All the familiar characters belong to J.E. However the story line and original characters are mine. I don't own them and I'm not making any money from them, I'm just playing with them for a little bit.

Authors Note:

Thank you all for your reviews, comments, favorites and follows. You have no idea how much I really do appreciate it.

I noticed some issues with this chapter when I went back over it and figured I would update it. I was in such a hurry to get it out there that I didn't recheck it. Sorry.

Spanish conversations are italicized.

Puerto Cabello, Venezuela – Trouble Brewing for the Jimenez Family

About a Week before Estefania Left

Osvaldo was sitting in his living room thinking about how much he missed his princess, ever since she's been at the University the house has been really quiet. It was beginning to bother him to the point where he even thought about buying a house close to the University for himself just so he could be near her, but he decided against that because he didn't want her to accuse him of trying to smother her and not letting her learn to be on her own.

Plus, lately she'd been more interested in hanging out with Diego than coming home. That was something else he needed to decide, exactly how he felt about that relationship, somewhere in the back of his mind he wasn't so sure that Diego was the right guy for her, he just didn't have proof or how to tell her to stop seeing him.

While he was pondering his thoughts his second in command stormed into the house and walked into the living room and basically shouted "Osvaldo we need to talk."

Osvaldo looked up at him and nodded and Eric continued "We have a possible situation going on and you aren't going to like it be we need to discuss it and you absolutely cannot freak out."

Osvaldo, not a patient man motioned for him to sit down on the couch and said "Well tell me what it is and then I'll let you know if I'm going to freak out or not."

Eric took a deep breath and said "There's been some underground noise about something happening with Estefania and before you jump out of your seat and running to the University and dragging her back here, let me explain what we've been hearing."

Osvaldo nodded his head for Eric to continue.

Eric said "It's believed that someone has been taking pictures of Estefania and sending them out to certain people, who may want to target her. We're still trying to figure out if it's true and if so who's doing it. After that then we'll find that out if in fact the pictures have been sent to anyone."

Osvaldo sat in silence for a second thinking about what Eric had said and then after taking a deep breath finally said "Tell me exactly why I shouldn't drive up there and drag her back home where she's safe?"

Eric shook his head because he knew that question was coming, so he simply replied "First of all we don't know if it's true. It could be someone saying that to see if we'll make a move and second of all what would you tell her Oh by the way we think there could be a threat so you have to leave all your friends and classes and come home. What happens if it's not real? Let us find out first and then we'll take action accordingly."

Osvaldo looked at his second and command and best friend and sighed and said "Fine. What steps have you taken so far to find out if this is true or not?"

Eric said "I've contacted Leonardo and I'm waiting for me to call me back. He says he's got a few reliable sources that know what could possibly be going on and knows who to speak to but there are a couple of people that aren't being as cooperative as others so they're having a little harder time to get answers from them. So it may end up taking a few days before we're able to get to the bottom of things."

Osvaldo nodded his head and said "The sooner we get those answers the better. There is no room for error here and we need to make sure everyone gives us the answers that we are looking for and I want to know the minute you get that call and what they say. Right now I'm going to call Tomas while your still here so we can fill him in and see if he or Franco might now something or have possibly seen anything."

Eric just nodded his head.

Grabbing his phone Osvaldo pressed speed dial #3 to call Tomas. Once it started ringing he put it on speaker phone.

Tomas answered quickly with a "Boss."

Osvaldo said "Tomas, Eric is here with me and you're on speaker phone. We have some questions for you and Franco. Is he with you?"

Tomas said "Yes sir, he's right here. Hold on and we'll find a quiet place real quick so I can put it on speaker phone."

A couple of seconds later Tomas put the speaker phone on and Franco said "We're both here, sir. What can we help you with?"

Osvaldo said "There's a potential situation that could be going on that involves Estefania. Right now we're not sure if our information is correct or not and hopefully we'll be getting those answers soon, but in the meantime have you seen or heard anything going on that's unusual?"

Tomas spoke up and said "What do you exactly mean by unusual?"

Eric spoke up and said "Well, there have been rumors that someone has been taking pictures of Estefania to possibly target her. Now, like I said we don't know if it's true or not and we also don't know who could be doing it."

Tomas said "Damn. No Boss we haven't seen anyone around her with a camera and any other type of photographic equipment. We would have noticed something that."

Then Franco said "The only thing that has happened to her lately but that really didn't seem out of the norm, well not for her anyway. She actually ran into a couple of guys the other day, and I mean that literally. She was day dreaming about something and wasn't paying attention to where she's going and she ran smack dab right into one of them. They seemed to take it in stride and then tried to talk to her."

