Chapter 9 Say it First
SAY IT FIRST
César
Lety’s been quiet most of the evening. Something changed in her when I left her alone to speak with Augustín. Knowing she was uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have done that. I get that now, but fuck, it had only been for a couple of minutes. What the fuck did Carmen say to her?
Getting her to talk at the party is damn near impossible now.
She evades me around every corner, plastering on a smile as she mingles, though I notice her eyes dart to the exit several times.
The only leverage I have is that I brought her here, so she’s reliant on me to get her home.
But from the looks of it, my girl is ready to run. So, we’re back to that.
She still doesn’t fucking see it. But she will. Tonight.
Night settles in, and guests begin to disperse, heading home for the night.
It’s my cue to get the fuck out of here.
All I can think about is being alone with Lety.
I reach for her hand—relieved when she doesn’t pull away from me—and guide her toward the door.
Across the cluster of people, Augustín’s eyes find mine among the small crowd gathered to bid their goodbyes.
He must see something urgent in my expression because he gives me a subtle nod of farewell.
I return it without stopping. As we pass, I notice Lety deliberately avoids Carmen’s gaze, and I tighten my grip on her hand, leading her straight to my truck without looking back.
She doesn’t speak to me when I open the door for her, nor does she speak when I get in to drive toward her house. The silence is heavy, thick, suffocating. If she thinks this will scare me off, Lety doesn’t understand how our arrangement works. She doesn’t understand how I work.
Lety unfurls her arms from around herself, letting out a shaky breath when we pull up to her house. Her hand slips to the doorhandle, curling around it. “Thank you for tonight. I just—”
I kill the engine and swing my door open before she has a chance to finish whatever damn excuse she’s been crafting in her mind since we left the party.
My steps are fast, sharp, fueled by frustration and the need to break through whatever wall she’s throwing up between us.
Again. I reach her side and yank open the door.
The truck rattles from the force, but I don’t care.
I lean in, bracing one hand against the frame to keep myself steady.
I bite my tongue to keep from saying something I might regret.
Lety stares up at me, eyes wide, confusion etched across her face like she’s not sure if I’m about to kiss her or explode. I want to do both.
“What are you doing, César? I can open my own door and get into my own house. I don’t need your help.”
There it is—the fiery attitude I love from her. Most of the night, she’s been closed off from me, not meeting my gaze and shying away from my touch. But this anger? I can deal with that.
“I’m keeping my fucking girlfriend from running.
Again. So, I’m going inside with you. And you’re going to tell me exactly what Carmen said to you.
” I pull back, but only enough to get her out of the car.
I offer Lety my hand, but the stubborn woman refuses it, muttering something about “impossible males,” before sliding out of the car.
She walks right past me, allowing me to appreciate her ass sway with each step.
“How do you know she even said anything to me?” Lety asks, annoyance coloring her words.
She rifles through her clutch before pulling out a set of keys to unlock her door.
The lock is rusted, sitting slightly askew.
I make a mental note to update her security system. I won’t rest unless I know she’s safe.
Until I can convince her to move in with me, that is.
“Because something changed in you when I came back. It looked like you wanted to bolt,” I answer.
Lety snorts but also doesn’t deny it. After a moment of struggling with the lock, she pushes open her front door and steps inside.
I fall in step behind her, locking it once I’m inside.
It occurs to me I’ve never actually been in Lety’s house before.
It smells just like her, sugary sweet with a hint of spice.
The house is small but well maintained. The living room is decorated with an emerald-green couch, complimented by fuchsia walls with various art and photos adorning it.
All the small trinkets and a half-finished puzzle on the coffee table scream Lety. This is her own personal haven, and she’s allowed me—albeit reluctantly—inside of it. I don’t take that lightly.
As I’m admiring her space, Lety moves further into the house, down a darkened hallway.
I follow, noting the family photos lining the wall.
Lety is in the back room, the primary bedroom, kicking off her shoes.
Unlike the rest of the house, this room is cluttered with clothes.
The bed isn’t made, looking freshly slept in, and there’s a coffee mug on her bedside table with lipstick stains on the rim.
