When they went down to the city, they could admire the Christmas market with holiday-themed street vendors.

Out of curiosity, Eliana tried roasted chestnuts. They had a slightly sweet flavor, like sweet potatoes, but she was weirded out by their spongey texture. Not her favorite snack to be honest.

"We should decorate the house" Eliana suggested, inspired by the trees lit up with snowflake-shaped lights and other holiday-themed decorations that were beautifying the streets of the town.

When she entered the store with handmade Christmas Tree ornaments she could hear Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms playing in the background.

"I will call the staff someone will take care of preparations," Rafael said.

"No!" Eliana stopped him quickly. "Christmas is a family holiday. We should decorate the house when the kids are here. Dress a Christmas tree, bake cookies, prepare dinner. We do it with Casey every year" she explained while she picked a white ceramic bauble painted with bright colors and hand-lettered calligraphy saying Marry Christmas.

"How is that our job? We have a staff that can do all of it for us" Rafael asked. clearly not understanding.

"It's not a job it's a part of the celebration. A bonding time opportunity" she explained patiently.

"I guess that might be a way of looking at it," Rafael said after he gave it some thought. "My grandfather organizes a Christmas banquet every year it's a rather formal event, we're not used to it being a family holiday "

Eliana's eyes widened in shock and then she received an additional motivation to make this year's Christmas Eve really special.

So the shopping began. They bought a pine tree. Each year Eli and Casey used the fake one and Eliana was overjoyed that finally, she could afford to get a real tree. She also bought a lot of small presents for kids and Christmas decorations.

"Wait! Do you hear that?" She stopped abruptly.

"What?" He asked concerned by her spooked-out voice.

"No one is calling you. Why is the first Christmas miracle so early? How the hell did that happen?" She shamelessly took a phone from his pants pocket, well aware that if she had tried something as bold as this just a few months ago she would get her killed.

Rafael shook his head and his bafflement turned into amusement.

"Lorenzo is taking over the business for the holidays so there's no need to call me" he explained.

''When was the last time you took a break from work like this?" She asked curiously.

"Since parents died I just focused on keeping the business afloat so it has been several years by now"

"You're amazing," she said, admiring his hard work and commitment, she knew Rafael didn't want pity and it would just annoy him if she started fussing over his difficult fate.

"So are you. You have suffered the pain of losing your parents twice and yet you survived and now you're doing well. I'm so happy I've met you Eli" he said with love. She blushed. Their hands met and they didn't let go until the end of their walk.

"Look, this place looks interesting," Eliana said pointing at the dining area in front of them. It was called Clark's place. Eliana was drawn to it because of the cozy decor of the mountain cabin and cute red gingham tablecloths at the center of each there was a candle stand. The place was almost full but they managed to snatch a free table near the fireplace.

Eliana almost moaned at the chance of warming up after spending a few hours in minus temperatures.

"Caviar, lobster rolls, clam chowders. None of those things I've ever tried before" Eliana said.

"Let's hope this is a good location for the first try" Rafael gave his remark.

Rafael ordered a bottle of rose wine for them. Let it Snow by Dean Martin was playing in the background.

The food turned out to be amazing, Eliana had nothing to complain about.

"How is this getting dark already?" Eliana was shocked to see how the sky is darkening.

"Few hours at the slope, then shopping"

"What a day," she said and shook her head in disbelief. She didn't remember when was the last time she was so relaxed, happy, and worry-free.

"A good one" Rafael added, feeling the same way.

"True" she smiled and he returned the smile.

Then they ate absolutely fabulous dinner.

❤️❤️❤️

In the evening they ended up at Jewel Night Club. Of course, Rafael looked like a million dollars with his classic Armani suit and a black shirt underneath it. Eliana was wearing a mid-length red dress with a slit and black high heels with red soles.

The moment they entered people started glancing at them. Rafael was used to the attention his looks and demeanor were getting.

For Eliana, it wasn't natural but she was slowly adjusting to the way people are treating them so she wasn't surprised at all when a waitress greeted them immediately after they entered despite the club being full. She was leading them towards the stairs through the sea of people but something about Rafael's aura made people just automatically move away just to not bother him.

Now they were at the balcony which was a VIP space. From there they could watch people dancing on the bottom floor.

"Is there anything I can get for you" the waitress who introduced herself as Monica asked sweetly. She wasn't looking at Eliana at all. She was just making googly eyes at Rafael.

"Whiskey for me and Cosmo for my wife," Rafael said, already knowing what Eliana will want. Cosmopolitan was her favorite drink.

"Of course. Right away sir" she said and smiled sweetly at him.

It did not escape Eliana's attention that this woman basically ignored her.

