Page 74 of Surprise! I'm Engaged To My Boss
“He really does seem like a good boy…” she said at some point.
“He is. And he wants to be your friend, but you’re not giving him a chance.”
“It’s not easy. I’ve got some trauma, I told you. I was bitten when I was seven.”
“Was it a big dog like Apollo?”
She had already stopped eating but grabbed another piece of toast, bringing it to her mouth, clearly trying to dodge the question.
It didn’t work, because I kept looking at her until she finally admitted, “Actually, it was a little smaller…”
“How much smaller?”
“It was a pinscher.”
I wanted—I swear I wanted—to take it seriously, but before I knew it, I had burst into laughter.
Camila looked irritated.
“What’s so funny?”
“A pinscher? You told me the dog attack almost killed you.”
“I was seven! And it hurt!”
“I believe you… Sorry, I just… I found it funny. But don’t worry, Apollo isn’t mean like a pinscher. Not even close.”
“It’s not easy to let go of fears…” she pouted, but soon seemed to drift into another train of thought. I didn’t even have to ask—she told me herself, “Why did you say you wanted to apologize?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You wouldn’t be going through so many unpleasant and dangerous situations if you weren’t involved in this crazy agreement with me.”
“They dragged me into this way before the agreement, since we were filmed together and someone spiked our drinks.”
“That only happened because you were near me. I’ve been a curse in your life since the day we got close. After what happened last night, I’ll understand if you want to end our agreement.”
She took a breath to say something, but I motioned for her to wait until I said everything I’d been rehearsing over the last few hours. I feared that if she interrupted me, I might give up.
“I understand you got into this because you needed the money to renovate your grandmother’s bookstore. The money is already yours, even if we don’t go through with the agreement, and—”
“You think this is about the money?” she cut me off.
Shit.
As always, I’d chosen the worst possible words.
“No. Of course not. But last night I was terrified when I realized they were planning to do something to you. If I hadn’t gotten there in time to save you, I would never forgive myself.”
“But you did. You saved me. And thanks to you, I’m okay, right?”
“Thanks to me, only God knows what could’ve happened to you in that state.”
“But nothing did happen, Michael. And nothing will. We’ll be more careful from now on. There’s less than two months until the hearing, soon all this will be over.”
Overwas the last thing I wanted.
If we kept up this charade, in less than a month I could have Alice with me… But I wouldn’t have Camila.
Suddenly, that equation seemed flawed. It didn’t make sense to me anymore.
