Chapter Sixteen

Antonia's Pov

I still couldn't believe that Gabriel just asked me if someone was stalking me, and it started to make me think that there was a possibility he had someone keeping an eye on me.

"Where did you get that from, Gabriel?" I questioned him, my tone coming out a little harsher than I would like, but it didn't matter because I wanted answers.

"Does it actually matter, Antonia?" he responded with a question, and I scoffed.

"Of course it does, Gabriel!" I hissed. "For you to ask me this question, it means you've heard something, and there's no way you would ask this question if you didn't have somebody spying on me. So answer me, Gabriel, who told you I had a stalker?"

Instead of responding immediately, Gabriel let out a sigh. He had a worried look on his face that kind of surprised me, since I couldn't understand why he seemed so worried, but I still wanted to know how he came to the conclusion that I had a stalker.

"Aren't you going to say anything? Is this you admitting to me that despite how far we've come in our agreement, you still don't trust me enough, and you have people following me and keeping tabs on me?" I asked, hating how disappointed I was feeling.

"First things first, I don't have anybody keeping an eye on you, so throw that thought away, Antonia. Secondly, I don't think it should matter how I found out; I just want you to tell me if it's true or not," he responded, still not letting me know how you found out.

My frustration was already causing me a headache, so I decided that instead of trying to pick a fight with him, I should just get away from him before he annoyed me any further.

"Since you're not going to tell me where you heard that information, then there's no reason for me to be here right now," I stated.

"This isn't to say that I'm breaking our agreement because I'm not stupid enough to let go of that much money, but I think I prefer to stay away from you for a while, so let's pretend we went on a date today. Have a good day," I added before attempting to open the car and step out, but surprisingly, it was locked, and Gabriel wasn't letting me get out.

Irritated beyond words, I turned to look at him with a disgusted look on my face, but in contrast to the disgusted look I had on my face, Gabriel had a more concerned look on his face.

"We don't have to go on a date today, Antonia. In fact, that's cancelled. But I need you to tell me if someone is really stalking you. I just want to help you, Tonia, but I'm going to have to ask you to tell me the truth so that I can know how to help you," he said.

"But why would you want to help me when it has nothing to do with you? Okay, fine, let's just say that I admit that someone is possibly stalking me; it doesn't have anything to do with you, so why don't you just mind your business?" I hissed in frustration.

"After all, when I tried to talk to you about it, you weren't particularly interested in hearing what I had to say, so why now do you think you can come pretend like you care when you can easily act like you don't know what's happening?"

I didn't like how my statement came out because it almost sounded like I was hurt, but I couldn't forget how he ignored me when I tried to talk to him and how it would always upset me whenever he reacted to anything I said nonchalantly.

The only time he ever cared to hear me out was when it had something to do with our agreement, and even though I could understand that he and I had no personal relationship and he had no reason to care, I still found it quite upsetting.

An expression of realization dawned on his face, and even before he spoke, I could already guess what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry, Antonia; I really am. I should have looked into the flower situation when you kept calling me to ask me about it, and I'm also sorry if I said anything offensive to you that may have made you think that you couldn't trust me not to talk to me," he said.

I scoffed. "There's no need to apologize. Let's just continue to mind our business like we have so far, and whatever is going on with me, just pretend you don't know about it," I replied.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that, Antonia. Besides the fact that I consider you my business partner, you and I are in a public relationship, and if anything happens to you, it would also affect me. So put in mind now that for as long as we're still on this agreement, you're not alone, and I'm always here to help in whatever way I can," he responded.

My initial mental reaction was to yell at him and tell him to just leave me alone and let me out of the car so I could go home to deal with my problem, but then I realized that deep down, I didn't want to be alone.

I hated the mere thought of going back home and meeting another bouquet of flowers that could have been sent by August, and it scared me to think that I may have to face him ever again.

"You know what, Tonia? If it's difficult for me to tell me what exactly is happening, how about you just come with me to my place?" Gabriel suddenly said, immediately snapping me out of my thoughts.

I stared up at him with a confused look on my face, wondering what in the world he was talking about. "How the hell did you go from asking if I really had a stalker to suggesting that I come home with you?" I inquired.

He sighed. "Please don't get the wrong idea, Antonia. I'm not trying to be insensitive. I just had a feeling that you wouldn't want to go back to your apartment since you're afraid that whoever might be stalking you could find his way to your place, some suggesting that you could stay at my place for a few days, and while you stay there, I'll look into the situation," he explained.

"You could have suggested that I stay in a hotel, don't you think?" I retorted.

"I'm pretty sure my place is 100 times safer than any hotel in this country, Antonia, but if you're going to be more comfortable in a hotel, then allow me to take you to the best one that I know," he replied, and I quickly shook my head against it.

"Unfortunately, going into a hotel isn't something I plan on doing anytime soon, unless, of course, it's for an event or a shoot. I don't know if you know this, but I already have quite the reputation, with several pictures of me going in and out of hotels, and the last thing we want is for people to think that I'm cheating on you or whatever," I explained, trying to sound like I wasn't embarrassed.

The fact that I lived my life so shamelessly to the point where entering a hotel already gave me a certain image made me feel embarrassed, but I didn't want to show that I was.

"If that's the case, then come home with me, Antonia," Gabriel insisted. "No one is going to find anything suspicious in a girlfriend deciding to stay with her boyfriend for a few days, so please, come home with me. That way, I'll be sure you're safe, and I'll also help you sort out whatever it is that's going on."

His offer was clearly a good one, but my pride kept getting in the way of my logic.

"Can I trust you not to make any move on me if I end up moving in with you?" I asked.

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "Now, why would you even think of such a thing?" he responded with a repulsed look on his face that hurt my pride a little.

"You're likely going to stay in a room that is far away from mine, and even if we stayed in the same room, I wouldn't touch you, Antonia. I absolutely wouldn't, so don't worry about that," he reassured me again, and even though it was a relief to hear him say he had no ill intentions, I couldn't help but be offended by how disgusted he looked at the idea of ever being with me.