~ Santiago's POV ~

"You called?"

At the sound of the door opening followed by my voice, Arturo turned around to look at me from his place by the window.

The living room was a lot brighter than our bedroom since the sun was just starting to rise, telling me that it must have been around 5am or something.

Just like me, Arturo never liked to stay at a girls place after sex which is why he was back so early in the morning.

I'd only been sleeping for three hours before this idiot called me to come out from my room and into the living room.

Usually he would have just come straight into my room to wake me up, but since Maddie was sleeping with me now, I guess at least he had the decency to not do that anymore.

But he still disturbed me by calling my phone.

"Come and have a smoke with me."

As soon as he said that particular word I let out a sigh.

Ever since I was well enough to start missing things like alcohol and cigarettes in hospital, they were always on my mind. Arturo and I even made a plan to get drunk the night I got discharged from the hospital but then...Maddie put a stop to that instantly.

"I can't bro."

He rose an eyebrow at me for a second before shaking his head, letting out a scoff.

"Pussy."

With that he went over to the balcony door and opened it, stepping outside. I watched him for a moment before I let out a sigh and followed him, stepping out into the cool morning air of Mexico City.

We stood there in silence as he took his packet of cigarettes out of his pocket along with a lighter. I watched his movements as he took one out, putting it in his mouth before lighting it.

Once he'd lit it, he held the packet out to me.

I could tell he wasn't trying to pressure me, he was just offering, again. Arturo wasn't like the other people I met in my life who liked to drag me down with them.

If he did drugs he didn't try to make anyone else do it with him, if he wanted to get drunk he wouldn't pressure someone to go to a bar or club with him.

He would ask, just like a normal friend but any of his bad habits, as he called them, he would be happy to do them alone.

He just knew how much I needed to smoke now and again to calm myself down. He was my brother after all, he knew me too well.

And after that conversation I had with Maddie earlier, I definitely needed something to relax me.

At least it wasn't as dangerous as alcohol.

But she would still be annoyed.

But It's one damn cigarette.

Without another thought I took the packet from him, followed by the lighter as I lit a cigarette for myself too.

"We haven't done this in ages."

I nodded my head, leaning against the wall as I took my first drag of cigarette in over a month.

And it was freaking heaven.

"How was it? Your talk with Madison?"

When he mentioned that, my mind drifted back to everything that had happened over the last few hours. After she agreed to be my girl, we lay there for another few hours just talking about the most random things.

The only things of note were the few details she gave me about her suicide attempt when she was 18 years old. She told me she overdosed on pills and that she was admitted to hospital for a while until she was able to accept the fact that I was gone without having another panic attack.

Surprisingly she also gave me permission to talk about it with Arturo. She said it was because she knew how close we were and that she didn't want me to have to keep any secrets that big from him but also, because of Nicolas and Noah's involvement.

We also spoke about when we planned on going back to California and since my next doctors appointment was in two days, we decided to leave in three days provided that they allow me to fly.

"It was good...I suppose. She's my girlfriend."

When I said this with a grin, he turned to look at me before a smile stretched across his lips.

It wasn't often that he smiled like that. Usually it was a smirk or if he smiled it was because something was funny, not because he was actually happy.

I watched as Arturo took a step closer to me before wrapping one arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a quick hug.

"I'm happy for bro. I know how much she means to you, both of you deserve to be happy together."

I nodded my head, thanking him with a smile of my own. It wasn't long after Arturo and I met that I confided in him with everything that had happened in my life.

We instantly clicked and I knew I could trust him.

Apart from Madison, as far as I knew, he was the only other person that knew exactly what she meant to me and what we'd been through together.

I never spoke about her with anyone but him.

"So she forgave you for leaving then?"

I nodded my head, letting out a sigh as released a puff of smoke.

"She was upset that I left but, there was something else that made her hate me, that I didn't even know about."

"What was it?" He rose an eyebrow at me as he leaned against the balcony railing, taking another drag of his cigarette.

I let out a sigh, turning to face him properly. I knew this was going to be hard for him to hear, but he would find out eventually, the least he deserved was to hear it directly from me.

