A/N: Thank you for your continuous support until now, Amores. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Enjoy & happy weekend. 

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SABINA's POV

Those words were music to the ears and I almost got convinced. But I knew to myself that those words weren't enough to ease the pain that he inflicted on me. The scars were still fresh on the inside and I knew that it wouldn't be so easy for me to even listen to him right now.

"Enough." I answered through gritted teeth and then took a step backward away from him. With trembling hands and legs, I picked up my clothes and then ran away from there, uncaring if I was still naked. All I wanted was to get away from him as soon as possible.

Deep inside of me, I was afraid to be near him because I knew how much my body surrenders onto him just like that and I wouldn't want that to happen.

Hearing his lies was the last thing I wanted. But looked like he wasn't ready to give up and ran after me.

"Ina, wait! Let's talk, please!"

"No! Get away from me!" I glanced at him over my shoulder and when I saw him catching up to me, I picked up my pace. Because of that, I failed to see what's ahead of me and tripped over a sticking root of a nearby tree.

I squealed as I knew that I would face plant on the hard surface of the ground but it seemed like a miracle happened because that didn't happen at all as a pair of strong arms caught me. But looked like he also lost his balance but he managed to cushion me as we both fell, with me on top of him.

"Fùck! That hurts." Judging by his voice, looked like he got hurt.

I slowly opened my eyes and met with Xzavier's tantalizing eyes. Then, my cheeks went red when I realized that we were in a salacious position. He was only wearing his briefs while me on the other hand was naked; our sensitive areas were pressed together and I gasped loudly.

"Yeah, it really hurts but I'm glad that you didn't get hurt." Xzavier uttered, obviously trying his best not to show me that he was indeed hurt. He then smiled. "Isn't this position familiar to you, my Ina?" My mind wandered to where we first me; that time when he saved me from getting swept by the river. "Even if I would get hurt multiple times, I would do it in a heartbeat so that you would never get hurt." He gently caressed my cheek while gazing at me ever so lovingly.

My heart reacted as usual but when I realized that, I quickly pushed the thought away.

"So that I would never get hurt? Really? You're all talk, Mr. Montaño. I would've believed you just now if I hadn't recall how much you hurt me in the past. After what you did, do you really think that I would believe everything you say? Not for a moment." I was about to get off him but to my horror, he wrapped his arms around my waist, preventing me from getting away from him.

"Let me go!" I hissed and began struggling out of his arms.

"Please forgive me for hurting you like that, Ina. God knows how much I wanted to spare you from that kind of pain but everything went out of my control and the only thing I could do for you that time was to make sure you were safe until now." My forehead wrinkled and stopped struggling.

"What do you mean by that?"

A sad smile appeared on his face. Then, he was about to answer when we heard voices from afar.

"Sabina! Where are you?!" My eyes widened. It sounded like my parents. I quickly got off him and picked up my swimsuit from the ground. Even though I felt like I didn't have enough strength, I tried putting it on but because of Xzavier's heated gaze, I had the hard time putting it on.

"Stop staring at me, you pervert!"

"I'm not doing anything, Ina." His somber eyes watched me while I struggled to put it on. I grunted, having a hard time tying my bikini top. I wanted to scream in frustration especially when I realized that I actually wore it incorrectly as it was inside out.

I took it off again and was about to wear it when to my surprise, he suddenly took the small garment from me. I was about to snap at him for doing that but he already spoke.

"Let me help you. You're obviously having a hard time wearing it." I gaped at him. I wanted to yell at him that it was his fault but when I saw how he was staring at me, I felt like I swallowed my tongue.

He was raking me a stare full of desire and he didn't even try to hide it. I was naked before him and it was already late for me to act like a virgin and cover up, knowing that he knows every detail of my body.

I couldn't help but to blush in embarrassment when he began putting my swimsuit on me. Even though he was obviously affected of my nakedness in front of him, I thought he could handle it because he looked like he has control over himself but when I stared at him intently, I noticed how his jaw was flexing tightly while beads of sweat were already appearing on his forehead.

"Fùck! You're going to be the death of me, my Ina. You're giving me a very hard time right now." My cheeks went even redder. The situation was awkward and embarrassing and I didn't know how to respond. I became like a statue, just watching him do what he pleases.

I wanted to say no and just do it by myself but I felt like I lost the capability to speak. I'm still angry at him but my body wasn't acting the way I wanted to.

I looked at him. I knew that kind of look on his face and when I looked down at his front, I confirmed it. He's got a hard on! He never changed!

My heartbeat became wilder.

"Finally, it's done. Fùck!" I was pulled out of my reverie when I heard his voice. I looked at myself and saw that I was already wearing the swimsuit. He then turned his back on me, breathing raggedly for some reason.

"You should go now." I cocked up an eyebrow. Now, he sounded like he wanted me out of his sight as quickly as I could.

"Really now? Now the truth came out. You don't want—"

"—Whatever you're thinking right now; that's not true. I want you to go back to the falls right now while I still have my self-control. You know me when it comes to you, Ina. You've always been weakness, my addiction, and seeing you looking so damn hot right now is making me darn crazy." My heart thumped even harder.

What the heck is he saying? I didn't know how to respond to that.

Then, after a couple of seconds, my lips parted as I was about to answer when someone spoke behind me.

"Finally, I found you. Your mom and I got worried when you suddenly disappeared like that. Don't do that again. You should tell us wherever you're going so that we wouldn't get worried like that." Dad said as he walked up to us. I could see the relief in his face. Then, he shifted his gaze on Xzavier.

"Mr. Montaño? I didn't know you came."

"I actually arrived about 30 minutes ago, Mr. Martins, just planning to hike up here and see the sunset but when I saw the crystal-clear water, I couldn't resist the temptation and took a dip." Xzavier answered casually.

