The Arrangement

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Taylor's POV

"Talia?"

I walk towards her, holding the dress up so I don't fall.

"Taylor?" She says, smiling sadly at me. "Hey! You look nice."

"Hi," I say back. "Thanks, you do too."

"I see you continued shopping here at the Dress and Beauty Boutique," she laughs awkwardly.

"Yeah," I say slowly, looking around.

"Look, I'm going to just go ahead and say it."

"You don't have to," I assure her.

"But I do," I sighs. "I never knew my dad did such a horrible thing. I'm so sorry. But you have to understand that he only did what he thought was best. He never intended on hurting you guys. He explained everything to me as soon as we got home from the gala that night."

I sigh. She doesn't get it, "Talia—"

"No Taylor. I know you think I'm only saying this because I'm his daughter, but that's definitely not the case. I was so disappointed and angry at him. But when he broke down right in front of me, I knew he was also disappointed and angry at himself. He loves you and your brother Taylor, and I can see that," she says, tears filling her eyes. "And I want you to see it too. I want you to have a relationship with your dad. Just...give him another chance maybe? You won't regret it."

"I don't know Talia."

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Here's my number," She pulls out a pen and notepad and starts writing down her number. She gives it to me and smiles. "And you can call me when you've decided if you want to give him another chance or not."

"Okay," I agree. "Thank you so much for this Talia."

"Of course," she smiles, walking away.

I walk back over to Nicolas, still holding my dress.

"Wasn't that—" He starts, but I cut him off.

"Yeah," I sigh.

I sit down on the couch with a huff, brushing out my dress. Nicolas sits down next to me, grabbing my hand and rubbing soothing and comforting circular patterns on it.

"Everything happens for a reason Taylor. I would tell you that it'll all be ok and you have nothing to worry about, but I can't promise you that. I only know that everything will work out how it's supposed to. It just takes time sometimes."

"Thank you Romano," I say, leaning over and resting my head on his shoulder. He rests his head on the top of my head, still rubbing soothing and comforting circular patterns on my hand.

I lift my head, looking up at him. He looks down at me, adoration clear in his eyes.

He looks down at my lips, leaning down and pecking them. I kiss him back, holding my lips against his in fear of pulling away or losing him.

I lift my hand and place it on his cheek, caressing it as I move my lips softly against his.

He holds the back of my head, deepening the kiss.

I smile into the kiss, loving the feeling of his lips on mine.

"We should probably continue shopping before we get carried away," I pull away, panting as I look up at him.

"You're right," he grunts, letting go of me and leaning back on the couch.

I sigh, standing up and holding the dress up, heading to the dressing room.

We eventually find the perfect dress for me to wear to the club, and it took us two other stores to find it.

The rest of the time we were shopping, Nicolas barely spoke to me, or he just flat out avoided me.

He'd always tense whenever I moved closer to him or he'd vaguely answer my questions.

I don't know what's been going on with him, but I was determined to find out.

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Take care my loves.

aaliyah rose <3