Secrets Chapter 8

 

Alex looked at the file for the Forresters; she had spent most of the night up trying to come up with a plan that would get the job down. Not for the first time, she wondered who and what these people were all about. She looked at a picture of Brooke Forrester that had been in Cosmopolitan Magazine at a party that Guy Richie had thrown for his wife Madonna. Brooke and Thorne Forrester had been laughing with rock singer Lenny Krevitz who looked wild in his low cut brown leather pants and funky T-shirt while Brooke stood in a jeweled strapless evening gown. Alex threw the photo on the table. As far as she was concerned, Brooke Forrester was almost a typical Hollywood wife. The woman was a travesty to all women and Alex was disgusted by her actions.

"I don’t get it, why does she bother you so much?" Quinn said as she checked the information printing out of the printer.

" It’s what she stands for. The woman has been married to three members of the same family. She had broken up three different marriages and doesn’t seem to care."

Quinn frowned; Alex really didn’t like the Forrester woman. " Alex, I agree that it is weird but she didn’t break up those marriages on her own."

" Quinn, I’m surprised to hear you say something like that. You are happily married to Jasmine, how can you not be disgusted with her actions?"

"Come on Alex. With all the things that we’ve seen. Little children getting blown to bits going to school, murdering fanatics that kill any and everything in their path, lunatic power hunger control freaks like Victor disgust me. Some chick getting her rocks off by sleeping three guys in the same family is just….weird."

" It’s more than weird. You know it’s a woman like her give women a bad name. Sleeping with however, using men and discarding them not caring that they have given them what they wanted. Women who take everything and using their sexuality to get it. It disgusts me. Alex got up from the table." Quinn said nothing for a while then finally opened his mouth.

" I think that you are mixing up Brooke Forrester and your sister Marina. Brooke Forrester isn’t your sister."

" No, she only ten times worse. She used three men in one family. My god, this woman has two children what kind of messages is she sending her children."

"I’m not sure if she using anybody." Alex gave Quinn a quizzical look.

" You did see her yesterday in that elevator didn’t you?"

"Yes, she was enjoying her husband, hell if Jasmine and I had been on vacation here and she was wearing a dress like that. I’d be all over my wife in that elevator myself. That was healthy sexuality between married couples and there ain’t anything wrong with that. Besides, I saw them together. That woman loves her husband, I’m not sure about her past but I can tell you that." Quinn stood. " Alex, look this woman’s personal life isn’t any of our business…besides it isn’t like you to be so judgmental. So think about that when you have to cozy up to her and her husband.

Thorne stroked his sleeping wife’s hair gently. For the last half an hour he had simply watched her sleeping. He marveled at the life he and Brooke were creating with one another. After all of the heartache and pain, he had found a love so deep, so passionate that it surpassed anything that he had ever thought that he’d be able to find. He owed it all to Brooke. She understood him like no other except for Macy. He still felt sad about how things had ended with Macy and he knew that he’d never be able to forgive himself fully for her death but he knew that he hadn’t died with Macy and he had to go on living. He should never have remarried her in Venice, now that he had married Brooke, he knew what was missing in his life, and there were things that even he hadn’t shared with Macy that he had shared with Brooke. Thorne chuckled at the thought of what he and Brooke shared last night in the elevator and then back here in their suite. She was everything he had dreamed about and more. She was playful and seductive, loving and supportive, his best friend and his life mate. Thorne kissed his sleeping wife on her cheek and then slipped naked out of the bed. He showered, dressed and slipped silently out of the hotel suite, leaving his sleeping wife behind.

" He’s leaving the room." Alex nodded although she knew that Quinn wouldn’t be able to see her. She had mapped out the game plan and they had decided that she’d "accidentally" meet Thorne Forrester, if all went well, she’d be spending time with the Forresters. Alex, still in her black running shorts and a black sports bra made for running, followed Thorne Forrester on foot while he spend a half of an hour in Becker’s jewelry store. Alex, called the note into Quinn, it was unusual because the jewelry store wasn’t open until 10 am yet at 8:45, Thorne had be given access to the store. Quinn would check into the matter, in their job, they have learned never to take anything at face value. And although they figured that the Forresters were innocent of having anything to do with Sonny or Victor, she wasn’t willing to take any chances with this case.

Thorne whistled as he walked down the hall, Ronald Starter was an infamous jewelry designer, he and Thorne spent the last hour going over a design of a brand new wedding ring that he wanted to give Brooke as a special gift. Thorne smiled, the ring would be finished right before they would be ready to leave. Thorne headed toward his suite when he noticed a beautiful looking woman who was standing in a running outfit who was mumbling to herself trying to get the door open to her suite.

" I can’t believe that I was stupid enough to leave the key in the room." The woman looked up and found Thorne staring wearing a strange look that told her that he thought that he was crazy she blushed. "I’m not usually this crazy. I left my key inside my suite and my boyfriend went somewhere and I can’t get in." She kicked the door. Thorne couldn’t help but to laugh and the woman started to laugh too.

" Sorry."

" Hey, it’s okay. We’ve all been locked out of our rooms at one point in time." Thorne walked toward the woman. " I remember a time when I was in high school and we had this overnight trip and all of guys of the football team decided that we were going to streak past the girls’ room."

"Smart idea."

" Really smart, especially since we were all naked and no one bought the key. You should have seen us standing there naked as the day that we were born in the hallway."

" I’m sure that it was a sight to see."

" Yeah, it was."

"Thanks for the story…I’d better go down to the front desk and ask to have someone to open the door." The woman started down the hall when Thorne called out.

" Wait! Listen, I’m going into my suite, you can call down to the front desk and have someone come up here to give you the key." The woman looked at Thorne for a moment and he could see that she was a little w . " Listen, I can understand that you might be concerned about coming into my suite and all because I’m a man but I really an just offering you my phone." The woman looked at him for a moment.

