18

After Domenico left, I had to get in my car and digest it all. How can so much happen in less than an hour? Luck was really not on my side. Inwardly I ask myself if I don't even deserve it. After all, I've been lying to my family for several weeks. "I'm a disappointment," I muttered, leaning my head against the steering wheel and feeling my eyes start to sting again.

I quickly blinked away the tears and looked at my face in the rearview mirror. My eyes were red and my mascara was smudged. I wet my index finger with some spit and ran it under my eyes to clean up my smeared mascara. After that, I looked at myself again and put on a fake smile. Everything will be fine, Cayetana. I jumped slightly when my cell phone suddenly rang. A message.

I feel queasy. What if that's one of my brothers? Or my parents. What if Ángel is sitting with you right now and telling you? I hesitantly picked up my phone and breathed out a sigh of relief when I read Domenico's name.

He'll be fine, Cayetana. Sometime.

I bit my lip, lost in thought. Will Domenico and I ever be together properly? I just decided not to answer. What too?

Instead, I dialed Ángel's number with shaky fingers. I had to at least try. At the moment I can't risk Domenico and me coming out. I was amazed to find that after a short ring he answered. silence reigned. "Ángel?" I interrupted. It took him a moment to answer. "Sí?" He sounded calmer. "Can we meet please? I'd like to explain all this to you," I pleaded with him, my voice no more than a whisper. I was afraid. Afraid that he might say no. There was silence again. Come on, Ángel. Please.

"Okay." I let out a relieved breath. "Are you still there?" he asked. "Yes," I answered him and got out again. "Then see you soon," he said and hung up without my replying. With quick steps I ran back to the bank. Hope everything will go well.

-

It was barely 5 minutes before I saw Ángel's car from afar. Suddenly it felt like my heart rate would go from zero to a hundred. I was scared. Don't be afraid of Ángel, for God's sake. No, I got scared that he would tell my family.

Will I be able to change his mind? His car came to a stop before he got out shortly thereafter. Our eyes met. I swallowed hard as he approached me with a monotonous expression on his face. Without a word, he sat down next to me. There was silence for a brief moment, until he broke it. "Speak, I'm listening to you," he said without looking at me.

Inexplicably, that hurt me. Why wasn't he looking at me? Because I let a De Santis fuck me? Or because I turned him down? Did I hurt him? I didn't want that at all.

I cleared my throat before I started talking. "So, the thing about Domenico and me," I started and swallowed hard. It was weird talking to anyone other than Adriana about Domenico. But I had to. I didn't want that to come out under any circumstances.

"We didn't know who we were at first," I told him. Now he turned his face to me. He seemed confused. "How can that be?" he demanded. "I met Domenico in a club," I mumbled sheepishly. Great, the next secret that was out now.

He seemed to think for a moment. "How do you get that in-" he started confused but stopped. "Adriana," he mumbled.

"Ever since I had sex with Domenico that night, I couldn't get him out of my head. I've tried everything, everything," I murmured, thinking back to the beginning. "I didn't see him again until that meal. We were both shocked, but we still wanted it. And I've been seeing him regularly since that evening." I took a short break. "I know this is actually wrong, but I can't finish it anymore. I don't want to finish it anymore," I said.

"I have such a bad conscience towards my family, but if I lost Domenico now, I wouldn't get through it." I laughed. "That sounds so absurd," I mumbled, laughing. "But when I'm with Domenico, it feels like I've finally found what I've been looking for for so long." "Do you love him?" he suddenly asked. I didn't have to think long. "Si." He now knew about Domenico and me anyway, so there would be no point in denying this. And I didn't want to deny it either. It even felt a bit liberating to talk to someone about Domenico and me. Funny but liberating. Our relationship suddenly felt a little more real. I mean, it's real, but it's secret. And now two other people knew about us. Angel and his brother.

I slowly turned my gaze to him. Ángel was already looking at me, but I couldn't read his gaze. "Ángel," I started, but he cut me off by raising his hand. "I won't say anything," he said. Relief spread through me. Gracias a dios. (Thank God.) "Thank you," I murmured. He just nodded.

"Please don't get hurt, Cayetana," he pleaded, almost whispering. "Domenico would never hurt me," I replied. I'd put my hand in the fire for that. "I hope for him," he said, standing up. "See you," with these words he started. I watched him walk towards his car and then drive off. I was hoping inside that Ángel wouldn't be so distant from me forever now. He probably just needs time to process it all. Just as I had to deal with the fact that Ángel was into me. How long already? Why hadn't he said anything? questions about questions.

What if he had confessed his feelings to me before I met Domenico?

After the gates opened, I drove through and parked my car, I got out anxiously. Actually, I wasn't scared at all, just nervous. But I was still scared of meeting Ángel. Was he even there? Swallowing, I grabbed my bag and walked toward the property. Yesterday, after Ángel left, I also went home. I wrote to Domenico that I had everything sorted out and then I went to bed and watched TV. I spent the rest of the day processing it all.

"Cayetana, I fell in love with you"

This sentence raced through my head for the rest of yesterday. I haven't told Adriana anything either. How will she react if I tell her everything?

"Miss Fernández," Miguel greeted me and let me in. I gave him a friendly nod and then made my way to Adriana. As I walked up the stairs, I quickened my steps. I almost ran the last few meters. Without knocking, I opened her room door. Startled, she turned to me. "Dios mío, Cayetana! Do you have to scare me like that?" She wanted to know. A small grin crept onto my lip before I walked over to her bed and sat on it. "Lo siento," I mumbled apologetically.

