and try and stop myself from getting emotional.

She tells me to express my feelings instead of trying to keep them hidden and build that heavy feeling of rock pushing down on my heart at a moment when I need to cry.

I place my hands on the table and father reaches over to put his on top of mine, “I’ll tell you next time and if I can’t I’ll write or call or get someone to inform you.”

“I just want the lies to stop, you don’t have to lie to me as if I don’t know what you do” That’s when I feel his hand slightly lift and he sighs back into his seat.

“That’s the part I hate,” He says lowly, “I don’t want you two anywhere near the stupid things and people I associate myself with.”

“That’s why I wanted to tell you to never walk into Ignacio’s place again, he told me you asked him for a job after you had gone to ask me to talk to him. He said you left but that doesn’t make it okay, I know half of the reason is my fault but you know as much as me that he is far from a good person. I don’t even like that my business has anything to do with him” He lifts his wine glass.

“He and I agreed that if I give him seventy percent of the boxer’s ring income, he would do something about the debt” My father has to inhale after his sentence and I squint my eyebrows in disagreement.

“No, that’s a terrible agreement. Seventy percent of what you make just to leave you with barely anything? He’s a liar, he’s not going to do anything for the bakery other than try his hardest to take it away from us” I try to make sure my voice is calm but it’s hard when I think about the deal between them.

“I haven’t signed anything yet, I wanted to let you know first. I’m prepared to give him that much, even if it means that he might not do shit for the bakery, but there’s another chance that he”—

“You’re smarter to know when someone’s lying. Just like you told me, there’s nothing good about him, he inherited wealth and uses to make people’s life miserable instead of helping the same people who helped him grow up when his parents were too busy traveling the world and leaving their own”—

“Grace, calm down” Father puts his hands back on mine and I take a deep breath.

“Don’t sign the contract, I could never ask you to sign away your hard-earned income. I already have the plan to pay off the debt and even do more with the money that I’ll get from it” I tell him and he grows interested in my last sentence.

“Tell me you aren’t doing anything illegal” He gives me a stern and fatherly look.

“I’m helping a family, that’s why I don’t live in my old apartment but somewhere a bit far from here” I give him small details, nothing to uncover and he looks suspicious.

“Do you trust him?” He puts one of his hands on his chin and stops talking when the waitress comes to pour me more water.

He doesn’t ask me what I’m helping with exactly but he knows if I trust them then he should too.

“He’s a friend of someone I know well, I trust them” I try to ease his concern and he relaxes.

“I’m going to trust you with this Grace, you’re my daughter and I just want to make sure that you are safe, you and your mother” My father sighs, no matter how long they’ve been separated, they’ve always cared for each other.

We stand up and I give him a hug. We hold it for a while before he’s saying goodbye and good night to me and giving me a kiss on the side of my head. His second way of telling me that he loves me.

I’m close by the side of my father while we exit. I point to Alexander standing outside of the car on the phone and my father raises his eyebrows but I tell him he’s just a driver and not the person I was telling him about.

“Come and visit or call me more Grace” His hand is on my shoulder.

“If you do the same, I will” He knows what I mean, father doesn’t visit mother because he thinks she won’t want to see him but my mother always tells me to wish him well.

I say my final goodbyes to him before he’s walking down the street, he tells me that’s where he parked and I watch him turn a corner before I walk over to Alexander who holds a door open for me.

“Ready?” He asks me, and I tell him he can take me back now and he closes the door and I feel the tiredness roam over me as he drives.

The feeling was interrupted by my phone.

I had gotten a text from Mariano which had surprised me because I thought he’d still be busy at the dinner he attended tonight.

He had asked me if I was safe, if Alexander had been driving me where I needed him to.

It shocked me a little bit but I responded that I was on my way back and that Alexander was nice enough to take me somewhere I hadn’t planned on going tonight.

I tried my hardest to be quiet when I got there, making sure I took silent steps as I made it to my room and it was clear Iris and Emilio were home and sleeping but the car Mariano had taken was gone.

His last text told me that he wasn’t here and that he’d be back before everyone woke up.

And he was true to his word, when I woke up and decided to make breakfast, he was already doing it before I even made it down the stairs.

• Thank you so much for 100k reads already ❤️

nine

This morning, I went with Mariano to meet his lawyer.

“You must be Grace Kennedy” He held out his hand and introduced himself as William.

“I’m glad I could have this time to explain things further as you’ve gotten the surface information” He goes back to his desk and offers me the seat in front of it and I take it.

Mariano was asked to wait outside, William said that it was the rule so that his presence didn’t persuade my decision.

I was nervous about what he was going to tell me.

Mariano mentioned he had to say a few things that were written on his side of the court’s contract. Things about his history and other things that he wouldn’t be surprised about if I ran out of the office.

“Alright then, I’m going to read a few things out to you. Small history on Mr. Delrosa and at the end you can sign the bottom of this and if you decline you are free to walk out of this room and go back to your life” William wasn’t helping me nor Mariano but he collected the black folder and opened it.

“Mariano Delrosa is currently thirty-three years old, he is fighting a battle for the custody of four-year-old Iris Elise Delrosa. Some challenge of this case is the history that Delrosa has built for himself and that has caused a few complications in the completion of this process” William begins and I keep my hands flat on my thighs.

“In his early twenties, Mr. Delrosa found himself being charged with multiple counts of car theft, damage to private property and vehicle, physical harm to others, and violation of his probation” It almost comes as a shock to me as he lists off a few things Mariano has been caught up in when he was in his twenties before he had Iris.

I kept that this all happened before her and remembered that Romero mentioned he gave up all of that when she was born.

“He’s done his time, and his service to repay any damages but this is still on his record and will remain there” William looks at me from time to time and he might be confused about why I’m still sitting here.

“Those were the reasons the court had its doubts about the custody. Even though Mariano is the only person capable of taking care of Iris, they still think it’s better to hold off on it until he can prove that he will and can raise and surround her with a safe environment” He closes the file and talks to me directly.

“I would be a hypocrite to walk out of the door and leave,” I say, it would be wrong of me to leave after hearing his crimes knowing that it could’ve been far worse and that I know my father works with worse people that do way worse things.

“So you’re saying you want to sign the paper? This one will be filed to the courts to let them know that you are living and supporting them” He repeats it to make sure I heard him in the first place, almost shocked when I asked for the pen.

“Something tells me you’re not just doing it for the money, but what you want to use it for,” He says as he hands me the file and I don’t respond quickly.

“We all have our faults. He’s trying to change his ways for his family and that tells me more than anything he’s been charged for” I finish signing my name and hand him the file and he’s quiet for a while before standing up.

“You are not like anyone I’ve ever met Ms. Kennedy, I’m glad Mr. Delrosa was able to get help from someone like you. You might be more helpful than you think” He says and I don’t understand his last sentence but he goes over to the door and asks if he can speak to Mariano next.

“The car is downstairs” Mariano gives me the keys to his car.

“How do you know I won’t steal it?” I joke and he finds it more amusing than it was supposed to be.

“Beautiful, if you want me to teach you how to take what you want, I will. But everything I teach is hands-on” He throws me a wink and enters the door behind William and the brown door is shut and I’m standing looking like an idiot.

I leave the building to go wait in the car, beeping it to find the sleek black car waiting in front.

“Hello?” My phone rings and I don’t realize that it’s Preston until he says my name.

“I don’t mean to call you out of nowhere but I was wondering if you’d like to do something tonight,” He says slowly, I’m still standing outside of the car to finish the conversation.

“I should apologize before saying yes, I’m sure Flora already told you that I moved and it’s just been taking me some time to adjust” I try to look through the car window but the black tint makes it difficult to even see the seats.

“Grace it’s fine, I’m just glad that you wanted to call me and that you want to see me. There’s this place I think you’d like” I can hear the sound of people behind him, and orders being given and so I make the guess and say that he’s at work.

“Tonight is fine with me if it’s okay with you” I grasp the car handle and Preston confirms that he’ll pick me up.

I didn’t think about the contract until I hung up the call. I didn’t know if seeing other people would breach anything or if it was okay.

I enter the car and my body is met with the feeling of the black leather seats.

When he enters the car and uses one hand to reverse and the other to put on his seatbelt. I face my body toward him a bit and that causes his eyes to slide from the road over to me.

“If you want to ask me something, do it. Or you can keep staring at the side of my face” He brings his eyes back to the road and I fix myself back in my seat and find a way around the question.

“What are some things that would breach the contract? That’s when he raises one of his eyebrows but goes on to answer.

“William said me moving out would breach it but is there more to it? Like we’re both seen with so many other people, if someone were to speculate that we were with that person, would that be bad?” That’s when the light turns red, he turns his head to me as his hand rests on his chin and the other hand handles the steering wheel.

“Are you asking me if it’s okay for you to date other people?” His eyes look deeply into mine and I try not to confirm the question but the expression on his face tells me that my body language already has.

“I mean something along those lines…” I keep my back on the seat, looking at the light and waiting for it to turn green.

“You can see other people if you’d want, the contract won’t stop you from doing so” He goes back to driving but I always feel like there’s something more to his words.

The contract won’t stop you from doing so.

“But I’d like it if you’d respect my decision on not bringing other people into my house and around my family,” He says and I tell him he doesn’t have to worry about that.

“Is there a reason for your question?” He’s turning the wheel effortlessly and it gives me a chance to see the rings on his fingers, the one with a rose and one with the number eleven in roman numerals.

“I’m seeing someone tonight and I didn’t want any surprises” I hesitate to say he keeps his eyes forward but his eyebrow raises again.

“I promise I’ll respect your wishes and I won’t bring them inside the house or anything,” I say but I don’t think that’s why he kept silent for a while.

“That’s not a worry of mine” He calmly states, and again leaves me wondering what he means.

“What do you worry about?” I question, seeing that we’re close to his house as we turn right onto the quiet street.

“If I tell you, you won’t want to go on your date tonight and I’m not going to ruin that for you” He pulls into the black gates that open for his car and he parks outside the house for me to exit first.

“You’re very secretive, I thought marriages were supposed to be filled with honesty” I unlock the car door but he locks it from his side.

“Would you believe me if I told the truth?” He unlocks the door and leaves me with the question.

