35

Domenico

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No reaction. She just kept walking. My heart clenched painfully at her words.

"Nice for you. I slept myself Ángel."

I stared blankly at the floor. Mixed feelings spread through me. My eyes began to burn treacherously.

I wondered how she was able to do that. I mean, did her feelings for me just go away like that? That can not be. Did she do it for another reason?

With every breath, my chest hurt more and an unwanted image appeared in front of my eyes.

Cayetana and that bastard.

I didn't even want to imagine it. Filled with anger and pain, I walked quickly back to my car.

I got in and buckled up. I pressed a few buttons on my car's display to call Mateo. I needed distraction and most importantly alcohol to get out of this gross pain.

"Hola mate," he answered. "Are you free tonight? I want to go to the club," I asked him as I sped down the streets. Speed limits have never been my thing.

"Sorry man, I already have an appointment with Ivy," he apologized. I sighed. "It's okay, another time then," I replied. "Are you okay, Domenico?" he wanted to know. "Sì, we'll hear each other," so I hung up. Mateo was my best friend, but I wouldn't talk to him about it. At least not on the phone. I also hated it when people saw me weak.

Driving through New York, I couldn't get Cayetana's words out of my head. "Fuck!" I yelled, slamming the steering wheel with full force.

I lost her. And that forever.

I couldn't react that quickly when a tear rolled down my cheek.

Adriano 4 HOURS LATER

"Then be on time tomorrow. You know I hate waiting," I replied before getting out of my car. Without another word I hung up and walked towards our house. Today was a damn long day and I finally wanted to get some rest.

As I walked through the door, the security guard gave me a nod. I returned his nod and made my way to the kitchen. As I walked past the living room, I stopped abruptly. I frowned questioningly and took a step backwards.

"Dio," I mumbled and walked into the living room. "Since when do you drink in the afternoon?" I asked Domenico while walking towards the couch and sitting down next to him. "Since today... today," he slurred, his head bobbing from side to side.

"By the way, fratello," he grumbled, putting an arm around me. I was met by his violent alcohol flag. Merda, Domenico only gets completely full when something bad has happened or something is bothering him. I knew he was shit because of Cayetana, but not that bad. "The 'fight for her' thing is over," he slurred.

I looked at him questioningly. "What do you think?" I knew what he meant, but not how. Has anything happened to Cayetana?

"My girl let that López motherfucker bang her," he slurred. "What?" I asked, slightly shocked. He nodded and grumbled: "Yep". "I saw her today and she told me. Among other things, she no longer wants me in her life blah blah blah," he slurred and almost swayed forward. I caught him in time.

"Okay, you go to bed now," I said, standing up before pulling him up. "But it's not late-" "I don't care, you're going to sleep it off!" I cut him off. If there's one thing I hated, it's seeing my family sad or hurt. Especially Domenico.

Cayetana A DAY LATER

"Don't start crying again!" Adriana admonished me. "You don't want to mess up your makeup, do you?" she added questioningly. I just told her about meeting Domenico yesterday. I would have liked to start crying again.

She put a reassuring arm around me. "Hey, that'll be fine. At some point you'll be able to forget him. At the latest when you find your dream man," she said encouragingly. Domenico is my dream man. I just nodded, while I couldn't get Domenico's hurt look from yesterday out of my head.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. We both looked at the door, which opened a little later. "Are you coming down? Dinner is ready," Ramón asked us. We nodded and made our way down together.

"There you are," Papa said as we entered the dining room. We approached the table. I took bursts between Alejandro and Ángel. As I sat, I ran my hands through my hair and waited for the food to be served. Everyone spoke to everyone.

"Hi," Angel whispered to me. I looked at him in surprise. "Hey," I replied in exactly the same tone. "How are you?" he wanted to know. Shitty. "Fine," I replied. "And you?" I asked directly. "Also," he said.

Does that mean our distance is over? "Let's just forget what happened. It shouldn't have happened anyway," he suddenly suggested. I nodded more than agreed, which made him laugh slightly.

One less burden.