"She tried to kill herself when she found out that I disappeared."

Of course, my words took him off guard and suddenly he started coughing, prompting me to pat him on the back although he just slapped my hand away when I tried.

I let out a sigh, waiting for him to finally catch his breath as I stepped closer to him when he clenched his jaw, keeping his eyes focused on the floor ahead of himself.

When it fell silent, I just took the opportunity to explain it to him.

"She said she had some kind of panic attack and did it without thinking. Then, she was in hospital for quite a while."

Still for a while he was silent, taking another puff of his cigarette before he shook his head as he let out a sigh.

"I bet finding that out screwed you up, didn't it?"

I nodded my head as I took another drag of my cigarette, savouring the smoke before I released it.

It really did help to calm me down.

Finding out Maddie tried to do it was much harder than when I found out about Arturo, only because I was the freaking reason she wanted to die.

At least Arturo attempted it before we ever even met and it had nothing to do with me, instead his reasoning was his screwed up stepfather.

"I cried for the first time since I was 13."

The last time I cried was a few weeks after my father started beating me. I cried everytime until one day I begged my mom to help me and protect me from him, and she refused to.

After that I realised no one would look out for me apart from myself, so I stopped crying and sucked it up.

I hadn't cried since then, until last night.

"I'm sorry bro. I can't imagine what it would feel like to find that out."

The one good thing about confiding in Arturo was that he'd been through so much shit in his life that he wasn't the type of person to show pity and sympathy.

If he felt bad for you, he would say it bluntly, if not, then he wouldn't bother with any fakeness.

"It felt as bad as someone telling me that she had actually died. And the fact she actually wanted to die, broke my heart."

Arturo nodded his head in understanding before he finally looked at me again. I could tell he was trying not to let the topic of suicide effect him, but the hardness in his eyes gave away the fact that it was getting to him.

Still, he continued the conversation.

"Why would she be angry at you because of that? I understand that maybe she would be resentful towards you, but why would she hate you?"

"She thought I knew."

This time he gave me a confused frown.

"Why would she think that?"

Letting out a dark chuckle, I took a long drag of my cigarette to calm me down.

"Because, Noah and Nicolas went to visit her while she was in hospital. She assumed they would have told me, you know, because they're supposed to be my friends."

Once again I let out a laugh although it held absolutely no humour.

"Wait, what? They knew? And they didn't tell you?"

I nodded my head, clenching my jaw as I finally put out my cigarette.

"As soon as we get back to California, I'm going to kill them."

"I'll help you." He patted me on the back as he took his last drag of his cigarette before also putting it out.

It fell quiet between us for a moment as we just watched the sunrise in a comfortable silence before I eventually spoke again.

"It's her birthday in two days, she still hasn't mentioned it yet."

"That's probably because of what happened on that day all those years ago." I nodded my head, feeling a pang of guilt as I remembered that the last day I last saw her was her 18th birthday before I left.

The sad part was I really did intend to spend the rest of our summer together and then go to college with her. That was always our plan and it never changed until my father decided he wanted me to take over his gang.

"I need to get her something, I want to make the day special. It'll be the day before we fly back to California I think."

He nodded his head before he leaned against the balcony railing again, giving me a smirk.

"You can have birthday sex."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me causing me to roll my eyes although I did crack a smile too.

"Maybe, I don't know. I want everything to be special with her, I want to treat her properly to make up for everything I put her through."

He nodded his head, taking a moment to think before he spoke.

"So then why don't you spend the morning together in bed, get her breakfast in bed or something. Then go out and do something together during the afternoon before you take her out for dinner in the evening."

Woah.

I rose an eyebrow at him in surprise but before I could comment on how romantic his suggestion was, he ruined it.

"Then you bring her back to the hotel and have birthday sex."

Idiot.

"The first part of your idea was good."

"Oh come on, you know you want to." Once again he wiggled his eyebrows at me before pushing himself off the railing, heading back towards the door.

As he opened the door he turned around, raising an eyebrow at me.

