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"Gabi? It’s Ashley." Ashley’s voice called out as she knocked on the door. "Are you awake? May I come in?" Time moved in slow motion as Antonio turned to face the door still joined intimately with Gabi. She tugged the covers up over them as the handle began to turn. "Gabi?"
"Antonio?" Gabi whispered in a panicked voice. "What should we do?" Antonio pulled out and rolled next to her, his heart beating ferociously as he eyed the door. "Answer her," he urged Gabi softly seeing the fear in her eyes; he held her hand tightly preparing both of them for what might happen next. "Ashley." Gabi’s voice was rough and scratchy. "Um, I’m not up yet. Can I…" she looked at Antonio. "Can I meet you downstairs in a minute?" The door handle shifted back to its original position. "I was really looking for Antonio. Have you seen him?" If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Gabi would have laughed out loud at the irony. Seen him? Oh yeah! "I went to his room, but it doesn’t look like he slept in his bed last night." Antonio closed his eyes when he realized that she had missed hearing their lovemaking by only a few moments. "Oh uh…" Gabi gently stroked his lips with her finger; Antonio looked deeply into her eyes. "Maybe he had to be somewhere early this morning. I’m sure he’s fine…wherever he is." "Yeah, I’m sorry I bothered you Gabi," Ashley sighed. "It’s just that I really need to talk to him this morning." "Is everything all right?" Gabi wondered. "It will be after I speak with him. It will be great," Ashley smiled as she thought about why she needed to speak with him. The lilt in her voice made Antonio’s head turn toward the door. "Sorry again, Gabi. If you see him, can you tell him I came by?" "Sure." Antonio leaned his head against Gabi’s shoulder as Ashley said goodbye and they heard her start down the hall. "Antonio?" He raised his head. "What happened last night…with Ashley, I mean? I…I saw you two…in the hot tub." Antonio’s heart pounded and he touched his lips to hers reassuringly. "Nothing happened, Gabi. I promise," he whispered as he kissed her again and again. "I was lonely…I wanted to move on, I thought that’s what I should do. But I couldn’t. I want you, only you." "Oh Antonio," Gabi murmured as she caressed his cheek softly. "I want you too." They kissed deeply for a few minutes as feelings of renewed passion began to fill them both. Antonio pulled himself away with a groan. "Ugh, I want to Gabi but I can’t. I have to go." He leaned over and kissed her nose. "I think you have somewhere to be too?" Gabi turned her head to see the clock; she was expected at work in half an hour. She rolled onto her back and pulled the pillow over her head. Antonio sat up on the side of the bed to search for his boxer shorts. He kept the sheet pulled across his waist to cover himself; Gabi smiled at the modesty he was displaying this morning after such a wild, passionate night last night. He put on his shorts and started to stand when Gabi reached for his hand. "Antonio…what happens now?" She whispered the question and Antonio turned his soulful brown eyes on her. "What do we do?" He reached out and drew his thumb across her full bottom lip. "Don’t worry. We’ll do it together, okay?" Antonio could see a tear budging out of the corner of her eye. "Hey." He nudged her chin with his finger. "I love you, Gabi and I think you love me too." "Antonio! Of course I do," she voiced forcefully. "You know I love you." Antonio smiled as he brought his lips to hers for one last caress. Leaving Gabi breathless, he stood up; she bit her lip as he stretched heartily, the body he gave her so willingly now fully exposed to her. "I have to see Ashley tonight." Gabi scowled and narrowed her eyes. "I owe her the truth Gabi; she deserves at least that much. We’re meeting for drinks after work and when we’re done, I’ll meet you here." Her expression softened and he smiled at her. "I should be here by 8:00 and then…we’ll go see Ricardo." Gabi nodded hesitantly and sunk back down under the covers. "Together, Gabi," he repeated, "together." They stared at each other another few seconds before Antonio dipped his head and left the room. Gabi lay quietly just enjoying the way her body was feeling, warm and exhilarated by the last 12 hours. She started to close her eyes when there was a sudden knock on the door. "Get up!" Antonio instructed as he poked his head inside the door. Gabi sat up and threw her pillow at the door. He gave her a sexy laugh and a smile and closed the door behind him. Gabi felt happier