CHAPTER THREE

I shivered at his deep husky voice that somehow still made an appearance even in a whisper. How is it that I still have butterflies at his touch? How is that possible? 

How is it possible for me to still feel anything for this man standing in front of me when he is behaving in such a way? So impulsive. 

Even in a time like this, when he's so intimidating and threatening I still manage to care for him. I still Love him and that scared the living hell out of me. 

With Lucien's last words he let go of my arms, turning swiftly on his heels as he stormed out of the room without so much as a single glance back at me.

The door slammed shut and I shakily slid down the wall to the floor not having the strength to to hold myself up any longer nor hold back my tears as I broke. I had no strength, I was in fact weak as my tears freely flowed and my sobs escaped loudly. 

What have I done? Oh, María what have you done?

I guess you are probably confused as to what the fuck just happened, so let me rewind it back a few hours for you.

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Marias pov-

I sat up, reluctantly deciding it was time for me to get out of bed.

It's roughly about Seven in the morning and I have a meeting to attend as well as a shit ton of paperwork to do. 

I glanced around my large room, the white walls seemingly too bright against the dark wooden floors. And my king-sized white bed becoming so very large it emphasised how lonely I felt in it. I sighed aloud, taking my attention to my favourite part of the room, the large window seat splayed with mocha-coloured cushions and soft blankets. My favourite place in this whole entire building, with easy access to the sectioned bookshelf beside it that was filled with all my favourite books from my teen years and up.

I huffed throwing the quilt cover from me as I climbed out of bed and lazily dragged my feet across my room and into my helpfully located en-suite bathroom to make a start on my morning routine. As usual I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower and finishing with a quick towel dry of my hair. 

With my brunette hair still damp, I swiftly tied it up into a bun not caring that it will take longer to fully dry. Its times like now that I adore how naturally tanned and smooth my skin is because the last thing I could be bothered to do so early in the morning was slap a full face of make up on. Instead, I added a light touch of black mascara to my eyelashes in hopes to give some volume to my green eyes and a light touch of red lipstick to my lips in order to emphasise my beauty mark that sat a centimetre to the left of my mouth.

It’s crazy, I used to feel so embarrassed and self-conscious of the small

freckle until my mother insisted it was beautiful and even sexy. She had sat me down as a young girl to show me how all the prettiest and highly paid models had one. Its safe to say I now don’t mind the mark, it was small and the elder I got the more it did make me feel beautiful, sexy and just me.

I made my way to my closet.

I don't usually feel the need to get all dressed up but today the guys are holding a meeting with their men. And being the sister of two out of the four men it means I also must attend. 

I'm not sure as to why though? considering they won't let me get involved other than sorting through paperwork for them. I guess it’s because I hold the Valdez name and that it is to be shown as a united front, possibly a power move. I’m honestly not entirely sure so I'm clueless as to why I have to attend these things knowing full well I will overhear things that I shouldn't nor would want to hear. 

I decided to be a little risky wearing a low-cut blouse that I had tucked in to my black above the knee length skirt. Everything that should be covered was still covered, I had confidence but not enough to reveal my body in such a way.

Reluctantly I strapped my gun to the inside of my left thigh, high enough that it wasn’t visible to anyone’s eye. I fucking hated carrying this thing around, it’s heavy and irritating at that. But all four of the big bad men in my life insist that I always carry it. 

It's so uncomfortable it's crazy but I guess you get used to it after a while. 

I tugged at the hair tie, releasing my hair from Its bun allowing my loose curls to fall in natural waves and with a lightly rake of my fingers through it, In the hopes of evening my hair out I was finished. It's still a little damp but it will dry soon enough.

I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, a smile could do wonders to a person’s image.

I slipped my feet into my black stilettos before swinging my door open and heading down the stairs.

I was fed up with this mansion and all four of its levels. The ground floor and the three levels going up. The two floors of bedrooms and the rooftop balcony above. I didn’t mind the balcony though, it was peaceful. I guess you could say the floor with my bedroom on it could also fall into the category of peaceful being that the top floor of bedrooms, living space and anything above was strictly accessible to me, my brothers and the Garcia brothers. the other floor of rooms available to their men and any housekeepers that get stuck on the late shifts.

Walking down two flights of stairs was an absolute killer in these heels, I could already feel the blisters my feet would most likely endure by tonight but I successfully made it to the ground floor, the floor that consists of a kitchen, an extremely large living room, a massive hall of a conference room, a gym and five rather sizable offices.

We have a basement on the floor below that I have absolutely no fucking idea of its contents, size or anything else as I have never gone down there. 

I tried to go down once to be nosey I guess but Lorenzo my eldest brother had caught me. 

It was just my luck that He would open the basement door just as I had put my hand on the handle. Was he mad or angry at my attempted snooping? No not at all, he completely fucking freaked out. 

I released a breath of relief that I had not tripped or stumbled on my way down the stairs and just as I did so I heard a wolf whistle. I snapped my head up to the sight of Lucien standing there with his tightly fit black suit pants on, perfectly shined shoes and his white shirt with the sleeves neatly rolled to his elbows. 

He was hot in a non-juvenile way; He really was a beautiful man. 

The top two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his muscular tattooed chest. I'd be totally lying if I said I didn't love the sight as I drank him in, my eyes gliding over the tattoos that inked across the skin of his neck and around his ears to the trim of his hairline. 

Lord, He was so handsome. He made me dizzy just looking at him. 

My checks where flushed I could feel the heat. God what is he doing to me? I'm a mess just at his presence.