" Alright, thanks." Thorne opened the door to his suite and followed the woman inside.

" By the way, I’m Thorne Forrester." Thorne held out his hand to hers.

" I’m Alex Winters." Alex looked around the large suite taking in the beautiful furniture, the piano, fireplace and all the luxury. The suite that she shared with the rest of her team was beautiful, but nothing as beautiful as the suite that the Forrester’s shared but she already knew this based on the video surveillance. Alex walked across the room toward the large French Doors toward the outside-enclosed deck that was furniture with beautiful dinning set. " Wow, I thought my suite was beautiful but yours is much bigger and you have a wonderful deck." Alex wanted to draw Thorne into a conversation.

"Some of the suites are different. I really wanted us to have our own enclosed deck, and eating area. There is even a Jacuzzi outside."

" You said our….you are here with someone?" Thorne moved toward the bar and poured a Alex a glass of water. "Thanks.."

"Yes, I’m here with my wife, Brooke." Thorne looked at the clock. " Just use the phone, I’m going to check on my wife. She’s asleep." Alex nodded and she drank a sip of the cool liquid. As soon as Thorne left the room, Alex went to work. She scanned the room from the briefcase that she has saw earlier on the video screen, she left the living room and went to the other open room area where the television and the entertainment set was located. On the table was the briefcase; Alex quickly peeled away the fake skin on the back of her neck to reach the very small transmitter, which she expertly put on the bottom of the brief case. She looked down at the fake skin, which held two other transmitters, one for Brooke and the other for Thorne. Alex headed back to the living room and picked up the phone as soon as Thorne entered the room.

" How did it go?"

"Fine…they should be coming up here at any moment. Is your wife up yet?" Alex noticed the big smile that came on his face at the mention of his wife’s name.

" No, she is sleeping."

" Long night?" Thorne though about Brooke partly naked body accepting his as they made love in the elevator.

" Yeah a great one."

" I hear the casinos are great."

" You haven’t been in them yet?"

"No. I guess I’m afraid of finding out how much little money I do have." Thorne gave her a questionable look. " You see, Mark, my boyfriend. He and I won this trip in a contest."

"A contest?"

" Yes, an all expensive paid trip to Monte Carlo. We had entered this contest; we just did it as a whim. Who would have ever thought that we’d win. I mean this hotel; I’ve never seen anything like it. It was everything that you could ever want, it’s fabulous. The food here is fantastic, so many shops, beaches and the parties it’s like a dream come true. This trip couldn’t have come at a better thing, my boyfriend, Mark, he’s a cop and I am personal trainer. With his schedule always changing, we don’t get to have some quality time together. Sometimes, it’s like ships passing in the night and this trip is exactly what we needed."

Thorne sat down drinking a glass of iced tea that he had poured from the bar. " So you are a trainer."

"Yeah, I love staying in shape and helping people to either lose weight or find an area of fitness. It’s a lot of fun, I just love exercise. In fact exercise is what got me in this mess, this morning I ran 5 miles on the beach. Running on a beach is much harder than on a flat surface or road, it really given me a big workout."

" I know what you mean. I used to run on the beach every morning."

" You did?"

"I used to live near the beach. Nothing like the sea air earlier in the morning while you workout."

" Sounds like you don’t need a personal trainer. You have your own workout regiment?"

" Yes, every morning I run and I have a gym in my home and I work out daily. I also love a variety of sports" Alex couldn’t help but to notice Thorne’s muscular pecks she knew that the rest of him was just as muscled and handsome as his face. Last night, she and Quinn had to basically pull Mark away from video in order to turn it off. She had no intention of watching the Forresters go at it the way that they did in the elevator. She wasn’t sure why seeing Thorne and Brooke Forrester have hot and sweaty sex bothered her, but it did. Maybe it was because they were civilians and they didn’t have much to do with the situation they were in or maybe it was something else. The however kept the

There was a knock at the door. Alex frowned; she hadn’t sent a visual hand signal message just yet to Quinn to let him know to send the maid service. Thorne opened the door and man pushing a cart came into the room.

"Just set it up at the deck outside." The man took the trays to the outside table and set a table for three. Thorne paid him a tip and asked Alex outside. " I had already ordered food on my way back, I just added an extra order in my bedroom just in case you got hungry." Thorne uncovered the food of "Black Street" eggs over French bread, turkey sausages, fruit, yogurt and croissants. The usual of hot coffee, tea, freshly squeezed orange juice. " The last tray that is still covered is a Belgium waffle with strawberries, that is for Brooke, but you can have anything else that you want."

" Thanks…are you sure that this is going to be okay with your wife?"

Thorne smiled and laughed. "My wife isn’t the jealous type…to tell you the truth it’s the other way around." Alex spooned some fruit in her dish and topped it off with some yogurt. Thorne piled hot " Black Street" eggs, which consisted of scrambled eyes mixed with crabmeat and Monterey Jack cheese and topped with a hollande sauce over top of French bread; juicy sausages and hot croissants on his plate and started to eat.

" So you’re the jealous one?"

"No. Not really. My wife is a very beautiful woman and men do have a tendency to look at her. I can’t go anywhere and leave her alone without other men staring at her."

"It doesn’t bother you?"

"No, she’s been beautiful since the day that I met her. I still remember the first time that I saw her, she was breathtaking with the starts shinning in her eyes."

" So, it was love at first sight?"

Thorne smiled softly. " In a way, but not the kind of love you are talking about."

" How so?"

" Brooke and I were just friends for years. Although I’d admit now that if she even looked my way I might have fallen for her back then. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that my feelings new feelings were discovered. So I’m used the way that men stare at her. There is something about Brooke that sets men on edge naturally; she doesn’t do anything, but it there. I’m comfortable with how she is, so it doesn’t bother me because I know that she loves me and that she doesn’t look back at them."

