"All men live with fear."

― George R.R. Martin

"Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same."

― George R.R. Martin

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

― Emma Granholm

Chapter 15

"Let's go there!" I excitedly pulled Mateo by the sleeve of his leather jacket and impatiently pointed with my other hand in the direction of the huge, flashy sign that read Crazy Cars. He was obviously emotionally attached to that piece of clothing seeing as he wore it whenever we went out.

Mateo looked at me in confusion. We had just arrived and I had already started acting like a little child that had never seen the interesting rides.

"Hell no!" He said firmly and folded his arms across his chest

"But why?" I protested, pursing my lips. I hoped that that could help me.

"Tara, baby," he began, "I really want to get out of here alive, and with you in that car I don't think I will succeed in that mission." I wanted to offer him to sit in the driver's seat, but I quickly dismissed that idea.

It's not equally fun when you're the one driving and when you're just a passenger. I wanted to be the one in charge and he obviously knew that.

"But these are electric cars with maximum protection. The operator can literally stop the car at any moment. Besides, you know I can't drive outside of the metal floor area. It's completely safe and as you can see, children are driving too. It is practically impossible to get hurt," I said, trying to convince him.

"You'll find a way," he gave me a pointed look. Probably, but that's beside the point.

I knew I had no choice but to use the most powerful weapon women have - tears. For some reason, I had almost always gotten whatever I wanted when I had played that card. Men were weak when it came to crying women.

I looked at him with such sadness people would think someone close to me died. It took me a lot of effort, but I managed to make myself cry. My eyes started crystallizing and my lips began to tremble.

Mateo looked at me with a horrified expression and with eyes wide open. I could see the urgency and fear on his face. If I wasn't as determined to play the part till the very end, I would've burst out laughing at that scene. Such a big, powerful man was afraid of a woman with tears in her eyes. I couldn't deny that the whole thing was hilarious.

"Please don't cry, we'll go wherever you want!" He sounded so worried and terrified it made me feel guilty for a moment. Fortunately, that only lasted for a second or two. He cupped my cheeks with his strong, rough hands and started wiping my tears away, all the while desperately trying to calm me down.

As soon as I officially got his consent, I removed his hands from my face and wiped my tears myself. I couldn't help but smile in the process.

"Great, let's go now," I winked at him and moments later, I was on my way towards the ride, dragging him with me. I previously stole a quick glance at him and watched his reaction. He looked more than confused and surprised like he couldn't believe that I had tricked him like that.

"You're unbelievable." He needed a few moments to recover. He was obviously annoyed, but clearly not enough to stop me from going where I intended to. He was, generally, someone who kept his word regardless of consequences.

Pleased with myself, I went to buy a couple of tokens for the ride. Of course, Mateo didn't let me. He only glared at me and immediately pulled out his wallet. He rudely handed the money to the person who worked there. The boy was so scared that his hands trembled when he gave us the tokens. I rolled my eyes and just went in the direction of the bumper cars. Typical Mateo,

"I want this one!" I pointed at the car I liked.

"Of all the cars here, you had to choose the bright pink one with glitter all over it?" His question was rhetorical, yet I didn't pay attention to his remarks.

We got weird looks from parents who brought their little ones for a ride as we were trying to get ourselves inside of the car. To say that Mateo wasn't pleased with that would be an understatement, but I didn't want to let anything ruin my fun, so I just ignored them. Somehow, I managed to squeeze into the car. I looked at Mateo amusedly, waiting to see how he planned to put his huge body in such a small vehicle.

"Very funny," he said, rolling his eyes. It was the moment I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I burst out laughing, especially after seeing him settled on a small seat. He had to bend his knees completely and wrap his arms around them in order to have at least some space. He even pushed me to the side because of it.

He muttered something, but I couldn't hear what he had said, although it wasn't hard to conclude that it was on my account.

After we both made ourselves comfortable, I pushed the accelerator and started with my excellent driving.

-

"That was the first and the last time I let you drive. From now on, you can't even push a cart in the supermarket," Mateo informed me when we were out of tokens and exited the ride. To his immense displeasure, we were given twice an extra ride as a reward. I genuinely thought that he would start crying in those moments.

"I have no idea what are you talking about."

"Tara," He emphasized my name, all while pulling my arm to stop me from going further. I looked at him confused as he had a serious expression on his face. "You literally hit every car out there, literally."

"You're exaggerating," I rolled my eyes.

