The Revenge of Three - Smashwords

La Revanche des Trois (Revenge of Three) The Black Family Series Book 4 Sylvia Hubbard Romance/Suspense/ Sensual Noir Published by HubBooks Literary Services Electronic Copyright 2012 Sylvia Hubbard Discover other titles by Sylvia Hubbard at http://sylviahubbard.com/fictionbooks All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to author’s website and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. For information Visit her website at http://SylviaHubbard.com Other books related to this book are as follows: • Love Like This • His Substitute Wife… My Sister * • King’s Paradise * • The Mysterious Mr. Black • Hope Is Love Author's Note: This is an unedited version of the book and I ask that you please leave a review at the book page on my website to let me know how you liked the story. http://sylviahubbard.com/fictionbooks And then collect the rest of The Black Family Series!

Chapter 1 Lauren and Jezica laughed at the inside joke across the table, Stefanie as usual felt left out. They were at the very expensive restaurant inside of the St. Royal Hotel in Detroit. It was lunch hour and today Stefanie wasn't feeling like she wanted to be there. This feeling was a long time coming, but today when she awoke in her downtown loft, looking at the empty white pillow beside her and wishing someone was lying there with her, she was feeling that nagging of not wanting to be around Lauren and Jezica even more. Jezica was married but barely home. She was supposed to be an at home mom, but having a very supportive mother in law, gave Jezica the right to just do what she wanted with all her husband's money when she wanted. As for Lauren, she had always lived a wealthy life either with her own means or the many men she dated. Although she was single, there were always three to four millionaires supporting her expensive lifestyle and taste. Stefanie was always the odd one out. A loner all her life, she really didn't acquire friends until high school when Lauren and Jezica decided to take her into their "cliche" after Stefanie's big payday. On top of that, Lauren and Jezica probably wouldn't have gotten out of high school or college without Stefanie's smarts. When the bill was brought over the waitress placed the tray by Lauren. The assumption was inevitable since Lauren was the better dressed out of the three women with the latest in fashion from head to toe. Stefanie would be the less likely to be assumed. When the waitress walked away, Lauren and Jezica continued their discussion about the new boots that were in season and at the same time, Lauren set the check next to Stefanie with a playful wink. Stefanie didn't hesitate to pull out her American Express business card and place it on the receipt tray only noting a little the bill was a little over a hundred dollars. Lauren and Jezica ordered the most expensive thing off the menu, yet most the food on their side of the table was barely touched. Every fourth Friday of the month this was the ritual of all three "friends," since Stefanie had received her first lump sum on the algorithm she had created for a software program. Later on, tonight would continue the ritual where they all got together at a club and had a "girl's night out." Even though it was fun for Lauren and Jezica, it never had been fun for Stefanie. Ten years later since the ritual had started, Stefanie was still paying bills for Lauren and Jezica, yet today reality was sitting ill in her gut. "Isn't that true, Stef?" Lauren asked. Stefanie hadn't been listening because the subject of what new boots to wear for winter just wasn't interesting to her. "Yeah, sure," she answered like she usually did. Lauren flipped back her synthetic coppery brown mid-back length hair and gasped. "Look at that fine specimen, Jez." All their eyes went to the door to see a tall big black man dressed in black from head to toe with dreds down to his waist. He looked even taller with a black Stetson hat on and bigger with the black leather McIntosh that went all the way down to his ankles. Stefanie almost thought tumbleweed was going to roll by because she seemed transposed back to western days and felt highly unsafe all of a sudden. They weren't the only women or men looking in the direction of the entrance as the man's obsidian eyes scanned the room as if he were looking for someone to kill. His visual scan stopped at their table and he narrowed his eyes cruelly at Stefanie. "He's looking at you!" Jez said terrified to Stefanie. "Oh no he's not," Lauren said quite arrogantly. "He's looking at me." Stefanie scooted down in her chair because if shots were fired, she wanted to be able to duck down faster than the others at her table. The dark stranger whispered to a tiny woman standing next to him that wasn't noticed until he addressed her. The small woman nodded and then the dark stranger walked away. She was a rather mousey looking African-American, but Stefanie was very aware of who this woman was without a doubt and put a lot of common sense together to know who that man was. In a way, she was glad the man had not approached the table because she would have a lot of explaining about her clientele to her friends and she really didn't want to go into her work with them. Anytime Stefanie spoke about her business, Lauren was usually calculating how much money she was making and Jezica was trying to figure out how was anyone interested in what Stefanie did.

"I have some work to complete before tonight," Stefanie said abruptly and stood up as the waitress brought back her card. "Can you guys leave the tip?" "I didn't bring any money," Jezica said. "And I don't have enough to leave," Lauren said. Digging around quickly in her jacket, she tossed a five and some ones out on the table. "We'll see you tonight at the bar, right?" Jezica asked hopefully "I guess," Stefanie said. "If we get there early, can we start your tab for you?" Lauren asked. "Sure," she said nonchalantly with a shrugged, grabbed her laptop case and left out the restaurant. The mousey woman was by the door and loudly cleared her throat to draw Stefanie's attention. Opening up the laptop case, Stefanie handed the woman a flash drive. "That should fix the problem on the security system for your client and I added an upgrade, Treasure." "The boss says thank you," Treasure said sticking the flash in her purse. Being so small at only five feet tall, the biggest thing on Treasure was her chest. Double D's were nothing to play with on a woman her size and sometimes Stefanie was amazed how straight Treasure could walk. They were kindred souls though enjoying the quiet life behind a computer at home or at work with no one bothering them. They'd met at an alumni mixer when they found out they were both forced to go and it was great because Treasure referred her "boss" to Stefanie, who was one of her biggest clients. Treasure's "boss" was also her cousin, Lethal Heart, a very serious and deadly man in Stefanie's book and she was always glad to deal with Treasure instead of Lethal. "How have you been?" Stefanie asked with a deep, personal look of concern. A shaky smile told the truth, but Treasure still said, "I'm fine. I miss her very much, but Lethal is making me move on. I don't think I could do everything if it's not for his damn pushiness." "You know you can call me for anything you need, Treasure." Treasure took out an envelope. "Here's the last payment for the work you did. He actually added more because he was able to use the file with several clients and thought to give you licensing credit to be fair." Stefanie opened the envelope and smiled at the extra five thousand dollars added to the check personally signed by Lethal Heart. "Wow! Thank you." "So how's everything been with you? You were dating that guy." Shaking her head, Stefanie said, "Let's just say one woman's bad thing ain't always another woman's good thing." "You shouldn't have to deal with sloppy seconds," Treasure said. "The offer is still good for -" "No!" Stefanie said holding her heart. "I promise to-" "NO! No, No, Treasure." Treasure put her hand over her mouth to hide the chuckle. A horn blared hard and they looked over to the large black Escalade with tinted windows. Lethal was inside and impatiently waiting for his cousin. Treasure hugged Stefanie and whispered. "Sometimes a single night as someone's only is better than a night with someone who doesn't care." Stefanie sighed and pulled away. "Well, if I change my mind, you'll be the first to know." Treasure walked quickly to the Escalade and Stefanie was shocked Lethal jumped out the driver's side and walked around to open the door to the passenger side. His cousin's legs were not long enough to get into the truck and he gently helped her inside, took a side glance at Stefanie with a short nod and then got back in the SUV to drive away. "Keeping secrets?" Lauren asked abruptly behind her startling Stefanie. Before Stefanie could answer, Lauren snatched the envelope from her and looked in it. "Wow!" Lauren said. Snatching the envelope back, Stefanie said, "It's a client, Lauren." "A very well paid client. Who was that?" Lauren demanded to know. "That's Lethal Heart and his office assistant. I never met him until now and I really didn't meet him." "What I missed?" Jezica asked coming out fixing her clothes. "She met that big black handsome guy," Lauren said. "I didn't meet him, Lauren." Stefanie was getting exasperated. "Look, I have to go finish up some projects."

Lauren grabbed her arm slightly digging her nails into her skin making Stefanie winced. "You are coming tonight to talk about it, right?" Stefanie looked down at the painful grip and then looked up into Lauren's beady dark brown dull eyes. Without the tall platform heels Lauren wore, they would be eye to eye, but for now, Stefanie was forced to crook her neck upwards at her. "I said I'd be there." She snatched her arm away and had a tense moment of visual heat with Lauren. "You know no one's ever going to be your friend like we are," Lauren said knowingly. "Yeah," Jezica said. "We'll help you celebrate your client and his money." Stefanie rolled her eyes and stuffed the envelope in her laptop case. "I'll see you all tonight at the club." Lauren held out her ticket for the valet to get her car while Jezica followed Stefanie to her car. "Hey, I forgot to ask you about the thing for my computer. Remember?" Sighing in reluctance, Stefanie said, "Couldn't Nick figure things out?" Jezica huffed. "He's been out of town lately. And I didn't want to bother him over my stupidity. Can you help or not, Stefanie?" Grudgingly, she handed Jezica a flash drive. "But you didn't get this from me, because if you're trying to do what I think you're trying to do, Nick's not stupid enough to think you did this on your own." Jezica smiled wickedly. "Don't worry. I'll be a good girl and destroy this after I install it." As Jezica walked away happily to jump in the car with Lauren, Stefanie had a horrible feeling she shouldn't have done what she had done for Jezica and that what she had done would come back to bite her later on. Nick was also a computer programmer and Jezica knew Stefanie was probably the only one who would be able to override the security program Nick had installed on the home computers to keep certain files away from his wife. Stefanie walked to her old red Ford Escort and jumped in. In desperate need for a muffler that she just never had time to replace, she started up the car and drove away with the thought, "With friends like those, I really don't need enemies." Lighting a cigarette, she took a long puff needing the nicotine to calm her nerves before driving home.

Chapter 2 On her drive home, as she was getting into her third cigarette, she tried to pinpoint the spot in her life that made her realize her friends were just using her. For ten years, Stefanie had accepted the things the way they were. Paying Lauren and Jezica's bar and restaurant tab, doing their schoolwork, helping them cheat on tests, and doing errands for them. Maybe it was the call from her accountant, Kenneth Bianchi, about the large sum of money that was never paid back from Lauren a year ago. He'd called her two weeks ago as he was getting prepared for an end of the year assessment before he started working on her fiscal tax year. He had started taking care of her books by a recommendation by Treasure earlier this year and he had been the best business decision she has to date. Lauren was very upset about Stefanie changing over accountants because Stefanie's first one had come from Lauren's recommendation. Kenneth's next advice after getting her books in order was to keep her business to herself. Not telling Lauren and Jezica her business this past year had really started to unstress Stefanie. There was less explanation; there was less nosiness and most of all borrowing. The third thing Kenneth had done was catch her up to date on exactly how much each of her friends had borrowed from her over the last decade. Jezica owed over ten thousand dollars. Most of these loans had come from trips she had asked Stefanie to pay for and shopping excursions Jezica's husband wouldn't pay for. The amount didn't bother Stefanie much. The amount was more or less a principal of the matter. This wasn't just a couple of dollars here and there and Stefanie didn't even count the expensive monthly lunch and girl's night out events. Lauren was another matter. A year ago, Lauren said she decided to leave her job at a local fashion & style magazine to open up her own design firm. She had initially borrowed five hundred from Jezica's husband and according to the proposal she gave to Stefanie, the bank loaned her ten thousand dollars. For three days she had called Stefanie up and been the nicest she had ever been in their decade old relationship until Stefanie finally loaned her fifty thousand dollars. According to the terms of the loan contract she had signed with Lauren, the terms of payment were clearly laid out and Lauren was supposed to pay back the first installment of the loan three months ago. Stefanie really had been consumed with her new clients and just stressed over all the demands Lauren and Jezica were making on her, she really hadn't been thinking about repayment and any money issues. So the next morning when the text message of her things to do from Lauren had gone off after her meeting with Kenneth Bianchi, the clean white pillow had started to bother her. As days passed the empty pillow bothered her more and more. Even when she changed the color of the pillowcase, it bothered her worse. Yet, even though Jezica and Lauren were supposed to be her close friends, she didn't feel comfortable going to them telling them her troubles - especially because her troubles were about them. Treasure had somehow become someone she could tell her troubles too, which was why the mousey friend kept suggesting her "private service." As she got out of her car, she stomped her cigarette butt in the ground still upset with herself for never giving up smoking - even after her mother had died of lung cancer eight years ago. She had never known her father, but the pictures her mother had of him were all with cigarettes in his mouth. The odd thing about Stefanie was that the only place she liked to smoke was in her car. Lauren and Jezica always made her feel bad about smoking or even going out to smoke break when they were out. Getting into her loft, Stefanie went to her bedroom to strip down to her granny panties and thick bra. Going into her small bathroom, she started up the shower and sighed knowing it was going to be a lousy night. As long as she allowed her tab to be touched by Lauren and Jezica at the bar, they would buy whatever they pleased. Her answering machine to her personal home number was empty, but she never expected the phone to have a message since she wasn't seeing anyone. The last guy she dated had been gone for the past six months and that relationship was three months of her life wasted as he pined for Lauren most of the time and only dated Stefanie to be closer to Lauren. Men were not the high point or even the happy point in her life. Not once had they offered her any pleasure in her life, but she couldn't give up. There was always that need to know if there was more to being with a man

