Against All Odds Part 41 {It’s Party Time}

KC put on the finishing touches to her makeup; Connor would be picking her up soon for Rick’s party. She glanced at herself in the mirror; and finished applying her makeup. She liked her outfit, although it wasn’t one of her designs, it still had the desired effect. KC wondered the umpteenth time since last night whether she was making a mistake. Connor Davis was a smart, funny handsome man but did he realize that some of his clients wouldn’t like the fact that he was dating a black woman. KC didn’t care what people thought about her she was proud of her race but she also knew that it might mean that he would loose clients.

"Come on KC, you aren’t going to let anyone’s sillies prejudices get into your way of spending time with a wonderful man like Connor are you?" She sighed, she really needed to get out she was starting to talk to herself. She hadn’t expected this thing with Connor; it just came out of the blue. He had been sending her little gifts since she came to L.A from flowers to a black and white sketch of children on the beach to a set of purple balloons. KC smiled, last night he had sent her a basket with her favorite ice cream Chocolate Chocolate Chip with makings of fantastic Sunday with the works. She had fixed herself deep fudge chocolate Sunday when he arrived at the door looking sexy in tight blue jeans and a white sweater waving a spoon. She couldn’t help but to let him in and she was glad that she did. They had spent the night eating ice cream and talking about their past and what dreams that they had. It had been wonderful and comfortable the rapport between them. He made her laugh with stories about the Forresters and their crazy lives. At the end of the night he had kissed her with so much sensual passion that she nearly lost her head, but he didn’t try to do anything else. He made her so hot, something that she really hadn’t felt for any man since Jackson. Her doorbell rang. KC opened the door to find Connor standing there in black jeans and a blue shirt. Connor looked at KC, she was a knock out in skintight black leather pants and black tank shirt made of a mess material. The sexy designer would have all the men looking at her; he was a very lucky man.

He whistled. " My god, every time I see you, you become more and more beautiful." Last night, he had come over and she had been so incredibly sexy just in a plain white T undershirt and jeans. She hadn’t been wearing a bra under her shirt and he had spent the night aroused by her. It had been a hard task to stop looking at her nipples under her shirt and wondering what she tasted like. It was more than sexual with her though; she was so confident, witty and easy to talk to. Most people with her talent would be arrogant but not her, she was refreshing. He could spend hours looking at her beautiful face, it was perfect and she didn’t need any makeup to make her beautiful, she just was beautiful on her own. At end of the night, he couldn’t help to kiss her with the passion that he felt. She had returned the kiss with ardor but afterward she had surprised him with her question. She asked him if his attraction to her was something that excited him because it could have been seen as something taboo. He had never thought of that, true he had never been involved with a black woman before, but that didn’t matter. To him she was a smart capable attractive woman and the fact that she was a different color than him didn’t bother him. He wanted her, KC the person and color meant nothing to him at all. He had told her how he felt, gave her another kiss and left with a smile on his face.

"Are you ready to hit the dance floor."

She spun around for him. " Sure, the question is—Are YOU ready?"

Connor gave her a licentious look. " I’m ready for everything you throw my way."

KC laughed, being with Connor made her light hearted.

" Just give me a moment, I got Rick a print for his birthday." Connor followed KC into her condo. She headed toward the bedroom when he studied the photos on her wall. If people were thrown off guard by the photos in her office, they’d be knocked about the photos on her wall. He went to the one-labeled Butterfly; it was of a nude KC lying down with large butterfly wings spread up all around her creating an effect in which she was the butterfly. This photo wasn’t done in black and white so the lavendare colors of the wings matched the body jewelry she wore as well as the glitter that glissened over her body. Her hands crossed over her breast while a very thin glossy material covered her mound. It was simply amazing.

"Are you ready?" KC came behind Connor and tapped him on the shoulder.

Connor touched the photo on the wall gently. " I’m amazed by your work. To take other peoples’ pictures is one thing but to take your own." He looked down at her; she took his breath away. " It takes real talent."

KC shook her head. " Are you sure that nothing is wrong with you? A man like you, I’m surprised that some woman hasn’t snatched you up by now."

Connor took KC’s hand and gently pressed her open palm to his lips. " Maybe I hadn’t met the right one yet…..maybe I was looking for someone special." KC felt butterflies in her stomach; Connor sure knew how to sweet-talk a lady.

Lauren was a ferocious mood, her day hadn’t gone well and if Mr. Deangleo kept her waiting any longer than ten more minutes, she was leaving. She had never been kept waiting this long for someone. Now she’d admit that his two bodyguards were scrumcious to look at and normally wouldn’t mind waiting, but tonight she had to go. Rick’s party would be starting soon and she still had to go home and change. She also wanted to get a chance to talk to Scott; she was worried about him especially since she thought that he had some feelings toward Bridget Forrester. That’s all she would need, Brooke’s wrath. She wasn’t afraid of Brooke in fact she respected her, but her son wanted to make it as a fashion designer and Forrester was the best place to learn. Fooling around with an underage girl wasn’t worth it; Lauren knew that Brooke was still reeling from dealing with Amber Moore. Lauren heard the door behind her open, although she needed this deal, she was going to let Mr. Deangleo know that business with her meant business and he needed to be on time. Lauren turned and her heart almost dropped out of her body, the man walking toward her was incredibly sexy and had a most sensual aura that she had every felt.

" Ms. Fenmore, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I had another matter that arose and it needed my special attention. I’m sorry for any inconvenience that I might have caused or plans that I might have delayed." He took her hand and kissed it gently as he did as a custom in his country. Lauren’s insides turned to liquid fire, the touch of his hand on her, his lips on her hands. My god, he had the most sensual lips and the way that his eyes bore into hers, it was like he could read every licentious thought that popped into her head. She knew instantly that he could fulfill every wicked naughty fantasy that she had.

" Would you like a drink? A latte, wine or champagne."

Lauren closed her eyes, his voice was softy accented and had a sensual controlling manner. "A glass of wine would be nice." He opened a bottle of wine and poured her a glass of the dark red liquid. He handed her the glass and sat down on the sofa.

" I’m sorry for the last minute meeting here in my suite, but I’m not sure how long I’m going to be in town."

Lauren crossed her legs; she had to remember that this was business. First close the deal and then later she would pleasure herself with this man. It had been a while and she wouldn’t mind some hot and sweaty sex as long as they could work together.

Caspian grinned, Lauren Fenmore was turning out to be everything that he heard; she was one sexy woman. If things were different he would be anticipating a night of carnal pleasure with her but instead he thoughts were only on an amusing blonde with a smile that lit up the night. The light gray ensemble was complimented by a see-through black and white blouse.

Caspian decided to get down to business. " You need a backer for your boutiques and you want me to invest in it."

" Yes, it is a invocative idea, like the old days during the 17th century. Women had their own personal dressmakers and had clothes especially designed her them. It was expensive, yet it was done all of the time."

Caspian rubbed his lips thinking. " This is something you want to do? How can this be cost effective? You would make more money having a showing a few stores carry the outfits."

"Yes, you can make money like that, but now women want more. What is more embarrassing then a woman to show to an L.A party or Oscars and someone else is wearing their dress and god forbid, looking better in it." Lauren played with the lapel of her suit purposely-drawing attention her see through blouse and her hardened nipples. " This boutique is going to be special no more than 4 in the world. There will be a limit to how many costumers that are allowed per year and a limit to how many outfits each costumers are allowed to have."

"A limit."

"Yes, a limit. People love what is forbidden what they can’t have. It will make then want to get their clothes from the boutique more than ever. "

" You said that it would be a selective boutique? How would we decide who would be allowed to receive services? I wouldn’t want there to be any discrimination on any level."

"Caspian we would be services the very rich, in that we are already being discriminating. But however I do understand what you mean and there would be none of that. Also as an incentive to possible customers we could hold a contest nation wide in each boutique in which a woman would be selected to participate for free. It would be any woman’s dream to have a set of clothes designed especially for them."

" The clothes that you would have designed would be two evening gown or I bridal gown. On business suit or casual wear and the choice of one bathing suit or negligee. Caspian’s closed his eyes while he talked. " The designer would interview and discuss what the buyer would like. Take measurements and come up with at least 7 designs so the buyer had a choice of what designs that they liked. Of course the buyer is always right in most cases but they are not allowed to ask for any major changes in the clothes since designers seem to have a natural eye for fashion and flare. However, they can take their business someplace else if they are not satisfied. The designers however are not allowed to give them more than the chosen 4 and the additional three designs would be put in a vault for either another woman to choose for it could go to the collection to the house the designer is from to be added to the next collection. The outfits of course would be at least three times the cost of a dress that they would get if they were part of the collection. Based on my information, fashion houses only supply her small handful of store buyers no more than 3 dresses of the same kind. Although fashion houses might make more money by selling their dresses to the stores your boutiques would allot them to selling at least 4 outfits compared to one outfit.

Lauren couldn’t help but to grin, apparently Caspian Deangleo knew what she had wanted and studied the information well. She nodded toward him and sipped her wine.

" You’ve been reading."

"Of course, I always make it my business to know what I’m getting into with a business venture." Caspian smiled and then poured himself some coffee. " Tell me, why did you come to me? I’m surprised that you didn’t ask Victor Newman to back you, he is from Genoa City, isn’t he."

" Victor would be someone I’d consider but I’d like fragrances to sell in the store. I’d like to use his products as well as Jabot and it could be a problem with their rivalry."

Caspian raised his eyebrow " Indeed, it could be a problem." He sat back down and sipped his hot coffee. " Tell me Ms. Fenmore, what have you heard about me?"

 

Isabelle walked into Vicki’s lab. Vicki had solved her problem with her mind control formula. " Isabelle, I want you to know how much I trust you. If this formula got into the wrong hands, there is so much damage that could be done."

Isabelle took off her sunshades. She had her usual was calm denenore , although she was excited inside. Although her brother had taken off to America to see Brooke, she planned on taking the memory formula as a back up plan just in case things didn’t go as planned.

"Vicki, thank you so much for the help. My friend has gone through such a traumatic experience, I just don’t think that she’s going to make it."

Vicki felt saddened. Isabelle had told her about her friend’s terrible rape. The poor woman had been getting therapy and couldn’t seem to get herself together. Although Vicki wasn’t sure how erasing the even from the woman’s mind would really help, Isabelle thought that it would really make a different. Vicki handed Isabelle the vile containing the solution.

"Don’t worry, I would never allow this to get into the wrong hands."

Isabelle walked outside of the balcony following Vicki when she noticed a movement below on the ground near the outside pool of the estate. Charles was talking to none other than Pierce. Charles turned around and waved toward his wife, Pierce turned also and his breath caught as he saw the beautiful Isabelle.

Thorne sat on the bar stool nursing his drink, he just wanted to black out not to feel anything. He told the bartender to hit him again and he did. He felt the liquid burn his insides. He would stay there until he couldn’t think, remember or dream about the terrible deed that he had down. The bartender looked at him and shook his head, he had seen all types in here but this man seemed different. His eyes looked haunted as if something tragic had happened. He checked his hand looking for a ring, he wondered if the man had lost his wife or something.

" I’ll take another one."

Larry sighed, although he did this for a living, he had a feeling that whatever was eating this man, drinking wasn’t going to help him. " Look buddy, I’m not trying to get into your business or ruin your day, but you’ve been sitting here for hours and whatever is eating you isn’t going to get better."

Thorne looked at the bartender with blazing eyes, and then he was his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. He looked lifeless, as lifeless as he felt. He was a rapist, a despoiler of virgins. He was no better than dirt. He didn’t know what to do. Kimberly had told him last night that she didn’t want to press charges that she didn’t want anyone to know about the incident. She had said that he didn’t know that he was doing and he really wasn’t to blame. She had been so brave, with tears in her eyes she was trying to help him. She was such a beautiful young girl and he had forced himself on her. He looked down into his empty glass; he wanted to drink himself into oblivion. Why did he do it? Yes she had been arousing in that dress, but he would never touch her. She didn’t look anything like Brooke why couldn’t he tell the difference. He had made love to Brooke so many times he knew every inch of her body, what she felt like inside and out; what she tasted like; what she smelled like. How could he have done this to her? He wanted to ease the pain, the pain in his heart and soul. In the bottom of his glass, he saw Brooke’s image smiling at him when he slipped the ring on her finger. She had been so happy. Last night he was kissing with Brooke, he had hope for a their future together, today they had none. How could he face her, kiss her or even plan a life with her? How could he look at Rick, his brother he was trying to help after he had forced himself on his girlfriend? Rick, oh god, tonight was Rick’s party what was he going to do?

Brooke opened the door to Thorne’s beach house? "Thorne, are you home? Honey?" Brooke turned on the lights and was shocked to see the apartment in such disarray. " Thorne, what happened?" She noticed the broken glass, it was her picture, and it looked like it had been smashed. She looked around the apartment, nothing was missing. The bedroom was fine, so she surmised there was there wasn’t any vandalism. She picked up her picture and a shard of glass sliver got into her finger. " Ouch" she put the picture down and took the sliver out. She sucked the drop of blood off her finger. She was getting worried, where was Thorne and why hadn’t he called her. Brooke went to the answering machine; there was a light blinking. She played the messages expecting to find her messages, but she didn’t, he obviously he had heard them.

" Baby, why didn’t you call me back? Could you be upset about yesterday?" Brooke was heading out of the door when the phone rang, the machine picked up it.

" Hello Thorne, it’s Kimberly. I just wanted to see how you…. you were doing? …. If you get a chance…. Please call me. Brooke heard her sigh on the phone. You left your jacket and your bow tie here last night….. Oh god Thorne I need to talk you about last night I need ….Please call me, we should talk before Rick’s party. …..It would seem funny if I didn’t go." Thorne had been at Kimberly’s last night. Why? What happened last night?

Brooke closed her eyes. " No, Brooke, don’t do this. Thorne must have taken Kimberly home last night. What happened to Rick? Brooke you are being silly and you shouldn’t make anything out of this message." Brooke couldn’t help it, Rick’s words about Kimberly saying she was jealous and Caspian asking if they were lovers. Kimberly was a beautiful girl. Brooke shook her head. " Don’t do this Brooke, you’re being crazy. You know why don’t you, because of what you did last night with Caspian. You let him touch you and you were wrong. Now you are just projecting because of that ….Thorne loves you and wants only you. He would never look Kimberly like that and he wouldn’t ever hurt Rick. No get yourself together to go to Rick’s party. Everything will work out fine, you’ll see."

Brooke closed the door behind her while Kimberly looked on; she put down her binoculars and threw her cordless phone on the sofa. She crossed her hands over her chest. " Well Brooke, I wonder what you’d make of that phone call."

Eve stumbled into the apartment throwing her books onto the table and she fell face first into the sofa. Trudie peeked out of the kitchen, she was chewing raw broccoli.

"Ah, Honey I’m so glad that your home. How was your day?" Eve looked up to find Trudie grinning at her.

Eve laid her face down into the sofa and mumbled. " Class was a real bitch, a surprise test."

Trudie sat down in the opposite chair from Eve and started painting her toenails. " I’m sure that you did fine. You are one smart cookie you know that."

Eve turned over on the sofa and kicked off her shoes. " How was class for you?"

Trudie shrugged her shoulders. " Boring, I really don’t care about the economical system of Bangladesh , but it’s something that I need to know so I go. I was hoping that Jeremy would call, you know, the Forrester job, but he didn’t so I guess I didn’t get it. Who was I kidding, it was…just a dream."

Eve knew that modeling was important to Trudie, her brother has sacrificed a lot to get her professional photos, the best makeup and all the different clothes that she needed. "I’m sorry …" Eve reached out and touched Trudie’s hand. Trudie smiled, Eve was a sweetie plan and simple, the way she took on other peoples’ problems when no one in the world took her problems.

" Don’t worry about, I just want to make it. I just want to know that all Chris’s hard work paid off." Tears glistened in Trudie’s eyes. She wiped a tear on her cheek. " I am going to make it Eve and so are you. Together who can beat us?"

Eve laughed, when most people looked at Trudie, they was saw a wild child, a feme fatle, but she wasn’t like that. She was a great friend; she was Eve’s only real friend.

"So since you’re off, and I’m between gigs, what are doing tonight?"

Eve rolled her eyes. " Nothing, I’m going to take a hot bath and read a spicy romance novel."

Trudie twisted her hair up in a lose knot. "Well, I was thinking that we could crash a party."

Rick especially couldn’t wait for his mother to give him his birthday gift, his Forrester stock. He’d help Kimberly get her job back and everything would work out fine. He had seem Budge earlier during the day and she seemed very calm compared to last night, he was glad he didn’t like seeing her upset. He tried to talk to Kimberly and even went over to her house to see her but she wasn’t home. He decided to wait to tell her about his decision as a special gift for her. Rick heard the pumping music of Lucy Pearls’ "I Want To Dance Tonight" in Inferno, he walked down the stairs.

"Surprise!" All around him were his friends and most of his family. Rick made his rounds, laughing and talking with his friends. He saw his mother laughing at something Connor said: he had to stopped to watch her. Even though he didn’t like what she was doing with Kimberly he couldn’t seem to notice how happy she was to be celebrating his birthday.

" Wow man, your mom is totally hot!" David slapped him in back.

" Hey man, watch your mouth." Rick grinned. He looked at his mother she was wearing a black dress with halter like front and he surmised that it was probably backless. He watched her hug Connor and watched as KC took Connor’s hand and took him out on the dance floor.

"Now man, that lady is definataley something to look at. Look at those pants."

" Yeah, KC is a total babe."

Jaggar came over to Rick brining him a drink. " Speaking of sexy, where is that girlfriend of yours?"

" I don’t know…she’ll be here later." Amy came over. " Come one Rick, dance with me before Kimberly gets here. " Rick grinned as he was pulled over to the dance floor.

"Man he is some lucky guy, Kimberly for a girl and from what I hear maybe Eve on the side." Jaggar looked over at Brooke who swaying to the music. " And a mom that looks like that."

" I know what you mean, I used to have wet dreams about her when I was young."

Jaggar laughed, " Used to? Man, I still do. I’d love to get a chance to hit that. I wonder if she is as good as they say in bed."

David looked at Rick who was dancing with Amy. " …Hey man, you had better watch it, Forrester don’t take it lightly what people say about his mom."

" I know, I know. You can’t blame a guy for looking."

Brooke was humming to the music in the background as she popped a stuffed mushroom in her mouth. " Hey Logan."

Brooke turned around to find Ridge. " Hey.. How are you doing?"

" Fine, just looking at all these college kids brings back some memories."

" The good old days huh.."

"Yeah, I was playboy back then."

Brooke raised on eyebrow. " Back then?"

Ridge held out his hand. " How about a spin… want to give KC and Connor some competition." Brooke looked at KC and Connor who were dancing on the dance floor, they were having a blast. Brooke laughed as the Thong Song came on. She needed to get out on the floor and have some fun or else she’d spend have the night worrying about Thorne. Thorne would be here, she just had to wait, and everything would turn out fine. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, this perfect, you still wear those sexy little thongs don’t you?"

Brooke laughed at Ridge’s antics. " You will never find out. " Brooke looked around. "Are you sure your wife won’t mind, you dancing with the Big Bad Brooke." Ridge grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the floor. " Don’t worry Logan." Brooke threw her arms up and danced with Ridge, she caught Stephanie looking at her from across the room. She smiled devilishly, she ought to feel bad about torturing her, but she didn’t. She moved her body close to Ridge as she danced touching him, laughing and moving sensually to the music. Brooke threw her hair over her shoulder and twirled around, the shirt of her black dress twirled up around her legs giving those of saw her a glimpse of a pair of sexy bikini underwear that tied on each side of her pelvic bones with cute bows.

Stephanie glared at Brooke. Eric noticed the sour face that Stephanie made. "What’s wrong honey? Stephanie closed her eyes and clenched her fist in anger. " That bitch, look at her, and at her own son’s party."

"What are you talking about…."? Eric’s voice trailed off as he watched Brooke and Ridge dance on the dance floor. "Oh god, what is she doing?"

"What is Ridge doing with that whore? Look at her, I wish that Thorne here and he could see her in action." Stephanie looked around. " Where is Taylor she shouldn’t have to see this sort of thing? Damn it, doesn’t that woman ever learn, look at her in that dress, showing her panties to the world."

Eric patted Stephanie on the back." Stephanie, calm down."

" How can I when that Bitch, that bitch in heat is making a play for my son." Eric tried to pull Stephanie back but it didn’t work, she made her way through the crush of moving bodies toward the couple. Once she got to Ridge and Brooke, she yanked on Brooke’s arm.

"What in the hell, …..Ah Stephanie, if you wanted to dance with Ridge all you had to do is to let me know." Brooke smiled as she moved back toward Ridge.

Stephanie glared at son. " What in the hell do you think that you are doing dancing with this bitch.."

Brooke moved toward Stephanie. " Watch your mouth your old hag.." Ridge saw that things were going to get out of hand. He yanked Brooke toward him. " Mother, this isn’t the time or the place to get into this."

" You shut your mouth. Look at you what you are doing; you are risking your marriage for this bitch. My god, what if Taylor were to see this, how you are dancing with this tramp."

Ridge sighed and looked at Brooke. " Logan…"

Brooke felt sorry for Ridge, for the rest of his life his mother would be right there in his life meddling. " Go ahead Ridge, I think that I’ve had all the excitement that I want for the night. Expect for later on when I go home with Thorne." Brooke gave Ridge a wink and laughed at Stephanie’s expression. Brooke moved to leave the duo when Ridge grabbed her arm and he whispered in her ear. " It’s a shame that you weren’t wearing those thongs, but that black panties still look good on you Logan. Brooke laughed and kissed Ridge on the cheek, she couldn’t help but to smile when Stephanie glowered at her.

Bridget walked through the crush of people; she couldn’t believe what she had just seen, her mother and Ridge dancing. They looked like they had been having a really good time. She knew it; they still had feelings for one another. If Thorne had been around, her mother would have been dancing with him, instead she had danced with Ridge. As soon as their prospective relationships were over, they would naturally turn to one another. Bridget glanced at her watch, she wondered where Kimberly was. She still hadn’t been able to reach her and she just had to know if their plan had worked. Bridget had gone to see her mother earlier to make her peace. She told her mother about the interview for tomorrow. She didn’t discuss what happened last night, although she knew that her mother did. Her mother told her that tomorrow they would have lunch together and discuss her engagement to Thorne. If everything worked out the way that she and Kimberly had planned, she and her mother wouldn’t even need to have their conversation.

"Hey Budge" Rick came up to her from behind and kissed her on check. " I see that you have your armband on." Because the party was being held at a club that sold liquor, anyone underage had to wear a band to let the bartender know that they can’t drink.

Bridget waved her hand. " It matches my outfit."

" Did you see mom, she was dancing with Ridge?"

" Yeah, I thought that Stephanie was going to have a heart attack. I’m surprised that Taylor let him breathe for a moment let alone dance with mom."

Ridge heard the anger in his sister’s voice. "Budge, don’t let your anger get you into trouble, it isn’t worth it. Mom and Thorne are getting married and you can’t blame Ridge or Taylor for that. "

Bridget looked around the club at the flashing light, Rage Against The Machine blared in the background. "You have some nerve, aren’t you mad at mom."

" I’m upset with her actions and I’m not going to allow her to fire Kimberly just because she’s mad at her. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to stay mad at mom. Besides, I have a plan on getting Kimberly her job back."

" I wouldn’t worry so much about Kimberly, she has a way of getting what she wants."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it is true." Bridget took her brother by the arm and patted him.

" I heard that you are a very sharp business man. There is an aura of mystique around you, yet from information I received you are very respected and revered. The truth of the matter is when I was looking for a backer, your name up unexpectedly. Although all the information about you was helpful, there was very little. It seems that your company owns quite a few business that does well, but you Mr. Deangleo are a ghost."

"Does that worry you that I am, a ghost as you say."

" It should shouldn’t it? But I’m not worried. From your reputation you have made a lot of money and often sit back and allow capable people to do what they think is best if they are experts in the matter."

"You are an expert?"

" In selling clothes I am."

" Your stores have done well. You have flare and your stores have the same flare."

Lauren watched at Caspian as he poured her another glass of wine. " I’m impressed from the numbers as well as your stores. Tell me, is there a fashion particular fashion house that you are interested in using."

"Actually that’s why I’m in L.A, I was hoping to use….."

"Forrester Creations."

Surprised filled Lauren, how could he know that, she had talked to Brooke about it. "Yes, I planned to use Forrester Creations if they agree to it."

Caspian nodded. "I think that it is important matter. In order for me to agree to be a backer in this business agreement, you need to get Forrester Creations aboard."

His statements again surprised Lauren. "You are set in that matter, you want Forrester Creations."

"Yes. I want Forrester Creations, that most important."

Lauren saw the dark look in Caspian’s eyes and she wondered why it had to be Forrester Creations.

Kimberly walked into the club, which was booming with music, she saw Rick talking to a group of his friends. She saw Stephanie and Eric sitting a corner in an intense conversation, the look of Stephanie’s face they most be talking about Brooke. She scanned the club looking for Thorne. He wasn’t there; she thought that he’d be here at the party.

"Where are you Thorne?"

" Yeah Kimberly, where is Thorne and most importantly where have you been."

Kimberly turned to find Bridget standing behind her. " Bridget, fancy meeting you here."

"We need to talk now!"

Kimberly looked around the room and found Brooke; she was talking to Megan and a black woman. They were looking at Brooke’s engagement ring and smiling. Obviously, Brooke couldn’t wait to tell everyone about her engagement to Thorne.

" There is a back room where we can talk undisturbed."

Kimberly followed Bridget to a large back room with a bar and a black leather sofa.

" I’ve been trying to reach you all day."

Kimberly checked her reflection in the mirror. " I’ve been busy after all I was up late last night."

Now tell me, what happened last night?" "Did it work, do you have the pictures?"

Kimberly stood up and looked at Thorne’s house. "Ahh, Bridget, I have something so much better than pictures." Kimberly patted her stomach and smiled. Bridget gave her a bewildered look. " What did you do videotape it? That isn’t going to work."

" No, I don’t have a video tape."

" Quit playing games, what happened."

Kimberly turned toward Bridget. " I think that you had better sit down."

" Why?" Bridget scrunched her face up. " Okay, spill it. What happened last night?"

" Before you get all upset Bridget, you should understand that I did the best that I could do under the circumstances."

" I’m waiting"

" Honey didn’t show up."

"What, you told me…"

" Look she left town with some guy. I called her and I thought that she was coming over, it wasn’t until I called back that her roommate told me that she left."

" So the plan, it didn’t work."

"Actually it did. I made a decision; if I didn’t act there would be no way that we would have this chance again. So I just did it."

" Did what?"

" I stripped and got in bed with him."

Bridget’s mouth fell open. " You did what!"

"I did what I had to do and when Thorne got up he thought he and I slept together."

"He thinks what?"

"He thinks that he and I are lovers. Don’t you see that it worked perfectly….Thorne think that he cheated on your mother, the guilt will eat him up."

" You think that he’s going to tell my mother that he slept with you, please he’s a man and he isn’t going to tell her. Besides does he really believe that he slept with you, why would he do that?"

"Thorne doesn’t remember much about last night. Besides I think that he was attracted to me."

"What?"

"You didn’t see the way that he looked at me last night in that dress. "

"Please Kimberly, that table cloth that you were wearing wasn’t a dress. I really think you are kidding yourself if you think that Thorne is attaracted to you." Bridget began to get nervous this wasn’t part of the plan."

"What about Rick"

"Rick will never know about it."

" I don’t understand this, if you think that guilt will make him tell my mother what he had done."

"You don’t Thorne, he is a man of honor. He thinks that he took advantage of me. He’ll feel guilty and soon he will break up with your mother."

" I don’t think that will work.."

" If doesn’t Bridget I’ll have to threaten to tell Brooke myself because of the guilt that I feel about Rick and what I’ve done."

Bridget didn’t think that things added up. " Kimberly you seem to have all this planned out, but isn’t Thorne going to wonder why you allowed him to sleep with him."

" I’ve already taken care of that." Kimberly began to twirl her hair around her finger. " I’m young and when kissed me I got caught up in the movement, besides I had a glass of wine and I really didn’t know what I was doing."

Bridget sat down on the sofa and gripped her hands. " I can’t believe that Thorne will buy this."

Kimberly gave Bridget an annoyed look. " Well, he has. Tell me Bridget, what would you have done? "

"Well, I wouldn’t have drugged him."

"I can’t believe that we are back to that. I did what I had to do. Can you think of anything else that could have been done? I thought that you’d be happy with the turn of events. I’m taking all the risk; I’m risking my relationship with Rick. If this ever got out, we would be over."

" It just seems funny everything that we planned turned out wrong Kimberly. I don’t anymore, I just bad feeling."

" It will work. Thorne and your mother will be over in a matter of days. The only reason things would go wrong is if you opened your mouth. We made a pack you and me and we seen to make our plan work. All we have to do is just sit back and wait, things will fall apart you’ll see. Besides did you really want to see your mother humiliated with photos of her lover in bed in a rag magazine? This way, she doesn’t get hurt publicly."

"What if my mother wants to know why Thorne broke up with her, what if she doesn’t take no for an answer.

"She will have to let go especially if he does."

Bridget didn’t trust Kimberly, something wasn’t right, but she didn’t have a choice at the moment. Maybe it would work. If Thorne thought that he slept with Kimberly he might feel bad enough to break things off. Even the pictures were a risk; he could have easily denied them. But waking up with Kimberly, even he couldn’t deny that.

Isabelle walked calmly to her car, in her purse laid the future of her brother if things didn’t do as planned.

"Isabelle are you running away from me?"

She couldn’t help it; her heart actually seemed to beat a little faster. " I never run away from anything or anybody."

Pierce stepped out of the shadows. He looked different more casual in blue jeans and white buttoned up shirt. In his hand he had a beautiful pink rose. " I was taking a tore of Charles’s and Vick’s beautiful garden."

" Don’t let me keep you."

" You aren’t keeping me from anything, although I do have plans."

" Plans?"

"Yes, I have plans. Dinner and a movie."

Isabelle wondered what games he was playing. " Dinner and a movie. Your date, is she is high school?"

Pierce laughed at Isabelle’s cool manner. " No, but I have a feeling that she needs a date like this. She probably didn’t let her hair down much in high school." Pierce couldn’t help himself, he stepped forward putting little room between them. " When did you have a chance to have fun, to relax? Go with me Isabelle, go with me to a simple dinner and to a movie."

"I thought you understood, we talked about this yesterday. We had sex, you wanted it and I wanted it. There is nothing more to us than that."

"I don’t buy that for a moment. You’ve spent your whole life putting that mask on, masking your feeling. You feel something for me just like I feel something for you. It was there years ago. All I want is a date, a real date. Not sex."

" I didn’t hear you complaining yesterday when you were inside of me, instead you were moaning."

Pierce had let all his reason go to pot yesterday. He was the man who did a tape on sexual responsibility was irresponsible when it had came to this woman. " I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy it, it was everything that I thought it would be and more. Isabelle all I want is a date with you. A chance to talk to you to get to know you. After tonight, if you don’t have a reasonably pleasurable time, I won’t bother you anymore."

Isabelle had better things to do with her time. She had reports to read as well as getting this vile into a vault. She didn’t have time to be dilly-dallying to dinner and movie. A movie, when was the last time she had went to a movie, it had been so long that she didn’t remember.

"You can pick me up at my home in an hour or so."

Isabelle got in her car and drove off.

Pierce shook his head. She thought to thwart him, but he knew exactly where she lived and he planned on being there.

Thorne walked down the stairs of the club, he wore all black as a reminder of his mood. All around him he saw happy faces, partying, dancing, drinking. Then almost as if the sea was being parted, he saw the light of his life, the woman he had loved like no other. Brooke looked beautiful; she was dancing with such light heartiness with James. She had no idea of the chaos around him and their lives.

" I think that the man that you’ve been looking for all night is here." James whispered to Brooke.

"Thorne where is he?" Brooke turned her eyes toward the door where he stood. Her face lit up and relief washed her soul. He was all right. She made her way toward him as fast as she could.

" Sweetie, I’m so glad that you are here."

Thorne shifted nervously on his feet. " Brooke.."

"Honey, I’m so sorry for last night. I was wrong to leave like I did. I know that you love me and that you only asked me to marry you because of your love for me." She hugged him so hard that Thorne almost fell backwards. The moment that her body touched him he will filled with guilt. She squeezed him so tight, his arms automatically surrounded her body; he needed to feel her to smell her to know that everything was all right. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the feeling. When he opened his eye, he saw Kimberly; she was standing in an alcove looking at him with such a sad face. My god, what had he done. Throne dropped his arms and stepped away from Brooke.

Brooke felt the warmth of Thorne’s body leave hers. She really looked at his face and noticed the shadows in his eyes.

"Thorne, honey, what’s wrong?"

 

Against All Odds Part 41 (The Video Tape)

Brooke reached out to touch Thorne’s face but he moved away from her. She was surprised by his reaction and concerned showed on her face. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what? Thorne there must be something wrong. I’ve been calling you all day and I hadn’t heard from you. I went by your place and it looked like something happened."

Thorne had tried to keep his concentration on Brooke but it was hard, Kimberly had disappeared. He knew that he should stay away from her but he had to at least see how she was doing. What Thorne really wanted to do was get a drink and forget about every that had happened the last 24 hours.

"Thorne.."

"Look,..ah… I’m fine. Jeff came with Mocha, his dog. Mocha kinda went wild and I didn’t have the time to clean up."

Thorne tried to move around Brooke; he had to see Kimberly. Plus he could stand here looking at Brooke after knowing what he had done to her. Brooke reached out and grabbed Thorne’s arm. " Thorne, there is something more to it, I know it."

God, why didn’t she leave him alone? Her beautiful eyes were filled with concern and he didn’t deserve it. Brooke deserved something better than him, a rapist a despoiler of virgin.

"Thorne.."

"Damn it Brooke, let it go! You left me last night in middle of our family crisis to run off. You accused me of asking me to marry you in some sort of plot to get Kimberly’s job back."

" I said that I was sorry and that I was wrong."

"Well you know Brooke, sorry doesn’t always change everything. You left last night, storming out. I was worried about you and I couldn’t find you. Then Bridget had a total meltdown and I took all of the brunt of her anger. We should have been there as a team to help her through it instead I had to deal with the not so nice ranting of a very upset young girl."

Brooke felt awful and hurt at the same time. She had been in the garden with Caspian, allowing him to touch her when Thorne was dealing with her daughter. "Thorne, I’m sorry. I promise from now on we will deal with all of our problems together." Pain and shame took a hold of Brooke’s heart. " You done so much for me baby. I’m really sorry I was just so upset about Kimberly. After I left she…… I wish that I could see her for what she really is. I didn’t want to argue with anyone and I needed some time."

" That’s good Brooke because I need some time now."

"What do you mean by that?"

" I mean that I don’t want to deal with this here and neither do you. This isn’t the time or the place to talk about this."

Thorne walked around Brooke. Brooke ran towards him. " Don’t do this.. I don’t want to fight. Yesterday was yesterday and today we talked about announcing our engagement at the party."

Thorne stopped dead in his tracks. He closed his eyes; she was making this so hard for him. Being around her was killing him. He wanted to turn around and cup her face toward his and kiss her. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t care about last night, that he had nothing to forgive her for. He wanted to announce to the whole world that this beautiful woman wanted to marry him and be his life. He couldn’t do that, he couldn’t even think about their live together anymore. He didn’t know what to do so he had to put some distance between them. Picking a fight with her would give him a reprieve for one night until he could think straight.

"Not tonight Brooke. This is Rick’s party for his birthday and I don’t want to outshine his party. Plus I’m not really in the mood to be announcing our engagement at this moment. Look, I basically came here to give Rick his present and then I’m going home, alone."

Thorne walked away and Brooke could only stand there and watch Thorne walk away from her. What had just happened? Thorne didn’t want to announce their engagement, he was that mad.

Bridget was laughing at Jaggar Rick’s friend when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned around and found Scott looking at her.

" Scott… Hi" She pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Jaggar noticed how Bridget body language had become a little nervous when the guy with the dark hair had come up behind her. He had warned Rick that guys would start looking at his sister in a different manner, Rick didn’t believe him.

"Bridget, I gotta go. I want to see if Marla will take a spin with me."

Scott watched Bridget as she smiled by to the guy. " One of your admirers?"

"Who Jagger, no. He’s a friend of Rick. He comes over to go swimming in the pool delights in trying to dunk me. He really just harmless. To tell you the truth, I think he had got a thing for my mom. Once when she was wearing this bikini, he was drooling all over himself."

" So how did your mom take the news?"

" Oh my mom." Bridget sat down at the bar stool." The bartender gave her a curious look he saw her armband. "I’m just sitting here to talk, I don’t want to drink. She looked into Scott’s eyes; they were so clear and such a beautiful blue. She would love to sketch his face.

" Your mom? How did she take the news about the art program?"

" She took really well, but then she had other things on her mind."

"Other thing?"

"Yeah, her newest marriage. She’s going to marry Thorne and live happily ever after."

Scott knew why she had been upset this morning. " So that is why you were so upset this morning."

"How did you know that I was upset this morning?"

Scott closed his eyes, damn how could he had made such a slip like that with Bridget.

" I was having breakfast with my mom this morning and I saw you and CJ at Insomnia."

"You were there?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn’t you come over and say hello?"

" I saw you with CJ and you still had the same dress on from last night. I thought…"

Bridget rolled her eyes. " What did you think? Oh god, you thought that I spent the night with CJ, like as lovers! What type of girl do you think that I am? CJ is my friend he was being nice to me since I was upset, there was nothing to it." Bridget was more than hurt, how could he think that she would sleep with CJ, she was a virgin. She thought that he was different from all the other guys, but he wasn’t. " I gotta go and you have better get your mind out of the gutter."

"Wait Bridget…."

Bridget stormed away from him. Tears welled up in her eyes, she thought that he was her friend but she had been wrong. Had he been nice to her because he thought that she was easy? She had been a fool.

Bridget had been moving so fast through the club looking for a place to hide and to think when she ran into a one of the back room through one of it’s doors. There she walked into Ridge kissing Taylor with passion. Bridget tried to open the door but it locked behind her, the other door was way across the room near Ridge and Taylor.

She couldn’t leave without them noticing her so she moved quietly to the back alcove.

Ridge stroked Taylor’s tongue with his own rubbing against it suggestively. He cupped her bottom and brought her up against his erection. He began to move her against his erection loving the feeling of her against him. He wanted to make love to his wife; she was so beautiful and sweet. He started to unbutton her blouse one button at a time exposing her a beautiful skin and nipping at it. Ridge moved down until all he could see was her gold almost transparent bra. Taylor leaned her head back allowing his exploring tongue to find her. She knew better but her husband was making her feel so wanted.

"Ridge, were are in a club with a bunch of people."

"Come on Doc, I need you. His hands captured her breast; he used his thumbs to rub against her nipples in a sensual manner. It was hard for her to concentrate with his hands on her body.

" Honey, I just got here. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Rick…." Ridge got on his knees and captured her nipple through the material. He licked around the nipple slowly and then caught it between his teeth pinching and suckling in a highly arousing manner.

" Ridge… don’t this isn’t the place for this."

Come on sweetheart, I want you live a little Taylor. …It will be fun. Ridge’s hot breath aroused her nipples as he talked and suckled at the same time.

"Ridge we shouldn’t….ahhhh." His hands moved down her black leather skirt that she had worn and started to pull it up. " Anyway… I’m wanted to talk about this……ahhh god. His hands had found her aching center through her already moist panties. " I want to talk about this dance that you shared with Brooke." Ridge’s fingers slid up her panties and pulled them off.

" Come on Doc, I don’t to talk about that. Logan and I were having a little fun. That’s all, don’t let mother rile you up. Taylor’s panties caught on her high heal and Ridge moved it out of the way. He pulled her blouse off and then opened the front clasp of her bra with his teeth. " I have much more important things to do."

Ridge laid Taylor down on the soft rug. " I don’t want to talk about Brooke right now or what my mother has to say about us dancing. It was harmless fun… just a little dance."

Taylor smiled as she watched him strip out of shirt and moved back down toward her body. Ridge hands caught her skirt and slid it off her body.

" I’ll leave the shoes on, I like it that way."

"Ridge….are you sure you aren’t acting like this because of your little dance with Brooke."

Ridge stopped kissing his wife. "What in the world gave you an idea like that?"

Taylor then smiled. " I’m only joking silly. I know that you would never look at another woman…. I know you love me and always have. I’m not saying that I like you and Brooke dancing with one another but it doesn’t bother me like it used too. I love you and our children and I know that nothing will ever keep us apart again, including Brooke.

Ridge heart clenched, if only she knew how close he had come to messing things up. He was grateful to god that he had been saved; his marriage and family had been saved. There was no way that Taylor would never find out about that night with Morgan.

Ridge stripped out of his clothes and then thrust into his wife. " God, Taylor, you feel so good." Ridge pushed inside his wife as far as he could. Taylor loved the feel of him inside of her. She scored his chest lightly with her fingernail. Ridge laughed and captured his wife’s mouth with hers, he plunged his tongue inside of her mouth as he plunged in and out of her body. He increased his rhythm loving the feel of her. Taylor wrapped his legs around her husband’s waist pulling him deeper inside of her.

Bridget just knew that she was going to throw up listening to Ridge and Taylor have sex wasn’t something that she wanted to do. She tried the door again, but it was locked. Damn it! She refused to stand there and listen to them. She had to get out of here unseen. Bridget got on her hands and knees and crawled on the floor, she crawled to the door. She heard Ridge and Taylor as gave themselves to one another. Silently and reached up to the doorknob, she silently opened the door partway and then squeezed herself through the door. She got outside she sat on the floor. Seeing Taylor and Ridge solidified her resolve, she had no choice but to play that tape tonight.

CJ was eating a bowl of popcorn when Amber came out of her bedroom. He looked at her outfit. "Where are you so dressed up for?"

Amber checked her makeup. " I’m going to Rick’s birthday party and I’m taking the baby."

"What!" CJ jumped up and knocked over the bowl sitting on his lap. " You are taking Eric to a club. Amber are you thinking straight? You can’t take a baby to a club."

" I’m not going to be there too long. Besides Rick really would like to see him. It’s his birthday, don’t be mad."

CJ made a face. " You do know that Brooke and Thorne will be there."

" CJ look, I don’t care about Brooke. She isn’t going to be mean to me because Rick and Stephanie won’t let her." Amber turned toward CJ and smiled, she put her arms around his shoulders. " Come on CJ, I don’t want to go alone. I won’t have anyone to talk to. Please go with me, I don’t want you to be mad at me. You and little Eric are all I have. Please come on….it will be fun, we could dance."

" What about Eric Amber?"

"I’m sure that the Forresters will watch him for a while."

"No Brooke or Thorne! I don’t want them anywhere near my son. That’s why I …."

"Why you are being so mean to Rick. Listen CJ, I’m not defending what Brooke or Thorne, but are your really being fair to Rick. It isn’t his fault this happened…you know it."

CJ refused to say anything, but Bridget had basically said the same thing as well as the girl named Eve. CJ wasn’t sure he knew what to do; he needed to support his sister. He had been so busy dealing with Becky that he sister hadn’t come to him when she needed support. His poor mother had been dealing with the situation best as she could, but she was having a hard time dealing with the Forresters. How would it look if he went to Rick’s party?

" Please CJ, for me." Amber smiled her sweetest smile.

"Look what walked through the door. Damn, look at her. Her t*ts are a fest for any man." Ryan hit his two friends on their backs. Dylan and Mike turned toward the door. Mike smiled.

