~ SAND CASTLE VILLA ~
“Yes, I certainly chose the perfect fiancee” Mariano replied, starring at a shock Camila..
Camila kept starring blankly without saying a word.
She had thought that his nonno made a mistake by referring to her as his fiancee but when Mariano echoed the same thing, she knew it wasn’t a mistake.
“And what’s your name, lovely lady?” Alejandro asked.
At that moment, Mariano’s hand went around her waist, his finger digging into her skin, giving her a warning to play along.
“It’s…Camila…Camila Carlos” She said quickly and the pain she felt on her waist reduce.
“And is he my grandson?” Alejandro ask Mariano who gave a nod.
“Lucas, say hi to your great grandfather” Mariano said and Lucas greeted him in Italian.
“He even knows how to speak our language. Come give me a hug” Alejandro said, delighted by the little boy.
“If you don’t want me to ruin things for you then let’s talk outside” Camila muttered before walking off and after excusing himself, Mariano followed her.
“Don’t you ever threaten me that….”
“When exactly did I become your fiancee?” Camila asked, cutting him off.
“Right now”
“Is this what you meant by punishing me? By making me your fiancee?”
“Actually, it’s marriage I have in mind” Mariano corrected.
“You don’t mean that, right?”
“This is not the right place to talk about this….”
“Really? You didn’t think of consulting me before announcing to your grandfather that I am your fiancee. I won’t marry you and it’s best you correct your grandfather or I will do….”
“He’s dying!” His curt reply made her speechless.
“He only has one month left to live and his greatest wish is to see me settled before he leaves and I will do all I can to fulfil his wish even if I have to marry you”
“Mariano I… ”
“Let’s end this discussion for now. We can talk about it when we get back to sand castle but at this moment, you set aside your hatred for me and play the besotted fiancee while I do my part too”
With that said, he took hold of hand and together, they went back into the villa.
*****
~ SAND CASTLE ~
“Mind if I help you?” Selena ask at the door way and Cora smiled at her, urging her to come in.
“Your cooking alone? Where’s madam Brooks?” Selena ask as she began chopping the onions.
“I told her to get some rest, Mom’s knee is acting up again” Cora replied.
“Oh! I need to get something for Luna, can you help me finish this up, I promise not to be long” Cora said, taking off her apron.
“No problem and Luna is training with Enzo in the boxing room” Selena said to her just as Cora left the kitchen.
Selena was whistling to herself as she dice the onion when Stephan showed up.
“Wow! Can’t believe my shawty is cooking” Stephan said, teasing her just like he’s always done but Selena ignored him and kept whistling.
“Why are you in a good mood?” Stephan took a bottle of beer from the fridge and stood beside her.
Once again, Selena ignored him.
“Tell me, what would it take to see you smile again?” Stephan asked and that finally got her attention.
“Why on earth would you want to see me smile?”
“Cause it occured to me yesterday that we’ve been working together for eight years and just for the first time, I saw your smile yesterday”
“So have been thinking of ways to get you to smile more often and since I can’t think of anything, I decided to ask” Stephan added.
“It will never work since I will never smile at you. Now leave, you are bothering me” Selena said.
Stephan was about to leave when a thought came to him. He set his beer down and stood behind Selena.
He began tickling her, expecting her to laugh out but a deadly glare was what Selena threw his way.
“Sorry, I just wanted you to laugh” He said meekly.
“Do you want me to chop you instead?” She asked raising the knife up and immediately, Stephan left her side.
He was at the door when he turn to her and said.
“You should smile more often. It makes you look beautiful”
Stephan left after that, failing to see the smile that appeared on Selena’s face.
*****
Cora was almost at the gym when something caught her eye.
There was Paolo talking to one of the maids and judging by the way the girl kept giggling, Cora could tell that he was flirting with her.
Cora saw Paolo leading her off to the storage room and on impulse, she decided to follow him.
Hiding behind a wall, she saw them kissing each other while peeling off their clothes like animals.
And he claims to like me….Cora thought inwardly.
She turn to leave and made a mistake of colliding with a vase which fell and shatter to pieces.
Cora stood there in fright, knowing she would be caught soon.
She could hear Paolo footsteps, heading towards her and she couldn’t run away since he will see her.
At that moment, the door to the inner storage room open and someone pulled her into the room.
Paolo got to where the broken vase was and when he didn’t see anyone, he went back to his lover to continue their sinful act.
Cora on the other hand, stood against Alexis. She was very close to him that she could hear the rhythmic beat of his heart.
He moved and she pulled away from him, keeping her distance.
The inner storage wasn’t that big since it’s where they store their ammunition and with a big guy like Alexis in the little room, it kind of felt choky.
“I saved your @$$ out there” Alexis muttered, not wanting to be heard by Paolo.
