Antonio

We scanned the air for an incoming flights. Al informed us about their narrow escape after Santos did what we expected him to. An egoistic man like him wouldn't budge from his stand. He was a textbook narcissist and I knew well, poking the bear could have its repercussions. 

I had faith that Val would be able to convince him about the contracts but..

"There," Agustin pointed towards the radar.

We were perched at the control tower, waiting for any news on them. The skies about us were blanketed with grey coverings of clouds. Just like the weather, the situation back at the house looked grimy. Maria had raised hell in the house, tossing us out to get information. We were not supposed to return without Alejandro and Val. Although Agustin tried his best to convince her about their successful escape she, being the scared mother that she was, didn't buy his words.

Agustin fell back on the chair behind me. His eyes remained shut as the rumbling from the craft engine, closing up on the runway would be heard from a distance. Phew. Even I was relieved, listening to the pilot asking for clearance. Gabriel had walked up after listening to the clearance message, readying the cars to escort them back. 

Agustin turned in his creaking chair. His eyes remained on me as I stood watching the ominous sky. "You knew they would be attacked? Didn't you?" Anger dripped from his voice as the realization struck him. 

Yes, I had lied to Val and Agustin about the safety of this trip. Salazar's hold was growing strong and even though he was miles apart, there was nothing we could do except plan the coup to overthrow him. I had heard of a Latin man's attempt at trying to rule all of us, place us under his thumb. Santos Salazar's father was the only man who seemed to have taken the meaning of allies seriously. Rest of their clan was always driven with the motive to rule. 

The craft landed, floating right across our eyes before coming to a standstill. The tarmac rumbled to life as the jet engines addressed the impending question on everyone's mind. Val and Alejandro were safe. They made it back alive.

Val was the first to descent. She looked over us and into the sky as if she was somehow reliving the moments faced in Spain. Walking towards me, she deviated her course at last. Her phone rang where she confirmed something, coverting the speaker.

Within seconds, a grey sedan approached the runway, picking her up.

"Hey, you have to come with us." I ordered her through the window. She turned up the pane with only enough space for me to peek. This woman's defiance never ceased to amaze me.

"I don't have to do anything for you anymore," her hand tapped on the driver's seat and the vehicle left.

Agustin, who stood behind me patted my arm. I knew she was scorned. I would manage my distance with her for a couple of hours before interacting. A scorned woman wasn't someone I wanted to entertain.

Alejandro hopped off the last step from the craft before rushing and embracing me. "We did it.." his voice was muffled with his mouth pressed against my shoulder. I patted his back. My brother made me proud today.

"Welcome home," I ruffled his hair and he ducked. "Where is the-" before I could ask, he pointed to the airhostesses who carried an unconscious girl till the entrance of the door.

My men pulled her out on a stretcher. I walked towards her; a sleeping Salazar, unaware of why she travelled from Spain to Mexico. 

Agustin stood beside me, "Is that..?" His words stuttered, his eyes were ready to escape its sockets. My little brother wasn't made aware of this part of the plan.

I nodded. "It is Sofia Salazar." We had captured the heiress to the Spanish empire. The girl who was Santos heart and soul. "Now the fun begins." I turned to Agustin, beaming that my plan was proceeding as charted. His face returned to its expressionless state as opposed to the usual smiling one.

I could rarely read Agustin on a normal occasion but that rareity was fading daily. Watching Sofia, he turned into a lump of skin on a dead animal. I watched the color of his face drain, dripping off his fingertips. He silently walked with Al, hosting himself into the car.

At the mansion, Al took Sofia to a secluded quarter while Agustin walked back to Maria's room. I retired into my room when Maria's scream summoned me. Every brick holding the house and its foundation shook to its core, hearing her howler.  All the wrath of the world on one side, I would evade hers even if she was on death bed.

As I took my last step off the stairs, her piercing tone pricked my ears. "You left her to die?" she yelled, tossing a loaf of bread. I ducked before holding up my hands in parley.

"Who told you? Val?" I looked around. No sighs of hers. When I moved closer, I saw Agustin sitting on the chair, nursing his nonchalant attitude. He must have ratted me out. "He is lying." I pointed at him.

Maria held her favorite's head onto her chest as he chomped on grapes. She stared at me with fire filled eyes. Her wheatish color was suppressed with the bloodrush. Red was a color which suited her always but never her face. Maria's appearance looked like she was bathed in blood.

"Did you or did you not send my girl to Santos knowing what dangers she would be in?" Her jarring voice filled the hall.

I had no answer for that. What she blamed me for wasn't false. Accepting to it would only mean what I did was wrong and Maria was in no condition to understand the reason for my decision. I had done everything for the business. For us, Moralez. To ensure we crushed the traitor's head before he had a chance to do anything to us.

"She was good in the field. Brilliant actually. Why are you worried for her, Ma?" Alejandro's voice floated to us as he entered the room. He starred daggers at Agustin, who sat in his chair as if no wrong was done. "What your favorite forgot to mention was that Val crushed it there. She doesn't need babysitting."

Al's accusatory tone poked her and the third Moralez heir while beaming about Valentina. Maria walked over to him. As a forewarning, I tugged at my brother's elbow before moving a step back. Al remained in place, smiling down at her. Was he blind to not read her? I would never know.

Her face flared anger, her nostrils tried exhaling as much rage as it could. Then a loud sound. Whack.