"God must be blessing me tonight. I have never seen Eve look like that."

Ryan put down in drink. " Eve is definitely looking hot, no doubt, but I’m talking about the blond." The guys watched as if they were under a spell as two beautiful sirens walked down the stairs. Eve was sexy in her low rider tight blue jeans, her one shoulder black shirt stretched across her perk breast as tied above her bare waist. Her black hair, which she normally kept up, floated well past her shoulders and almost down to her waist.

Trudie looked the totally part of a sex kitten, she too wore low rider jeans expect hers were black, her shirt was a tiger print that was so thin if one looked hard enough they could see her nipples of her voluminous breast. Her shirt ended just below her breast and her waist was bare for all to see. The words PUS$Y was written on the front of her shirt in black tiger scratched like letters, it wasn’t until a person saw the back of her shirt that the words CAT greeted them. Her makeup was flawless and her hair was corn rolled in the front, caught in t clasp and styled in a wild manner that looked erotic on her.

Eve stopped walking once to got close to the crush of the people. "Are you sure that we are doing the right thing?"

Trudie laughed. " Don’t even think about changing your mind. You look great and I look great. Rikki boy is here somewhere. I’m in the mood for dancing and we are NOT going home. I am going to dance, now find your man and ask him to dance with you."

Eve watched as Trudie pulled the guy who was sitting in on the chair made her way on the dance floor with him.

Eve made her way to the bar and got an iced tea. She felt some home breathe touch her neck. "Eve, I never seen you look this way." Eve turned toward Dylan.

"Hi Dylan"

"How come you don’t dress this way all the time?"

"What do you want?"

"Come and dance with me."

"Not now, I just need time to think."

"Eve, if you want to dance with Rick, you had better do it soon. I hear that Kimberly is here, although I hadn’t seen her yet."

" I don’t know what you are talking about?" Eve bit into a natural corn chip with salsa.

"Yeah, you do. If for some reason you change your mind, let me know."

Eve nodded. A few more guys asked her to dance, but there was only one person she wanted to dance with.

Rick was laughing at Marcus, he was a real riot when his eyes were drawn toward the bar. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Eve was standing there looking at him and she was beautiful. He got up and walked straight toward her, he couldn’t help himself.

He walked until he was standing directly in front of her.

"Hi"

Eve smiled. " Happy Birthday Rick"

" I’m surprised that you came." He watched in awe as she moved her beautiful hair behind her shoulder. It was a beautiful yet sensuous movement.

" Trudie wanted to come… I couldn’t let her come alone."

Disappointment raced through his body. She hadn’t come to see him, what had he expected. She had come only for the party.

"You’ve come just for the party?"

"Is there anything else that I should have come for? Free food, free drinks." Eve gave Rick a devilish smile. " Great guys. In fact that cute Dylan asked me to dance, I think that I might take him up on his offer." Eve moved away from Rick.

" No, wait!"

Eve smiled to herself, this was working. Trudie was right, playing nice didn’t get you anywhere and she wanted Rick.

"What is the problem Rick?"

" Would you like to dance with me?"

"Why?"

"Why what Eve?"

"Why would I want to dance with you Rick? Shouldn’t you be dancing with YOUR girlfriend, the Princess?"

"Don’t do this Eve. Please, I want to dance with you."

How could she say no to him, he was so sweet at times as well as cute. She heard a slow song come over the speakers. Rick extended his hand toward her and she took it. He led her out on the dance floor. His body was so close to hers as Sara McLachon’s "I Love You" played. His eyes caught hers and they looked deeply at each other, the music captivating them. His hands wrapped around her waist, she was small so fragile looking. He leaned forward and smelled the rose scent of her shampoo; her hair cascaded all around her. She was beautiful and light. Eve closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest and just felt. He felt her body mold to his, she was so right in his arms.

"This is what I needed." He whispered against her ear. She didn’t move; she closed her eyes. " I needed to be near you Eve, if only for one dance. Eve looked up into his eyes. Rick wanted to say more, but she stopped him with her fingers.

" Don’t Rick, don’t say things or make promises you know that you can’t keep." Tears glistened in her eyes. " Don’t say anything." Rick’s finger traced the mark that the tear made across her cheek.

"I never wanted to hurt you Eve."

" I know Rick… I know."

Eve put her head back down on Rick’s chest. Rick kissed the top of Eve head and then closed his eyes. If things had been different he could tell Eve that he loved her.

Brooke watched her son, she had been right there was something between her son and that girl. She wanted to know more about this girl who seemed to make her son smile. She would be careful this time, she had once thought that Kimberly was the best thing for her son she had been very wrong about her. Brooke turned to find Stephanie standing behind her smiling. Brooke tried to move around her.

"Not so fast."

Brooke gave Stephanie an annoyed look. "What do you want now?"

"He is getting tired of your antics isn’t he?"

"What?"

"Thorne, I saw him with you." Stephanie began to smile. "He doesn’t want anything to do with you. He couldn’t get away from you fast enough."

"You don’t know what you are talking about." Brooke tried to move but Stephanie grabbed her arm tight.

"Yes I do. My son is finally seeing you for who you are you tramp and soon you will lose everything."

Brooke pulled against Stephanie’s hold. " Get your hands off of my you bitch, or I won’t be responsible for what I’ll do. I’ve been dying to get back at you after all that you have done to me." Stephanie let go of Brooke’s arm.

" It’s all falling apart isn’t it? I saw the way that he practically ran from you. What happened Brooke did he hear about your dance with Ridge? I knew that you still wanted Ridge and that you were using Thorne. Just like Eric and Ridge did. Ridge doesn’t want you, he has Taylor and now, thank god, my baby is opening his eyes."

Brooke had had it with Stephanie’s attitude. She would never admit it, but what Stephanie had said has struck a cord. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did know that Thorne was pulling away from her.

" It won’t be long now. Finally, finally my son sees you for what you are. I didn’t have anything to do with it and my son is seeing you for a whore that your are."

"I’m sick of hearing your filth. Thorne loves me and we are getting married." Brooke showed Stephanie her ring. " See we are getting married and there is nothing that you can do about. Nothing your crazy family can do about it."

Stephanie saw the ring on Brooke’s finger. But she moved in for the kill anyway. She started to laugh. " My son will never marry you. He is learning what you really are."

Brooke refused to be intimidated by Stephanie. " You are such a miserable old woman. You got everything you wanted back, you got Eric. Taylor and Ridge are together but that isn’t enough. You don’t even talk to your own son. You’ve always treated Thorne like he was a second-class citizen, like he didn’t matter. All you ever wanted was Ridge and Thorne never matter at all." Brooke moved closer right into the face of Stephanie. "I love him and would do anything for him. I’ve always cared about Thorne, been for him just like he had been there for me. You are a monster; you’d hurt your son without thought or feeling. You cut him out of your life yet you try to tell him how to life his life. Just get away from me old woman before I do something that I’ve always wanted to do. SMACK YOU!" Brooke took a menacing step toward Stephanie.

"That’s enough Brooke." Eric stepped between the two women. " I think that you should hold your temper Stephanie had been through enough."

Brooke looked up to the ceiling and counted to 10 hoping for patience. " As usual Eric you have the situation all wrong. She is the one who started it and I don’t mind ending it. But you know what this isn’t the place for this, not today. But be rest assured, I’m going to end it one day real soon." Brooke looked back at Stephanie. " Bring on your best, it doesn’t matter soon none of you are going to matter at all. Thorne and I will be married and you will no longer be a thought in my mind or his." Brooke walked away from Eric and Stephanie, outside she looked confinement and in control, but inside she was shaking. It wasn’t what Stephanie had said; instead it was how Thorne had acted toward her. Brooke sat down at one of the tables in the corner of the club.

"Are you OK Brooke?"

KC sat down next to Brooke. " I saw you and Stephanie, I figured that it wasn’t a good conversation."

"She was her normal nasty hateful self, but that isn’t what is bothering me."

"What is bothering you?"

"Thorne, he is upset with me."

" I’m surprised by that. I’ve seen you to together, he adores the ground that you walk on."

Brooke poured herself a glass of champagne. " Well he isn’t in an adoring mood right now." Brooke drank from her champagne flute and stared off into space.

" What happened?"

" Dinner last night, we got into this fight. I accused Thorne of asking me to marry him to butter me up to giving Kimberly her job back."

KC sighed. " Brooke"

" I know, I knew that I was wrong when I said it. I was just mad. Anyway, Bridget reacted badly to the news that we were getting married and I was pissed at everyone at that moment. I just left Thorne in the middle of the mess. I just needed time to think and to clear my head." Brooke’s mind went back to last night in the garden with Caspian. " I lost my head I wasn’t thinking. Now Thorne is really angry at me, he says that he needs time."

"He’s that mad?"

"Apparently, we were supposed to announce our engagement tonight, but now he doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t even want to be here. God, KC, I love him. I made a mistake, I want him to know that I’m sorry for what I did."

"Brooke I think that you and I both know that me are a lot like boys when they get upset. They need their ego stroked when especially when they get upset. What you have to do is to take his mind off his anger. I think that a woman like you can do something as easily distract Thorne enough for him to get over his hurt."

Brooke got the point of KC’s message as well as an idea. " It wouldn’t be fair though, trying to distract Thorne when he is mad." Brooke started to smile. " But who says that I have to play fair."

" All if fair in love in war isn’t it."

"And no body can do love like me." Brooke laughed. " You are right KC, I just have to distract Thorne and after a night with me he will forget all about being angry. In morning, I can tell him how I feel."

KC sipped her champagne. " Sounds like s plan to me, seduction 101"

"Seduction 101, that sounds like a course that I could teach." Both Brooke and KC looked to see Lauren standing in front their table with a smile on her face.

Brooke got up and hugged Lauren. " Lauren, you made it."

" Of course I did, a club full of men. Did you have any doubts that I wouldn’t come?"

" Lauren, I want you to meet someone. Lauren, this is KC Hunter, our newest designer."

Lauren turned to KC. " KC… my god, it’s been ages."

KC’s face lit up. " Lauren… …" The two women started to laugh and talk at the same time.

Brooke stood back surprised. "You two know each other?"

Lauren put her arm around KC. " Sure we do.. the last time we saw each other we were in Monte Carlo, I think that we even drunk the men under the tables that night."

KC remembered that night. " Lauren, do you remember that count who wanted to pay you an exorbitant amount of money to sleep with you?"

"Yeah, I would still be buying furs with the money that mad wanted to pay me."

KC nodded her head. " You should have seen that man, he looked like Tattoo from Fantasy Island, but he was really nice."

All three women laughed and sat down. Brooke got another glass and poured champagne into each of the glasses. Lauren noticed the ring on Brooke’s finger.

"It seems that we have another Forrester wedding to attend soon."

Brooke glanced at her ring. " Yeah, we will real soon."

"So KC, where is Jackson, you two are never far apart from one another."

Brooke saw a look of distain on KC’s face; this was the first time that she had seen the designer be anything but happy.

" Jackson and I went our separate ways a while ago."

Lauren didn’t want to pressure KC but wondered what had happened. Jackson had been KC’s best friend for years; the two were inseparable. What could have happened to ruin their friendship?

" I had better be looking around for my son Scott, he’d be upset if I didn’t say hi."

"Wait, Scott, is your son?"

"Yeah"

KC started to laugh. " Now I see where he gets if from, of course he belongs to you. Your son is one handsome man and a wonderful designer".

" I thought that if he wanted to be a designer, Forrester would be the best place for him to learn. You know when he talked about working with a new designer, I didn’t pay attention to your name, I should have."

Connor came over to the table. " Hello ladies. I’d hate to bother you all, but I wanted to ask this beautiful lady out on the dance floor." Connor extended his hand toward KC. KC smiled.

"See you ladies later." KC left with Connor to dance. Brooke and Lauren looked at the couple dancing.

"How long have they been seeing each other?"

" I didn’t know that they were. I knew that Connor was interested in her. He deserves to be happy and the way that she seems to make him smile, he is really happy."

"Speaking of everyone being happy. I have a business proposition to make to you."

"Really, do you have any free time in your schedule?"

"For the woman who is going to run my company while I’m gone, of course I do."

"Are you sure that you still want to do this Brooke. You’ve lived here for such a long time. Are you sure you want to leave."

Brooke thought about Stephanie. " I’m sure, I want to leave this place as soon as I can. Victor was right suggestion you Lauren. You know enough about business and the quality of fashion and although there have been times that I could strangle you. I know that I can trust you with my business." Brooke grinned. " Plus having you around would annoy Stephanie, not as much as me, but it will do the job. What about you Lauren you would be giving up 3 years of your life."

"My second in command, Susan, is wonderful. I’d be able to do it. Plus getting a little Forrester stock as my end reward in certainly worth it."

Brooke picked up her glass. " Then I suggest that we toast to our new business venture."

Lauren toasted Brooke. " Well, I’m going to find someone to dance with. As much as I like you Brooke, I left a very attractive man alone in his hotel room tonight to make this party."

"That doesn’t sound like you."

"He and I are going to have business venture. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t mix a little business and pleasure." Lauren smiled and shuttered. "He is like a total god."

"Sounds interesting"

Lauren thought about Mr. Deangleo. "He is."

Thorne looked down at the bar, he wanted a drink. He had talked to Rick and had already given him his present. He didn’t know why he was here. He had stayed on the second floor of the club in the dark wanting to stay out of sight. His eyes however never left Brooke for more than a few moments. She was so beautiful and full of life, and he had hurt her. He really didn’t have a choice.

"Thorne" He closed his eyes, he heard that voice, the voice of the young girl that he had hurt.

"Kimberly" Thorne turned his tortured eyes on the girl. He looked over her in her white spaghetti strapped shirt and her white Capri pants. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail; she looked young, fresh and out of place here in this nightclub. He didn’t know how to approach her to talk to her. " I have better go Kimberly."

Kimberly reached out to him. " Don’t go.. Please Thorne… I need you."

Thorne’s head was pounding; he needed a drink so badly. " How can you say that you need me…after what I did to you last night. How can you even look at me?"

"Because I know the truth, I know that you didn’t mean it." Kimberly crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. " You were drunk and confused and you really thought that I was Brooke. I could have fought harder, but I didn’t. But I had time to think all day, I can’t hate you. You’ve been my friend."

"God, Kimberly. Don’t you know what I am? I’m a monster! I took advantage of you, I forced you to have sex with me." Thorne sat down in his chair, his chest heaved with the anger that coursed through his body toward himself.

" No!" Kimberly knelt in front of him. She touched his face. "Don’t say that. You aren’t a monster. You are a good man Thorne, you thought that I was Brooke." Kimberly gave Thorne a worried look. " You are so kind and loving. You were a good husband to my sister, a good friend to Rick. And you’ve wonderful friend to me. I don’t know how I would have gotten through all of this without you. I’ve lost so much Thorne. My mother, my father, my sister and I saw Rick with Eve. I know that I’m losing him too. I’ve lost my job…please" Kimberly broke down with tears. " Please don’t tell me that I’ve lost you too, I couldn’t take it."

What was Kimberly saying; didn’t she see him for the monster that he was? "Kimberly, what are you saying?"

"You’ve been my friend. I don’t to lose you Thorne because of last night."

" You are worried me? After all that I did, you are worried about me?"

" Of course I am. I care about you. I see what you are doing to yourself. I see that you are pulling yourself away from me." Kimberly stood up and turned her back on Thorne. "You don’t want to be near me anymore…"

"How could you possibly want me to be near you?" How could you want to even talk to me? Aren’t you hurt about what happened?"

"Yes, I’m upset." Kimberly turned to Thorne. " If I could change things I would…but I need you, I talk to you about what happened. I can’t talk to anyone else. Please, please don’t abandon me…. I need you….please don’t turn your back on me. "

Thorne went toward Kimberly and took her into his arms. He held Kimberly while she wept; it amazed him how gentle of a soul she was. She didn’t blame him, but he did. He couldn’t turn his back on her, he had raped her and he had to help heal her. He held her for a while until she stopped crying; when she finished he got a tissue and wiped her tears. He took her hands into his. " You don’t have to worry Kimberly, I would never turn my back on you. Do you understand what I’m saying? I’m going to help you get through this. I can never give back what I took from you but I’m going to try my best to be there for you any way that you need me. Any time day or night, I’ll help you."

"This will be just between us right, you won’t tell Brooke or Rick what happened will you? They will never forgive us."

"Kimberly, you’ve done nothing for them to forgive. I’m the one who….I’m the one who did everything wrong."

" Just promise me that this will be our secret and you will never tell. I love Rick and he would never look at me the same way if he knew. You’ve got to promise me that you will never tell anyone that happened."

Thorne’s heart constricted, he was hurting so much. " I promise you that I won’t tell anyone and I promise you that I will help you. From now on you come first, you come before everyone and anything." Kimberly hugged Thorne and Thorne’s eyes found Brooke. He didn’t have a choice; Kimberly would have to come before the woman who meant everything to him. Kimberly sighed as she molded her body against Thorne. She was finally getting everything she wanted.

Brooke had looked for Thorne but she hadn’t been able to find him. Not wanting to spoil the mood of the party she had danced the Booty Call line dance with KC, Lauren, Megan and a couple of Forrester Models. It had been a lot of fun learning a new dance; she only wished that Thorne had been there. She knew that he hadn’t gone yet, but she wondered where he had been hiding himself. She’d find him and then she’d make him forget all about their silly argument. At this moment, she had to find Bridget, it was time that they played the video for Rick and at least cut the cake open.

Brooke walked over toward Rick and Eve who were eating spicy Hot Wings. Rick was laughing at something that Eve was saying. He saw his mom and stopped laughing.

"Mom" He tried to rise.

"Don’t get up Rick, I don’t want to ruin your good time. I was wondering if you had seen your sister, I wanted to ask her something."

"I haven’t seen her for a while."

Brooke waited for Rick to introduce his friend to her. " Rick aren’t you going to introduce your friend to me?"

Eve stood up, " Hi Mrs. Forrester I’m Eve" Brooke smiled at the girl.

"Eve it’s nice to meet you. Since you are obviously a good friend of my son, you can call me Brooke."

"Ok, Brooke"

"Well, I don’t want to interrupt your conversation. I should get going."

"Mom"

"Yes, Rick."

"Thanks for the party. It’s really cool."

"Well, Stephanie and Eric pretty much planned the whole thing.

" I know it was your idea mom and you’ve been very busy. I appreciate it."

" Oh honey, I love you. All I want is for you to be happy." Brooke hugged Rick while her son hugged her back.

"I’m going to leave you to your party and your friend. She smiled at Eve. " It’s nice meeting you again Eve. Maybe one day next week we could have lunch." Eve was surprised by the invitation; she looked at Rick who looked equally surprised.

"Sure Mrs. Forrester."

Brooke walked away.

"Did you know that she was going to do that?"

" No, I’m just as surprised as you. Mom doesn’t normally do that."

Eve wondered what Brooke wanted with her.

Ridge hugged Taylor from behind as she laughed that something Giovanni said. She turned toward her husband and kissed him.

" I love you Ridge Forrester."

" And I love you too Taylor Forrester."

He held his wife tight to him, he life was perfect.

Brooke found Bridget by the DJ requesting a song. " There you are sweetie, I’ve been looking all over for you.

" I’ve been all over."

"Bridget, I think that it is time that we play Rick’s video, did you give to the light’s man.

"Yeah, I did. I did that when I first got here."

"Okay sweetie." Brooke looked at her daughter. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah mom. Everything is going as well as it should."

Brooke took the mike from the DJ and walked onto the stage, the Dj cut the music.

"Attention, attention everyone." The partygoers stopped dancing and eating and looked at Brooke. " For those of you who don’t know who I am, I’m Rick’s mother."

"You don’t look like any mother that I’ve seen! Your Hot!" A voice rang out from the club. A couple of guys whistled.

Brooke laughed. " Thanks …anyway we are all here for a special occasion and that’s Rick’s birthday. Of course we normally have the birthday cake and we will, but before we get to the cake and the well wishes of others. Rick’s family has worked together for a special presentation. Please turn your attention to the large screen behind me." Brooke turned her attention to her son. " Rick, happy birthday sweetheart."

Everyone attention turned toward the screen, music filtered throughout the club and everyone waited for a video presentation on Rick. Suddenly the music was outcasted by sounds of a man moaning and a woman’s sigh. The on lookers were shown an image of a man and a woman in a bed; the man was thrusting hard inside of the woman’s body. Suddenly the man’s image became clear, it was Ridge’s image. He was thrusting hard inside of the woman and suckling on her breast.

"Ohhh, Ridge just like that…"

Ridge’s image closed his eyes and pumped harder. " Morgan…. Please…Morgan."

Amber and Cj walked down the stairs of the club and they were greeted with the video.

CJ grinned at Amber. " Whoa… if this is what Forrester birthday parties are like, I’m going to them more often. Amber hit Cj in the arm but tried not to laugh, it wasn’t everyday you got to see Ridge’s bare ass.

The whole club was in frenzy. Some were shocked at the image of two individuals having sex. Most of Rick’s friends made catcalls and whistled they excited by shocking tape. Others who knew about Ridge Forrester’s devotion to his wife mouths flew open.

 

Eric looked at his wife.

Bridget smiled at her handiwork.

Stephanie stood up and clutched her chest.

Rick knocked his drink over on Eve by accident.

Brooke’s mouth dropped open saying " Oh God, Ridge."

Thorne who was coming out of the bathroom stood dead in his tracks.

Lauren grinned appreciating a nice view of Ridge’s well-toned body and butt.

Connor shook his head at video; Ridge Forrester was caught with his pants down literary.

However, one woman’s world fell apart as she watched her husband having sex with her

best friend.

Against All Odds Part 42 (Things Fall Apart)

The club was in frenzy and Rick’s friends were having a better time than they ever thought they’d have. No one would ever forget this party. Overhead the video played and Ridge moved so that he was on his back and that Morgan on over top of him riding him hard. Their breath was labored and Ridge’s moans echoed throughout the club.

Stephanie couldn’t talk, her breath became labored and sweet broke out on her forehead. Eric grabbed his wife by her shoulder and sat her down.

" Stephanie… please calm down." Eric took her face between his two hands. " Honey please, calm down. I can’t afford for you to have another stroke." Eric put his face in front of Stephanie and pulled her close to him and rocked her back and forth. "Calm down honey…please just calm down." Stephanie struggled for her breath, she had to clam down or that whore would get away with everything. She couldn’t believe that she had done this, that she would go to such lengths to destroy her son’s marriage. Eric nodded to one of Rick’s friends, Darius. " Please go and get some water from the bar for me." Daurius, a good-looking black man in his earlier twenties, came back with the water.

"Mr. Forrester, is Mrs. Forrester going to be okay. She looks really pale. I know that she had a stroke earlier. I’m pre-med. I had better take her pulse."

Eric nodded and moved to that Daurius moved and took Stephanie’s pulse. He looked at Stephanie.

" Mrs. Forrester, I know that you must be a little upset, but you have got to calm down. You won’t to be able to do anything about what happened here tonight if you don’t calm down."

Stephanie looked at the young man. What he said was true, but she was so mad. "Eric…" She closed her eyes. " That bitch she did this, I don’t know how she did it but she did. Nobody believes me, but she is going to ruin Ridge and Taylor’s marriage." Stephanie tried to get up. " Ridge… Ridge!"

Daurius didn’t know what to say. " Mr. Forrester, you had better get her somewhere, she really needs to calm down." Eric took Stephanie by the hand and walked her toward the back room overhead he heard Brooke voice.

Brooke had run over to the video projectionist and had them to stop running the tape. She had grabbed the mike. " Ladies and gentlemen… I’m very sorry obviously that wasn’t Rick’s birthday tape."

"Come on Mrs. Forrester show us more!" " Yeah" Some of Rick’s friends were yelling and whistling.

"Brooke gave the crowd an annoyed look. " Enough kiddies.." Brooke smiled again.

"We are going to put some music on and later on we will have the birthday cake."

Brooke got off the stage and the DJ put some music on. Trudie glanced at guys around her. " You heard the lady lets party." Trudie started to dance throwing her head around and started to dance. Most of the party goers started to dance however those who knew about Taylor and Ridge Forrester turned to look at what they knew would be a fight, first hand.

All around Taylor people said nothing; they didn’t know what to say to her. Some of the women glared daggers at Ridge for his callous treatment of his beautiful wife. Giovanni who was next to Taylor moved quietly away. Ridge who was shocked, as hell about the videotape said nothing as he held his wife. He felt the stiffness in her body and then the tremors that seemed to rock her body from the inside out. Taylor’s whole world seemed to fall apart, she closed her eyes and counted to three, it was a trick it had to be. Someone was playing a horrible horrible trick on her and Ridge. Someone was doing their best to destroy the relationship that they worked so hard for. Ridge wouldn’t have done that to her and to their children. Ridge loved her and their lives together; he would never jeopardize their lives together. He wouldn’t do this to them… he would never betray her. Taylor opened her eyes and felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her breath became labored as she tried to breathe. Ridge saw the changes in his wife’s body; he knew that she was falling apart. Ridge reached out to his wife as she took a shaky foot away from her. "Taylor" There was so much pain in his voice as he tried to reach her. In that movement, when she looked at him and saw the pain in his face, she knew the truth. The tape was real, he had betrayed her. It was all there written on his face.

Taylor began to shake her head in denial. " My god, my god! Tell me Ridge, tell me that…that tape is a fake."

Ridge stepped toward his wife; she was shaking at looking at him like she had never seen him before. " Doc… Taylor.. Please, just let me explain." He went to take her hands and she pulled back.

"NO! Get your hands off of me." The rage in her face and in her voice. " Just tell me..Damn you Ridge tell me the truth!" Taylor’s chest began to heave she wasn’t aware of the people around her who had a first hand show of her wrath.

"Taylor… " Ridge touched his heart and bowed his head. Tears filled his eyes. " I love you… I’m sorry."

The intense pain hit her so hard that she couldn’t walk or move. She fell to her knees hugging her stomach, which felt like it had suffered the biggest blow that it had ever received. " No… no… no!" She cried in racking tears, her pain there for the entire world to see. Ridge’s face clenched with the pain of seeing what this had done to his wife. How in the world had that videotape get into that tape projector. How in the world had Morgan done this? At this moment, that really didn’t matter, all that mattered was explaining things to his wife and begging her forgiveness.

"Taylor… please, just let me explain…. Let me help you." Ridge walked toward the crying heap that was his beloved wife. Ridge reached out to touch Taylor on the shoulder.

" NO!" Taylor looked up at her wildly husband with complete rage. She crawled across the floor to the other side of the room. She looked at Ridge shaking her head over and over. " Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, don’t touch me, and don’t touch me." She whispered the chant over and over as if came over her. She then looked around and saw all the people who were looking at her. They knew… they all knew that her husband had lied to her that he cheated on her. They had all seen what she had seen. Ridge making love to Morgan, enjoying himself, groaning to be inside of her, wanting her, needing her. Her…over and over again….her…..all the months….all the nights…….he had been sleeping with Morgan. Her husband and her best friend had been making a fool out her every moment that they could.

Ridge had never seen his wife like this; he had to get her out of here to take her home to listen to truth. Nothing but the truth could save him now. " Taylor, please…this isn’t the place for this. Come with me we could go to the backroom and talk, please baby don’t do this like this. You are upset."

Taylor started to laugh hysterically at her husband. " Take it to the backroom…don’t let anyone see the fabulous Forrester marriage for what is really is." Taylor stood up and faced her husband. " Why don’t we let the world see what this marriage really is RIDGE!" Taylor wiped the tears from her face angrily. " Why not let them see what is going on in the Best Couple In Fashion’s life. Why not let them see how the great reformed playboy Ridge Forrester had CHEATED on his adoring and incredibly stupid wife." Taylor looked left and right at the people. " You want to see it don’t you. How the renowned doctor deals with her cheating, lying husband."

Ridge grabbed his wife. " Doc, don’t do this, please."

"Get your damn hands off of me." Taylor retched herself away from Ridge. " You will never touch me again. When I think about all the times that we have made love….my god, tonight I let you fu(k me in that back room …and you been inside of that bitch. How could you sleep with her and then coming crawling into our marriage bed?"

"Doc, it wasn’t like that.."

"It wasn’t like that? What WAS IT LIKE? What are you going to tell me Ridge, that wasn’t you up there in your full glory fucking Morgan." Taylor’s hair flew around her shoulders as she argued with Ridge.

" I know what it looked like, but you don’t understand what was really going on…"

" I know… I know exactly what was going on. I saw it with my own eyes what was going on. I didn’t see it under my own nose. All the signs were there but I didn’t listen." Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose, tears streamed down her face. Taylor looked at Ridge with hate. Taylor’s voice deadly quiet. " I didn’t listen to anyone when they warned me…. your mother warned me about her." Tears ran down her cheek. "Brooke warned me and I didn’t even listen to her. Maybe because she saw the truth…who knows maybe you’ve been sleeping with her TOO."

"Taylor, you know that isn’t true. I don’t want to talk about Morgan…. She did this, she is the one.."

Taylor’s face turned to one a full malice. " Don’t you dare blame your infidelity all on her. You are there in bed with her. You are the one who threw away our marriage and our family."

" Taylor, that isn’t the truth. I love you and our children. I know that it doesn’t seem like that now, but it is the truth. If you’d let me explain what that tape was all about… Morgan tricked me…"

Taylor covered her mouth with her hand, hoping not to throw up all over the floor. "She tricked you Ridge. She tricked you into bedding her and sleeping with her right. RIGHT! It was an accident, wasn’t it? You accidentally put your d*ck inside of her and enjoyed yourself. Well, I hope the fu(king was the ride of you life. Because it cost you… it has cost you our marriage, our children and me. Taylor took of her wedding rings and threw that at Ridge. I will never ever forgive you. Don’t come near me or our children because I won’t be responsible for what I’d do to you." Taylor tore off with Ridge following her.

"Rick, are you sure that you like it." Rick looked at the beautiful print that Eve had given him for his birthday. He looked over at her, she had been by his side all night. When the videotape of Ridge’s affair with Morgan surfaced, she had quietly slid her hand into his and squeezed it. She hadn’t laughed or shown disapproval, she just looked at him and gave him comfort. She hadn’t been shocked or appalled she just stood there and gave him her support in silent stare. Amber walked over to Rick and a pretty brunette; she watched how Rick looked at the girl. She couldn’t believe it, if she didn’t know better; she’d think that Rick was involved with that girl. It couldn’t possible, Rick was going out with Kimberly, and there wasn’t any way that she was going to loosen her hooks on Rick. Rick looked up, he couldn’t believe his eyes, and Amber was here with Little Eric.

"Hi, Rick"

"Amber… I’m glad that you can make it." Rick walked around the table and took Eric from Amber.

"Hey little buddy. How are you doing?" Rick smiled and played with the little boy that he had called son for many years. Amber watched and smiled.

"It’s nice to see him with Eric, he has really missed him". Eve stood beside Amber.

Amber looked at Eve. " You seem to know a lot about Rick" Amber eye’s narrowed. "Who are you exactly?"

"Just a friend of Rick."

"A friend uhha…" Amber looked Eve up and down. " Do you know that he has a blonde oh wait a minute, the bitch changed her hair? Oh well, he has a girlfriend. Believe me, she isn’t stepping aside for anyone and Mama Brooke ain’t going to like you sniffing around her baby boy."

Eve kept her cool; there was no reason to get upset, Amber thought that she was helping.

" I don’t know what you mean, like I said before Amber, Rick and I are just friends."

"How did you know my name?"

"You were married to him, I know about you."

"Oh,… listen honey, I’m not trying to scare you or anything. I just don’t want you gets your hopes up. Rick and Kimberly are a done deal."

Eve knew what Amber was telling her wasn’t anything new, but Eve didn’t like it.

Rick looked around to find Amber and Eve looking at each other.

"Amber, this is Eve."

"We’ve met, haven’t we Eve?"

Rick walked over to the two girls. He waved Eric’s hand toward Eve. "Eric, this is Eve. Isn’t she pretty?" Eve smiled at the baby and took his hand. Eric smiled up at him.

"He really is a cute little fella." Eve smiled; she really had a soft heart when it came to kids. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure you can.."

Amber paled, she wasn’t sure that she wanted this girl around Eric. " Rick, I’m not sure." Amber reached out toward Eric. " Eric doesn’t like strangers"

Rick gave Amber a surprised look. " Eric will like Eve, she is a really good with kids."

Amber glanced at Eve. "How would you know, does she have any?"

"No, Amber I don’t have any children. Although I can understand any woman wanting to be this precious baby’s mother." Eve reached out and took Eric in her arms.

Brooke had seen the horrible fight between Ridge and Taylor; she didn’t know what to say. What in the world would cause Ridge to cheat on Taylor with Morgan? She knew first hand how much he loved Taylor and their children.

"Oh, Ridge, what have you done."

"Don’t feel so sorry for him Brooke, he bought it on himself." Connor said. " This is just typical Ridge behavior no regard for anyone besides himself."

KC shook her head. " This is pretty bad. Did you know that something that was going on between them?"

Brooke looked at the wedding rings that were glistening on the floor. She walked over and picked them up. " No… I didn’t see this coming. I warned Taylor about Morgan to get her goat but I didn’t think that Ridge would actually cheat on Taylor. I figured that if he were to every cheat it would…"

"have been with you." Brooke gave Connor an annoyed look. " I’m sorry Brooke but I’m only calling it how everyone else would see it."

KC rolled her eyes at Connor. " I’m quite sure that Brooke wouldn’t do such a thing."

Brooke looked at the rings sitting her hands. " I don’t know, there was a time that I would have done anything to have Ridge."

KC touched Brooke on the arm. " Are you alright?"

" Yeah, I’d never thought I’d say this. I almost feel sorry for Taylor." Brooke looked up at the video screen, which showed different people dancing on the center dance floor.

"She didn’t deserve to find out like that, it was really humiliating and I wouldn’t want to wish that anyone. Even Taylor…" Brooke looked around the club. " I’ve got to find Thorne…"

Brooke walked away looking for Thorne.

Connor wrapped his arms around KC from the back. He kissed her neck. "What’s wrong with Brooke?"

KC squeezed his hands, which were wrapped around her. " She and Thorne had a fight."

" I hadn’t seen him today. Is it serious?"

"No, I don’t think so, but he was mad at her. I hope that everything is going to be okay. I can’t help but to feel sorry for Taylor, I don’t know her but I feel sorry for her."

"Taylor is a wonderful woman. She’s been through a lot because of Ridge. Ridge doesn’t know how to treat any woman, for years he had Brooke under his spell. Whenever she got involved with someone he ruined it, he didn’t like anyone getting in the way of his prize."

" You were in the way?"

Connor thought about how much he had loved Brooke and how Ridge, although married to Taylor ruined things. " Yeah, I was in the way."

KC turned and watched Connor. "Do you still have feelings for Brooke?"

Connor clasped her face between his two hands. " I love Brooke but only as a friend. I got over her a long time ago. I want her find happiness."

" I just don’t want to get involved with you if you still have feelings for her."

"Are we KC? Are we getting involved with one another?"

KC closed her eyes. Had she misread things between herself and Connor. Maybe they were spending time together. " I’m sorry I think that I misunderstood the situation."

"No KC, you didn’t. I care about you and have feelings for you. I would like this thing between us to grow. You are so beautiful, smart and fun. I haven’t had so much fun in a long time KC."

" Do you really know what you are getting into?"

"Why would you ask me such a question? Why wouldn’t I want to spend my time with someone like you?"

KC couldn’t help but to smile. Connor was an interesting man. "Connor we have some big differences and not everyone is going to feel comfortable about it."

"Because you are black and I’m white."

"Yes, Connor. One of these days when we are out someone who you respect or care about is going make a comment."

"Are you afraid of that?"

"No, I’m not. Look I’ve dated black men and I love them. You however are would be the second white man that I’ve dated. I will admit; things would be easier if you were black."

" I’m not, KC I can’t change that."

"I’m not asking you to change that Connor. I know who you are. It’s just that I’ve been through this sort of thing before."

Connor clasped KC’s hand. " Did you and other man break up because of your different races?"

" No, Jean Paul and I had a really nice relationship. We were in Paris and it is a little different there. I will admit my parents weren’t too happy about it. But I am a grown woman and I came into the mix of a lot of different men and all sorts of races. I just know what’s coming down the line of both sides. There will be blacks and whites who will have some major issues with this. Some people will say that I’m making it seem that there are no great black men out there when that isn’t the case. There will be woman who will feel that I’ve stolen something from them."

"You don’t care about what other people say. I do know that about you. If you were like that KC, you would never have taken this job at Forrester."

"It’s not me Connor, I’m thinking about you. You have a lot going for you and I’d admit that having me around would make you loosen up." KC smiled. " But I also know that some pretty important people wouldn’t like it. I just want you to be ready. Like I said the other night, if this is some sort of walk on the wild side. I don’t want that type of trip."

Connor sighed, he knew what KC was saying but he didn’t give a damn about what other people thought. Yes, she would be the first black woman who he would be involved with but he was willing to take a risk. For such a long time, he had been alone and lonely. She had a light inside of her that he was drawn too. He didn’t care what the whole world had to say; he wanted KC Hunter with a hunger that he hadn’t thought that he would have ever felt again. He was willing to take the chance. He knew that it was a risk, he wasn’t a black man, and he couldn’t pretend to be. Although he felt there was no difference in races that people were people, he knew that others didn’t feel that way. With a black man KC would have a connection of history and some maybe other things that he wouldn’t understand. But if she would give chance, he would try to make her happy.

"KC, I’m with you because I want to be with you. I like what we have together, I want to explore my feelings for you." Connor leaned down and pulled her toward him. " I want to explore so many things with you." Connor ran his finger over her lower lip. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, then slowly deepened the kiss. He tongue eased inside of her warm mouth stroking her, tasting and tempting her. Her mouth opened to receive men; she loved the feel of his soft champagne covered tongue inside of her mouth. He pulled her closer, easing his hands down toward her bottom cupping her and brining her against his hard erection. He wanted her; she knew it just like she wanted him. She pressed her body and her mouth against his; she rubbed her tongue against his. Then she suckled his lower lip inside of her mouth.

" Oh, god..Do you know who much I want you KC" Connor said tearing his mouth away from hers.

KC touched his lips with her fingers. " I think that I have idea…" KC heard Jill Scott’s It’s Love playing. She pulled Connor onto the dance floor with her. Connor couldn’t help marvel at KC while she danced for him. The way she moved with the GO-GO beat with the music, the way that she smiled at him, the way her body shimmed next to his. He took both of her hands and they danced together. Someone in the crowd started a Soul Train Line and KC and Connor joined in the fun as well as Megan and Giovanni. Jay-Z’s I’m A Hustler Baby came on the system. KC was laughing as she watched some of Rick’s friends dancing down the open space in the middle, some of them really could dance, some of them couldn’t. She saw a particular friend of Rick’s shimming her way down the line. KC made her way over to Giovanni.

"Gio"

"Hey, KC! I saw you and Connor. You two make a good couple. It is good to dance? Yes. To get people’s mind off that video. Poor Taylor, I don’t understand some men."

" I know what you mean. Gio do me a favor, look at the girl dancing right there." KC pointed to a girl dancing between two men. Giovanni couldn’t see the girl too much since her face wasn’t facing him. Her were up in the air and she gyrated between in two men in a sensual manner as she danced with them. One man on each side of her danced with her and she was the centerpiece in the middle. The first thing that Giovanni noticed was her T-shirt, which was alluring enough with the word PUS$Y written across, he couldn’t help to notice her breast. He appreciated good-looking woman with a great body and she had a great body. He noticed how she leaned back against one man and used her arms to pull the other toward her, when his hands wrapped around her waist, she turned toward other man dancing close to her. It was when she turned Giovanni saw what KC wanted him to see.

"Is that who I think that is?" His eyes never left her; she was something on dance floor, controlling two men effortlessly. She had total control over the men. He smiled. " She is something isn’t she?" KC couldn’t help but to smile also.

" I think that she is perfect."

Dirk leaned over the bar and ordered a drink. He knew that he really shouldn’t be drinking on the job but he had been dying for a drink. Following that feisty little Kimberly to this party had been a lot better than watching her house. He thought that she would have been partying it up with everyone else but she had spent most of the night with that girl Bridget and then with Thorne. He had seen them huddled up on the second floor, he didn’t know what was going on in their little drama, he was told to keep his distance, but he knew that Thorne defiantly had something going with the girl. Dirk had remembered listening to her taking a shower; he had some real erotic fantasies about her. She was a hot little thing and he was getting him all hot and bothered, maybe he’d get him some company tonight. He thought about the other woman, Brooke, he had been one of the few people who even knew that Caspian had a wife, let alone see her. It had been many years ago, but he had relieved Ryan when he had been sick and at watched her for a week. Lark was a pretty amazing woman and Brooke looked just like her.

Brooke had looked almost everywhere for Thorne, she just wanted to be near him. Once she had found out that Rick was going to be fine, she tried to find Thorne. Watching what happened between Ridge and Taylor had disturbed her more than she thought. She thought that Ridge and Taylor had it all, love, trust and a family. To see that Ridge would throw it all away for Morgan, the whole thing didn’t make sense. Brooke wanted to be with Thorne, she wanted to have him hold her to let her know that everything was going to be alright. Although she wasn’t a big Taylor fan, she felt bad about what had happened to her, she just wanted to go home with Thorne and know that things could work out between two people. Brooke asked around and a few people said that they had seen him on the second floor; one girl said that he saw him with Kimberly. Brooke hadn’t even realized that Kimberly had been in the building, she hadn’t made her presence known to Rick and Brooke found that odd. Brooke walked past the backroom if she her Stephanie’s and Eric’s raised voice.

Eric opened the door when Brooke walked past; she was the look of concern on his face. Brooke stopped in her tracks. " Eric, are you alright?"

Eric didn’t seen to even notice Brooke until she talked to him. " Yes Brooke, I’m fine however I don’t think that Stephanie is."

" Stephanie….what is wrong with her?"

"The video tape, it really upset her, I’m afraid that if she doesn’t calm down, she is going to have another stroke. Her pulse is racing, I think that I am going to take her home."

Brooke looked at Eric; she knew that she was going to regret what she was going to offer.

" If you want to, I can watch her while you get your car. I’ll stay the rest of the night with Rick to make sure that everything is going to be alright."

" I don’t think that it would be a good idea right now Brooke. Thank you for asking, its just.."

"I’m not the person to calm Stephanie down hun?"

" No, I don’t think so. It was really nice of you to ask though." Brooke nodded; this was the first real civil conversation that she and Eric had to one another in a real long time.

Stephanie walked to the door and found Eric talking to Brooke. Anger coursed throughout her body to see her husband talking to that bitch. She watched how Brooke acted like she cared, but she knew the truth, she didn’t care about anyone but herself. She watched while Eric walked away from Brooke.

"You haven’t done enough have you?"

Brooke turned, surprised to find Stephanie looking at her with such hate. "What?"

"I asked you if you hadn’t you done enough damage tonight."

Brooke walked into the room. " I don’t know what you are talking about? I haven’t done anything."

Stephanie eye’s bore into Brooke. She hated this woman and she wished that she had gotten rid of her in Big Bear. She had done everything she could to get rid of Brooke, but it hadn’t worked. Nothing had worked at all, every time she thought that she had gotten something to get rid of her the woman popped back up like a cancer eating away at her family. "You haven’t ever done anything have you Brooke? You’ve used you body, flaunting your sexuality in front of every man in this family. You’ve slept with every man that I have loved; you have tricked and deceived them. You’ve destroyed their lives, wrecking havoc to their marriages, you’ve lied and cheated, you’ve stolen our company, you’ve taken my son!" Stephanie clutched her chest for a moment trying to get some breath. Brooke would have left the minute that she started her tirade but she didn’t want her dying on her, she’d never live it down.