I didn’t know if it pertained to the date I had with Preston or to something more.

When I got back from William’s office with Mariano, I learned that Maritza had returned and was already doing what she loved and that was making sure everyone had what they needed and wanted to eat and now she was helping me decide what to wear.

“Is this a date?” She asks to better her decision on what dress to decide on.

“It’s not a date, we’re just friends” I hoped Preston thought the same, I did make it clear that I didn’t want to rush into anything because our friends thought we should.

“Is he a gentleman?” She ironed out the dresses that I had chosen and finally decided on the dark red one and I had begun to do my hair.

“He’s very kind” I mention and her expression lifts and she opens her mouth to speak.

“And Mr. Delrosa? Is this fine with everything the two of you agreed upon?” She questions, placing the dress on the bed and laying it out.

“He assured me this won’t affect anything, that we’re free to date and or see other people” Now that I think about it, I haven’t spoken to Mariano since he let me step out of the car before him.

“That’s very new for him,” She says but it sounded almost like a surprise to her like she didn’t expect herself to say that.

“What do you mean?” I take the dress and change in the bathroom, leaving the boot with a slight crack so that I can hear her response.

“Since I’ve been working here for him or with him as he prefers, I have yet to see Mr. Delrosa go out and see someone” She hangs up my other dresses and fixes the table with all my hair products as I exit the bathroom.

I didn’t push that topic any further but it was a bit surprising and it wasn’t at the same time.

Mariano did seem like a very private person so I wouldn’t expect him just to be off and see people constantly. He also cared about the privacy of his home and his family.

That didn’t excuse me remembering whenever he’s away sometimes and no one spoke of it like they’re all used to it.

“You’re stunning” Maritza clasped her hands together and my phone began to buzz with a message from Preston telling me that he was arriving in the front soon.

I thank her and ask if the dress was too much for a small meet-up with someone I consider a friend and she tells me I’m overthinking it.

We finished in my room and headed downstairs, Iris was still taking her nap. I was also informed that Emilio took classes at a university where he had a dorm and came to visit on the weekends.

It was mostly Mariano and Iris here if I thought about it, which made sense why he asked to keep my social life outside of his home.

Of course, I respected it, I was the same way when it came to my mother. I never let Flora or Romero introduce someone to her unless they knew they were the one and not some fling they met on a drunken night.

“Mr. Delrosa if you wanted something to eat you know you could’ve called me,” Maritza says, hurrying down the stairs she finds Mariano inside the kitchen to my surprise Iris as well who sits on the counter and watches her father cook something on the stove.

The smell captured me first, then it was the fact that he was in a black tank top, moving back and forth to the other things on the counter.

His head turned in my direction and his eyes found my face first before he looked at my hair which was nicely done and moisturized, my curls behind my head in a bun, then it moved down to the dress I wore and my choice of heels.

“Gracie! Are you staying to eat with us?” Iris’s voice is what breaks our eye contact and I smile when I see the lines on her face. I can tell she’s just had one of the best naps of her life.

“I can’t but what if we make breakfast tomorrow? We can make waffles” I try, and she nods her head and goes back to humming about before asking Maritza if she could help her as she set up the table.

My phone buzzed again and Preston told me he was outside, I said goodbye to everyone but Mariano came to the door with me and I didn’t open it yet.

“Let me pick you up tonight” He kept a small towel over his shoulder, his biceps and everything about his arms were nice, he had muscles and they weren’t too much.

“You don’t have to do that” I assure him but he takes one step closer and his offer started to sound like the only answer was to say yes.

“I want to, send me the address when your dates are over with,” He said the word date as if he didn’t want to, rubbing the side of his arm with his left hand.

“It’s not a date and I don’t want to go through the trouble of calling you in the middle of the night.”

“There won’t be any trouble. If you call me, I’ll be there. The time doesn’t matter” He opens the door and I know Preston can’t see him because of the black tint of Mariano’s gate.

“Enjoy your date” He gives me one last smile and I squint my eyes at him before walking out of the door.

I don’t think he closed it until Preston drove off.

ten

“Still not drinking?” Romero nods his head at the bartender and takes the drink and questions me when I decline the whiskey.

“I can’t show up and hug my daughter smelling like whiskey and booze” The bartender places a water bottle next to me and I unscrew the cap with my left hand as we sit at the bar on the stools.

“Grace hates the smell of alcohol anyways” He throws back the shot and pours himself another.

He subtly mentions her but my mind recalls that she hadn’t come back last night. Neither did she call me like I asked her to do and I let go of the thought in my mind.

“What else does she hate?” I ignore the eyebrow raise he gives me, “She lives with me, am I not supposed to be a good host for my guest?”

“Besides you, she’s my best friend. I’m only fine with this because I know you’re not any more deep shit and she won’t be exposed to any of the crap her father just got into” He checks his phone before slipping it into his back pocket.

“You’re worried about her safety” I can see the look in his eyes.

“He might as well sign his life away with that dumb fucking plan of his” Romero swears, shaking his head.

It was clear Grace didn’t inherit her brilliance from her father. Because a smart man wouldn’t walk into another man’s business and threaten his life especially when he has a family.

But then again, Jeremiah Kennedy is not a smart man at all.

“If you’re so worried about her, you might wanna call her and ask her where she was last night. I didn’t get a call from her so I couldn’t pick her up as you wanted me to” I inform him and he curses again.

“You didn’t tell me this shit sooner?” He grabs his phone and holds it to his ear and I let him try and get her to pick up the phone.

I leave him to swear continuously at his phone and walk to the hallway of the bar, leaning my head against the wall and listening to the sound of the call connecting.

“Come on Beautiful, you have to have something to say to me after you just got me in trouble,” I say into the phone after she picks up on the third ring.

“I got sidetracked last night… I was going to call you but it was too late and I went back to my friend’s house… is that why Romero’s calling me right now” Sometimes I wondered if she knew how oblivious she sounded.

“You’re not the best listener, are you? I told you that I didn’t care what time it was, when you call I’ll be there” I tuck my hand into my front pocket.

“I’ll call next time… no matter the time” She quietly states, I hear shifting from the background noise.

“You better. I’m not listening to him yell at me again because you wanted a lot more than dinner at night. If that’s what you wanted, you could’ve told me, I would’ve been more than happy to give it to you My eyes are closed, my head is leaning back on the wall, the headache I woke up with felt like it was growing worse with each movement of my head.

“It was nothing like that! I spent time with a friend and he noticed how late it was and offered to take me back to his place…”—

“You don’t have to explain anything to my love” I exhale a breath from the sudden surge of pain from my headache.

“He’ll be taking me back to your place soon… so I’ll see you when you get there” She clears her throat and I open my eyes.

“Send me the address and please listen this time, I already have a headache” I mention and I hear the ring of my phone and see the address she sent.

“You have a headache? Was it from a terrible sleep?” I don’t expect her to ask but she does.

“I was so worried about you that I couldn’t sleep and grew a headache. You’re the only one who can make it better” I joke through the phone and I can already imagine her rolling those brown eyes behind her glasses.

“You’re not a very serious person, Mr. Delrosa” She addresses me formally, something she said she’d continue to do until I addressed her by her correct name.

“I’m very serious Beautiful, I need that doctor in you to take care of me. Won’t you help me?” My voice grows low and I don’t hear a response from her, only the sound of her breathing.

“I’m going to call Romero and tell him I’m alright, call me when you’re outside” She finally responds after a few seconds of silence and I move away from the wall and grab my keys.

“So quick to change subjects, something wrong?” I keep her on the line and she lets out a huffing sigh before continuing.

“Grace?” I hear someone else’s voice before she gets to respond to me and she hangs up without saying anything and I sleep with my phone in my pocket.

I return to Romero, “She won’t pick up, you get anything from her?” He’s throwing back another whiskey shot.

“I’m going to go get her from her friend’s place, she stayed there last night. Just slipped her mind to tell you” I remove my car keys and pay for his two drinks and the water that I got and we exit the close to empty bar.

“Seriously? I checked with her friend, she wasn’t at her house” Romero opens the door to his black Jeep and I tell him that she has more than one friend beside him and the person he’s talking about.

“Fine but tell her to text me and that I’m stopping to check up on her mom” He sighs and is about to get into his car and I call his name for him to wait.

“How far does she live from me? Her mom I mean” I ask, opening my driver’s door.

“That bakery we stopped by a month ago with Iris when I wanted to talk to Grace about something, that’s her mother’s,” He tells me and I recall the small bakery that was more than a city away from my house.

I didn’t waste any more time and got into my car and went to go pick up Grace.

Preston offered to walk me outside and I was beginning to think I shouldn’t have let him.

One reason was that Mariano was standing outside his car, leaning on the side, looking at something on his phone before he rose his head and ignored Preston beside me.

He only looked at me, from the dress he saw me leave his house in, to the shirt and sweats Preston let me wear to sleep to make myself more comfortable.

The other reason was that Preston seemed intimidated, he cleared his throat and straightened up as he saw Mariano, I turned around and faced him.

“Thank you for last night, I’ll return your clothes to you. Thank you for letting me borrow them” He stops looking at Mariano who I can feel looking at me and not paying mine to Preston.

“You can keep them, I had a really good time with you last night” Preston suddenly takes my hands in his.

We only talked and made more dinner after the one we ate. I slept in his guest room and made breakfast to thank him for last night.

“Call me, okay?” He looks at my lips and I drop my hands from him he looks like he wants to frown but he knows I don’t want to move any faster than the pace we’re going at.

I leave him with a hug instead and walk down the steps of his porch over to Mariano who has a sly smile on his face.

“Why do I get the feeling like you’re mad at me?” He turns his head to the side, not moving from the passenger side.

“You didn’t have to wait outside your car” I cross my arms and he finds it amusing as always.

“I wanted you to know it was me,” He says as if he did from the kindness in his heart.

“You’re the only person with this type of car who lives around here, I’m sure I could’ve figured it out” I uncross my arms and wait for him to open the door so we could go back to his place.

“I don’t doubt that smart mind of yours” He moves aside and opens the door for me.

We enter the car and he turns to me, “What did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?” he says, closing his door and I close my own.

