Antonio Vega was the the former gang leader of the Prides, and was serving time in Statesville Prison on a murder rap. After getting his GED and a college degree in prison, Antonio was given an incredible opportunity to turn his life around. Llanview's new Police Commissioner, Bo Buchanan, needed someone to go undercover to find out who was selling guns to the gangs in Angel Square. Antonio teamed up with officer Andy Harrison. During this time Antonio and Andy soon developed a love for each other, and their relationship started.
Carlo Hesser, a crime boss sought to find a worthy male heir to someday assume his "throne." He chose Antonio to fill his shoes. Antonio could not escape Carlo's clutches because he desperately needed money to buy back the family diner for his mother. However, because of his prison record, no one would give Antonio a loan -- no one but Carlo. Antonio hated working for Carlo. More than that, he hated lying to Andy.
Andy stumbled upon evidence that Antonio was in cahoots with the crime kingpin. Andy found herself immersed in a perplexing dilemma -- trapped between her love for Antonio and her allegiance to the police force.
Aware of Antonio's misdeeds, Bo convinced him to go undercover to get the goods on Hesser. There was one critical drawback: No one, not even Andy, could know of their secret plan. This sticky situation put a severe strain on Andy and Antonio's already tenuous relationship.
Carlo had been keeping Andy's half-brother, Max Holden and Maggie Carpenter prisoners in a cave in North Carolina. Antonio rescued Max and Maggie. When Antonio returned to Llanview he had to face the wrath of his enraged employer, Carlo. Refusing to be intimidated, Antonio called Carlo's bluff and talked his way out of his predicament.
When Carlo was murdered in 1997, Antonio went to trial for his murder. Things looked bleak for him indeed. Andy stood by Antonio throughout his murder trial. It was finally revealed that Antonio did not kill Carlo, and that Alex Olanov Hesser was the real culprit. With Antonio cleared of the crime, Andy and Antonio were finally able to look forward to a future together. Things became even better when Antonio was also cleared of a previous murder conviction, thanks to the work of hotshot young lawyer Tea Delgado. With a bright future ahead of him, Antonio proposed to Andy and she happily accepted. Antonio was accepted to law school and he and Andy planned to be married.
Andy and Antonio's wedding was a day of celebration. After an emotional ceremony, everyone partied in the middle of Angel Square. The happy couple shared teary goodbyes with their loved ones before embarking on their new life in California.
Antonio returned to Llanview in February 2000 when Carlotta asked him to come home to try to help younger brother Cristian get out of his disastrous marriage to Roseanne Delgado. Antonio, however, returned home without his wife Andy and it was soon apparent that his once happy marriage was a thing of the past. Antonio tried to distance Roseanne from Cristian but she still refused to grant Cristian an annulment. In time, Roseanne realized that Cristian truly loved Jessica Buchanan and released him from their marriage vows. Antonio and Roseanne then started to each other in a new light and the sexual tension between them continued to increase.
Antonio set his sights on a career in law enforcement and entered the police academy. Sophia Pelligrino also entered the police academy and neither she nor Antonio were happy when they were assigned as partners. Antonio and Sophia ended up becoming friends and both passed the academy to become two of Llanview's finest.
During this time, Antonio also started keeping an eye on RJ Gannon as a favor to Bo Buchanan. Antonio enjoyed this challenge, as he wanted to help Bo get any dirt he could on RJ.
Antonio and Roseanne continued to fight their attraction to one another. Meanwhile, Sophia began to develop a crush on Antonio and thought he was beginning to feel the same way about her. Antonio did like Sophia as a friend, but ended up becoming lovers with Roseanne after moving into the penthouse to protect roommates Roseanne and Sophia from Todd Manning.
Although Antonio seems set on a career on the police force, his romantic life isn't quite so clear! To add to his problems, Antonio also has his hands full with Cristian, who seems to be on a dangerous downward spiral since his break up with Jessica.
