Paradise In Portugal {Cristiano Ronaldo}

17. Suspiscions Arise

{Adelina POV} 

I spent the following weeks avoiding Cristiano the best I could. It pained me to lie to the boys, hiding the disturbing truth about why I had to cut off all communication with him. I had even blocked his number. 

In these weeks, Gareth began finding other reasons to lay a hand on me; whether due to having to work late hours at the office, or accidentally spilling the wine at dinner. A few smacks to the face, thrown on the ground, and hands-on my neck more than I can count. And of course, they were all followed by apologies that I have been too idiotic to fall for and accept. 

But I couldn't bring myself to leave. 

There had been a number of opportunities to see my way out, but then, he'd go around and do something sweet and genuine. Flowers on a Tuesday, breakfast in bed, washing the dishes after dinner. It was the little things. I knew, however, that the little things would be the ones masking the bruises on my face. 

A wave of relief flushed through me learning Gareth had to travel back home to Wales to straighten out some family affairs. Although this trip was for only a few days, I was looking forward to a little piece and quiet for once. 

The sun peaked through my beige curtains, waking me up before my alarm had the chance to. I groaned, rolled over to the other side, and grabbed my phone only to realize I had never plugged it into the charger. I cursed under my breath as I jumped out of bed and rushed to get myself ready. After tying my hair back, I ran over to the boys' room only not to find them there. I headed downstairs to find them waiting in the living room. 

"Mae! You woke up late!" Josue called out, stating the obvious.

"Eu sei, I know. C'mon so we can rush you to school," I said, grabbing my keys and ushering the twins out the door.

~

After convincing the principal to let them into school, I rushed over to the office to work on some campaigns, but not before stopping for coffee on the way to the office, regardless that I was already 30 minutes late. 

"We have to stop running into each other like this." 

I turned around to meet the familiar chestnut brown eyes that I had looked into over a million times. 

"Cristiano." 

The moment we locked eyes, his widened at my sight. 

"Adelina, what happened to you?" he asked, reaching for my face. 

I quickly dodged his touch and began stepping around him. "I'm sorry, I have to go. I'm already late." 

Cristiano grabbed ahold of my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. My heart thumped rapidly as he stepped closer to me. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, despite feeling his warm, calloused hand on my cheek. His thumb rubbed just under my eyes, wiping off a tear I hadn't realized streamed down my face. 

"Lina, please," he whispered. "Talk to me." 

I sighed and shook my head softly. "I-I can't. You don't understand. I'm sorry, I have to get to work." 

Before he had the chance to stop me, I stepped away from him and left the coffee shop. I couldn't bring him into this mess; him and Gareth were teammates after all. Gareth trusted me to stay away from the man I almost kissed, from the man I thought I was falling for. I did not want to take that away from our relationship. 

My thoughts enveloped me as I reached the office, praying my day was going to be better than this morning. 

{Cristiano}