Valeria

"W-What do you...mean?" I nervously ask, my heart thumping fast. Did I hear him right?

He nervously swallows the lump that formed in his throat and sighs. "It means, I want to spend time with you, Val."

Val. He called me Val. My boss called me Val.

I start blinking fast, not believing what I heard. I avoid looking into his eyes because I am so shy and nervous.

"You...want to spend time with me? Alone?"

He chuckles and sits closer to me until his thigh touches mine. He leans in close to my ear until his lips brush against it.

"Yes, Val. Alone."

I start feeling dizzy as I feel his hand grab my waist and pull me closer. His face leans down to my neck and leaves a trail of kisses. I let out a small moan without noticing, making me widen my eyes in alarm.

He chuckles. He knows he's affecting me.

The doorbell interrupts our moment, making him groan.

He let go of me and makes his way to the door. He tells me to stay seated while he checks on who's behind the door.

"Who is it?"

"Barlo," a man replies.

Lorenzo seems to know the man because he opens the door quickly, but what he didn't see before, was that this man Barlo had a gun aimed at him from the man standing in the side.

"I am so sorry, Lorenzo," Barlo cries, making Lorenzo quickly pull out his gun and aim at the intruder.

"Put your gun down or he dies," the intruder says.

I am still hidden from the door and no one could see me. My heart beats fast and for a moment, I fear something bad might happen to Lorenzo. I walk slowly without making noise toward the door, but not before grabbing a vase in my hand from the side table.

"I said, put the gun down!" he yells again.

Lorenzo looks at me from the corner of his eyes, without drawing attention. He slowly puts the gun down. "Leave him," Lorenzo tells the man.

The intruder pushes Barlo inside and Lorenzo backs away. I am still not visible to the men as I hide behind the wall.

"Kilian Ramirez says hi," the man says before shooting Barlo and aiming the gun at Lorenzo, but Lorenzo was too quick to push the gun towards me with his leg, but it was over for him because the intruder shots him.

I scream, grabbing his attention to me. Before he could aim at me, I crouch, take the gun, and shoot him.

How did I get a clean shot to the middle of his head? I don't know.

I sob as I run to Lorenzo, who is thankfully still awake.

"Lorenzo..." I cry as I hold his head in my lap. "Don't close your eyes."

"Shh...don't worry, I am okay." His voice cracks.

I look at the damage and it looks pretty bad. The bullet hit the side of his stomach.

I grab his phone from his pocket and call an ambulance.

"Don't call the hospital. Just call Johnny or Sam."

"What? No! You need to go to the hospital, now!" I exclaim.

"Valeria, promise me you'll call Johnny or Sam. I don't trust the hospital."

I keep crying as I nod. I open his phone and look for Johnny's number and dial. After two rings, he picks up.

"Hey, man, where are you?"

"Johnny!"

"Valeria? What's going on?"

"Lorenzo...he's shot, please come!"

"Where are you?!" He yells.

"At his penthouse. Please, hurry."

"I am coming! Stay with him."

I drop the phone aside and look at Lorenzo, who still has his eyes opened. He gives me a weak smile, making me cry harder.

"I-I am sorry. It's my fault."

"Shh...don't worry, I am okay, and it's not your fault."

"Please, don't close your eyes..." I plead as I caress his cheeks.

His eyes start closing, making me cry harder. "Lorenzo, don't sleep, please!"

He tries to open his eyes for me, but he couldn't any longer. The moment his eyes close, I feel my heart stop and I start panicking.

"Please, wake up, Lorenzo. Please!" I sob.

After a few minutes, I hear footsteps.

Sam and Johnny burst through the door with a third man I have never seen before.

"Val! Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me. Please do something."

The unfamiliar man start checking Lorenzo's wound. He bought supplies with him, telling me that he might be a doctor. He wears his gloves and start operating on him.

"Here? Are you going to operate on him here?!" I ask in disbelief.

"Valeria, don't worry. He knows what he's doing," Johnny replies, trying to calm me down.

"He is...he is wounded, Johnny. He is shot," I sob as he hugs me.

"Don't worry, he'll be okay."

"He shot him in front of me and it happened because of me."

"Valeria, calm down and it's not your fault. Just breathe..." Sam tries to calm me down.

But I don't listen. I keep crying as I look at Lorenzo's unconscious body. A pool of blood surrounds him, and my hands are covered with his blood. I feel myself starting to get dizzy and can't hold myself any longer.

I close my eyes and welcome darkness.

* * *

I wake up to a dark room. I look around in confusion for a few seconds before realization hit me like a brick.

Lorenzo.

I jerk out of bed and stroll outside the room. I realize that I am at the mansion and was sleeping in my room. I am still wearing my gorgeous white dress that has blotches of blood.

I start crying as I walk down the stairs and into the living room. Everyone is sitting there and talking quietly, but stop as soon as they see me.

"Valeria..." Mrs. Gonzalez's teary eyes look at me.

"Lorenzo?" My voice cracks as the tears runs down onto my cheeks.

"Lorenzo is okay, don't worry. He's resting in his room." Her reply makes me sigh in relief.

"Can I...Can I go see him?"

"Of course, honey." She gives me a weak smile.

I turn around and walk fast upstairs to his room. I open the door gently, not wanting to wake him up.

I find him sleeping on the bed with a frown on his face, but my eyes focus on the bandage around his stomach.

I walk towards him and sit on the side of the bed. I take his hand in mine and kiss the top of it.

