Destined Hearts Ch. 08

"What's to be nervous about, mother?" Celine asked, nodding her head. "I am sure the crew was blown away by this lovely couple. We'll have to wait for a few days to see the magazine."

"You're absolutely right, Celine." She jabbered, moving her head from side to side. "We won't ask anymore." She took Praveen's chin and raised his head. "I know you are really tired. Why don't you go upstairs so that you can freshen up and then come down to have your dinner?"

"That's a good idea because I am starving." Antonio kissed his granny and rushed upstairs.

Praveen watched as he went and then followed him there. He was only on the second floor, walking in the hall way before he suddenly stopped when he saw Bruce standing in front of him with a mocking smile on his face.

Seeing Bruce, Praveen's mood simply got ruined. His heart started pounding deep in his chest as he clenched his fists. His body felt both hot and cold. And as if that wasn't enough, he felt really depressed and tired.

He started passing but something made him stop...

"Look at you, poor little soul." Bruce spoke with utter mock in his voice. "I really, really pity you. Did you really think you could have a photo shoot with Antonio and I would just let it go like that? Then you must be very stupid indeed."

"What can he do?" Praveen heard Andrea's voice near him. He didn't even bother to look in her direction. "After all, Antonio is like one of the hottest men alive. We can't blame him for thinking that way."

"But he also shouldn't forget that we are always a step ahead of him." Bruce trilled, folding his arms on his chest. "Never will I allow him get closer to my soul mate."

Praveen didn't want to talk to any of them so he just breathed and started going away.

"Where are you going?" Bruce gripped his arm, pulling him back. "Don't you wanna hear what happened to you?"

"And what have you to tell me?" Praveen furiously released his arm. "I am begging you in the name of the Almighty." He put his hands together, looking into Bruce's face. "I am very tired and I don't have time for your troubles."

"Troubles?" Andrea laughed. "Your troubles haven't even started. But you can end them by just divorcing my brother. It's as simple as that."

Praveen looked at her and was met with her mocking eyes. "Well, I don't have any relationship with Antonio. He can do whatever it is that he wants. And yes..." He tore his eyes from her, now looking at Bruce. "...you don't have to tell me anything because I saw everything for myself. I also know that you probably had something to do with me being locked in that room so that I couldn't do the shoot but..."

"Wow, you actually did your homework." Bruce chuckled, dropping his hands to his hips. "Well, I guess you saw us on set, how close we were and how..." He moaned, moving his body like he was horny. "...we were so close to kissing each other on set. I am pretty sure that we were only seconds away from making love there."

Shit! Bruce was definitely out of his mind.

"You should have heard the director's comments." He moaned in a low voice. "He could tell we were meant to be. We had such good chemistry together. The way Antonio was holding me tightly... the way he was breathing on my neck... the closeness of our lips and our hearts being one. That is something that you'll never have with Antonio because he's mine."

"Good!" Praveen smiled brightly, surprising Bruce even more. "That is something that we agreed on. I am not interested in Antonio's love so you can have him, okay. But you should also realize that Antonio and I are married so whatever it is that you say to me doesn't matter. You can act like a whore all you want..." He couldn't believe that came out of his mouth. "...but the fact still remains that we are married... the entire city knows that we are married... the almighty also knows that we are married. What about you, Bruce? What does the world know you as?"

Bruce's mouth was wide open, his breaths coming out harshly with his fists clenched. Fuck! Praveen's words hurt him so much that he got really angry. He was surprised.

"You're boasting about your achievements but what I saw back there..." He snapped his fingers right in Bruce's face, making him move back. "...was nothing but a photo shoot and that's what the entire world will see just like the director and the entire crew saw it. You see coming back at this time with Antonio..." He chuckled, chirping. "Do you have any idea where I was or what I did? You're boasting about your achievements but your work is just a contract that can be terminated so no... I am not scared of you, Bruce."

He furiously turned and left Bruce there looking like a lost puppy. Damn, even Andrea was surprised. For the first time, Praveen had the guts to answer them back and it almost sounded like an insult.

"Fuck!" Bruce cursed, breathing like a predator. "Did you hear that? I swear I am gonna kill that boy. Who does he think he is to insult me like that?"

