LENA’S POV

I swallowed hard, my heart beating loudly in my chest. "Are you...are you threatening me?"

He shook his head, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. "Not at all, sweetheart. I'm just trying to be realistic here. "

My phone beeped suddenly, making me forget the tension in the room for a second. I looked down to see a message from Francine, with a photo attached. My heart fell as I saw the picture of an infinity custom-made bracelet, worth $50,000. The text accompanying the photo made me more irritated.

"Help me thank your man for this gorgeous bridesmaids gift," Francine wrote.

Marcelo was unbelievable. He had gotten a gift for Francine, the bridesmaid, and not the actual bride herself? It was a slap to my face.

Before I could process my thoughts, the stranger in front of me suddenly snapped his fingers in my face, jolting me back to reality.

"Hey, what's with the sour face?" he asked in his deep smooth voice. "Did somebody die?"

I sighed deeply. "Listen, Mr. Blue Eyes," I started to say, but he interrupted me.

"My name is Miguel," he corrected. "Juan Miguel, to be precise. And what's your name?"

I looked at him calmly, trying to compose myself. "Lena,"

Juan Miguel rose to his feet, abruptly. "Okay Lena, guess we're going to be new housemates now. Oh and believe me, I would have kicked your ass out in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the fact that you took care of my injury."

With that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving me standing there in surprise.

I forced myself to finish up my meal, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that had settled in my stomach. I had been looking forward to exploring the city, but now it seemed like that plan was ruined. This guy, Juan Miguel, had somehow taken over my rental house, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that he was trouble.

I opened the door to my room, expecting to find some peace and quiet, but instead, I was greeted by the sound of running water. I rushed into the bathroom, thinking that I had left the shower on, but what I saw made my heart skip a beat.

Juan Miguel was standing in the shower, water cascading down his perfect body. I screamed as our eyes met and I quickly slammed the door shut, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

A moment later, I heard the sound of the water turning off, followed by the soft pad of bare feet on the tile floor. I held my breath as the door opened, and there stood Juan Miguel, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.

"Well, well, someone's a little jumpy," he said, his voice low and smooth.

I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, and I averted my gaze to the painting on the walls instead.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" I managed.

He chuckled, leaning against the doorframe. "Your room? Sweetheart, there are two rooms in this house, and I prefer the bigger one."

"But this is my room," I protested. "All of my things are here!"

He shrugged. "Tough luck, Lena. You get the smaller room."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words died on my lips. What was the point? It was clear that this man had no intention of respecting my boundaries or my privacy.

With a resigned sigh, I turned and made my way to the other room.This was not how I had envisioned my Airbnb stay at all.

I must have dozed off at some point, because the sound of gunshots jolted me awake, my heart pounding in my chest. I checked the time and saw that it was 11:15 pm. Fearfully, I stepped out of the room, grabbing a baseball bat from the wardrobe for protection.

As I made my way to the front porch, I gasped in shock at what I saw. Two dead bodies lay on the porch, and Juan Miguel was standing there, casually cleaning his gun. My mouth dropped open as I stared at him in horror.

"Oh my God what the hell did you do?!" I let out a gasp.

“I took care of a little problem.” He answered.

“A problem? You..you killed them?" I stammered, my heart still beating wildly.

He nodded and clicked his tongue. "Yeah, I did. They were causing me some trouble, so I had to take care of it."

"Are you part of the mafia?" I blurted out.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Congratulations, it took you long enough to figure it out," he said.

Of course he had to be! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

"How about you help me dispose of these bodies?" he asked in a casual tone, as if he was asking me to pass the salt.

LENA’S POV

I shook my head vehemently. "No way, I'm not helping you cover up a murder," I said. “Are you out of your mind?”

Juan Miguel chuckled, his expression amused. "Oh, you're an innocent one, aren't you, Lena?"

Without a word, he brought his hand up to his ear, pressing what I assumed was a hidden earpiece. "Yeah, it's me," he said, his voice low and calm. "I need you to come take care of something at the house." He paused, listening to the response on the other end. "Yeah, those bastards tracked me down. I had to take care of them first." Another pause. "Just get here as soon as you can."

He ended the call and turned his attention back to me, his gaze piercing. "My men will be here shortly to take care of the bodies,"

"Your men? So this is all just part of your criminal operation, isn't it? Are you like a mafia boss or something?"

He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Hey, I do what I have to do to survive, sweetheart. Those guys were trying to kill me, so I took them out first."

I stared at him all over. "But now you've invaded my house, and I'm not going to have any peace of mind here, am I? What if I get killed in the process?"

He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "Then you've got a lot to learn about being strong enough to protect yourself," he said, his tone almost patronizing. "But don't worry, I won't let you die on my watch."

So there is a possibility I could get killed here? I came here running away from my own trauma back at home. Was I really safe, even with Juan Miguel's supposed protection?

As he turned to head back inside, he paused and looked back at me, his expression serious. "Just remember, don’t stick your nose where it doesn't belong, and don't complicate things for me while I'm here. Understood?"

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. "Understood," I responded in a way that sounded more like a squeak.

He nodded, a satisfied smile spreading across his face, and then he disappeared inside, leaving me alone with the two lifeless bodies on the porch.

I stood there, frozen in place wondering what the hell had I gotten myself into. I had thought that renting this Airbnb would be a peaceful, relaxing getaway, but instead, I found myself in the middle of some kind of criminal enterprise, with a dangerous man like Juan Miguel at the center of it all. I was gonna have him googled. Maybe something would come up if I did a proper search.

Or maybe I should just pack up my things and go back home.

The sound of an approaching car pulled me from my thoughts, and I watched warily as two men in dark suits approached the porch. Without a word, they stepped around the bodies, carefully lifting them and carrying them away, as if this was a routine task for them.

I shuddered, the reality of the situation sinking in. These were the kinds of people that Juan Miguel associated with, the kind of ruthless individuals who could dispose of bodies without a second thought.

The next afternoon, my phone started ringing incessantly while I was trying to watch one of my favorite Chinese dramas. I glanced down at the caller ID and rolled my eyes because it was Marcelo.

"Lena, what the hell?" Marcelo's voice boomed immediately I picked it up, clearly agitated. "Why didn't you show up for your bridal fitting today? Weren't you aware of the date?"

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my cool. "Yes, Marcelo, I was aware of the date," I responded calmly. "But I never told you I was going to attend."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and I could practically feel the tension radiating through the phone. "But Francine picked out the dress. Don’t you want to make sure it fits?"

I let out a soft sigh. "Marcelo, if Francine picked the dress, then I'm sure she knows what will fit me best. There's no need for a fitting cause I'm sure the dress is already perfect."

"Okay, well, how about you come by the shop and pick it up then? The wedding is in a few days, and we need to make sure everything is ready to go."

I chewed on my lower lip, contemplating my response. "Actually, could you just have the shop send the dress to my father's house? That would be easier for me."

His voice turned suspicious. "I was at your father's house earlier this morning, and your mom said you had stepped out for a while. Where the hell are you, anyway?."