"Do you want to go right away?" she asked, combing through her beautiful long hair. "No, not yet," I said, a little uncertain, which made her look at me. "Are you okay? Did you guys have a fight?" she asked cautiously. "No, you can't call that an argument," I said. "Something happened yesterday that I haven't told you about yet," I confessed. I also felt a bit bad about it, after all she tells me everything directly. "What is it?" she wanted to know and sat down next to me. "Ángel kissed me and Domenico saw it," I told her. Abruptly her eyes widened. "What?" she demanded, shocked. I just nodded. "Ángel told me he had feelings for me and when I told him that I don't reciprocate his feelings and stuff, then I saw Domenico. Oh man, you should have seen the look on his face!" I murmured. "I was in a trance after that," I continued. "Ángel then saw where I was looking. Well, short version: Ángel knows everything."

She seemed to be processing it all until she asked, "Will he say something?" I shook my head. Suddenly she fell backwards onto the bed. "Oh shit," she said. I just nodded in agreement. "You know, I'm afraid that the friendship between Ángel and I will break now. After all, he was always a good friend to me," I sighed. "I don't think so. I know my brother. It will take him a few days at most and then everything will be fine," she assured me. "Hopefully," I mumbled, dropping down next to her. She slowly turned her head in my direction. "Shall I drive you to your Domenico now?" she wanted to know while a small smile slowly crept onto her lips. I replied. "Yes, please."

-

Domenico 25 HOURS BEFORE

My right fist slammed into his face with full force. His head snapped to the left and blood spurted from his nose. He spat on the floor, which adorned his bloody saliva. He jerked like crazy, which made me laugh. "Believe me, all the ropes and zip ties are pretty tight," I assured him, laughing sardonically. "Please, I have family!" he begged. "I have that too," I grinned. "And you bastard were stupid enough to mess with us," I said while walking towards the table with countless torture items. I picked up a knife from the table and ran back towards the man who was tied to a chair. Aka David, who secretly pocketed and sold some of our drugs. Why do you do that when you work for the Mafia?

But that suited me just fine. The last few times I slapped his face hard, I kept imagining this fucking Ángel sitting in front of me. The anger I felt towards him could not be put into words. Was it because I was afraid he might ruin our plan? certainly

"Mr. De Santis, I beg you!" he begged as I crouched in front of him. "Please, please let me go. This will never happen again, I swear on my life!" he promised. "Your life," I laughed, ramming the knife full force into his thigh. His pained scream echoed through the camp hall. "It's not worth anything," I hissed, pulling the knife out again. Blood flowed from his wound as he still whimpered in pain. "And besides, I enjoy it," I grinned at him. "You're helping me release the anger I'm feeling," I said, standing up again. "And you're right, David. It won't happen again because you'll be dead to do it again," I smirked. He widened his eyes anxiously. "Please don't!" he begged. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "You know what?" I asked him, sliding my hand to my back. "I'm done having fun. I don't feel like it anymore," I said, pulling my gun from my waistband. "No, Mr. De Santis! Please si-" He got no further as I fired right between his eyes.

I tucked my gun back into my waistband and walked toward the table. I put the knife on it and then grabbed a cloth with which I wiped my bloody hands. Then I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed a number. "Mr. De Santis?" came a deep male voice. "Come down to the warehouse on the East River and clean up the trash, Josh," I instructed, then hung up immediately before sighing furiously because my anger at López hadn't even come close to going away.

-

Cayetana NOW

"Do you already have a dress for the gala?" she asked while still concentrating on the streets. "No, I was thinking that maybe the two of us could go into town and buy one together?" I suggested. "Perfect! I don't have one either," she said, grinning. "Well then, let's do that tomorrow, after all, the gala is the day after tomorrow," I said, whereupon she nodded in agreement. "Are you actually nervous because Domenico will be there too?" She asked.

I just shrugged. "I was going to talk to him about it later anyway," I told her. "What did he actually say about Ángel kissing you?" she asked curiously, which immediately brought his angry expression back to mind. "I quote: "I will kill him!", I tried to sound a bit like Domenico. But I clearly didn't succeed. A laugh escaped our lips. "But seriously. For a brief moment I really thought that he would charge at us any time and rip Ángel's head off," I said seriously now. "Honestly, Tana? Sometimes I would be really grateful to Domenico," she grinned evilly, which made me laugh again.

"So my dear, here we are," she said as the car slowed. "Your Domenico is already waiting for you," she grinned and pointed with her head. My head darted in that direction before I spotted Domenico leaning against his car. From second to second I wanted more and more to him. Just run into his arms.

I quickly turned my head to Adriana. "See you tomorrow," I said quickly, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and grabbing my bag. "See you tomorrow," she laughed before I got out and slammed the door. In quick steps I ran towards Domenico, who was already grinning at me from afar. When I was with him, I couldn't react so quickly when he pulled me to him and kissed me. His lips as soft as ever and his strong hands on my waist. His tongue pushed dominantly into my mouth and he didn't even ask to be let in. I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him even closer to me. This moment was far too beautiful to end. Every inch of my body tingled with his touch. A sudden honk startles me. I looked to the left and saw Adriana's car driving slowly past us. "Like two crazy teenagers!" she laughed and accelerated.

"Dios mío," I mumbled, rubbing my face, laughing. Domenico couldn't suppress a short laugh either. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the passenger side. "Let's drive," he said with a grin and opened the door for me. I grinned and he closed the door. After he got in and drove off, he placed his hand on my thigh and began to stroke it gently. If only he knew what he triggered with me.

I frowned in confusion when I noticed after a short time that we were driving somewhere else. I looked at Domenico confused. "Why are we going somewhere else?" I asked him. A grin suddenly formed on his full lips. "Because we're not going to the apartment," he grinned. Are we going somewhere else? "Where are we going then?" I wanted to know curiously. He smiled at me for a moment. "Let yourself be surprised, tesoro mio."