《Selena Arabella Calos》

Feeling multiple pairs of eyes on us, I try to pull away from him, but he tightens his arm around my waist.

"People are looking at us," I hiss, and he shrugs.

"Let them," he replies nonchalantly.

I roll my eyes. It's just like him to react like that. "Your girlfriend looks like she is going to kill me."

"She is not my girlfriend yet," he mutters, loosening his hold on me for a second to spin me around.

"Alessandro," I scold patronisingly, and he smiles at me.

It does not matter if Nat is not officially his girlfriend yet- if the person I was in love with was dancing with someone like Alessandro is with me, I would want to kill them too.

"Don't worry, Lena. Nat knows you need me right now."

"Not the point, Moretti."

"She's known us for years," Alessandro says, glancing over my shoulders at Natalie. "She should not be jealous of our closeness. She should know I will always be there when you need me."

I furrow my eyebrows. Has she ever mentioned being jealous of our closeness to him?

I feel like a bitch now. I did not even think how the fact that Alessandro would drop anything at any moment to be there for me when I needed him would affect Natalie.

"I should have done this before," I mutter, and he raises his eyebrow questioningly. "If Nat is jealous of this, or if she is hurt by how close we are, then-"

"No," Alessandro says, a dangerous edge to his tone before I can finish talking.

"You already know we cannot see each other much once I find out who my fiancé is," I mutter, and he sighs.

"I know, Lena. But we have a lot of time before that. And that will be different. When we have to stay apart after that, it will be because your well-being will be at risk if we do not. That will be to keep you safe, not so that someone does not feel insecure."

"Technically, it will be because my fiancé would not like it," I tell him, then look back at Natalie, who is glaring at Alessandro's back. I am supposed to be the shoulder she can cry on, not the person who makes her cry.

"Alessandro, she is my best friend. I can't be the one to hurt her."

He clenches his jaw. "What about me, Lena? I need you in my life."

"Who said I am leaving you? I need you in my life, too, A. I just meant maybe we should distance ourselves, at least physically. I remember D- Daniel being jealous of how close we were too."

He rests his head on my shoulder. "No, Selena. I don't care who is jealous. They don't understand. No one can ever understand me as you can. I can't live-"

"You need to let her understand you. Maybe that's why she is jealous. Because every time anything happens in your life, you come to me and shut everyone else out. You are with her now; you need to let her in too."

Alessandro stays quiet for a moment. "It's hard for me to let anyone else in, Lena. Everyone, including her, has hurt me in one way or another- everyone except for you. I have waited for her to choose me dozens of times, and each time she has chosen someone else, and you, of all people, know that the last time damn near killed me. How can I let her in after that?"

I wince when I think about what happened last time. Around the time I got engaged, Nat and Alessandro started dating. They had only gone on a few dates when Natalie's ex-boyfriend, Elliot, showed up. She chose him over Alessandro, which made Alessandro go into a deep dark spiral. He ended up in the hospital several times for overdose and was almost arrested dozens of times for DUIs. He was not arrested because Rafael had too much of a hold over the corrupt police department. It got so bad that he spent almost three months in rehab. Three bloody months. That's longer than I spent in-

I pinch myself to stop that train of thought. I cannot allow myself to think about that time again.

I don't think I have ever been as scared as I was when Alessandro went to rehab- except for when I was kidnapped. I did not know if he was going to make it. I almost had a mental breakdown because of the fear and worry. Each day, he kept getting worse, slipping further away from who he used to be. But I stayed by his side, trying to stop him as much as I could. He thinks that saved him. He thinks if he had been alone, he would not have survived.

He may be right. But that's what he and I have always done- we have always saved each other from ourselves.

"Don't let her in all at once, then," I tell Alessandro. "Start with the small things and trust that she won't leave you because she chose you this time."

"I'm scared, Lena," Alessandro whispers vulnerably.

"I know, A."