"Lorenzo...I am so happy you're okay. You don't know how much I was scared," I start, giving his hand a squeeze. "You should heal faster okay? Because I want to spend a lot of time with you..."

I am now looking at our intertwined hands as I run my thumb in circles. "Don't you dare let something like that happen again, am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am..."

I gasp as I look at and see him looking weakly at me with a small grin on his face.

"Lorenzo..." I gasp, jerking forward a bit, too excited. "You're awake. Did I wake you up? I am so sorry, I—"

"Val, relax...it is okay. I was already awake."

I give him a shy smile, still holding his hand tightly. I let me other hand push a strand of his black hair to the side and then caress one of his cheeks. He leans to my touch and kisses the palm of my hand.

"I heard you were crying all day, still are," he points out.

I start tearing up again. "You...you were dying. I had you on my lap and your eyes closed, I thought I had lost you."

"It's okay, I am here now and alive...stop crying, love."

Love...this man wants to kill me.

"Can I...can I lay next to you?" I ask shyly.

He grins and nods.

I lay beside him, making sure I don't hurt him. I am laying on my right side, so my face is facing him. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"You should sleep."

He chuckles and says, "How could I sleep and there's a gorgeous girl lying beside me."

I blush and smile. I don't know where Lorenzo and I stand, but I am so scared of where this is going. I don't know if it is allowed...if Mrs. Gonzalez allows this...whatever this is.

But I want to enjoy the moment.

"Well, you are a handsome man," I say, making him laugh and groan at the same time from the pain.

"Are you okay?" I worriedly ask.

"I am okay, don't worry."

We hear a sound of paws running against the floors, stopping right beside the bed. Max jumps on the bed and lays himself between Lorenzo and me.

"Hey, baby," I cooed as I pet him.

"Valeria, will you stay the night?"

"Sure.

Lorenzo closes his eyes and sleeps. Max and I play with one another for a little while before we both drift to wonderland.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up to an empty bed. I panic when I don't see Lorenzo, but it quickly vanishes as I see him walk out of the bathroom. Max is no longer in the room.

I stare at Lorenzo's half-naked body. The bandage seem like a new one, indicating that Lorenzo took a shower. I don't know how he could take one when he was shot yesterday, but I can't shake up the feeling that this is not his first time to get shot.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning," I reply, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "How are you feeling?"

"So much better. Still hurt, though."

"You should rest, Lorenzo," I scold, crossing my eyebrows.

"I would only rest if you stay with me."

"I'll stay...but I need to take a shower and change. I am still in this dress, gosh."

"Shower here."

"Well, I need to bring my clothes."

"I'll give you mine. Wear mine."

"B-But...I can't. I don't know if it's...appropriate."

"Val," he starts as he walks towards me. He sits on the bed and leans a little bit in. "Do you think what we did yesterday...what I did to you, was appropriate?"

"No..."

"Then why do you care now?"

"Your parents are here. I don't know if your mother and father allows something like this."

"But we're not doing anything, Valeria. You're taking care of me. Besides, they won't say anything about this."

"This you mean...like yesterday?" I ask innocently.

He leans more and trails kisses on my neck again. When he stops, he looks up at me and says, "Yes, Valeria, like yesterday and now."

My heart beats faster as I still feel his lips on me, even though they are not anymore.

"Umm...so, what is this?" I ask nervously.

He was about to answer when a knock on the door interrupt the moment. I quickly stand up, too afraid someone might see us in this compromised position.

The door opens and Mrs. Gonzalez, along with the twins, walk in.

"Oh, good! You're awake. How are you feeling, honey?" Mrs. Gonzalez asks as she walks towards her injured son.

"I am good. Valeria took care of me all night."

"Yeah, I saw. Thank you, Valeria," Valentina says, smiling at me.

I look at the twins only to see them grin, making me glare at them.

"Breakfast is ready," Valentina says.

"Mrs. Gonzalez, I am so sorry for not preparing breakfast today."

"Valeria, relax, it is okay. Your break isn't even over, yet. Besides, I wanted to cook for my son today."

I smile nervously at her and nod.

"Come on, let's go," she says.

I help Lorenzo up and we all walk downstairs. After I help him sit on the chair in the dining room, I hear the doorbell ring and I panic all of a sudden, remembering what happened back at the penthouse.

"I'll check who it is," I say as I anxiously make my way to the door.

I pull the door open only to see a gorgeous woman.

"Hello, how may I help you?" I ask politely.

"Hi, I am here to see Lorenzo? He told me this is his address back in New York."

Jealousy fills my heart as I imagine all the scenarios.

"May I have your name?"

"Claudia Vergara," she replies with a smile.

I tell her to wait and go back to the dining room. I see that they are all waiting for me and haven't touched their food.

"Lorenzo," I call.

"Yes?"

"There is a woman called Claudia Vergara looking for you," I say with a bored tone.

"Oh my god," Johnny exclaims.

"Let her in." Lorenzo tells me.

I nod and go back to the girl. I let her in and show her the dining area. She sits beside Lorenzo, the only seat that was supposed to be for me, and kisses him on the lips.

"I have missed you, mi amor."

I couldn't watch longer. I excuse myself and walk slowly to the kitchen, not wanting to draw attention to my sudden mood change. When I reach the kitchen, angry tears start falling down onto my cheeks as the image of her kissing him couldn't leave my head.

I wipe the tears and take deep breaths.

I knew it was too good to be true.