Next to Me

Chapter Twenty-One: Under Protection

Sergio sighed in relief as he stepped into his girlfriend’s apartment and closed the door behind him, he had been gone an extra week and Ethan had made it obvious that he wasn’t going to back down about getting his sister back.

“Sergio?” Charlotte asked softly as she appeared from her bedroom, it was late at night and she was dressed in her red fluffy robe; she rubbed her blue eyes tiredly wondering what was going on, he wasn’t meant to be back until the following day.

The Sevillian smiled softly as he moved towards her, his cold hands quickly pulled her into his body as he rested his head on top of hers; she cuddled into his body as he wondered how he had gotten so lucky, he had worried that Ethan would get here ahead of him.

“I missed you,” Charlotte murmured as she pulled back and looked at him, she wasn’t sure what was going on but she knew he was on edge about something; she hoped her brother hadn’t done something stupid especially since he was never calm when things didn’t go his way.

Sergio smiled before he moved to rest a hand on her stomach, she was seven weeks pregnant and while her stomach was still flat he couldn’t help himself; he couldn’t wait to be a father and this time nothing was going to happen.

“I missed you too,” Sergio said as he rubbed his thumb over the skin of her stomach, he knew that it would one day soon swell to hold his unborn child and that thought brought a smile to his face; he loved the idea of her carrying his baby.

Charlotte yawned softly making the Sevillian smile before he carefully moved them back into her bedroom, he wanted her rested before they talked the next morning; they had a lot to discuss and he knew that there were some measures that had to be taken to protect her.

***

“Buenos días,” Sergio murmured as he held his girlfriend close, he smiled to himself as he felt her cuddle closer as they lay in bed together; Charlotte was wearing her blue romper suit while her boyfriend was just in his boxers.

The Sevillian pressed a kiss to the top of her head, he closed his brown eyes knowing that today was going to be spent relaxing after he’d had his talk with Charlotte; he’d had a lot of time to think about ways to protect her and he hoped that she would listen to him.

“Buenos días,” Charlotte said as he pulled back slightly from Sergio knowing that, there was something on his mind; she sighed as she brushed her fingers against his cheek before he kissed her, they had been apart for two weeks and she couldn’t believe how much she had missed him.

“We need to talk…” Sergio breathed as he pulled back slightly, his brown eyes searched hers knowing that they had all day together before he had to head to his parents; his father wanted to know what had happened in Madrid but Sergio had come straight home to see Charlotte.

The blonde nodded her head as she tilted it curiously, she knew that he had been busy while in Madrid and it worried her what might have happened; she didn’t want anything to happen that could take him away from her again.

“But there’s something I need to do first,” Sergio said before he rolled out of bed, he smiled as he quickly collected something from his bag and moved back to the bed making Charlotte look at him confused; the last time he had given her something was the 9ct gold one carat diamond bracelet.

“I know that we have only been together for nineteen weeks but you mean everything to me,” Sergio said as he handed her the small black box, the blonde took it from him curious about what he could be giving her; she swallowed as she opened it to find a 9ct white gold created sapphire and diamond ring.

Charlotte opened her mouth shocked as she tried to work out what he was doing, she blinked as she looked at Sergio who was smiling at her; he knew that she was surprised and he hoped she’d say yes.

“Marry me?” the Sevillian asked as he took the ring from her, he looked at her hoping that she wouldn’t turn him down; she stared him speechless as she tried to wrap her head around this, she couldn’t believe this.

Sergio shifted nervously wondering if she was going to give him an answer, he felt his heart jump as she stared down at the ring for a moment before she looked at him.

“Yes,” Charlotte said as she smiled at him, tears filled her eyes as Sergio grinned as he pushed forward and kissed her; his fingers shaking as they took the ring from the box and placed it on her finger.

The blonde grinned as she moved to wrap arms around his neck, she continued to kiss him knowing that this was probably the best day of her life.

***

Sergio swallowed as he watched Charlotte sleep, he smiled as he carefully pressed a kiss to her head before headed out of their bedroom; he had no interest in returning to his home when her apartment was so much safer.

The Sevillian quickly made sure that the door behind him before he pressed his mobile to his ear; he hated to do this but this was the only way that he could protect Charlotte, he had been carrying the ring around for days and he had planned to marry her anyway but he had another motive.

“It’s done,” Sergio said as he sat down on the couch, he stared at the bedroom door knowing that if she ever discovered that this was the reason he had rushed their relationship was so that she could gain extra protection.

Sergio ran a hand through his hair, he loved her and he was going to do whatever he could to protect her and their unborn child; he had been planning to ask her anyway even if they had slowed down their relationship, he hadn’t stopped thinking of having a future with her.

“I know the rules… she’ll be my wife within a year,” Sergio said as he closed his eyes, he knew that he was going to have to tell Charlotte what was going on; but the last thing that he wanted was too upset her, he did want to marry her and this was far from easy.

The Sevillian listened to what the person down the other end of the call, he knew that he would do anything for her and this was it; he sighed as he nodded his head even though the other person couldn’t see him.

“I love her… and that is all that matters to me,” Sergio said knowing that he was going to have to tell her the truth sooner or later, but right now he wanted to revel in the fact that she was his fiancée and carrying his child; he only hoped that Charlotte would be able to forgive him for this.

The Sevillian ended the call and put his head in his hands, he wished that he hadn’t been forced to rush this but he didn’t want anything to happen to her; not like it had happened with Lara, he had lost one child and he wasn’t about to lose another.

“Sese are you coming back to bed?” Charlotte asked as she came out of their bedroom, she smiled at him knowing that business could wait for another day; she hadn’t seen him in two weeks and wanted nothing more than to sleep next to him.

Sergio nodded his head as he set his phone on the table before following her back into the bedroom.