~ Lucia's POV ~

Over the last few days, Arturo and I had been getting much closer as we spent more time together after we had our first kiss.

We hadn't gone any further than kissing which still was kind of rare, only happening when the moment was absolutely perfect.

We were a little more comfortable together now though thanks the amount of time we'd spent working together. Arturo may have been mad at Santiago but that didn't mean the work load decreased in any way.

"You're beautiful as fu-"

I shook my head at Arturo to cut him off, gently pushing his face away from me to stop him from kissing me as I looked over the documents I was holding.

"Stop it Arturo and please stop swearing so much, it's not a good habit."

I'd told him many, many times to stop swearing so much ever since we kissed and I was becoming a little more comfortable with him, but he always ignored it.

Once again he brought his face closer to mine, this time nuzzling his face into my neck as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Why can't I kiss you?" I let out a sigh when he tightened his grip on me, clearly not even paying attention to his work anymore.

"Because we're in your friends office and anyone could walk in-"

"He's not my damn friend." When he cut me off I just let out a sigh and wriggled out of his grip before I turned to face him.

"He is your friend, you're just having a disagreement."

"A disagreement? You heard what he said about you Lucia." I nodded my head, trying to ignore how worked up he was getting as soon as he remembered what Santiago had said to him three days ago in this very office.

"I know, but it doesn't matter. I don't want you to stop being friends with him because of me."

"Fine, I'll stop being friends with him because of him then."

And he's supposed to be mature.

Ever since Santiago had said that horrible stuff about me to Arturo, the two of them hadn't spoken a word apart to each other apart from having business related talks.

I knew it was hard for both of them to be angry at each other but they were too stubborn to get over it.

Instead of responding to him I just rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the documents.

Last night Arturo got a call from someone about another problem in a contract we'd written up. Since we're on a deadline to get that particular one done, we had to come to Santiago's house at 5am to fix it.

It was now almost 9am, Arturo and I were the only ones left in the office since Santiago had gone back to sleep a while ago and Sienna was watching the twins, I think.

It was quiet for a moment until we heard a commotion coming from the hallway causing us to stop working.

Just as I was about to speak, we heard Santiago call Arturo's name.

Within seconds we were both standing in the hallway and I just about caught a glimpse of Santiago holding Mackenzie in his arms as he grabbed his car keys.

"Stay with Cameron."

He didn't even give Arturo a chance to reply as he ran out the front door, still dressed in just his boxers and a T-shirt with Maddie following, also in her pyjamas.

"What just happened? Is something wrong with Mackenzie?"

Arturo shook his head as he walked towards the front door which had been left wide open, watching as Santiago sped away in his car before he eventually closed the door.

"I don't know. C-can you just watch Cameron for me? I'll track Santiago's phone and I'll go take him some clothes and find out what's wrong."

"But Arturo I don't know how to look after a child..." When he saw the apprehension on my face he stepped closer to me, pulling me in for a quick hug.

"Please do this for me Lucia, you'll be okay, Sienna is around here somewhere too."

Knowing he was desperate, I eventually nodded my head, letting out a sigh when he kissed my forehead and then rushed upstairs to get Santiago some clothes.

I'd never looked after a child before, I'd actually never been around many children before.

I was the youngest in my family and also in my extended family on both my parents sides. That meant I had no younger cousins or anything to ever give me experience with children.

The most I'd had recently was giving Mackenzie a hug when she asked for one because I called her pretty.

I let out a deep breath before going into the living room where Cameron was sitting on the couch watching a movie on his own.

Weirdly, Sienna was nowhere to be found.

At the sound of my entrance into the room, he turned to look at me, giving me a small smile.

"Hello Lucia."

I awkwardly waved my hand in response to him as I took a seat on the couch next to him. I turned my attention to the cartoon movie playing on the TV, frowning when I heard the sound of the front door closing, indicating that Arturo had left.

We sat quietly for a moment longer before Cameron tapped my arm, pointing at the remote which was on the table next to us.

"Please can you stop it? I want to find Kenzie, she is missing it."

When he said this, he pushed himself off the couch, giving me a shy smile while I took the remote and paused the movie for him.

"Um...Cameron?" When he heard me say his name he turned to look at me, waiting for me to speak. "Mackenzie has gone somewhere with mommy and daddy."

"Where?" He seemed confused for a moment before hurt over took his expression. "They left?"

"No, they're coming back they just..." I didn't know what else to say when his eyes filled with tears and he suddenly ran out of the room, causing me to jump up off the couch, following him.

