“Hi Mr. Taylor,” Becca said as she walked into the kitchen.
“Hello,” he replied, slightly confused. “Becca, right?”
“Right,” she answered, nodding.
“What can I do for you?” Mike questioned.
Becca sat down on a stool at the counter. “Well, what I have in mind would make both of us very happy.”
“And what’s that?” he asked, sitting across from her.
“It has to do with your daughter,” Becca began to explain, an evil smirk crossing her face. “And my boyfriend.” She watched as, all of the sudden, Mr. Taylor seemed to perk up, listening to her carefully. “Everyone can see that you don’t want Katelin within ten feet of Nick at all times.”
“I just don’t think he’s right for her,” Mike defended.
“Don’t worry,” Becca smiled. “I completely agree with you. And that’s why I need your help. I don’t want Nick near Katelin either. I know how much he still loves her. It’s obvious to anyone. But the thing is, I want Nick. Plain and simple. Without having to worry about him going back to her. Ever. Is there any way you can assure me that that will never happen?”
Mike sat and thought for a second. No matter how much he disagreed with some of the things that his daughter did, he never snuck around and made sure that she couldn’t do them. He did what any parent did and straight out told her what she could and couldn’t do. He had never been sneaky about it. “I don’t know, Becca,” he began.
Becca sighed. “Alright, suit yourself. You do know that they’ve slept together don’t you? You’re little sixteen year old angel isn’t so innocent anymore. He stole that from her. If they ever got back together, he might just end up stealing her from you all together. You don’t want that to happen now, do you?”
Mike gripped the edges of the counter. He didn’t even want to hear about the fact that Nick had taken his only daughter’s innocence. It made him sick to his stomach. “I’ll help you,” he told her.
Becca smiled. “Now that’s the spirit. You’re a powerful man, Mr. Taylor. I’m sure you can get Nick and Katelin to listen to you better than I can. But let me give you a tip. Nick has done something awful. Not only disobeying you but also breaking the law. Just make sure that he and Katelin know that if they get any closer, Nick will find himself up to his neck in statutory rape charges.” She stood up and extended her hand. Mike shook it, tentatively. “So, we have a deal, then, Mr. Taylor. Believe me. You won’t regret it.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“It’s gorgeous out tonight,” Krista commented as she and Brooke lazily strolled down Park Avenue. “At the rate we’re going, the others are going to beat us back.”
“I don’t mind,” Brooke said, shrugging. “This is the most down time I feel that I’ve had in weeks.”
“Hey ladies,” they heard a voice greet them from behind. They both spun around and saw two unfamiliar looking men approach them.
“Can we help you?” Brooke asked, suspiciously. Something about the way these guys looked and acted freaked her out.
“What are two beautiful women like yourselves doing walking around this city alone?” one of them asked, eyeing Brooke up and down. “At night.”
“Just going back to our hotel,” Krista answered.
Brooke elbowed her, trying to let her know that it would be a good idea to keep as quiet as possible. Who knew who these guys were and what they wanted.
“And what hotel would that be?” the other asked.
“The Mar-“ Krista began, not taking Brooke’s subtle hint before.
“Krista…” Brooke hissed.
“Krista. What a beautiful name,” the second guy commented as he slid his arm around her.
"So, Brooke,” he said, turning to face her. “Why are you so jumpy?”
Brooke eyed him suspiciously. “How did you know my name?”
“What do you mean?” he asked innocently. “She just said it.” He pointed to Krista.
“No she didn’t,” Brooke replied, her eyes narrowing. “She hasn’t once said it.” She folded her arms across her chest. “So tell me, how the hell did you know my name?”
The two guys, knowing that they’d been caught, quickly sprung into action. One grabbed Krista roughly around the waist while the other grabbed Brooke’s arm and leaned in towards her ear. “You’re ten times better looking than Alex described you.” Brooke froze. These weren’t any ordinary guys. These were friends of Alex’s. He was after his money. Ever since Brooke had told Kevin everything about her past she decided not to give Alex the rest of what she owed him. He couldn’t force her to because he had nothing else to hold over her. Or so she thought.
Krista glanced at Brooke, wondering who Alex was and what these two guys wanted. The one that had her squeezed her even tighter around her waist as he pulled her into the alley, with Brooke closely following her. “Ow!” Krista cried. “You’re hurting me.”
“That’s the idea, sweetheart,” he growled in her ear.
Brooke was slammed into the brick wall in the alley. She winced in pain as her head smacked against the wall. “What the hell do you want from me?” she whimpered, scared to death.
