Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Knowing that Anthonio Blake had come to our villa, my only guess for his presence was Rainy. It was possible that she had invited him to come, or that Anthonio himself had come for something. There were two possibilities.

Even though I had known and even knew a lot about Anthonio Blake and his family since childhood, I still didn't have a good friendship with him. That's why it was strange that he came to see me. We never went anywhere together, much less visited each other while on vacation.

I asked Mabel to stay in the room, but she didn't seem to hear what I said. It made me fall to the point of thinking that I shouldn't have hidden her. I was like a frightened rabbit. I should have let her go freely wherever she wanted, because whatever the consequences, I would always be there to fight and protect her. Anthonio was not an opponent I should be afraid of hurting Mabel, moreover I knew his weakness.

I was about to take a sip of my coke when Miranda came back inside. She was alone, though I was sure I saw Mabel out following her. It alarmed me. I put the glass down, slide out without heeding Daniel's call to me.

I couldn't calm down until my eyes found the woman I was looking for. Mabel sat alone on the swing, swinging it a few times. She looked down, not seeing me approaching her.

"I remember telling you not to leave the room,"

Mabel looked up, and her crying was the last thing on my mind. I cupped her cheeks, looking at her worriedly. "Mabel, why are you crying? Who made you cry?"

Mabel shook her head and pushed my hands away from her cheeks, which made me want to touch her even more. She turned her face away from me, not wanting me to see her. But my job was to thwart her urge to avoid my questions. So I lifted her chin up, making her look right into my eyes.

Mabel was about to avert her eyes again, and that made me lose myself. I pulled her chin closer to mine, so our faces were so close. Her eyes flashed at how shocked she was at what I had done. I looked into her eyes, and down to her lips. I didn't wait for the second count to smack my lips against hers.

Her eyes widened for a second, before she finally kissed me back. I slowly lifted her in my arms without breaking our kiss. The kiss that we shared was not like before. It felt like she was trying to dominate. I knew something was upsetting her.

I broke our kiss, but Mabel slammed her lips back against mine. That's when I realized she was crying while we kissed. No, I couldn't continue our kiss knowing she was hurt by something.

"Mabel, what's wrong? Tell me,"

Mabel didn't answer, but instead rested her head on my shoulder. I sighed then decided to take her back inside.

When we went inside, Daniel was out of sight. Only Anthonio was left, sitting alone. And I knew he was waiting for me. "Busy with your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, we're getting married soon." I answered, momentarily feeling Mabel asleep in my arms.

Having a small conversation with Anthonio felt strange. It wasn't my thing, and I knew it wasn't for him either.

Anthonio got up from the sofa, glanced at Mabel. It made me look at him warily. "What?"

"I had no idea she's your girlfriend. I mean, I knew about Selena and you, and what happened between you two. It made me think you could never fall in love again. I guess I was wrong for that part. But honestly I'd rather see you without a woman," Anthonio smirked before leaving the living room. "You were much stronger without a woman by your side,"

It wouldn't be Anthonio if he didn't have a thousand ways to make me fall. His words didn't affect me at all. Precisely because Mabel came into my life, my world was no longer black and gray.

I took Mabel into the room, thinking she was fast asleep.

"How do you know Anthonio?" Mabel asked after I put her on the bed. Her eyes were open and staring at me.

"What if I ask you first about how you threw up on him?"

Mabel gave me a look. "That's embarrassing, I don't want to tell you."

Thinking about how Mabel had met Anthonio before me made me feel a little... jealous? There was no way I was jealous. I just didn't like the fact that I got to know her late among the rest, let alone Ashton.

"Fair enough then, since I won't tell you about Anthonio either."

Mabel gave me pouting lips. "Oh, come on, Adrian." She looked cute while doing that.

"It's obvious who's the most curious here, so you can start with your story first."

Mabel got up and sat down, so I sat next to her. She seemed hesitant to tell me, but then she started her story. "About a year ago Ashton made me go to the bar to pick him up, but there, he made me taste a glass or two of alcohol. It made me feel weird, especially my stomach. I felt unbearable nausea. Before I could even reach the bathroom, I threw up on someone. You must know who that person was. Luckily Anthonio didn't shoot me dead with a gun in his pants pocket that night. Moreover, I made him the center of attention. I didn't have time to apologize as I was getting more and more restless with the crowd,"

Her explanation made me laugh. Mabel was still trying to remember the incident with an expression that I could tell she didn't want to remember anymore.

"I remember how I started tipsy that night," Mabel rolled her eyes at my sudden reaction. "Now it's your turn to tell me about Anthonio,"

"So Anthonio is the main topic of our conversation tonight?" I smirked seeing how curious Mabel was. "I've known Anthonio since childhood. Our families work together, you know we came from the same family background."

