“You know you are the last thing I expected on this job,” Alexa sighed leaning back in the booth after her long night at the club. She’d done her part in trying to worm her way into her undercover operation full force, but the last thing she’d anticipated was the snag she’d hit outside of the club in the midst of the rain storm. Reaching for her lukewarm coffee, she pulled the mug up to her lips and eyed him intently, “I never thought we’d wind up down here together and on similar assignments none the less.”

“No one mentioned that you were around,” Ben noted watching her take a small sip of her coffee.

“Let’s just say I’m under cover--deep cover,” she informed him stubbornly wrinkling her nose at him.

"Well that explains the hair," Ben noted to the wig she'd been wearing. He'd almost not recognized her at first as it was a new look, but still he was certain he'd know her anywhere.

"What this? I was going for a look that was out of the norm for me," Alexa sat up straighter pushing a piece of the blonde haired wig from her face as Ben gave her a long once over taking note of her attire. He caught the sheer black blouse she’d been wearing with the matching colored bra underneath. She’d topped it off with a pair of black leather pants that seemed to make a squishing sound with each movement she made on the vinyl seat cover beneath her in the small fifties style diner they were having breakfast in.

“It shows,” he mouthed shaking his head at her, “You know your father would kill you right about now if he knew what kind of case you were on.”

“Do you think I care what my father thinks or wants?” she frowned over at him, curling her pink glossy lips in a pout, “Ben, in case you haven’t noticed I stopped worrying about what my father wanted years ago. It’s not his life to deal with.”

“Maybe not, but if you’re working the same case I’m on, then I know full well you’re in over your head,” Ben frowned back at her, shaking his head at the thought of her getting involved with men like the one he was tailing around. “This isn’t exactly some kind of light-hearted matter we’re dealing with. This is serious stuff and for you to be working as close to the front and center is just beyond me. You should be…”

“What? Working a desk job?” she scoffed in response offering up a less than impressed laugh, “Ben, in case you didn’t notice you and I both graduated from training at the same time and if I do recall correctly I had top honors with you coming in a close second.”

“It’s not about what position we ended up in, but rather where we could end up if we’re not careful,” he frowned over at her giving her another long once over, “Alexa the people we are dealing with here are serious criminals. They aren’t just some random shoplifter that we’ve spotted dipping their hands into the cookie jar so to speak.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” she mouthed in response, her lip curling into a full fledged frown, “Ben, I’ve been on this case for the last six months and I’ve finally worked my way into this operation. I have earned respect and trust and I’m not about to blow that because someone randomly assigned you the task of babysitting the bad guys. I’m sorry, but this is my case, not yours.”

“Look Alexa, whether you like it or not, I’ve been asked to step in on this one,” Ben informed her bluntly, a frown carrying over him, “and if you don’t like it tough. This is my case and I’m sure with a few phone calls I can get you reassigned.”

“Oh it would be like you to throw your illusion of power around, wouldn’t it?” she rolled her eyes back at him, “God, now you sound just like Shane.”

“Shane,” he repeated thinking of the friend who had brought the news of this assignment to him. Shaking his head he gave her a long look, “Does he know you’re here?”

“Unfortunately I cannot make a move without him breathing down my neck,” she groaned in response letting out a long sigh, “He’s been trying to talk me into working a desk job for the last year and a half, but this is my big break Ben. This is the big score and when I make this bust, it’s going to help me climb the ranks with the agency. I know it.”

“If you don’t wind up laying in a ditch somewhere first,” he pointed out with a less than thrilled expression, “Alexa I read the case file and if Guerrero is as connected as he seems, then…”

“Guerrero is harmless,” she waved her hand dismissively balking at his suggestion, “Yes, the man seems to present himself in such a way that one would think that he’s calling the shots, but he’s not Ben. The case file has it all wrong. He’s no more the mastermind of this whole cartel than I am a ballerina. I’m telling you there is someone else who is running the show and while Guerrero is living it up in the Miami scene, he’s not the one we want.”

“Alexa I’ve seen the files. I saw all the intelligence and…” Ben repeated thinking about what he’d been briefed on during the plane ride.

“Intelligence is wrong. Guerrero is merely a pawn for someone else and that’s who we want,” Alexa continued to explain to him leaning in over the table. She looked around the empty café before speaking to him in a small whisper, “You see I’ve been buttering up to Domingo Cristoval and despite his ties to the organization and his loyalties to Guerrero, well Domingo has a knack for letting his mouth run. I’ve been able to get more information from him after a few drinks than intelligence has been able to muster up in years. I’m telling you that we’re headed in the wrong direction with this investigation. I think if we play our cards right, then we‘ll find that what we‘re searching for is right in front of us and then we‘ll be able to make some headway in this case.”

“We huh?” Ben arched a curious brow leaning back in his seat, “What makes you think that I’m going to let this be a we situation for us?”

“Considering that this was my case first and I’m the only one with the bureau that actually has an inkling of insider information, well, you don’t have a choice, but to join forces with me--unless of course you would much rather pack it up now and go back to Coral Valley,” she wiggled her brow back at him in suggestion. “I mean I’m sure there is a cushy desk job waiting for you like the one you had at my cousin’s company.”

“It wasn’t as cushy as it sounded,” Ben informed her with a small scowl, “and besides if you would’ve just taken it I would’ve been in a whole new direction.”

“You know I had a conflict of interest, though I did see that no one was able to dig up anything concrete on cousin Brant, which again doesn’t surprise me,” she smirked back at him taking another sip of her coffee, “considering that it only reaffirms my believe that intelligence has it’s shortcomings.”

“Brant might’ve been uninvolved with your Uncle Nick and his dealings, but there was reason to believe that…” Ben reminded her pointedly thinking about how he’d been placed in the BBK offices.

“There was nothing there, but the whole busting Chavez for her immoral practices was a nice touch. I kind of figured she’d been taking bribes for years,” Alexa spotted the waitress returning with their breakfasts. “Besides, it looked good for you and gave you this promotion.”

“You call this a promotion,” Ben motioned to the rainy morning going on outside the Florida diner.

“It sure as hell beats pushing papers,” she nodded growing silent for a moment when the waitress arrived handing them their meals. Once Alexa was sure that they were alone again she leaned forward to speak up in a quiet tone, “You have to admit that there is a certain thrill involved in undercover work. It just has that element of danger and suspense that you just can’t get in a textbook.”

“Yeah and it also has risks that need to be taken into consideration before you go off on a rogue mission,” he cut back sharply thinking about her new attitude, “Face it Alexa this isn’t like when we were younger playing cops and robbers. This is serious business and one screw up could cost you your life.”

“I’ve been doing fine, so I really don’t see the problem in all of this. Unless of course you’re going to be the weakest link,” she paused giving him a long once over before a thought occurred to her. “Tell me something Ben, are you here because you’re really concerned about me or was this Shane’s way of getting you down here to take me off of the case since he’s unhappy about my decision to do this?”

“I had no idea you were here until I saw you last night when I was on surveillance,” he informed her point blank, “Believe me finding you was the last thing I expected to do here.”

“And now that you have? Where does that leave me in this investigation? Are you going to complain and try to get me off of the case or are you going to help me?” she challenged watching him closely in the hopes that he would come up with the right answers that would lead them both to big things for their careers in days to come!

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

“Hey stranger,” Stacy turned her head to look toward the sound of the hospital door opening and a familiar voice beckoning her. Seeing the friendly features of Lindsay before her she let out a small groan and slowly slid to sit up to talk to her friend. “I was coming to see how you were doing.”

“I don’t think I am going to be feeling up to par anytime soon,” Stacy muttered with a small sigh before shrugging her shoulders watching Lindsay move closer into the room. “I’m going to live though, that’s all that counts.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Lindsay moved in next to her friend’s hospital bed seeing her blue eyes staring out. Softly sitting on the edge of the bed, she saw Stacy glance over at her. “For what it’s worth, I really am glad you are feeling better. I’m sorry I told Don, but…”

“Don’t apologize for something like that,” Stacy cut her off, sitting up straighter in the bed at the thought of Caleb and how he took advantage of her. “You did the right thing Lindsay and you saved me from possibly making one of the biggest mistakes of my life and I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.”

“It’s what friends should do,” Lindsay reached out to lightly squeeze Stacy’s shoulder before shrugging her shoulders. “The guy really started to creep me out and I didn’t think you should be with him alone. I’m sorry I didn’t call faster, but…”

“You told Don in time to stop me from making a huge mistake,” Stacy pointed out cutting Lindsay off once more before shaking her head slowly. Thinking about the night in the events that took place she couldn’t believe how stupid she had been acting. “Sure, the place I’m not in right now isn’t so great, but if you think about it--if Kevin, Ria and Don hadn’t shown up what kind of position I would be in. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Then I guess it’s really good that those three showed up,” Lindsay offered up a small smile before shrugging her shoulders and standing up. “I’m just glad that you really are okay, I was worried about you.”

