25

When I got down to the dining room door, I stopped for a moment. I felt a few tears start to creep into my eyes again, but I quickly blinked them away. Domenico, she didn't deserve this asshole. He didn't deserve me. God, everyone will laugh at me and despise me for my stupidity. Despise for letting a De Santis on me. the enemy And for ruining a huge business.

Just the thought of having to confess this to my dad scared the hell out of me. you will hate me

Resolutely, I put my hand on the latch and pushed it down. As Adriana had already said, he was sitting at the table in front of a huge stack of papers. "Hey," I ground out. "Hi," he replied, smiling slightly, but when Ángel saw me, his eyes grew concerned. "Are you okay, Tana?" he asked worried. I swallowed and ran towards him.

I pulled the chair back next to him and sat down on it. There was a brief silence before I started to speak. "Can I ask you something without you asking?" I wanted to know. He seemed unsure, but he answered my question with an uncertain: "Sí".

"Can you give me a gun?" I asked him. Ángel definitely didn't seem to have expected this question. "Cayetana, what's going on?" he asked immediately. "Ángel," I said before closing my eyes and sighing. "Please don't ask. Please," I almost begged. I didn't want to talk to him about it. I would even prefer never in my whole life to put the name: Domenico De Santis in my mouth.

"I need a gun, please Ángel." It seems like he's struggling with himself. "Is it something dangerous?" he wanted to know. I shrugged unknowingly. "I don't know, that's why I need them," I replied truthfully. "Does it have anything to do with Domenico?" he suddenly asked and I swallowed. "Yes?" he questioned. Now my eyes got wet again. I looked at him. "Can you give me a gun? Yes or no?" Again I was on the verge of crying. A tear nearly fell down my cheek, but I just blinked it away. Can I face Domenico without breaking into tears?

Amazingly, I watched as Ángel nodded. He slid his hand to his back before actually pointing a gun at me. I stared at the object for a moment. It's not like I've never seen or held a gun, but the sight of the gun made me think of my first murder. "She's got full ammo, and you know how to cock a gun," he said, and I nodded distractedly. "If you need help with anything, call me." I nodded and took the gun. "I'm serious, Tana," he said a little softer. I nodded again. "Thanks Ángel", I said thank you and stood up again.

Without saying anything else to him, I left the room and made my way back to Adriana. Meanwhile I wrote a message to Domenico.

Can we meet please?

I hoped inwardly that he wasn't suspicious. "So he gave you one," Adri stated when I entered her room again. I nodded, my phone ringing the next second.

Of course, everything ok?

I really wonder why he's still wearing his mask. I mean, at least he had what he wanted now. Why didn't he shoot me to the wind?

yes everything ok, i just have to see you

Waiting, I bit my lip and watched the writes.

Okay and where, amore mio?

Do you push your amore mio somewhere else. I thought angrily and had to think about what the perfect place would be for a moment. I got an idea.

Come in twenty minutes to where it all began mi amor.

-

"And you really want to do that?" Adriana asked to be sure, while my gaze lingered on the club. Domenico was already here, I knew that because his car was here. "Yes, I do," I said determinedly, but my body said I was scared. I was shaking all over. "Oh and by the way, you don't have to wait here. I'll call Alejandro then, after all I have to talk to my family later anyway," I informed her. "I don't know, Cayetana. Should I seriously leave you here alone?" I nodded and opened the door. "I can do it!" I said and slammed the car door.

Dios, I really hoped that I could do it. To be on the safe side, I grabbed my back again and could feel the gun through my shirt. Luckily I was wearing an oversized shirt so you couldn't see them. The bouncer let me through with no problem and I looked around the club. It wasn't that busy yet, since it was still quite early to celebrate.

I stopped abruptly when I recognized Domenico. I couldn't even describe the feelings that flowed through my body. He had his back to me, at the bar. At our bar.

I shook my head. What we had wasn't real. The thought sent a fat tug in my chest. Domenico knew who I was from the start. I involuntarily balled my hands into fists. I swallowed hard, my emotions were on a real rollercoaster right now.

As I leaned against the counter, he noticed me. "Hey," he smiled warmly. Despite everything, why does my stomach have to tingle when he looks at me like that. Damned. "Hi, um can we talk outside where we're alone?" I asked him. It was so hard for me to talk normally. My eyes started to burn slightly again at the sight of him and the knowledge that everything was a lie. All the words he said to me, everything. And that fucking hurt. "Of course," he simply replied and rose from the stool.

I ran ahead. For a brief moment I thought back to the night I met Domenico. He knew it from the start.

When we got outside I headed towards the back of the club. So that nobody really saw us. Inwardly, I still asked myself whether a public place might not have been better, perhaps I would have felt even safer then. "Why did you want to meet here?" I heard him ask curiously. "Well, because this is where it all started," I began, turning around. Now I looked at him angry and hurt at the same time. "And I thought it was only fair if it ended here, too," I finished my sentence and as soon as I finished, I slammed my palm in his face with full force. His face shot to the side.

Well, the slap definitely had it all and I felt it too, because my hand hurt like hell. He groaned in pain. "What the-" He paused as he looked at the gun in my hand, which I'd pulled from my waistband immediately afterwards. "It's just for my own protection," I explained, feeling tears stinging my eyes. "And the pain..." I pointed to his cheek, which was decorated with my red handprint. "I don't even come close to the pain you caused me!" I finished my sentence. It was difficult to keep my voice steady. My voice threatened to break at any moment. "How stupid did you think I was, Domenico, huh?" I asked as the first tear rolled down my cheek.

