~Viviana~
It was no surprise that everyone was already out of the villa when Roman and I stepped out of our room. No wonder they put me far from everyone’s room.
I don’t know if I should be thankful to my friends for torturing me. They knew how much I missed Roman and still kept this a secret from me.
Anyway, what matters is Roman is here. I won’t feel rueful to have fun while he’s still working.
“You should’ve told me.” I nudged his shoulder as we walked down the stone path leading to the beach. We were both sporting casual beachwear. Topping our swimwear with white tanks, khaki shorts, and flip-flops. Sunglasses protect our eyes, but our smiles mirror one another. Roman had his hair tied in a low ponytail while mine was in a high ponytail.
Endings are always bittersweet on my end. I get so attached to my characters, and in turn, I experience separation anxiety when closing a chapter in their lives. Crazy, I know, but that's how I function as an author. Lol. This chapter marks the end of the paid chapters for Roman and Vee, and I wish it gave the conclusion you're looking for in their love story. ~In the hope to give back for the support and love you've shown for their story, I will post a few free chapters a little later in the day. Thank you so much. xx 2.25.22
~Roman~ It’s funny how time flies by when it felt like yesterday; I was naked, kneeling down on one knee, pleading for Viviana to accept me and be my wife. Three months have gone by since then. In our villa’s guest room in Las Mencía, I studied the reflection of the man staring back at me in the full-body mirror. A perfectly pressed Prussian-blue suit clung to his body with crisp white dress shirt underneath and a tie with light blue and silver patterns clinging to the collar. A boutonniere of white orchids and lavenders attached to his lapel, a miniature version of his wife’s bridal bouquet. What he wore looks expensive, a magazine-worthy attire, but that isn’t what he wanted to freeze at this moment. It’s the happiness
~Viviana~ Our wedding passed by like bliss. I hardly paid attention to everything that we rehearsed, the vow I’ve written, the food we’ve taken time to choose, and the toast by Nico and Tina for Roman and me. Everything was perfect, I’m sure, because now I’m wearing my wedding ring and have Roman’s name. All I wanted to do was get Roman alone. If it was up to me, I would invite him to miss out on our own reception and act as though we’re eloping teenagers, get away with him. But I can’t do that. Nana Teresa was here, and she’d kill us if we did - literally. My mom, who walked me down the aisle and handed my hand to Roman with teary eyes, might understand our eagerness to be alone, but that won’t stop her from chastising us. We cannot just abandon our friends who witn
As the sun dips in the western banks of Guadalquivir, the Andalusian street life famous for tapas crawls unravels. Nightclubs like Brío, where I served tables, sometimes tend behind the bar, thrive because of the nightlife in the province of Seville.Tonight was one of those nights that I enjoyed serving the intoxicated patrons of Brío. Working as a server opened my mind that most people forget to say ‘thank you’ these days; instead, they give out large tips. It’s either to display out to their peers the cash nestled in the mouths of their wallets or just to show off.Whatever their reason was for giving out tips, I still earned every dime of the 100 euros I got tonight.I didn’t bother to change my Brío shirt, tossing over a hoodie, shoving my salary for the week togethe
The internet is an amazing leap in our generation. One of its great perks is more accessible communication, which I am entirely despising as of this moment. After my moment last night, I didn’t bother to come out of my room. Mom must have waited for me, but I saved us both the heartbreaking trouble of walking down memory lane. I don’t want to get out of the comfort of my bed. The clammy summer air seeps through the glass windows and balcony door. I forgot to close the curtains last night, and now my skin is cooking under the heatwaves trapped inside my room. My phone kept buzzing on the nightstand. The annoying device’s battery is not giving up yet, like the person who keeps flooding my phone’s notification. Groaning loudly, I unwillingly reached for the buzzing devi
My eyes got a fill of his good looks before I replied. “You do look familiar.” Staring at him up close, I rummage around my brain for possible places or occasions where I must’ve seen him before. Brío is the only place where I’d place him and his friend, at least from the way they dress up. His name was Roman Castillo, and nope, we haven’t met at Brío. I’ve seen him in magazines and newspapers. He’s making a name in the real estate industry and as the heir to La Vista, which also explains why he was sitting as a judge in the competition. That doesn’t explain why he said I look familiar. From how confident he speaks, I can tell that he’s one of those guys who threw that line to any woman they see. He and Nicolás, his sage green-eyed friend with tousled dark hair, invited us to stroll around the plaza for the fair.
