Against All Odds Part 20 Review (Paris) {Brooke and Connor go to Paris. Isabelle and Caspian discuss Brooke. Caspian goes to Paris. Bridget overhears a conversation between Morgan and Clark and decided to get it the videotape. Kimberly finds Eve at Rick’s and the two exchanged words. Caspian sees Brooke and she feels a strange connection but doesn’t see him.}

Against All Odds Part 21 (Kimberly and Thorne?)

Thorne walked out on his deck drinking a beer. He thought of Brooke, she had only been gone a half of a day, but he missed her. He also missed his family, he didn’t like to think about them, but he had missed them. He went to sit down when he noticed Kimberley sitting on the beach. It was hard to make her out because it was so dark. He put the beer down and walked toward her. " Kimberly?" Kimberly turned around and gave him a wearily look. Concern raced through Thorne, he felt bad, and he had neglected his promise to look after her. " What’s wrong sweetheart?" Tears filled in her eyes. " Everything, Thorne everything." Kimberly cried in her hands. Thorne bent down and took her in his arms. " What’s wrong? Please tell me, I can’t help you if you don’t." Behind Thorne’s back, she smiled. This was going to work perfectly.

Stephanie opened the front door to her house. " Bridget" Bridget smiled. " Hi, how are you doing?" " Just fine honey come on in." Bridget followed Stephanie into the living room. " So what brings you here?" " Nothing, Mom is gone and Rick went somewhere. I just wanted to talk to someone, so I thought that I’d come and see you and dad. You don’t mind do you?" " Oh course not, we always love having you." Stephanie frowned. " Your mother is gone, where is she?" Bridget sat down. " She went to Paris. She had to hire some new designer or something." Stephanie didn’t know what Bridget was talking about, but she would get to the bottom of it. " Stephanie, where is dad?" "He is still at work, but I know that he would love it if you would wait for him." Bridget smiled. " I will, on one condition." "What?" "You have to make me some of the those white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Please, I just love them." Stephanie thought it was a good idea, she loved Bridget and wanted them to be very close, after all she would be living with them soon. Stephanie took Bridget’s hand. " Let’s go to the kitchen." Bridget followed Stephanie, she’d love the cookies, but she love those keys to Taylor’s beach house even better. She knew just where to get them.

Rick knocked on Eve’s door. She opened it and gave him a sour look. " Hi" "What do you want Rick." Rick was confused by Eve’s attitude; he didn’t know what was wrong with her. " I wanted to see you. Can I come in?" Eve moved aside while Rick. Rick walked into the apartment; it was small but well kept. He sat down and ran his finger through his hair. " Are you mad at me?" Eve glanced at Rick; he looked tired. " Rick, I’m not mad, but I’m upset that you allow that --- girlfriend of yours to act like the way she did. Rick didn’t understand why Eve was upset with Kimberly. " Look Kimberly hasn’t be the nicest lately, but she has been through so much. She lost her mother, father, sister and I just found out she lost her job." Eve became angry at Rick’s words. Parents, she didn’t have any. She had never known her father and her mother had dumped her as soon as her fiancé had made it clear that he didn’t want to be a father to someone else’s child. She had been to a myriad of foster homes and had lived through some horrible experiences. She still had nightmares at night sometimes. It was hard for her to be so forgiving of Kimberly’s attitude. She had to work hard to get her scholarship and to keep her apartment. " I don’t care what she had gone through, she didn’t have to sound like working was a sin. A lot of people have to work to get into school." Rick had been a bit embarrassed when Kimberly made those remarks, he and she had been lucky, and they didn’t have to work for extra money. He didn’t know much about Eve’s past, all that he knew is that she was 19 and she had been on her own since she was 16. She never talked about her mother, who had dumped her when she was 8. " Eve, Kimberly was just upset, she didn’t expect you to be there. I mean her boyfriend had a beautiful girl over and it didn’t look right. She might have thought that…" "That you cheated on her or something?" Rick turned red, his mind raced back to that night. " Eve we talked about that night." Eve walked toward the window. " I know, it was a mistake. The other time you came here and stopped before we made love again, was a mistake. We are just friends, Kimberly is the woman that you love. You and I are just friends. I’ve heard it before." Eve walked toward the door. " I think that it’s time for you to leave." " What? Eve I just got here." Eve gave Rick a cold look. "And now it’s time for you to go." "What did I do?" " You do what you always do. Think about it, you have a problem and you need someone to talk to about it. You want me to be there with you. You needed me the same way that you needed me the night WE MADE LOVE. You want me to be a friend to you, listen to YOUR problems. I don’t mind because I care about you and I believe that you care about me also. But I’m not sure that I can continue to do this, I care for you more that being a friend. I think that you don’t want to look at the fact that you care about me. You are too worried about Kimberly and her problems, by the looks of you, she had told you something that you don’t like. I just don’t want to hear about HER or HER PROBLEMS. If you want to be with me then do it Rick, but I don’t want to be the consolation prize. I’m not sure if I can keep this up. I deserve better and so do you. You deserve a woman who really loves you and wants you." " What are you talking about? Eve, I do care about you, and if Kimberly and I weren’t together, we could try have something. Just because I’m with Kimberly doesn’t mean that I don’t want us to be friends." Rick went toward the door. He touched Eve on the face. Eve backed away. " Go away Rick. I’m tired and I’ve been on my feet all day. When you decided what you really want call me. But understand, I’ve got to make decisions just like you." Eve opened the door and Rick sadly walked out. Rick was hurting, he needed to talk, and he was so confused. Eve closed the door. She knew she had done the right thing, even though she was hurting. She was falling in love with Rick Forrester and he was in love with Kimberly. She had wanted to tell him to truth about her, but Eve was smart enough to keep her mouth closed. Part of her wanted to let things go to move on but the other part wanted to get to the truth so Rick could see the real Kimberly.

Thorne took Kimberly by the arm and walked her toward his deck. He gently wiped the tears from her eyes with a tissue he had in his pocket. " Now stop crying and tell me what is wrong." Kimberly hugged Thorne feeling his arms around her. " Thorne I don’t know what I am going to do with Rick." Thorne stepped back and took her hand, sat her down in the chair. " What is the problem Kimberly? I thought that we had worked everything out. You and Rick need to slow things up, take your time, there is no need to rush your relationship." "That’s the problem, I think that Rick has moved on." " What are you saying, Rick has moved on, he loves you, and I know it." " That’s not what it looked like today, he had a girl at his house." " A girl? Well Rick is a nice guy and he probably have a lot of friends." "She wasn’t his friend. You should have seen them, they had breakfast together and they were laughing. When they saw me, they stopped. I think Rick has something going with her. She had such a horrible attitude. She also looked like the type of girl who would sleep with Rick." "Kimberly, I think that maybe you might be wrong, Rick wouldn’t cheat on you." " Really? I don’t know. A guy like Rick having sexual needs. He would want someone young a pretty to take care of him. Thorne you are a man, you love Brooke but can you tell me you don’t still get turned on by other women?" Thorne was surprised by Kimberly’s question. " Kimberly.." " No, tell me the truth."

" Kimberly, yes men sometimes men do get turned on by other women even if they love someone else, but that doesn’t mean that they cheat on them. If they really love the woman they are with, they stay faithful." " So YOU do get turned on by other women?"

Thorne wasn’t sure if he liked the way this conversation was going. " Kimberly, I am a man. I would be lying if I said that since I’ve been with Brooke that there hasn’t been a woman who has created a natural response to my body. Does it happen often? No. Do I think about being with these women? No. I love Brooke. I want only her." "But.." "Kimberly, if you don’t mind, I don’t feel comfortable with talking about my relationship with you. We are talking about Rick. I have seen Rick with you; he loves you. I don’t believe he would cheat on you." " You don’ t understand, I saw them together. I know there is something between them. Rick doesn’t want to wait; he wants that Eve girl. Well she can’t have him. I will get him back; I’m going to learn how to please him and he will be mine again!’ Thorne grabbed Kimberly by her arms. "Calm down. Do you hear yourself? You are willing to sleep with Rick just because you think something is happening between he and another girl. Just stay calm. I’ll talk to Rick and find out what is really going on." " Would you really talk to him?" Thorne sighed and hugged her again. " Yes, I am going talk to him. You are wrong Kimberly, there is no way that Rick would do this." Thorne touched her face and hugged her. Kimberly smiled.

{In Paris}

Caspian drank some cognac out of the glass. His thoughts were of the woman in the restaurant, Brooke Logan Forrester. He hadn’t even talked to her, but she had affected him. He had watched her eat dinner with the man. From their body language, they weren’t lovers, but she knew that because she was involved with Thorne Forrester. She and her friends were close, she had laughed and they had a full dinner. She had also felt him, he knew it. She had looked around more than once, trying to find what had been affecting her. It was a strange feeling, he didn’t know what to call it, but part of him had just wanted show himself to her. Instead he had merely watched her. It wasn’t enough, he wanted to see her up close and personal. It was around 1 am. He out the glass down and then he decided that he was going to see her. He undressed and opened the wardrobe. He pulled up a black turtleneck and matching black leather pants. The dressed, he then put his gun in his safe. He opened the briefcase, where documents, another gun, a file on Brooke and a little black case. He took the black case out of the briefcase and closed it. He walked out of his penthouse suite and took the stairs, Brooke’s room was only one floor below his. He made his way down the stairs to her floor. Ducked into the shadows as a couple went laughing down the hall. He went to Brooke’s suite and opened the case, it was filled with all the lock picking necessities. He pulled out on electronic card and slipped it into the lock, the green light flashed and he opened the door. He walked down to the living room and toward her bedroom. He inhaled the scent of jasmine as he moved into the room and looked around, casing out the room. She had left the dress that she had worn that night on the chair of the dressing table. Her garters and shoes her on the floor, he smiled. He could imagine her taking her clothes off. He stood over her, watching her sleep. She was a mixture of a siren and an angle in her sleep. She also was sleeping nude. He surmised that she had taken her nightgown off because she had gotten hot, the cream concoction was on the thrown on the floor next to her bed. She was lying on her stomach , her face faced the French doors while her hand was curled up in a little fist. He watched her, wanting so badly to touch her naked back that was exposed by the slipping sheet.

Bridget smelled the baking cookies. She did love Stephanie’s cookies; they were always good. It was even nice talking to Stephanie; she liked her. Stephanie asked her about school and the things she had planned. She told Stephanie she had to go to the bathroom and she went into the den instead. She went to the case that held the different keys in the house. She found the keys in the beach house labeled and she put them in her pocket. She smiled and went back in the kitchen. Stephanie looked at Bridget. " Bridget, I have a question to ask you." " Sure" " Are you happy living with your mother?" Bridget wondered what Stephanie was up to. " Stephanie, I love my mother." " That’s not what I asked you, are you happy? Eric and I want to know because we would be happy to let you move in with us." " Stephanie. You are nice to offer, but I would never leave my mother. She had been a good mother even if you don’t think so." " I’m not trying to upset you, but your father and I are so upset over this Thorne and Brooke relationship. We were wondering if you accept them like your brother." Bridget’s face changed. " I don’t have to worry about that Stephanie, and neither do you they will be over soon." Bridget ate another cookie and Stephanie wondered what Bridget knew.

Rick went to the main house to check on Bridget, she left a message she was at Stephanie’s. He had tried calling Mark, on of his friends, but he was out with his girlfriend. Eve, why had she acted like this? What was going on? His mother, he should call her and ask her why she fired Kimberly.

Caspian wasn’t sure how long he watched her. She looked so beautiful in her slumber he wanted to strip naked and join her in her bed. He saw them together in his mind, making love. The thing that startled him that in is dream it was Brooke he was making love to and not Lark. He didn’t know the woman, yet he wanted to brand and claim her as his own. He reached down and caressed her check. She turned toward him in her sleep wanting to feel more. He wanted to touch her, but he stopped himself, he would never take advantage of her. Suddenly the phone rang; quickly he ducked into the bathroom. Brooke woke with a start; she grabbed the phone. Through the mirror he could see her beautiful naked breast and her perfect body. "Hello?" "Mom?" "Rick, honey are you alright" There was a pause on the other end. " Did I wake you?" " Yes sweetie, but I don’t mind. Everything is alright isn’t it?" Rick thought about Kimberly, he wanted to know why she was fired, he thought about Eve and the strange things she said. " Yes mom. Everything is fine. I just wanted to ask you a question." Brooke stood she felt strange; she felt a strange spark go through her body. " What is the question?" Rick decided against questioning his mother about Kimberly until she got back. " Never mind, I’ll ask you later." " Sweetheart, you sound upset, do you need to talk?" " No, everything is alright" "Rick, if you need me, you call me day or night. Do you understand, nothing is more important than knowing you are okay." " Okay mom, I’ll talk to you later." He would talk to her about things when he saw her. Brooke hung up the phone. She got out of the bed and pulled a cream night rail around her body. She had felt funny. Maybe she would feel better with some air. She opened the French doors to the terries and took in the air. Caspian watched her; she closed her eyes and took in the air. He watched her as she felt the air all around her. He closed his eyes and called to her in his head. Brooke turned she heard something and felt something so intense that it rippled throughout her body.

" You’ve got to stop this Brooke. There isn’t anything in here with you." Brooke’s eye searched the bedroom. She moved toward the bathroom and turned the light on, it was empty. She shook her head and moved back to the bed. Caspian had moved so quickly when she came into the bathroom, he slipped through the window and was standing on the ledge. It was easy for him because of his training. He stood on the ledge for about ten minutes until he thought she might be asleep. He slowly made his way to the terries and opened the door. She had fallen back to sleep, he turned to look at her again and then left.

Thorne took a walk on the beach. He had sent Kimberly home an hour ago. Tomorrow he would talk to Rick after he talked with James. Brooke’s kids needed him, and he planned to help them. He noticed that the outside doors to Kimberly’s bedroom was opened, as he walked closer her heard for calling. " No, Please come back!" Thorne went the door and stepped in. " Kimberly?" Kimberly was thrashing on her bed. " No! Please. I love you! Don’t leave me! Don’t!" Thorne came to the bed and shook Kimberly. "Kimberly, wake up!" Kimberly opened her eye, which looked funny. " Oh, thank god you are here!" Kimberly let go of the sheet, she was naked she grabbed Thorne’s head and kissed him fully on the mouth using her tongue." Thorne pulled away and pushed Kimberly back down on the bed. " Kimberly!" Kimberly closed her eyes; she took his hand and put it on breast on top of her nipple. " See how much I want you, I’m wet. I love you so much Rick, you can make love to me." Thorne pulled away. He looked down at the naked girl, then glanced on the bed table and saw the empty bottle of wine next to he bed. That explained it; Kimberly was drunk and thought he was Rick. Thorne took the sheet and pulled it over her body. He shook her again. " Kimberly!" Kimberly opened her eyes. "Thorne? Thorne what are you doing here? She looked down and noticed that she was nude. My god, what happened?" Thorne decided to not to tell her that she had kissed him, he didn’t want to upset her. " Everything, is fine, you were having a nightmare. Kimberly, were you drinking?" She hid her face. " Yes" " Kimberly don’t let this thing with Rick get to you, you shouldn’t even think about drinking. It doesn’t solve anything. You already know that." " Yes I do." "Will you be alright if I leave?" " Do you have to?" Thorne looked down at the practically nude girl. "Yes" Thorne got up and went to the door leading to the outside. " I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?" " Yes, I’ll see you in the morning." Thorne left. Kimberly smiled, she had kissed Thorne and he felt her body. Had he responded to her to her? Was he aroused? She hoped so. She had left so sexy when his lips and hands were on her body. Kimberly smiled and sank back into the bed. Tonight was only the beginning.

Thorne walked away from Kimberly’s house. He was embarrassed and uncomfortable about what had happened. Rick walked toward Kimberly’s house when he noticed Thorne leaving her house from the door of her bedroom. Anger etched his face. " Thorne, what are you doing coming from Kimberly’s bedroom this time of night?"

Against All Odds Chapter 21 Review (Kimberly and Thorne?) {Bridget visits Eric and Stephanie’s and gets the keys to Morgan’s beach house. Eve tells Rick she is tired of him coming to her everytime he has a problem with Kimberly and she asks him to leave. Kimberly tells Thorne about Eve and he promises to talk to Rick. Kimberly pretends to have a nightmare, which Thorne interrupts; she kisses him and he is surprised that she is nude. Thorne is uncomfortable but he thinks she thinks he is Rick. Rick spies Thorne leaving and wonders what is going on. Caspian breaks into Brooke’s room and watches her while she sleeps.}

Against All Odds Part 22 ( KC and Brooke)

 

 

Ridge was finishing his melon when Taylor came into the kitchen with Thomas.

' Ridge are you going to be able to take Thomas to the father and son luncheon at his preschool?'

'Is that today?' Taylor was annoyed; Ridge had been so distracted lately.

' You are going aren't you?' Ridge stood up, he saw the look on Taylor's face. He had been so busy lately. He had also given up on trying to talk to Brooke; she had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him.

Then there was Morgan; she had been nasty when he had given her those papers. He was waiting with baited breath to find out what she was going to do. Bridget had really upset him with her talk of running away.

' Ridge are you even listening to me?'

' What?'

' Never mind, just go to work, there isn't anything important going on, only YOUR CHILDREN!' Taylor stormed out of the room with Thomas. Ridge threw down his napkin.

' Damn! You are going to screw everything up!' he said to himself.

 

 

Bridget sat on the beach waiting for Morgan to leave for work.

' How long is it going to take you to get out of the house?' Bridget sighed. She had been sitting on the beach for an hour. She was going to late for school again. With all of the family strain she has missed a great deal of school. The head master had already given her a warning; she was upset because Bridget was one of the best students. Bridget had been given a warning, one more time and her parents would have to come into it.

' Well I don't care, I've got much more important things on my mind.' Morgan walked out of the house and got into her car. Bridget smiled, she was halfway there, first her mother and now Ridge.

 

 

Kimberly glanced in the mirror; she had taken extra time to get dressed. She wore a short strapless white sundress with no bra. She knew that her breasts and nipples were visible through the thin material. It was perfect; she was going all out for Thorne. Last night, she had had an intense sexual dream about him. She wished that he had taken his clothes off and made love to her.

' It's okay Kimberly, he will be yours soon.' She walked outside toward his beach house.

She smiled and knocked on the door, and waited. She knocked on the glass again.

' What? Where could he be? He said that he would talk to me in the morning!' Tears of frustration came into her eyes.

'Damn!' Kimberly angrily walked away from his house.

 

 

{In Paris}

 

 

'I really like your designs, they are fun sexy and wild.' Brooke looked down at the next set of designs, wedding dresses. They were beautiful; some were classic beauties while others were wild and just as beautiful. She loved them, not only the designs, but she loved KC. KC Hunter was a very beautiful woman. She had a flair that was amazing. The beautiful black woman was small and petite and looked stunning in her black leather pants and vivid, almost see through lavender blouse. Her short hair and makeup was almost as flawless as her body, which many women would have died for. KC was also very talented and she was everything that Brooke wanted. She had training and she had a spark that Brooke liked.

' Thank you Ms. Forrester' ' You worked for Calvin Klein, and you had a wonderful apprenticeship with Vera Wang, she said some great things about you. ' I liked working for her, she has great style.' Brooke put down some of the designs and looked at KC again.

' Why do you want to leave Calvin Klein?' KC looked at Brooke and wondered if she should tell the truth. She sat back in her chair.

' I loved working for him, but I want a change. I want to be able to work for another designer and Paulo here at International Forrester is wonderful.' Brooke sized up the woman.

' You want to learn, you've leaned all that you could from Calvin and so it's time for you to move on. You work well with others, but your goal is probably to have your own line or design house at some time.' KC said nothing, Brooke Forrester was an intelligent woman, and she did have a dream of having her own house. Brooke smiled at KC, 'Am I right?'

KC knew she was taking a chance, but she wanted to be honest. ' Yes, I think that is what most designers want. I'm no different. With my work, if I had the capital or the contacts, there would be no reason for me to work for anyone else.'

' You think that you are that good?' KC had never backed down from anyone and Brooke Forrester would be no different.

' I know that I am.' KC was determined to get what she wanted. Brooke nodded.

' Well, KC, I have seen and heard everything that I need to know.' KC stood, she was disappointed but she was going to stay true to herself, she began to pack up her designers. Brooke watched the vibrant woman as she packed.

' Thank you for your time Ms. Forrester.' She went to the door of the office. Brooke smiled behind her back.

' Aren't you going to try to persuade me to give you this job?' KC was angry, she thought that Brooke was different than some of the others in the industry.

' No'

'Good, because you don't need to. When can you start?' KC turned around, surprise was in her eyes.

' What?'

' I asked when can you start. I won't need you for International Forrester for about 2 or 3 months, but I want you at Forrester until then. I think working for Eric and Ridge would give you some more training, not that you need it. But you may want it for when you have your own company.' KC didn't believe what Brooke was saying, and the woman was smiling.

' I thought.'

' You thought that because you were honest that you had lost this job. I can understand, you are right, if you had the capital or the connections you would be on your way. You are that talented. I can't help you with the capital but I can with the connections. I only ask that you be loyal to me as well as honest. When you are ready to leave International Forrester, you give me 10 months advance notice.' KC didn't know if she should trust this woman.

' Why are you doing this?' Brooke thought about the Forresters and Stephanie's treatment of her.

' I know what it's like to have someone put you down when you are capable or to see someone with the ' right' connections get all the breaks.' KC's eyes narrowed.

'How are the others going to feel, Forrester hasn't ever had a black designer?'

' I don't care how they feel, you are good and I want you. Will it be a problem for you?'

' No.' Brooke stood up and smiled.

' Good. Welcome to Forrester Creations' Brooke and KC shook hands, both women pleased with the outcome.

' My lawyer Connor Davis has some papers for you to sign, I also have a request. I don't want you letting Eric or Ridge knowing that your stay is temporary, your final working place with is with International but they won't know that for a while.' KC didn't know what the big deal was, but she was willing to go for what ever Brooke wanted. She liked Brooke, no matter what the public said, the woman seemed to be honest and KC gave her loyalty to honest people.

 

 

James had listened intensely to what Thorne had said. This situation was very complicated all around. Brooke being with another Forrester was emotionally crippling for her daughter and he could understand it. In fact the situation with the entire family was a possible bomb waiting to explode.

' Thorne the truth is, I don't think that Bridget is going to change her mind about you.' Thorne looked forlorn, this isn't what he wanted to hear.

' James, I have to do something, I love Brooke and I plan to marry her.' James shook his head.

'Thorne I know what you want, but moving in with Brooke without dealing with the entire family will only cause more pain and heart ache, especially for Bridget.'

' So you think that giving into her demands and staying away from the house will help?'

'No, that's only giving her more time to come up with ways of pulling you and Brooke apart. You all need to talk, and when I say all of you, I mean you, Brooke, Bridget, Rick and Ridge. I would suggest your mother and Eric but it will only make matters worse.'

'Ridge, why would he need to be there?'

' He needs to be there because based on what you are saying, Bridget still wishes he was her father.'

' He isn't going to help, he doesn't like the idea of me and Brooke. You know how he is, he doesn't want Brooke, but he doesn't want anyone to be with her. You heard what I told you about Venice, I don't want anything to do with him.' James had heard about Venice and he had been surprised that Taylor had gone along with this travesty; it disappointed him.

'If you want her to even start thinking about you as not a threat to her mother and to her dreams, all of you have to clear the air. It is also important that she understands that her mother loves her and that she is her top priory.' 'Damn it James! What does Brooke have to do, marry Ridge?'