"How did you know about this place? No one knows about this place aside from the people in the ranch and the farm."

"Ellie actually told me about this when I asked her where's the best place for me to watch the sunset this afternoon. We were planning to come here together but something happened that's why she asked one of the guys in the ranch to take me here. I told my guide that I could find my way home so he went back to the ranch to continue his work. I was about to head to the waterfalls when I heard voices that's why I decided to just go back to the ranch. But while I was walking, I came across Ina here." My father's eyebrows arched.

"Ina?" He parroted confusedly and then looked at me.

"Yes. I used to call your—"

"—Dad, Mr. Montaño is in a hurry. You should just chat with him next time." I interrupted him, worried that Xzavier might spill something he shouldn't.

"Really? Don't you have any spare time to join us perhaps? Our family and friends came here to the waterfalls as part of Sabina's birthday celebration. She loves it here. Since you originally planned to see the sunset, I suggest for you to stay. What can you say?" My eyes widened upon hearing what my father had said. I groaned inwardly.

"Dad!"

"What? Is there any problem, sweetie? You look so against the idea of him staying." Just when I was about to answer, Xzavier spoke.

"You're right, Mr. Martins. I originally planned to see the sunset and it would just be a waste if I'd go back without seeing it from here. Yes, I'd love to stay." I gave him a sharp stare, silently telling him to just go but he just winked at me playfully when he was sure that dad wasn't looking at him. O, how I wanted to smack the hell out of him but held myself back.

"That's good to hear. Let's go join the others then." That's what we did and when my mother saw him, she was kinda surprised. My father introduced him to her.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Montaño. Have we met somewhere before? You look kinda familiar." The beating of my heart became faster.

"Maybe you saw me at the Novell's mansion, Mrs. Martins. I'm currently staying there while I'm here. Anyway, it's nice meeting you too. Now I know where Sabina took her beauty from." Xzavier answered with a smile as he shook my mother's hand. He sounded so friendly and I almost rolled my eyes.

"Oh, you! You're making me blush, young man." Mom answered and even lightly smacked Xzavier's arm. The latter chuckled.

"Mom! Dad is watching!" I reprimanded her and she laughed.

"Oh, my. Mom was just messing around, my dear. Look at your dad. He understands." I looked at my father and he was beaming at me.

"Don't be too uptight, sweetie." I huffed.

"Anyway, are you here in Lyon for vacation, Mr. Montaño?"

"Yes, Mrs. Martins. But aside from that, I came here on a mission; a mission to take back my woman whatever happens." I could feel his gaze on me while saying that but I quickly averted my gaze. Hearing him say that sent weird feelings inside of me.

"Your woman? What do you mean, Mr. Montaño?" My father asked curiously as he looked at Xzavier and I alternately. I gulped inaudibly. If they only knew...

"You heard it right, Mr. Martins. At first, I've been having second thoughts about coming here to see her but something happened that changed my mind. I thought, she was better off without me that's why I decided a couple of years ago not to show myself to her so that she could move on with her life but I realized that that would be a suicide for me.

"I can't live life happy without her and these past few years made me suicidal. I almost got killed a lot of times but because I didn't care about living anymore, I never felt scared of being erased from the face of the earth. Now, I'm trying my luck again, hoping against hope that she would forgive me and accept me again." I knew that he was staring at me while saying those words but I never dared met his gaze. My fists tightened.

"Isn't that being selfish? That woman has been living her life without you by her side these couple of years and now, you suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bother her? That's not fair for her, right?" I couldn't hide the bitterness and resentment in my voice.

"I know I'm being selfish but I know, there's still hope for the two of us. If she only hears me out, I'm sure, that would make a huge difference." I raised my chin defiantly and met his gaze.

"What if she doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore?" I caught a weird emotion that passed through his eyes but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. He was about to respond to my question when my mother decided to break the thickening atmosphere.

"Aren't you being too vindictive and judgmental, Sab? Mr. Montaño mentioned that if only his woman could listen to him, it would make a lot of difference. What if he was right? If you were that woman, would you rather choose to stay mad without knowing his side of the story and remain wondering what went wrong until everything's too late?

"Whoever this woman is; she's lucky. Look at Mr. Montaño. Even without me knowing about his background, just the fact that he's one of the Novell's friends tells a lot about him. He's handsome and seemed polite. There's a lot of women out there who will surely do anything to get his attention.

"Sometimes, us women should listen to the story first before jumping into conclusions. Yes, that's definitely a hard thing to do especially when you're hurt and angry but even if you get hurt further hearing the missing pieces of the story, you should still listen than to regret not doing so later."

"Your mother is right, Sabina. Sometimes, even if it will hurt us even more, it's better for us to listen in order to know the complete detail. Look at your mother, everyone around her believed that I already died but she refused to believe it and chose to hold onto my promises even without enough proof that I was indeed alive." It was my father. The way he was looking at me while saying that made me furrow. He seemed trying his best to make me understand their point even though they didn't know anything about me and Xzavier's past.

I remained quiet for a couple of seconds, unable to utter any respond. Then, I finally gathered myself together and forced a chuckle.

"Why are you telling me that as if I was the woman he's referring to, mom, dad? I think, this conversation is getting too serious. Anyway, I'm going to take a dip now." Before anyone among them answer, I quickly ran toward the water and dove in, hoping that the cool water would wash away those weird feelings inside my chest.

Xzavier's words repeatedly echoed in my head and I could feel my eyes brimming with tears. Why am I such a weak person when it comes to him? I know I shouldn't let myself get affected by his words earlier but no matter how many times I tell myself to just ignore it like the air around me, I just couldn't.

I hate you, Xzav...

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Do you think Sabina really hates Xzavier now?

Will there be another chance for the both of them to be together again?

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