Alex had never heard a man talk that way about his wife. Thorne Forrester was obviously comfortable with his wife even though some of the men who more than looked her way and did a lot more was his own brother and father "Most men say things like that but when they see other men hitting their girlfriends or wives, they seem to have problems."

Thorne sipped a cup of coffee. " Your boyfriend, is he like that?"

Alex laughed. " Mark is interesting all around."

Brooke turned the soft scent of food and the ocean breeze that fluttered through the open French doors in her bedroom that lead toward the outside enclosed deck of her suite.

" Thorne?" She sat up and heard the voice of her husband talking outside. Brooke got of the bed; she put on a white silk robe over her naked body. She quickly went to the master bathroom, brushed her teeth and as well as her hair. Brooke walked outside through the French door of her bedroom to the outside-enclosed deck toward the voices and she found her husband laughing and eating with a very beautiful brunette, Brooke wondered who the woman was. Thorne looked up and found watching him. He stood up and went toward her.

"Good Morning sleepy head." He lowered his mouth to her and kissed her thoroughly.

" Good morning to you too." Thorne took Brooke hand and they walked toward the table. Brooke turned toward the woman who was eating with her husband. " Hello"

"Hi, you must be Thorne’s wife."

" Yes, I’m Brooke and you are?"

" I’m Alex". I’m your neighbor sort of, my room is a little down the hall. My boyfriend left our suite and I took a run and got locked out, your husband was nice enough to let me call down stairs." Thorne pulled out the chair for Brooke and she sat down. He took out the tray that had the Belgium waffle and uncovered it.

" I invited Alex to breakfast."

" I hope you don’t mind. Maybe I should wait in the hallway for the maid service." Alex stood.

" Don’t be silly. Sit down and finish eating your breakfast." Alex looked at Thorne and then at Brooke again. The woman was serious. She couldn’t believe it, she thought that maybe she’d make some headway becoming friendly with him, but she hadn’t expected this reaction from Brooke Forrester. Most women would be spitting mad at finding their handsome husband eating breakfast with another woman or at least a little weary.

" Are you sure?"

"Yes, why wait in the hallway." Brooke smiled at Thorne. " Finish your breakfast."

Alex sat down and ate more of her fruit. " You thought that I’d be upset about finding my husband eating with a very attractive woman, didn’t you? He works around some of the most beautiful women in the world, so I’m used to it."

" Really. What is it that you do?"

"I work at a fashion house, so naked models are always running around."

" You should see these ladies, the finest women in fashion with perfect bodies. Running around in their underwear or naked."

" Hey, I don’t even notice, because I get to go home with you." Thorne caressed his wife’s hand.

" He’s such a charmer." Brooke winked at her husband. " So Alex, what do you do?"

"I’m a physical trainer. My boyfriend Mark, he’s a cop."

" Alex and Mark won a trip to Monte Carlo."

" Wow that’s great. There so many things to do here, the beaches, shops, casinos. Or you could just spend time laying around getting some R and R."

" So, are here for relaxation?"

"A little of both, business combined with a little pleasure."

" Wow. That most be some job that you have to pay for this."

Thorne leaned back in his chair. " Yeah my job has some great perks." There was a knock on the door and Thorne rose to go back inside. " I’ll take care of it, just eat."

Alex turned toward Brooke. She studied the woman for a moment, wondering how she was going to act toward her now husband was gone. " Your husband is a very nice guy."

" A real sweetie. I’m one very lucky woman." Brooke peeked through the glass and French doors. She then poured herself a small cup of coffee. Alex noticed the peculiar behavior. Brooke blushed when she noticed Alex looking at her. " It’s a long story about the coffee." Brooke took a sip and closed her eyes with rapture. "I haven’t a cup in a couple of days."

" Why not?"

"Thorne has become a cop himself." Alex was confused by Brooke’s remark.

" About coffee?"

" Well… it’s a long story." Brooke glowed. " I’m pregnant."

Alex was startled by that admission, Brooke being pregnant only meant that they had to be more careful and stick close to the Forresters. They had a job to do but in that job, they had to keep these two safe at all times. Alex wouldn’t want anything to happen to them, let alone an innocent baby. "Congratulations."

Brooke beamed. " Thank you. I’m so excited, but not as excited as my husband. He’s wonderful, reading books, buying baby clothes and almost driving me crazy with his protectiveness. I think if he could, he’d have the baby for me. But I’m not really complaining. Our baby means a lot to me, but especially to Thorne, this is his first child."

" You have other children?"

Brooke ate another forkful of her waffle. "Yes, two wonderful kids. But I guess they aren’t kids anymore. Bridget, my daughter is 19 and Rick is 21."

" You don’t look like you’d have grown children."

" Well, I do have grown children. My children are wonderful, the joys of my life. They are the best kids. Really bright, kind and talented. But I think that most parents feel that way except for me, it’s true." Brooke laughed.

" How do your kids feel about your new baby?"

" They are excited. They see how happy Thorne makes me and they know that a baby would only complete my happiness." Brooke finished off her forbidden cup of coffee.

" Have you seen much of Monte Carlo?"

"No, Mark and I just got in yesterday from Chicago. We were so tired they we basically crashed. But I really can’t wait to see the rest of it. The beach that I ran on this morning was fantastic."

"I know what you mean, the water is so blue. You might want to check out the Sandy cove, it is fantastic from what I hear. Also, there is this shop at called Remekis and it has some of the most beautiful bathing suits that a woman with you figure would look great in. Then there is this fantastic disco…..." Thorne came through the French doors.

" Here is your key Alex." He handed her a plastic card. "Sorry that I took so long, I had a phone call."

" Was it Bridget or Rick?"

" Honey it is probably the middle of the night there. They will call later. It was Celeste; the meeting has been moved up an hour. They want us to meet then at noon."

Alex stood. " Well, I’ve taken enough of your time. Thanks for the breakfast. It was nice meeting you Brooke."