Lety is mumbling to herself as she kicks her heels off and turns to look at me. There’s a wild look in her eyes and I know I’m in for a fight. “This isn’t going to work!”
“You yelling at me? I don’t know, mi reina. It’s getting me all hot and bothered.”
Lety hurls a twisted-up shirt at my head.
I dodge it and it hits the wall with a dull thud before falling back to the floor.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.
I can’t do this, César. It’s not worth fucking up everything we’ve both built.
It’s better if we part ways amicably, so we can at least work together civilly. Or hell, I can quit and—”
“You’re not fucking quitting,” I snarl. “And we’re not cutting this off.”
“But Carmen said—”
“I don’t give a fuck what Carmen said! Augustín just needs to divorce her ass already. I shouldn’t have left you alone with her knowing what she’s like.” I take a deep breath, feeling myself get heated. I need to keep a level-head right now, since Lety certainly won’t.
“Wait, what?” Lety scrunches her brow.
I close the space between us, needing to be closer. Lety sucks in a deep breath when I approach, but she doesn’t push me away. She’s guarded, confused, but doesn’t flinch when I reach for her. It’s a small crack in her armor I plan to exploit.
“I should’ve warned you before we left. Carmen’s awful.
” There are harsher things I want to call her, but out of respect for my friend and their kid, I hold back.
“She’s cold. Self-centered. The kind of person who’ll do whatever it takes to get what she wants, even if it means tearing someone else down.
She saw a vulnerable moment, and she used it against you.
That’s the kind of shit she pulls. What did she tell you? ”
Lety’s hesitant to let me know. She shifts from foot to foot, glancing at the ground. My strong, beautiful woman forgets herself. But she won’t. Not after tonight.
My fingers find her chin, coaxing her to meet my eyes. “What did she say?” I ask again.
“That I don’t belong in your world. That I’m just another woman in a sea of women before me,” she admits, and each word lights a fire within me.
My jaw clenches so hard it hurts.
“Another woman?” I repeat in a low and dangerous tone.
“You think I’d bring just any woman into my life, into my business, to meet my friends?
You think I’d risk everything I’ve built for something casual?
” I scoff, stepping closer, until our bodies are pressed together.
She’s got nowhere to run. “You don’t know me at all if you believe that. ”
Lety folds her arms like she’s trying to hold herself together. “It’s not just about that. You’ll get tired of me eventually. You’ll want someone easier, someone less complicated.” She shudders, saying the last word like it’s a foul curse.
My chest tightens at her words, and I can’t hold back anymore. I’m done with these games. They end here. Now. With her knowing she’s mine and I’m hers. “I don’t want easy. I want you, Lety.”
She shakes her head, but her lips tremble, seconds away from losing herself. “You say that now—”
“No,” I cut her off, firm but gentle. “Not just now. I’ve been falling for you since the first time you rolled your eyes at me in that conference room. Since you challenged me instead of catered to my ego. Since I found out what you do in the evenings, and how fucking powerful that makes you.”
She huffs out a soft laugh, but I don’t let go of her hands.
“You think I’m going to get bored of you?
” I scoff, brushing my fingers along her cheek.
“Lety, I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure you out and still wake up every morning amazed that you’re mine.
You’re fire and sweetness and chaos all in one, and I’ve never been more certain of anything than I am of this. I love you.”
She flinches like I’ve struck her, her breath catching. “You can’t possibly love me. We just started dating. No one can be certain. I mean, what if these feelings are just lust? What if we are confusing lust and desire with love? What then?”
“I’m in love with you,” I repeat, slower this time, letting every word sink in.
She needs to hear it. There’s no confusion on my part, and soon, there will be none on hers, either.
I just need to break through her stubbornness.
“Not just the you that’s sexy as hell when you’re mad.
Or the you who gets on camera and is the fucking most powerful, sexy woman I’ve ever seen.
Not just the you I get to kiss or tease or touch.
I love you. The woman who talks back, who stays late to work and is friends with the janitors.