"This isn’t the time for this, just sit down and wait for Eric. I don’t want to fight with you."

"You’d like that wouldn’t you, for the only person who knows who you are to just give up. Well you have made a BIG mistake and now they are finally going to see you for the tramp that you are. Ridge will finally see you for the meddling bitch you are. Do you think that he is going to forgive you for what you have done tonight?"

Brooke’s eyes narrowed, Stephanie was blaming her for what happened tonight. Of course she was, Stephanie always blamed her for anything bad that happened to the family. " You are blaming tonight on me?"

" I know you and I never thought that you’d stoop to this. Of course you did this, you and that bitch you hired. That’s why you hired her to seduce my son and ruin his marriage. You couldn’t stand it could you? He didn’t want you anymore; he finally got you out of his blood. He found happiness with Taylor a woman who complemented him and made him happy. I shouldn’t be surprised by this… a woman who lied about being pregnant and hid his own son."

Pain hit Brooke when Stephanie mentioned her baby, the baby that she lost. "Don’t, don’t you start that."

"What telling the truth?"

" The truth, the TRUTH. The truth is that YOUR PRECIOUS BABY fu(ked up. Ridge caused this mess, not me! But you’d like to blame this on me wouldn’t you? I had nothing to do with this mess. Ridge did this on his own! He is the one cheated on Taylor, your hand picked wife. I guess she wasn’t the perfect wife after all, not if he had to go and get it somewhere else."

" YOU BITCH, you are going to pay for this. You did this to them, it has YOU written all over it in your cruddy stench. That you could do this to Taylor, to humiliate her in public. I bet you are happy now? You killed Macy and now you are trying to destroy Taylor with this. I won’t let you do this. YOU BITCH! I won’t let you hurt Taylor like this." Stephanie moved toward Brooke. " I’m going to expose you for the whore that you are. I’m going to prove to Ridge what you did to his marriage. You set him up; I know it. You feed into his sexual needs and set him up. This was your payback for Venice, you wanted Ridge and he was fooling you. You paid Morgan to whore herself for him. She taped it and then you showed it. You want Ridge and now that he and Taylor are having problems you are going to move in aren’t you?

" I did no such thing. You really are losing your mind. I might have been mad at Ridge, but I would never set him up and you know it. You are grasping at straws, you need someone to blame and you are blaming me. I didn’t know about Morgan or Ridge, I never thought that he would betray Taylor like this."

" You knew all about it. You put that videotape on to humiliate this family and to hurt Taylor. I love that woman, she is like a daughter to me….just like Macy. But you don’t care about that do you? You are a disease infecting the whole family; you destroy anything and everything in the way. Thorne doesn’t mean anything to you, he was only a passing bed partner while you hatched this plan and waited for Ridge to be free."

Brooke looked at Stephanie like she had lost her mind. " You think that I want Ridge back? Alright Stephanie, I admit it. I planned the whole thing! You are right, for the last two years my relationship with Thorne has been a façade in order for this day. I waited on baited breath for Ridge to sleep with another woman; of course I hired Morgan to sleep with Ridge. I knew first hand about her relationship with Ridge. That’s why I hired her, so she could sleep with him. I had better go, after all Ridge is free tonight. All I have to do is dump Thorne and then Ridge will be back in my bed where he belongs. I better get going after all this is what I’ve been waiting for all my life…a chance to fu(k Ridge."

Stephanie slapped Brooke as hard as she could. Brooke’s whole body rocked to the side. Her face stung with the slap she received. Brooke touched her face and looked Stephanie with horror and then anger.

"That was the biggest mistake that you have ever made old woman." Brooke advanced toward Stephanie.

Bridget had been watching the dramatic fight between Ridge and Taylor. She wasn’t sure what she had expected or what she thought would happen. Taylor had looked so devastated and angry or Ridge so hurt. Bridget wasn’t sure if she had done the right thing by showing the tape here at Rick’s party but she hadn’t had a choice. Taylor had been so smug this morning about her marriage and Ridge. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Ridge fully enjoyed his trip to bed with Morgan anyone could clearly see that. Bridget knew that showing the videotape would end their marriage but she was feeling a bit bad.

"Bridget, are you okay."

Brooke looked up and found Scott staring at her.

"What do you want?" Bridget turned to face the crowd down below dancing.

Scott sighed, she was still mad about what had happened earlier. " I guess that you are still mad about what happened."

" I.."

"No, you are going to let me talk. Bridget I didn’t think that you slept with CJ. I however did wonder what was going on. I was concerned about you. I just wanted to make sure that YOU were alright. I was worried about you DAMNIT! Now stop acting like a brat."

"I’m not acting like a brat, you are the one who thinks that I’m willing to sleep around. For your information, I’m a virgin."

"You think that I don’t know that? Being a virgin wouldn’t keep a man from fantasying about being with you or even taking advantage of you. You were wearing the same dress, I was worried."

Bridget looked at Scott. " How did you know it was the same dress that I wore last night?"

" Who do you think designed it? Thorne had come to me, he knew that I had done a few things for the Princess Line, I showed him this design and once I knew that it would look beautiful on you."

"You made the dress?"

"Yes, I did. Look Bridget you have got to get a hold on that temper of yours. Sometimes you have to give people a chance."

Bridget felt warmth radiated throughout her body. He had designed her beautiful dress. He had been worried about her. It made her feel good inside. " I know, it’s just.. I guess I have that Forrester temper."

Scott thought about the fight between Ridge and Taylor earlier. " I guess that you Forresters have whoppers of tempers. Taylor was really mad at Ridge wasn’t she?"

Scott noticed how Bridget’s face changed. " Yeah she was really mad, madder than I thought that she’d be. "

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, It’s just she usually is you know. Let’s sit down and discuss this. I’m just surprised that she was that angry at Ridge."

"You don’t feel sorry for her?"

" A little, but Ridge had always been like this. Once he gets comfortable he strays, he didn’t stay with us and now it looks like he won’t be staying with her."

Scott was worried; Bridget’s family was so dysfunctional that she might see marriage and family in a distorted manner. He took her hands in his. " Bridget, not all marriages are like that. Some men when they find the right woman, they give up the old ways. I guess that I can look at my mother as an example. She had a lot of boyfriends, but when it came to my dad, she loved him."

"I know, my mom loves like that. It’s just the men in my family, she don’t know what to do. Poor Rick, he wants so much to prove that he can stay with a woman that he is willing to stay with Kimberly when I think that he is in love with Eve."

" So you don’t think that he is in love with Kimberly."

"No, Kimberly had changed. I’m not sure if she really loves my brother."

Scott knew first hand that Kimberly didn’t love Rick. " Don’t worry yourself about Kimberly and Rick. I think that Rick will wake up soon. If he really loves Eve, he will make the right decision."

"What about you Scott, you don’t have a girlfriend that I know about, why not?"

Scott looked at her beautiful lips, he couldn’t tell her the truth. He hadn’t gotten involved with anyone because he had thought of nothing but her. "There hasn’t been anybody because I haven’t found anyone special enough yet."

Bridget had been a fool; she had thought that for a moment that he had felt something for her. " OH.. Well I had better go." Bridget moved to leave.

" Bridget.."

She turned toward him. "What?"

"Nothing just this…" Scott leaned his head down and caught her head in between his hands. For a moment, they said nothing; they just looked in each other’s eyes. He lowered his head down and his lips gently touched hers. Bridget closed her eyes, her heartbeat raced, he smelled so good and his lips were soft against hers. He took his lips from hers and then touched them again. He fingers caught her lower chin and pulled down a bit, his mouth pressed against hers and slowly she opened her mouth. She was afraid, she had never done this; been kissed like this. He tongue slowly crept into her mouth and touched her tongue gently. He stroked her tongue twice and then pulled his head away from hers. She just stood there looking at him. He touched her mouth with his fingers.

"That was better than I ever dreamed." With that Scott walked away, he had too, if he didn’t he’d do something that he’d be sorry for. He wanted Bridget and she was far too young for him.

Bridget stood there for a moment trying to figure out what had just happened. Suddenly it hit her; she touched her lips. He had kissed her, really kissed her. He had his tongue inside of her mouth. "Wow, Bridget. So that is what it is like to be really kissed."

Ridge ran after his wife. Taylor walked as fast as she could; she was doing her best of keeping her dignity.

"Taylor! Taylor Please"

Taylor walked to the coat checkroom. " I’d like my coat please." The coat check girl as heard all about the commotion and felt sorry for Mrs. Forrester. She handed her her coat and her purse. Ridge grabbed Taylor by the arm.

"Don’t do this Doc, we need to talk."

Taylor closed her eyes and then opened them. " Get your hands off of me. I told you, you will never touch me again."

"Doc, I can’t if you would listen… I love you."

Taylor hauled off and slapped him. Ridge let go of her he was surprised that she would hit him. Taylor just looked at him as if he wasn’t there. Ridge stepped near Taylor again.

"Don’t, do come near we Ridge. Especially if you want those jewels of yours to be working anytime soon. I don’t you or your whore near my children or me. Leave me alone."

Taylor walked out of the front door. Ridge followed her calling her name. Taylor went to the garage and got into the car. Ridge started banging on the door.

"Taylor, please..let me explain."

Tears formed inside of Taylor but she wouldn’t allow him to see how much he had hurt her. She looked at Ridge.

"Move away from the car Ridge."

Ridge stood in front of the car. " I can’t Doc, I can’t let you do this to us."

"Ridge, move away from the car."

"I didn’t mean it honey, she tricked me. Please I love you so much and I don’t want you to do this. Please, I love you."

Taylor started to car and gunned it forward. Ridge moved out the way just in enough time. He watched as she peeled out of the garage. She had tried to hit him with her car. His sweet gentle wife had tried to hit him.

Ridge started to cry.

"We have got to go and find Brooke—that’s her isn’t it. Trudie."

KC looked at the teen was leaving the dance floor. " I’ll go look for her, we really need to get her okay, at least something good is coming out of this night."

KC was laughing when noticed again that a good-looking Italian was looking at her again. He was sexy as hell, but she wasn’t interested, he is a tad bit older than her.

"Checking men out again."

Trudie turned around and found the sexy guy from the coffee house looking at her.

"No, but if you want, I most certainly could check YOU out. Trudie walked around CJ looking at him from different points of view." She smiled at him. "Basic black shirt with black pants…definitely going for a look. Hair done is a simple yet not overstated manner and you smell. Trudie leaned forward and sniffed. " You smell really good. Polo Sport, I don’t normally like it but I like it on you Mr. CJ Garrison."

CJ shook his head and laughed. " You remember who I am. Well Trudie, it’s nice to see you again."

Trudie took a sip of her drink and played with her straw. " So, what brings YOU here? It wouldn’t’ be me would it? "

CJ shrugged his shoulders. Looked at her, he had seen her earlier on the dance floor; there was something about her. " Just a party and Rick I were sort of friends. I didn’t know that you knew Rick."

Trudie took his hands. " I don’t..Dance with me Mr. Garrison"

CJ didn’t move. " I don’t really dance… it’s been a while."

" Come one it’s a slow one and like I don’t bite unless you want me to."

CJ followed her onto the floor and danced slowly with her. She was dancing differently with him, not in a sexual or wild manner that she had been with everyone else but she just danced. She smiled up at him. She saw surprise in his eyes. " CJ, one thing that you had better learn about me is… I’m not everything you think I am. Don’t ever judge a book by its cover. "

CJ looked deep in her beautiful eyes, he had the feeling that she wasn’t.

Amber stood in she shadows watching CJ slow dance with that girl. Where had see come from? She then looked over at Rick who was cooing over Eric with that girl Eve. Eve was laughing at the baby and smiling at Rick like she used tool. Something was very wrong with this picture. Coming to this party was a big mistake.

Kimberly silently observed the people in the club. She had wondered where Thorne had gone off too. Brooke she knew was in that back room with Stephanie. She wondered where Bridget was. She had to hand it to Bridget, she was definitely changed the outcome of this party. Kimberly knew that she now had the evidence to keep Bridget in line if she ever needed it.

Ridge sat at the bar drinking, he had nowhere to go. He had called the house and Katherine said that the children were asleep. He had thought that maybe Taylor had gotten home but she hadn’t. What was he going to do; things would never be the same. His life, the life that he created was never going to be all right again. She would never forgive him for what he had done. Overhead the Root "Things Fall Apart" playing. Things Fall Apart? His life was falling apart, what was he going to do? Ridge got up from his chair taking his drink with him, the music rose in a crescendo. People starting yelling, "Tear the Club UP" with the music. People started throwing their hands up, yelling and dancing. Ridge looked around him, the alcohol and the pain mingling together and then he saw faces all around him.

[Taylor was driving her car fast, how could he do this to her? How could he lie and cheat after all that they had been through. She increased her speed; she had to get away from him.]

Caroline smiling at him the day that they married---then her face when she was in the hospital room when she told him she knew he cheated on her—the day when she died.

[Tears streamed down her eyes, she couldn’t see. She tried wiping them. "Why! Why did you do this to me Ridge? Why!!!" She hit the dash and didn’t look up. Cars blew their horns at her but she didn’t see them]

Brooke looking at him with love the first time they were married—then when she was pregnant with Bridget in the hospital yelling at him to get out---then in Venice when she said that she told him that she hated him.

[Taylor saw the videotape in her mind. His mouth on Morgan’s breast---she saw Ridge the day they were married and heard his vows. " Lies, they were all lies"]

Taylor the last time they were married—when they with their children--- then the day he asked her for a divorce—the day she realized that he was going to ask Brooke to marry him---her face tonight when she realized that he had cheated on her.

Ridge looked all around and all he could see where their accusing eyes of different women his life, women that he hurt, women that he used. In the middle of it all Taylor looking at him with hate. "NO!" Ridge yelled and then threw glass and it hit a mirrored wall the glass on the wall split and shards of glass went everywhere around him. Once piece flew and flew…

..glass lay on the ground. A car horn is blaring and a car it smashed into a tree. Taylor was in the driver’s seat, her head on the steering wheel with blood running down the side of it. Smoke is billowing all around the car. Taylor was unconscious.

The radio playing Jill Scott’s "Slowly Surely"

Slowly, surely I walk away from

That old desperate and dazed love

Caught up in the craze of love

The crazy craze of love

Thought it was good

Thought it was real

Thought it was but it wasn’t love

I just don’t know where to go

So..

Slowly, surely I walk away from self serving, undeserving

Constantly hurting me love

Deserting me love…….. { Jill Scott}

 

Against All Odds { Pain, Pregnancy, Rape}

The paramedics rushed Taylor into the hospital. A female doctor ran toward the woman on the stretcher. " What happened?"

" Car accident, she hit a tree head on. She has a weak pulse and has lost a great deal of blood. We suspect that there is some internal bleeding, maybe some cracked ribs. We know that she has a broken wrist."

The doctor noticed the head wound which was still seeping blood. " Get her into the first room" The doctor followed the paramedics. One of the paramedics went to the nurses’ station. "I have her purse and her license, she is Taylor Forrester. There is a card with her home number, I’m going to call her family."

The nurse looked at the paramedic. " Taylor Forrester? She is one of those Forresters."

"The fashion Forresters, this is going to be bad—I hope that she makes it. I just don’t understand how she hit that tree. The road was well lit; there is no evidence of drinking. It is just a shame."

Brooke advanced toward Stephanie. " If you want things to get physical, then I can oblige you. Brooke swung her hand back and smacked Stephanie hard fully across her face. Stephanie had to take a step back in order not to fall from the force. She was shocked; she hadn’t been hit by anyone in years. She looked at Brooke with murder in her eyes. She felt the pain in her cheek; she stepped toward Brooke with her hand raised.

Brooke breast were heaving with her own anger. She moved her body in a defense stance." Bring it on! If you think that I’m not going to hit back because you are old, you have another thing coming. I’ve tried to respect the fact that you have been sick, but you refuse to respect me. I’ve taken shit from you from years and I don’t plan to take it from you anymore. If you ever lay a hand on me again, be rest assured; I will retaliate. You can blame me for whatever want. YOU can stroke out again as far as I’m concerned."

"Brooke, that is enough!" Eric pushed past Brooke and rushed toward his wife. He couldn’t believe it, he thought that she had been truly concerned about Stephanie but had been wrong. She had been hoping that Stephanie would have stroke, what had happened to Brooke. She had never been that cruel she was changing. He looked at Stephanie and noticed a red mark on her face. "What happened?"

Stephanie looked at Eric. " She happened—my god Eric, she is ruining our family. Stephanie allowed Eric to walk her over toward the sofa. " I can’t take this—I can’t take her.."

"Stephanie, you have to calm down. You shouldn’t be upset."

" How can I stay calm after what she has done. I can’t—I’ve tried, and tried and nothing changes she is still causing problems."

Brooke rolled her eyes. Stephanie was playing on Eric, just a few minutes ago; she had hit her and blamed her for what had happened between Ridge for Taylor. " You know that this little act is fooling me at all."

Eric looked at Brooke with hate in his eyes. He stood up. " I can’t believe you, you know what she has been through. You caused her first stroke and I made a mistake forgetting it. How dare you touch Stephanie?"

"She hit me and I’m not going to take it. I’ve made it clear that if she touches me, damn right that I plan on hitting her back."

" You don’t care about anyone but yourself. What if she had fallen Brooke?

"Don’t worry, she’d be fine, she’s too mean even for the devil to take."

Stephanie grabbed Eric’s hand. " She doesn’t care Eric, I told you she did this. She admitted to it. She told me that she did this to Ridge, she set him up."

Eric was shocked; he would never have thought that Brooke would do this. Then he remembered how mad and angry she was about what had happened in Venice. Was it possible that she had brought Morgan on to destroy Ridge and Taylor’s marriage? Of course this was the new Brooke, the one who didn’t care anything about anyone beside herself. "Did you tell Stephanie that? Did you do this to Ridge?"

"Yes, I told her that because…"

"How could you do this Brooke? How could you do this at Rick’s party? Didn’t you think about the pain and the embarrassment that you would cause this family not to mention the company! What kind of woman are you? What kind of mother are you? I don’t recognize you anymore, you used to be a caring person but you don’t care about anyone but yourself. All of this time, I’ve sat back and watched you and let you do your damage. Well no more! Do you hear me Brooke, I’m going to protect my family and most especially Rick and Bridget from you!" Eric advanced on Brooke coming close to her. He suddenly grabbed her by both arms and started to shake her hard. " You’ve ruined everything and I defended you. You took my love and threw it away and still I defended you. You’ve hurt my children with the different men you bought into their lives, but still I defended you! I have wanted you find real happiness. Yet, you have done nothing but destroy my family. I wish to god that I had cut you off long time ago and took our children!" Eric kept shaking Brooke who was surprised and a little scared.

" Eric, please stop!" Eric kept shaking her, he was full of anger. He never thought that Brooke would do this—she was a terrible person.

"Stop it, stop it right now! Get your hands off her right now! " Eric turned around and saw a very angry Thorne standing in the doorway.

 

 

Pierce and Isabelle watched Isabelle as she ordered Carmel Pecan Cheesecake.

Isabelle looked up at Pierce, she hadn’t really been surprised when he had shown up at her home, and she really admired his tenacity. It had been years since she had been to the movies, and it was strange going to a movie theater full of people. Going to the movies was something normal and she didn’t remember what normal was. She really didn’t want to think about why she had agreed to this.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Do you always injure into people’s thoughts?" She leaned forward and sipped her coffee. " Don’t you know that it was rude?"

"I don’t think that you worry about being rude. You haven’t answered my question—what are you thinking about?"

It was strange; the only person who really asked about her thoughts and her feeling was Caspian. "I was thinking that you knew where I lived."

Pierce smiled. " It took me a while to find that information out, but I had it even before you invited me. I love a challenge. You are certainly that." He had worked hard to find out where she lived, her favorite food and flowers. When he had arrived at her house an old sour looking woman with an equally sour disposition let me in. He was taken to an incredible foyer with exquisite black marbled floor lit totally by candles. She came down the stunning spiral staircase looking so beautiful in her black cashmere sweater, long black suede skirt and matching boots high-healed black suede boots. She hardly glanced at the older woman who gone and gotten a black leather trench coat. Isabelle put her coat on and then her leather gloves. Lastly, she put on a pair of dark sunglasses. Pierce had asked her why she was wearing dark glasses at night. She told the older woman that she would not be reached by anyone unless it was her brother. The older woman said that she was surprised that Isabelle would go out with a man wearing jeans. Isabelle told the woman that she hadn’t noticed the jeans; she had noticed the man inside the jeans. She spoke to the woman in Italian; he figured that didn’t know that he spoke Italian. She grinned and walked out the door.

" You like that in a woman, a challenge. Is that what I am to you?"

" I think that you are challenge in everyway. You are smart and beautiful, but I think that you already know that. You however are intriguing, you know that intriguing people excite me."

"Did you find Taylor Forrester intriguing?"

Pierce didn’t know what that had come from. Taylor Forrester, he hadn’t thought about her in a long time. He had been falling in love with her when she had told him about her being pregnant. Based on his information, Taylor was the happy mother of twin daughters as well as Thomas. What he had felt for Taylor hadn’t been real, she wasn’t his and she had never felt anything besides friendship. Isabelle watched Pierce as she mentioned the beautiful doctor, she watched as memories flooded his face as well as a look of regret. " I’m different from her don’t you think. The beautiful doctor who helps all in need and now the devoted wife and mother of three. Tell me, are you still in love with her?"

Pierce her the cold distain in her voice.

" I cared a great deal about Taylor and yes at one point, I thought that she might have feelings for me, but I was incorrect."

Isabelle looked directly in his eyes. " Do you respect her more because she turned you down or are you disappointed that her values matched yours?"

Pierce had asked himself that question many times in the past. What would he have felt about Taylor if she had given herself to him? One of the reasons he had cared so much about Taylor was of her morals and her values. Would he still have wanted her if she had so easily given into her feeling for him? It really didn’t matter, he wanted Isabelle and she was nothing like Taylor. "How did you know about Taylor, or my feelings for Taylor?"

"I have ways of finding out information." Isabelle watched as the waiter stared hard at her as he placed her cake in front of her. She gave the waiter a hard look and waited for him to leave. "You still haven’t answered my questions—but I’m not surprised that you were interested in her. She has that wholesome image down packed." Isabelle watched Pierce as she bit into her cheesecake. She savored the flavor of the caramel. " So do you miss her, all that perfect mother, perfect doctor and wife? What do you think that she’d say about our sexual interlude in the office? It wasn’t responsible sex?"

"Why are we discussing Taylor, she isn’t the issue."

"Why are you avoiding the questions? Do they make you uncomfortable?’

Pierce shook his head. " No, Isabelle, they don’t. I respect Taylor, she was a good doctor. I had feeling for her." Pierce looked deeply into Isabelle’s eyes. " I had feelings for her, I don’t anymore. You are right, if she had given into to me, I would have been happy for a while but in the end, it would have ruined her. She is good mother and wife and happy with her husband. I left town because I didn’t want to ruin her life or make a fool of myself."

"I thought that you had starting dating Brooke Forrester."

"How in the hell did you know…never mind."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Is it any of your business?"

"Did you fu(k her?"

"I’m not answering that question..My god Isabelle."

"Was it like it was between us? Was it hot and sweaty and intense." Isabelle started to laugh if he wanted mind games she could play them. " Men are attracted to both women, Taylor the saint, the good mother, the good friend. Brooke the siren, smart, sexy and forbidden. You wanted two different women. You couldn’t have Taylor so you moved on to Brooke—but that didn’t work did it?"

Pierce didn’t like the way that things were going, talking about the women in his past. He thought for a moment and then almost laughed out loud. This was a game; Isabelle was digging, playing and turning things around so she could push him away with her manner.

"Brooke and I were only friends. She loved Ridge as Taylor did—god knows why, she deserved better than him. They both did. Brooke and I never had anything with each other although I tried. I was wrong to try that with her. From what I understand she has found happiness with Thorne. I hope that she finds it." Pierce drank a sip of his coffee. Now that you’ve proven to me that you know all about me and you’ve tried to distract me, is there anything else that you like to do?"

"Was I distracting you?"

"You were trying too"

" It didn’t work?"

"No"

Isabelle took another bite of her. "Good, if it had been that easy, I’d be disappointed in you. However it did tell me something about you. Your feelings. I wonder why you would even want to be near someone like me, I’m not like Taylor or Brooke. I could care less about the world and I have no intentions of using my skill to do anything that doesn’t benefit it."

"I don’t that is true Isabelle. You forget where we met."

" You forget that appearances can be very deceiving.’

"You like children and you don’t want them to do hurt."

"Just because I don’t want children to be hurt doesn’t mean that I don’t like them. Besides it’s good for my brother company for me to be on such boards.’

"You kept it a secret as well as your contributions to children’s charity." Pierce was at the end of his rope with her, she hid so much. He put his hand over top of hers. " Why do you do this? Why do you hide yourself from yourself, you hide the good in you. You are so wonderful Isabelle. You are so smart and witty and beautiful. Yet you see the world in a cold light, you shun anyone from seeing your true beauty." Pierce closed his eyes. " You don’t know how you make me feel. You invade my thoughts, my dreams and I want to know more about you."

"You might do better with the Taylor Forresters of the world. You might even fair will with a woman like Brooke. They both have a heart, but me I’m not trying to save the world or looking for love. You will only be disappointed in what you will find. You are making me out to be someone I’m not. " Isabelle looked away for a moment and in that second Pierce caught a flash of pain inside of her face. For the first time since he had met her, her mask dropped. Instantly, she pulled it back on but she didn’t look at him. " You are good man, I’ve only known one good man in my life." She looked at him, her beautiful deep eyes looking at him. What are doing with me?"

" Living, for the first time in my life, I feel alive."

Isabelle didn’t know what to say about that. How could he feel alive with her when she had been dead inside for so many years. Once she had been alive, but Hugo had killed her when he raped and took her innocence. Once she had loved, but she had killed the only man she had loved besides Caspian. Once she had something to love her but her baby had died. She had lost so much and she had no idea how to live, in fact she could hardly remember what alive felt like.

Bridget stood in the shadows of the club; she didn’t feel like dancing. She ought to he happy since she had everything that she wanted. Still she couldn’t seem to think about her mother and Thorne or Ridge and Taylor’s problems, all that she could think about what that kiss. She had been French kissed; this was the first one she ever had allowed. She touched her lips and closed her eyes; she could remember the feel of his tongue. His tongue had slipped between her lips and had stroked her. It had been so thrilling and exciting; it had also been arousing, she had started to feel heat where she had never felt before. It wasn’t as if boys had never tried to kiss her before, but she had never let them. Bridget shook her head, she just didn’t understand why he had kissed her. What did it mean? Was he interested in her? He had to be interested, why else did he kiss her like that? Bridget started to smile; Scott had made her heart flutter. Lauren watched Bridget who was caught up in her thoughts. She had seen them together, Bridget and her son kissing. She had been caught off guard when she stumbled on them together. She had never seen her son look at a girl the way that he looked at Bridget. Lauren wished that she didn’t have to do what she was going to do, but she really didn’t have a choice.

Lauren walked over to the girl and touched her by the arm. " Bridget.."

Bridget whirled around to find Scott’s mom beside her. " Hi Mrs. Fenmore"

Lauren saw the flushed look on the girl’s face, she was out of her league when it came to her son. Scott was a lot like Lauren, she had to explain to the girl what that meant without getting hurt.

" Do you mind if we talk?"

"No, I don’t mind." Bridget wondered what Lauren wondered. " What is it? Is this about my mom or my dad?"

"No, Bridget, it is about you and my son. I don’t know what is going on but whatever it is, it has to stop right now."

Thorne rushed into the room and pulled Brooke out of Eric’s hands. He looked down at the woman he loved and checked her arms for any possible bruises. He looked into her eyes and saw the relief there. He turned toward his father.

"Just what in the hell do you think that you were doing to her!"

Anger showed on Eric’s face. " Brooke attacked your mother."

"I did no such thing. She hit me Eric and yes, I hit her back."

Thorne moved toward his father. " Because you think that Brooke attacked mother you decided to man handle her yourself. You had no right to put your hands on her! Don’t ever think of doing something like that, don’t you ever touch her like that again."

"Come on Thorne, she’s alright." Eric pointed toward Brooke. " Just look at her, she is fine" Eric paced back toward Stephanie. " Now look at your mother, that tape has upset her so much. I can’t believe that you did this Brooke, I’d never thought that you’d do something like this."

"Brooke isn’t responsible for anything!"

Stephanie stood up. " She is responsible for this mess with your brother. She caused this whole thing. She admitted it to me, although I’m sure that she won’t admit that now."

" I’m not even going to respond to that comment Stephanie. You know that I wasn’t serious. You were egging me on. I had nothing to do with Ridge and Morgan. I was surprised as anyone to find that he cheated on Taylor."

" He didn’t cheat on Taylor, Morgan tricked him, just like you planned."

Brooke gave Stephanie a quizzical look. " How do you know that he was tricked, just do you know about this Stephanie?"

" Nothing more than you know." Stephanie shot Brooke a look of hatred. "You planned this, I know it."

Thorne stepped between Brooke and his mother. " That is enough mother! Stop of this nonsense. Brooke had nothing to do with this mother. Ridge caused this mess; he is the one who slept with Morgan. Brooke had nothing to do with this mess. Ridge is a grown man and he will have to straighten this mess out. I’m not going to let you take your anger out on her. "

Stephanie closed her eyes and leaned against the black entertainment system for support. " You just won’t see it will you? You won’t see her for the whore that she is! She is using you, just like she did your father. Why can’t you see that this is all about Ridge, she wants him."

Thorne looked at his mother. Ridge, it was always about Ridge when it came to her. She would never change. She would never change her mind out Brooke or even him. She didn’t care about him; all she was worried about was Ridge. Thorne sighed. She walked over and stood behind Brooke. " You are wrong mother, Brooke had nothing to do with this mess with Ridge. She doesn’t love Ridge anymore, he isn’t even an issue."

" You didn’t see them together tonight. She was dancing suggestively with him, her hands all over his body."

"Mother, I don’t care about what you think that you saw. You can think whatever you want." Thorne turned his attention to his father. " You can think what you want too. She is the mother of your children, you were married to her and you used to protect her." Eric didn’t say anything he just looked at Brooke.

" I had nothing to do with Eric. You can believe what ever you want. For the sake of our children and our business I think that we need to table this." Brooke hid the hurt inside of her, no matter what she was hurt that Eric thought that she capable of having something to do with this mess. "I will say this, neither of you are welcome in my home or office without early notice. I’m wearily of all the fighting. If either of you ever put your hands on me again, I will retaliate.

Eric for a movement, felt regret, he had never seen Brooke like this. Could Stephanie be wrong? Brooke had seemed shocked at the video, she also loved Rick and Bridget, he just didn’t know.

"Dad, I think that you should take mother home."

Stephanie looked at her son. " I’m not done…."

" Yes, you are mother, you are done with Brooke and with me."

Eric looked at his wife; it would be best if they went home. This whole mess was terrible; it would be best if they left. Eric took Stephanie by the hand, when they passed Brooke. Stephanie looked and Brooke. " This isn’t over, I will make sure that you pay for what you have done."

Brooke watched them leave. A chill rushed through her body; it wasn’t because of Stephanie but because of Eric. For the first time in her life, she saw real hate in Eric’s eyes. Although she hadn’t forgiven him for Venice, she still thought of him as her children’s father. Tonight however she knew that he thought she was capable of this disaster. No matter what, they would always blame their problems on her. Tears formed inside of her eyes, things would be better when she left for Paris. Thorne watched her, his heart broke for Brooke. She didn’t deserve this from his parents; they had no right to blame this on her. Thorne walked behind her, she must have heard him because she turned around and then rushed into his arms. He couldn’t help it, he had to help her. He held her in his arms, pain etched on his face. She deserved better than this, to be blamed for everything that had gone wrong with her family. He held her body close to him. She was in pain, his parents had hurt her. " It’s going to be alright honey. I’m so sorry for what they have done."

Brooke looked up into Thorne’s face, tears stained her cheeks. " I don’t know why I let them bother me. It’s just, Eric… I’d never seen him like this. He believed her and he blamed me for this.."

Thorne cupped her face and brought it close to his. " Don’t do this..", he whispered. Thorne looked at her beautiful face, she was lovely even in tears. He hadn’t known what to do when he saw the video. He had been surprised as well as shocked. He had seen the fight ensue between Taylor and Ridge, but instead of seeing Taylor and Ridge he saw him self and Brooke. Brooke had been calling him a liar and a rapist. She started hitting him and she told him that she never wanted to see him again. Thorne had gone straight to the bar and had a couple of drinks. He finally left to get out of this place when he heard all of the arguing going on in the back room. He couldn’t believe that he saw his father shaking Brooke like that. He looked back at Brooke.

" Thank you…thank you for coming to my aid."

" I’d never let anyone hurt you, don’t you know that." Thorne leaned forward and drew her head toward his. He kissed her gently.

Kimberly stood by the door listening to Brooke and Thorne. All the progress that she had made with Thorne would be lost if she didn’t act soon. He should be holding her, kissing her and coming to HER aid, not Brooke. A look of intense anger crossed her face. She’d fix Brooke real soon; she’d fix that bitch tonight. She saw a guy who she knew that was perfect for the job that she had in mind. .

 

Ridge was on his was home. He didn’t care if Taylor wanted to see him or not, he was going to talk to her. He couldn’t let her thrown away their dreams, their family. He would talk to her and make her understand that he loved her. Together they would deal with Morgan and they would work it out. Ridge turned on the windshield wipers to the highest speed; the rain had come down suddenly. At least she was home and not driving in this mess. Ridge’s cell phone rang.

"Ridge, this is Catherine"

"Catherine, is everything alright?"

"Mr. Forrester…god, I hate to tell you this. There has been an accident. Your wife, she was in a car accident."

Kimberly slid in the seat next to a quiet guy with dirty blonde hair with cool eyes.

"Gunter"

He took a sip out of his drink. " Kimmy, what brings you here? I thought that you’d be marking your territory all over your man." Gunter nodded toward Rick who was slow dancing with Eve." Gunter shook his head. " Tsk, tsk little girl. I thought that you’d be bringing out the heavy alertly for Rick"

" I want to talk to you about something."

Gunter turned his cold eyes on her. Kimberly was chilled by the cool hard look in Gunter’s eyes.

" How did you get into this party, you aren’t on the list."

"Why does it matter?" Gunter looked at Kimberly. He reached out and caught some of her hair in two of his fingers. " I liked you better as a blonde."

Kimberly grabbed her hair out his hands. " I hear that you like blonde’s." Kimberly leaned forward. " I also heard it that you had a big thing for Brooke, Rick’s mother."

"A thing?"

"Yeah, I heard that you had these photos of her." Gunter said nothing, didn’t twitch or anything. He just sat down and sipped his drink."Oh, I’m sorry. I thought that you were interested in her. I’m sorry that I was mistaken. I won’t waste your time." Kimberly stood to leave. Gunter grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

"What do you want?"

"No, Gunter, the how much do you want HER."

"Her?"

"Brooke….how much do you want her? She’s one very pretty blonde. Very sexy too."

Brooke leaned into the kiss; she needed Thorne’s arms around her. Thorne pulled his head back from the kiss. Brooke wondered what made Thorne pull back.

"You still aren’t mad about last night, are you?"

"Last night?"

Brooke clasped Thorne’s hand in hers. " Honey I know that you are mad at me. Leaving you the way that I did was wrong. But please don’t let this ruin what we have." Brooke shook her head. " Just look at Ridge and Taylor, they seemed to have it all and all of the sudden, it not perfect anymore. I just don’t want anything to come between us. Especially when we are so close to having everything that we worked so hard for. I made a mistake last night, but I promise that now on will see everything together. Just you and me together." Brooke wiped a tear that ran down her cheek. "Please tell me that you forgive me."

Thorne couldn’t believe how wonderful this woman was. After everything that she had been through by the hands of his family, she was apologizing to him. If only he could apologize for last night, but it wasn’t that simple.

"Brooke, don’t worry about last night. I just want to make sure that you are alright." He checked her arms and saw some red marks where his father had gripped on her arms.

"Don’t worry about that." Brooke smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"I’m just happy that everything is alright between us. All night I’ve thinking about you and now I want you to take me home and to bed. I want to forget all about this and I want to concentrate on us."

"Brooke what about Rick’s party?"

"Please, Rick is 21. I think that he will be just fine without me. All they have to do is cut his cake. I’m make sure that Bridget gets home with one of her friends." Brooke kissed Thorne gently on his lips. " I want to be with you Thorne." She kissed him again. " I want to be in your arms and maybe we could plan our wedding. It really doesn’t matter what we do, as long as I am with you." Brooke pulled his head down to kiss him again. Thorne couldn’t help but to respond, he loved this woman so much.

"Ahem..Knock, knock," Brooke turned to find KC standing in the doorway. Brooke grinned. " Go away KC"

"I’m sorry to be interrupting but Brooke there is a little matter that you need to take care of."

"Not another video, I hope."

"Nothing like that, in fact I think that you are going to be happy about this new discovery." Brooke turned toward Thorne.

"Give me a few minutes to find out what KC needs me for. I’ll talk to Rick and then to Bridget. I just want to make sure that she is alright; this thing with Ridge might have upset her. But once I’m done…" Brooke wrapped her arms around his shoulders. " Then I’m all yours. We can have a nice night and forget about this mess. I’m sorry that this thing happened to Ridge and Taylor ohhh it is such a mess. I just want to forget about everything….all our problems. I want to forget about Bridget’s resistance, Ridge and Taylor’s marital problems and Rick’s obsession with getting Kimberly’s job back. I want especially to forget about her. I want to concentrate on you and me." Brooke kissed Thorne quickly and let the room.

Thorne’ insides plummeted. When he had barged in the room and dealt with his parent’s arguing with Brooke, he had reacted normally. All of his thoughts were centered on Brooke, for a moment he had allowed himself the pleasure of having her in his arms. He wanted so badly to do what she wanted and get the hell out of here. To go home and to shut out the whole world, to make love to her countless of times. He wanted to plan a beautiful wedding to her, to make her happy. But now he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t do a damn thing. Thorne ran his fingers through his hair and winced. He had planned on going home with her but then she mentioned Kimberly, his insides froze. He couldn’t forget last night; he never would. How could he plan a life with Brooke when he didn’t have a life anymore?

"Thorne"

He turned to find Kimberly standing in the doorway.

Brooke followed KC through the crowd of Rick’s friends.

" I’m sorry to interrupt you and Thorne, but I thought that you wouldn’t want to miss this."

"Miss what?"

" Miss her.." KC pointed to Trudie who was leaning over a pool table making a shot. Brooke looked at the girl when she stood up after making her shot.

"Well at least something good had come from this night." Brooke walked over to Trudie. She tapped Trudie on her shoulder. Trudie looked up and saw Brooke Forrester.

"Hi, I don’t mean to interrupt your game but can I speak to you for a moment."

Trudie wondered what Brooke Forrester wanted with her. Did it have to do with Eve and her son?

Brooke walked over toward a group of tables that were empty. " We could talk here if you don’t mind."

Trudie wondered why Ms. Forrester kept looking at her. She felt Brooke eyes on her when she walked past her. " Mrs. Forrester is there some sort of problem?"

"No, there isn’t a problem. Actually you are the person that I’ve been looking for."

" Why would you be looking for me?"

"You sent your portfolio to Forrester, we were looking for a new model. I had a special model with the right look as well as spirit. When I saw your picture, I knew as well as others that you were perfect. Seeing you up close and in person only supports my initial feelings. I would like you to come and work for Forrester Creations."

Trudie’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe this---was this some sort of trick? Brooke Logan, CEO of Forrester Creations was asking her to work for her. " This isn’t some sort of trick or something?"

"No, this isn’t a trick."

" It’s just, I never thought that I’d get a chance like this."

"Well, I’m the one who is lucky. We have been looking for you, your information on your portfolio had your old address and we didn’t know where to find you. To tell you the truth, I didn’t want anyone other than you. I was really disappointed when I could seem to find who you were. It’s a really good thing that KC and Giovanni saw you here tonight."

Trudie closed her eyes and beamed. She couldn’t believe this, Brooke Logan wanted her.

"Wow, I can’t believe this. I’m going to be working for Forrester. You are one of the best fashion houses in the world."

"Only one of the best…."

"Well…"

Brooke touched Trudie’s hand. "Don’t worry, one the best is fine with me. Trudie, I’ll need to see you tomorrow for another interview. We need to talk about the line; it will be different from our other lines. I really want to make sure that you are comfortable in what I have in mind." Brooke looked down at Trudie’s shirt and smirked. " I think that you are just the person we are looking for. You have a lot of spunk."

"You have a problem with me and Scott?"

"Bridget, I saw you too together. I saw you and my son kissing."

" I…."

"Bridget, you are a very pretty girl. My son is a handsome man, but he is a man. He is a lot older than you and he is used to having adult relationships.

Bridget looked away from Lauren.

"Bridget, I am concerned about what I saw. Scott has an attractive personality and a girl your age can become easily enamored with him. But you have to realize that a relationship of any kind other than friendship is out of the question." Lauren touched Bridget on the shoulder. "You are too young for him Bridget and my son is used to adult relationships and what comes along with it. He also likes to keep company of many different women." Lauren gave Bridget a sympathetic look. " I don’t want to hurt you Bridget, but I have to warn you. Scott isn’t the man for you. You are too young for him and you’d only be hurt in the end. My son likes girls, he probably likes you a great deal, but that doesn’t mean that you would be any different than the other girls he has gone out with.

"Why are you telling me this, it was just a kiss."

"Maybe to Scott, but I could easily see that it meant much more to you. You are very young and impressionable. You probably haven’t dated long. Scott is out of your league. Bridget, I’m guessing you are a virgin. You are sweet, innocent and very beautiful. Any boy or man would be attracted to you. In a couple of years maybe things would be different, but you aren’t ready for Scott now."

Bridget said nothing, but the joy that she had felt in Scott’s arms was gone. Lauren was Scott’s mother and her parents’ friend. She had no reason to lie to her.

Lauren saw the vulnerable look on Bridget’s face and she knew that her conversation had the desired effect. " I’m sorry but you know that it is the truth. My son is attracted to you, but he isn’t the right person from you to be involved with. I’m sorry Bridget but he is my son and I know him, Besides, I know for a fact that he has been seeing someone else. I don’t want to hurt you, but I thought that it would be best if you understood how things really are. Bridgett.."

"I understand Mrs. Fenmore…" Bridget had a difficult time swallowing. " Thank you…I understand exactly what you are telling me."

Bridget walked away and Lauren didn’t see the tears fall from the girl’s eyes.

Ridge rushed to the nurses’ station. " Please tell me, where is Taylor Forrester?"

" I can’t give you some information.."

"Damn it, I’m her husband. Where is my wife?" The nurse saw pure panic on his face.

"Mr. Forrester, you need to calm down. I’m sure that a doctor will be here soon to help you." The nurse talked to another nurse. Ridge paced back and forth.

"Good, please….please don’t let her be hurt." Ridge’s hands were shaking, what had he done.

A female doctor came toward him. " Mr. Forrester, I’m doctor Parker. I need to talk to you about your wife."

"Taylor, please doctor, is she alright?" Ridge had grasped her by her hands.

"Mr. Forrester, you need to calm down. First thing, your wife is in stable condition.

"Thank God… thank you." Ridge felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

He headed toward the room he saw the doctor come from.

