Lucia and the Bodyguard

Chapter 28: The Consent

No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent.

-Susan B. Anthony

Diego Suarez's POV

The following morning after my proposal we were back to where this was all started. Hand-in-hand we faced her brother sitting behind the mahogany table in their magnificence library with his wife standing next to him.

"Glad to see you back." The Conde said without a hint of emotion on his face.

"I'm sorry," I heard Lucia muttered apologetically under her breath, looking down at the carpeted floor. She couldn't meet her brother's intense gaze.

"What are you sorry for?" He asked, I tried not to flinch the way his eyes bore their gaze on us unblinking. I am actually surprised to see him so calm with this whole situation. I was expecting him to unleash his anger on me once he saw me after the stunt I pulled in on the night of her sister's engagement to another man.

I was about to answer on Lucia's behalf when Condesa speak. "Don't be harsh on them, darling. This is what we want from the start, right?"

Lucia and I looked at them in surprise. Did I hear the right? I barely prevent my mouth from hanging. "Pardon, Your Excellency?"

The woman smiled deviltry in our direction, her green eyes lit with mischievousness. "Oh, you know...we might manipulate a thing or two so the two of you could be together. Believe me, we knew all along."

"What!?"

"This was our plan all along..." She paused with the same slyness in her smile as she corrected herself. "...or rather, my plan—my husband and my cousin, Enzo were forced into this."

I shook my head furiously. I don't think I could comprehend the words she'd been saying. "I don't understand..."

"Since I arrived here I immediately felt the tension between the two of you." Leila Salazar confessed without a hint of regret in her voice. "I got tired of waiting for some improvements in your relationship when it's clear as daylight that you fancy each other. Hell, even the timid Rafe got married and still no progress I often watch the two of you steal glances from one another that's why I decided to take the matters into my own hands."

"You got to be kidding me!" Lucia gaped at her sister-in-law in disbelief. "Don't tell me the stalker thing..."

The Condesa nodded in agreement, her eyes gleaming with delight. "Yes, you finally figure it out that's would be my cousin Enzo. I finally got to utilize his skills as a member of the Special Forces for my benefit."

"Do you have any idea how scared I am with that stalker?" My wife-to-be cried. "You must be laughing from the sidelines watching me gets paranoid with the stalker."

"That's why we hired Diego to protect you." The Condesa said simply as if it was the most logical thing to do with such a situation. I should have known that she was behind this thing since she's capable of pulling such a stunt. "Look everybody is happy with the result. Well, except for my idiot cousin who betrayed me and runaway like a sacred cat."

"Leila, mi amor." Don Leandro looked at his wife with a strange smile on his face. "Why don't you and Lucia leave for a moment? You are ruining my image as the stern head of this family. I want to talk to Diego privately."

His wife stared at him for a moment before miraculously nodded in agreement. "Very well, darling." She smiled lovingly to her husband, the kind of smile stating clearly that she was spoiled with love by her husband. She hooked her arms to my wife-to-be. "Let's go to the other room, Lucia. I want to chat with you about the newest remember of our family. I am so happy that Anton will have a new baby cousin aside from Helena which she got her features after me."