raelee

"Oh for god sake." Max groans dropping back in his seat since he knows exactly what's about to happen.

"Yeah, it's me. Is everything ok?" Y/n smiles making him look at her for a moment before pulling his headphones off.

"Can I have a kiss?" He asks earning a small laugh from her before she leans over and kisses him softly, though one kiss apparently isn't enough and she's pulled into another kiss from the driver before sighing and settling down.

"Can I play for a bit?"

"Yeah, Max thinks you're better than me anyway." Lando jokes, though that's not even a lie.

Y/n ends up helping the boys on the mission all while feeling Lando hug her and continue to kiss her shoulder as his eyes watch her on the game and sometimes just watch her.

But eventually the game is over and she leaves Lando to play without her interference.

"Kiss, baby. Kiss." He reminds her almost as if he's lecturing her to remember that there is never a moment wrong to give him a kiss. Even if she's trying to leave him to stream.

-

"Ah ah ah! Y/n! Kiss." Lando exclaims seeing her walk into the garage since she was requested by Lando and Jon was sent to get her.

"You brought me in the garage for that?" Y/n laughs before looking at Zak who is in there and watching the young couple.

"I gave him my blessing because I'm sick of him pouting." Zak states with a shrug almost looking defeated but also not seeming all that bothered.

"So needy." Y/n jokes knowing while Lando denies it and she accepts it, Lando hates being called needy.

"Baby...Kiss." Lando grumbles, not whining but almost sounding annoyed she's been there for this long and he's not got to kiss her.

Deciding to be extra, she jumped up around his waist and catches him in a kiss that is movie ending worthy. Though admittedly she doesn't expect Ted Notebook to appear since it's ahead of qualifying.

Lando hoists her up onto the side counter which is a little higher than where she'd been sitting on his waist. His thumbs rubbing at her thighs as she sits there.

"Kiss." He murmurs earning a grin before she leans in kissing him again.

Later they see the footage everywhere and the McLaren PR team tell them both to reign it in with the PDA. But Lando has no intentions of doing that and y/n just nods along to keep the peace, though she knows that if Lando isn't listening then her promises will only be broken.

-

Padel is easily becoming the second choice of sport among the F1 drivers. Max, Charles, Alex, Carlos, George and Lando all play padel and even have matches.

Y/n doesn't involve herself in any form of sports than means going up against Lando. Purely because seeing the competitive nature in her boyfriend is one of the best things in her life and usually the adrenaline means she has a good time shortly afterwards wherever they can find a private spot. She'd rather be the involved in the part after.

But she does like watching. So she sits watching the match which is between Max and George vs Lando and Alex.

Seeing four drivers play against each other is honestly unusually. They play against each other when they get the chance but having only drivers playing against each other in teams, that's not so common.

During a short break to rehydrate, Lando moves to y/n who is guarding his stuff. He grins moving to her.

"Good luck kiss please?" Lando states after chugging a good half of his bottle of water.

"Yes." Y/n smiles hardly getting a chance to think before he's closed the space and his lips are pressed on hers. His hand moving under her chin to hold her in the kiss for a bit.

"We are all in relationships. No need to rub it in that you're the only one with a girlfriend who was free to be on hand whenever you want a kiss." George calls out making y/n smile and pull away, which in turn earns George the nastiest look he's ever got from Lando in the years of their friendship.

Not that it stops him from turning and stealing another kiss from her, much to her entertainment.

"Alright, thank you." Y/n laughs gently pushing him back.

"Any time." Lando smirks as he does stand up and look at the other boys who are now in a conversation. "I love you."

"I love you too, even if you can't go 0.5 seconds without needing a kiss."

"I'm not sorry for it." Lando shrugs then moving back. "Alright boys, let's get this finished. I'm bored of Alex and I winning all the time."

Obviously too cocky for what the real results of the matches are but it earns some laughs and they all move to get back into the match.

-

A bad qualifying is a burn to the ego and confidence, no kiss mends it but it helped him feel better just to have y/n there and be able to kiss her. A bad race, that's frustrating and while he stopped to get a kiss after the race while he changed to go to media and then before the debrief. Not that he's in any mood to discuss the diabolical weekend he's had.

He'd quite like to get on his flight home and not think about it.

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." Lando mumbles as he makes a b-line for y/n and catches her waist as she reaches and cups his face, kissing him several short times before allowing for a much longer and heavier kiss. "I want to go home."

They have a weekend without a race so going back to Monaco is on the agenda and Lando had already made sure the flight was due to take off as soon as they could get out of there. He even cut the debrief shorter than Andrea really wanted because he told them that he needed to leave for his flight.

So they're out of there quickly, with a few goodbyes and making sure their luggage has been sent ahead of them to the airport before they get on the private jet and fly back to Monaco.

Y/n ends up falling asleep cuddled up to Lando since it's not a short flight and he knows she's been trying to adjust to the time zone change with little success.

Lando is drawing shapes on her back, feeling her breath hitting his neck since her face was nuzzled into his neck but she's shifted slightly in her sleep so she's not quite so tightly against him.

Y/n has a history of mumbling in her sleep, especially when she's in a slightly lighter sleep and her subconscious seems unsure if she's awake or not.

"Kiss." Now Lando can't stop his small smile of amusement over hearing her mumble. He asks (and demands) for kisses all the time, but y/n never had to because he initiates it so often that she hasn't got a chance to want them before he's beat her to it. He does get his phone out wanting to capture if she speaks again and as if she sense him wanting to keep the sweet moment on camera forever. "Baby, kiss."

He feels her shift and he moves enough to catch her face scrunching up in upset. She shifts again before her eyes flutter open and he sees the anger behind them flashing before he kisses her and she melts into it as if she woke up purely to get a kiss.

"Sorry, baby. God back to sleep." Lando whispers feeling his mood much improved from just the past few moments.

Lando sat beside Hamilton. He was stoic, even when his father's body was lowered into the ground.

Beside him was Vettel, and Charles Leclerc was beside him, attending in his brothers place. Carlos and Y/N sat beside Charles; her status as Carlos’s wife was all that mattered. Nobody cared that she was the daughter of the deceased.

Fernando Alonso, who had half of Spain as his territory, were sat with Y/N and Carlos. He was an incredibly kind man, who had pulled Y/N in for a comforting hug as soon as he realised who she was (but that had made Carlos literally growl at him).

Gasly was there. If it wasn’t for the meeting with the heads of family, he would have sent his son and his right hand man, Esteban, on his behalf. That would have been interesting to see, since Esteban and Pierre hated each other.

Sargeant was there with his son, Logan. Alex Albon (head of the Albon family), was there too. Although his territory was in Thailand, he had grown up in England and conducted most of his business from there, until just a few years ago. He’d been head of the Albon family since he was sixteen, the youngest head of family ever.

Jos Verstappen was there. He’d always been overly critical of Norris, especially when Max and Lando had become friends. He sat there, his expression unimpressed, his arms folded over his chest. He stared at Y/N, not taking his eyes off of her.

Y/N sat there in the rain, trying her best not to meet Jos Verstappen’s eye. She hadn’t had to see him at her wedding, since Max had come over to congratulate the couple instead.

Norris was buried between his wives. Lando’s mother was on the left, and Y/N’s mother was on the right.

After the funeral, the heads of family made their way back to the Norris house. Carlos tried to lace his fingers through Y/N’s and pull her back towards the house, but she moved away from him, wouldn’t touch him.

Instead, Y/N took a seat in front of her mothers’ headstone. The ground was wet on the bottom of her black dress, but she didn’t much care, not when she was finally with her mother. “If I could have had anybody at my wedding, it would have been you,” Y/N whispered as she traced her fingers over the letter on the headstone. Helena Norris. “I just wish you could tell me why. Why did you arrange for me to marry this man, mum? He's a monster!”

The rain hid the tears running down her cheeks. “I’m so unhappy,” she whispered and wiped at her cheeks. “I wanted the chance to marry somebody I love, but now I can’t. He hates me.” Y/N sucked in a deep breath. “I-I wish I was more like you. I wish I was strong enough to handle this.”

Y/N sat there for only a minute more. The rain soaked into her dress and she shivered, but that wasn’t enough to get her to move.

Suddenly somebody was standing behind her. He cleared his throat, digging the toe of his shoe into the ground. “You okay?”

