Wonderful Unknown

Chapter 14

A/N: The penultimate chapter! Let's go! 😊

P.S. Tinamad na ko mag-proofread. You know the drill na. 🤭

***

The Golden Mare looked really different during the daytime. The tables and couches were empty, and the lack of pounding bass made the place seem eerily quiet.

Only two people were keeping Roxy company. Celso was fixing her and Maricar cold drinks while entertaining them with stories about his current beau. She did bump into Mang Lino when she arrived, but they only had time for a quick hello, because he was in a hurry to mop the floor upstairs.

Remy and Jonas, two of the five huge men who manned the floors and watched over the Mare girls at night, were standing guard outside the office down the corridor. Ruben was somewhere inside the club. She hadn't seen him yet, but chances are he was also in the said room with... their boss.

She still didn't know what to call him.

A fling seemed like a complete lie.

Boyfriend didn't seem adequate after everything that happened.

Although it seemed too early to call him her partner.

Still, she couldn't deny that telling Pablo about her past, introducing him to Aiden, and finally opening up about Archie's death changed the course of their relationship.

Pero ano nga ba kami?

The past few weeks proved that actions speak louder than words. While they haven't officially talked about where they stood, Pablo made her and Aiden feel important, that he treasured every moment he spent with them.

They have been together almost every day since he returned home from Macau, only letting her and Aiden leave his penthouse after his grandfather dropped by unannounced days later to discuss the deals that Pablo closed during his recent trip.

The smile on Roxy's face was immediately wiped off when she opened the penthouse's door and saw Señor Facundo Caballero. His polite inquiry about her presence in his grandson's home almost sent her blood pressure through the roof, but she managed to think on her feet and nervously answered him with a half-truth, saying she was just a friend who was house-sitting.

Roxy offered him a seat and muttered something about getting him a glass of juice, just so she could escape to the safe confines of the kitchen.

As luck would have it, that was when Pablo appeared - hair damp, clothes dripping and leaving puddles on his pristine wooden floor. In his arms were a freshly showered toddler, who was still wrapped in an oversized white towel, as well as a small clear bag that was brimming with a variety of bath toys.

Roxy was caught lying through her teeth, but the old man only smiled tightly at her and Aiden before heading to the study and waiting there.

Next thing she knew, Pablo was on the other end of a very harsh dressing-down. In hindsight, they should have probably stayed in the living room to give the two more privacy. But she got spooked, her impulse for flight winning over the urge to fight. She hurriedly took Aiden to his room, which was right in front of the home office.

Mother and son almost heard the argument verbatim. The old man's thundering, "And you just disappeared to play house!" caused Aiden's lower lip to quiver. It almost broke her heart when he whimpered and quietly said, "Bad guy, Mommy! Get Pabwo, pwease?"

By the time the angry grandfather left, Roxy and Aiden's duffle bag was packed, and they're both dressed to leave. Her son was quietly playing with his stuffed dog when Pablo entered the room half an hour later, pissed but trying very hard to control his temper.