“And for that, you are the best friend I have,” Stacy informed her with a long paused sigh before shaking her head not believing how fast she fell for Caleb. If it wasn’t for Lindsay, she didn’t even want to think about the condition she would be in if she let him get to her. “I don’t know if I can ever repay you for what you’ve done to help me Lindsay. If you wouldn’t have helped me, I would have never gotten out of that situation. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, I was just trying to protect you,” Lindsay moved in closer to her friend giving her a small hug before letting out a long sigh. “I just hope it shows I’m your friend and that’s what friends are supposed to do. I’ll always be here for you and if I ever fall into this type of position, I know you will there for me.”

“You would never get yourself into this kind of position because you are smart compared to me. That’s not a bad thing either, when I fall back I know I will always have someone to pick me up when I need it the most,” Stacy replied knowing that there were no friends she had like Lindsay and she was glad that she could have someone so good as her friend. She knew she was lucky because there were some people that would have never been able to get out of the situation and their friends would have never cared. “I think one good thing came out of this though.”

“You learned that you shouldn’t trust strangers so quickly and to make sure you don’t go alone somewhere,” Lindsay suggested seeing the look in Stacy’s eyes knowing that was further from what she was thinking and she let out a small laugh. “I know that’s one if the things, but what’s the other.”

“I really think this is going to get my parents back together,” Stacy informed Lindsay with a wide smile and a small nod before shrugging her shoulders. “They stayed here together for me and I really think they are going to be back together. They were acting good with each other earlier and that never happens, so there has to be some kind of chance.”

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

Hearing the voices pressing in through his ears constantly, Paul let out a tight groan after adjusting a bit in his seat while he hadn’t had any sleep his back had gotten quite tense after sitting in the waiting room all night. The bright lights had gotten to his eyes and he could feel them slightly burning over after being open so long.

“What are we doing?" Paul questioned to himself feeling Jewel Jewel’s head resting against his chest as he had his arm wrapped around her tightly. Last night when she fell asleep on his shoulder, he didn’t want to be a jerk and wake her back up. Especially now that they were being there for their daughter which is what really counted the most. “I can’t believe we keep doing this.”

He knew that they were having off grounds with each other and things didn’t seem right, but when he was around her he knew that he loved Jewel. They were two different people, two different feelings, but when he was with her he felt something that he had never felt with another. It could have been the fact that they had a child together, but he loved his wife. They had problems and he knew that he was part of them, it was just the fact that she never wanted to change is what kept them apart. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his child, but he wasn’t about to start changing himself if his wife wasn’t going to do the same.

“I remember why everything seems to fall apart,” he hissed to himself thinking about all the times he had walked in on Jewel with another man, so in return he did the same exact thing. He felt her shifting in his arm as he tipped his head down to see her blue eyes fluttering to an open. “Morning beau…Jewel.”

“Good morning? You mean I fell asleep?" she quickly moved away from him letting out a small yawn and rubbed at her tired eyes seeing him adjust in the seat before nodding. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you like that. I guess I was just pretty tired.”

“Hey, you’re my wife,” he muttered seeing the way she looked at him as he shrugged his shoulders. Sitting up in the chair more he saw her stand up from the chair and pace back and forth slowly. “You know I will lend you my shoulder any day.”

“Right, anyways…,” Jewel tried avoiding Paul hearing him let out a deep sigh before he rolled his eyes and moved up to stand with her. Turning her back to him she moved over toward one of the windows before letting out a long breath. “Stacy should be okay now, right?"

“I surely hope so,” Paul took in a long breath reaching out to squeeze Jewel’s shoulder softly before moving in closer to her. “Listen, I think there are a few things we really need to talk about. For our daughter, I really think that…”

“Hey, would you excuse me a second,” Jewel smiled seeing Nate walking down the hallway with Matt in his arms as she turned to Paul and shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, it’s someone I really need to talk to. It’s the boyfriend.”

“But…,” Paul watched as Jewel chased after Nate down the hallway and let out a small huff shaking his head slowly at the thought. “That figures.”

Looking back Jewel watched Paul get on the elevator to leave and she thought twice before continuing to follow Nate until finally catching up to him. Seeing Nate look over his shoulder at her with his green eyes once she reached him he turned with Matt in his arms.

“Nate, I was wondering when I would see you again,” Jewel slid her hand in over his shoulders seeing the way his green eyes stared out at her before looking down at Matt in his arms. “I thought if you had the chance that maybe we could…”

“I don’t have the chance,” Nate muttered seeing her blue eyes widen as he shook his head slowly and looked to the bag that Matt was holding. “We’re here to see Don and check in on him and I’m with my nephew, I don’t have any time at all.”

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

“What the?" Heather shot up from her bed after hearing a loud crashing noise filling her ears while she was sleeping. Looking around the dark room she felt the bed next to her and realized Kyle wasn’t with her. Moving off the bed and over to the blinds she pulled them open, blocking her eyes to try shielding them from the strong lights. Hearing another crash she moved toward the bedroom door to investigate what was happening. “What is going on out there?"

“Kellen, can’t you clean anything without dropping it?" she heard Kyle’s voice growl out as she stepped toward the kitchen glancing in to see Kyle and Kellen on the floor wiping something off the floor. “You could wake Heather up and ruin everything.”

“I’m sorry I can’t dry things as fast as you clean them, you’re like the energizer bunny,” Kellen huffed right back seeing Kyle’s hazel eyes glare up at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, if you want to go in and insert new batteries in me, I give you the full permission to go inside of me and do so.” Seeing Kyle’s nose wrinkle Kellen let out a hesitant laugh before shaking his head slowly and continued to wipe a few things up. “That really came out wrong.”

“Sure it did,” Kyle laughed himself before finally picking up the pans and jumped back running into Kellen and made him drop the pans to the ground in a thud. “Oh hey honey…”

“Don’t hey honey me I just dropped the pans on my foot and…,” Kellen got up letting out a long screech when he saw Heather standing in the door causing him to jump back into Kyle dropping the pot on Kyle’s foot. Hearing Kyle let out a small yelp she watched him knock down a glass of water from the ground causing his bare feet to slip against the floor and knock him to the ground bringing Kellen down with him. “Ouch.”

“Hey watch…,” Heather went to warn them when another pan came down and clobbered Kellen in the back of the head causing him to fall before the pan hit Kyle in the abdomen. “Wow, I did not mean to just walk in on that.”

“It’s just a painfully growing lump Heather Babes, don’t worry about it,” Kellen waved it off before letting out a small whimper going to get up and almost slipped again grabbing a hold of the counter. “And a really slippery floor, but that we’ll deal with.”

“I think my pants already wiped half of it up,” Kyle stood up from the ground looking at his athletic pants feeling the fabric soaked and the water pressing in against his skin. “Yup, no if officially feels like I just wet my pants.”

“That’s okay, I’ll take you like that,” Heather moved forward to tip up on her toes and steal a quick kiss from his lips hearing a small noise of appreciation escape his throat. “So what were you guys doing in here anyways to make so much noise?"

“We just got done cooking and…,” Kellen stepped forward before losing his footing again and slid to the ground in a thud only for the laugh of Charles to be heard through the room. Looking back at the kitchen table Heather saw it covered with plates of food and Charles sitting at the table with his cheerios. “Well before I fall on my ass again and destroy everything in the kitchen, we made breakfast for you.”

“We figured you would like a little surprise after everything,” Kyle whispered thickly wrapping his arms around her waist from behind her, pressing a soft kiss against her neck. “Kellen and I got together with Charles and put our cooking skills to work.”

“Which worked lovely, until now,” Kellen grabbed a strong hold of the counter before finally pulling himself back up to his feet. Walking slowly to his spot at the table he sat down before seeing Kyle motion Heather to do the same. “I think we should eat before I break my neck.”

“Sounds good,” Heather laughed taking a seat before hearing a gasp coming from behind her and Kyle that was soon followed by the crashing of a few pots. Standing up from her seat she turned to look to see Kipp crashed out on the floor with a few pans in over him. “Kipp, what are you doing here? Are you okay?"

“I’m fine, just a little overcooked I guess,” Kipp looked to one of the pans that nailed him and he felt Kyle reach his hand up to pull him up to his feet. Kellen was already staring to picking up the pans before anyone else could get hurt. “What an appearance I made, right?"

“If that was an appearance we did that about ten seconds earlier,” Kyle informed Kipp before grabbing the hand towel and wiping the water up on the floor. “Sorry, we had a little bit of a mistake here.”

“It’s no problem, I’m actually glad all of you are in here,” Kipp looked over toward his son in his chair before folding his arms out in front of his chest. He saw all eyes on him as he nodded slowly and let out a long sigh. “Because I need to talk to you all. I have something to say.”

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

“What the hell do you mean that you can’t offer up that kind of personal information?” Cameron snarled into the phone receiver. “It’s my sister that we’re discussing and I have a right to know where she is.”

Cameron’s anger mounted at the person on the other end of the line who offered up a flimsy response to his demand. While it was clear that Cameron wasn’t about to get the answers that he was seeking out, he still couldn’t help but lash out at the person.