"Amore mio-" "Shut up and don't call me that!" I interrupted him angrily. He seriously wanted to take the right to call me that now? "You have no right for it! You never had it!" I sobbed. Domenico looked at me completely perplexed. "I overheard the nice conversation you and your daddy had," I informed him. "Cayetana," he started, but I just shook my head. "What were your plans for Thursday?" I wanted to know. I wanted to know what my family would have expected. "Cayetana," he mumbled desperately. "What. Did. You. Before."

Domenico swallowed and looked at me with an indefinable look. Was there regret in his eyes? "We...my father wanted to bomb the warehouse," he replied softly.

I bit my lower lip hard to stop the tears and kept nodding my head. With the push of a button, everyone would have gone. I audibly gasped. "I really am that stupid," I laughed desperately and tearfully, rubbing my forehead and pacing in stress. "I love you Cayetana."

Domenico

Suddenly she stopped and laughed evilly. Her eyes darted poison files in my direction. But I meant the words seriously. Merda, in the beginning my intentions weren't real, but now they are. Holy shit, the feelings I developed for this woman in such a short time...

Incomprehensible. And my heart clenched so much when I saw her hurt like that. Then there was the fact that I was to blame for it. It's my fault she's devastated now. Damn, she had risked everything.

I shouldn't have said anything to my papa. Now it was too late. "Do you even know what love is, Domenico?" she asked while I saw her eyes start to shine again. I didn't want to see her cry, especially not because of me.

You should have just shut up, Domenico! I told myself and I should have just done that. Shut up.

I didn't want to lose her. The last few weeks have been indescribable. She made me feel like just me when she was with me, is that crazy? Even if I didn't care about her at first and she was just a means to an end, my feelings were all the more sincere now. "Cayetana, that wasn't a lie. I love you and I mean it," I protested. She just had to believe me.

Again she laughed evilly. "Do you really think I'll believe a word that comes out of your mouth?" she asked me seriously, tears rolling down her face. I noticed how difficult it was for her to speak.

It broke my heart to see her like this. I would love to hug her now, but to be honest I didn't dare to take a single step. My eyes fell on her gun.

"It's just for my own protection"

Did she think I would hurt her? Never. Even in the beginning I wouldn't have done anything to her. Especially since she had absolutely nothing to do with her family's business. "Why did you take that?" I asked her, nodding at the gun in her hand. "Do you think I'll hurt you?" I saw clearly how she swallowed and shortly afterwards wiped the tears from her face. "I don't trust you anymore, so yeah. I mean, you didn't even care that you hurt my feelings and only used me for your purposes," she replied, rasping. It hurt me that she genuinely thought I was hurting her. If I had ever wanted that, it would have happened this morning or last night at the latest. But I never would.

She was sobbing and her breathing was shaky. Now my eyes also started to burn slightly. It hurt to see her like this. I love her. "Don't you have a conscience? How can you put on a different facade for so long?", she wanted to know. "Cayetana, you have to believe me. In the beginning maybe everything was a lie, yes, I admit that too, but now," I stopped desperately and rubbed my mouth. "I really fell in love with you. Damn, I love you with every fiber of my being! And if I could I would undo it."

Cayetana

I silently swallowed as his words brought more tears to my eyes. Still, I shook my head. He is a liar! "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have told your father!" I hissed. He shouldn't manipulate me with his words. His only goal was for me to keep my mouth shut, but that's when he cut himself.

"I had no choice," he said guiltily. I just laughed scornfully and briefly licked my lip, which was soaked with my salty tears. "You always have a choice," I said, trying not to shed more tears. Vain.

"Don't you understand that I couldn't betray my family?!" he asked desperately. "You didn't give a damn if I betrayed my family!" I yelled. My grief pushed back for the moment and I got angry. Even angrier. "I risked everything! And if I hadn't overheard you, my family would have died and it was me!" I kept yelling at him. "So don't fucking tell me to understand because you're the one who doesn't understand!" I hissed.

My hand tightened on the gun and I seethed with anger. "You're fooling me about love here, although you have no idea about love. You're the worst, Domenico!"

My breath was shaky and the tears flowed like a waterfall. The pain I felt was hard to put into words. "Did you enjoy it?" I asked in a shaky voice. "Did you enjoy pranking me for weeks and making me believe something?" My voice was nothing more than a croak. My eyes burned like fire. I just wanted to go home.

Surprisingly, I realized that Domenico's eyes were shining. "You really should be an actor," I commented dryly. "Cayetana, please believe me-" "I won't believe you anymore, Domenico! And I don't want to see you anymore either! Have a nice life!" I interrupted him sobbing before turning around and running. I had no more strength.

I still had to face my parents today, that was bad enough. "Cayetana!" I heard him call out, but I didn't turn around. I just kept walking. Until at some point I was far enough away from the club. I had put the gun back in my waistband.

I sat down on a bench and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes for a moment and just FLASHBACKed that. That despite the fact that I know the truth, he still pretends he loves me. I shook my head at that, laughing desperately.

My vision became watery again. Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my eyes before pulling my phone out of my pocket. Heart pounding, I hesitantly dialed Alejandro's number. My heart was pounding so hard that I was beginning to fear it was going to jump out of me. "Tana?" he took my call. My lower lip started to tremble. By now Alejandro would hate me.