Hi! How are my favorite readers doing? I hope you are all safe, especially when this world is still shaky with this mutating virus! Sigh. But the show must go on! I kept this chapter simple and sweet...and it's one of my favorite moments between Franco and Eva! I meant to add it to the previous chapter but I was running out of time because of work! So... just sit back and enjoy (because I know some of you have busy lives too!)

(I do not own this novela!)

Chapter 27

"We were going down hill", began Oscar walking to where Juan and Franco sat with books on their laps. "And now we're hitting rock bottom!"

Juan and Franco returned to their house and told Oscar everything that had happened out in the field, and what really bothered Oscar was that Franco had the balls to fight Fernando because of Sarita, and Juan had to tag along in that mess.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" he argued. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I couldn't stand there and watch that man mistreat Sara, Oscar." retorted Franco.

"That's her problem!" he shot at Franco. "Let her deal with it!"

Franco rolled his eyes at Oscar.

"You wouldn't say that if it were Jimena, right?"

Oscar swore at the mention of Jimena and paced to where Juan sat.

"Sarita is a different story!" he spat. "Very different! She's a tough cookie and likes to get into fights! I know she would've fought back!"

Franco heard Juan sighing in disagreement.

"Well.." he said, flipping through a page of his book. "He shook her up violently and threw her on the ground like nothing right in front of everyone."

Oscar, scratched his chin, probably sensing the severity of Sarita's abuse.

"Okay fine!" he huffed, now pacing back to where Franco sat. "Let's say Franco did the right thing in defending her, but you Juan? Why the hell did you have to fight?"

Juan got to his feet and slammed his book on the coffee table. He glowered at Oscar.

"Because that guy wouldn't stop!" Juan growled. "He was going to hit Franco. Was I supposed to stay back, huh?"

Juan grabbed the book back up from the coffee table and lightly thumped Oscar in the stomach with it before sitting back down on his armchair.

"You would've done the same," he added.

"But you've got to admit you were imprudent." Oscar said to him with reason. "How the hell are we going to convince Norma about your image and behavior, hmm?"

Juan was silent as he flipped through his book, listening to Oscar's every word when he brought up Norma.

"That fight was your death sentence. Especially after all those stupid ideas those other bastards could've put in her head!"

"Guys, come on!" called Eva, who had been hearing them argue from the other room. "Stop fighting, it won't get you anywhere."

"But things are getting worse, Eva." Oscar explained to her. "We're a train wreck!"

"We'll see about that." said Eva, shrugging her shoulders. "You must calm down or you'll make things worse."

Oscar glanced over at Franco, who had just started to calm down as Eva ordered.

"And you!" Oscar shot at Franco. "What's the matter with you? You made such a fuss about Sarita and now you put your ass on the line for her?"

Franco glared up at his brother.

"As if you liked that lunatic!"

"Enough, Oscar!" shouted Franco angrily, tossing his book aside and getting to his feet. "That's not your business, okay?"

Franco left, his head pounding as hard as his heart. He bolted into his room and allowed the quiet to take over him. He didn't want to argue with Oscar, especially over that sensitive topic. Whatever he had with Sarita was his, no one else's, not even his brothers should meddle in that.

He stood by his open window, in which he still hadn't covered back up with the curtains torn down by Sarita. He smiled at the memory but his smile was wiped away when he heard his door slightly open. He calmed down when he saw it was only a concerned Eva.

"Franco," she said softly, using that motherly tone, "Don't feel bad to have defended Miss Sara. It's only natural."

"I didn't mean to complicate things for my brothers, Eva." he told her, he averted his eyes from her. "But at that moment, I wasn't thinking. When I saw that man wanted to hurt her, I lost it."

A small smile began to tug at the corners of Eva's lips as she eyed him curiously.

"Are you attracted to her?" she plainly asked him.

Franco blinked, his guard going up. Eva, apart from his brothers, knew how much he fought with Sarita. He was taken back to hear her ask that question.

"No…" he lied, his mind racing with the feral young woman he'd grown to care and even fight for.

Eva chuckled and walked over to sit at the foot of his bed.

"Don't lie to me." she calmly told him. "Be honest with yourself."

Franco stayed quiet and only looked at her. There's no hiding anything from Eva. She already knew. She reminded him so much of his late mother, it's unbearable to hide anything from her.

Franco was attracted to Sarita.