I know what it is like to love someone who can break you. I know what it is like to be scared to trust them. I could never be as brave as Alessandro though; I ran away from Daniel when I realised how much he could really hurt me instead of staying and fighting for him.

Just as the song ends, I look back to where Natalie was standing, only to see her almost run out of the room. Alessandro follows my gaze and sighs.

"Go after her, Alessandro," I tell him, and he looks back at me hesitantly. "Remember what we talked about- baby steps."

"What about you? Are you going to be okay alone?" He asks me.

I smile. "I am going to be fine. And I'm not going to be alone." I nod towards Alex, who is walking towards us.

"Wish me luck," he says, kissing my forehead.

"Luck for what?" Alex asks him just as he reaches us.

"He is thinking of fighting Raf," I blurt out, and Alessandro presses his lips together, trying not to smile at my ridiculous lie.

"No amount of luck can save you," Alex says to Alessandro, believing my lie, and Alessandro rolls his eyes.

"See you later, Lena. Lex," Alessandro mutters before walking out the door Nat did a minute ago.

"He is so difficult to understand," Alex says.

"No, he isn't," I defend Alessandro crossing my arms. Alex looks at me and rolls his eyes, muttering something under his breath. I narrow my eyes at him. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," he says, then holds his hand for me. "May I have this dance?"

I roll my eyes, putting my hand in his. "Only because I don't want to go and sit with my family yet."

Alex pulls me into his arms as a new song starts. "Sure."

"Don't you have a date?" I ask him.

He snickers. "I did, but she got bored of me ignoring her, so she started hitting on Nat's date."

I shake my head, chuckling at his lack of concern. "That's rude."

Alex smiles. "Her or me?"

"Both of you. But you first," I reply, making Alex chuckle.

"Can I ask you a question?" Alex says after a few moments of silence.

"Shoot," I reply, looking across the room at Blake and Abigail dancing and laughing, which makes me smile. I hope I am as happy as them on my wedding day.

"Did anything ever happen between you and Alessandro?" Alex asks, making me stumble.

What the hell? How did that thought even cross his mind?

"What? No, of course not!" I say with outrage.

Alex looks at me for a second, then snorts. "That's a lie if I have ever heard one."

I bite my lip. He is right. It is a lie.

"So, what happened and when?"

"Don't tell anyone," I mutter, biting my lip. I am not even sure that I should tell him, but if I don't, he'll assume the worse even though, the worse did not happen.

"I won't," he reassures me.

"It was the first semester I attended college, after one of the frat parties that Alessandro and I used to go to. Alessandro, as always, came back to my apartment with me, and we watched a rom-com and cried about our sad love lives. In the rom-com, the best friends got together, and they worked out, so Alessandro and I started wondering if we would work out. The next thing you know, we were kissing." Alex raises his eyebrow. "And well, instead of going to bed together, we went to barf. God, it was terrible. It was like kissing your sibling- disgusting and disturbing."

I shudder when I remember the feeling. I have never had a kiss as bad in my entire life. Ever.

But it helped both of us a lot too. After that, we never thought: what if the two of us got together? We realised we were too much like siblings and could never have romantic feelings for each other.

And despite our terrible experience that night, watching rom-coms in my apartment after getting a night of partying became our tradition. Of course, we always cried about our love lives too.

When Alex and I were together, Alessandro and I would still cry about everyone who broke our hearts- which included only two people, Nat and Daniel.

Alex smiles, clearly amused by my disgust. "I'm glad I did not ask you this when we were together."

"Why?"

"Because I would not have cared about what happened after the kiss. I would have never been able to get over my jealousy. I would have been suspicious every time the two of you were together alone, and in doing so, I would have ruined our friendship."

"You weren't a very jealous boyfriend, though," I tell him, and he laughs.

"That's because I tried not to let my jealousy show, darling," Alex says just as the song ends. Everyone starts to move to their tables. "Dinner time."

"Finally. I am starving," I say, but freeze when I look at my family's table and see Daniel sitting next to Jax. What the hell is he doing there?