"Calm down..."

"Calm down?" Bruce looked at her furiously. "I was just insulted and you want me to remain calm, really? That boy is gonna pay. I will make his life so miserable that he will regret ever been born."

When Praveen reached his room, he quickly closed it and breathed in deeply. He was wondering what had just happened back there when he had been talking to Bruce. He had gotten so angry that he had blurted all those things to Bruce. What was happening?

"I need to freshen up."

He grabbed a towel and quickly went into the bathroom without even thinking about it. When he entered, he went straight to the hot tub where bubbles were already made as if they had just been waiting for him to bath. It was gonna be his second time having a bubble bath so he had to enjoy it and just relax and forget about his bad day.

He sat at the edge of the tub, passing his hands in the bubbles. A smile popped up his face as he slowly started getting hold of the hem his shirt.

"What do you think you are doing?" He heard Antonio's voice behind him.

He quickly stood up and found him shirtless with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He was really muscular and he had small tattoo just above his left nipple. Wait, how come he hadn't seen it before, he thought? But he didn't wanna stare too much so he looked at the face of his husband and raised his eyebrow.

"What do you think?" He teased, breathing in deeply. "I came here to relax."

"No!" Antonio dropped his arms, moving closer to the boy. "You found me here so get out. Besides, I didn't even hear you knock. Were you trying to see me naked or some..."

"Look, Mr. don't be so sure of yourself." He gestured, dropping his hand to his hip. "I came here to have my bath so you're the one who should go out until I am done with my bath. I didn't find you here."

"Oh, really?" Antonio laughed, failing to believe what he was hearing. "Get out! I was in the toilet but that doesn't mean that I wasn't here first. I prepared that hot bath so please, get out. I need to relax."

"No!" Praveen was really tired and he wasn't gonna go anywhere. "You found me here so you should go out."

He turned and just stood still, waiting for Antonio to leave so that he could bath.

Meanwhile, Antonio was just smirking, shaking his head slowly. He knew how to deal with boys like Praveen that always thought they could win against him. He knew exactly what to do. He slowly moved his hands to his towel, letting it go.

He was now standing in only his tight brief. "You wanna play it like that then it's fine by me."

He slowly moved his hands to Praveen's shoulder, slowly massaging them. A bolt of electricity passed through Praveen's entire body, making him feel like he was standing on a cable of electricity. Antonio's hands on his shoulder felt like a powerful flame that was melting him. His breaths instantly changed and his entire body started quivering. His eyes widened as a whole new different feeling took control of him. That was the second time he felt like that when Antonio held him. The first time had been when Antonio had put the wedding chain around his neck.

He felt Antonio's breath on his neck and he closed his eyes, fear taking control of him.

"W-what are you doing?" His voice sounded different.

Antonio knew what he was doing. He was teasing the boy to make him get out of his way.

He chuckled teasingly, moving closer to his neck. "What do you think? I am claiming what belongs to me and you're not gonna deny me that."

Praveen's heart started pounding deep in his chest, his breaths getting even heavier. He had never been so scared in his entire life before. He was visibly scared of the huge man behind him. He had no idea what Antonio mean by "claiming what was his." It scared him to the core.

"Antonio... please..." His voice was barely above a whisper. "Just leave me so that I can bath."

Antonio laughed and then did something even crazier. He slowly moved in front of Praveen and looked in his eyes, seeing how scared he was. He knew what Praveen was thinking but even at the time when he was horniest, he wouldn't dare touch Praveen.

"You said you weren't leaving right?" He slowly got into the tab with his hand slowly moving to Praveen's wrist. "Then I am just gonna bath while you watch. Isn't that what you want?"

Praveen's eyes widened when he saw that Antonio was always wearing a tight boxer. Shit! He got even scared when he saw the outline of that bulge in his pants. He couldn't believe Antonio's craziness had reached that far.

"What are you doing? Get out of there." Praveen said with a serious face. "I really need to bath. I am tired. And put some clothes on, will you?"

"Why?" Antonio slowly moved his hands to his boxer brief, carefully touching its hem. "I thought you didn't wanna leave so I will bath with you watching. After all, I am your husband right."

