Caterina sat in Alberto’s office and passed her phone to him. “She is enjoying herself with him, we don’t have to look for her anymore. I thought she cared about me, but I was mistaken. She doesn’t want to come back home,” She said as Alberto watched the video that played on her phone. It was the video from the party at Mexico, where Roberto pecked Martina in front of everyone, on the red carpet. Alberto’s lips parted in disbelief as he watched it. He was surprised to see that she was comfortable letting him do that to her. “She is putting herself in danger, Caterina. The police would be after her too. She needs to be warned,” He said, and she shook her head.
“You don’t have to warn her, Alberto. Martina isn’t stupid. She knows exactly what she is doing. Maybe this is a way to tell us not to worry about her anymore. She looks happy, and to me little understanding, Roberto has never had a woman escort him to a party, right?” Alberto shook his head, and she threw her hands in the air. “Exactly… We don’t have to worry. She must have won the heart of this criminal. The only focus now is how to get Roberto. Forget about saving my sister. She doesn’t want to be saved,” Caterina added with so much pain in her. She was so mad at Martina that she would throw a punch in her face if she saw her at the very moment.
“I don’t know what to say, Caterina. I don’t believe this is the truth. What if she was forced to smile? Maybe they would kill or hurt her if she didn’t act like everything was cool? This must be another mind game from Roberto,” Alberto insisted.
“Well, I don’t believe this is a game. If he is playing games, and Martina, truly is in danger, then she must have shown it to us. You told me you found out who owns the phone she used to call, right? What was his response?” She asked, and he heaved a sigh.
“He said he doesn’t think she is in danger, because he asked, and she said everything was cool. Though I insisted he recorded some conversation the next day.” “And what did you find out?” She butted in, and Alberto shook his head. “I wasn’t sure about anything after listening. Do you want to hear it?” Caterina shook her head and stood up.
“I don’t want to hear anything. If she wants to keep staying with him, it’s fine. But at least, she should show she still has a little care for her younger sister,” Caterina uttered and collected her phone from Alberto. “I have lectures by noon. I can’t go late. See you later, Alberto…” She walked to the door and took a pause. She turned to look at him and saw he was lost in thoughts already. “A little advice, Alberto. Stop killing yourself with guilt. You have tried your best to get her out of his custody, you even forfeited your goal to capture him. All you want is to save her. Please stop already. Do want you have to do, even if you have to arrest her to arrest him. This isn’t worth losing your job anymore. She decided what happens to her, and you are no more to blame for whatever happens,” she said, and he exhaled loudly.
“One more thing before you leave too, Caterina…” He stood up from his chair and approached her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. “Please don’t hate your sister for this. Maybe one day, we would know why she is doing all these, okay? Let’s be patient,” He said to her, and she bounced her head.
“Okay, Alberto.” She forced a smile on. “I’ll leave now. Bye.” She planted a kiss on his cheeks, and walked out of his office. Alberto sighed and walked back to his desk. He sat on the desk and lowered his head sadly. “I want to believe this isn’t true, Martina. I want to believe you are not in love with that criminal. Please, this must not be true. I can’t lose you like this, No.” He held his head in frustration as he spoke to himself.
***
Martina opened her eyes and found out she had slept for the second time. This time, her head was still on Roberto’s chest. She raised her head and turned to look at his face. She saw he was fast asleep too. She grinned and touched his chin, punching him playfully. “Martina,” He groaned, squeezing his face while his eyes were still closed.
“When did you become so comfortable? How many hours do you want to sleep in a day?” She asked, and she saw him roll his eyes under his eyelids. He opened his eyes and looked at her with a plain face. “When did you become so comfortable, laying next to me, in my bed, in my room, hun?” He answered, and Martina chuckled. “Since you let me in your room and laid me next to you on your bed yourself.” She laughed as she spoke. “It’s your time to laugh, hun?” He asked, and she buried her face in his chest and kept laughing. As she laughed, his stomach grumbled all of a sudden, and she stopped laughing. She looked at him, and he threw his face to the other side in embarrassment. She clasped her lips so as not to burst into laughter again.
“I’ll make something for you to eat,” She said. She tried to get out of bed, but Roberto yanked her back to himself and she landed on his body. He raised his head and with their eyes locked, his lips met with hers. He withdrew, and she raised her brows in surprise. “When did you become a kiss addict? Thought you hated kisses,” She said, and he avoided her gaze shyly. “I hate kisses, not your kisses,” A smile curved up at the corner of their mouths, and they both giggled.
He exhaled loudly when his stomach made another grumble again. “Let me prepare something very quick. Would you like noodles for a start?” She asked, and he bounced his head.
“Yes, please,” He responded. She climbed down from his king-sized bed and proceeded to his door. “We will be going out tonight,” She turned to look at him after hearing his statement. “Out? Where are we going? An operation?” She asked, and he burst out laughing.
“An operation? I won’t let you come to an operation with me. Do you remember what happened the last time? I got shot because you were stuck to the ground!” He teased, making her laugh.
“I was scared, that was the first time, so you can’t blame me. But this time, I’ll be at alert, you don’t have to worry about me.” She pouted her mouth and he shook his head. “We are not going on an operation, Martina. I will never forgive myself if something bad happens to you there. Tonight, we are going on a date.” He yanked the duvet away from his body and sat up.
“Dinner? Hmmm…” Martina smiled. He wore his Dunlop slippers and walked up to her. “You hate the idea?” He asked, throwing his arm on her shoulders. “I don’t hate the idea, but I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know you go on dates,” She responded.
“I don’t go on dates,” He withdrew his hand from her shoulders and opened the door. He walked out of the room, and she followed behind her. Martina had a beautiful smile on her face as she walked behind him, they headed to the kitchen.
“Why are you going to the kitchen with me?” She asked, and he looked back at her over his shoulder. “You can be clumsily at times, so I’ll be there to make sure you don’t stain my kitchen floor with your blood. I hate blood stains.” She chuckled loudly and caught up with him. “Just confess you don’t want to miss me and that is why you are following me everywhere,” She raised her head.
“I don’t miss people,” I responded, keeping his head straight.