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Even two weeks after that night I still couldn't find a way to get her out of my head. I tried everything - work, gym, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol - everything apart going to another woman like most men do.

I couldn't do that. She was the only one I wanted and I already knew the thought of being with another woman just repulsed me. I could never do it.

But if we were completely over like she made it seem, then I wasn't sure how I'd ever move on again in the future. She took my freaking heart with her when she walked out of the gym.

I hurt the one person I never wanted to hurt, in the worst way possible. It just all happened and I stood there in the gym watching everything unravel completely out of my control.

"Roman?" The sound of Alex's tentative voice caused me shift my gaze away from my laptop, giving him a cold look. "What?"

"Your dad wants us in his office for a meeting." His nervous expression only angered me more while he stood awkwardly in the doorway of my office. "Fine. I'll be there in five minutes."

Turning back to the work I was doing, I was aware of him still standing there although I didn't bother to acknowledge him. "Do you want to go for a drink later?"

He'd been asking me that damn question everyday for the last week. It's as if he thought one day I was going to just suddenly change my mind.

My silence gave him my answer to his question. He let out a sigh, leaving me to finish my work before the meeting. Once I was done, I headed down the hallway to my father's office.

"Roman, take a seat." The moment I walked in, I resisted the urge to turn around and leave when I saw it was only my father and Alex in the room. Doing my best not to look at Alex, I sat down on one of the chairs across from my father's desk, waiting for him to get to the point.

For the next half an hour he talked us through some upcoming business deals that he had, one of which was of much importance to him.

"I want you and Alex to handle this one. It'll be good for you to go to Caracas yourselves, without any interference from myself or your grandfather. Think of it as the ultimate test."

Maybe a business trip to Venezuela is exactly what I need - just to get the hell away from here.

"Fine but I can go alone. I don't need him." My response caused Alex's head to snap in my direction while my father's gaze only hardened. "Roman, that's not up for discussion. Alex is going to be your right hand man. He will accompany you on every trip like this in the future, including this one."

"Like I said, I don't need him." When I refused to back down, my father shook his head glancing over at Alex then he looked at me again. "This has gone on for long enough, Roman. I can see whatever this is, it's hurting both you and Alex. But as soon as it starts to hurt the cartel then it becomes my concern."

This time I refused to answer him causing him to turn his attention towards Alex instead. "What is this about Alex?"

"I..." I knew exactly why he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to piss me off more by telling my father something I didn't want him to know about.

"Roman, neither of you are leaving this office until you tell me. So you might as well stop wasting all our time. I haven't seen you like this before. I have no clue what's going on with you." I think he meant he'd never seen me so broken before.

Nothing had ever affected me the way this had. But even if it did in the past, I would never have shown my emotions so clearly to my family. This time I didn't give a damn if anyone saw it.

"Tell me what it's about. That's an order."

"Dad-"

"Now Roman!" His sudden outburst caused me to clench my jaw, glancing over at Alex before I let out a sigh.

"Isadora."

The moment I mentioned her name, his eyes suddenly blazed with anger. "A girl? Are you being serious? ¿Estás dejando que una chica se interponga entre ustedes? ¡Han sido mejores amigos desde los tres años!" (You're letting some girl get between you? You've been best friends since you were three years old!)

Of course he'd think that.

"She's not the problem. It's him."

The perplexed expression on my father's face made total sense since I hadn't told him about the drug sales through the gym. I hadn't told him anything actually. The only people who knew exactly what happened that day were Elías and Renata, only because they forced it out of me.

I wasn't so mad at Alex about the drug deal, only because I didn't exactly have the right to be. Yes it was freaking stupid for him to use her gym, but that was our life - drug deals in the most unexpected of places. We were constantly surrounded by it. But it was my life as much as his and I also helped him even if it was only that one time when she came into the gym.

So being mad at him for that would only make me a hypocrite since I didn't do much to stop him.

But I was mad at the way he tried to scare her into keeping her mouth shut and not go to the police.