I don’t look or respond to him which was another mistake of mine because when he starts the car, he reaches over to my side.

The side of his face in front of mine was almost close enough to where my lips could touch his cheek.

He reaches for my belt and buckles it for me, moving back a little bit so that his lips are by my ear but his eyes are looking out the window.

“Won’t you say bye to your boyfriend? I don’t think he likes me” He’s looking at Preston through the window and I turn to look.

Preston is still at his door and waiting for the car to drive off, Mariano’s windows are far too tinted for Preston to even see us but he’s still looking.

“But you like me right Beautiful?” I forget how close he is to my ear, I can feel his minty breath on my skin.

“You’re tolerable” I turn my head to face the front and my response causes him to move back to his seat and put the car out of the park.

“And that’s all that matters.”

“What are we doing here?” I’m in shock when I look out my window and see that we’re parked outside of my mother’s bakery.

“I’m in the mood for dessert” He takes off his seatbelt and opens his door to exit and I’m right behind him with confusion written on my face.

“Out of all the places close to your house, you came all the way here for dessert” I don’t believe him one bit but he only walks towards the glass door and holds it open for me.

The bakery looked as busy as it always did, with a few people studying here and others enjoying their desserts and or coffees.

The teenager’s mother hired to keep them busy after school was cleaning the tables and helping take orders for my mother who was standing behind the counter.

She looked at me and smiled brightly and then turned to Mariano who entered behind me.

Mother came around the counter to hug me, I hugged her a bit longer. Every time I’m away from her, it seems like forever since she’s so far from me now.

“Mama, this is the man I was telling you about. The one I told you gave me a place to stay, to be closer to school” I sign to her and she looks at Mariano with so much respect.

I don’t expect him to understand her hand movements but he does and again to my surprise he signs back to her after she tells him how thankful she is for him giving me a place to stay.

“It’s my pleasure” He signs back and I look at him with pure shock.

She hurries behind the counter to pack us up a few desserts and Mariano walks closer to the counter to get ready to pay.

“I didn’t know you knew sign language…” I say beside him as he takes out his wallet.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me Beautiful” He uses my own words against me.

My mother stops him from taking out any money but does so anyways, my mouth almost drops wide open when I see the amount of money he pulls out just to pay.

He then takes out a roll of cash and puts it in her tip jar and she thanks him continuously.

“You… That’s a lot of”—

“Did you work here?” He questions, still looking forward as mother prepared the freshly baked sweets.

“I did, I helped her from overworking herself,” I told him and he nodded, mother handed him the sweets after he specifically asked for red velvet and Iris’s favorite type of cake.

“I’ll be in the car,” He says to me, telling my mother goodbye before walking out and letting me speak to my mother for a little bit.

“Very kind and handsome” Mother comes over to me, “Only a friend?” she asks me.

“Yes, only a friend” I ignore the handsome part of her statement and we look out the window to find Mariano making a call and entering the small shop across the street.

“Will he bring you to visit me more?” The mother draws my attention back to her.

“No guarantees,” I tell her and give her one last hug before I spot Mariano walking out of the small boutique with two teddy bears and a bouquet in his hands.

He comes across the street and enters the bakery once more, handing my mother the flowers and she smiles out of happiness and appreciation of the beautiful set of lilies.

“Is this your way of trying to get everyone to like you?” I say as he hands my mother goes to set up the flowers in the center of the counter.

“I don’t have to try Beautiful, I’m a natural” He gives me a wink before telling me he’d wait for me inside the car and gives mother one last goodbye.

I say my goodbyes to my mother and leave the bakery and join him in the car.

She thinks you are handsome“ I almost laugh when I admit it and enter the car, putting on my seatbelt.

“And you? What do you think of me?” He reaches into the backseat and hands me one of the purple bears that he had just bought.

I take it from him and look at the adorable stuffed animal, “I think you’re many things, but handsome is a bit of a stretch” I joke.

“You want to know what I think about you?” He reversed the car with one hand and I keep staring at the stuffed animal in my lap.

“Somehow I feel like I already know what goes on in that head of yours” I shoot him a look and of course, he has that smile on his face.

“I don’t think you do. What goes on in here is more than that beautiful head can handle” He taps the side of his head, his smile is telling me that he’s thinking of something right now and that makes me curious.

“You said you had a headache earlier… is it better now?” I change the topic and he whispers something but I don’t hear him because of the car that speeds up next to us.

“Is that the doctor in you talking or are you starting to care about me?” He says and I huff, he’s never serious, all his responses are jokes and sarcastic remarks.

“It’s better now, I took some pills to help,” He says seriously this time.

“You should’ve slept first and turned to the medication last, not first” I keep my eyes on my lap and feel the familiar turn of the car and I can tell that we’re entering the gates to his place.

He doesn’t get to say anything because my phone rings and Preston’s name appears, “The boyfriend?” Mariano asks, parking the car.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Preston and I are friends,” I tell him, debating if this is the right time to answer him.

“Does he know that?” Mariano unbuckles his seatbelt and tells me he’ll see me inside, taking the bear he bought for Iris and leaving the car.

I pick up the phone while holding the bear in my hand, watching Mariano enter the door and immediately being greeted by Iris.

While Preston talks, I watch as he lifts her and gives her the bear, and shows her the bag of pastries her smile is so cute.

He kisses her all over her face and sets her down before turning to look back towards the car I’m still sitting in.

Now I find myself wondering what he thinks of me.

• writer’s block has been kicking my ass lately, so here’s a double update.

eleven

“This was the last place I’d expect to find you” The sound of a familiar voice comes from behind me, the sounds of heels getting closer and a hand placed on my back to my surprise.

“What can I say? I enjoy the smell of my favorite drink, helps me remember what a shitty place it put me in” I turn around and greet Gorgeous with a hug, not having seen her since her wedding.

“It’s always a pleasure seeing you Gorgeous, how’s family life treating you?” I pull away from the hug and meet her brown eyes, the soft smile that was always friendly and welcoming to me.

Violette looked as gorgeous as ever, it seemed like having a child and being married to a man like Enzo didn’t have any effect on her.

“My boobs hurt and my head kills me daily and it’s not because of my son” She takes a seat on the stool beside me as she’s found me in a bar and I laugh at her response.

“How’s Enzo?” After their wedding, Enzo swore to leave his old lifealone and decided it was finally time to settle down and just be with his family.

“He’s a pain in the ass, he’s hogging my son as if I didn’t spend four hours in pain but other than that he’s good. It was hard for him to accept that he was a father, he never saw himself as being a good one. You helped him a lot before you moved” She places her hand on mine and I recall all the times Enzo came to me for parenting advice.

“Tell me about you, tell me about Iris. How’s the custody situation going?” Violette declines the drink offered to her and I do the same.

“William thought it was a good idea if I faked an engagement with someone, to show the court that I’m more than capable of providing Iris a healthy and supportive life” I explain to her and it catches her by surprise and she quickly looks down at my ring finger but finds it empty.

“It’s not a real relationship?” She questions and I deny her question with a quick “nope” and I explain to her that it’s an agreement that the other person gets something out of it.

“Wait so… who’s the lucky woman who agreed?” She’s now intrigued, leaning her elbow on the counter and waiting for me to tell her.

“I call her Beautiful but her name is Grace and as the nickname tells, she’s beautiful. Studying to become a doctor, and helpful when it comes to Iris’s heart condition” I mention Grace and Violette grow even more interested.

“Someone else with a nickname? Mariano Delrosa I can’t believe that you’re cheating on me!” Violette jokes, placing her hand on her forehead dramatically.

“You will always be Gorgeous to me, no one can take that away from you” I take her hand and squeeze it and play along with her, and it makes her laugh.

“She sounds nice, you should’ve brought her to dinner. I would’ve loved to have met the woman who was worthy enough to have her nickname” She mentions the dinner and I go back to thinking of the reason Grace declined the invitation.

“I’m not one to steal someone’s date from them, but I was debating on doing so” Violette realizes that I meant that Grace had a date that night.

“You both agreed to see other people? I understand the relationship is false but… that’s a bit awkward no? I know that you’re not the one-night stand or meaningless flings person and if she’s going on dates with a guy… isn’t that awkward for you?” She begins to ramble with questions and I remember how much I missed her conversations.

“I’m not seeing anyone and I don’t plan to if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s not my place to be uncomfortable with her decisions, we agreed to keep any flings away from my house and that’s all that matters” My finger taps against the counter and I think about the friend who I had a peak of interest in seeing.

He must’ve had a good persona to get someone like Beautiful to stay at his house and get her on a second date.

He looked like the type of guy you’d see her with, nice and shy with her at first. Intimidated when he sees her with guys opposite to him, like me.

Since the first time we met Grace depicted me as a criminal and I thought it was a bit of a stretch.

I might not have the cleanest and safest record, but that didn’t make me a bad person.

I liked to consider myself a work in progress. 

“When’s the last time you decided to give dating a try? And this engagement doesn’t count” She tells me before I can tell her that I’m giving it a try right now.

“I see no point in having relationships, not anymore. You give something to someone and they take it and it’s their choice whether to abuse or take care of it. I guess I grew tired of the abuse” I press my fingers back until they crack and I feel Violette’s hand on my back once more.

“Mariano… it’s been a while since you spoke of her. You can’t let them be the reason you close yourself off to anyone, you never know when”—

“Not everyone is lucky enough to find someone like you Gorgeous” I stand up and she follows, I grab my jacket from the counter and lead her outside.

“Anyone would be lucky to have you, you’re a great person, an amazing father and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know” She pulls me into a hug as the snow falls around us, I hug her back and walk her over to the car waiting for her.

“Are you not cold?” She asks as I open the door, her body slightly shivering. I still have my jacket off and my shirt is short-sleeved.

If it weren’t for the sight of the snow, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell how cold it is.

“I didn’t notice until you mentioned it” I put on my jacket for her and she looked at me with a frown.

“If you need anything, I’m here for you Mari. Always” She gives me one last hug.

“Don’t worry about me Gorgeous, I’m taking care of myself” I tell her as she steps into the car, I watch the car drive off, and instead of getting into mine, I decide to take a walk in the snow.