Sophia and Roseanne continued their rivalry for Antonio, although he and Roseanne had already become lovers. Sophia upped the stakes when she disrobed and surprised an equally naked Antonio in his shower. Sophia then hid her hurt when Antonio thought she had just been playing a practical joke on him.
Roseanne and Sophia continued to compete for Antonio's affections, although Roseanne usually came out on top thanks to her no holds barred attitude. Sophia admitted to Antonio that she loved him but Antonio gently explained that he didn't feel the same way.
Roseanne was thrilled when Antonio asked her to move in with him. Roseanne's happiness was short-lived, however, after Antonio learned that she had deliberately withheld an urgent message for him from Sophia. As it turned out, Sophia was in desperate need of back up while protecting Kelly from the hitman and Roseanne had jeopardized Sophia's life by failing to give Antonio the message. Antonio was furious with Roseanne and told her to pack up and leave. Antonio then cleared up the misunderstanding with Sophia and explained he never would have ignored her call for help.
After Antonio dumped Roseanne she was heartbroken. She got drunk, and Colin MacIver took advantage of her. They ended up sleeping together. Roseanne was horrified when she realized what she did. Soon after, Antonio forgave Roseanne for not giving him Sophia's message, and they got their relationship back into gear again. Roseanne feared that if she told him about Colin then he would leave here again. When Roseanne finally told him the truth about Colin, Antonio was upset, but forgave her again.
Antonio and Sophia soon made it their mission to nail R.J. for all his crimes. R.J. was paying Roseanne to tell him when a bust on his crime buisness was going to happen. Antonio and Sophia figured out that there was mole in the police department giving this information to R.J., but they didn't know who. Sophia soon figured out that it was Roseanne, but couldn't tell Antonio without proof.
On one of the busts, trying to incriminate R.J. a huge cart fell on Sophia and Antonio. Antonio wasn't hurt badly, but Sophia had very bad injuries. At the hospital, the doctors told Sophia that she would need to be sent to rehabilitation in Minnesota. Before Sophia left Llanview she told her good friend Kelly Crammer to prove to Antonio that Roseanne was R.J.'s mole at the police station.
Kelly confronted Roseanne about this information, and forced her to tell Antonio the truth. When Roseanne told Antonio the truth he was very mad. He didn't tell anyone, but forced Roseanne to resign from the police station. Then he broke up with her. Roseanne tried to win back Antonio's affection, but Antonio blamed her for Sophia's accident and wouldn't go back to her.
Roseanne soon after left Llanview, and Antonio was left alone and lonely. Antonio didn't have to wait too long for another woman to love though. Soon after Roseanne left, Antonio saw a beautiful woman named Keri Reynolds and wanted to date her. Keri started out as Antonio's teacher, but Keri saw Antonio as an erogant jerk and didn't want to have anything to do with him. Antonio and Keri slowly grew closer together, and once Keri wasn't Antonio's teacher anymore, Keri didn't see Antonio as much of a jerk anymore. Antonio and Keri started dating.
The person Antonio hates the most, R.J., hired a hitman to get Christian out of town. The hitman that R.J. hired, Keith Shaffer, took it too far and became obsessed with Christian and his girlfriend, Jen Rappaport. Keith tried to kill Christian several times, and Antonio helped Christian out with this whole situation. This even made Antonio hate R.J. even more than he did before.
Antonio and Keri grew closer, and their relationship was going great. Then Antonio found out that R.J. was Keri's father and that was the reason she came to Llanview in the first place. Antonio was really mad about this, and expected Keri to just stop talking to her father for him. Antonio told Keri about all the bad things R.J. has done, but Keri refused to care because Keri said that R.J. was trying to change. That pushed Keri and Antonio farther apart, but Antonio still wasn't going to give up on their relationship.
Right now, Keri is finding it very hard to deal with Antonio and R.J. always fighting over her, and is willing to give up Antonio for her father if she has to. But R.J. isn't making it easy, because he keeps trying to break the two up.
Courtosy of ABC.com