Episode 317

“What did you just say?” Ria blinked back at Angela surprise washing over her at Angela’s admission.

“You have me pegged dead on,” Angela continued with a nod, “I am all those things that you said I am. For years I’ve lead Kevin along keeping him at my side when I was too afraid to stand up for myself and be responsible for my own life. I’ve let him carry the weight of my burdens for years. I’ve been taking advantage of his friendship and I was wrong to do it.”

“Angie,” Kevin tilted his head to give her a strange sideways look.

“Kevin, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you lose what you two have just because I’m so damned screwed up in the head,” Angela apologized before turning to Ria, “Ria, I know you probably hate me and that’s okay. I don’t blame you because if I were in your shoes I would want to hate me too, but as for Kevin and I. I swear to you on my life…on the lives of my children that we didn’t sleep with one another last night. Nothing that wasn’t on the up and up was happening here between us. We haven’t been together like that in a long time. In fact it’s been that way for a while now even more so since he’s been with you. He was always just doing his best to support me and be there for me like a best friend would. Even last night he was only being a friend to me and I’m positive that he loves you…only you. If nothing else you have to believe that. You have to trust that because the last thing I would want in this world was for Kevin to lose the best thing that‘s ever truly happened to him and you‘re it Ria. You have to know that.”

Ria’s features softened a bit and she took in a small breath. She turned to look at Kevin, her frown slowly fading away from her, “Kevin, is that true?”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you all along,” Kevin reached out to touch her cheek gently, “I don’t take falling in love lightly and when I meet the right woman, I know better than to blow it.”

“Oh Kevin, I’m so sorry,” Ria embraced him, feeling his arms wrap around her tightly, “It’s just that with everything that was happening over the last few weeks, I got jealous and…”

“I left you out in the dark and I was wrong to do that. I should’ve let you know what I was doing--what was happening with Angie, but instead I kept it all inside. I’m not one for opening up, but I can see that I need to work on changing that. I need to work on a lot of things if I can be ever the man that you need.”

“You’re all the man I need and more,” Ria confessed squeezing him in her arms, “I love you so much and I’m so sorry that I’ve been acting like a jealous jerk. I should’ve known that you would never step out on me especially not after everything that we’ve shared with one another. It’s just the idea of losing you to anyone--to not having you ever…”

“It’s never going to happen. I love you Ria,” Kevin whispered cradling her in his arms before pulling back ever so slightly to gaze into her dark eyes, “You’re my wrestling buddy, my strawberry pancake girl and the woman I’m going to marry. Do you have any idea how important that is to me?”

Angela stepped back further out of the bedroom area giving the two of them a moment’s privacy. She took in the scene for a moment before finally turning away. Kevin and Ria would be okay and that was something she was proud of. Yes, she wasn’t exactly rejoicing to hear him say that he was in love with only Ria, but it was time. It was time that they both put the past behind him. She had held onto his heart far too long already and they both had moved on. Only in Kevin’s case he was doing far better than Angela ever had. Actually in comparison Angela was doing pretty pathetic, but that was another story for another time.

Angela heard a small sound from her purse and she moved over to the sofa to dig it out from one of the cushions. Opening it up she realized her cell phone was ringing.

“Hello,” she answered bringing it to her ear.

“Angel we need to talk,” Cameron’s voice began in a business as usual voice. She could tell that her brother was agitated with her, but he was fighting to repress that emotion.

“Yes we do,” she agreed glancing back over to the half opened door to her bedroom to see Kevin and Ria in an embrace.

“Meet me for brunch,” Cameron suggested in such a way she knew it was more a request than a question.

“Fine. I’ll be there shortly,” she decided hanging up the phone knowing that it was time to face the music.

She tucked her phone back into her purse once more and made her way to the bedroom door. She paused outside seeing Kevin cup Ria’s face in his hands, his lips descending over hers in a small, perfect kiss alerting her that things were going to work themselves out between the two of them. She felt a small pang of the past sweep over her thinking about how close she and Kevin had come to true happiness, but it had drifted away from them.

“Maybe in another life,” she smiled poignantly knowing that this was for the best. Kevin had found love and judging by the expression on his face, she could see full well that it suited him beautifully. He would finally be able to have the dreams he’d always longed for.

“Everything will be okay,” she mouthed to herself taking a step back. She tucked her purse under her arm feeling better about herself now that she’d helped repair some of the damage she’d caused. Now if she could be that effective with Cameron this morning, she’d have it made. It wasn’t really all that much to ask for in hoping that it would go easy when she spoke with her brother, now was it?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Diego entered his office taking a seat at his desk ready to meet up with his first patient. After last night’s party, he had really started to think about things and he realized that maybe Blake was right. Maybe it was time to back off of Sarah and find a way to deal with the situation that had been taking place between them in a more productive way. Settling in at his desk he started to think about the day ahead of him when he heard his secretary buzzing him.

“Yes?” he questioned pressing on the intercom.

“Nurse White is here to see you,” she explained as Diego decided to invite her in. A moment later Barbara stood in his office with a warm smile on her face.

“I hope you don’t mind my stopping by,” she explained with a small wave, “I just wanted to say thank you for last night. I had a great time.”

“So did I,” Diego confessed thinking about how it was nice to have a small talk with Barbara after the party. Of course the fact that he’d gone off and made love to Sarah while he was with Barbara wasn’t something to be proud of, yet he was determined to change his ways, “Thanks for inviting me.”

“If I would’ve known that you’d say yes, then I would’ve asked you out a lot sooner,” she admitted with small smile, “You just always seemed like you were going to say no to anyone who asked you to do anything.”

“Did I really come off being that aloof?” he couldn’t help but ask leaning back in his chair.

“Well let’s just say that the idea of asking and then being shot down can be very intimidating to any woman especially when the man they are asking is as amazing as you are,” Barbara admitted with a small smile, her eyes traveling over him for a long moment of appreciation.