' No, but she has to understand that Ridge will never be in her life as a father, but you are going to be there for the long run, for good. Her experiences with Forrester men have been that they leave her mother. You also should know that she might never accept you in any other role except as her brother. She might not ever accept you as her step-father.' Thorne's heart plummeted, he knew that James could be right. Bridget might not ever accept him.

' I understand, but I want to try. When do you suggest that we get together?'

'When Brooke gets back, it is very crucial that you discuss this. You have to make it clear that Ridge and Brooke won't ever be together and that you don't ever plan on leaving her mother.' Thorne knew that James was right; they would have to sit down and talk to Bridget.

 

 

Kimberly sat in Insomnia, fuming and drinking her latte. She was so angry with Thorne; he had made a promise to her. Scott noticed Kimberly sitting at the table. Kimberly Fairchild was a very sexy girl especially in that white sundress; he could see her nipples through the material. Kimberly felt someone staring at her; she turned and saw Scott Granger. Scott, maybe he could sooth her. Kimberly got up and moved toward Scott.

' Hi Scott'

' Kimberly, hi, how are you doing?'

' Just fine, do you mind?' Scott pointed to the empty seat and Kimberly sat down.

' So do you like it at Forrester?' Scott wondered what she wanted; he had met girls like Kimberly before, beautiful and cunning at the same time.

' I like it a lot. I'm learning a great deal from Eric and Ridge. They are really talented.'

' Yes they are. I would love to see some of your designs one day.'

' That would be great, how about tonight?'

' Tonight?'

' Yes maybe we can have dinner?' Scott leaned forward and looked directly at her breasts. Maybe a night in the arms of Kimberly would make up for the ache that he had been having because of that impossible brat Bridget Forrester. Kimberly wondered if she should, maybe tonight she would be with Thorne. If Thorne were to contact her, she could easily cancel her date with Scott.

' Dinner and designs sound great.'

' I'll pick you up'

' No! Give me your address and I will come over.' Scott wrote down the address to his penthouse, it had belonged to his mother and she had given it to him to stay in. Kimberly wrote down the address and left. Scott smiled. With that body he was going to have a great time tonight, and forget all about Bridget.

 

 

Connor watched the beautiful woman walk out of the office. Her face was beautiful, her coloring was beautiful; her body was stunning and those leather pants, wow. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her breasts in the lavender top.

' You can stop staring or you'll eyes will fall out. She is a beautiful woman isn't she?' Connor looked at her again. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He wondered what the Forresters would say to a new female designer.

' Yes, she is something.' Brooke laughed. Connor was impressed with KC, she had held her own with Brooke. She was going to be a interesting new addition to the Forrester. Brooke had decided to hire KC immediately and have her come to LA.

'Connor, 1 down four more to go. I need four more designers.'

' Will the rest of the designers be coming to LA?' Brooke shook her head.

' No, they will wait. There was something about KC, she was special.' Connor nodded, he thought that KC was special too.

 

 

{In Italy}

 

 

Isabelle drove down the winding road toward the large estate in her silver Alfa Romeo. She pulled up into the curved driveway and parked. She got out of the car and walked to the large home. She knocked on the door, which was answered by a petite dark haired woman.

' Isabelle, it is good to see you.' Isabelle kissed the woman on both of her cheeks.

' It is good to see you also.' Vicki Staten looked at Isabelle who looked stunning in her burgundy leather trench coat, long black skirt, black leather boots and sunshades. Isabelle walked into the foyer and toward the large living room. ' Leonard Staten stood and smiled.

' Isabelle, it is good to see you.' She again was kissed. Leonard looked a little worried.

' Is everything okay?'

' Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to check on you both. Isabelle removed her leather coat. Vicki took in her burgundy silk long blouse with the tied black belt. The blouse was stunning; it had no buttons and had a scooped neckline that showed off her breasts.

' Can we interest you in some lunch?' Isabelle smiled.

' Lunch would be fantastic.' Isabelle followed the Staten's toward the open courtyard outside where the settings for lunch were on the table. She noticed that there were four settings.

' Is someone else joining us?'

' Yes, it's a Doctor that I worked with in Asia. He had become a good friend of ours, in fact Isabelle he seems just as interested in my work as you are, except he more interested in the area of mind control.' Isabelle wanted to know who was visiting them; her contacts hadn't say a word. Pierce Peterson stepped through the doorways that lead to the outside garden. He noticed the Isabelle looking stunning in the sunlight. She noticed him and took off her shades. Her eyes went through him. She was amazing; she also was giving him the most uninviting look that anyone had ever given him. Leonard turned toward Pierce. '

Pierce this is a friend of ours, Dr. Deangelo, Isabelle Deangelo.' Pierce walked toward Isabelle.

' We've already met, but I didn't know that you were a doctor.' Isabelle stood and gave Pierce another cool stare. ' There is a lot about me that you don't know. I don't practice.'

' I don't know why you don't Isabelle, you have an amazing gift of reading people.'

' Well thank you for the complement but I have found it rewarding working with my brother.' Pierce sat down; he then nodded toward Isabelle.

' You are going to stay Isabelle, I'm not running you away, am I?' Isabelle sat down, she was going to hurt someone, and she should have been notified about Pierce.

 

 

Bridget had looked everywhere in the house for that tape, but she couldn't seem to find it.

'Where would you put that tape Morgan?' She thought hard. She hadn't checked behind the books in the bookcase. The books belonged to Taylor, they were psychiatric books, and it looked like they had been moved.

' Why would Morgan want to read a psychiatric book?' Bridget went to the case and moved the books until she found one that looked very large. She opened it and found a videotape inside. Bridget smiled. She went to the VCR and put it on, she only had to watch it for a few minutes to see that it was what she was what she was looking for.

Bridget sighed, feeling a moment of apprehension of what she was about to do. She thought about her mother and then of Ridge, she needed her family back and she willing to do anything, even destroy Thorne and Taylor.

 

 

'Brooke, are you finished for today?' Brooke looked at Connor and then at the other set of designs that were part of the portfolio. She had interviewed 5 designers that day and has only found one other designer. She had seen some good work but she was looking for something special.

'Yes, Connor, I think that I'm done for the day, what about you? Do you have another client that you have to see?' 'Not until later tonight. It's only 2 pm, but I do tomorrow around noon.' Brooke smiled at Connor; he had glanced at his watch 3 times.

' So are you going to ask her out?'

'What?'

'KC, I believe that she is the reason that you have glanced at your watch three times.' Connor smiled.

' I don't know what you are talking about, I have some things that I have to do. Do you want to meet later for dinner, when I'm finished?'

'No, I called my parents, I'm going over to their house for dinner. Right now, I'm going to do a little shopping and

then I'm going back to the hotel for a massage and spa.' Connor went to the door.

' Have a good time Connor, that's if you can get her to go out with you.' Connor gave Brooke a bemused look and then left. Brooke smiled, Connor liked KC, and she knew it. Brooke picked up the phone to call Thorne, there was no answer, she tried his cell phone, and she got his voice mail. She left a message for him. The only bad thing about being in Paris is that he was not with her, but she was doing this for their future.

 

 

Ridge finished pinning the sides of the dress that model was wearing. It was a backless white dress with a draping hemline. He loved this dress and it looked wonderful on the model.

' Ridge can I talk to you?' Ridge looked up at the woman who was causing his marriage problems. He looked at the model.

' Sasha, I will see you later.' Sasha left the room and Ridge gave Morgan a look. She was starting to show, their baby was growing inside of her.

' Morgan, what do you want?'

'I want to talk to you about the papers, I've had a chance to read them.' Ridge whole body stilled, what was going to happen now? Would she agree to the terms, he'd pay for the baby but she'd never tell Taylor?

'I've made a decision about the papers that you've given me.' Ridge sat down in the chair and looked at Morgan who had an unreadable look on her face.

 

 

Thorne knocked on the door to Rick's guesthouse. Rick answered the door and when he saw Thorne, his face changed to one of anger.

'What do you want?' Thorne was puzzled, why was Rick acting like he was mad.

' Rick are you alright?'

'I'm fine. So now that you see that I'm okay, you can leave.' Rick tried to shut the door, but Thorne blocked the door from closing. Thorne followed Rick into the living area of the guesthouse.

' Rick what's up? You're mad at me and I need to know why?'

' I'd like to ask you the same question. Why were you coming out of Kimberly's bedroom late last night?' Thorne closed his eyes, he didn't even want to think about what had happened in Kimberly's bedroom last night, it had been embarrassing to him because he know knew how desperate she was to have Rick.

'Rick, I think that we need to talk.'

' You are right, we do need to talk. What is going on between you and Kimberly?'

Thorne's eyes widened in shock, where was this coming from?

'Rick, what do you mean?' Rick advanced toward Thorne.

'You know what I mean, do you have feelings other than friendship toward my girlfriend?'

'Rick, I don't know what you are implying. I care about Kimberly as a friend, we have a brother and sister relationship and I don't like what you are thinking. Kimberly is a girl and I am a man, I love your mother and I'd never think of Kimberly like that. Besides she is MY FAVORITE BROTHER'S GIRLFRIEND!'

Thorne was really angry. With all that he had gone through today, he didn't expect this. Rick looked at Thorne and felt embarrassed. What had he been thinking?

 

 

Brooke walked into the hotel, she had decided to go shopping later, she wanted to eat something and have a massage. She walked into the elevator, it was empty. She leaned against the back wall closing her eyes and rotating her neck. She didn't open her eyes when the elevator door opened, a waiter with a serving cart came into the elevator.

'Damn, I forgot the room number' The man left the elevator, but he accidentally left the cart. Brooke shook her head, the man was really forgetting a lot. The door closed. The elevator moved one more floor up when it stopped and the doors opened. A man came to the elevator. Suddenly the strange feeling that she had felt the night before happened again. She looked at the man and her breath caught into her throat. He captivated her with his eyes, they were dark and piercing, almost like they were looking through her. He had wonderful style in clothing, wearing a dark blue suit from Ralph Lauren. He body was masculine and she could see the muscles in the movement of his arms. His face was handsome but it was his eyes that called to her. Time stood still, she could feel the heat run through her, her body came alive and opened up. Never before in her life, had she felt this way from a mere look from a man. She didn't know him, had never seen him, yet she felt as if he were touching her. She tried to take her eyes off of him but couldn't. Caspian watched her as she reacted to him, he watched the pulse at the base of her neck, watched her pupils dilate, watched her try to break the gaze, but she couldn't. Brooke Logan Forrester was just as effected by him as he was by her. Brooke and Caspian stood in the elevator both feeling the current running through the small box. Suddenly, the elevator made a screeching stop and it rocked them so that Brooke fell into his arms. Caspian caught her and moment he touched her it seemed like both of their worlds fell apart. For him, it was like coming home, for her it was like a nightmare.

    

* I am posting photos to go with my chapters, they will mainly come from Joanne's site. She has worked really hard to scan them and has allowed me to use them as a favor. So PLEASE DON'T COPY THEM WITHOUT HER PERMISSION. Thanks

* P.S. Let me know what you think of KC, I feel that it was time B&B had a black character and since they aren't going to do it, I thought I should. (Would a KC and Connor paring offend anyone?)

 

Against All Odds Part 23 ( The Elevator)

 

The sexy man who was holding her in his arms completely overcame Brooke. She noticed everything about him, his muscular arms that didn’t have any problem holding her weight, his hands that her resting on her back. His smell, the scent of his cologne that entranced her making her want to close her eyes and inhale him totally. His lips that were sensual and she knew instinctively that could whisper the naughtiest suggestion like a caress. She wanted to lean forward and to taste with them with her tongue. To feel his sweet breath inhaling hers like a lifeline, to taste his tongue stroke her. She heard his rapid breathing, or was that hers, she couldn’t tell. She felt his heart beating against hers; she looked into his eyes, his mesmerizing eyes that shook something inside of her. She had to get out of here, away from this man. Heat was spreading through her body, her nipples hardened; she felt a throbbing ache deep down in her center. Every pour of her body was calling out to him, to take her to enrapture her to claim her as his own. Brooke had never in all her life even with Ridge experienced this sort of thing. It scared her to the core, it frightened her so much, and she wanted to wake up from this nightmare. She had to get away from this man as quickly as possible. She pulled back out of his, balancing herself.

" I’m sorry."

His eyes caught hers again and she noticed a slight smile on his face.

" No problem, I don’t mind at all."

She noticed his accent, but it was the deep smooth mellow tone of his voice, that caused her pulse to quicken even more. It was almost like a whisper, she knew a man like him didn’t need to raise his voice to get anyone’s attention. She knew that no matter what, he would have the attention of both women and men. The lights suddenly flickered on and off; she turned her attention to their surroundings.

"I guess we are stuck here." She noticed that her hands were shaking and she hid them behind her back.

He smiled. "Yes we are."

She couldn’t believe that she had said that, she didn’t know what to say. Brooke backed up and moved toward the left side of the elevator. She watched him open his jacket to his suite and pull out a very small cellar phone. He made a call speaking in French, she understood part of his conversation, and he spoke the language fluently. Caspian watched her, never taking his eyes off of her while he spoke. He hung up the phone.

" It looks like they are experiencing some sort of electrical problem for the motor, we will be here for a while a while."

Brooke looked at the man; she felt the heat take control of her. She wanted to get out of here badly. Caspian watched Brooke Forrester and her reaction to him, he was making her uncomfortable, she was uncomfortable because her body and her soul were responding to him. It was frightening, he realized what it was, but he was comfortable with it. He wondered what she would say if he told her that he was feeling the same thing that she was inside.

"We might as well get comfortable."

Brooke sat down on the floor. He noticed her outfit; the black halter like top and the matching short skirt. Her skin was golden, her hair flowed down on her shoulder; he watched as her skirt rode up on her thighs showing her phenomenal legs. He took off his suit jacket and sat down across from her, the woman who looked liked his beloved.

Brooke closed her eyes. What was she doing? She was in control of a multi-million dollar company and she was acting like a school girl. She took three breaths. She wasn’t afraid, he was just a man. She’s talk to him and find out about him and everything would be fine.

 

"Since it seems that we are going to be here for a while, maybe should at least get to know each other."

Brooke told herself to calm down, he was just a man and she had never feared one before. She looked into his eyes.

"You are right, I’m sorry if I seemed a little flushed, I just didn’t expect this."

He smiled, her heart leapt at his smile. Brooke shook her head, what was wrong with her; it was as if she had never been attracted to another man. She had seen and worked with some great looking me over time.

" How many people think about getting stuck in an elevator? Especially with a stranger." "Are you from Paris?" She watched him begin to relax and she suddenly felt herself calm a little more.

" No, I hale from Venice."

" Oh Venice, it is very beautiful there."

" You’ve been there?"

Brooke’s mind went back to Kimberly’s fashion shoot and the proposal and then to the set up. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall of the elevator and a smile crept on her face.

" I’ve been there. I’ve had some good times and some not so good times, but it is a beautiful country."

"I hope that you will remember the good times, my country is wonderful. I’ve told you where I am from, I’m assuming that you are American, yes?"

"Is it that obvious? Do I seem like the typical " spoiled" American?"

Caspian laughed, he liked her sense of humor. "No, you don’t, but you do have an accent." Brooke smiled.

" So, now that we have the countries down, we should tell each other our names. I’m.." He moved so quickly she didn’t see it coming and she was looking straight at him. "Don’t" he said in a whisper.

He grabbed her by her hand; she felt a surge of energy go through her. She looked down at his hand holding her; she felt his fingertips touching her hand. She looked into his eyes, which were looking as if he could see inside of her. She didn’t break the hold of his eyes.

" You don’t want me to tell me my name?" Why was he acting like this about a name, Brooke thought.

"No, I want to know about you, the real you. We are in this little world, this box, and I don’t think that we should worry about outside labels. Tell me who YOU are, the real you."

"The real me?"

" Yes, tell me who you are. I have a feeling that what others perceive you to be and who you really are are two different things. "

Brooke looked down at his hand again that rested on hers, she felt it again, she slowly pulled her hands away. He didn’t move to the other side of the elevator, he moved a bit further to give her some room, but his still was close enough for her to look into his eyes and smell his scent. She closed her eyes involuntary, opened them up and caught him giving her a strange look.

It is okay he won’t hurt you. A voice from nowhere was talking to her in her head.She didn’t understand why she wanted to open up to him but inside she did. She opened her mouth and the truth came pouring out of her. She didn’t think, she just spoke from the heart.

" It is hard to explain who I am. People think that they know me, what I want, what motivates me. They think that I want power, money and men. They are wrong. Those things don’t interest me. When I was young, I thought that money, power were the most important thing, but when I had it, it meant nothing. I am a woman who basically wants to be loved. Love is a big motivator, it has been my strongest asset and my greatest downfall I think that I’ve been looking for it all my life.."

Caspian watched her face, as she made her statement, tears started to form in her eyes.

" I’ve made some of the biggest mistakes in my life for the prospect of love, mostly for one man who never deserved me. I was willing to do anything for it, be humiliated time and time again. Allowing myself to be on the end of attacks from a woman who would never accept me. It took me years realized that I have to find happiness with myself and my children have been a great source of happiness."

"You are no longer looking for love?" Brooke caught his gaze. He had been listening so attentively that she forgot to be afraid of him.

"No, that’s the thing, I still want it more than anything. More than anything, I want to be loved and accepted for myself. I am not the easiest woman to be with. I am passionate and spontaneous and I make a lot of mistakes. I also am a fierce mother and will fight like hell for my children. I am a businesswoman who can stand head with any businessman, but the bottom line, is that I am a real woman. I have passionate needs; I am comfortable with my sexuality, but I just want something simple. I still want to wake up in the arms of man who loves me; I still want to see my children smile with happiness. I’ve also decided not to live for destiny but to make destiny work for me."

Brooke had no idea how to looked to Caspian. He watched how expressive her face was when she talked. Her passion for life, the hurt she had felt from others and the joys of her children were all there. It was totally amazing. A woman of her status in business; a woman with her conquest of men, could still be so fresh and exciting that she didn't know how to mask her emotions. She is very passionate, he wanted to tap into all that passion and beauty. She would be fierce when riled, she would be faithful and loyal.

" I’ve decided that I am how I want me to be, someone who is learning from her mistakes and still willing to give it all for love." Brooke ran her fingers through her hair, unknowingly creating a sexy rumpled appearance. Brooke felt the tears in her eye, opened her purse and wiped them. " I don’t know why I am so teary eyed."

" It is because you are a passionate woman. Because you feel everything so deeply. Love, anger, sadness, lust and happiness. With you all those feeling are right there on the surface, ready to explode."

Brooke gave a wearily smiled. "It has taken me a long time to get to the point that I know who I am and that I realized that I am good enough. I don’t have to try to prove myself to anyone any more."

Brooke and Caspian were both silent, he in awe of this woman who had been through so much all for the sake of love; she in awe that she had opened herself up to a stranger. Only Thorne had ever really listened to her and accepted her.

Brooke sighed and slid her hands down to her feet; she slowly pulled off her high-heeled black shoes. Caspian noticed the laced edge of a garter peek from under her skirt. He had to stop himself from staring at it. He was aching to touch it, to kiss it and her thighs. He closed his eyes and sighed, it was if he hadn't had a woman in ages. He watched as she took off her shoes, her perfect feet and toes. He wanted to rub her feet to lean down and kiss her toes. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons on his shirt.

" I’ve told you about myself, now it’s your turn. Who are you?"

"Do you really want to know who I am?" Brooke was intrigued, what kind of question was that?’

" Yes, I told you who I am, it’s your turn." Caspian closed his eyes, he would tell her only part of the truth, one day she would really know who he was.

" I am a man who has had a great deal of responsibility, money and power thrust on me ever since, I was young. I have handled that responsibility of taking care of others, well, but with that responsibility has cost me. It has changed my life, made me strong, made me feared by some. It has also made me do things that I am ashamed of. I have left those things in the past and started a new life for myself. Deep inside, I want more. I want what you want, love. I want someone to except me for I am; with all of my mistakes, and not to be afraid of my past or the world that I live in. Someone to love me with complete passion, to fight along side of me."

Brooke studied him and saw for a second, a flash of pain.

" You had it once didn’t you? You had someone you thought would stand by you."

He looked at her, how did she know that?

"Yes"

"When it ended, you struggled with the knowledge that you might have to go through life and never find that peace again."

He said nothing, but she knew it. She knew that he had everything and nothing. All of the money, power, respect and even the respect of others didn’t matter if you were alone.

 

" This is strange. I don’t think that I have ever told anyone that I didn’t know so much about myself without them knowing me and at least my name or what I do for a living.

Do you always have is affect on people? Do you get them to open up and you read them like a book?"

"No I leave that to my sister, she is the expert in that field."

" Your sister?"

Caspian leaned forward; his face came close to Brooke’s face. " Now that is someone people should fear. Next to her, I’m harmless."

Brooke licked her lips unconsciously, she felt the heat start again, how did he have this effect on her? She didn’t back down or move her face. " She is someone I’d like to meet, because I have the feeling that you can be very dangerous man."

Caspian couldn’t help himself; he had to touch her. He took his finger and slowly touched the side of her check; he ran his finger down her check to her soft neck. She didn’t stop him, she should have. She was trapped and alone with a sexy stranger who made her feel all sorts of things. She need to get away from him and the pull he had over her. Suddenly, her cell phone rang the ring it makes when there is a message or a page. Brooke moved away from Caspian and took her phone out; there was a text message from Thorne. Brooke thought about Thorne and smiled. Thorne loved her and accepted her. She was building a live for them. Brooke turned around and found herself looking at the man’s chest.

"Someone important?"

Brooke looked at the man’s handsome face. " Yes, one of the most important people in my life." Brooke walked to the other side of the elevator and felt his eyes on her as if she were some book he was trying to read.

" He must be very special." Brooke faced the man again.

" Who?"

"The man in your life, the one who left you the message, he must be a very special."

Brooke thought about Thorne, he was special, he was different, and he wasn’t going to leave her when things got tough. He had given up his family for her; no one had ever done that. No one had ever given up something that they loved to be with her. She had always been the one to give everything up. This time, it was different. She then looked at the man, this stranger who saw something inside of her, the one who from the moment she saw had been sending strange vibes toward her, the one who was very dangerous. He was dangerous to her because part of her wanted to get out of this elevator to leave and the other wanted to stay to be near to this mysterious man who in some fashion called out to her.

" Does he make your soul come alive?"

" What?"

Brooke hadn’t been listening; she had been caught up in her thoughts. Caspian gave Brooke a look so intense that she wanted to weep. He asked her the question again, this time so quietly intense, she couldn’t speak.

"Does he make your entire soul or being come alive?"

It was like he was touching her, she left weak, she wanted to cry, and she needed to get away from him now. Her soul come alive, she thought she knew what it was. She thought that she had that with Ridge, but she hadn’t. There was only one time in her life that she had felt as if here whole world was going to come apart, that her soul was touched that day was today. It wasn’t Thorne who did it, and it hadn't even been Ridge. It was this man, a man whose name she didn't even know. He was touching something deep inside of her.

Caspian watched the tears form in her eyes and fall silently onto her cheeks. He went to her. He reached out instinctively to brush her tears away, she stepped back until she hit the wall. "Don’t" She closed her eyes.

"I would never hurt you."

She opened her eyes. " I know you aren’t trying to hurt me, it’s just …."

" You remind me of someone."