“I don’t know, Lan,” Y/N answered. There was no point in saying ‘no’, what good would it do?

Lando stood at his own mothers grave. When Y/N’s mother first started seeing his father, Lando spent a lot of time out here. He missed his mum; she had been a sweet woman, she had a soft voice and was so, so kind. Now Lando thought about it, she was a lot like Y/N. It took Lando a while to get used to the thought of having a new mum. He was at an age where he didn’t understand why he needed to have a new mum, why couldn’t he just have his old one?

When he got older, he started speaking to her headstone. Especially after his father got sick. It got to the point where nobody knew more about Lando than his own mothers grave.

“When I got home from Spain, I realised I never got you a wedding present,” he said, tracing his fingers along the Norris insignia on the headstone. “I came out here to ask mum what I should get you.”

It didn’t get Y/N jumping up and asking him more, like he thought it would. So, Lando did the one thing he could think of. He crouched down beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“You are Y/N Norris,” he began, and she didn’t bother to correct him. “You are the daughter of Helena Norris. You can take charge of the Sainz family, cuckhold him out of his own crime family.”

Y/N let out a bitter laugh. She stood up and dusted off her dress. “No, Lando, I can’t. I’m not Y/N Norris anymore. And yeah, I might be the daughter of Helena Norris, but she didn’t want me being tough and strong like her. She wanted me to be quiet and submissive.”

Lando shook his head. “No, she wanted you to be unassuming. She just never got a chance to teach you to strike.

The siblings headed back to the Norris house together. There was only a week until she went back to Spain, Lando had to teach her everything he knew before she went.

***

Y/N slept incredibly well in her childhood bedroom. It was cool, the sound of the rain soothing. Her husband was in the room next door, Y/N just wished he could have been further away.

Lando had set her alarm for five thirty. At five forty-five, he burst into her bedroom with toast and orange juice and handed it to her. “Get up, get dressed and meet me down in the gym,” he commanded.

Nodding her head, she ate.

Thirty minutes later Y/N was in the Norris home gym. Lando was her trainer and, boy, was he putting her through her paces. He had her sweating through her shirts as she used the machines.

It wasn’t just the gym that Lando was having her doing. He found his old Spanish text books from when he was at school and gave them to her. He let her lock herself in the library as she studied.

It was all a part of Lando’s plan to get Y/N on top. His want for her to take over the Sainz family wasn’t selfish, but it was the best way Lando could think of to keep her safe and happy. He taught her things that Helena Norris had taught him, ready for when he became the head of their family.

“It’s all about knowing when the time is right,” said Lando as they sat in his office. “Like, I took control once dad fell ill. I could have tried to take control from him much before that, but it would have fucked things up for me, for all of us,” he said. “I know the example doesn’t apply to your situation, but look at it like this: Sainz is the head of the family, not Carlos. If you try and take control from Sainz, he could have Carlos lock you away, never to be seen. But if you keep playing the weak little wife who’s terrified of her husband and wait for Carlos to be head of the family, he’ll never see it coming.”

Y/N stared at her brother. These men were terrifying to her. They still had guns, but probably had about twenty different ways to kill her with their bare hands anyway. There was no way Y/N could try and take their control.

“Lan, I just want respect. I don’t want to run the family, I just want my Husband to respect me,” she said. She didn’t care about Sainz, she cared about Carlos. Well, not exactly cared, but she was already sick of this marriage being miserable.

Lando sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “You’re going to hate this, but you’ll need to stand up to him.”

For the week that they were home, Lando kept Y/N in the gym. For an hour every morning, he had her in the gym. It wasn’t about changing her shape or building her strength, it was about building confidence.

When she got a spare minute, Y/N sat in the library, at her mother’s desk as she read through the Spanish books Lando had given her.

There was a knock at the library door. Getting up from the desk, she walked over and unlocked it, letting the person it. It could only have been Lando or a member of the house staff.

It wasn’t. Her Husband strode into the library, kicking the door shut behind him. Upon seeing him, Y/N turned on her heel and returned to the desk, ignoring him completely.

“Your brother said I could find you in here,” said Carlos as he looked around the library. He’d been in here once before, but it was so long ago that he could hardly remember it.

Y/N let out a snort. “Did he now?”

“I wanted to see if you’d like to play some chess.”

She shut the Spanish book in front of her and looked towards Carlos. The husband, the man who had spent the last few weeks causing her such anguish. “You want to play chess with me?”

Carlos nodded his head.

But then Y/N smiled. She stood from the desk and walked over to where she used to keep the chess set, when she lived in the house. It was exactly where she had left it, a thin layer of dust covering it. She picked it up and placed it on the little round table in the middle of the room.

“Okay,” she began as she opened the case containing the chess set. She pulled out the board and laid it on the middle of the table. “We’ll play chess, but I have some conditions,” she said, placing down the white pieces. “Every time I take a piece, you have to answer my questions.”

“And what do I get?” Asked Carlos, watching as she set down the black pieces.

Y/N thought on it for a second. But then she realised she didn’t case. She didn’t care what Carlos wanted. And she told him exactly that.

Carlos smirked. This was a side of Y/N he hadn’t seen before. It was what she had tried to do while they were on the plane just a few days earlier, and Carlos could recognise that, but this was another level. He liked it.

“Okay,” he said, leaning forward. The white pieces sat in front of him, Y/N placing the black pieces in front of herself. “Let’s play.”

And then there was a knock on the door. Y/N didn’t want to answer it at first. She kept quiet, stopping her crying in hopes that the person would go away. “Y/N, it’s me,” came a familiar voice in a loud enough whisper that Y/N could hear him. “My arms are full, can you let me in?”

Y/N jumped up from her bed. She wiped away her tears and pulled open her bedroom door, allowing Oscar to walk back into the room. Oscar hurried in, his arms full of… beer. He dumped the beer onto the bed, careful not to smash the bottle together.

“Oscar, what the hell are you doing?” Y/N asked through a strained laugh.

Oscar picked up one of the beers and pulled a bottle opener from his pocket. “You’re getting married tomorrow so we’re going to have a bit of fun with your last few hours as a single woman.” He passed Y/N the open beer and opened one for himself.

They clinked their glasses together and Oscar put his phone on the dresser as it played music.

Y/N and Oscar got incredibly drunk that night. They danced around the room, spinning each other and busting out their most embarrassing moves. Y/N and Oscar stood on top of her bed, drunkenly trying to recreate the scene from The Breakfast Club. It had them falling on top of each other in fits of laughter.

When they woke up in the morning glass bottles littered the floor. The rug in front of her bed was stained with beer and Oscar was laying beside her, fully clothed. They both were, still fully dressed.

As soon as Y/N opened her eyes she had a pounding headache. Maybe it was the curtains that were still open, maybe it was the pounding at the door.

Oh shit, the pounding at the door. “Despierta, niña estúpida!” Came Mrs Sainz voice.

Y/N was out of bed in an instant. She grabbed a hold of Oscar’s jacket, shaking him awake. “Oscar, get up!” She hissed, dragging him out of the bed.

A groggy Oscar woke up. “Hey,” he said slowly, trying his best not to trip over bottles as he moved to the other side of the room.

“Straighten up and try to pretend you haven’t spent the night in here, okay?”

Oscar nodded. He tucked in his shirt, straightened up his tie and sat at the vanity. He gave Y/N a quick thumbs up and she pulled open the door.

“You are late! Late to your own wedding!” Shouted Mrs Sainz as she pulled Y/N out of the room. Y/N went willingly, but she didn’t have much of a choice. “You smell like alcohol and you look like shit,” she said as she pushed Y/N into the bathroom. “Wash up and sort yourself out,” she commanded. And pulled the door shut, trapping Y/N in there alone.

She looked in the mirror. It only showed a view of herself from the shoulders up. She really did look like shit, tired and clearly hungover. She blinked slowly and ran her hands through her knotted hair, trying to somehow brush through it.

Slowly, Y/N took off her clothes. Her head was still pounding, still in so much pain, as she peeled off her beer-stained shirt. It reeked, so much that she was heaving into the toilet.

It took her a good minute to get the shower running. She waited for the steam to start forming before she climbed in.

The water was scolding. It had Y/N jumping away and eagerly reaching for the cold tap. Before she knew it, the water was freezing. It took her several attempts to get it just right.

