-Why did not you say you'd bring a guest, daughter? - Maria Joaquim was still trying to straighten her daughter's hair, even though she knew it would be useless without the help of a comb to take out the motes that she probably stored because of the twelve tumbles during her skiing lessons with Cousin Tony.

-We'll talk about it later, Mom I'll pack up before the guests arrive. - Jesse smiled uneasily, did not know what to do. He did not have the guts to look at the Blade, but he knew that his eyes were shooting at him from where he was.

-Are not you go to greet your friend, daughter? How ugly, that's not how I taught you. -The researcher froze, terrified. This was not a good time for her mother to show that she was the best in the world she was only making things worse for her.

-Jesse is right, Mother, she's already far behind.

Mainara could tell by the semblance of her sister that something was wrong, she knew her better than anyone else. He took her hand with the intention of getting her out and asking what was going on, she was worried.

 -What about Mainara? - That was not the kind of education I gave you two, the poor boy came from afar to see you sister who spent the day with yours cousin. Jesse shook her head, there was no way she was going to get worse. -Delayed or not, she will greet you and thank you for coming, - Maria Joaquim said earnestly.

-Did I mention how lovely you look today, Mother? - Certainly the most elegant woman in the party and the world. She tried to change the focus of the subject, but she was sincere about the compliment.

Her mother was indeed exuberant in an intense blue dress, one sleeve only, just below the knee. His body was full of curves like that of his youngest daughter, Mainara has a beautiful smile. She did not look the age she had, nor have two adult daughters.

-Now, Jesse, the boy's waiting, - her mother ordered.

Jesse took a deep breath, letting go of her sister's hand, looking at her with a comforting look. They all stepped aside to make way for him.

- Hello Blade, how good you came! - Jesse did the willing mother, saying the words between his teeth in front of Blade, but at a pretty safe distance.

-Try to run away and you'll regret it later, - he said quietly, kissing her cheek.

-Now enough drama, Jesse was ready. Come on, I'll help you with the dress. -Mainara finally managed to get her sister out of trouble with the big ones and then dragged her up the stairs. All about the threatening eyes of Blade who accompanied the investigator until she disappeared from sight.

-Who's that bad-looking guy, Jesse Carter? - Asked Mainara as soon as they reached the guest room of the mansion, placing her hands on her nervous waist.

-Just a friend, - Jesse snapped off, hurrying toward the bathroom. Hearing her sister's heels clicking behind her, it would not be easy to get rid of her questions so soon.

-So why did he look at Tony's hand holding hers in a way that seemed to draw a gun from his waist at any moment and shoot his face in the fly?

-Do not start Mai, stop paranoia, - Jesse yelled from inside the stall, her head filled with foam.

- OK! So you will not mind knowing that our beloved cousins are getting on top of it all. Especially the Valeria viper who looks the most beautiful in the world, -she teased her sister, which worked very well, as Jesse opened the door to the stall, almost to the floor.

- What? Is it possible that these offered can´t see a handsome man who is already coming upon him? But if Valeria does not stay away from him I'll tear off every strand of that misplaced the mega hair from her. - Mainara gaped it was hard to see her sister so nervous.

- I knew! You're catching that grumpy ogre, people he's huge. You're washing your face as a girl, I want to know everything. Have you ever kissed? Are they dating? I can´t believe I have a cat brother in law. -Mainara kept chattering, not for a minute.

- Where did that come from? - Jesse dropped the black towel that was wiping her body, pointing to a long dark wine dress from Prada, single front, long-sleeved mermaid model with a pretty sensual opening on the side, showing her thighs. There a pair of black high-heeled sandals with the Prada's comfortable tag. A set of three-piece red diamond jewelry, earrings, drawstring and a gold plated bracelet. To complete, a bouquet of flowers larger than the one he earned from Michelangelo, with a small handwritten note.

For your first dance, I hope you like it.

B.M

 

-The handsome man brought you into a huge box with a larger bow tie on top, a bouquet of red roses for me and another for Mom with a beautiful note saying that she was honored to meet us in person. We think his attitude is very sweet, you do not see gentlemen like that today. - Jesse was amazed, not knowing what to think, but he loved the fact that he had chosen everything for her and for her.

But there was something behind it, and she was scared to be alone with Blade to find out later.

