Chapter 18: No te dejaré ir

Andrea saw so much worry in Wanda's eyes. Suddenly she murmured something to Andrea, "Don't dare him. He'll do it!"

Once they stepped out, Antonio locked the door manually. Each click of the locking door made Andrea feel regretful.

"Now that it's just the two of us," Antonio said deviously, "...how shall we deal with a naughty girl."

Andrea's heart started to race intensely, seeing Antonio unbuttoning his shirt. "W-W-What are you doing?" She panicked sitting up in bed. He merely looked at her with a horrifying grin.

"There are so many ways I can get you to eat," he said putting his hands into his pocket after unbuttoning halfway. Andrea couldn't help but take a peek at his gorgeous chest. His firm tanned broad chest and a little if his abs.

"You wanna see it better?" He teased with a cheeky smirk. Andrea's face turned red. She lay back down and shut her eyes hard.

"Listen Liliana..."

"Andrea," she interrupted sharply.

"I don't care. Your name is your name. If you hate it so much, take it out already. Now get up and eat or else I'll make you," he said feeling irritated.

"I don't have an appetite. You can't blame me for that after what you did. Stop acting like you care. I bet you want me to get well just to go through all that again," she said weakly, still lying down with her eyes shut.

"Such a self-centered brat," he said getting closer. "If you really want to get out of here, you..." he was saying when his hand touched her arm. "You have a fever," he said, placing his hand on her forehead.

"Wow, I had no idea," she said sarcastically.

"How are you unwell and still so sharp tongued?" Antonio was intrigued.

"I still...I still have a tongue," she struggled to say.

Antonio sat her up despite her reluctance. She insisted on sleeping but he refused, saying she couldn't do that without eating. She could barely stay upright on her own. He sat to next to her on the bed to feed her the food.

"I don't want to eat," she whined weakly, as though she wished to cry. "I-I just want to go home."

Antonio kept trying his best to feed her. After almost ten minutes, he had managed to get her to eat only half a spoon of food. He attempted to get up to get the nurse but the barely conscious woman in his arm started to weep. "Don't... don't leave me Ralph. I'll be all alone. M-Mum will try to kill me again... this time, I'll die. Your Lily will be good. I won't run from home again. Don't go." The tears slowly rolled down her rosy cheeks though her eyes were barely open. She gripped Antonio's shirt as firmly she could.

'Did her mother really try to kill her? That's why she ran from home?' he thought astonished and pitifully. "I promise I won't go if you eat your food," he said softly and comfortingly, placing a kiss on her temples. Her temperature was really high. She had to eat so she could receive medication. Per the doctor's instructions, if she doesn't eat properly before taking the medication, her blood pressure would rise and that wouldn't be good. "Lily, you need to eat," he said softly."

With that, Andrea managed to consume, at least, a little over half the plate of food before falling asleep in Antonio's arm, her head resting on his chest. He reached his free hand for the telephone on the side drawer of his bed and called Wanda to come in with the nurse. Once again, Wanda and Paloma were speechless. Antonio seemed different. He was actually concerned about Andrea which made everyone wonder who she really is.

"She's down with a fever. I managed to get her to eat some of the food. I hope that's enough for her to take her medication," he said, his voice void of anger or unconcern.

"I'll give her the medication right away," Paloma said, rushing for the kit.

"I'll get some towels and water to cool down her temperature," Wanda said about to step out of the room.

"Check in the first topmost drawer on the left shelf in the closet on the right. There are some towels there. You can take one of the basins as well," Antonio said.

"B-But those are your..."

"I don't believe I spoke gibberish," Antonio said intimidatingly, giving her a sharp glare.

Wanda quietly went in to get them. Deep down, although she was in complete shock, she was happy. Antonio never shared his personal stuff with anyone, hardly with even Rachel. He was changing. 'There's still hope that Antonio will really open up his heart again. Andrea might just tame his wild heart,' she thought with a smile on her face.