“I’m sorry, appointments have ended. I’m not seeing anyone right now— Mariano, come in” Eloise turns around and finds me at her door, she was already grabbing her coat and ready to leave.

“I’m surprised you showed up even though you were supposed to be here first thing in the morning” She raises her brow at me, placing her coat down and taking her seat.

I close the door behind me, “Better late than never, I could’ve bailed on you again” I sit on the beige couch across from hers.

“I was going to come in this morning but I had the opportunity to get Iris into school… her at-home tutors are helpful but I want her to experience more than I did” I admit and Eloise is quick to congratulate me.

“Mariano, this is a huge step. You’ve always voiced your concern if you were doing the right thing by homeschooling her but you listened to yourself and you listened to her and I know she’s happy” She clasps her hands on her chin, a smile on her face and I think about how excited Iris was today.

She was nervous, she held my hand throughout the whole time we were being introduced to the other children and teachers, she got excited when they allowed her to draw one of her favorite things to do.

She grew more comfortable speaking with other children, she almost forgot I was there until she kept running back to me and hugging me. She was bouncy the whole way home, I stopped by a familiar bakery and got her celebration cupcake.

“You should be proud of yourself” Eloise’s voice makes me come back.

Eloise is my therapist, I’m required to see her two times a week. The judge thought it would be a good thing since I have a history of alcohol and drug abuse but that was before Iris came into my life.

“I don’t mean to budge into your life but that is my job. William tells me that you’re living with someone, that she’s your soon-to-be wife” She makes herself comfortable.

“He knew you wouldn’t mention her if he didn’t tell me. So tell me about Grace at least what you know so far” She crosses her leg and I know she’s forgotten all about leaving just now.

“She’s a complicated woman, she doesn’t know if she wants to flirt with me or act shy and pretend like I don’t affect her” I recall our past interactions.

“Do you like complicated?” Eloise turns her head as if she’s trying to read right through me.

“I enjoy complicated but whether or not it enjoys me is the confusing part” I make myself comfortable, my arms back on the couch.

“Maybe you should”—

“If you’re going to tell me I should give this opportunity a chance, you shouldn’t” I cut her off.

“I won’t waste any more of your time, I’m sure you have things to get to” I stand up, my coat in my right hand and Eloise stands with me.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try Mariano. You never know” I open her door for her as she grabs her coat and her purse.

“If you knew her type, you’d know that I’m far from it and that’s become clear to me” I lock her door for her and find her shrugging her shoulders.

“Did she tell you her type? Or did you come to your conclusions?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to know when they’re too fucked up here to be with someone” I tap on the side of my head and she asks me how are the pills treating me.

“I don’t know if not being able to tell how cold it is outside means it’s working” I open the door for her to step outside first.

“That isn’t a good sign, you need to talk with your doctor” We take out our car keys at the same time.

“Why would I do that when I have my doctor waiting for me at my house?”

Iris had taken a nap after we spent the time watching cartoon movies.

I closed her door and was met with the sound of the front door closing coming from downstairs.

Mariano hadn’t been home since he brought her back, he mentioned he was going to meet an old friend of his and now he was back.

It was cold outside, freezing at that and Mariano entered the door with a short-sleeved shirt on and a jacket in his hand as if the weather did not affect him in any way.

“Would you like some?” I went over to the hot chocolate that I made with Iris, the floating marshmallows in the black mug, and brought it over to him.

The closer I got, the more I saw how red the tip of his nose was because of the weather, “Are you not cold? It’s freezing outside” I set down the mug and hurry to start the fire from the fireplace for him and he drops his jacket onto the couch.

“I didn’t notice” He ran a hand through his hair, the snow that had fallen upon his brown locks disappeared as he did so.

“You can’t tell me you don’t feel that, look at your arms… your nose is red and your shirt is wet. You’re practically begging to get sick” I almost scoffed at how much he didn’t seem to care that his shirt was now sticking to his body.

The black shirt showed off his broad shoulders and the hardness of his chest and abs. I begin to feel my face heat up and not because of the fire burning in front of me but because I think back to what he looked like underneath the shirt.

“If I become sick, promise to take care of me” He catches me by surprise, and when I get up from adding more wood to the fireplace, I turn around and meet his eyes.

“I would have to. Though it would be stupid of you to make yourself sick just so I could take care of you” I look down at the black mug in his hands now.

“Would it be? I think I’m very fond of the idea” He brings the mug to his lips and my eyes follow the movement.

“Are you trying to hint at something? Are you feeling well?” I ask, I can’t help but feel like something is wrong with him, he doesn’t seem to mind that his shirt is wet and his hair is as well.

“I don’t think these pills are good for me” He reaches into his pocket, placing the mug down on the table.

He hands me the orange pill bottle and I read that it’s to assist with insomnia. I don’t comment on it but I do make a note of it.

“Are you experiencing any more side effects?” I look back at him just to find him already looking at me and not at the pill bottle.

“Other than still being wide awake at night and feeling drowsy in the middle of the day and not feeling how cold it is, I feel great” He’s sarcastic about it, not even taking his health seriously.

“Did you ever think to stop taking them and seeing a doctor? It’s clear they’re not helping you.”

“I thought it would help me in the long run” He shrugs his shoulders and I shake my head.

“Come with me” I walk past him and walk up into the kitchen and open the cabinet.

“I think you should stay away from pills for now until you get these out of your system” I take out one of the detox teas that I usually take when I used to have too much caffeine to keep me up at night when I study.

“I don’t drink tea” He looks at me like I’ve just asked him to eat his vegetables as if he were a child and I put hot water on the stove.

“You do now. It’ll help you keep warm as well, you might not feel cold but I’m sure your body does. You should go take off your clothes and take a warm shower” I tell him and I begin to regret my last sentence when his lips curl up.

“Trying to get me naked before the first date, Beautiful is very bold” He smiles before turning around and heading up the stairs.

I shake my head, something about all his responses makes me laugh. I never know what’s going to come out of that mouth of his and a little part of me enjoys all of his comments.

Some time passes and I bring the tea to his room, I knock on his door and notice that he’s still in the shower as the water continues to run.

I decided to enter and leave the tea on his bedside, his room was everything I expected it to be.

Dark gray exterior from the curtains to the bedsheets.

He had a bookshelf, it was next to his window.

One book was by his pillow, reading was probably his way of helping his insomnia.

I found myself wondering about the extent of it. How long has he been struggling with this?

The bathroom door opened behind me, “Looking for something?” I turn around and find him standing in the doorway, towel around his waist and his hair drenched and water dripping from it down his chest.

“I brought you the tea. Did the shower help?” I kept my eyes up, not letting them drop down even though some part of me wanted to, I kept my stance by his bedside with my hands clasped in front of me.

“Some company would’ve been nice” He walks over to his closet to take out clothes, and the steam of the bathroom follows him.

“And now I should give you privacy” I clear my throat as he raises his arms to grab a neatly folded shirt and I get the sight of his back flexing and relaxing as he does so.

“Are you this distant with all your patients?” He says but my eyes focus on something on his back.

The healed bruises on the middle of his back on what looked like burn marks where his shoulders were and my silence caused him to turn around.

“Or is there something special about me?” He doesn’t comment though he saw me looking at the injuries on his back.

“Mariano”—

“It’s getting late Grace, I can’t believe I’m the one who’s saying that” He laughs a little, I don’t say anything and walk to his door.

“I appreciate your delicacy with her” He’s by his bedside where I left the tea and I assure him that he doesn’t have to thank me for anything.

“I was just going to check on her right now unless you’d like me to wait for you so you can say goodnight to her as well” I suggested and he agreed for me to give him a second.

I stepped outside and a minute later he opened the door and we made our way to Iris’s room.

I entered first and found her turning around when she heard the door opening. I’m first to go over and sit beside her. “Can I?” I ask and she lays back on her pillow and I place the back of my hand on her forehead.

“Are you feeling better?” I made sure her medication hadn’t triggered a fever due to the cold weather.

“I feel better,” She tells me, earlier when she came back, she was overly excited about her first day at school and the excitement was so much, she began to ramble and started having a hard time grasping her breath.

I was informed that Iris did have asthma, she showed me her asthma pump that she kept with her at all times and I was glad how aware she was of her health.

I wished her goodnight and let Mariano do the same, he kissed her forehead and she hugged him and told him that she loves him and he did as well.

It was a heartwarming sight to see the love he had for his daughter.

We left the room and closed the door, I went to walk to my door but the hand that wrapped around my elbow gently, and I was face to face with the handsome man.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” He said lowly, the question catching me by surprise as I did not expect it.

“Mariano”—

“Be honest with me Beautiful” His finger sneaks underneath my chin and lifts it, and I can smell the scent of his body wash.

“I… I would have to get to know you before I answer that. I don’t know enough about you.”

“Then get to know me Grace, come with me tomorrow and let me tell you about myself” He lets go of my elbow but his finger is still lifting my chin and I subconsciously lick my lips and his eyes flicker to the action.

“I’ll do the same in return, I’ll answer questions that you have about me… but we’re allowed to deny a question if we aren’t comfortable” I manage to get out, trying to ignore the feeling of his body pressed against mine.

“Anything to keep my wife happy” He finishes and gives me one last good night before returning to his room.

I didn’t realize that he called me Grace until I’m finish changing and getting into bed.

• A random plot for my next book came to me in the middle of writing this ❤️

twelve

“This place seems to magically be up and running, money gets deposited every day” I instantly cringe when I hear the sound of Ignacio’s voice as he enters the bakery.

“How are you doing it?” He leans over the counter and I keep boxing the small cupcake.

“I mean you aren’t employed with how busy you are trying to play doctor right? And you quit after working for me for less than a week. Don’t tell me innocent little Grace is…”—

“If the next words to come out of your mouth are anywhere disrespectful, I suggest you keep it shut” I gesture to the knife beside me and he only smiles with a chuckle.

“You grew up to be so feisty, what happened to the young girl who used to patch me up when I hurt my leg when we were kids?” He pouts and it makes me roll my eyes.

“She stopped caring when you became a narcissistic asshole and made everyone’s life miserable as if you didn’t grow up in the same neighborhood” I reply to him and he looks down at his watch.

