Doesn't last

"He deserved the idiot of the year trophy. Why the hell did he trust his mother with such a huge responsibility? He should have thought a million times before opening his mouth and asking for her help. No, he should have thought a trillion times or more. If he knew who would be hired, he would have gone with one of the nymphomaniacs he had interviewed.

"Mom, tell me I'm wrong."

"About what, dear?" Mirela wanted to know, holding back her laughter at her son's expression.

"What do you think?"

With a sidelong glance at the young woman with her head bowed in the center of the room, he cursed himself for letting Mirela hire whoever she wanted without seeing who it was first.

"I should have included that it should be a less... Paulina," he complained, as if the young woman was a standard to be avoided.

"But what's the problem? She meets all your requests," Mirela retorted, then recalled everything her son had asked for. "Discreet, organized, reliable, and I guarantee she won't try to seduce you. It's more likely the opposite..." she hinted, causing a strong blush on Perez's face and a sidelong glance from her son.

Simon partly agreed with Mirela. Perez had all the qualities he had pointed out, and certainly wouldn't try to seduce him - nor would he harass her. But, given his unrestrained life, he couldn't help but announce the inevitable:

"She won't last a week."

"Dear, believe me, she will last," Mirela said, putting her arm around Perez's shoulder. "Paulina is everything you need."

"At the moment, I need a strong whiskey," he grumbled, looking at the flushed creature who was looking at everything but him. "Do you have one hidden with you, Perez?"

"N-n-no..." she replied, looking down at the ground.

"I thought so," he said, looking at her small, white hands, whose finger folds were definitely red - she was nervous and squeezing the handle too hard. He smiled slightly, ready to put more pressure on the young woman. "Girls like her don't drink, don't fuck, and don't do anything I consider normal."

"Simon Salvatore! Have some manners," reprimanded Mirela, feeling Perez's slight tremble. She knew her son was trying to scare Paulina, wanted the young woman to give up, but she wouldn't allow it.

Paulina wanted to run away. It was evident that Simon had never accepted her as a housekeeper. She didn't know why, but Mirela had lied to convince her. What had she done wrong to the Salvatore matriarch to deserve such punishment?

"If she's going to live here, it's better to get used to my manners. I'm not like the fool Muller, full of flourishes."

"Mrs. Mirela, you'd better tear up the contract," the brunette practically begged, her eyes welling up with the effort to restrain herself from slapping Salvatore. "It's clear that Mr. Simon prefers someone else."

"It took you long enough to notice," Simon retorted. "Preferably someone who, at least, looks me in the face when in my presence," he said indignantly. "Out of all the mansion's maids, why did you have to choose her?"

"You know very well that Paulina has never been an employee of the mansion. It's like she's a daughter," declared Mirela, looking at Paulina with a smile before turning to her son with a serious expression. "What's your problem, Simon? Why do you treat Lina so badly? When you were children..."

"It doesn't matter what happened or didn't happen in my childhood when it comes to Perez. I don't want to share the roof with her," he communicated categorically.

"For a year, it will be like this. Everything is signed and registered, and if you break the contract, you will have to pay a fine of five hundred thousand to Paulina. I advise you to respect her," said Salvatore, smiling satisfactorily as Simon and Paulina looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Simon and Paulina asked at the same time, staring at Mirela.

"Dona Mirela... You said there would be no fine if I quit..." Paulina interrupted.

"Oh, dear, the fine doesn't apply to you," Mirela interrupted with a deliberately sweet smile. "The fine is a guarantee that Simon won't do anything to make you quit during this year. Of course, if you quit, it's his fault, so Simon will have to pay."

"Is this serious?" Simon glared at Paulina with a cold look, although she continued to stare at Mirela.

"If you quit, I pay for the luxury of getting rid of the saint without an altar?" he asked.

"Exactly," Mirela replied, still smiling.

"This is crazy."

"Take it however you want, son," she said nonchalantly, looking at her watch. "It's late, I'm leaving and I'll leave you more comfortable."

Without waiting for a new wave of complaints from her son, Mirela practically ran out of the apartment, leaving Paulina and Simon alone in a tense and silent atmosphere.

"Satisfied, Perez?" he asked.

"I-I... I didn't expect..." began Paulina, looking down at her hands.

"What didn't you expect?" Simon approached her, causing her to take a few steps back until she felt the wall against her back. "That I would never choose you as my housekeeper, or that you would receive a lot of money in a matter of days?" He held Perez's chin and lifted it, forcing her to face him. "If you think I'll change my ways just because you and my mother ganged up on me, you're completely mistaken."

"Mirela deceived me too," she defended herself, wishing Simon would let go of her face but lacking the courage to ask or move away. His proximity made her somewhat afraid. Simon was at least twenty centimeters taller, stronger, and seemed very angry.

Simon laughed. He had imagined that was the case. He just couldn't understand why Mirela had chosen Perez. There was something hidden in his mother's plans, and he couldn't guess what it was.

He fixed his black eyes on Perez's amber ones, which immediately shifted to another direction. Normally, women looked at him with desire, lust, curiosity, but Paulina always avoided looking at him, and he hated it when she did.

"Why?" he murmured, sliding his hand from her chin to her nape.

"I don't know," Paulina replied, raising her gaze to look at him and show that she was sincere in her words. However, feeling uncomfortable with the way she was being observed, she looked away, hesitating as she spoke. "I swear I didn't know about the penalty... I just wanted a job..."

Why was he still so close, undermining any coherent thoughts she might have? Paulina wondered, feeling Simon's breath mixing with hers. The hand resting on her nape sent a strange shiver up her spine. And the pleasant scent emanating from him enveloped her in an inconvenient way, arousing that insane desire to take a deep breath.

She widened her eyes when he leaned in her direction, his lips approaching hers. They were almost touching when Simon moved his face to the side and whispered in her ear.

"Since we'll have to live together, I should warn you that I have certain rules regarding the women who enter this apartment."