Okay?!! Was he hearing right? Kate had said okay?! What the hell was going on? And how dared that damned loser order her around like some vulgar master talking to his dog! Aidan had never seen a meek Kate; she had always been full of opinion and argument with him.“Are you coming?” Kate asked him and he nodded following them without any protest. He had too many unanswered questions in his mind to miss the upcoming introduction; he had to confirm whether his doubts were plausible or not. When Kate had not seemed enthusiastic about the arrival of her fiancé, he had been puzzled but had not made anything out of it. It must have been because of what had happened between them earlier.What actually happened? He had been staring at her realizing that she looked very beautiful; more than he had ever remembered. His memory failed him and he had never realized that she would grow into such a lovely woman. Like always, he had felt his groin harden at such a lovely sight of her and he had wanted
The adventure had begun. They were finally going sailing all four on her father’s yacht and Kate could hardly contain her excitement. Thankfully, Edward had not dared contradict her parents when they had insisted for her to go.Smiling happily, she was waiting outside Jennifer’s room for her to finish packing before joining the guys downstairs when she caught sight of her father in the corridor.“Dad!” she squealed and giggled like a schoolgirl when her father jumped out of his skin clearly not expecting her outburst.“Damn! You scared me! Kate?! Is that you? God I thought it was June! You look so young dressed like that,” her father said and her smile got larger at the compliment.She was wearing a white top and a pair of shorts and was sure Edward would have a heart attack if he saw her like that but she did not care. It was time for her to unwind her uptight state and enjoy the hell out of her life before her marriage which was sounding more and more like a sentence to prison.“I w
Aidan was having a hard time dealing with his conscience. After several dives, he felt drained of energy but his mind was occupied with thoughts of Kate. And he wanted some time to think. Thank God the island was the perfect sanctuary for such situations; it was very peaceful and refreshing which gave him ample time to face the questions flowing in his mind. How could he have behaved in such a wanton way? What would Kate think of him? That he was hitting on her even if she was getting married to someone else?Irrespective of how the fiancé was, Aidan knew damned well it was not fair to cheat on him like that. What kind of man that made him? A bastard? And Jennifer? She believed that there was a chance they might come together again. Hell, what a mess!Not feeling very proud of himself, he made up his mind to make it clear to Jennifer and explain to her that he did not love her anymore. But what would he say? That he loved Kate instead. He was not sounding credible even to himself. Dam
As soon as she returned to where the others were camping, she immediately picked up that there was something amiss. Aidan’s face was bruised like he had picked up a fight again and she felt an instant fear grip her heart. Had he seen Jennifer and Ryce kissing? And had picked up a fight again with Ryce? Her worst fear had realized.Filled with trepidation, she approached them and was surprised to see them still laughing together just like before her departure. Or they even seemed closer than before. Something had definitely happened during her absence because even Aidan looked happier than before.Was she going crazy? Maybe the shock of seeing Ryce and Jennifer together again had finally taken its toll and her last thread of control had snapped. During her walk, she had finally deduced that Jennifer and Ryce were together and had hidden their relationship because they did not to aggravate the situation. And she had no right breaking them up only to make up for her past mistakes.Jennif
Aidan was raking his head about the mystery of the poem. It had to be Kate. The secret admirer. The one who had loved him so passionately. Who else would it be? He never even remembered anyone else. If it was Kate indeed, it would make him the luckiest man on earth. It meant only one thing.That the love of Kate had been so powerful even back then that it had spread so much positive feelings inside him; had almost cured him from the cynical man he had been turning into because of his father. But what if she was no longer in love with him?Well, love or not, the attraction between them was too flagrant to ignore now. And there was no way in freaking hell she would have kissed him back if she felt nothing for him. He had purposely kissed her this time only to judge her reaction. And she had seemed flustered as if she had something to hide. Plus she had not said a word on the way back home and had practically fled from him as soon as they had reached back.And she was nowhere in sight. A
Running as fast as her legs could carry her, Kate felt breathless as she reached her room. Hell, she was in a mess! As she flung herself on her bed, she tried to catch her breath and she still could not make out what happened just now.After several minues of debating with herself, she managed to convince herself that the reason she was confronting Aidan about Nathalie was only for Jennifer’s benefit. Only to have another bomb dropped on her. Ryce and Jennifer married?!! She remembered Ryce telling her that she was the first one to be getting married in their group on the day of his arrival itself. He had lied to her.Furious, she went in search of her best friend and found him in the nursery playing with the twins. And stopped rigth in her tracks. Nursery? Ryce? And finally it clicked. He had a child with Jennifer. Or even several children and that explained the scars under Jennifer’s belly. It was caesarian mark. Of course! How stupid could she get? She felt as dumb as Lois Lane fo
