Ciao, Amore [Carlos Sainz]

Veinticinco

Alessandra remembered very well the morning after Carlos made love to her for the first time. Then she woke up with his side of the bed empty and white sheets became colder than ever immediately. As it later turned out Carlos didn't do that on purpose. He was trying to be sweet and romantic by bringing her breakfast to bed, nevertheless he draw a lesson from this without telling anybody, so this time when Alessandra opened her eyes morning after victorious beanfeast her man was where he suppose to be. Carlos leaned his head against one of his hands, his eyes fixiated on her for God knows how long as rough pads of his fingers trailed down her arms. He had that dreamy expression on his face, the corners of his lips were twitching as sneaky smile was wandering on his mouth. He looked well-rested which wasn't happening quite often and it filled Alessandra with joy, thinking that from now on everything will get easier for them. That was until she saw her brothers' faces in her imagination. They were left out, not knowing that their freedom was at stake and their sister was alive. They had to abandon their home, run away and find new shelter, while she was getting everything she has ever wanted. "Buenos días, amor [Good morning, love]," Carlos draw her attention back to him, leaning in to taste her lips. She gave in, feeling familiar fluttering in her chest whenever their bodies were connected. "Stop your foreplay right there before you'll turn me on," Alessandra giggled between their kisses, sensing he was becoming more needy with each one of them. "I'm fine with it," he teased her. "You were absolutely marvelous last night, querida [darling]," Carlos praised her, going down in order to nibble on her jaw and neck. "You know how much I love you," Alessandra gently pushed him away. "But could we just lay together in bed? Before we'll be needed downstairs?" she proposed, blushing in the same time. She felt embarrassed, though in Carlos' humble opinion it looked cute on her. He was aware that speaking about this particular kind of intimacy was hard for Alessandra and now as she trusted him more than anything, she longed for it. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked. "You don't have to be ashamed," he reminded her. Alessandra shrugged as she didn't have an explanation prepared. "Let me just use the bathroom and I'll be right back," Carlos kissed her forehead and left the bed.

Alessandra turned to her left side, while her mind was drifring off once again towards New Orleans. It seemed so logical now to visit her brothers and explain everything to them before they will find out from someone else like Lawrence Stroll, because who knows what that man was planning to do. Agreement he signed with Sergio didn't forbid him from visitng the city, but in truth no one was. How would Daniel and Nico feel, finding out that two crews were battling each other and the outcome could decide about their future? Alessandra was a member of one of those crews, she could be present at the meeting, she could tell her story and speak her mind. Her brothers didn't have the same chance. Everybody involved from both sides, including her, treated them like assets which could be thrown from one corner to the other. "It's not fair," Alessandra spoke aloud when Carlos closed the bathroom's door behind him. "What is not fair?" he asked surprised by her outburst. "That I know my brothers are alive while they don't have a clue about it," she explained, clenching her fingers on the duvet. Carlos sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling as if he wanted to complain to heaven about the situation. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "I know we promised each other peace once the South deals with Lawrence, but I can't," she shook her head to prove it. "If I ignore this feeling now, it will hunt me for the rest of m-..." "You don't need to say more," Carlos stopped her, approaching his side of the bed and crawling back to her. "I understand and I want you to be happy," he said, while looking into her eyes. "So, if you say you need to go to New Orleans to close this chapter definitely, then I can't stand in your way. I have only one condition," Alessandra smiled, suspecting what that condition was. "You're going with me?" The Spaniard nodded, not seeing a different possibilty from his point of view. Alessandra didn't see other either. Besides, she wished for her brother to meet her partner. After all Carlos was her future, the rest of her life.