Three Weeks Later.

~ Madison's POV ~

To say the last three weeks were a breeze would be the biggest lie I've ever told.

It was absolute hell.

Let me just list everything that was going on in our houses.

Yes, houses. Plural.

Santiago was the busiest I've ever seen him with some business that he had to get done for Hugo.

Arturo, Lucia, Katia and Sienna were almost always at the house we were living in during the afternoon, evening and sometimes into the night. Most of the time though, it would be just Santiago working past midnight into the early hours of the morning while the others went home to sleep.

Santiago was also in the worst mood ever. After his fight with Nicolas and Noah his mood never picked up and he's been angry for the last three weeks. It probably also had something to do with his consistent lack of sleep, his stress from the work he was doing and, as he likes to remind me every freaking day, his lack of sex.

We hadn't had any form of sexual contact since the plane journey back home. I wasn't so bothered by it but he definitely was.

So that was Santiago.

As for me, I was trying to single handedly take care of our two children, our new dog who had definitely settled into our family very well and...

I was trying to furnish the house Santiago and I had chosen.

He really wasn't playing around when he said that we would move.

Pretty much the next day after the fight he organised loads of house visits and we ended up picking one a few minutes from Arturo's house.

Ever since then he gave me free reign to furnish it however I wanted to using his card.

Sounds like a dream, right?

Wrong.

Try doing that in your house while there's a bunch of cartel members downstairs working, a pair of twins upstairs screaming and a dog who won't stop barking next to you.

I just wanted to get it done so that we could move into it and things could settle down again, but it didn't seem like that was happening yet.

I knew Santiago had a deadline for his work which was two days away and honestly seeing him so stressed was really difficult for me to handle...

...because I was also stressed but he didn't give a crap about that and that just pissed me off.

"Madison I swear to God, you better get that damn dog out of my office before I lose my mind."

"Haven't you already lost your mind?"

When he heard my snarky response, he gave me one of his usual glares before shaking his head.

"Go."

When he gestured for me to leave the laundry I was doing and go to his office to get Pancake, I just narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't recall every saying that you could speak to me like that."

"I'm really not in the mood to argue with you right now. I told you to keep my freaking door closed and you didn't. Go and get him out before he screws up my paperwork like last time."

I rolled my eyes when Santiago referred to that day when I accidentally left his office door open and Pancake some how managed to get his little paws on a stack of papers on the couch in Santiago's office.

I had to take the twins out for ice cream before dinner (a big no-no) just to get them away from his very vulgar language when he saw the damage that Pancake had done.

"Fine." Once again he glared at me when I threw one of his unwashed T-shirt's at him before walking past him to go into his office.

It really didn't take long for me to get Pancake out, I don't know why Santiago couldn't just pick him up and do it himself.

Because he's a jerk, sweetie.

As I walked back into the kitchen with Pancake following behind me, I spoke to Santi who I could see was leaning against the kitchen counter from the corner of my eye.

"You need me to do anything else for you?"

When he didn't reply to me, clearly choosing to ignore my sarcastic tone, I turned to look at him only then noticing that he had his eyes closed as he leaned against the counter.

Taking that few seconds of silence, I analysed his features, noticing just how tired he looked today.

It was already pretty late at night - the twins were asleep and I was about to head to bed but it seemed like Santiago had no plans to sleep yet.

"Santiago?"

When he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot and red showing his exhaustion. The bags under his eyes had become more prominent over the last couple of weeks and he almost always had a permanent frown on his face.

My baby was exhausted.

He watched me as I slowly stepped towards him, stopping just infront of him.

"Come to bed with me baby. You need to sleep."

"I can't, I have work to do." He shook his head, letting out a tired sigh as he threw his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"It's been three weeks since you had a proper nights sleep Santi. It will do you some good."

"I can't Madison. If I don't get these contracts written then these last few deals won't be signed. I have two days left to get all this done."

"Let me help you then." When I said this he just shook his head.

"You won't know how to do it. Just go to sleep, I'll drink some coffee or something and I'll be fine."

When he just turned around and turned on the coffee machine, I let out a frustrated sigh, turning him around again by tugging on his arm.

"Santiago you can't do this to yourself. Why are you the only one always working so late?"

"Who the hell else is going to do it Maddie?" I flinched at his sudden anger as he took a step towards me, letting out a frustrated, humourless laugh.

"I've been working my freaking ass of for the last three weeks for no reason. That fool Hugo forced me to take his money and do all this work for him and Arturo is trying to protect a girl he doesn't even know. So here I am, neglecting every single one of my damn responsibilities to my family for those idiots who-"

Before he could carry on his rant, clearly getting himself very worked up, I stepped towards him, closing the gap between us as I stood on my tippy toes, pressing my lips to his.

The sudden kiss caught him off guard but he soon reacted and placing his hands on my waist, pulling me in closer to him.

After a few seconds he turned us around and pushed me against the counter as he kissed me, eventually lifting me up to sit me on the counter so that I was closer to his height.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kissed me, almost like he was venting his anger and frustration out into the kiss.

