A/N: You guys show such love to this one!

I'm in love with the characters as much as you are. Review please! Even if it's just to tell me this is trash and I'm a trash writer, too! All love.

Also, if you don't understand Spanish you are welcome to google translate the italicized words.

Isabella felt his eyes trailing her the entire time, but when he got closer to their circle she began to truly panic. If he approached them, what would she say? What would he say? She peeked at her parents over her wine glass and her mother caught her look. Rene winked impishly and gestured towards Rey with her eyebrows. They thought they were matchmakers, of course. And Reynaldo was perfect, in every kind of superficial way. He was successful, came from an influential family, had no divorces or children, and adored them- Rey would probably lick her dad's ass if Phillipe let him.

Phillipe Aguirre-Lopes wasn't all the way a bad person- his law firm created a Pro Bono facet that helped hundreds of vulnerable immigrants and saw to it that they gained their citizenship and a life here in the United States, and her mother headed the entire thing. But he also defended the worst of the worst scumbags and made millions from it. Every up and coming entrepreneur or daddy's boy with even a splash of Spanish in their blood looked up to her father.

But they didn't know the half of it.

As snobbish and condescending as her mother was, her father was much more calculated. He didn't say too much, but when he did speak it was always on purpose.

"How about some Roulette, Reynaldo? Is luck on your side tonight, son?" Phillipe lightly goaded him.

Reynaldo perked up at being referred to so endearingly. Isabella could barely contain an eye roll. Don't wet yourself, Rey. "If you want to play away from the crowds, we can use the High Roller's Lounge. The buy in is five thousand euro, first sitting is on me." Reynaldo was basically brimming with excitement at the thought of playing cards with her parents.

Isabella kept her grimace a secret. She could never be with someone so people-pleasing as it pertained to her parents. There was line between polite and ass-kissing… and this was the line.

Rene fluttered her eyelashes. "Dear Reynaldo, are you trying to buy our daughter off of us?" The three of them laughed in an uproar, as though they weren't talking about selling their own daughter to him. Before Isabella could put in her two cents, Rene continued. "The owner of this place almost beat you to it! He is putting us up in a suite and paid for all expenses. What was his name again, Phillipe?"

Isabella visibly stiffened then.

How dare her bitch mother say that! She knew damn well who he was- Eddie was Emateo's best friend! And Rosalina and their mother talked nonstop to each other; there was no way she didn't know everything about everything.

But this was what her mom was famous for. Diminish anyone she felt was below her!

"Eduardo, mom." Bella grit out.

"Yes, Eduardo Marquez! Buen esfuerzo." Rene tipped her glass impishly before finishing it off.

Good effort.

It was the Spanish way to say "bless your heart".

To be complimented in the most condescending way.

Eduardo was a bit of a jerk, no one could deny that. But his heart was in the right place, almost always. He wanted the best for his son. He let her brother off without a second thought to the disrespect Robbie had shown him. He went out of his way to show respect and gratitude to her parents, without asking for anything in return- despite the fact that their son had torn up his property not but two months before. And she had the nerve to say good effort? They didn't deserve any of this! They were just as terrible as they'd always been.

Reynaldo hummed. "Yes, we are acquaintances." Isabella perked up at his words. They knew one another? Eduardo didn't seem like the social climbing type at all. And when rich men said "acquaintance" and not "old friend" it was usually a snub rather than a compliment. "His mother worked on our estate as a maid for a few seasons when we were kids. Mi padre used to pay him to wash the dishes for events. Good kid." Isabella couldn't help the sneer that came over his face. Reynaldo and Eduardo were around age, he didn't have to refer to him as a "good kid" anyway! Actually, Eduardo was older!

But it was brand new information to her that Eduardo's mother was a cleaning lady or "maid" as Rey affectionately referred to her. How jarring it must have been to him that he grew up in poverty, or at least struggling, then to be surrounded by these same assholes in adulthood but on an even playing field with them. Was that why he hated her so? In the beginning, when he first met her at Rosalina's wedding… he looked at her with such disdain, as though she made babies cry for fun. Did he think she was the same as guys like Reynaldo, like the old money jerkoffs?

Rene cooed. "Oh, Francisca Rothschild threw the best galas! Eduardo must have made his fortune washing those dishes for her regular dinner parties."

The three elite bastards shared another laugh together until her parents offered to go find everyone another round of drinks. She waited until they were out of earshot before turning on Reynaldo.

"How old was he?" Isabella dug further.

Rey looked to be off guard at the question and pretended to ponder on it. "Hmm, I was five or six so he had to have been ten or so. My mom used to call him pequeno because of how small he was for his age. They left after a few seasons, though. I think there was a problem with his mom- Bella, I don't want to speak ill of the dead. But I think it had to do with stealing." Reynaldo looked a little flustered as he continued. "But you know, look at him now! He's done well for himself. Good for him."

Isabella's eyebrows furrowed. His mom was dead? She was stealing from the Rothschilds- one of the most powerful families? She either had one hell of a nerve, or it was just a nasty rumor.

"And his dad?" She pressed on.

