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 and your continued support. You really have no idea how much I really do appreciate it. It means the world to me.

Thank you also for hanging in there with me, had a bit of a writer's block. I think I may have finally had a break through.

Again thanks for all your support.

At this point unless otherwise noted all conversations are in Spanish.

Diego's Messages

After getting off the phone with Izzy, Estefania when downstairs so that she could tell her Papi, Tomas and Franco about all the text messages and voice mails that Diego's left for her. She didn't have any desire to listen to the voice messages because she was afraid of what he would have said.

She slowly made her way down the stairs because she was not looking forward to this conversation, at all. Even though they didn't discuss it around her she knew that her Papi and the guys would never accept Diego's behavior and that he was going to be in for a rude awakening once the talked to him.

Since was headed to them because she promised that she wouldn't hide anything anymore, so she headed to the kitchen where they were all still gathered around the island talking.

She stopped at the entry way and when they noticed her a few seconds later, they could tell that something was wrong.

Osvaldo quickly got up and pulled her into his arms and asked "What's wrong, my princess?"

She looked up at him and saw his eyes filled with concern and she tried to keep it together. Knowing that she was safe in his arms she let go and started to cry a little bit.

Osvaldo's arms closed tighter around her and he said "Please tell us what's going on."

Wrapping her arm around him tighter to her Papi she lifted her head and looked over at Tomas and Franco and said "Because I promised you I would tell you when something happened, there's something that I need to show you and have you to listen to. I realize now that it's time to finally admit that there is definitely a problem and I'm going to need all of you to help me get out of it."

They looked back at her and nodded their heads and motioned for her to continue, so she did "I'll start off with I talked to Izzy and she promised that she wouldn't say anything about us coming home and that I wasn't coming back to school right away. I didn't tell her what was going on but if I know her she probably suspects that Diego could be behind it and I'm not saying anything because I don't want to choose sides. This brings us to the problem that I need to talk to you all about."

Osvaldo said "What happened?"

She said "When I turned on my phone to call Izzy, my phone started going off with all the notifications of all the messages I got."

Thinking about it for a second she decided to just to let them see for themselves, so she handed her phone to her Papi and said "It would probably be easier for you to just see and hear for yourselves."

She opened the phone for them and then said "There are 25 text messages most of which I've read. However, after the first 10 I just got tired of him pretty much saying the same thing over and over. There are also 10 voice mails, which I decided that I didn't want to listen to. For having to read the text messages was bad enough."

Osvaldo pushed the icon for text messages and her list of text messages that she's gotten popped up.

Osvaldo looked at it and seeing that Diego's name was at that top of the list clicked the messages open. He started scrolling through them and it was clear by the look on his face that he didn't like what he was reading.

He put his arm down and then walked them both over to Kitchen Island where Tomas and Franco were at and laid down the phone in front of him. He pulled up Diego's messages.

Before he got halfway through them he decided that he either needed to read them out loud or pass the phone to the others so they could read them separately.

Figuring out that if he decided to pass it around the ones who had already read them would just get madder and madder as they saw the other person's reaction to them and that wouldn't do anyone any good.

So he cleared his throat. He said "I think it's best if I read these out loud instead of passing the phone around. Everyone needs to hear them together and at the same time."

They all nodded their heads in understanding.

Osvaldo said "Here it goes: The first one says "Baby, when are you coming back home? I miss you already." Then "Baby… Please call me. I need to hear your voice, I miss it." His next text says "I hope you are missing me as much as I miss you and then he continues being nice with his next two "I miss you baby, I really just want to hold you." And then "When are you coming home, I miss you so much. I want to be able hold you and kiss you."

Osvaldo pauses and takes a deep breath and says "This is where things start going downhill, I'm going to warn you now these get pretty ugly. Diego starts the next one "STOP BEING A BITCH AND IGNORING ME!" and then "I'm over this shit Estefania, this is getting really old." The next one continues on the same path with "BITCH CALL ME BACK!" and then he accuses her in the next one "I bet you're still talking to Carlos and Lester and ignoring me, your actual boyfriend? You know what that makes you right?" Then he says "Estefania, I swear to God if you don't answer me, I'll be madder than you've ever seen me and you remember how that worked out last time, right?""

Osvaldo tried to continue reading the next ones but before he could continue, Tomas yelled "Stop!"

