CHAPTER 123: DARE TO LOVE ME A Little Box of Surprises 

Ashley 

Finally home! At last, I could see my babies, Alaia, my mother, and Paula, whom I loved like an aunt. For me, home was wherever the people you love were. I loved my father, but come on, he went overboard sometimes. 

I lay down in bed next to my dear Tino, watching him talk on the phone with his beloved Tony. After the moment we just had when Nick saw Alaia in the lingerie Tino had brought her to wear on her honeymoon, the encounter was unexpected and hilarious. Alaia had wanted to kill 

him, but it seemed to me like she had wanted to kill him with kisses. But who was I to say for 

sure? 

I sighed, thinking that I had to find a way to approach William. I wasn’t going to work with 

them anymore, only if Alaia needed me. From now on, I needed to be completely focused on 

my designs. I was excited; I already had some sketches ready. 

I finished putting on my outfit, a sweater and beret. I had an important mission that day, and if 

I thought about it and delayed it any longer, I might regret it. 

I checked my thick, bushy eyebrows, which I thought were my saving grace. They took away 

the extreme femininity from my face. 

“Good morning, my dear family,” I greeted as soon as I reached the dining room, planting 

several kisses on everyone, including the little pieces of heaven I loved so much. 

“I love it here,” Tino sighed when I’d taken a seat. 

“I knew you would love it,” Paula put her hand over my friend’s. “This city is made for someone as full of energy and life as you,” she said affectionately. 

“What beautiful words, Mama Pau, you move me!” He touched his chest and we all laughed. 

We kept talking while we had breakfast; Tino couldn’t stop talking about how happy he was to 

be here. 

“I’ll spend a moment with my sweeties and then we’ll get down to business, Tino told me as we got up from the table. 

“Yes, that… I’m going out today, why don’t you take the day off and enjoy it with your sweeties?” My friend looked at me with his hands on his hips. 

“But where are you going?” he asked with great curiosity. 

“I have something to do, honey, I’ll talk to you about it later.” I went to kiss his cheek and said 

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goodbye to everyone before going out and getting into the SUV. 

I told the bodyguard where I wanted to go and he nodded, starting the car. 

I closed my mind so as not to feel anxious, but I felt like a kid, my stomach was in knots and 

everything. 

The car stopped and I made my way to the building, which I entered with the familiarity that came from having been there so often lately. 

I went up to the top floor and walked slowly to William’s office. I looked at my hands and they were sweating. What was this? I turned around to leave; cowardice had gotten the better of 

1. me. 

“Mr. Russell,” that was his secretary’s voice. 

“Yes?” I turned around. 

“Mr. Garnett is in his office, go ahead.” She guided me there. This girl hadn’t done that before; 

could it be a sign from God? I pressed my lips together to contain the laughter at the crazy 

thought I’d just had. 

“Thank you,” I spoke politely and she smiled after opening the door, allowing me to see 

William deeply focused on whatever was on his desk. 

“Good morning,” I greeted, and he looked up and then back down. I grimaced at the action. 

“I thought you weren’t coming back, you’ve stopped attending the meetings,” he said. 

“I will not be present from now on,” I clarified, and he nodded. 

“If that’s what you came to tell me, I’ve been informed.” 

“Well, no, I came to invite you.” I shrugged and he looked up. “You’re a good guy, you offered me your friendship, and you’re right, I wasn’t a good friend.” William leaned back in his chair 

and crossed his arms. Those arms! 

“And since we’re going to have to see each other more often, because of the kids, how about we start over?” I didn’t even understand the reason for my actions. “I won’t justify what I did with my nephews because it was none of my business, but I appreciate what you did for me 

and I’d like you to join me.” 

“Where?” He frowned. 

“You’ll find out if you accept.” I shrugged. He remained silent and I got nervous. 

He looked at the time on his watch. 

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“Fine,” he said, and a slight feeling of joy settled in the pit of my stomach. 