-Forget it, for now we'll talk about it later. - Help me get ready, we have to run before Mom comes knocking on the door, crazy behind us. Mainara nodded very grudgingly. After forty minutes, Jesse looked beautiful! With a very well-made make-up, the provocative red lipstick that her sister thought she should wear to match the rest of the look. Her hair caught in a bun, tied to the top of her head.

-The delightful ogre is going to die of jealousy of your sister the face will get an even source. - Mainara let out a loud laugh.

-Let's go downstairs and stop drinking. -Jesse rolled his eyes in frustration.

In the party room behind the mansion, there was an impatient bandit waiting for his partner, it was also his first time at a debutante ball. Not even in school had he gone to one, everything he knew he learned from his mother at home. He spoke four languages and had a greater knowledge than a newly graduated graduate. He was intelligent, cultured and observant. Looking around, Blade was sure that he would never be part of that world it was too loud for a lone wolf. The decor was all done in white with gold jugs of natural flowers adorned the tables of the guests. People stuck talking futile things, apart from the questioning look of Jesse's mother, who accompanied him wherever he went.

-The great time has come to receive the birthday girl and her maid of honor. Every gentleman must come to the front to get his lady as he is called, now is the time to put beauty on this party, folks, -joked the prom orator, a nice-looking man with a friendly smile. Blade was annoyed that all names were called, except for Jesse who was the last. He wanted to see her soon and be with her.

-With you, I call the beautiful young Jesse Carter, who wears wine. - The color of passion overwhelming and perilous, he announced, making the Heartless Man's heart soar.

There was no one who did not look at her as she pointed to the bottom of the whole cat walk her cheeks flushed the erotic mixture of the blush of innocence mingling with the charm of a newly misrepresented woman, something fantastic. She walked slowly for fear of tripping, thank God it worked. Already Blade in a jump was waiting for her, near the stairwell of the catwalk to receive it and take what was his.

- You look beautiful! - He praised, reaching out to help her down the three steps.

- Thanks! - She moved her mouth as if to say something else, but she stopped. He led her to the same place she had been before, the most discreet of the event.

-If you breathe, I'll kill everyone, and your cousin will be the first, understand? - Blade threatened, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Jesse just nodded his head.

They spent much of the birthday so, she was too stubborn and he did not have a little patience. But everything changed until the music of the two began to play, which served as a melody for their first night of love. They heard nothing but the chords of the Bom Jovi guitar, the memories came like lightning from both of them.

Blade, realizing that Jesse's back was chilled with cold, hugged her from behind to warm her better. Taking the first step, the young woman turned in front of the bandit, wrapping her arms around his body, resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes. Then the bodies began to move slowly to the sound of the song, in a perfect rhythm. When she finished, the investigator looked up at the beloved. What he saw was a more relaxed, calm expression. In a sign of peace she tiptoed and kissed his chin without expecting anything in return, but to her surprise, Blade rubbed the tip of her nose with hers. This was their way of apologizing to each other, raising the white flag of peace.

-Are not you mad at me anymore? - She asked with both feet afraid.

- I am very Much. - He closed his face, dangerously. -Later on, you have to explain things to me in detail. - He looked over at Cousin Tony's direction, talking to a couple of boys by the booze table, then looked at her with a frown.

-Blade I... - He stopped her from speaking, placing his index finger over her lips.

- Later Jesse, later...

It let loose in the air, but by his tone, Jesse knew that he was planning something not good for her. He chose not to go into it, it would not be smart to tease the beast in front of her whole family.

-Do you want something to drink? If you want I can get it. - She waited a few moments before carefully changing the subject.

-You're not going to get away from me at all, - he said tartly, squeezing her waist.

-Let's dance, Jesse? - It's your favorite song. Mainara arrived excitedly and started pulling her onto the dance floor.

If she knew the problem she was fixing for her sister, she would never do that. Jesse started to shake his body uncomfortably, so he would not undo it, but the thought was in Blade.

-Beautiful, is not it? - They are my treasure those who break the heart any of them will have to see me later. Maria Joaquim appeared to be holding two glasses of champagne looking toward her dancing daughters, just as Blade intended to go there and take Jesse by the hair.

- I understand. - He nodded, showing that he understood the message.