“Well I don’t know if I would go that far in calling myself amazing,” Diego began feeling a bit uneasy as the door to his office burst open and Rob marched into the center of his office with a sneer.

“Who the hell do you think you are Hernandez?” Rob questioned rushing over to Diego’s desk and pulling him out of his chair. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done. Just because you think you’re some hot shot doctor doesn’t mean you can get away with hurting women.”

“What?” Diego questioned confusion opening his mouth to say something more, but before he could get a word out, Rob punched him right square across the face sending him down to the ground. He blinked in confusion but before he could respond further the two men were on the ground fighting one another.

“Look I don’t understand,” Diego tried to get out desperately.

“The hell you don’t,” Rob snarled swinging at Diego again and again wanting him to suffer for the horrible things he’d done to Cori. No man should get away with hurting a woman like he had hurt Cori. It was one thing to end things with her, but to hurt her like Diego had, well it only proved what a monster the man truly was.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What did you want to talk about?” Sarah questioned following Kyle into the bedroom as he shrugged his shoulders and looked around for something in his bag before pulling out his clothes. “Kyle, you obviously wanted to talk about something.”

“Well,” Kyle sat down on the bed seeing her staring out at him with her dark eyes as he shrugged his shoulders. “So, how far along are you now Sarah?”

“I’m not sure,” Sarah frowned placing her hand over her abdomen and looking out at Kyle as he stared up at her with his hazel eyes. “When was the last time we were together?”

“Around Jade’s funeral and once more before that,” Kyle cleared his throat uneasily before seeing her step in closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. “It was months earlier. I just figured you might be a little bit bigger.”

“Well, it kind of runs in the family to be smaller when you‘re pregnant,” she explained getting in over him and pushing him back against his elbows. “You should know that. Heather never really got that big.”

“Well right,” Kyle nodded feeling her fingers run in over his stomach before he took in a small breath. “But Heather is a totally different person and she was pregnant with Kipp’s baby. No offense, but Kipp really isn’t that big. Heather had a different father too.”

“What are you trying to say?” her eyebrows tensed as Kyle shrugged his shoulders and felt her lean forward pressing her lips in against his chest. “Are you saying that I’m not like Heather because I’m not a skinny skeleton like her?”

“Heather’s not a skeleton, she looks just fine,” Kyle went to further the subject before shaking his head slowly. “I was just thinking that I’m a bigger guy, so you might actually end up getting pretty big because look at me Sarah. I‘m like six foot five, two hundred and sixty pounds. I‘m kind of big if you haven‘t noticed.”

“Oh, I have seen you at your biggest,” Sarah replied reaching between them to feel his body as she heard his phone go off. “Which I might be able to get you to.”

“Might is a good word to use,” Kyle reached for his phone feeling Sarah’s lips press in against his neck as he let out a small noise, hinting at her to get off of him. “Sarah, really--I can’t do this right now.”

“Just ignore the call,” Sarah hushed him pressing her lips in against his as she felt him turn his head away from her. “What is it?”

“I can’t just ignore the call Sarah,” Kyle let out a small breath feeling her take tiny nibbles against his neck as he tried reaching for his phone again. “What if Erin is sick or something? I can’t let my niece be stuck without her uncle Kyle.”

“She’s not your real niece anyways,” Sarah hushed him hearing the phone stop ringing as she grabbed his phone and put it in her pocket. “She has her parents, she doesn’t need you.”

“That’s not nice, I was the first one to hold her you know,” Kyle frowned trying to reach for his phone as he felt her kissing at his neck once more. A small hiss escaped his lips as he felt her bite into his skin roughly. “Ouch, Sarah. You just bit me and hard too. What is wrong with you?”

“Come on Kyle, it didn’t hurt that bad,” she saw him touch the side of his neck with his hand before looking up at her with his angered expression. “Anyways, what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Kyle flipped her back on the bed getting in over her and staring into her dark eyes. He curled his hand in over leg, making her wrap it around his hips. “You don’t ever bite me Sarah.”

“Really?” she questioned biting down on her bottom lip as she felt Kyle’s bottom lip skim over the side of her neck slowly. She felt him press in against her as she arched her body up to his. “How do you think you’re going to make me stop?”

“I never can make you stop Sarah,” Kyle rocked his hips in against hers, sliding his hand in over the side of her leg slowly. He leaned in closer to her, pressing his lips against hers feeling her nails scratch up his shoulders slowly. “I can try though.”

“How are you going to try?” she questioned against his lips arching her body up to his as his lips met hers again, his tongue slipping in against hers. She felt him pull away from her quickly before standing back up to his feet after his phone started to ring again. “What are you doing?”

“Just answering my phone because it might be someone important. Sorry Sarah,” Kyle flashed her a bright smile realizing that he had played with her just to get his phone back, but hey--he got it back didn’t he? Before the person could get a chance to hang up again, Kyle quickly answered his phone. “Hello.”

“Kyle, it’s Barbara,” Kyle heard Barbara’s voice at the other end of the phone as he walked into the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of Listerine from the counter. “I couldn’t think of anyone else to call, so I called you.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Kyle hushed her before reaching out to close the door a bit, making sure Sarah couldn’t hear what he was talking about. He took off the cap of Listerine before pouring some into his mouth for a couple of seconds and then spit it out into the sink. “Is something wrong?”

“Well, you see,” Barbara took in a deep breath before looking back towards where the situation had taken place earlier. “You see, Diego has been arrested and taken to jail.”

“For what?” Kyle questioned firmly letting out a small laugh before shaking his head slowly and wiping at his lips gently with a towel. “What in the world could that man have done to be in jail? He‘s like a saint.”

“Cori Warner has accused him of beating her up,” she informed him on the other line hearing Kyle take in a deep breath. “I just called you because I knew that you and Sarah are his friends and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Don’t worry about him Barbara,” Kyle hushed her walking back into the bedroom before pulling of his shorts. He reached for his slacks and pulled them on quickly seeing Sarah’s dark gaze following his every movement. “I’ll see what I can do about it.”

