It was late in the afternoon by the time they woke up from their post-coital sleep. Annie made a quick trip to her room,showered,then threw on ash coloured sweats,plain white shirt and white sneakers. She pulled her hair into a pony tail,then finally added a light touch of makeup.

Jovon was waiting for her when she stepped out of the room. They smiled wordlessly at each other,before going downstairs to find the family in the great room. The room felt a bit tense when they entered and Annie had to resist the urge to run back out when she saw an old woman, who had wrinkles allover her face and skin,and her grating hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Even though the woman was sitting in a wheel chair, there was no mistaking the authority that radiated from her proud angular face.

The children were not present,and the adults who were present sat on sofa on either of the old woman looking docile and quiet. It was as if the old woman held an invisible power over them. Annie knew that she was the long awaited grandmother, but that didn't mean she liked the woman.

Then the old woman looked up and locked gazes with Annie.

"Who is she?" Her thin lips curled back into a snarl.

Beside her,Jovon stiffened. Annie took a deep breath and walked over to stand in front of the old woman. Then she held out her right hand with a brave smile on her lips.

"My name is Ansela Mckade,Mrs. Phim. I am a friend of Jovon's."

Mrs. Phim eyed the outstretched hand for a minute,then turned her nose up at her. "Spoiled little brat of these days. Why are you holding your hand out to me? Come on get on your knees before me."

"W-what?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't you parents ever teach you manners?"

Annie gulped audibly. Then she moved back a bit and made to go on her knees,but a hand clamped around her arm and pulled her up. Jovon drew her to his side,all the while glaring at his grandmother.

"How dare you talk to her like that?" He gritted. "Is that why you asked me to come home? To humiliate me and my guest?"

Mrs. Phim scowled. "She's an unmarried lady. What is she doing in the company of a young man like you? All these gold digging whores are only after your money. Besides, how could you do this to Americus? I thought you said you loved her?" She snorted. "Gah! I know it was-"

"Mother!" Marcello shot to his feet. "Don't speak to my son that way!"

Megan stood up beside her husband and placed a hand on his arm. "Honey."

Jovon took a deep breath. "Annie, go and wait for me on the terrace."

Annie nodded. She stole one last glance at the Mrs. Phim,then spun on her heels and made her way out of the room. Words were exchanged in Latin as soon as she closed the door behind her,and while she would have loved to eavesdrop, she didn't understand Latin, so she made her way to the terrace to wait for Jovon.

Annie sighed as she leaned over the railing, taking in the large sprawl of the green land before her. She could imagine what growing up here could be like. There was plenty of space for children to grow and-

Her phone began to ring and Annie hesitated to answer it. It could be the Revenge calling her or her family and the bastard made it clear that she wasn't supposed to speak with her family if she wanted them alive,then again it could be an emergency.

The phone stopped ringing. Then it began to ring again.

Sighing tiredly, something she seemed to to doing often since she met Jovon, she swiped her thumb across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Annie!" Cassie cried from the other end of the phone. "Oh God. I have been trying to reach you and I was worried when it wasn't connecting. How are you?"

"I am fine. What's up?"

"Have you heard anything from Lea? I called her but it's going to voicemail."

"Nope. But I will try after you hang up." Annie's heart clenched. She misses her family so much,that she felt empty about being so far away from them. "How is Ella and the baby?"

"Fine!"

Annie narrowed her eyes at the quick reply. "Are you sure?"

"Very. William is here too. And everything's going great. But where are you and how are the plans going?"

Annie rubbed a hand over her face. "I'm in Santiago with Jovon in his family house. Also, the plans would be finalized by tomorrow or the next. The anniversary is just a week away,so you should get your clothes by this weekend."

"Mr. Phim?" Cassie asked. "You're in his family house?"

"Do we know any other Mr. Phim? And yes,I am in his family house because his grandmother wanted to see him."

