Chapter 6

Aria

“So now that I’ve shown you the…consequences, we both ended up in a cage,” I spoke through gritted teeth.

After the random girl challenged, we got into a fight—and guess what? No one ended up getting the dress. We got arrested and ended up in a cell instead.

I ended up lying to my driver, texting him I ran into a friend. That was a sad lie, considering other than Stella—I didn’t really have any around here.

Calling dad to bail me out would’ve been way to embarrassing, so I gave the officers Vince’s number instead. It was a good thing dad ended up texting his number.

Yes, my future husband would see what kind of loser his future wife was—but I had no other choice. I didn’t know anyone who would not run to my dad to rat me out.

“I hope you know this is all your fault.” I bothered the girl once again. She should’ve never dared me in the first place.

“Is it now?” She stared into space, hoping to avoid this conversation.

“Yes.” I nodded confidently. “Just so you know, I needed that dress for my birthday slash engagement party.”

“Just so you know, I needed that dress to impress my ex.”

“Oh well, ex and fiance are on two different levels!” I spoke, offended. “You won’t get him back anyway. Not with that personality.”

“You’re a terrible person.” The girl huffed after a few seconds. “You’re so terrible I’m sure no one’s bailing you out of this place.”

“My fiance will bail me out.” I corrected her. “You should worry about yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me, my sister will bail me out.”

“Good for you.”

The minutes were passing by and in those minutes I could only think about the best way to explain myself to Vincenzo. How could I tell him that I ended up in a cell over a dress? Where would that leave me?

“Aria Morales?” The officer called out my name.

“Morales?” I heard the girl whisper.

“That’s me!” I got up from the cold bench and made my way to the bars. I slowed my pace as the male figure behind the officer slowly revealed himself.

Vincenzo Garcia.

He looked even more handsome than the last time I’d laid eyes on him. Different from the suit he rocked at the wedding, he was wearing a shirt with comfortable sweatpants underneath.

I probably dragged this man out of his house, but that was not the only thing on my mind.

Why was someone like Vince not working on a weekday? Shouldn’t he be leading his family?

For some reason, I had expected a different reaction but was met with a comforting smile. “That’s her.” Vince raised his brows, sighing.

“So, I know you must be thinking about what I’m doing here,” I spoke, fiddling my hands. “And I-I know how all of this looks…”

“C-Carmen.” Vince squinted his eyes, interrupting me. Great, so he couldn’t even give me the time of day. “What are you doing here?”

“Vince?” The dress thief, supposedly Carmen—made her way beside me. “Vince, thank God!” She breathed. “Did my sister send you?”

So those two knew each other?

“Sister?” Vince asked flustered. “Where is she, is she here?”

“Carmen, what the hell did you get yourself into this time?” A warm and familiar voice called out.

I knew who that voice belonged to.

My rival, Serena.

With tensed muscles, I stared at the woman running toward us. For some reason, she looked even hotter today than she did at her wedding. Her thick and healthy dark curls were in a high ponytail, the pink gloss on her lips was to die for, and her beautiful black catsuit showed off her small…belly?

Wait, was she pregnant again?

Just how many children was this woman planning on having?

What was she doing here, and most importantly, what was her connection to the dress thief? “Hey, sissy!” The dress thief stepped back, biting her lip.

Sissy?

Wait, Carmen…Alfonzo?

“Don’t hi sissy, me!” Serena wrapped her hands around the bars, glaring at her sister. “Oh, hey—Vince.” She blushed, facing him. “What are you doing here?”

Why was she blushing?

“Serena.” Vince blushed as well. What was going on between these two? Serena was a married woman, right? And by the looks of it—pregnant as well.

“I uh…” Vince stammered, failing to keep his balance. It was as clear as day he was into her. Anyone could see that, including Serena and possibly her husband. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

“Oh, I get it!” Serena clapped her hands, understanding the situation. “Wait, is this the girl you fought over a dress?” She pointed at me.

“Aria Morales, isn’t it?”

I avoided all eye contact. “Yep, that’s me.”

•••

“Then since we’ve all apologized, it’s all good right?” Serena laughed brightly. After a forced apology, we had settled our issues and were outside of the station.

“Sure.” The dress thief—I mean Carmen, spoke.

Embarrassed, I rubbed my eyes. “Whatever.”

Vince and Serena didn’t seem to care much anymore and jumped into their own conversation.

Seeing the way those two communicated made me hate her even more. She seemed so perfect, that I felt the need to confirm whether she truly didn’t have a flaw.

Was she really as kind as everyone made her out to be, or was it all a lie?

“Are you sure he’s your fiance?” Carmen nudged my shoulder. I thought we’d left everything behind us, but she was starting again.

“Positive,” I responded dryly, hoping she would get off my back.

“Hmm, doesn’t look like it.” Carmen sang. “Poor Vince will have his hands full, babysitting you.”

Excuse me, babysitting?

Serena looked over Vince’s shoulder. “Carmen, stop bothering the girl, and let’s go!”

Excuse me, the girl?

“That’s my cue!” Carmen slapped my back. “I’ll see you at your party, bye!” She walked off with her sister, leaving me behind startled. I didn’t know what was worse. Her coming to my party or her calling Vince my babysitter.

I took my chances, and turned to sneak off so I didn’t have to explain myself to Vince. At least, not before I could make up a perfect excuse. All I had to do was walk away quietly and—

“Hey, dress felon!”

Defeated, I closed my eyes and took baby steps, turning around.

Dress felon? How would I even survive that hideous nickname?

“Y-yeah?”