“Alright,” Barbara took in a deep breath before shaking her head slowly and thinking about everything that had been going on lately. “I hope you can help out somehow.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Kyle promised reaching for his black t-shirt and holding it in his hand tightly. “I’ll call you later to tell you how everything went.”

“Who was that?” Sarah questioned seeing Kyle slide his phone into his pocket before quickly pulling on his black shirt. “Who were you just talking to?”

“If I were you, I would want to get dressed,” Kyle suggested seeing her stand up from the bed as he reached over to his watch on his dresser and put it on over his tattoo. “Diego has been arrested.”

“What?” Sarah questioned in shock seeing Kyle nod slowly as he threw her bag onto the bed and walked over to grab his car keys from the dresser. There was no way that Diego was in jail, this had to be a big old joke. “What do you mean he was arrested? For what?”

“I’m not quite sure about the full details,” Kyle took in a slow breath looking down at his watch to see what time it was. He shook his head slowly before reaching out to pull her up to her feet. “All I know is that Cori Warner has accused him of beating her, so I am going to do what I can to make sure he doesn’t stay there. So if you will, let’s get going.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“JT,” JT heard the sound of someone’s voice calling out to him as his eyes slowly opened and he moved his arm out to cover the sun from getting in his eyes. “You’re finally awake now. It figures you know, the one day you wake up late I wake up early.”

“Wait, what?” JT questioned sitting up from the couch and looking around to see no sign of Evie. A small frown developed over his features as he ran his hand through his messy hair. “Where did Evie go?”

“Who?” Valerie questioned with a small hint of confusion, seeing JT look down at his watch on his wrist to check the time. “Oh, you mean that little slut you brought home last night.”

“Don’t call her that,” JT frowned standing up from the couch and stretching out his shoulder muscles. Not caring to hear anymore words from Valerie, JT walked over towards the kitchen and over to the refrigerator. Unfortunately, he heard steps behind him and he knew that Valerie had followed him. “Did you scare her away this morning or something? I swear if you did…”

“I didn’t do anything,” she tried to defend herself seeing JT pull out the orange juice from the refrigerator and taking a sip right from the carton. “That’s disgusting.”

“Oh,” JT spit what he had in his mouth back into the carton before holding it out to her. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Do you want some?”

“You are so gross,” Valerie pushed away the carton of orange juice seeing him shrug his shoulders before taking another sip of orange juice. “I mean really, other people might want some you know.”

“Well, since I bought it with my own money and I really don’t like anyone touching my stuff, I really don’t mind,” JT flashed her a bright smile before opening his cupboard and pulling out a bowl. “So, what do you want now? You wouldn’t be following me around if you didn’t want something.”

“I don’t want something,” Valerie paused seeing him put together his cereal before walking back into the living room and sitting down on the couch next to him. “I just was wondering how your date went with that girl last night. Obviously you didn’t please her very much if she left you like that.”

“Would you stop thinking like a pervert,” JT rolled his eyes taking a bite of his cereal before reaching out for his remote to turn on the television. “I respect Evie too much to try and pull something like that.”

“You? Respect a woman,” Valerie let out a long laugh before placing her hand on his shoulder and patting it gently. She saw him glare over at her as she shrugged her shoulders. “She obviously respected you enough to leave without telling you.”

“She probably has a valid reason,” he pointed out taking a deep breath before taking another bite of his cereal. “She wouldn’t have left to be a jerk, she probably had to do something.”

“Obviously it wasn’t you,” Valerie saw his dark eyes glare over at her again as he set his bowl down on the end table and stood up slowly. “What are you doing?”

“Get the hell out of my house,” JT ordered seeing Valerie stand up from the couch and step right in front of him. “I said get out of my house Valerie, I can’t stand this crap from you anymore. I’m kicking you out.”

“Very funny,” Valerie laughed walking down the hallway seeing JT still staring out at her. “You can’t kick me out.”

“Oh yeah? I just did,” JT snapped hearing the door to her room close as he rolled his eyes and sat back down on the couch. He thought about what he had just told Valerie before yelling out to her once more. “I want you out of here before tonight I hope you know.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Russ walked out of the kitchen spotting Avery and Erin in the rocking chair over near the far corner of the living room. Erin had clearly drifted off to sleep and judging by Avery lifting her finger to her lips alerting him to be quiet, he knew full well that Erin had found herself at ease.

“And here I thought I might get in on some of the feeding here,” Russ teased with a small wink kneeling down beside the chair, “but I guess you beat me to the punch huh? You wore her out before I got back.”

“I guess we were both a bit overwhelmed here,” Avery felt a blush tease over her face at the memory of what had happened between her and Russ in the bathroom. She glanced down at her daughter lovingly before letting out a small sound, “She’s so beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is,” Russ nodded in awe of their daughter, “In a lot of ways she reminds me so very much of her beautiful mother.”

“See now when I look at her, I see her father in her,” Avery tipped her head up to meet his beautiful green eyes, “She’s got so much of you in her that I can’t help but love her even more.”

“She’s the best of both of us,” Russ added stealing a quick kiss, “which is why I want to make sure that we give her nothing but the best.”

“So do I,” she paused a bit uncomfortable, “which is why I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What about?” Russ asked curiously seeing something behind her dark eyes, “What is it Avery?”

“I was thinking about this place,” she hesitated once again unsure on how to bring things up, “I mean I know we always talked about having our dreams come to life in this house, but there’s so much history and…”

“And the demons are starting to outweigh the good times,” he finished for her seeing her nod with a pained expression.

“I mean it’s not that I don’t love the house, but…” she trailed off a tiny shudder passing over her, “When I think about the situation with Bruce and everything that’s happened…”

“Maybe it’s time for a fresh start?” he arched a curious brow watching her closely.

“Would that be horrible of me to suggest it?” she felt her face grow hot with embarrassment.