"It was nice meeting you too, have a great time on the rest of your trip." Thorne stood and he walked Alex to the door.

" Thanks again, you and your wife were really nice. You didn’t have to offer the hospitality of your breakfast and phone."

"No, problem." Thorne watched Alex leave and headed back outside to where Brooke was eating.

" She was really nice. But you Mr. Forrester, are a sweetheart." Thorne turned toward Brooke and kissed her gently.

"So you weren’t jealous."

" Hmmm, jealous of finding a very beautiful woman alone with you. Maybe…maybe not." Brooke laughed.

" Hey, I’m a very handsome man."

" I know, but I trust you…totally. And I love you, besides, Alex doesn’t seem like the type of woman who would flirt with a married man."

"She doesn’t?"

" No. But I am defiantly the type to flirt with a married man, but only one type of married man."

" What type." Thorne playfully ran his hands down Brooke’s body and caressed her bottom."

" He has got to be handsome, sexy, and go by the name Thorne Forrester. If you know anybody with those qualifications let me know." Brooke leaned forward and kissed her husband.

Alex walked into the suite to find Mark and Quinn waiting for her. " Transmitter is place in the briefcase." Alex looked at the mini component on the desk and pushed the button, a three-d sketch of the room lit up and a red dot glowed where the briefcase was.

Mark nodded as he pulled a T-shirt over his muscled chest. " Good eye about the briefcase. Looks like they are going to take it for the business meeting that they have with Celeste Grander. They are here to close some boutique deal at least that is what Thorne said on the phone. I’ve already started checking her out and I’m going to map out the place they are going to for safety. Mark opened a case that was full of individually wrapped latex masks. He pulled out one, I have some makeup to do, but I’ll be ready." With a four-man team, they couldn’t be discovered so work was going to have to wear a disguise in order to watch the Forresters.

" Good, with that meeting, they will be out of the room and hopefully, that blundering idiot will able to retrieve the bag and then we will be back on track." Alex said as she reviewed the phone log and took the earpiece out of her ear.

Mark smiled. " Well, Alex, it wasn’t bad at all after all you got in the room, played nicey nice with Thorne."

" He seems like a nice guy."

" What about Brooke?" Quinn asked that question.

Alex should have known that was coming." All right Quinn, I’ll admit that she seemed nice. I didn’t expect that. I guess that I thought she would spend all that time talking about her manicures, and hair slyest, not her kids. So you can stop talking about it." Mark smiled at Alex’s words. " I’m going to patch into Wolfe’s communication to see if there is anything on his end. Hopefully Sonny will be contacted soon and then he’ll be able to get his briefcase back."

"I’m just hoping that Victor isn’t going to kill Sonny, you know how he is." Mark and Alex nodded, they hadn’t wanted to really voice it, but they were worried about the same thing. Victor had never liked blunders and the fact that Sonny was still alive was remarkable. " We’d better hope to god that he gets that briefcase soon. We are taking a real chance by allowing the Forresters to keep that information in that briefcase. If anything goes wrong…." Alex and Mark looked at Quinn. They all knew that they were taking a chance.

" Guys, we can’t let anything hurt the Forresters, we’ve got to protect them."

" Especially now. Brooke, she’s pregnant. We can’t allow anything to hurt her or her unborn baby."

 

 

L. A

Bridget looked at the clock on the stand, it was 3 in the morning and she couldn’t sleep. She had tried but she was nervous about tomorrow. Tomorrow, she’d tell her father about her baby. Her fingers touched her stomach where her baby was living. At first, she had thought that it had been a blessing that her father had a meeting and wouldn’t have been home to late, but now after spending most of the night worrying, things seemed worse. She hoped that she would have enough courage to tell her dad about her baby.

 

Monte Carlo

Brooke looked at her watch, it was 11:30 and she and Thorne were waiting for their car to take them to spot that would be the boutique. Brooke stood in the doorway of the hotel looking beautiful in her single shouldered lavender and white silk dress. The colors of lavender and white were in interconnected waves of color that was created in a diagonal design, the hem came right about her knees with a diagonal slit to show a little thigh. Brooke also wore a wide brim lavender hat while lavender-matching mules covered her feet. On her arm looped lilac purse and while purple tinted sunglasses covered her eyes. Brooke turned toward Thorne who talking to a dark haired man when suddenly a little girl rushed toward her to give her a flower. Brooke bent down to take the flower when a man slightly brushed against her. What Brooke didn’t notice was that Quinn had expertly put tiny transmitter on back on Brooke’s dress; the transmitter was so tiny that no one would notice it. Brooke took the flower, thanked the little girl and then followed Thorne to the white Mercedes. During the small ride, she and Thorne talked about the prospects of the boutique, they then pulled up the area that would, be the Forrester boutique.

" Wow, this place is going to be beautiful when finished." Thorne put his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the open door the beautiful sandal wood foyer.

"Hello"

" Brooke and Thorne." René a dark hair man in his mid forties came close to them. " It is so good to see you both."

" Hello René, it’s been ages."

" Brooke you are looking fabulous. Thorne I see that you are taking good care of your beautiful wife, no?"

" Of course I am. Speaking of beautiful wives, where is Celeste?"

"I am right here." A beautiful woman wearing a tight tanned sheath dress with long brown hair and chocolate eyes came toward them. Celeste kissed Brooke and Thorne on their cheeks. " I hope that your trip here was comfortable."

" Are you kidding, its been wonderful so far. Thorne and I spent last night having fantastic dinner, playing in the casinos. It was great. And I’m really excited about this new business venture. Just look at this place, even with unfinished construction it looks beautiful."

" Well, lets give you a tour." Brooke followed Celeste as they went through the unfinished boutique, looking at the large dressing rooms that would be equipped with comfortable furniture, the show platform, the large open area that would be for set up for a desserts and finger sandwiches as well as teas. For the two hours they looked over the plans as well as the boutique making changes that would best accommodate the customers.

