"As in all abusive relationships, the abused mistakenly assumes the kindest version of the abuser is the real one." ― Chris Holm

"Was there ever a war where only one side bled?" ― George R.R. Martin

"Love is like fever; it comes and goes without the will having any part of the process." ― Stendhal

"...I can smell your fear
The only reason that I'm here
Is to wreak havoc
Everybody prayin' that I'll change, yeah
Maybe one day but tomorrow I'll be back at it
'Cause bad habits they die hard
We live fast we die hard
Go against me you'll die hard..."

- Skylar Gray – Wreak havoc

Chapter 23

The night was glorious. The rain was bucketing down hard and showed no sign of letting up. Thunder was booming like cannon fire, breaking through every sound defense there was. As gloomy as the scene was, it was just as beautiful, in some unusual, different way. Raindrops hit the window glass hard, creating a magical view of nature going mad. I felt peace watching the storm raging outside as if it was drawing energy from the one that was happening inside me.

A strong thunderbolt made me move away from the window. I glanced at the bed where Mateo was sleeping. He looked so calm as he swam through the land of dreams. The blanket barely covered half of his body, reaching to the lower part of his stomach. His torso was naked, and you could see all the tattoos that adorned that part of his skin, including the latest one he dedicated to me. He was beautiful. He really was. Stunning, dashing, bewitching, divine. Many words could describe human beauty and yet, it seemed like none of them would be enough for Mateo. While watching his calm, sleepy face, I couldn't help but feel lust flowing through my body. However, the situation from a few days ago would always found its way back to my mind whenever my thoughts and feelings wander in that direction. I kept asking myself what had been his reason for what he had done. He had never given me any kind of explanation for that night, he only begged me to forgive him and admitted how wrong he was. He felt guilty and sorry, that much was obvious. The tears he had shed couldn't be faked, and why would they? If he didn't want me, if he didn't love me, he wouldn't cry so much, he wouldn't regret it. He had promised me that he would never hurt me again, that he would treat me the way I deserved, but had that really been true? It had to be, right? He told me he loved me. We all had our weaknesses and we all made mistakes, and he sincerely repented for his own, I wanted to believe that he deserved to be given another chance. He wouldn't hurt me again. He wouldn't.

Rationalization is a bitch.

"Babygirl? Why are you awake?" Mateo's sleepy voice made me turn my gaze away from his tattoos covered chest and move it on his face. I smiled. He looked very cute as he rubbed his eyelids to drive sleep away, like some young, innocent child. It was really strange to compare Mateo with something innocent.

"I couldn't sleep," I replied, to which he nodded and told me to come closer to him. I took another quick look at the storm outside and headed for the bed. I lied down right next to him, resting my head on his chest. He took my left hand in one of his, playing with my fingers, and used the other one to stroke my hair. I sighed, finally feeling some pleasure as well as happiness. Slowly I began to believe in the things I was convincing myself, I began to believe him. He regretted it. That was the only thing that mattered.

"Princess?" he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Hm?" the steady beating of his heart was slowly leading me to the dreamland.

"Are we going to order food tomorrow or we're cooking?" He asked me and I frowned

"What?"

"Fine, I'll cook, I don't necessarily want the kitchen burned," he laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"First of all, you're exaggerating, I wouldn't burn..." I stopped when he gave me a pointed look which made me roll my eyes again. "Fine, fine, maybe I would, but that's beside the point. Anyway, why are you even asking?"

"Did you really forget?" he asked me, still smiling.

"Forget what?"

"Your parents are coming tomorrow for a dinner," he reminded me.

It was as cold water was spilled over my head, I jumped to my knees and almost fell off the bed. Fortunately, Mateo reacted quickly and grabbed me before I hurt myself. He made me sit on the lower part of his stomach, with my legs on both sides of his hips.

"What are you talking about?" my eyes were so wide I would've surely gotten a role in a horror film if one of the producers had seen me like that.

"Tara, do you even recall that I talked to your father that night?" he whispered the last part of the sentence, but I understood. He probably didn't want to remember what had happened. He was lucky though, I had more important matters to discuss at the moment.

"Oh! I completely forgot how big of a pig you were then," I scolded him and brought my hand to my forehead, only now processing what was imminent to happen. I hadn't even asked him what exactly my father said. Stupid girl.

"He talked like a stuck up moron," he shrugged his shoulders, trying to defend himself.

"It's not like you're any better, but I do agree," I added

"Touché."

"Mateo! What are we going to do?" I cried out. Great, that was exactly what I needed. I couldn't even deal with Mateo and my father separately, what was I supposed to do with both of them in the same room?

"I don't get why are you even panicking that much," he said calmly and brought me back to my previous position when I tried to move away from his body.

"You don't know why I'm panicking?! You know what he's like," I threw my hands in disbelief, reminding him of everything my father did to me. His expression changed abruptly. His eyes turned dangerously dark and his jaw clenched. He stood up so he could be face to face with me. His frown, which was illuminated by a barely noticeable night light, and the very fact that all this was happening at three am in the morning, made this situation almost demonic.