He knew she would have been scared by the way she saw us threaten those two men. She was too stubborn to show any fear, but we all knew it was there. He just played on her emotions to scare her even more. I guess that's not even the worst part - it was the fact he tried to make her think I would ever in a million freaking years, be okay with someone threatening her.

I would never let anyone hurt her, or suggest they would hurt her.

Alex learned that the hard way
the moment he tried to talk to me at the gym. I swung my fist in his direction, twice, giving him a black eye and a busted lip. After that, I didn't acknowledge him again until it came to business meetings like this where I was forced to.

Taking the chance, I finally told my father all the events that happened that day. I explained to him that I was just waiting for the right time to tell her but then she found out anyway. I told him about the conversation we had in the gym and the little cherry on top that Alex added right at the end.

As if she wasn't already heartbroken enough, he decides to go in and threaten her.

For a while he sat there digesting the information, glancing between myself and Alex who smartly chose to stay quiet while I told the story.

"You love her, don't you?"

I didn't see the point in trying to hide it anymore, even if I did hesitate to answer him.

"Yes."

I knew it the moment I realised she'd seen the whole thing and that I was undoubtedly going to lose her.

"You haven't tried to talk to her? To explain?"

"No, Dad. I can't. She meant it when she said she never wanted to see me again. If I ever do get the chance to speak to her I don't want to ruin it in advance by pushing her to listen to me when she's not ready."

I think that made sense? I'm not really sure but it did in my head.

Instead of saying anything else about Isadora for the moment, my father turned his attention back to Alex instead.

"He's like your brother, Roman. He made a mistake, but you can't stay mad at him forever."

"Maybe not, but I'm nowhere near ready to even think about getting over this. He knew how I felt about her and he still said it."

"I did it for the cartel, Roman." When he spoke for the first time, I could easily detect the hint of anger in his tone.

Good, that wounded puppy act was getting old.

"And how did you figure that one out?" I rose an eyebrow at him doing my best to stay calm. He let out a scoff. "You were going to let her walk out of the gym in that state! Of course someone had to warn her not to go to the police. I did you a freaking favour."

"A favour? How the hell did you do me a favour?"

If anything he just made it worse.

"Because you didn't have to be the one to tell her not to go the police. I did it for you. Not to mention the freaking fact I could have saved you from going to prison again."

I knew in some way he had a point, but something in me refused to accept that at the time. So instead I just shook my head giving him a glare. "You don't know that she would have gone to the police. That didn't give you the right to threaten her."

"Alex is right, Roman. He shouldn't have threatened her, but you don't know if she would have gone. She may have loved you too but that didn't mean she wasn't hurt. Three men she trusted betrayed her in the worst way possible. She could have reacted to it by going to the police. So in a way, he did do you a favour. He did it so that you didn't have to."

Shaking my head, I turned back towards my father shifting my glare towards him instead.

"I'm not forgiving him."

"I didn't ask your freaking forgiveness, Roman. I don't want it. I didn't want to do that to her. You know I see her like my little sister. But I had to - to protect all of us, including you." Turning my head, I found him glaring at me. "She was my friend too, Roman. I care about her."

"No you don't. If you cared you never would have done this in the first place. Why the hell did you even befriend her when you knew what you were doing behind her back?"

For once he didn't have an answer, instead he made a move to get up when my father quickly stopped him.

"Sit back down, Alex. We're not done here." As expected Alex didn't argue, sitting back down to listen to what he had to say. "I don't care what this girl means to either of you. Now, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but there's a high chance you've both lost her for good. So don't lose each other. Alex just apologise to him for what you did and Roman apologise for hitting him."

"Hell no. He deserved it and I didn't even hit him that hard." Alex had a fading cut on his lip while unfortunately the black eye had already healed.

"Yes you freaking did, it hurt."

"Good." I sent him a glare and Alex easily returned it, refusing to be the first one to back down. A silence fell around us until my father groaned, leaning back in his leather chair while rubbing his temples. "You both sound like children. I'm letting a pair of children take over my cartel."

"Then let me change my second in command."