"Tara, we had to pay for the damage you made to the car surrounded by a rubber bumper," He said in disbelief, raising his voice towards the end of the sentence. He wasn't exactly angry, he was more dumbfounded than anything.

"That absolutely isn't my fault."

"Then whose fault is it, love?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, those children who hit me, obviously. I mean, who in the right state of mind allows little kids to drive cars?" I rolled my eyes again.

"I don't know. Why would someone let a child drive a car that was made for children? Can you imagine the stupidity?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. That angered me so much I wanted to punch him across his face. However, I knew how things would end, if the event from the night before was anything to go by, so I gave up on the thought.

"I still think that you're overreacting," I added, purely so I could at least have a feeling that mine was the final word.

"I don't know why I'm even trying, but I still stand by what I said, you're not driving ever again." Sure thing. I wanted to talk back, but for the sake of my well-being, I kept my mouth shut.

For the next few minutes, we were focused on carelessly walking around and checking out different stands and rides. It was a beautiful sight. The atmosphere was very lively. There were people all around laughing and enjoying themselves. Furthermore, there were many different rides I wanted to try out, as well as the food I wanted to put in my system. Everything was perfect until the moment when Mateo noticed probably the biggest roller coaster I had ever seen. He had a longing look on his face and I immediately understood what his intention was, so I had to stop him from fully processing the crazy idea.

"There's no way in hell I'm going there," I said firmly.

"Why not?" If I didn't know better, I would've thought that he was beyond sad. Of course he knew what I was talking about.

"Because I'm afraid of heights therefore I would rather die than go on that thing," I pointed out. If he thought I was joking, he had another thing coming.

"But baby, I'll be with you, there's no reason to be scared," He tried to reassure me. He finally took his eyes off the lethal object and placed them on me. "Also, you almost killed me a few minutes ago, you owe me big time."

"It's kind of cute that you think you can convince me by making me feel guilty," I smiled the fakest smile I could muster.

"Okay, I can see that this won't lead us anywhere." Right when I was about to praise him for his behavior, he carried on with his talking and shattered all my hopes. "You have two options – either you come with me willingly or I'll take you there by force."

"You're kidding, right?" I let out a nervous laugh.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Well, if I take into account your current posture – crossed arms, raised an eyebrow, legs spread, head raised and the way you are intensely looking into my eyes – probably not.

"I'll cry," I threatened him.

"I don't fall for the same trick twice," he replied.

"I'm serious this time."

"Then be my guest."

We looked into each other's eyes for a while, not looking away for a second. Neither of us wanted to give up, even though we knew that in the end, someone would have to. I just hoped that his affection for me would prevail.

I realized how wrong I was the very next moment. I didn't even notice when he approached me, lifted me into the air, and threw me over his shoulder. I started screaming and hitting him on the back trying to make him put me down, but nothing worked. He only smacked my backside and kept walking towards the deadly ride.

"Mateo, I swear on my life that I will castrate you if you make me go there! Do it by yourself, I'll gladly wait for you," I said, using everything I could think of so I could try to get myself out of that horrible situation. However, nothing helped.

"You love him too much to get rid of him," he said while giving me a pointed look and right after, he squeezed my behind.

For the rest of the walk, we didn't say a word to each other. I clearly didn't see a point in speaking to him and as for Mateo, he was too busy thinking about how he was about to go to his favorite ride. The waiting line was very long, but that meant nothing to him. He pushed through all those people and got to the very front- No one said anything, no one dared to. I did, however, feel their eyes on me. Whether they were staring because Mateo was still carrying me like some ragged doll or because he was so rude, I wasn't sure, but the thing I did know was that I felt more than uncomfortable because of it.

After a few moments of waiting, we were comfortably settled into one of the free seats. The blood finally reached my head again and I automatically felt a mild headache due to the previous deficiency.

I crossed my arms over my chest and pursed my lips, annoyed and slightly frightened by what was bound to happen. I didn't lie earlier, I was afraid of heights.

"Babe, you're so cute when you're sulking," he kissed me on the cheek and put his hand on my thigh.

What's wrong with everyone saying that I'm cute when I'm sulking? I seriously need to find them professional help.

I didn't respond, rather than that, I kept quiet. I was angry and decided to show him what it really looked like when I was sulking.

However, it seemed like he had different plans. He started moving his hand closer to the part of my body that was on fire because of his actions. I removed his hand before he could go any further. He smirked and put his hand back on my thigh. I tried to remove it one more time, but he wouldn't budge. His hold was so strong I couldn't move it an inch, let alone more.