When Monica came back she "mistakingly" spilled a drink on Rafael's shirt and fervently started to wipe the liquid down from his chest and Eliana's irritation grew.

"I can do this" Eliana said but again the woman pretended she can't hear her. Ok, now she was pissed.

"I will bring you another drink in a second I'm so terribly sorry sir" Monica whined her face close to his but he regarded her with a cold, indifferent expression.

When Monica disappeared again to get him a refill of his whiskey Rafael had to leave as well to clean up his shirt in a bathroom. Thankfully there were only a few droplets splattered on his shirt, nothing serious.

When he came back Eliana blew up.

"She's hitting on you!" She yelled.

His expressionless mask broke in a split second as he started smiling triumphantly

"Are you jealous?" He taunted.

"No," Eliana said defensively. She was. She totally was. She recalled their engagement party when she met Rafael's ex. She didn't care back then but she cares now.

"Liar" Rafael said, he looked like a cat who just had the opportunity to consume fresh tuna.

"Okay, maybe I am so what?" She pouted and crossed her arms. "Aren't you going to tell her to back off?" Eliana asked.

"I don't know lately I'm very shy around women" Rafael responded, the corners of his lips trembled. This is when Eliana realized something.

"You're enjoying it" she gasped in shock.

"Oh, but I am. Now you know how it feels to be jealous" he purred into her ear.

That man.

"Excuse me Danny was entirely your fault! You ordered instructor for me"

It was outrageous. She was stunned.

"I requested Joanne because I wanted a woman to be your instructor," he said dryly "I will make sure to leave them a glowing review" he responded sarcastically.

When the waitress appeared again with Rafael's drink she leaned towards him so her cleavage was in his direct line of sight.

That was enough for Eliana. Automatically she gripped her husband's jaw and pulled his face closer to hers to kiss him passionately. He was hers, only hers, and that bitch better back off.

Monica was awkwardly standing and waiting for them to finish so Eliana made sure to make this kiss extra long to make her uncomfortable to the extent it's possible.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" The waitress asked, her gaze cast down.

"Yeah, you can check downstairs if there aren't any other married men who would like to hook up with you" Eliana dismissed her with one swift wave of her hand.

Monica quickly runs away and they haven't seen her for the rest of the night.

"You," Eliana said sharply, her eyes narrowed as she was watching her overjoyed husband. "You need to stop having fun with this"

"I'm afraid it's impossible" he responded smoothly playing with the strand of her hair. "I love when you're jealous of me"

Eliana rolled her eyes and started sipping on her cosmo. Rafael started drinking his drink as well.

"The chokehold whiskey has on you is unbelievable" Eliana observed looking at her husband's awfully tasting beverage.

"You call that unicorn piss in front of you an alcohol?" Rafael returned the jab in a calm voice while eyeing her cosmo that had light pink color.

Eliana instead of taking offense started laughing and shamelessly.

"We should go dance for a bit" she suggested being in exceptionally good humor. He agreed right away and the next thing she knew they were dancing together to the beat of the music.

Suddenly he stopped dancing and Eliana looked at him questioningly.

"Lorenzo is calling, I need to leave for a second"

"Should I go with you?" Eliana asked worriedly.

"No need, stay. Actually, you can get us drinks since you scared the waitress away for good" he responded.

When she ended up in front of the bar counter someone was already there but she noticed it too late, he was already smiling and greeting her.

"Where's your possessive boyfriend?" Danny asked. Oh no. Not him, not tonight, not now.

"My husband" she corrected "I don't know probably doing possessive things like killing the last guy that tried to hit on me," Eliana said with fake sweetness. She was quite annoyed with the way Danny seemed to dislike Rafael she knew he had his reasons but it didn't mean she had to like it.

Danny laughed and Eliana's remark, Eliana had no idea what was funny to him.

"You have a sense of humor, I like it in girls," he said. She wasn't amused.

Before Eliana had a chance to answer Rafael was already there. Standing right behind her ski instructor.

Eliana was no longer scared of Rafael because she knew that he's not going to hurt her, other people thought? She wasn't sure about that. Instead of stopping him she was just sipping on her wine and enjoying the show.

"You know what I like in boys, Danny?" he asked in a silky voice.

"N-not really?" Danny responded now feeling uneasy. Rafael was standing way too close.

"I like when they stay away from my wife" he growled and Eliana decided ok that's it time to step in.

"Rafael, my head hurts from the noise can we go back home?" She asked sweetly as she touched his chest in a calm face gesture. Not that she cared about Danny, she just didn't want her night ruined because of that asshole.

After she did that to Rafael Danny didn't exist anymore. He grabbed Eliana's hand and said "Let's go home then".