"Cameron!"

He ignored me as he ran up the stairs while I was hot on his heels, running to his parents bedroom. As soon as he ran into the room, a whimper escaped his lips when he saw the room was completely empty.

"They've gone."

"Cameron, please listen to me." I slowly stepped towards him, getting down onto my knees in front of him as I took his hands.

"Mommy and daddy took Mackenzie to...a special place, she'll be back soon and she will tell you all about it."

"But why just Kenzie?" The tears began to fall from his cheeks as he stepped closer to me. Instead of replying to him since I had no clue what to say, I just pulled him in for a hug.

I was busy whispering soothing things to him as I held him in my arms for a while until he eventually calmed down and then pulled away from me.

"Lucia?" I hummed in response as I ran a hand through his hair. The action used to calm me down when I was a little girl, so maybe it helped him too?

"Please could you help me make some food?"

Why was is he so cute? He makes me want to have a child of my own.

As soon as I thought of having my own children which I've never considered before, images of Arturo and I with a baby suddenly popped into my mind.

Slow down woman, you've only just kissed him and now you're thinking of having his children.

Taking myself away from my thoughts, I nodded my head, giving him a smile as I stood to my feet, taking his hand in mine.

"How about this? We make a snack now and finish the movie together and then soon, we'll make lunch for everyone."

He nodded his head, giving me a small smile although I could tell he was still sad.

"We can make lunch for Kenzie, she will be back soon. She doesn't like to be away from me for too long."

He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone as we walked down the hallway hand in hand back towards the stairs.

"Really?" He nodded his hand, holding onto the stairs rail as we went downstairs.

"She's my twin. Mama says we were made together and that we should never be apart."

I nodded my head, giving him a soft smile.

"I agree. She's your bestfriend for life."

We spent the next twenty minutes making a snack before we sat down again to finish the movie. It was only then that Arturo came back, gesturing for me to come and speak to him in the hallway.

As soon as I stepped out of the room, I noticed the worry in his eyes.

"What happened?"

"They're at the hospital. The twins are allergic to nuts and Mackenzie ate a cookie earlier. She was having an allergic reaction when Santiago rushed her to the hospital."

My eyes widened at his words and I turned back to look at Cameron who was still watching the TV, completely oblivious to what was happening.

He thinks she's coming back in time for lunch.

"He has no idea. Arturo, is she going to be okay?"

When I turned back to look at him, he shook his head, letting out a breath.

"I...I hope so."

"Come here." I took his hand, pulling him in for a hug, trying my best to give him some kind of comfort although I knew it wouldn't really help.

He may not be speaking to Santiago right now, but Santi was the closest thing Arturo had to family. He had a special kind of love for the twins, anyone could see that.

~ Arturo's POV ~

Somehow her hug managed to calm my nerves and my anxiety, even just for those couple of moments.

I held her in my arms for another couple of moments before I kissed her cheek, stepping away from her.

"How has he been?"

Once again she glanced back into the room at Cameron before letting out a soft sigh.

"He cried when he found out that they'd all gone. He thought that they'd left him Arturo, I didn't even know what to tell him."

Reaching out I took her hand in mine, giving it a light squeeze when I saw the sadness in her eyes.

She always felt things so deeply, like she was the complete opposite to me. I found it easy to separate my emotions but she always got more involved.

This was a different situation since I loved Kenzie with all my heart so I did feel something but most of the time I didn't.

But, for example, that day I told her about my story, she cried and then gave me her cute little speech afterwards to reassure me that I wasn't broken. However, I couldn't bring myself to say much to her when she told me her story.

I did care, I just didn't know how to show it.

"Where is Sienna?" As soon as I mentioned Sienna, Lucia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, she wasn't with Cameron when I found him after you left. I haven't seen her since Santiago left to go back to sleep this morning."

But she was supposed to be watching the twins?

I let out a sigh, shaking my head in annoyance at her sudden disappearance before taking her hand, tugging her back into the living room.

As soon as we sat down, I picked Cameron up, putting the four year old in my lap before placing a kiss on his cheek.

"How you doing my little man?" He turned his head to look at me before mumbling quietly.

"I'm waiting for Kenzie to come back from her special place with mama and daddy." I nodded my head, hugging him tight against me as he turned his attention back to the TV.

"She'll be back soon."

I hope.

For the next hour Lucia and I sat with Cameron, trying to keep him talking and laughing although it was a lot harder than usual. Without Mackenzie with him, he wasn't as loud and talkative.

