Chapter 19: Te tengo

Night time....

"Boss," Arnold greeted Antonio who just walked into the study. "You seem exhausted."

"Try dealing with a brat like that," Antonio murmured with a scoff. "You've got something for me?" Antonio fell on his seat, sighing in exhaustion and relief.

"Yes boss. We just found her phone a few hours ago. It was still unlocked and she had many messages and calls not replied. It was her sister," he said, handing over the phone.

"When you found it, it wasn't unlocked?" Antonio asked, expressing a bit of shock. 'This only means Lauren didn't cover her tracks,' he thought, rubbing his temples. 'This means her action wasn't well planned. It's almost as though she wanted to be done with Andrea quickly. If that is the case, why did she put her through that much hardship? What were your real intentions Lauren,' Antonio thought, troubled, yet with an unfazed expression.

"No need to be disturbed about that sir. I already dealt with the situation. Apparently, the lady has a course to be angry with her sister and turns out her sister didn't spend the night in their apartment either. I made it seem as though Miss Andrea was ignoring her out of anger and insisted her sister gave her some space to clear her mind," he said, confidently. Lana had received the message and called off the search Jackson claimed to have begun when he didn't so much as lift his phone to make a call. Suddenly, confusion wrapped his mind up. "Boss, is this woman an enemy to Lauren? She didn't seem to be herself in carrying out the task and that's not like her. It's almost as though she was overwhelmed with rage. My men..."

"I'll deal with her later. You may leave now and deal 'effectively' with your men," Antonio said coldly and walked out with his phone.

★★★

Back to his room...

"How is she?" Antonio enquired from the nurse.

"She seems better boss. Her temperature has come down. Madam Wanda and I have applied some ointment on her bruises so they can heal quickly. If she's consistent with her medication, she should be fine in about two weeks time. The doctor will be here soon to check up on her," Paloma said before excusing herself.

Antonio walked over to the bedside to placed her phone in one of the drawers. While in the process, he heard a murmur. Unsure and doubtful of what he may have heard, he turned away to leave but instantly, she repeated herself, "A-Antonio." Her voice was weak, hinting fear and sadness. Her eyes slowly squinting at while still shut. "Antonio, help me," she whispered in her sleep, a tear dropping from the side of her  eye and soaking into the pillow. She seemed to be having a bad dream. Antonio grabbed a foldable desk from the store room and positioned it next to her side. He placed his laptop on its table and sat down, holding her hand on the bed. "Te tengo," he said, meaning "I've got you."

★★★

Three days later...

"Sir, she's throwing a tantrum. She's threatening to trash your room." Paloma informed upon meeting Antonio outside the door of his room.

His unfazed expression changed to that of fury the moment she made her second statement. He hardly ever let anyone into his room. His personal space is one of his greatest treasures. Just the thought of someone ruining it made his blood boil.

Antonio walked in and suddenly his expression, upon seeing her, turned back to the usual unmoved one. "You may leave," he said to Paloma and Wanda, who was over at Andrea's side, trying to calm her down.

Andrea glared intensely at Antonio but he barely spared her a look. "Your glares have no effect on me so don't bother," he said and dropped his laptop on the centre table in his parlour.

"What is your problem now little brat?"

"I want to go ho..."

"Believe me, I want you gone even more," he said and walked into the closet.

Andrea was confused. "Then why on Earth are you still keeping me here?!" Fury evident in her yell. She let out a slight moan in pain as she tried to get out of the bed. Walking out of the closet and seeing her attempt to get off, he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out of the bed, genius," she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, removing her arm from his grip. Almost immediately, she tried to move away and was a miracle away from falling due to her bruised shin. Luckily, Antonio grabbed her in time and sat her on the bed. She blushed with embarrassment, avoiding his gaze, causing him to chuckle. "I don't want to stay in bed before I end up forgetting how to use my legs."

"Well you can clearly barely move genius," he said unfazed, earning a non-effective glare, "...so you had better get well or else you're going nowhere."

He held out her phone, handing it over but before her mind came to that, his words hit her. "You're going to keep me locked up here up until I get better?! So that what? You can do the job properly this time ar..." Before she could complete her accusation, he scoffed and threw her phone next to her on the bed.

"Call your sister. She's worried. Be wise though. If you don't want her meddling in this matter and getting into real trouble with me, I suggest you be extra careful about what you say to her. Go through your chat with her first," he said nonchalantly, shutting her up, and went back towards the closet. "Oh by the way," he stopped just before getting in, "...try shutting up more and listening. It would really help you." He walked in and locked the door.

Andrea opened up her chat with Lana. Shock registered on her face as she viewed the messages. She immediately dialed Lana's number and she picked after the first ring.

"LILY! OH GOODNESS! WAS ALL THIS NECESSA..."