Of course I didn't want that. Alex was my best friend and he always would be. I'd take a freaking bullet for him and they both freaking knew it. But I was trying to throw a tantrum.

"You wouldn't last a day without me by your side and you know it, Roman."

"Really? I lasted two freaking years in prison away from you just fine."

"Oh please. You were just as miserable then as you are now." When he muttered those words my father shook his head, closing his eyes. "I'm going to kill myself."

"Before you do, can you kill him too?" My request caused him to crack open one eye, giving me an incredulous look. I nodded in understanding. "Fine, you don't need to kill yourself too. Just kill him."

For the first time that day my father cracked a grin while Alex just rolled his eyes next to me. "Can the two of you just make up? I have work to do."

"I'll make up with him when he apologises then."

Alex scoffed.

"Fine. Roman I'm sorry that I threatened the love of your life, and I'm sorry that you're too much of an idiot to see I did it to save your ass."

"You son of a bit-"

"That's enough! Roman, you got what you wanted now shake his hand and put this whole thing to bed." My father gave me one of those glares he likes to save for when he really means business. It was also one you really couldn't ignore unless you had a death wish.

Begrudgingly I stuck my hand out to shake Alex's. The moment he clasped his hand in mine, I used all my strength to squeeze his hand causing him to groan.

"Roman let go, it hurts." The pained look on his face caused a wave of satisfaction to wash through me.

"Good."

I held on for a moment longer before I finally let his hand go, watching as he rubbed it gingerly. So maybe it wasn't mature, but I was still pissed and if I was being forced to be friends with him, I was sure as hell going to get the last word in.

"So are we good now, Roman?"

"Whatever." Standing to my feet, I made a move to head towards the door when my father stopped me again. "I want the two of you to go for that drink that Alex suggested. Then tomorrow you come back in with a better attitude to prepare for your trip to Caracas."

Deciding not to argue with him anymore, I nodded my head reaching for the door handle. Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

"You freaking told on me?" Turning back to look at Alex, I found him smirking as he shrugged his shoulders. "I've wanted to go for a drink with you for days and you wouldn't come with me. I had to do something."

What a sneaky little shit.

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

It didn't take long for Alex and I to get back to normal, especially after he did give me more of a heartfelt apology that day in the car on the way to the bar.

A few days passed by while we prepared for our business trip to Caracas during our 'business hours'. Then we drank away our sorrows on our down time. Well, I was drinking my sorrows away, Alex just came along as my drinking buddy.

"You're going out again tonight? Roman, this isn't you."

Rolling my eyes, I held onto Renata's hand as we walked through the woods behind our house on our usual route.

"You're saying that like I'm off sleeping with different women every night. It's just a few drinks Renata."

And a couple of blunts.

Maybe a line of cocaine.

"A few drinks and then you spend the whole morning sleeping off your hangover."

"Now you're telling me off for sleeping?"

"That's not it and you know it. Don't try to annoy me, Roman. You used to be an early riser, you'd work out and eat healthy food and spend your day productively. Now you just sleep, work and drink."

I knew she had a point, but it's not like I could do anything else. The alcohol and the drugs were the only thing helping me to sleep at night. Otherwise I would just think about her.

All the damn time.

"Roman I know you're hurting, but doing this to yourself isn't going to make anything better. All you're going to do is ruin your chances of taking over from dad this year. If you screw it up, you have to wait until next year."

Rather than responding straight away, I stayed quiet as we walked. When we finally reached the clearing I let go of her hand to take a cigarette out of my pocket and light it. Using the calming influence of the nicotine, I exhaled the smoke before I turned to look at my little sister.

"What if I'm not ready? Abuelo was right that day when he said I need a wife to keep me grounded and to support me. I need her, Renata. I don't think I can do it without her."

I sat down on the same rocks by the pond we always sit at, watching as she sat down next to me.

"Nobody is worth throwing your entire future away for." It was almost like she expected my glare, because she quickly continued before I could share my disagreement with her words. "I've never met her, and I'm sure she's a lovely person. But you've worked so hard for this. You've lost so much in the process too, remember?"

