Page 47 of Distrustful

Chapter 22

Maria is looking at the food delivery app to decide what to order for lunch at the office when someone knocks on her office door and immediately opens it. Her eyes bulge and her heart starts jumping wildly inside her chest when she sees that it's Trinidad who enters, elegant as always in one of those suits that fits her like a glove.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, rising with such force that the chair shoots backward and crashes against the wall with a thud.

"I wanted to see you," Trinidad responds with a seductive smile while closing the door.

Maria circles the desk to approach her.

"I wanted to see you too, but it's not wise for you to leave your house given the circumstances, don't you think?"

Trinidad runs a hand over her face before burying it in her hair and giving her a passionate kiss that turns the lawyer's body into a puddle of jelly.

"I've decided I'm not going to stop my life because he's back," the businesswoman says, sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of Maria's desk while she sits across from her. "I'm exhausted with this situation and I won't allow him to keep controlling my life, because one way or another, it's clear that he does. All my movements these years have always been based on avoiding him, Maria, I haven't had a life, just fear and discomfort, always looking over my shoulder or avoiding certain places in case I ran into him. But that's not the worst."

"And what is?"

"My family, Maria. He separated me from them back then and he continues to do so now. I changed my name and we decided not to maintain contact for safety, because he had resources and through them he could find me. These days, since I know he's appeared again, I've been thinking a lot about everything and I refuse to continue like this, I need to get my life back, and that starts with stopping being afraid of him."

Maria leans forward and takes both her hands affectionately. She's proud of Trinidad, although she knows that, deep down, no matter how much the businesswoman says otherwise and strives to prove it, she's still afraid.

"I was going to order something to eat, would you like to stay?" the lawyer asks and Trinidad narrows her eyes thoughtfully until she finally nods.

Maria lets Trinidad choose the food from an Italian restaurant where she's eaten before and takes the opportunity to tell her what she's discovered while they eat.

"I found Ismael's family lawyer and called him to arrange a meeting. I'm waiting for his response."

Every muscle in Trinidad's body tenses hearing her, deep down, she's terrified because Ismael awakens something in her that goes far beyond fear, but she's not willing to back down from her decision to face him.

"Okay," she responds and Maria continues explaining the few details they have.

"His wife, or her family," she specifies, "has a large number of companies throughout the peninsula."

"I thought they were in real estate," Trinidad interjects.

"That's the main line for public view, but they have dozens of businesses and Ismael's wife oversees them. There's one in particular, their own jewelry line, whose production facility is in Barcelona. If I had to bet, I'd say that's what brought them here from the other side of Spain, because their current residence is in Salamanca."

"Well, the reality is it doesn't matter what brought him here, the point is he's arrived and already knows where I am, but I don't want to talk more about him," Trinidad wipes her mouth when she finishes eating, "do you have much left to finish your workday?"

"Well, I wanted to get ahead on some things for tomorrow, but I can do it another time, why do you ask?"

"Because I think it's time we talk a bit about what's happening between you and me."

Maria chokes on her own saliva and drinks water to clear her throat.

"As long as you agree that something is happening between us, of course," Trinidad specifies raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, of course," Maria hurries to answer, "it's just that damn, you're so strange," she expresses so sincerely that Trinidad laughs instead of taking offense. "A couple of weeks ago you were cold as ice and quite rude, and now you're so charming that I'm afraid all this will disappear with a snap of fingers."

"Are you suggesting I'm bipolar?"

"No, I'm just saying you've kept me in so much tension since I met you that I'm finding it hard to relax with you," Maria admits.

"Okay, maybe I went a bit too far," Trinidad admits with a grimace.

"Well, it's not a big deal, actually, you were right yesterday when you said I needed someone to bring me down a notch."

Maria is so nervous she doesn't know how to approach the conversation, but Trinidad has it clear.