Dirtying Diana

22

Time was flying by and life seemed to blossom and change like the seasons. Blackwood, Inc. was at the pinnacle of success and the money was rolling in. Javier knew Guillermo wanted out of Diana's business, but the successes brought on by the Milan show months prior, as well as, sales from their drugs and guns were making it difficult to separate the two businesses.

They were getting married soon as neither wanted to wait and Javier had his orders to disconnect the cartel from Blackwood, Inc. beforehand and he was trying to do so. It would just take time and that wasn't something Guillermo wanted to hear. He couldn't risk anything happening to his wife.

Over the past few months, Diana and Guillermo had gotten closer than ever. They took a trip to Mexico soon after he proposed where Diana finally got to meet his family and the love was overwhelming.

She hit it off immediately with his mother, which brought a happy smile to both of their faces. She was showered with hugs and kisses from cousins and there wasn't a shortage of babies and children that wanted her love and attention.

She wished Guillermo could have that sort of reception with her family, but she wasn't holding her breath. Her father had agreed to dinner and genuinely seemed to like Guillermo, but her mother was her usual ornery self. She wouldn't meet him and claimed to have reasons, so Diana let her know she was respectfully uninvited to her wedding.

The whole thing cause yet another strain on her family dynamic, but Guillermo was there to help her pick up the pieces and remind her that she was not who her mother thought she was and that ultimately her opinion didn't matter. It made her love him even more than she thought possible, because he verbalized words she didn't realize she desperately needed to hear until then. Guillermo and Theodore grew closer, which lightened up her world and everything just seemed to fall into place.

It was proving to be an eventful year as Theodore shook off the cobwebs on his drawing pad and began sketching like never before. Theodore stated he was just feeling creative, but Diana knew Roger had something to do with it.

The leader of the American mafia stated that he wanted to travel more with Theodore and didn't want him to get bored or feel like he was letting Diana down by not being as present in the office.

So, Diana presented Theodore with a change in role. She requested more designs in exchange for less time spent as her assistant. He was hesitant, but she knew he'd agree thanks to Roger letting her know they had talked about the very topic days prior.

Theodore finally agreed and was already churning out designs for his collection. It would be ready for purchase in a few months and Diana couldn't wait. Everything was coming up Blackwood and she would have loved to celebrate it if it weren't for these feelings.

She would have moments where she felt she was being watched or followed. It wasn't her men. She knew what that felt like. This was different. This felt dangerous. She mentioned it to Guillermo and he just tightened security, but the feeling never left. She felt it most in the office and started working from home, especially since Theodore was out gallivanting around the world with Roger.

"I feel like I'm going crazy." Sophia shook her head. "You're just self-sabotaging." Diana scoffed at her. "Don't scoff at me. You know I'm right. Guillermo wanted a short engagement which you agreed to in your haze of love and excitement, but now that the day is literally around the corner you don't know how to act."

Diana shook her head no. "That's not it, Sophie. I promise. I'm ready to marry Guillermo. It's just...we never found the men that did what they did to you and Gael. Guillermo acts like he's handling it, but I don't know that he is. I feel like I'm the only one still thinking about those assholes."