𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 | 18+ COMPLETED

Reina

I'm breaking my walls in front of Santiago. I've been so confused for the past few days, my heart was giving me unfamiliar feelings, yet at the same time, my mind was playing with me to ignore those feelings.

However, I want us to start fresh with no hatred, and I'm surprised he agreed with me. I don't want to hate him, it's hard not to, and though I've been telling myself that I do, my own thoughts have been misleading me.

I was at Santiago's house since he called me over to finally talk to Arlo. I knock on his office door lightly, slowly opening it to see Santiago and his father. "Hola Reina. You should've told Santiago to pick you up instead of coming all alone." His dad speaks up first, making me smile at the concern about my safety he had on his first.

"Hola Mr Valiente, it's okay, Lucas drove me over here. And I'm okay to walk now though I still feel some pain." I look at him, greeting his smile with my own, but my heart shivers as I make eye contact with Santiago.

"If that ex of yours says something, don't hesitate to kill him. And take as much as rest here, this is your home now."

"Thank you, Mr Valiente."

"Please I would love it if you called me Papa. You're my daughter now." The sudden request makes my skin grow goosebumps that I nod with a slight excitement because deep down I was waiting for this moment, "I'll leave you two now. If you need anything, Reina, don't hesitate to tell Santi."

Just as his father leaves, Santi clears his throat and smacks his lips together, "You shouldn't be standing, you know." He tells me and I roll my eyes in annoyance at what he was saying.

"Well then, shouldn't you be helping me to go sit down?" I say back.

"We've got some business to take care of first, and then you can rest." He was smirking at his words, knowing he was thinking about hurting Arlo and a glimpse of adrenaline hits my body. But as I lock eyes with him, I knew he noticed my eyes turning glossy and my lips trembling, "Reina. what's wrong?" He whispers, placing my hand on her cheek and gently caressing it.

"I don't know. I just feel like he's going to say something that will make me remember something from my past and I don't want that to happen. He could say anything, he knows everything, Santi."

"Baby, look at me," My eyes jolt up hearing him call me baby, I wasn't expecting something like this to come out of his mouth, "I won't hesitate to kill him. All you got say is the word and I'll shoot his fucking head off. He's not going to hurt you because I'm with you. Don't let him see that you're going to be hurt by anything he says, okay?"

"Okay," I say, letting out a sigh which makes it obvious to him that I was worried about seeing him. My cheeks become warm, probably even rosy, I look back up at myself and suck in a breath, "Can we go now then? I want to get it over and done with."

---

I can't stop thinking about my conversation with Santi earlier. He was acting differently, the way he spoke to me was a lot nicer than before. Just over the span of a few days, I felt like there was a small change between us and him. After we told each other to start fresh, he actually cares for me— a type of care that I've been missing my whole life.

We were walking through cells upon cells, rusty and sickening, I've been holding my stomach to feel that strike of pain every now and again and I'm pretty sure Santiago has noticed me doing that. We had some men follow behind us, obviously under the word of Santi.

Santiago stops in his tracks, he looks at me with a hint of reassurance that I also didn't realise that he slipped his hand in mine. "Remember, just say the word and we will kill him." He half whispers and I give him a nod.