“I’d be lying if I told you that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind before,” he touched her face gently, “Avery, honey I know we’ve been through a lot, but I’d like for us to not be haunted by the ghosts of the past. We have Erin and a whole new future ahead of us. I don’t want that to be tarnished by the bad memories we had.”

“So are you saying that you might consider our relocating,” she couldn’t help but ask in a small voice.

“I think we could certainly work on something. Maybe a place with a bigger backyard for Erin that she can have an even better swing set put in,” he suggested with a small wink, “You know a place that will give us all what we need to begin anew with a fresh new sense of security.”

“I’d really like that,” Avery paused realizing how she’d been dominating this topic between them, “but if you have any reservations about our taking that kind of leap right now.”

“I’d leap just about anywhere with you,” he replied in a soothing tone, his warm expression alerting her that things were clearly going to turn out for the best for them. “Right now I am just overjoyed to be able to be here with the two of you sharing this time together.”

“So am I,” she confessed in a soft revelation wanting to say so much more to Russ, but before she could vocalize the thoughts in her head, she heard a knocking at their front door.

“Were you expecting any company?” he couldn’t help but ask curiously knowing that they had been trying to have some quiet time with one another after last night’s exhausting festivities.

“Not that I’m aware of,” she shook her head watching him rise to his feet.

“Then I will politely say thank you for stopping by and have them be on their way,” he promised walking over to the door and opening it only to discover his parents standing on the front porch.

“We hope this isn’t a bad time,” Elliot opened the conversation between them with a hopeful expression. “May we come inside?”

“Of course,” Russ nodded stepping aside to allow his parents an opportunity share the morning with him and Avery.

However, as he saw his parents standing in front of him, he wondered if he would find it inside of himself to have a normal morning with them now that the wounds of the past were still raw and opened inside of him. He’d tried to come to terms with their deception in order to be there for Avery, but now as Russ looked to his mother all he could see was the truth that she’d kept from him. He could still feel the pain of the lie that they’d held over his head all of these years and he wondered if he would ever truly be able to let go of that raw emotion eating away inside of him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Angela entered the restaurant knowing full well that there would be a challenge in front of her with Cameron. Last night he’d been furious at her for her deception. Now she knew it was time to pay for her lies, but she would take her punishment with dignity and the strength that she’d held inside of her. She could make it through this brunch. She would just lay it out on the table for Cameron and let him know how she felt about things. Yes, that was the plan indeed.

Stepping further into the dining area, she found her brother seated at a table near the windows of the nearly empty restaurant. His head perked up at seeing her and he stood from his chair to wait for her.

“It’s now or never,” she mouthed underneath her breath taking a bold step forward. Show no fear, she kept repeating to herself over and over again in a silent display of strength.

“Angel,” he stepped to the side of the table to embrace her before moving back. He nodded towards the chair across from him, “Have a seat.”

“Cameron,” she spoke his name with a polite nod before doing as instructed. Once he was seated she could feel the weight of his dark eyes fixed on her, “I’m sure that you’re anticipating answers that you felt I should have given you last night.”

“Yes, I am, but fortunately for you there is a situation that has offered you a bit of reprieve for the moment,” he explained setting his hands on top of the table, “You see while I’d intended to fully delve into this feeling inside of you that compelled you to lead me to believe an untruth, there was a phone call I had received that had me more interested in speaking frankly about business with you.”

“Business,” she repeated giving him a strange sideways look, “really?”

“Indeed,” he nodded reaching for a bagel that he’d had on a small plate in front of him, “I have something that maybe perk your curiosity. Something that will perhaps give you something to be proud of with all of your accomplishments.”

“And what might that be?” she reached for the water glass in front of her taking a small sip.

“I have been spending a lot of time thinking over the research that I have had you doing for me,” he explained smoothly, his words hinted at enthusiasm over her findings, “You have made so many steps towards putting together the key to having a success on our hands both financially and nationally…”

“Cameron, the only success I’m eager to embark upon is that which will turn around the horrible circumstances that some fall under,” she replied cutting him off quickly, a frown touching over her lips, “I’m not concerned with financial gain in any of this.”

“I realize that, which is why I leave the business side of things to me,” he leaned in closer over the table, “However, it’s been brought to my attention that there is a person who is not only willing to aid us in our quest, but this particular individual may have uncovered something that will be detrimental to our research.”

“Really?” she replied with a sudden interest, “What is that exactly?”

“I’m not sure, but the person contacted me earlier and after reviewing some of what she’s told me, I think she could be vital to your research team. So much so that I am willing to say with clarity and certainty that we can have this drug on the market in less than a month. We can put it to good use and you will have finally found your mark in the world. You’ll have accomplished one of your goals in time for you to take some time to yourself and focus on the children,” Cameron added with a thoughtful expression, “Speaking of which, how are things with Kevin?”

“They are…” she paused knowing that now was not the time to get into this with her brother, “Irrelevant to what we’re discussing. So about this individual. What is it that you need me for exactly other than having her on my team?”

“I’d like you to meet with her. I’ve arranged for something later today at one of my out of town offices. It’s about ten miles away from here and I would go myself, but unfortunately there is another situation with my company here in town. I’m swamped with meetings and…” he offered up apologetically.

“You want me to step in and ensure that this is what you think it to be, yes?” she finished knowingly.

“Something like that,” Cameron nodded again, “If of course you feel like you can handle the task.”

She paused for a long moment before letting out a small sigh, “What time is this meeting?”

“In less than an hour but you’ll have plenty of time to find your way to it,” he offered with a bright grin. “Perhaps you can stay for brunch and we can talk with one another about things…”

“If we do that, then I’m going to be in no shape to talk business,” she answered standing up and taking a small step back, “I will however call you after the meeting and give you updates on how it went.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he nodded watching her turn away, “and Angel?”

“Yes?” she spun around to face him again.