"In the last few days, I noticed a particular change between the two of you."

"I do care about her, Eva." Franco confessed, his heart warming at the thought of Sara.

Eva sighed and looked down at her hands which were crossed on her lap.

"Juan has had problems with Miss Norma and Oscar with Miss Jimena…" she paused and looked up at a sullen Franco. "If something happens between you and Miss Sarita, I can't imagine what would happen."

Franco let out a frustrated sigh as he took a seat on his bed, thinking of Eva's words. What if he and Sara have problems? He thought about it before. Could he be following his brothers' footsteps?

"I don't think it's wrong." Eva reassured him, sensing Franco's distress. "But I do advise you to be careful with Sarita."

Franco stayed silent and stared at Eva with great intent.

"Miss Sara has a very bad temper."

Franco nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. Sarita's famous tempers used to be a nuisance to him, now it was endearing. They made her who she was and Franco wouldn't change it for the world.

"For those many years I've watched her grow into a woman." she said, her voice dropping. "I've never seen her have any friends… or any boyfriends."

Franco's smile wiped away at that small statement and he shamefully lowered his eyes from Eva's. This was a blow he didn't expect to know. The temperamental, feral, strong, loyal, honest, and valiant Sarita… was a virgin. He felt his heart ache for her even more while he remained speechless.

"So if she falls in love, she'll fall hard", cautioned Eva. "But to you, it probably won't mean much."

"I don't know what I feel about her, Eva." he lamented, Sarita's new profound innocence eating at his heart. "But I know it's not superficial. It's something important."

He stared at Eva, his eyes gleaming sadly.

"Sarita is very important." he assured her.

Eva smiled tenderly at him, thoroughly calm that Franco's intentions with the young woman she'd spent her whole life caring for were honest and pure.

That very evening, Franco couldn't stop thinking about Sarita. Even as he got into the shower to wash off the dirt he picked up from defending her.

Just watching that bastard Escandon put his hands on her the way he did, made Franco's blood boil to a degree. The audacity of that asshole! Even though his brothers didn't approve of his actions, Franco couldn't just stand there and let Fernando hurt Sarita even more. He glowered at what could've happened if he weren't there. Sarita could've been severely hurt. He remembered her fear as she hit that hard ground and how her eyes widened when that bastard raised his arm to whip her as if she were an animal. That Fernando Escandon was down right evil.

He softened his hard breathing as the hot shower pelted through his hair, shoulders, and back, remembering Sarita's bewildered admiration after he defended her. He knows she's a tough woman, capable of defending herself by any means necessary...but she's still a woman. A dainty and little one at that. She will always remind him of a precious doll, especially when that asshole manhandled and tossed her so ruthlessly to the ground. His nose flared again, cursing under his breath as he washed himself clean of any dirt.

Sarita deserved respect and he will make sure no one will lay a hand on her again.

Speaking of respect, Franco will never forget the conversation he had with Eva regarding his interests in the most difficult of the Elizondo sisters. He felt every pore of his heart hum in a softer rhythm when he thought of Sarita's inexperience with men.

"I've never seen her have any friends… or any boyfriends."

Eva's words kept replaying over and over again, and Franco cannot help but feel defeated. Now he understood what Sarita had been trying to tell him during her confession the other day.

"I don't want to be on your long list of lovers. I respect myself, and I want others to respect me."

"Oh, Sarita.." he sighed sadly, his mind racing with more thoughts about the woman who is slowly recapturing his heart.

He really has never encountered a woman like her. So brave, true, loyal, and relentlessly temperamental. And to top it all off...she's even pure. The more he thought about her confession, his heart started to deteriorate with so much emotion, knowing that it must've been hard for Sarita to explain that portion of her romantic inexperience.

Every woman he had ever taken interest in did not possess that one quality. He shuddered when he thought back on his infatuation with Rosario. She may have been beautiful and sensual, but innocent she had not been. Sarita and her are world's apart, and for once in his life, Franco realized what he needed wasn't beauty and sensuality...but a real love that will actually stay with him for the rest of his life. He needed Sarita at his side. Apart from their past fights and petty bickering, the temperamental Sarita Elizondo is who he truly needed to be with.

Simple, short, but sweet! Now on to chapter 28! Gotta fast-forward a little but still sticking with the Novela's plot! 3-5 episodes in one! Let's go!