Roman stared at me as if I was speaking Martian. He was in deep thought; a crease was present on his sweaty forehead. My shoulders were starting to relax, assuming that he found his claim unreasonable. When he opened his mouth, however, I nearly tripped while standing flat on my shoes. “Have we had sex before?” he asked with utter seriousness, as if he was asking me what date it was. “What!?” I slapped his hand from my shoulder, “no. And no, that’s not gonna happen.” He tilted his head to the side, still with that crease on his forehead. “You really look familiar, amor. But no one has ever denied having sex with me, so I believe you.” Seriously. This man has no filter! I did not need to know that detail, and I still have
~Roman~ I reminded myself to take things slowly, to respect her boundaries, as she warned me this morning. It was fucking hard not to touch her, kiss her. I’m not the kind of guy who does the courting thing. There was no need for that in my world. But she has proven that she's different from the women I’ve been with before. And I promised her mom that my intention for her daughter was more than a one-time thing. She’s a sweet lady, Janet, but there was an underlying threat in her voice when she talked to me before calling Viviana down from her room earlier - more like grilled me in the span of five minutes. I don’t date. I don’t pick up girls from their homes or bring them flowers because they’re usually crawling around my feet, offering themselves to my disposal. Being ‘me’ has its perks, but most of the time, n
~Roman~ Viviana moaned in a frenzy as I sucked on the tip of her tongue. She squirmed above me when I gripped her creamy thigh with one hand while the other traced the outline of her panties. A thong to be precise, a lacy one. I indulge in this discovery, marking one of the checklists I noted in my head on my crash course, Viviana. I swallowed the gasp she released, pressing my thumb on the fabric of her underwear, growling when I realized that she’d made a mess down there. “Viviana,” I didn’t want to let her lips go, but we were both running out of breath. This was one of those times when I hoped that breathing wasn’t a necessity in life. Her lips tasted of vanilla with a pinch of the wine we had over dinner. She whimpered, eyes fluttering close when I traced the le
~Viviana~ Our wedding passed by like bliss. I hardly paid attention to everything that we rehearsed, the vow I’ve written, the food we’ve taken time to choose, and the toast by Nico and Tina for Roman and me. Everything was perfect, I’m sure, because now I’m wearing my wedding ring and have Roman’s name. All I wanted to do was get Roman alone. If it was up to me, I would invite him to miss out on our own reception and act as though we’re eloping teenagers, get away with him. But I can’t do that. Nana Teresa was here, and she’d kill us if we did - literally. My mom, who walked me down the aisle and handed my hand to Roman with teary eyes, might understand our eagerness to be alone, but that won’t stop her from chastising us. We cannot just abandon our friends who witn
~Roman~ It’s funny how time flies by when it felt like yesterday; I was naked, kneeling down on one knee, pleading for Viviana to accept me and be my wife. Three months have gone by since then. In our villa’s guest room in Las Mencía, I studied the reflection of the man staring back at me in the full-body mirror. A perfectly pressed Prussian-blue suit clung to his body with crisp white dress shirt underneath and a tie with light blue and silver patterns clinging to the collar. A boutonniere of white orchids and lavenders attached to his lapel, a miniature version of his wife’s bridal bouquet. What he wore looks expensive, a magazine-worthy attire, but that isn’t what he wanted to freeze at this moment. It’s the happiness
~Viviana~ It was no surprise that everyone was already out of the villa when Roman and I stepped out of our room. No wonder they put me far from everyone’s room. I don’t know if I should be thankful to my friends for torturing me. They knew how much I missed Roman and still kept this a secret from me. Anyway, what matters is Roman is here. I won’t feel rueful to have fun while he’s still working. “You should’ve told me.” I nudged his shoulder as we walked down the stone path leading to the beach. We were both sporting casual beachwear. Topping our swimwear with white tanks, khaki shorts, and flip-flops. Sunglasses protect our eyes, but our smiles mirror one another. Roman had his hair tied in a low ponytail while mine was in a high ponytail.