Y/N stood under the water far longer than she should have. She soaked it in (literally), the feeling of the water on her skin. It was wonderful, but the heat wasn’t making her head any better.

She took her time rubbing the shampoo into her scalp. While she was running the loofa over her body, there was a knock on the door. “Hurry up!” Shouted Mrs Sainz. “Don’t get pruney!”

Y/N rushed the rest of her shower. She turned off the water and climbed out, wrapping the towel around her body. Gathering up her clothes Y/N held them tight to her chest as she pulled open the bathroom door, coming face to face with Mrs Sainz.

There was nothing more humiliating than being forced to walk down to the parlour in nothing but a towel. Mrs Sainz passed Y/N’s dirty clothes to a maid and pushed open the door to the parlour, letting her inside.

The curtains had been pulled closed, including the one in front of the door. There were people already inside of the parlour, a team ready to do Y/N’s hair and makeup. A dress was hanging up on the back of the door, one that Y/N had tried on yesterday.

The bodice was tightfitting, with the soft, tulle skirt looser. The entirety of the dress had white floral patterns sewn into it, vines and leaves going around the bottom of the skirt and trailing up to the bodice. There seemed to be no sleeves, but they were there, the only parts visible being the floral patterns that would trail down her arms.

“Sit,” commanded Mrs Sainz.

Y/N sat, still clutching the towel as a team women set about doing her hair. They dried her hair and brushed through it, styling it intricately (I don’t want to properly describe the hair here, so this one is for your imagination).

Y/N was in there for a good hour while her hair was being done. Mrs Sainz had disappeared while Y/N was sat there, reappearing shortly with a glass of water and two white tablets. “For the hangover,” she said, almost kindly.

Gratefully, Y/N took the tablets and swallowed them along with the water. She sat patiently, quietly as the makeup team set to work.

And then it was time for Y/N to get changed into her dress. She stood, covering herself up as her towel was taken away. The same team of ladies helped her into the dress, zipping up the back.

Y/N sat at the vanity, staring at herself. She looked beautiful, she couldn’t deny. Y/N only ever thought she’d look like this one the day she’d marry the man she loved. But instead, she was marrying for business. “Here,” came Mrs Sainz voice.

Turning around, Y/N saw her holding out a box. Inside of the box was a pair of delicate earrings, shaped like small, dangling vines with a gorgeous stone on the end of each of them. “Wow,” she whispered, her fingers gently touching the velvet box. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“This is not a marriage of love, but maybe one day it will be,” said Mrs Sainz, finally showing some compassion. “If I had the choice, my son would be marrying for love, but that isn’t how things would in our world. I hope for my son’s sake that you can find it in yourself to love him.”

“Thank you,” muttered Y/N. “I hope so too.”

Y/N waited in the parlour as guests arrived at the church. Carlos was already there, talking to the other sons in mafia families. He spoke to Charles, whose brother Lorenzo was currently the head of the family, and Max, whose father was a ruthless tyrant. Max wasn’t though. He’d been forced to grow up too soon and was now letting his childish side out while he could, before he had to take over the Verstappen family.

After an hour of waiting, Carlos’ giggling sisters came into the parlour. They said something to their mother in Spanish, who subsequently turned to Y/N. “The car has arrived,” she said.

This was it. She was getting married.

But then Y/N remembered something. “What about Oscar?” She asked suddenly, looking back towards the stairs as she was escorted out of the parlour, holding up her skirts.

Mrs Sainz cleared her throat. “Your… friend will not be joining us for the ceremony,” she said.

“But-”

“He may join us at the reception,” she said and pushed Y/N along, towards the front of the house.

With her heart beating erratically, Y/N sat in the white car. She watched as the Spanish countryside passed as they headed towards the church. The church where Carlos was waiting. The church where her brother was. The church where Oscar wasn’t.

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.

Before Y/N knew it they had pulled up to the church. It was beautifully decorated, with two thick rows of white flowers starting at the door and running along the pews. The church was huge, with large stained-glass windows depicting religious scenes. The stained-glass windows didn’t allow for much light into the church, so large candles, dripping with wax were in every free space.

And Carlos. Y/N could just see him at the altar. He wore a simple black suit and what looked like a bowtie, but she couldn’t tell from this distance.

Lando stood outside of the church. He waited for Y/N to climb out of the car, a sad smile on his face. “Hey there, Y/N,” he said softly.

Y/N ran to her brother. She couldn’t stop herself. She’d been missing him like crazy while in Spain, it felt unreal to have him there with her. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she mumbled, trying not to press her face into his shoulder, trying her best not to mess up her makeup.

“Where’s Oscar?” He asked, looking behind her. He’d expected to see the Australian climbing out of the car after her. But the car was empty and no sign of Oscar. If anything had happened to him, Mark was going to kill him.

But Y/N didn’t get a chance to answer. Mrs Sainz cleared her throat and, almost like it was a cue, the organ started up. “Ready?” Asked Lando as he looped his arm through Y/N’s.

Mrs Sainz rushed forward to take her seat beside her husband. Carlos’ sisters took their place in front of them, giggling to themselves about something Y/N couldn’t understand as they walked forward.

The moment they took their first step, that was it. That was the beginning of Y/N’s wedding. She looked at her brother, but he couldn’t look at her, focused forward as they began walking.

The organ grew louder as they walked further and further into the church. Y/N could feel eyes on her as she took slow, small steps, trying to delay the inevitable. “You got this this,” Lando whispered to her. “You can do this.”

But Y/N couldn’t reply. If she tried, she could have choked up and broke down in the middle of the church.

Before they knew it, Y/N was at the altar. Lando went to let go of her, but Y/N held tight. “Please, no,” she squeaked, but Lando pulled away from her and took his seat with the few men he was allowed to bring. Lewis Hamilton, who sat behind him, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as the ceremony began.

The ceremony was in Spanish. Y/N had no idea what was being said, but she kept her focus on Carlos. Undeniably handsome Carlos. The man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, she thought as she looked into his brown eyes.

Y/N didn’t know when she was supposed to say ‘I do’, and it had her heart racing. But she found herself looking to Carlos for some sort of cue. He said his part, and then prompted Y/N, quietly translating what the priest was saying. “Do you, Y/N, take Carlos to be your wedded husband,” he said quietly, keeping his gaze on her. “To cherish in friendship and love today, for as long as you both shall live. To honour him, comfort him and to keep him for better or worse, for richer or poor, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?” He recited.

Y/N used the small translation Mrs Sainz had taught her. “Si Quiero,” she answered almost timidly.

It was as simple as that. She was a married woman.

And that was partially true. Oscar did fall asleep while he was protecting her. But he allowed himself to. he let himself fall asleep while he was in Y/N’s room. Carlos had brought it up to her over a game of chess, he knew, and had told her that he had men stationed outside of her room.

Well, that didn’t help to comfort her. It didn’t comfort Oscar, either. On the rare instance that he left Y/N’s room (which would only be for twenty minutes, at most) he made sure to level Carlos’ men with a piercing stare.

After two weeks of being in Carlos’ house, a week after Lando had flown home, Y/N had an unexpected visitor at her bedroom door. She’d knocked before with Carlos and Oscar had answered the door then. The stare she gave him was more terrifying that anything Carlos had done to him, and Oscar found himself stepping to the side. “Good choice,” Carlos mumbled as he walked past him.

This time, Carlos’ mother came alone. Oscar didn’t know how to address the woman, so he just stepped to the side and let her into the room.

“Who is it, Osc?” Asked Y/N when she didn’t hear him say anything. Sat at her vanity, she had a book open in front of her. It was one she had brought with her from the UK.

Mrs Sainz cleared her throat. That was how she was known in the family, just as those who worked for the Norris family called Y/N’s mother Mrs Norris when she was alive. Y/N looked up at the mirror. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Carlos’ mother.

Suddenly Y/N was on her feet. “Mrs Sainz!” She said, in way of greeting. Mrs Sainz didn’t smile when she looked at her.

“We have work to do before the wedding,” she said, hands clasped together. “You are spending the day with me.”

Y/N nodded her head. “Come,” said Mrs Sainz. She turned on her heel and strode out of the room, leaving Y/N to follow her. Oscar went to follow as well, but Mrs Sainz gave him a look and he stopped. She kept staring at him until he retreated back into the room.

“He follows you around like a dog,” Mrs Sainz spat as she led Y/N through the house.