The woman who loves tacos but can’t cook to save her life.
The woman who walks into a room and makes me feel like I’m home. ”
Lety’s eyes brim with emotion and her lower lip trembles, but she doesn’t pull away. She just stands there, breathing hard, trying to keep her walls up. It’s a losing battle, though, and I think she knows it. She may be stubborn, but it pales in comparison to my own.
So I push a little more.
“I’m not leaving, mi reina. I’m not going anywhere.
I don’t give a shit what Carmen said. I don’t care what doubts are in your head.
You want to fight? I’ll fight. You want to push me away?
Fine, push. But I’m still going to be right here, loving you like it’s the only damn thing that matters. Because it is.”
She swallows hard, blinking rapidly, and I can practically see the moment her defenses start to crumble. It’s glorious. Beautiful. Just like her.
I lower myself, pressing my forehead to hers. Lety exhales, eyes fluttering close. She reaches up to grip my arms, as if trying to keep herself steady. That’s what I want to be for her. Her anchor in a storm when she needs it.
“You are not just another woman. You’re the woman. Mine.”
Her hands tighten around my arms, and when she finally meets my eyes, I see it—that flicker of belief. There’s war still raging inside her, yes, but also hope.
And hope is all I need.
I kiss her. Because she’s done hearing words. She needs to see and feel them.
Her lips move in time with mine, and I feel her worries and fears start to fall away. I gather her in my arms, and she yelps as I pick her up. “César! What are you doing?” Her voice is breathless, unbridled desire coating her words.
I smirk. “I’m taking my girl to bed, so I can show her just how serious I am.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah.” She’s flustered. It’s cute.
I’ve never made love to a woman before. I’ve fucked plenty. Had passionate sex. Rough sex. Many different types. But never love. I make sure to show it in every move I make.
In the way that I strip her of her clothes, kissing down her collarbone, tasting the sweetness of her skin. The little breathy moans she makes spur me on. I unclasp her bra, freeing her glorious tits from their confines, and immediately take her nipple into my mouth.
“Baby,” she moans.
It’s music to my fucking ears.
I don’t remember how the rest of our clothes fell to the floor or who took them off. I’m consumed by the woman underneath me. I break down each of her walls with a kiss, savoring the way she tastes on my tongue. Perfect. It feels like the start of forever.
And then I’m inside of her. I bury my cock deep within her, claiming her from the inside out.
“You. Are. Mine,” I moan in her ear between thrusts. Each movement is a claiming and an undoing. But also a beginning.
The beginning of us.
I move faster, more urgently. The bed creaks under our weight, and Lety arches her back off the mattress.
“César, please,” she moans. She’s close. I feel it. But so am I.
“Tell me you’re mine.” I press the pad of my thumb down on her clit and still.
She whines, trying to grind down to reach her release, but I pull my hand back. “Say it. Say you’re mine, and I’ll let you come, mi reina.”
“Fuck, okay. Okay, I’m yours, César. I swear to God if you make me regret this, I will kill you. I—Ah!” Her words end in a breathy moan as my finger finds her clit once again.
Her body tenses before her orgasm rips through her, and she’s coming for my cock. I follow close behind, filling her. Claiming her once and for all. She will never have to question my feelings for her. And if she does, I’ll simply show her again and again.
But there’s no running. Because I will always chase her. And if she wants to run away to a cabin like she told me in the private chat, then I’ll run away with her.
After we clean up, we lay in her bed, her head resting against my chest.
“I love you, Lety,” I murmur, needing her to hear again.
She doesn’t speak at first, just traces circles around my chest with her finger. Finally, she looks up at me. The fear from earlier doesn’t linger. Just peace. Acceptance. “Remember what I said, César. Break my heart and I will kill you. Or make your life hell. I have all your passwords, you know.”
I can’t help but laugh. My evil, vengeful girl. I got a lifetime of this. I just hope it will be enough. “Noted, mi reina. I’ll protect your heart.”
I realize that she hasn’t said “I love you” back. That’s okay. I can be patient. I can wait just a little longer for her to say it back.
Because one day she will.