Finally! Some Franco and Sarita moments... (I do not own this awesome novela!) Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"One of the sisters saw?" asked a disappointed Oscar shoveling before Franco, who sat on a couple of newly stacked bricks. "Which one?"

Franco tossed a piece of rubble on the ground, Sarita's shocked expression playing over and over in his head.

"Sarita." he sadly replied. "She caught me kissing Jimena."

Oscar stopped shoveling and glowered at his naive little brother.

"You idiot!" he spats. "Everything is going well until now."

Franco nodded in agreement, knowing the type of trouble he could be, especially since the roughest of the sisters caught him in the act. That one Elizondo could be capable of anything.

"You're fucking screwing up." Oscar growled, his plan meant everything to him. "How could you be so fucking careless?"

"Jimena will probably convince her to keep her mouth shut." assures Franco, hoping it will be true, seeing how close the two sisters are from the way Jimena cried after Sarita.

"What if it doesn't happen, huh?" challenged Oscar, the temple on his forehead about to burst as he slammed the shovel at his feet. "You know what they can do to us? Kick us out before we could finish our revenge."

"Don't even say that." said Franco, his brow furrowing at the thought of Juan losing his shit.

"Juan would damn right lose it." muttered Oscar. "If he finds out, he might even kill someone."

Franco's eyes widened in horror and quietly ordered Oscar to control himself when Sarita appeared. Franco mustered a brave face at the little woman's hard expression. He shuddered at the sight of her. She's just like her mother. Stern and cold.

"You, sir!" she shouted, her dark eyes slanting at Franco. "Come with me!"

Oscar worriedly looked back at Franco, who collected himself onto his feet. He watched him slowly approach the cold little woman, his own nerves about to get the best of him.

Before he could finally reach her, Sarita stared him up and down and ordered him to follow her to somewhere private so they could talk. She turned from him and began walking ahead, his eyes were then drawn to the back of her head. His frightened blue eyes narrowed as he let them wander down the small of her back. A lump formed in his throat once he noticed how her natural womanly curves suited her petite stature. Especially her perfectly round, pert ass…

"Look here, Mr. Franco.." she finally said, turning to face him once they've reached a quieter area in the front of the mansion.

He regretfully tore his wide blue eyes from her lower body and bore them into her hard dark gaze. Whatever he started to feel vanished. Damn, so much for nothing. She's bland to him again.

With her dainty hand on her hip, she glared up at him. Franco immediately took back his observation. This woman is a fucking piece of work. How could he ever find her attractive?

"What Jimena did is unforgivable." she told him, her voice harsh with disgust. "But what you did is much worse."

"It won't happen-" Franco tried to plead but she cut him off.

Damn. This little woman is relentless.

"She doesn't know what she's doing." she explained, her tone turning harder and harder as she spoke. "Don't take advantage of that! If that's your plan, then you better drop it."

Franco's inside turned to ice. All he could do was stare numbly at her bland little face with incredible disbelief. Has she figured out Oscar's plan? Could she really be spying on the brothers?

"Because I'm here to stop you." she assured him, her pride consuming her.

"You'll tell your mother, right?" he asked, feeling rather agitated and nervous.

She smirked at him and he swallowed the lump in his throat. He always complained about her infamous grumpy looks, but now he wishes he didn't see her full pouty lips curl so maliciously.

"No."

Franco's eyes widened. He didn't know whether he should feel worried or relieved.

"I don't want any scandals." she affirmed, her lips uncurling to their usual scowling stance. "I won't let my little sister be ridiculed."

Her dark eyes then softened when she scanned his attire. She drew a sigh and he began to feel a bit at ease. She just keeps surprising him. Exactly how many layers does Sarita have? One minute she's angry and the next she's calm. What's next?

"And I don't want any trouble for you." she confessed. Franco could feel her pity for him. "Because I know you and your brothers need this job."

Franco blinked, and was stunned to notice how he didn't even blink throughout his time talking with the most stern of the Elizondo sisters.

"Thank you so much." he managed to say to her, confused but very much so relieved.

Her dark eyes went cold again.

"Don't thank me." she ordered, glaring at him again. "If this happens again, I won't hesitate to tell my mother everything."

Franco sighed. Her hot and cold behavior really started to get under his skin.

"It's fine," he started to say. "Let me tell you one thing."

Sarita tilted her chin up to listen and placed her other hand on her hip. He noticed but forced himself to focus on only her bland, eternal scowling face, rather than her impressively small waist.

"I don't take advantage of anyone." he tells her. "I had no second intentions for that kiss."

He watched her eyes go from cold to warm again. Her seemingly frail shoulders even seemed to soften.

"I may be a good laborer." he continued, trying to let his eyes stay on her now soft brown eyes instead of her plump bottom lip. "But I'm a good man too."

He pauses when he sees her tilting her head down and taking her hands from her hips to hold them by her flat, but clothed navel.

"I don't go after the first girl that passes by."

He could've had more to say but her mother had to interrupt them. A now seemingly soft Sarita, obediently spins on her spot when her mother calls her over. Franco leaves immediately to find his brothers, his mind bursting with his new observations about the cold and bland Sarita Elizondo.

That very night, instead of the bar, Franco and his brothers participate at a nightly fair in their neighborhood. The three brothers look a little worn out by the day's events.

"This is a very delicate matter." says Oscar as Franco pours him a drink from a bottle of tequila. "We drop our guard and we're screwed."

Franco listens and numbly pours himself a glass, his mind still buzzing on what had happened earlier with Sarita. Juan also seems to have his mind elsewhere.

"So you, Franco", Oscar says to him, eyeing his younger brother with extra scrutiny, "take some precaution when you're with Jimana, okay?"

Franco rolled his eyes.

"Didn't you want me to seduce her?"

"Not in front of everybody, you idiot." Oscar retorted.

Franco slammed the bottle on the table.

"I already told you I spoke with Sara." he grumbled. "She told me she won't say anything."

He started twisting the cap back on the bottle, remembering Sarita's odd behavior.

"She doesn't want a scandal."

"Don't trust her." ordered Oscar, taking a sip of his tequila. "If Jimena keeps pursuing you. Sarita will be watching."

Franco shuddered, knowing his brother was right. Sarita made it perfectly clear to him when she called him to her. His mood darkened, now realizing Oscar's seduction plan will not work on a hard and serious woman like Sarita.

I loved writing this chapter... so for the next few chapters, I'm going to skip a little more, because this story is only about Franco and Sarita. So whatever little encounters they may have, I'll make sure to write them down. (And because Franco and Jimena never sat right with me, but I will also make slight notes on them, no worries!)

Thank you again for reading!