 

Brooke looked up at the figures that she and Thorne had bought from L.A along with the figures the ones that Celeste and Rene’ had given her. Brooke checked the figures for the costing price for finishing the interior of the boutique.

" Celeste, your numbers are much lower than the ones that Thorne and I brought."

" That is because we have a deal with the construction department, we’ve used them so many times. They are willing to give us a good break on the cost."

" Wow, that is some deal that they are willing to give. Its almost 40% off the normal cost."

" You know how French men are, when it comes to a beautiful woman, they are more than willing to give a good deal."

"Yeah…but not that good of a deal." Brooke shrugged her shoulders. " But if it works for our favor then I’m all for it." Thorne came into the office.

" Listen honey. René and I are going to take a look at the other shops in this area."

"You want to check out the competition." Throne pulled Brooke into his arms.

" Yes. I want to take a look to see what they have to offer compared to us as well as steal any good ideas, if needed." He kissed her passionately and reluctantly pulled his head away. Brooke smiled.

" Why don’t I join you in a half and hour. I want to go over a few more figures with Celeste."

" Alright." Thorne kissed his wife and again and lovingly patted her on her butt. Brooke watched her husband leave smiling at him.

"Amazing."

" What?" Brooke turned toward Celeste.

Celeste sat back down at her chair. "You and Thorne. I will tell you I always thought that Thorne was a good looking man but seeing him with you has allowed me to see just how sexy he is."

" My husband it that a much more." Brooke toyed with a strand of her hair thinking about what she had planned to do with her husband when they were back alone.

"It is strange because I wonder how it is that you are married to one brother yet you shared a marriage, a bed and an a intense relationship with the other one."

Brooke looked at Celeste for a moment. " My relationship with Ridge is in the past. I don’t think about Ridge at all."

" How can you not? Ridge Forrester is like no other man I’ve ever met. He has a way of looking at a woman and making her feel so passionate and when he touches her…" Brooke’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Celeste.

" You slept with Ridge, didn’t you?"

"Brooke…"

" You did, didn’t you? When?"

Celeste sighed. " It was years ago. Ridge had a business trip here and he was very depressed and Renee and I had some problems and Ridge and I shared a night of passion." Celeste smiled. " Don’t worry, he wasn’t married to you although I think that you were the reason that he was upset. You were getting married to some doctor or something." Celeste studied Brooke for a moment. " You were always were the reason…with Ridge."

" I think that you have the wrong wife… I was never the reason."

"Are you kidding, Ridge was always crazy about you. He once said that you were a passion that he’d never get out of his blood. And he said that just recently about you. During my meeting with him in L.A, you came up.." Brooke stood shell shocked by the admission.

" He said that?"

"Yes, he did. So I ask you. How do you work with him with the type of history that you both have shared? Isn’t there a time when he looks at you and you remember, the passion and the heat? I remember so well how he was when he was with you. How you both almost singe everything around you with just one single look."

Brooke didn’t know what to say to Celeste, this wasn’t the type of conversation that she was going to have with a business associate or with anyone.

" This isn’t something that I really want to discuss with you or anyone."

" Ahh…because the feelings are there?"

"No. I’m married to Thorne and he is the most wonderful man and husband in the world. Everything that I ever wanted, I have with him. Ridge is the past. What we had was intense, passionate and almost an obsession with me. In the end, I ended up alone with heartache. It took years to get over Ridge and accept that he was married and never going to be mine. And when I finally, finally accepted it, I found a love that I had been looking for with my best friend of all people. What I have with Thorne is priceless. I’ve never regretted my decision by moving on and I’m extremely happy. That is all I’m going to say about your very personal question about my marriage. Why don’t we get back to work and stay out of my personal life." Celeste closed her mouth; she didn’t want to ruin this deal with the Forrester Creations by upsetting Brooke.

" I’m sorry…Brooke. I was rude to bring it up."

" You are right, it wasn’t any of your business, but lets just call it a mistake. All right? Lets just look at the figures and forget all about my brother-in-law."

L.A

Bridget opened the door to Eric and Stephanie’s mansion; she had called Kristen who said that she would meet her there. Butterflies were in her stomach and she was scared, scared of telling her father about her baby. Stephanie was sitting on the sofa reading a book; she looked up and smiled when she saw Bridget.

"Hi Honey." Bridget smiled and she hugged Stephanie.

" Is dad around?"

"Yes I am honey." Eric came down the stairs straightening his tie. He kissed Bridget on the top of her head. " So what brings you here honey? Isn’t it a little early for you?" Bridget shuffled her feet. " I thought that I’d stop by and have breakfast with you."

"Honey that makes me happy. Maria will be setting it down on the table in a couple of minutes." Eric took her hand and pulled her to the sofa. " Tell me, what you have been doing?"

"Nothing really. I’m pretty much finished with school and I’ll be working at Insomnia for the summer."

" Honey, why are you still working there?"

"Dad, I like being the manger there. CJ is out of town and he trusts me to run his business. And before you start going on and on about Sally Spectra, she isn’t mad at me, she just hates all of you. So let it go."

"Why can’t you work at Forrester?"

"Dad, I’m sure that one day I will, but Forrester isn’t for me at the moment."

" You want to spend all day sitting at the computer of yours."

" I love computers dad, it’s the new wave. And talking about my future job isn’t why I’m here."

" Your father is just worried about you Bridget. He wants you to work at Forrester; it is your inheritance because you are a Forrester. You are smart honey, top of the class, we want more from you besides working at some one else’s business or working on the computer part time." Bridget sighed; she had other things on her mind. More important things and problems besides worrying about her job.

" Look dad, you and Stephanie care a lot about my future and I’m thankful for that. But my job isn’t my biggest worry although it might be problem soon." Eric stood.