Tomas continued "Then later that afternoon, they showed up at the pizza place right after she got there, we tried to approach but she signaled us to stay away. She hung out with them until her order came and then she left. We've spoken to Estefania about them and she says that they are friendly and that she doesn't get a bad vibe from them, so we haven't been too concerned about it."

Osvaldo said "What do you mean they "tried" to talk to her and what does Diego think about them?"

Tomas answered "Well, he's the reason that they only got to try and talk to her. He was there the first time they met, but somehow I don't think he knows about them meeting at the pizza place and I believe that has a lot to do with Estefania. He was there when they first met and Diego's reaction wasn't too kind."

Eric having a feeling that the response to this next question was going to be good but he decided that it needed to be asked anyway so he said "What exactly happened the first time that they met?"

Tomas took a deep breath knowing that this wasn't going to go well continued "You aren't going to like this and she going to get really pissed at us for saying anything but when she bumped into them Diego had suddenly showed up out of nowhere and started yelling at her. She walked away from the guys and approached Diego but when she got near him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away and walked her away from them and took her to her class."

Franco continued with what happened by saying "We know you said whenever she was with him she was safe but in this instant we didn't feel that she was so we followed them. When they were in front of her class she yanked her arm away from him and then got in his face and started yelling at him. He let her pull her arm back away from him but before she could continue he started to grill her about who the guys were and how did she meet them and what she was doing with them. After a few minutes of her fighting of his questions he finally calmed him down enough that he listened to her and allow her to explain what happened. Then she promised him that she would get pizza for dinner after class and then the two of them would hang out at the house for the rest of the night."

Osvaldo not liking what he was hearing and if the next question he was getting ready to ask was answered incorrectly then he was going to lose his temper and all hell would break loose.

Eric with the understanding of how his best friend and boss felt at that moment reached over and put his hand on Osvaldo arm to try and calm him down. Then he asked the question that neither of them wanted to ask. He said "Tomas are you saying that Diego is starting to abuse Estefania?"

Tomas not sure what to say at this point decided that it was time to just be honest. He knew that if it ever came out that they knew what was going on and did say anything about it, they wouldn't have to worry about their jobs anymore because nobody would find their bodies. Not to mention he was tired of what Diego has been doing and how he's been acting and even though Estefania has told them over and over that she's fine and not to say anything to Osvaldo because he's never hurt her, it had to stop.

Apparently he'd had been thinking too long and took too long to answer because Eric then said sternly said "Franco?"

That pulled Tomas from his thoughts and before Franco could say anything he spoke up and said "OK you know Estefania is going to kill us for saying anything because she always says it isn't a big deal and she has reassured us over and over that she is more than capable of handling things herself. Honestly, in my opinion he's been getting close to crossing that line lately."

Osvaldo voice got very angry as he said "Explain."

Tomas said "He doesn't like any guys getting close to her at all. It doesn't matter if they just say hi to her or are just being friendly. We've seen him glare at guys and a few times he's come close to hitting some of them. Once it's just the two of them, he starts yelling and screaming at her blaming her for those guys wanting to talk to her. Often saying that she's leading them on by flirting with them and that she likes having all their attention and how she probably wants them to have sex with them. Which Boss she never does any of that stuff, you know Estefania she's just friendly."

He heard "True." On the other end of the phone and then continued "I've only seen him grab her that one time and when I approached her about it she said that she was fine and he didn't hurt her. She also made a clear point to tell me that she had stood up to him and told him to knock it off."

Osvaldo did not like what he was hearing at all and wanted Estefania to come home this weekend so he could speak to her about this, so he said "I am not a happy person right now and I understand that you feel responsible for her and want to be loyal to her because you've been with her for a long time, but this is something that the two of you should have been reported to me when it first started happening."

Tomas and Franco both said "Yes sir." But before either of them could say anything else Osvaldo interrupted and said "I want her to come home this weekend, so I can talk to her about this. However, we all know how Estefania if I demand her to do anything, so I'm going to need the two of you to make sure that you find a way to make her come home."

They both said "Yes sir."

Osvaldo said "And if we hear anything before you get here then I'll let you know what's going on. And if something else happens with Diego, I want to know immediately."

Then he angrily added "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Franco and Tomas both said "Yes sir." at the same time but it was too late because the line had already gone dead.

After Osvaldo hung up the phone he reared his arm back in a motion like he was going to throw the phone, but Eric stopped him and said "Remember your temper and keep in mind that they won't let anything happen to her."