Osvaldo turned towards Tomas wanting to give him a questioning look but Tomas wasn't looking at him, all of his focus was on Estefania. His gaze was directed towards her as he maintained eye contact with her. His eyes showed that he did not like what he just heard and in a stern voice he said "Estefania, what did he mean by the last two? When he talks about what that makes you and asking you to remember how that worked out the last time?"

She quickly looked down breaking eye contact with him and said "Well the first one is in regards to Carlos and Lester, he thinks that the only reason they want to hang out with me is so that I'll eventually have sex with them. He thinks that they are pressuring me and one day I'll finally give in to them. He tells me that when I finally let that happen, it will mark me as a whore and a slut, since I'm refusing to do it with him and he's my boyfriend."

All three men gasped as she said that but then she continued "The text about me remembering the last time, he's referring to happened right before we left. He was really drunk and being mean and hateful. He didn't hit me, but he did come really close to it. I was able to get away from him and lock myself in my room until he passed out."

They all stared at her waiting for her to them the complete story about what had happened in full detail.

She sighed and said "We were in the living room fighting about what had become his favorite subject lately, Carlos and Lester. He hates it when I talk to or see them, hell he hates it when anyone mentions them. It doesn't usually get out of hand, but this time it was like something snapped inside of him. I was trying to talk him about Izzy, him and I getting together with the guys at the club so he could finally meet them and see that nothing was going on between us except for friendship. Heck I even told him that they were bringing dates. I figured if he met them it would ease some of the hatred he had towards them, but of course as usual he didn't listen to anything I had to say and turned into something more than it was."

She finally looked up and saw the concern on all their faces but knew she needed to continue "He started ranting and raving about everything at that point. Even started bringing up some of the older fights we had about even if it didn't involve them. He just kept working himself into a real frenzy and then got really mean and nasty. He moved towards me getting closer and he had a crazy look in his eyes and I was actually afraid of him and was scared that he was going to hurt me. Remembering what you all at taught me, when he got just close enough I kneed him in his balls and ran off into my room. He tried to follow me but thanks to the nut replacement I gave him and you three making sure my door was pretty much indestructible, he wasn't able to bust down my door and get anywhere near me. After a little bit he just decided to leave me alone and went into his own room."

When she had finished Osvaldo set the phone on the counter, he was done and didn't want to read anymore. He knew they had already decided to deal with Diego once they got home just for the stuff he had already done, of course now they would add all of this into it as well.

He saw how upset everything going on was making Estefania and it hurt him, he move closer to her and put his arm around her and whispered to her "Come on my princess, let's go outside. I don't want either of us to look at anymore texts and I know that I absolutely do not want to listen to the voice mails. It won't do any of us any good and the only thing it will accomplish is to upset you even more than you already are and infuriate me even more than I already am and honestly at this point he's just not worth it."

She put her arm around him and nodded her head, as he started to move them away from the kitchen island.

He looked over at Tomas and Franco and said "If you want to read the rest of those and then listen to all the voice mails, then that's up to you, you heard what her password was. Right now, however, I'm going to take my daughter outside so we can rest and forget about all of this for the rest of the evening.

And with saying that he tucked up Estefania under his arm securely as he opened the glass doors and walked her out to the patio where guided her to one of the lounge chairs.

He sat down but kept her in his arms and held her like he used to do when she was little girl. They stay that way long enough to watch the sun go down together, just enjoying the peace before they have to go back to reality tomorrow.

Tomas and Franco decided that Osvaldo was right and they didn't want to read or listen to any more either. They didn't want to interrupt the father/daughter bonding that was going on outside, so they moved to the living room. They decided to start strategizing what they were going to do to Diego.

After a couple of hours they decided to go to bed after all they did have an early flight that they had to catch tomorrow morning.

Isabella Explains How Things Work to Carlos

Isabella walked into her next class knowing that there was a good chance that Estefania would text her any minute and say that she was finally home, which she was excited about. However, this was the class that she shared with Carlos and she was at little scared that he would see it. He'd ask questions about it and she really wasn't sure how to answer them. Considering she wasn't very good at lying and he would pick up on that and then question her more.

She found her normal seat and sat down. She was contemplating about turning her phone off but as she was staring down at her phone, she heard a noise and looked up and saw Carlos walking towards her and getting ready to sit down in his seat that was next to her. Ever since Estefania left they had been sitting next to each other, before since she was in the same class the both sat on either side of her.

He looked down at her and laughed a little and said "Hey! You're looking like a space cadet there, is everything OK?"