"Baby, I won't let him breathe the same air as you, let alone let him do you any harm, in any way. Gone are the days when you had to listen to everything he said. You are mine now," he said, looking me directly in the eye, holding my face firmly so that I wouldn't look away.

"But Mateo, he's my father," I tried to be strong, but he knew me too well not to read the hidden emotion in my eyes.

"I don't care, he's not the most important man in your life anymore," he said sounding beyond serious, but I looked at him uncertainly.

"Do you think I'll ever be free of his claws?"

"I know you can. I guarantee you that," He promised me and lied back on the bad again, dragging me with him. We fell into silence pretty quickly afterward. I was slowly falling asleep by hearing the steady beats of his heart again. However, before I could completely wander off, I was almost completely awakened by his question.

"Love?"

"Hm?" I responded sleepily.

"You forgave me, right?" he asked me in a voice void of emotions.

I didn't answer for a few minutes, thinking about what I should say to him. Then, after a few seconds of terribly tense silence, I gave him an answer that I hoped with all my heart I wouldn't regret.

"Yeah."

A moment later, his full lips found their way to the top of my head, leaving a lingering kiss full of emotion and he whispered Thank you. Not long after, we fell asleep.

-

"You're going to take the whole bottle?" I rolled my eyes at Mateo's disgusted expression.

"Of course I am, I can never get enough of ketchup. I seriously don't understand how you hate it, psychopath. "

After I woke up in Mateo's arms this morning, we decided to run errands as soon as possible and buy all the groceries we needed to make dinner. If said that I wasn't nervous about the arrival of my parents, I would be the biggest liar in history. I was a nervous wreck. Mateo's presence made the situation somewhat easier for me, but when I remembered that my father and he would crash that same night in the latest sequel of Clash of the Titans, my anxiety found its way back to me. The two of them were too much alike for nothing to happen tonight. The chances for my survival were slim. All that was left for me to do was to hope that my parents miss the flight or something like that.

"Sometimes when you eat it, I don't even want to kiss you," he tried to sound serious, but his attempt was nothing but an epic failure.

"I have zero problems with not kissing you for the rest of my life," I turned to him and raised an eyebrow, looking him straight in the eye.

He frowned at my words and narrowed his eyebrows. With quick movements, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, removing a strand of my hair that was glued to my face. The whole thing would probably feel extremely erotic, but due to his actions, my ketchup almost spilled, and that was unforgivable.

"Don't play with me," he warned me and left a quick kiss on my lips. He sounded dangerous, judging by the red flags making an appearance in my mind, but ketchup was more important.

"I would've left your sorry ass if something had happened to my baby," there wasn't a need to specify what baby was, my obsession was rather obvious.

"You can always try, even though It's a lost battle already," he winked at me and smirked triumphantly. I only rolled my eyes. Asshole.

"What else do we need for dinner?" I turned back to the groceries and put my finger on my chin as if thinking about it.

"You don't even know what we're making," he pointed out.

"I offered to call a restaurant and order food!" I snapped, turning to him again.

"You're so helpful! Thank you so much! How would I be able to do that without you?" he commented sarcastically. I punched him in the shoulder, which hurt me more than him. He just laughed at my pathetically unsuccessful attempt.

"You don't have to be such a jackass, if it was up to me, you wouldn't have to bother to cook," I told him with a slight dose of irritation.

"No, I wouldn't want my future in-laws to eat takeaways. Home-made is the only option. "

"Don't poison my parents. I mean we aren't close, but still."

"I'm not promising anything," he winked at me, to which I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time. His lips parted into a wide smile and the butterflies in my stomach went crazy. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me towards him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and lifted myself onto my toes to kiss him. However, that wasn't enough for his height, so he had to bend down and then he kissed me in such a gentle way that I almost melted. After a few minutes, we needed oxygen, so I separated from him and buried my head in his neck, suddenly feeling shy. I couldn't help but smile even though I probably looked like a tomato. I felt the vibration of his body as he burst out laughing. His laugh was beautiful. He caressed my hair and leaned his head against mine. At that moment, I felt deeply happy for the first time in so long, and I truly hoped that this gentle version of Mateo would remain and that the dark one would never reappear.

-

"Put that wallet back in your purse before I start yelling in the store," Mateo threatened me after he saw that I was about to take out a credit card.

"Mateo..." I started talking but he interrupted me.

"No," he automatically said.

"Hear me out first," I said in annoyance. It was almost our turn to pay for the groceries and I would feel seriously embarrassed if he made a scene in front of the people in the store. "You can't pay for everything."

"Of course I can," he told me firmly. I had never in my life met such a stubborn person.

"Mateo, I know that you're rich as hell, but It's not like I don't have money. I feel uncomfortable because you always spend money on me." I tried to reason with him.

"Tara," he said through gritted teeth. "My woman will never pay for anything. I'm here to fulfill your whims. Get that through you pretty little head and stop arguing with me," his voice had finality in it and that almost made me hit his head. I wanted to continue our discussion, but we were interrupted by the voice of the guy at the checkout. It was our turn.

