Gulping softly, she nodded her head and then the maid scurried off. Ximena stood up and then excused herself. As she walked past her mother on her way out, Dolores gave her hand a gentle squeeze and smiled reassuringly.

The walk to her father's office felt like it was in slow motion. Each step she took felt very agonising but eventually, she made it to his door. She took a second to compose herself, doing some breathing exercises. It's just your father behind that door not the boogie man, she told herself and then opened the door.

Emilio stood by the window, gazing at their luxurious back yard that had a large olympic pool, a jacuzzi, a barbacue area as well as a footpath that led to a huge garden where they sometimes had lunch parties.

As she shut the door, he spoke. "My prodigal daughter finally returns."

"H-hello father," she said stuttering. He finally turned around to look at her, his cyan eyes that resembled her own holding fiery blue anger. Her posture was stock straight and his hands were in his expensive Armani suit pants.

"I see you changed your hair. So you went to Paris just to change your hair, hija?" he asked, his tone mocking. So he knew where I was...

"Did you send Adriano to get me?" she somehow found the courage to ask.

He scoffed and crossed his hands. "Of course not, I was actually planning on letting a small legion of my bodyguards do it but he somehow beat me to it...," he answered and Ximena shuddered at the thought. That would have been humiliating for her.

"Do you realise the magnitude of your actions? You wasted a whole month and now you're left with a little over four weeks to finalise everything and get married-"

"Wait, you're still making me do that? I thought my running away would hint that I DONT want to do it dad," she butted in courageously but cowered back when Emilio sent her a powerful glare.

"The contract still stands and you will do as I say-"

She cut him off again. "Do I really have no say in this?"

"No you don't," he stated simply as he took a seat in his large leather chair. "We will go over the terms this weekend all together then get to planning the wedding. By the way, to make sure that you don't repeat your stupid mistake you will not be leaving the house. I have confiscated your car and your phone."

"What?" she whined. "So I-I'm grounded? Papa, you can't do that! Please-"

"You may leave," he ordered and began going through some folders on his desk.

Stomping her foot childishly, Ximena stormed out of his office and made sure to slam the door with mighty force. She really hated her father at the moment but in a nut shell, she felt like she deserved the treatment. Pouting, she made her way back to her bedroom.

***

Once Adriano arrived at his condominium he quickly changed into some running clothes and left for his morning run. With airpods in his ears and his phone on his arm holder, he started off slow on the pavements as the scenery around him changed. A few minutes into it, his speed steadily increased and the lactic acid in his legs was building up but he ignored the pain because he loved it.

The truth was he was frustrated and angry about a lot of things.

Angry that he was being forced to marry someone he didn't even know.

Frustrated that his father was always controlling his life.

Angry that he'd no longer be able to be with Amanda.

But most of all, frustrated with the feelings he was starting to feel towards Ximena.

In all honesty, Ximena was an enigma to him. She is probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid his eyes on. She made him question everything about himself and she did it effortlessly. Like in Paris when Alain had eyed her openly it irritated the hell out of him. He didn't want anyone looking at her that way...but himself. It was ridiculous to say the least.

Having her in his arms last night was different. It's like she was meant to be in his arms, in the same position...

He rounded another corner and was soon jogging down South Beach. Not many people were around yet as it was not yet even seven in the morning. The sun now sat in the far east, the rays tickling his sweaty skin. His chest heaved up and down rhythmically. He could hear his pulse in his ears, overshadowing his music.

Santiago's words echoed in his head. "It's because I know she's gonna be the love of your life." How could he possibly make an assumption like that? Was he right?

Adriano chuckled to himself. "You're just overthinking things," he said to himself.

An hour later he was back in his street. His lungs felt painful as air rushed in and out of them. He walked into the lobby and took the stairs instead of the elevator up to his place. Once inside the confines of his not so humble luxurious abode, he went to his double door smart fridge and took out a bottle of water. Opening it, he tipped it backwards and the cold liquid gushed down his throat.

"You've been avoiding me," said a voice and it startled him to the point that he almost choked.

Coughing furiously, his head snapped to his lounge area where Amanda sat on one of his Italian leather couches, looking calm but evidently angry. Her auburn hair fell on her face delicately and she was dressed for work with her handbag by her side.

"Hello Amanda," he said once he'd recovered and put the bottle down on the kitchen counter.

Amanda stood and slowly made her way over to the other side of the island. "Not Amy? Adri, what's going on? You haven't been picking up my calls for the last three weeks and when I come by here you're never there. Did I do something wrong?" she asked pleadingly, looking him square in the eyes. Whilst hers held hurt, his held guilt.

Not being able to look her in the eyes, he closed his and exhaled deeply. "I don't think we should see each other anymore," he murmured almost in a whisper.

Her voice cracked when she spoke the next words. "No, Adriano. You can't do this to me. I thought we had something nice going on. Is it something I did? Let's just talk it out and fix it, please. I love-," she ranted in tears but he cut her off before she could finish her statement.

He couldn't let her say those three words. He knew he didn't deserve them, not at all. "Amanda, it's got nothing to do with you. You're a very beautiful woman, intelligent and passionate but I've realised that I do not deserve you. It's not you, trust me, it's me. I'm not the right one for you." The words felt like acid as they rolled of his tongue.

She rounded the island and threw her arms around him but he removed her arms from his body. "No, I'm sweaty. I think you should just go," he spoke softly before he turned to go to his bedroom.

"You lied to me! You told me we were going to make it work," she yelled after him but he forced himself to ignore her. "I can't believe you'd just do this, ugh," she cried louldy.

Once he shut the door to his room, he heard her begin to sob. He remained still, his heart beating fast against his ribcage. A couple of minutes later he heard the door shut loudly and he released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

Gosh, I'm a bad person, he thought sadly. But he knew it needed to be done.

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