Antonio

Castros- It was all part of their game, involving their intelligence agencies. Not only were they successful in coning us for long, they almost got away with it. Valentina, the mole they assumed to be on their side was a planted by us.

She played her part brilliantly, surprising us all not only with the way she devised the whole plan but by way of execution too.

Standing in front of hotel where we had Intel on Elena, all of us Moralez man walked in. Valentina was already in the room with Elena, narrating how the plan fell. Val loved a good drama and she was having one such with Elena, retelling how all of Elena's and Castro's support died.

Alejandro moved ahead, checking and covering the whole premise while Agustin checked all exit points. Although we were in neutral grounds on the outskirts of the border, we had to be sure. There should be no other place than the inferno where Elena would find asylum.

I wanted blood, hers to be precise.

All those years of blaming myself for her death, all those tears that I shed, regretting I was unable to protect her was all in vain. She never died. She only played the part in the game she was sent for. Her love was fake and so were her words. Elena Moralez was the real pawn, the real King Killer.

Although she tried, she could never succeed in taking me down. What her calculation erred was my queen, who stood ahead of me this whole time, surveying the winds and protecting her king.

I ascended the elevator that rumbled to life. On the fourth floor, it opened into a long deserted corridor. With a worn down carpet that blew up dust ghosts with every step placed, I stood in from the door at the end of the hallway.

Tap Tap.

The door flung opened. Valentina donned a smile so bright, it made me feel numb to the day that was coming around. She moved back, gesturing me in like I was not here for revenge but a party.

My sight fell on Elena whose legs twisted like twigs on a windy day before curling it near to her heaving chest. Inside the room, the dim light displayed her expressions vividly. She breathed through her mouth, unblinking eyes watched me as I walked in. Her index pointed at me, unable to whisper the words that were at the tip of her tongue.

The dead had revived.

I smiled, watched her flushed face. Pulling a chair, I sat opposite to her. "Hello, darling," I said, my words were almost whisper but they carried no love. I was boiling on the inside. The lump in my throat and the rock on my chest grew heavier with every passing second. "Surprised to see me?"

Elena's head twisted towards Val who shrugged her shoulders as if watching a certified dead man wasn't a rare occurrence. With a slow turn, she watched me lean back on the chair. Horror filled her face with her realization that this time, it was she who was played.

"You were dead. I checked your pulse." She placed her hand on her chest, calming her heaving chest, flaring nerves. "How?"

When I smiled for long, her eyes widened. She must have realized that it was not only her secrets that came into the open but also about the one who helped her. The doctor who declared Elena dead had given her a combination of adenosine and lidocaine to send her into a temporary state of cardiac arrest. For the world Elena Moralez was dead but the reality was different.

"You see darling," I straightened my legs, leaning further back into the chair. "It's not just you who can fake a death."

Val, who scanned the dingy hotel room walls that adorned a painting handing in the corner, whispered. "The student became the master, Elena."

I nodded back at her before focusing on Elena - the one whose hands shivered when she tried gulping contents of the bottle next to her.

"Careful with what you eat or drink. You know what happened to your allies, right?" Val mocked, turning over her shoulder. Elena tossed the bottle aside. He body sprang up from the bed, watching both of us.

"What do you want?" She cried out. Although she tried maintaining the façade of control, it was visible - her fright. She wasn't with her confidants anymore. Alone in a room with people whom she tried to play in her little game, her eyes scanned all exits.

"Don't even think, Elena. My brothers are at every corner." I said. "They will make a game out of you."

She sat back on the bed, bounced off by the mattress. Her head hung low. "What do you want, Antonio?" She muttered into her chest.

Val came close to me, placing a hand over my shoulder.

I knew, if I was alone for this, had my pillar of strength be not here, I would have crumbled at Elena's sight. But it was another woman, a stronger more compassionate and ruthless one who made me realize that love doesn't make you weak. It empowered you.

Although what I had for Elena was love, a form which now I knew was played on me, I had no regrets about it. Her fake death resulted in me finding an actual woman who stood by my side since we renewed our vows to one another.

"Elena," Val called out softly. "Don't do this. Don't be a spoilsport, playing the weakling all of a sudden." She sat beside Elena and pulled her shoulders up, erecting her stance.

Elena was visibly defeated. Her plan failed and she knew there was no escape route she could undertake.

Val had very well ensured that Elena had her full confidence, to such an extent that Elena even revealed her place of residence for the mission. Before my entry, Val had ensured this place was scoured to eliminate anything Elena could use to kill herself if the news of our plan broke. With nothing on her side to hurt us or harm herself, she sat helpless.

"Please let me go," Elena clamped her hands, shaking it in front of me. "I was only part of the plan, the mastermind was someone else." Her eyes brimmed, her face elongated and crinkled. Crocodile tears.