than she had in a long, long time. Her future was clear; her future was with Antonio. She looked at the clock again and her heart sank; it was time for her to go to work, to Ricardo. THE STATION Gabi managed to avoid Ricardo all morning. It hadn’t been difficult; he seemed to be avoiding her as well. He and Spence had been out of the station most of the afternoon working on yet another lead on the murder investigation. They had positioned themselves at a motel on the other side of town after a tip that one of the alleged suspects would be making a weapons deal in the parking lot across the street. After several hours of nothing, Ricardo was growing restless; his argument with Gabi and run in with Amanda were still very much on his mind. It was almost time for dinner and he was getting hungry. Being the senior detective on post, he decided to send Spence for something to eat. After grumbling about it for 10 minutes, Spence trudged out the door to retrieve the food. Ricardo shook his head and laughed at his subordinate then turned to go back to the window. Not less than a minute after Spence left, someone knocked the coded entry knock on the door. "What now, Spence?" Ricardo snarled as he threw the door open. "Oh, hey Amanda," he replied nonchalantly as his heart leapt into his throat. Amanda came into the room and Ricardo closed the door and locked it. He swallowed hard. "What’s going on?" he asked casually. Amanda stood by the dresser, her arms crossed in front of her, her face serious and sober. "We need to talk, Ricardo." He stepped toward her and shoved his hands in his pockets. The nearness of him sent Amanda’s awareness into overdrive; the image of him without his shirt earlier that morning emblazoned in her memory. "I…uh. We…" The electricity between them was becoming unbearable; Ricardo couldn’t tear his eyes away from her full red lips. She wet them nervously and bit her top lip; Ricardo felt the rise in his pants and all sane thinking flew from his head. He wanted her, right here, right now, more than he ever remembered wanting a woman before. "Ricardo, I…" Before she could finish he took her in his arms and captured her lips with a passionate kiss. They desperately tore off each other’s clothes and before they could stop it, they were making love on one of the beds, both willing, both able and both very much consenting; Ricardo prayed to God that Spence got a flat on the way back. THE BAR Antonio sat distractedly at the bar starting his second Jack and 7; Amanda was due any minute and he was nervous as hell. He’d been pushing a relationship with her and now, he was going to break off what he had started. The whole adult dating scene was a mystery to Antonio; he hadn’t learned by experience like everyone else his age. He was making it up as he went along and he had absolutely no idea what to say to Ashley. "Hi honey," she whispered into his ear as she stepped up beside his stool and kissed his cheek. "Have you been waiting long?" She was so happy to see him that she didn’t even give him a chance to answer. "I tried calling you all day but they said you couldn’t take any calls. I came by Surf Central to see you this morning. Did Gabi tell you?" "Ashley," he said quietly as he forced himself to look at her. "Why don’t we grab a table? We need to talk." She smiled sweetly and slipped her hand into his. Antonio felt incredibly guilty for what he was about to do; Ashley was his first love and would always hold a special place in his heart. But his heart belonged to Gabi now and nothing was going to keep them apart for even one more night. Antonio quickly ordered Ashley a glass of wine and they moved to a quiet table in the back of the restaurant. There was a short silence while Antonio mustered the courage to tell her about Gabi; Ashley spoke first. "I’m sorry about last night, Antonio," she began as she set her glass on the table. "There’s something that I haven’t told you yet, about me." He raised his eyes and she knew she had his attention. "There’s someone else, Antonio. He’s in Paris." Antonio couldn’t believe what she was saying; they were both in love with other people. "His name is Stephen Crowder and we’ve been together for almost three years." "Why didn’t you tell me this before, Ashley?" In a sense, he was hurt, he felt almost used. He hadn’t known Gabi still had feelings for him when he started up the relationship her but Ashley blatantly misrepresented her situation. "He was pressuring me into marrying him, before my father died. When I came back for his funeral, I told Stephen I would make my decision while I was gone and let him know when I returned what I wanted." It was all making sense to Antonio now; he knew she had been keeping something from him; he didn’t know it was another man. "I didn’t expect to run into you Antonio, let alone find you willing to ever speak to me again. