sainz sister

Chapter 22

Carlos POV
I wake up to the sound of knocking. It's 7:00am, which for me is late to wake up. I yawn and stand up to check the door. I look out and realize it's lando.

"Landoo why are you here so early?" I whine.
"Sorry Carlos I-" he says smiling but I interrupt him as I realize he's injured.

He has a black eye, and small bruises on his face and on his arms. His nose is red, most likely from a nose bleed.
"What happened to you?" I pull him inside.
"That's what I came to talk to you about. It's Fernando. Last night as I was leaving I ran into him outside. I got upset and we got into a fight, I ran away before anyone saw me"

I start to get upset and panic. My jaw clenched, my fists tightened.
"I'm going to kill that-"
"Carlos, focus. Our real problem is that he must know you two live here. I don't think Valentina should be going out alone, or ever be alone" he explains.
"You're right. I agree. But I don't want to worry her, maybe we shouldn't tell her"
"She's an adult Carlos. She deserves to know. And if she doesn't feel safe, maybe she can come live with us for a few days? Just temporarily until we leave for Italy and then Vegas"

I sigh. Not knowing what to do. We just need him out of our life.
"Okay. Let me go wake her so we can talk" I say.
"Actually, can I? I want to see her" he smiles.
I nod as he walks toward her room.

Lando POV
I walk into her room. She looks so peaceful when she's asleep. I almost hate waking her into this reality, she doesn't deserve any of this. I sit at the edge of the bed, close to her.

I start to slowly rub my thump on her cheek.
"Baby, wake up" I whisper. She slowly begins to move, I smile and kiss her cheek.
"Lando?" She smiles, opening her eyes.
"Morning beautiful" I smile back. I lean over to kiss her, but she puts her arm out.
"Lando!? What happened to you?" She panics and puts her hand carefully on my eye and rubs it.
"I'm okay, that's what matters. We'll talk about it" I sigh.
"But-"
"Are you going to avoid my kiss? Did I get this ugly over night?" I joke trying to make her smile.
"No, you're handsome as ever" she pouts.
She leans over and places a soft kiss on my lips. I pull her into my arms and place her on my lap, hugging her tightly. I rub her back.
"Let's go to the living room, yeah? Carlos is waiting for us" she makes a confused look, but nods. I hold her hand and take her out.

Carlos waits for us at the sofa, we sit across from him after she greets him. I begin explaining to her what happened last night, I can tell she starts to feel anxious. So I squeeze her hand and rub her back in circles. Her eyes begin to water.
"Tina, don't cry. It's going to be okay, I promise. No one is ever going to hurt you. I'm here to protect you, and so is Carlos" I wipe her tears away.
"It'll be okay Tina, I've let the police know that we've seen him on our street so they're going to keep an eye out. In the meantime we think you should spend some days with lando. So far he doesn't seem to know who lando is or anything. You'll be safer there, and I've set up security to stand outside his building" Carlos explains to her. She nods, no words.
"And what about you? I don't want anything to happen to you chili" she stands up and walks over to his side. They hug each other, I can tell they're both hurt.

"I'll go over every night, for dinner. How does that sound? And I can go stay with our cousin Carlos, he lives about 30 minutes away. Everything will be okay, we'll all be leaving soon for the Italian and Las Vegas grand prixs soon. When we return I'll personally make sure to find Fernando and take him to the police"
"I'm sorry we have to go through this chili, it's all my fault"
"Never say that, okay? It's not" he kisses her cheek and they hug.

____

Valentina gets up to pack her bag to take with me. I watch Carlos pace back and forth.
"Carlos, it's going to be okay. I'll keep her safe, I promise" I stand up. He shakes his head and throws a vase at the wall.
"It's not fair!" He says full of anger, I see tears in his eyes.
"Calm down Carlos. Getting angry about the situation won't help us"
"Lando? Carlos? What happened?"Valentina runs over.
"Sorry Vale, I just got carried away. Perdóname" Carlos sighs. He walks over to the kitchen.
"Hey, don't go over there. You'll hurt yourself" I say walking over and pulling her away from the broken glass.

Carlos begins picking up the glass with the broom.
"Carlos, why don't you pack your bag too? We'll drop you off at your cousins place. That way we don't leave you alone" I explain.
"Lando that's not-"
"Chili, please. Come with us" Valentina pleads to him. Eventually he gives in and walks away to pack his bag.

____

We planned it out in case Fernando was still watching out for us. I called max who entered through the back of the building. He was going to drive Valentina back to our house, his windows were tinted and he didn't have a car that stood out too much. Valentina dressed in my hoodie and some sweatpants, wearing sunglasses to hide her face. Carlos and I walked out to my car, with carlos bag in his hand, pretending we would be leaving on a trip.

Praying the plan worked, we all headed off toward our apartment. Valentina was as quiet as I'd ever seen her. My heart broke for her, this wasn't fair to her or anyone. All I wanted to do was hug her and hold her until all her problems went away.

Carlos and max were playing on the simulator to distract themselves a bit. I sat with Valentina in my lap on the sofa whime we watched a movie. She held my hand as I rubbed her back. A moment that I would be so happy about, caused by a complete mess.