~Viviana~Saturday morning, Penny practically knocked down my door and strutted into my room. I lay on my front, covering my head with a pillow, when she tried to wake me up. When I kept on refusing to get out of bed, Penny dropped her voluptuous blond ass on my back.“Get off!” I groaned, wiggling from under her, but she shifted and draped her entire frame over me like there was no human being under her.“It smells like shit in here,” she murmured, lying eagle spread above me, her front pressed on my back. “No wonder Roman isn’t eager to go home to you.”“Shut up,” I groaned, voice muffled by the mattress as Penny made herself comfortable.It has been six agonizing days s
~Roman~Three days. That’s how long I’ve been away from Viviana, and I was already losing my cool. Turns out, Rio didn’t only make a mess at the Phantom’s pub, but he also messed up a business deal Red was trying to close that night.No wonder Red was damned pissed he didn’t even want to answer my calls. I had to get to the bottom of the situation before seeing him personally. We might be friends, but just like me, he also answers to the people he’s working with.“What do you want?” Was Red’s warm welcome to me, a scowl etched on his face.He kept the door of his Malibu mansion wide open. I took it as an offer to come in. If this was any other guy, I wouldn’t walk through the angry lion’s den. But Red and
~Viviana~Sometimes, knowing the truth doesn’t truly set us free. Sometimes, knowing pulls us back into a limbo of twisted emotions from which we are trying to run away.Mathew told me another piece of the past dad hadn’t written in his journal.Did dad know I would cross paths with Rio? Did he anticipate I would try to kill him? Maybe he expected me to seek justice for his death and find Rio, kill him. Did he purposely withhold the truth to save me from the pain brought by the knowing?Rio didn’t choose his mother over my father. He tried to save them both, but dad knew Summit would find a way for Rio to suffer. He knew his end was about to come in the hands of his student, no less.Did he also tell Rio not
~Viviana~One could hardly tell Rio and Roman’s relationship based on their looks. Roman had electric blue eyes while Rio had smoke-gray hues. Roman had sharp jaws, high cheekbones, while Rio had soft-edged jaws and delicate-looking cheeks.Last I saw him, his figure was lean, not too muscular but taut enough that you’ll know he’s taking good care of his body. Now, he’s almost flesh and bones. His hollow cheeks forced his cheekbones to look edgy, the kind that tells a story on its own. He’s deprived of nutrients - by choice or not, I couldn’t tell. His skin was dry as if one scratch and he’ll bleed. The white shirt he had on and jeans were hanging loose on his body as if they were two sizes too big on him.Even in this state, my heart is void of sympathy for him. All I have
~Viviana~After making sure that Roman had already boarded his flight to California, I also boarded my flight to Colorado.I never thought I would exploit having Zia as a friend, but she and Xavier were more than happy to help me, tossing in Bo as my company. As the miles between me and my hometown grew thinner, my heart kept pulsing against my temple, turning my vision hazy and the knots in my stomach twisted painfully.It had been seven years since the last time I set foot in the states. Even when Lu told me it was already safe for me to go back, I refused to do so. His warning to stay away from US grounds gave me a reason not to visit the painful memory this place had given me, and I kept holding onto it up to this day.Tot steps, I told myself. I have to face my fear
~Viviana~ After giving me a chance to catch my breath, Roman slipped out of bed and headed to the ensuite just in time for the dawn to break. The explosion of orange, yellow, and delicate pink slivers passing through the ajar balcony door bounced on my face, making my eyes squint. Groaning, I groped for a pillow and shielded my face from the soft morning light. The soft tap of Roman’s feet on the carpet mingled with his hearty chuckle. “Come on now,” he scooped my tender frame in his arms, taking me into the bathroom. I sighed as soon as my body submerged into the warm water he filled the tub with. He set me in the middle, sliding in behind me, his masculine scent mixed with the evidence of our coupling, and violet mist demanded me to keep my eyes closed.