Once she filled up the basins, Antonio attempted to step away for Wanda to cool down her temperature. However, Andrea began mumbling, still holding on to his shirt. "Papá, no me dejes de nuevo," she said in weeping tone, meaning 'Papa, don't leave me again'.

"Perhaps it would be best if you did it yourself," Wanda suggested. Antonio instructed them to leave and attended to her himself.

"No me dejes ir," Andrea said 'Don't let me go' in Spanish. Her warm tear fell on his bare chest, dropping down towards his abs

"No te dejaré ir," Antonio said, meaning 'I won't let go off you'.

Jackson's penthouse...

"Calm down Lana," Jackson said, "I'm getting dizzy from watching you moving up and down." He sighed in distress.

"Quit telling me to calm down Jay. My little sister isn't picking up my calls. She's also not in the apartment, according to our neighbour. Our lights have been on since last night, meaning she didn't come back home...."

"She's not a little girl anymore Lana," he said in a higher tone as he walked past her to grab a drink from the counter, "...that's if she ever was."

Lana glared intensely but before she could fire at him, Jeremy walked in. "Lana I got your message. What do you mean she's missing?" Jeremy asked worriedly.

"Oh Jeremy, it's all my fault," Lana said trembling. Jeremy ushered her to grab a seat, trying to calm her down. She explained how she had sent Andrea a message that she was stepping out with Jackson and didn't get a reply, sure that she was furious. However, Andrea hadn't picked any of her calls since and according to a neighbour, she hasn't set her eyes on her since that night. "For crying out loud, the lights in our apartment are still on and no one is responding," Lana broke down, weeping on Jeremy's shoulder.

"Have you been there? To your apartment?" Jeremy asked. "Maybe she's doing it on purpose because she's upset. We both know how crazy she can get," Jeremy tried to console her by putting less negative thoughts in her head. "You know what? The police won't start an investigation until 24 hours have passed so here's what we can do. I'll get my men to start a search for her. What do you think?"

"Oh thank you Jere..."

"Seriously?" Jackson scoffed, cutting Lana, "You do realize she's an adult, right? She's probably having fun with friends or a guy or..."

"She doesn't have friends nor a guy she's seeing," Lana wept, worrying.

"No surprise there," Jackson murmured and gulped down the remaining content of his glass. Lana looked at him and shook her head in disappointment. "Okay love. I will get my men to search for her. Jeremy, there's no need to get invol..."

"What's wrong with you? This is not some kind of competi..."

"Would you really do that?" Lana asked, a hint of happiness in her voice.

"You're my responsibility Lana. Therefore, your sister is my responsibility too," Jack said while moving over and kneeling before her.

"Jeremy, thank you...but I think it wouldn't be necessary anymore. I know Jackson can handle this," Lana said wiping her tears and looking at him with appreciation. Jackson caressed her cheeks before leaning in to meet her lips with his.

"Unbelievable," Jeremy muttered under his breath in shock and disappointment, walking out. "I'm still going to search for Andrea because she matters," he said to himself.

★★★

"You said you would protect me!" Marcus yelled angrily.

"Stop yelling," Rachel said softly and irritatedly. "I said I knew how to help you out with Antonio and I did..."

"For barely a split second!" he boomed. "He's going to have me blacklisted. I'll never get a job again," he whimpered like a maniac ad he went down on his knees, "You have to help me. You have to protect me from An..."

"There there dear one," she said and brushed her fingers over his brown and gray short hair. He leaned on her legs pleadingly. "You're my friend. I'll do anything to protect you from Antonio Leonardo Robles," she said in a iconic soft voice. 'Oh such a fool. You were just a pawn in this game and I'm already done with you. My point was just to show Antonio that I could get into his company if I wished to. You've outlived your importance to me Marcus Elton. Funny thing is, you think all he'll do to you is blacklist you? Ha! Once you've had anything to do with me, you're as good as dead. It was almost nice knowing you pal,' she thought, trying hard not to burst into laughter.