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Cameron questioned with a resounding sneer. “I want to speak with your supervisor. I demand answers as to where you’ve had my sister taken off to when…”

Cameron was met by silence as it was clear the person on the other end of the line hung up on him. Now with anger surging through every ounce of his body, Cameron slammed the phone down. He moved to pick it up once again when Sarah burst into the room in an uproar.

“There you are!” Sarah gasped emphatically, “I’ve been looking all over for you and you’ve been obviously in here hiding out from me.”

“I’m a bit busy right now,” Cameron explained with a small frown, “As you can see there are things I need to take care of.”

“Nothing is more important than the plans we made with one another,” she reached out to him swiping the phone from his hand and setting it down on the receiver. “We have to deal with this situation with Diego before…”

“Sarah, right now I could care less what Diego has to do,” Cameron rolled his eyes at her request before reaching for the phone again. He watched her pull the cordless phone off of the base and clench it to her chest tightly.

“You will care when he tries to take my child away from me,” Sarah reminded him harshly. “You told me that you were going to help me deal with the situation I’m in.”

“You’re in this particular situation because you decided that it might be fun to sleep with half the men in this town,” Cameron reached out for his phone only to see her pull it further out of his reach.

“Speaking of which you are in that category Cameron,” Sarah tossed back at him flippantly.

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned again before snatching the phone from her hands. He began to dial before she seized the phone once again.

“Look Cameron nothing else could possibly be more important than this because I don’t want to take that paternity test,” she informed him point blank. “There is no reason why I should have to and if you were doing your job right, then we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.”

“If I was doing my job right, I would have listened to my mother when she told me to be selective about the women I choose to spend my time with,” Cameron frowned back at her. He shook his head and groaned watching her place her hands on her hips impatiently, “You’re not going to let up, are you?”

“Not until you help me like you promised me you would,” she stood taller, puffing out her chest while glaring at him. “You owe me that much.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” he reminded her with a scowl. “As it stands you should feel fortunate that I have even decided to take pity upon you considering that…”

“You never took pity upon me. You only agreed to our little arrangement because you wanted to destroy Diego because it furthers your agenda,” Sarah corrected with a matching frown of her own. “Still considering that you’ve proposed to me, I think now would be a good time for you to start living up to your end of our arrangement with one another.”

“I already said you can go off and sleep with anyone else you want, so why not do us a favor and go do that?” Cameron waved his hand at her dismissively. “Right now I have other more important things to deal with starting with finding out where the hell my sister is.”

“She’s undoubtedly with Kevin,” she rolled her eyes in response, “Given what everyone was saying around the hospital more than likely she’s with him enjoying the kind of satisfaction that I don’t get with you.”

“Again, why don’t you go out and find someone to play with for a while so I can work?” he waved his hand dismissively before reclaiming the phone she’d stolen from him yet again.

“Cameron, if you help me with this, then I’ll help you find your sister. In fact, if Kevin and Brant are in this together, then perhaps I’ll call Blake and check it out,” she wiggled her brow suggestively hoping her fiancé would take the bait.

“Fine,” Cameron finally decided. “You have five minutes to fill me in on whatever trivializations are taking place in your life before I resume in my search for Angel.”

“Fair enough,” Sarah smiled triumphantly as Cameron found his eyes returning to the clock in the hopes that this five minutes would pass swiftly so that he could find out where Angel was once and for all!

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

Angela shifted over the warmth beside her, feeling the sun flooding in through the window across the room. She stretched her fingers out over the chest beside her, feeling the smooth lines of the muscled form that was supporting her slumber. She wiggled ever so slightly feeling an arm curled around her waist and with a smile on her lips she opened her eyes to take a long, hard look at the man beside her.

“Brant,” she gasped his name seeing him laying beside her on the oversized pillows beneath them. Her brown eyes widened trying to process what was happening now that she tried to remember where she was. She could clearly remember their being in the game room with one another, then going into the kitchen or was that just a dream? Her thoughts lingered to the way her mind had her thinking about kissing him and being lost in his arms, yet when she woke up on the couch in Brant’s entertainment room feeling him beneath her she felt a sudden confusion settle in over her. Looking down to discover that they were both still dressed she started to think that maybe her kissing him had been nothing more than a dream.

“Angela,” he murmured his brown eyes slowly opening to discover her laying over him. He couldn’t help but smile reaching out to touch the side of her cheek gently, “hey beautiful.”

“Brant,” she stiffened at his touch forcing herself to move ever so slightly. However in doing so, she was suddenly aware of the warmth of his body beneath hers. It was clear that whatever dream he’d been wrapped up in before she’d awakened him had him in a very, very good mood. She tried to pretend not to notice the sudden brush of hardness that swept in against her thigh now that she took in a sharp breath.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he yawned sliding his fingers into her dark hair lazily, his grin expanding with the moment.

“Confused,” she admitted honestly not really sure how to register what it was she was feeling about the situation at hand. Sure, there was a certain comfort to be felt after she’d been close to Brant, but with her thoughts jumbled and confused she couldn’t help but find herself unclear of how she wound up in such a state. “What happened?”

“I left you in the game room,” Brant informed her with a thoughtful expression, his dark hair unruly and mussed after spending the night on the couch with her. He touched her spine gingerly before offering up a smile, “I went to go put on some tea and when I came back you were sleeping. I didn’t want to leave you in there all night, so I picked you up and wanted to take you up to bed, but then you woke up.”

“I did,” she blinked back at him trying to process what it was her mind had told her about the two of them winding up in one another’s arms making out in the middle of his kitchen.

He nodded in response, “Yeah I said you should probably rest in one of the guest rooms, but you wanted to wait until Kevin got back. You thought that maybe we should watch a movie or something. Though you really didn’t last long considering you were snoring a few minutes into it and we just kind of stayed here. I didn’t want to wake you up after you’d had such a long day and I was kind of tired myself.”

“So you’re saying that we just fell asleep together like this,” she paused straining to remember the turn of events of the previous night. “We didn’t wind up…?”

“Wind up what?” he searched her eyes sensing that there was something happening inside of her head. Feeling her hand still pressed over the center of his chest, he felt hope beckon over him. “Do you remember something?”

“I thought I did, but if we just fell asleep here,” she paused wondering if her mind had conjured up the whole scenario leading to his confession of love. When he’d told her that he fathered her children--that they could be having a future with one another because they were in love with one another, it had felt so real--so much like something she’d wanted to experience, yet now that they lay with one another, she couldn’t see any sign of that moment behind his eyes. “I guess…I guess I just had a dream.”

“What kind of dream?” he questioned clearly interested in hearing what she had to say to him.

“A crazy one,” she revealed not wanting to offer too much up to him about the sex fantasies she’d had about him or about how she’d subconsciously been having dreams about him being the father of her baby instead of Kevin. Still as the memory of the kiss he’d laid on her in her dreams rocked over her, she found herself wondering if perhaps there was something that her mind was trying to tell her--something that she should’ve been able to recall.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it,” he couldn’t help but ask sensing the turmoil behind her dark eyes. His finger curled underneath her chin, urging her to meet his gaze again, “Angela.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it,” she sighed her gaze dropping down to his lips, to the perfect lines of his mouth that were clearly made for kissing. Even now she could imagine what it would be like to have those lips over hers bringing her to sweet surrender again and again. She could almost feel the promise his mouth had to offer in using those lips that were made for sin over each and every inch of her body. It was a thought that burned her beyond belief, yet one she was quite certain she shouldn’t be having. Clearing her throat uneasily she forced herself to look away in spite of the fact that her mind wanted her to be doing a whole hell of a lot more with Brant than looking. “So, um have you seen Kevin?”

“Kevin,” he repeated giving her a strange sideways look with perhaps a bit of disappointment behind his eyes, she realized now that she’d sat upright on the couch, “no, why?”

“It just isn’t like him to not come home,” she replied trying to keep her raging hormones under control now that all she could find herself thinking about was what it would be like to get Brant out of his clothes and beneath her again to… “Stop!”

“Stop what?” Brant questioned worriedly surprised by her tone considering that he hadn’t made a move.

“Not you. It’s me. I just…” she pushed up to her feet and started pacing around the room again, “I guess I’m just worried about Kevin since he hasn’t come home or called or anything. It’s just not like him to take off for long periods of time without checking in and…”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Brant rose to his feet as well reaching out to her and touching her shoulder gently. “Why don’t we just put together some breakfast or something and we can call him? Maybe he’s at the guesthouse and didn’t want to wake you after you fell asleep.”

“Maybe,” she paused glancing over at him again to take a long, appreciative look at his form. Granted there were so many differences between him and Kevin, yet there was something completely irresistible about him. “Yeah that sounds like a good idea.”

“Okay,” Brant nodded watching her with a newfound interest as he wondered if maybe just maybe she was getting one step closer to remembering the truth about their past with one another sooner rather than later.