- Accepted? -He handed one of the glasses filled with bubbling liquid to him.

- Thank you. - He turned in one swallow, regretting not being anything stronger. His mother-in-law's presence intimidated him greatly.

-Where did you meet her? - My daughter is not much to leave she has always been very shy and sensitive. Maria Joaquim stared at him.

-She is stronger and braver than she imagines. - Blade did not take her eyes off Jesse watching her like a hunter with an eye on the prey.

-I've noticed my daughter differently, more securely always smiling, happy. Now I know the reason, I'm in front of him. -She held Blade's hand, looking deep into his beautiful dark blue eyes. -Promise you will do anything not to hurt her? If you have patience with Jesse, you can be sure that he will never be loved by another woman than by her, born with a big but fragile heart. So watch out, watch her with care!

-Sometimes her exaggerated kindness irritates me a lot. I hate the effect that her smile has on me I could ask whatever I wanted. For example, when he confronts me, making me travel for more than twelve hours to a cold place, I hate cold places, full of important things to do at home just because he did not answer my forty-eight calls - he said without thinking when he saw open with someone he had just met. The mother-in-law was not as bad as she'd heard, at least not that one.

- Forty-eight? - She asked in surprise.

-I'm insistent when I want something, ma'am, - Blade replied, taking his eyes off the lane and staring at her.

-I'm glad to hear that, my son!

Maria Joaquim kissed Blade's face and went on her way. He felt as if he'd had that conversation with his own mother.

Jesse gradually lost her fear and began to dance with his sister, but wondering if Blade was still watching. In a brief glance, she saw his eyes slide lazily across her body, stopping more than necessary on her shapely legs, which appeared in the opening of her dress as it moved. She realized the others were looking at her too, and she thought that was a stretch, in the hope that Blade would be watching the cabin show, that it had been torture for him. That would give him more value instead of acting like a complete idiot. Jealous of what he had seen, the bandit was sent out to get Jesse off the dance floor, but he was stopped again.

-Are you alone? - A woman with a mellow voice and a strange, shock-pink dress gripped Blade's arm, which was about to shoot her if she did not let him go. Her voice was vulgar and cloying, an exaggerated makeup and enormous arrogance. To make matters worse, Blade hated that kind of person.

-He's not alone, Valeria! - And I think it's good for you to stay well away from what's mine because I'm armed and I will not be afraid to use it if I need to. Jesse lifted the opening of his dress, showing the gun at his thigh.

Blade found the sexiest thing in the world, it was a cuddly cat that when nailed showed the nails. Unsatisfied and jealous, Jesse took his hand and dragged him out of the hall, possessed, no matter how cold it was.

-It's ugly to get out before the main waltz, you know that? - He sneered he liked to see her irritated even more because of jealousy. This time, Jesse did not bow his head, he defended what was hers.

- What are you doing here? You're very dickhead after everything appears as if nothing had happened.

Blade could see from the distance the veins of her neck jumping, she was really nervous. Worried that anyone would hear them and bothered by the cold, he pulled her into a door on the left. It was a kind of old but organized wine cellar.

- Who I should be nervous here, is me! Why did not you answer my calls? - He changed his voice.

- I was busy. -She crossed her arms, avoiding his eyes.

- Skiing with Tony? -It was ironic, hostile.

-Yes, and it was amazing to spend the day with him. -Blade lost her head and pulled the gun from her waist, pressing it against the wall and pointing it to her head.

-Do not tease me you do not know what I'm capable of. - He tightened his grip on Jesse's neck, his eyes dark and empty as a cold night.

-You can kill me if you want, at least you will not hurt me anymore. - Blade released her immediately.

-You hurt me, too. - It was the first time she'd seen him opening up to her feelings, yet it did not lessen the anger she felt for him.

-How could you leave me the day after our first time? - I felt like the worst woman in the world, I felt used. She took what she wanted and then knocked on the door of my apartment like a mangy dog, walked away and left me talking to myself. She wanted to cry, but she held her ground, she did not shed a tear.