than just laying there and letting them do what they wanted to do to her or just pleasing them and getting nothing in return. Unbraiding her dark brown hair with natural streaks of auburn from the four corn rolled braids that went up into the ponytail, she took a brush and combed out the waves and then used some styling lotion to wrap her hair. Taking off her underwear, she jumped into the shower and took her time washing herself up. The feel of her hands over her flawless caramel brown skin from head to toe gave her some kind of comfort and pushed the stress of her day away. If she wasn't working, she was finding ways to spend time finding a little bit of happiness in her lonely life. Her phone was ringing when she came out of the shower and reluctantly she answered already recognizing the ring tone as Lauren. "Did you pick up my laundry?" Lauren asked. "I was getting ready for the club and I couldn't find my red blouse." "I didn't have time-" "Oh, you were too busy?" Lauren said cutting her off with an unladylike cackle. "It's not as if you have anything else to do, Stef. You act like I'm asking you to go around the fucking world." Keeping her cool as usual, she said, "I'll have them tomorrow morning." "That's not good enough, but I guess I'll have to wait, huh." Lauren hung up the phone. Just as she was about to put the phone down, another call came in. "You aren't going to change your mind," Treasure asked playfully still lingering on their prior conversation Stefanie had tried to avoid. "The stress in your voice clearly tells me you need something different more than you know." It was nice to hear Treasure's voice and just to talk about something different was something Stefanie needed right now. "Treasure, as evasive as you sound, I'm not as innocent as I may seem. Especially with men." "Of course, you aren't. I just believe you've seen the wrong side of men." "And I built the software your business ventures relies upon, so I think I know what you're implying and what you are thinking about involving me in." "Just hear me out, Stefanie. You know I'm not a pushy person, but I'm an expert at knowing what people need. Lethal wouldn't keep me as his assistant if I wasn't good at determining someone's needs before they desire it." "And what are my needs, Treasure, since you think you know me so well?" "Intimacy with a man. You're tired of being someone's second or others with you because of your money." Stefanie slowly sat down on a bed and touched her heart. Treasure was good... too good. "But you're scared, aren't you Stefanie?" Treasure asked. "You're tired of being used and you're tired of not getting anything from your encounters with men. What if I could change that? With no strings attached." "And you know someone who wants the same?" Hesitantly, Treasure said, "I do, but... he has particular taste and conditions." "What are you trying to involve me in?" "Can you trust me?" Without hesitation, Stefanie knew she could because even though she had known Treasure for a short period, the woman had been the first friend that had never led her wrong or lied to her. "Yes, I can, Treasure, but I am worried." "If I tell you that you won't be hurt, will you believe me?" "Yes, Treasure." "Good. Can you be ready in an hour and a half?" "So soon?!" she asked exasperated. "He's been waiting for a while and I've been warming you up once I knew you two would be perfect together." "You are rushing things." "No, I'm not, but like I said, he has particular tastes." "Meaning?" Stefanie asked warily. "He's shy." "This is crazy. I have somewhere to be tonight." "When?" "Nine."

"You'll be done by that time." "I'm feeling panic." "You're just nervous. You go to the St. Royal Hotel. I'll leave a note at the desk for you." A hotel room in the mid-afternoon? The opportunity of no strings attached encounter with a man. "What's to happen?" "What you want," Treasure said obviously. "There's someone out there who wants you, but he just doesn't know yet." "This is crazy." "I'm in the business of finding people for other people - unlike my cousins, my clients are people who need each other. Let me try at least once. That's all I ask." Treasure said solidly. "You'll see I'm not wrong and for one night you'll get everything you want." Stefanie didn't believe she would get everything, but she was curious enough and in the right situation mentally to really want to see what pleasure she could possibly derive from a complete stranger. "So you'll go?" Treasure asked to confirm.

Chapter 3 Right before Stefanie had met Treasure at the college alumni affair, it had been the first time Treasure had been out in six months. Her twin sister had died from gunshot wounds. Once they began to talk at the alumni affair, Treasure revealed her plan to get people together that had a difficult time getting together. The idea had come from her family who had odd taste in partners, but since she was around a lot of wealthy clients from her cousin's business, she had garnered the respect of finding information or connecting people to where they needed to be. It was inevitable for Treasure to go into business for her own because most of her cousins had their own type of business or worked for Lethal Heart with their own specialty. She was her namesake. People trusted Treasure with information they wouldn't trust with anyone else and her knack for networking was superior to none. So with Treasure giving Stefanie an opportunity to connect with someone that would please Stefanie, the curiosity to see if Treasure really could do what she promised was just too tempting not to resist. What did she have to lose? Another night of feeling nothing? And she would still be able to get to the club without Jezica and Lauren ever finding out. "St Royals Hotel?" Stefanie asked to be sure. "Yes, I can make the arrangements immediately and you'll have to trust me through this whole thing." "And you said he had particular tastes? Kinky?" "Not the first time. Most likely it will be if you two are really compatible and any other time, I think it may get exploratory if you know what I mean." "Is he safe? I mean sexually?" "Yes. All my clients are and I know you are from your annual two months ago." "How do you-" She stopped herself. Treasure was a computer informational retrieval specialist for her cousin Lethal as well. Stefanie was very familiar with Treasure's power to manipulate a computer to give her whatever information she desired. That's why they got along so well. "Stay out of my life and my medical files," she warned. "You don't think I would ask something like this if I didn't know everything," Treasure said with a playful snort. "I have to know everything in order to please you." "I'll be there in half an hour." "You won't be disappointed." Stefanie looked at the empty pillow on the bed and knew she needed something different. Could this be what she desired all along? *** She wanted to smoke but waited until she parked and stood outside of her car to light up a cigarette. Her hands trembled as she lit the cigarette and she took five quick puffs to blow them downwind away from her hair and clothes. Grinding out the cigarette under her frumpy black pumps, she took a swig of the mouthwash she kept in the car and then looked in the mirror to see if she had to touch up the light makeup she usually wore. If she changed her mind now, would Treasure be upset? What the hell was wrong with her? This was crazy! There was still ten minutes before she had to go up and she felt a knot in her stomach began to grow. Yet, she realized she wasn't emotionally ill anymore. This was something different -Something she needed to do in order to take the next step in her life. Ever since Kenneth had given her the breakdown of what her friends owed her, she wanted to feel one time in her life that someone wanted her other than her money. She had tried to find this in men before, but today Treasure had promised her something different. Her phone rung just as she had spit out another mouthful of antiseptic mouthwash. Kenneth’s number blinked up and she answered. “Did you get my fax?” he questioned. His voice was nasal and always serious. The few times she met Kenneth Biachi, she was always amazed to know he was so young at thirty-five when he sounded and had nuances like a fifty-year-old man. She could just imagine him sitting at his large desk in front of his computer adjusting or cleaning his glasses because they never seemed to fit properly for him or were never really clean enough for him.

“When did you send it?” “Just a few minutes ago. I knew you were going out with your friends tonight, but I thought you should have details and let me know what you want to do about the debt they owe.” “Why should I really care, Kenneth?” she questioned. “Why?” he asked. “You really need to ask me that, Stefanie? Even if you just want to discount Jezica’s loan amount, I can’t ignore the figure I get when I add up what Lauren owes you. After the amount she owed from the loan, prior to that, after going through several bookkeeping errors and erasers by that dipstick nut who was handling your account, I found that over hundred thousand is owed by Lauren.” That ill feeling swelled up in her stomach. “H-How? How could she possibly owe me that much without me...” It felt hard to breathe suddenly. “Easy, Stefanie, it's not your fault totally -You were consumed by work and you were running a small company by yourself. They used that against you,” Kenneth said. “She had that accountant paying bills here and there. According to him, there was no embezzlement going. You agreed to pay some things but other things were added to accounts.” “I’m confused.” “For instance, her dry cleaning bill was paid by you several times in person over the years, but other times there were just charges that were just automatically ran. Most likely she ordered them to do this in your namesake thinking she would pay you back sooner or later. According to the accountant, this was done with your approval as part of Lauren’s tab. He kept detailed records for you about her spending with your money as if he wanted you to know or eventually ask him. I found these instances with food, salons, boutique and even clothing purchases. You paid for them one time or another at mostly specialty boutiques and she made when she was there an open account was made in your name, which she just made herself at home with.” Stefanie was getting angrier and angrier by the second. “How the hell could she-“ Too angry to even speak more, she bit her lip and wanted to light up another cigarette, but was conscious of her breath. She didn’t want this guy to feel like he was licking an ashtray. Poignant words she remembered her mother saying all the time when her mother had a “visitor” coming over. “Are you still there?” he asked worriedly. “Unfortunately, but I feel like tissue on the bottom of someone’s shoe about now. That’s a lot of money, Kenneth.” “I know and money retrieval isn’t my forte but I do have someone who can.” “I’m not sending people after my supposed friends for money like a loan shark, Kenneth. That would be cruel.” “Look over the fax and then call me tomorrow morning. Maybe you should see the details about what she did to you and then we’ll go from there.” Stefanie really wanted another cigarette but forced herself not to light up as she proceeded to the hotel. Walking to the front desk, she asked the attendee, “Do you have an envelope for Stefanie Kent?” she questioned. After a second of looking around the desk, the attendee found a black envelope with gold lettering on it. Her name was beautifully engraved on the five by eight envelope with a TH in the left-hand corner. Opening up the black paper letter that matched the envelope that was inside, Stefanie took a deep breath and read each word slowly: Do not waste today’s pleasurable moments on yesterday’s worries. Put the blindfold on before the elevator gets to the floor and then open your mind and yourself to what lies ahead. Treasure Heart. Inside of the envelope was a gold card key that read PH4. She knew that meant Penthouse and asked the attendee where she would go. The female attendee looked very impressed and said, "Penthouse four is located by the private elevators around the corner down the hall. There’s a guard before you can get on the elevators. You have to show him the key and then once you get in the elevator, there’s a slot to stick the key in. The elevator will go straight to the room.” Even Stefanie was impressed with where she was going and felt very under dress in the frumpy shoes and simple red dress. She had a red headband with her hair combed back and some earrings.

The guard was huge, but soon as she showed the key, he stepped aside and pushed a button. The doors to gold elevators opened and she stepped inside alone. Putting the key card in the slot, the elevator beeped before the doors closed and then started rising without stopping at any floors. Her heart rate pounded as she checked her makeup once again and even her hair. Feeling childish, she snatched the headband out of her hair, but then couldn’t figure out what to do with her hair without it, so she put it back in and hurriedly tried to fix her wayward strands with her fingers. Nothing seemed to work to make her feel she looked better, so she snatched off the headband and growled in frustration. It was then she remembered the blindfold and put it on so she didn’t have to look at herself, but also to obey instructions from the letter. The doors to the elevator opened and she tried her best to gracefully step out, but not used to walking in heels when she used her eyes, she stumbled clumsily out before the doors closed.

