Sasha nodded, "Yes. Gail came to see me earlier, but she didn't tell me that you were here."
Debbie shrugged without saying anything. Sasha looked back and forth between the couple and asked curiously, "Deb, when did you get married? Why didn't you invite me? And Carlos, when are you leaving T City with Deb?"
Debbie turned to look at Carlos, who was boning a pork rib. "We've been married for several years now, and we'll be leaving tomorrow morning," he answered without raising his head. As soon as he was done boning the rib, he put the meat onto Debbie's plate.
Her eyes full of admiration, Sasha said, "Deb, you have such a caring husband. You should cherish him."
"I will," Debbie said with a sweet smile. She could feel his love towards her through his smallest of actions.
There were more than twenty dishes on the table. Carlos knew that she had a huge appetite and always remembered to feed her well.
On their way to the city, he had explained why he had served as Megan's boyfriend back then.
That day, he got off the plane and was about to go see Debbie when Megan called him out of nowhere. She wanted him to act as her boyfriend so that she could get rid of a boy who had been pestering her.
The place Megan mentioned was not too far away from the airport, so Carlos didn't turn her down. He had planned to go to Debbie after dismissing the boy. But much to his surprise, he and Megan ran into Debbie and Hayden at the restaurant.
In return for his explanation, Carlos had asked Debbie to explain why she had been with Hayden that day. She told him that she just wanted to tell Hayden that she had moved on and that there was no chance for them to get back together.
However, Carlos didn't buy it and bombarded her with questions. He didn't let her go until she had told him every word she and Hayden had spoken, every move they had made, and every dish they had eaten.
During the dinner, Debbie realized how busy Carlos was. Emmett, Tristan and some other people kept calling him, but he dismissed all of them and sent Skype messages instead.
Meanwhile, he also had to answer Sasha's curious questions. In order to not delay his work further, Debbie quickly gulped down her food and offered to go back to the hotel right after dinner. Two cars were already waiting for them as they exited the mall. Undoubtedly, Carlos had arranged them in advance. He asked one of his men to drive Sasha back.
Debbie wanted to go for a stroll, so Carlos decided to walk back to the hotel with her. Emmett had to drive the car at a snail's pace, following them closely behind.
When they arrived at the gates to the hotel, they saw Gregory walking out. Although Debbie was wearing a hood, and her face was covered with a scarf, Gregory recognized her immediately. He remembered her down jacket from that morning.
He had known for a while that Debbie was married to Carlos. But his heart still ached at the sight of their interlocked fingers.
He forced a smile and greeted them, "Hi, Carlos. Debbie."
Surprised, Debbie asked, "Seriously? You recognized me under all this mask?"
Her reaction amused Gregory.
Carlos checked the time in his watch. "It's late. Where are you going?"
"To grab some food. I didn't have dinner." Debbie looked back and forth between Carlos and Gregory, confused by their casual interaction.
Gregory had taken Debbie to East City Villa once and had met Carlos. Back then, he didn't know Carlos and thought that he was Debbie's brother.
Carlos had always kept a low profile. Although most people in the city knew his name, very few had actually seen his face. Colleen and Curtis had taken Gregory to meet Carlos a couple of times after Gregory had first met him.
"Why not ask for room service?" Carlos asked.
"I have been resting all this time. I feel kinda bored and thought I'd take a stroll." If he hadn't seen Debbie get into Carlos' car, he would have invited her to go along with him for a walk.
Debbie couldn't hold her curiosity in anymore. She asked, "You two know each other?"
"He's Colleen's brother," said Carlos curtly.
Debbie's jaw dropped. No wonder Gregory looked familiar. She realized that he resembled Colleen a lot.
Silent misery flashed across Gregory's eyes when he saw the affection between the couple. He took a deep breath before saying, "I'm leaving, Carlos. Bye, Debbie."
Debbie waved her hand. "Bye."
Carlos nodded in response. He looked at Gregory's retreating figure and turned to Debbie. "How long have you known him?" he asked, sensing that something was not right.
Debbie looked up at Carlos for a moment and then answered, "We were classmates in high school. We were not in the same class in the first and second years at college. But this year, we're in the same class again. But I didn't know that he is Colleen's brother. I just realized that they actually look very much alike."
"He went to Southon Village with you as well, right? Have you attended this kind of activity together before?"
Debbie wondered if Carlos was concerned about Colleen's brother. She answered honestly, "No. This was the first time. I didn't know he was coming until I saw his name on the list."
They walked into the elevator together. Before the doors were completely shut, Carlos pressed her against the wall and kissed her passionately on the lips.
Debbie froze. Her hands were caught tightly in his, so she couldn't move an inch.
'What is this all of a sudden? Is he horny? No! It doesn't seem like that. Ouch! He's biting me! Is he angry or something?' Debbie mused, stunned.
Once inside the hotel room, Carlos took off his black wool coat and threw it at her. Debbie, who was still in a trance, saw it flying towards her and caught it by instinct. She looked at the coat closely.
Everything related to Carlos was super expensive, even if it was a cigarette lighter. Debbie guessed that the coat too might be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
She hung it in the closet on a hanger with utmost care and dusted it lightly before closing the closet door.
When she returned to the living room, Carlos was sitting in front of the liquor cabinet with two glasses of wine on the table before him. Upon seeing Debbie, he curled his finger. "Come over here. I have something to talk to you about."
Talk? With a cunning smile, she approached him and asked, "What do you want to talk about? Any sweet words for me?"
Carlos raised his eyebrow at her provocative words. He handed her the glass which had a smaller quantity of wine and pulled her into his arms. "If you want me to whisper sweet nothings to you, then I'll do that as much as possible in bed from now on."
'I knew it! I shouldn't have said that to him. He links everything to sex!' "Never mind that. Let's drink." She lifted the glass and looked at the liquid inside it. "Hey! You are so petty. Why am I getting so little wine?"
Debbie protested, pointing at his glass.
"Not enough?" Carlos asked.
"Uh-huh." 'I can drink this in one gulp, ' she thought. 'But I shouldn't be that rude in front of him.'
Carlos took a sip of his wine and gently pulled her into a deep kiss. Debbie felt warm liquid flowing into her mouth and she swallowed it subconsciously.
"Want more?" Carlos whispered in her ear, like a demon driving her to sin. "I have plenty to give."