Finally he pulled away from me, resting his forehead against mine as we both struggled to catch our breath.

"Come to bed with me." As I spoke, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes, he closed his eyes. "You'll feel better once you've got some sleep. You'll have a clear mind in the morning."

I could tell he was about to argue with me again, so I just leaned forward pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"Please just trust me."

Finally, he nodded his head before moving back, lifting me up off the counter before gently placing me back down on the floor.

"I'm going to take a quick shower first."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead before walking towards the door, leaving me to finish loading the laundry into the washing machine.

As I turned around to carry on with it, I heard him speak again.

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you and for being kind of a jerk."

His low mumble caused me to turn around and I just gave me him a small smile.

"Kind of?"

"I'm sorry babe." This time I just nodded my head, gesturing for him to go and take his shower.

By the time I'd finished the laundry and also cleaning up downstairs, Santiago had taken his shower and was now lying in bed waiting for me.

If it was even possible, he looked so much more tired than he did ten minutes ago.

After quickly brushing my teeth, I got into bed next to him, and only him, for the first time in weeks.

It took a very long time for me to finally get the twins sleeping in their room again after we got back from Mexico.

As I curled up next to him, Santiago wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed a kiss to my cheek, speaking in a tired voice.

"Maddie, there's something I want to talk to you about in a couple of days, when all this is all over with."

Oh crap.

He's not...is he?

"Are you breaking up with me?"

When I said this, his eyes snapped to mine and he held my stare for a moment before speaking.

"It's not you, it's me. I just don't see a future for us anymore Madison, I'm sorry."

Even though he started laughing towards the end, it didn't stop me from believing his words for a split second.

"That's not even funny."

He tried to tighten his grip on me when I pushed him away, making an attempt to shuffle away from him.

"It was just a joke Maddie. Of course I'm not going to break up with you."

"I don't care Santiago. After the three weeks we've had and the way you just lost it downstairs, I wouldn't be surprised if you did feel like you didn't want to be with me anymore."

Thanks to Aunt Flo and my hormones, my eyes managed to well up with tears as I spoke, causing a frown to form on his face.

You would think that I would have cried when he was shouting earlier downstairs instead of over a silly joke now, but I guess you never know when PMS is going to strike.

"Baby I'm sorry, don't cry. ¿Por qué mi reina derrocha sus lágrimas en algo que nunca sucederá?" (Why is my queen wasting her tears on something that will never happen?)

"Why what?"

In response to my question, he gave me a confused frown as he wiped away some of my tears.

"Huh?"

"'¿Por que?' means 'why' doesn't it?"

When I said this, a small proud, smile tugged on his lips and he nodded his head. "It does. I said 'why is my queen wasting her tears on something that will never happen?'"

This time I smiled through my tears before placing a kiss on his cheek, giving him a sheepish smile.

"I'm on my period."

"Are you okay? Do you need anything baby? I can go and get you tampons or anything if you need them? Or food, I know you like food."

One thing I love about him is that he doesn't care about periods at all. I guess that's because he was there when I first started mine and after that I told him almost every month when I started my period when we were friends.

And he was just the sweetest person ever.

"No I'm good, thank you baby. I'm sorry for crying." When I said this he just shook his head and pulled me in closer to him.

"You don't need to apologise. I love you Maddie."

"I love you too. Now go to sleep, you look exhausted."

<<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

The next two days consisted of many, many, many arguments in our house, all of them occurring in Santiago's office.

Thankfully none of them were between Santi and I, but I still had to listen to him argue with everyone else.

It actually hurt me to see him and Arturo arguing so much, but every time I brought it up with him, he reassured me that once this was all done and the deadline had passed, they would be absolutely fine.

I guess guys find it easier to get over arguments than girls do.

He also argued a lot with Katia, Sienna and not to mention poor Lucia who'd looked like a lost soul over the last few weeks.

She'd been glued to Arturo's side every time I saw her and he was always trying to explain to her how to do the work they were doing.

I didn't really understand why Santiago was making her help them since this was all contracts related to their cartel while she was just an accountant.

But, I was clever enough not to get involved.

Instead, I just made food and drinks whenever I could while taking care of the twins and Pancake.

"Babe?"

"Come in." At the sound of Santiago's voice after I knocked on the door, I pushed open the door and stepped into his office, feeling a little uncomfortable when everyone turned to look at me.

So I've never been good at being the centre of attention.

At least Katia isn't here right now.

Thankfully they all went back to what they were doing after that.

"Do you want something to eat? I'm going to make the twins some lunch."

Surprisingly, Santiago gestured for me to come around his desk, and when I did, he turned his chair to face me.

"What are you making?"

"I was kind of feeling hot dogs but they asked for mac and cheese instead." When I said this, someone let out a chuckle and I turned to look Arturo who was watching us with an amused expression.

"What?"

"Nothing, carry on." I narrowed my eyes at him for a second before turning back to Santiago who had now placed his hands on my waist, also with an amused expression.

What am I missing?

"Anyway, do you want something?"

"Are you having a hot dog?" He rose an eyebrow at me as he pulled me a little closer to him with a small smirk on his face.