" Worried? Bridget what are you worried about?"

" Um.. nothing."

" No, Bridget something is wrong. Now tell me what it is."

Kristen opened the front door of her parent’s house to find her father looking concerned at Bridget. Stephanie looked up at her daughter.

" Kristen, what are you doing here?"

"What mother, I can’t come and see my father?"

" That isn’t what I meant? Are you alone?"

"Isn’t what you want to say is where is Carlos? He isn’t here mother, so now you can breath a sigh of relief like you want to."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. " Why to you persist on twisting things around?"

"Maybe because you can’t fool me mother. I know exactly what you are capable of. I lived with you."

Eric began to become alarmed in the venom that was being displayed between Stephanie and Kristen. Instead of the two women getting closer, they seemed to get further and further apart the more time the spent together. " Kristen, I’m glad that you are here." He gave Stephanie a warning look. " Ladies, let take a moment and lets all have breakfast."

Kristen looked at Bridget.

" Sorry dad, I’m here for Bridget, not for breakfast."

Eric gave Kristen a quizzical look. " For Bridget? Why would you need to be here for Bridget?"

"She’s here because I asked her to be here for me. I need some moral support."

" So moral support about what?"

Bridget cringed and looked at Kristen. Kristen nodded and gave Bridget an encouraging nod. Eric began to get worried. He looked at Bridget.

" Honey please tell me, what is the matter?"

Tears filled out Bridget’s eyes. " Dad…I’m…I’m pregnant."

Eric stepped back as the meaning of Bridget’s words hit him. " Pregnant?" Eric stood stunned looking at his daughter.

" I’m sorry daddy…I’m so sorry. I know that you always wanted to be proud of me." Tears fell hard and fast down her cheeks. " I’m sorry that I’ve done this and that I’m disappointing you."

Eric took his daughter into arms and held on to her as she cried. His heart broke, his baby, his precious baby had been taken advantage of. " Shhh, it’s alright. Bridget, I’m your father and I’ll always been proud of you." Eric kissed Bridget on top of her head.

" Don’t cry honey, don’t cry."

Taylor sat back in waiting for Dr. Laura to come back into her office. Taylor sighed, to tell the truth, she was really worried. The intense headaches were getting worse and now it seemed that she was starting to forget things. Yesterday, she had spent almost an hour trying to find her car keys and when she had tried to take the children to McDonalds for lunch, she couldn’t seem to remember where it was. Dr. Laura came into the room.

" Sorry about that Taylor. I just had a patient who was referred to me and she had lot of questions or shall I say concerns. Her normal doctor is retiring and she just wants to make sure that I’m capable."

" It’s alright Sandra, I’ve been down that road myself. Patients are a little scared of changing their doctors." Sandra sat down at her desk and took off her glasses.

" So Taylor what brings you here?"

" I haven’t been feeling to good lately."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Headaches, intense ones that creep out of nowhere. Flashes of light. Forgetfulness of the simplest things. Sleeplessness nights. Now, I’m beginning to have a blurriness in my right eye."

" How long have you experienced things such as these?"

"Over a month."

" Taylor, as a doctor you know about the importance of taking care of things once they start. Why did you wait so long?"

" I don’t know….the children and Ridge… No, that’s not it. I was worried and I thought that it would go away."

" What were you worried about?"

"I thought it might be systematic of the TB coming back."

" It doesn’t sound like TB. But I want to have a series of tests of on you, including a MRI and a CAT scan."

" A CAT Scan?"

"Taylor, you need to have everything done, including blood work in order for me to rule out anything. This is purely routine."

" I know…it’s just I’m a little afraid."

" It’s understandable, but I’ll tell you what I’m sure that you’ve told many of your patients. Don’t worry until you have to. Take test and then we will discuss the results. Allow Ridge to take you out for one of those romantic dinners that I’ve read about in those tabloids." Sandra smiled. " Not let up an appointment for you for tomorrow. We start running the test then."

" Tomorrow. Alright."

Monte Carlo

Brooke stood in the middle of the "mall" looking at all the people walk by with shopping bags in their hands. The sun shinned down heavily on her, but her hat and sunglasses shielded her from its intense rays.

" What are you thinking about?" Thorne came up behind her and cupped her waist with his hands. Brooke leaned back against her husband.

" I’m thinking that this idea is fantastic and that we are going to made a killing."

" I think so too." Thorne looked down at his wife. " Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Celeste?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed a little uncomfortable with Celeste during lunch."

"She said something that upset me." Thorne touched Brooke’s face gently. He knew why she had been upset; he had left his notepad and had come back when he heard Brooke talking to Celeste. He had been upset to find Celeste snooping about Brooke’s feeling about Ridge. A small part of him had been nervous about what Brooke would say about Ridge.

" Brooke, I know what you and Celeste were talking about." Brooke took off her sunglasses and turned toward her husband.

" You did?"

" Yes, I came back to get my notepad when I heard you and Celeste talking about Ridge."

" Thorne…" Thorne put his fingers over Brooke’s lips.

" Shhh…there isn’t any need to say anything Brooke." He cupped Brooke’s face. " I was there remember, I was there for all those years that you loved my brother. I know what you went through. I know how you loved him. I also know that you truly let your dream of being with him go. I wouldn’t have married you if I thought that you still wanted him, but I also know that I small part of your heart will always have a place for him."

Tears filled Brooke’s eyes. " Thorne….I do love you."

" I know honey."

" And I’m completely happy with you."

" But what Celeste said, it upset you didn’t it."

Brooke nodded. " I don’t know why…maybe it’s my hormones."

"You had a right to be upset, she had no right to ask you such a personal question."

"Thorne, I just wondering…is that what everyone thinks. Do people think that I’m pinning for Ridge or are they waiting for Ridge and I to have an affair?

" It doesn’t matter what people think Brooke."

" It does now?"

"Why?"