Brooke’s eyes opened and she noticed the pulse at the base of his neck has a steady beat.

"She was a lot like you in some ways, but you are inherently stronger."

Caspian turned; she didn’t see the tortured look on his face. He was trying so hard not to touch her, not to make a move, to be the aggressor. If only she knew the battle of good and evil inside of him. If only she knew that in this last hour, that she had touched him like no other woman had done since Lark. If only she knew that what started as a man wanting to find out about a woman who looked like his wife, had turned into something else. He wanted to take her right now, any way a man could take a woman who belonged to him. On the floor almost like a feral animal who has longed forever for his mate and after to that he wanted to make sweet gentle love to her and never let her go back. Isabelle had been right, Brooke was different from Lark, she was strong and determined but at the same time she was like a ray of light.

" Isabelle was right," he whispered.

" Who is Isabelle and what is she right about?"

 

 

I wanted to have a photo to go with the chapter but I'm still learning how to put photos with the messages. You can look on the fan fiction sites to find cast photos of the characters. NB did a great job with them.

 

Against All Odds Part 23 Review (The Elevator) {Brooke and Caspian are trapped in the elevator together. Brooke is frightened by her attraction to Caspian. Caspian however is more than happy to be enclosed with Brooke. The two talk without relieving their names to each other. Caspian works hard to control his lust from Brooke, while Brooke receives a call from Thorne.}

 

 

" Who is Isabelle? Is she your girlfriend?" Brooke was waiting for him to answer her. She didn’t understand why it was imperative to her that she knew about the woman."

Caspian shook his head. Isabelle his girlfriend, nothing was further more to the truth.

He watched Brooke. She was waiting, was it possible that the thought of Isabelle being something more disturbing her? He knew that Thorne’s phone called disturbed him. Thorne Forrester, he had read about him in her file. He fighting a battle with his family over Brooke, they wanted him to leave her. He was also fighting a battle with Brooke’s daughter Bridgett. Caspian could care less about Thorne and his battles, but he wondered what Brooke really felt. Was she truly in love? How could she be when being with him was affecting her so much? Could he push her, he could overwhelm her if he wanted, he had years of experience. Even with her sensuality rating, it couldn’t possibly withstand him he if went after her.

"Isabelle is my sister. I don’t have a girlfriend."

" I’m sorry I just thought that a man with your looks and your power base would have a woman in your life." She was relived. Isabelle wasn’t his girlfriend. "Why Brooke," a voice in her head said. "Why would you care if he does have someone in his life. You have Thorne."

" I have women in my life, but not the way that you mean. I have sexual needs like all men, maybe even stronger at times, but I don’t have someone to connect with like you have. He does connect with you doesn’t he?"

" Yes he does. He understands me. He is my friend, my lover my everything." Brooke felt a shiver of coldness sweep through her body.

Caspian didn’t look at her, he couldn’t. He knew that she was wrong. Thorne wasn’t her everything, he wasn’t even close to it. He turned toward her and came so close that she backed up against the wall.

" What are you doing?" He standing so close to her she could feel his body heat, she looked at his lips. His beautiful lips.

"You are wrong, he isn’t everything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your Thorne, he isn’t your everything. He isn’t your soul."

Brooke became defensive. How dare this man, a man that she had never met before talk to her like this.

"Move away from me now."

She used a demanding tone, hoping that he would listen to her. He didn’t move. He stared into her eyes, so beautiful and golden. He moved his head down closer toward hers inches away from her lips. His hand went to her hair and he used the pad of his finger a to push her hair back away from her ear. He traced her inner ear, lazily sensually running his finger on the lobe. His finger ran down her neck slowly feeling the small hairs on her neck. Her breathing was becoming rapid and his eyes never left her. He leaned forward more.

"If he were your world, you wouldn’t feel what you have felt since the moment your body and heart found mine."

" I don’t what you are talking about? I don’t feel anything for you."

"Yes you do and you know it. Your body responds to me, it wants me as much as your heart does."

" I told you to move." She said it in a whisper, what was his finger doing? It was tracing down her neck toward and moving around front to where her color bones met. His finger found her pulse in the center of her neck.

He didn’t move, he couldn’t. Anger was burning inside of him, angry that a man like Thorne Forrester got her loyalty and her love. He was going to test her resolve, the devil in him and won the battle.

Forrester Creations

Ridge looked down at his unfinished design. He couldn’t work. His mind went back to the conversation that he had with Morgan over an hour ago.

(Ridge remembering)

" Ridge we have to talk about this paper." Morgan sauntered into his office, locked the door and sat down. "We need to talk right now."

" I think that it is all there in black and white Morgan." Ridge got up and took the papers and gave them back to her. "You give me the videotape and sign that you will never tell Taylor about what happened and I give you enough money for you and the baby."

"It’s not that simple Ridge."

"Damn it Morgan! It is. You said that you don’t want to break up my marriage to Taylor; you say that you are her friend. Sign the paper!"

He threw the papers at her. She was playing a game with him. She was trying to ruin his relationship. " I hope that someone some day tries to ruin the love that you have!" Brooke’s words from a previous argument came filtering back in his head. He did this to her, tried to ruin her relationship with his manipulations.

Morgan gave Ridge a cold stare. " I’m not trying to destroy your marriage, however, I’m going to look out for the interest of my son, the child that I’m carrying."

The mention of the baby’s sex, Ridge stopped, he didn’t know that she was going to have a son. His son.

" I want security for him Ridge. He will be a Forrester, he might not carry the name but you know it and I know he will be a Forrester. When he is older he might want to know about you or maybe not. But he will have what he is entitled to as a Forrester."

"What is it that you think that he is entitled to Morgan? You act like it I owe you something. You are the one who tricked me into giving you that baby so don’t act like I owe you something."

"You might not owe me Ridge, but you will owe my son. I’m willing to agree to your terms. I’m willing to keep my mouth shut, give you the video tape and even move away on two conditions."

Ridge sat back down in the chair, he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like what Morgan wanted. "What are your two conditions?"

" I want Forrester stock for my son, and head designer job at International Forrester."

Ridge jumped out of the chair at the mention of the stock.

 

 

Scott’s Apartment

Scott finished setting the table. It looked great. Dinner would be ready soon, compliments from Café’ Rouse, he had ordered and picked a full course meal. He looked in the mirror, he was dressed causally wearing a light gray sweater and blue jean, and he didn’t want to over do it. Dinner would arrive later, they had time to sit, talk and maybe make love. Scott smiled, he hadn’t had sex since he had come to LA and he really needed a release, he had been pent up every since he met a certain feisty blonde.

"Stop thinking about her. She is way to young for you and you know it."

The phone rang. " Maybe it’s Kimberly." Scott ran to pick up the phone.

" Hello?"

"Hi sweetie."

Scott smiled. "Mom, how are you doing?"

" I’m fine. I was just calling you because I hadn’t heard from you in a couple of days."

"I’m doing fine. I like working for Forrester. No, I don’t have a new girl in my life, although I’m working on it."

"Hey, I didn’t ask all of that."

"I just thought that I’d get to it before you started."

"I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never been on of the overprotective mothers. I just want to know what or should I say whom my son is doing."

"Mom, I don’t get involved in you personal life and I don’t think you should worry yourself about mine. In fact I’d love to talk to you, but I have a date coming. I’ll talk to you later."

Lauren smiled, her son was a player, she couldn’t get too mad at him, and after all she remembered what she had been like at his age. "Just be careful. By the way, I’ll be in town next week; there is some business that I have attend to. Do I need to stay at a hotel or is my old place still available?"

"Mom, you know you always have a place, after all it belongs to you. I can’t wait to see you. There is only one thing that I ask from you."

"What is it?"

"Just tone down a bit mother."

Lauren smiled on the other side of the phone. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. It isn’t normal for guy’s friends to be hitting on his mother. So, if you can tone it down just a bit."

"Scott, I’m not sure what you are talking about. I always act like a proper mother." She laughed and hung up the phone. Scott couldn’t help but to smile, no matter what he said, he admired his mother’s spunk and savvy.

The doorbell rang Scott opened the door and found the very beautiful Kimberly in a pair of skin tight black pants and a spaghetti strapped black midriff tank top.

" Hi Scott."

Scott smiled; this was going to be a great date.

Venice

Pierce watched Isabelle as she had talked to the Vicki Staten, lunch had come and gone, he couldn’t make himself leave for the meeting that he needed to go to. Isabelle was a beautiful woman; she had been giving him an evil stare all throughout lunch. Pierce walked over to where Isabelle was talking to Vicki, when she noticed him, she stopped talking.

She turned her cool eyes on him. " Well Pierce shouldn’t you be going to that meeting you talked about during lunch?"

"It’s been rescheduled. Tell me, when was your trip canceled."

"Trip? Oh the one that I told you about when we met at the restaurant."

Pierce moved closer to Isabelle taking up her personal space. " Yes, you said that you couldn’t have dinner with me because you would be out of town."

" I lied to you. I didn’t want to have lunch or dinner with you. I thought that I’d be polite." Isabelle gave him an even colder stare. She wanted him gone. She needed him to leave so she could talk to Vicki about her solution for memory. She didn’t have time to for chit chat with Pierce.

"Why don’t you like me, Isabelle?"

She smiled a cold smile and came closer to Pierce. She touched his tie and ran her finger down it slowly. " If I didn’t like you, you’d know it. I have no feelings for you one way or another, like or dislike. Does it bother you that I’m not falling over myself to talk to you? Or does it bother you that I don’t have some big problem that you need to fix." She walked around him in a circle like she was trying to study him. " You like fixing people, don’t you. That’s your nitch, isn’t it?"

Pierce turned toward her and used one of his hands to stop her from moving. Isabelle piercing eyes went through him.

"I suggest that you get your hands off of me."

"Why do I bother you so much? Don’t lie and tell me that I don’t when I know full well that I do bother you. You don’t like me; you don’t want me here. Why? What have I ever done to you Isabelle?"

"You want the truth, fine, I’ll give it too you. You run around the world trying to heel and fix people. Sometimes it is better that you leave things the way that they are. You shouldn’t dig where you don’t belong. Now I’ll say it again, and I won’t say it anymore. Get your damn hands off of me."

Pierce saw the fire burn in her eyes. He wanted this woman; he wanted to make her burn for him. She was so cold, yet beneath the surface, she was warm blooded. He needed to find out more about her. He also wondered what she was doing here. During lunch, he had listened to her and was more impressed by her knowledge. He let go of her; it wasn’t over between them, not by a long shot.

"The truth is, you don’t like me because I do something to you. I make you feel something and you don’t like that Isabelle. Be honest, what is it that I make you feel?"

Isabelle slipped her sunglasses back on her beautiful face.

"Nothing. I suggest that you don’t push me or make me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry."

Isabelle walked away, while Vicki who had been watching the couple wondered why her two associates had sparks flying between them but acted like they couldn’t stand to be together.

Paris

Brooke was frightened of the man. Not because she was afraid that he would hurt her, her instincts told her that he wouldn’t, but because he was going to touch her. She knew it. She also knew that a part of deep down inside of her soul was craving her him. She closed her eyes.

"Think of Thorne," her mind screamed to her.

She thought about him, the first time that they kissed, the first and the last time that they had made love. She loved him; she knew it. She loved Thorne. Why was this man doing this to her, why didn’t he leave her alone?

" You want me as much as I want you. I’ve wanted you the moment that I saw you." He continued to stroke her. .

Your nipples, are they hard for me?" He ran his fingers down toward her breast. He wanted to touch her so bad. He was hard for her, he wanted to take off her clothes and thrust inside of her. He took his other hand and placed it on her thigh. He ran it up the stocking until he met with skin.

"What if I went up further, what would I find? Would you be wet for me, soaking wet. Wanting me to touch you to feel your heat."

He was going to touch her; she didn’t know what to do. Why didn’t she stop him, she wasn’t the sort to carry on with a stranger in an elevator. She opened her eyes and all the panic and fear were the visible along with her passion. The fear that he was won out.

Caspian let her go and walked to the other side of the elevator. He has so hard that he hurt, but he didn’t want her hurt. He wanted her, but not like this. She had to come to him; she would never forgive herself or him if he took her in this elevator. He cupped his face in his hands.

" I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I did that." He turned and saw her against the wall with the fear still there. He went to her. Brooke felt secure when he took her into his arms; she inhaled his scent.

"I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have touched you or talked to you like that."

Caspian closed his eyes feeling her body quake. He didn’t want to scare her; he just wanted to be with her. He kissed the top of her head. Brooke was confused; he was holding her and she didn't want him to let her go. She wanted to be held, even after the things he had said and done to her, she wanted this. Why did she allow him such liberties and she didn’t even know him.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, him holding her in his arms. He slowly pulled her out of his embrace and took her hand. He pulled her toward him and to the floor. Would they make love now? Could she stop him from doing what she wanted, she loved Thorne, but she wanted this man.

Caspian sat her down. He then went to the food cart and opened it, the food although it had been sitting there at least an hour and more looked good. He took out the tablecloth, spread it on the floor in front of Brooke and set a table. He opened the wine and poured her a glass and handed it to her. She slipped it slowly, never taking her eyes off of him. He watched her drink, and saw that a droplet of wine stayed at the corner of her mouth, he wanted to lick that drop off of her. She most of understood the longing of his look, because her pink tongue slowly darted out of her mouth to scoop the droplet up. At that precise moment, his shaft surged in his pants.

Forrester

"You can’t be serious. I can’t give you Forrester stock. It has always been in the family."

"That’s right Ridge, it’s been for family and my son is family. That’s what I want; I want security for my son. Stock in his family’s company, he has a right to it."

Ridge ran his fingers through his hair; the stress and the strain obvious on his face; he hadn’t expected this. Stock, he had lost some of it to Brooke, given Taylor some as a gift for his children and then now Morgan wanted some.

" Morgan, I can give you anything that you needed but I can’t give you this."

"You don’t have a choice Ridge."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you don’t want Taylor to find out the truth, you will provide for our child. I won’t compromise on this. I want our child, my child to have his birth right." Morgan moved toward Ridge and stood next to him bending down to whisper in his ear. "Just think Ridge, you won’t have to worry about me ever again, you will have your tape, my work on the paper and I’ll be gone to Paris forever."

Morgan walked to the door.

" Don’t take to long Ridge, the offer doesn’t last long."

Ridge sat down in put his head in his hands. He was going to lose everything over one foolish night. He had to do something, but he didn’t know what he was going to do.

Paris

" The food will do us both good." He brought the silver trays down to the floor. He uncovered the lids. "Someone had a nice lunch planned."

There was fresh bread with a crab dip, a sea food linguine and cheesecake for lunch." Caspian put the food on her plate, and he dove in. She ate the pasta; it was still warm and quite delicious. She ate quietly thinking about what could have happened. She knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t allow that had almost happened between them to happen again. She loved Thorne and she wouldn’t do anything to destroy what happiness they were building together.

Caspian took the dishes once they were finished and put them back on the cart. He turned toward her and sat down next to her.

" You are so beautiful, I didn’t mean to scare you with my feelings. I was wrong to push you like it did. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a woman like you. Can you forgive me for my ungentlemanly behavior."

He took her hand and gave her the rose from the cart as a peace offering.

"Well, I could be trapped in here with someone much harder to look at." She smiled at him; she knew that the ladies would fall like victims to the charm. " I forgive you. We both have been trapped in here for a while. There has been a lot of tension and it can get hard to be in such close quarters."

She had no idea how hard it was on him to be so close to her and not to take her liked he wanted to. He watched her, she was wearily, and maybe it was jet lag or the emotional toil of the situation.

She was glad that things had gotten back to normal and that he wasn’t interested in trying to touch her anymore. The food and the wine had relaxed her, in fact she had drank two glasses; it was quite good. She felt her eyes begin to drift close, she tried to stay awake, bit the liquor and the strain that she had been under had gotten to her.

He watched her slowly fall asleep. He watched her breathing even out, her eyes drift close and her hand tilt back against the wall. He wasn’t sure how long he watched her sleep, but he did notice when she shivered in her sleep. He moved toward her and placed his jacket over top of her. When he touched her, she turned toward him in her sleep. Her body and soul knew, even in her sleep that she should belong to him. He couldn’t help himself; he sat down next to her and moved her until her head was in his lap. He studied her face: her perfectly arched eyebrows, her nose, and her sensual lips. He took his finger and touched her bottom lip. In her slumber she opened her mouth slightly and he outlined her lips. Something must of awakened her, because she slowly opened her eyes and stared into the his eyes. She couldn’t help herself; she reached up and touched his face and his lips. He leaned forward and she couldn’t stop him, he leaned down and she didn’t stop him, his lips slowly touched her and she gave him access. His tongue came out of his mouth and touched her own tongue; she widened her mouth to give him further access. She felt fire ripple from her mouth and go down throughout her body. His tongue stroked hers slowly and then his caught her bottom lip between his teeth and he sucked it into his mouth. She gasped and his arms tightened around her. The kiss changed, the gentle passion was gone, what was left was pure fire. His mouth captured hers, feeding off of them, sucking her tongue into his mouth, bruising her lips with his ardened passion. Brooke felt every sensation go through her body, she felt her nipples ache for his touch, felt to center throb with wanting, and she felt an intense building. Was it possible for a kiss to give her an orgasm? She had heard that some men could make a woman climax from a kiss. He continued to kiss her and he brought his hands to the clasp on the back of her halter like top of her suit. He in his expert manner unhooked it and before she could think, had her top off and her strapless corset opened. He broke the kiss and looked down at her bared breast, his breath caught, she was exquisite. He ran took his finger and traced the areola of her nipple, bent down and took it into his hot waiting mouth. She felt his mouth suckle her breast, as his fingers traced her other nipple. Heat went through her until she couldn’t stop it, his kisses, his caresses made her weak and wanting. Passion raced through her until she couldn’t stop it, her breathing was rapid, her heart beating so fast and when he bit her nipple softly, she lost herself into an intense orgasm.

 

Against All Odds Part 24 Review (The Kiss) {Caspian and Brooke are overwhelmed by their feeling and start to make love in the elevator. Morgan demands Forrester stock for her silence and the video tape. Isabelle visits the Staten’s and finds Pierce there as a guest. Kimberly goes to Scott’s apartment. Lauren calls Scott and tells him that she is coming to LA for a visit."

Against All Odds Part 25 (After thoughts)

Caspian felt the tremors rack through Brooke’s body. He felt her quiver and shake, heard her breath become rapid and lastly her moan of desire. He lifted his head from her breast, wanting to watch her as she came apart for him. She was a passionate woman, she had an organism just from him kissing her and tasting her breast. She would be expressive and captivating in bed, he could imagine all the things that they could do together. All the ways that they could pleasure and please each other. All the ways they could make love. He wanted to use vast knowledge of the art of making love to capture her. He knew without a doubt that when they made love, it was be a powerful passionate experience. It was no longer a matter of if they ever made love, but when. He wanted her, all of her, her passion, her love and her soul. He watched her as she made her way back from her plateau of ecstasy. Brooke floated back down, and found herself looking into a pair of intense eyes that were watching her, studying her as if she were a book. His hand moved back to her breast, he watched her as he slowly stroked the side of it and cupped it.

"You have no idea how much I want you right now?"

Brooke, still in a daze, didn’t know how to respond. She was lying in the arms of a man that she had meet for the first time that day. She was naked to the waist and he had just given her an incredible orgasm.

"You are so beautiful, so expressive." He leaned down and kissed her slowly on the lips. He traced her lips with his tongue and then slid it into her waiting mouth kissing her deeply. He deepened the kiss and then pulled his head away from hers.

" I am so hard right now. I want to know so badly what makes you come. I want so badly to be inside of you, when you have another orgasm." Caspian moved his other hand to the base of her skirt and slowly slid the shirt up until he could see her garters and her black-laced underwear. He fingered the beautiful design on precious lace panties. He stroked the lace lazily, watching his fingers. He then slid his hands between her legs and even though the panties, he could feel the wetness of her essence.

" I told you that you’d be wet for me. What else would you do for me?"

Brooke shuttered. She was so confused, what was she doing? She couldn’t make him stop, or make herself make him stop. His fingers were rubbing her softly through the lace of her panties. It was excruciating erotic.

" Do you have any idea who erotic it is for a man to know that a woman is expressive for him?" His eyes never left his fingers as he spoke to her. "How much it makes him want her even more, because she is so passionate that she doesn’t mask her feelings. That she is so ripe, waiting and waiting more."

Brooke couldn’t stop herself from looking down her body to where his fingers were creating a wondrous sensation throughout her. She felt the pressure begin to build. She felt the heat move through her once again. He watched her and noticed that her eyes were changing color; again, she was starting to get heated up again. Caspian smiled.

He leaned down, his mouth inches away from hers. "You want it again don’t you. You want it so bad you can taste it. How much do you want?"

He took his finger and pushed the lace between her legs aside and touched her naked center with his finger. She had scalding hot with heat. She was on fire with his naked touch. He rubbed her, letting her body move toward him when he slowly pushed a finger inside of her.

She moaned her response to him and closed her eyes with need.

"How much more do you want?"

He added another finger. She moaned even louder.

" Oh god!" She was going to come apart; she knew it. She wanted to tell him to stop and to go at the same time.

"Tell me. How much do you want?"

He knew he was playing a cat and mouse game, but at this juncture, he wanted her and he was even willing to go against his grain and take her on the floor. If she gave herself to him, he was never going to give her back. Brooke sighed and opened her mouth; he quickly covered her mouth with his. His finger slid out and then slid two back inside of her. The passion was starting to build more. His mouth tasting her tongue, moving down her neck while slowly biting it and then taking her breast. She felt the passion rising more and more inside of her. Her breathing becoming rapid, her breast heathing, her body moving along side of his. She squirmed toward him, wanting more needing it.

BAM! BAM! The loud bang from the top of the elevator and suddenly the motor began to start and the elevator began to move.

Brooke pushed Caspian away from her breast.

" Oh god, oh god. What have I done?" She felt his finger slid out oh her. She moved the scrap of lace back to where it belonged. She pushed her skirt back down and picked up her top and hastily put it one, turning her back on Caspian.

Caspian quietly watched her as her dressed, in her haste, she had forgotten her buestei and he picked in up, folded it and up put in his pocket. Brooke turned toward him and he was the indecision and confusion in her eyes. Caspian sighed; this wasn’t the reaction that he wanted from her.

 

In Venice

" Vicki, you have made a great deal of progress?"

Vicki looked up from her notes and glanced at Isabelle who was sitting across from her in her labatory. That was one of the perks of living here, Isabelle had found a place that was safe and had a wonderful Lab.

" I’ve made great deal of progress, but this is a very sticky area. No one really wants to deal with this issue. Mind control is an issue that many of the wrong people have been trying for years."

Isabelle leaned forward and touched Vicki’s arm. She looked serine behind her dark shade.

" You and I both know the risk that there was working on this." Isabelle leaned back in the chair. "What you are doing is good work. I’m quiet sure that only the "good" will come out of it."

Vicki wondered if Isabelle was right. Vicki had started to work on this mind control around 3 years ago. It was very risky; she didn’t want her work to get into the wrong hands.

Isabelle had been studying Vicki and biding her time. She knew that sooner or later the topic would turn toward Vicki’s memory control solution. She hated doing this, not the part about tricking the Staten’s, she did those types of things all of the time. No, it was putting fake smile on her face and listening to the insipid drivel that Vicki talked about.

