Chapter 166

“Hi Beau, bye Beau!” I called out as I ran past my brother. It was almost eight, meaning it was time to leave, and for the first time in a long time, I was up early. It was mainly due to Christian nagging me all morning and literally forcing me out of bed, but somehow I managed to do it.

“Hey? Don’t go that fast!” Beau stopped me and grabbed me by my wrist. “Where is Christian?” I asked him. Beau rolled his eyes at me. “So you’re really coming along to the warehouse.”

“Yes.” I shrugged. “We made a bet, and I won, so yes, if you’ll be so nice to get out of my way.”

“Christian is upstairs,” Beau spoke with a suspicious look on his face. “Upstairs?” I questioned.

“Yes, he’ll come down soon-so you can just wait here.”

“Okay?” I frowned. “But I can also get him. That’s not a problem.” I insisted, but Beau let out a nervous laugh and was determined not to let me go upstairs. “What’s funny?” I asked, confused.

“He’s upstairs with….”

“Gina?” I rolled my eyes. There was no need to check up on her if he already checked up on her yesterday. What the hell was Christian doing?”Yes,” Beau gulped. “And I was just about to check up on Enzo.”

“I’ll join you!” I told him. After the little stunt Christian had pulled with the guards in front of the stairs, there was no way for me to visit the third floor, and I needed a good excuse. “It’s my future brother-

in-law, and I want to make sure he’s okay, so I’ll join you.”

“Serena.” Beau sighed. “Please don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“When do I ever do anything stupid?” I asked Beau as I followed him. The guards gave Beau a surprised frown when they noticed my presence, but Beau patted their shoulder and shrugged them off so I could get through.

“You always do something stupid, like that bet you guys had.” Beau shared his unwanted opinion.

“Stop overreacting. Aren’t you happy we’re going to be working together?” I teased him, but he clearly wasn’t in the mood for any jokes. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said my own brother had enough of me.

“What?” Beau asked, unimpressed. “Did you think I was going to jump in the air because we’re going to be together?”

“Yes?” I spoke. Those were my exact expectations, and I had not expected him to be this disappointed.

“No?” Beau frowned. “Listen, I thought you weren’t interested in this kind of stuff-don’t you want to stay home and take care of your daughter?”

“I am taking care of my daughter. She’s with Carmen. Are you calling me a bad mom?” I asked Beau. I knew he wouldn’t agree to this and wanted to protect me, but Fabio was dead, and Christian’s crazy uncle refused to show himself, so I did not know what I needed protection from. I did not know how me staying by the Christian side could put anyone in danger.

“No, I never said that.” Beau shook his head. “You know what, we should let it rest.”

I followed Beau through the hallway, but my eyes moved to the room I figured Gina was staying in.

“Enzo’s here,” Beau spoke as he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me towards the other door.

“I told you not to do anything stupid,” He scolded me and opened the door. Enzo turned around, shocked, with the only thing wrapped around his waist being a towel. It was nice to see he made himself at home.

Beau covered my eyes with his hands while my thoughts went to Christian, who was with Gina.

What if the same situation would happen to him?

No, of course not.

I had to remind myself to keep it together. I was losing it, and there was no need for that. Christian said it himself. He learned from his mistakes and would never hurt me again.

“No clothes?” Beau chuckled. “I see you’re back to your old self.”

1 smacked Beau’s hand away from my eyes and took a look at Enzo. “Yes, usually people knock-

but the two of you don’t. It must be an Alfonzo thing.” Enzo shrugged and accidentally dropped his towel.

This time Beau didn’t need to do anything because I turned around myself. “Enzo, what the hell?” I exclaimed while he laughed at my reaction. “That’s on me. I’m so sorry.”

“Get dressed.” Beau hissed. “No one wants to see your micro dick and especially not my sister-get dressed!”

“Micro?” Enzo scoffed. “That’s not a funny joke. You can obviously see that’s not true, and I don’t want you to ruin my reputation around your sister.”

“Get dressed,” Beau repeated, annoyed while I laughed at Enzo. It was nice to experience the old Enzo, and I was happy that we could leave everything behind us. I had expected him to turn on his family after Lucio told him he didn’t want anything to do with him anymore, but he didn’t. He took his distance and hoped for the best, which all worked out because, just as expected-Lucio couldn’t live without him.

“Wow.” Enzo scoffed. “Christian mentioned you talk a lot nowadays, and I do have to admit, I liked you. better when you kept your mouth shut.”