"Because of the baby. Thorne, I’ve made some huge mistakes and my children have more than paid for them. I don’t our baby to go through that. I remember when Rick was 12; the kids at school teased them because he called Ridge "dad", they said was his brother and not his father. He was so hurt."

" Brooke, that was a long time ago."

"Yes, and since then I’ve been married to Ridge again. Then there is you. People still blame me for Macy’s death. What if they tell our child that I murdered your wife so I could marry you? What if they tell our baby that I’m a murderer?"

"Whoa! Brooke, calm down." Thorne had never seen his wife this upset. " This isn’t like you. Since when do you give a damn about what other people think?"

" I don’t Thorne. Its just when Celeste asked about Ridge, it reminded me that people still remember and maybe I felt like she wanted me to say that I still wanted Ridge."

" Celeste wanted some gossip. Don’t get me wrong, I like her, but she wanted someone to have a marriage like hers. She constantly cheats on Rene. So why do you care about what she thinks? To hell with her and everybody who thinks like her. What you and I have it the best thing in the world, you basically told her that. So stop all this talk, it isn’t like you." Brooke looked deeply into her husband’s eyes and smiled. Thorne wiped the remains of the tears in her eyes.

" I love you. How did I get so lucky to have you?"

"I don’t know. You are lucky aren’t you? So stop worrying Brooke. Our baby is going to have a happy life because he or she is going to have the most wonderful parents." Thorne hugged his wife. She didn’t know how happy she had made him most especially when she had told that nosy Celeste that she was happy with him. He knew that Brooke held a place in her heart for Ridge; he had accepted that when he married her but he knew that he could make her happy. And she was happy, happy being married to him. Everyday, he thanked god for his beautiful wife. During the past year, all lingering thoughts about Ridge and Brooke had faded, although there were moments when he could swear that his brother would look at his wife, but he could be wrong. He trusted his wife and he knew that his brother loved Taylor and after that Morgan situation, he knew that Ridge would never jeopardize his marriage for anything. Thorne had nothing to worry about.

L.A

Eric handed Bridget a cup of steaming hot tea. " Here you go honey. Lets go and talk in the study." Bridget followed her father. Stephanie got up to follow them, Kristen stopped her.

" Why don’t we leave them alone? She really needs to talk with him."

" I’m not going anywhere."

" Bridget needs to talk to her father, she doesn’t need you here mother."

" I love that girl and I want to know what happened."

" And you will mother, but not now. Bridget doesn’t need an audience."

" Then why are you here?"

"I’m here because Bridget asked me to be here mother. She was afraid of how dad would react."

" Does Brooke know about this? How could she just leave know this?"

" Oh, before you start your attack on Brooke, you should know that she doesn’t know. And Bridget doesn’t want her to know until she gets back. Bridget doesn’t want her mother to worry about her."

" Well, someone should. I can’t believe that Brooke allowed this to happen."

" Brooke had nothing to do with this."

" If she had spent more time looking after Bridget instead of trying to create some scheme to trap Amber…."

"Will you just let it go mother!" Kristen was infuriated. " What is it about that girl that you love so much! You two daughters, TWO. But you treat us like we mean nothing, but Amber who used Rick, ran away with the baby and Deacon is treated like she is the sun. Don’t ever talk about Amber to me. By the way…this isn’t Brooke’s fault because I’m sure that you’d find a way to blame this on her."

" I never said that.."

" You didn’t have to."

"I simply was wondering if she knew about this."

"No mother, nothing is ever that simple for you. You have your ways."

" Why do you persist on doing this Kristen?"

"Because you never change. Bridget made a mistake, something everyone in family has done."

" She’s pregnant."

" Something you were at her age, isn’t that why dad married you?"

Stephanie frowned at her daughter. She was angered that she’d bring something like that up. She lashed out at her daughter. " Getting pregnant wasn’t something you really had to worry about at Bridget’s age was it?"

Kristen stopped dead in her tracks while a shadow of pain fluttered across her face. " You would know about that wouldn’t you mother." Kristen stalked away angrily from her mother.

" Kristen…wait! I shouldn’t have said that." Stephanie shook her head. She didn’t mean to bring that up. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was to bring back those painful, shameful memories of how Kristen was around Bridget’s age.

Eric sat next to Bridget as she drunk her hot tea. " Are you ready to tell me about what happened?"

"I don’t know daddy."

" This was the boyfriend that you had, what was his name Kyle?"

Bridget stood up. "No. Kyle isn’t the father to my baby." A frown marked its way on Eric’s face.

" Well then who is?"

" Daddy, I’m not ready to tell you."

" What…Bridget. I’m your father. Tell me who did this to you? Where you hurt…did this man…"

"Daddy… I did what I wanted to do. I had sex and this is the consequence that went along with it. I thought that I was safe, we used a condom, but they aren’t always fool proof. It doesn’t matter who the father is, all that matters is that I’m going to have his baby and hoping that you’ll still love me."

" Bridget, of course, I still love you. No matter what happens, you are my little girl. We will work through this and support you. But honey, please tell me, who is the father to your baby?" Bridget’s heart was breaking, she knew that she was killing her father by not telling him about the father of her baby, but she couldn’t bare to tell him that Deacon was the father, at least not now."

Somewhere in LA

Zen patched into the mainframe to the different hotels in Monte Carlo. It didn’t take him longer than 8 minutes to find her. " Easy as pie." Zen picked up his cell phone and made a call the number that Sonny had given him.

"Hello."

" Hi Sonny, I’ve got your information."

" Just where the hell have you been, I’ve been trying to call you all morning and most of the after noon."

" You mean night. The time difference, it morning here."

"Where is here?"

"Like I’m going to tell you where I live. So what are you going to do? Are you going to bitch or are you going to get the information on where Brooke Logan Forrester is staying."

"Give it to me."