Cayetana

Exactly two weeks ago the meeting with Domenico. Two weeks and the pain when I thought of his sad face was still the same. Two weeks and those miserable feelings for him are still not gone. I sighed in desperation at the thought.

There was a knock on my door and Alejandro stuck his head through. "The López are here and dinner will be ready soon too," he informed me. I nodded and got up. Tonight we had dinner together with Adriana's family again.

I went down with Ale. We headed straight to the dining room. "Ahh my favorite sibling duo," Adriana quipped as we entered the dining room. She approached me. "Hola, mi hermosa," she said, hugging me tightly. I had to laugh. "Hola," I replied, grinning. "Is there a reason you're in such a good mood?" I asked her as she kissed Ale. The two are really cute. "No, I'm just in a good mood. Oh, by the way, I'm going to sleep here tonight," she said, winking at me. I made a face. "I don't want to know exactly," I said, mockingly disgusted. She laughed. We sat down at the table together.

-

Laughing, I held onto my stomach while I almost screamed my heart out. Valentín was about to get up when he fell violently on his face. And now he sits here and moans about how painful it is. Everyone at the table laughed. Somehow I felt sorry for him. "Don't tell anyone you're a mafiosi," laughed Ramón. My stomach was starting to hurt from laughing.

After the time we all calmed down. Today was really a nice evening. We laughed a lot and there was a good atmosphere. We were just like one big family. Our eyes darted to the door as someone came in. "Miss Fernández?" Rodrigo began, looking at me. A strange feeling came over me. Everyone at the table fell silent. "Yes?" I replied and looked at him questioningly.

"Adriano De Santis is here. He wants to speak to you," he informed me. I frowned. What is Adriano doing here? "Only Adriano?" I questioned. Rodrigo nodded. For some reason, my heart started beating faster. What did he want from me?

I nodded and stood up before walking towards Rodrigo. I felt the eyes of others on me. Nevertheless, I was curious what he wanted from me, that he dared to come here. After all, he could have written to me too. At that moment I realized that my cell phone was upstairs.

Rodrigo led me to the foyer where I saw Adriano standing with another security guard. Adriano had a desperate look on his face. "What is it?" I asked when I got to him.

"That's pretty unrealistic, but have you heard from Domenico?" He definitely sounded desperate. What heard from him? was he gone What about him? Unwanted fear spread through me. I mustn't worry about him! I gave the security guards a look that should tell them to shut up for a second.

"No, why?" I wanted to know when they were gone. "Because he has been missing for three days since he knew that Papà had chosen him as his successor. He has disappeared from the scene, his car is even still at home," he explained. "And he doesn't answer?" I wanted to know. He shook his head. His mobile phone is on but he pushes us away every time. Cayetana, I know you probably hate him, but I'm worried about him. He's been miserable for weeks because of what happened between you guys," he said. I don't hate him. I don't think I could ever do that.

I shouldn't be worried about Domenico, but I'm doing it anyway. Damned. Is he injured? Has something happened to him? God, I didn't want to imagine that! My heart was racing madly at the thought. My eyes even started to burn. Fuck. I quickly blinked them away. "Like I said, I haven't heard from him," repeated myself. Adriano just nodded. "Could have been," he murmured. "Okay, thanks anyway," he said. I nodded while watching him walk to the front door.

When he got to the door, he stopped as if he wanted to say something else, but shortly afterwards he went on and left the house. I breathed deeply in and out. I want my heart to beat normally again! Domenico doesn't deserve that I worry about him. But I do it anyway.

I tried to get those thoughts out of my head and made my way back to the dining room. When I got there, everyone looked at me questioningly. Great.

I walked back to my seat and sat down. I ignored all the looks from the others. In my mind I was only with Domenico. What if something happened to him? Why is he pushing his family away and not tackling? Would he answer me?

questions upon questions. And what bothered me the most about it was that it was completely quiet. Nobody said anything. What if Domenico is seriously injured? My breathing quickened slightly with worry and my heart was racing. Oh fuck it.

"Lo siento," I said quickly and stormed out of the dining room.