So far, the car ride had been filled by nothing but silence. Of what variety, Adriano had not been able to pin point yet. He strummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of the song that was playing, passing quick glances at Ximena, who seemed lost in her own thoughts as she hummed along.

“You’ve been quiet for some time now. Penny for your thoughts?” he asked smoothly, making sure to keep his eyes fixed on the road.

Ximena laughed and tucked a tuft of hair behind her ear. Her eyes were directed outwards, admiring the passing scenery. It was rush hour, with most people now on their way home. Sure, the traffic was a bummer but she didn’t mind it all. “You’re a jerk, you know that?” she told him, and he frowned.

“I’m a jerk? What did I do?” he inquired, curiosity dripping in his voice. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything wrong so far, or had he? Damn, just like her to make him question himself.

She turned her body so that she was facing him. “I saw how you interacted with Dom. You were rude and that is unacceptable,” she reprimanded him, tone totally serious.

He laughed humorlessly as he brought the car to a halt. They had arrived at their destination; the restaurant where they had first bumped into each other. He too turned to her. “You can be so naïve sometimes,” he tsked and then opened the door to exit the car. Coming over to her side, he opened the door for Ximena and held a hand out to help her exit, but she ignored his outstretched hand and got out on her own. Her face was slightly contorted in anger.

“What do you mean by that?” she demanded; lips quirked downwards. Adriano handed his keys to the valet and they both made their way into the building.

As expected, it was quite packed but within a few seconds he had spotted a place for them to sit. “It doesn’t take a genius to notice that that idiota has feelings for you,” he retorted sarcastically as the walked towards a corner table. Pulling a seat out for Ximena, she sat down and then he proceeded to sit opposite her.

“Again, with that? He does not have feelings for me!” she huffed in defiance, causing Adriano to roll his eyes.

“Oh please. Have you seen the way he looks at you? He’s practically in love with you!” he gritted out, suddenly feeling his anger peaking. What was going on with him? Why did he feel angry?

Ximena was about to fire you back when a waiter came to interrupt World War III. Both quickly scanned the menu and placed their respective orders. He trained his eyes back on her once more. “Look, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this but I am very interested in you. So much more interested than I have ever been with any other woman. Now, to see another guy trying to get close with you so blatantly just pisses me off. You became off limits the moment you became my wife. Nobody is allowed to look at you with longing except me,” he voiced confidently, gaze unwavering.

The feelings he had towards Ximena were genuine, pure and ever growing. Just because he hadn’t quite figured out what this intense emotion, he was currently harboring was, it didn’t mean he would let anyone act anyhow around her. She was his, end of discussion.

Ximena looked at a loss for words. Looking down at the table where her palm lay, she smiled coyly. “You sure do know how to make a girl blush,” she said lowly. Adriano took her hand in his and placed a kiss on it.

“I’m just stating facts, sweetheart. And I do love making you blush. You look so cute when you do that,” he added huskily with a flirtatious wink and Ximena found herself giggling uncontrollably.

It wasn’t long before their food arrived and they got underway to eating. They conversed about work, their interests, their goals, past achievements. Halfway through dessert, Adriano felt a pair of eyes on him and by chance, wen he looked to the right behind Ximena, he found the last person he’d ever want to see whenever he was with his wife.

Amanda.

She had her glacial eyes were fixated on them, well Adriano to be more specific. Noticing that she had been caught red handed, she smirked in his direction and raised her wine glass to him in acknowledgement. This made Adriano’s blood boil. What the hell was she doing there? Had she now resorted to following him? First, she showed up at his bachelor party, then his wedding and now when he was trying to enjoy a pleasant evening with Ximena.

Blowing an air kiss towards him, she motioned towards the bathrooms in a motion that said ‘follow me’. Standing up, she dabbed her lips with a napkin and left for said bathrooms. Bringing his eyes back to Ximena and simultaneously trying to contain his ongoing anger, he excused himself saying he needed to visit the restroom. Ximena nodded her head, continuing to devour her chocolate lava cake with so much gusto that she was oblivious to what was happening around her. By the time he’d return, he was certain she would have eaten his slice too.

Walking over to the restrooms, Adriano opened the door and checked the ladies’ room first. Not finding Amanda or any other female in there much to his relief, he resigned to checking the men’s room. And lo and behold, she was in there, retouching her makeup by the mirror it would seem. Adriano stood by the door, arms crossed and face sporting a scowl that could even scare the evil.

Amanda laughed at this. “You never seem happy to see me these days. At this point, I don’t blame you,” she drawled sarcastically and turned to face him. She was dressed demurely in a linen blouse, a pair of jeans and some high heels.

“Then why do you keep on appearing when I don’t want you to?” he asked, infuriated by her flippancy. Just what was she hoping to accomplish by all of this?

She sighed. “Adriano, I thought you would have figured that something was up by now but I guess you’re living in this bubble of love with your wife. I guess you’re not as smart as I thought you were,” she sniffed in pity, tsking for good measure. She took a step towards him. “Enjoy this little romance you’ve got going on with Ximena whilst it lasts because when the time comes, everything you’ve worked so hard to keep is going to slip right past your fingers and shatter like glass right before your eyes. This is all just a game; you and I, even your darling Ximena are just pawns,” with that she brushed past him but not before saying some final words.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

***

“Tell me why I agreed to this again?” Adriano found himself asking Ximena for the umpteenth time.