Reynaldo looked squeamish. He sipped the last of his dry whiskey and took a deep sigh. "Bella, I don't like to gossip." He looked around the room, as if someone would jump out at him at any given moment. "But it was a rumor that his dad is Magistrate Marquez."

"Jaime?" Isabella balked. Jaime Marquez was the golden child of the Tribunal Supremo, or Spain's Supreme Court- he made men like her dad look like the dirty dogs that they were. As a lawyer, he had taken on cases defending the rights of his people and even rallied for women's rights in the workplace. Not to mention that he was a seemingly happily married man for the last forty years! Jamie's wife Laurena was her mom's best friend… her parents shared a summer home in Madrid with them.

Isabella's brain was spinning out of control.

Reynaldo shrugged, a nonplussed look on his face. "Men have desires, you know. And back in the day it was different. I guess Plan B's didn't exist." Rey looked down at her with his almond-colored eyes, as though he had all of the answers in the world. "All I know is Eduardo and his mom Sebastiana were shipped to our house from the Marquez's- and she was the only maid mi madre ever fired. That's all I know for a fact."

Isabella shot him a sharp look. "So… Magistrate Marquez never acknowledged him? He had to know Eduardo and his mother were struggling-"

Reynaldo grabbed her lightly by her shoulders. "Bella, they're just rumors. Who knows the truth? The woman is dead and gone, and Eduardo has his money and fame now. All is well." He placed a quick kiss to her forehead, and she felt like a petulant child that was just dismissed from an adult conversation.

A spoiled, entitled piece of work like Reynaldo would believe all was well as long as there was a fortune involved. No wonder Eduardo hated her! And hated all of these snobs. She wanted to ask even more questions but then her parents came back, and Reynaldo resumed being his bright little self. But along with her parents came the man of the hour, and Rene was alive with chatter as they came nearer- the man whose name had escaped her mother's mind just minutes before.

"Good evening. I hope you are enjoying yourselves." Eduardo announced himself as he approached her and Reynaldo- he was talking as if they hadn't banged a few days ago in his pool. He was playing it cool, so would she. Deep down, she had been itching to know the extent of his earlier conversation with her parents. What had he said about her? What had her parents taken from it? Her mom was very sharp, she had to know something funny was going behind the scenes. "Juan!" Eduardo called sharply to an awaiting Maître D', and he answered promptly. "Bring a bottle of Lafite Rothschild, 1900."

Phillipe and Rene murmured in approval, but Rey sent a keen look in his direction. Isabella kept her back to Eduardo, her head turned so that they wouldn't even have a chance of glancing at each other.

This wasn't awkward, this was torture.

Rey seemed suddenly to be way too close to her. He shifted his hand lower on her shoulders, grasping the middle of her arm and pulling her alongside him. She preferred the way Eduardo held her waist and stood behind her… but that would have to go into the back recess of her mind for now.

Reynaldo waited until the server came back with his family's namesake wine before he started to speak again. "Excellent choice, Peque." Isabella rolled her eyes, happy that she was facing away from everyone so no one notices. Peque was a nickname for boys when they were smaller than other kids. Was it supposed to be a jab? Or something endearing known by only them two? "Bella, you know that Peque used to fit all of my old clothes when he lived with us? He could make a pair of shoes last years!" They all laughed accordingly, as though everyone was great friends. Isabella only turned around to receive her glass from the server but focused her attention on the sloshing red wine instead of anyone around her.

Rey gestured to his glass again. "This bottle is excellent- did you know the name lafite comes from the family of Le Fite? They date back to the medieval times. That's why the wine is so successful, as mi padre would say." Reynaldo held the glass up to his eyes, swishing it back and worth until the wine created almost a whirlpool before him. He looked up from it and caught Eduardo's eyes. "Generational."

Isabella caught the way Eddie's jaw tightened and then loosened. How many of these kinds of conversations had he had to endure throughout his life? Rich douche bags reminding him that he knew to all of this- reminding him that he didn't belong, and never would.

Isabella cleared her throat and took a sip of wine, feigning a sour look on her face. The wine was close to ten thousand dollars, it was impeccable. But Reynaldo didn't need to know that. "I don't know, Rey, it's a bit stiff for being medieval." Her dad sent her a warning look at her words.

I'm almost twenty-five years old. Suck it.

Reynaldo scoffed. "Stiff?" He asked in an absurd tone. "This is the Rothschild's very best. Everyone enjoys it differently, though." He reminded her.

Isabella tipped her head and looked at the glass again. "Hmm. That's interesting." Rene murmured under her breath, not loud enough for anyone but her to hear. Isabella knew how to crush a man's ego- her mentor, who was standing across from her, had taught her everything she knew. Instead of savoring, Isabella consumed the remaining contents and placed her cup loudly on the table. "Oh, you're right- it tastes much better if you just down it all at once."

Reynaldo leveled a look on her.

Did he want to smack her? Maybe.

But it served him right for talking about Eduardo as though he were some anecdotal story, and right in front of him! In his casino! Drinking his alcohol! They were taking advantage of his kindness. They deserved to choke on that wine.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Rich people dissing rich people, I love it.

This is part two of a four part saga.

Enjoy! I hope this answers a lot of the questions you guys have been asking.