31.

It was early morning when we landed in the city of Medellín in Columbia. We waited by the airport for our mysterious host, aka, Valeria to arrive. God, I was so curious about her. I swear I was expecting a supermodel with tanned skin and sexy body. My imagination was running wild and my friends too weren't any help. Apparently, they were enjoying this way too much.

"Can you smell something smoking in here?" Emily said. "Oh wait, that's just Meg's jealousy."

I regret teaching her the literal verbatim of a hindi phrase.

"Hey, I have a theory. What if Valeria is a former Victoria's Secret model who is still secretly is in love with Leo?" Amy added.

I just rolled my eye. But consider this... it could be a strong possiblity.

Gigi exploded laughing. "Guys that's so wild." She said, wiping a tear from her eye. "I wish I could tell you but Leo would kill me and I do admit this is funny."

A couple of huge fancy cars arrived to pick us up. I tried to peek a look at that Valeria chick. But, damn these tinted glass.

We were escorted in other car. After we sat in the car, Gigi said:

"I think Nico and Leo were with Valeria." She said.

Ever since he'd mentioned Valeria, Leo had been so distant towards me. It's like I didn't exist for him anymore. I guess I was just a shiny new toy for him that lost its novelty.

Oh great! This was like an open invation to my paranoia. I plugged my headphones and blasted some music. At least this way I'd be able to distract myself from Leo.

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We got down in front of a huge ass mansion that was the epitome of luxury. White marbles, a totally extra fountain and lovely garden that required insane amount of maintainence. Seriously, it felt like we were in some drug lord's mansion. Knowing Leo, it wouldn't be too surprising if he brought to live with a drug lord. The surrounding was so green and peaceful. In some ways the greenery reminded me of India. Trinity was many things but greenery was so rare. I guess, I could look forward to something over here. As I walked in, I almost dropped my jaw when I saw the interiors. Seriously what was this place? It was much more beautiful than any luxurious resorts I'd been and believe me I'd seen the best of the best.

We walked in the hallway where we saw a woman waiting for us. She was dressed in a flowy white blouse and long skirt. She was on the lean side with sharp features. Her hands were the only indicator of her age. God, I was right, she was pretty. Not the in your face, sex bomb type of pretty. But this woman was pretty in a cheerful and cute way.

"Val!" Leo exclaimed and hugged her.

Excuse me, I was right here.

She and Nico exchanged some words in Spanish, which of course I didn't understand. She shook hands with Alex. Then, she hugged Gigi. Finally her eyes settled on me. Her warm demenour disappeared. She looked at me like she was analysing me, it was very uncomfortable.

"So you're Meg huh?" She asked, looking up and down at me in a very uncomforting way. It was like she was scanning me to see if there was something wrong about me.

"Yes I am." I said, trying to remain cheerful and not give her the satisfaction of seeing me unnerved. "Nice to meet you." I streched my hand for her. She grabbed it a little too firmly.

"Leo seems to be besotted with you." She said whispering to me. "If you break his heart, or hurt him in any way, I'll personally hunt you down."

Her threatning look made me shudder.

Leo cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'd like you all to meet one of the council heads and my sister-in-law, Dona Valeria Sanchez Moretti."

"Wait..." Amy exclaimed. "Oh my god I'm so stoked to be meeting the vigilante Val, the badass who singlehandedly challenged the drug cartels and the corrupt government, you're like my hero."

Wait, I heard Moretti. Fuck, was she Leo's wife?

Leo probably noticed the surprised expression on my face. He chuckled to himself.

"She's our sister-in-law. Frank's wife." Leo said.

"But, wasn't her name Sofia?" I asked, recaling that lunch when Mr. and Mrs. Moretti had mentioned them.

Valeria smiled. "She's observant and smart. You better keep her Leo." He said. Leo looked over me and smiled proudly. Ugh, he looked at me with such puppy like eyes. It was sickeningly sweet and I totally loved it.

"I'll explain that later." She said. "For now, you guys should get freshened up."

A few servants came up and ushered us in our rooms. I was secretly happy that Leo and I were given the same room. He still did not speak to me. Both of us freshened up and hurried downstairs to meet Valeria and others for brunch.

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"After Frank passed away, I couldn't stay in Trinity. I decided to come back here to my hometown. When I came here, the entire city was filled with these drug lords. They were leeching people off, making children addicted to drugs, and I felt I had to do something. So that's when I took up a new name and started anti-cartel gang. Honestly after Frank died, I felt like I'd died. I needed a new identity and that's when I decided to become Valeria. Sofia was gentle and meek but not Valeria." She explained.

"But how did you do all this?" Emily asked.

"My family was the biggest drug supplier in all of Columbia. So, I took over. Not only did I stop the drug supply but I also diverted all resources of our family into constructive stuff." Valeria said.

I was stuffing my mouth with double fried green plantain chips and guacamole and salsa sauce. This was so delicious. It reminded me of my childhood when my neighbour in India made these plantain chips for me whenever it rained.