Vince chuckled, shaking his head and stepped closer until he was right in front of me, with only a few inches between us. He bent down, to meet my gaze and stared at me with narrowed eyes.

I held my breath as my heart melted at his minimal gesture. I looked up to focus on his perfectly parted hair and lowered my eyes until I reached his beautiful lips.

My eyes shot up when his warm hand came in contact with my cheek. “That eye of yours.” Vince clicked his tongue. “Yeah, we should probably do something about that.”

“S-should we?”

I hadn’t even looked in the mirror. I was not going to lie, Carmen gave me a good punch. I should’ve known she was not someone ordinary thief.

“I’ll take you to my home…or our home…or whatever you want to call it.”

“Our home.” A giggle escaped my lips. “I like the sound of that.”

At least he got his priorities straight. I was his fiancee and not Serena.

I followed Vince as he opened the car door for me and waited like a true gentleman. I could get used to this.

He leaned over me to fasten my seatbelt and fixed my seat. “There you go.” He smiled warmly.

The blush on my face had probably not gone unnoticeable, but I didn’t care. I liked him and I had no desire to keep it a secret. Many claimed love, at first sight, wasn’t real and at one point I almost believed them.

The second I laid eyes on Vince, I just knew he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

There was no one else for me.

“So fighting over dresses and getting arrested, huh?” Vince asked during our peaceful drive. “Is that something you do often?”

“No, of course not!” I almost exclaimed. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!”

I didn’t want him to view me as incapable. Mom had prepared me to be the perfect wife for years and I would not mess it up ever again.

Vince shrugged, smiling. “Oh, I don’t mind—I was just asking.”

As we arrived at the mansion, I couldn’t help but compare the size to my parents' house. Everyone was aware of the Garcia’s wealth, whether their business was running or not.

Compared to his fortune, the mansion was not to extravagant. I bet someone like Vince enjoyed living a humble life.

“So, this is it.” He opened the car door for me. I stepped out and searched for guards or maids to welcome me—but there weren’t any present. As the future head lady of the Garcias, it was not the welcome I had wished for, but I could give it a pass because my visit came as unexpected.

Where were the guards and maids anyway?

“So are you coming?” Vince chuckled, walking to the door with his hands in his pockets.

“Yes!” I ran with my tiny legs to keep up with his pace and followed him inside.

One thing was certain, the modern and white interior was not so kid-friendly—so I would definitely have to change that.

I wouldn’t want our future children to dirty the walls.

Would he show me the house?

“I’ll show you around some other time. Let me take a look at your eye.” Vince smirked, reading my mind. Unlike the way people described him, he wasn’t much of a talker, but that was a good thing. As long as he wouldn’t go against me—we would have a peaceful marriage.

•••

In complete silence, Vince held a cloth against my eye with one hand while he scrolled through his phone with the other.

All I could do was admire him with the one eye which was still available. He still looked handsome. I could close both eyes and he would still look like a snack.

“You’ve earned yourself a sticker for being a good girl.” Vince teased as he placed the cartoon bandage under my eye. I laughed uncomfortably, thinking back at Carmen’s comment.

Poor Vince will have his hands full, babysitting you.

“Don’t worry, it’s my little brother’s,” Vince reassured me, holding the pack full of bandages up in the air. There was no doubt he’d noticed my odd behavior.

“Is he around much?” I tried breaking the ice.

“He lives here.”

“Doesn’t he have a mom?” I blurted, not amused with the surprising news. How could I live in a house with a kid that wasn’t mine? “He’s only your half-brother, right?”

“I do not believe there’s such a thing as half.” Vince corrected me without losing the polite smile on his lips. “Blood is blood.”

As I recalled, Vince and his younger half-brother had gone through a lot. I wasn’t a monster, so I would get over it for now—but in the future, we would have to find a better solution.

There were so many different options. He could either live with a different family member, go to boarding school—move in with Vince’s older brother and if none of those options worked, we could even send him to a group home.

Vince cleared his throat. “How are you feeling?”

“Good.” I nodded. “And I know the whole dress thing is not the way a proper wife should behave, but I promise this won’t ever happen again—“

“Proper wife?” Vince whispered, looking up. What was wrong with that word?

“Please tell me, Aria,” Vince said. “What should a proper wife behave like?”

“Oh, well…” I tried thinking of an answer. My parents had educated me on this matter since my teen years, but for some reason I couldn’t find the words.

“I don’t know who told you this, but there’s no such thing as a proper wife,” Vince spoke after noticing I could not answer his question. Great, that probably made him think I lacked brain cells.

Vince sighed deeply, removing a few strands of hair from my face as he shot me a doubtful look. Was it because I failed to answer his question? Was he afraid that I would not be the perfect wife for him?

“We will announce our engagement at my birthday party!” I moved on to more important business. This was unfortunately the most informal way to tell him, but the sooner he knew about it, the better. “I need you to wear white or gold…so we can match!”

“Sure, works for me.” Vince smiled warmly as always. He stared at me with loving eyes as he slowly traced his finger from my cheek to my chin. He smirked. “At least you’re beautiful.”

Beautiful?

Vince called me beautiful?

“Thank you!” I gushed, smiling ear to ear. “And you’re an angel…I mean…you look like an angel.”

What did that even mean?

“Hmm, that’s interesting.” Vince backed away. It was probably because he couldn’t withstand my charms and was falling for me as well. Daddy was right. It was bound to happy.

“I should bring you home,” Vince spoke. “I’m sure you’re still shocked about everything. You need rest.”

He cared for my well-being.

I did not know what I had done in my past life to be blessed enough to get to marry the love of my life who had turned out to be a kind and caring person.

I couldn’t wait to marry him.

I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much.