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few weeks and I’ve finally come to a decision." Ashley lifted her eyes from the table and Antonio could see the tears sparkling; his heart jumped into his throat waiting for her to speak. "I love you, Antonio." She reached over and touched his hand. "I’m not going back to Stephen, I want to be with you." THE MOTEL ROOM Ricardo rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, his breathing returning to normal, his pulse settling. Amanda pulled up the blanket and covered herself after he pulled his warm body away from her. Spence had radioed back that Chief Harris wanted him to return to the station and pick up some papers; Ricardo’s radio broadcast the message and he barely managed to hear it over the passionate sounds of their lovemaking. If he were a smoker and had a cigarette, he would have lit it up right now; his entire body was reveling in the most amazing sex he had ever had in his life. He turned to look at Amanda and found her huddled underneath the blanket visibly shaking. Ricardo rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm over her stomach. "What’s wrong? Amanda, are you okay?" The tears re-surfaced in her eyes and she blinked them away. "Did I hurt you?" "No," she whispered as she caressed his cheek. "It’s just…what happened here, Ricardo?" Amanda started to cry and Ricardo wasn’t sure what to do; she had never shown him she had an emotional side before. "I know it wasn’t right. You’re engaged for God’s sake. Getting married, I know. It’s just that…I’m so attracted to you, and not just physically." "Shh," Ricardo smiled as he pulled her head to his chest and caressed her hair. "I don’t really know myself what happened her, but it was amazing. You are amazing, Amanda." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I wanted it too. You didn’t force me to make love to you." Amanda pulled herself from his arms and began frantically picking up her clothes. "I…I have to go." "Amanda?" Ricardo sat up and touched her arm; she pulled it away. "W…why? Don’t go, Amanda. Please?" She stood up and zipped up her skirt. Pulling her sweater over her head, she slipped her feet into her shoes and stepped away from the bed. "Just let me get dressed," Ricardo pleaded as he jumped out of the bed and hurriedly pulled on his pants. He sprinted to the door and managed to push it closed in front of her. "Amanda?" She stomped her foot and looked up into his eyes. "Don’t you see, Ricardo?" He looked deep into her eyes but shook his head no. "I’m in love with you. This wasn’t just a roll in the hay for me, Ricardo." He was stuck on the first part of her statement; love, did she say she loved him? Amanda mistook his confusion and got angry - with herself. "Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. Let’s just forget about what happened, alright?" "But," "I can take a hint, it never happened. Oh, and don’t worry," she added defensively. "I won’t press any sexual harassment charges on you or anything. This will just be our little secret, okay?" She yanked her arm from his grasp and marched out the door with him calling after her. He stepped out the door but the squawking of his radio called him back inside. The voice coming across was muffled and he had a hard time making out what they were saying. "Repeat? Over." He held the radio to his ear straining to hear. "Spence, come in. Repeat. Over." "static….suspect….static…..semi-automatic…..static……" The radio faded out again. "Damn it Spence! Repeat. Over." Ricardo’s mood was already tense and the miscommunication of the radio was making his blood boil. "Repeat." "static….blown cover…..static…..terminate immediately." The transmission cut off. Blown cover. Ricardo went into action as he dropped the radio and reached for his gun. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he spotted his holster where Amanda had discarded it after stripping it off of him. He heard the squealing tires outside the window and his heart began to pound violently; for the first time in his career, he was afraid. Ricardo let out a vicious roar as he dove for his gun; his eyes locked on the barrel aiming straight for his chest. He heard the gun fire, hit the ground hard and everything went black.
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