Chapter 4 There was jazz music softly playing a room away, but she couldn’t hear any noise or anyone. Her senses were definitely heightened as she felt every sound escalated and her wariness of her surroundings seemed to envelop every thump of her heartbeat. Once the elevators doors closed and she could hear the car move back down, yet still no one came to her. After a minute of just standing there, she fidgeted a little bit touching her blindfold in the front and then running her hands to the back to make sure the knot in the back was secure. “You obey very well,” a deep voice whispered beside her. She gasped startled because she had not heard anyone approach. From the distance of his voice, he was more than arms length close and tall – very tall to the point she craned her neck up. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to calm down and nod in agreement with him unsure what today or do. His hand touched her should gently. She was very aware that his fingers were long and very strong as she seemed to massage her skin down to her hands and then gripped her fingers gently to guide her to follow him. Her steps were hesitant and when she faltered again, he stopped. She could hear his breathing and she wondered if he was nervous as her, but she doubted. Her gut was far from ill, but the nervous knot was there. “You’re going to trust me?” he asked. She remembered those words from Treasure, but this was a stranger. How could she just give her trust over so easily. Her brain spoke Treasure’s handwritten words, “open your mind and yourself to what lies ahead.” “I have no choice, do I?” she asked teasingly. “You always have a choice.” His fingers lightly moved down her spine bestowing her body with tingles all over. He moved body her and wrapped one arm around her. “You can always change your mind.” His breath to her nape and his lip brushing up against her skin turned those tingles into shudders. She was very glad he was holding her firmly because her legs almost gave out on her. It took a moment before she could form words. “I want to do this. I want to feel your need.” He pulled her to his body turning her to him and Stefanie knew he was very large. The width of him was rock stolid, wide and he felt so… strong? She couldn’t describe what she couldn’t see. No one had ever given her a sensory experience like this and she was confused, scared, but damn too curious as to what was going to happen next. Treasure wouldn’t put her in the hands of a madman, would she? And since Treasure clients were all rich. Most likely this man had to have some good looks about him But he was shy - That’s what Treasure had said. Wherever he had led her, it had to be a different room than where the elevator had let her off. She could smell lavender and something sweet… honey, but she could also smell him. He wore no jacket and his shirt was made of the finest material specifically cut to fit his body … and what a body. Now that she was pressed against him, she could feel a lot more and his body was everything of her imagination - Broad muscled, hard and taunt. Orange and red light flickered and she could feel heat in this room coming from the side of her. Wood crackled in that direction and she was curious to see a real fireplace in a hotel room, but the blindfold prevented that. “Move with me,” he ordered taking both hands after moving her arms around his neck. She liked that he had to curve his body into hers slightly because she was shorter, but she wished she could walk in those horrendous looking platform heels that Lauren wore to make it easier for him. He whispered a beat of numbers in her ear and at the same time, guided her body to move with him. After a minute or so, she giggled and gasped! She was dancing! Surprised at what he had gotten her to do for the first time in her life, she missteps a little, but he only moved her so they were back on track. Who was this man?! The sound of the zipper of her dress moving down made her misstep again and, this time, trip over her own feet, but he didn’t missed a beat and dipped her into the fall. “You’re scared?” She nodded but was amazed as he held her in that pose without shaking or seeming to strain. Slowly he lifted her and at the same time her dress fell to her ankles. She was almost bare for him to see.

Instinctively she wanted to cover herself, but she kept her hands at her side as his face came into her neck again where it had been before. She had deigned to wear the only good black lace bra with matching panties that she picked up on one of Lauren’s shopping excursions at the insistence of Lauren, but this was after Lauren convinced her to buy six hundred dollars of underwear for her. His breath was warm and she succumbed to the touch of his lips as they softly pressed against her jugular vein. More kisses followed up to space behind her ear as his hands moved around her waist, making her forget that bad memory which came upon her. “Tell me what I’m doing to you,” he ordered. “Your lips make my nervousness go away,” she revealed. This made him chuckle, but she was rewarded with a much longer kiss to her cheek. “And your touch makes me forget everything except this moment.” “Would you like more kissing or touching?” he asked keeping his voice a whisper. She was in love with his voice’s inflection and deepness. “Both.” That got her another chuckle, but his hands began to feel her body all over and his mouth started back on her neck, her cheek, and her shoulders. When she could, she kissed his neck and cheek. Never once, did he make it possible to kiss him directly on the lips, but that didn’t bother her at all. She didn’t know if it was safe to touch him and with her blindfold, she was very aware of everything place he touched on her. He didn’t move between his legs with his hands and he didn’t kiss her on the lips, although at this point she would be willing and ready for both. This stranger had done more affection to her body than any man in her entire life. She didn’t regret her decision for this moment and if Treasure was there, Stefanie would have thanked her deeply. His mouth was no longer planting kisses, but suckling over to her shoulder and then back to her neck, around her throat to the other side behind her ear. His breathing had become erratic just like hers and she could feel the grip of his hands kneading her back and then her buttocks as if touching her couldn’t sate him enough. Though she couldn’t see the desire in his eyes, she could feel he wanted more of her and that knowledge fully aroused her. His right hand unhooked her bra and his left came around to cup each one as if feeling them was vital to his survival. Instead of just attacking her though as she thought he would, he pulled her again to him and held her body close to his. The gesture was so tender, she was taken aback by his motions, she couldn’t help to bring her arms up to his shoulder to surrender to his body. Stefanie could feel herself opening up mind body and soul as he lifted her up and carried her five steps over to a bed where he laid her down on her back. She heard him removing his clothes quickly and then she could feel him lean over her on the firm bed. The cover beneath her was extremely soft and his body over her was extremely hard in more ways than one. His hands returned to fondling her breasts and she bravely moved her hands up to undo his shirt. When he didn’t stop her, she continued to open his shirt and push the clothes off his broad shoulders and then he let her take off his undershirt. He was bare just like she was above his waist and instead of just diving in, he laid his body against hers. Kissing her neck and then suckling her earlobe. She vibrated from his oral touch, loving his mouth and hands worshiping her body. He descended to her chest, planting kisses on her shoulder and her arms before swooping on her breasts. She wasn’t built like Treasure, but she knew she had a handful to please any man. This man was definitely pleased by the touch of his hands that shortly followed by his lips, mouth, teeth, and tongue. Stefanie was in pure heaven as he suckled ravenously taking his time as if they had all the time in the world. Lost in moments of tremors, shudders and palpitations, Stefanie did note when she tried to touch his face he moved her hands to the side and found spots around her aureole to arouse her more. Instinctively, she ground her body against his thigh titillating her clitoris to arousal. He moved a hand over her groin to still her movements and at the same time he moved his body to the side. She groaned at the withdrawal but waited for more. He took her hand and allowed her to touch his chest. This was his way of giving her permission to explore his body, but he kept a light rein on her wrist so she wouldn’t go above his neck. Was this the issue he had? His face?

This didn’t bother her and she took full advantage of touching him. Moving to her knees, she touched his broad shoulders and wide torso. She also realized somehow he had gotten fully naked as well. This made her blush, but never hesitant to touch him. He was a naturally large man with a body built to replicate Hercules. Her fingers moved over his erected nipples and her mouth watered to taste them, but she wanted to continue her touch journey. His breathing quickened and she knew he liked his body to be touched just like hers. Was this a lesson in parameters for her? No man had ever guided her to do this yet just this alone brought her more intimacy than any moment with a man she had ever had. Moving down to his waist, she counted the ripples and couldn’t believe he had a perfect six pack. His waist was lean but powerful and her hands moved to the side. Maybe if she were Lauren or Jezica, she would be brazen enough to touch his phallus immediately, but she didn’t. He had let go of her wrist after she took her time over his stomach. Light fluttery movements across his abdomen, on the outside of his thighs and down to his thick calves had his gasping in arousal. She loved being a playful minx finding sensitive spots on her touch journey of his glorious body. Ascending, she rubbed her face on his skin, planted light kisses where he was especially sensitive and even used her shoulder length hair that was loose and most likely wild to escalate the touching she was doing to him. Again she skipped his groin area as he had done her and moved to his stomach. By now her tongue had joined the fun and the taste of his skin was thick and sweet. Before she got any farther up, he grabbed her shoulders, pulled her up to the pillows and buried his face in her neck. She heard him curse beautifully in her neck as his hand pulled down her underwear. Lifting her torso, she helped him and spread her thighs to give his fingers easy access to explore her womanly delight. His fingers missed no area and Stefanie didn’t know if he was trying to arouse her or analyze her, but she found herself unable to breathe right and she no longer shuddered. Her body trembled hard and she couldn’t catch enough air to fill her lungs. He furthered this arousal by suckling repeatedly on each breast laving his tongue around the tips, on the side before drawing each one deeply into his large warm mouth. To further sensuously torture her, his teeth would occasionally come into play over the tips and at the same time, he would flick her most sensitive spot between her legs. She was dizzy with lust and urged him to move on top of her, but it was like trying to maneuver a brick wall. “Please,” she begged. “Please let me feel you.” Finally, he moved his body over hers right before she heard something tear. He kissed her neck again as his body spread her legs to the fullest. He had to be at least six feet four and three hundred pounds of pure muscle from her determination. He took his time, despite her clawing at his back, the gyrations of her body underneath him and her begging for more. Finally, she felt his sheathed head pressed against her entrance. She stiffened and he paused as the tip easily slipped into her moisture. “No! No!” she said angrily hitting his chest. “Don’t stop! Please don’t stop!” He chuckled and she swore he let out a sigh of relief. “It feels so good. Please! Please don’t stop,” she encouraged. Her pleas were answered as he descended deeper into her ever so slow she found herself humming in a high pitch melody of the delight as each centimeter filled her. She couldn’t believe how wet she was and knew her essence was all over the bed, her thighs and him. A layer of sweat broke out all over his body as he stopped once he was at the hilt. Her legs were up and wrapped around his waist, but he was too wide for her to lock her legs around him. He didn’t lay his full weight on her and she was doubly glad about that. Kissing his neck and holding him close, she knew a whispered thank you had slipped out her lips but she didn’t care. A level of intimacy with this stranger had been reached on more than one occasion with a complete stranger than any man she had ever been naked around. Expressing her appreciation verbally without being ashamed was a delight even to her ears. Yet, he wasn’t through. He began a slow grind and at the same time work his thickened phallus in and out of her body. She had to grip his shoulders tightly to hold on for the ride of her life and swore her heart had stopped beating at one point as reality and unconsciousness slammed her senses while he rocked her subconscious universe all at the same time.

The beauty of orgasming with a partner and not by herself blew her mind just as much as the exhilarating shockwaves that racked her body. For a brief moment she came back to reality feeling him lose his rhythm for a moment shudder so deep into her, she thought her spine had popped out the back of her body and hear him grunting deeply for a very long time. Yet that was nothing compared to the shouting, screaming and cries of gratitude she was giving him until her voice box was sore, her womanhood was clearly sated and her mind fell into a pleasurable bliss of oblivion.