“Ouch. Everyone here is still so uptight. If you had the chance to inherit as much money as I did, enlighten me on what you would do?”

“I would give back to the elderly that helped raise me, give funds to the children that have to ask for a job before they even reach high school. I wouldn’t take their hard-earned money because I can, the money you have is more than enough to give back. But you’ve just grown to be selfish” I grab the box and walk from behind the counter, leaving Ignacio to stand and think about my words.

“And that’s your problem Grace, you’re too nice and naive. People take advantage of that, if I went throwing money at people from the kindness of my heart, they’d keep asking until they run me dry and not look at me again” He speaks as I place the box on the table for the man and his son.

“You should know a thing or two about being taken advantage of” He’s beside me now, clicking his tongue in my ear.

“You’re a terrible man, I remember the small boy who said he’d never turn out like his father” My words cause him to pause, and I see his jaw clench before he goes to respond.

“That small boy was just as stupid as the young girl who sat there and believed him” He finally says to me, exiting the bakery and letting the bell ring as he leaves. I take a deep breath and shake my head.

“If this is how you ignore me during a fake marriage, I don’t want to know what it’ll be like when you truly do get married” Flora enters the bakery next with her arms crossed, a snow jacket on, and a scarf around her neck.

“I haven’t had time to look at my phone, I almost forgot I even had one. I’m sorry” I say, going behind the counter to get her a warm drink.

“A friend of mine at an elementary school said she saw you bringing in a little girl. Did you hide a baby from me or something?” She sits down on the stool and asks me with her eyebrows pushed together.

“She’s Mariano’s daughter. Iris, the little girl I told you about when you asked why I always left here with a box of cupcakes” I place the glass in front of her and she thinks back to the time.

“I still can’t see him having a daughter, anyone in Romero’s line of work doesn’t seem like the type to take care of their children” She brushes some of the snow off her shoulders.

“He does more than take care of her. He’s a good father Flora, you can’t judge him when you don’t know him” I think back to the moments I’ve seen Mariano and Iris together.

“I don’t want to know him, I don’t even want you to know him, Grace. There’s a reason the court isn’t letting him keep full custody of his daughter and I can’t believe you’re not the slightest bit concerned or curious” She shrugs and takes the glass.

“No, I am not curious because it’s none of my business. He respects my privacy and I respect him, he gives me no reason to question his personal life” I begin to wipe down the counter.

“I think you’re just asking the wrong questions, you need to start asking yourself what he does when he’s not around…” She finishes her tea and I go and give her a refill.

It truly was none of my business what Mariano did in his spare time or what his true profession was.

I know I had seen him speaking to my father and that’s all I wanted to know. I could make my conclusions as to what they probably do in business together but that would mean a lot of distant conversations between us and it would make living together awkward.

“If you’re so concerned Flora, maybe you should ask him or hire a private investigator” I’m sarcastic with her but her face tells me that she’s seriously thinking about doing so.

“I just want my best friend to know what she got herself into, you and Romero might trust him but that doesn’t mean I have to” She takes the honey next to her to add to her tea.

“Enough about him. You should come with me tonight, I feel like we haven’t had a night out in a very long time” She points to one of the raspberry-filled treats and I grab one for her.

I look at the tip jar and remember that roll of money Mariano had put inside when he brought me to visit my mother.

Mother was thankful for that money, it helped her with rent that week and since then I’ve been grateful to him.

“I can’t tonight, I have plans” I don’t go into detail because if I told Flora that I was doing something with Mariano instead of hanging out with her, she’d make it a big deal and probably be angry with me.

“Plans? With Preston?” She questions and I shake my head. “Then plans with who?”

“Myself. People spend time with themselves, you know that right?” 

“I don’t but what are you doing tonight with yourself that I can’t just tag along with?” Flora leans her arms on the counter, I know she’s insisting because she and her girlfriend have had another fight which meant Flora didn’t want to be in the same room as her.

Thankfully my mother comes down the stairs before I have to answer Flora’s question, she greets the both of us and finds her apron on.

“Tell me when you’re free this week, I need an excuse to get drunk” Flora stands up and pays for her food and drink, putting her hood back on to protect her twists from the snow outside.

“If we’re going to hang out we’re not going to a bar, it’s only entertaining for the people who drink, and between the both of us, it’s only fun for you” I collect her glass and plate and she blows me a kiss before walking out.

I kiss my mother on the cheek and she asks me if everything’s alright. I tell her things are going well for me right now.

“Have you spoken to your father?” She asks me and I begin to help her with organizing the kitchen supplies.

“I have… he’s doing well. He’s not sure if you want to see him, so he doesn’t visit” My father trusted me enough to call off his deal with Ignacio and let me take care of trying to save mother’s bakery without him having to sign away half of his money.

“He’s always welcomed here, divorce doesn’t always have to mean distance or separation” Mother signs to me with a smile, the kindest woman I know.

“I’ll be sure to tell him you miss him too” I sign back to her and she hits me with the pink rag that was tucked in her apron. 

“Let’s start with simple questions, like what’s your favorite color?” I ask Mariano and he looks at me as if I’m not completely serious.

He had come home an hour after spending the day with Iris, she told me how they went to watch a movie and he bought her hot chocolate because of the snow before he took her to spend time with her aunt and uncle who were visiting.

Then he had come to take me to a small garden with lots of different flowers I didn’t know existed. The place was beautiful along with how the sun rained down upon the different types of flowers and the small breeze that blew them along.

We sat at the cute white tables that reminded me of a vintage flower shop. “Dark blue” he responded. I pushed his arm because that was the color of the silk dress that I was currently wearing.

“Why are you never serious?” I watched the petal blow onto my lap before being whisked away by the wind as we were seated underneath a large tree.

“I’m a very serious man, I can’t help but favor any color that you wear” Mariano’s arm was on my chair, the chairs were close by and my leg casually brushed his own accident at times.

“Well my favorite color is purple, thank you for asking” I cross my arms and cause him to let out an amused laugh.

“How did you find somewhere as beautiful as this?” I look at the rows of tulips ahead of us standing tall and healthy.

“A friend of mine had their wedding here” He answers and I turn back to see him looking at me and not at the flowers.

“How many tattoos do you have?” I randomly asked, the one in his hand sparking the question.

“More than I remember. I wasn’t in my right mind getting some of them” He honestly answers and then reaches forward to take one of the roses in the flower pot in front of us.

“What about you? Beautiful? Are there any tattoos on this beautiful body of yours?” He asks me and I find myself nodding and his eyebrow peaking up in interest.

“I have three” I truthfully state and he asks me if I mind showing him.

I turn around and move my hair from my back and show him the one going down my spine of my mother’s favorite flowers, then I show him one of them on my foot of another flower.

I can’t show him the small heart on the side of my breast because it was my first tattoo and that would just be inappropriate.

“You could say that I’m in love with flowers” I turn back around and find him fixing his seating and clearing his throat.

“I think the one on my back is my favorite…” Now my hands are on my lap, “Do you have a favorite?”

He doesn’t say anything, he just slightly removes one of the buttons holding his shirt closed, he gives me the view of the Iris flower over the left side of his chest and then the one of medusa below that one and then he tells me the rest are further down and elsewhere.

“What made you want so many?” I was still captivated by how nicely they were done, I could use common sense about the Iris flower but the medusa one was the interesting one and the one I had questions about.

“You could say I have a really strong pain kink” He sends me a wink but it feels like his response was fake like he used the joke to mask the truth.

“What’s this one about?” I find my hand wanting to touch the ink but I stop myself from doing so.

Mariano surprises me and takes my hand, letting my fingertips brush over the ink all while looking into my eyes before speaking.

His eyes looked pained when I asked, I didn’t like it.

“I’m sorry” I find myself saying, the feeling of the tattoo is gone when he lets go of my hand.

It was clear they had a deep meaning to him, all meanings that caused that look in his eye, “I shouldn’t have asked…”

“I told you that you could ask me anything,” He says again and I watch him close the buttons to his shirt once more.

“Then can I ask you why it was so important for you to know if I thought you were a bad person?” I suddenly ask, both of our bodies facing each other, my leg already making contact with the side of his thigh.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m more than interested in you Beautiful, what you think of me is important to me. It’ll tell me if I ever have a chance with you” His eyes drop to my lips and I subconsciously lick them, he watches the action.

“I don’t think you’re a bad person Mariano… I think that you’re far from it truthfully” Somehow the both of us began to lean in close, from eyes switching between our lips back into each other’s eyes.

“You got all that from learning my favorite color?” He still managed to joke and I huffed.

“Anyone can see that… Do you not believe me?” I pushed my glasses back a little bit.

“I believe you Beautiful, I also believe that you might just be insane if you’re planning to do what I think you’re going to do right now” His voice turned low and into a whisper, and my hand fell to his thigh to keep my balanced from how far I close I had gotten to him.

“Why would I be insane for wanting to kiss you, Mariano? Do you not want to kiss me?” I asked, biting my lower lip, and watched something flash over in his eyes and his hand fell upon mine.

“Hermosa, if only you knew the things I think about when I imagine these lips of yours. For you to ask me if I want to kiss you, makes me think you haven’t been paying attention to a word I’ve said this past month” His other hand raised and he placed it on the side of my face, drawing me in and I began to feel my heart speed up.

The sudden accent that fell from his tongue with his words caused my heart to beat and my body to squirm in my seat.

“Mariano… I want to kiss”— Then at the worst possible moment, my phone began to ring, interrupting and almost startling me.

Mariano and I both looked down at my lap and found Preston’s name.

Neither Mariano nor I said anything until I reeled my bottom lip back into my mouth and he took that as more than an answer and moved his hands.

He allowed me to grab my phone and stood up as he knew that I was going to pick it up.

He told me that he’d be right back and entered the circular building and left me no choice but to pick up the phone before I could apologize.

I composed myself, the feeling of my lips tingling with the want to have felt his didn’t disappear.

“Grace I hope I’m not interrupting anything, Flora said you had plans with yourself tonight and I wanted to ask you how it’s going,” Preston said through the phone and I sighed.

I was still thinking about what just happened, I had almost kissed Mariano, and he told me he thinks of us kissing and I would be a liar if I said I hadn’t thought about it at least once.