"You coming?"

"In a minute."

Nodding his head, he let out a tired yawn before heading inside, towards his room. Once he was gone, I let out a deep breath, taking a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet of the morning.

It wasn't often that I was wake this early. As Arturo would usually say, early mornings are for pussies.

Soon my mind drifted back to Arturo's suggestion for Maddie's birthday and then his other one.

Of course I wanted to do it with her. I've wanted to do it ever since I laid eyes on her when she came to my house pregnant with the twins.

That stupid woman called her fat and yet I was there trying to hide the fact my jeans had became much too tight for me very, very quickly.

Ever since then that was the only thing on my mind every time I saw her.

Then last night happened...

She was so damn perfect.

And she deserved to have the perfect birthday.

I just had to plan it right.

~ Madison's POV ~

"What are you doing?"

Santiago's eyes widened as he froze in the doorway of our bedroom, staring at me in shock.

"Why are you looking at me like you didn't expect me to be here? It's almost 6am, where else would I be?"

My voice came out groggy and tired as I sat up in the bed giving him a frown.

"Arturo just got back so I was...talking with him about some stuff. Go back to sleep Maddie, everything is fine."

After hearing his explanation, I let out a sigh as I lay back down suddenly thinking about the fact Arturo had just done the walk of shame at 5am.

Or maybe in his opinion, the walk of pride.

Ew.

I lay there for a second, expecting Santiago to come and lie back down next to me, but when I heard him go over to the walk in closet, I sat up again, resting on my elbow.

"Now where are you going?"

"To take a shower."

"But, you hate waking up early, and we didn't even go to sleep until like 2am, so why would you be taking a shower now?"

I narrowed my eyes as I watched him walk out of the closet with another pair of boxers and a T-shirt.

"I know. I'm still tired and I'm going back to sleep after, I just...felt like taking a shower?"

When his sentence came out phrased more like a question, I sat up properly again.

"You're hiding something."

"Pfft, what would I be hiding from you this early in the morning? You're overthinking things Maddie."

Pursing my lips as I stared at him for a moment, I eventually shook my head, pushing the covers off myself.

"What are you doing? Stay in bed baby. I'll only be a minute."

Ignoring his words, I got out of the bed, making my way over to him, watching as he took a couple of steps away from me.

"You are hiding something Santiago. I know you too well."

Eventually, he was right against the wall meaning there was no where for him to go when I walked right up to him.

The second I stepped up to him, the scent of cigarette smoke invaded my senses, and by the look on his face, he knew I'd figured it out.

"Maddie, it was just one. Arturo called me and we talked while we smoked and-"

"And I asked you not to do it until you were better."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he placed his hands on my waist, pulling me closer to him before turning us around so that I was the one pressed up against the wall.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." I shook my head as a yawn escaped my lips. When I tried to get past him, he pressed me against the wall even harder to stop me.

He held eye contact with me for a moment and when I refused to back down, he shook his head.

It was clear he was becoming more and more agitated , especially by his next words.

"You can't change me Madison. I know we're together and I get you're a nurse, but I'm not just going to change who I am for you."

"I'm not asking you to change. Santiago, you can go and get drunk and high on whatever you want, once you're done with your medication - then I won't give a damn. All I asked was for you to wait until then, not for me, but for you."

The longer we stayed like that, the more annoyed I began to feel and clearly so did he.

One thing about Santiago is that he was never, ever, a morning person. His mood would always be super unpredictable in the morning and over time I started to figure that out.

"You don't need to take a shower, just change your shirt and brush your teeth. Now let me go."

This time when I tried to push him away, he didn't try to stop me and soon I found myself snuggled up in the bed again while he went into the bathroom.

Of course, now that I was back in bed I was finding it hard to fall asleep so I just lay there. Only a few minutes passed and then Santiago was back in bed next to me.

I tried my best to keep my eyes closed when I felt his gaze burning into my skin, but that was until he let out a chuckle.

"I know you're awake baby."

Finally, I turned my head to look at him, giving him a glare. "No I'm not, leave me alone."