I knew instantly she was referring to Lucero and the fact that our father choosing me to take over meant I lost him as my brother.

"I'm just saying, Roman, I know you love her and I really hope that somehow in the future you end up with her. But for now, you have to think of yourself, no matter how much it hurts you. I'll be here, we're all here for you."

Nodding my head, I took another drag of the cigarette relishing in the feeling of the smoke filling my lungs, relaxing me almost instantly.

"So you want me to slow down on the drinking?" Raising an eyebrow at her, I waited for her to nod before I sighed. "Okay."

"And the smoking too."

"Sure. I'll just stop eating too as well if you want to take everything away from me." The irritation in my tone caused her to smile as she rested her head on my shoulder.

Neither of us said a word for a while, enjoying the serenity of the woods around us after being stuck in that house all day.

There were no doors slamming, no shouting, no video games or music playing, no noise - just pure silence.

"Everyday I get this urge to text her, or call her, just to see how she is." When I broke the silence after a few minutes, Renata lifted her head off my shoulder to look at me. "Maybe you should."

"I keep thinking that. I think maybe I should just go against my judgment because clearly my decision not to tell her about who I was for so long just backfired completely. But then I keep thinking that she'd just want space, that she needs it. I don't want to be selfish and push her to talk to me when I'm the one who screwed up so bad."

"It wasn't all your fault, Roman." She murmured those words, just like she did when I first told her what happened between Izzy and I. "Yes it was. I was the one who didn't tell her and then I freaking slept with her and then I still didn't tell her. Then she found out in the worst way."

I know I went about it all wrong, but I just never expected it to get so freaking messy. I didn't intend on sleeping with her but my self control went out the freaking window when she kissed me. But I also didn't expect her to come into the gym that day.

I was supposed to go to her house but Alex said he had one more thing to do at the gym. I was too busy worrying about what I was going to say to Izzy that I was barely even paying attention to what was going on around me. He asked me for help at the gym and I did what I needed to do to finish off there as quickly as I could so that I could go and tell her everything.

But then I turned around and there she was with that look of pure heartbreak and betrayal on her face.

"You screwed up, but I think everyone is blowing this whole thing out of proportion. So you guys used her dead grandfather's gym to sell cocaine for two years all the while keeping all the profits to yourselves while lying to her and pretending to care about her, so what?" When she put it like that I just sat there giving her an incredulous look causing her to let out a sigh. "You're right, it's really freaking bad."

"I didn't even know about it though, not properly. It's hard to explain - I knew Alex had something going on with Jackson but I never bothered to ask."

That was something I don't think I'd ever be able to explain to Isadora if I got the chance.

For me, drug deals were nothing. My father would be setting one up next to me while my mother would be busy talking about her favourite pasta recipe. They just happened at all times during the day, wherever I was.

When I found out Alex had a deal with Jackson it just didn't raise any alarm bells. It should have, but it didn't. I was so focussed on catching up on everything I'd missed while I was in prison that it just didn't matter to me. Then, whenever anyone mentioned Isadora's gym or her cousin, my mind soon became too engrossed with her to care about anything else.

"I get it Roman, and she will, one day. You have to remember that she doesn't know anything about your life or your reality. She doesn't even know you went to prison. When you tell her and take some time to explain it to her, she'll get it."

"You're saying that like she's going to call me any minute to ask me to come and talk to her. She told me she never wants to see me again, Renata."

While everyone had been trying to convince me to have hope that she'd change her mind, I was the only one who saw that look in her eye. She was absolutely determined to never see me again, I just knew it.

Even if she did, after I tell her everything, including about my past with Evander, she'll run for the hills.

"Girls change their minds all the time."

Rolling my eyes, I put my cigarette out as I stood to my feet while she pouted her lips. "Come on, its getting dark."

"Can you carry me? I'm tired."
When she refused to get up off the rocks, I begrudgingly agreed. Once she stood up, I lifted her up onto my back, giving her a piggyback ride to the house.

