𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

Chapter 22.

I woke up the next morning in Ryder's arms, smiling softly as I thought back to yesterday.

After we spent some more time at the beach, talking about simple things, the two of us drove home and immediately laid down in bed together.

I think Ryder was pretty worn out after opening up to me like that, and it's definitely understandable.

I propped myself up onto my elbows, admiring him as my fingertip traced the outline of the tattoos on his chest, smiling softly.

After a few more minutes, he slowly started to wake up, opening his eyes slowly as he looked at me, a smile immediately forming on his face when our eyes met.

"Buenos días cariño." I could have melted just because of his voice in that moment, now placing my hand on his cheek as I smiled.

"Good morning." His hand also placed on my cheek, his thumb running over my bottom lip as he stared at my lips.

"I want a kiss." He said and I giggled softly before leaning up, pressing a soft kiss onto his lips.

"Ryder." I then said, immediately regretting it because I figured that asking the question now would probably ruin the mood.

"Qué pasa?"

"Nevermind." I said, smiling at him but he just looked at me, waiting for me to say what I wanted to say.

"Only answer if you feel comfortable, okay?" I said and he chuckled.

"Cariño, I will tell you everything you want, I feel the most comfortable with you." I smiled at that before my face turned serious.

"The... rival of your dad. What happened with him?" I asked and he caressed my cheek softly.

"After my father died, my mother took care of the business with the help of my father's best friend. She tried to get revenge, but she didn't manage to kill him because at that time she was too scared to take a risk because of me and Alejandro. When I turned 18, I first started working in the mafia and helping her, and when I turned 22 I had a whole plan on how to get him. My plan worked out, and I had him in la casa, in the basement. I don't wanna go into detail, but he died a slow and painful death." He said, his face monotonous while saying that, his hand still caressing my cheek.

"He deserved it, and so much more." I said and he smiled at me.

"What is 'la casa'? You've mentioned it twice now and I still don't know what it is." I asked curiously. He chuckled lowly.

"It's the building for the mafia, we call it 'la casa'. It's like our workplace, and the basement is used for people like that bastard." I nodded before I bit my lower lip, trying to hold back the question.

"Remember when you told me to always be honest with you?" He asked and I nodded.

"You should also always be honest with me, so just ask away cariño." I then exhaled deeply while nodding.

"Do you... do bad stuff? I mean obviously the mafia is not a good thing bu-"

"I know what you mean. And well, I wouldn't call us the good guys, nor the bad guys. We're somewhere in between. For example, I've killed people, a lot, but there was always a reason behind it. I've never killed an innocent person, and every of my people who would dare to do something like that, will be executed." I nodded at that, before laying my head back onto his chest.

"Thank you for being so open with me about all of this."

"Like I said, I'm really serious about us." When he said 'us', my stomach felt all tingly and I smiled.