"Come here."

When I refused to go near him and instead turned over with my back to him, seconds later his hand went over my waist and I felt myself being dragged across the bed until my back was against his chest.

My entire body froze when I felt his breath next to my ear while he pressed his hips firmly against my ass.

"You can't stay mad at me forever."

"Maybe not but I can sure as hell try."

In response to this Santiago just laughed allowing me to feel the rumble in his chest before he placed a kiss on my cheek, tightening his grip on my waist.

"I love you my beautiful."

As much as I wanted to be annoyed at him, I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at me lips when he said this.

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

Two days had passed since Santiago was released from hospital and I had to say, it was not how I expected it to be.

I thought we would end up spending a lot of time together; eating room service, watching movies and maybe making out here and there.

But, it seemed like Santiago and Arturo had other plans because as soon as they woke up around midday after the whole smoking fiasco, they were working.

They worked all afternoon only having a break for dinner before they carried on.

They also felt the need to have every single conversation in Spanish so I didn't understand a word.

Santiago told me it was just business, that they were just dealing with all of the things he'd missed while he was in hospital, but I still didn't see why the conversations needed to be in Spanish.

So for the first day I just watched movies alone in Santiago's room while they worked in the living room. Santiago also went out to get a hair cut since he hadn't had one since before his month long stay in the hospital.

But, at least he did come and spend the evening with me while Arturo went to meet the same girl that he'd been with the night before.

Then the next day came and to my surprise they were both up and ready to go out at 11am claiming that they had meetings to go to.

The only time Santi and I were alone was when he asked me to help him change again into his black suit before he left.

So once they left the hotel room I spent the whole day alone.

It didn't bother me much since I hadn't actually had a whole day like that to myself since the twins were born.

It was the first time I didn't have to worry about absolutely anything - just myself.

Of course I would have preferred to have Santiago with me, but I guess he was right when he said I couldn't change him just because we were together now.

His work would always be a priority to him, which was something I just had to accept.

So, that day that I was alone, I decided to get a massage in our room and then take a relaxing bath before ordering dinner to the room.

I had to do something special on my last day of being 25, even if I was all alone.

I'm assuming Santiago had forgotten about my birthday tomorrow, not that I blamed him. It had been eight years since my eighteenth birthday, he had no reason to remember it all that time while we weren't speaking. So, I shouldn't really expect him to remember it now.

I also didn't feel like reminding him incase it made things awkward for us since it was also the anniversary of when he left me.

"Hey beautiful." I gave Santiago a small smile when he came over to me, pressing a kiss to my forehead before heading over to our room.

As he walked, I couldn't help but admire the black suit and white shirt that he was wearing.

It was definitely a change to see him so perfectly dressed after being in hospital for a month.

But it was a very welcome change.

"What's in the bags?"

When I mentioned the numerous designer bags in his hands, he glanced down at them before looking at me.

"We stopped to go shopping since I was running out of clean clothes."

Rich people.

My mouth formed an 'o' shape before I nodded my head when he went into the room to put his bags away.

At least someone had a good day.

"Why do you look..."

Turning my attention away from my boyfriend, I turned my head to look at Arturo when he dropped down on the couch next to me.

He was also dressed in a suit similar to Santiago's and it also looked extremely expensive.

"Look like what?"

"Like you're PMSing."

My eyes widened at the bluntness of his words and I instantly gave him a glare.

"I am not PMSing! I'm just...I'm just tired, that's all." I managed to force a small smile onto my face, before turning my attention back to the TV, ignoring the way he continued to stare at me for another minute.

"Baby are you hungry?"

When Santiago finally came back into the living room, I turned my head to look at him, shaking my head.

"No."

"But it's 9:30pm, don't you usually eat around 5pm? You should be a little hungry by now, right?" I could tell he was confused as he came and sat next to me on my other side while I just shrugged.

"I guess, but I ordered a little extra food today. I didn't have anything else to do in the evening except eat."

I was pretty sure I saw guilt flash in his eyes when I said this, but when he just let out a laugh, I changed my mind.