By the time we got back the sky was considerably darker than when we left, and the house was a lot busier since it was pretty late in the evening. Heading inside through the back door in the kitchen, I put Renata back down just as my mother came rushing into the kitchen.

"Ah, you're back. Renata help me make the dinner for tonight, I'm already late."

"I can't." Her response caused me to smile while my mother suddenly stopped in her tracks to glare at her. One thing to note about my mother was that she was much scarier than our father when she wanted to be. "And why not?"

"I...I have...um...have...to...watch..."
Renata nervously stuttered under our mother's heated gaze. Taking the chance, I leaned in to whisper an answer to her knowing she'd fall for my little trap. Without even registering what I said, she said it out loud.

"Porn."

The moment she said that word like I expected, I let out a loud laugh while my mother stared at her in pure shock.

"Renata!"

"I didn't mean that. It was Roman!" Of course since my mother always believed Renata, the two of them turned send me accusatory glares. I smiled, heading over to press a kiss to my mother's cheek. "Apologise to your sister, Roman."

"For what?"

"For trying to corrupt me with your dirty thoughts." Renata's words caused me to roll my eyes, heading towards the door. "Fine, I'm sorry. Have fun cooking."

"Screw you, Roman." As I headed out of the kitchen her words were very quickly followed by my mother's reprimanding tone. "Renata!"

A chuckle escaped my lips as I walked through the hallway, heading towards my father's office when a lone figure sitting in the dimly lit living room caught my eye.

"Catalina?"

The sound of my voice caused her head to snap in my direction, allowing me to see her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Hi."

"What's the matter, mi pequeña?" (My little one)

"Nothing." Shrugging her shoulders she let out a breath while wiping her cheeks. Shaking my head, I went and sat down next to her causing her to turn to face me on the couch. "Talk to me, what's the matter?"

"I just had a bad day at school, that's all."

"Why? Was it that son of a bitch?" My question caused her to frown, fiddling with the edge of her school skirt.

"No, it wasn't. I was late to class this morning so I got detention even though it wasn't even my fault but now mom is angry with me. Then the kid I was doing my presentation with didn't show up to school so I had to do it without him but I think I did really bad. Then my lunch got cold because I got sidetracked talking to a teacher. Oh, and Nora said she won't be my friend anymore."

Nora?

By the time she finished explaining her day, her eyes welled up with tears again prompting me to pull her into my arms for a hug. Taking some time I did my best to calm her down, telling her a few jokes to make her laugh through her tears.

It worked every time.

"Do you know why Nora isn't my friend anymore? I thought we were friends and everything was going good at school now that Sawyer is being nice. Nora and I had a little group we always hung out with but now Nora isn't part of it."

She rambled to me, explaining everything. Immediately the guilt filled me. "It's my fault, Catalina."

"Your fault? How? You mean because of her sister or something?" She pulled away from me causing me to frown, nodding my head. "Isadora probably told her not to talk to you now that she knows who we are."

"Wait, she knows? Is that why you've been so sad recently?" I leaned back into the couch keeping her hand in mine. "Yeah. I'm so sorry, Catalina. I didn't mean for this to hurt you too."

Letting out a shaky breath, my niece shook her head giving me a sad smile.

"It's okay, Uncle Roman. It wasn't your fault. If I wanted to be close friends with Nora she would have found out eventually. I can't exactly hide who I am from everyone I ever meet. Sooner or later they'll find out."

"Hey." When she looked away from me dejectedly, I reached out to turn her face back towards me. "Don't say that, Catalina. Don't ever be ashamed of who you are, do you understand me? Sure, technically to some people, our cartel is illegal. But people will judge you for everything you ever do - illegal or not. Be proud of you who you are, and what your family has built, okay?"

My words caused a small smile tug at her lips as she nodded her head, although the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"We don't need anyone else if we have each other, Catalina. Family is all that matters. I promise you - family will never leave you."

"I love you, Uncle Roman." She whispered those words, wrapping her arms around me for a hug just as someone came into the living room behind us.