" I think that you are making to much about this. Look at the research and the solution that you created on altering the memory. You’ve been working on the solution and nothing has happened. "

Vicki nodded, Isabelle was right. The memory solution had been tested and it had worked well so far. Vicki still needed to chart out the side effects of her research, but things were going well.

" You are right, things are going well with that."

"Is that so."

"Yes, just a few more tests on the possible side effects and it will be finished."

"That is so wonderful Vicki, congratulations."

It was wonderful. Isabelle smiled. Getting that solution was like taking candy from a baby, in fact Vicki would never know about it. Soon, very soon she’d have it. Soon her brother would everything that he had every wanted.

Scott’s Apartment

Kimberly had been given the tour from Scott; it was a really nice penthouse. She noticed the portrait of a red headed woman over the fireplace; the woman was really sexy. She stopped in front of the portrait.

"She’s a very beautiful woman."

"She is, isn’t she?"

Kimberly turned toward Scott. " I know that this might sounds a little strange, but I was just wondering why you have a large portrait of a beautiful woman?"

Scott grinned and took his hand and touched Kimberly’s nearly bare back.

"She is a very important woman in my life."

Kimberly was confused by Scott’s comment. Her eyes narrowed to little slits as she listened to him. Could she have this entire thing wrong, maybe he wasn’t interested in Bridgett, maybe she just had the hots for him instead.

" How long have you known her?"

Scott noticed how Kimberly’s eyes kept darting at the portrait.

"I ‘ve know her for what seems all my life. This place used to belong to her."

"It doesn’t anymore?"

"No, she gave it to me."

"Gave it to you, why would she do something like that?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders. Keeping little miss Teen Queen guessing was something fun.

 

In Paris

Brooke couldn’t look him in the eye. A stranger, she had almost made love to a stranger. What if the elevator hadn’t started working, what would she be doing now? Would she be letting him touch her and make love to her? She couldn’t answer that question and it disturbed her. What about Thorne? He had given up so much for her; she couldn’t believe that she was so willing to chance her life with him for a moment with a nameless man.

She combed her fingers through her hair trying to straighten out the mess; she looked down and straightens out her skirt. Suddenly she realized that she wasn’t wearing a bra. What had she done with it? She looked down on the floor and then she looked into the eyes of the man who had in a kiss, given her nothing but passion. She wanted to rage at him, he was destroying her inner peace.

"This never happened! Do you understand me, what happened between us never happened!"

He saw the desperation in her face, knowing that she really wished it hadn’t happened. Wishing didn’t mean that things came to fruition.

"We need to talk about this."

She shook her head at him, in a defiant manner. " There isn’t anything to talk about. I don’t know you. I happily engaged to someone."

He didn’t have to look at her hand, he knew that there would be no ring on her finger and even if there was, it didn’t matter to him.

She could read his thoughts, " I don’t have a ring, but I belong to someone else. Listen, I don’t know what has gotten into me. I made a mistake, I allowed you certain liabilities that I shouldn’t have."

The elevator stopped. She turned toward the door, when it opened. She turned to leave when he grabbed her wrist.

" What happened between us effected both you and me on a deep level. I couldn’t help myself anymore than you could."

She turned those beautiful eyes on him. " It shouldn’t have happened at all. I’ve never done anything like that before with someone that I just met."

"I know"

"How could you know?"

"Because I do. I know it and that’s what makes what happened more than special. You connected with me, not just sexually but in other ways. When you were talking to me and you forgot to be afraid of me and your reaction to me; you felt as if you knew me. "

Brooke’s mind groped for something to say. He was right, but she didn’t want to admit it to him or even herself. She shook her head in denial and removed his hand from her wrist.

"Look, like I said, this shouldn’t have happened. Now it’s time that I left and forget about this entire thing."

He watched as she walked away. She wanted to run, but she didn’t, she wasn’t going to let him know how much this encounter had affected her.

"You and both know that won’t be easy to do."

She stopped, turned around and looked once again at the handsome man standing in the doorway of the elevator.

"I’ll just do what I have to." She said it with a determined voice and a glint in her eye. The fire, the passion was still there, but that determined glint made him smile. She wouldn’t back down; she would put up a fight. She’d fight hard, and he needed a woman who was willing to fight. Brooke turned and walked regally toward her suite.

Caspian smiled, with that statement, she had sealed her fate.

She was going to be his.

Venice

Isabelle walked side by side to Vicki. She looked up and saw Pierce standing on the landing above her. Why was he still here? What did he want? She turned to Vicki.

" I have some pressing matters that may need my attention. I think that it is time that I leave."

" Do you really have to go?"

Isabelle glanced up at Pierce who wasn’t masking his interest in what she and Vicki were saying.

"Yes, I think that it is time."

"What is going on with you and Pierce?"

Isabelle stared at Vicki for a while, wondering the same thing. "Nothing is going on. He wants to get to know me, but I don’t want to know him."

"Why?"

Isabelle was getting impacient. She wasn’t used to answering anyone’s questions except Caspian’s.

Charles Staten knew that his wife was on shaky ground. Isabelle didn’t want to be drilled. Although he liked Isabelle, there were parts of her he didn’t fully understand, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He had come to her because he needed her safety and he respected her, but he didn’t want Vicki to become involved. He knew what others said, he believe them. Isabelle and her brother were dangerous.

Isabelle took her coat and glanced up again to where Pierce was standing.

" Good night Vicki." She turned and left.

Pierce moved toward the window and watched as she sped away in her car. She really was something and she wanted something too. Playing nicey-nice with Vicki wasn’t her style. What did Isabelle want from Vicki or Charles? He wanted to know, more importantly, he wanted to know what made Isabelle tick.

 

Stephanie’s house

Stephanie picked up the newspaper article that was in the daily newspaper. The headline read, Christopher Hastings Killed in an Automobile Accent. Christopher had died, she didn’t have to pay the money anymore, not that she was complaining; it had been well worth it.

" I would do anything Brooke, to have you out of our lives."

Stephanie did what she had to do, if it had ever come out that Bridget was really Ridge’s daughter; Brooke would never leave her family alone. She would always be connected with Ridge.

" I did what I had too."

Stephanie’s face contorted with anger at the thought of Brooke. Brooke hadn’t stopped with Ridge, she had moved onto Thorne. Her baby was with that tramp, planning to marry her. She had to find a way to stop this relationship; she had done it before. Paying Christopher had been worth it, with the test changed, Ridge was free to marry Taylor the woman who was best for him. She had one more check payment to make, Trudie the younger sister. Stephanie knew that the girl had been working hard to go to college, Christopher had been using the pay off money for his sister tuition, Trudie however didn’t know about the money. It was all that Stephanie could do, she’d send the last check and then she'd be finished with this entire mess. There were no proff that Bridget was Ridge’s anywhere to be found. With Christopher’s death, her secret had died.

Veince

Caspian stood in the hallway, his mind already working to what he had planned next.

"I’ll do what I have to do too, Brooke. One day you will understand." He had created the elevator disaster in order to meet her, instead he had found something more. He smiled again; she had awakened something inside of him that he though had died with Lark. He would do things differently this time, he would win.

LA

Trudie Hastings sat on floor trying hard to go through all of her dead brother’s paperwork. Her brother had so many things going on, her brother also had an amazing amount of money in his saving account.

"Where did the money come from Christopher?"

It didn’t make any sense; her brother had been was a lab tech at Cedars Hospital. He had made a pretty good salary but nothing compared to the money that he had in his savings. Where did the money come from? She noticed an envelope sitting in the bottom the black box that she had. She opened it, inside of it was her brothers saving box. In her grief, she had forgotten all about it.

There was a knock on the door.

Trudie opened the door and smiled through her tears as she looked at her long time friend.

"Eve, I’m so glad that you are here." Eve hugged her friend. When she had been alone and had no one, it had been Trudie and her brother who had helped her. They had found her that night, four years ago, on the streets bleeding to death. She had lost so much blood, her body battered and her baby had been literary taken from her body. She had wanted desperately wanted to die that night, but Trudie and Christopher hadn’t let her die. They had been the family she had never had. Tears ran from both of the girls’ eyes, both saddened the tragic death of someone they loved.

Brooke opened the door to her hotel suit; she closed the door behind her hoping to close out the intense feelings that were running through her. Her hands were still shaking, her legs weak and her heart-racing like she had just run 5 miles. Her hair was mused, her eyes were puffy from the tears that had and were still forming. She walked toward the large mirror hanging over the fireplace in the main room. She looked at herself, her lips were swollen from bruising kisses, and her neck was slightly red from nips and bites. She found the back clasp to her top and unbuttoned it from the back. It fell to the floor in a heap and she stared at her naked breast, in which her nipples were still tingling from his kisses and bites. She walked into the bedroom and stripped. Like a woman in a trance, she walked into the adjoining bath and stepped into the shower. Hot water poured down her body as she used the luffa sponge to scrub herself. She began to cry silent tears that mingled with the streaming water, the tears became harsh racking sobs what caused her to drop her sponge and sink to the tiled floor of the shower. She held her knees to her chest and cried. She cried for all that she had lost for love, she cried for all that she wanted in Thorne, she cried because deep in her heart, if she had a chance to go back in the elevator and finish what she had started, she would. Brooke knew that she loved Thorne but she also knew that she wanted that man in the elevator with a passion that she had never felt before in all of her years.

"What am I going to do?"

Kimberly gave Scott one of her best smiles. "Come on and tell me, who is she, your lover?"

"Why would you think that?"

He had opened a bottle of wine for them and had poured them a glass. Kimberly noticed everything about him, his fragrant cologne, his bluest eyes and his lips. Had he been with an older woman, did he too understand what it was like to want to be with someone who was older?

"Is she your lover, she looks like a woman who likes younger men?"

Scott looked up at the portrait.

"No she isn’t my lover, she’s my mother."

"Your mother! I’m sorry, it’s was just…"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. " Don’t worry, you weren’t the first to think that."

He leaned closer toward her, his lips only inches away from hers.

" She is a beautiful woman, my mother. I don’t have a girlfriend or a lover right now."

"What about Bridget?"

His eyes darkened at the mention of her name.

"Bridget Forrester is just a girl, a bratty one at that. She doesn’t interest me."

Scott was turning on Kimberly; taking away something Bridget wanted gave her a surge of power. The little brat thought they were friends, but lately she was acting funny and had a bad attitude. Kimberly took her index finger and ran it across Scott’s full lips.

"Tell me, what does interest you?"

"Right now, you do, Princess" He lowered his head, took her head into his hands and kissed her. He used his tongue to stroke and coxed her mouth open. He then tasted her lips and tongue. Wanting more he deepened the kiss. Kimberly gave herself into the kiss trusting her tongue back toward Scott. She tasted the wine on his tongue and wanted more. Maybe she didn’t need Rick after all, maybe Scott would do just fine for what she had planned.

Caspian opened to door to his penthouse suite. His mind consumed with the woman in the elevator. She had surprised her with her gently nature, her deep love for her children and her passion. In some ways, she reminded him of Lark, but in other ways she was different. He knew the time had to come to let Lark go, she had been dead for years. Brooke looked like her, but she wasn’t, he knew it and so did his heart. Somehow being with Brooke had helped him to heal a part of himself that had died with his beloved.

He walked over toward the open view that was quite spectacular. He felt inside of his pocket and felt a small piece of clothing that she had been looking for. He got his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Samantha, I need you to get Troy Savage on the phone. I have someone that I want any information on."

"No, please give him the phone number to my hotel. Tell him it is most important."

" Yes, the name of the person is Thorne Forrester." Caspian hung up the phone, he wanted to know all about the man who had Brooke Logan Forrester’s love.

Against All Odds Chapter 25 Review ( After Thoughts) {Brooke and Caspian almost make love, until the elevator comes back on. Brooke tells Caspian to leave her alone. Caspian wants information on Thorne. Kimberly and Scott make out; she plans on using him for her plan instead of Rick. Stephanie finds that the lab tech that switched Bridget’s paternity died. Trudie wonders where her brother Christopher, the lab tech got so much money. Eve comforts Trudie her friend and remembers how Trudie and her brother helped her the four years before when she was beaten on the side of the road.}

 

Against All Odds Part 26 (The Voyeur)

 

Brooke went into her suite; today had been a tiring and yet productive day. She had found two designers, but she couldn’t seem to keep her mind on work. After yesterday, she wanted to go home, to her children, to Thorne. She had gone to her parents last night to have dinner; they had both wondered what was wrong. She couldn’t tell them. How could she tell them that she had met a man and almost had sex with him? Her mother was already concerned about her relationship with Thorne. Her mother had gotten a call from Bridget about it and was a bit angry that Brooke would put her daughter through another emotional relationship. Brooke had become angry that her mother would take such an attitude and decided to cut dinner short. She had ended up alone and thinking about the elevator, she had cried herself to sleep. Tonight not wanting to be alone, she had tried calling Thorne but he wasn’t home so she decided to go out to a nightclub, thoughts of her elevator escapade. She had just been getting ready to leave, when she noticed KC in a stunning black dress. She made her way over to and stuck up a conversation. Brooke liked KC a great deal. In their conversation, she found KC had lived all over and had a younger brother who lived in New York City. KC was a remarkable woman, and Brooke was more than confident that she could handle herself against the Forresters. The Forresters, she couldn’t wait to get away from them, they had caused her so much hurt and pain. She would never allow them to hurt her again; she had made a vow to herself. She and Thorne would have a life together; they would run the business and have lots of babies together. She smiled at the thought of carrying Thorne’s baby inside of her. She wanted that so bad, she had both of her children under a lot of stress and without the real support of a man. She could see herself in her mind, round and full carrying his baby. She could see herself in labor bringing life into the world, she saw herself in a room full of doctors and holding a man’s hand, she looked up into to stare at Thorne’s face, but it wasn’t his, it was the man from the elevator.

Brooke undressed wearing a black silk robe; she had taken a shower hoping it would clear her head and her thoughts. She didn’t understand why her thoughts were coming back to the man in the elevator. She brushed her hair until it gleamed, when she heard the knock on her door to her suite. She looked at the clock; it read 12:30 am. Brooke went into the living area to open the door and was surprised when the door opened. Two strong hands grabbed her and the man of her dreams smiled and brought his lips to her. She rubbed her tongue against his stroking him and rubbing her body against his. He was already hard and aroused; she felt it through her silk robe. He wanted her; she knew it and she wanted him.

He lifted his head and kissed her on her temple." I’ve missed you so much baby."

Brooke smiled. " Thorne I’ve missed you so much too."

He swept her up into his arms, using his foot to close the door. "I love you so much and I couldn’t stand another moment without you." He carried her into her bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. Brooke smiled; he was so handsome and beautiful. He had come all this way just to be with her, he was her life, that man in the elevator was wrong. Thorne was everything.

He took off his sweater and tore off his boots. His jeans were unbuttoned and she noticed that he wasn’t wearing any underwear and he was most erect.

"Thorne", she said laughing. " You aren’t wearing any underwear!"

He grinned and walked unabashedly naked to the bed, where she lay. " I didn’t want anything to get in the way of you and me."

He leaned down and took the silk ends of her robe in his teeth to pull the sash to her robe. She lay on the bed smiling at his antics. He robe opened and he gazed down at her beautiful body. She was the most beautiful thing that he had every seen. She was his; she would belong to him forever. Ridge had tried to ruined things, but it hadn’t worked, Brooke was his and nothing was going to ever stop them from being together. He leaned down and took her nipple inside of her mouth, and stroked it. Brooke moaned, she needed this, she needed Thorne inside her, giving her all of himself. She pulled his head tighter to her breast, she opened her legs while his hand found her and started to stroke her. He started to bite her slowly, and then he moved his head down her body. Brooke didn’t want to waste her time, she wanted him inside her driving in and out, and driving away the thoughts of a man she never should have met.

"Now! Now, Thorne! I want you inside of me!"

" Brooke, I want to take it slow and make love to you."

She reached down to stroke him in her hand. She felt the heated steel of his shaft, which moved on it’s own accord in her hand. Thorne moaned, her hands are magic, they were giving her so much pleasure.

" I want it fast in hard. Please Thorne, drive it all away. Drive away all of reality."

She guided him into her warm heat. He moaned; she was so wet and tight. He thrust in and out of her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

" Yes, I need it! I need you Thorne"

Two hours later

Thorne lay in amid of sweaty sheets; the sweat was running down his chest. His hair was damp and his body was weak. She had been insatiable; she couldn’t seem to get enough. They had sex four times already. He smiled, maybe she should go away more often, and she had never been like this. She had wanted it hard and fast; in fact he knew that he probably had some scratch marks on his back. At this moment, she was kissing his chest and licking his nipples.

"Hmmm" He pulled her head up and smiled.

She ran her finger over his nipple.

"You like that don’t you?"

His eye’s darkened with passion. He felt his shaft come to live. Never had it been like this with her, it was always been spectacular, but this was unbelievable. It was almost like she had a demon inside of her.

" Brooke what has happened?"

She ran her tongue down the middle of his chest. " I don’t know what you mean. Don’t you like it?"

He closed his eyes, she moving farther down his chest, raining hot bites and kisses down toward his member. Did she know what she was doing to him? He wanted her again.

"Yessss, . Baby, I love it."

She looked up and smiled the most devilish smile he had ever seen from her.

" Then you are going to die for this."

He wanted as her head moved toward his member and then he felt her tongue as is touched him. Slowly she took him in her mouth.

He tried to talk, but he couldn’t all he could do is tighten his hold on her head and close his eyes in ecstasy.

Caspian finished reading the information that had been faxed to him. It wasn’t the full docea, but it did have a great deal of information on Thorne Forrester. Savage had sent it to him, and told him that he’d have other information by the end of the week. He had wanted to see her today, but he had stayed away. He had spent most of last night up relieving the elevator scene and watching her sleep. He couldn’t help himself; he had broken into her room again and watched her in her slumber. He wanted her so much, but found a peace in watching her sleep. She had probably worn herself out, she had from his observations, cried herself to sleep. He hadn’t wanted her to do that; he had just wanted her. Tonight would be no different, he wasn’t going to stop himself, and he would visit and watch her again. He needed to be near her even if it was in her sleep.

Caspian used his lock picking set to open the door to her suite; he made his way until he reached her bedroom. The moment he walked into the room, he knew that something was different. The scent of sex was in the air and his observant eyes took in the pair of jeans, sweater and a silk robe. She wasn’t alone, he knew it, and she had someone in her bed. He couldn’t help himself; he went toward the bed and found the naked couple. He looked at them; her naked body was curled up next to him and her head on his chest. Thorne Forrester had his hand entangled into her hair; even in his sleep he was claiming her. He wasn’t going to let her go. He didn’t want to see this, to see her naked body curled up to the man that she loved. He moved out of the room and went to the door, once he opened it, he noticed a couple coming down the hall, he moved back into the suite. He moved back to the foyer in the suite when he heard the distant ringing of the phone. He heard movement coming from the bedroom; he heard a man’s footsteps. Thorne walked into the living room area of the suite, Caspian steeped further back in the foyer to that lead to the other room in the suite.

Thorne grabbed the cell phone that was in the pocket of his jacket.

"Hello?"

"Kimberly, what are you doing calling me this time of night?"

"No, I’m not in LA. I’m in Paris with Brooke."

" Look, I’m sorry but this isn’t the time to think about that. Rick hasn’t said anything but I really didn’t get a chance to talk to him. He was really upset, he saw me coming from your house the other night. For some strange reason, he thinks that Brooke is jealous of your relationship with me. …Look Kimberly, I don’t have time to talk about this right now. I’ll talk to you when I get back from Paris. Goodnight."

Thorne sighed, he didn’t want to think about Kimberly, and all he wanted to think about was Brooke. His future wife.

Caspian listened to the conversation. In his file, he didn’t have any information about a woman named Kimberly. Kimberly, he wondered what her connection was to Thorne. Why would Brooke be jealous of any woman, she was perfect.

"Thorne?"

Brooke walked into the main area. She was wearing only a sheet wrapped around her naked body. She walked toward Thorne. " What’s going on?"

"Nothing sweetheart, it’s just the phone."

"Who was it?"

Thorne took Brooke into his arms. " It wasn’t anyone important at all. I’ll tell you all about it later.

Brooke smiled. She ran her finger inside of his ear and blew. " So what do you want to do now, until later?"

Thorne smiled, he was defiantly awake now. " I don’t know. I think that you wore me out the last five times."

Brooke pushed Thorne down onto the sitting position on the sofa. She then slowly unwrapped the sheet and it fell to the floor. She sauntered toward the smiling Thorne.

" I think that I can find a way to warm you up." Thorne reached up and cupped Brooke’s breast and pulled it toward his waiting mouth. After suckling for a moment, he looked up at Brooke.

"I think that you could persuade me into filling all of your needs."

Brooke backed away from Thorne; she started to run her hands over his face slowly. " Do you think that you can do that? Fulfill of my needs?"

Thorne stood with a large erection; he walked toward Brooke. " I know can."

He put his hands on Brooke’s shoulders and lifted her straight up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked toward the wall in the living room and drove into to her. She tightened her legs and herself around him as he drove inside of her.

Caspian watched the couple mate against the wall. The scene disturbed him, it wasn’t because they were having sex, he had seen men have sex with women before; it was that it was Brooke. Something inside of him wanted to rage out, to him, Thorne, and even toward her. She was begging him to satisfy her, but she didn’t need Thorne. It was he, Caspian that she needed; he knew it. He watched her face, watched as her body was asking Thorne to relieve the demon inside of her. He knew this; he had been there once. Although his mind knew the truth and knew that she didn’t belong to him. His soul ached; she was his mate. She was his equal. She was giving herself to another. He closed his eyes, heard her moan mingled with Thorne's. Caspian’s hands made such a tight fist that lock-picking instrument slowly cut into his hands causing it to bleed so that blood dripped onto the mauve carpet. He opened his eyes ignoring the pain completely, watching Brooke give herself to Thorne.

Against All Odds Part 26 Review (The Voyeur) {Brooke continues to think about Caspian and Thorne. She thinks about wanting to have a child with Thorne. Thorne comes to Paris to surprise Brooke. They make love more than once. Thorne is surprised by Brooke’s increased amours passion. Caspian breaks into Brooke’s room and finds her and Thorne together. He overhears a conversation between Thorne and Kimberly, and is angered when Brooke and Thorne awake and make love. Caspian watches the unknowing couple.}

Against All Odds Part 27 {Love, Loyalty, Murder}

Paris

Brooke rolled over feeling the sun on her naked body. She smiled as Thorne’s hand cupped her breast from behind and he kissed her neck.

Brooke moved her body back toward him. She rubbed her butt against him and smiled. Last night and today had been wonderful. She turned toward Thorne and kissed him gently on his lips.

"Don’t you think that it time that we got up? We have been in bed all day."

"Are you complaining?"

Thorne smiled, and bushed her rumpled hair out of her face. " I’m not complaining at all. This is something that we needed, to have sometime together. I do however want to take you somewhere special."

She leaned down and kissed him again, in which he rubbed his tongue against her.

" I don’t care what we do as long as it as you and I are together. I love you so much, I don’t want to lose you."

Thorne gave Brooke a concerned look. " Baby, you don’t have to worry about that. Nothing will ever keep us apart. Soon we will be together forever."

He kissed her again his arms coming around hers. Her body until she was on top of him and all thoughts of leaving the room vanished.