“Everything is fine. I was in the middle of something though, if I could give you a call back” I told Preston and before he even got to agree, I hung up and stood from the seat and followed Mariano in the same direction he went.

The inside of the building was nice, it was a restaurant with a very calming atmosphere.

I didn’t know where he had gone from there until I walked further into the back and heard what was a long sigh and found Mariano against the wall with his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

His Adam’s apple bobbed and he opened his eyes when he heard my heels clicking, “I’m sorry about that…” I kept my hands intertwined in front of me as I approached him.

“Do you have any more questions you want to ask me?” He said, not mentioning what could’ve been a good kiss and I decided to do the same, though I don’t want to.

“Can I ask you why you don’t drink?” It’s been one of the questions I’ve had since I found him contemplating whether he should’ve taken a shot at such a late time.

“Drinking has ruined a lot in my life and somehow it’s managed to get me to sleep way more than any of my pills did” He stated and I didn’t know how to respond, then he asked me what was my reason for not drinking.

“I’ve seen a lot of my father’s friends drink when I was little and I never liked seeing them whenever they did… I guess I sort of swore that I would never try it” I messed with my index finger a little bit and that’s when I felt him take my hand.

He reached into his pocket for a small black box and inside was a gorgeous silver ring, it was in the shape of a flower and he placed it on my ring finger and closed my fist for me to see.

“I guess you could say I’m in love with flowers” He used my words when I spoke about the flower tattoos that I had, I was still speechless.

“Mariano”— He didn’t let me say anything, though the ring represented our fake marriage, it was still beautiful.

“Would you count this as a first date?” He still held my fist in his hand, we are still close to each other and finally, stop being in awe of the ring.

“I don’t know… I wasn’t properly asked” I respond with a smile and he returns it.

“Can I take you on a proper date? Please” He turned his head slightly when he said please and it was hard not to say no especially when his accent made him sound so promising.

“Only because you said please.”

• She never called Preston back by the way ❤️.

thirteen

Something was bothering him, it was clear but I just didn’t know what it was.

Mariano seemed to be stressed more than usual, I know of his difficulty with sleeping and it causes his eyes to look low and filled with tiredness but the look in his eyes had deepened.

He sat Iris on his lap as he helped her eat her food, he occasionally kissed her cheek and smiled whenever she would giggle.

Not that this was new behavior but something in his eyes looked pained as he did it.

After our— the moment we shared two days ago, Mariano had gone to William’s office and hadn’t returned until it was the beginning of sun rising and even then he hadn’t gone to his room.

I had woken up that night for something to drink and found him sitting on the couch with his hands through his hair and in a stressed state.

This morning when I returned from the hospital, he had been home and hadn’t uttered a word.

I asked Maritza if he had been like this all day and she sadly confirmed that he barely spoke to her as well, not unless she sparked the conversation.

He was occupied on the phone for half of the morning in his room which was soundproof so neither of us could hear him or the extent of the conversation seemed to only make his mood worse.

It didn’t help with the fact that I was a second away from kissing him two days ago and it was all I could think about since.

At that moment, I had wanted that kiss, maybe to put my mind at ease and figure out if his lips were as soft as they looked and since we were interrupted, I could not confirm or deny my question.

I had been so occupied that I had forgotten to call Preston who asked if I had been alright this morning with a text and I had simply told him how busy everything has been for me.

I didn’t know if he wanted to be bothered and I debated on whether or not I should knock on his door and ask him if he was alright.

I didn’t have to knock because he had already thrown open his door and prepared to walk down the steps until he paused and saw me standing in front of him with my fist ready to knock on the door.

He didn’t say anything, his jaw was tight and his hair looked disheveled.

“I just wanted to check on you” I bite on my lower lip and his green eyes fall to them before looking back up.

“You seemed stressed this morning and I wanted to make sure you were okay” I kept going and waited for a response but it didn’t seem like he had an answer.

“If only the judge thought of me like you did Beautiful, maybe then I’d be okay” He finally replied, a little chuckle at the end, his phone in his right hand.

“Did something happen?” I ask with a curious tone, he had been receiving good news recently that the judge recognized his attempt to work on himself.

“Something almost happened but like always, something or someone got in the way” He glanced back down to my lips and switched the conversation to when Preston’s phone call had interrupted us.

“I’m sorry about that, I’ll be sure to leave my phone in the car or turn it off next time” I apologize and he takes a step forward. I notice the tight long sleeve he’s wearing that shows off his biceps and chest muscles.

“So you want there to be a next time?” He said with an intriguing tone.

“You did promise me a first date did you not?” I mirrored the tone of his voice and caused him to grin for the first time today.

“I am a man of my word” He lifts my left hand so he can look at the diamond ring he had given me the other day. “I don’t want to make it a habit to make false promises to my beautiful wife”

I always had this feeling when he addressed me as his wife, he said it as if I wasn’t his wife under a contract as if the marriage were true.

“I would hate to lose the trust I have for my dear husband” My hand is still being held up by him and his next action catches me by surprise.

He tugs me closer, my body being pulled flush against his and his lips meeting the back of my hand as he makes direct eye contact with me.

“I can’t bear the thought of you not trusting me” He whispers and I can’t tell if he was serious or just playing along.

“I’m glad your mood has brightened, I seem to have been the cause for this” I proudly stated and he dipped his head closer to me.

“I’m glad you’re aware of the effect you have on me Beautiful, though I would love to learn more about the effect I have on you” His hand sneaks around my waist.

“I’m sure you’re highly aware of it” I place my hand on his bicep to steady myself.

“My knowledge goes as far as thinking that I and a certain man with terrible timing could be in the same boat” I know he’s referring to Preston and I roll my eyes.

“I know what you’re doing. If I admit anything this is just going to make you even worse than you already are” I feel his thumb stroke the exposed skin on my hip.

“What? Are you saying you don’t like me this way? Would you rather prefer me to be more like him?” His accent becomes stronger with each sentence and I can’t help but squirm a bit, I was a sucker for accents, especially when they allowed words to just roll off tongues so easily and smoothly.

“It will be difficult to become less humorous and charming as you once said but for you, I’d try. If that is what it takes to make my wife choose me” He jokes and smiles at it and I shake my head, letting go and getting out of his hold.

“This conversation has gone on long enough, I’m glad to see you’ve cheered up. I’m going to go and do some cheering up on my own” I walk to my bedroom door.

“Conversations with you are never long enough” Is the last thing he says before I enter my door and close it behind me.

“You were stabbed?” I said to Romero in shock, I hadn’t seen him in the past couple of weeks because he was always caught doing my father’s dirty business and now he was showing me a somewhat healed stab wound.

“And he came to me when he should’ve gone to you! I have no experience with stab or gun wounds, he’s lucky the internet is a thing or he would’ve been dead on my bathroom floor” Nadia stands by her kitchen counter, her arms crossed and her brown eyes sending daggers at Romero who looks at her like a sick puppy.

“You were closer to me at the time and I’m fine now Grace, thanks to Nadia of course” Romero switches his eyes from me to Nadia who turns her head away from him.

There was a bag full of clothes beside the couch that Romero was sitting on, it was obvious that he was staying here with her and that must’ve meant that they had been making progress.

“If I were more like Baba I would’ve left you out in the snow, but I am my mother’s child” She huffs still upset that he put her in that situation.

If I didn’t know that they were separated, I would’ve guessed that they were still together.

“I rather it is me than Mari— my partner” Romero catches himself but it was too late for him to cover up his mistake.

“Mariano was there too? Why…I mean I thought he wasn’t in that part of the business” I find myself growing curious, if it was as dangerous as Romero described, I wondered if Mariano had gotten hurt in any way… because it would be bad for him to have an injury without it getting checked properly.

“It’s not like that. He oversees things sometimes. Before he left things alone, he had skills… and they were useful so sometimes your father asks him to come and help or teach some of the new guys” Romero tries his best to stop me from thinking that Mariano is doing anything more than “teaching” and “assisting”

“And I didn’t listen to him well enough and now look at me” He rubs the back of his head and groans out of pain when he lifts his arm a little too much.

“I’m just worried about him… he seemed stressed this morning and I don’t know why he’s been coming back really late and looking as tired as ever,” I tell Romero and it takes him a few seconds to respond as if he knows something.

“I’m sure you’re just overthinking it, Grace, that’s just who Mariano is. He does things on his own time and he handles them” He says and I’m not believing a word he says.

“Romero, be honest with me, I mean I’m living with him… Is Mariano hurting anyone while he helps my father as you put it?” I ask, Romero debates with himself on how he should answer.

“Only the ones that deserve it. And trust me, all those assholes deserve it and more” He tells me and I don’t know how to take the information in other than just nodding my head.

“You don’t have to worry Grace, Mariano isn’t someone you need to be afraid of”—

“I’m not afraid of him… I just wanted to know that’s all” I assure him, my hands in my lap.

“Come on, I should change your bandages” Nadia comes over to the couch to help Romero who removes his shirt and stuns her for a second before she kneels and helps him.

Being around them is worse than being around Flora and Daniella because it was painful to see that they still had feelings for each other but would rather ignore them.

I was saved by the honking car outside and I don’t think they heard me say goodbye or even leave until I closed the door behind me and heard two loud goodbyes from both of them.

Preston’s car was parked outside and he was sitting in the driver’s seat. I opened the door and got in and he greeted me with a hug and pulled back, and drove us to the restaurant.

It had been a long time since we spoke fully, I kept feeling bad for all the messages he sent and the lack of responses that I returned.

“We all get caught up and busy in life Grace, I’m just glad that you agreed to come with me tonight” He opened the door for me and I entered the restaurant and waited for him to mention the reservation he had gotten us.

“You’re understanding” I sit on the other side of the booth and the waiter comes and asks us our choice of drinks for tonight.

“Wine please, for the both of us,” Preston says and I decline and ask for water, “Crap I’m sorry, I forgot that you didn’t drink…” he quickly apologizes.

Preston begins to talk about how he’s gaining promotions at his job, and even getting the opportunity to do work in New York sometime next year. He continues the conversation before asking me about my degree.