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

Letting out a small noise, Ria draped her arm in over her eyes feeling the small rays pressing in through the curtains to the room she was staying in at the mansion. Stretching out against the soft, white sheets she turned expecting to find Kevin beside her after last night, but only felt an empty bed next to her.

“Kevin?" Ria yawned sitting up in bed hearing a soft sound that caught her attention coming from the bathroom. Sitting up and pulling the blankets with her it sounded like a guitar playing, but it was very quiet because of the doors being closed. “What in the…”

Moving in closer to the door she held the blankets closer to her before pressing her ear against the door she heard some humming only to hear Kevin’s deep sigh filling her ears. A beat played in through her ears and her eyebrows arched together knowing that she heard it from somewhere.

“And I’d give up forever to touch you,” a voice muttered and she wasn’t quite sure if it was Kevin’s or not, but she heard him let out a long groan after it sounded like the music skipped a beat. Hearing the beat start back up she smiled realizing that it really did sound like it was Kevin. “Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You’re the closest thing to heaven…”

“That has to be him,” she smiled further hearing his voice as she pressed her ear closer to the door closing her eyes hearing his voice filling her ears until smiling and lightly knocking. “Kevin?"

“Shit,” she heard him cuss and fumble with a few things and she heard him tell her to wait a moment. Hearing a few things knock over before he opened the door she saw him before her in a white towel hanging loosely around his muscular waist and she half smiled. “Morning baby.”

“Were you just playing a guitar and singing?" Ria moved in under his arm looking around the bathroom to see there was no guitar and her eyebrows tightened together. “Where is it?"

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” he replied with a wide smirk watching her looking around the room as he pressed back his thick, dark hair. “I was listening to the radio if that’s what you were talking about. I was going to take a shower and…”

“That actually sounds like a good idea,” she went to move over toward the shower to open it only to feel his lightening quick movement to pull her into him. She felt his hands cup her face lovingly before he tipped down and pressed a kiss against her lips while her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. She was so ready to call him on his lie, but felt the fire and yearning behind his kisses that were making her want to just forget about what she heard all together. “We can take one together if you’d like…unless you are hiding something.”

“Somehow, the bed sounds better right now,” he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her back to the bed before moving in over her after softly setting her down. Toying with the sheets she had around her a bit, he smirked up at her before hearing her laugh and press her fingertips in over his muscular shoulders. “I can show you what I’m hiding once I get this towel off and…”

“You aren’t worried that Angie and Brant are already up?" she watched the smile on his face turn to a frown as she tugged softly at his hair. She watched feeling him press in over her more carefully and lie to the side of her, his arm wrapped around her waist while she looked over at him. “I’m sure they are already up from last night.”

“I came up here for a reason last night Ria and that was to be with you. When we came home last night and they were asleep on the couch together, I just saw an opening to spend with the love of my life,” he smirked pressing his hand further down, teasing his fingertips in over the curve of her bare thigh moving forward to skim his lips in over hers heatedly. “I’m hoping more than anything right now that she wakes up and remembers everything, so that way she is Brant’s problem and not mine.”

“You don’t really mean that, you still…,” she went to say something more only to feel his lips move in over hers to silence her as Kevin’s hand found it’s destination between her thighs. Pulling her lips from his, she rested her head back against the pillows before whimpering out his name. “I don’t think we should be doing this now, someone can walk in when we are…”

“I always liked audiences and anyways, I don’t like seeing Brant with you,” Kevin growled in response, pulling away enough for her to see his jealous brown eyes and she let out a small laugh. Moving down he casually tipped down to press tender kisses against her abdomen feeling her fingers tugging at his hair firmly. Pressing his kisses in over her navel he felt her nails softly sink into his shoulders making him groan out at the feeling. Letting out a small noise he felt the fire burning inside him and he couldn’t help but want to be with her after feeling her nails scratch over his shoulders again. “I’m being honest with you baby, I hate seeing him spending the time with you that I should be spending with you. I‘m not going to hurry up only for my baby to be spending more time with him.”

“Is Mr. Adonis jealous? I think you are,” she laughed seeing the way he bit down on his bottom lip before both of his hands wrapped around her wrists pressing them against the pillows. She felt his lips pressing in over her neck, his teeth nipping at her skin as she arched up into him knowing that teasing him would only bring out that sexy, fierce side of him she loved so much. “I didn’t know you had something to worry about with Brant.”

“I don’t, I have nothing to worry about. Baby, you would never do that to me, you like me too much,” he growled in response running his lower lip along her neck feeling her arch up into him again. A breath caught in her throat as she felt his skin make contact with hers making her heart race at the feeling. Standing up from the bed for a moment Kevin slowly pulled off the towel and watched it fall to the ground in a small thud. Seeing her dark eyes staring out at him he smiled before resting his hands against his hips flexing his abdomen muscle teasingly knowing that he had something to be cocky about. Not only that, but he knew the more he teased, the more she looked and the more she would stop teasing him like she was. “Baby, just look at the way that you look at me. You would never want Brant over all of this.”

“Just because I like you naked doesn’t mean I wouldn’t pick him over you,” she gasped feeling him jump in over her and softly press her against the bed holding her down. Seeing the fire burning behind his eyes she tipped up to kiss him seeing him pull back only enough for her to tug at his bottom lip with her teeth making him let out a tempted groan. He moved his hips down to grind against her and tease her over and over while she tried to keep a straight face. “You never know what I like.”

“Oh I do know because it‘s everything that I have,” Kevin teased in over her again feeling her arching up toward him as he smirked seeing her nearly begging beneath him. Moving to get up he felt her pull him back down quickly and he let out a small laugh knowing that by the look in her eyes she wasn’t about to let him go anytime soon. “What? You acted like you didn’t want me for anything, so I figured we’d end this.”

“You wouldn’t do that, it’s the one thing you’re amazing at,” she teased her nails in over his firm chest making him smirk before moving in closer to her to kiss her only to feel her pull away from him. “Though I do wonder what Brant is like.”

“You are just trying to get me mad,” he muttered nipping at her skin over and over hearing the way she sighed out before scratching her nails up and over his back making him cave in closer to her. “You think I’m irresistible, admit it.”

“You’d love that to boost your ego of yours, wouldn’t you?" Ria mused seeing the way his eyebrows arched up before smiling widely. “I know you so well Kevin Brandon Adonis.”

“Well, if you knew me so well baby,” he couldn’t help but make a comment seeing the way she stared up at him. Motioning down he saw her look down before arching her eyebrow up in response. “I don’t think anything else could boost my ego anymore because it’s boosted to the point of no return right now. If you want to try and boost it even more you won’t be able to walk later.”

“Oh you are so gross,” she laughed seeing his nose wrinkle in response before his hand slid in over the outer part of her thigh roughly pulling it in over his waist hearing her let out a small moan. “And yet so sexy.”

“I know,” he glanced down at her with his brown eyes outlining her swollen kissed lips as he moved in to kiss her again only to feel her use her strength to flip him over on the bed to his back and she moved in over him. Reaching for the sheets she began to tie his arms up to the headboard as he arched up into her only to feel her pull away from him. “So now you have to be the teasing one, right?"

“I’m just playing the game my way now,” she stated with a small nod before tying his right wrist tightly seeing his light brown eyes watching her every movement as she lightly dragged her nails across his chest. “You know that I’m the irresistible one, you know that you could never live without me.”

“You’re absolutely right, you are the only one I want. I would never want to leave you because I love you so much. You’re the only one for me, you’re gorgeous, I’m just lucky enough to have you,” he muttered seeing the shocked look on her face as he let out a small laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “What did you expect me to do? Lie?"

“Just not that,” she stopped tying his other wrist to the headboard watching him reach up to pull out his other arm before turning her onto her back and moving in over her. “I love you Kevin Adonis.”

“And I love you too Ria, that’s why I never want to let you go. Angela is nothing to me and as soon this thing is over, it won’t be soon enough,” he pulled her hips up towards him for completion seeing her head fall back against the pillows again as she closed her eyes tightly letting out a soft gasp. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” she whispered moving up to kiss him feeling his lips press against her neck while she wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly. She felt his breath pressing in against her lips while she slid her right hand up through his damp dark hair, seeing the passion laced behind his light brown eyes. “And for the record, I would never pick Brant before you.”

“I know that,” Kevin smirked feeling her push him back against the bed and move in over him as his hands pressed in and over her hips seeing her smile. “As I said, I’m just too irresistible to want to leave.”

“Tell me again why I love you,” she gasped feeling him flip her back over before musing a laugh above her and groaned at the feeling of her legs tightly wrapping around his waist. “Honestly.”

“Because you just do,” Kevin smiled again hoping to have a little of the morning to spend with his fiancée before having to be stuck with Angela again. He just wished more than anything that this morning would be the morning when he would be free from Angela and her problems so he could be with his real love.

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

“Sorry I’m late,” Blake slid into the booth across from Deana and greeting her with a bright grin, “but you’ll be happy to know that I brought something with me--something I’m certain Zane will like.”