"No wonder you told me not to leave the room earlier, but I didn't even listen to you. I'm sorry," Mabel sighed, feeling sorry for me.

I shook my head hearing that. I didn't think Mabel would feel that sorry just because of that. "I actually feel wrong to have told you to hide. From now on you are free to move or go wherever you want. Because you know what? I'm good at fighting,"

Mabel smiled sweetly. "You're not only good at fighting, you're also good at using a gun."

I ruffled her hair. Her words left me speechless.

"And then-" Mabel continued, but then it just hung in the air.

"Wait, you were crying earlier. Are you sure you don't have anything else to tell me?" I looked at her between worry and curiosity. Mabel froze at my question. Her lips parted, but no words came out.

"It's nothing," Mabel avoided eye contact. But I didn't take my eyes off her, because I knew she wouldn't be able to last long letting me stare at her without her looking back at me. "I-it's about Ashton,"

I looked elsewhere besides Mabel. When Ashton's name left her lips, I hoped it wouldn't come out. I was silent for a moment.

"He..." Mabel's words trailed off again.

I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me what Ashton had done to make her cry.

"I saw him kissing Rainy," Mabel said so quietly and her eyes fell on the floor.

I sighed feeling something squeeze my chest. Mabel's face showed everything, including the pain after seeing Ashton kiss Rainy. And her pain hurt me too. I was hurt to see her hurt, moreover I couldn't do anything about it.

Damn it, Rainy! She must had planned what happened from the start.

"I'm sorry, Adrian. I can't force my feelings not to feel this. I don't know what happened to me. I feel like I don't have those feelings for him anymore, but I got jealous. Is this weird?" Mabel looked at me innocently. She really couldn't understand herself.

I just smiled, took her in my arms. "I like your honesty,"

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Why should I be mad? In fact, I like you telling the truth to me," I sighed as I felt Mabel hug me back. "Sorry I haven't been able to jump into a relationship with you,"

"I'll wait until you figure it out,"

Later that night I slept with her. With Mabel by my side, I always fell asleep easily. I usually never slept peacefully without being alert all the time. But when she was with me, I didn't feel that way. I just needed to lock the doors and windows. That's it and I felt we were safe.

The next morning I found myself in bed alone. It freaked me out knowing Mabel wasn't with me. I wiped my face and immediately went downstairs. The sound of giggles coming from the kitchen cleared my mind of all kinds of negative thoughts. Mabel was cooking with Miranda. The two of them seemed to be in their world without being aware of the people around them. They then sang a song together, I didn't even know what song it was. But they were so enthusiastic and both memorized the lyrics well.

I turned when Daniel gave his morning greeting to us. He yawned and even walked unsteadily. "What's this smell? It smells really good," he claimed.

Miranda and Mabel finally turned to us. They seemed to work together to make us curious by just shrugging.

"Come and have a look," Mabel smiled at Daniel, then her smile sweetened as it stopped at me. I couldn't stop myself from looking at her light blue mini dress with beach flowers on it. She looked gorgeous with her hair in a braid.

Daniel drew closer to them, looking at the frying pan. "Fried rice?"

Miranda rolled her eyes. She continued to make another dish, I saw her grab a knife and start cutting the chicken breast into pieces.

"Just take a shower first, when we're done we'll call you guys." Mabel told us.

I gently stroked Mabel's hair, making her look at me with a frown. "Stop messing with my hair,"

I chuckled then went back upstairs to take a shower. I was about to open the room door when Anthonio came out of his room. When his door opened I could see Rainy sleeping on his bed. It made me smirk, remembering last night Mabel told me that Ashton kissed her. Then how did Rainy end up in the same room with Anthonio?

"Exciting night, huh?" I asked as Anthonio looked completely at me.

"What does that even mean?" Anthonio asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm sure I saw your ex-girlfriend in your bed," I explained without hesitation.

Anthonio stiffened at my words. He was about to answer when the door at the far end of the room opened. It was Ashton. He stepped out of the room, not yet aware that our eyes were on him. Until finally he turned to us after closing the door.

Still having the smirk on my face, I returned my gaze to Anthonio. "You'd better take a shower and clean yourself up," I suggested him.

Ashton said nothing, but passed us downstairs. His face showed no expression whatsoever.

Anthonio's hands clenched into fists at my words, but somehow he wouldn't dare throw that punch at me. I waited for him to do that, but there was no hit from him. He gave me a sharp look before finally following Ashton downstairs.

This is going to be fun, I thought. Anthonio's arrival wasn't as bad as I thought. It was the perfect time to end Rainy's game.