“I’m close to completing it, I’ve gotten the opportunity to gain the experience of working with children firsthand at the hospital up the street” I smile, remembering my day dealing with all the adorable children who I tried to make smile today and completed the task.

There was one boy who stole my heart and his name was Isaiah, he was a burn survivor only at the age of ten.

He was under the care of a foster family. The man had left Isaiah and two other children at home with a running pot on the stove which had fallen on Isaiah who suffered third-degree burns along the right side of his body.

Isaiah’s scars were visible but healed, he told me that he wanted to leave the hospital but he couldn’t because he didn’t have a home to go to and I remember crying on the way back to Mariano’s home because of his story and how used he was when it came to talking about it..

“You love children don’t you?” Preston asks me and I shake out of my thoughts and I respond with a simple “I do”

Then he goes on to say something but the waiter comes back and this time with the presence of two tall men dressed in black and Mariano right in front of them.

Our eyes meet first before his turn to Preston and put the pieces together that this is a date, which it wasn’t at least not to me.

He had been dressed in a midnight blue shirt, the same color as the dress I wore when he had taken me to the garden two days ago.

I immediately thought back to the day and it was clear he knew that I noticed his shirt.

“I’m sorry sir, this booth was already booked for tonight… if you don’t mind I can guide you to one of our tables,”  the waiter says to Preston who has a confused and frustrated look on his face when he sees Mariano.

I didn’t hesitate to move out of the booth but I’m stopped by Mariano’s words, he didn’t even look in Preston’s direction again.

“We’ll take the tables. It would be rude to interrupt such a lovely date” He spoke to the waiter but his eyes were on me, he scanned my features and moved his eyes to the gold necklace around my neck, lingering on my collarbone being exposed in the red dress.

He then moved down to my left hand and I knew that the ring wasn’t on my finger.

“Alright then follow me sir” The waiter turned and the two men followed but Mariano muttered one more thing before he left.

“Enjoy your date Beautiful” He gave me one last look, a short grin on his face before turning away and following the direction of the waiter.

“How do you know him?” Preston turned my attention away from Mariano and referred back to when Mariano had come to pick me up from his house.

“He’s a friend of someone I know closely.”

“Really? He doesn’t look like someone you’d be friends with really… or even speak to” Preston goes on to say.

“What do you mean?” I ask, thanking the waitress when she brings the plate of food.

“He just seems like bad news is all” He begins to eat his food, and I do the same until the next person walking in the door catches my attention.

My father enters and talks to the hostess who guides him right to Mariano’s table, confusion gathers in my head and once again I can’t focus on a word Preston is saying about his job.

“You mentioned that you moved recently, maybe you can give me a new house tour someday” Preston’s hand somehow ended up on top of mine that was mindlessly resting on the table as I wondered about the sudden meeting.

“It’s not the most exciting place” I lied, knowing that Mariano had an agreement about keeping people away from his house.

“I hope my guest room brought you excitement, it’s always there if you ever decide you’re too tired to go home” He offers and I just nod my head.

He goes on to talk and I look to the side once more, my father hasn’t noticed me because his back is facing me while he sits in front of Mariano who has noticed me.

He’s not only noticed me, but also Preston’s hand on top of mine and he has this look as if he finds it funny and he probably does after I told him that Preston and I were only friends.

“Can you excuse me for a moment?” I slid out of the booth and went to the back where the bathrooms were and I waited.

“I can feel you staring at me from across the room,” I say to Mariano as he comes around the corner and stands in front of me.

“I’m debating whether red is my new favorite color or not.” He simply replied, no shame in guiding his eyes down my body once more.

“What does my father ask you to do Mariano?” I get straight to the question, if I didn’t we’d be standing here and he’d only be responding playfully.

“A few errands, he’s a very demanding man” He comes forward, pushing my glasses up for me.

“Mariano… Romero got stabbed for something my father asked him to do. This is serious, I just want to know if I should be worried more than I already am” I cross my arms and speak with a serious tone and he can tell.

“Would it make you feel better if I promised to be careful?” His thumb moves down to my cheek.

“It would make me feel better if you just answered my question. Does he ask you to… kill anyone?” I squeeze my right arm at the thought, I know my father has asked his workers to kill people before but I try not to think about it.

“I’m more of a torture fan. Just to the ones who deserve it” He tries to make it seem better but I don’t know how to feel about it.

“Torture?… Do you enjoy doing it?” I find all these questions piling in my head but I can tell he’s just going to avoid them.

“I think there’s a lot of questions you don’t want the answer to” He lifted my head after I looked down at my black heels.

“If I get hurt, I have you to take care of me, remember?” The small light in the hallway still shows off his freckles.

“You shouldn’t get hurt because you know I’ll help you, that’s a stupid thing to do” I let out a small laugh and he watches the action mirroring my smile, leaning down to my ear.

“Then I’m a stupid man Beautiful.”

“Incredibly” I shake my head at him and he asks a question.

“If you wanted dinner, I would’ve made some for you. You didn’t have to come here with him” His thumb still moves along my cheek and I find myself leaning into the comforting touch.

“Preston and I are friends Mariano” I sigh once more.

“Does he know that?” His hand moves down to my neck, his hand brings warmth to the spot.

“He’s aware of it” I keep my arms crossed and my back on the wall behind me.

“I’m not sure he is Beautiful. Flowers, dinner, and what he hopes will be another night of you at his house because once again, it’s too late for you to call a cab” Mariano goes on, fixing one of my curls for me.

“I’m going to guess he’ll try his luck tonight, stare into your eyes, maybe hold your hand and tell you that you don’t have to thank him and try and lean in close like this…” He takes my hand, doing exactly as he says, and pauses so that his lips are just hovering over mine and my mouth begins to grow dry.

“He’ll hope and pray you’re closing your eyes and leaning in, but when you don’t. He’ll look like an idiot and you’ll apologize and tell him that you don’t want him the way he wants you” Mariano dips his head into my neck, his lips grazing my skin and I lift my head higher in hopes they’ll press onto my skin.

His hand is on top of mine, besides my thigh and he guides my fingertips up my thigh until they reach the material of my dress and I begin to grow hot as if there is no cool air coming from above us.

“But I don’t have to worry about you doing that to me right?” “ His lips place down on my pulse before he raises his head once more and lets go of my hand and I feel like a flustered idiot.

My heart was beating, my body was hot and my legs felt weak. “Mariano…” his name comes out in a quiet voice and he takes that as his answer.

“I need to go back… I can’t just leave him there” My eyes flutter shut, his lips feel soft against my skin, and it’s causing my chest to heave up and down.

“I’m not stopping you” He continues to kiss down my neck to my collarbone, coming back up until he’s whispering into my ear.

“You can always push me away” His fingertips are at the edge of my dress, feeling the soft skin of the side of my thigh.

I let go of my arms and my fist balled a little bit below his chest, his touch ignited through me and if this is what it felt like when he barely touched me, I could only imagine what his kiss would do to me.

“This isn’t fair… You’re not being fair” My eyes close and the thought of Preston waiting for me disappears to the back of my mind.

“I’m not? I believe I’m being very fair, I’m giving you a choice aren’t I?” He glides his lips back up from my neck before lifting his head and going back to staring into my eyes.

“I can’t just leave him out there, he’s waiting for me” It was evident in the amount of attraction I was feeling toward Mariano, and I wondered if he felt the same as me.

“You know Beautiful, he’s starting to piss me off” Mariano’s thumb runs over my bottom lip before he’s backing away and seeing me in my flustered state.

For a moment I thought I was the only one being affected by the sudden body contact…. but it was clear that he was just as hot and bothered as I was.

His slacks formed a print that I quickly looked up from and felt my mouth grow dry when I had seen the outline, I quickly focused on his eyes.

I fixed my dress and cleared my throat. At that time one of the guys that Mariano had come into the restaurant with was ready to say something before he saw me and only signaled Mariano.

“Will you be late tonight?” I stop him from walking off by grabbing his wrist for a second.

“I don’t like to miss saying goodnight to Iris, I’ll be there before she goes to bed,” He says and I find out later tonight that he was right.

“Be careful” I finally say, knowing that he’s going to be leaving with my father.

Mariano surprised me with a kiss on my cheek, the small kiss was soft.

“Don’t stay up worrying about me Beautiful.”

-  Sorry this chapter took so long ❤️, since the new year started I’ve been busy day after day and become extremely tired.

fourteen

“Did you tell her?” Romero questions me, sitting back on the table and watching the scene in front of the both of us.

“Tell her that her father is an idiot and doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut on deals? Or that the reason you got stabbed was that he sent you on an ambush and I had to come to be your Lord and Savior?” I roll up my sleeves, not wanting to ruin my shirt.

“She doesn’t need to know about this shit man” He sits this one out, not needing to strain out his injuries.

“You can’t keep this shit from her forever. She’s a grown woman, your best friend, and his daughter. Lying won’t do her any good” I remove the silver knife sitting out the back of the belt.

The pathetic man in front of me sits and cowers and pleads for me not to do anything to him. It was already too late, his nose was already bleeding and his eye was already black from what the guys did to him before they brought him here.

I fix the black gloves on my hands and yank his hair back, tapping the knife on his cheek. The white towel stuffed in his mouth drains out the annoying sounds of his begging.

“The last thing she needs to know is that she lives with a man who is skilled in using a knife and not because you can cook,” He says beside me.

“Do you think he likes his left or his right eye better?” It’s almost like Romero isn’t talking to me because I’m focused on how much pain I can put this guy through before he passes out.

This was the same guy who stabbed Romero. Romero told me that I didn’t have to do this but I just needed and wanted an excuse to make this day go by faster.

I spent all morning with Iris, watching all those cartoon movies that she kept singing along to. I got her ice cream and let her buy way more stuffed animals that couldn’t even fit on her bed.

Then it was time for her to go to school and I became bored and came here when someone called me and told me they found the guy who stabbed Romero and attempted to shoot me.

Beautiful was at the hospital, taking care of children who she never failed to come back and tell me about.

It was clear that she had a love for children, her eyes lit up whenever she was with Iris or talking about the children she met or got the opportunity to help and make smile.

It was one of the things I admired about her.