"Mateo," I warned him.

"Princess," he said in the same tone, clearly challenging me.

Before I could say anything else, the dreaded ride started and I immediately screamed.

-

I believed I looked fresh out of an audition for a remake of the movie The Ring when I got off the damn ride. I was wandering aimlessly, while Mateo was next to me. He was snickering, clearly amused by my trauma.

He wasn't even aware of how much I wanted to strangle him in those moments. He was lucky I didn't vomit back there. Somewhere in the middle of the ride, I was on the verge of a panic attack and Mateo's hand holding mine didn't help much in calming me down. I was almost certain I would faint due to fear. I tried to keep my eyes closed, but I couldn't fight my impulses. I opened my eyes and looked down for a bit. Even though the speed was tremendous, I noticed how high we were. Right then and there, I felt dizzy and I was sure that it was only a matter of time before I lost consciousness.

"Baby, what can I do to make up for this?" He asked me after finally regained his composure, but I was too shaken up to answer.

"Princess?" This time, he sounded serious. It seemed like he had finally realized that I was genuinely scared. He grabbed my upper arm and pulled me towards him. He wrapped his arms around my body and buried his head in the crook of my neck. "Tell me," he insisted. He left a trail of kisses down my neck that made me all hot and bothered. Unfortunately, he managed to bring me back to reality with those gentle touches.

"There's nothing you can do," I finally answered him. He hugged me tighter, making me perfectly aware of every part of his body. At that point, the only thing I could think of was what he looked like without a shirt on and what it felt like to touch his skin and examine every part of it.

"So, cotton candy?" He offered, clearly amused by the whole situation.

"Make it two," I gave in. I wanted to be angry with him for a little more, but since he mentioned it, I started to crave cotton candies. I hated the fact that he knew me so well. Although, It wasn't exactly a secret that I was a sucker for that sweet heaven.

Buy me food and I'll forgive you even if you kill me afterward.

He kissed me and, holding my hand tightly, pulled me to the place where he could buy me some. Like I told him, he immediately ordered two. I was already salivating and I was only watching the process of making the candy. I was impatient. I wanted to have them in my hands as soon as possible and eat them the way they deserve. They looked perfectly edible and I was certain they were literally calling my name.

After a few minutes, they were ready. Mateo handed me one while he was still holding the other one, waiting for me to finish the first one so he could give it to me. He didn't buy some for himself seeing as he wasn't a big fan of sweets. I didn't judge him too much for it. I had better things to do.

I felt like I was in heaven as I was eating the cotton candy he bought me. I hadn't eaten it for a long time and I had absolutely no idea what was going on with my brain during that period.

"And where to, now?" Mateo asked me. I looked up to tell him to stop interrupting me while I was in complete bliss, but then I saw something that made my heart flutter. My mouth hung open in amazement, my candy completely forgotten.

"Mateo," I whispered. He looked at me alarmed by the way I addressed him and when he noticed my facial expression, he ran his hand through his hair, visibly frustrated.

"Not again," he murmured, "what now?"

"Look."

With a trembling hand, I pointed in the direction of the most perfect thing I had ever seen in my life. Not far away from us was a booth with that game where a person had to shoot a gun and hit a target to get a reward. One of the rewards was the enormous, fluffy, white-pink unicorn. People probably thought that I was acting like a 5-year-old, but I wanted it. The big stuffed toy was so perfect and big. It looked like it was at least half my height. I could already imagine what it would feel like to lie on it.

I shifted my gaze to Mateo whose eyes were fixated on me. He didn't look irritated anymore. He most likely realized that what I wanted wasn't that bad.

"You want that thing?" he asked me in a serious voice as if what I practically demanded of him was not completely idiotic.

I only nodded my head as a sign of confirmation. He let out a breath and pulled me in the direction of the booth. When we got there, he gave the money to the man that was standing there so he could start with the game. He took the gun in his hands and for a moment I was amazed seeing as it looked like it was made for him. Even his aim and shooting were perfect, the bullet ended upright in the center.

I looked at him in shock, but he didn't return the gesture. I had a feeling he was avoiding me because he thought I was going to ask a handful of questions. Truthfully, I usually question everything he did, but I had already rationalized the fact that he is very good with guns. He was neither the first nor the last man to have that skill.