“He means well,” Y/N replied. “He’s just doing as Lando asked him.”

Mrs Sainz made a noise of disapproval as she went down the stairs. She didn’t say more on the matter as she took Y/N into a room that could only have been called the parlour.

The chairs in the parlour were covered with white dresses. Wedding dresses, Y/N realised as she looked at all of them. In the middle of the room was a seamstress, setting up her things. "Today we are going to find you a dress," said Mrs Sainz.

"But I already have a dress," Y/N said, somewhat timidly.

Mrs Sainz made that same disapproving noise. "Not good enough for my son," she muttered and walked over to the first dress, picking it up.

Y/N had never been to a Mafia wedding before. They'd happened in her lifetime, sure, but she'd never been. She didn't know what to expect on her own wedding day. She knew she'd have very little control over the wedding, but she thought she'd be able to control the dress.

Suddenly Y/N began welling up. She sank to her knees and let the tears flow freely. "Enough of that, stupid girl," said Mrs Sainz as Y/N continued to cry.

But she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop the sobs as she furiously wiped under her eyes. Her breathing was becoming difficult as she pulled her legs closer to her chest.

Arms grabbed her own and Y/N was forcibly pulled to her feet. "Oh, estúpida y estúpida!" Shouted Mrs Sainz. Her hand was raised and, for a moment, Y/N thought she was going to slap her. "You are going to be a part of the Sainz family! You can't be seen showing weakness!"

Y/N wiped away her tears and tried to suppress her sobs. Mrs Sainz grabbed a hold of the nearest dress and passed it to Y/N. She gave her no choice in the matter, making her try on every single one.

None of the dresses were close to the dress Y/N had chosen for herself.  When Y/N tried to voice her opinions on the dresses, Mrs Sainz would quickly shut her up and turn her attention to the seamstress. The women spoke in Spanish, leaving Y/N standing there without an inkling as to what was going on.

Mrs Sainz had her wearing every single dress. If she gave her opinions, they were in Spanish. The seamstress worked on every dress she tried on, often times poking Y/N with the sharp needles. If she expressed pain, Mrs Sainz would sharply shut her up. Whicher dress was her favourite, Y/N wasn’t sure. After Y/N had tried them all on Mrs Sainz pushed her out of the room, shutting the door in her face so that she could discuss things with the seamstress alone.

As soon as Y/N was out of the room, she leaned against the nearest wall and let out a breath. She’d been poked so many times with a needle she didn’t know how she wasn’t bleeding. She threw her head back and shut her eyes, savouring the moment alone.

Y/N pushed away from the wall and walked down the corridor. She just wanted to get back to her room and sleep until tomorrow.  

As Y/N walked past the doors that led out to the patio, Y/N stopped. She couldn’t help but watch him as he swam in the pool, wet hair pushed back on his head and his tanned skin glistening. She didn’t know what it was, but something compelled her to walk forwards, to push open the doors and step out onto the patio.

Carlos stopped swimming. He rested his arms on the pool ledge. Neither of them said anything, Y/N waiting for Carlos to say something and Y/N not sure what to say.

As soon as she stepped outside, Y/N went to turn back around. “Wait,” came Carlos’ voice, stopping her in her tracks. “Stay.”

Y/N did just that. She pulled off her shoes and socks and sat on the pool ledge, her feet in the water. Still, they didn’t say anything. Y/N watched him as he went back to swimming, doing laps up and down the pool.

Was this what the rest of her life was going to be? Sitting there quietly while Carlos did what he wanted? That wasn’t the life her mother lived and it wasn’t the life Mrs Sainz lived.

Y/N played with the skin around her nails, in her peripheral vision she watched as Carlos pulled himself out of the pool, muscles visible to whoever might have been watching (aka, Y/N). She kept her legs in the water as Carlos walked behind her and grabbed his towel.

“Can I ask you something?” Asked Y/N in a moment of bravery.

“Of course,” said Carlos as he sat and used the towel to dry his hair.

Y/N sucked in a breath. Brave. She needed to be brave. “I… What’s expected of me?” She asked. “When I am your wife, what is expected of me?”

Carlos looked across the patio at her. His towel was around his shoulders, and he ran his fingers through his hair. Carlos had taken time to think about it since his father told him of the marriage, since it was purely to benefit the families. There were a few things expected of every mafia wife. She was expected to stand by her husband’s side and give him children. Whether this went to the point that it did with Y/N’s mother, where she was as in charge as her husband was, that was yet to be seen.

“Once we are married, we are to have children,” he answered.

“Oh,” Y/N mumbled before he could continue with his listed. She hadn’t thought about this, hadn’t thought about having his children. Maybe Y/N didn’t realise that this was a part of a mafia wife’s life. She had never had sex before, and the thought was giving her enough anxiety already. But, you throw children into the mix? That was a whole different kettle of fish.

Carlos continued. “You will no longer be loyal to the Norris family and your loyalties will lie with me.”

Y/N knew this bit. She had been mentally preparing herself for this, for when she was to say goodbye to the family she had grown up in. “Will I get to visit my brother?” She asked and kicked her legs slowly, moving them through the water.

He took his time answering this one. With the declining health of Norris, it was something he and his father had been discussing. As Carlos had said at the dinner in the Norris, he was happy for Y/N to go home for her father’s funeral for a week or two. Of course, he was going to have to send one of two of his men with her, to make sure she stayed safe and didn’t… slip up.

“Yes,” Carlos answered. “You will join me on… business trips. Your brother will be attending this business trips and that is when you will see him,” he said.

“What about my father?”

“We will discuss this when the time comes,” he said.

“But-”

“When the time comes,” Carlos said and stood from his seat. With his towel still around his shoulders he walked into his house, pulling the doors shut behind him.

Y/N stayed in the pool, hot sun beating down on her. But Y/N didn’t care. She looked down in the water, at the colourful tiles at the bottom of the pool. If she wasn’t already terrified for the life of a Mafia wife, she was now.

She had food brought up to her room for her and Oscar, which she was grateful for. But Y/N had no contact with anybody of the Sainz family. She had Oscar grab the food for her and couldn’t bring herself to answer when somebody knocked on the door.

But the week was over quickly and, soon, Lando was flying back to England. Y/N hugged him goodbye as they stood at the front door, the entirety of the Sainz family behind them. “I’m gonna miss you, Lan,” Y/N mumbled against his shoulder. Tears had already fallen and she wiped her nose once she pulled away.

“I’ll miss you too, Peanut,” he whispered, squeezing her tight. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Lando wasn’t going to be back for a while, not until the wedding ceremony. And, even then, he’d surrounded by other bosses and heads of family. He’d get two minutes to speak to his sister at most on her wedding day.

After Lando went home, Carlos gave Y/N a couple of days on her own. When he walked past her room he could hear her crying late at night while Oscar patted her back and spoke words of comfort. As soon as they were married Carlos would get rid of Oscar. He’d have his own men watch over her on the rare instance that she wasn’t with him.

After day three, Carlos finally knocked on her bedroom door.

Y/N didn’t pull it open. The face that greeted his wasn’t Y/N’s, but Oscar. “She doesn’t want to see anybody,” Oscar said with little regard for his status compared to Carlos.

Carlos flared his nostrils as he stared at Oscar. His stare was threatening, one that would have scared off anybody else, but Oscar stood firm. If Y/N didn’t see anybody, Oscar was going to do anything he could to make that happen.

“Get out of my way,” Carlos growled.

But Oscar still didn’t move. He kept his stare firm and level, his hand gripping the door, holding it shut. “She doesn’t want to see anybody,” he said again.

Carlos pushed him. Hard. He pushed him so hard that Oscar stumbled back into the room, falling on his ass. Oscar reached down for the gun that wasn’t there, the gun he wasn’t allowed to carry around in Carlos’ house. No matter, Oscar didn’t need his gun to make his point. But he didn’t get a chance, not when Carlos placed his foot on Oscar’s chest and turned towards Y/N.

Her eyes were wide and terrified as she stared at the man she was supposed to marry. “What are you doing?” She squeaked. “Get off of him, please!”

“If you join me in the foyer,” Carlos proposed.

Y/N looked at Oscar. He didn’t look pained, just furious as he stared at Carlos. “Yes, fine, okay!” Y/N insisted and Carlos pulled his foot away from Oscar.