After so much shopping, Aidan wanted to puke out his breakfast. He was already regretting his decision to use Nathalie to test Kate; it was such a stupid plan anyway but it was working. The day before, he had heard everything and had enjoyed every minute of her discomfort but he had discovered one thing.Kate would never admit to loving him because she was too moralistic for that. And by the way Kate had behaved yesterday, he was damned sure that she returned his feelings and had decided to confront her. The jealousy game was working but he could wait no longer. They had only two weeks and four days left and he had to take a decision as soon as possible.But Kate had been nowhere to be seen that morning. Not even for breakfast. When he had politely broached the subject, he had learnt that she had gone out with her father. It was then he remembered she was supposed to be vetting the food arrangement as Judith had asked her yesterday.Impatient, he paced on the alley of the garden waiti
Kate felt like she was the luckiest girl alive as Aidan kissed her fervently and passionately. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he would love her back; had almost given up hope of having her love returned.When she had realized that she was biased and would never find another woman good enough for Aidan, she had decided to confess her feelings to him. After breaking off her commitment to Edward that is. She could not allow herself to face the reality of never loving someone else whilst she was still engaged to another; it would be too much for her to bear. That was why she had called her fiancé for dinner to talk to him and return his ring.Edward Bigfoot had not taken the news so sportively and she had needed all her patience to explain to him the situation. Apparently, Edward was an even bigger fool than she had contemplated; he had not even a small hint that there was something wrong in their relationship.“Why Kate? Why two weeks before the wedding?” he had asked
SOME MONTHS LATER…..“Have you any news of him today?” asked Kate as soon as he got home. It was becoming a habit now. Every evening it was the first question his lovely wife asked him. Before she even asked her how was his day.Kate had recovered from her minor injuries and he was thankful that she had managed to escape the evil intention of Bryan Stafford. Aidan knew it was something that was bothering her. The fact that her brother-in-law was still out there somewhere. But he did not believe he was a threat anymore. He had wanted money and he knew there was no way he would get a single penny from them now.“No. The police are still looking for him. But frankly it’s been a while now and I’m sure they will drop the search. Bryan is a clever man and he would never dare show his face again. Stop worrying about him and come kiss me,” he said smiling at her.Without waiting to be asked twice, she ran in her arms and he had to brace himself against the impact. He grinned.“Now that’s so m
Aidan felt his blood chill at the sound. It was indistinct, muffled by distance but he could recognize it even when he was dead. It was Kate! Damn! Damn! He could not imagine the plight she must be in. It was only minutes since she had disappeared and Aidan had been looking for her like mad. He vowed not to let anyone harm her a second time. When Kate had suddenly disappeared, he had tried hard not to panic looking around expecting to find Ryce missing too. But he was perplexed to find his best friend standing beside him looking as worried as hell. And the only person missing had been Bryan Stafford. Oh holy shit! Ryce had nodded in his direction to confirm his doubt. It was the brother-in-law who had concocted such a conspiracy. No time to feel remorse for having doubted his best friend, they had immediately started to give each other instructions which way to go. But not before asking Alex to stay with the rest of the women in the cottage. Nobody had guessed what was going on than
It had been Kate’s undoing. The look that Aunt Abigail had sent her had touched her deeply. It had been the look of a desperate mother who had just lost her only son and wanted something from her. Something she could not give simply because she did not know the truth.Feeling forlorn, she felt tears prick her eyes as she stepped back in an attempt to avoid the question being addressed to her. She stammered something unintelligible not knowing what to say. The plain truth was that she had no idea who the killer was and had only been bluffing.Aidan and Ryce had known she had been faking it and they had protected her. Like they had always done. The killer could not be Ryce; it was simply not possible. Her heart would never believe that. Even if he had wanted revenge, he would have attempted to harm her in a different way. Ryce would never try to kill her; it was unthinkable.All her instincts were telling her that it could be Nathalie since the hate she harbored for her was so intense t