He tilted his head waiting for her to answer but when she looked up at him getting ready to answer him, her phone started to vibrate.

Feeling it vibrate brought her back to reality and she thought of course it would go off when he showed up. The two of them seemed to have some sort of strange connection.

She looked back down to her phone but she didn't recognize the number, but she had a feeling she knew who it was. Isabella was smart enough to know that Estefania would probably use someone's phone that way if anyone was near her they wouldn't know it was her.

The text message said: OMG! Crazy man built a runway of my own! So I'm at my house… LOL!

Not meaning to she laughed out loud, making Carlos ask "Want to share the joke?"

She quickly sent a reply back letting her know that she got the message and then looked up at Carlos and smiled. She was about to shake her head at his question but then she thought about it.

Isabella thought that she was pretty much convinced that what was going on and why Estefania was being so secretive had something to do with Diego. She didn't come right out and say it and probably wouldn't but if it did then maybe it wouldn't hurt telling Carlos. He might be able to help to protect her. She would just have to make sure that she conveyed to Carlos how serious this was and make him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone.

Deciding to go with that she said "Look, I really shouldn't be saying anything to about this but I feel like it would be best if I did. If I tell you but it can't be here though, we'll have to be somewhere that no one can hear us. That and class is getting ready to start and I really need to pay attention since Essie isn't here for me to cheat off of."

He nodded his head and said "I'm free after class and we can find somewhere to talk that's quiet." She nodded her head and then turned her head so she could start paying attention to the professor.

After what seemed like forever the class finally ended. When they walked out together out of the room together Carlos pulled Isabella over to one of the benches and said quietly "Is this good?"

She got really nervous and shook her head as she said "No we can't sit here because there's no privacy and we can't really go back to my house. Maybe we should just forget the whole thing. I shouldn't have said anything anyway." And she started to walk away.

Carlos quickly caught up to her and grabbed her arm and quietly said "You're the one who brought it up to me first so it must be important. If you really need for no one to be around we can go back to my house. It will be more comfortable and Lester has late classes, so he won't be there."

She agreed and they headed to Carlos and Lester's house.

Carlos opened the door and guided her to the couch and asked "Do you want anything to drink?"

Isabella said "Sure, water would be good."

He said "OK, no problem."

As Carlos walked in to the kitchen he made sure Isabella wasn't watching him when he picked up a little key fob and hit a button on it. He took it in the kitchen and set it on the counter out of site.

This would allow him to record the entire house. He knew that if she ever found out it would break her trust in him but he felt that she might tell him something that they would be able to use and in the end it would be worth any damage that was done.

He grabbed 2 water bottles out of the fridge and walked out of the kitchen, he handed one to her and sat on the chair that was facing across from her with his own bottle.

She looked at the water and then looked at him and said "I was sworn to secrecy and promised that wouldn't say anything and if anyone found out that I told you it would make several people very unhappy with me. You cannot repeat anything that I say right now to anyone, not even Lester. I'm going to be honest with you, if you can't promise that to me then this was a waste and I need to leave right now."

Carlos quickly said "I promise not to say anything. You're starting to worry me, what's going on?"

Isabella said "The text I got earlier was from Estefania telling me that she was home."

He got really excited and said "That's awesome! When is she coming back to school?"

She put her head down knowing he wasn't going to like the answer and said "She's not, at least not right now?"

He quickly moved to sit next to where she was at on the couch and said "What why not?"

She looked at him and said "There's somethings going on, but I'll explain all of that later, for now this is what her text said." She pulled her phone up so he could see what it.

He looked down at it and then back to her and said "Why did she contact you with a different number and what does she mean?"

She looked at him and said "She probably figured that someone would be around me and didn't want them to know it was her."

He nodded his head as if he understood and made sense.

Then Isabella laughed said "And as far as what she meant, she thinks her Papi is crazy because while they were gone he had someone build a runway somewhere on their property. Knowing him, he probably did it so they didn't have to fly in and out of a real airport. It usually takes them a couple of hours to either get to the airport or to get home. Driving long distances when she's with him makes him insane. He doesn't feel like he can properly protect her when they are on the road, too many different variables can happen. At least that's what both of them have always said."

She took a breath and said "So anyway he built a runway. Although he probably didn't just build a runway like she said, I'm betting that he had a small airport built and he probably named it after her, which is why she called it her runway."

He gave her a questioning look and said "OK I don't understand how he would be able to put a runway on his property let alone a small airport. There's no way he would be able to have it built legally that quick?"

