The Wedding Date

Part One - Chapter Ten: The Stag Party

“You seem happy,” Hugo said as he watched his younger brother, he couldn’t remember the last time that he had seen him like this; even when he had been with Luciana, he had never been this happy.

Cristiano sipped on his drink as he looked at his older brother, he knew that people had noticed a change in his behaviour and he had to agree; ever since Felisa had come into his life, he had been a lot happier and he knew that when this was over he would miss her.

“I am,” the footballer confirmed with a nod of his head, he felt a little sad that he wouldn’t see Felisa again when their contract ended; she would go back to her life as a female escort and he would continue on with his life as a single footballer.

Cristiano sat quietly as he thought about how he could see Felisa again, she clearly meant more to him than he had ever expected she would and after their kiss he wasn’t sure that he could let her go.

“I’m happy for you,” Hugo said as he tried to ignore the guilt that formed in his chest, he knew that what he had done was terrible but now that Cristiano had Felisa everything was going to be okay; he would make sure of that.

The footballer furrowed his brow as he looked at his older brother, he didn’t know what it was but he could tell that something was upsetting Hugo; he hadn’t been the same since Cristiano had been left at the altar.

“Do me a favor? Don’t let Felisa slip through your fingers, you’d be an idiot to do so,” Hugo said as he patted his younger brother on the back before he walked away, he knew he’d had a bit too much to drink and he didn’t want to slip up and reveal what had happened five years ago.

***

Nuno eyed his cousin concerned as he spotted him checking his phone, this was the one thing that he had worried about when he has suggested that they hire an escort; he had prayed that it wouldn’t but it had.

It was clear for everyone to see that Cristiano had fallen for Felisa and there in lay a problem; at the end of the two week contract, the brunette would go back to her life of sleeping with men for money and giving them the girlfriend experience.

Felisa would never be able to give Cristiano the thing that he wanted most and Nuno knew that it would hurt his cousin; he had seen the brunette try to resist Cristiano’s charm but it became clear that fate was working against them and now they were falling for one another.

“Everything okay Nuno?” Edgar asked as he sat down next to his cousin-in-law, he tilted his head as he followed Nuno’s gaze to Cristiano; he smiled as he watched the footballer texting someone and it was clear from the small smile on the forward’s face who it was.

Nuno sighed as he nodded his head, he knew that he was going to have to have a chat with Cristiano about his attraction with Felisa and make sure that the footballer knew that this had to end when the wedding was over; if that failed then he’d need to talk with the brunette.

“It’s nice to see him happy especially after what Hugo and Luciana did to him,” Edgar rambled making Nuno stop what he was doing and look at him; he furrowed his brow wondering what the other man was talking about.

Edgar paused as he realised what he had said and looked at Nuno nervously, he only knew because his wife had told him; Elma had made him swear never to reveal any of this to anyone especially Cristiano.

“What did Hugo and Luciana do to him?” Nuno asked as Edgar shifted nervously as he realised that he had been caught out and his wife would kill him if she discovered that he had told someone about this; he glanced around looking for a way out while Nuno watched him wondering what was going on.

“Okay… but you can’t tell anyone especially Ronaldo,” Edgar said softly as he moved closer to Nuno, who nodded his head as he eyed the footballer from across the room; he frowned wondering what secret there could be that his cousin didn’t know about and the rest of his family seemed to know about.

The two men were silent for a moment as Edgar thought about what he was going to say; he stared across the room first at Cristiano and then at Hugo.

“Luciana was cheating on Ronaldo with Hugo… she dumped him at the altar for his brother,” Edgar whispered as he stood close to Nuno, allowing the man to smell the alcohol on his breath; he glanced at his cousin-in-law who went pale as he realised what he was being told.

Nuno pulled back slightly as he stared first at Edgar speechlessly before he looked over at Hugo in fury that the older Aveiro brother had done that to his own brother; he felt sick to his stomach at the thought that Hugo had been the reason that Cristiano had been so hurt.

As if on que, Hugo turned to look at the two men across the room and swallowed at the look of disgust on Nuno’s face as he realised that the other man knew what he had done; he swallowed as he quickly excused himself to get away from the guilt and shake of what he had done.

***

Hugo spent the rest of the evening avoiding Nuno, he knew that he was going to get an ear full when his cousin caught up with him and it wouldn’t be the first time; he’d heard it all before from his mother and sisters about his affair with Luciana, nothing Nuno could say could fix what he had done.

“How could you do that to your own brother?” his cousin snapped as he finally caught up with Hugo, who slowly turned to look at him; he swallowed as he saw the murderous look on Nuno’s face.

Hugo ran a hand through his hair as he looked over at his brother, he tried to swallow the guilt that formed in his throat at how much pain that he had caused Cristiano and he wished that there was some way that he could make up for that.

“I know what I did was horrible and there is nothing that I can do to fix this but please don’t tell him,” Hugo begged as he looked at Nuno hoping that his cousin would understand; if he were to tell Cristiano what he had done then he would lose his brother, he didn’t want that not when everything seemed to be going well right now.

Nuno glared at his older cousin, he couldn’t believe that Hugo was asking this of him; he looked over at Cristiano who was completely unaware that he had been jilted at the altar because of his older brother.

“I won’t tell him,” Nuno said as he looked at Hugo, he saw the relief that flooded his cousin’s face and glared at him; he knew what he wanted and he wasn’t going to allow Hugo to get away with this.

He knew that Cristiano deserved to know the truth about why his fiancée had walked out on him; he deserved to know that his older brother had betrayed him.

“But you will,” Nuno said making Hugo pale as he went to thank Nuno for his silence, it was his mother who had suggested that the keep the affair quiet so that it wouldn’t destroy the family; he didn’t want to tear his family apart of something that happened in the past.

However the look on Nuno’s face made it clear that this wasn’t going to let this go and he worried what his cousin might do if he didn’t do as he was told.