His stared stopped Carlos from standing up. Once he was sure Oscar was going to stay on the floor, Carlos looked at Y/N. The gaze of a powerful man was a terrifying thing, and she couldn’t help but shrink in on herself under his stare. “You have ten minutes,” he said and walked out of the room.

Immediately Y/N rushed over to Oscar and pulled him to his feet. “I’m so sorry, Osc,” she whispered as she brushed off his shirt. “He’s a brute and nothing more.”

Oscar didn’t say anything. He stared down at her, brushing his fingers through the ends of her hair. “I’m okay,” he said quietly. “Don’t worry about me.” His stare was just as intense as Carlos’ but it wasn’t nearly as terrifying.

Clearing his throat, Oscar looked away. “I’ll go down there and tell him to fuck off if you want me to,” he said, but Y/N shook her head.

“Oscar, no! He might kill you.”

Oscar gave her a look, one that had Y/N wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek. She pulled away from him and quickly got herself dressed into something more presentable. Y/N sat at the vanity, brushing through her hair as Oscar watched her. She watched him, too, her eyes meeting his in the mirror.

As soon as Y/N was done, she stood and walked over to the door. “I’ll go with you,” Oscar said, standing from his seat on her bed.

But she shook her head. “Stay here, take a break,” she said and walked over to the door. Oscar kept following her. “Osc, please. I’ll be okay,” she reassured him, pressing on his shoulder to get him sitting back on the bed. “If anything happens I’ll text you.”

Reluctantly, Oscar nodded. He watched her go, watched her walk out of the door and shut it behind her.

While Oscar waited anxiously, Y/N walked down the grand stairs. Her legs were shaking as she gripped the handrail. Carlos was waiting in the foyer, his hands in his pockets as he watched her.

“Come,” he said once Y/N reached the bottom of the stairs.

Y/N sucked in a deep breath and followed Carlos. He walked past the stairs, taking her to the left side of the house. Y/N hadn’t been here yet, having only been to her room and outside. They passed several doors that were shut, and Y/N didn’t dare look in them. Carlos took her to the end of the corridor and pushed open the door, welcoming her inside the library.

It was gorgeous. Books on shelves at least eight feet high. There were plush arm chairs and doors that led out to the fire pit in the garden. And, on a table in the middle of the library, was a chess set.

“Wow,” Y/N whispered as she walked over to the table. She ran her fingers over the tops of the chess pieces, moving a pawn and putting it back.

“You play?” Asked Carlos as he watched her.

Y/N nodded her head and Carlos pulled out a chair. He sat and gestured for Y/N to do the same. She took her seat but didn’t make the first move. That was okay. She was sitting in his library; that was enough for Carlos. He moved his pawn forward two places.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked when Y/N moved her pawn only one square forward.

“Actually, I do,” Y/N answered. Carlos looked at her, waiting for her to continue. “I remember when your father had a gun pointed at Lando and I.”

Carlos nodded, as though he remembered the event. “Yes, your mother was very angry. She called my father and screamed at him.”

Y/N was just nine years old at the time. Lando was thirteen and Carlos was eighteen. The only reason the boys were friends were because they were two lonely kids in the same world. While their fathers had a business meeting, the had been tasked with looking after Y/N while she played with her toys on the lawn.

She had a doll sat in the back of a toy truck which she pushed through the grass, making the sound affects with her voice. Lando and Carlos sat on the grass, knees up and arms resting on their knees.

Carlos loved following his father to England on business. Usually Carlos would be involved, but they tasked him with watching over Y/N. This business was more serious than Sainz wanted his eighteen-year-old son involved in.

“She looks happy,” Carlos said, his English rather good.

“She is,” Lando said. He loved his little sister dearly; thirteen year old Lando knew the kind of work his father did, knew the kind of work he’d be going into. He knew what would happen to Y/N if he didn’t watch over her. She was the one person he’d kill for.

“Does she know what’s going on?”

Lando shook his head. He looked back at his house, at the window to the office where his Sainz, his father and his stepmother were. His stepmother was looking out of the window as she spoke to the men behind her. Lando couldn’t tell what her expression was as she watched them, watched her daughter playing.

There were shouts, plenty of them, and then the doors to the house were thrown open. Lando was on his feet within seconds, running over to his little sister as Sainz marched out of his house, his father following him.

Sainz marched past them, saying something to Carlos in Spanish as he marched over to his car. “You fucking dare, Sainz!” Norris shouted. He seemed not to notice his children stood between himself and the other head of family.

Sainz spat something in Spanish. “You have done this to yourself, Norris!” He shouted. “Meet my demands and I will reopen our trading routes!”

Suddenly, Norris pulled his gun from the waistband of his trousers. “You’re jeopardising things for all of the families! Do you really want to risk that?” His finger rested on the trigger.

He wouldn’t shout, not when Lando and Y/N were there. Lando was sure of that much. But he didn’t move, far too terrified. Even Y/N had stopped playing with her toys, staring at her dad with tears in her eyes.

Sainz stared past Y/N and Lando with fury in his eyes. “Put that gun away while there are children around!” He shouted.

Norris didn’t move.

Suddenly Sainz had his own gun out, pointing it down at Y/N. He wasn’t going to shoot her, this was just supposed to scare her father. But Lando didn’t know that. He suddenly grabbed his sister and picked her up, shielding her body with his own. Y/N cried against his shoulder, her body shaking as Lando shushed her.

“Tell me more,” Carlos said as they progressed with their game.

Y/N told Carlos everything there was to know about herself. She started with the most obvious thing, which was her love of chess. She had nothing to hide from Carlos since she had no involvement in any of her fathers and brothers business. She went through her hobbies, asking the same of Carlos.

Carlos couldn’t tell much. He didn’t know how much contact she had with Lando (which was none) and didn’t know how much information was going back to him. He told her about his love of golf and fast cars.

It wasn’t easy for Y/N to talk to Carlos. But she used the chess game as a buffer between them, which seemed to ease the tension. Carlos never asked anything that she couldn’t answer, never anything about the Norris family.

He only kept her there for the one chess game, which Y/N won. Carlos wore a smile as he walked her back to her room, glaring at Oscar when he opened the door.

Carlos hated Oscar. As soon as they were married, he’d be gone.

Christmas lights twinkled around the shop fronts as you exited the bar and nutcrackers stood proud in doorways. You always loved Christmas and seeing the smiles it put on children’s faces but there were no children out this late. 

“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” Luke asked as he twirled his keys around his finger. “It’s about to start raining.”

“She’s good,” someone answered for you and you looked over to see your elusive neighbour at your side, his hand coming to rest in the small of your back. “I can take her home.”

“You didn’t tell us Lando was picking you up.”

Your mouth was dry and you didn’t know what to say as the liquor, or his presence, left you confused. Lando, you stored that piece of information away and tried to figure out why it sounded so familiar. 

“I was just out doing some Christmas shopping and about to head home,” he said with a smile. “Ready?”

“Uh, yeah,” you mumbled as you let him guide you away from your friends.

“Are you sure?” Luke asked with a frown. “You don’t look comfortable. Do you even know him?”

“Kind of, I’m just surprised,” you assured him. “Lando is my neighbour.”

“Okay, well, text me when you get home.”

You gave Luke a nod and waved to the others before going your separate ways.

“Are you cold?” Lando asked, already slipping his arms out of the jacket he wore over a dark hoodie. 

The alcohol had made you numb to the temperature but you let him drape it over your shoulders anyway, wrapping you in the decadent scent that came along with it. 

“Thanks.”

“Any time, it’s what neighbours do.”

“I don’t think Mr Riley would,” you teased.

“The grumpy old guy in 4C? We just call him Carl, like the movie Up.”

You smiled awkwardly and toyed with the zip on the jacked. “I’ve never seen it.”

“What?” He pulled you to a stop and grabbed your shoulders with a serious look on his face. “This just won’t do. I cannot be seen with someone who hasn’t watched Up!”

“Oh,” you mumbled as you started to take off his jacket and hand it back. 

“What are you doing, you muppet?” He grabbed the jacket and put it back on your shoulders before opening the door to a very expensive looking car. 

“I thought you meant…”

“It’s fine, I have tinted windows,” he teased. “As soon as we get home though, we’re watching the movie.”

