MARRIED TO MY ENEMY

Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7: COLD WATER**

**Ximena's POV**

"You bastard!"

It came out before I could even think. Not just mad. Humiliated. Because he had seen me, and I knew exactly what he saw. Not the good version. The mess.

I stormed through the living room straight to the bathroom. I needed the mirror. I needed to see how bad it was. *Snoring like a pig. Hair messed up.* No. That is not me. I don't do messy. Ever.

I flipped the light on and it was way too bright. I leaned in and just stared.

God.

My hair was sticking up everywhere. Not cute movie bedhead. Actual bedhead. My eyes were puffy and red. I had a line pressed into my cheek from the pillow. Yesterday's mascara was smudged underneath like I'd been crying, which I hadn't. Okay, maybe a little.

I looked rough. Not "I woke up like this" rough. Just rough rough.

And the worst part is he was right. He was actually right, and I hated him more for it.

The bathroom was nice, I guess. Big grey tiles, two sinks, huge shower, tub in the corner. I didn't care. I just wanted to wash the whole night off me.

I went to the tub. It was one of those deep freestanding ones. I turned the cold on full blast. No hot water. I didn't want comfort, I wanted a shock. While it filled I pulled my dress off and stepped in.

The water was freezing. It hit my legs and I sucked in a breath through my teeth. I sat down anyway and let it come up to my shoulders. It hurt in a good way. Like it woke my brain up.

I leaned back and closed my eyes. Just for a second. Just to not hear his voice saying "princess" in that stupid tone.

Then I heard the door.

Click.

My eyes snapped open.

Diego was standing in the doorway with a towel in his hand. Still in his gym pants. Still sweaty.

He froze. I froze.

His eyes went wide, then they did that thing where they drop down before his brain catches up. Slow. Taking it all in.

Oh my god.

I shot straight up, water splashing everywhere, trying to cover myself with my hands like that was going to work. He looked just as shocked as I felt. His face went red. His neck went red. He spun around so fast he almost hit the doorframe.

That's when my brain finally caught up and realized I was completely naked in front of Diego Salvatore.

"You BASTARD!" I screamed. My voice cracked. I grabbed the closest towel and yanked it around me, holding it so tight my knuckles went white.

"How DARE you! Get out! You pervert!"

"Excuse me!" he yelled back at the wall, still not turning around. Hands up. "It's not my fault you didn't lock the door!"

"Can't you KNOCK?" I was shaking. I could hear it in my own voice.

"I didn't think I had to knock in my own bathroom!" he snapped. "And for the record I didn't see anything!"

"Liar!"

"Princess, I came in to change! This is my suite too, remember? I'm sorry I walked in, but who sits naked in a tub with the door unlocked when there's literally a stranger in the next room?"

I hated that he was kind of right. I was so busy being mad about my hair I forgot to lock the door. Old Ximena would never. New Ximena apparently makes a lot of stupid mistakes.

"Just get OUT!" I said again, quieter this time because my throat hurt.

"Fine," he muttered. "Maybe lock it next time. Just a thought."

The door opened and closed. Soft click.

I stood there for a good ten seconds just dripping, wrapped in a towel that was now soaked through.

Then I sank down onto the cold tile floor and put my head in my hands.

He'd just seen me at my absolute worst. No makeup, hair insane, puffy eyes, and now naked and screaming in a bathtub.

And it wasn't even 6:30 yet.

I could hear his music start back up in the gym, muffled through the wall.

Of course.

---

**Diego's POV**

I shut the bathroom door behind me and just stood there for a second with my hand on the wood.

My heart was going stupid fast.

What the hell was that?

I saw her. I mean really saw her. In the tub. No bubbles, no nothing. Just clear water and her looking right at me. My brain just stopped. For like two full seconds I stood there like an i***t until she screamed.

"You pervert!" I could still hear her through the door.

It wasn't my fault. Who doesn't lock the bathroom door when there's a stranger in the suite? I just wanted a shower. I was sweaty and gross from the gym and now I felt worse. Flustered. Annoyed. I don't know.

I walked into the living room and ran a hand through my hair. I needed distance from that door.

This whole night had been a disaster.

After the bed standoff, she crawled onto her side and turned her back to me like I had the plague. I thought I'd pass out, I was that tired. Nope.

Around one in the morning the snoring started.

And it wasn't cute. It was loud. Like a little engine. Like a drunk uncle at Christmas. Snoring like a pig was actually accurate.

At 3 a.m. I was just staring at the ceiling listening to it, and I seriously thought about taking my pillow and just... gently... putting it over her face for five seconds. Just to get some quiet. I didn't. Obviously. But I thought about it.

I gave up around five. I slipped out of bed and grabbed my phone off the charger.

One notification for an unknown sender that is known to me.

sei già arrivato? (are you there yet?)

SÌ I responded (yes)

Non dimenticare il motivo per cui sei venuto lì. (dont forget what you came there for)

I didn't reply. I just held the power button down until the screen went black. Off. Done.

I needed to hit something. I was too lazy, angry and stressed to go back to sleep. So I went to the gym.

And halfway through my second set, I had the idea. She kept me up all night? Fine. I'll return the favor.

I turned the speaker up as loud as it would go. Bass shaking the walls. Petty? Yeah. Did I care? No.

Five minutes later I heard her stomping down the hall. I knew it worked.

She pushed the door open looking ready to kill me. Hair everywhere, dress wrinkled, no makeup, eyes all puffy from no sleep. And she was still... I don't know. Pretty. Annoyingly pretty. Even mad.

She turned my music off. I turned it back on.

We did that like three times until she called my workout "not real things to do." So I hit back. I told her she snored. I told her hair looked insane.

Her face just... dropped. Like I'd actually slapped her. She called me a bastard and stormed out.

And I laughed. Out loud. First real laugh I'd had since I landed here. It surprised even me.

Then the bathroom thing happened and now the laugh was gone.

I was still sweaty and now I was starving. I went to the kitchen to do something normal.

The kitchen in this place is ridiculous. Big black marble island, dark wood cabinets, stove that looks like it belongs in a restaurant. Fridge full of actual food, not just mini bar stuff.

My dad has money, but my mom made sure I could actually cook. "A man who can't feed himself is only half a man," she used to say every Sunday while she made me chop onions.

I grabbed eggs, bacon, found a pan. Cracking eggs is easy. It calms you down. The bacon started sizzling and the whole place started smelling normal for once.

I was just about to pour the eggs in when I heard something behind me.

I turned around.

It was her. Sofia.

And she wasn't the angry swamp monster from the gym anymore.

White sundress, simple, just above the knee. Hair down, done in those loose waves that look like she just woke up like that but definitely took thirty minutes. Light makeup. She looked... good. Really good. Like the girl from the airport before everything went to hell, but softer.

She just stood there in the doorway watching me. Didn't say anything.

I was standing there holding a bowl of raw eggs like an i***t.

The bacon kept popping in the pan. Neither of us talked. It was weirdly quiet after the morning we'd had. All that yelling about music and snoring and then me walking in on her naked, and now we're just... here. In a kitchen that costs more than most apartments.

She didn't look mad anymore. Just tired. Maybe embarrassed.

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I just turned back to the stove and poured the eggs in.

She still didn't leave.