They were almost incomplete without each other.

"Arturo your phone." When Lucia held my phone out to me, I quickly stood up, leaving the room to answer Maddie's phone call.

"Maddie? Is everything okay?" I closed the living room door behind myself as I leaned against the wall, waiting for her to speak.

"She's okay. They managed to save her in time but..." Her voice broke and she went quiet for a moment before continuing. "The doctor said it was really close. If we took any longer to get her there, she might have..."

It was quiet between us as I closed my eyes, sickening images of what could have happened almost instantly coming to my mind.

"They want to keep her until tomorrow morning so Santiago is going to stay in her room with her overnight while I come home to be with Cameron. How is he?"

"He's as good as expected Maddie. He really misses her, and you and Santiago too. He's okay though, he's playing with Lucia right now."

I heard Maddie let out a shaky breath before she spoke again.

"I'll be back soon Arturo. I'm going to spend some time with Mackenzie first because she's not too happy about being stuck in hospital."

"Okay, give her my love." She mumbled that she would and then hung up the phone while I let out a breath of relief.

She was okay.

I took a moment before I went into the living room, taking a seat next to Lucia again on the couch.

"She's okay, they're just keeping her overnight for observations."

Almost instantly I could see the relief on her face but to my surprise, her eyes filled with tears, causing me to smile.

"Don't cry my beautiful." Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her into me.

"I know it's silly because I don't know them that well but just the thought of anything happening to her...it just makes me so sad."

I nodded my head, stroking her hair as she buried her face into my chest. We were both trying to be quiet so that Cameron wouldn't hear us from his place on the floor playing with his toys.

"It's not silly, it's just you. You're the most caring woman I've ever met and I love that about you." She lifted her head to give me a small smile before she pressed a kiss to my cheek, turning away to hide the blush that formed on her cheeks after that.

After a little while longer, we started making lunch, making a huge spread just to keep Cameron happy since he was sure Kenzie and his parents would be back for lunch.

It actually broke my heart when we were ready to eat and no one had come back yet.

It took me a while, but eventually I managed to convince him to eat and then about half an hour after that Maddie finally came home.

As soon as she set foot into the living room, Cameron jumped up and ran towards her, crashing into her legs trying to give her a hug.

"Hey baby." She managed to force a smile onto her face as she lifted him up into her arms, hugging him tightly against her chest.

"I missed you mama." She nodded her head, closing her eyes as she held him. "I missed you too baby, so much. But I kept my promise, I came back."

Cameron nodded his head before trying to get out of her arms prompting her to put him down.

"Kenzie!" He tried to walk past her, heading towards the living room door as if he expected Kenzie to be in the hallway.

"Cameron, Kenzie isn't here." As soon as those words left Maddie's mouth, Cameron turned to face her with a frown. "Baby, she's not very well so she's in a special place with special people to make her feel better."

"I want Kenzie." Madison nodded her head as she let out a shaky breath, clearly struggling to keep her own emotions in check.

"I know baby. She'll be back tomorrow, I promise."

As you can expect, Cameron couldn't handle the fact his twin wasn't with him at home and suddenly he just burst into tears.

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

I let out a deep breath before knocking on the door, gripping the leather bag tightly in my hand.

When Santiago finally opened the door, his eyes met mine and he held my stare for a moment before eventually stepping aside to let me into the room.

Stepping past him, I looked around the room for a moment before my eyes finally landed on Kenzie who was lying in the hospital bed surrounded by all the usual machines.

"Hello my little pink princess." I gave her a smile as I put the bag down on the floor, before going towards her. Her red eyes met mine and she sniffled a little before mumbling a response.

"It's purple princess."

"But I thought your favourite colour was pink?" Once again she took a moment before nodding her head. "But my princess dress is purple."

I let out an exaggerated sigh as I sat down next to her, taking her hand in mine as I wiped away some tears from her moist cheeks.

"Well, I hate being wrong so I'll get you a pink dress too."

Usually this would have made her smile but instead she just sniffled again nodding her head.

"Princesses aren't supposed to cry baby."

"I want to go home. I want Cammy and mama." Her lips pouted as her eyes filled with tears again, quickly spilling over onto her cheeks.

"I know baby girl, but this is the best place for you right now. We all just want you to get better and then tomorrow you can go home."

"I am better! I want to go home!" I flinched when she suddenly shouted at me before I let out a sigh.

"How about we call Cammy and mama? You can talk to them for a bit?"