Alex looks at the table too. "Do you need backup?"

"You'd do that for me?" I ask him, incredulous. Alex hates Daniel. I don't know why, but every time someone mentions Daniel, Alex's mood gets sour. So I am shocked that he is willingly offering to sit at the same table as him.

"Of course, I would, Lena. You're my best friend," he says, intertwining our fingers and pulling me to the table.

I fix my eyes on Jax when we reach the table- he is the only one I feel comfortable looking at. I can feel Daniel's eyes on me, but I don't want to look at him- not when he is with her.

Jax frowns when he sees mine and Alex's joined hands, but he says nothing.

I look around the table when I sit down and notice that Elena and Silvio are at the table too.

"Selena! You look beautiful in that dress!" Elena gushes, and I smile at her. I see my mother rolling her eyes as she starts to eat.

Don't let her affect your mood, Lena!

"Thank you! It's nice to see you again. It's been a while. How has Teresa been?" I ask her, trying to ignore my mother and Daniel. The last time I saw Teresa was nearly six months ago- a few days after I graduated.

"She's doing great. She misses you, though. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I have been swarmed with work- between GA and Calos Industries, I have barely gotten any time to myself. This is my first time taking a day off in the past six months."

Silvio gives me a proud smile. "And you have been doing great work. You must be proud of your daughter, Vincente."

I look at my father, who glances at my mother before nodding. "Yes, I find it very commendable how well Selena has been handling both companies."

I look down at my food, flushed. I can't believe my father just complimented me.

"How is the coffee shop, Layla?" My mother asks Layla Snow, taking the spotlight off of me- which I am used to at this point. I have stopped lashing out at my parents for their treatment of me because I have realised there is no point in it. Lashing out at them was just wasting my energy- it did not affect them at all. Alex squeezes my hand under the table, and I give him a grateful look.

"Are you okay?" Alex whispers in my ear while Layla talks about her coffee shop.

"I'm used to this," I reply in a hushed tone, and he looks at me sadly.

"What about you, Alexander? What's going on with your life?" Jax asks Alex.

"Nothing much," Alex replies. "I have been travelling since graduation, taking time to find myself."

"Have you been anywhere interesting?" Silvio asks him.

"Not really. Lena and I were talking the other day about interesting places to travel to. And since Lena has settled into her roles in both companies, we were thinking of taking a trip to Cusco in Peru next month."

The entire table suddenly falls silent, and all eyes turn to Alex and me. I almost groan. I completely forgot to tell Alex not to mention the trip in front of my parents. I was planning on using a business trip as an excuse for being gone for a few days.

I look around the table until my eyes settle on Daniel- who looks thoroughly pissed off at Alex. When he sees me looking at him, his glare shifts to me. What in the world is wrong with him? Why is he mad when he seems to spend all his time with Layla?

"Well," my mother starts, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Since you have settled down and can now find free time, why don't you join us for a family dinner on Friday?"

"What date would that be?" I ask my mother, trying to think of an excuse to get out of it even though from the tone, it is clear that she was not asking me to join them but ordering me.

"Two days from now," she replies.

I have nothing, absolutely nothing going on that day. I can't even make an excuse because my parents can easily call up my assistants and find out.

"I would love to join you for dinner," I manage to say in a sweet yet formal tone. Why don't I have anything to do that night? I would rather give all the college exams again than have another family dinner. I have gotten used to being relatively free from my family, and I love the person I am when I am not around them. Being around them makes me feel like a miserable girl with low self-esteem again. And I hate it.

I quickly finish my food and excuse myself from the table. I need some fresh air.

As I enter the hallway, I can feel heavy footsteps behind me. I know who it is, I always do, but I never look back.

-

《Daniel Nicholas Castello》

"Hi, Daniel," Layla says, coming down the stairs.

"Hello," I mutter, not taking my eyes off my phone.