“Regardless of what happens next, I just want you to know that everything I’ve done over the years--everything that’s happened, well it’s only been my way of protecting you…of keeping you safe,” he offered up in a solemn tone.

“I realize that, but sometimes it can be suffocating,” she replied with a small nod, “For what it’s worth though. I love you too Cameron.”

He smiled at her finally. She returned the smile before walking away from the table determined to get her mind back on business. She passed by a display case of pastries and her eyes perked up.

“Okay so maybe being a few minutes late won’t hurt,” she decided reaching into her purse to see what kind of money she’d brought with her. She looked down and felt a hearty push into her arm.

“Hey watch it,” she saw a young woman scowl at her, “you should really be paying more attention to what you’re doing.”

“I’m sorry I…” Angela stopped herself taking another look at the girl, “Excuse me, but do I know you?”

“Thankfully no but then again I don’t associate with idiots who can’t pay attention to what they are doing,” she huffed collecting her box and stomping out of the bakery area of the restaurant slamming the door behind her.

“She’s a rude little thing, isn’t she?” the woman behind the counter noted, “You’d think her parents would teach her some manners.”

“She’s young,” Angela paused thinking about the girl’s face. There was something familiar about it and yet…

“And obviously in a hurry,” the woman behind the counter added, “So what can I get for you?”

“Um actually,” Angela shook off the feeling about the girl and looked to the pastries in front of her, “They all look incredible. What would you suggest?”

“That all depends. What are you in the mood for? Something fruity or perhaps chocolate or?” the woman asked watching Angela survey the counter.

“What about that strawberry thing there?” she motioned to a pastry in front of her, “That looks good.”

“Oh they are. They are my biggest hit lately,” the woman laughed lightly, “Though you almost wore a box of them when that girl ran into you. She seemed to like them too.”

“Well at least she had good taste even if she didn’t have any manners,” Angela thought aloud watching the woman behind the counter grab a box for her, “I’ll take half a dozen of them.”

“Alright,” the woman nodded getting Angela’s order together as Angela wondered if she would be able to pull off magic at her brother’s meeting today like he was hoping for. She just prayed that this potential key to her project would prove to be more than worth her while after all. If it did, then she would truly be able to accomplish one of the biggest goals she’d held onto for so very long.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brant stood under the hot spray of the shower thinking about his aching muscles now that they seemed to throb all over again. He knew full well when he’d awakened in the morning that it probably wasn’t a smart idea to go work out with Don after last night’s fight with Kevin, but he’d been stubborn. Now his body was issuing a payback to him for his impossible ability to not know when to quit.

“Ugh,” he let out a groan letting his head slip forward just enough to feel the water pour out over the back of his neck and shoulders.

“Let me help you with that,” he heard a voice suggest. He didn’t need to pick his head up to know what was happening. He heard footsteps moving in behind him and soft fingers touched his shoulders much like they had the day before when he’d been in bed with his dream girl.

“I missed you,” he heard Angela’s voice ring in his mind. He stood up straighter turning around to wrap his arms around her only to discover that he was alone.

“Damn it,” Brant cursed under his breath reaching for the dials and turning the water off.

Reaching for a towel he stepped out of the shower thinking about what Kevin had told him last night. Things weren’t going to be easy, but he would find a way to get Angela back in his life and when he did, well he was certain that he wasn’t going to blow it. They had far too much riding on their finding their way to one another again. Sure, the sex between them was phenomenal, but now that he knew she was having his children, he wasn’t about to let that one slip away from him.

“We will be together again,” Brant vowed wiping away at the steam on the mirror in front of him, a newfound determination filling his dark eyes, “We’re going to have that dream together.”

Sighing again Brant decided it was time to stop complaining and whining about it. He had to spring into action and make his next move before Angela had time to run away. He had called the hotel earlier to make sure that she was still there. Much to his delight she hadn’t checked out. All he had to do was show up, put on the charm and find a way to win her over. It could work.

Walking out into his bedroom Brant noticed that his pager was buzzing on the floor now after apparently falling off of the night stand. Frowning he reached for it, bending over to pick it up and seeing Michael’s 911 call on it. Frowning he sat on the edge of the bed and called Michael back.

“What now? What is it this time?” he asked perhaps a little bit too gruffly when Michael answered.

“I found out where they are meeting,” Michael explained excitedly, “I got a head’s up on where Cameron’s representative is meeting to collect the research. If you get there first maybe you can change her mind and…”

“Where are they going to be?” Brant pulled out a pad of paper from the top drawer writing down the details Michael was giving him. Though he had Angela on the mind, right now he knew that he had to work to save his company. He was positive that he could do it and take Cameron down in the process. “Thanks for calling. I will handle this.”

Hanging up the phone Brant realized that today was about new beginnings indeed. He was going to spend the morning saving his company from destruction and then, well then he was going to go to that hotel and tell Angela how he felt about her. He was going to get her to listen to him. By the end of the day BBK would be back on top again and he would have his dream girl at his side. Things would be finally back on track for him again! He could feel it!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Don leaned back against the walls of the elevator thinking about everything that had been going on with Brant and how his life was being thrown around like it was a football. There were so many things that Don wished he could do to help Brant get by this whole thing, but there was only so much he could do at one time.

“Right now I need to work on my own life,” Don took in a deep breath as he stepped out of the elevator reaching the level of his office and looking down at his watch. “Right on time.”

“Doctor Leveski,” one of the nurses called out to him as he picked up his clipboard on the desk and motioned her to follow him into his office. “I think there is something you must know.”

“Yes Ashley?” Don questioned looking up from the papers quick enough to see her flip back her brunette hair as he reached for one of the pens on the table. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, you see I heard something and I figured I should let you know before you come face to face with it,” the nurse took in a deep breath seeing his blue eyes meet hers as she held her hands up in the air. “You know that Chief of Staff job your going for? Well, there might be some difficulties in getting it easily now.”