Val walked over, patting her hand over my shoulder before walking out. She read my expressions to know, it was time to end the long drawn play.

After the door clicked shut, Elena's terror began. Her eyes darkened and she kicked back on the bed.

"What are you going to do to me?" she screamed, tossing a pillow, a phone set, a glass. I ducked through it all. "Stop," she screamed louder.

I placed myself to her side. Feeling her trembling body, I moved and straddled her into the bed. Tears ran down from the corner of her eyes, wetting the pillow on which she rested. Her hands held mine, stopping any further encroach.

"Please don't." She cried louder. "I am the mother of your child."

That set a string of laughter from my end. Still holding her closer, I leaned over. Her face turned the other side, unwilling to look at me. Clasping her jaw, I pulled her to watch me talk.

"Enough with the games, Elena." My teeth gritted, air blew onto her face. "We both know whose child it is."

Her head tilted on both sides. "I swear Antonio, it's yours. The child is yours."

Snapping her head back towards me, I watched her cry in agony when a click arose from her neck. I had sprained her collarbone.

"Don't tell Mateo's kid as mine." I said, spewing words hotter than lava. Her mouth opened wide, hearing her husband's name. "So long you both have played me. For so long and I believed you two. You my fucking wife," I pressed harder on her jaws. "And he, my loyal guard."

With a reddened face, Elena tried to grab my hand, claw into my wrist. Her legs rose, trying to hit me from behind. The bouncy mattress wasn't helping her stand. With a gun pointed at her I calmed, arresting all her escape attempts.

Wiping her tears with a hand, her hands held mine. This time, it wasn't to let go of her. "Antonio, I never told you this but...but I love you. I have always loved you."

I scoffed. There was a time, long back when I would have believed her words to be true. Today, knowing what love was, I knew fake when I heard one.

"You never loved me, Elena." I pressed back, harder on her jaw muscle. It twitched under my hold. "You loved your job and your real husband but not me. Never me. I was your mission and you did well. You broke me to pieces when you left. I remained alone in the darkness, reliving the memories of holding your dead body. I blamed myself for all this. But not anymore, Elena. No more."

Her legs twisted, hitting harder into the mattress as my hold on her neck grew stronger. She gasped for air, clawing my hand. I pressed her into the mattress, clasping her neck and tightening my grip.

"I am sorry, Elena. I am sorry that I loved you with my whole heart." She twisted and gasped, drawing blood from the back of my hand as her nailed dug deeper. "I thought I loved you but then Valentina came in my life. She brought light and joy to me. Something that I thought I never deserved after you." I was burying Elena into the mattress with the memories of descending her casket into the ground flooding me. "I thought I hated that woman but she showed me loyalty, unconditional love. She showed me what caring is. She proved it, almost losing her life for it. She, is the woman whom I always loved."

Elena's mouth gasped for air. I could hear the soft gurgling gasps of air when she wheezed one last time. Her body shocks come to a halt. Her bobbling throat ceased its back and forth dance.

When I released my hand, a sense of calm rushed inside me. I never had closure, even after I buried Elena long back. Today, I knew I was never meant to have closure. I was meant to writhe in agony, stay in the dark. It was all necessary for Valentina to do her magic, flood me with light and love.

I meant every word that I said on Elena's side. Although her memory would remained etched in me, reminding me of who I was and what I became, I would be always hold loyalty to my woman who held her side of the vow.

To always love and protect.

Valentina was trotting outside in the hallway when I walked out. Her feet paced quicker, placing longer strides before thrusting her body over mine. Her warmth and gentle touch calmed me. It always had.

"I am so sorry that you had to go through that, Anto," she whispered to my chest. "I am here for you, whenever you need me."

I nudged her face to look up, her smile torched the gloominess away. With a sigh, she placed a kiss over my lip, tiptoeing.

There was never a place and time when I loved her harder than today. There was no justification to why I felt such strong emotions for Val. Maybe, it was the way we both were broken and glued back. Or as she would put - it was because she was my missing puzzle piece all along.

"How are you feeling?" I pulled her closer, coiling my arm around her and walking out into the night. My siblings opened the car door on her side, smiling at her in amusement like they have never would have imagined her in this new light.

Val turned, pulling me close. "Let's drive," her eyes darted to Al, who tossed the key towards her. "I crave for something spicy."

Holding her face, I kissed her warm cheek. She sighed under my hold, letting out soft moans for me. "Te amo mi querido." (I love you my darling)

"No más que yo, precioso," she whispered. (Not more than me)

We drove out, with my hand on the steering and another over her torso. "That's not fair," I said. "You are loving for two now."

All she could do was giggle at my response. 

~~

Dearies,

Vote and comment if you liked this chapter. Also, any guesses what Antonio meant by loving for two?

Let me know in the comments...