For a moment she seemed like she was going to shout at me again but eventually she nodded her head. Turning my head, I gestured for Santiago to give me his phone and as soon as he did, I FaceTimed Maddie.

As soon as she answered it, a smile broke out on Kenzie's face when she saw her and then when she saw Cameron she started squealing causing Santiago and I to laugh.

Once Kenzie was busy talking with Cameron, I stood up and went over to Santiago who had been standing to the side of the room watching me.

It was quiet for a second before I eventually spoke.

"How are you?"

His eyes shifted away from his daughter who was finally smiling again and towards me.

"Fine."

After a second of waiting for him to say something else, I just rose an eyebrow at him which was my way of asking him if he really wasn't going to say anything else.

Eventually when he still stayed quiet I just let out a sigh, stepping back towards the door.

"I brought you some things I thought you might need and Maddie packed some stuff for Kenzie too. I guess I'll see you...whenever I see you."

Just as I was about to say goodbye to Kenzie from the door, Santiago spoke up stopping me from doing so.

"Thank you Arturo. For everything, not just for the bag."

He cleared his throat awkwardly before he continued, dropping the volume of his voice a little.

"And I'm sorry. I'll apologise properly to Lucia too, I shouldn't have said any of that and..."

When he looked like he was struggling to think of what else to add to his apology I couldn't help the amused smile that broke out onto my lips.

"As long as you say sorry to her then we're good bro, I won't put you through this awful apology any longer."

As soon as I said this, relief flashed in his eyes and he stepped towards me, pulling me in for a hug. As he stepped away from me he let out a sigh, leaning against the wall next to me.

"I lied to you...I'm not fine. I feel like I'm losing my mind Arturo. These last few days have taken everything out of me."

"What happened? Was it the pills?" The last thing that I'd heard about was the third threat which sent to Maddie, other than that I had no clue what could have put Santiago in such a low mood over the last few days.

I knew it wasn't normal for him to say shit like he did about Lucia, but I guess I was too angry to even care.

"Not just the pills. I never mentioned to you that Cameron had nightmares about Maddie and I leaving him. I once promised I would never leave him and so did Maddie but then we went to Mexico for so long. His nightmares came back while we were gone and I guess he had one the other day because he wouldn't stop crying. He told Maddie that we broke the promise."

As Santiago spoke all I could see was guilt in his eyes, something I'd never seen much of from him before.

In our line of work you don't get guilty easily, you train yourself to block it out.

"You blame yourself?"

"Of course I do. It's my fault. Everything is my fault Arturo, the threats, Cameron getting so upset-"

"Shut the hell up for a second. It's not your fault Santiago. You're not making anyone threaten you, you never forced anyone to stab you and Maddie made her own choice to stay with you in Mexico. That wasn't even a wrong choice, there are no wrong choices Santiago. You were dying, she didn't come to Mexico for a vacation."

"But-"

As soon as he tried to speak, I cut him off, giving him a glare.

"No buts. Santiago none of this is your fault. This freaking life isn't your fault, it was your father who forced you into it. Your past with Maddie wasn't your fault either that was your father again and those two idiots. Yes you've made mistakes along the way but everyone does. None of this is your fault."

Oh crap...

I'm starting to sound like Lucia.

"When did you become so caring and wise?" Santiago gave me an amused smile although I knew he was just trying to downplay the seriousness of what I said.

"Lucia."

"You really like her don't you?" For the first time I admitted it to someone other than myself as I nodded my head. "I do. She's been through so much Santi and yet she never let any of it change her. She's so pure."

When I said this he nodded his head in understanding before he let out a sigh.

"You know she can't stay with us though, right?"

His words came out just below a murmur as if he was trying to soften the blow of what he was saying.

Of course I knew, I just never let myself think about it, I knew I would find a way.

"We can talk to Hugo."

"It doesn't work like that Arturo. You heard Vidal that day when he told us what he went through to get himself out of the cartel to be with his wife. If her family owes them a debt, they'll never let her leave Mexico."

Clenching my jaw as I listened to him try to give me a reality check, I turned my gaze back to Mackenzie instead of Santi.

"It's still a long way off Santiago. We have a lot of money to spend and deals to make before she needs to go."

"I know. I just don't want you to fall too hard bro, I don't want to see you get hurt."

I nodded my head without another word and Santiago took that as his cue to end the conversation there.

I'll find a way.

We watched Kenzie speak to Cameron for a little while longer before they eventually ended the call and then she turned her attention back to us.