“Blake, you didn’t have to,” Deana began watching Blake withdraw a board game that she’d gotten on the way over from her bag.

“Of course I did. After all the help you offered Seth and I with our move, it was the least I could do,” Blake added sliding the game across the table top, “and you’ll also find that there are tickets in there as well on top of the box.”

“Tickets,” Deana replied noticing the small envelope on top of the game for Zane.

“Yeah you know grown up stuff,” Blake teased lightly shaking her head before continuing, “I thought that maybe you and Grady might actually enjoy being able to go out and do something with one another. Those are tickets to one of the new musicals that just opened up and for dinner at that new French place as well. Seth and I have been dying to try it out, but I figured you and Grady can go first and let us know how it is.”

“Thank you Blake,” Deana smiled warmly over at her, “but you really didn’t have to.”

“I know, but hey, it’s the least we can do. Besides we’re also going to offer you some free babysitting. Seth and I would love to watch Zane when you go out,” Blake added brightly before offering up a small laugh, “It’s not like we don’t have the room for him to visit.”

“Thank you. I’ll think about taking you up on that then,” Deana finally agreed looking around the small restaurant that surrounded them. “You know I never thought that I would say this, but I’m actually starting to really enjoy being here in town.”

“What’s not to love,” Blake shrugged her shoulders, her long blonde hair bouncing with the movement, “Coral Valley is a great place. I mean yeah it has it’s fair share of drama every now and then, but over all it’s pretty decent.”

“Believe me it beats the heck out of my sitting home on a weekend watching my brother and our cousin Derek going out and getting themselves into trouble. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I had to wind up flirting with some kind of law official to sweet talk them into letting Jason get out of trouble,” Deana couldn’t help but offer up a groan, “At least here he’s given the opportunity to do things that won’t land him in jail. Well, other than what happened with the shooting…”

“How is he holding up after that?” Blake couldn’t help but ask thinking about all that Jason had endured in being the only survivor in the horrible crime that took place.

“Honestly, he’s still upset, but I don’t think that’s something that anyone can ever really get over. To think about how close I came to losing him,” Deana felt a tiny shudder carry over her, “I guess you never realize just how important things are until you almost lose them.”

“I know what you mean,” Blake nodded in agreement feeling a heaviness in the air between them, “but hey he’s going to get through this especially now that he has family to help him.”

“Yeah Grady’s been great with him and so has Don,” Deana continued to explain thinking about the man who had urged her to come to town, “I don’t know where I would’ve been without Don. He took a real chance on bringing me here and I cannot believe how good he’s been to me.”

“Don’s a great guy. A little strange, but still great,” Blake laughed lightly thinking about her brother’s best friend, “He’s like part of the family considering how many times he and Brant were together launching one scheme or another together.”

“Were they really that bad,” Deana couldn’t help but ask thinking about all she still had to learn about Don.

“Truth be told they were probably worse than Jason and your cousin, but they had a lot of fun together. They still do,” Blake smiled over at her with a small laugh, “In fact you wouldn’t believe half of the stories if I told you.”

“Try me,” Deana suggested leaning in closer ready to hear the secret tales of the trouble Don had gotten into when the bell hanging over the door to the restaurant jingled alerting her to the fact that someone new had arrived. She looked up to see Dr. Byrne standing there in the archway and she groaned, “Ugh, speaking of trouble.”

“What?” Blake glanced over her shoulder to see Andy flirting with the hostess that had greeted him.

“There’s another one of those around the hospital who walk around with a God complex. I thought it was bad when Zack was always hitting on me and threatening me if I wouldn’t go out with him, but then he arrived and he’s worse in his own way,” Deana rolled her eyes thinking about the brief run ins she’d had with Andy. “He thinks he’s a real ladies man and makes no qualms about letting you know where he would like to have you end up.”

“Andy?” Blake mouthed in response turning around to face her, “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Deana nodded in confession, “He started flirting with me in the hallway last week and later on I found a note and a condom in my locker with his hotel room number on it inviting me to come on over for a good time.”

“Ugh,” Blake groaned inwardly, “You have to be kidding me.”

“I wish I was,” Deana rolled her eyes in response seeing Andy picking up some sort of bag and paying for it over by the register. “The man is just sheer repulsion wrapped up in one complete package. Between him and Zack, I’m hoping that I get transferred to another wing of the hospital away from all of their macho male bullshit.”

“I can’t say I blame you considering that well I wouldn’t want to work near Zack either, but I am surprised about Andy,” Blake admitted thinking about her brother’s friend, “He and Kenny were pretty close growing up and he seemed kind of decent to me.”

“He’s a snake trust me,” Deana focused on Blake once again, “he’s trouble and it seems like the hospital is the one place where they all kind of work together.”

“Ugh,” Blake groaned again thinking about her ex being at the hospital, “I can honestly tell you I don’t know what happened to Andy or Zack then. I mean at one point in time Zack and I had this relationship with one another and he was a good guy.”

“Must’ve been before he thought he was top dog in Coral Valley because Blake I’ll tell you that man hits on anything that moves,” Deana informed her point blank, “He’s not at all a great catch.”

“I see that now and that makes me feel even better about being with Seth. Still, to think about how much Zack has changed,” she shook her head firmly, “It makes you wonder what I ever saw in him in the first place. I mean I just thought he was this wonderful guy and I never saw the truth coming before it was too late.”

“Believe me I can so relate. Zane’s father was the same way. He was my boyfriend for a long time and he was your classic All American. He was captain of the football team going to a major university on scholarship for football. He played hockey and baseball and I thought he was something special. I found out however that he was far from being the perfect man when we finally slept together. It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life and then when I learned I was pregnant, well you would’ve thought that he’d dropped off the planet because he was missing in action after I told him and to this day he still hasn’t made a single attempt to get to know his son. Though in the long run it’s better for Zane this way because he doesn’t have to live with the continual disappointment that his father would’ve been. I can raise him my way and not have to fight with his father over what is best,” Deana sighed heavily thinking about the man she’d blocked out of her life for so very long. “Though I do have to thank him for teaching me at a young age that most men are slime dogs. They are out for one thing and if they can’t get it in one place then they’ll just move on to someone new in their never ending quest to be a stud.”

“Fortunately for us we found two guys who aren’t like that. I mean with Seth and Grady I think we really lucked out,” Blake added thinking about the relationships they were in.

“Yeah, Grady’s really special,” Deana nodded in agreement, “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to let him in, but I’m glad that I did. He’s wonderful with Zane and he makes me happy. I really enjoy being with him.”

“It shows, which is why Seth and I also wanted you both to come over for a picnic we’re having. That’s part of why I asked you over today because we’re having this thing for family and friends and it’s going to be great,” Blake explained rubbing her hands together excitedly, “We’re going to have a lot going on and I simply will not take no for an answer, so how about you just say yes and we get it over with now so I can tell you all about it?”

“When you put it that way, how can I refuse,” Deana laughed lightly as the two women began talking about the plans Blake had for her big housewarming bash that was right around the corner.

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

“I’m not going to get you thrown off of the case, so you can put that idea out of your head starting now,” Ben sighed thinking about the situation he’d found himself in with Alexa. She was just as stubborn and bullheaded as he’d always remembered her to be, but at the same time she was still very much a professional who was still hoping for her big break. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Believe me I do,” she promised with a bright grin thinking about everything she’d spent the last six months working on, “I have everything you could possibly want to know at my place and if you want to come over and touch base on it, then…”

“Then what?” Ben questioned seeing something flash behind her eyes.

“Just go with me okay,” she reached for her hand, bringing her fingers up over his. She tipped her head back letting out a small laugh before sliding in closer to him. “Don’t ask any questions. Just do what I tell you.”

“What?” Ben replied seeing her leaning in closer to him.

However, before he could say anything, he felt her fingers slide into his hair, her arm coiling around the back of his neck and in a flash of an instant he felt her lips pressing in over his, kissing him with a sinful intent behind it. He opened his mouth to say something to her--anything to register why she’d kissed him, but as his eyes fell upon the man that was approaching their table, he started to realize what was going on. Instinctively Ben curled his arm around Alexa’s waist pulling her in closer to him. His lips returned her kiss with the same fever and intensity that she’d offered him now that it was clear that they’d been putting on a show for someone.

“Alex,” a voice grumbled causing her to pull away from the kiss. She dragged her thumb over the bottom of Ben’s lip before grinning at him like the cat who ate the canary. The oversized man in front of them scoffed with a growl, “What’s this?”

“This is Slade,” she explained sliding away from him ever so slightly and propping her long, leather clad let up on the booth beside her.

“Who the hell is he and what are you doing?” the man questioned still unimpressed with her response. He snarled down at Ben before glaring at her again, “Well?”

“It’s called personal time Domingo and you should try it some time,” she snapped back at him matching his abrasive tone before dropping her hand down on Ben’s thigh in a firm, possessive movement. She grinned widely before leaning in to nibble on the side of Ben’s neck clearly in an attempt to let Domingo know that she wasn’t rattled by his arrival.

