Valentina

I needed to get out. There was no way I was going to stay in that house after what Antonio did to me. I was his fucking wife but he decided to treat me like a street whore, holding onto me as if I was nothing to him.

He question still revved in my mind, fuming up my ability to see clearly. I knew dad wouldn't disclose our secret and there wasn't anyone else who knew about my participation than him. Even Elena's secret was still intact or else the whole house would have known about it.

Although I drove out, there had no destination in mind. There were not many people I had the previledge of visiting. To my luck, after our Spain's great escape, Nico made out safely. I dialed him up while driving. His didn't bother picking up.

When a rogue tear trickled down my cheek, I wondered if it was because of my decision to help Elena, to betray the family who loved me unconditionally or due to some dredged up feelings for Antonio.

The farmhouse where Nico was temporary sheltered came into view. It was arid with no signs of greenery anywhere for miles. My current state resonated with the place. I felt deserted too by my own people. Accelerating the last mile, I clutched onto the steering and dragged in deeper breaths to push away Antonio's thoughts. I failed miserably.

My heart thumped over my chest every time I recalled today's event. Antonio was ready to kill me, he almost had me. Why did he let me go? Why was there mercy for me?

My phone rang up and the sultry automated voice of in the announced, "Antonio calling." Rage fueled me as I pressed onto the red button, ending the call and the announcement. If Antonio wanted to talk, he better fucking respect me before thinking of mending ways with me.

I parked the car and trotted the last of the stairs at the entrance and walked in the house. Nico watched my stride but stayed silent, holding his chin resting over his knuckle.

"Whiskey?" he rattled the bottle and upon my nod, poured a generous one. "Ice?"

"Neat."

"Oh. That bad huh?" he said, hooded eyes watching me for a miniscule of a second before he stood up.

"It was either coming here or murdering someone. So ya, that bad." I scoffed at him.

Staying silent, he served himself before fetching another glass to serve. Back on the couch, Nicolas spread wide. I fell back on the rocking chair which with every pendulum moment of its, creaked up the wooden flood. Normally, the creaking board would have annoyed me but today, it was a soothing tone to silence the demons roaring inside my head.

I took a long, deep gulp letting the burn satiate the otherwise lit fire in my chest. Coating my mouth with another lighter sip, I placed the amber content on the table. The liquid danced in the crystal glass, taunting me to take it, consume it whole. I knew better than to be sloshed.

My ringtone annoyed me. Antonio. His name itself was enough to rile be up to empty the glass. I eased my burn with a hiss let out from between my teeth. He did the unforgivable. He promised to never harm me but broke it. He fucked up.

"Trouble with Antonio?" Nicolas sat up. His face turned small like a raisin. I waved my hand in the air, dismissing the issue. "If you came here to sit in silence, then you could have gone to meet Ramon uncle. He was worried for you."

"Why is that wife killer worried for me?" Anger spewed through my words. I was enraged at all the men in my life. Ramon lied to me, telling me the Moralez killed my mother. Antonio tried killing me in what fit of rage, I had no clue and Nicolas, the one who knew about Spain and the Moralez plan never even thought fit to warn me. "He sold me to the wolves. What does he want now? My life? Or yours?"

"Val, what's the matter. I know Ramon doesn't deserve your mercy but you are better than this." Nicolas was calm, composed. Of course, he would. Nobody tried to fucking kill him. "You are better at hiding your true nature, Val. Deception, remember?"

In my not to great temperamental moment, I tossed the glass across the floor. The wood took off the impact, saving the glass but my force did effect it. Cracks appeared on the sides, rendering it useless. I picked it up, facing Nico.

"This is what I have become," I showed him the cracked crystal. Transferring his content into mine, I watched in silence as the glass leaked the contents. "I am like this now, Nico. Useless. Ramon's secret broke me. It has made me a vessel which is neither good for decoration not good for retention."

Falling back on the chair, I closed my eyes. Nico's hands rubbed over my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see him leaning over me. His pressured touch rendered me helpless to fight back. I leaned into his touch, relieved and shut my eyelids to rest. To forget the dreadful day.

"Elena is alive." I whispered, smiling at my words. Fate had a thing for me. Every time I tried to build myself back up, it inflicted a new would, bleeding me dry. Nico's massaging hands stopped for a second before they started kneading my shoulders with the perfect pressure for me to tweet like a bird. "She contacted me. She told me, Ramon helped her escape."

His hands stopped their work when I grabbed them upfront. Nico's face remained pale as I narrated the incidents of last night. His expression shifted from scared to surprise before moving permanently to aghast. "Are you going to tell Antonio about it?"

I nodded sidewise. "I don't know what her plan is. I want to see what she has in mind and how deep Ramon is involved."

Nicolas agreed, tilting his head up. His hand rubbed together, trying some method to warm upto my words. "I can't believe, Ramon can do so much, play so many games."

Even I couldn't believe the occurrence. A man whom I called my father, was involved in so many things and I, his own child, one who helped him in his daily affairs, wasn't aware of it. Ramon was a truly deceptive one. His company, Elena wasn't far beyond.

Another call broke our conversation. It was Antonio, yet again.

