Antonio drove Katarina back to the Carballo family villa.
On the way, Katarina thought a lot and, although her brain was in a state of confusion, she gradually calmed down.
No matter, the child is innocent and if he really is healthy and well, she will indeed regret it for the rest of her life if she simply takes him away. Since he doesn’t want to take it away at that moment, he should be prepared not to take it away.
When the car stopped, Katarina quickly got out and headed for the house, only a few steps before he caught up to her and stopped her and lifted her up.
-You put me down.
Katarina struggled, her voice deliberately icy.
Not an unfamiliar feeling; he had that distant look on his face when he began to pursue her.
Antonio didn’t flinch, hugged her tighter, looked up at the floor-to-ceiling window there, and strided in.
-Mom is watching us from the landing, do you want her to see that you keep messing with me?
Katarina’s fighting movements stopped, and for the last few days she had tried to behave normally in front of her mother, just so she wouldn’t worry….
Antonio was in a good mood and his eyes were full of cuddles.
-Katarina, mom was happy that I hugged you back. You’re going to pretend you’re still in love with me, or at least hug me back, huh?
Katarina’s heart skipped a beat.
The hand resting on her chest tensed, but she reached out anyway and ran it around his neck….
Antonio sketched a smile and brought his chin close to the top of her head with a gentle touch of intimacy.
-Katarina, I’m happy, even if you’re faking it.
Katarina’s heart fluttered again.
Marisa greets us with a smile.
-Antonio, Katarina, why did you come back at this hour…?
-Mom, Katarina…
Katarina is afraid that Antonio will tell her mother about her pregnancy and interrupts him, frightened.
-Antonio, you take me up first!
There was something anxious and ingratiating in her voice, a deliberate note of pampering that sat very well with Antonio, who had been left out for a long time.
-Good.
He looked at Marisa.
-Mom, let’s go upstairs for a moment.
It was a natural joy for her to see the young couple back to their old selves.
-Come on, come on, Antonio has lunch at home at noon before going to the office.
-Good.
With that she took Katarina back to the room.
As soon as the door closed, Katarina struggled to get down.
-Katarina, don’t hurt the baby…..
Katarina’s heart ached sharply, she could see very clearly that Antonio was glad she was pregnant and had looked at her belly I don’t know how many times all the way back, the corners of his lips kept rising….
How nice it would be if, that they weren’t in that kind of relationship….
Katarina looks away…
Carefully placing her on the sofa to sit down, Antonio crouched down in front of her and bent his head slightly to look at her.
-Katarina, I’m sorry, a thousand wrongs are my fault…..
He reached out, took her hand between his and pressed it to his chest.
-I know you will hate and loathe me when you know the truth, but I can’t help it if my heart beats for you…..
Katarina withdrew her hand forcefully…..
-Don’t touch me!
Then I tried to escape from her confinement, but with the sofa behind me and him in front of me, there was no turning back….
Antonio stood up self-consciously and stepped back, looking at her with tender eyes.
Katarina, relax, I’ll do everything you say except take the baby and leave me, ok?
Katarina looked at him and sat to the side.
-Antonio, let’s talk…..
Katarina looked so calm that it scared Antonio.
He had already guessed what Katarina was going to tell him, definitely a divorce, definitely that she was taking Marisa because she was afraid, afraid that Fabiana would come to Marisa and shake the truth out of her….
Antonio stepped forward to the attack and said in a cold voice.
-Do you think I’m going to go tell mom right now that I’m Kimberly’s real son?
Katarina looks up sharply, her eyes full of astonishment…..
-Katarina, you’re not going anywhere but by my side, or I’ll tell mom the truth right away, she’s so fragile she won’t be able to take another blow, and you know very well that knowing this would be an absolutely fatal blow to her.
Antonio forced himself to be brutally clear and direct.
-You!
Katarina stood up abruptly, with a spark of anger in her watery eyes, and struck his chest with her fist.
-Antonio, you have no shame! Don’t you think you can threaten me…?
Antonio grabbed her hand and wrapped it in his palm, forcing himself to say harsher words.
-Of course I can threaten you, the Carballo family has all the goods with me, do you know how much the medicines cost that Ma takes every month? Do you know from which country the medicine is imported? Where are the purchasing channels, do you know all that?
Katarina screwed up…..
Her father used to do all this, and later it was given directly to Antonio, she really, really didn’t know anything about it….
Antonio’s heart was heavy, but he was overwhelmingly grateful that he still had a hold on her that would force her to submit.
His heart ached so much that he couldn’t breathe. He softened his tone and reached out to stroke her cheek.
-Katarina, I told you I want nothing more than you, I promise I won’t let Fabiana go back to our mother and I will take good care of you and the baby…..
Katarina pushed his hand away.
-Antonio, don’t make me really hate you! I know you just want to trap me towards you, but I can’t face you, I can’t face our relationship, and sooner or later, if you treat me like this, sooner or later, my love for you will fade away to nothing….
Antonio’s hand, which had been slapped away, squeezed her aching chest, although she felt some comfort.
-Katarina, I thought you had stopped loving me from the moment you learned of our relationship….
All that’s left is disgust and hatred….
For the last two days, except in front of Marisa, I deliberately pretended to be quite nice to him, or at least answered anything he asked, while in private, I treated him like air….
Katarina looks away, it’s nice to have feelings that they picked up….
-Katarina, even if you hate me, I want to be with you, as determined as I was to cross that hurdle, as determined as I am now to stay with you until you’re older, be good and stay by my side, I promise, I won’t let them hurt you, let alone make it harder for you…..
With that, Antonio turned around to leave, halfway, then stopped and turned back, Katarina was standing there in the same position as before, and Antonio’s eyes were full of tenderness.
-Katarina, maybe it will make you sick to tell you this again now, but I still want to tell you that I love you and that I could never love another woman in my life, and that I am so happy that you are pregnant, I really am, thank you…..
How he wished he could hug her and say these words to her instead of being so far apart with his back to her….
Katarina’s fists clenched tightly and she did not speak as Antonio continued.
-I know your worries and I will be there for you to face them, I will talk about your pregnancy on mom’s side, don’t worry, it’s definitely a reason she can accept…..
Katarina was still unresponsive and the expectation in Antonio’s eyes dropped a little before he turned around and left anyway…