Chapter 5 Smiling after sex felt almost as guilty as having unmarried sex with a stranger, but both felt good in Stefanie's book. He hadn't put his weight fully on her and she reveled in the brief warmth and comfort of his body over her. Still very much blindfolded, she could hear to his breathing come under control and then felt his body move away almost abruptly. Out of courtesy, he pulled the covers up her body enough for her to reach for them and cover herself. She heard him walk away from the bed and then a door opened. "When you hear the door closed, you may take your blindfold off," he said far away from the bed on the other side of the room, just before she heard a door closed. His voice was still low and she knew even if she heard his voice on a normal occasion Warily, she pulled the blindfold off her face and looked in the direction of the voice. There was just a wall with a chair in front. On the other side of the room, she saw the fireplace and a door slightly opened leading to the foyer where the elevator was. Cautiously stepping out of bed, not trusting her legs that were still reeling from pleasure, she saw the room was beautiful just like she imagined. Looking back at the bed, she gasped at the dampness knowing fully well all of that was her. Looking in the trashcan by the bed, she saw the condom wrapper and used condom. Her worry of protection was allayed and she found her clothes. Right near the can was a table with another envelope. This one was smaller with her name on there and Treasure's logo. Opening the letter she wasn't surprised there were more instructions. Leave the hotel key on the table by the bed. Take your time getting dressed and you'll get a call tomorrow. I hope your afternoon delight was enjoyable and promises were kept. Treasure. Blushing, Stefanie found her purse that had been dropped in the lobby and she went to the extravagant bathroom. After washing up, she was pretty much already dressed for the bar she would be attending with her friends and there was about an hour to spare before they'd actually think she wasn't coming. Taking a quick shower although she looked longingly at the large bathtub and wished she could settle down inside. Getting dressed, fixing her hair and retouching the light makeup that had disappeared from her ravenous sexcapade took less than thirty, but her hold up was her longing looks at the bed she was still overwhelmed by the experience she had enjoyed not too long ago with a stranger. Before leaving, she walked over to the bed and fondly touched the sheet. One time... that should be all she needed. He was a stranger, but he revived her courage to know pleasure could be derived by two people and there wasn't anything wrong with her. Grabbing her purse, she rushed out the room, called up the elevator and headed to the club. *** Loud music and wall-to-wall people were not the only things that annoyed Stefanie as she made her way to the booth Jezica and Lauren were sitting at with a crowd of men around them vying for their attention. Even though Jezica was married, she loved the attention given to her when they went out and flirted outrageously with men. Most times, Stefanie only sat in the booth all night. Once in a while, a guy would be nice enough and ask her to dance. She would always wish for the admiration Jezica and Lauren received from men, yet never felt she was worthy of their attention. Tonight she was feeling too good to care about any looks her way and almost wanted a drink, but she knew revealing she was in a good mood was enough to make Lauren's claws come out. According to the bartender running her tab, Stefanie found out she was almost at thousand into food and drinks. "Can you send an Ameretto Stone Sweet to the table for me?" "You mean a Sour?" the bartender asked. She knew that was Lauren's drink, but she wasn't a fan of alcohol most of the time and that was really the only drink she could tolerate.

"No, I need a sweet one, please. I could care less about what they order." She signed for the tab. "Close my tab after that, please." He nodded and she left a five-dollar tip on the bar for him. Getting to the table, Lauren only said, "About damn time. I've been very concerned." Seh nudged Jezica with a wink she thought Stefanie didn't see. "Weren't we Jezica?" "Oh yeah, we were," Jezica lied. "I called your phone several times." Stefanie knew that was a lie because her phone never missed a call in the seven years she had the same mobile number and service. She didn't come out and say what a liar the both of them were, she just lied herself. "I must have not heard it then." Lauren looked at her face suspiciously "What happened to your face?" Panicked that she had not looked at her face clearly before leaving the hotel, she took out her mirror and examined her face in the dimming club lights. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. "What do you mean?" Stefanie asked trying to keep cool. Narrowing her dark brown eyes at her, Lauren said, "You look different." "She could be sick," Jezica said. "But you are beaming like the sun. You almost look pretty, Stefanie." Quickly agreeing, Stefanie said, "Yes, that could be it." "So who is that guy at the restaurant? The one that you said was a client? The one that wrote you that big as check," Lauren demanded. "Oh, it's just Lethal Heart." Jezica gasped. "That was the real Lethal Heart?" "Who the hell is that?" Lauren asked disgustedly. Stefanie knew Lauren felt she should know every man – especially any handsome man. Lauren felt the earth revolved around her world and she didn’t think anyone else would ever interrupt that polarity. The urge to ask about her money was on the tip of her tongue, but Stefanie lost her nerve as quickly as the urge as come. Making a scene in public wasn’t a good idea and Stefanie had a feeling Lauren would make one if the subject of money came up. Once they found out Stefanie had stopped the tab on the table that alone would send Lauren into a confrontation with her, which she didn’t want to face right now, just like she didn’t want to face the large debt owed. "No one you need to even think about knowing, Lauren," Stefanie warned. "Trust me when I say he's not your type. Matter of fact, Lethal Heart is no woman’s type unless he makes you his type and you really don't want to be." "I heard he killed his parents, his uncles and his aunts,” Jezica said covering part of her mouth as if Lethal were nearby listening to their conversation. “But since they couldn't find the bodies they couldn't charge him with any crimes." Stefanie realized for a homebound mother, Jezica knew a whole lot about nothing that had to do with her world. "I wouldn't know the details of his personal life. I just do some work for his business." "What kind of business?" Lauren asked. "None of your business," Stefanie countered. "He's a client, Lauren and you know I don't discuss my clients business with anyone." "You aren’t a lawyer or some silly doctor, Stefanie. All you do is stupid computer work." Stefanie really wanted to snap out that her stupid computer work had garnered her a small fortune and paid for a lot of things most likely Lauren was wearing on her body right now. Yet instead of speaking, she decided to bit her tongue as she usually did and not say a word. Letting Lauren think she got the last word for now would only be sweeter when she decided to get her money back that Lauren owed her. Kenneth’s other option was starting to look better and better. Lauren started speaking to some guy vying for her attention by their booth while Jezica began to flirt with another one. Every once in a while, Lauren would cut her eyes over at Stefanie as if she were about to turn into something. The waitress brought over the drink Stefanie ordered. Jezica was trying to catch her to order another drink, but the waitress walked away too quickly. "She'll be back," Lauren assured her. To calm her nerves and give her something to do, Stefanie took to drinking her sweet liqueur knowing all hell would break loose once her "friends" realized she wasn't going to fund their adventure anymore after tonight.

Guys had started to ask Lauren and Jezica to dance, leaving Stefanie at the booth by herself. Any other time she wouldn't have cared, but today she was feeling too good from her afternoon delight to care. Just as she was finishing her drink, the waitress came back over at the same time with another drink that looked just like hers. At the same time, Lauren and Jezica were just getting off the floor from dancing. "Oh thank you," Lauren said taking the drink from the waitress. "I'm sorry, it's not for you, ma'am. It's for Ms. Kent. A gentleman sent it over." Stefanie knew the waitress knew her name since they always came to this club and she was always the one paying for the drinks. "From who?" Lauren asked offended as if someone had the nerve to do that for Stefanie. The woman pointed to a man sitting at the end of the bar - a very handsome man who raised a similar drink up in the air. All three of them looked at the drop dead gorgeous man black man sitting at the bar in a suit that costs more than Stefanie's entire wardrobe in her closet. The lighting in the club was low and Stefanie thought maybe the stranger she had just been with had followed her there. No, that'd be crazy. Plus that would mean he had followed her and Treasure's clients wouldn't do something like that. Stefanie had set up Treasure's system herself and knew only administration could get personal information from any client. Each client was guaranteed high security on all their information and only Treasure could access their personal information. Lauren and Jezica cackled together. "You must be mistaken," Lauren said sitting down with the drink. "I'll take one too," Jezica ordered the waitress. "And hurry up. I'm so thirsty." The waitress didn't remark about Stefanie not paying anymore before leaving to get the drink. "Who the hell is that?" Jezica demanded to know as if Stefanie should know. "I have no idea," Stefanie said honestly. The club lights were low and even she thought the guy must have meant Lauren. "He'll be over soon enough," Lauren said confidently tossing her long synthetic hair back showing off her neck and batted her fake eyelashes. "Scoot away, Stefanie so he can see me better." Stefanie just thought she needed to get out of there before the waitress returned. Scooting over to get out of the booth, she bumped into a large figure and was knocked back down in the booth. Looking up, she was shocked to see the gorgeous guy standing right there by the booth looking directly down at her with a "How you doing" smile on his gorgeous face. Six feet four. Stefanie was positive that was his height. Clearly coincidence. "Hi, I'm Dexter," he said outstretching her hand, but before she even thought about taking it, Lauren jumped in front of her and took his hand with a smile. "I'm Lauren. Lauren Powell." A new Brian McKnight song came on and couples started streaming to the floor. He looked a little baffled but then turned that smile on Lauren. "Nice to meet you, Lauren." Lauren was clearly taken by this man. "I really love this song." She stroked her well-manicured fingers along the thick arm of his jacket. "I'd really love to dance to this song." Politely he took her out to the dance floor and to Stefanie's disappointment, he looked like a good dancer. Just like the stranger! Her inner voice screamed. No! It's not him, "So I got a call from your new accountant," Jezica said. Her mind cleared up from her inner voice and looked at Jezica. "When did my accountant call you?" Kenneth Bianchi didn't seem like he would actually call Jezica if Stefanie didn't give him permission or order him to. "Let me rephrase that," Jezica said. "I called him." "Why did you do that?" "Because I thought he should know what Lauren's been doing to you - Using you." "And you haven't?" Stefanie questioned, remembering everything Kenneth had said to her about Jezica's debt. Shrugging and looking longingly at the Lauren and the handsome man dance, she said, "Yeah, sure, but not as bad as she has. She told me what she was going to do and I couldn't believe you'd agree to something like

that." "Like what?" "Like the loan, she's trying to get from you for her business." "She already borrowed the money from me." Jezica spewed out the drink. “You gave her the money?!” That ill feeling returned tenfold and from darting for details with Lauren’s dance partner while she tried to figure out what Jezica knew. “First tell me why I shouldn’t have given that money to her.” In an obvious tone, Jezica sneered, "Because she's a big liar, a homewrecker, and a theive." There was a lot to ask after that statement, but with the song ending and the waitress about to come over with the check, Stefanie decided she needed to make an early night. Even though she was dying in curiosity about the stranger, she was never going to be brave enough to face Lauren’s temper. "You better go," Jezica said fearfully. "She's going to come over here gloating and get an attitude if you don't celebrate with her." She tightened up the grip she had on her glass and shot daggers over at what looked like a very happy dancing couple, but the light was so low on the dance floor, she couldn't see details of the guy’s face. Who are you fooling? No guy has ever walked up to her at a bar as gorgeous as this one and just wanted to ask her to dance to the perfect slow song. Her life was no fairy tale and she had faced that a long time ago. Getting up from the booth, Stefanie gathered her coat, but Jezica held her arm for a second. "When you get a chance, just come by the house and we'll talk more, okay?" Too upset to speak, Stefanie only nodded. "Come during the day when Nick isn't there. We can talk about a lot more when he's not around." Stefanie really wanted a cigarette and ducked out of the club never wanting to step foot in there again. Getting to her car, she grabbed her pack of cigarettes out of the glove compartment and lit up. Taking a long drag, she let the nicotine fill her lungs and then blew it out slowly. Her first inclination was to stay in the parking lot until the stranger came out and then get a better look at him, but then she decided to appease her curiosity and just ask Treasure. "Is his name Dexter?" she asked when Treasure answered the phone. "Who? The client? He told you his name?" Treasure asked. She didn't want to really get into why she was asking this crazy question to Treasure, she just wanted answers. "No. When we were together it was anonymous - just like you said it would be. I met this guy at the bar. Or he met my friend and I thought maybe..." Treasure sighed loudly. "My customers don't pick up women at bars, Stefanie. You know that. That’s why they come to me." Deep down in her gut, she knew all of that, but things were just too coincidental and she just had to hope. "Yeah, but is his name Dexter?" "No, Stefanie. His name isn't Dexter," Treasure assured her. Her shoulders hung low in disappoint. "I had to ask." "I know. You sound exhausted. Get some rest and I'll call you late tomorrow, okay?" “No, I’ll call you,” Stefanie promised feeling mentally exhausted. Putting her car in drive, she hurriedly went home and didn't stop until she was inside her loft. By that time, she had two cigarettes. Closing the door, she leaned against the door and let the day hang over her head one more time. Getting made love to by a delicious stranger and then learning your own friends were ripping you off big time was like standing barefoot on the best carpet in the world and then suddenly having it yanked from under her. Pushing away her anxiety, she went straight to the fax and pulled off the papers from Kenneth Biachi's office. After putting them in the correct order, she took out a highlighter and started to access the damage Kenneth was so concerned with. After an hour and a cup of coffee, she decided not to look at the misery of numbers anymore and go to bed. Her long day was over with and tomorrow she would immerse herself in business and try not to think about how miserable her life was.