“Alex wants his money,” her captor told her. “And he wants it soon.”
Brooke nodded, scared as hell. But Krista, the tougher one out of the two, fought back. “Get the fuck off of me!” she yelled, pushing his hands away. “And tell this Alex guy to shove it up his ass!”
“Krista, be quiet,” Brooke pleaded, softly.
“Yeah Krista,” the guys said, before smacking her straight across the face. “Shut the fuck up!” He pushed her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach.
“Alex will be in touch,” the other said as he threw Brooke to the ground. The two guys ran out of the alley, leaving Brooke and Krista battered and beaten on the ground.
“Brooke,” Krista whimpered a few minutes later. “Help me, Brooke.” Brooke sat up and slowly crawled over to Krista. “Brooke, help me,” she pleaded again, tears rolling down her face. “Please, help my baby.”
“Well, thanks for coming guys,” Katelin said as she walked everyone towards the door. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Remember Kate. One o’clock sharp,” Kevin told her.
“Yes Daddy-Kev,” she smiled. “I’ll be there.” She turned to Brian. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
He nodded and followed her to the corner of the hall. “What is it Kate?” he asked, impatiently.
“Look Brian,” she began. “I know you don’t like me very much but we both have one thing in common. We both care about Ang. Now whether you want to admit it or not, she has a problem and she needs help.”
Brian nodded. “No matter what our differences are, Kate, Ang is lucky to have a friend that cares about her as much as you do.”
Katelin smiled slightly. “Thanks Brian.” He nodded again and then went to rejoin the rest of them.
“Bye everyone!” Katelin called.
“Bye!” They all chorused.
“Katelin, can I see you please?” Mike called from his office.
“What is it daddy?” she asked as she flopped down on the couch.
“I meant what I said before,” he began, sternly. “I forbid you to be with Nick. I don’t care if you love him or not. You aren’t allowed to be with him.”
“You can’t do this to me!” Katelin cried, jumping up from the couch. “I love him!”
“I don’t care, Katelin,” Mike snapped. “He is trouble. I don’t want you with him.”
“Well, I don’t care what you say, daddy.” She huffed. “You can’t forbid me to see him. I see him everyday.” She turned to leave the room but he grabbed her by the arm.
“I’m serious, Kate,” Mike growled. “Don’t think that I don’t know what went on in Europe. You stay away from him or I will make sure that Mr. Carter faces statutory rape charges. Now, do we have an understanding?”
“Yes daddy,” Katelin answered quietly before disappearing from the room.
***** ***** ***** ***** ****** *****
“Damnit, AJ! Pick up the phone!” Brooke cried to herself as she called AJ on a payphone.
“Hello?” AJ’s voice filtered through.
“AJ? It’s Brooke,” she said, frantically.
“What’s wrong?” AJ questioned, noticing the scared tone in her voice.
“It’s Krista,” she answered. “We were attacked on the way home. She’s in the hospital.”
“What’s wrong with her?” he exclaimed. “Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
“I don’t know,” Brooke replied. “They won’t tell me anything. You need to get over here right away.” She gave AJ the name of the hospital before they hung up and AJ told the limo driver to take him there instead.
Fifteen minutes later, the arrived at the hospital and AJ jumped out with everyone else following him. He ran into the emergency room and saw Brooke sitting in a chair in the corner. “Brooke!” he called running over to her. “How is she? Where is she?”
Brooke shook her head. “I don’t know. They said they’d tell me something as soon as they could.”
“What happened?” he asked as he sank into the chair next to her.
“We were walking back to the hotel cause it was such a nice night out,” Brooke explained. “All of the sudden two guys approached us. They cornered us in an alley and Krista got smart with one of them. He got rough with her and then they ran off and Krista was hurt pretty bad.”
“Excuse me,” a doctor said as he approached. “Are any of you with Krista Wilson?”
Both Brooke and AJ stood up. “I’m her boyfriend,” Aj told him.
“And I was the one that brought her in,” Brooke added.
The doctor led them away from the rest of the group. “I’m Dr. Burnes,” he explained. “Miss Wilson was hemorrhaging pretty badly when she was brought in. We were able to stop the bleeding…”
“Is my baby okay?” AJ interrupted.
Dr. Burnes nodded. “For now. Krista will also be okay. She has a slight concussion so we’d like to keep her here overnight for observation and also so we can keep an eye on the baby.”
“Can I see her?” AJ asked.
“Sure,” he smiled. “I don’t see why not. But only for a few minutes. She needs her rest.”