“I thought that we had a deal to work out,” Domingo mouthed harshly sliding into the side of the booth where she’d been sitting earlier. He glared over at Ben before returning his attention to her again, “Alex he’s not part of the arrangement.”

“The hell he isn’t,” she spat back, curling her arm around Ben’s shoulders, “because in case you haven’t noticed I make the rules.”

“Not if you want me to set you up with Guerrero,” Domingo snarled over at her, “We had a deal and…”

“And it hasn’t changed. I still want to meet with him and you promised that you could set it up,” she cut straight to the point slamming her hands down on the table top. “You assured me that you had the authority to do that--that you were connected.”

“I am connected, but with him,” Domingo motioned to Ben again.

“He’s with me,” she waved her hand dismissively, “He’s my partner and my love slave.”

“Love slave?” Domingo repeated arching a curious brow as his gaze swept over Ben. “You’re kidding right?”

“Does she look like she’s kidding,” Ben wiggled his brow suggestively before moving in to kiss Alexa’s neck playing it up for whatever story she was running with.

“See, he doesn’t make a move unless it’s something I’m wanting from him,” she mouthed cupping the side of Ben’s face and bringing his lips in towards hers again. “Now can we get to business?”

Domingo opened his mouth ready to say something more, but decided not to. He watched Alexa’s hand drop down seemingly into Ben’s lap and Ben smiled over at Domingo pretending as if his only care in the world was the touch Alexa was going to provide him with. The man finally relented in his hesitation and focused on what he’d come over to tell Alexa.

“I got you your meeting, but it took some work,” Domingo informed Alexa point blank, “Guerrero doesn’t let just anyone in you know.”

“I realize that,” she flashed Domingo another wicked smirk, “but as you’ve seen I’m not just anyone. I’ve been able to give you and the organization some very important tips over the last few months.”

“I realize that and that’s why Guerrero has offered to meet with you down at the pier,” Domingo informed her point blank, “This goes down tonight at eight and when I say that I mean it includes you, me and Guerrero.”

“That’ll be fine,” Alexa nodded eager to make the next step in her mission to bring down the powerhouse she’d been hoping to uncover.

“Not without me it isn’t,” Ben interrupted surprising Alexa and Domingo, “because tonight she promised me a good time.”

“We can get to that later,” Alexa tipped her head to the side reaching out with her index finger to trace the lines of his lips. He made a small biting movement nibbling on the tip of her finger.

“Love slave or not, we’re still partners Alex,” he reminded her catching the first flicker of annoyance in her eyes, “I’ve been helping you with working on this deal and you’re not about to leave me out of it.”

“Guerrero won’t go for it,” Domingo informed them bluntly, “It won’t fly.”

“Make it fly or else we take our tips and our usefulness elsewhere,” Ben spat out at the man before him, suddenly finding himself very aware of the man’s overwhelming size. Thinking about the gun on his hip, Ben hoped that things wouldn’t turn to that.

“Fine,” Domingo finally blurted out with a grim expression, “but don’t think that Guerrero is going to be happy with any of this.”

“He’ll be happy when he sees what I have to offer to the organization,” Alexa promised seeing Domingo push his way out of the seat and stand up hovering over her.

“Don’t be late tonight Alex because he won’t tolerate that,” Domingo warned before stomping off in the other direction ready to make an exit almost as soon as he’d made his entrance.

“Well it looks like we’ve got something to go on tonight,” Ben finally blurted out after Domingo had been gone for a few minutes.

“You just screwed up my mission Ben. You had no right to push yourself in like that. If Domingo would’ve booked on me, then all of my work would’ve gone out the window and…” she huffed back at him, her eyes narrowing with irritation.

“Hey, you were the one who called me your partner and love slave. I figure if I’m dubbed with being in that title, then I’m entitled to get in on your score,” Ben raised his hands up in the air, “Besides I thought we were working together on this.”

“Together meant that you leave me do my thing while you do yours,” she folded her arms in front of her chest and huffed.

“Looks like yours and mine became one in the same, so how about you stop with the pouting and you start telling me everything I need to know before this meeting with Guerrero tonight,” Ben suggested seeing the hesitation behind her eyes, but as she pouted in the corner of the booth, he knew that he’d made the right move. He was finally on the inside along with her and sooner or later they would crack this case and he’d be well on his way back home to Coral Valley and back to Diane where he belonged.

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

“Sarah, I really don’t think that there is any way that we’re going to be able to change the situation for you,” Cameron informed her point blank after feeling an ache building in his temple. “The fact to the matter is that you have to go in and do the stupid test.”

“Cameron a paternity test at this point in the game is not only dangerous, but it’s crazy. It could hurt my child and…” Sarah began waving her hands around in the air.

“Sarah,” Cameron stepped forward placing his hands on her shoulders, “listen to me. Right now the first thing you need to do is calm down. You need to take the time to really think about this. If you go in there objecting to the request, then Diego will get his lawyers to take action and…”

“We’ve already reached that point and besides your lawyers are far superior to his,” Sarah reminded him bluntly, “Unless of course you don’t care about the safety and well being of a child who could quite possibly be yours.”

“Sarah, it’s a great attempt on your end, but let’s face it when you and I were,” he paused searching for the right word, “acquainted with one another on that level, I’m sure that you were already…”

“You don’t know that although,” she paused thinking about the situation. She moved in closer to him sliding her index finger over the center of his chest, “I’m sure Angel would just love to hear all about how you and I connected before I made my official appearance in Coral Valley. I’m sure she’d love to know all about the digging you did into Heather’s past and how you brought me back to town to get her to be persuaded to lean on you. It would undoubtedly sour your already tarnished reputation if anyone was to find out just how much you paid me to make Heather nervous enough to offer you all that she had in your marriage.”

“And look how good it got me,” Cameron couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “Everything I wanted you to accomplish backfired. That night I sent you here to get her on shaky ground all you did was agitate her at best. Then when I sent you over with impeccable references hoping to help land you that job at the newspaper that Russ Denton worked at, you didn’t do anything with that either.”

“I got distracted,” Sarah shrugged her shoulders simply.

“Yes by Kyle who wasn’t supposed to be a problem,” Cameron rolled his eyes at her. “Gee, look how well that one went down.”

“If you were nicer to Heather, then she wouldn’t have been out of your life,” she groaned outwardly, “Not that I’m complaining about how you were with her because in my own personal opinion you should have just killed her and saved us all the trouble in dealing with her.”

“And make your life easier,” Cameron chuckled, “I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides it was your inability to keep Kyle satisfied that lead to his turning to Heather. She did have some rather appealing surprises about her.”

“Not that appealing,” Sarah scoffed swatting him as she caught the smirk on his features.

“Trust me Sarah women like Heather are special. I thought that she and I were a lot alike, but she had me fooled. Sadly you and I are far more on the level with one another,” Cameron sighed with a simple shake of his head.

“Which brings us back to how we’re going to deal with Diego. I told you that the paternity test was not a good idea. I’ve been reading up on it and I’m seeing that it could be dangerous to a child,” Sarah continued to explain her side of things. Walking over to the bar across the room she reached for her glass and a bottle of something Cameron had resting behind the bar.

“And drinking can be far worse,” he informed her circling around the bar to take the bottle from her hand. With a frown he replaced it with a bottle of cranberry juice. “Try this. It’ll taste better in the long run.”

“No way. I hate this stuff,” she curled her lip in a pout.

“And you’ll hate it a whole hell of a lot worse if Diego knows that you’ve been trying to drink yourself to death. It’ll only add fuel to the fire in his cause,” Cameron informed her with a groan. “Right now your best bet is to keep your head clear especially if we’re going to have to find a way to phone in a few favors so that Dr. Hernandez isn’t a problem anymore.”

“What do you have in mind?” her eyes widened at the sound of his voice.

“You leave it up to me, but rest assured that I will take care of this,” Cameron decided realizing that until he dealt with Sarah’s issue she wouldn’t leave him alone. He would help her in her situation and then he would find out exactly what happened to his sister one way or the other. If she was near Brant, then Cameron vowed he would find a way to put a stop to it as soon as possible!

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

“Look Kipp if you’re here to fight,” Kyle stepped forward ready to deal with Kipp before he let things get out of hand with Heather all over again. Kyle issued Kipp a firm warning look before Heather stepped forward touching her husband’s arm gently.

“What do you want Kipp?” Heather questioned seeing something behind his dark eyes. It was clear from the dark circles he’d had underneath his brown eyes that something was bothering him. Something was clearly on his mind and Heather couldn’t help but be worried about him.

“I wanted to say I was sorry. Last night I was out of line with all of you and I never should’ve run out on you like I did,” Kipp explained looking between Heather, Kyle and Kellen. His eyes narrowed in on Kellen and something somber carried over him, “I was behaving like a real ass and I’m sorry. I guess in all of the confusion I let my emotions get the best of me and I behaved like a child.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Kyle mouthed under his breath feeling Heather poke him in the ribs, “What?”