Chapter 6 Sitting with a large cup of coffee made early that morning, she finished two clients accounts doing her best to try not to think of anything that had been happening to her for the past several weeks. Working always took her mind off of her problems and at that point, she wanted to concentrate on work than on her own life. Yet, in the corner of her screen about 9 am, an alert that Lauren had sent an email popped up in the corner of her screen. As much as she wanted to ignore the email, she was too damn curious to see what was going on in her so-called friend's world, because she definitely had nothing going on. The instant she clicked open the email from Lauren cc'd to Jezica as well, Stefanie regretted her nosiness. This was a way for them to converse during the day and keep up with each other's affairs, although usually only Lauren and Jezica talked and Stefanie would occasionally contribute a response to show she was listening. Her life was too boring to really describe in detail like they did. Hey y'all In response to Jezica's demands about what happened with the gorgeous guy last night, I'll let you both know that I had the greatest time with the most perfect guy I've ever known. (And I've known a lot of guys, LOL) After you guys ditched me (along w/the check - thanks, Stefanie!), he took me to dinner to a very expensive restaurant, ordered the most expensive thing on the menu along with two very expensive bottles of wine. I was on cloud nine when he took me out to his boat for dessert and we sailed around Belle Isle. I didn't get in until five in the morning where he lovingly kissed my knuckles after walking me to my door. He drives a current BMV and has all his clothes custom fitted. I'm just still wowed by the boat! A boat! Can you believe it?! Even his name is perfect: Dex Morgan. And tonight, he wants to go out again to Gaston's. He says he has his own private booth! Do you know how exclusive that is? OMG!! He's just wonderful with a capital W! And just as I was writing this email, I just received a perfect delivery! See photo below. There was no doubt Lauren was bragging considerably in her email. Rubbing their nose in her happiness had always been something usual for Lauren. Stefanie scrolled down and saw a picture of the most perfect dozen roses. By the time she deleted this email, Jezica had replied: You lucky bitch. He sounds like Mr. Lauren number four. Lauren responded back Don't hate, Jezica. Plus, you're married and what does it matter? It's not like I stole him from you or even Stefanie. They were speaking like Stefanie wasn't even there, but all she could respond back and say: Congrats Lauren. Make sure you invite me to the wedding. She was trying to loosely be funny, but she really wanted to type: WHILE YOU'RE OUT BEING WINE AND DINE, DID YOU FORGET TO SEND ME MY MONEY! But she didn't write that. Instead, she forced herself to work on the software program she had been hired to develop for a company. In the back of her mind she wondered just a little if this Dexter guy had anything to do with her mysterious stranger, but whenever she thought deeply enough, Treasure's words were true. A wealthy man and a shy man would never go to a club and a guy as extraordinarily gorgeous as this Dexter had never just sent a drink over to her or even think about asking her to dance. The mysterious stranger's good sex was making her believe anything was possible. Pushing those kinky thoughts out of her mind, she focused herself on work.

The joy of working at home and being called a geek didn't bother her one bit. She didn't find many women in this business and certainly she didn't find any black women here either. Three hours later, she took a break to catch up on her social networks, her website and then reluctantly checked her email again. There was nothing from Lauren or Jezica. Stefanie felt a little better and decided to order herself some Chinese although. Settling down to her Netflix queue, she wondered exactly how did the food at Gaston's taste? She remembered Jezica had waited three weeks after her anniversary for her husband to take her there and she said the food was to die for. Stefanie tried to concentrate on the movie, but that was impossible. Between constantly thinking about sex with the stranger and the trouble her friends were causing in her life, it was hard to concentrate on anything. Her cell phone rung and she almost broke her neck jumping over her couch to get to her workspace from her living room area. It was Treasure. "Did you get some rest?" she asked concerned. Out of breath, she lied, "Yeah, of course." She wasn't going to admit she had only gotten three hours of sleep because of all the tossing and turning she had done. "My client contacted me today about you." Stefanie's heart lurched in her chest. Could she possibly have a heart attack and be happy at the same time? "What did he say?" Stefanie asked trying to sound as coolly as possible. "He asked a lot of questions about you, but when he became frustrated that he wasn't getting the right answers from me, he asked if it was possible to see you again." At one moment, Stefanie really wanted to see him again, but seeing as her life seemed a wreck and getting worse with the friends in her life, was this really a good time to bring someone into her life like him? Yet Treasure's terms were always the same: No Strings Attached. "You can think about this," Treasure said feeling Stefanie's hesitation. "There's no shame in waiting." "I don't know about all this, Treasure," she said warily. "I won't rush you. I understand it was intense." "How do you know?" "I know enough." Stefanie couldn't even begin to fathom how Treasure would know what happened in that hotel room with that stranger. "Call me after you've had some time to think abut it." "I have a lot of things to think about Treasure and not just this." "We can always go for coffee. Anytime, but take all the time in the world with this client. He can wait. I want you clear headed when you see them again." Getting off the phone with Treasure, she was in lighter spirits. Although the client was anonymous, the fact he has asked for her return gave her some confidence about her own life. There was an email alert from Kenneth Bianchi and reluctantly she clicked open the note. I have to check on an investment property in Ohio for a cousin immediately. I should be back in three weeks. I’ve looked over the numbers again and know you are trying to avoid the inevitable, but I urge you to first confront her before I take further legal action to retrieve your money property. KB The familiar ill feeling tightened in her stomach, but at least this time knowing she had a little bit more time before she had to pressure her friends into anything, made her relax just a little. Maybe she could see the “stranger” again during that time to at least give her something to do while she waited for Kenneth to return to force her to make a decision on the money matter. After looking at her social network again, she decided to take a shower and turn in early. Tomorrow she would try to open her mind to crunching the numbers and able to face her problems with her friends – or maybe not. Maybe she would hide in her loft for the rest of her life and be alone. The idea was heart wrenching for her and she didn’t want to even think like that. Maybe you could just meet with the “client” every once in a while and be okay like that. She didn’t want to think like that either. Stepping out of the bathroom, she opened her robe and looked at her body. According to statistics, she was the average size woman with a fourteen-size body, flawless creamy brown sugar skin and dark brown hair with

natural streaks of auburn that ended near the middle of her shoulder blades. Most times she kept her hair in natural braids because she ditched the perm about five years ago when Lauren had referred her to the worst beautician in Detroit and the chemicals had made Stefanie's hair almost fall out. The thickness was just returning and Stefanie almost felt confident enough to wear her hair down all the time. Looking closely at her face, she had only outgrown her adult acne a year ago and the constant dieting didn't touch the last twenty pounds she needed to lose. Early the next morning she would walk to the gym about ten blocks away, which was her usual every other morning where exercised for about two hours and then returned home. This was usually the only time she got out of the house, except for her monthly lunch & "club" get together with Jezica and Lauren, with the occasionally networking session or gathering with other geeks doing the same thing she did. Sliding into bed, she sighed knowing her day tomorrow would be the same thing. Lauren would be dating a great guy, Jezica would be talking about the problem with marriage and Stefanie would be all alone. Looking at the empty pillow next to her, she pushed it off the bed and rolled the other way.

Chapter 7 Power walking always cleared her mind and with the stress of Kenneth not reminding her of what she needed to do, Stefanie thought a lot about the stranger during her morning workout. There was a call from Lauren and two calls from Jezica, which Stefanie pushed into voicemail during her workout. After getting out and walking back home, she called Treasure. “I’ve thought about it and I would like to see him again.” “Are you sure?” Treasure asked. “I think I should. I mean all of what I experienced didn’t feel real. Will I have to wear the blindfold?” “Yes, because like I said he’s very shy.” Knowing her own self, Stefanie felt good Treasure reiterated that because she didn’t think she would have been so free spirited with him if she was not also shy. “So when can I meet him again?” “Tonight?” “So soon?” “You always say that? Can you?” Treasure asked with a chuckle. *** Two hours later she followed Treasure’s instructions and went to the St. Royal Hotel to go to the desk. This time, she wore her hair in a ponytail and a simple black dress with her frumpy pumps on. Treasure had been specific for her not to wear any stockings or underwear. Feeling just a little self-conscious, Stefanie had done an extra shave of her legs and tidied up between her legs quickly. Even though she couldn’t see his reaction to how she looked down there, she at least wanted to make the visual neat. By the time her elementary trim was over, she knew she had shaved off little too much and felt practically bare down there. Since she had spent so much time “grooming” she only had a little time to apply makeup. She only had a moment for lip gloss and some eye liner, but then felt foolish for applying the eye liner knowing she would have the blindfold on again. Curiosity if the guy was even black piqued her for a second on the drive there, but just remembering how he made her feel made her even more color blind. She had to admit that this man’s lovemaking skills were above par and it certainly kept her distracted from her other life that was making her miserable. After saying her name, the attendant handed a black envelope. Inside was a card key for PH3. The elevator was in the same location and she took several deep breaths before putting on the blindfold. The doors opened and there was a soft jazz music again. The smell of honey and peaches permeated the air as she stepped off and let the elevator doors close. “Walk three steps forward,” his voice said to the right of her. Her heart beat louder and louder as she took each step in the direction he told her. All the while, she could feel him moving in front of her. “Reach your hands out until you touch my shoulders.” She reached up, but felt nothing and then started to lower them until she was going down to her waist where he kneeled in front. When her hands touched his broad bare shoulders, this seemed to be his queue to touch her thighs. His large hands were gently yet firm as they started at her ankle, moved around her calf and then up to her knees. She gripped his shoulders just a little bit tighter as he moved under her dress around her thick thighs and then to her waist. A gasp and then chuckle filtered from his lips. “Was this surprise for me?” he questioned raising her dress. “W-What surprise?” she asked innocently. He didn’t respond to her question but instead pressed his face to her bare stomach. She trembled feeling his breath deliberately blow softly over her skin. Goosebumps leaped all over her body and she lolled her head back glad for his strong hands gripping her sides. His tongue dipped into her belly button and then made little circles until her tasted every inch of her abdomen and then moved down to her thighs. Her legs were becoming weak from his breath and touch. “I-I should sit,” she begged. “My legs…” He kissed down one thigh and then up the other one.