At least she wasn't crying anymore.

"Daddy?" She gave Santiago a cheesy smile as she sat up in her bed a little as he walked over to her.

"Yes baby?

"I need to go potty." Her words caused me to crack a small smile while Santiago laughed, nodding his head as he helped her out of the bed.

As he guided her over to the bathroom in her room, she turned around to give him a cute little glare.

"I'm four now daddy, I can go alone."

Santiago definitely looked surprised at her words but instead just nodded his head and she happily went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Before I could start teasing him about getting shot down by a four year old, the door to Kenzie's hospital room opened and a nurse came in with a cart full of food.

"Oh, where is she?" The young nurse pouted when she saw the empty bed and then turned to look at Santiago and I, her eyes widening a little when she saw us.

I guess we didn't exactly look like the kind of men you'd find in a little girl's hospital room, especially with our tattoos and the default glares on our faces.

"Bathroom."

It took her a moment but eventually she nodded her head, leaving the cart next to the bed.

"This is all the food she wanted. Everything is 100% nut free but the only things missing are the candyfloss, blueberry jelly doughnuts and the pink jelly beans, I couldn't find any unfortunately."

"I paid you to get her everything she wanted, not just some of it." My eyes widened a little when Santiago stepped forward, giving her a threatening glare.

"But s-sir I couldn't find them."

"You think I care? You should have gone to a shop that had them."

The nurse looked at Santiago with so much fear as she stumbled back a little.

"I don't have a car. Perhaps your boyfriend could drive to a store?" She gestured over to me causing my eyes to widen again while Santiago just looked seriously offended.

I mean, come on, I'm not that bad.

"He's not my boyfriend. Just get the hell out before I have you fired." She quickly nodded her head, rushing out of the room while I just stood there in shock.

"That really wasn't necessary." As soon as the door closed Santiago turned to look at me, shrugging his shoulders as he smirked.

"But it was funny."

Rolling my eyes at his response, I went over to the cart full of food, looking through all the different things Mackenzie had requested.

There was her hot dinner on a plate too but the rest of the items were snacks and treats.

"You know, it's a good thing she's here because if she eats all of this she's just going to throw it all up again."

As I spoke I gestured over to the hospital bed before reaching out to take a slice of cake. She'd requested an entire chocolate cake as if she knew it was my favourite.

"Thats for my daughter, not for you."

"But-"

"No." He just gave me a cold glare cutting me off.

"Santi just one-"

"Leave it."

"But I haven't eaten since-" Before I could even get my sentence out, the bathroom door opened revealing a very angry four year old girl.

"That's my cake!"

I turned my head to look Kenzie as she folded her arms before I turned to look at Santiago who was doing the same thing causing me to roll my eyes.

"Like father, like daughter."

After giving me a glare, Kenzie got back into her bed and Santiago gave her some food. Instead of taking any of it, I just decided to torture myself by looking at all of it.

All the delicious, chocolatey, sugary, creamy, papery...

"There's a note."

When my eyes landed on an envelope which hidden behind a packet of some strawberry laces, I took it out and handed it to Santiago.

"Probably the nurse asking for more money or something. She couldn't even get all the things on the list and now she wants more money."

I stood next to him as he ripped opened the envelope without any care, causing a red ball to roll out of it.

Neither of us said a word as we watched the ball fall to the floor and roll, stopping a few feet away from us.

There was no way either of us missed the number four on it either.

"Santi..."

Ignoring me, Santiago quickly checked the envelope for a note, pulling it out when he found it. Since I was looking over his shoulder, I could also see the words.

'#4 - did she enjoy the peanut butter cookie?'

I'm pretty sure I felt my heart drop as I glanced at the note and then over at Kenzie in her hospital bed, putting two and two together.
Santiago remained tense beside me as he gripped the note so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.

When he eventually spoke, his voice was so quiet and yet held so much anger.

"They're the ones who gave her the cookie? They got in my house. They tried to kill my daughter. They tried to..."

As he spoke his voice broke but not with sadness like you would expect, instead it was with anger, a level of anger I'd never seen in him before.

He couldn't even bring himself to speak as he clenched his jaw, crumpling the note up into his hand.

This suddenly just got a whole lot more serious.

It's going a little slow but I'm trying to build up the suspense.

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I'm currently trying to write a paper for university and it's so weird how I can easily write 6000 words for a chapter on Wattpad and yet I struggle to write 1000 words for a history paper 😩

Wattpad has ruined me