Paradise In Portugal {Cristiano Ronaldo}

16. Friendship with Secrets

This chapter of the story may contain events that may be easily triggering for some readers. Contains: domestic violence (physical and emotional).

{Cristiano POV}

A part of me was a bit content with having Adelina back in my life. As much as it hurt to see her with another man. Not that anything ever happened between us. Junior also had seemed happier with Lina around a bit more; maybe it was due to the fact that he now had more friends to share his love for soccer.

To begin the morning, I had texted Adelina to make sure she received the updated graphs for evaluation. I had been eagerly waiting for her response, expecting her to almost right away as she normally did, but there was nothing. A weird feeling emerged from my gut that something was wrong.

I followed my good morning text with a reminder that Carlos had left his jacket when they came by for dinner. It wasn't until about an hour later that she responded... by liking the message. A curiosity feeling rose, but I shook it off and thought nothing of it.

~

"Pai, when are we seeing Carlos and Josue again?" Junior asked, as he got out from the car.

I climbed out of the car and locked it once the door shut. "Not sure meu filho. We can ask her once we get upstairs."

I had promised my mom that I would be focusing more on family time with Junior, but work hasn't stopped so I had decided to bring him with me. I was called into a meeting today with public relations and Jorge, who decided to meet me in Portugal, to discuss my public image.

Junior and I made our way upstairs and to the board room. To my surprise, we found Lina sitting by herself.

"Hey you," I greeted her with a smile.

She looked up, just as Junior ran over to her and embraced her in his tiny arms. "Lina!"

She was a bit stunned by Junior's inital point of contact, but relaxed shortly after feeling his arms around her. She held him close for a couple seconds, then released him from her snuggle. Adelina looked back at me with a small smile and somber eyes. Something about her seemed different.

"Hey," she greeted.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I walked up closer and took the seat right next to her.

She quickly looked back down to her notepad, keeping quiet.

"Junior," I said, looking up at him. "Why don't you go grab some snack from the vending machine? I'd like to talk to Adelina in private."

Junior showed signs of concern but nodded anyway. "Okay." I grabbed a few dollars from my wallet and handed them over to him. Once I saw that he had skipped out of the room, I looked back at Lina.

"C'mon Lina. Tell me what's going on. You can talk to me," I said, leaning forward as a sign of giving my attention.

She kept her head down for a few seconds, until she finally looked up at me. "I'm okay, Cris. Not to worry."

I looked at her with concern, not sure if I even believed what she had said.

"Are you sure? You seem... distant, for lack of better words."

"Cris, please stop. I'm fine, okay?" She tried to give me her best smile as she fully turned to face me.

I smiled slightly, then noticed a bruising on her neck. I arched my eyebrow as I looked back up at her.

"Then what's that? What happened to you?"

"Cris!" she yelled out slightly. "I'm fine! I just burned myself with my hair straightener. Just drop it. I had a rough night, I'm exhausted."