Rolling her eyes, Ximena continued to comb her hair before throwing it up into a messy bun. “Because we’ve been too busy for the past two months and our friends are missing us. We need to let loose every now and then, Adri,” she told him softly before standing up and moving to where he stood. She slid her arms around his neck. “Can you behave for me?” she pouted cutely.

Huffing in defeat, Adriano circled his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. “Fine. Because you asked so sweetly,” he replied and pecked her lips. “But you owe me something for this. You know that I wanted to spend this weekend with you only. Cuddling, kissing and other things,” he whispered against her lips and she smiled at this.

“You’re such a naughty boy.”

“How else am I supposed to be acting when you look so damn good every single second.”

They were about to launch into a round of passionate kissing when the doorbell sounded. Adriano groaned in irritation, eliciting a throaty laugh from Ximena. She slapped his chest after shoving him away, before exiting their bedroom and heading downstairs to open the front door. A grinning Santiago and Chelsea stood and the other side of it, and his hand around her waist didn’t go unnoticed by Ximena.

“So, I see you two came together,” she wiggled her eyebrows at them and Chelsea failed to maintain eye contact, hiding behind her chestnut voluminous curls. She had been caught red handed, after having denied for the past couple of months that there was nothing going on between the two of them.

Santiago’s smile widened, if possible, and he pulled Chelsea to his side proudly. “It took a lot of convincing but she finally came around. Just starting out but I can already hear wedding bells,” he joked whilst staring adoringly at her best friend. Ximena awed at how adorable they looked together. Finally, her friend had decided to settle with someone after her track record of dating numerous men, with no intimacy involved of course. It never got to that, well maybe once or twice but that was it.

Adriano appeared behind Ximena and smirked at the scene before him. “Looks like somebody’s tamed this Casanova. Kudos to you Chels. Thought I’d never see the day this Don Juan got unequivocally whipped,” he taunted and Santiago’s smile got replaced by a blank expression.

He charged towards his best friend and held him in a playful head lock. “Hey, you can’t make fun of me! That’s my job!” he whined childishly as Adriano struggled against him. Chelsea and Ximena laughed at their pretend spat. The bromance between those two was too much.

Shutting the door behind her, Chelsea removed her coat and placed it on the coat rack by the side. Gone were the warm and sunny days, now winter was beginning to set in. “It’s been a long time, girl,” she smiled at her best friend and engulfed her in a hug.

Ximena pat her back as she reciprocated it. “Too long. I’m glad you came over. But I’m even more glad that you’re with Santi now. He’s funny, sweet and not to mention handsome,” she gushed.

“If Adriano hears you, he’ll throw a fit but you are right, he’s handsome. Such a gentleman and so understanding. I know he’s played the field before, plenty of times but I feel likes he’s changed…for me,” she held her hand to her chest, a dreamy look on her face.

Santiago returned to them and placed a kiss on Ximena’s cheek, giving her a side hug. “So sorry that I didn’t get to greet you properly sister-in-law. Your stupid husband is well, stupid. Anyways, now that all the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s get this party started!” he hollered and began to bust some awkward dance moves, making a complete fool out of himself. He was always so care free and cheerful, it was literally so hard to be gloomy in his presence. “Did Adriano tell you that him, Omar and I had our own little dance group back in freshman year of college?" He asked with a child like edge in hos voice, eyes twinkling in delight.

“You weren’t supposed to say anything about that!” Adriano yelled from somewhere, probably the kitchen. “Ignore this imbecile.”

Santiago waved him off. He slid his arms across both women as he directed them to the kitchen where Adriano was setting up everything to begin dishing out the food he had prepared with Ximena’s help. She had been utterly shocked that he could cook, and he was good at it too. Santiago continued to tell them about the competitions they had participated in and actually won, and how they were major heart throbs at the time. All through dinner they chatted animatedly about anything that came to mind, and the whole house was filled with laughter. At some point Ximena almost fell off her chair at the story about how Santiago had glued Adriano’s pants to his seat when they were in middle school.

After the meal and dessert, they went over to the living room and decided to watch a movie. The night was still quite young and the gang didn’t want to dispatch just yet. They all settled to watch Top Gun: Maverick since it had received a positive reception and many had been raving about it for a long time now. Ximena and Adriano sat on one couch, tangled in each other’s arms whilst Santiago and Chelsea sat on the adjacent one, with Chelsea having her legs propped on Santiago’s.

The door bell rang sometime through the movie. “Are were expecting anyone else?” Adriano asked Ximena who laid on his chest and she shook her head no.

“I’ll go check who it is,” she said before getting up. Once she had opened the door, she was surprised to find her sister Andrea. “Andy? What are you doing here?” she asked her worriedly. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red. She had definitely been crying, it didn’t take a genius to see. Pulling her in, Andrea wrapped around her sister’s torso in an almost vice like grip.

Sensing something was up, Ximena took her to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. Offering it to her, Andrea gulped all of the contents in one swallow. She wiped her mouth and took a seat by the island stool. Ximena went to stand in front of her, now fully panicking at her lack of speech. Adriano walked in to find out if everything was okay but before he could ask, Andrea broke down into a sob and uttered some very shocking words.

“I’m pregnant.”

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