Lando followed you inside without an invitation but you could hardly turn him away with his boyish smile and mop of curly hair that sprung out of his hoodie when he pushed it back. “This makes sense,” he chuckled as he stuck his head in the bedroom, pointing to the wall that your bed was pushed against. “Our apartments are mirrored. I thought I woke up to a voice a few times. Do you watch Friends?”

Your head tilted at the odd question. “Why do you ask?”

“You sing ‘smelly cat’ a lot.”

Mortification hit you and you felt your face burn as you turned to the culprit walking through your house with a loud purr. “That’s Eddie. Do you have any pets?”

“No, I’m always travelling for work and I’m not very good at looking after myself let alone another living thing. Do you actually know how to use those things?”

You looked at the kitchen where he was pointing to the appliances. You had planned to make some Christmas cookies over the weekend and had the stand mixer ready on the benchtop. You thought he was joking but he was genuinely intrigued by the inquisitive look of wonder on his face. “Cooking relaxes me,” you said with a shrug. “You probably have plans already but if you want to come over and-”

“Absolutely, say no more, I’m in.” He crossed the living room and dropped into the middle cushion of the three seater sofa and patted the space beside him with one hand, the other reaching for the remote. “You do have Disney+, right?”

 “You really do like to make yourself comfortable, don’t you,” you joked as you took a seat beside him. 

“I’ve been told I can be a bit much,” he said with a small frown, placing the remote down. “Should I go?”

“No, no, I appreciate the company,” you said as you caught his arm to stop him from going. “Being alone in a new country is a little isolating, it’s nice having someone here.”

He settled back into the seat and sent you a grin as he searched for the movie. “Anytime you need someone to talk to, you can just knock three times.”

The weeks before Christmas were a madhouse. Work kept you busy as well as the many requests to go home for the holidays, but it just wasn’t going to be feasible to take leave so soon after starting. You knew your parents were going to be disappointed but you promised them you weren’t going to be alone for Christmas.

You had eventually found out why Lando’s name was so familiar when Luke explained who he was and why he was away so often. But since the race season was over he had plenty of time to spend at home, yours and his.

Just like every other evening, you knocked three times on the living room wall knowing Lando would be able to hear it despite the special Christmas Eve stream he was on. It was the last one of the year and he wished everyone a Merry Christmas before the live feed of him playing Counter Strike came to an end. 

“Ouch, Eddie, fuck,” Lando swore a few minutes later as he knocked at your door. “Stop it.”

You opened the door to the frequent occurrence and took the hissing Eddie from his outstretched arms before he could get clawed again. Your ginger cat seemed to hate Lando for some reason, or maybe it was because he was always bringing the escapee back home to you.

“I think you should just move in with me,” Lando joked as he followed the mouthwatering scent into your kitchen. He came to your house for dinner most nights after finding Eddie on his balcony and usually stayed for a movie. That routine had changed slightly when the movie he chose one night was Friends With Benefits. There had been a moment after a sex scene when you both looked across at each other and the idea had passed between your eyes. 

He cleared his throat and you realised you had been staring at him for too long. “Eddie likes my place better.”

It clicked, he wasn’t actually asking you to move in with him. But for a moment you had considered it.

“Right, Eddie,” you laughed at your idiocracy. “I really don’t know how he keeps getting out. I must be going crazy because I’m sure I locked the window this morning.”

You both looked at the window that opened onto the balcony, the skies dark with another storm. “Maybe your cat is a genius and learned how to open it?”

You rolled your eyes but managed a laugh at his attempt to make you feel better while you readied two plates and took them to the table where he sat. “Maybe I should change his name to Houdini.”

“Better than Ed the Ginger.” Lando grinned as he pulled you onto his lap and scooped up a dollop of creamy mash potato with his forefinger, holding it up to your mouth. You sealed your lips around his finger and swirled your tongue around the tip, watching the blue of his eyes be swallowed by his pupils. “Naughty girl, you’ll be getting coal this year.”

Your head fell back with a laugh.“Who are you? Santa Claus?”

“Well, you are sitting on my lap, aren’t you?” He winked and his tongue rolled across his bottom lip. “Wanna see my North Pole?”

“Oh my god, eat your dinner,” you giggled. “We still have to watch A Christmas Carol and Nightmare Before Christmas!”

You had both written a list of all the Christmas movies you wanted to watch and they were the last two left. It was just in time as midnight was going to come all too soon and you wanted to be tucked up warm in bed when the storm hit.

A loud crash had you jolting awake and you blindly reached across the bed in search of Lando to find it empty. Panic gripped you as you wondered if you were being broken into and a scream almost erupted when your light flipped on and Lando rushed in soaking wet. 

“Holy shit, you’ll never believe what just happened!”

You stumbled into the living room where Lando threw an arm out to save you from stepping on the glass that covered the floor. The doors that opened out onto your balcony had been completely shattered during the storm and you shivered as the cold wind and rain blew straight into your home. A huge puddle was quickly spreading across the carpet and it was making its way to the Christmas tree in the far corner while you were still in shock. 

“The presents!” 

Lando twisted away from the pot plant that had been on your balcony wall, now it lay on the floor with the dirt turning to mud. Seeing the urge you had to cut across the glass, he shook his head and pointed to the kitchen where you would remain safe. “I’ll get them.”

Lando carefully navigated his way to the tree, turning off the power to the glittering lights, and bundled the gifts up before hopping his way back with a wince. The wrapping paper on some of the presents were splattered with rain drops but most seemed in perfect condition when he placed them on the kitchen bench.

“You’re bleeding,” you gasped as he balanced on one foot and you wrapped an arm around his waist to help him. “There’s a first aid kit in my bathroom. Can you make it there?”

He nodded and limped with your help away from the mess. “I think you should come and stay at my place until the doors can be fixed.”

“Are you sure?” you asked as you carefully used a pair of tweezers to pull out the small sliver of glass in his foot. “I can just get a hotel.”

“Ouch,” he groaned as it came free and blood welled at the site. “Not on Christmas Day, everywhere will be fully booked. I really don’t mind. It would save you from having to pack a bag.”

“If you’re sure…”

He smiled at the silly Spider-Man bandaid you placed over the wound before running the back of his knuckles across your cheekbone. “I am.”

You shivered at his cold touch and remembered how wet he was when you woke up. “What were you doing up anyway?”

He bit his lip and looked away sheepishly. “I was putting a present under the tree when a flower pot blew through the door.”

“Oh, wow, that wind must be insane. I hope all the boats are safe out there,” you mused, knowing some people lived on the mariner. “Wait, you got me another present? Lando, there’s already too many.”

“I wanted to spoil you,” he said with an unapologetic shrug. “You have single handedly kept me fed for weeks. You may have put a few restaurants out of business too.”

“You weren’t that bad were you?”

“You have no idea,” he chuckled. After testing his foot he took your hand and led you back to the presents to find a thin box that hadn’t been under the tree when you went to bed. “It’s after midnight, you know, you could open it.”

You took the box, surprised by the weight it had, and untied the pretty bow on top. The delicate silver writing drew a gasp and you looked at Lando with wide eyes. “Tiffany? I can’t open this, it’s too much.”

“Go on,” he urged as he placed your hand on top of the lid and gave it a squeeze. “Please, for me.”

Your fingers slipped twice as you tried to open the hinge and Lando’s hand enveloped yours, lifting it open to reveal the beautiful necklace within. The teardrop gemstone was the same shade as his eyes and it hung from a white gold chain that was polished to shine impossibly bright, even in the dim light. 

“Lando, it’s beautiful,” you whispered in awe as he lifted it up and stepped behind you to drape it around your neck. The weight of the stone settled in the centre of your chest and you turned to face him with a sincere, “Thank you.”

“So..?” He bit his lip as he showed you the empty box, a question written in the silk lining. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

It wasn’t until the week after New Years that a glazier would be able to fix your doors. The holidays had left a backlog of people needing repairs but supply chains had been delayed too. Once the doors were finally fixed you realised the carpet was beyond repair and that took another week to have done.

It was strange to go back home after nearly three weeks of living in Lando’s apartment. It was too quiet.

“Babe, have you seen my hairbrush?” You had looked through the bathroom drawers he had cleared out for you to use but there was nothing left. You went back to your apartment and did another search but it wasn’t there either. It wasn’t the first thing you had lost going back and forth and you were beginning to worry.

“I’m sure it will turn up somewhere, love,” Lando said as he paused his game and turned to his friend in the simulator behind him. “Max probably used it.”