“Kipp it’s okay,” Heather stepped forward seeing that Kipp was obviously upset over what had happened. “I think we all did and said a lot of things last night that we didn’t mean. It was just a bad day overall and…”

“And I never should’ve lashed out at you like I did Heather. I was behaving like my father and I’m sorry,” Kipp admitted with a pained expression remembering his harsh words, “You’re an amazing mother to Charles and I would never, ever dream about taking him away from you. He needs you in his life just like I do.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Heather reached out to embrace him, “We all have our breaking points Kipp.”

“I just never should’ve unleashed it on you--on any of you,” Kipp’s eyes darted over in Kellen’s direction, “I was being a real jerk and I didn’t take the time to think about how what I did and said could hurt someone else.”

“I think we’re all willing to overlook your tantrum as long as you don’t keep going down that road,” Kellen stepped forward, his blue eyes fixed on his lover in front of him. “I know I’m willing to forgive you if you really mean it.”

“Kellen I…” Kipp stepped away from Heather, his dark eyes fixed on Kellen, “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry about all of those times I yelled at you--about how I told you that you were off base when you were just trying to warn me about a potential problem. I never should’ve blown up at you for your wanting to protect me.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’ve never blown up at you,” Kellen shrugged his shoulders and made a small movement towards his lover. He reached out to touch Kipp’s arm gently, “We’ve both had our share of bitchy moments, but that doesn’t change how much I love you.”

“Okay this is our cue to exit,” Kyle whispered in the back of Heather’s ear not wanting to take part in Kipp and Kellen’s make up session.

“Wait,” Kipp turned his attention to Heather again, “Not just yet. There are a few more things I need to talk to Heather about. I was kind of hoping we could get a word alone with one another.”

“Um, sure I guess,” Heather sensed something in Kipp’s tone before she glanced over at Kellen and Kyle, “Why don’t you two just go back into the kitchen with Charles? We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Kyle replied with a nod seeing the expression on Kellen’s face at Kipp’s words. “Hey Kellen, how about we go back to entertaining Charles?”

“Huh?” Kellen snapped out of the daze he was in, “oh right. Yeah sure.”

“We’ll see you shortly,” Kyle practically dragged Kellen into the kitchen with him. Once Kipp and Heather were alone Heather turned to him again with a small sigh.

“Look Kipp if this is about what happened last night here with Paul, I had no idea that he would behave that way. I thought that he was okay to watch our son, but I won’t do it again. I just wanted to get that out considering that…” she started to apologize thinking about all of the chaos that had followed that one decision.

“Heather that’s not why I wanted to talk to you. Granted I was upset, but I know you would never put Charles in harm’s way. You’re a good mother and I don’t doubt that for a second,” he paused fighting to find the right words to explain what was on his mind, “This is about last night however.”

“But if it’s not about Paul watching Charles, then what is it?” she couldn’t help but ask seeing the tension wash over his features, “Kipp?”

“Heather I think I made a mistake--a big one and I don’t know how to fix it,” he revealed taking in a breath as he prepared to tell her about what had taken place with Becca at his house and how things were suddenly very much out of control in the situation in dealing with his new assistant.

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

“You really think so? After this long Stace you really think your parents are really getting back together this time?" Lindsay muttered knowing that if her friend’s hopes got up too high she might have her heart broken again. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up Stacy because you know how your mother and father are.”

“I know how they have been in the past Stacy, but this wasn’t like that,” Stacy was sure for this one time that her parents might have the chance at being a couple again for real. “You have seen the way they came together Lindsay, they really looked like they could have some type of relationship again. I know it and this isn’t just the little kid phase.”

“Are you really sure about this Stacy because I’ve seen you this way before and I don’t want you to end up hurt just like those times before,” Lindsay tried to get her friend to really think things over before making a decision and she knew that Stacy was quick to think the wrong thing sometimes. “Listen Stace, I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s just take things slowly. Try and see what happens so we don’t get hurt too easily. Okay?"

“I won’t Lindsay, but for once I think I’m right, just watch,” Stacy smiled proudly before thinking things over and right now she actually wondered where her parents were. Maybe they were together, maybe they were talking about going home to where they belonged. Sure, it was things she wish would be happening right now, but dreams could come true. Hearing a noise move through the room Stacy saw Dave move into the room softly shutting the door behind him. “Uncle Dave, what are you doing here?"

“I’m here to talk to you sweetheart, I’ve been here a while,” Dave moved in next to Stacy on the opposite side of Lindsay and rested on the bed next to her before letting out a tight breath. “Stacy, could you tell me what this boy was like that hurt you? What did he look like? What was his name?"

“Just let me think,” Stacy took in a long breath before trying to picture the guy she once thought could be the best man to ever be with, but ended up proving her wrong. “His name was Caleb, he was twenty-five years old. He was tan, green eyes…”

“I’d say about six-three,” Lindsay tried to help seeing Stacy nod slowly and Lindsay took in a long breath thinking things over slowly. “He had a black mustang and the license plate started with LCP, but that’s all I can remember.”

“She remembers more than I do sadly,” Stacy let out a deep breath trying to remember something more before letting out a long breath. “I know he said he worked for some guy named Tony C. and that the person with him was named Mr. Kane. I can’t think of much more than that and…”

“It’s okay sweetheart,” Dave hushed seeing the way Stacy tried to think of something as he wrapped his left arm around his niece’s shoulder’s tightly. After knowing what happened to Stacy, he hated to know that he let her go and it was something that he never wanted to see her get into. He was her uncle and felt down about himself considering he let this guy get to her. Now he was going to make it up to her and find this guy and take him down for good. “This guy seems to have been going around causing a lot of trouble and trust me honey, we’re going to catch him. I know we are and I can promise you that.”

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

“I’ll be right back,” Brant promised Angela after he’d found a way to make a mess of himself in the kitchen. Looking to the spot that covered the front of his shirt, he prepared to go and grab a quick change before returning to breakfast he and Angela were working on. “Do you think you’ll be okay?”

“It’s eggs,” Angela wrinkled her nose at Brant, “I think I can handle them.”

“Okay I won’t be long,” Brant promised rushing out of the kitchen and making his way towards the staircase.

He’d already been off to a less than perfect morning after Angela had awakened questioning the previous evening’s activities. He knew full well that he should’ve been honest with her--that he should’ve just fessed up to the fact that he’d told her that the twins were his and that they were destined to be together, but when he’d seen how confused and unsettled she’d appeared to be he chickened out. He couldn’t bring it in him to be honest with her about how he’d gone against Don’s advice and sparked a fire that could potentially threaten everything that he’d been hoping for.

“Brant, I love you,” he could hear her voice in the back of his mind when they’d returned to the entertainment room falling onto the couch with one another after passion had simmered to the surface between them. He’d felt her kisses, felt her arms around him and when he’d thought that they could make love with one another, he could see that her thoughts had been lingering to Kevin. He’d known full well had things gotten out of hand with them last night then she surely would’ve pushed him away. He would’ve lost all the ground that they’d made with one another had they made love and now he was trying to play it cool. Sure, he’d hoped that she’d wake up with a new perspective, but it seemed that last night was nothing more than perhaps a blur to her.

“It’s for the best though,” Brant mouthed knowing that Don would be furious with him for having told Angela almost everything. Still it had felt good for the moment when he’d said it and he’d hoped that he would’ve sparked something inside of her. Instead it only left her confused and clearly wanting to push the night out of her mind.

“Just as well,” Brant realized seeing that there was less tension between him and Angela in this morning now that they were approaching things on a friendly level. Once she’d regained her memory he promised himself he would own up to last night, but now he didn’t have to just yet because in doing so it would just drive her away. He couldn’t risk doing that especially now after he’d spent the night with her--holding her in his arms and keeping her close to him. It was a dream come true and he hadn’t needed to make love to her to know that it had been the closest he’d been to heaven since she’d lost her memories of them.

“She’ll return to me,” Brant decided turning to head up the stairs when he spotted Kevin walking down the long, winding staircase without a shirt on. Ria followed after him looking like she too had just stumbled out of bed. Brant’s eyes widened and he let out a yelp, “Kevin, what are you doing here?”

“I came in late last night,” Kevin ran his fingers through his own dark hair, “Ria and I spotted you and Angie sleeping on the couch, so we went up to her room for a while.”

“Why didn’t you wake us up?” Brant questioned with wide eyes unable to believe what he was seeing in front of him.

“You looked like you were making some progress with her and I didn’t want to intrude,” Kevin yawned bringing his hand up over his mouth to cover his yawn, “so tell me did she remember anything?”

“I’m not really sure yet, but if she hasn’t, then she can’t see you two like this,” Brant informed him bluntly hearing the sounds of Angela in the kitchen, “Kevin you have to get out of here.”

“Brant I just woke up. I’m sure if she sees me here, then…” Kevin stopped himself realizing that he was still shirtless and without shoes or socks, “Damn I knew I forgot something.”