Venice

Isabelle read the latest data on Vicki’s memory solution. She smiled, things were working out just fine. She had found that her brother had gone to Paris. Brooke was in Paris, had they met? She wanted to know, if things went well maybe she wouldn’t need the solution. Isabelle never took any chances; she would get the solution just in case things didn’t work. Her mind went to Pierce Peterson; he had been creeping into her thoughts lately. She knew that it would be best to leave him alone. He liked to probe into people’s private thoughts and she had no intention on letting him know that she was thinking.

The inner phone in the office rang.

"Hello?"

"What time is the meeting?"

" We will be there."

Isabelle made a call to Caspian’s cell. She hated to ruin his time with Brooke, but it was an important matter. Together she and Caspian were feared for a reason, and she had no problem reminding anyone who forgot who why they should fear them.

Caspian’s Private Jet

Caspian felt the plane decrease the altitude. He was going home, there wasn’t any need for him to stay in Paris now the Thorne Forrester had come. He couldn’t blame the man; he wouldn’t leave a woman like Brooke alone. He would have spent ever moment with her if he could. The truth of the matter was he was angry about what he had witnessed yesterday. Watching the woman that he wanted, make love to the man she loved had hurt him. He knew that it didn’t make sense, she belonged to Thorne, but it still hurt. He had left before he did something and he reverted to his old ways. In the past, what Brooke or Thorne wanted wouldn’t even have mattered, he would have found a way to destroy him so he could have her. It was so hard for him to leave, to make himself leave her. He had left, but that didn’t mean that he had truly given up. He wanted to take his time and think about the situation. He also wanted to find out about the woman named Kimberly. If Thorne had something going on with her, it would be easy to make a decision; he would destroy Thorne and Brooke’s relationship anyway possible.

He picked up his cell phone and checked for messages.

Isabelle had left him a message; they had some business to take care of.

Forrester

Scott looked at the down at his latest design. He was going for a new look; he hoped that the Forresters liked it. He did know that things were hopping because of the upcoming fashion show. In fact, Eric and Stephanie were pretty busy, they were planning some big party for Rick’s 20th birthday next week. He had met Rick Forrester the other day and had immediately liked him. Scott had felt a little guilty about Kimberly. She was Rick’s girlfriend and they had fooled around the other night. He had been considering not seeing her again until a pretty brunette came into Mannequins and he noticed that Rick couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Rick had gotten up to talk to her, she had looked upset when he came near her and told Rick to leave her alone. Scott had seen the spark between the two and realized that Rick and Kimberly were not as close as they seemed. If Rick didn’t want Kimberly, he would take her. Not as a girlfriend of course, but as a lover. Scott remembered how beautiful she had been the other night, they hadn’t had sex but she had shown him how much she wanted him. He was confident that she would be in his bed pretty soon.

Bridget plopped down in her mother’s office, she had a paper to due, but she promised her father that she would stop by after school. She really didn’t want to talk with him, since her mother had gone he kept asking her a zillion questions about her mother. She guessed that he wanted to talk about Rick’s upcoming birthday.

"This ought to be an interesting party."

Her mother and father weren’t speaking. The family wasn’t speaking to Thorne. Thorne was mad at Ridge and her dad. If things went well, after the party, Ridge and Taylor would be over. She smiled; maybe helping planning this party would be a good thing after all. The videotape, it would be the thing to kill Ridge and Taylor’s marriage. After Taylor and everyone else saw the tape, Ridge wouldn’t have to give Morgan that stock. She was saving Ridge, from Morgan and she would be getting her father back. All she had to do was to concentrate on her mother and Thorne. She and Kimberly would be taking care of Thorne very soon, after Ridge and Taylor’s marriage was over.

Bridget noticed a photo of Thorne and her mother on her mother’s desk. She frowned and turned the photo down. Thorne had become a real pain; apparently he had gone to Paris to be with her mother. Kimberly had called her all upset last night telling her about it. Bridget frowned some more. Kimberly was also becoming a pain. She was bossy and bitchy, but she was also the key to the plan. Bridget needed her, she didn’t like her but she needed her.

Eve’s Apartment

Eve opened the last of Trudie’s boxes.

"Eve, are you sure this okay?"

Eve turned toward her best friend.

"Are you kidding? It will really help me having you here; with the extra money maybe in a couple of months we could move somewhere bigger. I’ve been alone all of my life and now you are here to be with me. I never had a sister and now I have one."

Trudie smiled and hugged Eve. She didn’t know what she would have done without her the last two days. She had been there at the funeral and she had helped her to pack up and move out of her old place. She had held her when she cried. Eve, who never had anyone’s love, knew how to love a great deal.

"I really needed to leave. The memories of me and Chris, he was a great brother."

Eve knew that Trudie was right. When she had first met him, she was afraid. Afraid that he was like the other men who had come into her life, that he had wanted her for his sexual needs. She had been wrong. Chris knew what she had been, what she had done for so-called love, but he treated like she was an equal. Chris was a great guy and he had loved his sister a great deal.

"Since we are almost done, what do you want to do about later dinner tonight?"

Trudie looked up from one of the boxes.

"I’m not sure, but anything is fine. Don’t you have to work tonight?"

"No, I’m off."

"No plans?"

Eve’s mind went to Rick. She wondered if he had plans tonight with Kimberly. Kimberly was a real bitch. She wanted so badly to tell Rick the truth, if only she had proof of what kind of schemer she was. She didn’t though and Rick had to decided what he wanted on his own. If only she had a leveled playing field or even knew who this older guy was.

"No, I don’t have plans."

"Then chicken sounds good. By the way, do you think that later this weekend, you could go with me to the bank? My brother had a safe deposit box and I want to fine out what was in it."

" Sure"

Trudie also wanted to find out if there were any clues at all about where her brother had gotten the money. It made no sense, she was had already looked through his things and found no canceled check. She didn’t know what to think. Maybe she should let this go? She hadn’t told Eve about the money, she hadn’t told anyone.

 

Venice

Caspian walked into the large dark room the mansion. The house was big; it was like a mausoleum and deathly quiet. Guards in black lead him to the room walked down the stairs where there were six men dressed in tailored suites and one woman sitting around the table. A large chandler gave the o, Isabelle who was dressed in a black pants suit. She and the other men stood, he noticed that her suit jack was buttoned once in the middle while the rest lay open exposing part of her naked breast. Her hair was up in a knotted twist; held by two ivory Japanese chopsticks, at her throat laid a diamond collar. He often wondered if she dressed this way to sidetrack others in their meeting. His eyes met hers, she nodded at him. He knew they would talk later, sometimes they communicated with their eyes.

"Gentlemen, I’m sorry if I’m late. I was out of town."

Grayson, an older man in a black suit sat down, he spoke in Italian, and they would converse only in that way with him.

"It is not a problem. Thank you and Isabelle for meeting with us."

Caspian sat down at the other end of the table.

The door opened, a man in his thirties entered. He came down the stairs toward the table and sat in chair next to Caspian. Caspian looked at Michael Fury, the man was a bully and had been trying taking over the business that Caspian had left alone.

"I’m sorry gentlemen, I had a little matter to take care of."

He nodded at gentlemen and then looked at Isabelle.

"Was this business something that we should know about?"

Michael gave Isabelle a contestable stare. The bitch didn’t know how to stay out of things that didn’t concern her. He looked at her breasts. He wanted to **** her so bad, he always had.

"I don’t do business with women. They are good for two things and unless you plan to spread your legs or lips from me, I don’t plan on doing any business until you leave the table."

The other six men eyes went to Caspian. He turned his hard eyes on Michael and then glanced at Isabelle.

Isabelle stood and walked toward the other side of the room.

"Now Michael, that everything has met with your standards. I have a question to ask you."

Michael was impatient; he wanted to know why he was here. Why was Caspian here, he had left the business to do legitimate work, yet his presence was always an undercurrent. Michael and his brother Ringo had worked hard to carve out their own nitch. They had started to take over the area that Caspian had left. Once he had been afraid of Caspian, but he wasn’t anymore. Caspian was just another man, he bled like everyone else, and so did his sister. His sister, she was such a cold woman. He smiled; he and his brother could have a lot of fun with her if Caspian wasn’t around. Michael wasn’t crazy and no piece of**** was worth his balls getting cut off.

"What is your question?"

Forrester

Kimberly walked down the hall wearing the latest Forrester Creation. Eric had called her in to do a photo shoot, it was for the website and a billboard for New York. She knew once Brooke found out that she was going to be mad, but there was nothing that she could do about it, the spread would be done. Johnathan had given her a new contract that the Forresters had made; it stated that she would be doing a number of shoots per year. Eric and Stephanie figured that once the contract was signed that Brooke would back down. The contract stated that Kimberly would get paid no matter what, even if she didn’t do the spreads. The shoots were all outlined in the contract and they were big. If Brooke balked, she’d have the option to sue for her money. The public would want to know why Brooke would fire her and she’d be happy to look sad for the cameras and explain how Brooke was jealous of her relationship with Thorne. She frowned when she thought of Thorne, he had left to be with that bitch.

"It’s okay Kimberly", she said to herself. " This will be there last trip together."

She had decided it was time to bring phase one of her plane in action. For that she needed Scott. She headed toward his office, it was time she lost her virginity and he’d be the perfect person to help her do it. Rick lost out when he decided to see that girl named Eve.

Venice

Caspian sat there for a moment, his eyes only on the man sitting to his right. If Michael had known him better, he should have been worried. Worried that Caspian wasn’t saying anything; worried that Isabelle had left the table. He was a stupid man.

"I received at call from the Salvatore’s, they said that you’ve been threatening them."

"Look…"

"Is it true?"

Michael leaned forward.

"They should pay like anyone else, they aren’t special."

"Their grandfather helped my father once."

"That doesn’t have**** to do with me."

Caspian looked at the foolish man. " I gave them my word that they would always be protected," he said in a fierce whisper.

"Like I said, they aren’t special to me. They bring in good money and have a great business. I like using their trucks for transportation. If they don’t want to do that they should pay."

"I don’t think you understand.."

" I don’t think YOU do Caspian. You wanted out of the business, so you got out. Yet, I’m supposed to be afraid like everyone else. I’m supposed to let perfectly good money go to waste because you like this family. You really are crazy, you and that bitch of a sister of yours. Everyone is afraid of you, why? Everyone has all these rumors. You killed your wife; you killed your mom’s lover. You are dangerous---blah! What have you done? All I know is that you snap your fingers and everyone falls into place. Well not me! I’m taking over where you left off; I’m a real man. Maybe that what your sister needs a real maybe between her legs and then she’d act a woman is supposed to.

In his tirade, Michael never saw Isabelle coming up behind him, Caspian did.

Caspian knew that Michael was foolish, the moment he had bothered the Salvador’s he had signed his death warrant.

Isabelle crept up behind Michael and quicker than anyone excepted she took the solid gold pen in her hand and drove it through Michael’s hand, which was resting on the table. Michael screamed with pain as the pen went fully through his hand.

She grabbed the Japanese chopsticks out of her hair, they were attached together by a long line wire, and she wrapped the wire around Michael’s neck, pulling the two ends together. Although Michael was strong, Isabelle wrapped the two ends together and starting on pulling using all of her weight. She braced herself for a battle.

Michael’s eyes went toward. He tried to struggle and away from her, but she didn’t loosen her grip. Caspian who sat there staring at him; listening to his gasps. He struggled for a few minutes as Isabelle held onto the wire. Finally, the life left Michaels’s body.

"That’s enough Bella."

Paris

Brooke leaned back, her head rested on Thorne’s chest. They were lying on the sofa of their suite. Both wearing robes that they had donned after their shower. They hadn’t made it out of the room. Brooke had convinced Thorne to reschedule their plans until tomorrow. She just wanted to spend some time alone with him. This was precious; they hadn’t had time like this since Venice.

"What are you thinking about?"

Brooke looked up to finding Thorne’s eyes on her studying her.

"I’m thinking about today. How nice it was to just be together. No stress, no pressure or problems. No Forresters."

"Hey, all Forresters aren’t bad."

"I know, but you know what I mean."

Thorne did, at home there was one problem after another. Waiting for them at home where his parents, Bridget, Ridge and Taylor.

"Do you ever think about what it would be like to leave all of those problems behind?"

Thorne was startled by Brooke’s question.

She sat up and turned toward him. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live somewhere else than LA?"

"Live where?"

"Here Thorne. Think about it, living here in this beautiful city, and working at International Forrester."

"You’re serious about this aren’t you?"

"Yes. How would you feel about it? Leaving LA and living here with me."

"You want to do this?"

Brooke got up and walked toward the large window that overlooked the city.

"Ever since I got sick, I’ve been thinking about my life. The battles I’ve fought, the loves I’ve lost and my children. I’m tired Thorne, tired of all the fighting. I want something else for me, you and our children."

"Children? Brooke are you…" Thorne smiled.

"No, I’m not pregnant Thorne, but one day we will have children. I don’t want them growing up with all the fighting."

Brooke came back toward Thorne. She stroked his face. "Think about what it would be like. To run International Forrester and have our own family."

Thorne thought about it and a feeling of contentment surged through him, he knew that Brooke had given him a lot to think about.

"Don’t make your decision right now. Just think about it. Think about a life here with me. I love you, I’d live anywhere with you, but I need a change. I think that you do too. We could do it Thorne, you and me."

She leaned up and kissed him, she knew that he needed time to think about it.

Venice

Isabelle’s blue eyes met Caspian’s and she dropped Michael’s head. She unhooked the wire and placed the device in her pocket.

"Caspian, I think that the meeting is over."

The other men got up and left. Isabelle walked over to her brother. He looked at the lifeless body on the table."

"We did what we had to do. If you hadn’t ordered it, he would hurt a lot of people. Michael was becoming mad in his power, plus I heard his new fetish was young girls."

Caspian knew that a few years before, he would have end Michael’s life himself. Isabelle had done it for him. His sister had killed in cold blood. He didn’t feel sorry for Michael, Isabelle was right. Even though his was "out" he had people depending on him. He couldn’t make himself an easy mark; it could cost him and Isabelle their lives.

Isabelle watched her brother, she knew that this lifestyle was something that he wanted out but couldn’t. This was his life; he had been making moves from distancing himself from this.

Caspian turned toward his sister.

"I’m not concerned about him, if there had been something else we could have done, it would have been done. He had Fasion killed; he didn’t know that I knew it. I’m concerned about you. I don’t like what this is doing to you. Isabelle, I don’t want you doing this anymore. If for some reason, we have to deal with anything else like this, I’ll handle it."

"You are the one who is trying to leave this. You could do it, take care of him, but I know that you want something else. If you want that then it’s up to me to take care of these things."

Caspian reached out and touched his sister’s face.

"No, it isn’t Bella. I’m supposed to protect you. I haven’t done a good job of it. I haven’t been a good model for you growing up. I’ve made you a killer."

She touched his hand with hers. " I made you one years ago, when we were children."

She stepped back out of his reach.

"Don’t you see, between us, you have the heart. I know that you will do anything to protect what’s yours, even what we did today, but it’s not you, anymore. One day you will leave this life. You will leave me."

His eyes met hers. In his heart he knew that one-day, he would have to choose one side, the good or evil. He wasn’t sure what side would win. It was like he was two people. He hadn’t wanted his sister killing Michael, yet he had no problem watching or ordering it. He had would have done it himself. It seemed that we wanted two lifestyles. A lonely part inside of him wanted a peaceful life with love and children. Yet he wondered how he could survive, his instinct was to take what he wanted. To do whatever to make sure that what was his stayed his. He had wondered if he had learned anything at all through Lark’s death. She had died because of him and his lifestyle.

Isabelle studied her brother’s face trying to gage him.

"That’s why you need Brooke. She can be there for you, she could stand this world and she could stand to leave this lifestyle when you were finally ready to let go. She would accept you, the good and the bad. She wouldn’t make you choose."

Isabelle walked away from him.

"What about you Bella?"

He didn’t see the look of pain that crossed her face. She had lost so much, her father, her mother, and her daughter.

"I would let you go."

Isabelle started toward the stairs; she needed a release for the bloodlust that was running inside of her.

"Are you going to Hazel’s"?

She stopped and turned to look at her brother.

"I know that you used to go there sometimes to regain your control. What do you call it find your center?"

She****ed her head to the side." I do go there from time to time."

"Do you want to go with me, you could tell me all about Brooke in the limo."

She knew that if he was asking that he was considering taking a trip there. He hadn’t done that in years. Brooke must have affected him; she also knew that if he was going to Hazel’s he hadn’t slept with her.

He wondered how she knew about Brooke. It really didn’t matter, she always knew.

He walked toward his sister.

"Bella," he said softly. " I love you." He just wanted her to know that he appreciated what living in this world had cost her.

She turned pretending she didn’t hear him. She loved her brother, that’s why getting Brooke was too important.

 

Paris

Brooke heard the knock on the door. Dinner had finally arrived; she and Thorne had ordered it a half an hour earlier. Thorne was in the bedroom talking to Neil about a shipping order that hadn’t arrived. Brooke went to the door and answered it.

"Your dinner"

Brooke smiled as the waiter rolled the cart into the suite. She signed for it and paid the man a tip.

"Thank you"

"Oh"

The waiter turned around and handed Brooke and envelope.

"This was left for you downstairs. Sorry it took so long, but since your name wasn’t on it, it took time. All that was said was it was to go to the woman who was stuck in the elevator."

Brooke closed the door after the waiter left. She didn’t need to be told who it was from; she knew the moment she held the letter. It was from him.

"Brooke, honey is that dinner?"

Brooke hid the letter behind her back as Thorne came into the room.

"I’ll set it right up here, okay?

"Thanks fine Thorne."

Thorne bent to kiss Brooke on the cheek. She turned her back and stared at the letter in her hands and then turned to look at Thorne.

He never saw the tortured look that came upon her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This is the end of chapter 27. I do however have an additional scene dealing with Caspian and Isabelle who are now taking a trip to Hazel’s a place that can fulfill the sexual fantasies of men and women. If you don’t think that you would be offended by a slightly risky love scene, go to the second part. If you think that it might offend you, skip it. Caspian and Isabelle are both going there to exercise their demons. His is Brooke and her is from the murder she has committed.)

This is the second part to chapter 27. I t has a sex scene which might be a little risky to some. If you don’t think that you can handle it, don’t read. I’m not writing this to offend anyone.

Against All Odds Part 27 II {Hazel’s}

SO. …HERE GOES

 

 

Hazel looked up at the door to her establishment, as the couple walked down the stairs. The moment the two entered the room; it was filled with electricity and power. Caspian and Isabelle Deangleo were a handsome pair. Caspian with his dark suit, his good looks and mysterious eyes enraptured many women. He was a powerful man. Isabelle, at his side with her beauty and controlled wisdom, made men wonder if she was hot underneath all of that cold veneer. They made their way toward her; she wondered what had happened. She had never seen them both here at the same time, except once, when Isabelle had first come here at age 19. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. Caspian had been in one of the gambling rooms when she was notified that his sister had walked it. Isabelle who was young but incredibly beautiful was known after all she was Caspian’s sister. Even at 19, she was a very controlled girl, not showing any emotion. Most girls would have been shaking in their boots if they walked into a bordello and their brother was there, but not Isabelle. Hazel went to Caspian immediately not knowing what to do, she didn’t want to turn a customer down, but Caspian held a great deal of power even at the age of 21. Caspian had left his game and went to one of the sitting rooms where Isabelle had been detained. Hazel always wondered what was said between the two, all that she knew was when Caspian walked out of the room 10 minutes later he said to give Isabelle whatever she wanted and he pulled 400 dollars out of his billfold to prepay her bill. For years Isabelle would come in around once a month, sometimes she’d just listen to music or have something to drink. Other times, she would go upstairs with a male companion to have a night of passion. Caspian on the other hand hadn’t been here in over 2 years. Unlike his sister, when he came here, he came for a night sexual releases. Hazel often wondered what brought these two here, they both were beautiful and powerful. They didn’t need to buy sex, but they still came.

Hazel knew that her establishment was the best of it’s kind. Only the extremely rich and powerful knew about her. She had friends in all kinds of places. Her place was one where every fantasy a man or woman had could be fulfilled within reason. She had two rules, no kids and no weapons. There was gambling, music, a restaurant and upstairs any fantasy could be fulfilled. She had ballrooms, elevators, schoolrooms and even bars set up for a person to relieve any fantasy that they wanted. Men and woman of all color, ages and sizes where there to fulfill the needs of her customers. She kept her mouth quiet about her customers and what they wanted. She had a good business; it made her a great deal of money.

Hazel watched as the brother and sister made their way toward her.

"Hazel, it is good to see you." Caspian took her hand and kissed it. " You are looking very well."

Her heart thundered; he was a handsome devil.

"It had been a while. How are you doing?"

"I’m fine."

Hazel turned toward Isabelle.

"Isabelle"

"Hazel"

She wondered what made this woman tick.

"Your usual?"

"Send Richard."

Isabelle turned toward her brother. " Don’t wait for me, I’ll get home on my own." She then left her brother and Hazel.

Hazel turned back to Caspian.

"What do you have in mind?"

"A blond, one who looks closest to this." Caspian took the photo out of his jacket and showed it to her."

"Very beautiful woman. I can find someone close to her. Anything else in mind."

"An elevator. She should be wearing black and please dim the lights."

" Give me ten minutes."

Caspian nodded to Hazel.

Caspian walked into the elevator, he noticed the woman standing in the back of it. He didn’t say a word but took her into his arms and kissed her. It was Brooke’s face that he saw.

 

 

 

Isabelle walked into the large bedroom. She walked through the double door down the stairs toward the large bed. It looked as if it could fit 10 people. The room was dark except for the light that was giving off from the many candles that were lit. She heard the back door open and saw a very handsome dark haired man enter. He wore a silk robe. He smiled as he walked over toward her, she couldn’t help to smile too. Marco was a very sexy man and he knew how to fulfill a woman’s needs.

He reached out to cup her face slowly.

" It’s good to see you again."

She said nothing; she wasn’t anything for her to say.

He leaned forward and took her lips with his slowly. She opened her mouth to receive his tongue. His tongue stroked hers softly as his hands cupped her butt and brought her up against his arousal. He then turned her so that her back faced him. Her hair was down and he took his fingers to push toward her left side as his brought his mouth down to kiss her neck. Isabelle leaned back letting him support her; his mouth was heaven on her neck. He sunk his teeth on her neck and guided his hands up her body until it met the single button on her jacket. He continued his assault on her neck as he opened the jacket. He leaned her forward and slid the jacket off her shoulders and it fell to the ground. She leaned back against him as his mouth moved down toward her naked shoulder. He brought his hands up to cup her naked breast and used his right hand to play with her nipples.

"You like that, don’t you."

She didn’t answer him, but she moaned softly and leaned her head back.

He used his other hand to go to her waist and unbuttoned her pants. They two dropped to the floor. He then looked crossed the room where their images were shown in a large mirror. It was arousing, to him. She was an incredibly beautiful woman. Her breast, perfect while she stood half naked in his arms, wearing only laced thigh high stockings and panties.

"Look at us, we are perfect."

Isabelle opened her eyes and stared at the mirror, when his finger came close to her mouth, she bit it. She closed her eyes and let herself feel. His mouth came back down on her neck; she felt his playful tongue taste the spot on her color bone. The sensation she was feeling was making her very hot. A mouth touched her nipple; it slowly licked it and then pulled it into her mouth. A pair of hands cupped her breast, while another found the edge to her panties. A tongue ran its way up her neck, while another left her breast and trailed it’s way down toward her flat stomach. The mouths and the hands were most arousing, and she opened her passion-glazed eyes to look at the image in the mirror. It was shocking and sensual. Isabelle was naked leaning against Marco who was kissing her neck and cupping her breast, while Richard was kneeling blissfully naked in front kissing her making his way down her stomach.

