ALEJANDRO SERRANO

"So, how serious are things between you and my sister?"

"Pretty serious. Why?" Alejandro dragged his eyes away from the screen to spare him a brief glance, surprised at the sudden question.

Levi Abraham shrugged. "I'm just wondering if I need to have the talk with you."

"What talk?" He smirked and continued typing away on his laptop. "My mum gave me the birds and the bees talk the first time she caught me making out with a girl."

"What age was that? 15?"

Alejandro smirked at him from over his laptop. "12."

Levi chuckled. "Jesus! You started young."

"Don't worry. I've been celibate for a couple of years now. I'm pretty sure my virginity has actually grown back."

"You and my sister haven't had sex yet?" He asked, genuinely surprised as Alejandro Serrano looked far from a man who sustained from sex for long periods of time. If he had to guess, he was exactly the kind of man that woman falling over their own feet trying to get his attention.

"Well, I meant before your sister. If my virginity had grown back, she's made sure to demolish it with the amount of times she's rode my cock."

"What the fuck?" Levi sputtered loudly as he choked on his coffee. "That's my sister. I didn't want to know that!"

Alejandro shrugged and sipped on his coffee, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "You asked." He pointed out, correct.

"But you weren't supposed to answer it." Levi groaned and ran a hand down his face, almost as if trying to wipe the thought from his mind.

"Next time don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answer to."

"You're a sick, sick man." He tutted and shook his head, a look of disgust still on his face.

"Your sister loves it." The innuendo was clear and it took a second for Levi to pick up on the meaning behind his words. When he did, Alejandro couldn't help but grin.

"Stop telling me what my sister likes in bed."

"Stop instigating me." He smirked and before Levi could shoot back his comeback, Layla stopped by to top up their coffees.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The men shared a knowing look before glancing back at her.

"You." Her brother grinned at her.

"All good things I hope."

"As if there's anything bad to say about you. You're the golden child." Levi snorted and moved over on his side of the booth to make room for her, patting the seat next to him.

She placed the coffee pot on the table and slid into the vacant seat next to her brother, much to Alejandro's dismay.

When he looked up, Levi sent him a triumphant grin. One which Alejandro returned with a quirked brow. He then sat back and chuckled silently as Levi frowned, attempting to decipher what exactly he had meant by that gesture.

Layla rolled her eyes at their antics. "It's not my fault dad loves me more."

"Impossible. I'm his first born."

She scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, it does! I'm the one that made him a dad." He pointed out proudly before turning to Alejandro. "What do you say we let Alejandro decide this once and for all?"

She smirked and turned to her boyfriend.

When Alejandro looked up from his laptop, he frowned as both siblings stared at him expectantly. It was eery how in that moment, they looked so similar, their mannerisms and facial expressions nearly exact.

"What?" He asked, confused after having zoned out of the conversation momentarily when they started bickering.

"Which one of us does dad love more?"

"Layla." He replied almost immediately, not even needing a fraction of a second to ponder over his response.

Perhaps that was a mistake.

"That's not fair!" Levi scowled, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "You're obviously going to pick her. She's your girlfriend."

Layla smirked, victorious. "That's your fault. You should have thought of that before you suggested that Alejandro judge."

"I demand a rematch!"

"You're such a sore loser." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

Ignoring his sister, Levi rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, daring to stare Alejandro straight in the eye. "I thought you had my back. How could you betray me like that?"

He snorted and closed his laptop, tired of staring at the screen for so long. He would give himself a short break before he resumed working.

"Easy. Your sister scratches my back in a way you never could."

"She scratches your back?" Levi leaned back in the booth, his eyebrows furrowed together as he mumbled the words to himself, his mind perplexed. "Is that a weird couple massage thing?"

Alejandro glanced at his girlfriend who was evidently struggling to hold back her laugher. That amused him further.

When Levi stared at him, he made sure to send him a pointed look before his eyes drifted towards Layla. Watching the look of horror, quickly followed by disgust take over his face was worth every penny of a priceless painting.

Alejandro had quickly learnt that while Levi was very academically smart, – again, similar to his sister – he was somewhat lacking in picking up on dry humour and sarcasm, especially when spoken expressionless or with a poker face. That was unlike his sister as nearly always, Layla picked up on the double meaning behind his words and countered with an equal or superior response that had him shake with laughter.