Stefan is giving me information about a lead he found about the person who stole from me. The person only stole a few million. An amount so little that I did not even realise until my bank called me about some suspicious activity. I don't care about the money that was taken; I am only looking for that person because I do not like thieves- something the thief will find out about soon and will regret for the rest of their life. The information is much more important to me than being a gentleman to my future sister-in-law.

"How do I look?" She asks me as she comes to stand beside me.

"Fine," I reply, as I text Stefan back. I did not plan to attend this wedding, but Vincente asked me to take Layla. I only agreed because I knew he would owe me one after this.

"You haven't even looked at me yet," Layla whines, and I take a deep breath. I thought her infatuation with me would go away once she learned of my engagement to her sister, but if anything, it has just gotten worse since then.

I glance at her and furrow my eyebrows. Since when does she wear purple? Last I heard, she hated purple. She was right to hate the colour, though; she does not look very good in it. Or maybe she does look good, but I can't help but compare her to Selena right now. The girl always managed to look like perfect when she wore purple- which was almost every day when we were together. Since we broke up, I have mostly seen her in darker colours like maroon, black and navy, making her look older and more mature than purple. But that was because she always preferred lighter shades of purple.

Fuck my life. I hate how she always pops up in my mind. I should not even think about her after she left me. But it turns out that the more you hate a person, the more you think about them. Or in my case, the more I hate her, the more it fuels my obsession with her.

"You look fine," I repeat, and she giggles. For fucks sake. I roll my eyes. There is nothing about my words that should make her laugh.

"Thank you."

"Daniel," Aurora says as she descends the stairs. "Thank you for taking Layla to the wedding with you. My family still does not know about her, so she would have missed out on her cousin's wedding, so thank you!"

"My pleasure," I mutter, not caring if I do not sound sincere. She and Layla beam at me, and I keep my expression blank, resisting the urge to roll my eyes again.

I know that if it were up to Aurora, I would marry Layla, not Selena- thank God it wasn't. I could never imagine living with Layla for the rest of my life. Selena, on the other hand, I can imagine her as my wife. No matter how insufferable I find her or how much I hate her, I cannot deny that. She is beautiful, intelligent, brave and submissive-all in all, a perfect wife.

And, of course, the reason I have not been able to sleep with another woman without picturing her- her body-every man's wet dream.

-

"The wedding was so pretty, wasn't it?" Layla asks me, and I nod, staring- or, more accurately, glaring- at her sister. Moretti has his arms around my fiancée, which is driving me insane. I do not care if they are dancing. She is mine. And no one touches what's mine.

My hands are itching to go and rip his arms off of Selena and give him a demonstration of what happens when people touch what's mine, but there are too many witnesses around.

I clench my teeth, annoyed at myself at the realisation that I was right. No one can pull off purple as she can. She is a sight for sore eyes in that lilac gown she is wearing today. I have been unable to keep my eyes off her since I saw her walking down the aisle with Chevalier. I did not even care that he had his arms all over her- all over something that is mine.

And then, at the altar, when she looked at him like she wished they were the ones getting married, it made my blood boil. I barely convinced myself that shooting Chevalier with such a big audience was not a good idea.

Selena has not even spared me a glance, even though she knows I'm here. I have half a mind to take her to a secluded place and fuck her until she forgets everyone else.

"Would you like to dance?" I ask Layla, trying to distract myself. I need to stop staring at Selena. Whenever I see her with some guy, it takes all I have not to kill him. And I don't want to make a scene here.

Layla blinks at me in surprise. I would, too if I were here- I have taken her to dozens of events over the years at Vincente's request, but I have never asked her to dance with me.

"Of course!" She exclaims, jumping up. I take her hand and lead her to the dance floor. I try to focus on the girl in front of me as I pull her in my arms, and we start dancing instead of looking for her sister again.

We dance in absolute silence, which Layla does not seem to mind. She looks ecstatic that we are dancing together, which makes me regret asking her. Despite her annoying clinginess, Layla is a nice girl with a good heart. I don't want to lead her on- even though she should know full well that nothing can ever happen between us.