"Calling to apologize?" Nico asked, a smirk decorated on his face.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Let him suffer. He deserves the worst treatment." Sliding back on the couch, I ended the call and I nursed my freshened drink. "What about you, Nico. Ever planning on telling me about your engagement?"

Nicolas's face reddened upon my words. His looked away to a distance. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "It was part of the deal with Antonio, to get close to Santos."

"So Antonio asked you to seduce a girl and you did? Is that what Ramirez' are reduced to now?" A part of me despised all of this. Being the play toy for a man or their agent, willing to anything and everything for the master.

"No. Are you serious, Val? You really think I can do that to Sofia?" Nico straightened up. When I shrugged at his question, he delivered his defense. "I have never even touched her. She is.. I knew things about her which she never told anyone. Not even Santos. I have nothing more than respect and lov..."

Nico stopped at his words. His eyes swung up, hoping I didn't hear his confession but that was not the truth. I felt sorry for him, sad for her and heartbroken for Agustin. They all were caught in a web of confusion over. Sofia, who belonged to someone, like someone else without being aware that a third person adored her from a distance.

"What I meant is-"

"You don't have to justify, Nico. We all have been there at one time or another." Sadness returned to his eyes as he gulped down his drink to suppress them.

"Are you one of them?" he pointed to my silent phone.

"One of whom?"

"The unlucky few, Val. Have you fallen for the man who would never fall for you?" his slurred words taunted me. Did I? Was I a victim of attraction?

Or worse?

"I don't know and I don't want to either. All I know is that Antonio loves his business more than anyone."

He laughed, removing his shoe and curling into a ball on the couch. "Then you think wrong. You should have heard him on the call when you were leaving Spain. He never asked about Al, only you. Like his center of gravity has shifted from his family to you."

My own gravity center shifted upon hearing those sweet words. I couldn't believe Nico's drunk submissions but a part of me felt elated knowing Antonio was worried about me. I had given him earful the after we landed, thinking I was merely a pawn for him. The realization that I was more than that, the fact that he was worried for me more than his own brother, confirmed Nico's earlier question.

I had fallen for the man. His anger and quirks and everything else. I felt guilty, hiding Elena's truth from him. A part of me wanted to confess, but the other side, the logical one, refrained me from doing anything stupid. Pulled from both ends, I decided to let it mellow.

My screen lit back with Antonio's name. The bouncing call button nudged me to slide it open. A vision of us smiling together danced in front of my eyes as I slid the screen, placing the phone over my ears.

"Where are you?" he barked over the phone. Buried anger returned like a backtracked wave in the ocean, only mightier. I saw black spots around my vision as I moved across the hall after ending the call. The burning in my eyes only calmed when I guzzled my drink.

"Hey, he is worried for you," Nico's slurred words barely made out of him mouth. "He loves you."

"He only loves himself and you need to sleep off." I pulled a blanket over him and sat on the chair, rocking back and forth. The dim lit fire from the candles made for longer shadows. "Val, do you think Sofia loves me?"

His question was unanswered as I knew it would kill him. I patted him to sleep, playing the lullaby on the rocking chair creaking the flooring. Once Nico drew longer breaths and snored, I dialed his number. Letting it go to voicemail, I recorded the message for him for the next morning before moving out of the place.

The drive back home was slow. I took pit stops at random dark corners, unwilling to reach the place that reminded me of our fight. I was trained by the Ramirez' for a lot of things. But none of them included bowing to the beatings of a man.

I knew well, this had to end today. We couldn't continue hurting each other. At least not me. I sat in the car, retelling myself what I decided. No more hurting me. I wasn't his slave. Those words gave me the encouragement needed to drive back.

Before I drove through the driveway, a voicemail prompted me to open it.

It was Antonio, drawing deep breaths on the call.

"Val," his soft voice called me. My heart launched into my mouth. Being hit with mixed emotions, I leaned over the steering, waiting for him to finish. "Please come back. I need you. I...more.. I want you more than I could admit."

I pumped onto the gas as the car speed through the driveway. A help rushed out through the door as I removed myself from my seat.

"Ma'am, this way.." she gestured to the garden which stood beneath Antonio's room. I walked over, lending my bag to her.

The hallways were dim lit as opposed to the bright, eye hurting lights that always ushered me. Towards the end of the hallway and at the start of the garden entrance, fairy lights and translucent white sheet canopied the sky.

I walked over, following the chatters and came across a neatly placed table in the middle of the garden, next to the fountain. The cooks and the help scrambled around, placing lilies in vases and walking about. They all froze at their steps upon noticing me.

Like rats after lights were turned on, all of them scurried in different direction, letting me to view the man who stood in his tuxedo. Neatly gelled hair and a long stemmed rose in his hand, Antonio carried a smile on his face as I walked over.

He took my hand into his, kissing my knuckle. All the built up anger melted away. The only sound which resonated in my ears were of my heartbeats and Nico's question. Did I really fall for the man who would never fall for me?

"Thank you for coming, Val," he dragged out a chair for my benefit. Bending low, he whispered to me, "Tonight is going to be a special night, one which you will never forget."

I looked over to him. Antonio's face was enveloped with a smile but his eyes swirled in concern. The hopeful part of me scratched the inside of my gut, yelling out the answer I hoped to be true.

Antonio had fallen for me.

~

The heart  is a muscle which defied all views and logic.