He started pulling his boxer down and the moment Praveen saw his pubes, he quickly closed his eyes and turned so that his back was facing Antonio. He was breathing so harshly that he felt as if his heart was making a hole in his chest. It was too much. He was instantly sweating.

Antonio took off his boxer and threw it on the floor. He was standing in the hot tub, behind Praveen with a semi hard cock, grinning at the boy. He couldn't believe how naïve Praveen was. He was acting like a scared a virgin when Antonio very well knew he probably wasn't one.

"Why did you turn around?" He mocked, moving his hand to Praveen's shoulder. He felt him shudder. "I thought you wanted to see everything. Besides, I am sure seeing a celebrity naked would have been a great achievement right? After all, you really wanted to see me naked."

"P-please, put some clothes on and get out." He trembled. "I... I... I need to..."

"What? Are you afraid now?" He couldn't believe it. "I thought we are married. Besides, shouldn't we be getting used to each other's nakedness? You wanted to..."

"I am out of here."

Praveen started walking away but Antonio's hand was quick to grab him and pull him back. Praveen gasped, quickly rushing towards his husband. He bumped hard into him and both of them fell into the hot tub.

The tub was really big and Antonio fell on his butt but then Praveen was charging at him so he fell on top of him and both of them went under the water. When they came out, Antonio was holding on tightly to Praveen's wrist and Praveen was gasping.

His clothes were wet... His hair was wet and he was lucky he didn't have his glasses on. He came out quickly, rubbed the soap from his face and when he opened his eyes, he just met with Antonio's beautiful, shining green eyes that seemed to pierce through his.

Their faces were close to each other, feeling each other's breaths as they both breathed. Everything suddenly disappeared. It was just the two of them there. There was no love or hate in that area as they looked at each other. Everything seemed perfect, different from the way they usually saw it.

Then suddenly Praveen came to his senses and he quickly got out of the tub, rushing out of the bathroom with his dripping wet clothes. When he got out, he leaned with his back on the door, breathing like a predator had just been chasing him.

He remembered how Antonio had pulled him in the bathtub, how they had looked at each other and how he had felt when Antonio had rested his hand on his shoulder. What was happening to him, he thought as he rubbed on his face, trying to make himself calm.

"Have pity on yourself, Praveen." He spoke, slowly slapping his cheeks. "Please, that was nothing."

He couldn't believe that one moment he had hated Antonio and the next moment, he had felt something that he shouldn't have felt in the first place. It was all so confusing. He quickly took a towel, wrapped it around his head and got out of the room.

***

It was weekend and that meant that everyone was home already. No one went to work on weekends unless it was really important. That was the rule of the house. That was the day for them to spend time together as a happy family. That meant Eduardo too was home. But to the surprise of Praveen, Bruce too had come. He never understood why Bruce had suddenly been constantly visiting. The man only caused him nothing but trouble.

It had been three days after the photo shoot and after Praveen and Antonio's bathtub incident. The next day, Antonio had been back to his annoying self and had started getting on Praveen's nerves once again, warning and insulting him. He had been doing everything, spending time with his elders and also cooking while spending time with Celine and little Ryan.

Praveen had also found out that Emma didn't only show him the side she did, she also didn't like Celine because she hadn't approved of her marriage to Eduardo in the first place plus the issue with the child thing. Since Celine's marriage into the family, she hadn't gotten pregnant and probably that made Emma angry.

Anyway, Praveen was busy making sure that everything in the room was perfect. He had told the maids that he would clean the room himself and that was what he was doing. He had cleaned the bathroom, did his husband's laundry, ironed and now he was just making sure everything was in place.

He went to the table and started arranging. He tried to pick Antonio's laptop so that he could put it somewhere safe but to his surprise, the laptop fell apart and one part fell to the floor and broke.

"Oh my God," He gasped, quickly putting the other part with the keyboard on the table. "What is happening?"

He took the other part, held it and wondered what the hell had just happened. He hadn't touched the laptop and now it was falling apart. Now he was really scared because he knew that that was Antonio's favorite laptop and he was gonna blame him for it.

He put the laptop back on the table, trying to see what had happened but...

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

He gasped, quickly moving his eyes in the direction of the voice. His fears took him down when he saw Antonio's angry face looking at the laptop.