"Get changed, let's go out for dinner."

He nodded his head towards the door which led to our bedroom but instead of getting up, I just shook my head.

"You guys can go. I'm not really in the mood Santi."

"What? Why?"

Because it's my birthday tomorrow and you've been acting like I don't even exist.

"I'm just tired. Please, just go without me, you both need to eat."

When I said this, his eyes flashed over to Arturo before he let out a sigh.

"Maddie please just come with us. Look, you can just get something light to eat if you're not that hungry."

"I'm sure it'll be better than staying here alone."

This time when Arturo spoke, I turned to look at him, narrowing my eyes.

"What, like I have been for the last two days?"

This time it was his turn to give me a guilty look along with an apologetic smile.

"We had stuff to do Madison, we weren't off having fun."

Rolling my eyes at his response, I just turned the TV off before I stood to my feet.

"Go without me."

It fell silent between them as I took a step away from the couch, but before I could go anywhere, I suddenly felt myself being lifted off the ground.

"Hey!"

My vision sudden turned upside down when Santiago threw me over his shoulder, starting the short walk to our room.

Expecting him to put me down in the room, I frowned when he carried on walking into the closet where he finally set me on my feet.

"Now let's see..." Ignoring the furious glare I was giving him, he started looking through all my clothes, taking random items out to hold them up against me.

The most annoying thing was all my clothes were sweats and casual clothes since I packed with the intention of spending all my time at the hospital with Santiago.

"Santiago, I don't have any clothes to go out in. Just go without me, I'm really not in the mood."

Of course he just ignored the second half of what I said.

"You don't?" I shook my head, causing him to let out a sigh.

"Fine, I got you something. I was saving this for tomorrow night since we have a dinner to go to with one of my clients but I guess you can wear it today."

"Wait, what dinner are we going to tomorrow?"

Tomorrow is my birthday...

Ignoring my question, Santiago just grabbed one of the bags from his side of the closet, handing it to me.

"I didn't know if you brought any dresses with you so I got you one today, if you don't want to wear it again tomorrow night I can always buy you another one when I go out with Arturo."

"You're going out again?" He nodded his head, gesturing for me to open the bag as he got another one from his huge pile of bags.

"Yeah, I have things to do during the day but I'll be back around 6pm and the dinner is at 7pm so be ready. Anyway, this bag has some shoes in."

He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek which is the most he'd done with me since yesterday before leaving the closet to let me get ready.

I let out a sad sigh, opening the bag and pulling out the black Dolce and Gabbana dress that was inside.

At first I thought it was a simple black dress but as soon as I saw the price tag, I knew it was anything but simple.

"Santiago!"

Seconds after I called him, he came back into the closet, giving me a frown. "Yeah?"

"You spent two thousand dollars on this dress?"

"Yeah, it was on sale." When he gave me a grin, I instantly knew he'd got the wrong idea from the way I phrased my question.

"No I meant-"

Before I could get my words out, he left again, leaving me alone.

After a moment of just staring at the dress in shock, I finally took off my clothes and slipped it on, finding that it fit my body absolutely perfectly.

And it looked amazing on me.

I admired the way the black dress was tight around the top, showing just the right amount of skin without being too much, while also fitting my figure and then flowing just around my knees.

Once I was done changing, I added some light make up and straightened my hair before taking the shoes out of the bag.

And I swear I almost had a heart attack when I saw the nude Louboutins sitting the shoe box.

They were the most expensive shoes I'd ever owned in my entire life.

Along with the dress.

Maybe I would never get used to how much money Santiago actually had.

After slipping on the shoes which also fit me perfectly, I grabbed my phone and made my way back into the living room where Santiago was sitting with Arturo talking about something quietly.

"Santiago you spent way too much money on these clothes."

At the sound of my voice, they both turned to look at me, their eyes widening when they saw me.

"Holy crap."

While Arturo just smiled at my appearance before looking away, Santiago made no effort to tear his eyes away from my body as he took in the dress, slowly standing to his feet as he came over to me.