“You and Isobel are like a match from heaven. You are both rude for no reason.” He sighed while I heard him put his clothes on. “You sound just like Carmen.” I giggled. The twins weren’t even born, but she was already ranting about how she wouldn’t be their babysitter because of their devil genes.

“Yes, I know,” Enzo spoke. “She stopped by with Siena this morning. She’s cute, chubby and grew a lot.” Enzo smiled. “She looks like you.”

Interesting. So I couldn’t visit this floor, but my little sister could? That was funny.

“I think she has a crush on me, and although it’s very adorable, she’s like twelve, and I don’t want to get into trouble-”

“She’s sixteen, and she has a crush on everyone.” Beau chuckled. “You’re not that special.”

“Squirrel?” Enzo gasped as I turned around. “Do you know why he doesn’t like me?”

“No.” I shrugged. It could’ve been because he tried to get Siena killed, but Isobel did the same, and Beau could forgive her. If anything, it had to be about all the crap Enzo had to say about Isobel. “It’s because you’re annoying me.” Beau yawned.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked Enzo. “Yes,” He smiled. “I heard my dad’s been looking for me, he doesn’t have that much time anymore-so I’m going to pay him a visit and apologize…

again.”

and “And your face?” I wondered. “I’ll tell him I fell down the stairs because I missed him too much, problem solved.” Enzo laughed.

“Wow, did you hear that?” I nudged Beau and waited for him to laugh along, but he didn’t. I have some things to discuss with Enzo. You should go and check on Christian before I change my mind “W-what?” I asked, startled. He was so desperate to keep me away from that room, and now he was the one pushing me to go there. “That’s why you came up here, right?” Beau sighed. “You’re still my sister, and I don’t agree with what he’s doing, so go before I change my mind.”

“Yes.” Enzo agreed. “She is kind, loyal, and went through a lot, but I already told him he shouldn’t be taking care of her. You better tell her to leave, or I’ll do it for you.”

“Why?” I whispered. “Why would he be taking care of her?”

“Because that’s what Christian does,” Enzo spoke. “He takes care of people and wants to play the hero-but sometimes he doesn’t know what he’s doing and takes things too far. It’s almost the same as when he-”

Enzo wasn’t able to finish his sentence and closed his mouth, but I already knew what he was going to say. “As when he what?” I pushed him to finish his sentence, but Enzo shook his head. “Nothing, it was nothing.”

“As when he took me in and wanted to take care of me. Is that it?”

“No.” Enzo denied. “It’s completely different, and you’re different-he actually ended up loving you, and he’ll never end up loving her—”

“Shut up.” Beau stopped him from finishing that sentence while I stood there with a defeated look on my face. Enzo’s words were just words, and my situation was completely different from Gina’s. He didn’t know what he was talking about.

The only thing we had in common was that we both started off as a mistake.

I wasted no time and exited the room so I could visit Gina. A nurse was guarding the door, but I didn’t care and gave her a push so I could get through. “No.” She demanded as she held me back.

“You can’t be here.”

“Said who?” I chuckled. “Said, Christian.” The nurse spoke. “He told me that no one other than him, the nurses, Ramiro or Beau are to enter the r-”

The nurse’s sentence got interrupted by laughter at the other side of the door, but this time I couldn’t take it anymore and roughly pushed her aside so I could open the door. “S-sir, I’m so sorry I tried to stop her!” The nurse spoke while Christian got up from the chair and looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

“S-Serena?” He stuttered nervously and took a few steps back. He glared at the nurse, who apologized one more time before she ran out. Christian had the same tense look as usual on his face, and I didn’t want to see him like this. He probably had flashbacks to our fight and how he had to pull us apart.

Breathe in, breathe out.

A happy Christian is a happy Serena.

That was all I could tell myself as I thought about Christian’s feelings. He must’ve been thrilled to see that she was still alive because that meant he didn’t have any blood on his hands. It was a normal reaction, and I had to get over myself.

I looked at Gina, who seemed to be in a terrible state. Her clothes were fresh, and her hair was wet, making it evident that she took a shower.

“Did you dress her?” 1 laughed to ease the tension, but Christian took my question a bit too seriously, and so did Gina. Maybe it wasn’t the best joke. “No? Serena, please don’t misunderstand-

“It’s a joke.” I rolled my eyes and walked closer so I could get to Gina, who sat on the bed. I grabbed the brush out of her hands and gave Christian a wink. “Here, let me help you!”

Christian gave me a grateful smile and nodded his head. He seemed nervous, but there was nothing to be afraid of. There was no need to throw a fit because Gina was not a threat to me. She was a drunken. mistake. That was all she was. But so was 1.

