17. Sinful Book 2

Noah was back in town, and he was the owner of the Café. I had no idea (not that there was any way I could've known) but I had no idea he was back, and I could understand why he didn't reach out to me even though we ended on good terms.

Noah looked good, very good like had gone through a glow-up. I couldn't quite tell what about him had changed, but it was obvious something changed; he looked more attractive than I remember. His body; his chest looked bigger than I remember, and his arms in that tight navy blue shirt, looked like they went through a lot of work in the gym. I had to remind myself to keep my eyes on his face the entire time at the café.

Noah and I fell into a light conversation with Aaliyah, who kept her eyes on Noah in a way that said she didn't recall where she might have seen him, but she knows she must've seen him somewhere. Noah talked endlessly about his business and how excited he is to see that it's going as great as it's going; I smiled at his adoration for his hard work. All in all, I was happy he was back, and we promised to keep in touch. I mean, being friends with Noah won't be so bad this time, seeing as he couldn't shut up about his new girlfriend who he loves so much, and she was the one who brought him out of the "love depression" he had because of me.

When Noah left Aaliyah and me to get back to work, Aaliyah unleashed all the anger she had been keeping in when I told her about my encounter with Samantha.

"Don't tell me you fell for her little innocent show! That girl is the devil, she has probably thought about various ways she can kill you, and if you give her the opportunity, she will. That girl is hateful, she has always held grudges. She doesn't care about Diego, she wants to pretend and get Antonio to like her, which by the way isn't going to happen because if there's anyone Antonio loves more than himself, it's you, but that doesn't mean you should let her try shit, you don't know half of what that witch is capable of." Aaliyah spat. I had to look around to apologize to the customers who had their eyes on us. Aaliyah was talking loudly and she didn't even care.

Everything Aaliyah said was things I thought about while Samantha spoke but I didn't want them to get to me. I still wanted to give Samatha the benefit of doubt, but her words, her apology, didn't sound like something genuine, and I knew I am too smart for the girl to play me, not while my skin is as brown as it is.

I sighed and placed my hands on the marble counter in the kitchen, facing my half glass of water. My brain was exhausted from all the thinking and avoiding Antonio; Lord knows I didn't want to talk about anything concerning Samantha that links with Diego. It had been two days since the whole Samantha encounter, and I made sure I stayed as far as I could from Antonio, and I'm talking separate rooms and Diego's room, I know it was childish, and I shouldn't be the one hiding, but I was exhausted, and I'm guessing the whole world knows how serious arguments with Antonio can be, I was just trying to avoid it.

"Cara," Great, just great, in fact, wonderful timing. I let out another sigh knowing that Antonio had finally caught up to me and my attempts to avoid him. I had specifically taken the day off work to rest and gather my thoughts, but this man...

"Hey," I didn't bother turning back to look at him. Antonio's scent kept coming closer until he got to me and turned me around so I'd face him.

"You've been avoiding me," it wasn't a question. He knew what I was doing, and he was letting me know that he knew. In response, I rolled my eyes, looking everywhere but him.

"I'm sorry, I should've told her to come to talk to you instead," damn right he should've. I looked at him; I noticed he was dressed for work in a grey suit, his hair perfectly tied in a ponytail.

"I just don't want anything of any kind happening to my son," I told him sternly. Antonio sighed and nodded. He smiled and placed a kiss on my forehead, hoping it would make me feel better and less annoyed... it worked. I smiled and pecked him on his lips. This was how I wanted things to be between us, with no arguments and a complete understanding of one another.

"You're taking Diego to school, right?" I asked him, on cue, Diego came running into the kitchen.

"Mommy," he ran and pushed Antonio away from me, hugging my legs. I smiled down at the little boy, ruffling his hair. I carried Diego to the dining table and served him breakfast, while Antonio got breakfast for himself.

My men were having breakfast in comfortable silence when Antonio's phone started ringing. All attention turned to Antonio and his phone. Just like the last time, Antonio's jaw clenched and he furrowed his eyebrows in anger as he looked at the phone ring. As if Antonio noticed I was looking at him, he looked up and tried to look everywhere but me. That small action was getting to me. This was the second time someone was calling him that he refused to pick up. What could be going on with him that he didn't want me to know about? Was it Samantha? Did she have something on him? Or did they settle on some type of deal?