“Did not,” his friend replied with an indignant splutter. “Didn’t I see you singing into a hairbrush?”

“You’ve been experimenting with drugs again,” Lando snorted. With a resigned sigh, you decided your hair was decent enough to get away with at work and Lando tipped his head back so you could give him a kiss goodbye. “I’ll order dinner tonight. Chinese?”

“Sounds good,” you said as you gave Max a wave on the way to the door. “Try not to let him sit there all day, you know how his back gets.”

“Yes, yes, Lando has an old man’s back. I’ll make sure he moves his ass at some point,” Max joked. “Have fun at work.”

You screwed up your face at the sarcasm and their laughs followed you out of the apartment. You weren’t sure they had actually moved all day as they were still in the same spots when you got home. You had crossed paths with the delivery man in the lobby and your arms were laden with the takeaway Lando had ordered.

“How many spring rolls did you order?” you murmured as you kept unpacking more and more of the small styrofoam boxes with the treat.

“He’s going for a record,” Max said with a roll of his eyes. Ten minutes later Lando groaned, holding his stomach tightly. “I told you to stop.”

You had quickly showered and changed into some comfortable clothes and found most of the boxes empty when you joined them at the table. “How many has he had?”

“18, and he’s got no chance,” Max bet, reaching over to steal a spring roll for himself and swiping it through the sweet chilli sauce. “You’ll thank me later. Ah, fuck.” Max looked down at the red blotch on his white Quadrant shirt before sauntering off down the hall. “Mate, do you have any more stain remover? This one’s empty.”

“Yeah, under the sink there should be another bottle,” Lando yelled back, dropping his fork onto his plate in defeat. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Why the hell do you have cat food?” Max appeared in the living room with the same brand of pet food you bought for your cat. 

“That’s not mine, obviously.”

You looked at Lando, who was rubbing his full stomach and as reclined back as much as the chair would allow. “It’s not mine.”

“You brought it over during the storm, remember?”

“No I didn’t.” You hadn’t wanted to disrupt Eddie’s routine and fed him at home each morning before work.

“Yes, you did.” He laughed as he tapped your temple gently. “You have a terrible memory, love. You can’t even remember where you left your hairbrush.”

You didn’t have an argument for that, since you still hadn’t found it. You were sure you hadn’t brought any cat food over, but maybe he was right. You did seem to be a little confused lately.

“I think I need an early night,” you admitted as you cleaned up the dishes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re not staying?” Lando asked with a pout as he joined you at the sink, wrapping his arms around your waist and peppered your neck with soft kisses. “Who am I going to cuddle with?”

“I’m sure Max wouldn’t mind a snuggle,” you teased him as you turned in his arms. “I have an early start tomorrow but I can stay tomorrow night.”

He groaned at the thought of sleeping alone and held you tighter so he could have you in his arms a little longer. “Fine,” he huffed, relinquishing his hold on you and filling the kettle. “I’ll make you a chamomile tea so you sleep better.”

You smiled at his sweetness and savoured a few more minutes of kisses before the water boiled and he scooped out a few spoons of some boutique tea leaf mix he swore was the best sleep tea money could buy. Given how rich he was, you believed him.

Placing the hot mug in your hand, he bit his swollen lip and nodded to the front door. “Go before I tie you to my bed and never let you leave.”

“You wouldn’t,” you laughed, rolling your eyes as he winked. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, love, sweet dreams.”

Something disturbed your sleep and you rubbed your eyes as you woke up well before your alarm. You reached for the lamp beside your bed and accidently knocked into the cup of tea you hadn’t finished before falling asleep, the cold liquid sloshing over the side before you caught it and froze. 

Your bedroom door creaked open but it was too dark to see who it was. Your heart hammered in your chest as you tried to think of what to do before the shadow reached the edge of your bed. Your throat was so clogged with fear you couldn’t even scream, your hands trembled and closed them into fists before banging on the wall behind you, begging Lando would wake up at the sound.

Bang, bang, bang.

The figure lunged onto the bed, pinning you down with their weight and slamming your fists into the mattress. “Shh, love, it’s me.”

You relaxed as Lando’s voice soothed you, but the fear soon crept back up your spine with an icy shiver. “How did you get in here?”

“You forgot to lock your door,” he whispered as your wrists began to ache from the hold he had. “I was coming to check in on you.”

“No, I didn’t,” you said as you tried to shake him off. “I know I locked it. I know…I…I’m not crazy. Get off me, get off me right now.”

“You were meant to be asleep, love,” he groaned as his hands tightened to the point a pained cry escaped your gritted teeth. 

“Why are you doing this?” you whimpered as he kissed your neck, but you couldn’t feel anything but repulsion. 

“You should have just moved in with me, we are meant to be together.”

“You’re crazy,” you spat as you tried to buck your hips and throw him off but he was too strong. “Help! Somebody, help!”

His hand clamped over your mouth and you bit him as hard as you could before kicking and climbing away. 

“I’m not the crazy one, that’s you, love,” he laughed. “You’re my girlfriend, you’re sick, but I’m going to take care of you, okay?”

“You are fucking insane!”

“No, no, sweetheart, I’m trying to help you, remember?” 

You froze in the doorway as you saw a cutout of your key on the kitchen bench, along with your hairbrush, phone, a negligee and dressing gown. All things you had been convinced you had lost in the last few weeks.

“Why are you doing this?” you repeated as you backed away from your boyfriend. He was someone you had trusted, someone you thought had fit perfectly into your new life - but he had been messing with you this whole time. Max and the cat food came to mind. “Eddie…he used to go to Mr Riley’s house.”

“Couldn’t have that,” Lando tutted with a shake of his head as he took a step closer, “not when he was going to help me get close to you.”

“Don’t! Don’t come any closer to me!”

“Baby, don’t be like that, let’s just go back to bed. You’re under a lot of stress, let me make you a chamomile tea.”

You swiped your phone up as you bolted but he was quicker and blocked the front door, holding his hand out. “Give that to me, you don’t want to do that.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I do,” you hissed as you started to dial the emergency number.

“It’s you they will take away,” he said with a blase shrug that made you pause. “Everyone knows how unstable you have become.”

“Me?” you shrieked.

“You’re barely holding it together now. They aren’t going to believe anything you say.” He opened his arms as if to say, I’m famous and you are no one. Unfortunately, he was right. “Come on, love, let’s go back to bed.”

In the last few months since Italy, you and Daniel started talking more

It started with simple good-morning texts and then led to him texting you before you ended up going to bed at the end of the day

You knew that while it was morning for you, it was night for him

Morning Babe you would wake up to see on your phone

Good evening Danny you would text back

Your arrangement with Daniel was going well

You started to charge your monthly rent onto the card that Daniel gave you and made sure to make a note of Rent in the information box

That was really the only thing you had been using the card for

And then you went out to dinner with your friends and thought, I can use Daniel's card to cover dinner. It's not a big deal.

A week after that a large bouquet of flowers and a small orange Hermés box got delivered to your door

It was addressed to you and with it a card in Daniel's handwriting

To my girl,

Hey babe just wanted to check in aside from our normal daily texts to one another

Hope you got the rest of your Holiday gifts from me

(You had, Daniel had ended up getting you the matching pair of Earrings that went with the Van Cleef necklace he bought you, and a new 16-inch MacBook Pro since you had told him that the old one that you started college with was on its last legs)

I'm going to be coming into town after the New Year and I want you to come out with me for the night. It's just with some friends, a casual thing, so save the Dior for when I next take you out on the town like you deserve.

I'll text you when my flight gets in.

- Danny Ric

You had gone out with Daniel like this before, but it wasn't with his friends

It was a sponsorship thing for the team that he was driving for. From the moment you entered that room, you had never seen so much orange in one place before.

Being with Daniel and investing the type of time with him that you did, didn't leave you a whole lot of room for any type of romantic relationship. Your "Romantic relationship" in the oddest sense was with Daniel. It felt like you were dating him in every way aside from the fact that it never went further than a dinner.

Every once in a while, in the first year of your arrangement, you noticed that you would let yourself slip a little when it came to him.

You would clutch at his suit jacket as you walked on crowded streets. Daniel's warm hands would hold yours while you sat at dinner together. You even could swear that at times you felt his eyes dropping to your lips.