"Mr. Forrester, please wait." The doctor pointed toward the sofa. " I think that we need to talk about some things before you go to see your wife." Ridge glanced toward the door to Taylor’s room. " Please Mr. Forrester, it really is a matter of importance."

Ridge sat down next the lady doctor.

" Your wife was in a serious accident, if she hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt or have an airbag she would have most likely be dead. Based on the information given, she was driving very fast. She hit the tree with full force; she sustained a large gash on her head, which was bleeding a great deal. She broke her right wrist and cracked two ribs."

Ridge stood, he didn’t know what to do. His precious Taylor had been hurt and this was his entire fault. She drove off in a rage because of what he has done.

"Mr. Forrester, please sit down. I know that this is upsetting to you, but there is more."

"More?"

The doctor sighed. " Yes Mr. Forrester, there is more. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your wife started to hemorrhage because of the impact of the crash."

"Hemorrhage?"

"Yes, I’m sorry Mr. Forrester but your wife lost the baby that she was carrying." The doctor put her hand on Ridge’s shoulder. " I’m sorry but the fetus was too young for such an impact, your baby couldn’t make it. "

Brooke couldn’t find Thorne anywhere in the club. She had told Rick that she was leaving as well as Bridget. Bridget had been normally quiet all night, she wondered if I

She saw Megan who was heading out.

"Have you seen Thorne?"

"Yeah, he left about 20 minutes ago."

"What, he did?"

"Yeah, you didn’t see him?"

Brooke’s heart leapt. " He left… are you sure?"

"Yes Brooke, are you alright?"

Brooke cleared her throat. " Yes, I’m fine."

"Brooke I’m a little tired, I think that I’m going to go home. I have a feeling that we are going to be very busy tomorrow."

"Yeah, that’s a lot Megan for coming."

Megan left and Brooke sat back down in the table. "Why did you leave Thorne, what is going on?" A waiter brought a glass of champagne to Brooke. " I didn’t order it."

" I know Ms. Forrester but it was sent to you." Brooke took the drink. She sipped the cool champagne; she wondered what else was going to go wrong that night.

She had almost finished her drink when a waitress came over to her.

"Ms. Forrester, you have a note that was left for you."

Brooke picked up the note and read it. It was from Thorne.

Brooke,

I’m sorry to be leaving you without talking to you, but you were really busy with KC. I think that it is important to talk to Ridge. I also think that Bridget might need you tonight, she is most likely upset about what she saw on that video. I will talk to you later. I love you.

Thorne

Brooke looked at the letter again. Something didn’t seem right. Why didn’t he try to talk to her instead of leaving her a letter?

"Mom, are you okay?"

" Hi, sweetie, yes everything is alright." Brooke folded the letter. She patted the seat next to her. Bridget sat down next to her mother. Brooke noticed the dried tears stains on her daughter’s check. Brooke was immediately alarmed.

"What is wrong honey?"

"Nothing"

"Oh course it is something. Tell me what is bothering you?"

Bridget wanted to tell her mother the truth that she had shared the most incredible kiss that she ever had, but she couldn’t forget what Lauren had told her. What if her mother was upset, after all she remembered how upset her mother had been about Amber seeing Rick. How would her mother feel about Scoot who was ages older than her?

"Nothing, I guess I was just upset about what happened tonight, what about you mom are you okay? I saw you sitting here all alone. Where is Thorne?"

Bridget watched as her mother fidgeted with the piece of paper in her hand. " Don’t worry about me. Thorne has gone home. Right now, I’m concerned about you. You are upset about what happened aren’t you?"

Bridget didn’t say anything.

Brooke took her daughter’s hand. " I know what happened here is upsetting and very embarrassing to you, but you need to know that we will pull through this. Sometimes men make mistakes, now I’m not saying what Ridge did was right. But I want you to know that there are men out there who don’t cheat, who know how to stay faithful. I know that I’m not the one to talk, I’ve made my own mistakes."

Bridget looked at her mother shyly. " When you cheated on dad?"

Brooke froze. " Yes, what I did to your father was wrong.. The whole thing was complicated and I’m not sure how much you know."

"I know that you cheated with Ridge. It seems like he does this sort of thing all the time. In fact, he has cheated with everyone except you." Bridget played with her bracelet.

"Maybe you have something that Taylor didn’t have in her marriage. If Ridge is cheating there she must not be doing something."

"Bridget….you have this all wrong. What Ridge did was wrong and the only person to blame for what happened was Ridge. I don’t want you growing up thinking that men have the right to cheat and if they do then it is the wife’s fault."

"I don’t think that mom.."

"But you just said that you thought …"

"Mom, I’m just saying that maybe that marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I might feel sorry for Taylor but I remember how badly she treated you.."

"Bridget…"

"Don’t worry mom. I don’t think that all men are bad. Bridget’s mind went back to what Lauren had said about Scott seeing someone else, he had lied to her. " Some just make mistakes…like Ridge. Ridge is a good person and I’m sure that he is sorry."

"I’m sure that he and Taylor will work through this somehow."

Bridget rolled her eyes. " I don’t know mom. I remember hearing stories on how upset Taylor was when you had me. How do you think she is going to feel once Morgan has Ridge’s baby?

"Bridget! Oh my god, you think that….that Ridge is the father of Morgan’s baby."

"What do you think mom, count the months."

Brooke was so engrossed in her conversation with her daughter that she didn’t notice the feel of set of eyes on her.

Gunter sat back and watched the two beautiful blondes talk. " Brooke Forrester, I can’t wait to meet you. Up close and personal."

Brooke’s head was really aching, her throat was very dry. She was feeling hot all over and funny. She walked to thinking about what Bridget had said. She certainly hoped that Morgan’s baby wasn’t Ridge’s, if it was; she couldn’t see how Taylor would forgive Ridge. If Bridget hadn’t been worrying her she would go by Thorne’s, but she thought that she should be home for her daughter. Rick said that he’d make sure that Bridget got home safely, so Brooke had decided to head home. Brooke started to open the door to her Jag when she heard a sound behind her. She turned to find to strange looking man behind her. Brooke stepped back.

"Can I help you?" Brooke winced; the man’s face had become three faces.

" No, Ms. Forrester, I think I can help you."

Brooke started to shake her head, she was feeling so strange. " Please step back."

Gunter stepped closer. He leaned forward and sniffed her hair. " You smell even better than I dreamed."

Brooke reached out her hand to push him back, but something wasn’t working. She was so hot and her pulse was racing. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear her heart pounding in her head. Gunter caressed Brooke by her face.

"You are more beautiful up close. You are a man’s fantasy."

" Get…..away from me." Brooke tried to push him again, but it didn’t work. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him.

" I’ve been wanting this for so long…" Brooke fell and he caught her. " I’ve dreamed about this…" His mouth caught hers, while his hand tightened around her hair.

"No…, no…please" Brooke tried to call out but her mouth didn’t work, she tried to push him but it didn’t work. Brooke was scared, she was going to be raped, she tried to fight, but she couldn’t.

Thorne drank from the tequila bottle. He had left her in that club, all alone. Right now when she needed him, he left her all alone. He wanted to be with Brooke, to comfort her to make love with her, instead he was here. He had used Ridge as an excuse. How could help his brother when what he did was so much worse? Thorne drank swallowing the liquor. He went to his bedroom, asleep in bed was Kimberly. Bringing her here was a mistake.

Isabelle slowly brushed her hair looking at her reflection in mirror. It was nights like these that she went and stayed with her brother. She had her own set of rooms in his estate. She would sometimes cook dinner or he would. They’d sit and talk, play chess, discuss books sometimes they’d watch TV. In those moments, she felt normal. Isabelle looked at her large beautiful bed it was empty as usual. She never allowed anyone in her personal bedroom within her house. Yes she had a master suite set up for sexual exploits if she had them, but only she ever slept in her bed. Only once in her life did she allow a man to sleep in her bed and stay the night. It had been Benito; he had been different. Benito had been best friends with Caspian, they were almost inseparable in their youth; they had been blood brothers. She had meet Benito when she moved in with Caspian after he removed her from their mother’s care. Benito had been the only man that she had ever made love with; she had sex with everyone else. She thought that Caspian hadn’t known what was going on between them, but he did. Benito wasn’t ashamed that Isabelle wasn’t a virgin or had been raped; in fact he was the only person that knew what had happened her and Hugo besides her mother and Caspian. He was a strong man who cared for her and didn’t take any of her shit or mind games. He gave as good as she and she respected him as she respected her brother. She was impressed by his loyalty to her brother she loved that about him although she never openly admitted that—feelings were a weakness. She treated him with distain and was cold to him, but somehow Benito saw past that, he saw her. Almost like Pierce did, he saw her as a woman with blood and feelings. Sometimes it was hard to remember those days, she was young and she had fallen in love. That had been the first and last time that she had given her heart to a man. Isabelle went to a chest and opened it. Inside there was a photo album, she turned to a picture. She was 20 years old and standing between Caspian and Benito. She remembered that day, it had been important because that night, she gave herself to Bento.

 

Caspian carried Brooke into his bedroom at the hotel. He gently placed her limp body on the bed. He touched the bruise on the side of her neck, leaving a mark of blood that his fingerprints had made.

"Mr. Deangleo, the doctor is here."

Caspian didn’t touch Brooke because of his soiled hands. " Tell him to come in."

Dr. Leonard Hill came through the door. He knew better than to ask questions when dealing with these types of men. On the bed was his patent. A very beautiful blonde woman in a torn dress lay on the sheets. She was unconscious and had a bruise on arms and on her breast, which was partly bared by the torn dress. He looked at the man, who face was full of rage and pain. The dark man had blood on his hands and murder in his eyes. Dr. Hill reached out to take the woman’s pulse. The man grabbed his hand in a tight grip.

"Be careful with her. Don’t do anything to cause her further pain."

It was obvious in that moment that the man hadn’t done anything to the woman, he cared a great deal about her. Dr. Hill felt instantly sorry for the man who had done this; he had a feeling that he had paid with his life.

 

Against All Odds {Awakenings}

Dr. Hill looked at the deadly quiet man; the man had watched him like a hawk during his entire examination. He turned his attention back to the woman on the bed, gone was the torn dressed, after the examination the man put in one of his white dress shirts on her naked body. The only time the man showed any signs of compassion and caring was when he looked and touched the woman. He was very gentle with her, almost as if she meant to the world to him.

"Is she going to be alright." Caspian hadn’t taken his eyes off of Brooke. She was still asleep, he sat next to the bed holding her hand lightly stroking it.

"She will be alright. She was obviously man handled but she wasn’t raped."

" I already knew that she wasn’t raped." Caspian caressed her face. " I got there before she could be really hurt like that. Now how is she doing?"

"She had some bruises, on her arms, her breast and one on her neck. I believe that the drug that she was given caused the escalated pulse. This situation could have been very dangerous since she had alcohol in her system. She could have gone into shock or even worse, she could have died. I have given her a shot of which would slowly reverse the effects." Dr. Hill took off his glasses. " Under normal circumstances, she should have gone to a hospital, but since this isn’t a normal circumstance, I want you to watch over her. She will eventually wake up, but before she does, she will most likely be delirious."

"Because of the drug?"

"Yes, she will have lowered inhibitions and react easily to suggestions made." He saw the dark look that man gave him. Dr. Hill swallowed deeply. " Just make sure that she is well taken care of, she is at a very vulnerable state."

Caspian’s eye narrowed, and then he stood. " I will make sure that she is taken care of. You of course will keep this matter to yourself; neither the woman nor I will be mentioned. You will forget everything that you saw here tonight. One of my men will pay you handsomely for what you have done tonight. I thank you for what you have done for her." Caspian’s face turned to a mask of complete control. You will never speak of this matter to anyone."

Dr. Hill nodded his head. Caspian studied the doctor once again but then went back to the bed. Dr. Hill went to the outer room where a large black man gave him an envelope of money. He glanced in the envelope and was surprised by the amount of cash given to him. He quickly left wanting to go home and hug his wife.

Caspian closed his eyes saying a small prayer to god that she was alright. Thanking god that he had gotten there in time before that manic could do any real damage to her. Caspian climbed in bed next to her, she was sleeping so soundly that one might have thought that she was dead because she was so still. But he knew that she was recovering and sleep would be a good medicine to help her get better. He just wanted to lie next to her to know that she would be all right, to keep her safe. If that maniac had raped her or done any other damage to her----he would have paid with his life. His death would have been painful and draw out. Caspian knew how to make things painful if need be. The madman had been on top of her, her dress torn so her breast were freed, his hand covered her mouth; his pants and underwear were around his knees and he was using his free hand to pull down her panties. Rage had flown through Caspian’s veins, he saw red and wanted this man’s blood. He had pulled him off of her and he started to beat the man up, hitting him over and over with wild blows. He ruined the maniac’s face beating it so baldly that it was almost unrecognizable; he broke his nose and had knocked out his front teeth. He had taken his head between his two hands and would have broken his neck if Brooke hadn’t whimpered at that moment. Although she was in a drugged state, he didn’t want to take the chance and kill in front of her. He didn’t want her to see him as a monster, as a killer. It had been years since he had taken a life himself and he didn’t want to do it in front of her. He dropped the manic on the ground and went to her. He had blood on his hands, but he took her in his arms. She hadn’t even opened her eyes, but he was worried. He carried to his car, leaving the maniac on the ground. He had his men to go back to the club’s garage; they stated that he wasn’t there but they were already looking into the matter. He would find the man, and he’d see that he paid for what he had done to his mate. As far as he was concerned when Thorne’s failed to protect Brooke, Thorne had lost all rights to her. The pain the maniac felt couldn’t amount to the pain that he had cause Brooke; she had been frightened and so afraid. He had been careless though, he left the man—he shouldn’t have done that.

Stephanie watched Eric as he slept. She smiled softly, her husband, her sweet husband. She had wanted to go straight to Ridge’s to find out what happened between him and Taylor. Her poor daughter-in-law didn’t deserve this, to find out the truth about Ridge and Morgan. Morgan had done all of this; she taped Ridge having sex with her. She had given the videotape to Brooke who played it the party. She saw Brooke in her mind, laughing at her, taunting her that she had done this to destroy Ridge. Stephanie looked at the picture of her son she had on her night table. Her precious son, he didn’t deserve to be settled with a baby he didn’t want. He and Taylor had worked hard to achieve a happy home and that bitch had ruined it. Brooke and Morgan were going to pay big time for what they had done to her son. She would see that they both paid for what they had done, especially Brooke, Brooke had done this.

" You think that you have won don’t you Brooke? You think that you are going to get my Ridge don’t you? I’m going to see that you pay. I’m going to see that you lose Thorne. I’m going to see that Ridge sees you for the whore that you are. I’m going to see that you lose your children." A look of rage came over Stephanie’s face. She was going to do whatever it took to get rid of Brooke….she'd do anything to get rid of her permanently. Stephanie picked up the phone and made a call, she hung the phone up. Soon, very soon, she would never have to think of either Morgan or Brooke again.

Isabelle looked at the photo of Benito. It had been years since she had seen this photo. There was no point in replaying or rehashing the past. What was done was done and she couldn’t change anything. She had been young, 20 years old and still a baby although she controlled her emotions and was highly intelligent. She had made a terrible mistake letting her guard down for Benito, a mistake that she never planned on making again. She remembered the night that she let go and felt true passion without wearing some sort of mask. She had just come from Hazel’s; Caspian had been out of town taking care of some business. Benito had found out that she had been visiting Hazel’s and was furious at her and Caspian. He had been sitting in her one of rooms connected in her bedroom.

{Fade into memory}

Isabelle walked into the dark room and she had moved toward the connecting door. She didn’t even cut the lights on, she didn’t see him but she knew he was there. "What do you want Benito?"

He cut the light on the table beside the chair. She looked into his beautiful face and then said nothing.

"At least you aren’t losing your touch when it comes to your safety. However, why is it that you did not draw your gun?"

"I knew it was you, I could smell your whore’s perfume."

Benito laughed and advanced toward her. " I didn’t sleep with Arlene. She and I are over."

" That doesn’t concern me in the slightest." Isabelle poured herself a glass of Sherry from the bar. She sipped the alcohol and then looked at Benito. " I think that it is time for you to leave. Tell me whatever message my brother sends and then go."

Benito sat down on the sofa. " Do you think that you can dismiss me like some servant or something."

" Isn’t’ that what you are to my brother…his servant?"

" If you were a man I’d make you sorry for that comment."

Isabelle felt a thrill go through her body. " If you were a man, you really wouldn’t care if I was a male or female. You honor would be the most important matter."

"My honor, where is your honor?"

Isabelle raised any eyebrow and laughed.

"Now, that’s a funny question to ask me about. Honor. I have more honor than half of the cutthroat men that you deal with."

"Caspian shouldn’t allow you to know so much, you are a woman…for god sake Bella. Act like one!"

"Act like one of those simpering idiots that you sleep with." Isabelle gave him a mocking grin. "Oh Benito, your manliness overwhelms me. I need you, I love you. Please allow me to be your personal love slave." Isabelle mocked the other women and laughed. Her face became serious. " My, my, my…don’t you think that simpering bull$hit is too much. Women fawning all over you---its disgusting."

Benito came up behind Isabelle. " I’m not talking about me, what I do isn’t any of your business. I’m here about you."

Isabelle sat in the leather chair, crossed her eyes and almost smiled when Benito’s gaze involuntary looked at her beautiful legs. She took out a cigarette and licked her lips before she inhaled. " What about me?"

"You are going to Hazel’s---why?"

Isabelle looked into his eyes. " Why do you go to Hazel’s?"

Benito had enough of her attitude, her coldness. She was a bitch, she was cold, and she intrigued him totally. He had tried to ignore his feeling for her. She was Caspian’s sister and off limits. She had also been traumatized when she was young, he knew first hand what she had been through—Caspian had felt such pain about his sister. Anger had burned through Benito body when he had seen her at Hazel’s, anger went through him. She was paying for sex; she wanted another man to touch her. He had dreams about her since she was 18, hot erotic dreams about the ice princess.

"Why are you such a bitch!"

"I can get away with it. I’m totally in control"

" I’m going to have a talk with Caspian—he is allowing you too much. You shouldn’t be going to a place like that."

"I shouldn’t be enjoying myself sexually—because I’m a woman or because I’m a rape victim ?"

"That’s not what I meant"

"Yes it is. I should be a victim under Caspian’s thumb, being watched and protected." Isabelle stood. " You should know better—my brother taught me to protect myself against any and everything. Go home Benito to your whores—what I do isn’t any of your concern."

Isabelle walked calmly into her beautiful large bedroom and Benito followed her.

"Who in the hell to you think you are? You don’t ever dismiss me like I’m one of those men you manipulate." Benito grabbed Isabelle by the arm and whirled her around to face him. Adrenalin pumped through him, he wasn’t going to take her shit. " You get away with too much."

Isabelle pulled against his grip hard; he didn’t let go—showing that he was stronger.

"Playing with me Benito---good. I love to play." She ground her heel on his foot and tried to hit him, he blocked her hand and capturing her other hand. " Isabelle smiled. " Aren’t you afraid of my brother—he’s going to kill you for touching me."

"I’m not afraid."

"You should be" Her eyes never left his—she acted as if she could see through him. He let her go, Bella shouldn’t be manhandled. In that moment of weakness, she got the upper hand and a gun from her night table. She pointed the gun at his chest.

"Big mistake letting your gun down. I could shoot you now, tell brother about what you’d did and that would be that."

Benito was calm. " Put the gun down Isabelle."

" I don’t know about that, you really shouldn’t touch me."

His voice was deadly calm. " Put the fucking gun down. I’m not going to tell you again."

Isabelle laughed and put the gun down. She walked toward him. "What would you have done if I hadn’t put the gun down?"

Benito just stared at her and then he reached out and kissed her with brutal force. Passion ignited that room between he and her. Together what ever was between them, hidden and forbidden came out. He wasn’t gentle like he wanted to be, she wouldn’t allow him to be that. He pushed her back on the bed and she ripped opened his shirt, her mouth finding her neck biting, tasting his nipples, and scratching. He couldn’t wait; his hands found his gun and dropped it to the floor in a careless motion. His hands found her skirt and pushed it up, her hands ripped at his waistline and she freed him. He ripped at her panties and flung the torn scrape of material on the soft carpet. He found her nipple, she hadn’t been wearing a bra, he suckled it, and he probed her with his member and only found hot, wet, heat. He thrust inside her tight sheath. He was in absolute heaven and ecstasy. She loved every minute it. It was wild. He started to push in and out in wild movements, he tried to ride her---but she would let him. She wrapped her legs around him and put on the pressure until he turned and she rode him. Together the rode, heated kisses, heated passion filled the room until they hit an earth-shattering climax. Together they both gasped for air, clothes have torn still on their sweaty bodies. Isabelle felt alive and was surprised to find Benito smiling at her. She quickly masked her face and emotions—she didn’t want him knowing that joy that she was feeling. He cupped her face.

" I love Bella."

"What?"

"I love you… I think that I always have."

Isabelle moved off of him, she wasn’t ready for this. " You don’t have to shower me with pretty words, I’m not like those other women in your life. I know what this is. You don’t have to worry I’ll never tell what happened here tonight and if you tell.."

Her words were cut off by his kiss. He gently kissed her with heated passion. " I never told anyone that I loved them before. I mean it. I love you just the way that you are. I know that you can’t or won’t say it but that is okay." Isabelle hadn’t known what to say, her feelings for him were too conflicting. Somehow they ended back in her bed and they made love, slowly with passion. For the first time in her life, she made love. She didn’t know why but she allowed him to stay in her bed and she fell asleep with him holding her.

 

 

Ridge sat in the church’s chapel because he needed solace and he needed peace. Yesterday he had been in bed with his wife making love to her. Inside her had been a tiny little life. A life he hadn’t known about, he wondered if Taylor had known about it. He took out a photo of his wife and his three beautiful children. He ran his finger down Taylor’s face.

" Doc, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to you." Ridge looked up at the ceiling. Because of him, their baby was lost, their baby was dead. Before it could breathe or know the joy that his father felt about him, he was dead.

" Oh, god! Why, why did this happen. To Taylor my beautiful wife; to the most incredible woman. She didn’t deserve it. If you had anyone to punish, why didn’t you punish me!" Ridge raged all alone. " Damn it all the hell!" Ridge punched the wall, over and over again. He didn’t even notice the blood streaming down his hand or the damage that he had done. He had ruined everything; his life was a mess because of Morgan. It was a good thing that Taylor hadn’t died, but his child did. He would never forgive her for what she had done to him, to Taylor, to his lost child.

" You will pay Morgan…. You will pay for ruining my life."

 

Brooke moved, she mumbled in her sleep. " No, please.." She lifted her arms to fend off an imagined attacker. " Please…"

Caspian took her into his arms. He mumbled something in Italian. " Shhh, sweetheart. It’s okay, you are all right. You are all right." He kissed her forehead lightly. " I’m here and I’m not going to let anyone ever hurt you." It was as if she had heard him and knew that he would do as he said, he would protect her. She relaxed in his arms and rubbed her head against his chest. He stroked her head and lulled her back to sleep. She woke an hour later in a delirious haze. He heard her rough breathing, her pulse was elevated, but not like it had been an hour before. She opened her drugged eyes.

"Hot….so hot." Her voice came out in a whisper. " I’m so hot…please help me" He wasn’t sure if she knew where she was or if it was even him that she was talking too. She closed her eyes. He took went to the bathroom and came out with a basin, he pulled the chair next to the bed. He took the washcloth and put into the water, soaking it and finally wringing it out. He carefully mopped her brow, allowing the cool water to soak into her system. He bathed her face and her neck. He took his time as if she were some sort of fragile china doll. He frowned when he saw the discoloration of a bruise on her neck; he tried to suppress his anger. He pulled the sheet down and washed the front of her thighs, her legs and her feet. Even her toes were exquisite, he couldn’t help himself, and he gently kissed the inner arch of her foot. He had wanted to kiss her feet, but not like this, he wanted her awake and wanting when he did that to her. She had stopped murmuring when he started to wash her, but now that he stopped she started up again. There were still parts of her body that he hadn’t washed, for the first time in his life; he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to wash her, he knew that he’d feel sexual feelings but he could suppress them however, if she woke, how would she react?

He slowly unbuttoned the three buttons on the shirt. Her beautiful body was exposed to his eyes in the dimly lit bedroom. His eyes and he couldn’t help to study her, her breast, her flat stomach, and her thighs. Everything was golden and perfect, from her nipples, to her fingertips, to her perfectly arched eyebrows to her soft lips. He picked up the washcloth and dipped it into the water wringing it out again. He gazed at the pulse beating at the base of her neck, and then slowly traced her collarbone, he watched as the water created crystal beads on her skin. He created a path of cool liquid on her body. He slowly ran the cloth down in between her breast and then he slowly ran the cloth over her breast, which caused her sensitive nipples to harden. He studied her nipples wanting so much to take them into his mouth and lavish them, lavish her whole body. He took his time while bathing her, part of him was ashamed of looking at her in such a lascivious manner but she was beautiful. He didn’t touch her suggestively but still his movements where sensual. He moved the cloth down to her flat stomach, bathing it in the cool water. He was amazed that she had carried two children within her, some of the water created its own pool of water in her navel. He wanted to wanted to lap it up with his tongue, he wanted her. What kind of man was he that he could have feelings like this after all that she had been through? He dropped the cloth back in the basin, and moved to close the shirt back when he saw that her eyes were open and she was studying him with a glazed expression.

"Brooke?"

"Don’t…"

"Don’t what honey. He was so worried that she was traumatized by what had happen.

She closed eyes and then reopened them. " Don’t stop…."

He took her head between his hands. " You don’t know what you are saying sweetheart…you are confused."

He watched tears weld up in her eyes. " No… please, he touched me….take away his touch please.."

Caspian was worried that she was becoming hysterical. He wasn’t quite sure what to do; when Isabelle was raped she hid her pain, her tears, her anger inside of her so deep that he wondered if anyone could penetrate her soul. Brooke however was different, although that bastard hadn’t penetrated her, he had scared her, hurt her. She had felt his mouth and hands on her body and will reliving the fear. She wanted something different.

Brooke tired to clear her mind but she couldn’t something had happened, the man had he raped her? Was she unclean? Something pulled her away from the pain, something saved her. There was a touch on her skin, soothing her, giving her life---she needed his touch. Her dreams were wild, they were of him Caspian, and he was touching her healing her. Insider her mind she heard her own voice. "Where were you Thorne? Where were you when I needed you?" Thorne’s face appeared before and she tried to smile, he told her everything would be fine and they would end up together. The face changed, it was now HIM-Caspian, and he was calling her. He kept telling her that she belonged to him that in the end they’d be together. She was his mate---which he had been searching for her.

Caspian watched as she thrashed on the bed, calling out to Thorne then calling out to him. He watched her as she relived the attack and she cried out to Thorne, asking him why he didn’t save her. He heard her fear as she resigned to the fact that she would be raped, that she was frightened. He took her in his arms, pulling her into his lap, rocking her, soothing her and telling her that everything would be okay. Suddenly she looked up at him and for a moment he thought that she might have truly awaken from the effects of the drugs.

She touched his face and traced his lips with her fingers. " Make love to me."

Caspian closed his eyes, her partially naked body on his lap aroused his body, but he knew that she thought that he was Thorne; she wasn’t calling out to him.

" Please, Caspian….make love to me."

 

 

KC walked over to her plush sofa, which Connor was lounging on. "Can I get you anything?"KC noted the wirily smile on Connor’s face. " Something like tea, wine or coffee."

Connor pulled her down next to him on the sofa. " No, I think that I have everything that I need." He pulled her close and kissed her. After a few minutes, KC pulled back. Her lips were swollen, the evidence of the heated kiss that she had just shared.

"Everything that you need huh?"

Connor took KC’s legs and pulled them up into his lap, he slipped of her heels and then started to rub her feet. He took her small foot into his hands and expertly massaged them.KC closed her eyes, it felt so good. " You do know how to treat a woman don’t you." Connor watched KC as she reveled in the feel of his massage.

" I do try to please. Plus after tonight, I thought that you needed a special treat."

KC opened her eyes. "Tonight, what did I do that was so special?"

Connor kept massaging her right foot. " I watched you network, finding a model for Brooke."

" I didn’t find Trudie, Giovanni did and what great luck it was. Brooke really wanted her and now she has her. I am sorry however that I broke up the moment between Brooke and Thorne. I know that I haven’t known them long, but I’ve seen them together and there is a lot of love."

"I think that he is good for her." Connor frowned. " He is much better than Ridge."

"He really screwed things up with his wife. I don’t know her but I’m not sure if she can forgive him with something like this. It’s strange I’ve seen him with Morgan at work today and I didn’t see anything between them."

"Who knows what is going on, well apparently over 100 college students do know. This is a big mess, for Taylor. I’m sorry for her, she fought hard for Ridge. I clearly remember how she and Brooke went to battle in the courts and out of the courts when she came back from the dead."

" I think that I read about that? Taylor won didn’t she?"

Connor clearly remembered that day in court. Brooke had been totally devastated when Taylor had been ruled Ridge’s true wife. Soon after Ridge surprised the entire family when he asked Taylor for a divorce and wanted to marry Brooke."

" It didn’t happen though…"

"No, it didn’t happen. He bounced back and forth between the two woman and burned Brooke in the end. It looks however that he has screwed things up literary. I can’t believe how selfish this man is. He has a wife who loves him, and three kids, but that wasn’t enough for him. He has to sleep with his wife’s friend. This thing isn’t going blow over and it could get messy. This story is going to hit front paper and Forrester is going to get some publicity."

"There are used to it aren’t they. That family isn’t known for their normal practices. I’m just not sure that they want to be known for this however."

" Even though the publicity isn’t good, Brooke will find a way to put a spin on it."

" She’s good at putting a spin on things."

"No matter how a spin is put on it, the fashion show is less than 5 days away. Working conditions are already tense. I can’t imagine how it is going to be tomorrow. I do know that things are going to be out of control."

"I don’t feel sorry for Ridge, however I am sympathetic to Taylor. She didn’t deserve this. However, I’m also concerned about Brooke."

"Why are you concerned about Brooke?"

"That videotape, it is missing. Who knows where it my end up and I can’t help to wonder who placed it in the machine."

"How do you know that the tape is missing?"

"I talked to Brooke before she left. She finally remembered to try to find the tape and went to find out. It wasn’t there."

"Where do you think that it is?"

" I don’t know, but I hope to god that tape doesn’t end up on the Internet. I have a bad feeling that tape is going to continue to cause a great deal of problems."

KC couldn’t help but to agree, nothing good would come from this mess.

 

 

 

It was him, it was him that she wanted, that she called out to, not Thorne. There was no better aphrodisiac at that moment that this. Caspian couldn’t deny himself any longer. She was sitting in his lap; his shirt was open on her exposing her beautiful naked body. He looked into her face; he traced her brow with his fingers. She began to rub her face against his hand; she took it and placed it on her breast. He rubbed his thumb against her nipple and she arched her head back pushing her breast into his hand. His mouth found her neck, which was arched back, he kissed her neck using his tongue to move down the curve to find the bruise, which he slowly traced as if his tongue could be the healing balm that she needed. Her bottom began to move around in his lap, pressing itself against his raging shaft, which needed relief. He pushed the shirt out of the way and brought her up against him while he bent his head. His mouth found her breast; he gently kissed and tongued the bruise on her breast. He kissed all around her breast gently, not opening his mouth but once he got to the nipple, he opened it. He tongued all around her he tasted all around her nipple until his took it into his mouth. She arched toward him something primitive inside of her needed this his touch, his mouth. She loved the feel of him; her dream was so real that she wanted to experience everything. Caspian…her dream lover would take away the pain and the hurt left by Thorne and something else that hurt her, she couldn’t remember what is was anymore.

"Caspian…please, make love to me"

He tightened his hold on her, allowing himself to savor every sigh, every taste and every feeling. She was pushing him beyond his limit of control. He hadn’t meant things to get this far, his only proitey was protecting her. Now it seemed that he needed to protect her from himself. His mouth left her aching breast and finally his took her mouth in a searing kiss. It was almost as if he breathed for her, giving her life. Tongues mingled, sighs of frustration raised into the air. He nipped at her mouth, his tongue become the suggestion tool used to mimic the movements that he so desperately wanted to come to fruition. He stood, her legs wrapped around his waist, his hands cupping her naked bottom. He took her too his bed and laid her down. The shirt lay open and she was exquisite there in her naked glory for only his eyes to see. Her glazed over eye looked at him and she smiled.

" My dream lover, how many times have I thought about you since we met? I want you so badly…. I need you. Please come to me now." Caspian was kneeling on the bed, almost on top of her, his own shirt-hung open and at that moment he wanted to strip and take her. He leaned down and kissed her gently, slowly on her mouth. Her fingers found his nipples; it was such an erotic thing to be touched by her. He took her hand and kissed her fingertips gently. He then leapt from the bed and stripped all the clothes off of his body, standing naked and totally erect; he looked at the woman in the bed who seemed to need him like she never needed anyone before. He looked down at himself, his own shaft, moving on it’s own accord needing a realize, he was like a teenager. He knew that if he touched himself that he might spill his seed, he wanted to spill it inside of her. If he took her now it would be intense too fast, too hard and too wrong. Claiming her like this would never allow her to make a real choice, she wasn’t right in her mind. The drugs mingled in her system letting down her guard allowing her to think that he was a dream and not a man. She’d wake up and regret what they had; he’d regret that he was no better than that maniac. He put on his robe to cover his nakedness to shield himself from the ultimate temptation. He walked over to the bed where she reached out toward him. He leaned down and kissed her gently, he pulled the sheet up to cover her naked body from his gaze. "Not tonight, It will happen, but not like this." He kissed the top of her head. " Sleep now." Although she protested, her eyes started to droop and finally closed with her slumber. Caspian walked into the bathroom and turned on the cold water of the shower, the cold water would help the ache. It was at that moment that he realised that he was falling in love with her----he’d put her above him; he’d put her above anyone. This wasn’t about Lark, it wasn’t about sex although he wanted that, and it was truly about Brooke.

Trudie closed the door to her apartment. " Eve?" Trudie went to Eve’s bedroom but she didn’t see her. She was surprised that Eve wasn’t home yet. She looked at the clock; it was well past 1 am. Trudie remembered how much fun Eve had been having at Rick’s birthday party with Rick.

"Maybe you got lucky Eve. Could it be that you are spending time with Rick?" Rick was a cute guy and he did seem nice although that vixen in training, his girlfriend, also snowed him. Something must be amiss with Rick, Kimberly had been nowhere in sight at his party although Trudie had heard that she was there. Still, no Kimberly. Kimberly didn’t seem like the type to cut her loses and run even if she had seen Rick and Eve together. Something didn’t fit, something wasn’t right. Trudie checked the messages; there was no message from Eve. Trudie desperately wanted to tell Eve about her new job and she would have if Eve hadn’t been so busy with Rick. Trudie had no intention to ruin the good time that Eve was having. There was a knock at her door. " Who is it?"

"It’s CJ"

Trudie opened the door and found the very cute CJ standing in her doorway.

"Mr. Garrison, what brings you to my door this time of night?"

CJ handed Trudie her purse. " You left this in my car."

" Oh, thank you." Trudie had CJ drive her home from the club. " Do you want to come in or do you have to have permission from your roommate?"

Trudie smirked. Amber had let it be known later that night that she lived with CJ. She had thought cornering Trudie in the ladies room and telling her that CJ lived with her would deter Trudie. Too bad Trudie had known who she was based on old information from Eve and knew that they lived together to raise Eric.

" I’m sorry about Amber."

Trudie moved aside as CJ walked into the apartment. "You have apologize for her, I can take care of myself. It was sorta fun anyway…I always love the chance to unsheathe my claws."

"Your claws?"

"Yes, I can be down right catty when I want to be and other times I can be a sweet little pus$y cat."

CJ’s eyes couldn’t help to drawn to her shirt. Trudie smiled and she played with her hair.

"So, I’ve forgot my purse in your car on purpose and of course you brought it up to me as expected. My roommate isn’t here and I’m not sure if she will be back for the night, we’ve talked about YOUR roommate." Trudie tilted her head to the side. "Just what do you think we should do now?"

 

Ridge looked at the stitches that the doctor had put on his hands.

"There you go Mr. Forrester." The doctor have him sad look. " I know that you are upset Mr. Forrester, but ramming your hand into a wall isn’t going to help matters."

"Excuse me. Doctor Fieldman.... Mr. Forrester, your wife has awakened. "

" She has?"

Ridge thanked the doctor and ran out of the room.

"Mr. Forrester, Mr. Forrester….wait up please." The nurse ran to catch up with Ridge.

"Mr. Forrester, please don’t go in there all upset. If you stay calm she will stay calm. She has been through an ordeal at the moment." Ridge nodded his head; he knew that the nurse was right. How in the world would he keep her calm after tonight’s ordeal? He had no idea, but he would try. She meant everything to him and he would do his best to make sure that she forgave him. Ridge opened the door to the hospital room; he walked over to his wife who was lightly dosing.

"Taylor?" He gently touched her hand. Taylor slowly opened her eyes; she winced when she inhaled deeply. " Be careful, you broke a rib and I’m sure that it hurts." Taylor slowly nodded; she looked down at her throbbing wrist. She was in pain, it seemed that everything hurt.

"Ridge, what happened?"

Ridge pushed his hand back in her hair. He frowned at the bandage that he saw on her forehead. " You were in a car accident."

Taylor shook her head and winced at the pain there. " An accident?"

"You don’t remember?"

"No, Ridge, the children…"

"Don’t worry, the children are fine, they weren’t in the car with you."

Taylor was confused. " Ridge was anyone else hurt in the accident…did I hit anyone?"

Ridge couldn’t help but to smile. It was just like Taylor to be concerned about everyone but herself. "No one was hurt, you hit a tree."

" A tree…that doesn’t make any sense."

"Taylor, you really need to calm down."

Tears started to fill in Taylor’s eyes. " You are right. I’m one lucky woman. I’m guessing that I could have died in that accident."

" Don’t talk about it…Taylor about tonight."

"Ridge, I’m so blessed to have you and the children. I’m grateful for all of you." Taylor moved slowly and winced when the pain went through her body. " Looks like I won’t be dancing at Rick’s party or anyone else in the future."

"What?"

"Rick’s party, I’m guessing that we missed it."

Ridge stared at his wife. " Taylor what do you remember about tonight?"

Taylor was feeling drowsy and Ridge had to ask her the question again before she reopened her tired eyes. "What do you remember?"

"Getting ready for the party. Driving…." Taylor closed her eyes. "I can’t seem to remember more than that." Taylor closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Isabelle looked at the photo, and then she turned the page and found another picture. Her wedding picture to Benito, taken on the day that she had married him. No one really knew of the marriage, only Caspian and the pastor knew that she had married him. Things had ended badly, at the end of the night; she was no longer a married woman. Caspian had worked hard so no one knew of the marriage between his sister and his best friend. Isabelle closed the album. There was no use thinking about the past, what was done was done. She could never change things. She could never change who she was, what she had done or get back the people she had lost. Isabelle put down her brush and got into the bed. She crawled between the soft sheets. She cut the light off and laid in the darkness. Pierce was so different from Benito and even her brother. When they had gone to the movies, she watched as he joked with the people. His smile had come to easy and he actually relaxed. While she scanned all of the exits of the building and watched the people, Pierce relaxed and ate hot popcorn and sipped on a cold soda. It took a while but she relaxed and appreciated the beauty of the martial arts displayed in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. She actually enjoyed the movie, the theme and even found herself enjoying the aspects of love. She respected the characters, most of all Jen who wielded so much power for one so young. Halfway through the movie Pierce had come back from the bathroom, he handed her a box of Juju beads. She didn’t say a thing, but when she was young and happy, her father would take her to the movies and buy her Juju Beads. She had always loved the soft sweet candy. How could have Pierce known that? She had taken the box from him and opened it carefully savoring the taste and the memories as well as the movie. Isabelle sat back up in bed; she turned the light on beside her bed. She got out of bed and opened her purse that she was used that night. She took out the used ticket stub and placed into a black marbled box on her dresser. She took a small gun out her purse and put it in a locked drawer. Lastly, she took out the box of Juju beads and crawled back into her bed. She reopened the box and took out three pieces of candy, the placed the box beside her bed. She cut the lights back out and laid down, slowly she ate the candy, her mind rehashing the nights events, Piece’s smile, his interest in her photos and lastly their kiss. Before she drifted to sleep her mind thought about that stupid jumping hotdog in the refreshment cartoon in the movie. For the first time in a long time, Isabelle laughed ---she gave a real laugh. She also fell asleep with a smile on her face.

CJ hadn’t felt like this in ages, she had completely drained him and he was spent. Trudie’s head rested against her arm, her hair spread all around her. She looked at CJ.

" Are you sure that you don’t want to do it again?"

"Are you kidding, you’ve already worn me out."

"Really, I was just starting. Next time I’ll go easy on you."

"I’d appreciate it." CJ couldn’t help to think of a next time that they would get together. He looked at Trudie, her hair was spread out all around her shoulders, her faced flushed with ecstasy……..the ecstasy of winning. She had beaten the hell out of him at poker. A beautiful woman who looked like a wildcat beat him--he who was pretty much a card shark. Any man would have spent the night trying to get into her pants—not that he wasn’t above that sort of thing, but he hadn’t put the moves on her. When she had suggested cards, he was a little shocked but in a way that he was glad. He knew that he had to go with his life, he hadn’t died with Becky, but he didn’t want to jump into anything. Trudie he had learned during the card game was smart, witty and a lot of fun. Tonight had been one of the best nights that he had in a long time.

"It’s a good thing that we aren’t playing for money, I think that I’d have just about everything that you own."

"Is that so?" CJ grinned. " Maybe it is a good thing that we aren’t playing for money. Maybe you’d end up owning me."

Trudie threw her head back and laughed. " Owning you, now that you have interesting possibilities."

Brooke slowly opened her eyes. Pain hit her head, she felt like she had a bad hangover and she felt sore all over. Suddenly her memories came flooding back, a man grapping her, she couldn’t move. His hands ripping her dress, his hand pulling down her panties, his mouth covering hers. Brooke started to shake.

" My god….oh god." Tears flowed down her checks, she looked around and didn’t know where she was and why she was naked. There was a bruise on her breast! A bruise was there. Was she raped? She didn’t remember much of anything. The door to the room started to open, she looked next to the bedstead, and she needed a weapon. There wasn’t any way that she was going to be raped again. Caspian saw the fear in her eyes and suddenly the confusion when she saw him.

"Caspian…." Brooke was confused, she clearly remembered being attached by the man, why was she with Caspian. Brooke grabbed the sheet to cover her naked breast. "What happened…was I?"

Caspian hurried across the room. " Don’t, don’t worry, he didn’t rape you."

" He didn’t?" Brooke touched at sore spot on her neck.

" I stopped him, he didn’t rape you."

Relief and pain flooded her eyes. " You…you stopped him didn’t you?"

Caspian touched her face. Although she wasn’t raped, he knew that she would carry the memory of that night with her forever. " I stopped him, you don’t ever have to worry. He will never hurt you again." Brooke heard the quiet deadliness to his voice, but that didn’t scare her. All that mattered was the he had saved her; he kept her from being hurt and raped. Brooke started to cry and Caspian took her into his arms and held her. He told her over and over again that everything would be all right. Caspian knew what she had needed and after the tears had stopped, he ran a bath for her. She took a bath while he ordered food; he knew that she still was probably suffering with the effects of the drug. Brooke washed herself and tried not to cry as she saw the marks on her body. She tried to figure out what happened to her, but she couldn’t. She wrapped a large terry cloth robe around her and went to the outeroom where Caspian who was standing next to the fire in deep thought. She couldn’t help to appreciate his beauty; the firelight lit the room, his handsome face, and the way that his robe caressed his body. She wore a gentle smile. She owed this man her life, he had saved her body; he had saved her. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened although she knew that she would never forget. It was as if he knew she was there, he turned and looked toward her. He simply held out a hand toward her, he was a champion; her savior and she knew that she was save. Save from all the pain, from all the hurt. She had no choice, she walked toward him and he took her into his arms. In that moment, she felt that she had come home.

