John had seen both his brother and Kevin go upstairs and shut the door. He could tell that ‘D’ was quite upset and that the Kris he knew was in actuality Kristina. He wanted so badly to know what had happened other than the fact that she had been severely beaten. How could she allow her family to think she was dead?

Having liked her from the moment they first met, John knew long before this whole saga unfolded that something traumatic in her life had happened. It was apparently the reason why she didn’t let anyone get close to her, except Fiona. He knew that he had to talk to Fiona and that together they had to mend the rift between Kris and Howie. He found her just as she was knocking on the door to the office.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I saw your brothers face when Kris started singing. He didn’t look happy and I wanted to know why."

Kevin opened the door and smiled.

"Miss me that much?" he asked.

"Yes, I mean…no…" she stammered as he laughed.

From behind him Fi heard Howie ask who it was at the door. John shook his head letting Kevin know that he didn’t want him to know.

"It’s nobody, bro. I’ll be back in a minute," he said as he left the office and closed the door behind him.

"I have a plan and I could use some help," John said as he walked towards the empty VIP lounge.

"I’m confused. A plan for what?"

Ignoring Fi, Kevin and John continued to talk between themselves.

"Did he confirm that it was Kristina?" John asked.

"Yeah. He’s pretty upset too. He’s hitting the bottle pretty hard" Kevin said as he leaned against the wall.

"Wait!" Fi shouted at both of them. "Who is Kristina and what has this got to do with Kris?"

The words had no more left her mouth when she realized the connection. Kris WAS Kristina!

"Fi, you know about Kris’s past. Right?" Kevin said as he searched her eyes for an answer.

"Yes I do. But what does that have to do with Howie?"

" Did she tell you about the man she left behind?"

The realization hit Fiona hard. It had been right there under her nose and she hadn’t figured it out. The reason Kris wanted to protect him was because he was a high profile celebrity, the reason she disliked boy band music, the reason why she became so ill the other night when John asked her to perform for ‘the Backstreet Boys’. It was because of Howie. He was the love of her life that she walked away from.

"Oh my God! It’s Howie. He’s the man that she is still in love with."

"How much do you know?" John asked.

"I know everything. At least I do now," she said as she leaned against Kevin and began to cry.

"Shh, baby, it’s okay. She’s your friend and you care about her, but ‘D’ is like my brother and he needs to understand. Can you help us?"

"Is he going to be angry with her? She couldn’t take that, not after everything she has been through."

"He’s angry now, but if you explain it all to him, maybe he’ll calm down and listen to her."

"She is going to be upset with me for breaking her confidence. It wasn’t easy for her to trust anyone, you know."

John took Fiona’s hand. "She’ll get over that. Right now she and my brother need to heal some old wounds and possibly find their way back to each other."

"Will you come explain everything to him, Fi?" Kevin asked.

"Yes. But John, she’s going to be looking for me after she’s finished. Can you get her to sing a few more songs?"

"I’ll handle it. Go talk to my brother and try to make him understand why she broke his heart."

Kevin took her by the hand and led her back to the office. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, right as Kevin was about to open the door.

"I don’t know that I can do this to her. She’s my best friend."

He cradled her face in his hands, his eyes locked on the emotion within her eyes. Slowly he bent to kiss her, his lips brushing hers ever so tenderly. Fiona’s whole body tingled with the excitement of his touch as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"She will thank you for this one day. Now, help me talk to ‘D’ and then I promise the rest of the night we will concentrate on just the two of us."

They entered the room to find Howie on the phone making reservations for a flight out of town. He was angry and hurt, apparently wanting to numb the pain with the whiskey he kept drinking. It was obvious that he didn’t want to feel anything. No anger, no love, no compassion, nothing. Kevin took the phone from his hands and placed it back on the receiver, making ‘D’ angry!

"What the hell did you do that for?" Howie slurred.

"Fiona knows the truth about Kristina and you are going to listen while she explains."

Chapter 13        Index