"Here you go." A middle-aged man, who most likely owned the place, handed him a teddy-bear. Almost immediately, I found myself glaring at him. The guy hit the center from the first try and he only gave him that tiny thing?

"I want the unicorn," Mateo said calmly. I had an opportunity to see for myself that Mateo's calmness was much more dangerous than his anger. However, it seemed that the owner of the stand did not share my opinion, seeing as he started laughing uncontrollably. Mateo raised his eyebrow and scanned the poor man from head to toe with slow eye movements. I was aware that his intention was to intimidate him and make him nervous and that was exactly what he managed to do. A man of barely sixty kilograms and about two meters tall compared to a man Hulk would be scared of - it was quite obvious who would take the victory.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but the unicorn is not a prize, it's here only for aesthetics." I rolled my eyes at that. I hated it when people did this. He just wanted to make money by attracting people with it, without ever handing it out as a reward. I could have probably calmed Mateo down in that situation, but I honestly didn't want to. People like this deserve to be taught a lesson, and Mateo is the right man for it. I just hoped he wouldn't go too far.

A moment later, Mateo grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him towards him. They were of similar height, but Mateo was visibly stronger than him, so the whole scene was somewhat comical.

Mateo's cold stare made the guy swallow his saliva. Not only that but also sweat started to form on his forehead. His lips were dry and his body started shaking. It was fascinating to see how such a simple move by Mateo could paralyze a person due to fear.

"I want the fucking unicorn, don't make me repeat myself."

Less than a minute later, we left with a unicorn in his hands. At first, I wanted to hold it, but he pointed out that it was too big for me and that I couldn't carry myself on my feet let alone an enormous stuffed toy. I was about to protest but then I stumbled on my own two feet, so I took that as a sign from the universe.

I walked proudly, with my head held high as if I had just emerged victorious from one-on-one combat of high risks and everyone should praise me because of it. In reality, the whole scene probably looked pretty pathetic and sad, but I chose not to live in it.

"How old are you, again?" Mateo mocked me.

"7, why?" I bit back to which he just rolled his eyes. Still, he could not hide the fact that the corners of his lips had turned up into a smile. I smirked at that, my ego even bigger because of it.

"Well, well, well," A well-known voice said, successfully pulling me out of my thoughts.

I froze. I closed my eyes, hoping that I was wrong and that my perfect day with Mateo wasn't about to turn into bloodshed. I had a great time at the fair and I really needed it, especially because of what had happened the night before. However, because of that, I had to know that something bad would happen in the end. This was usually the case.

I finally mustered the courage and slowly looked up at the person standing in front of me. I was instantly faced with brown curls and green eyes that shattered all my hopes. It really was him and I officially began to fear for the lives of all the people who were within a radius of fifty meters from us.

"Tara," he said in a knowing tone and gave me his physically beautiful but essentially disgusting smile.

"Paul," I nodded my head stiffly, making it clear that I wasn't glad to see him. I could feel Mateo's gaze on me, but I didn't dare to even peek in his direction. I was yet again afraid of his reaction. I mentally cursed my luck, the day was going on so smoothly.

"I haven't seen you in a while."

"Let's keep it that way, shall we?" the words that came out of my mouth surprised me even more than him, and to say that he was stunned would be an understatement. I wasn't usually this rude to a person I wasn't close with, but my emotions were in chaos because Mateo and he were bound to meet. In a matter of seconds, I went through a million different scenarios in my head as to what was going to happen. From him telling Mateo our fathers' plans, to keeping his mouth shut because he was a coward. I was also annoyed since he completely ignored Mateo, who was holding my hand as if he didn't exist at all.

"It's a shame you weren't as bold and rude back in your parents' house," he dared to say. However, I was sure that he regretted his words the very next moment.

"Listen here, you fucking scumbag!" Mateo dropped the unicorn and grabbed him by the collar, similar to the way he did earlier, only this time the scene looked far more bizarre. To say that Mateo was angry would be an understatement. Enraged, infuriated, livid perhaps seemed as better adjectives to describe his current condition, although they didn't fully correspond either. His face was red. The veins on his neck and arms were popped out so much I had the impression that I would cut them if I run a paper over them- He was breathing hard and it was only a matter of time before he beat the life out of the guy who looked like he was going to pass out at any moment.

Nevertheless, it seemed like the luck was, potentially, on Paul's side seeing as before Mateo was able to punch him, the gunshots were heard, followed by people's screams.