Against All Odds Chapter 46 {Bonding}

Brooke allowed herself to savor the feel of Caspian’s arms around her body for a moment. There was something inherently safe about being with him; it was like he had some power that kept all the bad things away. His strong arms wrapped her around her body, pressing her against him. His hand kept her head cradled against his muscular chest and she could hear the rhythm of his heart. His arms were the arms that saved her, the arms that held her when she cried out her pain and tears. She sighed and wanted to stay like this, to forget the hazy memories of what had almost happened to her. His scent of sandalwood filled her nostrils and her lungs. His hands stroked her back, not meant to be in a sensual manner but as a calming effect. His body was pressed against hers; she was totally naked under the robe as he probably under his silk robe. She shouldn’t be here with him, she should be with Thorne. Brooke pulled away from Caspian arms, she needed space, and she needed to think. What would happen to her now? What had caused her to feel ill? Had that man done this to any of Rick’s friends. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead at the temples as a flash of the man’s hands on her body can hurling back. She couldn’t breathe; she was scared all over again reliving hazy memories. She tried but couldn’t shake the feeling, his hot breath that reeked of cigarettes and liquor. His hands on her body and his tongue forcing its way between her two lips. She tried to scream, to fight but it didn’t work, nothing stopped him and no one would hear her scream. Caspian had watched the different range of emotions display on Brooke’s face. The wonder of what happened and then the shock, pain and horror. He wouldn’t allow her to go through this alone, she was shaking all over, her hands gripping her head while the tears filled her eyes and fell down her cheeks. He was looked serene on the outside although his rage was building inside of him; he wanted to kill all over. He stepped toward her and pulled her hands away from her head.

"Brooke!" He shook her gently. " Brooke it is over….do you understand that he can’t hurt anymore? No one will every hurt you again." He lowered her hands and let them go. He and traced a trail one of her tears made with his finger. " I made you a promise and I never break my promises." His saw the desperation in her eyes and wanted it gone. "I made you a promise to you…I will allow nothing to hurt you."

There was a knock at the door. Brooke looked nervously at the door and then closed her eyes. She had to be brave; she had never allowed herself to be afraid of anything. If she started to be afraid now, she’d give away her power. She inhaled a deep breath and steeled herself as Caspian made his way toward the door. He had watched her as she tried to pull her self together, she made him proud. She was hurting but she was already showing her strength, this would be hard thing for her to live through, but she would survive it. Brooke watched as he opened the door and the room service chart came into the room. He took the chart to the other room that was furnished to be a full dinning room. Brooke turned her back as Caspian made arrangements for the food to be set up. She hugged the terry cloth robe to her body and sat down on the sofa. She was still feeling a bit tired and weary. She used her fingers to come her hair out of her face. Tonight had started out wonderful, her son was celebrating his birthday with his friends and now… she had been slapped by Stephanie, shaken by Eric, left by Thorne and tonight…. If it hadn’t been for Caspian, she would have been raped.

"Raped…" She closed her eyes and felt the tears to escape. "Thorne…" Brooke shook her head. "Where were you when I needed you?" Brooke stood. " Don’t do this Brooke, it isn’t Thorne’s fault, he was helping his brother. He didn’t know…hell you didn’t know that this would happen." Brooke walked toward the large mirror and looked at her reflection, she was a mess. Her hair was in a disarray falling wildly over her shoulders, her eyes were swallow and puffy from her tears. She couldn’t help herself, she opened the collar of her robe and she dark bruise on her neck, and her fingers traced the bruise. He did this her, he had his hands all over her body and he would have been inside of if it hasn’t been for Caspian. Brooke pulled the robe together and closed her eyes. Caspian…how had he done this? How was it that he had been there to save her, to even know where she was? What kind of man was he? She didn’t know much about him; in fact she knew nothing about him. She had only met him two other times; she knew nothing about what did for a living, where he lived in Venice. She didn’t know anything about his personal life, if he was seeing anyone, if he had children or what happened to the woman that he had loved. She didn’t know why he was here in L.A let alone in United States. All that she knew about him was that he was powerfully intense man who had saved her. She didn’t know what was going on inside of his head, but strangely she knew that he would never hurt her.

Thorne watched the dark waves hit the hand on the beach. The light rain and the whipping wind stirred the sand and hitting him in the face. He didn’t care; he stood at the shoreline feeling the cold water splashing against his bare feet. He didn’t care about the cold or the water, he didn’t care that he was soaking wet, he didn’t care that he was drunk. He was a tortured man living in the hell that he committed. He took the last swig of tequila and then threw the empty bottle into the surf. The alcohol dulled his brain, but that is what he wanted, to dull his brain. He had spent most of the night trying hard to remember last night, but he couldn’t all he could remember was skin against his skin, tortured dreams of Brooke pleasuring him with her mouth and then a muddled conversation that he couldn’t remember. He could have sworn that two sets of hands helped him out of his clothes, but that couldn’t be right…the whole thing didn’t make sense. Why did he do this, why in the world would he have sex with Kimberly? He had been asking himself the same question over and over all again. It seemed that the men in his family were fu(king up royally all over the place. Ridge had been sleeping with Morgan and now he was caught. Based on the fight he had witnessed, Taylor wouldn’t forgive Ridge for this. Ridge had only slept with Morgan, what would Brooke do if she found out the truth? He had betrayed Brooke, raped an innocent girl as well ---how could he explain to her what had happened? His tears mingled with the rain falling down on his cheeks. What type of future did he have? How could he continue to hide this truth from Brooke, it was eating him up alive, inside the guilt was building. He turned his attention toward his house. Inside his house was a girl whose whole world was falling apart because of him. She had come to him in the club in tears over Rick. Rick was with Eve and it had been the last straw to her emotional toil, she had broken down in his arms. She blamed herself for last night and now she couldn’t even face Rick anymore. Kimberly didn’t have anyone and she was reaching out to him. He didn’t understand it, why would she reach out to him when he had hurt her? It didn’t make sense, nothing made sense anymore.

 

Caspian watched her as she finished her warm broth and hot rolls. She needed nourishment to help her . Brooke put the spoon down and leaned back in the chair. Her eyes watched Caspian while he watched her. She studied his face, his dark eyes that looked as if he could see through her into her soul, his lips that were full and sensual. She looked down at his hands and noticed the bruises on his knuckles. She reached across the table and touched his right hands gently touching the cut that slashed across the knuckles.

"How did you get…." Suddenly it dawned on her, he had gotten the bruises.

Caspian captured Brooke’s hand with his other hand. " It doesn’t hurt." Brooke acted like she hadn’t heard him, her attention fully on his injured hand. " It doesn’t hurt."

Brooke looked up. "Tell me what happened tonight.." She touched the bruises. " Tell what happened to the man who tried to rape me."

"You need your rest.."

"You hurt him didn’t you?"

Caspian’s eyes turned cold and the look on his face should have chilled her but it didn’t chill her at all. " You don’t remember?"

"No, I don’t remember much about what happened. I remember leaving the club and feeling very tired. Things were hazy in my mind and it was like I was sleepwalking."

"It was the drugs.."

"Drugs? What are you talking about?"

"Brooke.."

Brooke stood. "Tell me, what drugs are you talking about."

Caspian silently cursed himself; she needed to rest, not to get worked up. Brooke couldn’t read his expression; she had to know what happened.

"Please, please tell me. What drugs?"

Caspian stood and went to the other room, Brooke quickly followed him. He checked the fire that he had running in the next room.

"Don’t keep secrets from me. I have a right to know what happened to me. Damn it! Tell me, tell me that happened to me!"

" I’d never keep anything like this from you but I wanted you to rest."

" You think that I’d be able after tonight?"

Caspian ran his fingers through his hair and turned toward her, Brooke could see the vein in his right temple throb.

"No, but I was hoping that you’d try to rest, you’ve been through an ordeal. If you hadn’t been exposed to any other drugs, I would have seen that you got a sedative."

"I need to know, what drugs?"

Caspian said nothing for a moment but studied her. " You were drugged with a date rape drug called Ecstasy", he said in a quiet deadly voice. It was given to you probably in a drink at the club with the purpose of dulling you senses and your resistance. It was to make it an easy mark for your assailant."

The force of his words shook Brooke to the core. She remembered the events of the night in slow motion again and again. She remembered getting a drink from a waiter and then drinking it. Then she remembered the sick feeling she had and her slower responses, then she remembered being kissed roughly….she couldn’t see her attacker’s face, it was hazy but she remembered his body plastered on top of hers. " Oh, god…someone did this on purpose to hurt me?" Brooke looked wildly around the room." Bridget, of my god my baby. I left her there, those kids…" Brooke looked for the phone; she dashed across the room when she saw it. Caspian caught her in his arms. "Let go, I have to check on my baby..Something could have happened to her."

Caspian didn’t let go. " She alright Brooke, she got home just fine."

"The other kids, Rick’s friends…if someone else got hurt."

"To my knowledge, they are all fine, kids partying."

Caspian pulled Brooke to the sofa. " Everyone is fine, I made sure of it."

" I need call my daughter just to make sure…how do you know that she is fine?"

" I had one of my men follow her home, she didn’t know about it, but I wanted to make sure that she was alright. Calling her at this time would only upset her….you don’t want her to be upset do you?"

" No, I don’t, I just…" Brooke sighed and pulled the sash to her robe tighter. " So, some man got into the club but a drug in my drink to rape me." Brooke took in two deep breaths. " He planned the whole thing, watched me, drugged and if you hadn’t come along, he would have raped me." Brooke stood and walked toward the French doors toward the balcony. " Tonight has really been horrible, first Thorne’s strange behavior, Stephanie hitting me, Eric shaking me and finally to top it all off, some nut plots and plans to rape me. To think that someone that I don’t know wants to hurt me."

Caspian had listened to Brooke. The Forresters’ treatment of her was disgraceful. They would pay for hurting her; something struck a chord, the rape. It had been planned but for what purpose? Why did that man choose Brooke of all people, to drug and rape? Something didn’t seem right and he would get to the bottom of it.

Brooke turned her gaze from the night-lights of the city below and looked toward the handsome man in a silk robe looking dangerous by the fire lit room. She slowly made her way toward him; her heart began to beat faster. Caspian studied Brooke and wondered what she was doing when she stood in front of him and took his hands in hers.

"Tell about these. Tell me about your bruises and tell me what you did to the man that tried to hurt me?"

Brooke caught a sinister look in Caspian’s eyes when she mentioned her attacker. The worst came to mind and then a flash of Caspian hitting the man over and over again and finally taking his bloodied head between his hands.

"You didn’t kill him did you?" Her eyes looked wildly at him. She was afraid that he had taken a life because of her."

"Caspian.."

He cupped her face with his hands. "No, I didn’t kill him."

Relief washed all over Brooke, she would never forgive herself is Caspian’s life had been ruined because of her. " You were hitting him, beating him badly…I thought that maybe.."

"You needed me, you were hurting. The fact that you needed me and the fact that he hadn’t raped you saved his life."

Brooke was sure that he hadn’t meant what he had said. Although she might have liked to kill her assailant herself, she knew that she really didn’t want the man dead. "You don’t really mean that? You really wouldn’t have killed him."

He knew that a woman from her world wouldn’t really understand or accept that he had meant everything that he said. Although he had changed a great deal from how he used to be in his past, there was always one rule….a man protected his woman at all cost. As far as he was concerned, Brooke was his woman. He’d find the man and deal with him accordingly; no one would ever hurt Brooke and get away with it. Brooke moved back from Caspian, she watched how he masked his face. Inside she began to worry.

"You wouldn’t have killed him, would you?"

He looked away from her and then when he looked back at her, she couldn’t read his expression, he almost looked bored. His eyes narrowed for a moment, taking in her appearance. He moved his hands so he could trace the color of her robe, then he parted the robe from her neck, he saw the bruise, leaned forward to hair’s breathe away from the bruises, he traced the bruise with his finger. Brooke’s eyes widened, even after tonight, after all that she had been through she still felt a thrill of electricity from his touch. Was there something wrong with her? She was almost raped and scared to death, yet his touch sent something through her.

Caspian saw the shock register throughout her eyes, under normal circumstances, he would have smiled. She felt the same way that he did; even touching her bruise was almost a sensual act. They were all alone in the room lit only by the firelight, she was beautiful and he was….he was nothing if he wasn’t a man. A man still attracted to her totally, a man who would never see her hurt. A man who loved her.

Finally when she had almost forgotten what she had asked him, he answered her.

" I come from a long line of men who would do anything to protect their family and their women. Although I am the newest version of our people, I too am like them on some matters." His fingers were massaging the bruise on her neck in a circling motion and fashion. " I believe that when a man takes a woman against his will, he forfeits his life. If he had raped you, he would have been dead, make no mistake of that."

Brooke saw the naked truth in his eyes, he was serious about this. He would have killed for her…what had he done?"

Kimberly rolled over and smiled. Thorne’s bed, she was laying in his bed and soon very soon, she’d live here all of the time. Kimberly slowly put the phone back down on the receiver, she didn’t want any calls to get through, especially Brooke. Kimberly took off her clothes and put on Thorne’s shirt leaving a few of the top buttons open. She posed into the mirror making herself look desirable and deshelived. She looked down at a picture of Brooke hugging Thorne and she turned the picture down. It didn’t matter now; Brooke and Thorne were basically over. Tonight when she had seen them together, rage burned inside of her. How could he stand there and defend that bitch, kiss her and even allow her to make plans for her future. Kimberly knew that she had to do something, seeing Gunter had been a stroke of luck, it didn’t take much to play on his obsession with blondes or Brooke. Gunter was research assistant for her biochemistry class. Some of the girls in her class were attracted to him; they said that there was something dark and dangerous about him. Kimberly didn’t care for Gunter, he always looked at girls as if they were meat and it even chilled her a bit. She hadn’t known his about his fascination of Brooke until she had been late with one of her papers after her sister’s death and she had to drop it off at his place. When she went to his condo, she was shocked that he could afford a place like that. He mentioned that he did some computer work on the side and it paid him well. Kimberly had later needed information about Ecstasy and figured that if anyone could find the pharmaceutical name for the drug, it would be him. She had went to him, Gunter wasn’t a person to do favors so she thought that she could pay him, but he didn’t want money. He asked for something strange, he asked for a personal possession of Brooke’s. Kimberly couldn’t understand why he would be interested in Brooke until she "accidentally" went into the wrong room in his place, there she saw photos of Brooke, it looked like he was obsessed with her. Kimberly did some research herself, quietly finding a few of the girls that he went out with, blondes all blondes it was like a fetish for him. He also liked sex, rough sex not caring if they really wanted it rough or not. Gunter had been really smart about his escapades, he picked students who creditability weren’t good, if the girls were to complain, and it would look like the girls had made the whole thing up. To the world Gunter was a solid citizen, but Kimberly knew a dark side when she saw one. Kimberly had gotten him something on Brooke’s a pair of her panties and he gave her a list of places that she could find Ecstasy. Later she had him research Bill Spencer and all the pharmaceutical companies that he owned. It had taken some time, but Gunter was a pure genius and got through passwords to get the information she needed. He asked her if she and Rick were trying something new sexually. She didn’t answer, she got what she needed and left. Gunter wasn’t a person that she wanted to associate with, but he had his uses. Kimberly smiled, like tonight. Kimberly wondered if it was over, if he had sex with Brooke already. She would be an easy target. She had sent Brooke that champagne and then worked on Thorne. Getting Thorne away from Brooke hadn’t been as easy as she thought it would be, he had been concerned about Brooke. She had to really cry and plead with him, telling him that Rick was with Eve and didn’t want her. She became hysterical and only then did he offer to take her home. She had cried and told him that she didn’t want to be alone and asked if she could just rest in his place. Kimberly wondered what Brooke would do after tonight. Would she cry rape? Or would she say nothing killing herself like Thorne was doing right now. No matter, Brooke and Thorne would be farther apart and Thorne would be closer to her. Kimberly smiled.

"Maybe you’d like it Brooke. Maybe you’d like it rough. It doesn’t matter what you’d like Brooke, all that matters is that you are damaged goods."

Kimberly left the bedroom, she couldn’t find Thorne anywhere in his house. She looked through the glass and saw a lone figure standing in the rain, it was Thorne. She opened the door and went to him.

Thorne was crying, he knew what he had to do. He couldn’t live like this, he had to tell Brooke the truth.

"Thorne?"

He turned, Kimberly was standing beside him, the rain falling over her plastering his shirt on her naked body. " Kimberly get out of the rain."

"No Thorne, not without you. It’s so cold, please come inside." Thorne followed Kimberly inside his home. He gave her a towel and he dried his head. He sat down on his sofa and Kimberly could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"You’ve been drinking."

He gave her a hard stare and laughed a chilling laugh. "Yeah, I’m doing the thing that got me into trouble in the first place."

Kimberly was surprised by the bitterness in his voice.

"I’m trouble…that is what I am too you trouble."

"Kimberly…." Thorne rubbed his eye. " I don’t want to get into this. I know that this is hard on you. I’m going to see that everything works out."

"How?"

"I’m going to tell Brooke the truth."

"You can’t do that!"

"I don’t have a choice, I can’t go on like this and neither can you."

"Did you even see that videotape tonight? Look at what it did to Ridge and Taylor and they were happily married." Kimberly started to lose control. " You can’t do this Thorne! I won’t let you! Rick won’t forgive me and neither will Brooke. She will hate me for this and blame me. She will say that I seduced you and that I wanted you."

"What are you talking about? Brooke wouldn’t do such thing."

"Yes, she will! You won’t listen. She hates me, she’ll blame me and then Rick, he’ll blame me too. He will think that I betrayed him."

"Kimberly calm down." Thorne was worried, she was really hysterical, didn’t she know that she was the victim and that no one would blame her about what had happened?

"He’ll wonder why I didn’t fight you more or scratch you. He’ll wonder why I didn’t call the police, they all will. They will blame me, call me the whore!" She started to shake all over, tears streamed down her face and she started to back herself into the corner of the kitchen. " You don’t understand! Everyone will hate me!"

" Kimberly I’m the one who hurt you, you have to calm down."

"He’ll hate me, everyone will hate me…. I can’t live like this. I don’t have anyone. I’m all-alone, I won’t have you either. No one to care about me.." She broke down in heaping sobs." Guilt cut through Thorne, she was an emotional mess, at the brink. For Macy’s death, she had depended on him and now after the rape, she was depending on him. He had raped her, yet in her confused state, she still cared and depended on him.

" I’ve lost everything, my father, mother and Macy. I even lost my job; do you think that Brooke would put in a good word for me after all of this? I’ll never get work. People will look at me differently; no one would believe the truth. I wouldn’t believe it." Kimberly wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand. She looked at Thorne with her sad red eyes, all of the life that she had seemed to slip from her body. " If you tell, I won’t want to live anymore. I’d be better off dead."

"No, Kimberly you don’t mean that!" Thorne grabbed her and took her into his arms. Things had gone from bad to worse, he needed help badly. He couldn’t continue on like this, but it was more than obvious that Kimberly couldn’t cope. He didn’t know what to do. He had made a decision to tell Brooke, to take a chance that they could somehow they make it but could he do that now?

" I’ll kill myself, Thorne. Please don’t tell Brooke or anyone, if you do, I’ll kill myself." Thorne pulled away from Kimberly and in that moment, he knew the truth, she would kill herself if he told Brooke.

Brooke hated to admit it, a part of her was scared and another part deep down inside of her would have been truly relieved if the man responsible for tonight had no longer been walking on the earth.

"What did you do tonight, to him?"

"To the man responsible for hurting you….not enough. I had you to think about, I brought you here and called a doctor to examine you." Caspian closed the collar of her robe. Frustration fueled his eyes. " I however made the mistake of leaving that piece of trash bleeding on the ground."

" So the police have him?"

"No"

"You didn’t call the police?"

"I would have if I thought that it would settle things or right the wrong done tonight. However calling the police wouldn’t have helped matters."

"How can you say that, this man tried to rape me…he could do that to others."

"Brooke, believe me, I have intention of allowing that man get away with what he has done. I will admit that I wasn’t thinking clearly when it came to you. All I thought about was your safety and I got you out of there. Calling the police at this point would not help matters…"

"How can you say that? He assaulted me!" Brooke stood angrily. " Well I am going to call the police. The man drugged me and tried to rape me."

" Brooke do you have evidence that he drug you?"

"He sent me that drink, you know it. It all makes sense."

"Do you have evidence to that fact, that he gave it too you? In fact Ms. Forrester, you were leaving the club alone with out your fiancée’, why didn’t you leave with him. Did you fight or scream at all?"

" I couldn’t scream, I had been drugged."

His eyes looked so cold as he questioned her. " You have no evidence that he gave you the drink or the drugs. Maybe you wanted to try something different. Ecstasy has been used by some as an aphrodisiac; maybe you wanted to try something new.

Brooke’s mouth opened with astonishment, she didn’t understand why he was saying these things to her. " Who in the hell do you think you are? You know what that man did to me! For you to even suggest…" Brooke stopped dead in her tracks. She bit her lower lip took into a deep breathe. " The police…. that is what you think that they’d say."

"It is possible."

"You really think that they would believe that? That I’d want that man to touch me."

"Brooke, I’m not sure what they’d say. I’m sure that they would look into it, but what would they find?"

"They’d find a man who tried to rape me and god knows who else."

" Look at the situation from the point of view of the police. You have no real evidence that he tried to rape you, a few bruises. You mentioned that Eric shook you earlier, the bruises on your arms can attest to that. You could have gotten the bruises on your neck from that physical altercation. You could have met up with this man and decided to have a fling with him and maybe you are feeling guilty. Even if they didn’t think that, could you point this man out? Your memory is hazy, do you even remember what his face looked like?"

Brooke felt like a teenaged girl who was all alone after a date rape from the school’s leading quarterback.

" They will take in consideration your past, although you are powerful as a Forrester, you are the Forrester with the so called tainted past. The press and the tabloids have become fascinated with you and relationships."

" I haven’t done anything wrong. A won’t apologies to you or anyone for what I’ve done. "I t is my own personal business."

Caspian admired her, she was tenacious. Although he thought her relationships with the Forrester men a bit odd, he didn’t see her as anything but a woman with class and beauty. One who loved with her whole heart. Some of the world however might see her differently, the tabloids had set her up to be the siren who was working her way through the Forrester men. They agreed with the Stephanie Forresters of the world and relate to her. In turn, they would crucify her in the courts and in the press. "They wouldn’t see it like that."

"You witnessed it. Wouldn’t you be willing to testify on my behalf?"

He hated to lie to her, testifying on her behalf wouldn’t help her. It would be quicker to handle things the ways of his world.

" If thought that it would help you, I’d testify on your behalf. However, I don’t think that it would really help you, in fact it might hurt you."

"You think that I should do nothing, allow this man to get away with doing what he did?"

"No. I think that calling the police before I moved you would have been better. If I had been thinking clearly, it would have been resolved easier, however I made a mistake. Something that I don’t normally do." Caspian sighed. " I made a mistake because I was allowing my personal feelings for you to get in the way."

"Your personal feelings for me?"

Caspian gently caressed the side of her face, rubbing her cheek for a moment. " Yes Brooke, my personal feelings for you, got in the way, but I’m not apologizing for that. I am apologizing for allowing him to be free tonight---but he will only be free for tonight. I’ve already have my men on it and soon he will pay for what he tried to do to you."

Brooke could hardly move.

"Rest assured, he will pay dearly for what he tried to do."

"How.."

Caspian gave her a soft smile. " If I thought that telling you how would make you feel better, I would. You have a soft heart. At this time it would be best if you didn’t know."

"That isn’t good enough, I can’t any chances…"

"Do you trust me?" Brooke said nothing; she turned away from him, walking toward the fire. She sat down on the floor in front of the fire tucking her legs under her terry cloth robe. Did she trust him? It wasn’t that easy, trusting him was a silly thing to do. She didn’t know him or anything about him, she’d be a fool to trust him. Caspian followed Brooke, sitting across from her.

"Do you trust me Brooke?"

She didn’t want to admit it, but deep in her heart, eyes she did. "Yes, I trust you, but that doesn’t mean that…."

"Then allow me to handle things."

" I can’t do that, what am I supposed to do. Act like this never happened, I can’t do that."

Caspian wished that he could wipe the memory of the attack from her memory. " I wouldn’t expect you to act like nothing happened. This will be a hard thing for you forget about this, but once this man is caught you will feel better."

" It is important for you to concentrate on you and your feelings. For a while, you might not be safe, but that is only natural. .Don’t let what happened tonight make you afraid, you did nothing wrong. You are going to need to talk about this to someone, maybe a professional. Talk about how you are feeling, don’t keep things bottled up."

"You sound like someone who has dealt with something like this before."

Caspian looked into the fire, he thought about his sister and how she had kept all of her emotions and feelings about the raped locked up inside of her. He turned his attention back toward Brooke. "Unfortunately, I’ve had some experience with something like this." Brooke heard the touch of sadness in his voice; someone he cared about had been raped. Was it his wife? Is that what happened to his wife?

"Don’t let tonight change you, you are not to blame for any of this. I don’t want you to worry about this man. I will find the man who hurt you and he will pay for sins. Don’t think about him, focus on yourself and your healing."

" I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can do something like that. Just let it do and you to take care of things. My whole life, I deepened on myself, why I depended on others, they let down." She couldn’t help to think about Thorne; he was the only Forrester who hadn’t totally let her down. "How do you know that you can find him? My memory is hazy and I’m not sure if I could remember what he looked like."

"My men are very through in their job. I pay them a great deal of money to know things and acquire information."

"These men of yours….what are they for?"

" They protect me if needed and acquire information that I can use. They will find him Brooke rest assured, he will pay for what he has done."

Brooke didn’t know what to say. She hated to admit it, Caspian was correct, if the police were involved, would her attacker pay for his sins or would he be allowed to go free over some judgmental people. Image was everything and although she didn’t feel that it was right, she knew that he told the truth. If the police had been called right after the attack maybe things would be different. She looked down at his hands, the bruises were there. Although Caspian had been there during the attack, she knew nothing about his lifestyle or business, she didn’t know anything.

"How can I let you take care of me, I’d never know what happened or if…."

" You think that I’d kill him?"

" No, I don’t think that you’d do that." But a small part of Brooke did, he knew it and she knew it.

" I give you my word that I won’t kill him Brooke" He took her hands into his. " I give you my word as an honorable man that I won’t kill him." He looked at her seriously. " I’d never break a promise that I’d make to you. That is the second thing that you need to know about me."

"What is the first thing?"

He cupped her face in his hands. " That I always get what I want, one way or another." He smiled; she hated to admit it but his smile actually made her heart skip a beat. He lowered his head and his face was a hair’s breath away from hers. It was like she was in a trance, all the thoughts of tonight, Thorne and everything faded. Her eyes looked directly into his, neither turning but looking. She licked her lips unconsciously.

Her voice came out in a raspy whisper. " You always get what you want?"

"Always" His fingers were massaging her cheeks as he held her face. " Do you know what I want right now Brooke?"

"No, what?"

He leaned down, his head slowly moved toward the right side of her head. His lips close to her ear. He whispered. " I want you in my bed….I want you to go and get some rest."

He leaned back and watched as a range of emotions played on her face, shock, disappointment and then relief. It was the disappointment that made him elated. She wanted him, she wouldn’t admit to herself but it was there. He knew that she didn’t need a seduction tonight, the attack was too fresh in her mind, plus she was still tied to Thorne.

Brooke flushed, she couldn’t believe where her mind had went when he said that he wanted her in his bed.

"I can’t stay here tonight."

" It’s actually early in the morning and yes you can."

"Caspian staying with you in your hotel isn’t something that I should do. I need to go home."

" You need to get some rest. Right now your body is fighting to stay awake. You are tired and sore."

"How do you know what I’m feeling?"

Caspian gave her a wicked grin.. Maybe it was time to show her how easily he could read her. " Your eyes drooped twice, your breathing pattern changed and it is slowing down. Your heartbeat at the base of your neck is slowing also although it accelerated when I suggested that you be in my bed. The reason you sat on the floor was because your head had started to hurt and that is why three times you’ve rubbed the temples on the left side of your head. I sure that your right arm is hurting you because you’ve rotated twice without realizing it."

He has amazed her, close observations, he was correct, she was tired and her head and arm had been hurting. He was so sure of himself and she wasn’t sure that she liked that.

"You think that you know me don’t you?"

"Maybe I do."

She stood up and glared at him. " Men often underestimate me. Never assume you know what I plan to do how I feel."

" I’ll have to remember that for future confrontations."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No. I’m impressed. You aren’t afraid of me are you?"

Brooke raised an eyebrow at him. " Should I be?"

She was such an exciting woman. Gone were the tears and here stood a fighter.

"Many men are, I am dangerous you know." He paused to give some dramatic effect. "Maybe you don’t know it."

"You’d never hurt me or someone innocent. I know that you’d protect me. I’m not afraid of you Caspian."

He closed his eyes for a second, he loved that she had said his name. He wanted to hear it again from her lips. He gave her an unreadable look. Walked toward her, not stopping until he was right in front of her. " You are right, I’d never hurt you and I’d protect you. I don’t want you to be afraid of me however don’t make me into something that I’m not. I would be your protector but I’m not a knight in shinning armor, things that I do often are solely for my benefit. I saved you because I care for you and maybe I want you to be indebted to me, to own me."

Brooke didn’t believe him; she knew that he’d save any woman in her predicament.

" You would have saved any woman. You know it and I know it."

"What do you know about me?" He mocked her, giving her back her own words.

" I know that you are intense yet lonely man. Rich and powerful and used to people doing your bidding. A man violated someone you cared about and you have no tolerance for men who hurt women. You loved a woman once, you loved her deeply. You know how to love, and once you love someone you want to protect and look out for them. You are very observant watching everything around figuring out people and their motives. You are purely an intriguing man."

" You forgot something."

"What did I forget?"

"Ruthless, I am a ruthless man. I will do anything to get what I want."

Brooke gave him a gentle smile. "I think that you want people to think that you are ruthless. You are a good man."

"Maybe, maybe not." He extended his hand toward his bedroom. " I think that it is time for you to get some rest." When she opened her mouth to protest he stopped her. " You need rest. He opened the door to his bedroom and she looked at the empty bed. She turned toward him.

" I’m not sure that this is a good idea."

"You will be safe with me tonight." When she didn’t respond immediately to him he decided to tell her some about what happened earlier. " Tonight, I had to take you out of your clothes. When you were hot, I washed you….all of you."

" I was naked?" Concern covered her face.

" You were completely naked." His eyes became dark and sensual. " I wanted you like I’ve never wanted anyone but I didn’t take you. When we make love, I want you to come to me, asking me to have you." He touched her lower lip with his fingers. " You will be safe with me tonight." Caspian walked toward the door. " I will be in the next bedroom if you have need of me. You may wear one of my shirts or sleep naked like you normally do."

Brooke stopped in her tracks. "How do you know that, that I normally sleep in the nude?" Caspian couldn’t believe the blunder that he had made; it was not like him to make such mistakes. He mentioned something that he had seen for himself when he watched her in Paris.

"Caspian, how could you know such a thing?"

He was good a masking things so his face didn’t betray the lie he was to tell her. " The way you reacted to the my shirt, you tried to get it off from you. Obviously you don’t like to sleep with clothes on." He winked at her. " You and I are alike in that matter, we both sleep in the nude. Go to bed, get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning."

Brooke sat on the bed, she was tired and it had been a long night. Tomorrow was already here and she needed sleep to figure things out. She would have to deal with the affects of her attack; she would have to deal with Stephanie and Eric and Ridge’s mess. Tonight however she knew if she stayed, she’d be safe. No one could hurt her here, Caspian would see to that. Things were even more jumbled up in her head, he said that he was ruthless, he could be. He had saved her but was he really her savior. He wanted her, yet he had backed off. She knew nothing about him, but she knew that whatever happened tonight had made her feel closer to him, he understood her. He had taken care of her, gained her respect. Brooke laid down on top of the covers thinking about the night’s events, before she drifted off to sleep, her thoughts lingered for a moment on Thorne. Caspian and Thorne were two different men, she loved Thorne but a part of her was connected to Caspian now more than ever.

Thorne looked outside of his bedroom window, soon the sun would be up and it would start all over. His hell---he thought that he’d might be able to tell Brooke. To be open and honest, he didn’t know anymore. He looked at Kimberly; he had given her something to make her sleep. He was caught and he didn’t know what to do anymore, his life was spinning out of control.

Caspian opened the door to his bedroom; Brooke was asleep on top of the covers. He gently took off the robe and slid her between the covers. He put the light on in the bathroom and kept the door ajar and cut out the lights in the room. He kissed her on her forehead. Outside in the main room, he made a call. He wanted the man found as soon as possible. Tomorrow a sketch artist would come and get information from Caspian to create a composite of the man who attacked Brooke. His were trying to get his fingerprints off of Brooke’s Jag, he’d know soon enough if they were successful. He’d get the man one way or another; the man who hurt Brooke would pay.

 

Bridget sat on the sofa eating cold cereal and engrossed in reading her book. Rick burst through the kitchen door with a box in his hand; she hid the book under a pillow and sat back.

"Hello Bridget." He had a big smile on his face; he leaned down and kissed her on her cheek. Bridget couldn’t help but to smile at her brother, she hadn’t seen him this relaxed in such a long time.

"You are up earlier."

"Earlier, it is 9:00 am."

Bridget ate a bit more of her cereal. " I know but you partied too the wee hours of the morning. What’s in the box?" She leaned forward and found of makings for omelets, croissants and fresh strawberries." Bridget gave Rick and inquiring look.

"What?"

"Who are you cooking breakfast for?"

Rick smiled. "Why do you think that I’m cooking breakfast for someone?"

"I lived with you Rick for almost 16 years."

Bridget’s face lit up with a smile. "So, what does Eve like in her omelets?"

"Eve?"

"Yes Eve." She patted his hand. " It’s alright Rick, she makes you really happy."

" I’ve gotta go Budge."

"She’s much better than Kimberly. You didn’t even notice last night did you?"

Rick stopped. " Noticed what?"

"Kimberly, your girlfriend." Rick made a face. Bridget got up from the sofa and went toward her brother. " You aren’t happy with Kimberly, I think that you have been so caught up with helping her that you aren’t dealing with your feelings."

"Budge.."

"No, let me talk. Rick I’ve seen you with Kimberly and I’ve seen you with Eve. Eve makes you happy Rick, really happy. I know that Kimberly used too but does she anymore? When was the last time that you had a regular date with her? If you had, you’d notice that she had changed Rick, you won’t see it."

"Bridget…"

"Yesterday, you were really happy and you didn’t notice that Kimberly wasn’t by your side, but others did." Bridget put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. " Rick, if you want to help Kimberly.." she tried hard not to make a face, " you can, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep acting like you are in love with her. You aren’t in love with Kimberly, not anymore. You know it, I know it and probably Kimberly knows it. Don’t ruin your life Rick, not for someone you really don’t love especially when you can have someone in your life like Eve."

Rick looked at his little sister and said nothing. He leaned down and kissed her on her cheek.

"Thanks Budge."

"Rick, everything will work out you’ll see. Everyone who belongs together will end up together, you’ll see." Bridget smiled, she just knew that in the end everyone would be alright. Brooke and Ridge would be together. Rick would be with Eve and maybe if she really wished hard enough she could have Scott.

 

"Mr. Forrester, Mr. Forrester….." Ridge woke up; he blinked twice rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His back was killing him; he had spent the entire night in an uncomfortable chair watching his precious wife. Concern floored his face.

"Doctor is everything alright?"

"Mr. Forrester, your wife is fine, she is resting as comfortably as she can. However we have to tell her soon about the child that she lost, I’d thought that you would want to be there."

"Do we have too, it would only hurt her to know that she…" He stopped, it would kill her to know that a little life inside of her had died."

"Mr. Forrester, I’m sorry. As hard as it will be, I can’t keep anything that from your wife, it was her body and also her child. She had to be told, keeping the truth from her could only make matters worse."

Ridge heard the doctor’s words but he didn’t believe that she was right. He had a chance to make things right, he would, he’d prove that he loved her so much. She didn’t remember anything about last night; he wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t get her memory back. He was going to take a chance; it was more than worth it. He had to get Taylor home and Wisk her away until the news died down. He figured that she would need a lot of rest the next couple of days and he could keep her in the house. Right after the showing, they would be gone, he and Taylor along with the kids. He had already instructed last night for her TV to be turned off and asked that the doctors keep his wife’s accident a secret. He could only pray that things worked out well. After he dealt with Taylor, he had Morgan to deal with and things weren’t going to be pretty.

Caspian opened the front door of the condo, he and his men quietly slipped inside. Franco looked at his boss, he had never seen him like this, he was deadly calm and that wasn’t a good sign. He almost felt sorry for Gunter O’Neal; the man was in big trouble. Franco and Mark had worked most early morning hours getting finger prints, using a data base to find the man. It was a good thing that Mr. O’Neal had volunteered some time at a private high school when he was an undergrad, his fingerprints were on file. Caspian looked walked around the room, he was angry, it is obvious that they were late. Gunter had already been here, blood was on the carpet and all over the door handle. Mark came from the bedroom.

"Looks like he packed in a hurry, clothes are all over the place."

"Computer software is missing also, he took his laptop."

Franco nodded at Mark.

"So he got away?" Caspian was angered, this would take some time but he would find Gunter. " Check the rooms for any clues that you can find. I want him found. Look for parents, friends or lovers." The men didn’t need to be told this since they already knew the drill. They also know how important this matter was to him, Gunter O’Neal had messed with Mr. Deangleo lady and they wouldn’t trade places with him for nothing.

Mark checked another room and stopped dead in his tracks. Pictures, hundreds of them were hung all over the walls. There were articles cut out and hung neatly with care. They were all about Brooke Forrester.

"Mr. Deangleo, I think that you had better take a look at this.

Kimberly sat at Thorne’s kitchen looking at the clock. She had been sitting there for over an hour ever since she woke up. She had no idea where he had gone, last night she had done the best acting that she had done her entire life. She couldn’t believe that he had even thought about telling anyone let alone Brooke the "truth". If he told her the truth, there was a big chance that Brooke wouldn’t believe it and start to investigate, who knows what would happen if Bridget got wind of things. Bridget was soft and she was already upset about drugging Thorne, she might feel so bad that she would tell Brooke what she knows.

"Think Kimberly, what are you going to do?" She had almost lost total control yesterday; the thought of him ruining her plans had almost made her physically ill. She had to pull herself together and to think. She had to keep it together.

"Think Kimberly, think! You have to stop him." She started to pace back and forth. She had to find a way to make sure that Thorne didn’t tell Brooke anything. She couldn’t take that chance.

"Wait, Brooke will have her own problems to deal with, she won’t have time to think about Thorne." Kimberly got shivers thinking about Gunter having his way with Brooke. He was a dangerous man; maybe he’d get a little overzealous and really hurt Brooke. She would love to see Brooke trying to fight him off and him having to get rough with her.

" Maybe he’d eve mess up that pretty face of yours." Kimberly smiled. She would wait for Thorne and if she even got on inkling that he still wanted to tell Brooke, she had an idea that would take care of that. She’d wait for Thorne and then she’d head over to Rick’s, she wanted to see Brooke and how she was coping with her night of hell.

 

Against All Odds Part 47 {Liars, Plotters and Schemers…Oh My }

Brooke awoke with a start. She sat for a moment trying hard to collect her thoughts and her feelings. The memories of last night’s horrifying experience came flooding back to her. She moved to the side of the bed and winced in pain when she felt the soreness of her body. A hot bath would help her to get herself back to normal and maybe she had time to put things back together. She noticed her robe was sitting on the chair next and wondered how she had come to be naked. Caspian, he must have removed it when she had fallen asleep. She really had to talk to him, first he was undressing and then bathing her it wasn’t proper.

"Come on Brooke, since when have you worried about things being proper?" Still the thought of his perfect hands touching her gently didn’t bother her, it should but it didn’t. He had proven to be a gentleman, most men in his predicament wouldn’t have left her alone and put her needs above theirs. Still as grateful as she was for all that he had done to save her, she needed to get home as soon as possible. She had to get away from him; she didn’t seem to think straight when she was around him. She opened the bedroom door and went into the spacious living area room of the penthouse suite.

"Caspian?"

A man wearing black opened the front door and startled Brooke. He waved his hand at to come a little closer. " I’m sorry if I scared you Mrs. Forrester. Mr. Deangleo had an errand to run, he will be back soon."

"You work for Caspian?" Brooke couldn’t help to notice the large muscles of the man wearing black and part of her wondered if he had a gun under his black jacket.

"Yes Ms. Forrester."

Brooke’s interest was peeked; he had said yesterday that he had men working for him. Where they all like this man? What did he need men like this for? She instinctively knew that he wasn’t a drug dealer; he had too much honor and character to do such a thing. Still to have men like this one working for you didn’t make sense. "What exactly do you do for Caspian?"

"Mrs. Forrester, I’m sorry but I can’t discuss it with you. Mr. Deangleo had clothes and other items brought up for you. He thought that you’d like something new to wear. Since you are up, I’ll notify room service to bring up your food."

"Please, listen I’m trying to get you in any trouble, but I am wondering what does Caspian…..I mean Mr. Deangleo do for a living?"

He only smiled at her pretending that he hadn’t heard her question. "If you don’t mind, I can have the clothes sent in your room. "Brooke knew that she wasn’t going to get anything more from the man.

" I guess it’s not your fault you are only doing your job."

"That’s why I get paid so well Ms. Forrester."

"The clothes, where are they?"

"They are in hanging in the next room, I’ll have someone to bring them too you."

" I can get them myself, I’m not helpless."

"I know that Ms. Forrester but they are a few outfits and the rack might be too heavy for you to move with what happened yesterday."

"Okay, if you don’t mind you could bring the rack into the bedroom."

"I’m sorry, but I can’t do that Ms. Forrester."

"Why not?"

"You really don’t know do you Ms. Forrester, do you?"

Brooke was starting to get annoyed; it was like the man knew something that she didn’t know. "What don’t I understand?"

"You are Mr. Deangleo’s woman, no man would dare step into your bedroom especially in your state of dress. It would be disrespectful to you and Mr. Deangleo."

" That is totally ridiculous! First, I don’t belong to Mr. Deangleo; I’m my own woman. Second, I can do what I please and if you want to bring something in my bedroom, you may. Do you got that? I’m not afraid of any body especially Caspian Deangleo. Do you got that!" Brooke headed to the second room with the rack of clothes and wheeled them into the other bedroom.

"Who does that man think that he is? I’m not his woman at all. Not allowing a man to be in the same bedroom as me!" It bothered Brooke that kind of sentiment was from the Middle Ages. Caspian had saved her but that didn’t give him the right to bark orders that she shouldn’t allow another man into her bedroom. No, not her bedroom, his bedroom. Her bedroom was at home and with Thorne.

Luke watched as Brooke wheeled the rack into her bedroom mumbling all the way. She was a feisty little thing and didn’t seem like she would take any**** off of anyone. He wondered how Mr. Deangleo would deal with her. She was sure different than the woman that Mr. Deangleo had bought into the suite earlier in the morning. She had bounced back quickly and held her own. She was definitely going to have his boss running around in circles. Luke couldn’t help but to smile.