She took a breath and looked him in the eyes and said "Look there are somethings that you need to know about how the Jimenez's live, especially if you plan on being a part of Estefania's life. I understand you like her but you need to know all of the facts and decide how much you are willing to go through before you can fully decide that you want to be a part of her life. I love Estefania like a sister but there is no way I could deal with everything that she has to, what I go through just being her best friend is almost too much for me."

He nodded his head so she would continue.

She took a breath and she said "Let me start off by telling you the normal every day stuff that happens in the Jimenez world. I call it that because when it's the two of them everyone pretty much bows down to them and moves out of the way like it is their world."

She waited for a reaction from him and when she didn't one she continued "Remember, I told you about the first time we met them and what she did at dinner, well let me tell you the first time I was invited to her house and actually went over there, I was shocked. To start off the sheer size of the outside had me awe struck, but then I went inside it was even more amazing and spectacular. I don't have to remind you the first time I saw it I was 4. However, even now when I go there sometimes when I see something that has been updated or added on I still get amazed all over again. The house is like a castle, no a palace. Hell I don't know it's just really freaking big and beautiful."

Carlos gave her a look and said "Why would he change it or add on to it, if the house is already amazing?"

She laughed and said "There are only two reasons why that man does anything period, and both of them revolve around Estefania. He wants to do something for her or she wants to change something."

He just looked at her a little funny but she continued "OK so you already know that Papi is a very powerful and rich man. He's very well known in all of Venezuela and South America. To be honest, I've even heard stories that he might be well known all over the world, but I don't know for sure."

Then she said "You've seen first-hand what type of treatment that she gets when she goes out. Like that time at the restaurant. It's like that all the time and most of the time it really bothers and embarrasses Estefania. She hates to be the center of attention and as much as she tell everyone that she doesn't like it and doesn't want it, it doesn't stop her Papi from putting her in it and showing her off. He tries to explain that it's because he loves her so much and is so proud of her that he just can't help it and wants to show off to the world his only daughter."

She knew that she couldn't stop now so she said continued with "His special name for her is Mi Princesa or as you know My Princess and he treats and spoils her like she is one. I can honestly tell you that in all the years that I've known her I've never once heard him tell her no, she gets whatever she wants and when she wants it. And because he can he throws her over the top extravagant birthday parties, graduation parties and even BBQ's just because he can. He invites everyone to come and share in the celebration just so there's no question what she means to him. He has dignitaries come from all over South America. Even farther I've heard but again I'm not sure."

She took a breath and said "She has many bodyguards that not only protect her but treat her like a niece. I mean these harden men that are trained to kill, melt like butter when it comes to her and they love to spoil her. She had a nanny growing up and has always had housekeepers and chef's to do anything for her whenever she wants."

She stopped for a second and sighed before she continued "That's the glamorous part of it and although she knows that all of them love her, there is more to it."

She turned away from him and stared at the blank TV and said "She gets everything her heart desires and everything is handed to her but she has to live in a world with very strict rules regarding what she can do as well as who she can see. She lives with people who pretty much watch her every move. There is no way I would want to deal with what she has to go through. I'm lucky because I can just go home, which is nowhere near as nice as what hers is, but I don't have eyes on me all the time. Even as an adult she's still never fully alone."

He said "What do you mean by they watch her every move, why would they do that?"

She looked back at him and said "Osvaldo and his men are fiercely overprotective of her and can be overbearing sometimes. God help anybody that might hurt her or cause her harm. That's why she's so used to leaving because at the first sign of trouble she's gone. If Osvaldo isn't the one to handle whatever the trouble is then you can damn sure guarantee that there are at least 10 of her "uncles" who will take care of it. Which is why I am worried."

He asked "Why are you worried?"

She said "Apparently there's some really serious shit going down here at school in regards to her and even though she's back at home she won't be coming back to school for a while. I'm even surprised he let come home. The only thing I can think of is he came home to take care of it. Papi has her on lock down and she's not allowed to have outside communication with anyone and she can't leave the property. She was told not to tell anyone she was coming home. When she brought up telling me he refused at first but she argued with him and finally got permission to call me before they left and to only text me when she got home."

Before he could say anything she held her hand up and said "Don't ask, because I don't know and she wouldn't tell me what was going on. She did promise me that she was okay. She just wouldn't let on about what was happening. What's weird is that I have a feeling that my brother is somehow involved but I don't know what he could have done wrong. I haven't seen or heard him do anything out of the ordinary and I know he's been trying to talk to her."