William remained serious and grabbed his suit jacket. We both left the building; I was going to guide him to the SUV, but he stopped. 

“No, I’ll drive myself,” he said, walking toward his car. I went with him without knowing why. I smiled to myself. 

I entered the address of where we were going on his GPS and he followed the directions. 

Once we were there, he looked surprised. He got out of the car and I did the same. 

“What are we doing here?” he asked, looking at the street. 

“You showed me what’s important to you, now I’ll do the same. This is my world.” I pointed to the fashion stores. I was a fashion fan; I always kept up with the new collections and trends of other designers. With these visits, I also made sure that my designs were completely original. 

William looked at the store in front of us and then at me. 

“I’m a fashion designer, I have several…” I stopped when I realized I was about to talk about my stores. “I work as a designer for a brand in Europe.” I walked into the first store and he followed me. 

“Wait, what? You’re a designer? Why were you working at T–world doing something completely different?” he asked, frowning. He put his hands in his pockets as I observed the clothes in the 

store and marveled at the textures and colors. 

“I told you I knew my family’s business. At the time the project started, Alaia asked for my help and I was willing to do it,” I said simply, and I saw that he didn’t understand. 

began to tell him about my studies that I supposedly did after military school, without going 

into much detail. It felt good to let loose a little with someone, even though I didn’t see the 

need to tell him the whole truth. 

“You’re a box of surprises,” William murmured, following in my footsteps. 

“You have no idea,” I thought, and continued walking through the store while I told him about. 

my knowledge of fashion, which, unexpectedly, he listened to attentively, and I liked it. 

“Oh, I love perfumes,” I said, arriving at an elegant shelf where they were displayed. 

I started smelling them all and applied two of them to my wrists. 

“This one is exquisite,” I said, putting a little of one on his exposed wrist. He had taken off his 

jacket and tie before getting out of the car. 

“Do you see?” I smelled the scent on his skin and my sense of smell went haywire, as did my 

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body. 

“It smells so different on me,” he commented. I was in my element and I brought my wrist to his nose. I watched his face and his gesture made me bite my lip without realizing it. 

“Wait, why does it smell so good on you?” he said, staring at me. Nervous under his gaze, I decided to keep walking without answering his question. 

We finished our tour and bought some drinks to go before getting back in the car. 

“Who knew fashion could be so interesting?” he said, starting the car. I was stunned; I liked 

those words more than I could have imagined. 

“I know,” I nodded with a smile and drank my milkshake. 

On the way, he asked questions about what we saw and I was surprised to notice that he had 

been paying close attention to me. 

“What’s going on there?” I pointed to a place with lots of lights and people outside, loud 

music. It sounded like the things I didn’t do very often in the UK, but that I enjoyed. 

“I think it’s a festival,” he replied calmly. I opened my eyes wide; he was telling me that fate 

had brought me to a festival in Los Angeles. Well, I wasn’t going to miss this; Tino would go 

crazy if he were here. 

“We’re going in there.” I pointed to the place again and Will raised both eyebrows. “Come on, bro, don’t be boring.” I playfully punched his arm. My guard was down that day. “Go ahead, go park, I’ll get the tickets.” 

I got out of the car before he said anything and went to get in line to buy the tickets. 

bought two and happily went to meet William. I couldn’t believe who was performing that 

night. 

“Don Omar is going to be there,” I said effusively, reaching him as he watched all the people 

entering. “It’s old school.” 

“I’m all for going out and having fun, but these kids won’t be older than 20,” Will commented, 

and I looked around. What did it matter? 

“So?” I asked. “Not all these artists go to the UK together,” I said excitedly, looking for the 

entrance among so many people. 

“How old are you, 12?” he crossed his arms and asked playfully, seeing my attitude. 

“Actually, 10,” I replied gracefully, and without realizing it, I took his hand and pulled him along with me to enter the festival.