“How is she?” Kevin asked Brooke as Dr. Burnes led AJ to Krista’s room.
“Oh god, this is all my fault,” Brooke whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“How is it your fault?” Kevin questioned, confused.
“If something happens to this baby,” Brooke ignored him. “I’ll never forgive myself.”
“What did you do Brooke?” Kevin asked, grabbing her shoulders and steadying her.
“Those two guys weren’t just two random guys,” she explained. “They were friends of Alex’s. He wants his money and he sent them to make sure I knew he was serious.” Tears of guilt streamed down her face. Kevin, not knowing what else to do, held out his arms so she could collapse into them.
“AJ?” Krista mumbled sleepily as she woke up. He had been sitting there silently with her for over an hour, just holding her hand.
“Hey sweetie,” he smiled. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” she answered before a frightened look overcame her face. “The baby?”
“Will be just fine,” AJ finished for her. “You both were lucky.”
“Is Brooke okay?” Krista asked.
“Fine,” AJ nodded. “Just a couple of cuts and bruises. Nothing serious. What happened out there?”
“I’m not really sure.” Krista shrugged. “These two guys approached us and you know me. Can’t keep a smart-ass comment to myself.”
AJ smiled, slightly. “Always gotta be opening that mouth of yours.”
“I know,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to this baby.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby,” AJ told her. “You both are going to be fine. You’ll be out of here by tomorrow. But Kris, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?” Krista asked, worriedly. “You sound pretty serious.”
“I am,” AJ replied. “I think it would be best if you went back to Florida.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “No way. I’ll go crazy down there by myself.”
“No you won’t,” AJ said. “My mom will be there. Howie’s family’s there. You’ll be fine. I just really don’t want anything to happen to you or this baby. It would be much safer for you there.”
“But AJ…” Krista whined. “I don’t want to go.”
“I’m not taking no for an answer, Kris,” he warned. “I’ve already got Q looking for a flight. It’s not good for you to be touring at five months pregnant.”
“Fine,” she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. “I’ll go but I won’t like it.”
“That’s my girl,” he smiled, ignoring her.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Brooke sticking her head in. “Hey. Sorry to interrupt. Can I talk to Krista a second?” They both nodded and Brooke walked in the room.
“I’ll be back,” AJ said, placing a kiss on Krista’s lips before disappearing from the room.
Brooke sat down in the chair he had been sitting in. “I’m so sorry, Krista.”
“For what?” Krista asked, confused.
“For what happened,” Brooke answered. “This is all my fault.”
“Why is it your fault?”
“Those guys were after me,” Brooke explained. “They were sent by this guy I used to know. I owe him money. A lot of it and he sent them to make sure I knew he meant business. I should’ve never let you get mixed up with them.”
“Brooke,” Krista began. “Nothing about tonight was your fault. You were as much of a victim as I was.”
“You don’t understand,” Brooke told her. “You don’t know anything about my past. If you did, you wouldn’t feel that way.”
“Why don’t you explain it to me then?” Krista asked, gently. Brooke took a deep breath and began telling her everything that she had told Kevin a month ago, not realizing that AJ was outside of the door listening the whole time.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Ang, I’m taking you back to the hotel,” Brian told her. “You’re not doing anyone any good the way your acting.”
“But I wanna stay,” Ang slurred. “Krista’s my friend and she needs me.”
“Not like this, she doesn’t,” he said. “Now come on. Before I have Q carry you out of here.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going anywhere. You know, you’re no fun Brian.”
“I’m lots of fun,” he replied. “Now, let’s go.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Not a chance.”
“Turn around and march out those doors.”
“You can’t make me.”
“Wanna bet?”
“I’m not going.”
“Go.”
“Nope.”
“Now!”
“I’m not moving.”
“Nick, help me.” Nick walked over and they lifted her by the arms and began carrying her out of the hospital.
“Put me down guys! This isn’t fair.” The two guys opened the door the limo and put her in, before Brian climbed in after her.
“We’ll see you later!” he called to Nick as the limo began pulling away.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
AJ watched as Brooke walked slowly towards the hallway. After the door was shut, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hall. “What’s your problem?” she asked.
“I heard what you said to her,” AJ growled as he led her into a corner. “About that guy Alex.” He watched as Brooke’s face noticeably paled. “I don’t care what you did in your past and, frankly, it’s none of my business. But I swear to God, if anything happened to Krista or to that baby, it would’ve been your head. So just do us all a favor and leave us out of it.” He turned around abruptly and stalked back towards Krista’s room, leaving Brooke there, embarrassed and humiliated.