“I’m…” She wanted to admit she had lost every ounce of sanity in her brain, but at that moment, his breath caressed the sheath over her the center of her pleasure. The room began to spin and she knew her legs were about to give out. How far was he going to go? Abruptly he stood and lifted her with him. Relief filled her because Stefanie was unsure if she could stand any longer. He lowered to her to the ground and didn’t let her go until he was assured she had her balance. She felt him move away and then he ordered, “Remove your clothes.” She didn’t hesitate to please still very much aroused his touch and wanted more. Or even if she could reciprocate… When she had removed her dress and then her bra, she didn’t shy from what he could possibly be looking at. The blindfold served it’s purpose in making her unafraid and almost wanton enough to be more seductive. “Get on your knees,” he ordered. Stefanie didn’t feel any fear as she lowered to her knees, but she didn’t know if he was close enough. “Reach for me.” Feeling upwards, she touched the edge of the bed and then his thigh. He was sitting on the bed and took her arms once she touched him to encircle his shaft. He was already thickened and one of her hands could move around his but her fingers barely touched. He was thicker than most guys she had been with and she was surprised she had taken him so easily yesterday. He released her hands and she took this as permission to freely touch him. Stefanie smiled mischievously and first took her hands to move from the base of his manhood all the way to the tip. After determining he was nine and a half inches of hardened steel with a bibulous tip, she took her time trying to memorize every nuance, texture and heat of his skin. When her fingers were satisfied, she lowered she face to him and pressed his manhood against her cheek feeling his heartbeat pump deeply against her skin. He was definitely aroused and taunt. Knowing she had turned him on completely seemed to give her even more power to turn him on even more. Pressing her lips ever so gently to the tip, she slowly circled the peak, before moving her face around the shaft. He was clean and she liked that he was with very little hair at the base. She could smell olive soap in his hairs and gasped as she nuzzled her face into his bed of follicles and then licked the inner thigh. With the tip of her tongue, she laved back to the base of the shaft and then moved up loving the thick taste of him and the warmth he provided. She heard something tear and him moaned into a pillow. Before she made it to the tip again with his mouth, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up on the bed without any stain. There was a brief moment where she heard him growl in frustration of tearing off a condom and then getting it over his shaft. Stefanie giggled knowing she had driven him crazy and didn’t mind he positioned himself perfectly to enter her. Her body was moist enough to receive him and her back arched to brace for his hard entry. “Yes!” she cried as he stroked downward rocking her hips up. He was cursing violently into her neck and she held him tight loving how his large body gyrated and then rocked against hers. Suddenly, she started to tremble from inside out and it was his turn to hold her tightly and whatever screams of pleasure she tried to vocalize was extremely difficult since she was biting down on her lip so hard. Coming down from her europhia, she hummed her pleasure. He lifted up slightly and she could tell he was looking down at her. What was he thinking? What could he see? “What?” she asked softly. Just like before he abruptly arose from the bed and then she heard a door close. “Hello?” she called out. There was no answer and she sat up in the bed. What happened? Her phone rang. She remembered dropping her purse where her dress and she scrambled out of the bed with the blindfold on, found her purse and then her phone. “Are you okay?” Treasure asked. “Yes. I’m okay. He left. Suddenly. I didn’t think I did-“

Treasure cut her off. “It’s okay. He thought he was too rough.” How could he think that? She wondered to herself. “You can take off your blindfold and get cleaned up. Leave the key, take your time and I’ll talk to you later,” Treasure promised. Getting in the shower, she wondered why would the client think he hurt her? True he had only been a little rough. Her arms where he had jerked her up was still a little sore and she was slightly tender between her legs, but it wasn’t enough to say she was hurt. So he was shy and overly tender? If that was so, why was he so different when he made love to her. He was so confident and virile when he was with her. When she got out of the shower, after drying off, she put on her dress and returned to the room. Stefanie looked at the direction she saw the door closed. There was no door there – just a wall with a chair in front of it. Going to the chair, she leaned down to see maybe she was missing something. When she tried to move the chair out of the way, she realized the furniture was bolted to the wall and not to the floor at all. Looking at the wall, she realized the partition where this chair was small for no reason at all and most likely this was a secret doorway. She wanted to take the time to look this structure over, but being a computer geek, Stefanie knew she could get on a computer or go downtown and get the plans for this building. Grabbing her purse and shawl, she did as instructed by leaving the key on the table and getting the elevator to her car. Turning her phone on after she lit her cigarette, she saw there were two missed calls from Lauren. Checking her text messages and she saw Lauren's all capital demanding text message: WHAT DOES A PERSON HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO GET YOU TO DO AS YOU'RE TOLD! BRING ME MY DRY CLEANING! Stefanie deleted the message and dragged on her cigarette quickly, but after she was done, she immediately lit another one. Annoyed to death, she put the car in drive and started toward the dry cleaners Lauren usually used. She would gather in bravery and use this as an excuse to talk to Lauren about the money.

Chapter 8 Lauren's apartment was over in the Woodbridge area. Stefanie remembered her bragging about her new apartment for days after she'd moved into there two years ago and how difficult it had been to get a place there. Stefanie sickeningly recalled how Lauren constantly boasted how her furniture and accessories were imported, very expensive or one of a kind; Sometimes they would be all three. Since she already knew the code to get in, she utilized her access and went straight up to Lauren's apartment. The dry cleaning bill was over a thousand dollars. Lauren had been sending clothes over there and making the guy put it on "her tab," until finally the guy was withholding the clothes until her tab was paid. Stefanie knew this was why Lauren needed her to pick up the clothes, because she didn't want to pay for the amount -Just something else to gnaw at Stefanie's gut and make her ill about this whole situation. Instead of getting the hidden key from atop the doorframe, she decided to knock. Lauren swung open the door as if she was expecting someone else, but then her shoulders slump in disappointment when she realized it was Stefanie. "You didn't see Dex down there, did you?" she asked hopefully. The fact that she didn't even greet her irked the hell out of Stefanie. "No, I didn't. Why would you tell some strange guy where you live?" "Dex is not a stranger." She smiled triumphantly and swirled a synthetic piece of hair. "I'm really starting to think he is going to be the next Mr. Lauren. No, let me correct that, I know he is. He's just wonderful upon wonderful, Stefanie," she gloated musically. Stefanie was feeling ill by the moment. Rudely, she dumped the clothes in Lauren's arms and then let herself into the apartment. "Were you expecting guests?" Lauren gaped at the load in her arms and had to stumble back from the weight of the clothes. "Please come in," Lauren mocked as if she invited Stefanie in. Immediately walking into the apartment, Stefanie noticed that exorbitant furniture and art around Lauren's apartment was missing. Everything else was in boxes or stacked up in odd places. The only thing not packed was Lauren's glass desk with her computer. There was paperwork spread out everywhere even worse than Stefanie's desk, but she had never known Lauren to be disorganized. Stefanie bravely faced Lauren and produced the bill to the dry cleaning. "Can you write me out a check for this amount, please?" Lauren pushed the bill away as if Stefanie's hand was an annoying fly. "As if you're in dire need of it." "It's just that I don't want any more outstanding debt with you, Lauren." Narrowing her beady brown eyes making her artificial eyelids look even longer. "What's that supposed mean?" This was the perfect segue to what she wanted to speak to Lauren about. "I mean you can't forget you owe me for the large amount you borrowed from me." "Your stupid computer job not working out for you anymore, Stefanie? You're struggling for money like real people?" "It's not that, Lauren. My business is fine, but I'm tired of paying for things that I'm not responsible for-" Lauren cut her off, "Does this have to do with your stupid new accountant? You actually think I care what he thinks? This isn't about him! This is about our friendship and friends don't go around begging for their money back." She suddenly calmed down and smiled. "You know I'm good for it. I've got orders coming in all the time, I'll pay you back." Before now, Stefanie would have been placated by this answer and left the subject alone, but she knew in three weeks Kenneth Bianchi was going to come back in town and start badgering her about this whole money mess. No, she didn't need the money or a real promissory. She wasn't financially struggling, but it was just the principal and what Jezica said. "So why didn't you get in touch with me when the loan payments were due if you were going to pay the money back?" Lauren coolly shrugged, "Because I was busy! Building a business is no joke, Stefanie. You should know that or since you got money thrown at you all the time, you have it real easy, but people with real talent need to work hard and you wouldn't know anything about that."

She tightened her fist really wanting to smack the taste out of Lauren's mouth but decided it wasn't worth the fight right now and maybe this was just a ploy to deter her from asking more about the money. Instead of getting angry, she said, "Business and friendship never mix. Even you have said that Lauren, so when I come to you to honor a signed contract about the money you borrowed for your business, putting our friendship between us because you didn't honor the contract is not right." Lauren's jaw tightened, but that fake smile increased. "You're so right, Stefanie. So how about you give me a couple of months and I'll see what I can do." Time was a factor in this situation and Stefanie knew Kenneth Bianchi was not going to take that with nothing signed in stone. When he came back, he would press for a more legal way to get the matter. "How about you check your books and at least give me something by next Friday as a way to show my accountant you really intend to pay. Half of the payment owed until now?" "How about -" Lauren stopped what she was going to say and bit her lip. "Yeah, sure, this Friday. That's really no problem." "Of course it shouldn't, Lauren. I mean with orders just pouring in, you shouldn't have any problems at all," Stefanie said simply and put the bill on Lauren's desk. "Do you think you could write me a check for this now." "But I thought-" she stopped herself again. "Yeah, sure." Going behind the desk, she took out her checkbook and wrote a check quickly. While she was writing the check, Stefanie looked around the apartment still noticing how empty everything looked. Casually she asked, "What's going on with your place and where's all your stuff?" Huffing, Lauren passed the check to Stefanie. "It's really none of your business, but if you must know, a prepared mind is favored by chance. It's a chance I met Dex and it's a chance we're going to be married." "You just met him!" Lauren came around the desk folding her arms around the desk, shooting her beady eyes at Stefeanie as if they were invisible daggers. "When people know they're in love they know what they want, but of course you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" "You don't know if I've been in love," she said defensively. Cackling, Lauren snipped, "You would have told the world, Stefanie trust me. Remember I’ve known you since high school. I know where you came from and what you went home to." Stefanie looked away feeling the tightness in her chest. Memories of growing up listening to the nagging and berating every day of her life made it tough for her to swallow. Even after she made her money, the mental abuse her mother made her endure made her head hurt just thinking about it. Sighing whimsically, Lauren continued as she picked up the jacket that gorgeous guy had been wearing that night. "Dex and I are two like minded people who should be together. We knew that from the moment we danced together. I know you were watching." Narrowing her eyes suspiciously and noted, “Although you have been acting funny and looking strange lately.” Touching her face as if she had something on her face, Stefanie asked, “What’s wrong with the way I look? Is there something wrong with my face?” “It’s the same as the club. Like… ” Lauren frowned with her eyes still severely narrowed. “Are you sick?” “No! I feel fine, Lauren.” She felt this was another ploy to get away from the subject of money. Lauren looked skeptical. “You sure? When was the last time you went to a doctor?” “I had an annual exam recently,” Stefanie answered quickly. “I’m fine.” Snapping her fingers abruptly, Lauren said, “I know! Oh my gawd, I can’t believe I remembered?” “What?” Stefanie asked. “Your mother! It’s your mother’s anniversary of her death. Like a couple of days ago, right?” Stefanie realized she had forgotten all about her mother’s anniversary, which was always observed at midnight on the same night when she had first been with her mysterious stranger. Usually, she would go to the cemetery and lay flowers on her mother’s gravesite at midnight, but this year the encounter with the stranger must have made her forget. “I remembered that’s why Jezica said that’s why you left the club so quickly,” Lauren said. “Damn, I remember how vicious she treated you.” Shaking her head pitifully, “I see why you struggled so much to be smart.” Imitating Stefanie’s mother using a nasal voice with a lisp, Lauren screeched, “You ain’t never gonna learn shit in ‘dem books, Tepanie! Get you a job so we can have some food.” Lauren cackled again outrageously.