Antonio was really mad... his fists were clenched... His anger had taken over... his body was shaking and his voice was quaking. He was really mad. His laptop, his favorite laptop had just been broken and he had a lot of things in it.

"What the fuck..."

"Antonio, I..."

"How many times have I told you to stop touching the things I love?" He barked, furiously gripping the broken piece. "Now look what the fuck you've done." He angrily threw it on the floor, letting it break to pieces. "Do you know how many important documents were in that thing?"

"Antonio, I am sorry. But..."

"But?" He chuckled sinisterly then losing it all. He was burning in anger. "You can't even accept your mistakes. All you know how to do is be defensive. Will your sorry fix my laptop?"

Praveen was surprised at Antonio's behavior. He had never acted like that before. "Antonio, please, let me explain. I was sweeping and..."

"Will you shut the fuck up?" He snapped, pointing angrily at him. Praveen was sure that people on that floor were able to hear them. He was just hoping no one was around there. "I know you're hell bent on destroying me but please, get my work out of this? You don't even know how important that laptop was and..."

"I said I am sorry." Praveen snapped, getting angry at Antonio. Antonio was left dumbfounded. "I have been trying to tell you this but you haven't been listening to me. I was only sweeping but I never broke you laptop. I only found it like that when..."

"Oh..." Antonio laughed, losing his entire cool. "So now it has grown legs and it broke itself."

"I didn't say that." Praveen sighed. "But can you please, calm down and..."

"Calm down my ass." Antonio furiously stamped his foot on the floor, scaring Praveen who took a few steps back. "But why am I even talking you. You don't understand the value of these things. You only know how to act stupid the entire time. What's wrong with you? You're such a disaster."

Fuck! It hurt. It hurt a whole lot when Antonio said that to Praveen. Tears built up in his eyes and he couldn't say anything. He couldn't even open his mouth because things were only gonna get worse for him.

"Antonio!" Suddenly a deep manly voice was heard.

It was Eduardo, dressed in a black cargo short and white t-shirt with his hair combed backwards. He was looking really surprised, a bit mad. He couldn't believe he had just heard that from Antonio. Those had been harsh words, even if someone did something wrong. Antonio was supposed to understand because Praveen was not just anybody. He was his spouse.

"What do you think you are doing?" He shouted at his brother who immediately dropped his face to the floor. "What if it hadn't been me? What if it was mom or granny that had come into this room? He sounded really angry. "Praveen isn't just anyone. He is..."

"He broke my laptop and you know I don't joke with...'

"I broke your laptop." Eduardo yelled, slightly hitting his brother's chest.

Antonio remained speechless when he heard that. His eyes widened and he felt stupid. He looked at Praveen and saw tears going down his cheeks. Fuck! He felt really terrible for shouting at him even if he knew he shouldn't have.

"What now?" Eduardo laughed in mock. "Aren't you gonna shout at me now? Why are you quiet? Why don't you shout at me and beat me up maybe?" he angrily pushed Antonio, making him take a step back. He got so scared because he had never seen his brother so mad at him. "Go on and beat me. Insult me too. Why have you kept quiet?"

"Bro, how..."

"I was in the living room when I accident slapped your laptop off the table were you left it carelessly yesterday." His voice was angry. "It broke and I came here to tell you and apologize. I didn't find you here so I left it on the table so that I could come and tell you later."

"I didn't know..." He looked at Praveen and the boy just looked away, rubbing his tears. "...I thought that..."

"You're very stupid and I am so disappointed, Antonio." Eduardo bellowed, slowly turning to face the boy. He could tell that he was really hurt and it somehow broke his heart. "I am sorry, Praveen, for this insult. Please, forgive me for..."

"No!" Praveen held Eduardo's hands, smiling softly at him. "Eduardo, it was just a mistake and there is nothing to forgive. You are like an elder brother to me."

He smiled and lost it when he looked at his brother who looked busted. "You see! This is how lucky you are for having such a boy in your life. Apologize to him." He ordered.

Hearing his brother, Antonio sighed and then raised his face to look into Praveen's eyes. He was so sorry for shouting at him for no reason as his brother said to him. He shouldn't have snapped like that. He knew Praveen deserved to suffer but he shouldn't have shouted.