"Can I have a hug too?" Pulling away from me, she turned to look at Elías who was pouting. Although he was trying to make her smile, I could see the concern for his niece in his eyes when he realised she'd been crying.

"No, I prefer Uncle Roman."

"But I'm the one bought you that ice cream the other year." He came over to where we were sitting, forcefully tugging her off the couch and into his arms. "Exactly, the other year."

"Fine, then let's go for ice cream right now. Get your coat, Kitty Cat." I couldn't help but chuckle when he used the nickname she absolutely hated. "My name is Catalina, not Kitty Cat."

"Whatever." Waving her off, he dragged her out of the living room with me following close behind them. "Joanna! Renata! Lucero! Mama! Dad!"

He suddenly started screaming for everyone in the middle of the hallway, almost bursting my ear drums in the process.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Moments later the rest of our family emerged from different directions, coming to find out why he was screaming the freaking house down.

"Elías, I'm trying to start the cooking, is something wrong?"

"Nothings wrong. Please just get your coat, mama." His words caused her to frown but before she could question him, my father spoke. "What is it, Elías? I'm trying to work. Roman, I've been waiting for you to-"

Thankfully before my father could tell me off for not coming to his office for the conference call we were supposed to have, Elías jumped in.

"The Alvarez family is going out for ice cream. No objections."

He held onto Catalina's hand and soon everyone also seemed to notice she'd been crying. It seemed like everything else lost it's importance when they realised why Elías was doing this.

There wasn't anything we wouldn't do for Catalina. It had been like that since she was born. Although my parents weren't happy that Joanna had a baby at 16 years old, the moment they laid eyes on Catalina, they didn't care as much anymore.

Weirdly she was the thing that completed our family.

Just like that, Joanna rushed over to find out what was wrong while Elías pretty much forced everyone outside and into two cars so that we could go to our favourite ice cream place.

Like I said, when it comes down to it, family is all that matters.

We split into two cars, and of course since the whole family was going, we had four cars of security guards following us.

When we got to Catalina's favourite ice cream parlour, Lucero slipped the manager some cash and she closed the shop. That allowed us to have it all to ourselves with our armed guards standing at the doors and some watching from across the street.

Having the entire Alvarez family in one unprotected building was the prefect target for our enemies.

You can never be too careful.

"What flavour do you want?" I asked Catalina the most important question of the evening and soon the entire family was waiting for her to decide.

So there we stood - myself, my parents and my four siblings all staring at the 16 year old girl who was analysing all the different ice cream flavours.

If there was a picture that said 'Catalina is the princess of the family', that would be the one.

"I think..." She pouted her lips and a light frown formed on her face as she gazed over all the ice creams.

"I'm dying here." Lucero groaned out those words, dropping down on a table near to the counter. Everyone pretty much glared at him immediately. "I meant, I'm dying out of anticipation of the flavour she's going to finally hurry the hell up and choose."

"Leave my snugbug alone." Renata flashed Lucero a glare causing him to roll his eyes.

"I think I want, one scoop of blueberry cheesecake, one scoop of mint chocolate and one scoop of chocolate. With marshmallows and chocolate sauce, but don't let the sauce touch the blueberry cheesecake scoop. I want it in a cup please."

Once she was done with the fussiest ice cream order ever, that usual light was back in her eyes as she watched the woman put her cup together.

Pulling her into my arms I pressed a kiss on her head causing her to smile at me. Unfortunately, our mushy moment was cut short when the rest of the Alvarez family pushed us aside so they could choose their own flavours.

Once it comes to ice cream, it's every man for himself in this family.

Since there were eight of us, it took a while before we were all seated together. I stuck with a scoop of blueberry cheesecake and a scoop of vanilla, while everyone else went crazy and piled their cups high with three or four scoops and toppings too.

It was only my parents who got one to share. But they did also go a little crazy - mostly because of my father.

"Be careful, José. Too much sugar isn't good for a man of your age." My mother eyed my dad who was just about to eat his first bite of his chocolate ice cream. His excitement for the frozen treat dropped and he lowered his spoon turning to look at his wife.

