Both Amado and Nikki were in danger of being deported back to Mexico. Fortunately, Cruz agreed to sponsor Amado to keep him in the country. Amado and Nikki then got hired at a new bar in town, Bar None. There, Amado met the beautiful rich girl Laken Lockridge. He started spending time with her, and they soon fell in love. Nevertheless, Laken's mother Augusta didn't exactly think of him as their kind of people and disapproved of the romance. When Laken invited Amado to dinner with her parents, Augusta was very rude to him. Afterwards, Amado told Nikki he would return to Mexico with her if she didn't find a sponsor.

Nikki's nagging immigration problems were solved when she became engaged to Michael Donnelly. While they were celebrating the news, Amado got into a knife fight with a racist. Michael broke up the fight. Later, Cruz had a brotherly talk with Amado about rising above racial prejudices. The two formed a bond.

Amado went to acting classes with Laken, but grew restless when she became smitten with their teacher Stephen Slade. Amado was further disappointed when Laken became Stephen's assistant instead of taking a job with him at Bar None. Laken's crush on Stephen soon fizzled. In the meantime, she moved into an apartment next to Amado's.

Amado was devastated when Nikki was killed in an explosion. As he grieved over his sister's death, Laken spent time comforting him. Even Augusta tried to make Amado feel part of the Lockridges and visited Nikki's grave with him. When Laken's grandmother, Minx Lockridge, came to town, she offered Amado a job as her chauffeur. He took her up on this offer. However, like Augusta had done before, Minx tried to make Laken realize that Amado was not right for her because of their socioeconomic differences. But Laken refused to give Amado up.

Amado felt intimidated and outclassed when Laken renewed her friendship with wealthy Richie Kenyon. Amado and Laken's relationship deepened and they made love. Soon after, Richie caused problems for the couple. He framed Amado for the thefts of car stereos. Getting the charges against Amado dropped, Cruz had the young man move in with him and his wife, Eden. Undaunted, Richie continued to make things difficult for Amado until Minx finally scared Richie away.

Amado began to drift apart from Laken when she suddenly became rebellious and got involved in race car driving. He fell in love with Katrina Ruyker, C.C. Capwell's houseguest. Learning that she was in love with Dash Nichols, Amado blurted out that Dash was a rapist. To Amado's chargin, Katrina continued to be involved with Dash. Around the same time, Amado attended Mason Capwell and Cassandra Benedict's engagement party. During the party, chaos broke out as Mason was shot. It wasn't until later that Cruz and Craig Hunt discovered that the bullet had traveled through Mason and killed Amado!

Warren Lockridge, Laken's brother, faced murder charges for Amado's death, but the real culprit turned out to be Craig Hunt.