“Don’t make a mess man, just rough him up a little bit and let someone else handle the rest” Romero says, leaving the room to get his bandages fixed.

I use one knife and stab it into his thigh and his screams are muffled by the rag, I don’t pull the knife out so he doesn’t bleed out just yet.

“Mariano…” The sound of her soft voice rings through my head and I can’t even focus on the insult of a man in front of me.

I sigh and tuck the knife back into the waistband of my pants, kicking the chair back and letting the man fall backward and groan in pain as he hits the hard chair and I exit the room.

I signal to the man standing next to the door and tell him to clean up and find William standing like he always does with a black file and a face that tells me he’s going to try and convince me to do something that I don’t want to do.

“Ignoring my calls won’t make this go away and you know it. They’ve demanded a signature from you or the court will handle it on their terms and neither of us wants that” He follows me to a free couch and sets a piece of paper down in front of me.

“At least this way you’ll be able to be there and Iris won’t feel alone” William tries, he knows I’m still fighting at the idea of letting any of this happen.

“What difference is this going to make? She doesn’t get to decide to play parent all of a sudden. You and I both know she just wants the money that comes with sharing custody” I scoff at the paper in front of me and William nods.

“Her intentions are clear, she had no interest in having custody of Iris until her lawyer brought to her attention that she would receive checks to help her provide a safe environment for Iris. It’s sad to know that the jury is full of a bunch of idiots who can’t see that but until I can figure this shit out… she requests weekly visits.”

“If it makes it any better… I was able to settle for an agreement if you sign the papers today. You can choose when and where she can see Iris, you are required to be present and she can only see her two out of the seven days of the week” He points to the bottom part of the paper.

I was more than pissed, I didn’t want to burn the paper and never hear of this stupid agreement again, but I rather be with Iris than let some stranger she didn’t know be with her alone.

I knew the type of person she was, she was manipulative, and much worse, I didn’t want Iris or myself around her. I swore to never let her in my life again and here I was signing off a paper that would introduce her to me again.

“I know what was hard for you. But I promise to work as hard as I can to get you both out of this” William’s hand is on my shoulder as I finish signing my name at the bottom.

“I don’t want to hear about this shit anymore, I’m already pissed off as it is” I close the black file and toss it onto his lap.

“Trouble in paradise?” He raises an eyebrow, collecting the file.

“We are far from the honeymoon stage” I shrug my shoulders and lean my arm back on the couch, with a sigh escaping from my lips. I remember the time she left this morning.

She was going to the hospital and mentioned she wouldn’t be back until the afternoon. I offered to pick her up but she hesitated with her next choice of words because she had already agreed for her little “friend” to pick her up instead.

I don’t know if I felt sad for the guy or if I was happy that I wasn’t in his position.

It was clear that he had a crush on Beautiful, I mean it was hard not to have one. He knew they were friends and that she didn’t want anything more with him but that didn’t stop him from playing the “there if you need my card”

It was too bad for him that she just needed me more.

Grace began to act like she was stopping herself from something. Sometimes she’ll randomly glance down at my lips and subconsciously bite her own and deny it if I say something about it.

I assure her that I don’t mind because I look at her lips just as much as she looks at mine.

She was indecisive, sometimes she didn’t know whether to push what we had gone through or if she wanted to deny everything and act like she wasn’t as attracted to me as I was to her.

William only laughed as my phone rang and I had gotten a call that the school would like me to come as fast as possible. The lady on the phone said Iris had a mini anxiety attack and wanted to be taken home.

I dropped the conversation I had with William and left with no words, speeding through the streets on the way to comfort my flower.

“Do you think daddy will buy me ice cream?” Iris asks as I rub her back, she sits by my side as I calm her down on the front steps of her school.

I was waiting for Preston when I received the same call that Mariano probably had gotten.

I asked Preston to stop by the school so I could calm the nerves that she had been experiencing from the feeling of being overwhelmed with meeting so many new people.

“I’m sure he will, he knows how much you love ice cream” I smile when I see her tiny one, she’s been calm for a minute now and when I first got here she was running over to me with tears rolling down her face.

The sound of tires screeching makes me jump slightly and without even parking his car correctly, Mariano comes out of his car without turning off the engine.

His eyes scan the area and immediately find Iris before he even notices anyone else. He’s rushing towards us and kneels in front of her, his huge hands on her small cheeks. He uses his thumb to wipe her small tears.

“¿Qué pasa, flor? Talk to me” His voice is full of concern at her pouty face, she responds that she feels better now.

“Her teacher said that she didn’t like being in front of the class while everyone watched her present the thing they were told to create,” I say and Mariano finally looks my way.

“What did you make flor?” Mariano looks back at her, opens her hand, and shows the small dolphin she made out of paper.

“You made this?” He says and she nods her head, he automatically brings a smile to her face by covering her face in kisses and praises.

“What do I always tell you when you make things like this?” He pulls back and lets her respond.

“That I’m very talented” She repeats his words and he nods his head, Mariano looks back to see if I had come with a driver but instead is met with the sight of Preston watching everything by his car.

Mariano lifts Iris and she instantly wraps her arms around his neck and lays her head on his shoulder. He turns to me, “Come with us.”

“I can’t just”— Preston’s view is blocked so he can’t see that Mariano is holding my hand with his other hand, holding Iris with one arm.

“I want you to come with us. I want to make her happy again. You seem to help with that” His thumb runs over my knuckles.

“Wait for me… in the car. I’ll be there” I give in and he smiles, it’s such a nice smile.

Mariano walks off and places Iris into the back of his car and I walk over to Preston, “Wow, I didn’t know he had a kid… are you coming back to my house?”

“I’m sorry but I’m going to go back with him. She needs me and I can’t say no to helping children” I put it as best as I can but I can see the disappointment on his face.

“I just wish it wasn’t helping him…”

“Why do you dislike him so much? You hardly know him” I find myself asking.

“I know of him and I should warn you to be careful around him. Your friend or not, he’s not a good person to be around… I’ll see you around Grace” Preston gives Mariano’s car one last glance and scoffs, and gets into his.

I don’t wait for him to drive off and get into the passenger side of Mariano’s car, one hand is on his steering wheel and the other is on his thigh.

“How late is that bakery of yours open?” Mariano says first and I realize that he’s taking me to see my mother again.

“She’s open later than I like her to be but she should be closing sometime soon” I relax in the black seats and freeze when he reaches over to buckle in my seatbelt for me.

“Then we should hurry, I’m in the mood for something to satisfy this craving of mine” He turns to the back to make sure Iris is comfortable before he begins to drive off.

“Very sweet” My mother signs to me as I help her close the bakery and we watch Mariano sit with Iris on his lap as he lifts a cupcake with sprinkles to her mouth and purposely bumps it on her nose causing her to laugh to fill the room.

“It’s really cute,” I say back to her, packing a few extra cupcakes for Iris. I laugh slightly when Iris places icing on Mariano’s cheek and he turns to me when he hears my laughter and I quickly bite my tongue.

I didn’t know what my mother’s plan was but she walked over to Iris and offered her more treats. Of course, Iris hopped off of Mariano’s knee and took my mother’s hand and they went into the kitchen.

Mariano stood up and came over to me and I looked down and continued to pack the box.

“Is something funny?” He leans over the counter messing with the ribbon that one of the children had put in my hair.

“You have something on your face dear husband” I look at him playfully and he pretends like he’s clueless about the pink frosting on his cheek.

I realize that he’s waiting for me to wipe it for him but instead, I cover my finger in the white frosting on the cupcake beside me and spear it close to his mouth, and laugh as he lets me do it.

“I think there’s just a little bit more over here” I use my index finger and point to my mouth where I placed the frosting on his mouth.

“Is that so?” He comes behind the counter and walks towards me.

I grab a napkin from the counter and he lets me clean the mess on his face. I use his forearm to steady myself but I can feel the stress just coming from him.

“You’re stressing,” The scrunch of his eyebrows tells me that he has a lot on his mind.

“It’s been a stressful day,” He says as I finish wiping the icing on his cheek.

“How can I help?” Some of me knew what his smile meant, the glare in his eyes told me he was thinking about something dirty.

“I’ve told you what I want many times. I think you just like hearing me repeat myself or you might just like my voice” He rubs his left hand on his right bicep before messing with the ruffles of the apron my mother knitted for me.

“Maybe it’s the accent… or maybe I just like hearing that you want to kiss me” My hand finds its way to his forearm and I trace the ink racing there.

“I want to do more than just kiss you Beautiful, but I’m a gentleman so I’ll just start with that” His hand moves to my lower waist.

“We still have yet to go on that date you promised me. You’re not having second thoughts are you?” I spin around so my backside is facing him,

Immediately his fingers were untying my apron and he caught the material so it didn’t fall on the floor and he let it fall over his shoulder.

His hands then grab my hips and pull me flush against him and I almost let out a gasp.

“Second thoughts? If I were having second thoughts, I wouldn’t be this”—

“Mariano!” I turn back around and shove him lightly before the next word comes from his mouth.

“I’m just telling the truth Beautiful and if you must know, I have something planned for you tomorrow” He’s smiling and my mother walks out with Iris who’s happily eating a strawberry crepe.

I didn’t know what he had planned but it had me excited just by the thought, he said it was for me and not for us and now I couldn’t even try and guess what it was.

“I should get her home,” Mariano says, “You can stay here if you’d like and I’ll get you in the afternoon for our date” he lifts Iris who lets out a yawn from the late night.

“Just so you have the morning to spend with your mother” He adds before I ask why in the afternoon, letting me have time with my mother means a lot to me and I thank him before telling Iris goodnight.

He says goodnight and wishes my mother goodbye before setting a kiss on her cheek.

I can’t believe my mother began to get flustered and I walked them outside.

Mariano put Iris in her seat in the back, “She’s going to spend the whole night asking about you now” I tell him as he closes the door and takes a jacket that was hanging on the passenger seat.

“Tell her good things.”

“You haven’t given me a reason to tell her otherwise” I hug my arms due to the cold weather.

“And I never will” He lifts and puts the jacket around me and I slip my arms through to allow myself to feel the warmth.

I’m engulfed by the nice scent of his cologne,

“I’ll see you tomorrow Beautiful.”

❤️.