"Do you have to do that now? Just let me enjoy my ice cream in peace, woman."

"Your ice cream? You mean our ice cream." With that my mother snatched the cup from him, using her spoon to take a bite out of the chocolate scoop.

The fact it was the very piece my father was about to have only caused him to glare at her while the rest of us watched on. As usual.

"Oh I bet you enjoyed that, Valeria."

"I did."

"Well you should be careful. A woman of your age shouldn't be eating so much sugar either." His little jab caused her mouth to drop open. He took an exaggerated bite of the ice cream as if he was trying to make a point.

"José Manuel Alvarez! No me vuelvas a hablar así delante de mis hijos o que así me ayude Dios-" (Do not speak to me like that in front of my children again or so help me God-)

Before she could finish her sentence, a spoonful of ice cream was placed in her mouth by her husband. "Hush, woman. Just eat."

A laugh escaped my lips when I saw the menacing glare she gave him, although it soon morphed into a smile.

They were so in love, even after all these years and everything they'd gone through with my father being the boss of Los Ángeles del Armagedón. They never let it break them apart, they held each other together.

"I'm not happy with you, José." My mother shook her head as she ate her ice cream, passing the cup over to her husband so that he could have a bite too.

"I will make you very happy tonight Valeria, don't worry."

"José!"
"Dad!"
"Ew."
"Come on man, I'm trying to eat here."
"That's so gross."
"Nah, I'm done."
"Not cool man, get a room."

The sudden loud shouts did nothing to faze the current leader of the cartel who just sat there with a mischievous smile, taking another bite of his ice cream.

"Don't you have any shame, old man?" Lucero flashed our father a disgusted look causing a few chuckles around the table.

"I would have thought you'd all be happy I was offering your mother a foot massage. But I guess not."

"Okay, we all know that's not what you meant." Elías shook his head, for once finding the topic of sex disgusting.

"Can we just not? I'm trying to eat my ice cream without throwing up." Renata grimaced at the thought, leaning back in her seat.

"You know, before any of you kids were born, your mother and I were quite adventurous." My father spoke with a fondness and humour lacing his tone, clearly just trying to get a rise out of us and our mother.

"José, stop. These children won't be able to handle the stories of our riveting and scandalous past." My mother shook her head with a teasing grin, apparently deciding to join our father in trying to make our lives hell.

"Mama." I gave her a pleading look to which she just laughed.

"Is it really that hard to imagine your parents have a life other than raising you monsters?"

But were we really monsters?

"No, I don't mind the thought of you knitting or some shit like that. But that, no thank you, I'd rather die." Elías's comment caused us all to laugh, including my father. My mother was the only one who took offence to the language and the knitting comment.

"I'm not that old, Elías."

"Well." My father mumbled his little comment more to himself, but she heard it anyway. She had ears like a hawk.

"Carry on José, go on. One more comment like that and you'll be sleeping in the guest room. Maybe I'll finally get a good night sleep without you snoring next to me all night."

"No, you'd miss me too much Valeria." My father gave her knowing smile, feeding her another spoonful of ice cream. "Remember last time you sent me to the guest room? You called me back after half an hour."

"That's because all the children were gone that night and I needed some company." She brushed off his comment but all he did was smile. "Sure Valeria, I believe you."

Although my parents bickered this way all the time, it was so clear to see they loved each other.

In a weird way, it was bittersweet for me sitting there in the ice cream parlour watching their exchanges. On one hand I was happy to watch them, it made me happy to know they got on and that they had each other through everything.

But then it also reminded me of what I had with Izzy. I imagined that we would have been like that as we got older. Just like we did when we were friends, we would probably throw jibes and banter back and forth, but in the end we'd always laugh.

But that was just a dream now.

Now I just had to focus on my family and my place in the cartel.

Family is all that matters.

What did you guys think? It's sad to see them apart 💔 But I do love Roman's family and all their drama 🥲

The next chapter is going to be Izzy's POV of the next few weeks after it all came out in the gym.

Thank you for reading!! Don't forget to vote and comment ❤️