Chapter THIRTY-TWO

I walk inside the house with Stefano beside me, my heart is pounding. I didn't even know Stefano meant this much to me until I realized how desperate I am to have Abuela like him. I walk us to the kitchen, where I am sure Mom and Abuela will be at this time in the evening. "Hola, Abuela," I say, stepping into the kitchen. "Mi Angulo," she says, smiling once she sees me and pulls me into a hug. "What are you doing here, my Dear?" Mom didn't tell Abuela I was coming so I could surprise her. "I came to see you; I missed you," I say, hugging her back. "I missed you too, Dear, I am so happy to see you." "Me too, I came with someone. I would like you guys to meet Stefano." 'Hola Abuela" Stefano says. "Hello Dear," Abuela says, smiling while admiring Stefano. 'Querida, has triado uno guapo de vuelta a casa. Estoy muy orgullosa de ti (My dear, you have brought a handsome one back home. I am really proud of you)." "Gracias, Abuela, pero entiende Espanol (Thank you, grandma, but he understands Spanish)," I say, chuckling at our failed attempt of trying to gossip about Stefano's handsomeness. "Oh, my! He is one of the good ones, keep him," she says, smiling. "Abuela, because he speaks Spanish, that makes him one of the good ones.?" "Si." "You can't be serious," I say, laughing at her beliefs. "Of course not, Dear, enough about you. Stefano come, I would like to know more about you" Abuela says, pulling Stefano away, but Mom stops her as she arrives. "Leave the poor boy alone, Ma. He just had a long flight, I am sure he will need to rest before you start harassing him with your questions," Mom says, walking into the kitchen. "Hello, Mom," I say, walking over to hug her. "Hello Dear, how was your flight?" She says, hugging me back. "It was good, and how are you?" "I am good too, Stefano, how are you doing?" "I am doing fine, Mrs. Lopez." "That's great, Ma, why don't you harass Stefano tomorrow when he is fully rested and able to take in the millions of questions you will have for him." "I am not planning on harassing him; I just wanted to get to know the man that has captured my precious granddaughter's heart." "Abuela," I exclaim, feeling shy with the way she is telling the whole world, I have feelings for Stefano. "Did I say anything wrong, Dear?" She says smiling "No, you didn't." "I know I didn't," she says, winking at me. This only makes me shake my head at her playful behavior. "Stefano, Dear, since my daughter believes it's better, I get to know you tomorrow, I would like to invite you for dinner tomorrow night." "I wouldn't miss it for the world. What time?" "7 p.m." "I will be there, Goodbye for now." "Good night, Dear, I will be expecting you tomorrow." "Good night Abuela," Stefano says walking out with me following behind. Once we are alone outside, I speak. "I am so sorry about the way my grandma spoke about you." "What is there to be sorry about? She said I am handsome. You don't have to apologize for that. It's the truth, I am a handsome man," Stefano says smirking cockily. "Yeah, you are," I say, rolling my eyes. "Enough about that, I can't believe you have to leave right now," I say, sad to see him off so early. "I know Luce del Sole(sunshine). I wish I could stay with you," Stefano says, pulling me into his arms, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I wish I could follow you to your hotel," I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Me too, but your Abuela is not going to like that." "Yeah, she still believes women should save themselves for marriage," I say, feeling very sad that I can't spend the night in Stefano's arms. "Yeah, but don't worry, before you know it, it will be morning." He says, lifting my chin, and my eyes lock with his. I stare into his eyes; I can tell he doesn't want to leave either. My eyes stop staring into his when I close them because he kisses me. His soft red plumb lips capture my peach lips in a slow, passionate kiss. I can tell from this kiss that he doesn't want me to leave, the only reason he releases my lips is to breathe. "I will see you tomorrow morning," I say with my forehead against his, trying to catch my breath. "Good night, Luce del Sole (Sunshine)," Stefano says with his forehead against mine. "Good night, Stefano," I say, taking a step back from him, because if I don't, neither of us is leaving this spot. He gets into the car, and I walk inside once the car drives off. The following day, I wake up super excited to start my day because Stefano is coming over. I missed him terribly in bed last night, even though we haven't even been together that long. I wonder what would happen when I go back to Miami. I know I am going to miss him a lot. I quickly take a shower and put on my outfit for the day. I walk downstairs to have breakfast before he comes. I feel like a teenager who is about to go on her first date. I am so excited to see him; I really missed him last night. "Good morning," I say, smiling while walking into the kitchen. Mom and Abuela are in the kitchen eating breakfast. "Someone seems happier than usual," Mom says, putting a plate of eggs, sausages, and bread in front of me. "You are right, I wonder why.?" "Stop it, you two," I say to them while wondering if the whole world can tell I am excited to see Stefano this morning. "We didn't say anything wrong," Mom says. "We only stated what we see," Abuela says. "Yeah, whatever," I say, ignoring their teasing, I know they are not lying. A horn is heard from outside the house, I smile, because I know it's Stefano, I told him to do it when he comes. I don't want Abuela to cage him here if he walks inside. I kiss Mom and Abuela goodbye before stepping outside to meet Stefano. "Hello," I