5

Catalina Maria.

I am pale.

What is that heavy feeling on my knee? By the tense clench of his jaw, I know it’s exactly what I fear—it’s not his leg, it is not something thick in his pocket. But the way it shifts, soft at first, then hard against my knee, tells me the truth.

It’s his manhood.

I squeal in embarrassment and fear. I try to get away, but my movement yanks at my scalp. My breath stutters when I realize my hair is tangled around his necklace.

"Stay. Fucking. Put." he growls.

There is pure terror in my spine so I cannot listen, not when he’s so close—too close—his mouth is just inches from my skin, his body is a wall of scary, tattooed muscle before me. I have to move. I don’t care if my hair ends up being chopped in half. I have a head full of hair, it will grow again.

Forbiddingly, in an attempt to find space, my knee just had to center around him again! Salvador grunts, so startled by it that he ends up falling in between my legs.

 I gasp against his lips.

My mouth is still open when Salvador looks at me with all the onyx in his eyes. At this position, it looks like shards of a thousand universes and I don’t know if it is against his will that his jaw locks. Right in between my legs is the press of his groin, a thing that should not ever happen in life, yet…I feel it. Strong, hard, and yet soft.

I gasp again when he detangles my hair from his necklace. As he does it, it causes him to move against me. It gets worse because his fingers are hovering right above my chest, and I pray it doesn’t drift any lower than it already is.

But then, he’s done.

He rises, and I quickly glance down, realizing my dress has ridden up—my thighs are exposed. I yank it down, but not before his eyes stamp a deep shade of red onto them.

My heart is racing, but I don’t know why. Is it because I am afraid of him or is it because of where his groin touched me? Because for a brief moment, it was like an impulsive ache—from a man I completely detest. I hate him.

"Get out of my sight." he says while I’m still on the floor.

I get up on my feet, not holding a second glance at him as I rush out of the door—only to bump into a woman. I step back, still stuck in the room with Salvador.

The woman looks at me as if I’m some kind of mess that doesn’t belong here. Not only does she stare at me, but she comes so close that I have to move back. Blonde hair, red lipstick, and dying eyes.

“What—” she looks at Salvador. “This is her?” she whispers.

Salvador doesn’t respond, and she looks at me again.

This is the part where I don’t care why she’s surprised to see me. I brush past her shoulders since she hasn’t allowed me any space.

When I leave the area, I start running, eager to get back to the room I slept in before anything else happens. I sprint down the next hall to my right and it is too late when I see the approaching line of housekeepers carrying vases. I collide with one of them. That one collides into another, and the cycle continues.

Right before my eyes, an entire procession of vases collapse like dominos!

Porcelain fragments rain down. They smash mercilessly against the marble floor in disastrous harmony.

I was just…I am still trying to recover from Salvador, and now this?

I stare at the combusted wreckage in horror. From the way the housekeepers freeze, eyes blown to smithereens, I know these weren’t just any vases.

“What have you done?!” an older woman shrieks.

“I—I didn’t—”

“You didn’t what?” she snaps. “These vases are priceless! One of a kind! They were shipped all the way from China for Mrs. Mendoza and Alexa’s tea party! The guests arrive in an hour, and you’ve just destroyed them. Not only are you dead—we’re all dead!”

I look down at the shattered remains and my stomach starts to ache.

“Wait… she’s Catalina.” a younger girl murmurs.

The moment my name is spoken, their eyes glint. The older woman inhales as though realizing something far worse. Then, with a groan, she slaps a hand against her forehead.

The housekeepers exchange whispers. One after the other, their nervous glances dart between me and the mess at our feet. I don’t know if they’re more horrified by the broken glass or the fact that I’m Catalina.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know who to apologize to.

“Go… go and tell Mr. Salvador what happened.” the older woman finally orders.

Instantly, blood drains from my face.

“I can’t!” I blurt.

“You’re his forced wife… I mean, it doesn’t matter. You’re still his wife. If you tell him, maybe he can help, and the blame won’t fall on us.” She says and all ten of them nod in agreement.

I keep shaking my head to refuse.

“Do you even know what Mrs. Mendoza will do to us?! She’s been planning this tea party for an entire month! These vases were supposed to be the centerpiece for her rich friends. And if you don’t understand how serious this is—the governor’s wife will be here. The senator’s wife. The mayor’s wife. And for god’s sake, even the prime minister’s wife.” The older woman is on the verge of tears.

“I can’t go to him!” I repeat.

“What is going on here?”

I turn sharply to see her. The woman who walked into the dining room right as I was leaving minutes ago.

“Sabrina, we have a problem.” one of the housekeepers says. “The boss’s wife—”

“She is not the boss’s wife!” Sabrina cuts in. “She’s just a collateral until her thieving fiancé pays for his redemption. So? What did she do?”

“The vases… she bumped into us and broke them.” someone replies.

“I told her to go to Sir Salvador and explain, but she refuses.” the older woman adds.

Sabrina barely spares me a glance. “Then go ahead and tell Mama Doza that the collateral destroyed her China vases. Let her deal with her herself.”

“No. I’ll tell her myself.” I say.

I refuse to let this woman speak for me, to frame this however she pleases. If there’s anyone I’d rather face, it’s Mrs. Mendoza—not Salvador. I turn to the older housekeeper.

“Take me to her. Please.”

In that same sequence, another presence enters the room and the housekeepers scatter.

I freeze. It’s her.

The same woman who shoved me to the floor yesterday after I slapped Salvador.

Is she the one?

Is she Mama Doza?

She is his mother?