“That’s right. You need to get up there and get dressed before…” Brant started hearing the sound of footsteps approaching from the kitchen. In a panic Brant reached out to Kevin tugging on his arm and guiding him over towards the front door.

“Brant, what are you doing?” Kevin questioned confused by his friend’s sudden movement. Before he could ask any other questions, Brant shoved him out the front door and slammed it to a close just in time to see Angela staring at him.

“Brant, is someone here?” Angela questioned giving him a strange look.

“No, I was just getting the newspaper and I heard Ria get up,” Brant noted motioning over to where Ria was standing on the staircase in her pajamas.

“Ria,” Angela’s eyes widened in surprise, a gasp carrying over her, “I didn’t realize that you were here.”

“I came in late,” Ria ran her own fingers through her long, dark hair, “I didn’t want to wake anyone when I came in.”

“Did Kevin come back with you?” Angela couldn’t help but ask her thoughts lingering to where Kevin could be.

“No, I was at the hospital and he was off with Don, remember?” Ria lied seeing something flash behind Angela’s eyes.

“Oh right,” Angela nodded glancing over at Brant with a heated stare. She forced herself to look away before a thought occurred to her. “Brant, I thought you said you got the newspaper.”

“Well I was going to, but then I heard Ria,” Brant tried to cover glancing up at Ria again, “You know Ria honey Angela and I were just working on breakfast. Do you think maybe you could go back into the kitchen and help her while I get the newspaper?”

“Gee, it’s something I live for truly,” Ria rolled her eyes not bothering to mask her irritation before she turned to Angela. “Shall we?”

“Um sure,” Angela replied uneasily glancing over at Brant again before following Ria back into the kitchen.

Once the coast was clear Brant turned to the door again and opened it up in a slow, tentative movement. He half expected to see Kevin standing on the porch freezing, but when Kevin was no where in sight, Brant frowned. Stepping outside he looked around the grounds hoping to find a sign of Kevin, but came up with nothing. He was just about to turn around and rejoin Angela and Ria when a sound erupted from behind him.

“Brant, I’m going to kill you,” Kevin snarled as Brant turned around to find Kevin covered in dirt and water.

“What the hell happened to you?” Brant couldn’t help but ask seeing Kevin’s mud soaked pajama pants.

“You tossed me onto the porch and I lost my footing and fell into those,” Kevin pointed to the bushes at the side of the porch that were now being splashed by the sprinklers working their furious burst of water over them.

“Well you can’t come in here looking like that,” Brant added seeing Kevin step forward, “If Angela sees you like that, then she’s going to figure out that something isn’t on the up and up.”

“Fine, then I’ll go upstairs and take a shower. Then she can be just fine with me since I don’t think my taking a shower is way off,” Kevin made another small step forward only to see Brant shaking his head.

“Um, nope that isn’t going to work either. You’ll get mud in the house and I can’t even begin to start explaining that,” Brant added with a frown. “Just go back to the guest house and get cleaned up there. Don’t take too long though because Angela is getting suspicious and…”

“Brant you have the damned sprinklers on. I’m not going to run through that only to end up in worse shape than I already am,” Kevin snarled glancing over his shoulder at the distance from the main house to the guest house, “There is no way…”

“You don’t have any other choice at this point Kevin. It’s what you need to do,” Brant explained as Kevin heard a sound from behind him. He turned to see the front door to the estate closed. He stepped forward attempting to open the door only to find it locked.

“That son of a…” Kevin mouthed gritting his teeth. He spun around to face down the sprinklers now that it was clear he had no other choice in the matter. Taking in a deep breath Kevin prepared to move forward all the while vowing that when Angela got her memory back Brant was going to be a dead man no ifs or buts about it!

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

Blake sat in the driver’s seat of her car feeling a groan spill over her lips. After she’d gotten some major shopping done for the picnic she and Seth were having at their house, she’d found herself elated by the thought of getting it all together. She’d done the grocery shopping and managed not only to find some awesome deals, but was also able to put it together in under twenty minutes. That was a new record for her in terms of shopping and with that bright and fresh on her mind, she’d hopped into her car ready to zip on home and put everything away in time to have things ready for Seth when he returned home from his morning shoot. She’d been so ahead of schedule that she’d even contemplated stopping by Irvan’s to reward herself with a strawberry milkshake and that’s when the flat happened.

“It figures,” Blake sighed thinking about her tire and how it had picked the worst possible time to go out. Here she was thinking that she’d actually be able to get a lot accomplished, but now that she pushed the driver’s side door open and found herself facing the glaring pitfall in her day, she let out a groan.

“You can just call for a tow or get someone to change it,” she thought to herself knowing full well that Brant would send someone over right away if he or Kenny were too busy to take care of it themselves.

“No,” she finally decided placing her cell phone into her pocket after a great many moments of contemplation. Brant had just accused her last night of being like a child--of saying that she wasn’t responsible to take care of herself let alone a child. If she called him for help, then he would no doubt be rubbing this encounter in her face and giving her the lecture yet again on how she shouldn’t be trying to get pregnant and rush into a family with Seth. He’d be lecturing her non-stop and right now that was the last thing she wanted.

“You can do this,” she tried to coach herself walking around to the back of her car and opening the trunk to discover the spare tire in front of her. She glanced down at her perfectly sculpted and manicured nails she’d just had done and she groaned. Okay, so maybe this wouldn’t be as simple as she’d anticipated, but she could still get it done and maybe just maybe not break a nail in the process. Leaning forward she moved in to reach for the tire. She fumbled with it for a moment before pulling it back with her into her arms. It was then that she finally spotted the thick, dark line of grease over the front of her white sundress.

“Oh God,” Blake dropped the tire back into the trunk her concerns now on the new dress she’d picked up earlier in the hopes of looking cute for Seth. Normally she would’ve had it bagged and taken home, but she wanted to look great when she walked in the door especially if he was going to be there waiting for her. “No!”

Rushing over to the driver’s side door again, she opened it up and reached for her purse. Opening it in a frenzy, she searched for the wet wipes she’d carried with her in case of emergency. Looking to the center of her dress again she realized that this was no doubt a full blown emergency. Locating the wet wipes package she tore it open and started to rub at the dress only to discover that the stain seemed to spread.

“Oh God no,” she cried out doing her best to make the stain go away, but the greasy spot only seemed to grow exponentially and by the time she’d finished with the now torn wet wipe she was in worse shape than when she’d started. Tossing the wet wipe back into the car with a huff, she realized that not only had she managed to get her dress ruined, but her tire was still there waiting for her attention.

“Damn it,” Blake cursed under her breath tossing her purse back into the car as well before marching around to the back of the trunk. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the spare tire defiantly.

“Now listen you,” she waved her finger at the tire, “You are going to get out of there and you are going to work for me. No more of this nonsense you’ve been giving me.”

The tire still lay where she’d dropped it not making any movement or reason to argue with her. With a small groan she leaned forward finding the strength to hoist it out of the trunk even though she knew full well that her dress was ruined. Once it hit the ground she rolled it over to where the flat was and dropped it on the ground.

“I can do this,” she decided looking to the tire again and found herself trying to figure it all out. She tried to remember what it was she’d seen Simon do time and time again in the past when he’d worked on their cars. Finding herself at a loss, she sank to the ground and sighed.

“Why is this happening to me?” she questioned feeling flustered as she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Looking up she saw a black corvette convertible approaching from the direction she’d just been in. The person behind the wheel must’ve spotted her because before she could get up to her feet again to flag them down he was already pulling over behind her car.

“Need some help?” a voice questioned as Blake focused on the tire again.

“That would be great,” she nodded spinning around to find herself face to face with Andy Byrne.

“Looks like you’ve got a flat,” he noted with a smile motioning to her tire.

“Gee, you think,” she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his remark.

“You need a jack,” he explained seeing her irritation before nodding to the trunk again, “You have one in there?”

“I honestly have no idea,” she mouthed in response, a scowl touching over her lips, “I was just on my way home and this happened. I tried to change it, but…”

“I can see that,” he noted the spot on her dress and nodded, “well rest assured I’ll get you out of this one Blake. If you don’t have a jack I do and I’m pretty sure that we can fix this one together.”

“I appreciate that,” Blake replied softening her tone a bit, “I was going to call Brant or Kenny, but…”

“Why bother with them,” Andy shook his head and waved his hand dismissively, “Why give them an excuse to believe that you’re helpless? You know how overprotective they are. They’ll probably wind up giving you a long lecture on the rules of the road.”

“You know them too well,” she laughed lightly imagining her brother’s getting worked up over the situation she was in.

“Well enough to know that we can fix this without involving them,” he winked at her before flashing her another smile, “This will be fixed in no time and when we’re finished this will be our little secret.”

“Thanks,” she sighed leaning up against the car and watching Andy go to work. As he seemed to be getting things ready to change her tire, starting by rolling up the sleeves of his expensive tailored shirt, she started to wonder if maybe Deana was off about Andy. After all he couldn’t be so bad if he was willing to help Blake in a moment of need, could he?

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

...to be continued...