Howie didn’t know whether to take the phone out of her hands and blast Stephen or walk away, his anger reaching a boiling point.

Sarah and AJ on the other hand, stood in silence; their mouths open at how calm she seemed to be despite everything that had happened in the last couple of hours.

Leaning against the car, Kristina stood still, listening to the silence on the other end of the line. "Hello, earth to Stephen. Are you going to speak or are you going to sit on the line and breathe heavily?"

"Don’t provoke him," Howie warned, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Well, well, well. I see the gang’s all there!" Stephen said sarcastically once he heard Howie’s warning. "Are they all trying to whisk you away to safety and out of the clutches of the ‘big bad wolf’?"

"You had some nerve showing up there tonight," she said ignoring his smart remark.

"Me? You have some nerve singing at that trashy ass club. You are supposed to be dead and rotting by now you selfish whore" he spat. "Oh wait! That’s right, Romeo gave you some love potion that made everyone think you were dead so that the two of you could be together."

"What is it that you want, Stephen? Haven’t you done enough damage already? Let it go! I don’t love you, I never loved you and there is nothing that you can do about it."

Rolling her eyes and wringing her hands, Sarah turned to AJ. "Oh for God’s sake! She’s only going to piss him off even more if she keeps this up!"

Howie stood beside of Kristina, waiting for the moment when things began to escalate and he needed to intercept. She seemed so calm, so in control and that worried him even more. He knew for a fact that her nerves were on edge and seeing her like this made him believe that the ‘breakdown’ wouldn’t be too far off. Sarah on the other hand touched Howie’s arm, her eyes begging him to end the conversation between her brother and best friend.

"Is that my lovely sister’s voice that I hear?" he asked hatefully.

"Yes, but she doesn’t want to talk to you right now."

Stephen was seething, his anger growing by the moment at Kristina’s attitude towards him. "Let me ask you something, Kris. How long has my dear sister known that you were alive?"

"She just found out a couple of days ago when she came to town. I’ve been hiding from everyone, including Howie. None of them knew the truth until recently so you can leave them ALL out of this revenge plot. You want to finish what you started, then you come after me and only me. Got that?"

Howie tried to take the phone from Kristina but she turned so he couldn’t reach it.

"Is that an invitation, my love? I’m sure that we could have oh so much fun if we were alone," he said with a tone of voice that sent shivers down her spine. Suddenly she became very aware of the game she was playing with him and just how high the stakes had become.

"I’m warning you, Stephen. Stay the hell out of my life and leave me alone. That includes Sarah too" Kristina hissed, trying to shake the fear that had begun to creep into her bones.

Laughing coldly, he warned her of his intentions. "I will NEVER leave you alone, my dear. Not until I have the satisfaction of standing over your cold lifeless corpse, your loverboy weeping in the background and begging for me to end his life too. Only, he’s going to suffer much more than you. I’m seeking retribution here for MY pain. You fucked with the wrong guy, BITCH!"

Kristina’s blood ran cold, her hands trembling with both terror and anger at his threats. She looked towards Howie, his usual loving eyes smoldering with anger, his jaw rigid. God how she loved this man and the thought of Stephen trying to take his life simply fueled her despise for him.

"Don’t count me out yet, Stephen. I survived your attack once and I’m a helluva lot stronger now because of it. Unless you want to be the one lying in a cold, dark grave, I suggest you forget that I exist. I won’t lie down and die this time" she said as she slammed the flip phone shut.

Handing the phone back to Sarah, her knees buckled and AJ caught her before she hit the ground as Sarah gasped.

"You are so damn stubborn, Kris!" she growled. "When are you going to learn?"

AJ nodded his head, helping her to stand upright as Howie slid his arm around her. "Sarah’s right. You shouldn’t have talked to him. He’s only going to be angrier now."

Turning to Howie, Kristina said quietly. "I want to go home."

Kristina was quiet the remainder of the ride home. She would occasionally wince at the pain in her hands when she forgot that they were cut and run her fingers through her hair or adjust the radio station.

Reaching the house, she waited for Howie to open her door and help her out of the car, making her way straight to the bathroom to draw a long hot bath.

Howie smiled as he heard the water running, knowing that in order to calm her nerves she would take a long soak in the garden tub. He knew her too well. As he poured both himself and Kristina a glass of wine, he pushed the play button on the answering machine to listen to his messages. What he heard was Kevin’s distraught voice.

"Hey, ‘D’ – it’s Kev. I’m at the hospital with Lynne and she’s not doing very well. The doctor wants to take the baby in the next couple of hours to prevent any further complications. I know you have your hands full right now but I sure could use some friendly faces to help us get through this. Call if you can. Bye."

Howie deleted the message, saying a silent prayer for Lynne, Kevin and the baby as he made an ice pack to put on Kristina’s swollen hands. As he stood in the doorway to the bathroom, he watched as she sank into the hot water, her hair piled high atop her head, a solemn look upon her face.

"Are you going to join me?" she asked, never opening her eyes.

He laughed. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know when I’m watching you. It never ceases to amaze me that you know when I’m there."

Kris opened her eyes and smiled up at him, taking the wineglass from him as he sat on the edge of the tub. "I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just the feeling I get when you are close by."

Looking down at her hand, he asked. "How are your hands? Do they hurt still?"

Kristina stared at her right hand, the knuckles swollen and tender. "I think my left hand is okay. I did most of the damage to my other hand since I’m right handed. It still hurts pretty bad."

Taking her hand in his, Howie said, "Here, I made up an ice pack to reduce the swelling."

She squirmed as he held the ice pack against her fingers with a gentle pressure applied to them. "YIKES! That’s cold!"

"I know, baby – but it will help."

"I want to put my ring back on after I get out of the bath, okay?"

Brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, which had fallen from her ponytail, he gently scolded her, leaving her heart bruised. "Honey, you cannot put the ring on tonight. As much as I want you to wear it, you can’t take the chance of your hand continuing to swell. You’ll just have to wait and see how it looks tomorrow."

Kris could hear the disappointment in his voice and she knew she had upset him by her actions. "I’m sorry, ‘D’. I really am" she whispered as she lowered her eyes, afraid to look into his for fear of losing control of her teetering emotions.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead, acknowledging her apology. "I know, Kris. I’m going to go and start packing. Finish your bath and then I’ll put some medicine on your hands."

She closed her eyes and sighed, resting her head against the bath pillow. She failed to reply to him, choking back the sob caught in her throat. She knew he understood her anger towards Stephen but she knew that she couldn’t expect him to understand the blind rage she felt when he appeared at the club. She was actually scared herself of the reaction he set in motion. Never in her life had she been violent. Not until tonight, not until he showed up and made her think back to the torturous year of rehab and loneliness, not until he threatened to hurt the man she loved.

Chapter 86       Index