I see her dancing with Chevalier at some point, which makes my jaw clench. He may not know that she is engaged yet, but she does. It is so fucking disrespectful of her to allow other men to touch her when she knows she has been promised to someone. And I will not forget this disrespect. She will pay for it soon enough.

Every time I see her with Chevalier or Alessandro, I wonder if she has slept with either of them- if I find out that she has, I know I'll have to kill them. Although, if she has slept with Alessandro, it might be harder to kill him because of my friendship with his brother, that does not mean I won't cut off his dick and hand it around his neck.

-

"I want to announce our engagement," I inform Vincente as soon as I sit at the table.

Vincente raises his eyebrow in surprise. "When?"

"As soon as possible."

So everyone knows who she belongs to. So she knows who she belongs to.

"Engagement parties take a while to plan," Aurora says, glancing at Layla.

"Selena needs to know who she is marrying before that," Mamma says.

"A meeting can be arranged this week to tell her," I say.

Vincente looks at me curiously, then shakes his head. "Le- Selena has been really busy these days, so we need to check with her first. But I think we can tell Selena at our family dinner on Friday."

"Yes," Aurora adds, trying to sound enthusiastic, but something seems off about her voice. She turns to look at Mamma. "Bring Teresa and Francis too. We will be family soon; I want everyone to be there at our first family dinner!"

Jax walks around the table and sits beside me as the parents start working out the logistics. He looks at me with the same mischievous glint in his eyes that Selena had every time she would say something to annoy me. I run my hand through my hair. Fuck me.

"I have told you this before, too, asshole, but if you even think about hurting my little sister again, if you ever make her cry, I will hunt you down and kill you. Capisci?

I roll my eyes at his ridiculous notion that he could kill me but nod to humour him.

Jax's tone might sound light and humorous, but I know he means every word he says. He loves Selena more than anything and would go to the ends of the Earth to hurt anyone who brings her pain.

I am proof of this. When Selena and I broke up four years ago, Jax came to my apartment and beat the shit out of me. I did not hit him back, even though I normally would have, because that is what I would do to anyone who hurts Teresa.

"Good," Jax mutters, looking away from me. His eyes suddenly widen. I follow his gaze and clench my jaw. At this point, Chevalier is begging me to kill him. He is walking to the table with Selena, holding her hand, even though he is not supposed to be sitting here.

Despite everything they have done, I should get an award for not killing Alessandro and Chevalier tonight.

-

I run my fingers through my hair, pulling on them, as I follow Selena to the foyer.

How dare she think about going away with Chevalier when she is engaged to me?

The moment I heard the news, I saw red. It took all I had not to drag her out of that room and teach her a fucking lesson- to make her scream that she was mine. Even if she does not know that I am her fiancé, she is still an engaged woman- she needs to fucking act like it.

I cannot wait till Friday because she will know she is mine and only mine.

Selena takes a cigarette from her clutch and slides it between her lips, waiting for me to light it. As always, I stop behind her, standing mere inches from her body.

She sighs softly when I light the cigarette. I wait for a moment, pull the cigarette from her lips, and bring it to my own.

We stand there for a few moments, sharing the cigarette- never touching, looking or talking to each other.

It's how it has always been. Those are the only rules we have. The unspoken rules we set when we first started doing this.

Since we split, we have always found ourselves in this position at an event both of us attend- smoking in some dark corner where we hope no one can see us. Never once have either of us tried to break the rules- because we know that would make these moments seem too real, and we would never be able to do this again.

I hate allowing her to smoke, but it is the only way I can be close to her now, and I crave that closeness.

I just need to wait for two more days. After that, she is never touching a cigarette again.

But before that, there is something I need to do- I need to add another clause to the contract. I press my finger against my lip to prevent myself from smiling at my brilliant idea- an idea that will ensure that Selena is under my control until we get married.

-

A/N

I know I said updates would be once a week, but I think we have established I have impulse control issues, so here.

Hope you enjoy x