I was hyperventilating.

He knows.

He saw my scars.

They are super ugly.

That's the least of your concerns, Verena! So what if they are ugly? 

It's not like he will have to endure them for the rest of his life.

"Veve?" Alvaro called with my new cute nickname to get my attention, and I smiled at him, ignoring Izan's intense glare from across the room. He had not said anything the whole time I played with Alvaro and his toys, and we had been playing for hours. 

Is he just observing... or is he planning a murder?

"Alvaro, time to go home." Izan's words made Alvaro cling to my neck, the same way I did to Izan at the mall, and I laughed at his cuteness while blushing at my actions.

"No!"

"Alvaro, I won't repeat myself. She needs to rest, and you are way past your bedtime." It was already ten in the evening. Alvaro huffed in annoyance but released my neck and looked at me with his beautiful green eyes. 

I did not want him to leave, but I had a few documents to translate for tomorrow.

"Buenas noches, Veve," he kissed my nose, taking me by surprise, but I didn't mind it.

"Goodnight, buddy," I replied as I kissed his forehead. 

I will be a good mom one day.

Where did that come from, Verena?

From your mommy and daddy issues.

Why am I roasting myself?

Izan carried him and walked to the door. "I will drop him off and be right back. We need to talk."

Time to hide.

~~~

"Verena?" I heard Izan call from downstairs, but I didn't dare make a sound. I was hiding in his closet while working on some documents. He gave me a laptop, and I intended to use it whenever I got the chance, even if I was literally hiding from confrontation. 

Finding me would take him a while since he wouldn't think I would enter his room without his permission.

Yeah, right. It's not the king's chamber.

But he does own the house, Verena.

Oh, shut up!

"Verena!" His voice got louder, and I began to feel uncomfortable, not being able to focus on my job. I didn't want to talk about the scars, so it was my right to hide. "Vera," this time, he sounded so frantic that he used a nickname, which was adorable. "Ay dios mío, please don't be kidnapped," he yelled as he opened each door like a beast. It was time to end his panic attack. [Oh my God.]

"In here," I called, and the slamming of the doors stopped. I heard rapid footsteps and just prayed that he wouldn't beat the heck out of me. "In the closet, but I'm not lesbian. I'm straight as a pole, but I don't mind people being lesbians. I'm cool with that. They do them, rig-" I shut up when he slid the closet door open and stared at me. 

He was sweating. He looked smoking hot. If only I could just touch his tattoos. "Hey there," I smiled as I put the laptop down and crossed my legs.

"Fucking hell!" he muttered, then crouched down so fast that I flinched out of habit. I wasn't a coward; my body was. 

Without warning, he wrapped his muscular arms around my body, hugging me like I was a teddy bear. 

I was shocked because I had never thought, not in a million years, that he would touch me willingly. He was always making a disgusted face around me. Or did I misinterpret his facial expressions?

After a minute of silence, the only sound was our breathing. "I fucking thought some son of a bitch took you," he whispered, burying his face in my neck.

See what you did, Verena? You should feel guilty.

I do, but he's hugging me.

He's warm and gentle.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as it was the right thing to do, but he didn't react. He kept his arms around me, lifted me up, and placed me on his bed. I couldn't look him in the eyes just yet. I was ashamed. I was ashamed that I enjoyed his embrace more than I felt bad about making him worry, but he didn't need to know that. 

Why was I hiding in the first place? I didn't really mind telling him my story since he had already seen the scars, but something was nudging in my heart. What was it?

He crossed his arms and sat before me. "Don't fucking do that again." I nodded. "Why did you do it?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Your clothes' scent calms me down, so I decided to work on my documents in your closet." I wasn't entirely lying. I did love his scent. It was fresh and alluring.

He didn't seem to buy my bull-crap. I wouldn't buy it either. "A week, and you managed to give me a heart attack," he commented with an unreadable expression, and I laughed. "I'm serious, don't do that again. In case you forgot, I am a Mafia boss. I have fucking enemies, and you're a part of my life now."

"You're absolutely right, but are the door's hinges okay? I felt the walls vibrate from your force." He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "There's the grump I like. Nice to have you back," I added, shaking his hand. 

I wanted an excuse to touch him again, and he didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he pulled me closer so our faces were inches apart. 

After a minute of admiring the green in his eyes, I blurted out, "Your eyes are so pretty!" He freaking chuckled for the first time ever. I broke the iceman. "You should smile more," I said, feeling like a man who tells women to smile more often. Uno-reverse.

His scowl was back on, but I took what I could get. "When did the abuse start?" he asked, throwing me off course.

Dang it, I thought he forgot.

"Which abuse? The physical or the verbal?" I asked, giving up on not telling him. He might as well know both sides. I was broken but still hanging.

"Estos malditos idiotas," he muttered and shook his head. "Both." [These fucking morons.]

I made myself more comfortable on his bed while accidentally brushing my knees with his, totally not regretting it. "Well, the verbal abuse started when I was a child. Dad was messed up in his mind since forever, and he would always call me names and diminish my confidence and worth every chance he got."

I cracked my knuckles and continued, "I always bite back whenever I get the chance, though. He utilizes my language skills to earn him more revenue and uses my 'pretty face,' per his words, for the cameras. I was not pretty. I was an uncooked chicken, but that's beside the point-"

"You are pretty."

Did Izan just compliment me?

Who just died?

"Thank you," I said instead of making a sarcastic comment. "Everything got worse when he re-married a thirty-five-gold digger with body image issues and threw them at me every chance she got. I never knew my mom since she died when I was one, maybe? I don't remember. Anyway, I'm skinny, not by choice. I got used to eating one meal a day, sometimes only snacks, so I could just not hear her annoying voice." I didn't know why I admitted that, but I felt Izan was seeing the real me. 

I had my dark days, which was okay.

"What's her name?"

"Mia."

"Maiden name," he corrected.

"Lawrence."

He nodded. "Go on," he encouraged me to finish my boring story.

I spread my legs on either side of his body since they were numb and ants were crawling on them. I hated that feeling, and he didn't seem to mind as he placed one hand on my knee. 

"The physical abuse started about five years ago when I refused to let Heath touch me. Dad thought he would be a good match for me because of his daddy's bank account. I never wanted this relationship, so I fought him whenever he wanted to kiss or touch me. He is a disgusting ugly duckling, so there was no way I would allow him to lay his hands on me, that way, at least." 

"He got so angry when I threatened to go to the press and tell them he sexually harassed me. So, he started beating me with his belt." Izan's hand tightened on my knee. "But I didn't mind that, I actually preferred it over losing my innocence to him. To be honest, my dad's verbal abuse was far worse than the physical abuse."

"That's-"

I cut him off. "I know it's messed up, but I had to survive. I endured their torments for years. I had to draw the line when he proposed to me. Like I would ever give him the reason to touch me legitimately."

Izan looked at me as if he was contemplating something, and then he closed the distance between us and hugged me again.

Don't mind if I do...

I wrapped my arms around his neck when he pulled me to his lap and engulfed my small frame with his big arms. Sparks were all over my body, and I wished we were werewolves. That would have been cool. 

"You're thinking about something stupid again, aren't you?" he asked, still holding me.

I laughed and said, "You know it. I was thinking about werewolves." 

He pulled his head to look at me. "Why am I not surprised?"

~~~ 

5.01.2024 

He freaking hugged her!!! 

Did you like this chapter? What do you think of Izan and Vera?