The contrast between both siblings was refreshing, and he very much enjoyed poking fun at the expense of Levi Abraham. Even more so when he discovered that Levi was kind of slow at picking up on the double meanings and innuendos.

Today, he was in the mood to poke fun at him at his sister's expense. It was pretty comical to watch the disgust take over his face when realisation finally dawned on him.

"You're actually disgusting. I don't want to hear about what you two get up to in the bedroom."

Alejandro opened his mouth to declare that most of the time, they didn't even make it to the bedroom but before he could traumatise him further, a shadow hovered over them all and when they all glanced up, they were met with a familiar face.

Levi had never met Byron but Layla had mentioned him a few times and frankly, he felt bad for the man. It was evident that he was suffering through PTSD and was struggling to get the help that he needed. While it wasn't ideal that he kept trying to bring up the trauma he went through, so much so that he appeared to have become obsessed with it as well as the people he associated it with. In this case, Layla.

To some level, it was understandable.

It was impossible to have gone through what Layla and Byron had gone through, and come out the other end completely unaffected or unscathed.

Everyone dealt with trauma differently, had different coping mechanisms. Albeit, some were less traditional and more worrisome than others.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Byron asked her, even though his eyes drifted behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder, she found Alejandro glaring back at him, his mouth set in a straight line. When he moved to glance at her, she frowned at him and gestured for him to drop it.

Glaring at Byron wasn't necessary anymore – even if he had shut the door in Alejandro's face earlier that week – as Layla was no longer pretending to date him.

"Alone." He stressed the word and from the look on his face, it was clear that he wanted to get somethings off his chest.

"Sure," she stood up and brushed down her skirt before leading him to an empty table on the other side of the bakery.

They pulled out their respective chairs and sat down across from each other.

"Is he always that intense?" He jerked a thumb in Alejandro's direction and chuckled nervously.

"Pretty much." She nodded. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He fiddled with his fingers and avoided eye contact, choosing to keep his eyes locked on the pattern on the wall behind her. "I wanted to start by apologising for my behaviour the other day. It was completely out of order."

She nodded and smiled encouragingly, willing him to continue. Something told her this conversation was more for his sake than hers; something he needed to get off his chest if he wanted to be able to move forward and let go of the past.

"I acted without thinking and I didn't mean to get so angry with you."

Layla nodded in understanding and sent him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry you saw Alejandro and I like that."

"I'm sorry I saw that too." He said, and she couldn't help but wince at his words.

A brief, awkward silence passed between them before he decided that he wasn't finished yet.

"I've been all over the place since what happened at the bank. I'm scared of everyone and everything. But most of all, I think I'm scared of myself and what I can't remember. I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm so desperate to know what happened to me after I was taken from the bank, I started acting without thinking. I just feel this pent-up rage and frustration inside me and I don't know what to do with it. I just want answers." He buried his face in his hands and groaned lightly. "I wish you knew me before the incident. I feel like we could have been friends."

"Have you spoken to someone about this?"

He nodded. "I've been speaking to my therapist and after the other day, I think I need to schedule more appointments with her." Byron continued to avoid eye contact. "I had an appointment yesterday and we spoke about a few things. She suggested that I should speak to you, that it may give me closure."

Layla nodded cautiously. "I'm glad you came to speak to me."

"For what it's worth, you two look good together."

She shot him a grateful smile. "Thank you. But I really am sorry you had to find out like that."

"I think on some level, I already knew."

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously, worried that she would put her foot in her mouth and set him off.

"From the very first day I knew he was in love with you. Kind of like love at first sight. Anyone could tell just by the way he was looking at you." Byron may not have realised it because he was too focused on his words, but her face flushed at the notion that Alejandro had loved her even back then when she was hysterical and too scared to get into his car.

Oh, what a sight she had been.

"I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings, but I don't fancy you in a romantic way, and I know you feel the same."

Again, she nodded cautiously. She was afraid to say something in case she offended him and they undid all the progress they seemed to be making with this one heartfelt conversation.