"You look beautiful Maddie."

"Thank you but-"

"Baby the price doesn't matter. I want to give you the best of everything." He gave me a smile before bringing his face closer to mine, pecking my lips softly.

I did want to argue with him about it and I definitely would soon, but before I could, he spoke again.

"Come on, I made a reservation at the restaurant downstairs."

Taking my hand in his, we followed Arturo out of the suite and towards the elevator down the hallway. Santiago kept an arm wrapped around my waist as we made our way downstairs and to the Mexican restaurant in the hotel.

"Santiago, I've never really eaten Mexican food before. I don't know what to get."

He gave me smile as we walked through the extremely posh restaurant, eventually stopping at the table the waitress showed us.

"Don't worry, I know what kind of stuff you like to eat so I'll help you." I nodded my head, thanking him when he pulled my chair out for me before sitting across from me and next to Arturo.

We spent the next few minutes looking through the menu before Santi started going through some options with me until we eventually decided what I should get.

He really was the sweetest person ever.

Once we'd ordered our food, we ended up making small talk for a while until the food came.

"You like it?"

Santiago rose an eyebrow at me, watching me with a smirk when I let out a soft moan, quickly taking another bite of my food.

"It's so good Santi."

"I bet you've heard that before." My eyes widened at Arturo's words who was also smirking at me while Santiago just sent him a glare.

"Is sex the only thing that's ever on your mind?"

"Yep." He gave Santiago a smirk this time before taking a bite of his own food. Shaking his head, Santiago turned his attention to his food too and we soon settled into a comfortable silence.

"Oh damn."

Lifting my eyes, I looked at Arturo who was staring at a couple sitting two tables away from us.

"What?"

"That girl. That's the girl I've been with for the last two nights. I met her at the bar in the hotel." Upon hearing his words, both Santi and I turned to look at the girl who was laughing with the man sitting across from her.

"Who is that?"

"Her husband." When I turned away from the girl and back to Arturo, his eyes were hard as he stared at her with his jaw clenched tightly.

Before I could speak though, Santiago beat me to it.

"Wait, she's married?" Arturo nodded his head again, stabbing his fork into his food before taking a bite.

Clearly, I should have been able to tell that something else had gone on, but unfortunately I was never blessed with a brain.

"You slept with a married woman?" As soon as they heard the shock in my accusing tone, they both looked over at me. On one side, Arturo was glaring at me and the other side, Santiago was staring at me with wide eyes.

"I didn't know she was married otherwise I wouldn't have done it. Sometimes you should think before you open your damn mouth Madison."

My mouth dropped open at the venom in Arturo's tone and instead of saying anything else, I just looked down at my food, suddenly not feeling very hungry anymore.

It fell quiet for a moment while I just pushed the food around my plate until Santiago spoke.

"Hermano, ella no sabe." (Bro, she doesn't know.)

At the sound of Santiago speaking in Spanish, I glanced up at them just as Arturo looked at me again before mumbling.

"Sorry Madison."

I had no clue how to respond so I just looked away again, causing him to sigh.

"My mom cheated on my father so he left us when I was 4 years old. After that she got married again and the guy he...he was screwed up. The only reason he was ever in my life, was because she cheated, so I freaking hate cheaters."

When I looked up, Arturo was staring at his food instead of looking at me. I could tell that talking about those memories was hard for him which only made me feel even more guilty for being the reason he had to think about them again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

At the sound of my voice he looked up, nodding his head.

"I know, it's okay." He managed to force a smile at me before he glanced over at the couple sitting at their table. "Yesterday when I was leaving after we slept together, her husband came back into the room. I just about managed to get out before he lost his mind, but clearly he's forgiven her."

Santiago let out a scoff at this.

"I don't get how anyone could ever forgive cheating. Once you're in a relationship, sex is supposed to be something intimate you only share together, you shouldn't go and do it with someone else."

I nodded my head in agreement giving him a small smile when he met my eyes.

"Unfortunately you can't trust anyone these days. That is why I'm perfectly happy with my lifestyle - just do it and leave."