"Oh. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

No, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. But at this point she wasn't going to back out. And after this morning, she'd confirmed she wanted more than few weeks with Jovon.

"Annie?"

"What?"

"Be careful."

"I can take care of myself,you know. I have lived in Paris without any of my family before."

"Yes,you have, and since i am older and also your sister, it's time I stepped up and watched out for you."

"Jovon's not a bad guy."

"I am not saying that. But he looks like a smooth operator and you're not his normal type of woman."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked,not entirely sure where Cassie was going with this.

"Just that you've been busy playing matchmaker and taking care of your cousins and haven't done a lot of dating. He's a pretty experienced man, remember that."

"I will."

"And even though I haven't met him, I like him. He's doing a lot of good things for our family by helping you with the anniversary plans. But that doesn't mean he's family."

"I know that,Cassie. I don't think he understands how to let anyone close, not after what happened to him."

"I'm not going to ask what it is because that's your story to share. But what I do know is that you don't know how to keep anyone at arm's length once you get to know them."

"I will email the decoration plans and also the venue and other pictures to you. So wait for my call." She said, forcibly changing the subject.

"I will wait for it. Also,Annie. Please be careful and keep an eye out for strangers, okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't forget what i said."

"I won't."

She couldn't believe Cassie was giving her advice. But it warmed her heart in ways she'd never be able to articulate.

"Somehow I didn't expect to find you hiding out on the terrace."

Lukas walked over to her. He looked very elegant and sophisticated in his tuxedo. Handsome, but not as attractive to her as Jovon was.

"Jovon asked me to wait here." She was situated behind large potted trees that were filled with twinkling lights. From her vantage point she had a view of the room behind her, but no one else could really see her.

"Now it all makes sense," Lukas said. "This is one of our favourite spots whenever we visit home."

"Favourite spots for what?"

"Hiding out," he said with a wry grin. Lukas could be charming when he tried.

She reached into her back pocket and took out an article on prenups she'd clipped from the Tart Street Journal a few days ago. "I saw this and thought of you."

He took the article, glanced down at it. A brief smile touched his lips. "You're not what I expected."

She still hoped their relationship would last out than the one week left. And if it was going to have a chance to survive, she knew she needed to make an effort with Jovon's family. He didn't do a lot with them but she knew they were important to him- especially Lukas and Genesis.

"Well, I think all of us gold diggers are a little bit different."

He arched one eyebrow at her. "Jovon doesn't see you that way."

"Then why do you?" She asked. "I overheard you telling Jovon I was out for his money. And there was also the fact that you called to warn me about taking his money."

"Let's just say I have been there."

She finally saw more than a good-looking, successful man in Lukas and it was more than a little disheartening to realize she'd been so shallow. "I'm sorry. I care about Jovon."

"I've noticed that."

"Why did you think I was a gold digger?" She asked.

He shrugged.

She knew that she should stop this line of question but she had to know. What had he heard about her? Please don't let it be about the deal between she and Jovon. She thought. She'd absolutely die of shame if his family knew that they were sleeping with each other for a deal.

If they didn't know already,anyway.

"Tell me. It can't be anything I haven't heard before."

"It wasn't anything about you," he said. "Jovon would kick my butt if he heard me  talking to you about this."

"Well, he's not here." She said carefully. She was positive that whatever Lukas had heard he'd mentioned it to Jovon. So he already knew whatever damaging gossip Lukas had told him about her. And it had to be gossip, because she hadn't done anything for money that she regretted.

"You'd keep secret from him?" He asked. Immediately he lost his charm and she saw the barracuda look in his eyes. She'd heard he was a corporate attorney who never lost a case and she could see why. There was an utter ruthlessness in his gaze.

She sighed. "No, I wouldn't."

"Of course she wouldn't, Lukas. What are you two talking about?"

She turned the same time Jovon wrapped an arm around her waist and firmly pulled her to his side.

"Um..."

"Gold diggers."