"You're a gorgeous woman with a beautiful heart, but I don't think we're meant to be together. When I first saw you, I think it was more infatuation rather than a romantic interest. I recognised you from the bank and then when I found out you had also been transferred outside of the bank, like me, I just felt so connected with you. I think I confused that with love because even now, sitting across from you, I don't feel anything but friendly feelings towards you."

Layla nodded encouragingly, silently willing him to continue.

"I think we're better off as friends rather than lovers. But I don't think I'm in the right headspace to be making friends with anyone, right now." He confessed with a heavy heart.

"I can respect that." She smiled. "We'll go at whatever pace you like, alright?"

Byron grinned, feeling so much lighter now that he had been open and honest with her.

Levi and Alejandro watched them curiously but from where they were sitting, they couldn't hear anything they said. All they could do was just watch their lips moves, mostly Byron's.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Alejandro frowned. "I'm not sure but it can't be good." His eyes flickered back and forth between their faces, trying to gouge what was being discussed especially since Byron had wanted to talk to her alone.

Seemingly finished with the conversation, Levi made a point of looking away so he didn't get caught staring, but Alejandro didn't care. Instead, he continued to openly stare as both Layla and Byron stood up and began walking back to them.

Before he could say anything, Byron beat him to it.

"Alejandro, I want to apologise for shutting the door in your face the other day. That was very rude of me. I realise that now. I hope we can leave it in the past."

Alejandro nodded but his jaw remained clenched. While he respected him for the apology and accepted it even, that didn't mean that he was ready to trust him yet.

There was just something about Byron that rubbed him up the wrong way, and he hadn't decided yet if it was due to his attraction towards Layla or not. Perhaps he was just biased.

"Well," Byron attempted a smile and glanced around him. "My bodyguard is waiting outside for me and I have some errands to run." With that, he excused himself.

All three of them watched as Byron walked out of the bakery, a large grin on his face, seemingly very happy with himself.

"Do either of you have the feeling that this is the calm before the storm?" Levi mused aloud, voicing both of their innermost thoughts.

"Anyway, my lunch break is over so I'm going to head back to work. I still have to prepare for court first thing in the morning." He stood up and shrugged on his suit jacket, still pondering over Byron's words.

"Good luck." She stood up to givde him a quick hug and watched as he reached out and bumped fists with Alejandro, both of them a sharing secret which time after time, they refused to explain to her.

Layla was glad that her brother was fond of her boyfriend and that they were getting along swell, but could it be possible that they were getting along too well?

They said their goodbyes, but not before Layla made her brother promise that he would stop by at the bakery for lunch again at least once more that week.

"I have a feeling Levi's right." Alejandro hummed, rubbing his hand along his jaw as he thought. "It does seem too good to be true."

Layla huffed and dropped herself into the booth where her brother was previously sat, directly opposite to Alejandro. "I hate to admit it but I feel the same way."

"What did he want to talk to you about?" He didn't even bother hiding his jealousy.

She rested her elbows and bowed her head, releasing a sigh. "For the most part, he wanted to apologise for his behaviour the other day. He also mentioned that he thinks we shouldn't see each other anymore because he needs professional help to get through what he's going through, and being in a relationship isn't healthy for him."

Alejandro nodded but didn't comment on it. A small part of him did feel bad for Byron but the other part couldn't be gladder that with his own initiative, removed himself from the picture.

"Say something." She lifted her head and reached for his hand, resting their entwined fingers on the table between them.

"I almost feel bad for him."

"Almost?" The mirth in her tone was not lost on him.

"I feel bad for what he's going through but I'm glad that he's out of the picture now."

Layla rolled her eyes playfully. "There's no one but you in the picture."

"That's what I like to hear."

But she wasn't finished yet. "Your ego is so big there's barely room for me in the picture."

"That's not the only thing about me that's big."

She gasped at his crude words and glanced around to see if anyone was listening. "You're impossible." She shook her head, unable to reign in her smile.

"Impossibly hard."

"Impossibly disgusting." She got up and returned to work, unable to keep the large smile off her face the rest of the day, even if it was just fuelling his ego that he had put it there in the first place.

-

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Layla Knight

07.06.2020