AMORE MIO. j. peña

【fifteen】

❝Prison❞

She was from Livingston.

At least that's what she told him when they were out in the city, strolling through the streets in his car. Javier took a day off, helping her with moving her things to his apartment. There wasn't much to do, just pack a few boxes and her clothes. It all went smoothly, without any complications.

He made sure she took her medication from the doctor, all the while insisting that she should drink more water. He knew how frustrating that was for her, but he couldn't let her end up in a hospital that everyone had access to. Cody was still at large and it was quite a problem for them.

Livingston was a small town in Arizona. Quiet but welcoming. Hot but beautiful. She didn't elaborate much on the subject, because it came down to the topic of family which she tried to avoid at all costs. She didn't speak and Javi didn't ask about it. Simple as that.

He remembered that she mentioned something back in the day, that her relationship with her family wasn't very good. She also told him that she left Arizona three years ago and never came back. He figured that whatever was going on between her and her family must've been tough, that's why she never spoke about them.

"Want to grab a coffee?" he asked, his hands lightly squeezing the steering wheel. Elodie seemed not to listen, being way to deep in her thoughts. "Hamilton?"

She blinked a couple of times and sighed.

"When are you going to stop calling me by my last name?"

When you change it to Peña, he thought to himself proudly.

"Never. It's part of the fun."

"You're so annoying." her eyes rolled.

"Yeah but you love it."

"Keep telling yourself that, pretty boy." she snickered, shaking her head. "So what about that coffee?"

"I just remembered that you're not allowed to drink caffeine, so..." he heard her groan in response. "We're going to give you some fresh lemonade."

"Go to hell." she said through gritted teeth. He loved to piss her off.

"With you? Always." he smirked under his mustache.

***

Elodie trusted him. In many ways. From letting him touch her shoulder to actually diving into her comfort zone. Javier was known for his intimate adventures with women across the Bogotá but he never did those things to her.

He never crossed the line, he always asked her before his hand would gently land on her shoulder or his fingers would close themselves around hers. He changed, she could see that now. He was much softer, much open, much himself.

But she refused to believe that it was because of her.

She wasn't special. She was just another woman in his life. Maybe deserved to be called his friend but nothing more. She also had a boyfriend. A criminal, a killer, a traitor. But he was the one who won her heart those years ago. And even if he gave in to the yearning she felt for Javi, it wouldn't feel alright.

Because she still belonged to Cody.

"What's on that beautiful mind of yours?" he asked her while eating his ice cream. They bought them just minutes ago but Elodie couldn't force herself to eat.

"Huh?" she frowned. "Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking about this prison for Escobar."

A drug lord who builds his own prison? Yeah, that sounded like a bad joke. But as bad as it sounded, Pablo really was going to build a prison for him and his sicarios. La Catedral, as he said in the letter to the President. No one could do shit about it. Colombian government already agreed to this thinking that it will stop bloodshed in the streets of Bogotá. How pathetically naive.