Just as I was about to tell him to go ahead and answer the call, his phone stopped ringing. I sucked in a breath to keep myself from asking questions. I still didn't want to argue with the man, but it was becoming hard with his suspicious behavior.

"Good morning sir, miss," Larry walked into the dining area. I smiled at him, greeted him, nodding my head at him, Diego waved, and Antonio nodded his head.

"There's a lady at the door, she says she wants to see you, sir," Larry looked at the back of Antonio's head since Antonio had his back to him.

This was my cue to know exactly what was happening with him, so I cleared my throat and told Larry to let the woman in. Antonio had anger written all over his face but he was frozen in place; the fork he had on his right hand and his eyes on his phone were the indication that he couldn't move.

"Antonio," A woman appeared with a thick Spanish accent. She looked to be in her late fifties, but she still managed to look young and bright. The woman had bright red lipstick on her full lips, black hair, and a very pretty pair of green eyes, the woman was tall and she had a black knees length to show off her long legs.

"I told you not to call me again, mother," Antonio finally spoke out. He had gotten up from the table and was facing the woman.

But wait... mother? Why do members of his family keep showing up like this? It was the same way his father showed up, calling Antonio with the same emotion in his voice.

"Diego, get up, let's get you to school," Antonio turned to a confused Diego, who kept looking from me to his father, silently asking with innocent eyes what he should do.

"I just came here to tell you I'm getting married again. If you had answered my calls, I would've told you over the phone and not bother to come. I know how incentive this might be, but I really want to mend things, and if you could only give me a day to explain everything to you-" Antonio's mother started but as cut short by Antonio's words, "explain everything? You had years to do that, you had a lot of chances to come back into my life, but you didn't. Do you people think I don't get hurt? Is that why you and that man keep coming into my life this way? Like nothing happened?" Antonio was angry, and this was the scene that I didn't want Diego to witness, so I hung his bag on his back and carried him in my arms, ready to take him outside.

"Give him to me, I'm going to work. I'll see you when I get back," Antonio took Diego from me and walked out of the house, leaving me and his mother in awkward silence. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to say the wrong things.

"You're Antonio's girlfriend, sí?" Antonio's mother asked me. I pressed my lips and nodded. I felt bad immediately for thinking it was Samantha calling Antonio and he didn't want to pick up.

"I want to know what Antonio says about me," her eyes were solemn.

"He never said anything about you," I shook my head, and I wasn't lying. Apart from the time, Aaliyah told me Antonio's mother didn't like him, and how she had left his father for another man. I didn't know the full story, but Antonio was hurt, he had grown up in a loveless home, a home where he didn't enjoy the necessities of being a child, an only son. My heart was out to him.

"What do you want from him?" I asked her. She might've given birth to him, but Antonio was my responsibility now, and that includes making sure he's okay and not hurt by his childhood memories.

"I'm his mother," she answered like my question was an insult.

"That doesn't answer my question," I smiled at her. The woman scoffed, sizing me from head to toe.

"I don't mean to be rude, but anything that takes Antonio back to his childhood days doesn't sit well with me. Antonio hasn't said anything about you at all, and that's because he doesn't want to, he doesn't feel he should. You said you want to explain things to him, why now? What stopped you from doing this when he was still a teenager or a young adult?" I asked her.

"I just want to make things right with my son!" Antonio's mother screamed. I could see hints of why Antonio didn't want kids. He didn't know how to be a good parent, his parents had scarred him, and if what Aaliyah told me was true, it meant Antonio suffered verbal and physical abuse from his mother. He didn't like the woman. It reminded me of Samantha and Diego, and how horrible she was to him that he didn't want to see her anywhere near him.

"This is exhausting," I let out a breath, massaging my forehead with my thumb and index finger.

"Antonio will not talk to you. I don't think I'm a place to meddle, but all I can tell you is that Antonio will not hear you out, at least not now," I pressed my lips together.

I wonder how Antonio managed to be strong with all this drama. First, it was his father, and now it's his mother, and she only came here because she's getting married again? The whole thing would've killed me if I was in Antonio's shoes. The man was suffering in silence.