"She always said when you get tired of being tired, you'll start to fight back. Remember, Lauren? Remember she used to yell at me about that." Lauren stiffened. "But you never got tired of her." "She was my mother. I guess maybe I subconsciously got the message after so long." Quickly changing the subject not wanting to speak about her mother with Lauren, Stefanie asked, “How'd you get his jacket?" "It's obvious," Lauren said with a wicked smile. "But no guy has deliberately left his clothes at your place. It must be tough always being our sloppy seconds, right, Stefanie?" The pain of those words and all her encounters before meeting Treasure's stranger were just like that. Stefanie knew she'd lose it if she stayed there any longer. "I'll send a messenger for the check, Friday," she said stiffly trying to keep her composure. "No bother. I can have my own messenger service drop it off. Dexter and I are going on his boat for an overnight so I don't want to be waiting around for you." Stefanie made her way out of the apartment and looked down at the check in the elevator. Something in her gut told her she needed to get the bank as soon as possible. Glad to be back in her car, she lit up a cigarette as soon as she started taking off. *** When she was on her way home from the bank, she decided to unexpectedly stop in on Jezica. Since it was during the day, she knew Nick wasn't there, but she did slow her roll before turning in the driveway just to be sure remembering Jezica's warning. Niki, Jezica and Nick's youngest daughter was coming out of the house with Nick's mother-in-law. "Hi, Ms. Wright," Stefanie said. "Oh, hello there, Stefanie." Ms Wright was always happy to see Stefanie and she knew it was because all during the first two years of college, his mother had been so sure he would be with Stefanie. They had only been really good friends and he'd even brought Stefanie home on their first Christmas. According to Ms. Wright, Nick couldn't stop talking about Stefanie from the first day he met her. If Nick wasn’t hanging around his smelly, four hundred pound, bleach blonde, white friend Daxopholos Black or with his nose in a book, Nick and Stefanie were together. Daxopoholos finally got the message that Nick wasn’t going to follow the “bros before hoes” philosophy and transferred to MIT in his sophomore year. Stefanie never asked any questions about Nick’s massive high school friend, but only knew Daxopholos had no friends, except for Nick because of his size, other physical features, and smell that turned others away from him very quickly. Yet Nick always said Daxopholos was one of the best persons he ever knew. Stefanie couldn’t get near the smell of him to even try, although sometimes when he thought she wasn't looking she would catch him glaring at her or peaking around a corner watching her. After Daxopholos was gone from college, Nick spent even more time with Stefanie. They were geeks coming in college, so their kindred spirit matched perfectly and he was impressed by Stefanie's early adoption algorithm that was way before her time. Yet Jezica was always looking for a "rich brain" to supplement her dream of being a stay at home mom and doing whatever she wanted. "There's nothing a light switch can't fix," Jezica used to always say. So while Lauren went after the jocks, Jezica always stalked chess clubs at high school or the honor classman. She dated only valedictorians for the summer and she made sure she wasn't with a guy unless his GPA was over 3.8. Nick had the perfect GPA. Matter of fact, he and Stefanie were competing and it wasn't long until Jezica found out his stats and went after him right after Christmas breaks brazenly. Stefanie knew she was no match for Jezica, so she didn’t try to fight it. It was as if she sat on the sideline as she watched them stick together like bees to honey; Kissing for hours on end in the bed across from her because Jezica was her roommate in junior year and watching them date at school events was almost too much too bear, but Stefanie thought she was being strong staying. Since she was two years ahead of her “friends,” she received her Master’s in Technology Engineering at the same time Lauren and Jezica were receiving their Bachelors. When Stefanie decided she wanted to just return to Detroit and sell off all her mother’s assets to start her own software business, Lauren magically got a job in Detroit and then a year later Nick and Jezica moved in Indian Village – a very expensive division in Detroit. “You look more and more beautiful every time I see you, Stefanie,” Ms Wright said, her black soft eyes dancing in pleasure.

Stefanie noticed the older woman’s hug was longing than normal. “It’s always good to see you, Ms. Wright.” "And you I." She took Stefanie's hand. "They haven't fallen off from all that typing you do, have they?" She chuckled. "No ma'am. They're as strong as ever." "You're strong and I just wish... I just wish..." She looked at the house and tightened up. "Sometimes people rub off on one another. You'd have been good for my Nicholas. Very good." "Nick loves and adores Jezica, Ms. Wright. I'd never get in the way of that." "But you could have come around more." "Well, Jezica said it wouldn't be right with them being married. I had to respect that and you know it." Ms. Wright sighed. "You're right. How've you been? Did you go see your mother?" Without lying, she only half nodded her head so she wouldn't have to endure the shame of not going, but not fully lying to Ms. Wright. This woman had been around when her mother had died while she was in college and even helped with the funeral arrangements. "No matter what happened, Stefanie. Your mother would be very proud of you now. And she only thought she would make you stronger with her words." Her mother's words never made her stronger, but she couldn't think about that now. She was there to see what more Jezica could tell her of what was going on. Niki grabbed at her grandmother’s skirt. “Come on, Grannie. The park! The park!” “We’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Ms. Wright promised. She watched them walk down the street hand and hand wistfully wondering if she and Nick had stayed together, would they have turned out a beautiful child as Niki. “She is the wicked bitch of the east,” Jezica sneered coming out of the house and looking down the street where Ms Wright and Niki were walking down. Ms. Wright had never done or said anything ever wrong to Stefanie so she couldn’t agree with this statement. "She’s always been nice to me, Jezica.” “Of course. She wanted her dorky son to marry your dorky butt, so ya’ll could make some double dorky babies.” “Ha ha,” Stefanie said, trying to look like that was humorous. “Are you here after threatening Lauren?” “What do you mean?” “I just got off the phone with Lauren and she said you came over and demanded money and payment for the loan.” “I never threatened her!” Stephanie vehemently denied.

Chapter 9 Jezica looked the other way from where her child and mother-in-law walked and then rubbed her shoulder even though it wasn't that cold outside. Jezica was a lightly boned woman with very beautiful features. Today, when she usually wore her hazelnut hair down and curly, she had pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. Some jeans, plaid shirt, and camisole underneath complemented her casual style. She was five-two and usually wore heels but today she was only in some house shoes with socks on. "Let's get inside. Did you have to park so close to the house?" "What are you so scared about? Nick's too busy at work to worry about what's going on at home." Leaning forward and smelling Stefanie, Jezica looked at her warily. "You still smoke?" Ashamed, Stefanie said, "Only in my car. I'm still trained never to smoke in the house by my mother." Shrugging a shoulder, she admitted, "I know that's crazy." "It's not, but take your jacket off in the foyer so you're not sitting on my furniture with that smell. You need to quit Stefanie. It's not very good for you." They walked in the house and Stefanie paused at the front door to do a ritual that was common at Jezica's house. Shoes automatically came off at the door and she took her jacket off out of respect just for Nick's house and so she wouldn't hear Jezica's mouth. "Why are you paranoid about Nick seeing me here?" she asked Jezica. "Because I just know his evil mother's been putting guilt in his head about how he should have married you and not me," Jezica sneered. "That woman has hated me from the day I met her. Constantly comparing me to you and how you'd have made a better wife. I don't see how when you don't clean or cook or anything. You just sit around and look at a computer all day like Nick. I gave her a grandbaby and that still didn't make her happy. Now she's hinting for another one, but you know what, it won't happen!" Her voice was filled with triumph. "I tied my tubes right after Niki." "Does Nick know about that? I thought Nick wanted more children and I know Nick especially wanted a son." "Nick won't get shit from me and I could care less. No one cared I almost died bringing that brat in the world." Jezica walked into the kitchen and Stefanie followed. "All they care about is Niki this and Niki that. Fuck that! If I hadn't signed that prenup, I'd have left his bitch ass a long time ago." "You signed a prenup?" "I thought I was doing it for him, but then I found out it had been his mother who had insisted upon it, but I didn't know I'd be marrying her ass with Nick. She moved in right after we got married and hasn't left yet. Always watching me, whispering in Nick's ear about me and make snide comments about how others could do things better." Stefanie didn't know life was so miserable for Jezica. No wonder why her supposed friend cavorted with other men happily. "Have you told Nick about this? About how miserable you are with him, Jezica? Given him a chance to make you happy?" "He says his mother is only looking out for his best interest like a good mother should be. HA! That's a load of crap. Cynthera Wright doesn't have one good mothering bone in her body. Not after how I see she treats her stepson." This was news to Stefanie. As long as she had known the Nick, she didn't know he had a stepbrother or that Ms. Wright was married before this. "She has a stepson? Are you sure?" Jezica waved her hand as if she was pushing this subject off the table. "Don't start getting me to talking about that witch. Tell me why you threatened Lauren?" "I never threatened her. I just discussed firmly that I would like at least half of the payment owed as a good faith to my new accountant she'd be paying the rest back eventually." Jezica offered some cold tea and Stefanie nodded. While Jezica poured her glass, she said, "Well, I can tell you now, she won't be paying that back, Stefanie. Even before she borrowed that money she had no intentions of paying that back and I know she doesn't even have money to pay anyone back." "She said she's getting orders all the time." "Ha!" Jezica slammed the plastic picture on the counter. If the container had been glass, it would have broken from the force. "Wake up and smell the motherfucking coffee, Stefanie! You aren't going to see a dime of that money from Lauren." "How are you so sure?"

"Cause she owes me five thousand dollars which she clearly borrowed over two years ago and hasn't paid back." "Maybe she didn't see it as a loan." "Oh, that bitch knew it wasn't a loan." Jezica angrily slammed the refrigerator and turned back to Stefanie with her hands on her hips. "I told her that money was supposed to be used for some private matter I needed before Nick found out about and she promised to pay me back before the money was due to be owed. That bitch almost got my ass in so much hot water with Nick it's taken me this long to cover my activities from him all over again." "What activities?" Stefanie asked taking a sip of the tea. There was very little sugar in it, so she put it down and picked up the sugar jar to use. "That's none of your business, Stefanie and quit trying to change the subject." Stefanie sighed and rubbed her head wishing she could smoke right now. "So how do you know she doesn't have any money? And that she intended to embezzle money from me in a fake loan?" "A year and a half ago we were on a high after our night out and she was just pissed about her forth divorce and you." "What did I do to make her piss?" "Quit playing innocent, Stefanie. You know Lauren's always felt she should be getting paid for her beauty and angry because you're getting paid for your brains." "I won't be sorry for the residuals I get for the things I created. I've worked hard to make things happen for me and I won't be apologetic for it." "Yeah, but Lauren always thought some magic fairy would swoop in an agent, take her off to Paris and make her into a super cover model for life. You see how I had to work to make sure I didn't work." Stefanie thought Jezica's stupid plan was making her miserable by the hour. "So you were getting high and what happened?" "She went on this tangent about how she wanted to live Scott free and she was going to do it because you were going to give her a hundred thousand dollars to do it. When I asked her what if Stefanie wants the money back, she cackled and said you'd be too punk to even ask for it back. She called you a spineless sniveling coward and you'd rather suffer silently than fight recklessly. I thought she was just high, but I didn't think she actually accomplished it." Stefanie gripped the counter angry her friends didn't even respect the money she spent on them. There was a feeling that Jezica wasn't telling her the whole thing and maybe she contributed to Lauren's idea and possibly egged Lauren on to do this. "Why didn't you ever come and say anything to me Jezica?" she asked earnestly. "You should already know the answer to that question, Stefanie." Shaking her head, Stefanie looked confused and hurt because even when she thought she knew her friends feelings regarding her, she had not expected them to run so deep with hatred. "No, I don't know the answer to that question, Jezica. Please tell me why you choose never to say anything to me about Lauren's deceit you clearly knew about in advance." Jezica looked as if Stefanie's words were hurting her and she wrapped her arms around her stomach as if there was some pain there as well. "Don't think I don't know Nick's heart was into you before I got a hold of him. And how I've had to fight to win his love and then fight to make him appreciate me when all the time he thought about you and wished he was with you. Why you think I made it uncomfortable for you to come over and why I make it difficult for you to even call here anymore? Because my husband was cheating on me in thought before we were even married. I even convinced him to elope just so you couldn't be a part of any wedding pictures. I'd accused him so much of cheating all the time, he just stopped trying to do anything to contact you." She slammed her fist on the counter. "I was jealous of you Stefanie. Is that what you want to hear?" "I don't want to hear that Jezica. I didn't ask for you to be jealous of me. I've done absolutely nothing for you to be jealous of me." She stood up. "I find that hard to believe because you have everything you want. You've got a good man, a baby, a good home and a good life, yet you're still unhappy." "Because I thought I needed all that in order to be happy and I look at you and see you've succeeded without it. Now I wish for your life, just like Lauren. I wanted her to take your money and maybe put a dent in your finances or just hurt your feelings so you'd be miserable, somehow." Stefanie gripped her chest and turned away not wanting Jezica to see how hurt she really was. "All this time, I've wished I never put my nose to the books, just so I could have the popularity you guys had. When