“Is this because I have been waiting a little bit?” Don questioned with a deep sigh resting back against his desk before shaking his head slowly. “I just want to make sure that Matt is going to be okay with this whole thing because I do have a son and that is more important than my job. My son is more important than anything and…”

“It’s not about your son Don,” the nurse hushed him for a minute before folding her arms out in front of her chest. “The reason you should be worried is because someone came back and wants the job now.”

“Who would want the job?” Don questioned with a small laugh rolling his eyes at the remark. “No one was interested in that yet when I got here, who in the he…”

“Hello doctor Leveski,” Zack smiled stepping inside Don’s office seeing Don’s blue eyes meet his when he shut the door behind the nurse that took a hint and left. “I was just going to let you know that I am going to be the one that is getting that job. Not you.”

“What makes you sure about that Zack?” Don questioned getting up from where he was sitting already knowing a few things about the man that was standing before him and from the things he heard, Zack wasn’t the greatest of people to be around. “You just got back here, what makes you think you are going to get the job over me?”

“One simple point that no one could pass over Don,” Zack declared staring Don right in the eyes before taking in a deep breath. “I’m just simply better than you are and sooner or later, everyone is going to know that.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Would you just wake up and be Nate again?” Matt questioned grabbing a pillow from the couch and hitting Nate in the back of the head with it roughly hearing Nate let out a small breath. “I mean really, what kind of damage can one girl do to you?”

“You don’t understand it now kid,” Nate frowned looking up at Matt with his green eyes and resting his head back against the couch. “Once you get to my age you will know exactly what it’s like to have your heart broken.”

“Okay, then,” Matt rubbed his hands together reaching out to squeeze Nate’s shoulder lightly with his little hands. “I’m going to suggest something to you because I have been told that I give extremely good advice.”

“If I can’t figure out my own life,” Nate took in a deep breath watching Matt get up from the couch and walk over to the chair in the corner so they could face each other, “I should just let a child clear them up for me.”

“Good idea,” Matt nodded bringing his knees up to his chest as he stared out at Nate knowing that it was making Nate uncomfortable with the way that he was staring at him. “Though, before I give some advice, I need to know some things. I need to know how you met--all the details, I need.”

“Well, we met at the party last night and she was wearing this beautiful dress that kind of dipped down at the neck…” Nate realized he was rambling and when he looked back up at Matt he could see the disgusted expression spread out throughout his young features. “Well anyways, I tried going over there to talk to her, but she knocked me down twice and when I mean knocked me down--I really mean it.”

“You two met yesterday?” Matt questioned seeing Nate nod slowly as he got up from the couch and walked over to pick up his blow up bat that Nate had filled earlier. “I have the perfect advice for you because you simply just met the woman yesterday. Give up on her! You just met her yesterday, she really means nothing to you and obviously you mean nothing to her. She has taken away the crazy Nate and I want him back.”

“Hey,” Nate chuckled to himself feeling Matt started hitting him in the head with the air filled bat as he reached out to grab Matt and stand to his feet. He felt the bat continue to hit his head making him lift Matt over his head, making sure he was holding onto Matt tightly. “Come on little guy, say you’re sorry.”

“I’m not sorry,” Matt hit Nate harder and quicker as he looked down towards the ground letting out a deep sigh. “Not let me down Nate and let me down now.”

“Nope, not until you say you’re sorry,” Nate shook his head slowly feeling the bat hit him in the head at a quicker pace making him laugh out. “No matter how hard you hit me with that, I’m not going to be affected.”

“Fine, I’m sorry,” Matt finally gave in feeling Nate drop him down into his arms with a tight grasp around him. Matt felt Nate’s fingers start to tickle at his stomach making him laugh out, but in return brought the toy back and hit Nate right between the eyes. Matt let out a laugh of victory as Nate fell back onto the couch and Matt crawled over to the side of him. “I won.”

“What in the world are the two of you doing?” Shannon walked into the room tying her robe together tightly, looking down at her brother who was pretending to be knocked unconscious. Nate opened up an eye to see his sister standing before him as he straightened out a bit. “What were you just doing to Don’ son?”

“Don’t worry about it Shannon, I was just trying to make him feel better,” Matt informed Shannon patting the couch next to him seeing her take a seat. “You see when I woke up he was pouting.”

“I was not,” Nate denied what Matt was saying shaking his head over and over again. “I never said I was pouting and never did I hint at I was pouting.”

“Why was he pouting Matty?” Shannon questioned seeing Matt smile knowing that she believed him over Nate this time. “What’s wrong with him now.”

“He’s upset because he really likes a girl and she doesn’t like him,” Matt stated with a small nod seeing Nate’s green eyes staring into his. “And he is being a crybaby about it because she won’t go out with it. It’s for the better Nate, sooner or later you are going to learn that.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What did you do to him Rob?” Cori questioned feeling his arms wrap around her tightly as they sat together in the lobby of the jail. “Did you hurt him too bad? I really still love him and…”

“Honey, it doesn’t matter what happened to him,” Rob hushed her looking into her brown eyes before shaking his head slowly. “No matter how much you think you love him, the truth of the matter is that you don’t.”

“I don’t?” Cori questioned seeing him nod slowly before pulling her in closer to him and resting his chin against the top of her head. “But all this time I thought I still love him and that he still loved me.”

“Honey, someone that treats you like that can’t love,” he stated with a small shake of his head thinking back to what he had done to Diego. Never did he believe that Diego could be able to do something like this, but it showed that the world was turning out to be a completely different place that was very hard to believe. “You can’t love someone who hurt you like this sweetheart.”

“I know,” Cori let out a tight breath leaning back and feeling his fingers moving in over the bruise that developed over her cheek. There were so many feelings she had for Rob right now and even with this play that was going, she couldn’t let them out right now. All she knew is that she was getting the rightful attention she should be getting right now from Rob. That’s all that mattered. “I just don’t know what I am going to do without him.”