2 Hours Later

Caspian made his way home. He didn’t know what he had been looking for that night at Hazel’s, he thought that maybe going there, and he could exercise some of his demons. It didn’t work. Having sex and pretending it was Brooke did nothing for him. He still wanted her. He wondered what his next move should be. Should he investigate Thorne’s relationship with Kimberly or leave Brooke alone. Today proved that he was still connected to the business, he had no choice. This lifestyle was the thing that killed Lark, if he brought Brooke here and made her his, would he be killing her too? What about her children? What about Thorne? Was he so heartless that he could take away everything from her so he could have her?

Isabelle moved from the bed and wrapped the robe around her naked body. She looked at the man who was getting ready to leave.

"Are you sure that you don’t need me anymore, I can stay."

She turned toward him and gave him a small smile. He noticed how beautiful she was when she smiled.

"No that you. You did a wonderful job."

She went to her purse and handed him two bills.

Richard looked down, two hundred dollar tip; she was great.

Richard smiled and left.

"Do you want me to leave Isabelle?"

Isabelle turned toward Marco who was still lounging on the bed that they had just shared.

She looked down at her hands, hands that had killed again.

She looked at Marco and took off her robe.

"NO, I still need you for a couple more hours."

Marco smiled, she was an intense woman.

"Should we call for someone else?"

"No, you’ll do just fine."

He looked into her beautiful eyes and wondered why she came here. Why some nights she was so gentle like she had never been touched and others she was so full of passion that it took another man besides him to handle her. He wondered what demons were inside of her waiting to explode. He came to the foot of the bed and started to kiss her. Isabelle thought about what she had done and what she was willing to do for her brother. Any means necessary, she would see that Caspian was happy.

 

I hope that this second chapter doesn’t offend. It wrote it because I thought that it would not only push the envelope but also show you how intense Isabelle really is. If this offended anyone at all, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it and I hope you continue to read. Let me know what you think.

 

Against All Odds Part 27 {Love, Lust, Murder/Hazel’s} (Brooke asks Thorne about leaving LA for good. She is disturbed when she receives a note from Caspian. Caspian and Isabelle go to a meeting where Isabelle is forced to murder Michael a man who tried to take over the areas that Caspian left. Caspian regrets the lifestyle that he has had and the effect it has on his sister. Caspian wonders if he should leave Brooke alone because of his mafia ties. Isabelle is determined to get Brooke for her bother using any means. Caspian and Isabelle go to Hazels, a brothel, where the both try to exercise their demons. Caspian is leaves unsatisfied, while Isabelle had a night of passion with two men.

Against All Odds Part 28 (WOW)

Brooke looked at the demographics sitting in front of her. The information supported her new idea. She had the add manager get ready for the new campaign and the mock-ups were to be in her office soon. This new line would be probably be her greatest accomplishment yet. With KC on board, she would be able to but Forrester in a market area that they had never had been before. Soon, the team of KC, Morgan and Scott would take the country by storm, and make her new company bigger and brighter. The door of her office opened and Megan walked in.

"These designs were sent up to you."

Brooke took KC’s designs and marveled at her resources to get a designer like her signed to International Forrester.

"Thank you Megan."

"Brooke these designs are fabulous, especially the gold laced dress. I have to say that it is a little daring for Ridge. A woman would have to be totally comfortable with her body, you can see through that dress."

Brooke looked through the designs until she found the one that Megan was speaking about. She too was taken in by the sensuality and daring of the dress. The plunge in the neckline was cut well below the bust line. The gold lace was designed to encase the body and tempt.

"Wow, Brooke it is fabulous."

Brooke looked up at Megan’s face and smiled. " You are right. WOW is defiantly the word for it."

Megan went to the door to leave. " By the way Brooke, Eric’s office had been set up for you meeting."

"Brooke’s eyes poured over the 4 designs in her hands.

"They aren’t too happy about it are they?"

"Eric did ask me what it was about? Are you going to tell me what it is about?"

Brooke moved toward her desk and sat down in her chair.

"It’s the beginning, a whole new era for Forrester, that’s all that I can tell you right now."

"Does it have something to do with the woman who moved into the corner office last night."

"How did you know about that?"

"I had to come here late last night to pick up the papers when I noticed that someone was moving into the office. So does it Brooke?"

"Megan, don’t worry you’ll find out all you need to know later on today."

KC finished hanging the last framed photo in her new office. She had been up most of the night trying to get every thing settled. Brooke had arrived yesterday back in LA and she had been here the last two days. Thank god that one of her old college friends had a condo in LA. Daphne had gotten married and her husband was taking her on a cruise around the world. She had rented out her condo to KC who packed up her things easily and hopped on a plane to her new job. LA, she knew that she must really want this job in Forrester really bad to bring her back here. This job at Forrester was very important to her. She was going to have the opportunity to work with the Forresters and hone her skill. She also liked that fact that her boss was Brooke Forrester, she had found that woman was fair and hard worker, she respected that. There was a knock at her office door. She wondered who it could be; she had all her things moved in late last night so know one would know about her yet. She kept her office door locked and had been quite; Brooke wanted to surprise the Forresters. KC didn’t know what was going on, but she knew a war when she saw one. Brooke Forrester was the type of woman who earned her loyalty.

"KC, it’s me Connor Davis, Brooke’s lawyer."

KC opened the door.

Connor moved in the office.

"Hi. I’m not sure if you remember me, I met you in Paris."

She nodded her head at him and walked toward the drawing table.

"I remember you."

Connor took in the beautiful black woman who even in faded blue jeans that hugged her hips, a white T-shirt that said BOY TOY in silvers sparkled letters and bare feet looked like she belonged on a magazine cover.

KC felt his eyes on her. She remembered him, the tall, charismatic, handsome white lawyer who was all the things that she stayed away from. She had been burned once and didn’t plan on going down that road again.

"What can I do for you Mr. Davis?"

He noticed the cool professionalism in her voice. He moved toward her.

"I just wanted to make sure that everything was fine. You received your first check and Brooke wanted you to give her the bill for your moving expensives."

She sat down at her desk and picked up one of her colored pencils on started working on the design she had started.

"That’s nice of her, I’ll make sure that she gets them. So why are you really here?"

He sat down at the sofa on the left side of her office.

"What makes you think that I’m not here for that?"

Her warm brown chocolate eyes met his. " I feel that you probably had more important things to do than to check up on me?"

"Is that what I’m doing?"

"Yes"

Connor laughed.

" I’m not here to check up on you, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

KC smiled in spite of her self, for some reason she believed him. Handsome, nice, finically secure and white a deadly combination in a man who was looking at like her was.

"Why wouldn’t I be okay?"

"I don’t know. You’ve just moved to a new place, been offered a job as a head designer and you are going to have to work in a semi-hostile environment."

"Is it because I’m black that you think that Forrester are going to have a problem with me?"

" No, they aren’t racist. It has nothing to do with that." He stood up and walked over to where she had started a design. "You are going to be in a hostile environment for two reasons. You are very talented and Eric and Ridge like to think that they have all the talent. I saw your work; it blows Ridge out of the water. He isn’t going to like that, he doesn’t like competition at all."

He moved so close to her that she had to look up to met his eyes. She inhaled his cologne, he smelled so good.

"What’s the second thing?"

"Brooke. They don’t like anything that she suggests."

"Why wouldn’t they like her ideas? She had made them a great deal of money?"

"It doesn’t matter with those people. Rule number one, Brooke is always the enemy no matter what."

Trudie’s Apartment

Trudie dumped all the papers that she had found in her brother’s safe deposit box. Her brother had the basic things, a will, and his insurance. He also had some other papers that she hadn’t had the chance to read yet. The phone rang.

"Hello Trudie"

"Clide, is everything okay?"

"Yes, I know that you are going through a lot of changes and everything, but I think that I found a job for you."

"You did?"

"Yes. I suggest that you come on down to the studio and take a few more shots."

" I’ll be there right away."

Trudie knew that a good job could help her with career. Trudie picked up her purse and left her room. She forgot to close the window, cool are blew into the room and blew the papers off the night table onto the floor. A letter with her name in her brother’s handwriting on it fell behind her bed.

 

Kimberly leaned over the sketch that Scott made; he really was talented and good-looking.

" I really liked the way that you drew those lines here." She moved her finger from the design and moved it to his hand drawing little circles on his hands.

" You liked to lines do you?"

Scott looked down at the beautiful woman in his office. Soon he would have her in his bed.

" You are really talented."

Kimberly licked her lips. Scott took his finger and caressed her bottom lip with his forefinger. " That’s only a design, you should see what else that I do well."

He leaned down and caught her lower lip in between his; his hands came around to cup her butt, which he squeezed gently. His nipple on her lower lip and turned her slowly until her back was up against the drawing board. He leaned her back against the board as he hovered over her body.

"Scott….oh"

He leaned down to possess her mouth totally. His tongue thrust in her mouth and he tasted the mint that she had been eating. He slid her up against the drawing board and moved his hands to the base of her shirt, which he eased up. His fingers found her panties and he pushed the material aside, found her center and stroked her. She was wet and wanting.

"Just like Scott please."

He used his tongue to draw a pattern on her neck and he rubbed to heat more wanting to milk a response from her.

Kimberly and Scott her both so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn’t hear the door open to his office.

" I do believe that phrase hard at work had another meaning."

Scott and Kimberly both stopped at the voice."

Scott looked up and a smile of real joy and slight embarrassment covered his face.

Kimberly pushed Scott away straightened her dress and turned around. She saw a beautiful woman in a leopard skin suit and short hair.

" Well, boys and girls, it looks like I came a the right time. Scotty you know better. When you play at work, you lock the door. Haven’t I taught you anything?"

Scott looked at his mother who looked bemused.

" I would ask you to introduce your friend to me, but I do recognize her. You are Kimberly the Princess model, aren’t you? Your hair is a bit…well different. But it is you."

Kimberly thought that she would die of embarrassment. Scott’s mom had come in on them fooling around. She needed to come up with something fast. She was a friend of Eric's and she knew Thorne. What if she told Thorne about her and Scott? It would ruin everything. She needed Scott; he would work much better than Rick.

" Miss Fenmore, this isn’t what it looks like."

Lauren raised her beautifully arched eyebrow. "Really, what is it?"

" It’s …"

"It’s non of my mother’s business. She’s just playing with you." Scott walked toward his mother and went to hug her. She stepped back.

"No so fast. Wash your hands first."

Scott colored, only his mother could do that. Kimberly turned red.

"Be nice mother."

"It’s okay Kimberly, I’ve been caught once or twice myself."

" Kimberly knew that she needed to get away.

"I have to go, a photo shoot. It was nice…uh….meeting you Miss Fenmore."

Kimberly looked at Scoot, and her knew immediately why she was worried.

"Don’t worry Kimberly, I’ll handle everything. I’ll see you tonight."

Kimberly walked out of the room. She couldn’t believe she had almost screwed things up. She should have locked the door. She needed Scott, she needed him badly.

Scott turned toward his mother.

"Just who do you think that you are going to handle?" Lauren threw her purse on the sofa and looked at her son.

 

" The rumors are true, they have a problem with Brooke?"

KC had heard that there were problems but she didn’t hold stock in rumors, she knew first hand how they could be wrong and even hurt the innocent.

" The rumors are true. The truth is Stephanie doesn’t like Brooke. She never did and never will. There had been a great deal of bad blood between them. She is still angry at the fact that Brooke owns 50% of this company. She even angrier that Brooke has made the company better than it was before. However, it is only recently that Eric and Ridge have jumped on the Stephanie’s ban wagon."

" So, am I some sort of strike back at the Forresters?"

KC backed away from Connor, she didn’t like the idea of being used unless she was getting something out of it.

" No. KC, Brooke would never do that now. If she had plans for the Forresters it wouldn’t involve you. She hired you because of your talent. You are just the thing that Brooke had been looking for."

Connor watched as his words filtered through the brain of KC.

" I just wanted you to know what you will be dealing with. They are going to be up against you from the start."

"That doesn’t bother me. I’ll be working for Brooke not them. I will get a chance to work with two great designers and I’m going to be a head designer for one of the biggest fashion houses in the world. I’ve been in situations in which people didn’t want me. At my design school some people made it clear that they were never going to give me chance even though my work was better. Brooke had handed me a golden opportunity and I plan on using it. To hell with the Forrester, if they don’t like it, they had better just get out of my way."

Connor smiled. KC was a determined woman; he wondered how the Forresters were going to react when they met her. With Brooke and KC on board at Forrester, he knew that working here was going to be more than interesting.

Eric’s Office

Eric looked that the set up in his office for the upcoming meeting.

"Can you believe the gall of that woman? She’s been gone for almost a week. The showing is in two weeks; Rick’s birthday is coming up. And in the middle of all of this last minute work, she wants to have a meeting?"

Stephanie sighed; she too wondered what Brooke was up too. She and Eric had tried in vain to find out what Brooke was up to, but they didn’t know. Things had been a mess, they couldn’t move ahead without Brooke’s say so on some things so they were behind in the showing. Ridge had been worried about Morgan and he didn’t seemed focused on work. Thorne, he had run off to Paris. He and Brooke had probably spent the week having sex. That slut had ruined her baby and now she was going to ruin the showing.

" I don’t know what she wants, but you know it isn’t good." Stephanie flicked a speck off of her red suit. " Who knows what this woman is doing. She probably had come up with some idea of us to sell sex toys."

Brooke sashayed into the office looked refreshed in her cream pants and matching wrap around cream top.

" I don’t know Stephanie, that would be a good idea wouldn’t it. Maybe you could let me know what kind of dildo you use; after all you don’t expect me to believe that Eric has sex with you. And Eric you could give ideas about the blow up doll you like best."

Stephanie started toward Brooke. "Why you bitch!"

Eric caught Stephanie.

Brooke laughed. " Well Stephanie, I must have hit a nerve. You don’t have to worry about me and sex toys, your son satisfies me in every way. My guess is that Eric doesn’t. Well we can’t expect him to be to motivated after all he had had me, Sheila and Lauren going back to and old bad of bones like you must really be killing him."

Eric gave Brooke a menacing look. "That’s enough Brooke! What in the hell do you want?"

Brooke smiled and flipped her golden hair over her shoulder.

"I just wanted to get the meeting started. Thorne is on his way. Where is Ridge?"

"He is spending time with his wife and children. Thank God!"

"Oh, the fish kissing quack. How are things between them? He has been acting so strange lately from what I here. They aren’t having any problems are they? I couldn’t think of anything nicer than there to be trouble in paradise."

"You are just jealous."

" Of what, Stephanie I don’t him anymore. Look at what he has become with her. Ridge is only a shell of the man that he used to be. Marriage to Taylor and all those children have sucked the life out of him. Anyway, have you seen his hair lately, its a mess.

Stephanie started toward Brooke again Eric had to stop her.

 

Scott’s Office

" Tell me who are you going to handle."

Scott went to the bathroom that adjoined his office. He washed his hands and came out and kissed his mother on the check.

"You "

Lauren smiled and kissed her son back.

"It looks like that girl was all you could handle."

"Don’t worry about Kimberly."

"Kimberly. I was under the impression that she was Rick Forrester’s girlfriend."

Scott grinned.

"How did you hear such a time all the way in Genoa City?"

Lauren shook her head. Didn’t know that no matter where she was, she always knew what he was up too."

" Just don’t screw things up. You didn’t want to run Feinmores, you wanted to be a designer and I support that. The Forresters are a great family to work for even though some of them have some undesirable qualities." Lauren thought about Stephanie, she had once been her friend, but in the drop of a hat, she turned her back on their friendship. She knew that Eric had remarried Stephanie.

" Anyway sweetheart, I wanted to let you know that I was in town. So if there is some business that you need to take care of, please do it somewhere else. I’ll be staying at the condo with you for the next couple of days. You don’t mind do you?"

Scott hugged his mother; she had always supported him. " Of course not. I just ask you the same thing. If there is someone you have some "business" with, please take care of it somewhere else."

Lauren pick up her purse and headed for the door.

" I do have business that I have to take care. See you later."

Eric’s Office

Brooke took out the folders and turned toward the Forresters. Ridge and Thorne had shown up. Ridge she noticed was looking very wearily. For a moment, she had felt sorry for him, something must be bothering him, but then she thought about all the pain that he had cause her and her heart hardened. To hell with Ridge and his wife, they didn’t matter anymore. Megan handed the folders to each of the Forresters.

" Please open your folders please." Brooke waited for them to open them. " You are looking at the demographic for the women at ages 17 to 25 years of age. They are making up a total market of their own. More women are buying clothes and they want something funky, sexy and elegant. They want something out of the ordinary and something daring. Morgan has brought an exciting element to Forrester as you well know. With training, she has toned down her designs to fit in to the Forrester style of elegance, as well as she should. Yet her designs have inspired an idea."

Brooke turned to the set of display boards that were covered. She took off the coverings of 5 of the boards.

"The ideas of these designs are more daring and more sensual than our couture lines. Take a look at these designs; they epitomize that idea. They are for the young or the bold. These dresses are elegant yet completely audacious, they aren’t for the ordinary woman. They are for the woman who wants to stand out, to be seen and be wanted."

Eric and Ridge studied the designs; the dresses were in deed bold. The gold lace dress was captivating. Yet the tan colored crocodile pant with matching suit jacket with the missing under blouse daring for any woman, it left her breasts almost on display. Ridge was floored to see a white two-piece wedding dress. The top and the bottom was made of a shimmering white material that molded to the top of the body, clung and the second rode low on the hips, baring the stomach that lopped into a long gathered train. The headpiece and the veil was also stunning, it was a wedding dress that only the courageous and confident woman would wear. He went from design to design, they were more than good.

"These aren’t Morgan’s, I know her style."

Brooke picked up the design of a scandalous bathing suit.

"No they aren’t Morgan’s"

Thorne can behind Brooke and looked at the bathing suit. " I think that you would look great in that", he whispered.

Brooke smiled, turned toward Eric and Stephanie who had nasty looks on their faces.

" I can tell from your facial expressions that you are wondering where these designs come from. They are from our new collection.

Brooke took the white sheet from the last board, on it was a mock up for a magazine add that was in all black expect from the hot pink snake skin like letters that said WOW.

" Everyone these are just the beginning designs for WOW by Forrester. Our newest line is for the young, sexy, vibrant elegant woman who wants to be daring. WOW is a line dedicated to the outlandish, sexy. The woman’s line will cater to the late teens to the mid twenties although I’m sure that women at all ages would go for these clothes. I’m not twenty anymore but I see an outfit that I wouldn’t mind wearing. The men’s line however will cater to the men in their early twenties. The designs too will be a daring for me."

Eric and Stephanie looked at each other.

"Men’s Line?"

" Yes. There will be two lines for WOW. Ridge you will get started with the men’s line as soon as the showing is over. For right now, Scott will get started."

" Scott?"

"Ridge, he is talented. He is young; he knows what is in for younger men. He will get started and then you and he will work together along with someone else."

Eric stood up. "Just who is this other person you are talking about?"

"Eric, I’m glad that you asked that question. I’m sure you’ve been wondering who created these beautiful designs. I’ll take care of this right now."

Thorne glanced at Brooke. He didn’t even know about all of this, when had she come up with idea. Brooke went to Eric’s phone.

"Megan, please send them in."

Eric, Stephanie, Ridge and Thorne’s heads turned as Connor walked in followed by a beautiful black woman in a lavender Capri silk pants with a matching suit jacket. Her blouse under the jacket was made a lavender material that looked liked strung beads; it created a striking effect of elegance and style with simplicity. The woman met each of their eyes with no

"Eric and Ridge. Please meet our newest head designer, the leading designer of WOW by Forrester KC Hunter."

KC turned to Eric and Stephanie who looked livid. Ridge who had an illegible look on his face and lastly to Thorne who looked surprised. She then glanced at Brooke who was smiling. Only Brooke Forrester could smile about this about this nest of wasp that was called Forrester.

Against All Odds Part 28 Review {WOW} ( Brooke comes back to La and is excited about her new line. KC and Connor discuss her move to LA. Kimberly and Scott’s armous play in interrupted by Lauren Feinmore. Brooke introduces a new daring line called WOW and introduces KC to the Forresters.}

Against All Odds Part 29

' You can forget all about this Brooke. We aren't going to have a new line and we aren't hiring any more designers.'

Brooke turned her attention to Eric who had bellowed out his command.

'Is that so. Well that last time I check, I owned 51% of this company and I can hire who ever I want, whenever I want! If you don't like it, quit! With a designer like KC, I don't need you.'

Connor walked between Brooke and Eric.

'Eric and Brooke this isn't the time for this type of arguing about stock. I'm sure that you remember that Brooke is CEO and she makes the final decisions in this company.'

Ridge chimed in. ' Brooke, I'm sure that dad is just upset because this is the second time that you hired a new designer without consulting us.'

Brooke turned her cool eyes on him. ' I wasn't aware that the majority stock holder had to ask the minority stock holders if she had their permission. I want this line, it's a good idea.'

'It's not Forrester'

'Why not Eric?'

' Brooke these designs are beautiful, I'm not going to dispute that. But Forrester has a certain reputation, one of elegance and style.'

KC who had been quiet during the entire ruckus moved to the design of the gold-laced dress.

'Mr. Forrester, you don't think that this dress had style or elegance?'

Eric sighed; he knew that wasn't the point.

' Ms. Hunter, I'm not trying to offend you. It is beautiful but you can see right through that dress. It doesn't fit in the mold of the Forrester Couture.'

' You right Mr. Forrester; I don’t fit into that mold. It is daring, it a little wild. It isn't the Forrester Couture, but it is WOW.' KC looked at Brooke who nodded. She went to the door and opened it. Models were outfitted in two of the designs came and posed for the Forresters. KC stood next to the lace dress.

'This dress for the woman who wants the beauty and elegance of Forrester but more. Its for the woman who is totally confidant in her body and herself.' KC moved to the next design, the pants suit. ' This design is made out of crocodile, it is totally daring. It is made without a top, showing come cleavage, but it can be worn with a top. It depends on what the woman wants. Women of all ages and especially the late teens want something daring and more than what Forrester has to offer. They have been going to other design houses to get it. Why allow them to do that when they can come here and get the best? This idea is inventive and this line will make company a great deal of money.'

Stephanie wasn't buying this speech for a second.

' It's scandalous'

'That's right Mrs. Forrester, it is. It is scandalous and hot but it isn't vulgar. A woman's body is beautiful.'

' I should have known that you would want something like this Brooke. First you want to show off your body and now want young girls showing off their bodies too.'

Brooke motioned to answer but KC stopped her.

'Do you mind if I answer that one?'

'No, go ahead KC'

KC made her way over to Stephanie.

' WOW isn't for young teenagers. Instead it is for the young woman inside of all of us, the daring. Women who are bold and beautiful and don't mind showing it. Women shouldn't be afraid to show their bodies if they choose too show if off, and we can dress them in a matter of elegance.'

'You don't know anything about our company. There is no we, there is only that woman and us. We have style and grace while she has the morals of an alley cat. This idea will ruin whatever class we have left because of that woman.' Stephanie glared at KC and Brooke. ' We aren't going to stand by and let this ridiculous idea of Brooke's ruin our company with your scandalous designs.'

KC's face changed to one of strong determination. She wasn't going to let any of the Forresters bully her.