Isabelle stood in the cold crisp morning air; the snow was falling lightly around her. She didn’t know what had brought her to this spot; it had been years since she had been to his grave. It made no sense; she only had one person to blame for the feelings that was being stirred inside of her, Pierce. Going out with that man was a mistake, he had a way of making her feel things that she had suppressed. If she were smart she would never see him again, she’d cut him out of her life and never look back. Isabelle leaned down at the gravesite and touched the carved letters on the cold marble. Her black gloves traced the letters, which spelled out Benito Alfonse Marco. Benito her brother’s best friend. Her lover. Her husband.

Jonathan looked at Stephanie, he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen her this angry about anything or anyone. "Stephanie are you sure that you want to do this, couldn’t this wait until after you and Eric talk to Rick. If he is willing to vote your way then maybe this won’t be necessary?"

"Are you telling me that you feel sorry for that bitch? After all that she has done to my son. I want her to pay do you hear me?" Stephanie slammed down her cup of coffee. " File the petition right now. I want to go ahead with this. I want Brooke to lose her custody of Bridget as soon as possible. How long will this take do you think?"

John than sighed, he wasn’t sure if this was a smart thing to do, taking on Brooke at this moment was a bad move. If Rick were to find out before he had made his decision about his Forrester stock, Eric and Stephanie could lose big. Besides getting hold Bridget’s stock might be another battle. He looked at Stephanie and knew that arguing with her wouldn’t help matters. " I put pressure on some of my friends. Judge Harper is a friend of yours, I’ll see about him proceeding over the case. Brooke can be served notice in about a week or two at the most."

"It can’t be done before then?"

"I’m not sure, I’ll work on it. Look Stephanie you are going to have some evidence to prove that she is a bad mother. Bridget isn’t a little girl anymore, how are you going to get her to agree to this?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything on my end and you do what you need too."

Johnthan closed his briefcase. " Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"That bitch has hurt my family enough."

"But to bring your son into this, to bring up Thorne’ past shooting of Ridge. To even hint at telling Rick about him shooting Grant..Stephanie, these things will not only hurt Brooke but your family. It could tear your family apart."

"If she plans on defending her relationship with my son and passing him off as a good step-father then she will lead me no choice but to do everything in my power to stop her. I don’t want to hurt my son, but he won’t listen. I won’t allow her to get away with what she had done to Ridge and Taylor. I’m sorry about Rick and I don’t want to hurt him, but his shooting Grant only shows that she wasn’t a good mother. Her Brooke’s bedroom line, her leaving the children to go god-knows where will also help us. I will bring up everything, her affairs, and her lies. Everything that I can to prove that she is unfit to raise that child. If need be we will make the court and the whole world think that she is responsible for Macy’s death, god knows what she said to that poor woman."

Jonathan knew that arguing would do him no good, but he was worried, he had a bad feeling about the entire thing. In battling Brooke, Stephanie would be battling herself.

The phone rang; Stephanie got up from the table and answered it.

"Ridge, oh my god! What happened?"

 

Eve brushed her hair out of her face; she smelled the wonderful smell of breakfast cooking. She followed the wondrous aroma into the kitchen where Rick was standing finishing cooking his last omelets. He turned and he thought his heart might have stopped. She was beautiful and fresh looking, standing in one of his Radio Head T-shirt, her hair floated around her, she looked like an angel. Eve laughed as Little Eric pulled on a large strand of her hair, she was simply beautiful. Last night had been wonderful, he had convinced Amber to allow Little Eric to stay with him through out the night. Having Eve help him with the baby only made things better. She had been wonderful with him, playing and bathing the baby. Her face had lit up with the joy that only motherhood would give a woman. She had stayed and then when the evening turned into the early morning, he had convinced her to stay. He had given her one of his favorite shirts to sleep in. It had been hard to lie next to her and not touch her, but he had been the sweetest moment in his life.

Gunter O’Neal is in a great deal of pain; everything hurt him at the moment. His face hurt him so baldy that it hurt even to open his eyes. His nose was broken; a couple of fingers were broken as well. Last night when he picked himself off the ground, he had gone straight to home to collect his things. He had gotten some money, clothes and his laptop along with some computer work. He painfully e-mailed a message to the professor that he worked for and explained that a family member had died and that he was needed at home. It was a workable cover and it would give him time to think and to heal. He could do some computer work to finance anything that he needed. He had a feeling that he was going to have to stay low for a while. Later, he’d see a doctor to get his faced fixed, at the moment he was talking an old prescription of a painkillers that he had needed when he had broken ankle-playing Rugby last year. The painkillers were helping a bit but he was still in a great deal of pain. Right now he needed sleep and then he’d take care of things. When he was rested he’d think and get to the bottom of this mess. He had some scores to settle and first one was going to be with that bitch Kimberly. She had set him up and now she was going to pay dearly. He turned toward the mirror and looked at his normally handsome face, which was black and blue and swollen. He had been very lucky, he could have been killed tonight, and in fact he thought that the man might have. He painfully tried to smile and noticed the missing teeth. This was going to cost him and he planned on taking part of his pain and suffering out on Princess Kimberly. She’s pay just like everyone else; in fact she’d pay more. He started to get aroused just thinking about how he’d make her pay, he didn’t like brunettes but she’d be an exception. He had everything going his way and now it was all ruined because of her. He’d see to it, Kimberly Fairchild had just made an enemy, a very dangerous one.

Brooke leaned back against the marbled tub loving the feel of the hot bubbly scented water all around. She had tried calling Bridget before her bath but she hadn’t been able to reach her, maybe she was still asleep for last night’s party. She closed her eyes and loved the feel of the hot water and the soothing affects it had over her sore body. The aroma of the jasmine scented oil filled the bathroom and for a moment she could allow herself a moment to relax. She closed her eyes and sighed sinking down into the water. She suddenly felt the hairs on the back of neck stand up, she looked up and there he was standing there in the archway of the bathroom door. He was watching he. His eyes were glued to hers and then they moved down her body taking in her breast which were coated with bubbles, her nipples hardened against her own will. In the mirror, she watched him as he watched her, he wasn’t ashamed, his want, desire was evident in his eyes. In his naked eyes she saw how badly he wanted her. She slowly raised her hands to cover her breast from his view. His eyes caught hers again in the mirror. His voice was heavy with desire.

" Your breakfast is here and I’ve laid out your clothes. If you don’t want to wear what I’ve laid out, you may choose from the rack."

He didn’t move an inch; he just watched her and the room became filled with electric energy. Brooke felt the heat that he radiated, she closed her eyes for a second to help her collect her thoughts and then when she reopened them, he was gone. Brooke finished washing and then went to the bedroom, the bed had been made up and on it laid an amazingly beautiful light gray silk dress. She picked up the dress it was beautiful. She put the dress down and looked at the other items in the boxes, a soft gray-laced bra with a matching laced gray thong, light cream colored stocking with gray laced garters. Her favorite makeup in all different colors and shades were on the dresser. A beautiful pair of high-healed shoes with a matching Kate Spade purse. Lastly, she noticed two jewelry boxes from Tiffany’s. In the first box was a lovely gold and platinum intertwined bracelet that was beautiful. In the second was an exquisite diamond anklet she looked closely enough she noticed a carved B where the anklet came together. Brooke put the clothes on, brushed her hair until it fell lightly over her shoulders. She applied her makeup and lastly, she put on a touch of her favorite perfume. He had exquisite taste in clothes as well as in jewelry. She couldn’t help but to smile at the diamond anklet, it was a nice touch. A bit sexy and totally inappropriate, it made it smile. She however left the jewelry in the boxes, she was wearing Thorne’s ring that was all the jewelry that she needed. Brooke looked at herself in the mirror, she looked like herself, no one would ever know about the horrible thing that happened to her. She had used some of the cover up, to cover up her bruises on her neck, arms and breast. On the outside, she looked fine, but on the inside she wasn’t so sure.

Caspian was in deep thought; he had been livid that he hadn’t found Gunter although he was certain that he would in no time. The room had filled with pictures of Brooke; the man had a fascination with Brooke. Is that what prompted him to try to rape her? Somehow it didn’t make sense, most stalkers send letters or notes to their victims. Also he had Brooke watched himself, no one was reported watching her. Something wasn’t right, he learned a long time ago to trust his gut instinct. When Luke called to let me know that Brooke had awakened, he had left his men to get back to her, walking in on her in the bathroom had be an error on her part. He had opened the bathroom door, he hadn’t know what he expected, but the seeing her, the sunlight hitting her in the water, seeing her naked body in the hot bubbles. He wanted badly to go to her, to wash her like he did last night, but only this time watching his movements in the walled mirror. He wanted her to respond to him, to be awake and calling out to him. He wanted to take off his clothes and join her in the hot bath, washing her and then taking her. It is getting hard being so close to her yet not touching, kissing, tasting or taking her. The door opened and he heard her, he looked up and found her looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Thorne paced back and forth as he talked. " I tried to put everything right, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Last night she was a mess, I’ve never seen her act like she did. She said that if I told Brooke that she’d do harm to herself. What in the world can I do about that?"

"Do you think that she really meant it?

"She meant it, I know it."

Thorne sat down, the guilt was eating him alive, and he had spent the night awake checking on her while she slept. He had watched over her, afraid that if he closed his eyes that she might in some way hurt herself physically. Thorne sat down on the sofa, his face was drawn and tight, he was so tired and couldn’t think straight. He hated to admit it, but he wanted a drink, maybe that would be the thing to help take the edge off, to make him forget what he had done to his life. " I don’t know what to do anymore. I just don’t understand why this happened…why I’d take advantage of her." Thorne remembered how upset Kimberly had been when Macy died. " All I wanted to do was to help her get through Macy’s death. She had lost so much; I just wanted to be her friend. I never looked at her like she was anything but Rick’s girlfriend or Macy’s kid sister.

"Are you sure? She is a beautiful young woman; sometimes it is hard to admit to something like that. Even with a woman like Brooke, a small part of you could easily be attracted to her just a bit. She was adoring to you looking up to you, maybe a part of you liked it."

Thorne looked up, surprise was on his face. " Did part of him like the fact that she looked up to him? " No, I don’t think so. I cared about her but…."

"Are you saying that there had never been a moment that you were attracted to her in a sexual manner?"

Thorne sighed. " Once when she was sunbathing I accidentally walked in on her and for a moment, I responded like a man." Thorne shook his head. "Yes Kimberly is a very beautiful woman, but she is a young woman. She was my dead wife’s sister and my half brother’s girlfriend."

"Yet you slept with her." James sat down across from Thorne.

"That’s the thing James, I did more than sleep with her. I’m afraid that I didn’t more than sleep with her."

James saw the tortured look in Thorne’s face, he had never seen him like this. The guilt and the pain were eating him. Thorne had already confessed to drinking heavily to forget his problems, he was worried that this secret was going to kill his friend. "What more did you do Thorne?"

 

Amber was fuming mad; she had given Little Eric to Rick last hoping to accomplish two things. First to give her some quality time with CJ. It was time that she told or showed him how she felt about him. It was getting harder and harder living with him so lose but having him so far away. "God CJ, all of this time, who would have thought that I’d fall for you." Amber smiled. "But I did." If it hadn’t been for Becky, she probably wouldn’t have noticed what a cool guy he really was. He was more than a cool guy; he was kind, funny and was sexy in an offbeat sort of way. He was also a good father to Little Eric; he had taken him on and loved him. They’d make a perfect family, she had to make him see that. Because of Becky, she hadn’t acted on her feelings but once she saw that big-breasted bitch Trudie making eyes at him, she knew that it was time. She had tried to persuade Trudie to leave CJ alone. She had told her that she and CJ lived together and had a son. The woman hadn’t budged; she had only smirked and said that she liked kids. She hated to admit it but she had been scared that CJ wouldn’t come home last night, that he’d spend it with that they slut. Amber had seen the way that she had danced and the clothes that she wore. She had been advertising herself. Amber had been very relived when CJ had come home. That Trudie girl thought she was something with her looks and brassy attitude and Amber knew that CJ would be attracted to her attitude, he liked them feisty. "Well, batten down the hatches CJ, if you like feisty, then you are going to love me."

 

Stephanie burst though doors to the hospital.

"Ridge, my god…"

Ridge stopped his mother; he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. " Mother, before you get excited, calm down."

"Ridge, how can I after all that happened?" Stephanie looked toward the doors of Taylor’s room. " Is she going to be alright?"

"I think so mother, she had been sleeping. Her wrist is broken as well as one of her ribs.." Ridge’s face contorted with pain, tears filled his eyes. " Mother, Taylor lost the baby that she was carrying?"

Stephanie stepped back, her hand touched her chest. " Baby? Baby, she was going to have a baby?"

"Yes mother, Taylor was pregnant with my child before this happened." Ridge shook his head. " If only that video hadn’t shown up, my child would still be living. Mother, we were going to have another baby and now it’s gone. My son or daughter is gone and I never knew about them." Stephanie saw the pain that her son was in, Taylor had gotten in the accident on her way home. This was Brooke’s fault and now she was responsible for another death of her family. She took her son in her arms and held him. She patted him on his back and rubbed it.

"I’m so sorry honey about your lost. You didn’t deserve this neither did Taylor." Ridge stood up and nodded his head.

" I deserve this mother. I deserve to pay for the hell that I put her through, but Taylor doesn’t, she is going to take this so hard, I’m not sure that I will be able to tell her."

"She doesn’t know?"

Ridge shook his head. " No, mother she doesn’t remember anything, and apparently she didn’t know that she was pregnant."

"She doesn’t remember anything at all?"

"No, she doesn’t remember Rick’s party…"

"She doesn’t remember it mother, none of it."

Stephanie started to smile. " Thank god! Ridge don’t you see you have another chance to work things out. I know that losing a child is a hard thing for you to go through, but I believe that you can get through this."

" I hope so mother. This is my only chance, Taylor is going to need me and I’m not going to let her down."

"Well, you’ve got to get her out of here. How long do you think it will be before the Tabloids get wind and it and start harassing you and Taylor?"

" I know mother, but she isn’t going to be released until at least tomorrow. I can’t leave the country until after the showing and that is a couple of days away."

"Don’t worry, I’ll handle things." Stephanie gave her son a stern look. " You go in there and be there for your wife, she will need you."

"Mother, if only you had seen her last night, she had been so upset, so dead set on leaving me. She tried to run me over in her car."

"Don’t worry about that now, you have another chance and we will see that things work out. I’ll see to it that the woman responsible for this pays for the hell that she has put you through." Ridge gave his mother a worried look, the last thing that he wanted was his mother to get upset, he couldn’t take a chance that she would have another stroke.

"Mother, I want you to stay calm…."

Stephanie patted his hand. " I’m calm son, don’t you worry she will pay."

" I know mother, when I think about what she has done to my family…"

"Mr. Forrester, think you can go and see your wife now."

Ridge went to Taylor.

Taylor looked at her husband and smiled. She noted the look of concern on his face.

" Do I look that bad?"

Ridge sat down next to his wife. " No, you don’t look that bad, I’m just…."

"A mess. Of Ridge, don’t you know that it isn’t as bad as it looks, although it hurts. But when I think about what could have happened, I’m just glad to be alive." Pain rocked Ridge, how was he to tell her? He caused this mess; she had been so hurt and upset. But now she was no longer angry, she was in pain but she wasn’t even concerned about that. He didn’t know how he was going to tell her that they had lost a child.

Taylor noticed the pained expression on her husband’s face. Alarms went up through her body. " Ridge, what is it? Is it one of the children?"

" No, Doc," Ridge said sadly. "It isn’t one of the children."

"Thank god, what is wrong?"

"Doc, before the accident…did you know….God, how in the hell do I tell you this." Ridge got up in a hurry knocking over the chair."

"Ridge!" Taylor winced as in calling his name jarred her, she was in pain. " What is going on, please tell me!"

Ridge went back to his wife and took both of her hands into his. "Taylor" He paused trying to give himself a moment to try to get himself together. " Taylor, last night when you had your accident, you did more than break your wrist, rib and hurt your hand. Taylor you started to hemorrhage, they tried to stop some of the bleeding but they couldn’t do it.."

"Bleeding? I was bleeding…is everything alright with me? You wouldn’t try to hide anything from me?"

Ridge felt a pang of guilt, but he didn’t it didn’t detour his plans.

"Taylor, last night, when you had the accident …..you lost our baby."

Taylor didn’t understand what Ridge was talking about. " Baby….." Her face broke and a sudden lost hit her. "I was …..I was .." Taylor’s tears weld up in her eyes. "Ridge, I was going to have your baby?"

Ridge’s heart felt like it was being torn out, he could see the pain in her face.

"Ridge, I was pregnant?"

"Yes Taylor, you were pregnant."

Taylor looked down at her abdomen and touched it gently with her uninjured hand. "A baby Ridge… a little life…" Tears slipped down her face. " I’ve lost our little life….ooh Ridge." Ridge gently cupped his wife to his chest, he was careful of her injured. He listened to her tears and felt her body shake as she cried.

"It’s okay Doc, everything is going to be alright."

Taylor pulled away from Ridge. "Why? Why did this happen?" Taylor used her uninjured hand to wipe away her tears. "Why did I run into that tree? It doesn’t make scenes, how could I have been so stupid and run into a tree?"

"Don’t….don’t do this baby." Ridge caressed her face. "You aren’t to blame for this accident, it happened. We will have other babies. I’m so sorry honey for all of this." Ridge kissed the top of her head. " I’m sorry."

Stephanie looked into the room, Ridge was holding a crying Taylor. Her face became contorted with hate and rage. "You will pay for this Brooke, I promise you that you will pay for the pain that you have caused."

Jonathan had filed the papers at the court. He hoped that Stephanie knew what she was doing; there was no turning back now. Brooke was going to lose her daughter and Stephanie, she was going to tear her family apart.

Kimberly had given up on Thorne, she’d come back later to talk to him. Brooke was foremost on her mind, she had to see first hand the damage that was done to her.

She parked her car and was on her way to the main house when she noticed Rick and that he was talking to someone. Kimberly hid behind on the bushes and watched.

Eve kissed Little Eric on the top of her head. " He really is a wonderful little boy."

"I know. You are so amazing with him."

"I want about five or six myself."

" You want five or six children? Don’t you think that it might be a little too much?"

Eve thought for a moment, about the loneliness that she had as a child. " No, my children would have each other. They’d never be alone or by themselves always having family to care for them." Rick heard the wistfulness in her voice. He sometimes forgot that she had no one at all. He took her hand slowly into his.

"I forgot that you didn’t have anyone to look after you."

"Well, maybe if I had a sister like yours maybe things wouldn’t have….been so bad." She had almost whispered the last part. Rick wondered what had happened to her, she never talked much about her life.

"Things were pretty bad for you weren’t they."

" I survived it." A shiver raced through her body and she held herself for a moment, hoping that the painful memories of her past didn’t surface.

"How did you do it Eve, living on your own for years."

"I didn’t have a choice." Bitterness replaced her normally calm and caring voice. " My made it clear that she didn’t or shall I say her boyfriend didn’t want me. So she kicked me out and the foster homes that I went too, they even worse…" Eve closed her eyes for a moment. " So, I went out on my own.."

" No one took care of you?"

"There was someone…" she whispered.

"Who?"

Eve blinked twice and shook her head. " You Trudie and her brother, they looked out for me?"

"Your roommate.."

"And best friend, she’d be pissed if I didn’t add that part."

"But Eve, you didn’t meet Trudie until you where older, what happened those couple of years."

"Nothing ….just wasted years Rick."

She squeezed his hand slightly. " It is alright. Rick we all can’t have a family like yours." She remembered the videotape and then she slightly smiled. " Maybe that is a lucky thing."

"What, just what are you saying about MY FAMILY?" Eve knew that Rick wasn’t upset because he had a twinkle in his eyes.

"You have to admit, you Forresters are an interesting lot."

"So that’s why you go out with me, you are doing research on my family."

Eve’s heart fluttered. " Is that what we are doing? Going out with each other?"

Rick said nothing. Eve turned away from him, not wanting him to see the pain that his silence had caused her.

"Never mind Rick, I’ve gotta go." Eve handed Little Eric back to Rick and handed him his toy truck.

"Eve, wait.."

Eve pulled her hair back in a sign of frustration. " What is it Rick? What are you going to say to me? I had the time of my life last night. Being with you, dancing with you. Even standing beside you when that awful videotape was showed, I was with you. I love you, I’ve tired to hide it and I can’t. I want to be with you but you don’t want that. I can’t take this anymore." Tears started weld up in her eyes. " My whole live, I waited for someone to love me…but nobody ever did. You know what, I’d rather live alone than love someone who doesn’t love me."

Rick put Eric down and stepped toward Eve. " Don’t you see Eve, you aren’t alone. You have me. I love you Eve, do you hear me? I love you."

"What?" Eve couldn’t believe her ears. " You love me?"

"Yes, I’ve tried to hide it, to you and myself. I wanted badly to help Kimberly to be there for her. But we have grown apart, I guess it took someone to tell me. I care about Kimberly and I know that this will be hard for her…but I want to be with you. I’m going to end things with her as soon as possible. I’ll help her get her job back at Forrester, but personally we don’t belong together anymore."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I love you Eve." He leaned forward and kissed gently. Her smile lifted his heart.

"You love me!" She started to laugh. She bent down and picked up Little Eric. " Did you hear that little fellow, your daddy loves me."

Kimberly watched the happy couple as they kissed. Something in the pit of her stomach ached. She turned away. He had betrayed her, he had planned on leaving her for that stupid girl Eve. Well, since he made the decision to break things up, her plans changed. She was going to give Rick a little going away present that he’d never forget.

Against All Odds Part 48 {It’s All Slipping Away}

The two people in the room looked at each other. Both wondering what the other was thinking. He was caught up in her beauty, which was magnified in her gray silk dress that he had picked out for her. He studied her from the top of her hair falling beneath her shoulders to the tips of toes in a pair of gray high-healed shoes. His eyes caressed her wrist and her ankle, looking for the jewelry that he had picked out for her. Brooke couldn’t help it, her heart started to race when he started studying her. It amazed her that something and simple as a look could almost undo her, was it like this with all the women that he met. Since he studied her, she felt no unease doing the same to him, as always he was immaculately dressed wearing a beautifully tailored suit with a blue tie with gray chips. He walked over toward her, in it seemed that time stood still for them. The intensity of his look, his eyes studying her, looking..looking…looking for what?

"What?"

A slight smile shown on his lips, her gaze was caught for a moment on those lips. She remembered those lips on hers in the gazebo. She almost shook her head to get the thought out of her head.

"What?" She lost her train of thought. Brooke tilted her head to the side, her eyes flashed in a beautiful color of gray.

"YOU are the one who asked me "what", Brooke."

" Ohhh, " Brooke couldn’t believe that she was actually flushed. " I was going to ask you…" She wore a look of confusion, this was really was most embarrassing, and to forget what you were going to say because you were thinking of a man’s lips.

Caspian laughed inside, she was such a delight. He titled her head up with his fingers. His eyes caught hers. " You were going to ask me about breakfast." He took her hand in his and led her over to the table that was waiting for them. On the table were three silver trays. He led her to the chair and she sat down and waited for him to uncover the food. The delicious smells permeated the room and Brooke found that she was suddenly hungry. She looked at the selection of Eggs Benedict over poached Salmon, fresh strawberries in a rich cream, croissants with preserves and honey, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffe. Caspian severed her; wanting her too eat. Brooke quickly bit into the Eggs Benedict and closed her when the delicious food entered her mouth. "Mmm, so good." Caspian swallowed hard, she truly didn’t know the power that she had over him. Brooke looked up at him questionly.

"What?"

"Nothing… I’m just enjoying watching you eat."

Brooke couldn’t help but to laugh. " Am I making a mess of myself?"

Caspian sipped his hot coffee. " No, you are only beautiful." Brooke blushed and went onto the next thing on the table breaking off a piece of a hot croissant; she dipped into honey and then put the buttery sweet croissant in her mouth. At the corner of her mouth a bit of honey created a perfect dew drop, she used her index finger too wipe off the little drop and before she knew it, Caspian took her hand in his and took her finger inside of his mouth sucking the honey off of her finger. Brooke’s mouth fell open as a sexual thrill went throughout her entire body; she dropped the croissant watched as his teeth nipped at her finger and his tongue circled her finger. She slowly pulled her hand away from his mouth. She stood up nervously.

"I think that it’s time for me to leave."

Caspian cursed himself silently; after all that she had been through she hadn’t been ready for this. He just couldn’t help himself, if she hadn’t been through her ordeal last night, he would have licked the honey off the corner of her mouth. Then he would have given her a breakfast that she would never forget, he’d pour honey everywhere on her beautiful naked body and he’d spend the morning licking and sucking every drop off of her. He stood up and went toward her.

"I’m sorry, after last night….I shouldn’t have touched you."

"It’s not like I’m afraid of you. It’s just that …..I’m engaged to Thorne. I can’t allow you to touch me or…"

"…to get inside of your heart."

Brooke whirled around and looked like a deer caught in headlights. " It’s best that we keep our friendship strictly platonic." She slowly rubbed her finger. " You know how I feel about Thorne, I love him."

"Friends, is that what we are?"

"Yes, we are friends. You saved me from the most horrible experience. If things were different, if I weren’t attached, there would probably be more.

"There already is more between us, you know it and I know it."

Brooke was incensed, how could he bring this up at a time like this. It solved nothing; her feelings for him and his feelings for her were irrelevant. " There isn’t anything between us and I don’t belong to you."

His said nothing for a moment. " I never said that you did."

" The man who works for you did. This morning he said that he couldn’t go into my room because I was YOUR woman and it would be disrespectful to you and to me."

Brooke pointed at Caspian in an aggravated manner. " You didn’t have a right to tell him such a thing."

" I didn’t tell him that you belonged to me."

" Why else would he say something like that, if you hadn’t told him that?"

Caspian closed in closer toward her. "He only told you what he sees to be the truth."

"The truth? I know that you have women." Brooke remembered the woman from the bar. "Do they belong to you also? The women you have in your bed."

She tried to move away from him, he stopped her. " No. They don’t belong to me. I’m honest with them, it’s about sex, and they know it and so do I. Belonging to me however is different. Luke was right, you belong to me Brooke, he sees that I care about you they I haven’t cared about anyone in a very long time."

"I don’t belong to anyone. Do you hear yourself, you sound like you live in the Middle Ages. I am my own person! I do what I please, if I’m with someone it’s because I choose to be. NOT because I belong to them!"

Brooke stormed toward the door. " What about me belonging to you?"

"What?"

"What if I belonged to you? Would that make a difference at all?" Brooke looked at him she was speechless. " Luke didn’t mean any harm, he, like me, often lives in the old ways where a woman belongs to a man, however I’ll willing to say that they can belong to each other. He sees what I see, that I feel for you what I haven’t felt in such a long time. Luke knows how special you are to me, they all do." She stood there frozen; he crossed the room standing before her with the truth shinning in his eyes. " I didn’t have to say how I felt, it was all there. They know that I’d die for you." He paused for a moment. "That I would kill for you."

Brooke thought about last night, the man who attacked her. Would he have killed that man for her?

"Don’t do this….please." For some reason he uttering those words effected her.

"Don’t what? Tell you how I feel." He stroked the side of her face with his fingers. "When was the last time someone was honest about how they felt? Does your fiancé tell you what is in his heart? Does he protect you the way that he should?"

"He loves me."

"He isn’t meant for you."

Brooke pushed his hand away from her face. " I won’t let you talk about Thorne like that. He is a wonderful man, caring and loving." Caspian’s eyes darkened when Brooke defended Thorne.

"Where was he last night when you needed him?" His words echoed in her head. She wouldn’t allow him to do this.

"NO! He isn’t to blame for what happened. He was helping his brother."

Caspian knew that it was a lie. Thorne had gone to his home with his brother’s girlfriend; she spent the night at his place. "Brooke…"

"Don’t go there. Thorne loves me and would have helped me if he could." Caspian saw the pain in her eyes, telling her the truth about Thorne wouldn’t do any good. She’d find out the truth sooner and later. It would hurt her and he wished that he could spare her the pain, but Thorne wasn’t meant for her. Brooke was angry and hurt at the same time. He was talking about things that she didn’t want to think about, Thorne and her were going to work out. She had to get away from Caspian. Her future deepened on it.

"I have to go."

"Don’t leave, please Brooke." He backed off. " I don’t want to upset you, you’ve been through enough." He held his arm out toward the table. "Please sit down and finish your breakfast."

"I don’t think that would be wise."

"I promise to back off and not talk about anything that would upset you. You’ve been through enough." Brooke looked at him questionably. He sounded sincere, besides she was very hungry. After all that he had done fore her, she could eat breakfast with him.

"No more talk about Thorne or anything like that?"

"No more talk about Thorne, I promise."

Brooke sat back down and ate her food while Caspian silently watched her.

Stephanie looked outside; the reports were like cannibals waiting for their last meal. There were dying to find out the truth about last night’s videotape. They had also heard about Taylor’s accident and had already descended on the hospital. She had made arrangements that Taylor’s room would be isolated, with no television or newspapers. She had also given the doctor’s strict orders that no one was supposed to let those reports in or near Taylor.

"Stephanie, are you alright?" Eric walked into his office. He had a horrible morning. He had work on the arrangements for the music; finish fitting a group of models and deal with reporters. Late last night Stephanie had told him the entire truth about what had happened between Ridge and Morgan. Needless to say, he had been surprised that Morgan had orchestrated such a manipulative scheme to get Ridge’s baby. He shook his head; this entire thing was a mess. Part of him was angry at Ridge---how could he have been so stupid to sleep with Morgan? Based solely on that videotape, Ridge would be hard pressed to explain the situation. He wasn’t sure how Ridge was going to deal with this---a baby. An illegitimate child, a Forrester was on its way. The press was going to have a field day with this—Forrester was going to get some bad press. Ridge and Taylor’s marriage would never be the same. Stephanie had been upset last night and he wasn’t sure what Brooke had to do with all of this. Now that it was morning, he had started to think about things. No matter his feelings about Brooke, he didn’t believe that she’d try to hurt their children.

"I have some bad news Eric."

"What possible could go wrong now?"

"It’s Taylor, something horrible happened."

"What happened? Did Ridge explain the truth to Taylor what happened?"

Stephanie covered her face and sighed. " No, he didn’t get a chance to explain anything at all to her." Stephanie took her husband’s hand and tears started to form in his eyes. "Taylor was in a horrible car accident. She apparently was pregnant, she lost the baby Eric."

"Ohhh. Stephanie." Eric took her into his arms.

"They have been through so much and then this mess with Morgan. I don’t even want to think about her…but for Taylor to loose the baby. She didn’t even know Eric."

"She didn’t know that she was pregnant. She lost that baby before she had even know its existence."

 

Taylor laid in her bed, tears rolling down her face. She stoked her belly; it was now empty, now lifeless. "How could this have happened God. Why did I lose my baby even before I knew about its presence." She turned her head seeing the flowers from her husband. Poor Ridge he had been so broken up about everything, acting like this had been his fault. It wasn’t, it was hers, and she was the one who had been driving her car. The whole thing didn’t make sense; she had always been a very careful. She didn’t understand why this whole thing had happened.

KC knocked on the Morgan’s office door. " Morgan I’ve fitted Lisa, Melody and I’m going to get Cindy. I need your other designs." KC stopped when she saw Morgan’s face.

"Morgan?"

Morgan looked up at KC and then turned her attention back toward the windows.

"Looking at the reporters?"

"Yeah, they were outside my house early this morning. Looking in my windows, going through my trash."

Although KC didn’t really know Morgan, she felt bad. " I’m really sorry about all of this. This must be hard on you."

"Yeah, I’ve become Forrester enemy number 1 next to Brooke." She rubbed her stomach. "I’m not sure how long I can stand it here. Today all of the looks from the models and even Henry, they were talking about me. The reporters, they were vicious."

" Do you think that this is the best place for you?"

"I’ve got to work."

" I know, but you can’t fit the models in this condition. You look like you are going to have that baby in any moment. "

"I still have to work out the arrangements for the showing, plus I didn’t want to stay in my house any longer."

" Being here isn’t going to be any better. With Stephanie and Eric, things aren’t going to run too smoothly. Believe me, I know how nasty things can get."

Morgan raised her eyebrow. " I heard that Stephanie hasn’t been too nice to you."

" Yes. Well she has that effect on everybody. Last night she and Brooke went at it."

"She and Brooke?"

"Yes, she blamed Brooke for that videotape."

Morgan cursed. She had known idea what had happened. All that she knew was early this morning some reporters were at her door asking if the rumors were true. She had looked for her videotape and it was missing. It didn’t make sense, her tape was missing and it ended up on the screen at that party. She didn’t have time for investigating right now she had to think and plan. "Was it really bad?"

"Yes, it got nasty. Stephanie and Brooke came to blows. She thinks that Brooke hired you to seduce Ridge and destroy his marriage." KC sat down on the stool. " Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Why did you make that videotape?"

Morgan rubbed her stomach again thinking about how badly things had turned out. She never had an intention of showing Taylor that tape. She had only want to have Ridge’s baby. Maybe a small part of her wanted to recapture what she and Ridge had. The sex that night had been wonderful and clearly Ridge wasn’t getting like it at home, however she never wanted to destroy his marriage. During the last couple of months, Ridge had become an ass and she wanted to get as far as she could from him. She had to make some plans fast, tell Brooke that she wanted out of her contract and leave with her son.

"Morgan?’

"Oh KC, I’m sorry I got caught up in my thoughts. I’m not sure why I made that tape, maybe something to remember it by. I wish I’d knew how that tape got to that party." Morgan felt her baby shift and grimaced a little. After the pain subsided she lovely stroked her stomach. " This little guy is a lively little thing."

KC watched Morgan stroking her stomach; it was obvious that she would be due soon.

"Morgan I not sure if you should be working so close to your date. I’ve fitted your dresses for the morning and I can do the rest this afternoon. Why don’t you lock yourself in here and get some sleep."

Sleep, it sounded like heaven to Morgan. She looked suspiciously at KC. " Why are you being so nice to me?"

KC was headed to the door. " I don’t know, maybe because everyone is blaming you and not giving Ridge any of the blame. Don’t get me wrong, I like Ridge and I don’t condone what you both did---he was married. But everyone makes his or her mistakes, you made yours. Ridge made his. But the world, will blame the woman." KC sighed; she remembered how hard it was for her to cope after she had made that horrible mistake with Jackson, no one was there for her. "Besides you need a break today. You are alone, working in a hostile environment and you are most likely carrying Ridge’s child." KC gave her a sad look. You are going to have a lot coming your way and you are going to need rest.

"This isn’t Ridge’s child. I was artificially inseminated."

KC didn’t respond, she just left.

"Damn it!" Morgan’s world was about to fall apart; she knew that Stephanie and all the Forresters were coming after her and maybe her child. She picked up the phone.

"Megan, this is Morgan. Is she in yet?

"No Morgan like I said three other times this morning, Brooke isn’t here."

"Well, when she gets in please let her know that I called."

"Fine" Morgan heard a click on the other line. Trepidation was evident on her face. She rubbed her stomach. "It’s going to be alright sweetheart. Mommy is going to take care of everything. You’ll see everything will work out just fine."

 

Thorne walked into his dark house. "Kimberly?" He looked all over for her. He hadn’t wanted to leave her alone but he needed to talk to someone. James had offered to help her cope with her thoughts and her feelings. He had made her an appointment with him for that afternoon. She had to talk to someone about that night, to put herself together, to heal. He’d help her the best way that he could but with distance. Keeping his distance, which is what James said would be the best thing. James had said that once Kimberly started therapy, he should keep his distance and allow her to deal with things on her own. Their relationship was unhealthy, even before the rape Kimberly had been depending on him way too much. He had tried to tell James the truth, but he didn’t know how to do that. He told James that Kimberly had been resistant and that he had taken advantage of her. James asked him what that meant that Kimberly had been resistant. The horrible words slipped from his mouth about that night. The argument, Brooke’s anger at him, his drinking and then him finally waking up in Kimberly’s bed the next morning. James had been shocked but he hadn’t condemned him like he thought. James sat there and listened to him, he had talked about the guilt, hurt and even anger that he felt. James had listened and that is what he needed. James had also told him that keeping secrets from Brooke would only make matters. He knew that he had to tell Brooke; it might mean that she may never forgive him, but he couldn’t live this lie any longer. He was going to tell Brooke tonight. He thought about his brother---things always had a way of coming out.

Carlos Bernard finished reading the morning paper. His butler Richard came into his dinning room. "Sir, there is a Mrs. Deangleo here to see you." Carlos put down his paper. Deangleo---he hadn’t heard that name since Lark’s death.

"Let her in."

Carlos watched as the woman came through the door. Olivia, she was still a beautiful looking woman in spite of the years that had passed. He went to her and kissed her on the cheek. " Olivia it has been a while, still you look stunning as usual."

" Thank you Carlos."

" Would you like coffee, tea or something to eat?" Olivia looked at the immaculate older man; he still looked good after all of these years.

"No, I’m sorry but I’m not here on a social call. I’m here about Lark." A look of pain crossed his face. " I figured as much. What is going on, Lark has been dead for more than 10 years."

" I know and every time I think about that sweet girl….well it doesn’t matter. He loved her so much as you know, as I did."

Carlos squeezed her hand. " We all miss her a great deal. Frank was my best friend like a brother to me, his daughter became my daughter. Her death hurt me, it was like I lost my own daughter."

"I know how much you loved her."

"She was my god-daughter."

"So Olivia, what is the problem?"

"It’s my son."

"What about Caspian?"

"He’s found her…"

" He’s found who?" Carlos saw the look on Olivia’s face and he then he knew. " He found Brooke."

"Yes."

"How?"

Olivia sat down on the sofa. "It’s my fault. Isabelle had found her and started having her watched. She had hatched some plot or scheme of brining Brooke to Caspian."

"Why would she want to do that?"

" Who knows why my daughter does the things she does. But I know that it might have been dangerous to Brooke. Isabelle might not have meant any harm but I can’t tell with my daughter. So I pointed Caspian in Brooke’s direction. I thought that if he figured out who she was that he’d stop Isabelle. After all Brooke isn’t Lark, they are two completely different women." Carlos listened to Olivia and knew that situation was grave. "He is interested in her and I have a feeling that he is falling in love with Brooke."

"She is engaged to Thorne Forrester."

"Do you think that will matter with my son? He wants her. It first I thought it was because she looks like Lark, but now I’m not sure."

"He is attracted to her, she is confident smart and a very sexy woman. Yet she has the gentleness of Lark. "

Olivia weakly smiled. "Yes, he thinks that she is perfect for him. I tried to warn him that things couldn’t work out with her. To let her go, to think about what happened to Lark."

"Olivia, I can’t allow this to happen. Although Caspian loved Lark, his love for her killed her. I’ve watched Brooke her entire life, I’ve wanted to go to her aid but I couldn’t. I needed to keep the secret. If he goes to her and tells her the truth."

"He doesn’t know yet. He has been dealing with his feelings for her, he hasn’t had time to put things together but it will only be a matter of time. I know my son. When Lark came to me with this all those years ago, I promised her that I’d help her. At that time it would have been a good thing for the two women to meet, but after she died, I made a promise to you that I’d never tell about Brooke. It would be too dangerous."

"Things would have been better if Brooke hadn’t have met the Forresters. Who would have thought that the Logans would have anything to do with the Forresters. Every time she was in the newspaper, I cringed afraid with her popularity that Lark would see her. I worked hard to make sure that Lark didn’t, but I knew that this day would come." Stress and strain showed on his face. "I have to call Beth, she has to be ready for the possibility that entire truth might come out. This affects her family."

"You need to warn her about my son and my daughter. Tell her to put pressure on Brooke to marry Thorne."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Yes, my son wants her. If she marries Thorne then maybe he’d back down and Brooke would never have to find out the truth. If not, then someone will have to tell Brooke that her whole life has been a lie. I don’t want to do that."

Brooke picked up her purse and turned to find Caspian standing in the doorway to the bedroom. " I’ve got my car ready for you, they will take you home. One of my men has already delivered your Jag to your house."

"Thank you." She didn’t know what to say, breakfast had been a little unnerving with him watching her every move. "You’ve done so much for me. Last night you saved me. I never forget you or what you’ve done for me." She turned her back on him, not wanting to look into those incredible eyes. "Maybe if things had been different, I could you want you want."

"What we both want." His breathe caused the hairs on the back on her neck to stand up, he was right behind her. This was it, time to tell the truth.

"Okay, what we both want." She turned and he was there looking down in her eyes. " But I’d regret it afterwards. My whole life, I’ve been looking for love and now I’ve found it…with Thorne. This thing between us, it can’t go any further."

He stepped closer; he lowered his head so that his mouth was inches away from hers. His eyes stared straight into hers, not moving an inch. "It can’t?" His eyes mesmerized her, his mouth so close but not touching hers.

"It can’t". She moved closer.

His mouth hovering. Her mouth moving. His mouth descending. Her heart racing..

He moved so close to her mouth, one little centimeter and he’d be touching her mouth with his, she closed her eyes waiting to feel the heat of his lips and his tongue. She felt nothing against her so she opened her eyes to find him looking at her. His fingers lightly traced her full bottom lip. He smiled a wicked smile. "You said nothing, that is what you wanted right? Nothing between us. No kissing or touching…nothing."

Brooke was embarrassed by her response to him. She stepped back and fell onto the bed. She lay there with him looking down at her. Caspian gave her body a very heated once over. He then bent down and got on his knees. His hands took her foot and slid her high-healed shoe off of her. He watched her, she didn’t struggle. He then slowly expertly massaged her foot.

"You still want nothing Brooke?" He massaged up her leg slowly until he met the garter. He bent his head and kissed the inch of skin above it. Brooke’s breathing became labored. She was aroused. She had to stop him, she loved Thorne, and it wasn’t fair that she be tested like this. Suddenly the mouth that had been on her skin had left. Her eyes opened and he gone. Then she saw that he was making his way toward her. He kneeled back down and she felt him playing with her ankle. She sat up and saw that he had placed the anklet on her ankle. A small part of her was a bit disappointed that he had stopped caressing her; a large part of her was relieved.

"What are you doing?" His fingers caressed her ankle.

"I’m giving you a gift."

" I can’t keep it."

"I can’t take it back, your B has been engraved on it. It is a little present Brooke, nothing extravagant. Just a small diamond."

"It looks to be at least 2 carets."

"It’s nothing compared to what I’d want to give you. His finger trailed up to her knee and softly stroked the back on it. Shivers raced up her body. He intense gaze sent shocks through her system. "Would you let me Brooke? Would you let me give you what I want to give you?" Her response to him came out breathless.

"I can’t. You know that I can’t." Caspian reluctantly put her shoe back on her right foot. He stood up and held out his hand toward her.

"You could as least keep the anklet, let is be a small token of my affection toward you."

" It doesn’t mean anything if I keep it. You do know that." She stood up facing him.

"It means something to me however if you want it to mean nothing to you, so be it." Brooke broke their connection by looking at the fireplace in the bedroom. "It’s time for me to get going."

Caspian silently walked her toward the doors of his suite. Brooke turned to him.

"Thank you for what you did for me last night. I will never forget it." He took her hand and brought it to his mouth and gently kissed it.

" It was nothing. I want you to go to someone and talk about things, get it all out of your system. It will help." When she opened her mouth to say something, he stopped her. You don’t need to worry about the man I’ll take care of it."

"Remember your promise, please Caspian."