It never went further than a few touches here and there, as if he was always keeping you at arm's length

You pushed the thought away reaching for the orange Hermés box, it was small, probably another piece of jewelry

In the box ended up being a bangle with the Hermés Kelly type lock, you quickly undo the clasp and put it on your wrist with the growing collection of designer bracelets that he's bought you

Daniel always appreciated you sending him photos of the things he bought you. He loved seeing you use them as if they were more than common day objects

Growing quite the collection there, You receive later on in the evening just after your dinner arrived

Once every two weeks you would order yourself dinner with Daniel's card. It was more so that he knew that you were using it consistently and not just for the big-ticket items that you couldn't normally afford yourself.

They're amazing, you sent back.

Got to keep my girl in style until I can see that pretty face again, You couldn't help the blush that reached your cheeks.

Daniel had grown bolder since Italy, he was freer with compliments and you loved that he thought of you as his, in whatever way suited him.

When Daniel finally came into town, he texted you the day that his flight got in. It was late in the evening and you were just about to order yourself dinner after a long day on campus.

All day you had been telling yourself, four more months and then graduation. It was as if school was never-ending.

Seeing Daniel's name show up on your phone screen made things seem easier, you could be carefree with him since the way he lived his life made you think less about yours

Hey babe, flight just got in

Still up for coming out on Saturday?

Being with Daniel on a weekend was something that you really needed right now

With you? Always.

As soon as you sent that you wanted to delete it. But didn't because you knew that Daniel would have seen that it said deleted message.

Saturday came faster than you thought it would

Daniel texted you around 2 pm that he would be picking you up around 8 and to dress casually for dinner

You got dressed leaving some of the jewelry from your stack of bracelets at the apartment, taking only two of the bracelets that Daniel bought you to dinner, a black dress that you had worn out to dinner with friends before, a black clutch, and heels, and then your thick pea-coat.

Daniel texted you when he was downstairs, and when you got into the town car, you greeted him by kissing him on the cheek

He looked a little surprised by that, or maybe he was surprised that you did it before he had a chance to

Dinner with his friends had gone well, they were all nice and were as dressed up as you were, and you didn't feel out of place with them. Daniel's friend Scotty and his wife Chloe spent most of the evening talking to you, Daniel kissed your cheek before he went to the restroom and then once again when he came back

You liked being around Daniel's friends, they were fun to be around

A few of Daniel's friends said that they were going to head out to a bar, and Daniel had declined saying that both of you had an early morning tomorrow and needed to head home

You never let his friends see that you weren't aware of his plans

When you both got into the town car, both of you fell into an easy conversation. At first, talking about dinner and his friends. And then the car pulled up to your apartment building.

"Do you want to come up?" You asked him.

You could see the hesitation in his eyes. "You sure?" He replied.

You gave him a nod.

Letting Daniel into your apartment made your nerves rise rather quickly. You didn't expect anything to happen.

When Daniel stepped foot into the apartment, you could see his eyes running all over the living room. It wasn't the biggest apartment or in the best condition but you had moved in your junior year and back then couldn't afford anything better.

You offered him a drink before you both sat on the couch, it creaked under Daniel before he placed his feet on the coffee table that had seen better days.

Daniel ended up leaving around 1 am, but as he walked out your door you could see that behind his eyes there was a question that he wanted to ask you. You had gotten really good at seeing the intentions behind his eyes.

Just before graduation came around you saw Daniel again, and he asked you again about possibly getting you an apartment, he would cover everything. You felt like you were taking advantage of him but couldn’t stop yourself from giving in and saying yes.

You moved into the fully furnished apartment just after graduation

Daniel showed up the day after with a bag of pastries and drinks from that coffee place that you like

You ended up on the plush couch talking before Daniel reached into the pocket of his baggy jeans and ended up placing the second key to the apartment in your hands. He told you that the realtor had given him the other one since his name was on the lease. You looked at it for a moment before giving it back to him.

"Just in case," You said, and he gave you a wide smile back.

He said that he would be flying to Italy for a few weeks and wanted to see you

You would have your own room in the Villa that he was staying in, and before you could even bring up paying for a plane ticket he said that he would e-mail all of the flight information to you

You agree to go and he’s quick to tell you that if you need anything you don’t have for the trip he’ll cover the costs

Over the course of the trip, you start to notice things

On your second day in Italy, Daniel takes you shopping at all of the big-name brands that you can't afford while paying for college

He buys you Chanel, and Dior, even insisting on going into Cartier and Van Cleef. He says, "We'll just be looking."

You spend a little too much time standing in front of the display with all of the paved Love bracelets and see a pair of butterfly earrings in Van Cleef

You and Daniel end up getting lunch at a little Café at the end of your day of shopping

He tells you that he made reservations at 8 pm at some restaurant and that he's already picked out something for you to wear

When you get back to the Villa, there is an Oscar De La Renta Box on the bed in your room

You're hesitant to open it, let alone put what's in the box on

In the end, you end up putting on the stunning red jeweled dress and you take the new Dior bag that Daniel bought you

When you walk out of your bedroom you see Daniel standing there in the foyer of the house in a suit

"Wow," He says, his eyes constantly looking at you. As if you're gliding on the marble floor. "You look... beautiful."

He's quick to try to meet your eyes before you notice that his eyes fall to your neck.

"I knew something was missing." He quickly mentions before walking over to the table that's by the front door. There’s a small white bag with green letters reading Van Cleef & Arpels.

Your eyes go a little wide when Daniel pulls out a matching white box and presents it to you.

He's quick to motion at you to open it. You pull the ribbon and open the box of the lid to reveal the butterfly necklace that you had been looking at earlier in the day.

Daniel takes it out of the box before clasping it around your neck

"Something to remember me by." He off-handedly says before offering you his arm.

While you're at dinner, you notice that Daniel is quiet and not as animated as usual

Something is going on. Maybe he's calling this off, but he doesn't seem like the type of person to fly you all the way to Italy just to end the arrangement that you have

Daniel had chosen a bottle of wine, and you both ordered dinner. He ordered you pasta, the most expensive option on the menu before fidgeting with the sleeves of his dress shirt

"So, I know that we've been doing this for a while... and I was wondering if you would be interested in taking it a little further?" He asked.

You weren't really sure what further meant for the two of you. You were basically at his beck and call, although he never forced you to do anything that you didn't want to

"What does that mean? Do you want to see me more?" You ask back.

"Yeah, or maybe I could start to give you an allowance every month and pay your rent or get you an apartment."

Your hand drops to your neck without thinking about it.

Was this why Daniel bought you the necklace? In case you said no to his offer?

You liked spending time with him when you could, it wasn't often but he wouldn't be driving in F1 next year so you hoped to see him more.

It would work well for you really. To take up his offer while you were in search of a job. He could cover your rent for however long you needed.

"Why don't we start small, like we have been." You offered, you never wanted Daniel to think that you were taking advantage of his generosity.

Both of you agreed.

A few weeks after you got home from your trip, there was a yellow package from Daniel.

In it, a red Cartier box, and a letter with the word Enchanté in cursive.

You opened the letter first, leaving the Cartier box too scared to see what was on the inside. You still wore the Van Cleef necklace that Daniel gifted you every day.

The letter read,

Hey babe, figured it was time for a bit of an upgrade from what you're used to. I'm going home to Australia for the holidays and I know that we won't get to spend them together so I figured I'd get you all of your gifts early.

If you look through the rest of the envelope from this letter there is a card with your name on it (again), we talked about an allowance in Italy and I intend to keep my promise. It's already activated and everything. Don't worry about the limit on it.

But knowing you, you won't try to spend me out of house and home. Is it bad that I kind of want you too?

I meant to give you what was in that red box before we left Italy but there never seemed like a good time.

Talk soon - Danny Ric

You end up opening the envelope the letter came in to see a thick metal-like card before pulling it out to see a metal American Express card. It had his name written on it.

As you look at it you're not sure if you even want to use it. But Daniel seems to trust you with the money that he gave you.

You end up putting the letter and the card to the side before reaching for the Cartier box. It's wrapped with a red ribbon. You delicately pull it off the box, and then pull the lid off the reveal the signature Cartier Love bracelet box.

You press the button on the box seeing a fully paved Love bracelet with its matching 14k gold screwdriver.

You leave it before reaching for your phone and take a picture of it to send to Daniel with the message, Thank you, I love it!💕

You only had to wait a little bit before Daniel messaged you back.