Rooney scrambled to answer his ringing phone, ready and eager to carry out to perfection any order that the caller had for him.She had paid him a hefty sum of money some days back and the thought of all that money sitting in his account and ready to be spent as soon as he finished with this job was making him ecstatic.Yet, that wasn't all that she was going to pay him according to what she told him. Boy! Was he a lucky man or what?“How’s it going, Rooney?” The caller, the same female who gave him the order to kidnap and hold Derek hostage asked him.“It’s going very well, ma’am. He’s regained consciousness.”“That’s good. Make sure to keep him alive and await my next instructions.” The woman ordered.“I will, ma’am. You have my word on that." He assured her and then after the call ended, went to check on his prisoner.He opened the door to the room where the prisoner was housed and after taking a look at him, he winced. The guy was in very bad shape and it did not look like he was
"Mommy! Mommy!” Harper called out happily, skipping over to where her mother stood by her car, waiting for her to come so that they could go home.“Be careful now honey. You don't want to fall flat on your face.” Ava cautioned indulgently, gathering her daughter into her arms for a quick hug and smooch.Harper giggled delightedly and returned the hug, kissing her mother on the cheek.“Mom, look! Steve is coming over here.” Harper said pointing in the direction from which Steve was approaching them.Just hearing his name caused Ava’s heart to skip a beat and she shook her head inwardly, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.It was a great feeling though, because it had been ages since she last felt this way about any man. The last man she had felt something remotely akin to this for was Derek.She had begun to wonder if her heart was dead and cold in her chest, so it was great to know that it was still working, after all.On the heels of this thought came the sobering realization
It was Amanda, Derek’s sister, and she was glaring daggers at both of them. She was seated alone at a table on the other end of the restaurant and was toying with the food that was in front of her. “Oh wow! Fancy running into her here.” Ava said in equal amusement, turning back to face Steve, and taking a sip of her drink. “I know, right?” “She seems really pissed. I guess she’s mad at the fact that her love interest is having dinner with another woman … Or rather to be precise, he's having dinner with the woman she loathes most in the world. That knowledge is bound to make a bully like her quake in indignation." Ava joked, but Steve did not smile. He was wearing a pensive and thoughtful look that suddenly had Ava worried. “Is everything alright, Steve?” She asked. “Yeah, yeah. I just realized that the fact that you and I are dating and the fact that Derek still clearly likes you has given both Amanda and Denise the perfect reason to dislike you even more.” Steve told her.
"Amanda, dear. That is not the way to greet old friends now, is it? I would have thought that your mother taught you to have better manners than that … oh, wait, my bad! She didn’t teach you anything other than to be a mean little girl who is always jealous of other people and what they have.” Ava said to Amanda, enjoying the way Amanda's expression darkened at her words. “Keep my mother’s name out of your filthy mouth, Miss Goody two shoes. You think you're the shit, don’t you? Coming back into town and prancing about like you own the place, just because you got lucky. Tell me, how did you manage to become so famous? Did you sleep your way to the top?” "Is that sour grapes, I hear? Oh, you poor thing. How have the mighty fallen? If anyone had told me that the day would come when you would be jealous of me, I would have probably laughed out loud in their faces.” “Me? Jealous of you? Oh, please, don’t be delusional. You may be prancing about and feeling like the best thing in town
Another security guard had now come up to the table too because now Amanda was yelling at the top of her voice and being totally unreasonable.“Don’t think I'm going to stand by and watch you choose this ugly bitch over me. I would rather die than allow that. Do you hear me? Do you hear me? You can’t just use me and dump me like that and think you're going to go scot-free. It's not going to happen. Over my dead body. If I can't have you, then no one … least of all her is going to have you either.” Amanda screamed.So great was her rage that she reached for Ava, but before her hands could touch Ava, the two security guards grabbed one of her arms each and began to lead her away from there, trying to be gentle at first, but it seemed like she had lost all sense of reasoning.She fought them like a hellcat, so that she even managed to break free of their hold, but they were quick to capture her and this time around, dragged her out of the restaurant with as much force as was necessary.P
Coming here had been a huge mistake. Denise realized this the moment she stepped foot into Andy's house. But what was she supposed to have done anyway? Refuse to come as his royal highness Andy ordered and have him blaring her secret to everyone who cared to listen? She could not antagonize this asshole who was bent on making her life a living hell if she did not want any more problems on top of the ones that she currently had. “Make yourself at home Denise,” Andy told her, disappearing into another part of the house, while Denise sat gingerly on the closest couch to her and looked around in disgust. “That’s highly unlikely.” She muttered to herself, looking around her in distaste. The house looked as cheap as Andy’s car looked. The man had indeed fallen upon bad times, but she could not bring herself to feel sorry for him. If anything, he deserved everything that he was going through and then some. A few minutes later, Andy returned to the living room with a glass of cold
"Well, last I heard, but your boyfriend’s ex-wife is back in town and he’s got the hots for her,” Andy replied, smiling at her and showing his crooked teeth.Denise heaved a sigh of relief. She already knew this, so it wasn’t news to her at all.“I already knew that. I worked with her on this last movie, you know. She’s such an insufferable bitch. You act like you know a lot of things when in reality you know nothing. If you were truly as knowledgeable about everything that is going on in my life as you claim, you would know that I worked with her and so I know she is back in town.”“Hmmm. Denise, my dear friend. You’re always quick to talk, but so slow to listen. And yes, I know things … A lot of things that even you don’t know. Things that are right under your nose, but you’re blind to them.”“Can you please go to the point and stop wasting my time?” Denise snapped at him, already at the end of her patience.Suddenly, she was afraid … afraid of what this man was going to say to her.
EIGHT-PLUS YEARS AGOThe minute Denise stepped foot in the airport on her way to meet Andrew Tanner, and subsequently to pursue her dreams, she felt happy, fulfilled, and free!No longer would she have to listen to Derek tell her all about his oh-so-boring plans about how he was going to run his company and all the money that he was going to make from the company.She could go out into the real world, meet famous stars, become a star herself, and travel to wherever the hell she wanted. It was a dream come true and she couldn’t wait.The first sign she got that it wasn't going to be as Andy had promised her was when she and Andrew arrived, tired as hell at a run-down and shady-looking motel which did not befit someone of his status after they landed.“Um, is this where we’re going to stay?” She asked him tentatively, not wanting to offend him, but unable to believe her eyes all the same.“Yes. Why’d you ask?”“Oh, um, nothing. It doesn’t look quite safe is all.”“Don't worry, it is qui