' I think that you are wrong. This idea is going to put Forrester on the map in a whole new way just like all of Brooke's ideas. Tell me Mrs. Forrester are you against making money or are you willing to turn down an idea just because you didn't think of it. I think that you are letting your personal disagreements with Brooke color your true opinions of the work.'

Stephanie's face turned red. How dare this woman come into the company she built and tell her how she should act.'

'How dare you..'

Ridge stepped forward; he could see where this was going. ' Mother! This isn't helping anything.'

'Eric chimed in next. ' Ms. Hunter, I don't want you to think that we don't realize that you are talented. You are very talented but we aren't sure if this is going to work.'

' It will work Eric, there isn't a choice. You are all going to have to accept this decision.' Brooke looked from Ridge to Eric completely ignoring Stephanie.

' I've hired KC. We will have the WOW line. She will work with Morgan on the Wow's women line. Scott and Ridge will create the men's line. Scott was trained on men's fashion as well as women's fashion. Eric and Ridge, KC will also work on the couture line with both of you for the new season, bridal gowns are her specialty. You may not like this idea, but as long as I own 51% of this company my decisions are the only ones that count.'

Connor stood by the door watching KC as she turned toward the Forresters. ' You might not like this idea, but before you make any final decisions, give me a chance. I might not be so bad. If you have anything else you'd like to say to me,' she glanced at Stephanie. ' I'll be in my office.' KC glanced at Brooke, who smiled, then at Connor and then she left.

' I expect you to treat her with respect, she is good and we can't afford to lose any good designers.' Brooke left the office, followed by Thorne and Connor.

 

 

Lauren knocked on the door to Sally's office.

'Come in.'

Sally looked up from her desk and saw her old friend.

She moved from behind her desk and hugged Lauren. 'Lauren my old friend, it is good to see you.'

' It is good to see you too. You look well. How have you been doing?'

Sally's facial expression changed. She knew that Lauren was really asking her about Macy.

' I'm doing well I suppose. You never get over the death of a child.'

Lauren understood Sally's pain, for the first two years of her son's life; she thought that he had died. There hadn't been a day that had gone by when she didn't think about her son, who was really alive.

Lauren sat down. ' I'm sorry that I didn't make it to the funeral, by the time I found out, it was already over.'

'It's okay, I received your flowers and you didn't want to be there anyway. The entire thing was ruined.'

'How?'

'What else, those damn Forrester. Can you believe that they had the nerve to come to the funeral?'

Lauren was puzzled, wasn't Thorne Macy's husband. She had heard that they had gotten married again.

' Why wouldn't they do there? Macy was married to Thorne.'

Sally jumped up. ' You don't know?'

' Know what?'

'Thorne was no husband to my daughter. He caused her death; he was leaving her. He was leaving her for that mantrap Brooke Forrester. He never loved my daughter, he only married her because of some sick trick that Ridge, Taylor and Eric created. Brooke and Thorne were in love and they didn't like it. They wanted to break them up, so they make it seem like Brooke was cheating on Thorne with Ridge. Thorne was upset so he used my baby and married her.'

Lauren had heard the rumors about Brooke and Thorne, but she figured it was untrue. As long as she had known Brooke, she knew that she was in love with Ridge. Thorne had always been her best friend. Now they were lovers, it was hard to believe.

' So Thorne married my baby and of course he was still involved with Brooke. Macy was so upset that she started drinking again. Thorne asked for a divorce and on the night of her death, Brooke had the gall to take those divorce papers up to the cabin where my daughter was. Macy was so distraught; she got into the car and had an accident. Thorne showed up, but he was too busy helping Brooke and he left Macy in the car. The car exploded and she died.'

Tears formed in Sally's eyes, she would never forgive the Forresters, and they had ruined her daughter's life.

Lauren hugged Sally, she hadn't known about all of this. She couldn't tell Sally why she was really here. She didn't know what she was going to do now.

Bridget finished coloring the last design on her picture as Scott walked into Insomnia and saw her sitting in the sunlight. The sun reflected the gold off her hair; she looked beautiful sitting there working on whatever she was working on. He couldn't help himself, he knew better, but he found his way over to her.

'What are you working on?'

Bridget shielded her picture from his eyes. Her artwork was a private thing.

' Nothing'

' It isn't nothing Bridget, can I see it.' He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. ' Look, I let you see my sketch remember.'

She thought about it, he had. She reluctantly slid her artwork toward him. He sat down and looked at the beautiful patterns, it was good. He couldn't help himself, he started to look at all the different pictures that she had drawn or painted.

Bridget watched him almost holding her breath. What if he didn't like them and he teased her. Although she didn't act like it, what Scott thought mattered for some reason. That was why she stayed away from him.

"So, what do you think?" she asked timidly.

" Do you want the truth?"

Bridget thought for a moment, this meant opening herself up to criticism about her private work.

" Never mind." She grabbed her sketch pad and left the table"

" Bridget, wait!" Scott grabbed her by her arm. " Why are you acting like this, your work is good. Damn good if you want to know the truth."

Disbelief covered her face. " You really think that it is good?"

She sat back down while Scott took the sketchpad.

" It’s more than good. Look at this picture, you used rich colors and caught the emotion and feeling at the same time." He turned to the next page. " Look at this one, it’s totally amazing. Do you paint? If you do, you should really paint this one?"

Scott looked up and found those perfect eyes staring at him. For a moment neither said anything. Bridget just gazed into his eyes, while he looked longingly at her lips. Had she ever been kissed, he wondered. He broke the connection by looking down at the next sketch.

" This one is my favorite. It is beautiful and innocent." Just like you, he thought.

He finger outlined the lines and when she followed his explaining what she had wanted to capture, their hand met. A shiver went through her body as well as him. He slowly cupped her hands in his and she said nothing, but smiled.

" Your hands are beautiful just like your work. I’ve gone to school with artist and you have surpassed some already. You are only what?"

"Sixteen but I’ll be seventeen soon."

The mention of her age reminded him of how young she really was. What was he thinking? She was way too young for him. He shouldn’t be sitting here holding her hand when he had a hot piece like Kimberly waiting for him. Bridgett was a kid, plain and simple. He ought to stay away from her. He let go of her hand.

" I’ve got to get back to work."

Bridgett looked down to where he had touched her hand.

" My mother, she’s working you too hard, is she."

"Actually, she isn’t too bad, she just got back from being away.

Scott noted the change in Bridget’s face that the mention of her mother’s trip. What happened? Why was she upset?

" Bridget, did I say something wrong?"

 

Venice

The new piece of artwork that was brought into the gallery was breathtaking. The vivid colors clashing with one another were startling. Isabelle agreed with Sandy, this piece was a good addition to the collection.

'Isabelle, Isabelle could you please come here. I wanted you to meet the owner of the piece that was graciously donated to us."

Isabelle turned and walked toward Sandy when Pierce turned toward her and smiled. Isabelle face was impassive but inside she was churning with annoyance. What was he doing here?

' Mr. Peterson, how gracious of you, thank you so much for your contribution.

Pierce watched the beautiful woman; as usual she looked stunning in her long mauve colored skirt and mauve sleeveless turtleneck. Her hair flowed over her shoulders and for a moment before she had seen him she actually had a smile on her face. He hadn't known that she was involved with the Montez Art Program, but he shouldn't be surprised by anything, she was an intriguing woman.

A lady with a clipboard came over to them. ' Sandy, we need you over there for a moment.'

Isabelle and Pierce watched Sandy leave.

' It was your piece that was donated?'

'Yes, I read about this program and it was one that I thought did great work so I decided to donate one of my pieces.'

' How charitable of you.'

' You too. From what I hear everyone here donates and volunteers on their own.'

'Yes, my brother's company donates here, it is a good tax write off.'

He searched her face for a moment, knowing that wasn't the real reason she was here.

' Why are you lying? I watched you the moment that I saw you, the way that you studied the pieces. You like art a great deal. You are here because you want to, it has nothing at all to do with your brother's company.'

She cool eyes bore into his. ' Is that so?'

How sure he was. She was here because she enjoyed artwork but she also wanted to make sure that a certain acceptance letter for the institute in Paris was mailed.

' Yes.' He leaned down and whispered his next words to her. 'You hide it all don't you, all of your good deeds.'

' I don't have to time to debate my deeds with you or anyone. So if.'

He saw the fire in her eyes and knew that she was going to brush him off. 'Have lunch with me.'

' No'

'I promise you that I won't bombard you with many questions or try to fix you as you say I like to do.'

He smiled. She couldn't help notice his beautiful eyes and how his face became even more handsome when he smiled. For one moment she envied him, the life that he had, he had no baggage or dark clouds over him. He didn't even know how she really was, what she was really like. He was so good at reading people but he didn't he know to be frightened. The men she had dealt with all knew about her and the power that she wielded, it turned them on, they wanted her and she controlled the sexual situations totally. She controlled them, like everything in her life.

'Isabelle, please have lunch with me. We could walk around the gallery and you could introduce me to the people here. We could discuss art; it is a passion of mine. You could show me your favorite pieces in the collection. We will talk only about art and your passions.'

She didn't know why she didn't walk away from him. He wasn't the type of man that she usually dealt with. He was right; art was a passion of hers like music. When they had been on the committee together, they had had some good conversations.

'Just a tour and a small lunch.' He took his hand and slowly cupped her face. At that moment, electricity went through both of their bodies. He wanted to kiss her; she was so beautiful and intelligent. She was mysterious and alluring.

His hand felt good against her skin, there was tenderness in his touch. Sometimes late at night, when it was dark and she was alone, she wanted tenderness, the one thing that she always said she hated.

She stepped back, she couldn't allow herself to crave his touch.

' I've already eaten lunch hours ago, but I will give you a small tour.' Pierce smiled and allowed Isabelle to lead the way toward the first painting.

 

Brooke closed the door to her office with a smile on her face. KC was fabulous in the meeting, she had stood up to Stephanie, and it took guts to do something like that. KC would work out here just fine and then when it was time to leave, she would be a great designer to have anywhere. Brooke heard the door to her office open and she turned to find Thorne with an angry look on his face. She hadn't expected him to be angry with her over KC hiring.

' Brooke what do you think that you are doing?'

'What do you mean, hiring KC?'

Thorne closed the door behind him. Brooke could see the anger in his face.

' I can't believe that you are upset about the new line or think that it is wonderful.'

Thorne shook is head. ' I'm not angry that you hired a new designer or that you want to start a new line. What is upsetting me is that KC was the real reason that you wanted to go to Paris, not hiring a new designer for International Forrester.' Thorne's face changed from one of angry to one of disbelief and pain. ' You didn't trust me baby. You didn't tell me what you had planned. Didn't you think that you could trust me with you new idea?'

Concern covered Brooke's face; she didn't expect Thorne to feel this way about this. She wondered how he would feel about what she had really planned. Blackmailing Stephanie and Taylor for the Forrester stock could be something that could cause him some problems. Originally, she didn't plan on telling Thorne, she figured that Stephanie and Taylor would keep their mouths shut and neither would say a word. She had to think now; she didn't want to lose Thorne over this, but would he agree to it? During their weekend holiday in Paris, they had discussed moving there and running International Forrester, he was starting to like the idea.

' Thorne, don't take it that way. I had originally planned on having KC work for International Forrester and once I saw her designs, an idea formed. I asked her to come here and gave her the blueprint idea of WOW. In less then a week, she came up with these wonderful ideas. You know how hard it is for a designer to come up with one design, let alone 4. She already had these ideas in her head and she but them on paper beautifully.' Brooke cupped Thorne's face between her hands. ' I don't want you think that I'm leaving you out. I'm used to making major decisions about Forrester without consulting anyone, you know that.'

Thorne shook his head; he was being silly. She was right, she had a right to come up with her own ideas for Forrester on her own, she didn't have to discuss them with him.

' You don't have discuss any decisions about Forrester with me. I just thought that you'd like to share them with me; I'll support you no matter what. I love you.'

Tears formed in Brooke's eyes. Yes he did love her, and because of her love for her she'd give him more than his self-serving family ever did. He had never been given what the others had been given. She would give him much more; she'd give him a family of his own and his own company.

' I love you too Thorne. Soon you will see how much I love you.' She leaned forward and kissed him. Thorne deepened the kiss, kissing her passionately. Soon all thoughts of the other Forresters left their minds.

Insominia

"What’s the matter?"

"Nothing, go back to work, I know you probably have a million things to do."

" Bridget, tell me what’s wrong. You seemed to get upset when I mentioned her trip. Are you upset that she left town."

" No. I don’t mind that she left; she has to time to time. It’s that she took him with her."

" Who did she take with her?"

Bridget’s eyes widened. He didn’t know about her mother and Thorne?

Bridge sighed. " My mother took Thorne with her."

"Thorne, yeah, I guess he was gone. I can tell that you are upset, don’t you like him?"

" Yes, I like Throne but I don’t like him sleeping with my mother! He is my brother."

Understanding covered his face.

" You don’t like the idea of Thorne and your mother."

" Like I said, he is my brother."

Scott understood what she was going through. Having her mother and brother sleeping together could be difficult.

" Are they just sleeping together or is it something serious."

Bridge made a face. " They say its love."

"You don’t think so?"

"At first I thought that it wasn’t but he hasn’t left by now. It doesn’t matter if it is love or not, they shouldn’t be having sex! No one will listen to me. That don’t understand how hard it is for me. You don’t know what it is like to have a mother who looks like her. Do you know that I wasn’t invited to Amanda Carmen’s pool party because her mom didn’t want my mom even coming into her house, she was afraid my mother would take her husband."

Scott shook his head. He remembered how to hard it was to have a sexy mother.

" I understand, at least your friends aren’t having sexual dreams about your mother."

Bridget raised her eyebrow.

" My mother, you have seen her, after all she was one of your father’s lovers."

"Yes, I remember her, she was always nice to me."

" It was kind of hard growing up with her, not because of what she has done but because of how others saw her. I had to learn to get over it and you’ll learn the same thing."

"It isn’t the same thing?"

" Bridget, was your mother a good mother to you?"

" Yes, she’s the best, but.."

" There is not buts, she is a good mother and that is all that matters. I know that you are upset about her and Thorne; you should tell her how you feel. If it really bothers you, let her know."

Bridget noticed how attentive Scott was being. She thought he was sweet, but he was also wrong, there was nothing she could say to change her mother’s mind about Thorne. Everyone else had tried and failed. She’d try one last time to talk to her mother, maybe tonight, but if it didn’t work then she and Kimberly would have to end it. Soon Ridge would be free and they would all be a family again.

.

Eric’s Office

'Something will have to be done; we can't let that bitch ruin our company. First her Brooke's Bedroom line and now this!'

Eric watched a vein in his wife's head began to pulsate. He was worried about her; this idea of Brooke's wasn't worth losing his wife.

'Please honey, calm down!' He poured a cool glass of water. He took it over to her.

' Drink this; I want you to calm down. This isn't good for you.'

Rage etched across Stephanie's face, she couldn't allow Brooke to do this.

'Something has to be done soon. She's ruining everything, no matter how hard we try, we can't get rid of her. She's taken so much; she's taken our son. I can't even talk to Thorne anymore, my baby, because she has taken him. Now she just hires some designer. Did you hear how that KC woman was talking to me, she had no respect like Brooke.' Stephanie drank her water and closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. She had to calm herself; she had to think of something.

Stephanie got up and turned toward her husband.

' Call Rick, he has to have heard about Kimberly's firing. She got her job back but that has nothing to do with Brooke. We have got to move fast, for the birthday party. We've got to turn him against Brooke; we got to get the stock. Get Jonathan on the line; tell him to move ahead and fast on getting full of custody of Bridget. It's time to get all the ammunitions we have against Brooke.'

Eric nodded; he knew that it had come to this. For a moment, he thought about a happier time, he didn't want to do this to Brooke but she was becoming more and more unbearable. Bridget was unhappy and miserable and Brooke hadn't done anything to alleviate the stress she was under. Brooke was going on her merry way with her relationship with Thorne. Leaving the country without a word to go do whatever. Bridget's grades were suffering. Bridget would be better off with Stephanie and him. Brooke seemed to have lost her focus in all matters.

Brooke’s Office

Brooke leaned into Thorne's kisses; he could always make her feel good. He cupped her against him allowing her to feel his growing arousal. He rubbed himself against her and slowly untied the straps of her wrap-around top. He unwrapped her like a present. Her top hung open and he got to his knees pulling her in a kneeling position. His lips caught her lower lip suckling it into his mouth. Brooke sighed and leaned into the kiss while she felt his hands take hold of her bra. Thorne thrust his tongue into her mouth, mating with hers again and again. Heat found its way between her legs, she wanted him. She was on such a high and she wanted to continue with Thorne. She broke off her the kiss and smiled at him. Thorne took his finger and rubbed her lower lip, she slowly caught his finger rubbed her tongue against it. Then she bit the tip of his finger, causing his shaft to grow and throb even more. Her eyes caught his and she sucked his finger inside of her mouth. Thorne smiled, her antics were making him so aroused, and he wanted her with a great passion. He unhooked the frontal clasp of her bra. He smiled when he saw that her nipples were hard and needed his attention. He fingered her nipple slowly circling it. He lowered is head and caught her nipple inside of his mouth. There was a knock at the door. Thorne's mouth continued to play with her nipple. There was another knock at the door.

' Nooo, not now.'

Brooke pulled away from Thorne, how looked like a little kid who just lost his puppy.

She smiled regretfully at him and refastened her bra and rewrapped her top around her body.

' Sorry sweetie.' Brooke fixed her hair quickly in the mirror and opened the door.

'Brooke, I'm sorry to bother you, but I thought that you might want to talk to me after today's meeting.'

KC looked past Brooke and saw the good-looking Thorne Forrester. She noted his mussed hair and then took in Brooke's swollen lips. She tried to hide a smile; so the rumors about their relationship were true.

' I think that I'd better come back later.' KC turned to leave.

'Don't' Brooke reached out and caught her arm. ' You can come in, there is someone you should meet.'

KC followed Brooke into her office. Thorne smiled and came toward her.

'KC, I want to officially welcome you to Forrester. I know you didn't get the type of reception that you probably thought that you would, but you will enjoy working here. I know that I do.' KC noticed that he gave Brooke a look and Brooke smiled. ' Don't pay my family any attention, after a while they will get over the fact that hiring you was Brooke's idea.'

'I'm sure that you are right. Anyway, that doesn't matter, I'm here to do a job and that's all that counts.'

'Hear, hear!' a man's voice boomed.

KC turned to find Connor at the door holding a bottle of champagne and four glasses.

He closed the door behind him and walked toward the trio. ' I thought a celebration was in order.'

'I can't think of anything better!' Brooke smiled and took a glass over to Thorne. Connor handed KC hers. Brooke noted the way that Connor was looking at KC. Her heart melted, it looked as if Connor was falling for her newest designer. That made Brooke happy, Connor was a good man and he should have some romance in his life.

Connor opened the bottle and poured the bubbly liquid into the glasses.

' To KC and WOW!' He winked at KC when he made that statement.

' To KC and WOW!' Thorne and Brooke echoed. The made their toast and drank their champagne. Laughter could be heard down the hallway.

Stephanie stood in the shadows of the corridor. She hated that woman. Something had to be done and quickly. She heard the laughter and her son's voice ring out. This custody battle would destroy Thorne; she knew it. All of the Thorne's dirt would be aired, she wished that it hadn't come to this but she would do anything to save what was left of her family and she would get their company back.

Veince

Pierce watched silently as Isabelle studied the painting before her. She was so deep in thought that for a moment he thought she might have forgotten him. That didn't bother him a bit, he was content watching her. She was difficult to read most of the time, but for the moments when they discussed art she had come alive, the mask had fallen. At one point when they went into the sculpture room, they had come to a statue of a couple embroiled in a torrid lovemaking session. She had gone straight to the sculpture studying it, the muscles shown in the cords of the man's back. The high sensuality of it, some women would have pretended not to see it or they would have made some sort of comment. Not Isabelle, she studied it like she did everything. He wanted her; he had known that since the moment that he had seen her but there was more, he wanted to know everything about who she was.

Isabelle had finished studying the painting a while ago, but she pretended she still was. She didn't need to turn around in order to know that Pierce was studying her. He was making her uncomfortable in a good way and she wasn't sure that she liked it. When they had gone into the sculpture room, she felt her body respond, she saw them together, wrapped in a sweaty afterglow of an afternoon of passion. If he had been anyone else, she would have had sex with him, sating herself, but with Pierce it was different. Talking about their common interest of art make her realize how much she sometimes missed having someone with similar passions like herself. She wasn't sure if she wanted to miss anything about him.

' Pierce, that's the end of the tour.'

Pierce looked toward the skylight, the sun was starting to set. They had spent a great deal of time talking. He still didn't want things to end. He hadn't had a conversation so engaging in such a long time, he wanted more.

' Isabelle, I've had a wonderful time with you.' He searched her face wanting to find something to show how she was feeling. She said nothing.

He decided to try something different. He walked closer to her until he was in breathing distance from her.

' What do you think that you are doing?'

' I'm going to kiss you Isabelle.'

She smiled a sadistic smile. ' You are. I'd like to see that. You aren't going to do anything to me. I don't like men touching me without my permission.'

' That's why I'm going to do it Isabelle. I am going to do something that different.'

Pierce leaned down slowly, inch by inch. He was giving her time to step back if she really didn't want his lips on her. That's what he wanted, his lips everywhere on her. On her lips, her earlobes, her breasts, stomach, thighs, her toes and on her most secret place. He wanted her with every breath inside of him. He slowly touched his lips to her soft lips, gently like a young boy kissing a girl for the first time. He didn't close his eyes, neither did she. An innocent kiss. He leaned back and touched a tentacle of her silky red hair.

' Now, I'm going to do it again', he told her.

He leaned down again. He kissed her again, this time with his mouth partly open. His tongue moved out of his mouth and caressed her lower lip. He rubbed his tongue against her lower lip and then slid his hands around her bringing her body to his. He added pressure and she opened her mouth. He tasted her; her soft sweet tongue touched his. He rubbed his tongue against hers. He opened his mouth further and the kiss changed again. His breath became hard and harsh against hers. He wanted to devour her. He mated his tongue against hers, a duel of tongues, each trying to best each other. His hands now in her hair; her hands around his neck pulling. The battle continued; the kiss became endless until finally as in all things warlike there was a victor. She sunk her teeth into his bottom lip and drew blood.

Pierce jumped back a bit and took his lips from hers. He put his finger to his lip and rubbed it and looked at the blood on his finger. He then looked questionly at her, stunned that she had bit him. She was standing there serenely, so beautiful. She had a spot of his blood on her lip; she took her tongue and tasted his blood.

'In any battle, a little blood must be shed.'

She turned and started to walk away from him.

Pierce was floored that she had bitten him, but it didn't change anything, he wanted her.

' Dinner tonight. Meet me here at 9 tonight.'

She didn't turn around instead she kept walking.

' I'll be waiting Isabelle. I have something extraordinary planned.'

Pierce smiled, he had wanted a chance and he finally gotten it. He knew that she'd come and if she didn't he think of something else. Someway, he would have her. After all she was starting the mating dance by drawing his blood. His tongue touched his wound and he tasted the metallic taste of his blood. He smiled.

Lauren opened the door to the office. Her talk with Sally had run over. She knew that her meeting tonight was the real reason she had come to LA. She hadn't even told Scott her real reason. She walked into the office and found her companion.

' Sorry I'm late. I ran late with Sally Spectra.'