Osvaldo just nodded his head and got up off the couch and walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink, looking over at Eric who just nodded his head in agreement.

That Saturday

Tomas knew he had to call to Osvaldo soon and he was definite that this would not be a good conversation and not looking forward to it. Taking a breath he bit the bullet and pressed the #1 on his phone keypad and it automatically dialed Osvaldo's number.

Osvaldo answered the phone by saying "When can I expect you, I was hoping that you would have gotten here last night."

Tomas said "Sir, we're not coming. I talked to Estefania yesterday about heading home last night and she said she couldn't leave and that she would let me know in the morning what she wanted to do. When I called her this morning she said that Diego was being a pain about her leaving to go home this weekend, so she just decided that it would be easier to stay here then having to deal with him and his attitude. She did say that she'll try and go home next weekend."

Osvaldo tried to remain calm said "This is not highly unacceptable, however knowing what a tough spot you are in right now I will allow her stay there for now. You ARE to talk to her on Monday to make sure that nothing happened to her this weekend and you WILL call me and tell me everything. In the meantime I want you two to discreetly keep guard outside of her house, take shifts if you have to. If one hair on her head gets harmed, it will be your heads that roll. Understand?"

Tomas said "Yes sir."

Osvaldo taking a calming breath said "Also, just to let you know we still haven't heard anything."

Then he added "Tomas, I know that I can trust you and I know you won't let anything happen to her. You know she's my life and I just can't stand the thought of someone intentionally hurting her. I'll be expecting your call on Monday." And with that he hung up.

Monday

Tomas and Franco were sitting on the benches away from Estefania and Isabella. The girls were watching those two guys trying out for soccer. They had finally met them and learned that their names were Carlos and Lester. They seemed nice but with the unknown going on right now, they weren't ready to take any chances so they kept a close eye on them.

Tomas was a little nervous about calling Osvaldo but he knew that he was going to have to tell him what was going on. He decided that he couldn't put it off anymore because then the Boss would call him and that absolutely would not be good. So he picked up his phone and again pressed the #1 on his speed dial and hit the speaker so the three of them could talk.

Osvaldo answer the phone "Tomas, what happened?"

Tomas explained "She didn't want to say anything at first but what she finally told us was that Diego didn't give a second of peace and wouldn't leave her alone and that he wouldn't let her out of his site. The only way she could get away from him was to go in her room. She also decided that she had enough of him and for today she decided to skip her classes today, to just go out by herself and relax by going to the spa or something. However, when Estefania talked to Isabella and told her what her plans were Isabella wanted to go with her. Then Diego found out and wasn't too happy with that and got on her thinking that she was hiding something from him. She argued with him telling him that she just needed time away from him for a little bit but he didn't want to hear it so he told her that he would just skip his own classes and go off on his own as well."

Osvaldo breathed in deeply and said "Uh huh."

So Tomas continued "Then he stormed out of the house and took off. We didn't follow him so we don't know where he went, but after that the girls left and started to head to the spa. While they were walking Estefania saw those guys again from last week walking and decided to play around with them. She hit them with a rolled up piece of paper and then they stopped and talked to them. Both of the guys looked a little nervous looking around for someone, my guess would have been Diego."

Franco then added "We knew that with this being the 3rd time that she saw them, we knew you would want us to meet them and she knew that she had to introduce us. So we started to walk over there as she called us over and then finally introduced us to them. Their names are Carlos and Lester."

Osvaldo said "What are their last names and what are they like?"

Franco said "They didn't give us their last names and I'm not sure Estefania knows what they are, but they seemed to be around Diego's age and were very respectable and polite. After we walked away they started walking together in the opposite direction they were originally head but without hearing their conversation we weren't quite sure what they were doing. They ended up at the soccer field and that's where we're sitting here right now watching them try out for the team."

Osvaldo not liking the whole Diego situation decided that maybe these guys could be a blessing in disguise, but without knowing much about them he couldn't make assumptions yet. So he said "I'm calling her now and then call you back to let you know our next steps will be."

Osvaldo hung up and then called Estefania.

After their conversation he did feel a little bit better about the guys, but wouldn't be completely satisfied until he met them. He was glad that she understood that he wouldn't back down from this and was willing to ask them to meet with him. He was even smart enough to understand that if they didn't want to meet that meant that there was something going on and they may even be untrustworthy or they just weren't that interested or dedicated to being her friend.

Deciding that if either is the case that he would follow through with his threat and he would stop them from seeing her at all, but with the way she talked about them he really hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Even though he had work that needed to be done he spent most of the day worrying about what they were going to decide and realizing that he wasn't going to get anything done walked out of the house and go down to the beach. He needed to clear his mind and hoped that doing something familiar like taking a walk on the beach would make him feel closer to her, he really missed having her home.