"Maybe you should start thinking about settling down Arturo." When he heard what I said, he let out a laugh, shaking his head. Even Santiago cracked a smile while I just sat there seriously.

"No I'm being serious. If you only ever have the intention of sleeping with someone and leaving, you're never going to give yourself an opportunity to fall in love."

"Give myself the opportunity to fall in love and get my heart broken like a pussy? Yeah, no thanks."

This time I rolled my eyes at his response.

"Just because some people cheat on their partners, that doesn't mean everyone does. I'm just suggesting it Arturo. You're older than Santi, right?"

I glanced over at Santiago who was just watching me with a weird expression, before turning my attention back to Arturo.

"Yeah, but only by 10 months, I think."

"Well still, you're older than him so you should at least think about it. And anyway, I'm sure soon you'll meet someone and when you do, the last thing you want is for her to be conscious about your past and the amount of women..."

The more I spoke, the more I became aware of the fact that Santiago was now frowning at me and soon my sentence trailed off.

"Is that how you feel?"

"Me? No...I mean, I guess, maybe? I don't know." Santiago just continued to frown at me before I continued to explain what I meant. "I think it's natural for anyone to think about their partner and who they've been with before, whether you let it bother you or not is another thing."

"So it doesn't bother you?" This time it was Arturo who was asking me and although he was my boyfriend's bestfriend, for some reason I really didn't find it weird talking about this with him.

"It has once. But then, Santiago made me feel special to him and then the thought went away."

I gave Santi a soft smile which he just returned although I could tell he wasn't fully happy with my response.

Thankfully, that particular conversation changed after this and soon they both ended up talking about random things until we finally finished eating.

"Are we staying for dessert?"

Before answering my question, Santi checked the time on his phone to see that it was almost 11:40 pm.

"No, I think we should get going soon. It's getting pretty late."

Once I'd nodded in agreement and we all decided to leave, Santiago called the waitress over to get us the cheque. Moments later, when it fell silent between us, Arturo let out a curse word.

But, before I could even ask him what the problem was, two people came towards our table.

"That's him. Baby, that's him." All three of us looked up when we heard a panicked feminine voice and my eyes widened when I saw the couple we were discussing half an hour ago.

And this time the woman was no longer laughing, instead she was...

...crying?

"You think you can get away with shit like that? Huh?"

As soon as the man started walking towards Arturo, speaking in a very loud and angry voice both he and Santiago stood up.

"You raped my wife! I should kill you right now." My eyes widened at the man's words as he stood infront of us, clenching his fists by his sides.

Rape?

The husband of the woman was definitely a lot shorter than both Santi and Arturo, and he was no where near as muscly as them.

Still, he looked fired up enough that if he did try to fight Arturo, he would probably get some hits in.

"Rape? Is that what you told him? That I raped you?" Arturo turned his attention to the woman who just let out an over-exaggerated sob when he looked in her direction.

"Baby, please don't let him talk to me." When the man turned to look at his wife who was now crying even more, he stepped in front of her, blocking Arturo's view of her completely.

By now we had also attracted the attention of most of the restaurant.

"Don't try to deny it. You raped her!"

Somehow, Arturo didn't seem fazed by any of this and instead let out a laugh.

"You're saying I raped her twice then? Because I was in your bed two nights ago too, not just last night."

Okay, so this guy really didn't seem scared by the situation at all.

"He's lying!" At the sound of her whiny voice, I turned to look at the woman who was now glaring in Arturo's direction although she couldn't see him properly past her husband.

Throughout all this, the waitress finally brought the cheque back to our table so I just signed it for Santiago who was watching the situation with Arturo carefully, probably just in case he needed to get involved.

"I believe my wife. She wouldn't lie to me, you raped her and I'm going to make you pay."

"Chocolate?"

"Oh, yes please." I smiled at the waitress as I took one of the fancy mint chocolates that she was offering to me, noticing that she left two more on the table, one for Santi and Arturo too when they were finally done with their fight.

While Arturo was busy arguing with the man, I started unwrapping the chocolate until I heard Santiago's voice which caused me to look up at him.