Mateo didn't let me pick up groceries, he, apparently, had to do it by himself since he was a man. I rolled my eyes again. I was amazed that my eyes didn't end up inside my head due to the fact that I was constantly repeating the same actions throughout the day.

"Good morning, pretty lady," I looked at the blonde cashier in front of me, feeling confused. He was looking at me attentively, not touching at all the groceries he was supposed to scan,

"'Morning?" I smiled somewhat with a grimace, still confused by the way he addressed me.

"You're very..." he didn't get to finish the sentence since Mateo was already in front of him and grabbed him by the collar, getting into his face. I inhaled deeply and immediately exhaled. Here we go again.

"Glance in her direction one more time and this will be your last shift," he threatened in a low voice. The veins on his arms were intensely visible as proof of how tightly he squeezed the boy's clothes. I saw fear in the eyes of Blondie and felt guilty because something bad was happening because of me all over again. I grabbed Mateo by the waist and tried to pull him towards me and separate him from the guy, but he just looked at me sideways, letting me know that I better stop before he went crazy. I listened since I didn't want to test his patients further, who knew in what condition the blonde would end up then.

"Am I clear?" Mateo asked him menacingly.

"Dude...I..." the guy stuttered, not knowing how to get out of the situation he found himself in.

"I asked am I fucking clear?!" Mateo bellowed so loud I jumped out of fear. The Blondie nodded quickly and, after giving him a warning look once more, Mateo removed his hands from him. The guy then scanned our groceries hurriedly and took the money from Mateo with a trembling hand. My, obviously pathologically jealous, boyfriend picked up the bags with one hand and took mine with the other, pulling me to the exit.

"Do you have to make scenes like that one every time?" I asked him as we got into the car and headed for his penthouse. For some reason, he insisted that dinner should be held there, under the pretext that it would be more comfortable for my parents to sleep alone in my apartment. Why he took me for a fool, I wasn't sure, but I didn't believe him one bit. It wasn't as if my parents didn't already plan to spend the evening at some expensive hotel.

"Yes. Why are they even looking at you?" he looked so cute, annoyed like that, I couldn't stop the slight smile from appearing on my lips, previous frustration I felt towards him long forgotten.

"Because they have eyes?" I raised an eyebrow.

"That could be solved too."

"You're impossible," I shook my head and smiled even more.

"I'm serious," he glanced at me briefly and then looked back at the road.

"I know, that's the problem."

-

"Mateo!" I called him hurriedly in a high-pitched voice from the kitchen. Mateo immediately came up to me. He took the mixing spoon from my hand and started to mix the sauce that I had previously tried to prepare.

"I knew it was a bad idea to let you do something," he muttered and lower the temperature.

"It's not that bad," I was ready to say anything that would help my case but there was hardly a point.

"Béchamel sauce is usually cream in color, not black," he picked up a pot from the hob and threw it in the trash. "Why would you even use this? You're a lost cause," he started shaking his head. "What would you do without me?"

"Why did you throw the pot?" I asked him, completely ignoring his remarks.

"Because It's probably burned, too, and I have no particular intention of trying to save it," he replied and finally turned around to face me, looking at me with those perfect eyes of his. "Is it possible that you're this hopeless?" He asked me with a smile.

"In my defense, I warned you at the very beginning," I told him and came to hug him. He lifted me off the ground and I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I kissed him briefly and let out a moan when I felt his hands on my ass.

"Do you really want your parents to see some explicit scenes?" He asked me seductively and bit my lower lip.

"What kind of scenes are we talking about?" I blinked slowly and looked him in the eye. His body tensed and the hands that were now on my groin gripped the skin there. My breathing quickened and my breath caught in my throat. I slowly brought my lips closer to his neck and started leaving gentle kisses along its length. He closed his eyes and groaned, enjoying the attention I was giving him. I paused for a moment and watched his neck carefully. He hurriedly squeezed my ass, telling me to keep going. I laughed mischievously and this time I bit his earlobe gently but firmly. Such an erotic sound came from his lips that made me want to be here with him forever, making him go crazy all the time.

However, the universe had different plans. Just as I started to lower my fingers down to the belt of his pants, the doorbell rang. Mateo let out a roar of displeasure and I quickly jumped out of his arms.

"Tara?" He called after me when I left to open the door.

"Hm?" I turned around to face him.

"We have a small problem," he told me seriously, but there was a hint of a smile behind that facade.

"What kind of problem?" I looked at him in confusion. He didn't respond, he just looked down at the lower part of his body. I followed his eyes and my pupils dilated in shock when I saw the scene waiting for me there. I immediately looked up at his face and gulped.

"Well, that is a problem," I murmured with a smirk, "But the thing is, it's your problem," I winked at him and went back to what I was previously doing, walking toward the door to face my wonderful parents.

"Tara!" Mateo hissed, but I ignored him. He muttered something inaudible and soon found himself next to me, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "You'll pay for this tonight," he whispered in my ear and kissed me on the cheek.

"Can't wait," I winked and turned to the door, sighing and grabbing the doorknob, pulling it toward me.

A/N

Well, miraculously this chapter wasn't that dramatic.

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Love you all xx