Later that evening, she called him.

He answered the phone "My princess." She said "Hi Papi"

Deciding to voice what he was thinking earlier he said "I miss you. This house is too quiet without you. You should come home more often" She said "I know Papi, I'll come home soon and we'll spend lots of time together. I promise."

Osvaldo sighed and then said "So tell me did your guys agreed to me meeting them?"

Estefania getting defensive said "Papi, first off they are not my guys." Then softened her voice and said "and secondly yes they agreed. Carlos that's one of their names the other one is named Lester and they are cousins. Anyway, like I said Carlos thought that since you like soccer that you might like to come over and see them play their first soccer game. Then afterwards we could all go out to dinner. That way you could get to know them better. "

Osvaldo said "That sounds like a very good idea. I'd really like the way Carlos thinks. So when is their first game?"

She replied "I'm not really sure but I know it's in a couple of weeks. But Papi something happened while I was talking to them and I think I made a mistake with this whole thing and now I'm questioning myself."

Osvaldo said "Why would you say that my dear?"

She said "I thought it would be a good idea if I had them meet Diego before they met you, because we both know how Diego can be overbearing sometimes. Well I think that's the part that I'm questioning and may have backfired on me."

Osvaldo knowing that right now was not the time to bring up what's he's found out about Diego because she just sounded so sad and defeated so instead he said "Why Princess, what makes you think that?"

She replied "Well, we were trying to figure out a way that they could meet him and not have any type of confrontation with him. Carlos came up with the idea of all of us meeting at a club and then they would bring dates that way Diego wouldn't think that they were trying to be with me."

Osvaldo said "That sounds like a good plan, what happened?"

She said "Oh Papi, I don't know. When he mentioned bringing dates I just got this weird feeling and I didn't like it so I lashed out at him."

Smiling because he had a feeling, he asked her "Why?"

She blew out a frustrated breath and said "I don't know why. I've never felt this way before not even with Diego. I mean other women have come up to Diego and have talked to him, even flirted with him but I've never felt this way. I just don't know why it bothered me to think of Carlos with someone else and it was only with him I felt that way. I didn't care that Lester was going to get a date, although I think that might have bothered Izzy."

Osvaldo laughed and said "Honey, it sounds like what you are feeling is jealousy. Do you like Carlos more than just a friend?"

She answered "Papi, it's not funny and I don't know. The only boyfriend I've ever had was Diego. I don't have any other male friends because he doesn't like other guys around me and before you ask Diego doesn't really know that I hang out with Carlos and Lester, because he wouldn't like it. I'm just so confused on what I should do."

Osvaldo said "Come home and leave them all there and stay my little girl forever." Estefania laughed and said "Nice try, and although I'll always be your little girl you're going to have to face the fact that I'm growing up Papi and becoming a young lady."

Osvaldo said "I know but an old man can wish right?"

She responded "You're not old and I'll eventually figure out what I'm going to do. I am after all your daughter and I've learned how to deal with problems from the best. In the meantime, I promise that I'll come home in a couple of weeks."

Osvaldo said "OK my princess, let me know the date of the game and I'll be there. You know you can always call me on Sunday and let me know how everything works out."

Estefania replied "I may do that, I might need some of your old man wisdom and Papi I love you. Thank you for always being there for me" He smiled and laughed then said "Anytime my heart and I love you too." And then they both hung up.

Osvaldo smiled at the phone and then couldn't wait to meet this young man who had seemed to catch his daughter's eye. He thought however that it will be very interesting to see how Diego reacts to this whole thing.

Wednesday Night Close to Midnight

Osvaldo was sleeping in bed when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and picked it up and said "Eric, this had better be important."

Eric said "It is, sir. You need to get up and be downstairs in 5 minutes and I'll meet you there."

Osvaldo rushed to get dressed and then get downstairs. As he was walking down the stairs, Eric was walking through the front door and he had a folder in his hands.

Osvaldo went to reach for the folder and Eric said "Not yet, let's go into the dining room so we can sit down and talk first."

He followed Eric and sat down at the head of the table as he always does and Eric sat beside him. He looked at Eric waiting for him to start.

Eric hung his head down for a second and then lifted it up and looked Osvaldo in the eyes and said "It's true."

Osvaldo felt like his heart dropped out of his chest, but he managed to say "Tell me."

Eric said "We know all of it. We know who, the why, and to who it was being sent to."

Osvaldo nodded and said "Proceed."