Carlos was concerned by what she said and it showed in his voice when he asked "Why do you think he's involved?"

She smiled thinking that she really did do the right thing by opening up to Carlos about all of this and said "I'm only guessing at this point because it just doesn't make sense why she wouldn't tell me what was going on. We've told each other everything since we were 4 but if this was about him then she wouldn't tell me. She would want to save my feelings from whatever it is but also she wouldn't want to put me in the middle of it all. That's the only thing that I can think that would make any sense to me."

She took a deep breath and said "And I'm worried that if this whole thing does involve Diego, his life may be in danger. He may be an asshole but he's my brother and I love him. I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

Carlos nodded his head. He decided to change the subject back to Estefania's protected life, maybe he would be able to get some details that he'd be able to share and would be able to somehow get to her.

So he said "So tell me is there more to her than just these crazy men that protect her or have you pretty much covered everything that you needed to go over?"

She smiled at him and said "Oh, there's more. The over-protectiveness isn't just with the men that are around her, it's every aspect of her life. That includes where she lives both houses. The house we live in here on campus is completely guarded with an alarm system and her room is basically a safe room. If she goes in there and locks her door there's no getting to her, no matter what."

She continued by saying "But the main house and the property it's something that's right out of the movies. The whole thing is probably the size of our entire campus including the neighborhoods that our houses are on, but it's all enclosed by this huge wall. There's only one way to get in or out unless you travel by boat, well plane now as well. The property is right by the ocean. The main house is right off the beach, because that's where Estefania is the happiest. She has always loved the beach."

She smiled like she was reliving a memory but then shook her head and said "There are guards stationed all around the property and they are constantly walking around checking everything. There's a guard shack at the front of the gate where it opens that has a really big and mean looking guard sitting in it. He watches everything as well as inspects everyone and everything that comes down the road and turns into the property."

She got up and started pacing and had a serious look on her face and said "I remember this one time when I was about 8, my family and I were pulled up to the guard shack. There was no one there so we had to wait a few minutes. Which we thought was strange, but the gate was closed so we couldn't have gone in if we wanted to. All of sudden guards started running everywhere and there were gun shots that rang out. They ran passed us and motioned for us to stay in the car. They had stopped by this car that we saw when we came down the road, but since it hadn't moved and it didn't look like anyone was in it my dad didn't seem too concerned and told us not to worry about it. Well after they had stopped we all turned around watching what was going on, one of the guards spotted us and made his way back over to the shack and let us in as quickly as he good. To the point of rushing us, we didn't understand it at the moment but understood as soon as we passed the gates and they closed because a few seconds later we heard a huge explosion."

She took a breath and continued "We never knew what happened and honestly I think my parents wanted to know, I know I didn't. I was too young to know what was going on but once thing we knew was things could get dangerous around the Jimenez house. Diego was the only one who was excited about it though, but my father quickly told him never to mention it and to mind his own business. I think that was how my dad justified being friends with them. What they did when we couldn't see wasn't our business."

Then she laughed and added "Estefania being who she was had nicknamed it the compound and was constantly complaining about the limitations. I remember the first time Papi heard her call it that we were about 10. He didn't get mad, he just laughed and then simply said that the property was built the way it was because it has one job and that was to guard the most precious thing to him in the world and needs to make sure that she's well protected. Of course he was talking about Estefania."

Carlos looked at her and said "Wow that sounds crazy and to think that she had to go through all of that. But I even so I would still want to be there for her and help her any way I could."

Isabella nodded her head and said "That's why I wanted you to know everything so you could decide if you actually want to be around all that. I just wish we knew when everything would blow over so that we could see her again"

Carlos quickly asked "Do you think that maybe they would let you go and see her? If so then maybe you see if that would let you bring me as well?"

He was thinking that if he could slip in and tell Estefania what she needed to know, than it would be easy to slip either both of him or just himself out since Osvaldo would be preoccupied with whatever is going on with her now. Although if it was really Diego he' hoped that he would get his turn before they took off.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Isabella yelled "You are a genius, since she can't come out maybe I can go see her. I've always been able to see her before when she was on lock down. Of course it's never been this bad before. I could just say that I was visiting my parents. Oh and I'll check to see if you can come too?"

Carlos just smiled and said "That would be awesome."

He might have just figured out a way to get in he, now the hard part would be finding a way out with her.