“I’ll tell you what you are going to do without him honey,” Rob pushed back a piece of her hair with his fingers before staring down at her with his blue eyes. Cori was like a daughter to him and he couldn’t let someone get away with hurting her like this. Diego was lucky because if he would have done that to his real daughter, Diego would have been dead. There would have been no waiting around in a jail to see what was going on, all of them would have been sitting at home and not even thinking about Diego. It was just the fact that Cori still said she loved him that worried him the most. “Honey, no matter how much you think you love him he doesn’t deserve your love. You deserve someone who is going to treat you good and I know you can make it on your own without this guy.”

“You think so?” Cori questioned seeing the smile that developed over the corners of his lips as he nodded slowly as held her close to him. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but the only thing she could say right now was that she agreed. “You are absolutely right Rob, I do need someone that is going to take care of me and protect me from all the evil things in my life. The truth is, I think I found him.”

“That’s a good thing honey,” Rob hushed Cori shaking his head slowly and looking around the room to see if there was anyone that could tell him more news on what was going on with Diego and if they were getting any answers out of him. “You don’t need to worry about that right now though sweetheart. There is nothing you should be worried about, the thing we just need to see is Diego get in trouble for what he has done and trust me when I say this Cori--Diego is going to get in big trouble for this. I can promise you that.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do you really think is going on Kyle?” Sarah looked over at Kyle who dialed a number on his phone and put it up to his ear motioning her to wait, but the person he obviously called wasn’t picking up. “Kyle, do you think he is really going to get in trouble for all this?”

“I don’t think he really did all of this,” Kyle answered truthfully seeing her eyes looking over at him as he reached over to turn the air on in his truck. “I mean in all honesty, Hernandez is like a saint. He could never do something wrong.”

“Well, you never know,” Sarah gulped down hearing the way that Kyle was speaking of Diego. There was no doubt in Kyle’s mind that Diego was a perfectly good person, but she knew otherwise. Diego was her other lover, the one that Kyle would never be able to know about. “You can totally think you know a person and then they can turn out to be different than what you thought.”

“What are you trying to say?” Kyle looked over at her quickly before letting out a small laugh. The words she had just said had been replaying in his head over and over again over the last few months. “Are you trying to say that you do think Diego did something like this? If you did then there is no point in trying to help him out, but…”

“No, I don’t think he would have ever done something like this because I know he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Cori,” Sarah whispered seeing Kyle’s hazel eyes narrow in over at her. “If you think about it Kyle, Diego has been acting really weird lately and I can tell you that he told me he didn’t care about her anymore. I know she wouldn’t have been worth his time to do something like that.”

“Alright then,” Kyle nodded turning into the parking lot of the jail before pulling off his seatbelt and staring out at her. She seemed really eager and jumpy to get to all of this and see if Diego was okay. There was something weird about the moment that made him feel a little curious. “I am going to do everything I can to get him out of jail because I know he doesn’t deserve any of this. I can promise you that.”

“I know he doesn’t deserve any of this,” Sarah agreed getting out of the truck and following Kyle over to the front door of the jail. “I know him almost better than anybody and…”

“Just calm down Sarah, I can handle this,” Kyle hushed her opening the door for her before following her inside. Before them they heard the yells of Cori’s voice as she yelled at the man in front of her, Rob Leveski standing behind her. “What in the world is going on?”

“I’m telling you, I’m not lying,” Cori’s voice echoed throughout the whole lobby as Kyle gave Sarah a small glance. Tears were flowing from Cori’s eyes as Rob wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You have to believe me.”

“Oh, that is a total act,” Sarah blurted out seeing Cori glance over at her for a moment and that’s when she realized that Cori must have been just out for revenge. Revenge for the one thing that Sarah took away from and the one thing she was trying to keep away from Kyle. “I know she is lying Kyle, I just know it.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey, you’re up,” Evie smiled brightly seeing JT laying down on the couch as she opened his front door and set his keys back down on the table. She saw him quickly sit up as if he was shocked to see her as she shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t know if you would be up soon or not.”

“Where did you go?” JT questioned slowly standing up to his feet and seeing her hold out a bag, offering up a small smile. Accepting the bag, JT took a look inside to see a box of donuts before him. “You bought me breakfast?”

“Well technically,” Evie took in a deep breath thinking about what she had done before grabbing the bag from him to pull out the box. “I bought these with that money I took from your wallet. I hope you don’t mind, but I figured I should use it on something good.”

“So you used my money?” JT chuckled to himself seeing her set the box down on the counter of his kitchen after he followed her in there. “That was very sweet of you, but how did you get a hold of my house keys?”

“You set them down right on the table,” she pointed out meeting his dark gaze before shrugging her shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to steal them or anything, I was just going out to get some breakfast. I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” JT hushed seeing a look of worry behind her chocolate brown eyes. A small smiled appeared over the corners of his lips as he reached out to touch her cheek gently. “I’m not made at you, I was just playing with you.”

“You jerk,” she reached out to poke him in the ribs hearing him let out a small laugh. “I can’t believe you did that to me, you had me thinking you were really mad at me.”

“I’m sorry, I had to do it,” JT played back with her before pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. A small laugh escaped her lips as he eyed over the donut box slowly. “So, with the donuts--what kind did you get?”

“I got strawberry jelly donuts, glazed and chocolate covered,” she answered opening up the box to see his dark eyes glancing over the three kinds. “I didn’t know if you liked donuts really, so I got a dozen. Do you like any of them?”

“Oh yeah, they all look great,” he reached out to grab a chocolate covered one and took a big bite of it before nodding slowly. “See, it’s really good. You should have one of these.”

“No thanks, I’m more of a strawberry kind of girl,” she picked up one of the strawberry filled ones, taking a small bite of it before hearing JT let out a small laugh. “What?”

“You got some on you,” he finished off his donut before stepping forward and setting her donut back in the box. JT grabbed a napkin before stepping forward and wiping the strawberry jelly away from her chin. “There you go, all better.”