Surprised to hear the furious outburst behind him, Aidan whirled around and stood in front of Kate to protect her out of sheer reflex. And he found himself facing a fuming Judith Thornton. Aw hell! Her timing sucked as usual.His new mother-in-law stood two feet away looking down at them with an angry and menacing expression. And as if it was not enough, the whole family stood behind her looking a bit less angry but somewhat stunned. In the heat of the moment, he completely forgot their dangerous situation and his heart constricted at the thought of the encounter between mother and daughter that would follow.It was simply not fair. Kate had decided to be selfish once in her entire life only to be immediately admonished. As if they had not suffered long enough. It had been three months since the wedding fiasco and they had not a moment of reprieve ever since.Even if inappropriate, he had understood her urgency to get married at such a delicate time of their life. While he had not com
“Can you believe it’s Nathalie?” Kate asked as soon as they reached back the cottage. She knew she had her moment of reprieve and that Aidan would never let her out of his sight again. But the shopping trip had done her a lot of good and she was happy to have met Ryce.“I don’t know what to think anymore,” replied Aidan enigmatically. “Let’s forget about that for a moment.”“Hmmm what else did you have in mind?” she asked coquettishly glad that Ryce had declined her offer to stay at the cottage. Not that the latter had actually declined but Aidan had quickly pointed out that they would be exposed to more risks if Ryce disappeared too.When Aidan smiled at her suggestive comment, she grinned back wanting to let go of all their worries for a moment. It had been so long since she had been happy and carefree. Like she had always been. How she had missed him. And the moments they had spent together. But in the turmoil, they had not even taken the time to reunite properly.It was no wonder
Some things were easier said than done. Aidan could not sleep a wink after Kate left and even if he knew he was getting paranoid, he could not help wondering if he had done a right thing by letting her go alone. Not when there was someone out there thirsty for her blood.Finally after thirty minutes he gave up on sleep and double checked his mobile. Furious to see no missed calls in his call log and no new messages, he grabbed some money and his car keys from the shelf and headed for the door.A sense of foreboding overtook him when he dialed Kate’s number over and over but she was not answering. Brooklyn was familiar to him but he had no idea where Kate could be. And he was sure that she was not careless to forget calling him.“Damn!” he exclaimed in frustration heading towards the nearest shopping mall. But the problem with the Kings Plaza shopping center was that it was always full of people and looking for one particular person was like finding a needle in a haystack.Trying to ke
After having blurted out the first thing that came in her mind, Kate watched as extreme happiness filled Aidan’s face. Her Aidan. Her beloved. How the hell could she have forgotten him? Everything was clearer now. Her past, her life, her spoilt wedding.“Are you okay?’ he asked her still holding her hand and she nodded getting down the armchair. Feeling a bout of dizziness, she had to steady herself for a few seconds before putting on a brave smile. Even with her memory back, she was still feeling that fatigue and ever present headache.Groggily, she nodded and leant against Aidan for support. She was feeling so tired and mentally drawn. “I’m fine,” she replied unwilling to look at anything or anyone other than Aidan. It seemed like it had been ages since she had last seen him and some part of her had missed him.Certain things were still indistinct in her mind and she was still unable to bridge the gap between some events. For instance, it was difficult to discern what had happened j
There was an obvious change about her. Not in her personality but in the way she behaved. It was as if her love for him had set her free and she was no longer hesitant to explore her past. Or her sexuality. And she was more feisty than the Kate he had known.And he was starting to like it too damn much. So much that he almost forgot the problems impending on them like a heavy rain ready to drench them anytime. He wanted them to stay in that cottage forever. To stay like that forever.When she had confessed her love to him, it had been so unexpected that he had thought it was his imagination at first. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that Kate would end up falling with him all over again even with her memory gone. It humbled him to be loved so much by someone so wonderful as her.And could not contain his immense joy when she had confirmed her love for him; it meant that whatever happened between them, they were always meant to be together. He had missed her so much that now
Kate could have killed herself as she stared at the desolate figure sitting on the edge of the bed in acute pain. It made her feel a deep pinch in her heart and guilt replaced the initial mortification. What the hell was wrong with her? She knew she should not have started anything she could not finish and it only made her a tease.But he had been so irresistible. Irresistible in the sense that she felt wonderful at the kind of trust he had in her. And wished she could trust him back like that. Suddenly, Kate started to wish fervently that she got her memory back because she knew she was missing something important here. It made her realize how much he loved her and she could not play with his feelings because she was not sure if she loved him that much.Looking at the forlorn figure in front of her, Kate wished she could undo the past. How stupid could she be? Why the hell had she been unable to resist him like that? Hell, she loved the way they interacted and guessed that they must