" Alright, she is staying at The Casino Hotel, Suite 127, you lucked up, a ground floor and it should be easy to get into." Sonny wrote down the information.

" Thanks Zen, I’ll forward the money to you." Zen hung up the phone. " I certainly hope that we are doing the right thing by letting him know where this woman is and engaging civilians into this mess."

 

Monte Carlo

Brooke walked into her hotel suite dropped her hat, purse and briefcase on the foyer table. She went to the bar and poured herself a glass of ice water, took of her shoes and reclined on the couch. Today’s meeting had been a good one; most of the logistics of the interior designs has been settled. They still however had a great deal of work to do on the budget, but still it was a good start. Brooke looked at her watch and knew that she should call of office and let Eric and Ridge know what had happened, since it was a now morning in LA. Brooke sighed and decided to wait until later to call, she’d also call her children to check on them. Thorne had decided to meet with Marcus Nailer, a longtime friend and bachelor his who lived here in Monte Carlo. Brooke hadn’t wanted to ruin the reunion and she opted to come back to the hotel suite to relax for the rest of the late afternoon. Brooke’s thoughts went back to the conversation that she and Celeste had had earlier during the day about Ridge. If Celeste thought those things, how many other people thought the same? How many people thought that she and Ridge had "something" going on." The phone rang Brooke leaned across the sofa and picked up the cordless phone.

" Hello."

" Hey Logan."

"Ridge? I was deciding on whether on not I should call you. I have the notes on the meeting and I can easily give you the run down, is Eric there?"

"No. Dad called, he isn’t going to be at work today."

" Is everything alright? It isn’t Rick is it?" Brooke was alarmed.

" No. Logan, calm down. To my knowledge, everything is fine with Rick. Maybe dad wants to take the day off just to give him a break or the time to help his creative juices to flow. Anyway, speaking of letting creative juices flow. How are you and Thorne enjoying the Monte Carlo?"

"We are having a wonderful time."

" I bet you are." Ridge laughed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Come on Logan, I just meant that I know what it’s like. Monte Carlo are full of sandy beaches, lavish parties, beautiful people to see. I can see you right now, you wearing those tiny binkis of yours. I know that you must be driving Thorne mad about now."

"Ridge…"

" Admit it Logan. Then there is that sexy lingerie that you like to wear. Remember when we were married? I swear that you used to have something for every occasion. I’m sure that you are keeping my little brother very happy." Brooke was floored; it wasn’t like Ridge to say things like that to her anymore.

" Ridge..ummm. I think that I had better get those notes for you."

Ridge heard something in Brooke’s voice across the phone line, she sounded uncomfortable. " Logan…are you upset? I didn’t really mean anything. We always kid around about things like…" Brooke heard him sigh. " I guess that I was out of line…I’m sorry."

" It’s alright Ridge. I know that you didn’t mean anything by it. Besides, you do have a good memory. I guess did have something for every occasion."

" I clearly remember. Life with you Logan was always full of surprises. I never knew what I’d be coming home to….it was a lot of fun." Brooke remembered and she couldn’t help the soft smile that crept on her face.

" It was fun….while it lasted. It seems that everything worked out the way that it should, don’t you think?" Ridge was silent for a moment.

" Yes Logan. Everything worked out fine. I have Taylor and you have Thorne."

" Yes, I definitely have Thorne. He’s everything that I need."

Ridge said nothing, he remembered a time when he was all that Brooke ever wanted or needed, times had definitely changed.

 

Quinn who was listening to Brooke and Ridge’s conversation. " Well, ain’t that some $hit. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that he’s flirting with his brother’s wife."

" If he’s not flirting he is doing something else. If I ever caught my brother talking to my wife like that I beat the crap out of him."

" You aren’t married Mark."

" But if I was, I’d do it."

Quinn nodded. " But you have got to remember, the brother’s been married to her."

" It’s a little strange."

" Yes, especially that conversation between her and Celeste."

Mark nodded. " So, what do you think? Do you think some hanky panky is going on between her and the brother?"

Quinn shook his head. " Naw, from what I’ve seen she nuts about the husband. I’ll admit, there must have been something intense between her and the brother through, but I don’t think they are cheating. We’ve watched plenty of people and most of them have cheated on their spouses, but she’s showing any of the signs. The brother, however, he is another case, there is something in the voice. Whatever feelings he has got for her, they aren’t over." Mark nodded and moved away from the TV and concentrated with the radio signals that were coming from Wolfe’s radio.

" I wish that Wolfe would let one of us watch Sonny for a while."

"You know how Wolfe gets, it wouldn’t do us any good trying to make him move until he is ready." Mark opened his mouth to speak but Quinn beat him to the punch. " I don’t know what is driving him. All I know is that he has demons…but we all do."

"His demon seems to be Victor."

" Yeah…well Victor may well be the devil."

Somewhere in Europe

Victor sat the table with his accountant, tiny Spanish man with an immaculate suit. Victor wore a tailed gray suite with a blue tie looking like he was worth a million bucks.

" Victor, it isn’t a sound investment. Getting in bed with these people may end up costing you money."

" Not if I use those weapons as collateral for this deal."

" Victor, you can’t use the weapons until you get the codes."

"You think that I don’t know that?" The accountant got quiet, he loosened his tie. Victor was a scary man.

" I wan’t saying that….I was just saying…" Cold gray eyes looked at him.

" Tell Eduardo’ that I will use the weapons as collateral. I’m not going to give that fat**** one cent. Believe me he wants the weapons, in fact tell him that he is only going to get one instead of two for pissing me off."

" The codes?"

" You worry about your job and I’ll take care of my end." Victor got up from the table leaving his accountant sitting in a restaurant. He put his sunglasses on and walked to his waiting limo. He picked up his cell phone. " Get one of our people to Sonny and find out exactly where in the hell those codes are. Once you do, get the information yourself, retrieve the package and then kill him."

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