Tough Love II
Camila's POV
Alejandro starts digging into his food almost immediately as he stares at me, expectantly but I meet his gaze with a stubborn one of my own until eventually he realizes I won't be submitting to his silent request.
Swallowing his bite, he gently places his utensils down before sitting up and squaring his shoulders. His legs under the table instinctively sliding up to rest on either side of mine, effectively caging me in under the table.
He's asserting his dominance.
"Cut the attitude." He speaks firmly, pushing the plate of grilled cheese towards me. "Eat."
The simple command floats off his tongue so effortlessly and I can't help it anymore, I snap. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not so incompetent that you need to talk to me like a fucking dog."
His eyes stare into mine, his jaw tensing like he wants to say something but in the end he settles with a tense request. "Could you please eat."
I'd find humour in how hard it seems for him to mutter the word please if I wasn't so pissed. "No." I retort simply. "I'd rather starve than sit here and eat with you." I narrow my eyes at him. "How dare you speak to me like that after everything you did!"
His temper flares, "I've apologized to you over this past week more than I have in my entire life." I don't let his declaration get to me.
Did he want a fucking cookie?
"If you won't accept it, that's fine," His voice is levelled but the fire in his brown eyes tells me he's holding back. "But I will not stand by and mope after you. Not when it's clear you're going to be immature and weaponize my guilt."
My chest heaves at the tone of his voice and my eyes sting. Why was I tearing up?
Because he'd hurt me and maybe I was being immature but I didn't appreciate him being so mean.
I blink back my tears, and his face noticeably softens. "I fucked up and I'm not proud of the way I treated you after..." He clears his throat, and briefly diverts his eye. "I'm not gonna sit here and make excuses for myself."
"But Camila, I wouldn't have skipped your performance had I known it was that evening."
My head snaps up to his and I send him a nasty glare.
"But you did miss it."
With a sigh, Alejandro's shoulders slump and he leans forward, his tone softening as he blinks at me, and it's then I can finally see some emotion on his face.
Guilt.
"I know. And I take full responsibility for the way things panned out." He dips his head to try and catch my eye. "I got caught up and so angry that I said things I didn't mean." His hand moves, and his fingers start tracing over the skin of my hand on the table. "Things that weren't true."
But I didn't want to think about it nor did I want to show him just how much it affected me. I didn't want the feeling of heartbreak and defeat to consume me. Right now, all I had was my anger and his thumb tracing circles on my palm wasn't helping.
I hastily move my hand away from his.
"I don't care." I respond cooly.
Alejandro stays silent and watches me before he sighs and briefly shuts his eye. And when he snaps them back open, the soft gaze is gone. It's guarded and all his walls are back up.
"Whether you mean that or not, you need to understand that as far as I'm concerned, you're still living under my care and protection, Camila. I won't tolerate the attitude." His tone is serious yet distant.
"And as far as I'm concerned, I'm an adult." I bite back. Why did he always have to treat me like a kid?
"Then start acting like one." His stare is unnerving and his voice is calm. I shift uncomfortably, the intimidation radiating off him too overwhelming.
"I will not force you to do anything you don't want to. You don't need to talk to me, or forgive me." He continues and the more he speaks in that serious tone, the lower I shrink in my seat. "But I would appreciate some respect - especially around my men. I'm running an empire not a reality show."
I didn't appreciate him being so mean.
Rather than bursting into tears, I dip my head and blink them back, focusing on the chimes of the door sounding. People had just entered, which meant a bigger audience to witness my tears if I did burst.
I silently pull my plate closer and without sparing the man another glance, I begin eating my grilled cheese, all the while forcing my mind away from wanting to burst like a dam.
Maybe he was right, I'd been overly dramatic and stubborn, but I was just so hurt and it was hard to get over what he did, especially considering how highly I thought of him.
Alejandro remains eerily quiet, and oddly enough I can feel his stare penetrating the top of my head as I continue, refusing to look up at him.
I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of seeing the defeat on my face.
It's only when a click sounds dangerously close to my head that I freeze, as something cold presses to my temple.
Slowly, I lift my head in an attempt to catch Alejandro's eye, but they're directed to my left.
This wasn't good.
I try moving my head, but the man in the black balaclava only shoves the barrel of the gun further into my temple.
He nods towards Alejandro, who is now sitting up with his shoulders tensed as he watches the man carefully. "The watch. Give it to me." He spits.
I close my eyes as my breathing goes erratic. This was not happening, we were not getting robbed.
My body starts shaking as I stay rooted to my seat, I glance towards the till to see another man in a matching balaclava only he's holding a gun to our waitresses head, as he forces her to shove the cash from the register into his dirty old gym bag.
Holy shit. We're getting robbed.
Alejandro's face remains emotionless as he looks between the two men. Slowly he brings his hand up and unclamps his watch, throwing it forward on the table.
The man nods towards him again, his voice like sandpaper. "And the rings." I ignore the stench of old cigarette coming from him and cast a look from the corner of my eye to the man holding a gun to my head.
He smells of heavy smoke and dust, he wears an old dirty wife beater and his pale ashy skin is adorned in scabs and scratches.
He looks terrifying and I don't know how much longer I can keep it together.
Alejandro takes his time in removing his rings, like he's got all the time in the world and slowly pushes them into the now forming pile on the table while staring up at the man impassively, no signs of discomfort or fear.
Meanwhile fear and discomfort are all I'm feeling. My frantic eyes desperately search Alejandro's face waiting for him to do something.
But he just sits there as calm as can be.
My lower lip trmbles as the man taps the end of the gun a few times against my temple. I wince trying to move away.
Alejandro's eyes briefly narrow in on the action as I stare forward, not daring to breathe too loud.
"Her earrings." He barks but it's what he says next that makes my heart drop. "And her bracelet." I bite down on my trembling lower lip and shut my eyes.
Not mamá's bracelet.
"Now!" He screams in my ear. His loud voice, the pain in my temple and now the thought of losing mamá's bracelet has a sob erupting from my throat.
I snap my eyes open to see Alejandro's poise ones starring back at me yet I can tell he's now peeved.
With a reassuring nod, Alejandro speaks his voice somewhat gentle. "It's okay. Give the man your bracelet."
I do as I'm told. Removing my earrings and tossing them onto the table before hesitantly unclamping my bracelet as my heart beats erratically.
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