“Thanks,” Evie reached out and rested her hand against the side of his neck, seeing his dark eyes staring out into hers. “I really appreciate that.”

“Great, I come out to get cheesy lines like this going on,” Valerie rolled her eyes before looking down at the donuts that Evie had brought back, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “Those things are going to make you fat.”

“You can have one then,” Evie spoke up eyeing over Valerie slowly and moving away from JT as Valerie took a step back. “From where I’m looking, it wouldn’t mattered if you gained a few pounds because you would still look like a cow.”

“What?” Valerie gasped glaring out at Evie and shaking her head slowly. “There is no way you just called me fat. JT, tell me she didn’t just call me fat.”

“I don’t know Valerie,” JT let out a small laugh before shrugging his shoulders. “It sure sounded like a shot at you if I have ever heard one before.”

“I think you should just get out my face before all the plastic surgery you worked so hard on gets screwed up,” Evie warned seeing Valerie’s dark gaze staring out at her as she let out a small smile. “Now would probably be a good time for you to leave.”

“Whatever,” Valerie grabbed her jacket from the couch and let out an exaggerated sigh before pointing over at Evie. “She needs to be gone when I get back.”

“How about you never come back,” JT yelled as Valerie slammed the door shut behind her and Evie turned to face him slowly and JT let out a small laugh. “I think I like you already.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m so sorry Kevin,” Ria rose up on her toes to kiss him tenderly, “I never, ever should’ve doubted you. That was stupid of me and…”

“Hey I was the stupid one not to bring you here with me, but I just didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Angie was upset and,” he paused shaking his head before he could complete his words, “I should have found a way to let you know what was going on regardless of how crazy it was around here. Angie is a grown up and I know she’s capable of dealing with her own problems, but still…”

“I haven’t exactly given her much of a chance to make you feel like you could bring me around when she needs you. I’ve kind of felt all this resentment and,” Ria paused suddenly feeling a thought overtake her. She glanced back over her shoulder before turning to Kevin again, “Speaking of her, where did she go?”

“Huh?” Kevin questioned looking over her shoulder to see Angela was no where in sight, “I don’t know.”

“Do you think she left?” Ria asked watching him step out into the living room area.

“She must have,” Kevin shrugged spotting a note on the table. “I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye, but you both looked like you could use some quiet time. Tell Ria I’m sorry for making her upset. I hope that one day I can find a way to make it up to her. I’ll call you later Kevin. Angie.”

“Well I think we got our answers,” Ria stepped into the living room area, “and I’ll have to give her hers later. She did make it up to me because she showed me how stupid I was being.”

“You weren’t being stupid,” Kevin replied with a simple shake of his head, “I can see why you were upset.”

“Well hopefully you can see why I love you so much,” she reached out to him tipping up on her toes to kiss him again, “I love you so, so much.”

“I love you too,” he murmured against her lips spotting the room service he’d ordered earlier, “and you know since Angie is gone, well I have breakfast here and…”

“How about we forget about breakfast here and go back to my house?” she suggested with a soft, whisper of a voice, “I missed you last night and right now, well right now I’m thinking it would be good to start the morning off right with strawberry pancakes at my place.”

“Gee, now how could I refuse a tempting offer like that,” he replied with a tiny laugh hoisting her into his arms and kissing her. He felt her squeeze him closer to her and a warmth spread over him as he let out a thankful breath of relief that things were finally on track again. Ria was no longer angry and life was good. Of course it would be even better once he and Ria got back to her place for pancakes. That much he was sure of.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brant pulled his car into park and looked at the building in front of him. It was nowhere near as large as the Stone Corp offices downtown in Coral Valley were, but this one certainly had a cold feel to it. Sure, Cameron might’ve thought that he’d be able to pull the wool over Brant’s eyes, but not this time. He would put an end to this mystery meeting once and for all.

“We’ll see who ends up with the last laugh,” Brant announced walking up to the building and opening the door.

He was surprised to find it quieter than he’d expected. The place was nearly empty other than a bored looking security guard near the door. Walking over to the bulletin board, he scanned the few names on it until he spotted something that resembled Stone Corp’s affiliates.

“Bingo,” Brant snapped his fingers together before hopping into the elevator. He pondered what he would do once he was inside with Cameron’s associate and the BBK traitor, but one thing was for certain. He wasn’t going to back down and lose his company.

Marching out into the empty hallway once he’d reached the third floor, Brant looked around seeing that the office in front of him with the name on the door appeared to be empty as well. He eyed the white lettering curiously before reaching for the door. It opened readily and he stepped inside knowing he was taking a risk, but right about now he didn’t care. He looked around searching for a secretary or anything, but instead all he was met by was silence.

“I hope you didn’t get this wrong Michael,” Brant frowned standing still for a long moment until the small sound of music filled his ears. He turned towards the direction of the sound ready to seek out the source and let that person have it for the obvious treachery that was taking place in BBK. If any employee of his thought they would get away with betraying his company, they had another thing coming.

Standing outside the door Brant noticed it was open a crack. He heard a crashing sound from inside and he leaned forward in a tentative movement. He saw a woman bend over in front of him, her short skirt riding up her hips a bit in the movement to reveal her long legs. He shook his head knowing that he shouldn’t be checking out the enemy from this point especially when he planned to go over and wow Angela after this, but still there was something about her curves that hit him.

“Focus,” he snapped at himself pushing the door open in a haste prepared to catch Cameron’s drone off guard. He heard her let out a gasp but he wasn’t about to wait for a response from her, “You have no idea just how much hot water you are in right now because if you and your boss think you can steal from me, you’ve got another thing coming?”

“What?” she asked spinning around to look at him strangely when he suddenly realized why he’d found that particular pair of legs in front of him so inviting. His jaw dropped in realization that the woman in front of him was none other than the one he’d spent last night making love to. Last night she’d been in his bed for a while and then later his dreams and now judging by the surprise that registered in her eyes, she was just as shocked to see him standing before her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

...to be continued...