say, once I get to his car. Stefano doesn't say hello back to me, instead he uses his mouth to seal my lips in a kiss. I can tell I wasn't the only one who missed the other person from the way he captured my mouth when he saw me. "I missed you too," I say, smiling once we release from our kiss. "I can't wait to spend the whole day with you," he says, smiling. "Me too." Stefano and I have been to Mexico before, so there is not much we haven't seen. We decided to try picking places that only one of us might have been to, so we can explore them together. I plan to take him to all the places I don't think he would visit while in Mexico. He always came here for business, I am sure I might have many places to show him. I hope we have a good time. The first place we visit is my favorite restaurant, Amaya. It's a restaurant that serves modern Mexican cuisine. I felt it would be great to have him try something different from the usual Mexican food. Then we went on a canal boat ride around Xochimilco. We also visited some organic farms where we had samples of local food. By the time it was dark, I had shown Stefano all the lovely places around the city I would guessed he never had visited. We are driving back home to have dinner with Abuela. I just hope it goes like yesterday. We arrive after a few minutes of driving. I step out of the car after Stefano opens the door for me. We walk inside together to the dining room where Abuela would be waiting for us. "Hola, Abuela, these are for you," Stefano says, handing her flowers. "Thank you, Dear; I hope you are hungry," Abuela says, smiling, collecting the flowers from Stefano. "I am famished." "Good, come sit beside me," she says, pulling Stefano. She takes a seat at the head of the table, asking Stefano to sit on her right. I take my seat beside Stefano; Mom sits opposite Stefano. Once we are all seated, the maids serve dinner, we engage in random conversation. Abuela asks Stefano questions mostly about him, so far, she has not asked him about his job. I am praying the night will end like that, but it seems God is not on my side tonight. "So, Dear, what do you do for a living?" Abuela asks. "He owns a chain of hotels," I answer before Stefano speaks. I couldn't have him say that he is in the same business as my family. I never told Stefano about Abuela not liking our family's choice of business. I only told him I was worried about her liking him last night. I don't know why I didn't tell him about it, now I wish I did, because Stefano is looking at me confused. I am sure he is confused about why I answered for him. "Oh, that's a nice job. You must be a very busy man." "Yes, I am," Stefano says, smiling, turning to face me, his expression is back to that of confusion. I whisper in his ears that I would explain later. "You don't have to explain anything to him later, Dear," Abuela says. So much for whispering. "My dear granddaughter is afraid I will ask you to stop seeing her because you are part of the mafia, but that won't be necessary. I was able to accept her father, so why wouldn't I accept you." "Really, Abuela? You are fine with me being with Stefano even though he is a mafia Don." "I have seen how happy you have been since you arrived. Why would I take that away from my precious granddaughter?" "Thank you, Abuela," I say walking over to hug her. "You are welcome, Dear," she says, wrapping me in a warm hug. "I promise to make her happy." "You better, if not; I will have her father blow your brains out." "Abuela!" I say, shocked with the threat she gave Stefano. "Anything to keep my granddaughter happy," she says, smiling. "I have to ask, how did you know?" "I think I am responsible for that," Mom says. "You told her?" I ask, shocked she would. "I felt it would be better to tell her now than she finds out later." "You are right, thank you, Mom," I say, smiling. "Anything for you, Dear." Dinner finished a few minutes ago. I am outside with Stefano to say goodnight to him before he leaves. "Why didn't you tell me about your grandmother hating the mafia?" "I was worried it would put pressure too much on you. We have only been together for a week. I was so happy you agreed to come with me to Mexico to meet her that I didn't want to say anything that would make you regret your decision." "Telling me she doesn't like the fact that I am a mafia Don wouldn't put pressure on me; it would make me want to fight for what we are trying to build together." "Really." I say smiling, happy he feels this way. "Yes." After I say goodnight to Stefano, I walk back inside to spend some time with Mom and Abuela before going to bed. Later that night, before bed, I decide to take a shower before sleeping. I am about to step into the shower when my phone starts ringing. I check the caller id, it's Emily. I haven't heard from her since she left Italy. I wonder if she is calling to find out if I am back. "Hello Emily," I say answering. "Hi, Andrea, how are you doing?" "I am great, and you?" "I am also great. I wanted to ask you something." "I am listening." "Did you give your brother my phone number?" "Yes, I did. I totally forgot to tell you. I hope you aren't angry about it." "I am not angry. I just wish you asked me first. I was not really looking forward to speaking to him ever again." "Oh, I am truly sorry; I didn't think too deep into it." That's a lie, I did. I know their breakup was bad, and she wouldn't want to speak to him again, but I love Santiago, and I want to see him happy. I know he still has feelings for her, and I have hope they can work out their problems. "No problem, it's fine. I just wanted to know where he got my number from." 'I am sorry, again." "It's okay, bye." "Bye," I say hanging up.