Caspian’s memory remembered the state of Gunter’s room. He hoped that he could keep that promise to her. He wanted to but if it meant that she would be safe, then he’d break that promise. "I promise you. I won’t forget." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the top on her head. " Get some rest and take care of yourself."

Brooke nodded her head. " Goodbye Caspian."

"No Brooke, it isn’t goodbye. It’s until we meet again and believe me we will."

 

Taylor woke from her light slumber. Her head was hurting a bit. Maybe she would call in the nurse to give her something for the pain. She turned her head to the side getting ready to push the call button when she heard some talking.

"Can you believe that man, for him to do something like that to his wife?"

"I know, I feel so sorry for her. That goes to show you that even the best marriages have some problems."

"No Susan, a problem it not putting the toilet seat down or not having enough money for the bills. But having an affair with your wife’s best friend and having everyone see it on a video. My god no wonder she is in the hospital." Taylor listened to the two women talking, she wondered who this poor woman whose husband cheated on her with her best friend.

"And to think that a whole group of people saw that video tape. That man has some nerve, coming into this hospital acting like he hasn’t done anything wrong. "

"Did you see him this morning fawning all over her acting like he is the dutiful devoted husband? I wanted to slap him myself….that poor woman."

"I know what you mean. I’ve read about them, seen on the television. They just had that article written about them as being one of the most fabulous couples. I always thought that Ridge and Taylor Forrester would be the darlings of the fashion industry. That asshole, sleeping with her best friend."

"Some friend Morgan Dewitt turned out to be."

"I would have pulled out her hair and scratched her eyes out if that had been me. Instead poor Taylor is here in the hospital suffering because she ran into a tree. I heard that she was so upset after finding out what her husband did that she wasn’t thinking clearly and that she drove straight into a tree." The voices began to fade as the women moved down the hall. Taylor lay in her bed, the words echoing in her head. Ridge---affair—Morgan---accident. A sharp pain hit her between her eyes and then flashes of memory of the night before can flooding back. Anger and pain leapt in her heart. She had lost her baby and it was all her lying cheating husband fault. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Brooke started to open the front door to her home; she had been on her way to work when she remembered that she had left some important files at her house. She had seen the television in the limo and already knew of the commotion from reporters. She also heard from the reporters that Taylor had been in a car accident. She had called the hospital but she couldn’t seem get through—no one could. She had called Ridge and Taylor’s home but Catherine said that neither one had been home yet. Brooke opened the door and stopped.

"What are you doing here?"

Kimberly stood up. She studied Brooke; her well kept hair to her clothing. Where was the terrified look on her face, where were the bruises? Why wasn’t her face cut or ruined? There was nothing at all. Brooke looked like she always did, wearing that smug look upon her face.

Brooke gave Kimberly a dissatisfied look. " I asked you a question. What are you doing in my home?"

"I’m waiting for Rick."

"He has a place of his own. You do know where it is don’t you? If you want to see my son I suggest that you go there and find him." Brooke headed up the stair and stopped looking at her with a satisfied smile on her face. " But maybe he isn’t home, maybe he is with Eve, he spent a great deal of time with her last night." Brooke came back down the stairs toward Kimberly. "I didn’t see you last night, where you there at the party? I think that you were. I think that you finally see that your hold on my son isn’t as strong as you think that it is." Brooke saw the look of pure hatred in Kimberly’s eyes. " Hurts doesn’t to know the truth, to know that whatever the little game you are playing with my son is coming to the end." Brooke moved so she was in Kimberly’s face. " It’s all slipping away, just like that. He distancing himself from you, he didn’t even think about you last night. Eve…" Brooke smiled. " Now she seems like a nice girl. Maybe I’ll have her over for dinner."

"Doing that same thing to me that you did with Amber? Please Brooke, Rick will see that coming."

"I made a mistake or better yet you changed. You used to be so sweet and a kind girl. I thought you were what my son needed; however you aren’t anymore. The sweetness, the kindness it’s all gone."

Tears formed in Kimberly’s eyes, her fist knotted. " Because of what YOU did. If I changed it is because I saw that being nice gets you nothing. Look at Macy, look at what you did to her."

"God! I can’t believe that we are back to that again. I told you I was sorry for what happened, but lets get some things straight. Your sister wasn’t such an innocent. She didn’t pull her punches and she could get nasty. I tried to help her." Kimberly closed her eyes. The bitch was lying, she told lies about her sister. A voice started to talk to her in her head. " Hurt her, she hurt you. Just pick up that poker and hit her over the head." Brooke noticed a far away look in Kimberly’s eyes; the girl had real problems.

"You never tried to help her. You tried to help yourself to her husband. You make me sick. You blame her for what you did! You break up marriages and you have the nerve to blame the wives of the marriages you destroyed." Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I’ve had enough fighting last night" Her attack came back into her memory. She shivered. " Kimberly, I don’t want to get into this right now, this isn’t the time for this. I have things to take care of, if you want to find Rick go ahead."

"Running away from the truth aren’t you."

"No, Kimberly. It isn’t worth it right now to get into this. I know who you are and I’m watching you very closely. I know what you are. And you know what? I have a distinctive feeling that you and Rick are very close to being over, if it isn’t. ….I will find someway to show him what you really are. So little girl pull out the big guns, pull out sex…do whatever you want to do to get my son. But be forewarned, you are playing with the big girls now and I’ve eaten babies up like you for breakfast." Brooke went upstairs found her files and came back down. Kimberly was still standing there with something strange in her eyes. " You aren’t gone yet?" Brooke picked up her purse. " It doesn’t even matter, you will be gone soon, one way or another." Brooke walked out of her house.

Kimberly stood there watching the door; rage began to build up inside of her. Brooke was supposed to be raped, but she wasn’t. What had happened? She had set the entire thing, up but nothing had happened. "BITCH!" She went wild. She picked up a chair and threw at the French doors; she threw everything that she could get her hands on, flowers, and pictures. She tore open the pillowcases on the sofa. "I hate you, I hate you!! You should have been hurt! You should have died just like my sister!" She picked up the poker from the fireplace and started to hit the mirror over and over. " You should pay! You should pay!"

" Just what in the hell do you think that you are doing?" Kimberly turned around breathing heavily; she dropped the poker. " I’m calling the police right now!" Kimberly grabbed Eve as she reached the phone.

"You aren’t calling anyone bitch! You’ve done enough."

 

Megan followed Brooke inside her office. "Brooke, it has been a madhouse all day. The reporters haven’t let up. Did you hear that Taylor is in the hospital?"

"I heard, I tired to get through to the hospital but they aren’t talking to anyone." Brooke threw her files down. "Ridge isn’t in I suppose?"

"No, and who knows when he is going to be in."

"Have KC fit his dresses."

" She already doing Morgan’."

"Where is Morgan?"

"Brooke she is in bad shape, she went home."

"God, I can’t believe this. Who is working today? Don’t they know that we have a showing in three days?"

"Yes. Scott is helping Eric. KC is doing her best. By the way, there is a girl here, she says that you asked to speak to her."

"A girl?"

"Yes, Trudie."

" Oh, I almost had forgotten in everything. Send her in."

"And the reporters?"

"Tell them that Forrester has no comment."

"Brooke that isn’t going to work, we’ve tried it all morning."

"Damn it Megan. Just do what I asked!"

Megan was a hurt; it wasn’t like Brooke to act like this. " I’m sorry… I’ll take care of it."

"Megan wait!" Brooke went toward her. " I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You are doing the best that you can and I appreciate it."

Megan smiled softly. "It’s okay, I know that you’ve had a hard night. I mean with Rick’s party and all. Then the video tape." When Megan brought up the night before. Brooke’s memory went back to an arm grabbing her, a mouth roughly covering hers. Her head began to swarm with the images.

"Brooke, Brooke..Are you okay?" Morgan had watched, as her boss had turned white. She touched Brooke’s shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"What? Oh, I’m fine. Just a long night. You are right, tell the reporters that I’ll speak with them in an hour or so. I’ve to do some damage control."

"Okay Brooke." Morgan left the room shaking her head. " This is going to be on hell of a day here at Forrester."

 

Morgan closed the door to her house when she noticed her things were thrown a pile in the middle of her home. "What in the world?"

Stephanie came out of the bedroom with a box of matches.

"What do you think that you are doing?"

"I’m cleaning out the trash, first you and then Brooke." Stephanie lit a match and threw it into the pile of clothing and other items that belonged to Morgan.

"Just what do you think…" Morgan went toward the fire. Stephanie grabbed her from behind. "No, you don’t." Morgan struggled against Stephanie. All of her baby things were in that pile. She pulled forward suddenly, fell and hit her head. Stephanie looked down at the woman lying on the floor. She looked at the fire. Things would be better if Morgan died; Morgan and her baby.

 

Against All Odds Part 49 {The Last Time}

"Get your hands off of me Kimberly!" Eve pulled back trying to loosen the grip of Kimberly from her arm. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She had come into Brooke’s home through Rick’s entrance to return some of the washed dishes when she had heard noise coming from the living room and found Kimberly smashing up the living room. " I’m calling the police!"

" Oh no, you are not!"

"Yes I am. You are fu(king crazy. I’m going to tell you again. GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" Kimberly let go of Eve and smiled. She went over toward the phone and pulled it out of the wall.

"If you want the phone why don’t you come and get it?"

"You really think that I won’t? Look at what you did to Rick’s mother’s house. You really are crazy aren’t you?" Eve looked around at the shattered living room. " I’ve known it from the beginning that you weren’t right for Rick."

"You know all about Rick don’t you. You’ve been fu(king him. I know it! You are just like Amber, that little slut. Rick must really like whores, first Amber and then you."

"What about you Kimberly, what about your whoring around? I heard you one day at school. You and your little friends sitting around and talking. You were talking about that older man that you were in love with. How you were using Rick. You don’t give a damn about him! Yes I’ve made love to Rick but only twice. I’ve been here for Rick. I’ve listened to him, heard his thoughts, his dreams and even his fears. I love him, really love him. You don’t. I’ve known it from almost the beginning. I’ve seen a lot of people in this world and I know that is something wrong with you. Its no wonder Mrs. Forrester doesn’t want you anywhere near her son. You’re completely nuts, you know it, I know it and she knows it. I’m going to make sure that Rick knows how crazy you are." I’m not talking anymore either give me that phone or I’m going to get Rick." Kimberly’s rage had abated; instead it grew more as listened to Eve talk. Eve talked as if she were better than her. The little bitch had been fu(king Rick while Rick was with her. Not only that, she had heard her talking about Thorne, what did she know? What did she tell Rick?

There was no way that she was going to let her get away with anything; taking Rick was a mistake, opening her mouth was another.

"Since you’ve decided not to give me the phone, I’m going to tell the Rick." Eve turned to leave when Kimberly ran up to her and pushed her hard up against the wall.

Trudie was on cloud nine; her meeting with Brooke Forrester had gone so well. She couldn’t believe her luck, this wasn’t some regular modeling job. She was going to be THE MODEL for Forrester’s newest collection. She couldn’t wait to tell Eve about this. A small part of her was worried about Eve, she hadn’t called but maybe that was because she was too busy with Rick. Trudie smiled; maybe that party had been very lucky with.

"Just look at that smile, she is going to be perfect. I cannot wait to take her photos. I am going to do some wonderful things with this girl." Giovionne was grinning from ear to ear. Brooke nodded and turned toward Trudie who was standing in the middle of the photo studio. Trudie was perfect for the image that she wanted to capture for WOW. Even in her street clothes of tan khakis and a white Kelvin Klein ribbed undershirt the girl was beautiful.

"Trudie, Giovionne is going to take a couple of test photo with your face. I’ve asked Scott to come in get your measurements." Brooke pointed to the screen. " There is a dressing room behind you, if you don’t mind you can change out of your clothes."

"Cool Mrs. F, thanks."

"Mrs. F?" Giovionne gave Brooke an amused look.

"Yeah, somehow before we started talking she slipped and called me that. I don’t know but in a weird way I liked it."

" All right…Mrs. F" Giovionne joked.

Brooke grinned, she really liked Trudie. There was something about that girl, she just liked her.

" By the way Brooke…. Mama Mia, she is something isn’t she."

Brooke looked over her shoulder to find a nearly naked Trudie standing in the middle of the studio. She had on a pair a skimpy flesh colored bikini underwear and a man’s shirt that was partly opened showing a great deal of her naked flesh under it. Her hair, which was once up now, was residing all around her shoulders. Brooke looked at Trudie with a critical eye; her eyes found a spot on Trudie’s pelvic bone.

"How many tattoos do you have?"

"Two." Trudie touched the small tattoo on her pelvic bone that read TRUE in cursive writing. She turned her back on Brooke and raised her hair showing at the base of her skull right at the tip of her neck was a little butterfly. "This is the other one." She turned back around. " I also have my belly button and tongue pierced, but I don’t always wear the rings. Are the tattoos going to be a problem, I normally use Mac cover up and no one can tell."

"Actually, I don’t think that it’s going to be a problem. In fact, for the first add for WOW campaign we might not cover up anything. As I stated earlier, Trudie, the clothes are going to be different. There will be the elegance of Forrester couture but it will be daring. Some of the clothes are going to be scandalous and skimpy.

"Like I said earlier Mrs. Forrester, I don’t mind showing a little shin at all. Trudie dropped the shirt to prove it. She stood unabashed naked in front of them on only skimpy panties. Scott came into the room.

"Mrs. Forrester…." He eyes couldn’t help but notice the beautiful breast and body of the nearly naked woman in room. " Trudie?"

She winked at Scott. " Well, if it ain’t Scotty."

Brooke looked from the nearly naked Trudie to Scott. "I take it that you two know each other." Trudie smiled a devilish smile and raised one of her eyebrow.

" Yeah Mrs. F, we go way back, don’t we?"

Brooke wondered what was between this two. By the smile on Trudie and Scott’s faces, she wasn’t too concerned that they weren’t going to get along. " Well Trudie and Scott, get reacquainted during the fitting. Trudie you can put the shirt back, I think that Giovionne has seen enough for today. Scott can get your measurements in the back room." Brooke couldn’t help to watch in amazement as Trudie picked up the shirt put and put it back on without closing it. She and Scott and marched off to the other room. Giovionne gave Brooke an amused look.

" I think that is going to be a lot of fun working here."

" What all the excitement of the reporters aren’t enough on the level of excitement?" Brooke looked at her watch. " Speaking of reporters, I need to go and talk to them. They aren’t going to let up about this Ridge and Taylor situation."

"Tsk, I don’t think they will be letting up about that situation any time soon." Giovionne finished setting up his camera. " What shots do you want me to get of her?"

" Get the ones that we talked about, the ones of her in the man’s shirt. I want some very sexy photo’s of her and get the little tattoo of hers also."

Giovionne grinned. " That is why I love my job. Such beautiful women all around. Starting with my beautiful and sexy boss, no?"

" I’ll have to remember to give you a raise." Brooke was halfway out the door when she called out to Giovionne. " Get me those photos as soon as possible. I defiantly think that we picked the right girl."

" Like I said earlier Miss, I can’t help you. I’m not allowed to give any information on Mrs. Forrester’s condition."

Bridget sighed. " I told you that my name is Bridget Forrester. Ridge Forrester is my….my brother. Bridget almost shuddered at the words; in her heart Ridge was her father. " I just want to find out if she okay."

" Well young lady, if you really were a Forrester YOU’D already know. Like I said before, I can’t give you that information so please leave before I have you thrown out." Bridget watched as the huffy nurse left the station.

" Come on Bridget let’s go." Cindy gave her a frustrated look. " You’ve been trying for the last half an hour. I don’t even know where this sudden concern for Taylor is coming from. You hate her."

" I hate her, I just don’t like her."

"Like I said, where is this sudden concern coming from?"

Bridget sat down pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She slumped in the chair. " It’s not sudden concern I just want to find out if she is alright. I don’t like Taylor. She always thinks that she better than everyone else. HER family, HER children. You know Ridge didn’t even want her. He wants my mom, he’d never ever cheat on my mom like he did to her."

"That’s because your mom is slutty."

" What?" Bridget grabbed Cindy by the collar of her clothing yanking her toward her. "You take that back about my mom right now." Cindy pulled away from Bridget.

"I’m SORRY. I shouldn’t have used the word slutty. It’s just, well men have affairs with women like your mom." Cindy cringed at the look on Bridget’s face. " It’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying your mom is slutty in a bad way she is just really sexy. But you know what people say about her SHE HAS slept with your father and both brothers. That is really weird so maybe that is why people say things about her."

" At least she doesn’t sleep with the pool boy like YOUR mom. Isn’t he 15 years younger than her? And hasn’t had any plastic surgery unlike YOUR mom who has have everything she can tucked and sucked out. My mom looks great on her own; men are always asking her out. Besides MY MOM gives a damn about me, can you say the same thing about YOUR mother? When was the last time she was even in L.A? You were practically raised by the servants. YOU are the one always hanging at my house." Cindy blinked twice trying to hold back the tears. What Bridget has said struck a nerve, her mother always acted like she was a bother. Bridget watched as emotions hit Cindy. She felt really bad. She wrapped her arm around Cindy and pulled her toward her.

" I’m sorry Cindy. You are right it, my can be strange at times. Andy my mom can kinda act just a little slutty." Cindy caught the teasing glint in Bridget’s eyes and started to laugh." I’m sorry Cindy, I’m sure that your mother is just really busy. I’m sure that she loves you."

 

Eve had taken all that she was going to take from Kimberly. She shoved Kimberly back. Kimberly wobbled a bit and then reached out to hit Eve on the side of her face. Eve block Kimberly’s arm in a tight grip. Kimberly used her other hand to grab Eve’s hair. Eve kicked at Kimberly’s thigh and she fell backward onto the sofa. Kimberly got up and started toward Eve again when Eve used her fist to punch Kimberly in the face. Kimberly fell to the floor and felt blood trickled down her nose. " You bitch, I’m going to kill you for that!

"If you get off from the floor, I’m going to knock your lights out." Eve stood over Kimberly in a definite gesture. Kimberly kicked at Eve’s foot causing Eve to lose her balance. Kimberly took advantage of that and rolled on top of Eve. She pulled at Eve’s hair. Eve screamed and then bit Kimberly her hand. Kimberly screeched and pulled her hand away and Eve used her lower body to push Kimberly off of her. Eve rolled over and grabbed Kimberly’s hair in one hand and twisted Kimberly’s arm with her other hand. Kimberly screamed in pain, Eve was hurting her arm.

" You really are crazy to pick a fight with someone you don’t know. Always know your opponent."

"Get off me you BITCH!"

"No, I’m getting off of you until you calm down. If not, I’ll be more than willing to wipe the floor with you."

Eve and Kimberly heard the front door open. " Eve, what in the world are you doing to Kimberly?" Eve looked up and Kimberly took advantage of her lost attention and hit Eve squarely across her face with her free hand.

"Ow!" Eve in turn twisted Kimberly’s hand even further.

"Rick, please get her off of me!"

Rick rushed over toward the two girls. He pulled at Eve. "Let go of her!" Eve held on tight to Kimberly’s arm causing her to scream even louder. Rick pulled hard and ended up with Eve in his arms. " What in the world is going on?" He looked at his mother’s house, the damage was significant. He looked at the crying Kimberly on the floor. He rushed over to Kimberly. She was a bloody mess. He helped her up and looked accusingly at Eve.

"What happened?"

Kimberly smirked behind Rick’s back. " Rick, she attacked me. You should have heard her. She was going on and on about how you were going to leave me for her. How she and you had sex and that you weren’t interested in me anymore."

Rick couldn’t believe what Kimberly was saying. It didn’t even seem like something Eve would do. Eve was so sweet, but he had seen what Eve was capable of. Eve had been hurting Kimberly.

Eve started to advance menacingly toward Kimberly. " I’m going to kick you ass for that damn lie!" Rick jumped between Eve and Kimberly and pulled Eve away from Kimberly.

"Stop it Eve! Just stop it!"

Eve looked at Kimberly. "She’s lying. Rick I never told her anything about you leaving her for me. I don’t even know how she could have know something like that."

"Liar! You were gloating. You told me how you spent the night with Rick and how he didn’t care about me. You told me you slept with him!"

Rick looked at Eve and then at Kimberly. "Eve….did you tell Kimberly that we slept together?"

Eve shook her head and gave Kimberly a cold look. " Yeah I did. AFTER that bitch started in on me. But I didn’t tell her your newest decision regarding your relationship. She’s lying!"

"Why would I lie Eve? You are the one who won. You got your prize, you got Rick and I didn’t get a thing." Kimberly started to cry. " I loved you Rick and this what you’ve done. You’ve cheated on me, lied to me. And I guess that you are going to let your newest whore beat me up. She attacked me just like Amber did. She is no better than Amber, remember how she used you."

Eve said nothing; anger was eating her up inside. " She’s lying Rick. She’s lying to you. She has been all along. I came in here to put back the dishes and she was trashing you mom’s home. Look at what she did to this house!"

"That’s not true Eve. The house got wrecked in our fight. I’ll admit that I hit Eve first Rick. It’s just that she told me how you two were having sex and something in me broke. I’ve lost everything and now I lost you. I just wanted to hold on to something and now I don’t even have that." Eve saw the pain on Rick’s face; he was feeling bad for Kimberly.

"Don’t fall for that Rick. She is lying as usual. Rick she doesn’t even want you she had been using you all along. She’s interested in.."

"DON’T." Kimberly wiped the blood from her nose. Don’t listen to her! Of god, it doesn’t matter anymore does it? You’ve chosen her and not me. I loved you Rick and I waited for you and YOU’VE BETRAYED ME! Tell your mother what ever about her house. I’m sure she will blame this on me. You can have your whore!" Kimberly ran out of the house. Rick looked at Eve as if she hadn’t ever seen her before. " I’ve got to stop her, she can’t drive in this condition."

Rick ran out of the door and Eve knew that it was no use. Rick said that he loved her, but in a look he chose Kimberly over her. "Yeah Rick. Do what ever you have too to save Kimberly." There was no point, Kimberly would always win. Eve left silently behind Rick with tears of her own in her eyes.

 

Connor walked inside the dark room. "Taylor?" He found her sitting in the dark. The look in her face full of pain and only reflected a bit of the pain in her heart. " I got you’re the message that you wanted to see me. Taylor looking at you, you really need some rest."

"Please sit Connor. I want…no, I need to do this now."

Connor figured this was about her relationship with Ridge. " Taylor, I can’t tell you how sorry that I am about…"

"Stop." Her face courted into one of bitterness. " You hate my husband and I want you to use that hate to make him pay dearly for what he has done to me."

Connor was a bit surprised by the depth of bitterness that he heard in her voice. "Taylor, I know that you are very upset. You might want to heal yourself first before you focus on Ridge." He paused for a moment. As much as he hated to do this, he had to give her some professional advice. "Taylor, I think that you need to try to see if you can work things out with Ridge before you decided to plot your revenge."

"Revenge, how do you plot revenge against a man that you have given your love too? A man who flip-flopped between you and his ex-lover for years. A man, who makes promises to you and then cheats, lies and has sex with your best friend. The man who you pleaded to love forever and who looked at you and lied over and over again." Taylor glanced down at her stomach, which was flat and empty. " The man who caused you to get into a horrible accident which resulted in you losing your baby."

"Baby? Taylor I’m so sorry. I didn’t know."

"No one else did. Connor, I don’t want to talk about the loss of my baby.

"Right now Taylor, especially after you lost your baby you might be letting your emotions take over. "

"I’m not allowing emotions to take over anything. I am getting my affairs in order. My husband is no longer the man I thought that he once was."

" You still love him Taylor, that hasn’t changed."

" My love for Ridge is no longer an issue. I want my husband to pay for what he has done. I want everything I can get, the house the cars, Forrester stock, I want it all. Most importantly I want my children. Ridge lost his right to them when he betrayed them and me."

" Taylor.."

"Connor either you are going to help me or I’ll find someone else to be my attorney."

Connor had never seen Taylor like this. Although he had a strong dislike for Ridge and didn’t blame Taylor for what she was doing, he was a bit concerned about her state of mind. Losing a baby was a hard thing to live with and he wasn’t sure if she dealing with this in the best manner properly.

"Alright Taylor, if you want me to be your lawyer, I will help you."

"Thank you Connor. If you don’t mind you had better leave before my sweet husband comes to see me."

" I don’t understand Taylor, why is Ridge coming to see you if you are leaving him."

"That the irony of it, Ridge had no idea that I remember everything. He thinks that I had forgotten everything and that I don’t remember what he has done. Little does he know that I remember everything about last night?"

Scott measured Trudie’s waist. He wrote the numbers down on a clipboard. He grinned at the beautiful woman he was measuring. "So how in the world did you end up here?"

"I was dancing at Rick Forrester’s birthday party and the wonderful people here at Forrester snatched me up. They like my look, I guess."

"I didn’t know that you knew Rick."

I personally don’t know him, but I know a friend of his. I didn’t know you lived here in L.A."

"I moved here after I finished design school. At first it was sort of an internship or trail bases thing. Brooke however offered me a job." Scott leaned forward and measured her hips. "Anyway, how are you and Chris doing? When did you two move here?" He looked up and found a pained expression on her face. He put down the tape. "Trudie, what happened?"

"Scott, Chris died. He was in a terrible accident."

"Trudie, I’m so sorry. I know how much he meant to you. I guess that means that you are all alone." Scott took her hand and squeezed it to show a measure of support. Trudie wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Not really. I live with my best friend Eve. I guess by the time I met Eve you have already left for design school or something."

"Eve? Is this the same girl that Rick had been seeing?"

" Yeah, how did you know about that?"

Scott thought about Kimberly. "I just heard about them, that’s all."

"She’s been a really good friend to me, I’ve never lived alone and having her live with me makes me feel safe." Scott felt bad. He felt bad; Trudie and Christopher had been really tight. Chris had been friends with Mark a guy that Scott had been in school with. One night he had met Chris’s younger and exuberant sister, Trudie. He had met her on a couple of other occasions when he visited Mark. He had always liked her while Mark did his darnest to try to get her to go out with him without Chris knowing about it. Chris had been real protective of his sister.

"So, since you have been working here for a while I take it. Tell me what’s it like working for the Forresters? I mean, I saw that videotape last night at Rick Forrester’s birthday party. Is it always like that?"

"No. Most the time people are fighting around here. Not making love. Other than that, it can be really fun."

 

Brooke walked swiftly into her office. Dealing with those reporters hadn’t been the piece of cake that she originally thought that it would be, they were like vultures. She had a meeting with Eric that hadn’t been any better. He had seemed almost apologetic about his treatment of her but she wondered whether or not she had answered that she couldn’t comment on any video of Ridge and Morgan. It was a personal matter and that Morgan was and would continue to be a Forrester designer.

Brooke sat in her desk when her phone rang.

"Brooke Forrester"

"Brooke was there is a representative of the Montez art program for you on the phone for you. They left a message to for you. Brooke sighed. Tomorrow she’d deal with the art institute people. She wanted to talk with Bridget again and find out if this was something that she really wanted. Moving to Paris would have been big step, she didn’t want Bridget to think that she’d only be willing to move in order to have a life with Thorne, she wanted a good life for Bridget also. Brooke picked up the phone and called Thorne’s office. She desperately wanted to see him and just have him hold her. Brooke sat down on the soft sofa; she laid her head on the arm, hoping to give herself a few minutes to rest. For a moment or minutes she dozed, but she suddenly heard a large thump. Memories from the night before came flooding back, hands on her body, a mouth on top of hers, her panties being torn. "Stop it Brooke." She took in a couple deep breaths. She didn’t want to admit to herself how much yesterday had disturbed her. She had looked over her shoulder 4 times while walking from her space in the parking lot to her office. Knowing that the man who did this to her was still out there somewhere didn’t even make her feel any better. She wasn’t even sure if she knew what he’d looked like. It could be anyone, he could try it again. What if he was waiting for her looking for her? Brooke picked up the phone, this time calling Thorne’s cell phone, but she only got the voicemail. "Thorne, this is Brooke. When you get a chance, please call me. It’s really important." Brooke had to get out of her office, she was going to scream if she stayed there any longer. She had to talk to someone about what had happened.

 

 

Eric was pacing back and forth in his office. He was on a rampage." What do you mean that she is not in the building?"

"Eric, I’m sorry but Morgan left an hours ago."

"Is anyone working at all? My god, we have a showing in three days and no one seems to know where anyone is."

The door to Eric’s office opened and Thorne came forward with three folders. "Dad the cutters say that Stacy’s dress isn’t going to fit right. They have to make some adjustments."

"Damn it!" Eric threw down his sticks pins. " Megan, tell Brooke that she had better do something about Morgan, she hired her and I want her fired as soon as possible."

Megan rolled her eyes at Eric’s tirade. " First I have to find her. She left over an hour ago."

"Now where in the hell is she?"

"I don’t know Eric. She left in a rush. I think that something was bothering her."

Thorne had listened intensely to what Megan had been saying to his father. " Megan is everything alright with Brooke?"

" You should know Thorne, aren’t you her fiancée’? " Megan saw the worried expression on his face. "I’m sorry, but I don’t know where she is. I don’t know what is going on. Brooke came in late and she really hasn’t’ been herself all day. A couple of times I’ve caught her jumping at the slightest noise." Megan gave Thorne a remorseful look. " I know she had been looking for you most of the day."

"Yeah… I know, I got her messages but I’ve been busy." Thorne had a far off look on his face. Eric had taken a great deal of interest in the conversation between Megan and Thorne. He noticed how his son had been looking strange at the mention of Brooke.

"So, you and Brooke you are having problems?"

"Dad, I’m not talking to you about Brooke especially after the way that you treated her yesterday. I’m sure that she is carrying bruises from what you did."

"Son, your mother…"

"I don’t want to hear about mother at all. I’m going to go and try to find Brooke. And just in case you are getting any ideas. Brooke and I are fine and happier than ever." Thorne weren’t slamming out of his father’s office. If only he believed what he had just told his father.

 

 

Bridget stood in the corridor in front of Taylor’s hospital room. Bridget couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Taylor was going to ask Ridge for a divorce. She had been surprised to see Connor in the hospital and had asked him if she could go with him to visit Taylor. She had told Cindy that she would meet up with her later. . She had been listening to the conversation and had felt a sense of real relief when Taylor announced that she wanted a divorce. It had meant that everything was working the right direction; soon her mother and Ridge would be back together where they belonged. However when she heard that Taylor had been pregnant, something inside of her felt horrible. A baby had died, no matter how much she couldn’t stand Taylor; she hadn’t wanted her to be hurt. She definitely hadn’t wanted Taylor to lose a baby. Bridget felt a great deal of overwhelming guilt run through her body. She hadn’t meant this to happen, for Taylor to lose a baby because of the videotape. Bridget had to get out of the hospital, she had wanted to make sure that Taylor was all right, but now she had to think.

"I’m telling you Thorne, I don’t know where she is and I don’t know what was bothering her." Megan took the designs that Brooke had requested earlier and placed it on her desk.

"I just really need to talk to her."

"I can understand, but I still don’t know where she went. She didn’t even have time for the lunch that you sent her earlier. In fact, I don’t think that she had even seen it."

"Lunch? What lunch?"

" Lunch was delivered from Paolo’s. It was everything, flowers, and that meal of spinach salad and lightly grilled swordfish. Topped off with a light fresh strawberry short cake for dessert. To tell you the truth, I’ve haven’t eaten and I’m getting ready to dive into the cake myself. After an hour, I had the lunch sent down to the refrigerator and just put the flowers on her desk. I’m sorry that she missed it. It seemed like a romantic gesture. I thought that it came from you after all she was so disappointed that you left the party yesterday." Thorne shook his head; he hadn’t sent Brooke any lunch. He needed to see her as soon as possible. He needed to see her, to touch her to just hold her. The last few days had been hell. Lying to her had been hell; he needed relief from this mess. Megan said that she had been acting strange; he wondered what was going on. He knew that if he had called Brooke back before now he’d know what had been bothering her. Last night he had just up and left her and he was wrong. Yes, Kimberly needed him, and he was still worried. Very worried about her, but that didn’t mean that Brooke didn’t need him too. He had to tell her the truth. He had to clear things up and then move on with her if she would allow him to. He was scared out of his wits, he didn’t know how to deal with a situation that lay before him. He was scared for Kimberly. He was scared for Brooke. He was scared for himself. What would he do, if he lost Brooke? His world would be over.

 

James couldn’t believe the day that he was having. It had been hectic enough dealing with the problems of his patients let alone dealing with Thorne. Thorne’s confession had shocked him and if Thorne hadn’t told him himself, he wouldn’t have believed it. Something was strange, Thorne didn’t seem capable of forcing himself on a woman drunk or not. Then there was Brooke; she had come to him over earlier with the events of her night. She had suffered a small trauma based on her near attack the night before. He listened to her and made arrangements for her to come and see him. Although he had brought some relief to Brooke, she was feeling scared and it was normal. He knew that not knowing the face of her attacker had to be eating her up. Going to the police was a suggestion that he had made, but she had said that it would be hopeless; in a way he could understand why she felt that way. He had suggested some reading material and told her that things hadn’t been her fault. He had also suggested that she deal with the underlying anger that she was dealing with against herself, her attacker and Thorne. A small part of Brooke was angry because he had left her last night. He had told Brooke to tell Thorne how she felt that the truth was most important. Brooke and Thorne both had a lot to deal with, her near rape and his rape of Kimberly—if that was what was really happened that night. Either way, they had to talk and if they didn’t, they were headed for trouble.

Stephanie walked down the corridor and heard music blaring. "Where is that music coming from?" She went down the hall until she found the source of the music, the photo studio. She opened the door and was shocked by what she saw.

Giovionne was having the most amazing photo shoot with Trudie. He normally played music when shooting his models but she had asked for something a little wild. He was playing Lenny Krevitz in the background. Trudie was moving to the music in a sensual manner, it was just her style. Her hair was blowing from the fan that was set up while the men’s shirt she wore draped her body. She was made to get her picture taken; she had a flare that was would be easily caught by the camera.

"That’s right Trudie now take off the shirt."

Trudie winked sexily at Giovionne and sensually took off the shirt almost in a stripping manner. Underneath the shirt she wore the latest in the WOW collection a hand-sewn sequence and beaded gold bikini. It looked as if had been made just for her and her. Trudie looked fabulous in gold high-heeled sandals and the bikini.

"Alright, now I want you to move to the music slowly." Trudie did as she was told and moved her hips slowly while moving her hands up her body. She turned her head to the left and the right her hair flying all around her. She gave the camera coy look with her perfect skin and makeup that was made to make her look natural. Giovionne shot photo after photo, he didn’t need to tell her what to do, and she was a natural and knew what to give the camera. Scott was standing in the corner of the studio. He knew that she was good looking but something had happened when he had gotten that suit on and music played. She had come alive. The suite itself was a sexy, thin strap and the bottom rode low in her body, the beads looked like jewels on her body. He knew instantly why Brooke had asked her to be the WOW model; she had something special about her.

Giovionne put the camera down and got another one. He changed the music to something soft. " Now, I want you to look innocent. Sit on the mound there and take your shoes off. I want something more natural." Trudie took off her shoes and took a lounging position on the mouth that was covered with a bronze soft material, and then she sat up holding her knees. She wore such an innocent expression on her face. "Good, yes." He took another few shots. Trudie then did the unexpected; she untied the top of her bikini and dropped it on the floor. She covered her breast with her hands and then wore a look of such innocence on her face. Giovionne couldn’t help with to take the shot and then a few more; the poses were mixture of innocence, beauty and allure.

"Good, Trudie." He stopped taking photos. " I think that I’m done here today."

Stephanie who had been watching the scene from the doorway came inside. " I most certainly think that you ARE DONE. What in the hell is going on in here? What kind of photos are you taking?"

Giovionne glanced at Trudie who was looking for her bikini top. Scott grabbed the man’s shirt and gave it to her.

"Mrs. Forrester, we are taking photos for the newest add."

"I can’t believe that Eric approved those appalling photos. That girl is practically naked! If you think that I’m going allow those photos to represent our company. That woman is going to ruin this company." She looked at Trudie. " I’ve seen you before haven’t I?"

Stephanie looked at the girl with disgust. "Yes, I saw you yesterday. At Rick’s party you were dancing and dressed in a shirt with an inappropriate word written on the it. Why are you here?"

Trudie wasn’t intimidated by the look Mrs. Forrester had given her. " I’m a new Forrester model. I was hired by Ms. Forrester."

"Well you are no longer required to work here. You look like a stripper. Our models have class they don’t look like hookers."

Trudie pulled her hair out of her face her shirt opened hinting at her beautiful breast. Stephanie’s mouth hung wide open. Trudie looked down at her breast and showed no hit of modesty. " The last time I read the stock section in the paper, and I do quite often, Brooke owned 51% of your company. Since she hired me, I’ll let her fire me. Now Mrs. Forrester, I’ve been here all day and I’m starving. Since I can’t eat I think I’ll watch Scott eat some dinner." Trudie walked past Giovionne. " See YOU tomorrow."

"Wait a minute lady. You will not set a foot in my building do you hear me!"

"I hear you lady. But you do you hear yourself? You are really working yourself about something you can’t change."

"You look like a whore and probably are one. Brooke isn’t going to ruin this company with her slutty new line or her slut model."

"Who in the hell.." Trudie went toward Stephanie.

Scott cut in. " Mrs. Forrester, I think that there might be a misunderstanding. Trudie is a beautiful woman and there are the pictures that Brooke wanted. I think that it might be best for you to see all of the photos before you judge her. I also think that Trudie is done for the day. If you don’t mind." Scott hurried Trudie out of the room to the adjoining room.

"What in the hell do you think that you are doing? That bitch had no right to talk that way about me!"

"I was trying to save your job." Scott ignored the annoyed look on Trudie’s face. "True just listen. She wields a lot of power in this town. Let Brooke handle Stephanie, you don’t get involved. Just keep cool. I know that it isn’t your strong suit, but listen. You did a great job out there with the photos. Just concentrate on that."

Trudie looked at Scott, what he said made a lot of sense. It still got to her that Stephanie Forrester had called her a whore. That woman didn’t understand that Trudie Hastings wasn’t one to be messed with.

"Come one True, you can watch me eat my meal."

"What no hot date tonight? That’s not like you." Scott didn’t say a word. He didn’t want to date anyone at the moment. Every time he thought about a woman, he thought about Bridget and the kiss that they shared yesterday. Kissing her had been wrong; she was mush too young for him. He had to remember that, but a large part of him hoped to see her today.

"Get dressed Trudie, I’ll buy you a salad."

"Broccoli and twizzlers. I’m on a diet. The perils of modeling. Plus I’ve got 5 miles to run tonight."

 

Carter threw the bloody bandage into the trashcan. " What in the hell hit you a Mack truck?"

"No." Gunter gave the young a cold stare. " I asked if you could fix it."

"Yeah, I can fix it, but it is going to cost you. Why don’t you just go to the doctor?"

"I don’t want to, can you fix my face?"

"Yes, but there isn’t anything that I can do about the teeth. I know a guy who can put in some false ones. You hand in broken, but I guess you already know that."

Gunter grabbed the man by his neck with his well hand. " Stop asking me so many ****ing questions. Just fix it." Gunter loosened his grip and allowed the man to breath. Carter shuffled from one spot to another. " Alright man, I’m sorry." Carter went to work.

Gunter didn’t move although the pain was intense, his thoughts were centered on the woman who was to blame for all of this Kimberly Fairchild. He was going to make her pay dearly for every moment of pain that he felt. For a fleeting moment he thought about Brooke, he was sorry that he had missed is opportunity with her. She had tasted so sweet; he was aching to be inside of her. Aching to get Kimberly. He was simply aching, aching, aching with pain.

.

 

Brooke sat in her dark office. She had tried to come back to work but she really couldn’t seem to focus at all. She hadn’t even noticed the flowers on her desk with a card; her thoughts were centered on last night and Thorne.

"Brooke"

She looked up and saw Thorne’s silhouette in the doorway of her office. Her heart melted. She raced toward him and buried herself against him. Thorne had been hesitant at first, but concern overwhelmed him when she almost collapsed in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his body, her body shaking against his. He held her tightly against him.

"Baby what is wrong?"

"Thorne please. Just hold me….please hold me." Tears slowly rolled her face. She closed her eyes. " Just hold me."

Thorne held her as she cried against him. His chest was tight; she upset, what had happened to his baby. He stood and held her for what almost seemed like an hour. He gently pulled her head up. "Baby what is wrong?" Brooke saw the worry and the hurt in his eyes. She weakly smiled.

" So many things….I just need you. In needed you so much Thorne, today…last night."

It was time to tell her. He knew that he had to tell her what had happened. "Brooke about last night…there is something that I have to tell you."

"Thorne, I’m not upset with you. I can understand why you needed to be there for Ridge but you just left without any word." Brooke rubbed her shoulders; the tension from what happened yesterday was still there. " No. Thorne to be a honest a part of me was upset that you just left me there."

Thorne moved toward her. "About last night, honey there is something…."

"Thorne, I’m sorry. I have to get this off my chest." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Something happened last night."

"Something happened? To you?" Brooke’s eyes held his with apprehension. He took her hands into his. "Tell me, what happened." Brooke took in a deep breath, as soon as she told him what happened, she would feel better.

" Last night after you left. I talked with Bridget and then I decided to go home." Brooke swallowed in a deep breath. " I receive a glass of champagne and drank it, I didn’t think about it. I really shouldn’t have drunk it without knowing where it came from. It was a really stupid thing to do, but I drank it."

Apprehension raced through Thorne. What was Brooke going to say?

"I started to feel a little funny, my heart was really pounding fast. I went to my car when a man came out from nowhere. He grabbed me and started to kiss me. I tried hard to fight him, but I couldn’t it seemed like I couldn’t do much of anything." Thorne could easily see the fear was there in her face. Pain shocked Thorne in his gut, he didn’t like where she was heading. " He had his hands on me and my body. I tried to fight him but for some reason I couldn’t. I couldn’t seem to scream or do anything. I’m not sure about everything that happened. I can’t seem to remember everything. All that I remember his hands on me, ripping my dress, tearing at my panties." The pain in Thorne’s chest was so intense that he couldn’t move for a moment. Tears clouded his vision.

"Oh my god Brooke. Brooke, you were"

"No, Thorne…" Brooke turned toward him and found herself in his arms. He held her so tight that it felt that he was crushing one of her ribs. She could feel that he was shaking all over. "It’s alright, I wasn’t raped. I was saved." Thorne couldn’t let go of her, he just held on to her like he was holding on to dear life. He didn’t want to let go of her. Last night, when she needed him he hadn’t been there. Angry raced through him, he wanted to get the man who had done this to his beloved, and he also blamed himself. After he composed himself he pulled back and cupped her tear stained face. His heart was racing as he tried to get the words out of his mouth.

"Brooke…how where you saved?"

Brooke had known that he was going to ask that question and she had decided not to mention Caspian to Thorne. It would only complicate matters. "A man, a very nice man saved me. He pulled the man who tried to rape me off of me and saved me."

Thorne hugged Brooke again. " Thank god! He saved you." He rained kisses on top of Brooke’s head. " It should have been me." He backed away from Brooke. " It should have been me. I should have been there with you instead I was…"

"With your brother who needed you. At first I was a little angry with you. I agreed that I should have been with you instead of by myself but there anyone to blame except for the man who tried to rape me." Brooke shuttered. " I don’t even know what he looks like. Apparently there must have been drugs in the drink that I was sent and it was all a set up and the man planned the entire thing. I just don’t understand people like that. For man to try to rape a woman; to take advantage of her. To force himself on her for sex. What man, what kind of man does something like that Thorne? God, when I think about what could have happened. When think about him his lips being on me, hands touching me and if….if he had been inside of me. Thorne, the man was sick and he could have done anything to me or to any other woman." Thorne listened to her words and the room seemed to become darker and darker. She wanted to know what kind of man raped and took advantage of women---he did! At that moment, he hated himself more than he ever did. He wanted to kill the man who tried to rape Brooke. He saw the anger and the confusion in her face and knew that she’d never forgive for what he had done. He wouldn’t blame her for hating him. He knew that he couldn’t tell her the truth. He knew that she had been a horrifying ordeal and this wasn’t the time. This wasn’t the time to shatter her world with his truth. The truth---what is the truth anymore?