As Maria's hand made contact with Al's face and remained glued there, his cheek turned to a dark shade of crimson. I intervened, distancing both of them with my bare hands. Maria was in her explosive state to lash out at anyone. To contain her, I had to calm Al and anything he might say in this tense moment. 

The air around us felt heavy, laden with anger and tension. "Mama.." Al whined. His face cringed with anger and eyes darted towards Agustin. I held him over his coat, pinning him.

"NO." A monosyllabic order and he nodded in affirmation before snatching his attire straight. I towered over Maria. 

"You didn't have to hit him." She had her words to justify her act. Words spewed from between my clenched teeth. "There was a time and place for everything. Now was not one for-"

Whack 

My ears rang and my right cheek felt warm then prickly as blood rushed under the skin. My mouth stayed unhinged as I watched her staring at me and Al. Her face flushed with every passing second. She was unwilling to back down. With a finger that danced between me and Al, she growled like a hungry hyena.

"You.. You think you can tell me what to do. What time and place to show my motherly concern? Huh? You..." She pointed at Al. "I don't care if Val was splendid with her performance or she closed her eyes and took a shot and the president, killing him. I care about her well being. About all of yours. And that means never sleeping at night when you idiots are wandering around, killing. Playing off on your egos."

She turned to me. Her hand pushed me backwards as I nursed my cheek which felt swollen. "You think I care about your enemies. No. I care about you. Your betterment. And that starts with you taking responsibility of your family which includes Valentina."

With her voice lowered, she walked across to Agustin, the rat who spilled our secret. She patted his face, loving strokes with her knuckles.

WHACK

With the sound resonating through the halls, Agustin tuned misty eyed. Al walked over to me, watching Maria behave in a peculiar way. "Has she lost it?" he whispered in my ears. I shrugged, unaware of what took over her.

"Why?" Agustin bit his lips and whined. Maria looked back at me before snapping her head towards him.

"You knew about this, Agustin. About how it might turn out. Yet, you kept it hidden. You couldn't tell me or your father about your brother's plans?" She flared up again like a rocket ready to soar up and burst. We all moved a step back.

"Ma," a soft voice turned us towards Val. She walked over to Maria. Taking her hands, she placed them over her face. I was a witness to Maria's calming process. Her lips curled up second after another etching closer to a smile. She nodded with tear filled eyes.

Val wiped them away and patted her hair. Being taller than Maria, Val was able to cuddle her into her chest. "Nothing happened okay. Don't worry," she whispered. As Maria sobbed over Val, she shushed her like a mother pacifying her baby. Calm, soft tones made Maria's tears to rescind. "We are all safe now. All is fine."

Her words were like lullaby. Maria seemed composed and normal again. Val's magical words played its trick. Sending her back to her room, Val crossed my path. In a scrambled set of instructions my brain spewed, I pulled her closer, trying to diffuse the tension between us. I was well aware of my brother's presence in the room. Yet, attempting to win her trust back, I spoke.

"You have to talk to me," I breathed my words, looking at her fallen face, her hooded eyes. 

Val halted at her steps. Arms curled across her chest, her body tiled to a side with her heel tapping the floor. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Why?" she scanned my face for an answer. "What is there to tell me now? You should have told me about everything before I went there with your trusting brother." Her hand raised, pointing to Al.

He disappeared from our sight. Agustin followed his steps.

"Val. If you were told about the dangers, you might have hesitated." Crap. That came out wrong. What I meant to say was, we didn't assume it to be such a dangerous task. Val's loud mouth click was the confirmation that I screwed up with words and deeds.

"You think I would have hesitated, Antonio? You don't know me but let me tell you, I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have willingly embraced the dangers. What you did instead was throw me to the wolves. You didn't care if I died there."

"That's not true. I didn't think.." 

"That's your problem Antonio, You didn't think." Her eyes filled up as she moved closer. With a calm voice, she showed me her wounds. The invisible yet deep wounds of betrayal. The ones I caused by not trusting her to keep a secret. "I thought you wanted me for the way I was. Ruthless. Mad. I never knew you wanted me for the things I never assumed I would be."

"What's that Val?" I wanted to know what she thought of this. Of our arrangement.

"Scapegoat," her voice quivered. Lips trembled as she knelt on the floor. I placed my hands over hers which were snapped off. "Don't touch me. Never ever touch me. Never even talk to me."

Stronger woman reel back quick. Maria used to say. I stood witness to Val's breakdown and her recovery which barely lasted seconds. Hoisted on her feet, she turned away, walking.

"Valentina," I called out as guilt flared up inside me. I didn't do anything wrong was replaced with I did something wrong. I was ready to admit my mistake. "I am sorry for what happened."

She turned over her shoulder. Her face carried a smirk when she spoke. "How many of your wives have to die before you realize that not all that you decide is right."

Val walked away, vanishing at the corners of the hallway. I stood in the empty hall, replaying her words. How many wives?

Elena was my mistake. She bolted inside the office and took the blast which was wrapped for me. With Val, I sent her to face my enemies in the name of strategy.

Realization was a bitch which took a toll on my kneecaps. Sliding over the wall, I knelt on the ground as the thoughts dawned over me. The thoughts of my gravest mistake hit me. I could have lost my brother and Valentina due to my ego. I was blinded by power to realize what was more important, what was not worth sacrificing.

They weren't.

She wasn't.

~

Babies..

Comment and let me know what you think about this chapter..

You can see, from now on both Valentina and Antonio's shift in allegiance from their prior believes.

But can love blossom between them?

Let me know your thoughts..

I would loooovee to hear from you all :)

Happy reading

Love

S