Eric said "You really aren't going to believe this because I had a hard time but it's absolutely true and has been confirmed. Here's what's going on. The guy that was taking the pictures is someone who lives in the area, and his son just started at the same University that Estefania goes to this year. The man's name is Avi and we've located him and his son. We've been speaking to them. I even drove out there myself to make sure this was handled discreetly and correctly. Anyway, so Avi told us that yes he was taking pictures but it wasn't so much because of her but Diego. He tried to claim at the time that his son had been threatened by Diego for speaking to Estefania and all his son was trying to do was befriend her."

Osvaldo said "Well honestly that would fall into everything that we've heard about Diego but you said him trying to claim at the time. What do you mean by that?"

Eric smiled and said "You picked up on that huh?"

Osvaldo just nodded his head.

Eric continued "We didn't feel that was the whole truth so we started to encourage Avi to give us the answers that we really wanted. Finally he admitted that wasn't the story and that he'd been contacted by one of your enemies because they had heard that his son was friends with Estefania and since they had known that he'd been known to be an informant for several organizations they wanted him to give them the information. He said that they had threatened him saying they would go after his son if he didn't cooperate, so he felt he had no other choice but to agree. The plan was to get to her through him once they made sure that she was indeed Estefania so that's why he took the pictures. He also said that no one has contacted him yet since that first phone call. Avi said that they were planning on calling him and give him instructions on what to do with the pictures sometime this week."

Osvaldo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always been extra careful and taken extra precautions just to make sure no one could get to her.

Osvaldo said "OK so we found him first, did he say who the person was? What are the plans for them now, we can't take the chance and just let them be, we have to take care of them. I also have to notify Tomas and Franco about this."

Eric said "Yeah he told us and it's an old familiar friend from the beginning. We are definitely going to take care of them and we have a plan but you and Estefania are going to need to disappear for a little bit while we put the plan into motion. She won't like it but it has to be done this way. I've already taken the liberty of having the island prepared for your arrival. What's going to be happening to Avi and his son will happen after you two have taken off and have been in the air for a while."

Osvaldo nodded his head thinking even though Estefania is used to this happening she isn't going to be happy about it at all. Especially since she has or had plans for this weekend, then thinking like her father said to himself that she'll just have to get over it because her safety is more important.

Then Osvaldo told Eric "Don't worry about Estefania I'll take care of her, but make sure that the staff on the island knows that there will be 4 of us. Her and I and then Franco and Tomas, I want them there just in case."

Eric nodded his head and left the house to go finish the preparations.

Osvaldo went back up to his room and picked up his phone and called Tomas.

Tomas answered sleepily with a "Lo." Osvaldo simply stated "We know."

Tomas instantly became awake and said "What did you find out?"

So Osvaldo repeated everything that he had learned that night from Eric.

Tomas said "Oh shit. So what do we need to do now?"

Osvaldo said "First you need to let Franco know what's going on. I know that Estefania's classes start at 9am on Thursday mornings so I'm going to call her at 7 and tell her that you and Franco will be there to pick her up in 30 minutes and that she needs to be packed and ready to go by the time you get there. Then I want the 3 of you on the road and on your way here by no later 8am. Once you get here we'll discuss what's going to happen next. But know this will be like all the other times."

Tomas said "Understood Boss."

Thursday Morning

Estefania's phone started ringing at 7am, hearing it she groaned and silenced it. Then it after 5 minutes of it constantly ringing, she finally picked it up without looking at the caller ID and said "WHAT! This had better be important."

Osvaldo laughed in her ear thinking that had responded the exact same way when he was woken up Eric earlier and said "My princess it is very important that you get up now. There's something going on and we have to go. Since you decided to let your phone ring for 5 minutes Tomas and Franco will be there in exactly 25 minutes to pick you up so make sure you are all packed and ready to go. You are to be on the road coming home by 8am. Understood?"

She sighed, thinking she should be used to this but her first thought was her schooling and the fact that she could fall behind. So she asked "What about my classes, and how long are we going to be gone?"

Osvaldo said "As far as your classes I'll call the school and explain that there are extenuating circumstances and we need all of your teachers to email you your assignments. So while you're packing make sure you include all your books. As far as how long, I'm not sure at the moment. You are not allowed to tell Diego or Isabella that we are leaving or that somethings going on. Just tell them that there's been an emergency at home but you weren't told what it was and that you needed to get home as quickly as possible. You can tell them that it has nothing to do with my health but don't give them any more than that."

Knowing it was going to happen whether she wanted it to or not she simply said "Yes, Papi."