“Thanks,” Gina spoke, surprised, and turned around so I could brush her hair. “I really appreciate it, thanks.”

“No problem, I’m just glad you’re doing okay-and I’m happy you decided to protect and believe Christian,” I answered as I looked into his eyes and observed the suspicious look on his face.

“Of course, I didn’t doubt him even once,” Gina spoke. I had the urge to pull out her hair, but the only thing holding me back was Christian. I never asked her to praise him. “She looks pretty, right, Christian?” I sighed after I was finished and gave him a daring look.

“She looks so pretty. She can go onto the streets and snatch someone’s man just like that, don’t you think?”

“Stop it.” Christian mouthed as I rolled my eyes while Gina kept her mouth shut. “It’s time for us to go, if you need anything-just tell the nurse.” Christian spoke in a hurry and grabbed me by my arm to pull me away.

but “Where are you guys going?” Gina somehow had the nerve to ask. “None of your business,” I muttered under my breath, but the only one who heard me was Christian. Her staying here was more than enough. the last thing I needed was for her to stick her nose in my business.

“We’re going to find out where the money is.” Christian truthfully answered her. It was very funny to know that he didn’t want to share anything with me but had no issue whatsoever with Gina and supposedly even told her about where Franco was hiding Siena’s funds.

“You should. Your uncle sounded pretty serious about ruining your life.” Gina spoke before she looked at me. “Serena, please be careful-you have no idea who you’re dealing with-1 “I know. Thanks for your concern.” I rolled my eyes. “I almost got burned alive while I was pregnant, got my head dumped into a bucket of water for several minutes-so I think I’ll manage,” I told her.

“You are not the only one who’s been tied up like a dog!”

I stormed out of the room with Christian running after me while he called out my name. “Serena, don’t do this again.” Christian spoke, exhausted. I took a deep breath and thought about his dying father before I turned back around. I shouldn’t be giving him a hard time.

“What?” I smirked at his cute expression. Even if I wanted to be angry with him, I couldn’t. Just looking at him was enough to make me laugh. He seemed so hopeless.

“What, what?” Christian sighed.

“What, what, what?” I continued our little game as I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest. “I’m sorry, I just don’t want to see you with anyone else and especially not her,” I apologized.

“We should’ve left her in that basement.”

“You’re so childish when you’re jealous, but it’s cute.” Christian chuckled. “It shows me that you still love me, so I can’t complain.”

I pulled away from my head and gave him a surprised look. “Of course I love you. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because I’m stupid,” Christian smiled. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure she was okay-but if you want me to stop visiting her, I’ll stop visiting her.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do you even care, and please don’t tell me it’s about your dad?”

Christian grabbed my hand and led me downstairs without answering my question. “Are you not going to answer my question?” I asked after we reached the last step. “What about us being a team and working together?” I kept complaining. “What about our bet?”

“Serena, she’s there because of me.” Christian finally opened up. “She went through a lot and almost lost her life because of me. I’m not helping her to get on your nerves-I’m helping her because I’m trying to be a good human.”

I was flustered and didn’t know what to say and followed Christian as he made his way outside.

Gina was full of bruises and she needed someone to take care of her, but I just couldn’t understand why it had to be Christian.

“Beau’s not here yet,” I told Christian once we reached the car. “He was checking up on your brother.”

“So it’s just the two of us?” Christian spoke and leaned against the car while I joined him. “I love you.” I suddenly confessed and leaned my head against his shoulder. I was not his enemy, and I was not trying to ruin his day, and I needed him to know that. I just didn’t want Gina in our house.

“I said I love you,” I repeated as I observed the smirk on Christian’s face. “Hello?” I spoke, annoyed.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“I won’t.” Christian sighed. “It just feels good to hear you say it, so I had to hear it again.”

“Do you think we need nicknames for each other?” I suggested while Christian looked at me as if I was crazy. “No, that’s ridiculous.” Christian spoke.

“Isobel calls your brother poopy. I’ll rather die before you call me that. He hates it too.” Christian shared. “Aw, poor Beau.” I pouted. “He never told me about that.”

“Because it’s not something to brag about,” Christian spoke while Beau came walking out. “It’s embarrassing, look at him and tell me he looks like a poopy.”

“Hey, poopy!” I called out and waved at my brother. Beau froze up and glared at Christian, who shrugged his shoulders in response. “Sorry.” He apologized.

“Great.” Beau sighed. “It seems like I’ll be babysitting two children today,”