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"Antonio?" Ashley spoke softly breaking the silence she hadn’t expected from him after her declaration of love. "Please, say something."
When Antonio dropped his eyes and shifted in his seat, her heart sank to her toes. "Oh Ashley." Those weren’t the words she was hoping to hear and she didn’t try to hide her disappointment. "I was hoping for something more along the lines of ‘I love you too Ashley’." He looked up and saw the confusion in her eyes. "I thought we were moving in that direction, Antonio, after last night and everything." Antonio looked down to where her hand covered his on the table; before last night, he had been headed in that very direction. "What is it, Antonio? Tell me." "There’s…it’s just that…" He looked straight into her deep blue eyes. "There’s someone else for me too, Ashley." Her hand that had been gently caressing his froze and her gaze turned from compassionate to distant. "That’s what I wanted to talk to you about tonight." "All this time there’s been someone else in both our lives," Ashley recounted in astonishment. "And for the last few weeks, neither one of us found the time to mention it." She pulled her hand off of his and put it in her lap. "Have you been seeing her at the same time we’ve been seeing each other?" "No," he replied quickly. It wasn’t as if he had been cheating on her and for moral purposes, he needed her to know it. "It’s complicated…we were together some time ago and then we weren’t. I…saw her last night and we…worked everything out." Ashley nodded in complete understanding; she knew full well what he was going through, she thought. "I’m so sorry Ashley. I didn’t mean to lead you on…I didn’t think that she and I had any future together. I was trying to move on." "I understand, Antonio, I really do. I shouldn’t have assumed that you wanted the same thing I do…did." He felt so terrible about hurting her like this; he imagined how he would have felt it the tables had been turned and he was losing her to Stephen. "I seem to have that problem with communication," he chuckled nervously. "That was the problem with her too. We both still wanted it but neither of us would admit it." "Well, I should be going," Ashley tossed her napkin on the table and started to push her chair back. "Don’t go like this," Antonio touched his hand to her arm. "Why don’t you stay and have dinner with me?" "I..I don’t think that would be a good idea," she shook her head softly. Antonio may be in love with someone else, but she was in love with him. "She’s a very lucky woman, Antonio, to have your heart." Antonio smiled shyly at her. "Do I know her?" "No," he said simply not offering any further explanation. "Well." Ashley stood from her chair, as did Antonio. "You make sure and tell her that I said she better take good care of you or else she’s going to have to answer to me." Antonio stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her; Ashley slipped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and inhaled his warm, intoxicating scent one last time; she stepped back quickly before she was afraid she would not be able to let him go. "Goodbye Antonio." "Goodbye Ashley." He started to lean forward to kiss her but she stayed him with two fingers to his full lips. She shook her head no as a tear slipped from her eye. Antonio kissed her fingertips and she drew them slowly across his lips before she dropped her hand and turned to walk away. His heart ached at the friendship and love that he and Ashley had shared in the past, but he knew in his soul that Gabi was his present and his future. He swallowed the last of his drink and tossed a few bills onto the table. With a heavy sigh, he set off to face the next task of news bearing; the one that would prove to be most difficult of all. THE MOTEL Amanda sat up in a daze; the gravel of the parking lot ground into her skin. She reached her hand to her head to find the source of the warm trickle that ran down her face. Pulling her fingers away, she groaned at the blood she saw. "Damn it," she mumbled, as she looked quickly around the lot for the car that had nearly run her down. She felt a terrible stinging in her shoulder followed by intense pain when she tried to move it. She looked down to see a large blood stain forming just under her clavicle on her left side. Tugging her sweater aside, she winced as she saw the entry wound from the bullet. The pain was excruciating and she quickly craned her neck to search for an exit wound on her back. Finding blood on the back of her sweater as well, she almost heaved a sigh of relief as she pulled herself to her feet to head back into the stakeout room. "Ricardo," she called out as she entered the room; the door was slightly ajar and she hesitated and drew her gun from its holster. Taking aim with her good arm, she pushed the door open and quickly scanned the room for intruders. Her eyes widened as she came across the bullet holes blown into the bed where she and Ricardo had just made love. Her heart already pounding, she moved cautiously inside and around the door. "Ricardo?" she shouted again; she heard a barely audible groan from the floor behind the table. "Oh my God! Ricardo!" Falling to her knees beside him, Amanda completely forgot about her own pain; she rolled Ricardo onto his back and gently caressed his cheek. "Ricardo, open your eyes," she instructed him as she moved her hand down and placed it flat against his stomach. Ricardo cried out in pain as she touched him just above where the bullet had ripped into his stomach. "Shh…I know, I know. It’s okay, Ricardo, you’re going to be fine." Ricardo let out a low groan as Amanda leaned over to reach for his crumpled shirt from the floor. As she pressed it firmly against his wound to stop the bleeding, Ricardo cried out with such intense pain that he thought he was going to pass out. "Argh, o…oh I…I’m…" "Ricardo, don’t try to talk," Amanda told him forcefully as she grabbed the radio off the table. "Unit 531. We have an officer down at hot point, send an ambulance immediately. Officer down." Ricardo was struggling