-I did not even come down the street, and I was sorry, I came back to make up. But I found you in the arms of another, the bartender. It ended with me, going over my pride and coming here was not easy for me, but I came because I could not stand a minute without seeing you. To complete I arrive and I see you holding hands with this Tony, it was the striptease that made for the henchman of my biggest enemy. He had not come back to apologize, but he had come back because he had seen her in Michelangelo's arms. And even hurt came to the ball because he knew it was important to her.

-And it was crying the heartaches in a nightclub to the sound of electronic music and several women giving on you, I bet you slept with half of them. - She was getting good at being ironic, touching the right spot to affect him.

-I did not go fucking, that noise you heard was Li watching television with the loud volume. The characters are they were in a nightclub I was made a fool lying on the sofa thinking of you - exclaimed without patience.

-I hurt you, you hurt me. The best for us is to pretend we never met, -Jesse said, swallowing the tears, but he knew it was the right thing to do. What starts out wrong ends wrong.

 -Do you like the bartender? - He asked in a very sweet way. Jesse shook his head, heartbroken.

-"Tony's then? - He looked like a teenager, unsure.

-I love you, Blade! - Her gaze brightened like the sunrise, full of hope.

- Liar! who loves does not give up. He moved away from her, hurt.

- Sometimes giving up is the greatest proof of love that can be given to a person, perhaps one day you understand that certain departures, however painful they may be, serve to avoid greater sufferings. Of course, we're never going to work together, insisting is worse. Jesse was right, and he knew it.

-I'll miss you, angel, - Blade said in a slightly shaky voice.

- Me too.

Jesse hugged him tightly and was rewarded with the same intensity, then falling into an endless mourning. She could not hold back the sobbing as he began to sing some of their music very softly in her ear, stroking her curls affectionately.

It's been raining since you left me.

Now I'm drowning in the flood

You know I've always been a fighter.

But without you I give up.

Now I can´t sing a love song

Like the way it means to be

Well, I guess I'm not so good anymore.

But baby, that is just me.

 

Yes, and I will love you, baby, always

And I'll be there forever and a day

I'll be there until the stars don´t shining

Until the heaven burns and words do not rhyme

And I know that when I die you'll be in my mind

And I will love you, always...

 

Everything we live does not come back,

They are only memories of a different life.

Some that made us laugh

Some that made us cry

One that made you had to say goodbye.

But do not forget that I will love you ... Always...

-God, what pain! I did not want it to have to be like this, I wish I could make you happy! - Jesse was crying so hard that she wet the collar of his shirt. It was too hard for her to let him go.

-The little I knew of happiness was by your side, thank you for that. For giving me the opportunity, even if only for a moment, to believe in happy endings and that love heals everything, even the worst people like me. -They were so close to each other that they were not going to let go again.

-I do not want you to go, - Jesse whispered in his ear, his voice tearful.

-Do not let me go, - he whispered back. Without an answer, she let go, turning to leave.

-Take care, - Blade said, reaching for the doorknob, not daring to look at her one last time.

-Please stay, make love to me? - She demanded, making his hand freeze in the air before she reached the door. But he thought better, he decided to do it right.

-No matter how much I regret everything I've done, there is no religion that can save me. My heart bleeds for knowing that I'll never get anywhere near what you deserve and it torments me every day. Do not make things worse, leave it as it is. Look for a boy your age, what is not as troublesome as me. He twisted the knob to the right, opening the door.

-If you will, it will be forever, but if you decide to stay, it is to make love to me and not let go of me the choice is yours, but know that there is no turning back. It was all or nothing. - The only thing she heard was the sound of the door pounding with him inside.

-What the fuck, Jesse! - You're very silly. It was your chance to get rid of me. -Blade began to grumble grumpy, but she shut him up with a passionate kiss, full of hope for a future together.

So, at that moment they discovered that love only works when you offer your soul the way it is. No need to be done, just really.

Meanwhile, at the debutante ball, Maria Joaquim was entertained arranging a flower arrangement on the main table, next to the three-story cake and a bundle of brigadiers, when she noticed someone approach behind her.

-Excuse me miss, did you happen to see Jesse Carter around? I really need to talk to her, it's urgent. -The voice was thick, but over-polite, very pleasant.

-First, it is not Miss, Mrs. Carter. Second, why did a plumber in my daughter's building travel to Canada after her? - Maria Joaquim nervously put her hands on her waist and Julius swallowed, thinking: What do I do now?