Karina

The next morning, AJ woke up early. He stared at the ceiling, knowing that today would be a long, tiring day. But it was a day he was looking forward to. He would be visiting with the boys today, and he would let them see how he had changed, how committed he was now. He rolled over and watched Mikayla sleeping. He picked up her hand and kissed it, then got out of bed. He showered and dressed, grabbed his keys and sunglasses and walked out the front door. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw his car. It had key marks all over it. Deeply scraped into the metal of the hood was one word... CHEATER. AJ walked around the car, surveying the damage and shaking his head. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed deeply. Why? Who the hell would do something like this? He knew he couldn't let Mikayla know about this. It would be too upsetting for her. He hopped into the car and started driving back to his house so she wouldn't see it.  His stomach was churning and he was shaking as he drove, but he knew he would just have to handle this by himself. Later.
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Mikayla showered, dressed, and went down to her office. Kendra was already there, and had Mikayla's day planned out.
Mikayla was so glad Kendra had decided to move to Tampa to be her assistant, and she was happy to find that she was actually very organized and efficient. It was also nice to have a girlfriend to talk to. Mikayla had only had one female friend in her life, Karina, and they weren't on speaking terms.

"Ok, pretty light day today," Kendra said, "You have a phone conference with the contractors of The Venetian about the expansion of the hotel. That's at 8:00. I have a copy of the plans on your desk for you to review before the call. Then you have a massage scheduled for 9:30, but we can cancel it if you need to. Lyric has an appointment with the pediatrician at 10:45 for her checkup. Then you have lunch scheduled with Karina at 12:00. Again, I can cancel if you want me to." Kendra looked up and waited for a response to this last appointment. Mikayla rolled her eyes, but signalled for her to go on with the itinerary. "Ok, then... You have a meeting with the accountant at 2:00, your trainer will be here at 3:30. I've made you and AJ dinner reservations at Constantines for 7:00. Hope you don't mind. I thought you two could use a night out."

Mikayla smiled at Kendra. "Kendra, what would I do without you?"

"Well, you'd be lost til you found another assistant, but I think you'd miss me anyway."

"So what do you have planned for tonight?" Mikayla asked, as she looked over the plans for her Vegas hotel expansion. The hotel was shaping up to be the nicest on in the city.

"I have a date," Kendra said, smiling shyly.

"Ohhhhh? And who is the lucky gentleman suitor tonight?" Mikayla asked, laughing.

"Howie," she answered quietly.

"Ah, Howie... well, have fun. He can be a handle. Just be sure you stay out of elevators with that one," Mikayla said, smiling.

"Huh?" Kendra was a little confused by the last statement.

"Never mind," Mikayla said, shaking her head and laughing, "just have fun. Howie's a great guy. I hope you two hit it off."

"Me too."
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Kevin and AJ sat out by AJ's pool, waiting on the other guys to arrive.

"So... how're you feeling?" Kevin asked quietly.

"I'm great, man. Really. I haven't felt this good in... God, I can't remember how long."

"Good, good. I'm really glad," Kevin said, smiling.

"Kev, I asked her to marry me," AJ said, looking down at his hands.

Kevin swallowed hard. "And she said?"

"She said yes."

Kevin nodded, and was quiet for a moment. He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"Do you love her, AJ? I mean, really, really love her?"

"Man, I love her more than anything in the world. I'd do anything for her. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without her. She makes me so happy. I mean, when I look at her, it's like... I just can't explain it. She's the best thing that ever happened to me," AJ said, smiling. Kevin noticed the sparkle in AJ's eyes as he talked about Mikayla. He had never seen that look before.

Kevin looked at him and smiled a little. "I'm glad you're happy, AJ. Just don't hurt her. She loves you. She really does."

"Never again. I swear, I'll never hurt her again."

"Good. Cause if you ever do, you'll have ME to deal with," Kevin said, laughing. He reached over and hugged AJ tightly. It was good to have his brother back.
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Mikayla sat at the table by herself in the restaurant. This was not a meeting she was looking forward to. Especially today. Today was supposed to be a happy day for her. She had her AJ back, and that's what she wanted to concentrate on right now. But she knew this meeting was inevitable. She glanced up and saw Karina walking toward the table. She sat down without speaking and the two women stared at each other for a moment, expressionless.

"How have you been?" Karina asked quietly.

"I'm fine. Let's cut through the bullshit, Karina. Tell me what you wanted to talk to me about and let's get on with it, ok?"

"Ok, fine. I just wanted to put all of this hostility behind us. We've been friends for too long to let a guy come between us. I miss you, Kayla."

Mikayla stared incredulously at her, her mouth hanging open. She laughed a little and shook her head.

"Karina, why in the world would I want anything to do with you after what you did? It took me a long time, but I finally realized that you're NOT my friend. You probably never were."

"Mikayla, might I remind you that I took you in when you ran away from home when you were seventeen? I gave you somewhere to live. A way to make money? I took CARE of you. How can you say that I was never your friend?"

Mikayla shot her a nasty look at the mention of her past. The look was not lost on Karina. She smiled a sly, evil smile, picking up on the fact that Mikayla didn't want to talk about that time in her life.

"Hmmmm... I wonder what AJ would think if he knew that you spent a year of your life as a..."

"Stop it. Just stop it."

"Oh come off it, Mikayla. You were a whore. You were paid to have sex with men. It happened. You can't change it. Come on, if he loves you so much, that little detail wouldn't change his feelings. Or would it?"

"Shut up," Mikayla hissed. "If it weren't for you, I never would have gotten myself into that mess."

"Oh fuck you, Mikayla. If it weren't for me, you never would have met Dominick. He was supposed to be MINE, but he fell for YOU instead. He took you away from that life, but you left me there! You left me there for another year, Mikayla. Why didn't you help me? I know why you left me. You did it so you could get Dom to fall in love with you and marry you. Everything you have now should have been MINE! The money, the houses, EVERYTHING. And I'll never forgive you for it, either!" With that, Karina stood up and marched out of the restaurant with angry tears streaming down her face.

Mikayla sat stunned. She had never seen Karina so upset. It frightened her. She knew what Karina was capable of, and she knew she would need to keep a very, very close eye on AJ. Much closer than his own security people could. His guys were good, but hers were much better. As she collected her thoughts and brought her nerves under control, she took out her cell phone and dialed the number for her head of security.

"Lori," Mikayla said quietly. "I need you to get down here immediately. We have a situation that I want you to handle personally."