"I don't know, maybe. Why? Do you want one?"

This time Arturo let out a louder laugh and I'm pretty sure I saw Sienna roll her eyes while Lucia just sounded as baffled as me when she spoke.

"What's so funny about hot dogs?"

Arturo glanced over at her before giving her a smirk.

"Do you like them Lucia?"

"Yeah, I had them a lot in college, there was a...stall next to my dorm..."

Her words started to trail off when both Arturo and Santiago burst out laughing.

"You're both acting like children." I turned my head to look at Sienna who just rolled her eyes again as she stood up, leaving the room.

"What's up with her?" When I asked Santiago this he spoke while struggling to control his laughter.

"She prefers tacos."

"Oh, Mexican? I love Mexican food, but I guess that's because I've lived in Mexico for two years." I turned my head to look at Lucia while Arturo just laughed.

Instead of responding to their weird conversation, I just shook my head.

"Anyway, I need answer. Do any of you want something to eat?"

"I'll have a hot dog...if you're making them. Please."

Lucia gave me a shy smile while I just nodded my head before turning to look at Arturo who was laughing all over again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Finally after his laughter calmed down, he responded to me.

"That's funny. I'll have some mac and cheese please."

I nodded my head before turning back to Santi who was extremely amused.

"I'll take a hot dog and a bit of mac and cheese because I know you make it the best."

When he said this, he sent me a wink causing a small blush to rise on my cheeks.

I may be 26 years old and he may be my boyfriend, but his winks get me every single time.

He turns me into a shy school girl in seconds.

"Of course I do." I gave him a sweet smile before leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek. "Please tell me what's so funny now."

"The hot dog. Just think about it."
A few moments after he said that, I stood up straight, a deep blush forming on my cheeks.

I get it now.

"Oh! That's what you meant."

When I said this Arturo laughed again, clearly understanding what I was taking about while I just turned to glare at him.

"I should have known. Everything with you is about sex."

While he just shrugged, Lucia gave me a confused look so I decided to put her out of her misery.

"All this time they were laughing because somehow in their heads, hot dogs resemble a penis."

She still took a moment to understand before her eyes widened and she looked away, trying to hide her blush.

Just as I made my way out of Santi's office, I turned around when I heard him speak.

"By the way, we're going out for dinner with Arturo and Lucia later to celebrate the stupid list being finished. Can you ask your mom to take the twins for the night?"

I nodded my head, sending him one last smile before I left his office.

For the next couple of hours they continued working in his office while I spent as much time as I could with the twins before they went back preschool which was starting again in a couple of days.

By 7pm, my mom had picked up the twins to take them for the night and Arturo and Lucia had left when they'd finally finished all their work.

"What time are we meeting them at the restaurant?"

Santiago gave me a smile from his place on the bed as I tightened my towel around my body. I'd just taken a shower so my skin was still kind of damp and my hair was still very wet.

Unfortunately for Santiago I would need to blow dry my hair on his bed again.

As I stood there waiting for him to answer, I took him in, noticing how relaxed he looked. I hadn't seen him just relax in the middle of the day like that for a very long time.

"9pm, we have plenty of time. Come here."

He gestured for me to go and lie down next to him and as soon as I did, he pulled me into a tight hug and we just lay there for quite a while.

It didn't even bother me that I was still in a towel.

"You know, this is the first time we've been completely alone in almost a month?"

I could hear the suggestive tone in his voice causing me to lift my head to look at him, giving him a small smirk.

"Is it? I didn't know that."

He just rolled his eyes at my response before bringing his face closer to mine to kiss me. "You're going to have to wait until later to make love Santi, I just took a shower and I need to get ready."

As soon as I pushed him away, Santi let out a groan shaking his head.

"Can you stop freaking saying that? Hearing you say 'making love' is actually more of a turn off than a turn on."

When I saw the annoyance on his face I couldn't help but laugh as I
"But I don't like the other word, Santiago. It's very...vulgar."

"Whatever, just stop talking I'm tired."

It was so clear that the lack of sleep over the last few weeks had taken a huge toll on him. For the next two hours while I got ready, he took a nap which was probably how he somehow managed to find the energy to go out for dinner tonight.

Just to be clear, I didn't take a whole two hours just to get ready. That also included tidying up the kitchen, picking up more stray toys that the twins had left lying around, putting another load of laundry on, filling Pancake's food bowl and then waking Santiago up.

He looked so peaceful lying there that I really didn't want to wake him up but I had to otherwise we would have been late.

It took a few minutes but finally he was awake and he went to take a quick shower before changing into a fancy suit.

That's all it took for him to get ready; a suit and some aftershave, that was it.

It's so easy for men.

I wish I was a man.

No you'd don't. Imagine being so naturally dumb and not being able to do anything about it.

At least they don't get discharge all the time. No one even talks about that and yet every girl knows the struggles.

Shaking my head to get rid of my very weird subconscious thoughts, I finished adding the finishing touches to my outfit before I stepped out of the walk in closet into the bedroom.

My outfit consisted of a