"Really?"

"What?" I shrugged my shoulders, giving him a small smile causing him to chuckle before I put the chocolate in my mouth.

Just as their arguing suddenly got a lot more heated, the man shoved Arturo backwards into Santiago.

After that it seemed like everything happened in seconds.

Santiago put his hands out to stop Arturo falling over also holding onto the table to steady himself and then Arturo stepped forward, swinging his fist out at the man.

And all it took was one punch before he was knocked out cold on the floor.

The restaurant suddenly became deadly silent as Arturo stepped over the man's body, glaring at the woman who had now miraculously stopped crying and was just glaring at him.

"Unfortunately I can't hit you because I'm a guy and I have some freaking morals, otherwise, you would be lying there next to him. Don't go around accusing people of rape when you cheat because one day it'll come back to bite you in the ass."

With that, he started walking out the restaurant without looking back at her. Quickly standing up, I didn't forget to grab the other two chocolates before taking Santi's hand as we walked out, following Arturo.

"Are you okay?"

When we finally caught up to Arturo it was when we stopped by the elevators in the lobby.

"I'm fine Maddie." He turned to give me a small smile although anyone could tell it was forced.

"Here, I got you a present." He frowned at me for a second as I held out my hand, before his eyes took in the circular chocolate wrapped in gold foil in my hand.

Arturo let out a chuckle taking the chocolate from me before I stepped closer to him, pulling him in for a quick hug.

"I'm sorry she did that to you. Now I kind of get why you don't want to trust anyone with your heart."

He nodded his head as he stepped out of my embrace before unwrapping the chocolate.

"Yeah, but I'll take your advice. I'll be on the look out for 'the one'. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop being with a different woman night after night."

I nodded my head letting out a laugh just as the elavator doors opened.

"Anyway, this is where I leave you both. I'm off to go and find a girl to take all my anger out on." Arturo wiggled his eyebrows at Santiago and I before patting Santiago on the back, making his way towards the bar in the hotel lobby.

After watching him walk away, we both stepped into the empty elevator and Santiago pulled me into his arms hugging me from behind, while I was busy unwrapping the chocolate that was supposed to be his.

"Can I have it?" I glanced over at him in the mirror on the wall in the elevator, only to find him already watching me.

"Of course you can."

I gave him a smile before putting the chocolate in my mouth and then stepping out of his embrace so that I could kiss him. My actions caused him to laugh into the kiss as I parted my lips allowing him to graze his tongue over the chocolate in my mouth.

The kiss continued as I placed a hand behind his head, pulling him closer to me as I pressed my body against his. We continued kissing until the doors eventually opened when we reached our floor.

"I didn't know you were so kinky."

I couldn't help but laugh as I took his hand, pulling him out of the elevator, starting the walk down the hallway to our suite.

"What time is it baby?" When he asked the question, Santiago gestured down to my phone in my hand.

"11:57pm." He nodded his head absentmindedly just as we reached our suite and he took out the key to open the door for us.

"Come with me." Santiago kept a hold of my hand as he pulled me towards the balcony door in the living room, causing me to frown.

"Why?"

"Let's get some fresh air." He turned back to give me a smile and eventually I nodded my head. Together we stepped outside and I walked over to the balcony railing, feeling Santiago's arms wrap around my waist as he held me in his arms, hugging me from behind.

Thanks to my new heels I was slightly taller than usual, so he could rest his chin on my shoulder a lot more easily.

"You look beautiful tonight baby." I felt him place a kiss on my cheek as I relaxed against him, enjoying the feeling of his body against mine.

"Thank you Santi."

For the next minute or two, there was a comfortable silence around us until there was suddenly a loud bang causing me to jump. For a split second I was extremely confused when Santiago didn't jump, and instead held me in his arms.

That was until I saw the gold, blue and red fireworks filling the night sky in front of us and my eyes widened in amazement.

They were amazing.

"Happy birthday my baby."

Aw 😍

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing more of Arturo in this chapter, he's my favourite 💞

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