Stephanie walked into Eric’s office; she had to tell him what she had just seen. Brooke was hiring the most annoying rude people that she had ever met. First Morgan, then KC and now that slut model. She had dealt with Morgan the best way that she had know how, she didn’t feel any remorse for her actions. Morgan and her baby were a threat to Ridge’ marriage. She had worked very hard to get Ridge to this point, a place where he is happy and Morgan and her child would not ruin it. No now, not ever. She took care of Morgan and felt that she should have done that a long time ago. She did what she had to and she’d do it again. Next on her list was Brooke. Brooke was going to go down next. Brooke would rue the day that she had ever came into their lives

Thorne looked deeply into Brooke’s eyes." I need you in my life." His heart was breaking; he loved her so much. All he ever wanted, all he needed was sitting right there in front of him. It was her, his best friend, his lover. He wanted her to be his wife. She cupped his face in her right hand.

"I need you to take away the pain. I need you to take it all away." She inhaled deeply and then took his hand brining it toward her breast. "Feel my heart beat. It beats for you. I love you so much and all I want and all I need is you. You Thorne, I don’t need anyone else." Tears fell from her eyes. She pressed her lips together, closed her eyes for a moment of peace. She slowly opened her eyes and found the he had tears in his eyes also. She caught one as it escaped from his eyes on her fingers. "Tears?" She looked up at him in wonder. "You are crying tears for me? No one has ever done that, cried for me." She leaned forward pressing her lips gently against his. Her soft lips touched his, gently. " I love you." She kissed him again, his arms wrapped around her body. She opened her lips under his and felt his tongue gently touch hers stroking her mouth, her tongue and lips as if she were the most precious thing on earth. She exhaled in his mouth.

" I love you, I love you, I love you." He kissed her between her declarations of love driving out off thoughts of anything beside her. His life, his future wife. He deepened kisses, making them a little rough and passionate at the same time. She pulled back and looked at him in wonder, as she was memorizing his face.

"Make love to me Thorne. I need you." He needed her too; he needed much more than she did. He pulled different fabrics from a bolt in her office and created a made-shift bed with the materials. He used the pillows from her sofa and threw them on the made-shift bed. He took her hand and bent down into his knees. She looked down at him with pure love and tears in her eyes. She mouthed the words "I love you" to him; it hurt so much to see how much she did. He took the ends of her silk dress and pushed it up and over her head. She watched him as his soft hands gently shed her of her bra, garters, stockings and panties. His mouth had lovingly caressed her skin and kissed her as he shed her clothing. She stood for him totally naked, unashamed---she needed him. His eyes found her bruises and the tears formed them. His baby had been hurt when she needed him he hadn’t been there for her.

"I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for not being there….." Brooke’s fingers found his mouth.

"Shhh, don’t do this. You aren’t to blame for what happened to me. All that matters is that I’m safe and that nothing will hurt me again." Thorne wondered how she could be so loving and forgiving. " I want to talk anymore, I just want to feel…I want to feel your lips on my body and feel you moving inside of me." He shed his clothes in a matter of minutes coming back to her. He kneeled down before her looking at her beautiful body. His hands moved up her body slowly cupping her breast, he gently kissed each globe and for a moment, he stopped and pressed his head against her breast. She held him against her, he was almost shaking.

"I love you so much." Thorne had his eyes closed as he listened to her heart beating. He wanted her so much. He prayed to god that she would forgive him for his transgressions and all of his sins.

"Thorne. Please take all of the pain away." Thorne looked into her eyes and found a peace that he hadn’t had in days. He caressed her breasts with the tips of his fingers, tracing the outlines and then stimulated her nipples. He lips found her nipple; it caressed the tips softly, tasting her sweetness.

"So, sweet, so lovely. I want to taste everything." He found her breast again with his warm mouth. Softly he suckled the nipple into his mouth while his hands brought her body down so she was kneeling with him. At first Brooke had tensed when his mouth had found her breast but then she remembered who this was. This was Thorne, her lover, her friend, and her future. She relaxed and allowed herself to feel the wondrous sensation that Thorne was creating on her skin. James had said that she might be reluctant about sex but to allow herself to feel all of her feelings, they were all normal. She leaned back and just felt loved. Thorne’s hand caressed her breast as his mouth moved up her neck toward her mouth. He captured her mouth with his and stroked her tongue with his, his mouth starting to devour hers. He turned her so that she lay underneath him. She loved lovely lying down on top of a myriad of fabric that they called a bed.

" I must have you." Brooke closed her eyes and soft lips kissed her stomach. His tongue traced navel and then moved down, down lower onto her body. He fingers found her head centered, softly stroking and stroking. Brooke moved under his fingers that were parting her sensitive skin. Softly, she felt the intense pleasure of his tongue, which was tasting, touching and stroking her. His mouth claimed her. He sipped and tasted her. Her essence coated his tongue; she was hot, moving toward the pleasure. Thorne loved in the taste of her. He stroked her until she started to climax. When her body began to shake, he slid inside of her. "My…god! You are so perfect." Brooke smiled weakly at his words. Her hands cupped his head as his mouth found hers. His body slowly moved in and out of her body. Together they became one. She closed her eyes, feeling him so hot inside of her. They moved together in a dance as old as time. Somehow this time was more was special than ever. She knew it. He knew it. They both knew it. They moved together until he couldn’t hold back anymore. He spilled himself inside of her.

Brooke lay on top of the made-shift bed that Thorne had created. His naked body laid sprawled overtop of her. His head was cradled on her breast as she stoked his head. His body lay in between her beautiful legs. They had laid like this for over an hour, with his cradled on top of her. Brooke was pondering the words that he had uttered earlier after they had made love. He said that he hoped that they had made a baby. A baby, something that she hadn’t even thought of not at the moment. A baby...something that was a part of both of them. Thorne wanted a baby with her. The thought was so lovely that it should have made her smile; instead it only caused tears of pain in her eyes. She was scared. She loved him so much, he was her world but something in the back of her head was telling her that something was wrong. Brooke silently shook her head; she was going to listen to those thoughts in head. Everything would work out fine and she would be Mrs. Thorne Forrester. Tears ran down her eyes and she cupped Thorne head tighter to her breast. Thorne closed his eyes and the tears within them escaped them. It had been so beautiful when they had made love. He had meant what he said after they had finished. He had hoped that they had made a baby. A child that would bind them together forever, so that she could never leave him. He had become a selfish man; he knew that a child would never change the problems that they had. He had to tell her the truth. She had almost been raped herself and now he had to tell her that he had raped Kimberly. He knew that she would never forgive him for what he had done, not after what had happened to her. He knew that this was the last time. The last time that he would kiss her, that he would taste her, feel her body come alive around him, the last time she would hold him. He knew that they would never make love again. He had lost her but she didn’t know it yet. Brooke stroked Thorne’s head and he held tightly onto her. They both lay she holding him. One heart filled with love, the other with sorrow.

 

Against All Odds Part 50 (Kidnappings)

Brooke silently dressed, she watched Thorne who seemed very quiet since they had made love hours ago. She slipped her shoe on her foot when her hand came in contact with the anklet that Caspian had given her. Her guilty eyes went to Thorne. She shouldn’t have accepted the gift, it was wrong. A large part of her was guilty because she hadn’t been totally honest with Thorne. How could she be? Telling Thorne everything would only make matters worse. He had asked about the man who saved her and had talked about going to the police, but she had repeated the same reasons to him that she had told James. There was no use. Thorne however had questioned the fact that the man would be around and he could hurt others, let alone Brooke. It took her a while for him to let things go about the police and she had the distinctive feeling that he hadn’t really let it go. Thorne’s guilty eyes watched Brooke as she finished dressing. This would be the last time that he would see her like this. His heart ached and more importantly, he was worried. He was worried about the man who was out there and a possible threat to Brooke. He was also worried about Kimberly. His cell phone rang. He went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Thorne, this is James. I was wondering if you had a chance to talk to Kimberly about coming to see me tonight. If not I have some plans that I’d like to make."

"Oh" Thorne turned toward Brooke. " Honey, I have to take this call, I’ll be back in a moment." He gently kissed her on her cheek and left the room. Brooke finished dressing and then she noticed the flowers on her desk. She opened the card and read the words.

Please eat your lunch. Take care of yourself. I’m thinking of you. –C

"Caspian" Brooke looked at the door and then slipped the card into her pocket of her purse. It was a thoughtful gesture but she had to tell him that it wasn’t necessary. Thorne would take care of her; still it was a lovely gesture. Still she had to tell him that she was marrying Thorne next week. While holding Thorne, she had made a decision. She and Thorne would have a quiet private ceremony within a week. After the showing, she’d concentrate on planning a wedding. She’d surprise Thorne with her idea after the showing and they’d live happily. After all she could be carrying Thorne’s baby right this minute. With all the rushing and bustling that she had been doing she hadn’t taken her birth control regularly since before her engagement. She hadn’t thought about it at all but now after Thorne had mentioned it. Maybe, just maybe she had conceived a child. It was best that she ended things with Caspian and let him know that she couldn’t see him anymore.

Trudie walked into her apartment followed by Scott. " I’m telling you that Duke in going to go all the way in this tournament. They’ve got a really great team."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Scott looked around the apartment. "So where is your roommate?"

"I don’t know. She had tonight off, so I figured that she be here. Or maybe she and Rick went out."

"I’m afraid that Rick and I won’t be going out anytime soon." Eve walked into the living room looking sullen." She looked at Scott. " Hi."

"Hi. You must be Eve." He had recognized her as the girl in the club from the night before and also from Mannequins.

Eve gave Trudie a sad looking smile. " I’ll leave you two alone."

"Wait Eve. It’s not like that Scott and I are friends. He used to know my brother."

"Oh." Trudie saw that Eve’s eyes were puffy and red, she had obviously crying. She also noted that Eve was holding an icepack on her hand.

"What happened?" Trudie looked at Eve’s hand. " It looks like you hit someone."

" I did and after the lies that she told today I wish that I had broken her nose instead of bloodying it."

"Whose nose did you bloody?" Eve glanced at Scott. Scott quickly excused himself saying that he wanted to look at the great view from the terries.

"So whose nose did you bloody?"

"Kimberly, that bitch."

"What? You took on Princess. Boy do I wish that I’d had a front seat to that show. I know that it was something. So did you kick her ass?" Trudie started a fighting stance. "Boy I could use my kickboxing class for something besides exercise." If Eve hadn’t been feeling so bad about Rick’s behavior, she would have laughed at Trudie.

"True, it’s a total mess. Rick and I spent the night together."

" You did, that is wonderful. I knew there had to be a good reason that you didn’t come home last night. So was it really passionate? All that good love making?"

Eve moved the icepack back on her hand. "No, it wasn’t like that." Eve paused a moment, her memories of the night flooded her. It was really special. We didn’t make love or anything but it really was lovely. He was the first guy that I have ever spent the night without…." Eve glanced at Scott who she could see through the glass doors. " Well since you know. In fact, it was really special. He made me feel like I was special, something to be cherished and loved." Trudie’s heart began to break for Eve. She saw the love that Eve had Rick. If Rick Forrester couldn’t see how wonderful her friend was then he didn’t deserve her. He could have that nasty Kimberly. " It doesn’t really matter, but I spent the night with him and his son."

"So the baby wasn’t with that Amber girl?"

"No. Amber allowed Rick to have Little Eric."

"Well what happened?"

"Everything that could have happened wrong happened. Rick said that he had finally made a decision and that he wanted to be with me. I was so happy and overjoyed at the thought of someone like Rick loving me. He said that he was going to tell Kimberly the truth; he’d still try to help her get her job back. I didn’t mind, as long as I had Rick, I didn’t mind him trying to help her." Eve frowned. "Shows you how stupid I was. Anyway, after Amber picked up Little Eric, I went to Brooke’s house to return some dishes and I found Kimberly."

"What was she doing there?"

"I’m not sure. I do know that she was smashing up Brooke’s living room."

"What ! Why in the world was she doing that?"

"I didn’t get a chance to find out. I told her that I was going to call the police. I saw her and she is really nuts. I swear, there is something wrong with that girl. That’s when we got into a physical fight. End to a long story, Rick came in and saw what he wanted to see. Kimberly had a nerve to tell him a pack of lies about me fighting with her and last I saw of him, he was chasing after her."

Trudie rolled her eyes. " He believed her and not you? I’m sorry to say this Eve but if Rick can’t even trust in you then he doesn’t deserve you. If he wants to be snowed by Kimberly, in the end he is going to get burned. Scott who had heard everything the girls had to say agreed with Trudie. He knew first hand that Kimberly was trouble but hearing how she smashed up Brooke’s house only proved what a real nut she was. It was a shame, he was starting feel that he should tell Rick what happened between he and Kimberly. But if he did that, how could he ever explain the truth to Bridget. She wouldn’t understand why things had ended up the way that they did. She shouldn’t matter at all because she was nothing but a kid, but it did matter to him.

Thorne drove Brooke to her house. He was worried; she had been so quiet during the ride to her house. Then there was Kimberly, he had tried to call her but he hadn’t gotten any answer at her house. He hoped that she wasn’t hurt; he had gotten so busy that he hadn’t checked on her. She had been distraught last night, he wondered if she was okay.

Brooke walked into her house and her mouth dropped open. Brooked looked at her living room. Her mirror was broken; the frame for one of her French doors was missing, her beautiful table was scared and it looked like something hit the wall. Thorne came in behind and stopped dead in his tracks.

Bridget came into the living room with a broom and a dustpan in her hand.

"Bridget what in the world happened?"

Bridget shook her head. "It’s a long story."

"Long story or not, I want to know what in the hell happened to MY HOUSE!"

 

 

Rick knocked on the door to Eve’s apartment. He had tried calling her but she wasn’t answering her phone. The door opened and blonde looked at him with a scowl on her face. "She isn’t here you****head." She tried to shut the door on him; Rick put his foot inside the door to keep her from closing.

Rick tried his best to giver her one of his most charming smiles ever. "You must be Trudie."

"Does that normally work, because it ain’t working on me lover boy so get moving."

"Please, I really need to talk to her."

"You should have thought about that before you hurt her by chasing behind your GIRLFRIEND. Eve’s been through a lot and she has had a really hard life. I thought that you might be good for her, she really cares for you. But it seems that you are just another selfish**** willing to believe anything that anyone tells you. Go on Rick, go to her princess and leave Eve alone." Trudie slammed the door in Rick’s face.

Rick cursed, he had really messed things up. He had chased after Kimberly but she had seemed to vanish. He had looked everywhere for her. After a while, he thought about the situation. It really didn’t make sense. Eve had never lied to him, but neither had Kimberly although at times she acted strange. Although his mother’s house was a mess and he felt bad that Kimberly had gotten her nose smashed, that didn’t mean that he had changed his mind. He didn’t love Kimberly, not the way that he should. He did however love Eve and once his head cleared with a little help from CJ, he realized that no matter what really happened between Kimberly and Eve his heart was with Eve. He had been walking around campus looking for Kimberly when he ran into CJ and for the first time since his sister had died they talked. Rick mentioned that he was looking for Kimberly and somehow the entire story came out. CJ had told him that the one thing that he learned about Becky’s death was that life was too short, if he didn’t love Kimberly he had to let her go. Rick only hoped that it wasn’t too late. No matter what, he had made a decision and he planned on going through with it. It was Eve, all about Eve.

THE NEXT DAY

Brooke looked at finished looking over the arrangements for the fashion show. She was exhausted and it was only 11 am in the morning. Maybe it was because she and Bridget had spent most of the night cleaning up her house. Brooke didn’t find the whole thing funny at the least, unlike Bridget who said that wished that she had ringside seats to the fight between Kimberly and Eve. Brooke demanded to know what sparked the argument, although she could imagine—Rick. Bridget who had filled her in on Rick’s newest sleeping arrangement and how Kimberly must have gotten wind of it. Brooke had no idea how her French door, pillows and mirrors were ruined in such a fight. Truthfully, she would have liked to see Eve punch Kimberly’s lights out, if her house hadn’t been ruined in the raucous, as Bridget had said. Thorne had listened to the story and gotten really quiet at the mention of the fight and had stayed for an only an hour. Brooke figured that it was Bridget’s irritated looks that had caused him to reluctantly go home. Maybe it was a good thing that Thorne had left although she hadn’t really wanted him to because she got a chance to talk with her daughter. Bridget had been very sullen and it worried Brooke. She had asked Bridget what was wrong, but Bridget claimed that everything was fine. Brooke figured that Bridget was little nervous about getting into the art program but Brooke told her daughter not to worry that everything would turn out fine. Brooke had had waited patiently for Rick to make an appearance, but he didn’t. Brooke didn’t know Eve’s number so she just called a few of his friends who stated that he hadn’t seen him. Brooke shook her head, it seemed that Rick had inherited the Forrester male trait of stringing women along. She had to talk to him, although she was happy that he seemed to be interested in someone besides Kimberly, she didn’t want Eve to be hurt. Brooke had meeting with Lauren that morning and discussed her newest business venture. Brooke had told her that giving up one of her designers for a boutique wasn’t feasible however if she gave her time she could maybe come up with something. Lauren was another problem, if she took on this venture, there was no way that she could run Forrester once Brooke and Thorne relocated. Brooke knew that their was no way that she’d allow Eric or Stephanie to run her company so that meant that she had to look again at the list of names that Victor had supplied her. Brooke had to make a decision real soon. After her wedding to Thorne, she’d tell him of her plans. Brooke couldn’t help but to smile when she thought about her upcoming wedding. She had asked KC this morning if she thought that she could design a beautiful wedding dress for next week. Next week, she’d be Mrs. Thorne Forrester and her troubles would be behind her.

Morgan slowly opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. "Where in the hell am I?" She looked at the bedroom, which consisted of a bed, a table, sofa, closet, TV and what looked to be an adjoining bathroom. She suddenly remembered what occurred yesterday. Stephanie burning her things and her falling down. God that woman was totally crazy. Morgan went to the door and tried to open it. She pulled and pulled as hard as she could, it seemed however that she was locked in. What in the world was Stephanie doing? Morgan looked around and finally noticed what was bothering her; there were no windows in the room or telephone. Morgan went back to the door.

"Stephanie! You let me out of this room right now! Let me out now!" Morgan banged and banged there was no use.

 

Stephanie looked at the video screen of Morgan banging on the door. There was no way in hell that she’d let that woman out until she got what she wanted.

 

Lt. Berkley looked at the phone message on his desk. " Is this for real?" He looked at his partner Murphy. Murphy nodded his head. " Yeah, based on this tip that I got, it seems that this guy Gunter O’Neal has been selling Meth and other drugs to some of the students at UCLA. Based on this tip, if we get the warrant and search the place we will find some real hard stuff. Berkley couldn’t believe his luck; he had been trying the last 2 years to find some of the hard-core dealer. " Most likely this has no merit. What do you know about this guy?"

"Nothing really, he’s a professor’s assistant or something like that. Real smart and apparently does some computer work on the side. But he has a really nice home and real expensive car. He also has a job that allows him to contact a lot of rich young kids."

"Do we have someone watching him?"

"No, seems that no one has seen him in a day or so. Berkley, if this is our man, I want him bad."

"Where did that tip come from?’

"Like I said, it was anonymous."

Berkley bit the end of the end of his pen. He didn’t trust hints but it was worth a try.

" Mr. Deangleo, the drugs have been planted along with the tip to the police. It is only a matter of time before they have a warrant for the arrest of Gunter O’Neal."

Caspian looked up from the file that he had been reading. "Have WE found him yet?"

"No, but we are real close. There was a transaction that was quickly changed but we caught it. It was to a Carter Shapely. James is on his way over to him right now."

"Good"

Caspian looked at his watch, he had a meeting to get to. He turned his attention back to the folder in front of him. Kimberly had a conversation a conversation with Bridget about giving Thorne some drug. Then had an appointment with Dr. who was a fertility doctor, at her age? It just didn’t make sense at all. Caspian turned toward Dirk.

"Last night, she was at the party?"

Dirk nodded. "She spent a lot of time with Thorne Forrester they were huddled into a corner for a while. She was crying and he was holding her."

"Anything else out of the ordinary?"

"No, she left with him and spent the night with him at his house. Everything else was pretty much uneventful. She went to Ms. Forrester’s house yesterday." Caspian eyes popped up at the mention of Brooke’s name.

"Why did she did go there?"

"I don’t know.. Based on what I saw, Kimberly was in a fight with a girl named Eve, it seems like Mrs. Forrester’s son has one woman too many. A fight ensued between the two women although Kimberly and Ms. Forrester had an altercation themselves. Now there is something that you might find interesting."

"What?"

"She trashed Ms. Forrester’s house."

Caspian stood up. "She did what?"

"She trashed it really good. She was really angry then she and other woman went at it."

Caspian digested the information. Kimberly was really starting to be a lose cannon. She was cheating with Thorne based on his information yet she still carried on with Rick, Brooke’s son. " In her altercation with Ms. Forrester, what happened?"

"Nothing just arguing. Ms. Forrester went to work while Kimberly fought with Eve."

" I want you to continue to watch her day and night and if she does anything out of the ordinary let me know. I don’t trust her, not at all."

Dirk got up from the table and left. He let out a sigh of relief, if Caspian had even gotten wind that he had spent some of the time at the party, partying himself in the closet with a hot little waitress, he’d be out of a job. He had only lost 45 minutes of time with Kimberly and what kind of trouble could she have gotten during that small amount of time.

Ridge finished his last inspection of the dresses. Stress was eating him alive and it was evident in his appearance. He hadn’t really slept in days; he hadn’t even shaved this morning.

"Ridge, are you alright?"Ridge looked up to find Suzy looking at him with a worried expression.

" Yes, I’m fine. Take that dress off and put the other on and come back." The model left. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t take this anymore. Ducking the media, lying to Taylor. Losing his baby and then there was Morgan. He had gone to the beach house to throw her ass out last night and was surprised to find her gone and all of her stuff. She thought that she had gotten away with it. She had tried to ruin his marriage, stolen his child, and gotten away with his Forrester stock. Well she wasn’t going to get away with anything. He had contacted Jonathan this morning and told him that he wanted his stock back. Unfortunately Johonothan had told him that there was no way of getting the stock back without going to court. Ridge didn’t want this going to court; he wanted to get the hell out of town with his wife and kids. He’d however find a way to make Morgan pay wherever she was. He had to put all of his attention on his wife right now. She was taking the death of their baby hard, so was he. Last night he had gone to see her and she had been so silent and had a strange look in her eyes. When he had bent down to kiss her, he almost thought that she turned away on purpose. But that didn’t make sense she didn’t remember anything about what had happened and he’d try his best to make sure that she never found out.. Taylor loved him and he would make this up to her.

Taylor slowly walked behind her father as he helped her into the front door of her house.

"Are you sure that you didn’t want me to call Ridge and let him know that you were leaving now?"

"No!" Jack was shocked in the anger in his daughter’s voice.

"Honey, we’ve been through this before Ridge isn’t to blame for the loss of your baby. Honey I really think that you should call him. You two should be together for your time of need."

" I think that you need to stay out of it! I already told you that I don’t want Ridge here at the moment."

"Mommy, mommmy!" Taylor watched as her precious children came running toward her. She slowly bent down and tired half hazzardly to hug her children in her pained state.

"Hey my babies, come and hug mommy." Tears filled Taylor’s eyes, as she looked her children.

"I made wtis for you mommy." Thomas waved a picture at her. She slowly moved to the sofa and looked at the child like drawing of herself, Ridge, Thomas, Phoebe and Steffy.

"Is this the family?"

Thomas grinned at his picture. " Yes. It’s all of wuss mommy."

"Yes honey, that was all of us." She kissed her son on the top of his head. "Catherine, why don’t you take the children in the kitchen for cookies." Taylor watched as her children marched off with Catherine. When she thought about how Ridge had jeopardized her life and her children’s lives, it made her sick. She had asked her doctor for a myriad of STD's test along with an AIDS test. She wasn’t going to take any chances; she had no idea where her so-called best friend had been doing.

"Taylor, are you going to be alright?"

"Yes dad. Thank you for coming into town. I’m just tired. I’m going to take a rest." She had to think; Connor had only a day or so to get things processed. There was no way in hell that she was going to lay next to her lying cheating husband. Connor was already working on finding that videotape and she was going to get all the information that she needed. She had been a fool for many years but those days were over. She had opened her eyes and now she could see that Ridge was nothing but a cad. "He threw it all away for what?" Taylor lay on Steffy’s bed and cried. He threw it all away for nothing, absolutely nothing.

 

 

 

 

Brooke looked around at the beautiful stateroom on the huge yacht. The was beautiful and looked to have every luxury that any boat could possibly have. " Mrs. Forrester? The committee will see you now." Brooke quietly followed the woman into another more comfortable room in the yacht.

 

James shook his head. "Taylor I’m telling you again that this isn’t a smart move on your part. Right now you are playing a dangerous game. You need to be honest with Ridge."

" I’m being as honest as he has been in the past with me." Taylor winced at the pain in her head. " I’m really surprised at you James, you are taking his side."

"I’m not taking his side. I just think that you need to know what you really want to do about this."

" I already know what I want to do. I want to end my marriage."

"Just like that. Think Taylor. Think about all that you’ve been through together as a couple. You’ve weathered so many things that would have cause other marriages to fall apart, but you didn’t. You made it."

Taylor shook her head. " James don’t you think that I’ve thought about that. The question is, what more do I have to endure? Years of fighting with Brooke, oh god, when I think about how painful that were. Being married to Ridge and having him be the father of Brooke’s child. Then her flaunting her sexuality at any given moment, taking advantage of everything thing. My god, I couldn’t even have children because of the stress that she put my marriage through. Then Ridge thought that I had died and he married her in less than four months." Taylor angrily wiped the tear that had fallen down her cheek. "That should have been a sign right then and there. I wouldn’t even have been cold in the ground and he was busy living it up with her. Between that marriage, having Thomas alone thanks to Brooke and then the stress of Ridge’s decision again. Do you think that was easy? Even when Ridge and I remarried, she was always around stirring up old memories."

"Are you still blaming your problems on Brooke? I thought that you both decided to move on?"

"I’m not blaming Brooke but I am telling you how difficult things were even then. Ridge didn’t like me working with Pierce. He was jealous of Pierce, but I loved my job it was so great. But I put my marriage first, above everything. I went through a lot to have those babies, my god taking those fertility drugs to ensure that I got pregnant as soon as possible was stressful enough and made me sick as well…." Taylor stopped when she realized what she had uttered. She hadn’t ever mentioned the drugs to anyone.

"Taylor?" James gave her a surprised look. "Why in the world would you take fertility drugs?" Taylor didn’t want to think about that time in her marriage, she had been so desperate to keep Ridge. Ridge had been spending a lot of time with Brooke. She would never forget the one night when Ridge had been bone weary and she had kissed him in his sleep. He had uttered the words " I love you Brooke" in his sleep.

"It doesn’t matter why I did anything James. All that matters is that I loved Ridge and I did everything to make my marriage work. And what does that bastard give me? A possible case of herpes!" Taylor sat down on the sofa; she knocked the picture of herself and Ridge on the floor. " I can’t believe the way that he has been acting, he’s been so attentive and his sexual appetite had increased and now I know why. He was tying to service Morgan and me at the same time." Taylor got up again. " Don’t even get me started about HER, my supposed BEST FRIEND. When I think about the things that I shared with her and all awhile she was trying to steal my husband."

"Taylor, you really must calm down."

"How can I do this when I think about how she ruined my marriage! James, she been in my house, played with my children. And all the while…"

James put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder. "I can understand your anger at her. What she did with Ridge was wrong, but I’m wondering why you called this woman your best friend. Based on what I’ve read about Morgan, you and she absolutely nothing in common."

"I was a fool to trust that woman. I don’t know why I was attracted to Morgan for a friend. She was just so exciting and she was fun. She also needed my help and to tell you the truth since I gave up my job no one really needed me. The children did, but it had been a while since I actually helped another adult. Ridge was working all the time and he was really stressed since Brooke was angry with him."

James had listened to Taylor with a clinical ear. "It seems to me that your friendship with Morgan was based on a missing element in your life."

"What are you talking about?"

"Taylor, when you gave up your job, you gave up a part of yourself. You needed to be needed. Ridge was busy with his work and you weren’t feeling not needed so you befriended Morgan. A woman with problems as you’ve stated."

"Are you blaming Ridge’s affair on me?"

"No Taylor, I’m just saying that it seemed to me that you and Ridge have certain issues in your marriage that neither of you discussed. That doesn’t excuse Morgan or Ridge for what they have done. Taylor, you need to really think about things. You need to make sure that you don’t want to save your marriage and deal with the obvious problems you and Ridge were having. Taylor I’m not sure that you and Ridge had that perfect marriage that you dreamed of but if you talk things out and deal with his infidelity and the other issues that bothered you. Maybe you could work it out."

"Don’t bother James. There is nothing to work out. Ridge betrayed me for the last time. I won’t give him another chance to hurt me or his children." Taylor had made up her mind. Still a part of her ached, maybe her marriage hadn’t been all that she thought it was. James words echoed in her head. She regretted the day she allowed Morgan in her live. Taylor felt the tears wield up in her eyes, Ridge and Morgan had ruined her live and she’d find a way to make them pay. First Ridge and then his whore. Ridge wouldn’t know what had hit him, she was going to take away everything the he loved, just like he had taken away all of her hopes and dreams.

.

Rick tried again in vain to most of the day find Eve but it seemed that she was really angry with him. He could hardly pay attention during his statistics in business class. All he could think about was Eve. He’d talk to her to explain first and then he’d try again to find Kimberly. Rick was so caught up into his thoughts that he bumped into a leggy blonde with a cute pixie cut hairstyle. " Hey watch where you are going Rick!" The blonde pent down to pick up her books.

" I’m really sorry… Hey Honey I thought that you left town."

"Naw, I met this guy, really cute one. Turned out to be married, that isn’t my sort of thing." The blonde checked her makeup. "Especially if he doesn’t have any money to spend and wants mine. But I guess you don’t know what is like. Anyway Rick, when you get a chance tell Kim I really appreciate her paying even though the job fell through, that was really cool of her."

"What was Kimberly going to pay you for?" Rick knew about Honey’s reputation and he couldn’t figure out what she had in common with Kimberly.

"You know, she wanted me to take some pictures of …." Honey stopped. Now that she thought about it the guy that Kimberly wanted her to tape pictures with was Rick’s brother. She had better not say anything after all Rick might get upset and then Kimberly and he might break up. " I gotta go Rick. Just tell Kimberly thank you." Honey walked away as fast as she could. Rick didn’t understand any part of that conversation. Why would Kimberly hire Honey to take some pictures? At this point, it really didn’t matter because he enough problems on his hands with Kimberly and Eve, he didn’t need to add Honey to the mix. As Rick walked away he wondered what her parents had been thinking about naming their child Honey.

 

Brooke closed her eyes smelled the fresh air. There was peace and tranquility all around her. The interview had gone well, she had been pleasantly pleased to see the extent of her daughter’s work. Bridget was truly talented. This move to Paris seemed better and better as time went on. She slowly exhaled and then turned around and was startled to see Caspian standing in the doorway of the observation deck.

"What are you doing here? Are you following me?"

A small smirk covered his lips. and. "No. Ms. Forrester I’m not following you. You are my guest here today on my yacht."

"That impossible. Mrs. Winters stated that this yacht belonged to one of the benefactors of the art program. In fact she took me on the tour and showed me some of the glorious pieces of work "

"Yes, they are part of my collection." His eyes devoured her; they stopped to study her lips. " Beautiful aren’t they." Caspian turned toward the bar and poured two glasses of Sherrie. " You really impressed them today in your interview." He handed her the Sherrie and his fingertips gently traced her finger. Brooke took the Sherrie and back away. What was it about him, he seemed to be everywhere.

"You listened to my interview?"

"Yes"

"This has got to stop. You can’t be popping in areas in my life whenever you want to. It isn’t right."

"Brooke, I’ve been a benefactor to the Montez Art Institute for years. I love beautiful things and so I decided to help them in my time of need." Caspian sat down. " If you recall, I told you in the garden that I was here on business. This was the business that I had to attend with."

Brooke looked at him suspiciously. " You didn’t say anything the other night about being involved with the program or knowing that my daughter was a candidate."

"I didn’t think at the time that is was appropriate considering the situation that both of us were dealing in." Brooke sighed, he was right the situation the last time that she saw him hadn’t been the most appropriate time to discuss Bridget.

"Caspian, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m acting like this. It isn’t that I am angry to see you. In fact, I have the feeling that the interview doesn’t normally take place on a yacht does it?"

"Of course it does. Why in the world would you think that you are so important Ms. Forrester?" He winked at her. Brooke couldn’t help but to smile back.

She sipped her Sherrie.

" I don’t want you to think that I’m not grateful for everything that you’ve done. From the moment I met you, you seemed to be trying to make me feel better. But it is just.. This thing between you and I it has stop."

" I’m not doing a thing." His eyes and voice got a dangerously sexy tone. "I’m not trying to do anything at the moment."

"That is what I’m talking about."

"What?"

"That sexy tone you are using. We are friends and that is all that we can be Caspian." Brooke shook her head and turned toward the magnificent view. " We shouldn’t even be friends." He came up behind her. He inhaled her scent and closed his eyes.

"We aren’t friends, its is more than that." His voice sent a thrill down her body. God, why did he have this effect on her? She loved Thorne, her heart was with him. But when she was with Caspian, he did something to her.

"No, it isn’t…."She turned toward him and found that his body was almost pressed up against hers. She could feel everything in that moment, he breathing and she could see the wanting in his eyes. " I need to go." Caspian reached out and stopped her.

"Don’t go." She looked down at his hand and he reluctantly let her arm go. " If I thought that coming here for your interview was a problem, I wouldn’t. Tell me Brooke what is going on. Why this sudden change in behavior toward me? What happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Last night…last night I shared something special with Thorne. I told him about my near rape. I told him how I felt and the things that were bothering me."

"You told him about me?"

" I…" Brooke suddenly noticed that he had captured her hand in his and was softly stroking it. She pulled it away. " I should have told him. James said that I had to be truthful with Thorne. If I wanted to get over what had happened to me that I had to talk about my feelings."

"James?"

"A therapist. A friend."

" Good, after your ordeal, you needed to talk to someone." A touch of concern covered his face. "I hope that you are planning to go back to see him."

" Yes, of course I am." Brooke lost track of what she had planned and say and found herself sitting next to him on the comfortable sofa. "How does this happen. I’m trying to have a conversation with you and I’ve lost track of what I’m was saying."

" You were talking about Thorne."

"Yes, well. I don’t want to lie to him anymore about anything. I love him. I wasn’t honest to him about you. I didn’t tell him who you were or how you saved me. James said I had to be honest but I wasn’t totally honest with him. I don’t want things to be like this. I’ve always been honest with Thorne and I don’t want to start lying about anything." Her eyes caught his. "How can I even explain you to anyone? How you seem to know where I am? How you saved me? How when I’m with you I have such intense feelings…. The other night you took care of me and I’ll never forget it. But this thing that we have, it is over. It has to be over."

"Because of Thorne?"

"Because I’ going to marry him. He will be my husband and there shouldn’t be any lies between us."

" Your Thorne has never lied to you?"

"No. Thorne had always been honest with me. That’s one of the reasons that we’ve made through so much." Brooke looked at Caspian with a saddened expression. "Everyone has been against us from the beginning. His family especially his mother has done everything to stop us. They lied, schemed and tricked us. When I think about what happened in Venice. You see in Venice Thorne was tricked into believing that I still wanted Ridge. He was so hurt that he married his ex and then by the time that he found out the truth, it was too late. He endured a marriage that he didn’t want because he didn’t want to hurt her."

"He married another woman and you are praising his deeds?"

"No. It’s just the kind of man he is. He is so caring and gentle. Breaking up his marriage to Macy was a hard thing to do but he would have done it if she hadn’t died. And his family never thought for a moment the pain and the guilt that he had when she died. They blamed me. Still we made it through. I’m not saying that everything in our lives will be perfect but as long as we do it together, we WILL make it. Against all of the odds, Thorne and I will have a life together."

"Against all odds, you and Thorne will make it?"

"You don’t believe it do you?" Brooke’s eyes narrowed and she left the sofa. " I hear it in your voice. You don’t understand how I feel. How I’ve waited my whole life for this moment. I love him."

"I believe that you believe that you and Thorne will make it." Caspian stood and moved toward her. He felt her anger and understood it but she wouldn’t look at the facts but she didn’t want to she was scared. She also didn’t know how hard he was trying to be fair, to be honorable. For her he was trying to change. He wanted to show her proof of her lover’s infidelity, it would take any time at all to have Thorne’s house wired and then he’d have pictures and everything else needed to show her how much her Thorne had loved her. Thorne loved her so much that he spent his night ****ing his ex-wife’s younger sister. He would keep his mouth quiet and not say a word. Brooke was a smart woman and sooner or later figure things out, he really didn’t want to be an instrument of her pain. But if he came down to her really marring Thorne, he’d stop that wedding. There was no way he’d allow Thorne Forrester to marry Brooke. She deserved better, it may have seemed arrogant, or even male chauvinist but it didn’t matter. He’d see that she’d fine happiness but not with Thorne. " I believe that you do indeed love Thorne." He whispered the sentence to her.

Brooke gathered her purse in her hands. " I think that it is best that I leave now."

"Why?"

"Because this has to stop somewhere. I don’t want to lie to Thorne anymore and if I keep seeing you then that is what I’d be doing. It is easier if we went our separate ways. If Bridget gets into this program it would be a great thing, but that doesn’t mean that we need to see each other anymore. From time to time we may see each other at different events, I wouldn’t be adverse to that after all you have helped me so much. But we shouldn’t see each other like this anymore."

Caspian was so silent and still she didn’t know what he was going to say. Her heart was beating fast; this is was important to her. She didn’t want to tell him about her marrying Thorne next week, it was best that they parted ways right now. He wanted something from her that she just couldn’t give him; it would be best if they ended things as friends. Her life was with Thorne; there was nothing that Caspian could do to stop that.

"If I agree to this, to never see you again unless you ask. What will you give me in return? I want something from you." He stroked the silk collar of her blouse. His sexy face towered above her. In that moment, she lost her breath. Her heart raced so.

"I want one night. One night with you and then I promise to never bother you again unless you wish it."

"One night." She whispered to him. " He might have been asking for the world, she could never give him the night that he wanted. " I can’t give that you, you know it." His finger moved up the collar toward her soft cheek.

"I’m not asking for a night in my bed although I will admit having you in my bed is more than intriguing to me. But I’d need more than one night to show you the things that I’ve only dreamed of doing to you." He backed away from her. " I want one night with you as my companion, not a sexual companion but I want to have dinner. I want to talk, to only be with you."

Brooke fidgeted with her purse. " Dinner, one night?" It wasn’t much to ask but she couldn’t spend the night even for dinner with him. " I can’t spend the night with you .I have a great deal of work to do."

"How about a late lunch then and part of the evening today, here on the yacht. Just one afternoon together. Nothing more, I promise you. Come on, you know that you want to. To just have some time alone, together. One meal, time together and then I will keep me word to you."

Brooke looked out at the horizon and noticed that the yacht had moved a long way from the harbor and was steadily moving toward and unknown detestation.

"We’re moving?"

" Yes, we are. Everyone else has left. It is only you and I and the crew." He smiled.

"I’m kidnapping you, don’t you see that? We can turn back if you want to, but I don’t want to. Give me this Brooke; give me evening, here today. What do you say? Nothing more, just one single evening. Please."

Brooke didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t asking for a lot. Just the afternoon, a meal and some time. A part of her warned her against it, this was dangerous every time they were together something electric grew between them. She thought of Thorne, her commitment to him, she loved him. She looked into Caspian’s eyes; she wondered what he was really like. She may never get a chance to do this again. Just one night, it wouldn’t hurt.

"What do you say Brooke?"

Carter looked nervously at the large man sitting in his apartment. " I’m telling you like I said earlier, I don’t know where he is. His face was really messed up. He didn’t talk much or even say what hurt him." Carter swallowed hard. "Is he in some sort of trouble because if he is? I don’t know much about anything, I swear."

Megan walked into Eric’s office. " Eric, Brooke isn’t here but this just came it." Eric looked up and took the piece of paper out of her hand and read it.

"Is this true?"

"It looks like it. Morgan apparently is resigning her job here at Forrester."

"Yes, well I think that it is best. After what she did to Ridge and Taylor I didn’t want her back here. At least something good is coming from this. When is she going to get her things?"

" Based with the attached note someone will come and get her things after the showing. She doesn’t want to take an attention away for the showing." Eric smiled. It was a good thing that Morgan didn’t fight them, with the contract that Brooke had given her it would have hard pressed to fire her without Brooke’s consent. "Stephanie is going to be very happy about this." Now that the matter of Morgan was coming to an end, there still was a matter of Brooke and her controlling stock. Jonathan was coming over tonight along with Rick. Eric hoped that he and Stephanie could persuade Rick into allowing them to vote his stock after all Rick should have gotten his birthright yesterday.

"Sally, I really appreciate you allowing me to stay here most today and last night. I really had to get myself together." Sally sat down next to Kimberly.

"Sweetheart, don’t you know that I care for you. Too think about what that Rick Forrester did to you. Dumping you for some girl, he is just like his brother."

"No. He isn’t like Thorne. Thorne had been very caring and considerate toward me."

"How can you say something like that after what he did to your sister?"

Kimberly put her teacup down. " Sally, that wasn’t his fault, it was Brooke’s."

"Well Brooke has him now. If there was some way that I could make her pay for what she did to my baby. That home wrecking tramp!"

"Don’t worry. I have a feeling that Brooke will be getting what is coming to her very soon. Very soon indeed."

" I can’t believe our luck. To find a stash like this. This lead was the best one that we ever had. Heroine and what looks to be a supplier list."

Berkley looked at his partner and nodded. A part of him was worried. Tips like the ones that he had gotten didn’t normally work out. Now it seems that they had found one of the suppliers from the UCLA. "Tell them to put out the warrant for the arrest of one Gunter O’Neal. He is sold his last bit of drugs on the campus."

Eve opened the door to her apartment. She hadn’t gone to class all day, she hadn’t wanted too. Trudie had said that Rick had wanted to talk to her last night. She didn’t want to hear anything that he had to say about his princess Kimberly. She walked over to the fridge and saw a note from Trudie. A Bill Harper called her, she didn’t know who Bill Harper was. The doorbell rang when she looked through the peephole when she saw Rick.

"Eve, I know that you are in there. Please open the door."

Eve stood with her hands folded across her chest."

"I’m not leaving!" Rick started to bang on the door. " If you want me to stay here all afternoon, I will." Rick banged on the door.

Eve didn’t like the noise that Rick was making in her hallway.

She opened the door with the chain on the door. "Go away Rick! I don’t want to talk to you." She closed the door hoping that he would go away. Rick continued to bang on the door." After ten minutes of listening to him bang on her door and two calls from her neighbor, she finally opened her door.

"This had better be quick Rick because I just don’t have any time for your**** right now."

 

NEXT