' No problem.'

'So. Why all the secrecy? Why didn't you want anyone to know why I'm really here in LA?'

Her companion slid a paper toward her.

Lauren read the papers, she was shocked.

'Are you sure that you want to do this?'

'Yes, I'm sure. I want to proceeded.'

'You do know what the end effects will be, don't you?'

'Yes, the end of Forrester Creations, as we know it.'

Against All Odds Part 30

Brooke finished putting the chocolate pie in the oven. Everything had been set, the table looked nice and she had rented the best movie.

" Mom, why is the table set?"

Bridget came into the kitchen wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a little white top. Brooke noticed how refreshed and calm she had been since she came home that afternoon. There was a glow on her daughter’s face that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

"I’m having special dinner planned for tonight." Bridget frowned, she wondered who her mother was having dinner with. Brooke had better change her clothes, blue jeans and thin straped white shirt wasn’t dinner material.

" Who’s coming over?" A frown marred her face. " It isn’t Thorne is it?"

Brooke turned from the oven. " No, it Thorne, and I’d wish you would give him a chance, but tonight it is just you and me." Brooke pushed her daughter’s hair out of her daughter’s face. " Sweetie, tonight, I want you to concentrate on us." "Do you really mean it mom. It’s only going to be me and you?" A smile spread across her face, it had been a while since you and I had dinner together? Will Rick be eating with us?"

A slight frown spread on Brooke’s face, she hadn’t said anything but she was worried about Rick. She hadn’t heard from him since he talked to her in Paris.

" I left a note at his place, hopefully he will come over for at least dessert."

" Did you say dessert? Did you make that chocolate peanut butter pie that I like?"

" I sure did, it’s in the oven."

" Mom you are the best."

Bridget hugged her mother, she was happy about having time with her mother without Thorne. Maybe tonight would be the night to talk her into changing her mind.

Thorne drank a sip of his cold beer, the music was booming at Mannequins. He looked up and saw James coming into the restaurant.

" James, I’ve got us a seat."

" Thorne. I’m glad that you called me for a bite to eat, although I didn’t know about this place."

" After the day that I had today, I thought that we needed something different plus Connor said that he might join us. I think he is hoping that he’ll have other plans with KC."

"KC?"

" KC is a new designer that Brooke hired. It oblivious that Connor is interested in her."

" I assume you’re not here to scope out women?" James said with a laugh.

Thorne laughed. " No, I’m happy with Brooke. I’m glad that I caught you. I’m sorry that I left but Brooke was alone in Paris and it has been a while since we have had some time together alone. Between work, Rick and Bridget and Kimberly, we’ve been busy."

"I imagine. By the way, I heard that Charles had to leave town. He didn’t get a chance to see Kimberly. If you want maybe she should come and see me. I could help her, I don’t know her but I remember that Macy was a wonderful person."

Thorne was confused, he knew that James was willing to help him, but he didn’t know how he could see Kimberly professionally. " How can you see her, I thought that you didn’t have a license? "

"That has changed. I got the word while you were gone; I got my license back. Right now I plan to practice only out of my old house. I going to move back here and start right away. I need to get myself together."

Thorne nodded. James was a great guy; it had to be hard to lose your daughter. He knew that James received letters once in a while with pictures of Mary. Shelia seemed to be one step ahead of him, but she still cared enough to send the pictures. No matter what, the situation was really hard.

" I’ll tell her in the morning. To tell you the truth James, I haven’t spent a great deal of time with her lately. Something happened and it made me uncomfortable.’

"What happened?"

Thorne drank another sip of his beer. He had seen Kimberly early that morning; he needed to talk with her about Rick. Rick had told him that Eve was just a friend of his and nothing else. He went to tell Kimberly that she had nothing to worry about when he found her sunning herself in the nude. She was out on the beach, the umbrella covered her face and he didn’t know it had been her. Lately it seemed that she was always taking her clothes off for one reason or another. He went back home and then called her, he quickly told her about Rick and left. He wasn’t comfortable anymore, he wasn’t sure why. He had told himself that nothing was wrong but it was. He didn’t want to admit it but seeing her naked today unexpectedly had given him an erection. He knew that he was being silly, he thought about Kimberly as a sister, but when he had come upon her unexspectently and didn’t know it was her, his body responded. He felt bad; he thought that even though he cared about her the same way, he felt that he had been disrespectful in that moment. He shook his head; he was taking this to seriously. He knew that he wasn’t dead and although he was truly in love with Brooke and wouldn’t look twice at another woman; other woman sometimes had aroused him. Yet being around Kimberly was disturbing.

" Well about a week ago, Kimberly thought Rick was seeing a girl named Eve. She was upset and crying on my shoulder. She got drunk later that night, and I found her naked. She thought that I was Rick and she kissed me."

James nodded. " What did you do?"

" I tried to wake her up. She woke up and I told her that I would talk to Rick for her. Rick on the other hand was on his way over to her house and he saw me leaving. I explained to him about what he saw."

"Did you tell him about the kiss?"

" No"

"Why not?"

"Because he and Kimberly have had so many problems."

"What about Brooke."

"I didn’t tell her."

"Why not Thorne, tell me, did you like the kiss?’

" No! Kimberly is a beautiful young girl, but she is a girl. She is also Macy’s sister and Rick’s girlfriend. I didn’t tell Brooke because I went to Paris to be with her. I didn’t even think about Kimberly until I got back. To tell you the truth James, I don’t want to make a big deal about a kiss that wasn’t even meant for me. Sometimes it is best to let things go."

The doctor side of James wanted to disagree but he remembers the one time that he held on to a secret about something. He had never said anything to Taylor about the night they had made love. He had sometimes wondered if she had forgotten it in all that that she went through in the plane crash.

" You might be right, if you are sure that there was nothing between you and Kimberly."

" Me and Kimberly. I love the girl but as a sister, there is nothing between. Don’t forget she’s in love with Rick, not me."

 

Kimberly turned down the lights and pulled the shades down to the windows. The last thing that she wanted was for Thorne to see her with Scott. Tonight was the beginning of her plan. In about two to three weeks at the latest, Brooke and Thorne would be over, dead and finished. He would be all hers forever. There was a knock on the door. She quickly checked her reflection in the mirror to make sure she looked good. Scott was here and she planned to have a wonderful night. She went to the door to open it.

She opened the door and smiled. " Hi"

"Wow Kimberly, you look great." Rick’s eyes almost popped out of his head, he had never seen her look like this."

"Rick? What are you doing here?"

Rick attentions were fastened on Kimberly’s breast, which looked like they might spill out of her dress.

" Why are you here Rick?" Kimberly was annoyed, she couldn’t afford for Rick to see Scott, it could cause too many problems.

" Kimberly why are you acting like you don’t want me to come in?" Rick didn’t understand what was going on. The whole world was going crazy.

" Because I don’t Rick. "

"Kimberly what is going on?" Rick moved forward, but he was stopped by Kimberly’s hand.

" I’ll tell you what is going on. I haven’t seen you in a week. You haven’t cared to see me. Your mother fired me and then you want to come over like everything is alright. Well it isn’t Rick. You don’t care about me."

" How can you say that Kimberly, I love you?"

" Yes Rick, you love me so much that you have some trampy girl over your house. You don’t ever work to get my job back for me."

" My mom has been out of town."

" You are just full of excuses aren’t you? I’ll tell you Rick, I love you but I won’t be treated like this. I want you to go to your mother and defend me. I’m your girlfriend. If you can’t stand up for me, then we don’t have a future. I love you Rick, but I have to be with a man who will stand up for me. You stood up to your mother for Amber and she was nothing but street trash. I expect you to do the same thing for me. Now, if you don’t mind I HAVE PLANS"

Kimberly slammed the door in Rick’s face. She had to work hard on containing her glee. That couldn’t have worked better than if she had planned it. Rick would now high tail it over to his mother and make problems. She walked toward her mirror and checked your hair. The mirror image of herself started to talk.

" You know that you have to do, don’t screw it up."

" I won’t. I have everything planned. The video recorder is set up and Carlo got his money."

" Just make sure that it works, you have to make sure that you and Scott have sex on the bed."

"Don’t worry it will all work out. We will have Thorne soon and the bitch Brooke will be heartbroken. This morning he saw me naked; he wanted me I could tell. He will be ours just wait and see. Brooke she’s going lose everything. Rick will hate her; he’ll give that stock to Eric and Stephanie. She’s pretty much lost Bridget and finally Thorne will be ours. "

" Just don’t screw it up!"

" I won’t. I hate her and I’ll never allow her to find happiness, ever."

Kimberly smiled a sadistic smile and touched the mirror.

Ridge looked at the design on his desk. They were good in fact they were fantastic. He could understand why his father was upset; Brooke had made a major decision without them. Ridge hadn’t said anything but he liked the idea. It was something live and vivid and he respected KC. She had guts, she stood up to them and she was confident about her work. He didn’t mind working with her, in fact he was looking forward to the challenge. Unlike working with Morgan. She had yet to budge, she wanted stock for she said that she wouldn’t swear that she would tell Taylor the truth. He hadn’t told his mother about Morgan’s threat, it would make matters worse. His parents were up to something, he didn’t know what they were up to but they had Jonathon in the office for over two hours. He had had no choice, Jonathan had drawn up the papers and he had planned on giving the stock to Morgan tomorrow. Tomorrow, he was allowing the first non-Forrester to own a piece of their company. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He opened his eyes again and looked at a photo of Taylor and their children. He would do anything to protect them. He had been a fool and he would do anything to make sure that their lives didn’t suffer because of his own stupidity.

Caspian swam the last of his laps; he had been hoping that the swim might help to clear his head and thoughts. As usual for the last week, his thoughts were of a beautiful blond woman who had breathed air back into his body. Brooke, she had enraptured him. He walked out of the pool and dried off his body. He was aching inside. In his mind, he replayed their encounter again. He thought that he could do it, let it go, let her go, after all she didn’t belong to him. But then he couldn’t stop himself from calling Savage and getting information on the woman named Kimberly. Kimberly Fairchild, he found was a very young girl who was the sister of Thorne’s deceased wife. Caspian wondered if there was something going on between them, but based on his information, Thorne was taking care of Kimberly. Still Caspian knew that things weren’t always the way that it seemed. He put on a terry cloth robe and poured himself a drink. He sat down and opened the folder; it contained pictures of Brooke. He fingered a photo that was recently in a magazine, she was wearing a sleeveless pink sweater and pink pants. She was bare footed, and adorable. He smiled; she was refreshing. He was so lonely; he wanted Brooke. He had tried to let it go, but fate had dealt a hand that he planned on using it. The wild card was Bridget Forrester; he was a figurehead of a committee on the Montez art program. Normally he just gave money, but his interest was peeked when Isabelle "mentioned" that Bridget was one of the 20 candidates who were accepted to the second phase of the interview process. Her work was good, he had seen it as well as Isabelle. Being the process, the next part was dealing with the parents. The committee dealt with the parents, interviewing them and even helping them deal with the reality of their children living abroad for at least from 1 to 3 years. So he had pulled some strings and he would be one of the four-committee members to interview the parents of the students accepted in LA. In a few days, he would be going to LA to make an unexpected visit to Brooke Forrester a prospective parent. Caspian walked outside the cool night air into his large masion. He walked up the curved staircase and went to the second room in the west wing. He went to the door and used a key to unlock the door. Inside the room was perfect, the way that it had been the night that Lark had died. It was time to let her go, if he wanted Brooke he had to get rid of Lark’s ghost. When Lark had died, he had sworn never to allow a woman touch. It was amazing, he knew that she wasn’t Lark but he still wanted her. He also wanted to know about the connection between Lark and Brooke there had to be a reason that they looked alike. He knew that he would start with his mother; Isabelle had told him that she had found out about Brooke from Olivia. Since Lark’s parents were dead and she didn’t have any relatives he only had one choice, he had to find out the information from the woman he called mother.

Bridget leaned back in her chair. Dinner had been wonderful. " Mom, I don’t think that I can eat another bite."

Brooke smiled, this was a good idea, and it had been a long time since she and Bridget had dinner together. " At first I thought that we could go out to dinner, but then I thought that staying home might be more special."

" It is mom. I’ve missed this you and me. We’ve always made a good team."

"You are right Bridget. I know lately I’ve been busy and you’ve been upset with me but I want you to know that I love you."

Bridget knew that her mother loved her. " I know mom. I love you too. I just want what’s best for you and me."

Brooke cleared the table. " So what’s been going on with you Bridget, how is Jenny?"

Bridget made a face.

"What’s the matter, is something wrong between you too."

" No, its just she’s got this new boyfriend and…"

" She doesn’t have the time for you anymore, is that it?"

" Yeah, I don’t mind that she has someone special but I’ll admit that even though I have other friends I miss her. I can understand her though having someone special to love her for who she is."

Brooke heard the wistfulness in her daughter’s voice.

" Bridget, come and sit with me in the living room" Brooke brought the tea service with her and she poured herself and Bridget a cup of tea. Bridget followed her mother and sat on the sofa next to her.

"Bridget is there someone special in you life that I don’t know about?"

Bridget’s mind went to earlier that day when Scott touched her hands. He had been looking at her lips like he had wanted to kiss her. She had wanted him to kiss her; she had never felt that way about any other boy.

" Mom, I don’t have a boyfriend. Brooke smiled and touched Bridget’s face. " I know that you don’t and I also it’s not because boys aren’t interested in you. I’ve seen how boys react to you when they see you. But I’ve also always know that you were waiting for someone special, so is there someone?"

Bridget wondered if she should tell her mother about her feelings for Scott. The other night she had a dream about him. In her dream they had been sitting in her courtyard at night and he had leaned down to kiss her. The kiss had been so wonderful; she had awoken with stirrings in the lower part of her body.

" There isn’t anyone mother."

Brooke’s intuition said that Bridget was lying, she knew by the way that her daughter smiled as she thought, there was someone.

" Bridget I’m your mother and I want to know if there is someone who you care about.

So tell me about him because I know that there is a him."

Bridget gushed, she needed to tell someone about Scott, she wasn’t why she hadn’t told Jenny, but she kind of wanted to keep her feelings about Scott as a secret.

" He is a really nice guy, at first I thought that he was a jerk, but when I needed someone to talk to he was there for me. He isn’t like the guys in my school. He is really smart and he is interested in art like me, he’s an artist too. He doesn’t care that I’m a Forrester and he isn’t going on and on about how hot my mom is."

Bridget looked at her mother sheepishly. "Sorry mom, but a lot of guys do that."

"Bridget I’m sorry honey.."

" It’s okay mom. It’s not your fault that guys find you hot, you are good looking."

Bridgett got up and went to the French doors that lead outside.

" The thing about him is that he is around good looking women all the time but when he looks at me, it’s almost like he thinks that I’m beautiful."

Brooke smiled at her daughter; she was growing into a beautiful young woman. She remembered the first time she had started to fall truly in love.

" I’m sure that you does think that you are beautiful because you are inside and out."

" You think so mom?"

" Of course I do. Bridget I know everything that you are going through. I remember when it happened to me. Falling in love is special, especially when you were young."

Bridget turned toward and mother and walked back to the sofa to where she was sitting.

" Who was your first true love mom?"

Brooke faced glowed as she remembered young love. " Well for a long time I thought that I was in love a man named David. He was really nice, he was a police officer."

"What ever happened to him?"

" I’m not sure, we were engaged but I ended it."

This was new news to Bridget" What, you were engaged to this guy, why did you break up?"

" Oh Bridget, I don’t know. He was a wonderful man, I loved him, but I wasn’t truly in love with him. I met Ridge and then I realized that I couldn’t be with David. I’m sorry that I hurt him."

" Was her your first lover?

Brooke was surprised that Bridget had asked her such a personal question, but she didn’t mind, it was important for her to have an open relationship with her daughter.

" No." Brooke’s memory on a journey of the first time she made love.

She smiled fondly. " No, Ridge was my first lover."

" It was Ridge, I thought you two didn’t get together until you were around 20."

" That’s true, honey we’ve talked about sex before."

" I know mom, but I just thought that you might have been younger. I mean you have this image of being really sexy. After you all you were voted one of the sexiest women in world in People. There is also this website on the Internet and they said that you’d most likely know how to please men sexually."

" Well I don’t know about websites, but I was 20 when I first made to love to Ridge."

Bridget smiled, she knew it, and Ridge was her mother’s true love. If only she’d remember the good times then she’d want him back and not Thorne.

"What was it like mom?"

" Well honey, it was a wonderful experience. Even though Ridge and I don’t have a relationship anymore, I would never change what happened. He was very gentle and considerate lover. He made me feel special; I’ll never forget that night. You’ll want that for your first time. That’s why I’m so glad that you are still a virgin, your first time should be when you are older and with someone that you really love."

" When you met Ridge, was it like people say it is when you find your true love. Did you look at him and all of the sudden feel instant passion? They say that when you find your mate that your soul knows it, you are drawn to them and you can feel them without knowing it. You are drawn to them and you can’t help it, you have to have them not matter what or the consequences."

Bridget stopped talking; her mother had a strange look on her face. Was it working, was she thinking about Ridge? For a moment, her mother said nothing.

"Bridget, with Ridge I felt…."

The phone rang. Bridget looked at her mother regretfully and answered the phone.

Brooke mind had come with an image when Bridget had talked. When she talked about passion and having her soul finding its mate, she had thought about the man in the elevator. His imagine came to her mind, them together in the elevator and then another imagine came into her mind, he and her in a bed sweaty and sated from their lovemaking.

"Mom, mom?"

Brooke turned, her face was flushed.

" I’m sorry but it is Laura, she’s having problems with the Trig homework, she needs me to help her."

" Okay honey."

" I’m sorry that we have to cut this night short. I was having a good time, maybe we could finish talking when I get back."

" That would be great. Honey I’m proud you. You are a wonderful girl with honesty and integrity and I hope that you find that someone special, just like I have. Who knows, your young man sounds wonderful."

Bridget felt a twinge of guilt; her mother had called her honest, if only she knew about what she was going to do. How would her mother feel then? It didn’t matter; she’d thank her when she and Ridge got back together.

Brooke felt the cool air all around her. Her thoughts were of him, the man in the elevator. She went back into her house and went to the desk in her living room where she opened the desk drawer. She took out her letter. It was unopened, if she were honest she’d admit that part of her was afraid it open it, she knew that she’d feel the connection. She should have thrown it away, she shouldn’t read it but she wanted to. She sat down and looked at the envelope. She slowly opened the letter and looked at the beautiful handwriting.

I didn’t mean to cause you any pain or heartache, but it has been many years since I felt the way that I did with you. For many years I’ve not allowed myself to feel much of anything but something inside grew alive when I saw you. Your passion and joy of life is evident in your face and expressions. Touching you, kissing you, holding and wanting to make love to you seems wrong because we don’t know each other, but yet it felt more than right. I don’t know how you feel about the man who you say you love, but if there ever comes a time in which you lay in your bed at night and you think and dream of me, if you ever change your mind and you’d like to see me don’t be afraid to reach out to me. Call the number on the attached card; anytime day or night and I’ll be available to you I have the feeling that we will meet again. So until then, take care and know I am thinking of you.

CD

CD, Brooke wondered what the initials stood for. She touched the letter and then picked up the card with the number in gold letters. A private number she surmised, why had he done this? She didn’t know this man and he didn’t know anything about her and yet here he is inviting her to what? Another encounter in the elevator? She tried to keep her thoughts away from him, she loved Thorne with all of her heart and she had no time to think about a man who she didn’t know. She couldn’t seem to help herself, she read the letter again and then she picked up the card and smelled it, it had his sense. Brooke put the letter back into the envelope and stood by the French door watching the moon.

"Where are you now? What are you doing?"

Caspian looked at the moon, it was a beautiful night. A night like tonight would be perfect for a midnight ride. He could see himself riding in the night air with Brooke by his side. A night ride, followed by a romantic dinner, followed by a night of passionate love making, that’s what he wanted. He looked at the moon again and he thought about Brooke.

Scott pulled up in front of Kimberly’s beach house. He wondered if he should be doing this. He had a really great time with Bridget. She was a really wonderful girl, sweet, pretty and talented. Her artwork was excellent and by all likely hood, she was probably a straight-A student. She was also having a difficult time with her mother’s relationship with Thorne. He could understand why she was upset after Thorne was her brother and the situation was at the least really weird. He looked at Kimberly’s house; waiting for him was a beautiful model that wanted to share the night with him. He had no business thinking about Bridget, she was just a kid, she’d get over her mother’s love life and find a guy her own age. He got out of the car and headed to the beach house. He knocked on door, he didn’t receive an answer, and he kept knocking. He decided to open the door and went in. Inside the house was dimly lit by candles, music was playing.

" Kimberly"

"I’m in the bedroom."

He walked into the bedroom and was surprised into find Kimberly there. The bedroom was lit in candles and she was standing in a black silk robe. She smiled and sauntered toward him.

" I’m glad that you are finally here."

Kimberly untied the stash and the robe pooled into the floor. She was wearing a black one pieced laced lingerie, which displayed her beautiful breast; the back was backless with a thong. Her hair was brushed to one side and she looked breathtaking and sexy.

" Tonight is a night for you and me."

Scott grabbed Kimberly.

" No games Kimberly, if you don’t want this let me know."

She licked her lips and wrapped her arms around him.

" I know what I want, tonight I want you."

Scott picked her up and laid her on the bed. He took off his shirt and unbuttoned, the shirt dropped to the floor followed by his jeans. He stood there in his black Calvin Klein underwear. He walked over toward her and put his hand in the waistband on her underwear and slowly peeled them off. Kimberly eyes widened when she saw his jutting erection. She sat up as he stood in front of her; her hand touched his chest and made its way to his erection. He completely filled her hand and she felt its movement and knew that he wanted her. The power that she had over him made her feel like she was a siren. Scott cupped her head and pulled it back and kissed her roughly. His tongue thrust inside of her mouth and as he pulled her toward him. Her body connected with his, it was young and vibrant. He knelt down onto his knees and took her lips again. His kisses enraptured her as his tongue played with hers. He cupped her breast and felt her nipples harden against the laced material that his thumb was rubbing against. He rubbed his face against her breast and took her nipple in his mouth through the material. She felt the warm heat of his mouth through the rough material and it was exotic. This is what she wanted, his mouth and his hands. He took the strap and pulled it down until her naked breast was exposed and then he took the nipple in his mouth.

Brooke dipped her head back in the hot water and leaned back against the marble of rim of the tub. Bubbles, water and rose petals surrounded her naked body. She felt the hot water all around her and saw the steam rising off of the water. A noise from the other side of the room drew her attention. He was there watching her looking longingly at her bared breast and nipples. He was naked, his body tan and muscled, his erection long and thick. He walked toward her unabashed in his naked glory and unabashed in his response to her. She wanted him like she had never wanted anything. He walked up the stairs toward the tub toward her and he slipped into the hot water. He slid toward her, his hands finding her back, her mouth waiting to receive his.

" I told you that you were mine. I’ll never let you go. Brooke you have always belonged to me."

Brooke jumped with a start, the dream it had been so real. She could feel him. She looked down on the floor, where the letter lay. She picked it up. She had to get rid of it; she had to rid herself of him. She threw the letter in the wastebasket and started to go upstairs when the front door slammed open. She turned to find Rick standing there with an angry look in his eyes.

"Rick what’s wrong?"

" Mother we have to talk right now. What the hell do you think that you are doing firing Kimberly?"

NEXT