I noticed Emily sneaking some plantain chips from my plate. I whacked her hand.

"Bitch! Don't steal my food!" I hissed at her.

"Fight me." She replied, stuffing one plantain chip in her mouth. From across the table, Leo noticed us fighting and laughed. I must be giving him major awkward vibes.

An old lady came by our table. She bent over and said, "I'm so sorry. I did not know that we'd have vegetarian guest as well. I don't know many recipies that use no eggs or meat. I hope you liked this humble food."

"Are you kidding me? This is so good!" I said.

"I agree." Emily added. "We cook a lot of these back home in Indonesia."

The old lady smiled. Valeria introduced us to her cook Maria. She had such a warm smile that I was instantly put at ease by her friendly nature.

Valeria cleared her throat to catch our attention. "Leo told me about your problem with DeLuca and I've agreed to keep you all because, first, I think Mica DeLuca is an ass. Second because Morettis are my family. But while you're here, you must remember that I don't do charity. If you're staying here I expect you to contribute in some way like everyone else. I don't keep freeloaders so as long as you're under my roof, I expect you to take up some tasks."

"That sounds fair." Emily said. "But what kind of tasks do you have for us?"

"Some of you can help us with business, others can help the staff around the house, or just work nearby."

"I'll take care of the stables and animals. It'd be good to get back to work." Gigi said.

I almost forgot that Gigi was a qualified vet.

"I'll assist the doctor." Andrew added.

"I'm with security." Alex said.

"So am I." Amy said. Her declaration caught everyone of us by surprise. Well, I was happy that this meant more opportunity for her to be close to Alex.

"I can do cleaning." Nico mumbled. Clearly he was embarassed to say that he'd rather do housekeeping over any other task. I wish he knew how cool and badass it was for a guy to admit that.

"I can calculate. And I'm good with money." Emily said.

"Great, I'll set you up with the account keeper." Valeria said.

"I suck at cooking but I can help with dishes." I said. Maria caught my eye and smiled. At least she was friendly and nice to work with.

"I'll do the garden." Leo declared.

We all looked at him with a surprised expression. I don't think the others knew about his gardening hobby. I was just happy that he'd be doing something that he loves.

"Great! It's sorted then." Valeria clapped her hands excitedly. "We'll start tomorrow. You get today to enjoy yourselves and catch up on rest."

After the brunch was over, I headed to my room. Leo followed me. When he entered, he shut the door behind him. He walked past me to the wardrobe to grab something.

"Leo? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He closed the wardrobe door and walked and sat next to me on the bed.

"I'm sorry for being so immature in the past few days. I was unnecessarily suspicious and totally a bad girfriend. The thing is I tend to be so possessive about my loved ones, I don't realise when I end up being suffocating." I sighed. It felt good to have that all out of my chest.

"Hey... I should be the one saying that. I unnecessarily played mind games with you and made you jealous. I was so petty its embarassing." He said softly.

"So, we're cool?"

He smiled, his dark eyes softening. "Of course." He said. "I was being an asshole to you. I'm sorry I forced you to talk about something that you didn't want to share."

"Actually, I think you must know about Samar and me."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes." I nodded. I was sure. I wanted Leo to be honest with me and if I expected honesty from him, I ought to return it as well. "When I was visiting my aunt and uncle in India, Samar was their neighbour. Whenever I was in town we sort off hooked up. Then, he arrived in Trinity for studies and work and we started seeing more of each other. I guess I got my feelings involved but it was just a casual fling for him. Long story short he left me when he found I'd gotten serious. It hurt so bad but eventually I got over him. He still wanted to return back to my life, he wished things were as the way they were before. But, I'd changed and I couldn't settle for less, I wanted something more emotional, I was done with questioning my feelings and calling myself paranoid. I knew I needed an emotional support as well, which Samar couldn't give me." I sighed. "That's why he's sour about me."

"He was a fool and I'm glad he was otherwise I'd have never been with you." He said. "Thank you Meg, for telling me this." He cupped my face and kissed my forehead.

My heart was beating so wildly I think I'd pass out. I didn't know how he did that. Speaking of passing out... Ugh, my head was spinning. I suppose all this chasing and travelling didn't let me catch up on my sleep.

I gasped when I saw Leo unbuttoning his shirt.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked.

"I want to sleep. I sleep shirtless in case you didn't know." He said smugly.

Ugh, he was totally making this up to show off his body. Speaking of his body, damn he was hot. This was the first time I was seeing him shirtless and god, I was blessed.

"You know, you can stop staring and come next to me." He looked over me hungrily. My heart skipped a beat. Was he implying what I said he was implying?

I threw a pillow over him.

"Oof!" He exclaimed and caught the pillow.

I went to the bathroom and changed into my comfy pajamas and top. As much as I loved the idea of doing it with him, I was way too tired. I scooted on the bed next to him. He held me and stroked my neck as we fell asleep.

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