"...Robbie- Rob! Smile." Rosalina, the photo coordinator of the family, was instructing not just the hired photographers but also the whole family. "Are you getting the chandelier in the shot?" Bella couldn't contain an eye roll at the lavish ballroom that was rented out for the charity event- wasn't the point of raising funds to not spend them? Her parents threw this event every year and since Rosalina had taken over the office manager role for their law firm, these grew more and more lavish each year.

And it seemed no stops were pulled- Emateo bought our four entire tables, donated a full course of track training with his dad's company for the silent auction, and even brought along a brood of friends both rich and... not rich.

Her eyes went to the corner of the room where Eduardo had been chatting up his date all night. He had no right to command a room the way that he did. Who did he think he was anyway?

But she couldn't deny that Eduardo was no less beautiful than she remembered but now he was in a dapper tuxedo (had he rented or was it borrowed from Emateo?) and with a woman like the leggy raven-haired next to him, he could've easily passed for a true billionaire bachelor.

When his eyes caught hers, she sucked in an unintentional breath. How was he able to do that to her from so far away? He had a scowl on his face as per usual and when it deepened the longer he looked at her, she glowered back and turned away.

His brutishness had no limits and he pissed her off without even saying a word to her. He had no right to glower at her or be rude at all! This was her parents' charity event, he was the outsider here!

He was probably here for the free drinks and hopes to walk out with something!

She promised herself to do her best to pretend like he didn't even exist. "Is this the part where we can finally drink?" Mick whispered into her ear but backed away offhanded when she shrugged her shoulder in a sharp motion.

Isabella noticed how cold it must have looked so she recovered quickly, hitting him playfully with her clutch and gestured to her sister. "Master Rosalina hasn't finished with us quite yet." It wasn't her sweet friend's fault that this jerk put her on edge so dramatically.

Her blonde companion chuckled before slipping his arm over her shoulders, knowing full well not to be too intimate in front of her family. Poor Mick, such a sweet and kind guero, as her family referred to him, and she had hoped the more time they spent together the more chemistry they might feel or in the least, compatibility. Isabella tried to ease into his side embrace, but as always it felt way too forced.

"Honey, can you round up your donors- I mean, your friends? We need enough pictures for the article!" Rosalina crooned sweetly to her husband, and he did exactly as she said to her own pleasure. "Oh, hello Mick!" Bella knew that her sister didn't particularly like him, but he was so generous at events like these. "Will you finally win Isabella's contribution?" She was goading him, as always.

Isabella contributed the same item every year: a weekend stay at her inherited villa in Valencia- it wasn't flashy at all and so her siblings had scoffed at her when she requested it as her 'coming of age' gift. Rosalina had gotten her BBL, Julio got his first sailing boat, and Robbie his first BMW; so when she had taken the 200 year old fixer upper with no luxury amenities they called her ten different kinds of stupid.

But that was where Georgina had taken care of them.

Mick nodded eagerly. "I doubled my bid this year- there's no way I'm not winning."

"Waste of your money. I put up sailing lessons in Bermuda." Julio inserted himself into the conversation and as always, he had to mention sailing as well.

"And my husband and I contributed racetrack lessons." Rosalina pushed Julio aside and they shared poorly hidden dirty looks. "And Robbie donated... a painting." You could hear the cynicism dripping from her lips. Robbie was the baby of the family and the only creative Lopes-Aguirre in the whole bloodline.

When her siblings started to bicker about who would speak first for the showcase, she wandered off to the said canvas- a mass of colors and splashes with a soft pink knot towards the middle; she was felt artistically ignorant because she couldn't make out anything that was going on.

"I call this 'Sorry, Guys'." Robbie chimed from beside her. Isabella nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off it until she understood. Did the title mean anything to it? Was this a showcase of the inner turmoil he felt because of his dreams of being an artist? Was he portraying how it felt to be under the suppression of generational Latino male machismo? Or was this an exhibition of Robbie's pent-up frustration with their parents?

Her baby brother took a long sip of his Moscow Mule before handing it over and gesturing to his masterpiece. "Don't tell anyone but look at it upside down." Isabella rolled her eyes, not in the mood to fall for any of his tricks. "Look at it- you won't be disappointed, sis." His cheesy smile made her smile back as it always would, and she peered around to make sure no one was paying them any attention as she pulled her tight dress above her knees so that she could bend a little.

Isabella twisted her neck in the crouching position to peer at it upside down, but once her eyes fully adjusted and she could make out the image in total, she shot back up and punched his arm as hard as possible.

"Robbie!" His laughter was loud and obnoxious, causing their parents to look over disapprovingly. Robbie was always up to his tricks and goofs; it should have come as no surprise at all. "Mom and dad are gonna kill you- no, Rosalina is gonna kill you."

If their older sister had even a whiff that something so scandalous graced the walls of her precious charity gala, there would be absolute hell to pay.

Before he could send one his signature witty responses, Mick and Emateo joined them once more.

They both regarded the painting with thoughtfulness and pretended to truly appreciate it. She looked at Mick closely, begging her heart to feel something for this man. Bella clasped her hand in his and appreciated his hearty smile in response to her. He had to know how she'd never felt strongly for him, but he stuck around anyway.

So when Eduardo and his lady friend stopped beside them, she cursed herself for the bolt of electricity that started from her toes and worked its way up her thighs. How could such a brute like him illicit a passionate response, but a man who was so sweet and caring could not?

It wasn't fair at all.

She pulled Mick closer and tried her best to ignore the dark stranger but felt him openly staring at her anyway.

Her brothers and Mick started to compare Rolexes and lost her attention completely; Mick was rich, way more well off then her family was, and life with him would be a comfortable one- her family thought highly of him more and more over the years, and more recently Renee and Phillip even started to push the subject of marriage unto her. They always suggested marrying within their own race and tax bracket but then again, they figured he was the best their youngest daughter could ever get.

Maybe they were right.

Her sister pulled the men's attention when she demanded they pose for more pictures under a different chandelier and forced Mick along, most likely using him for the White Male advocate. Isabella took another sip of her brothers forgotten drink and stared at the painting some more. Maybe she would bid on it after all, if just to spite her ancestors...

"Stunning." Eduardo's voice popped the peaceful bubble she created for herself and her she looked him over carefully. His voice was low and sincere, something totally different than she was used to.

"Yes, it is." Isabella let out a small breath. If he could be civil, so could she.

When he didn't say anything, she looked over at him again to notice he was much closer and sans the beauty he had been with all night. "My brother Robbie did it." She didn't know why she felt the need to divulge that, but anything was better than the silence. "Art can be-"

"I was talking about you." His words stunned her into a new silence.

The blood rushing from her feet to her ears was almost deafening, but she did hear his response.

I was talking about you

"Yes, but you're here with her." Isabella didn't even know the woman's name but put enough spite into the noun to have known the girl her whole life.

"And you're here with Mick." The nasty way he said her friend's name lit a new fire under her and she whipped around to fully take him in. "What kind of name is that?"

"Why are you even here?" Isabella harped.

His eyebrows rose coolly. "I was invited."

She bit her bottom lip and clenched her free hand into a fist at her side. "Does Emateo foot all of your bills?"

Eduardo's green eyes flashed. "Watch your tongue, Bella." The way he said her childhood name sent chills through her- she should have spat at him or chewed his head off, but there was the way he was looking at her and the music playing in the background and the Moscow Mule was swimming in her brain. She felt him move closer to her, and he was close she could just-

"Smile!" They didn't have time to react before her sister's cameraman snapped a bright picture of them both.