bChapter /b176

    :.

    The two fell into silence then–tense but tender, heavy but strangely peaceful. The sound of the water, the faint crackle of steam in the air, her heartbeat hammering against his chest–it all blurred together.

    Alejandro tilted his head back, eyes closing. For once, he wasn’t calcting, wasn’t scheming. He was just… here. With her.

    This was heaven, he realized with a startling rity. Not the money, not the empire he was building, and not the power he’d wed tooth and nail to seize.

    Heaven was here–warm water, steam in the air, her small frame leaning against him like he was the only thing holding her together.

    Is this what it feels like? he wondered. To be… in love?

    That was the only exnation he coulde up with, as every other thing didn’t make sense.

    The thought mmed into him so hard he gripped the porcin edge, his knuckles whitening. He wasn’t ready to say it—not even to himself. But it simmered there, undeniable, like fire under skin.

    He had no business feeling this kind of raw, unfiltered need that went beyond possession, beyond desire. But there it was. Staring him in the face with every breath she took.

    “Why are you quiet?” Nivera’s voice broke the silence, muffled against him.

    Alejandro exhaled slowly, controlling his tone. “Because if I open my mouth right now, Cabezota, I might say something that will terrify you.”

    She tilted her head back to look at him, brows furrowed. “You already terrify me.”

    He chuckled low and dark. “I stopped terrifying you a long time ago.”

    “That’s true,” Nivera agreed, and Alejandro chuckled once more.

    He then thought back to the moment he had met Nivera. Even under his intense gaze and scrutiny, she hadn’t wavered.

    No matter how much he made her cower, she’d always fight back not caring that she was at a disadvantage.

    It was one of the things he enjoyed. Their little back and forth which always ended with him annoying the shit out of her.

    Minutes stretched, and the silence was grounding. For once, she wasn’t consumed by fear. For once, she let herself be still.

    Her thoughts, however, betrayed her. She remembered her n–the one she had clung to like a lifeline when she’d first been dragged into his world and after he did a three–sixty on her. She had nned to leave him. To find her way out.

    12:36 Tue, bSep /b16

    55 Vouchers

    Had even made moves to ensure that she would be ridden of him. He had finally agreed to let her go.

    And yet here she was, sinking against him, not even realizing when the n had slipped away like smoke between her fingers.

    She had been so determined to leave the man she loved so she could get over him, but he had managed to pull her deeper into the pit.

    God, she was falling more and more for a man who would never love her back. She was basically sitting on a ticking time bomb, and once Alejandro blew up, it would bring her nothing but pain.

    “You’re thinking too much,” Alejandro murmured, pressing his lips briefly to her damp hair.

    The action of him was so intimate that it made her shudder. How was someone iso /icruel capable of being so gentle?

    “Cabezota, thoughts on me,” she heard his voice break through her line of thoughts.

    “I was…” She hesitated. “…about leaving… I should have left and…”

    His arms tightened instantly, and she felt the light atmosphere in the room be darker. “And?”

    Her breath caught as she didn’t know what to say. “I-”

    Alejandro’s breath hissed between his teeth. His hand slid from her waist up to her jaw, turning her face toward him until their eyes locked. His stare was dark, intense, and molten with emotions he had never put words to.

    “You’re not leaving,” he said, not as a question, not as a plea—but as a fact carved in stone.

    He had agreed that he’d let her leave, but fuck that. It was a lie; he never meant it. He was never going to make her get that apartment.

    “Alejandro…”

    “Don’t,” he interrupted, voice firm, leaving no argument. “You’ve thought about leaving. But look where you are now.” His other hand pressed firmly against her waist, anchoring her.

    Her throat tightened, not from fear this time, but something far moreplicated. She wanted to argue, but her body betrayed her, leaning deeper into him, soaking in the very safety she once swore she’d never need from him.

    “You belong here, Nivera–with me. Even if you don’t want to admit it yet.”

    Her chest constricted painfully. She hated how much truth there was in his words.

    All she wanted was to be by his side.

    “We should go, breakfast is getting cold.” That was all she coulde with at that moment.

    “You’re hungry?” Alejandro raised an eyebrow, the cold look gone.

    b12:36 /bTueb, /bbSep /bb16 /b

    “Yes,” she squeaked as she stood up. Being with Alejandro in that position, wasn’t helping her fragile heart.

    Alejandro got out after her and he wrapped a towel around her before going to wrap one around himself.

    “Come,” he then said as he led her out of the bathroom. Just as they exited, the door to the bedroom creaked

    open.

    The sound was faint, but sharp enough to pierce through their cocoon of peace. Nivera stiffened instantly. Alejandro’s, wondering whated open, his body going rigid as he pulled her closer wondering the hell it was.

    The door opened a secondter to reveal Marceline.

    Her eyes widened, her painted lips parting in disbelief as theynded on the sight of Alejandro and Nivera stepping out of the bathroom together, steam clinging to their damp skin.

    It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what she had just walked in on.

    “Oh, this is interesting,” she remarked, further making Nivera embarrassed.

    AD