to lift his hand to touch her face; he needed to get her attention quickly. "I repeat, one officer down, one officer wounded." She glanced down at her shoulder, which was now bleeding much more than before; she tossed the radio down and put more pressure on Ricardo’s abdomen. "A…Amanda," he managed to get out through clenched teeth. "I’m here, Ricardo," she assured him as she leaned over close to his face. "The ambulance is coming. Just hold on." "It’s…I…it’s too late," Ricardo said and then coughed violently which only aggravated his pain more. "I’m go…going to die. I...can feel it." "NO!" Amanda put her face mere inches over his. "You are not dying Ricardo, damn it! NO!" Ricardo managed to open his eyes when he saw the blood soaking through her sweater. "B…baby, you…shot?" Amanda’s eyes overflowed with tears when she heard him call her baby; Ricardo saw her crying and wanted so much to take her into his arms. "Okay? You…okay?" "Yes," she sniffled as she smiled warmly at him. "I’m okay and so are you. You’re going to be fine, Ricardo." A sharp, stabbing pain ripped through his body from the tips of his toes up to his head. He yelled and winced and then he slowly began to tremble. "Ricardo? Ricardo, hold on. Hold on." Her tears began to fall again as a tiny trickle of blood oozed out the corner of his mouth and made its way down his chin. "No, Ricardo, no. Damn it! Where is that ambulance!" She turned quickly to look over her shoulder and then back to him. Ricardo’s eyes were almost closed, his breathing slow and labored. The pain was unbearable and he felt himself getting weaker and weaker. He wanted to just close his eyes and sleep for a little while, to go to that place where he wouldn’t feel the pain of the bullet that had exploded inside his stomach. Just for a minute. Amanda’s voice was getting jumbled, her words morphing into illegible blurs; the light of the room was dimming and his throat felt like it was closing from dryness. He started to speak and choked on the metallic taste of his own blood. Amanda held his hand tightly as she bent forward and touched her lips to his, the trickle of his blood staining her own lips crimson. "Amanda," his voice was almost a whisper. "I..I love…" Ricardo’s head bobbled back, his eyes closed and he was silent; Amanda threw herself across his body and cried. SURF CENTRAL Antonio filled Gabi in on his discussion with Ashley, including the part where she told him that she loved him and wanted to be with him. Gabi felt sympathy for Ashley; she knew what it was like to love Antonio and not be with him, but Ashley was a strong woman and Antonio loved Gabi. "So, she was okay?" Gabi asked Antonio as she backed up to him holding the top of her dress closed at the top. Antonio stepped forward and grabbed the hem of her dress and began slowly pulling up the zipper. Gabi released the fabric and put her hands on her hips. "It doesn’t even take ME that long to zip this dress myself, Antonio." She felt his warm lips touch the small of her back and she arched it in response. His tongue slipped out and traced a tender path up her silky skin, over her bra and up to her neck. A warm rush spread through her body as he slipped his left hand inside the dress against her skin and around her waist, his right moving up the back of her right shoulder and pushing her dress aside to gain access for a kiss. "Mmmm," he moaned as the fragrant smell of her perfume filled his nose and ignited his senses. "You smell so good." Gabi rolled her neck to the side as Antonio’s lips caressed up and down her throat. "Antonio," she murmured softly, "we have to go." "No," he said firmly as he squeezed her waist with his strong hand. "Yes," she insisted even as she felt his growing excitement pressing against her behind. "We do…we can’t put it off. We have to see him." "Half an hour," he pleaded as his left hand began creeping upwards toward her breast. "Please?" Just before he reached her, Gabi yanked herself away from him and jumped across the room with a playful smile. "No…stay back." She held out her hand and his look of stunned disappointment evolved as his lips began curving up into a mischievous grin. "Antonio…no," she warned him. He began his pursuit pushing aside anything and everything that was in his way. Gabi backed up carefully but found she was blocked into the corner against her dresser and the wall. Antonio shook his head yes as he reached up and started opening the buttons on his shirt. Gabi let out a squeal as she half-desperately looked for a way out of her predicament; Antonio’s eyes sparkled with desire as he stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. "You know you want it," he teased her as he inched closer and closer. "Admit it, Gabi." "Okay, okay, I want it…I want you," she confessed. "You know I do, but we can’t do this now." Gabi couldn’t help but laugh at the determined look on Antonio’s face; it was so serious it was silly and she broke out in giggles. This enticed him even more and he immediately unbuckled his belt and yanked it out of the loops. Gabi’s eyes widened and her giggling ceased; her eyes dropped down to his pants as his hands quickly tore open the button and unzipped the zipper. She thought she was going to die as he started to reach inside his pants to bring himself out for her; Antonio knew he had her full attention and in another few seconds, he would be all over her. "Gabi? Are you in there?" Casey’s knocking scared the heck out of Antonio and he nearly caught himself in his zipper as he hurriedly closed it up and whipped around to face the door. Gabi busted out laughing again as she bolted around Antonio and ran to the door. Antonio began chuckling himself as he picked up his shirt and slipped it back on. "You are SO lucky! I’ll get you later," he promised her as he gave her a devilish smile. "You can count on that." Gabi leaned against the door and spoke to him without opening it. "What is it Casey?" Casey hesitated before he answered, his voice quiet and somber. "It’s Ricardo, Gabi. He was at work...he’s been shot."
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