“Thank you”
“What were you doing sneaking up on them? Were you planning on joining them to make it a threesome?”
“Threesome? What’s that?” Cora asked and Alexis shook his head.
“Your naivety must have been what got Paolo attracted to you” he said under his breath.
“Being naive isn’t a crime!”
“I know, it’s not a crime but it brings the wrong people to you” Alexis said.
“Then you are one of them. I don’t even know what got me asking you for help? I should have known that you will refuse” Cora said, eyeing him.
“That’s because I thought my brother to be serious about you but after witnessing this, I change my mind” Alexis said and that got Cora smiling.
“Really? You will help me?” Cora asked and he nodded.
“Thanks a lot. I knew you aren’t a bad person” Cora said in excitement.
“That’s where you are wrong. You have no idea how much of a bad person I am” Alexis said, walking towards her.
Cora could see the change in his eyes and that got her shifting into the wall, frighten by the intense look on his face.
“Am very bad at acting, so don’t blame me if I mistakenly hold your hand” he said, taking hold of her hand.
“Or if I hold you by the waist” he held her waist with his other hand.
“Or if I pull you close to me, like this”
A gasp left Cora lips as he pulled her petite little body against his.
“Or if I decide to kiss…”
“With a few lessons, you can be good at acting and I can teach you” Cora said quickly, using one of her hand to cover her mouth.
“I see but then…I don’t like being taught, I prefer to do my thing, my way” he said and pulled her hand away from her mouth.
Smashing his lips on hers.
*****
~ BOXING ROOM ~
“Can we take a break?” Enzo asked as Luna kept punching the bag while he held onto it.
“I can’t. I need to practice harder, Matteo said that if I don’t practice hard, I will keep on being the last”
“He said that with more practice then I will be better ” Luna added.
“But you are better this way. You are the best when it comes to hacking, I can’t even compare to you with my skill” Enzo said.
“Thanks for that but Matteo thinks that I…” Luna stopped talking when Enzo let go of the bag which hit her.
“Why did you do that?” Luna asked, knowing he did it on purpose.
“Cause am fed up of hearing you talk about Matteo. Is his opinion the only thing that matters to you?” Enzo ask,using his face towel to wipe off his sweat.
“Well….it is. He is my boyfriend”
“And ever since he became your boyfriend, you’ve been going out of your way to please him” Enzo said, his voice filled with anger.
“It’s my choice to please him and why are you angry at me?”
“Cause I h@të it when you talk to me about Matteo”
“You are my best friend, you are the number one person I share my secrets with”
“Secrets which are all Matteo. Am sick of it, I want it to end and also….open your eyes and see that apart from being your best friend, I want to be something else too”
With that said, he left the room and was on his way back to his room, fuming like crazy when he saw Matteo.
The way he was acting seemed a bit suspicious and that got Enzo following him discreetly.
He followed Matteo to the court yard which is often empty since they hardly go there.
He hid against the wall and saw Lenora jumping into Matteo’s arm.
“Am surprise came early today” Lenora said, kissing his neck.
“That’s because the duck is at the boxing room practicing. She’s going to take a while there which gives us a lot of time together ” Matteo said and Lenora giggle.
“Let’s go have fun” Matteo said and unknown to them Enzo had witness the whole thing.
*****
The journey back to Sand Castle was a quiet one. Lucas had slept off after chattering all day and as soon as they got back.
They both took him to his room to get some more sleep.
And Camila went to her room, thinking Mariano will do the same but he followed her to her room.
“Am not going to marry you” Camila said the one thing that have been bothering her.
“I know, I was expecting your rejection but you have no say in it. You are getting married to me”
“How will our marriage work when we don’t love each other?”
“Love ” Mariano said, laughing harshly.
“Do you really believe that word called love is real? Stop fooling yourself and talk about reality. The only reason am getting married to you is to please my grandfather and nothing else. A woman who lies and keep my child a secret isn’t that alluring to me ”
“I also feel the same way, I really do but I still won’t marry you” Camila said.
“Fine then. You can have your way, you can leave if you want but don’t expect to take Lucas with you”
” Once you leave, Lucas stays and I will find a wife who will be a mother to my son” he added.
“You can’t do that!”
“Do you wanna bet?”
“I h@të you ” she said with feeling.
“Not as much as I h@të you but am willing to compromise. So, do you still want to leave or will you stay and live here as my wife for the rest of your life?” Mariano asked and though it took a while, Camila finally said a yes.
“Since you’ve made your decision, pack your things” he said calmly.
“My things?”
“We are getting married and I won’t have my wife to be sleeping in a room which isn’t mine and I forgot to tell you a very important part”
“Our marriage won’t just be in name alone, I plan on making you my wife in every sense and who knows….we might end up giving Lucas a little sister” Mariano said and gave a devilish smirk…..
TBC💚