"Not that again," Jovon said under his breath.

"I wanted to know what he'd heard about me to make him believe I'd be after your money."

"It's old news about you and your family."

Tears burned in the back of her eyes. But she pushed her thoughts into the back of her mind. "Thanks for telling me."

"No problem." Lukas said. "It's not anything personal-"

"I know," she said, putting her hand on his arm to stop him. "You were just looking out for Jovon."

"I can look out for myself." Jovon said wryly.

Lukas didn't say anything, just kept watching her with that stare if his. Finally, she sighed and said, "I can't blame you there."

Lukas nodded and then left. Jovon drew her against his solid frame, not saying another word. She let the strength in his body surround her.

Jovon watched Lukas walk away. He'd known that Lukas didn't trust Annie, but he had no idea that the two of them had spent so much time chatting alone. He knew that Annie could handle herself,but he should have paid closer attention to Lukas.

"Sorry if he was being a pain."

She shook her head and glanced sideways at him. Her hair slid along the lapels of his shirt and he wished they were somewhere private so he could feel her hair on his skin. She had the softest hair.

"He wasn't. It's sweet the way he tries to take care of you."

"Sweet?" he scoffed. "I don't think anyone would describe Lukas that way."

"He does have that shark smile- you know, all teeth- that makes you feel like you're about to be eaten alive, but underneath that... He's really caring. Why is that?"

His relationship with Lukas was deep and complex. He doubted either of them would know how to explain it. But they'd been alone a lot with the same lazy nanny and they'd spent a lot of their time escaping her. "He's six month older than I am. And his mom used to make him promise to watch me."

Almost absently he remembered the long days of summer when their parents would spend afternoons on the beach drinking fruity concoctions and gossiping while he and Lukas ran free like wild boys.

"And now that you mention it, his side of the family seem really goofy like you said."

He grimaced at his old joke. "That because my branch if the family isn't crazy."

"I think there's more that you're not telling me."

Jovon just shrugged, not really comfortable talking about Lukas or his relationship with him. But there were some things he wanted to share with Annie. She quietly accepted everything about him. Even his flaws.

Whenever he was with her, he felt... complete. Which made no sense to him. He'd been happy about his life, save for the nightmares, before she came along. Now he didn't like to think about what going back to life without Annie would be like.

"Tell me," she urged. She wrapped one arm around his waist and glanced up at him expectantly.

"He saved my life one time."

"Literally?"

"Yes." A sailing accident that had surprised Jovon. He'd always been at home on the water. But he'd been hit by the boom as they'd changed direction and Ben knocked overboard. One minute he'd been on the yacht, and the next thing he remembered was Lukas' hand on his wrist, pulling him to the surface.

She cupped his jaw bringing him back to the present. He glanced down into her eyes. There was such a well of caring there that he felt like he'd taken a punch to the gut.

"I'm so glad he save you," she said, rising on tiptoe and kissing him. It was a soft and sweet kiss. The kind that made him glad to be alive and holding this woman in his arms.

"Me too," he said. Never more so than this moment.

From the first time he'd met Annie, he'd sensed she was different from other women. At first he'd thought it was because she had no money and needed some to carry out the anniversary plans. But the more time he spent with her, the more he realized that she had an innate innocence that drew him to her.

He knew she wasn't innocent, that her life had been carved out of emotionally tough events. But she'd retained a certain sweetness that she'd showered on those around her. He'd seen it with her dog and even Cyson. And he thanked God that he'd been fortunate enough to have met her,now that she was single.

They only had a week and some days left on their deal. His gut tightened at the thought of her leaving him. He needed to start planning for the next phase of their relationship, but he had no idea what it would entail.

Speaking of plans...

"I have already booked an appointment for the suits and dresses. And we have..." He glanced at his wristwatch. "Thirty minutes to get there."

"Oh. Thank you." She beamed at him.

And then he realized that he never wanted to break a promise he made to her.