"Oh zip it Lana," she shut her up coldly. "What did you expect? You went out with Jackson 'to talk'. Fine. I don't agree with that but that wasn't a big deal. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you agreed and decided to get that pest out of our place. But Lana, you spent the night at his place? AT HIS FREAKING PLACE!" Andrea boomed unexpectedly and sighed in pain instantly.

"Andrea, I didn't plan to. I..."

"It wasn't just that night, was it?" She asked and before Lana could speak, she interrupted. "You know what? Do whatever you want Lana. It's your life and your choices to make. I can only so much as advice you. The rest is up to you. If you so much as want to be with someone who simply plays around and jokes with your emotions, go ahead. Experience is the best teacher after all. Just warn that bastard to flee while he still can because next time, I won't hesitate to put him in the hospital again if he...no, sorry, 'when' he hurts you agai..."

"He won't so don't say that Andrea," Lana said, a slight hint of fear in her voice.

Andrea was silent for a while. Her fear was right. "You're back together, huhn?"

"I can explain but..."

"But what Lana?" Andrea's voice was so cold. "He didn't hurt you enough? You want more? You.."

"You don't understand because you don't know what love is! You can't understand because you've never been in love! I dare you to try it and see if you'll still say the same thing. He loves me and I know it. You would too if someone loved you like he loves me," Lana argued angrily. The call line was silent once again.

After almost a minute, Lana mentioned Andrea's name but she cut her. "I'm staying with a friend from college. There's no need to bother yourself about my whereabouts. Have fun," she said and hung up instantly. Soon after, she switched her phone off.

"Of all the things, I didn't think you would be a relationship counselor," Antonio said walking over to the sofa. He was all dressed up officially, fixing his tye.

"And I never thought you were an eavesdropper," she said in a down tone and lay back down, turning over to the other side.

"Even if I were, I wouldn't need skills to be able to overhear your loud conversation." Antonio realized Andrea's mood was down. She was definitely upset. 'Finally, some peace and quiet,' he thought but almost immediately thought otherwise. He hadn't realized how he was starting to enjoy her hyper mood. "There's a console in the drawer in case you want to play games. Dial 3 on the telephone to reach the kitchen for anything you want. I'll forward Wanda's number to you in case you need her or the nurse for anything. The Doctor will be here later this afternoon for a check up. Don't give anyone a hard time while I'm away. If you need me, call me," he said.

Andrea turn over to look at him and gasped out of fright when her face was only a few inches away from his. He was squatting next to bed, taking something out of the drawer under the bed. A slight blush crept on Antonio's face. He wasn't expecting her to turn, much less so suddenly. A chuckle escaped Andrea's mouth, knocking him out of his daze. He immediately shut the drawer after placing something into it.

"You haven't fixed your tye properly," Andrea said and before he could say anything, she held on to it, wanting eagerly to fix it. Being a perfectionist herself, she felt uneasy seeing it. Her action was unanticipated and swift, almost causing Antonio to fall on her. This time, their faces were only an inch away.

"What do you think you're doing Andrea?" Antonio asked with his husky voice as his cool minty breath fanned her face. This time, being the one to knock them both out of their daze, he moved away slightly, allowing her to fix his tye. She immediately did so and let go. Swiftly, she pulled out his phone from his pocket. Antonio grabbed his suit from the sofa and picked up his laptop. He stepped out and returned exactly a second later. "Andrea, hand me my phone," he said, rubbing his temples exhaustedly. "You're a handful, you know that?" 'I thought I felt something move on me when I was leaving the bed side. I'm sure she has it,' he thought.

"I'll hand it over on the condition that you allow me make a video for my channel. I haven't posted in a while and that's my job."

"No. Now hand it over," he said emotionlessly.

"If I can't go to work, then neither can you," she said and smiled innocently at him.

"Stop acting up like a kid. You're unwell and you look it," he said bluntly, causing Andrea to gasp in shock. "Your beloved followers will start asking questions you can't answer."

"I won't appear in the vid..."

"No," he said and bluntly stared at her.

She was irritated at how he simply turned her down on her request and decided to do same. "Okay, you're not getting your phone then."

At that very moment, Antonio placed his laptop and coat on the glass table in front of the couch and walked over to the bed. Andrea panicked at the thought of him aggressively taking it from her. Surprisingly, he dialled on the telephone instead. 'If he's calling his phone, he'll know where it is. He'll...'

"Call Lauren," he said, interrupting her thoughts, "Tell her to reschedule all my appointments for the day. I won't be going to the office." With those words, he turned to look at Andrea with a devious smirk. He dropped the telephone and started to take off his tye. "You want me to stay so I will. I hope you don't regret it Miss Cabrera. We'll be spending the 'whole day' together," he said, emphasizing the whole day.