people freely came around you guys, I had to pay my own friends to come around me." She used the back of her sleeve to wipe the tears off her face. "You guys have men while I..." She didn't finish that sentence off because she'd reveal what she had been doing with the stranger. "...I have no one. No one to hold me, no one to lay with me at night, no one to appreciate the hard work that I do." "But you have money!" Jezica said. "You have the freedom to do anything you want." Turning around and glaring at the shallow bitch, Stefanie said, "All the money means nothing if I haven't anyone to share it with. And that's what I have. Nothing. No one!" She stormed out of the house hoping that she didn't have to say she never wanted to lay eyes on Jezica ever again. *** Getting to the car, her hands shook as she put the light to the cigarette end. She could barely get a breath in and hurried to get the car going to get as far away from Jezica's house as possible. The tears running down her face almost made it impossible for her to see where she was going. Her phone rang. It was Treasure, but she really didn't want to speak to her right now. Stefanie pushed the call into voicemail and drove home to sulk in the misery of her life. *** Treasure called three more times that night, but she avoided those calls along with the two calls the next morning. Jezica never called or sent any kind of messages. The next morning, Stefanie received an email from Treasure. Since she had to look in her emails for her work, there was really no way to avoid opening the email and she read the short message. "You okay?" the email asked. "No, but I'll be okay." Stefanie responded. "The client wants to see you again," Treasure responded back. Staring at the screen for a couple of minutes, she knew she had too much going on mentally to really enjoy the client just physically any more. Yet she wanted to at least try before she gave up. "Would I be overstepping anything if I requested a face to face meeting? I would like to get to know him better mentally than physically." It took Treasure half a day to respond. "The client had declined the invitation for a face to face meeting." Maybe it was because she was already feeling very sensitive but those words hurt her in more ways than one. "Then let him know I won't be interested in joining him ever again. Thank you for what you have done, but I find myself bored with the arrangements. I no longer want this "situation." Treasure didn't answer back for the rest of the night and Stefanie felt this only compounded her misery. Her friends used her and she couldn't get a man to even spend time with her other than to use her body. She couldn't blame anyone except herself. All this time, she had allowed Jezica and Lauren to use her and pretended blindly that everything was fine when everything really wasn't. Even she wanted to, she couldn't even blame the treatment from her mother. The woman was long dead and by now, Stefanie should have gotten over the mental and sometimes physical abuse the woman put her through. Curling in her bed late at night when her eyes could no longer look at the computer screen, she fought the urge not to cry, but it wasn't until she let herself go, that she felt a lot better, crying herself to sleep.

Chapter 10 The next morning and the morning afterward, she encased herself into her home after wrapping her head around work for long hours at a time. Other than peanut butter sandwiches, she drunk lots of water and found she was even too depressed to even smoke. When she came up for air, it was only to read her email. Obviously, Jezica had not said one word to Lauren, because she received a casual email from Lauren also addressed to Jezica as well. Hey girls, guess who’s going out on the boat tonight with the most gorgeous man ever! Of course I’m not going to kiss and tell, but I will let you know I’m going to scream until my lungs fall out of my body for his good hot sex, LOL. Jezica had the nerve thirty minutes later to respond as if nothing was wrong between anyone. “I’m almost jealous. You’ll take pictures won’t you? Shoot some over to us.” Stefanie wasn’t in the mood to be polite anymore and just deleted the messages and went back to work. A couple of hours later, her phone beeped and she saw a beautiful Benz that looked right off the showroom floor on her phone from Lauren’s phone number with a comment “Look at what I’m about to get into.” As she deleted that one, she also felt like throwing the phone across the room. At this point she really didn’t want to face reality and wanted to light up a cigarette in her house, but ingrained to never do that, she just quit work early, made herself a big bowl of ice cream and camped out on her couch with her Netflix ready to go for her. The more time passed, the more miserable she became as she thought about her life in whole. No real friends, no real man, and a shell out a place she only used to rest her head. There wasn’t much to come home to. Some sparse furniture in the front room that had a massive couch and a 27-inch television, necessities for the kitchen where she could warm up restaurant takeout food and then there was her bedroom which only had a bed, dresser another smaller television and a bedside table. The bathroom barely looked lived in because she believed a nice bottle of lotion and soap were really all she ever needed in order to feel womanly. Most times she didn’t feel like she needed to take time with her body and she thought she was doing good by shaving her legs and underarms plus exfoliating other smaller places. She didn’t do the spa or luxury baths or massages that Lauren and Jezica treated themselves too. It always felt wasteful and the idea of some man or woman touching her intimately all over … even as she thought about it presently, she shuddered at the idea. Her phone rung and she was glad to see Treasure’s number on the line instead of Jezica or Lauren. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Treasure asked concerned. “Because that greeting did not sound like you are.” Stefanie took little notice she was on speakerphone, but that didn't bother her. “I’m really fine,” she tried her best to sound upbeat, but it was difficult to sound like she was fine. "I know you said you no longer wanted the situation with the client, but he inquired very recently if you would like continue or changed or mind?" Taking a deep breath so tempted to take up the client's offer to get her mind off of things and to make herself feel good, she knew that wouldn't solve the problem of her current depression. “I know we aren’t close friends Stefanie, but it really sounds like you need one and I listen pretty well.” Stefanie wiped the tears that suddenly burst forth from her eyes from her misery that seemed to weigh heavy on her chest since she had come home from Jezica's house. The revelation of her friends' deceit had been hard to just ignore even though she had tried, but now it was just too much to bear. “I know your sister is gone, but how did it feel to have a best friend?" The line was very quiet for a long moment and then Stefanie heard a click to indicate she was no longer on speakerphone. Treasure rarely spoke about her twin sister, who was murdered not too long "She was my best friend and best friends are wonderful. They're the essence of life you need when you can't take life anymore." "Was it because she was your sister? Your twin?"

"No," Treasure said. "Friends. True friends are the people in your life that you need to make it on that bad day and they make days whether bad or good better. Friends don't have to be relative or even the same gender, Stefanie. Their human beings we need in our lives to let us know we're still human and no matter how bad or good we are, there's someone who'll always be there for you." She pulled the phone down on her chest to hide the sob that escaped her lips. When she pulled the receiver back to her ear, she said, "Thank you for that, Treasure. I guess since... since I never had it, I wanted ... no, I needed to hear what it was like." "I'm sorry, Stefanie. I'm sorry you never felt I was a real friend, but I can be." "It's not that. It's not you. I just... I blame myself for not really getting tired of being tired of having nothing, but from this point on, I think I know and understand that I need more." "And you'll have a friend. Me. Okay?" "Thanks, Treasure. Thank you so much." She was suddenly exhausted. "I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe I can peel these clothes from my body, wash up do, stick to my regular schedule and we can have lunch somewhere when it's all done." "That would be perfect. Lethal needed me to get some software modifications over to you personally anyway. I'll bring them along." She hung up feeling a whole lot better. Getting into bed after a long hot shower, she noted tomorrow would be Thursday. In the morning, she would start back at the gym which was her usual and really start to change her life around. *** Waking up at six, she saw the forecast predicted rain for later on in the afternoon, but since she planned to be back at her home before ten, she didn't feel the need to bring an umbrella. Since the gym was less than half a mile, she decided to jog over there from her place. The first drops of rain hit her shoulder just as she was walking in the gym and she prayed it was just some light shower, but by the time she got off the stationary bike, drenched in sweat, the rain had escalated to what looked like tornado weather. Standing at the door of the gym, she tried to wait the outpouring of rain anxiously wanting a smoke and wishing she had drove over. "Hey you," Dexter said, with the most gorgeous smile on his face, sliding up to her from behind. "I know you, don't I? Looking up into the softest brown eyes of the six foot two large handsome dark coffee skinned man, she felt the air completely leave her chest. The smile was just too mesmerizing and she was clearly speechless. What a coincidence? Or was it? Why she felt apprehensive with the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl at the same time was really strange to her. “Do you remember me?” he asked when she just continued to stare at him as if he were some apparition appearing in front of her. Nervously, she grasped his already outstretched hand. “Yes, I do. You’re Dex, right?” “Dexter,” he corrected her. “I remember you from the club. I bought you the drink.” Warily, she corrected him, “You mean you bought Lauren a drink.” He shook his head and flashed his gorgeous smile. “You drink yours sweet. I know what I was ordering. The bartender told me exactly what you like to drink.” the thought that he was trying to meet her initially really blew her mind. “You wanted to meet me?” she asked to be sure. “Of course. I’m a fan of your work.” “My work?” she was apprehensive again. “Yes, I work in security at Black Technologies. We use a lot of the software you created to securely hide back doors for software developers at our firm.” Immediately familiar with the company she said, “I’m a fan of Axel Black’s algorithms on hacking, but how do you know me? I usually don't make myself known at a lot of technical functions and I certainly know techies don't hang out at bars like that." He flushed with a little embarrassment. "Yes, I know that for sure. I saw you at a couple of conferences last year and I was surprised by the fact you had brains and beauty, but I was way to overwhelmed to even introduce myself to you the few times I saw you."

She could believe that he'd seen her at conferences. Even though she had declined several keynote speeches, she still tried to attend for the workshops and even networking because of the clientele those events offered. Yet, most people didn't know how she looked because of her shyness she elusive on purpose. Dexter continued, "I went to the bar that night, looking for my little sister who had gotten herself stranded on the wrong side of town. I was so pissed about hunting her down that I needed a drink before taking her home and that's when I saw you." His smile became brighter. "I can tell you, seeing you made me change my mind about the screwed up day I was having. I asked the bartender to send you over a drink." "So that drink really was for me?" "Yes," he said. Defensively, she asked, " But you asked Lauren out on the dance floor?" Shaking his head, he said, "Lauren asked me to take her out on the dance floor. I didn't want to be rude and I thought after I placated her I would be able to come back to the table and enjoy that drink with you." He truly looked disappointed. "I didn't know you'd make your exit while we were dancing." "I had a lot of work to do," she quickly lied. This was Lauren's man or at least her intended man and whatever intentions he had originally now that Lauren had her hooks in him, Stefanie wasn't going to get in between that pursuit. "Just like I do now and I really should be going." Unfortunately, the rain seemed to get harder just at that point and she didn't know if she could even see how to get home, let alone walk by herself. "Wait! Please," he insisted. "Like I said, I've seen you at a distance, but it took a lot on my part to introduce myself to you initially and now that Lauren's not around, I really would like to -" She cut him off because even if he was interested in her, she knew getting in the way of Lauren would be hell gone wrong. "I really can't," she said adamantly. "I shouldn't because I know how Lauren feels about you." He looked hurt. "And you wouldn't want to hurt your friends, would you?" Tightly, she said, "No, I wouldn't." There was a look of severe pain as if she had really cut deep with those words, but then that look was gone and that soft, gorgeous smile returned. "Then at least I thought you'd like to meet my boss." Now that was certainly something to make her root to her spot. Axel Black was even more elusive than she was. Most times, he sent proxies or other company employees in his place. He had been a well-known hacker in her college days until the police caught up with him and turned him. Shortly after he started developing complex hacking software that even the government uses to this day. There was really no documented picture of Axel Black anywhere and even employees have admitted no one had ever admitted meeting him... yet now? Was he just trying to pull her leg? Or get her to meet him behind Lauren's back. "I could meet you later," she said trying not to be overly excited at the opportunity, yet still skeptical. "At your offices." Stefanie felt that was the best place to meet him and Lauren wouldn't dare be jealous of that hopefully. “Why wait until later? You can meet him now.” He suddenly became on edge and looked to her right. She followed his eyes and gasped as if someone had stabbed her eyes out. Blinking rapidly, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Walking up to her was a six foot seven, dark golden haired sublime perfection of a man. When he got close enough to look down at her, she realized he had Heterochromia iridium. One of his eyes was cerulean and the other was chartreuse. Lord, the man was uniquely handsome - despite the fact he was white. His skin was a perfect natural tanned and there were muscles bulging on top of muscles. The white tank top and jogging shorts that looked like they were painted over his large body showed her every huge muscle he possessed. He stopped abruptly arms length away from her and instead of extending his hand out, he clutched the towel around his neck further highlighting the sexiness that drenched from every pore of his body. This was the elusive Axel Black?! WTF?!

Chapter 11 When her chest started to scream for air, she amazingly kept her cool and took a deep breath in and then let a long breath go. Her eye completely stopped twitching and on the outside, she looked like a clear level headed woman, but on the inside, she was a frazzled hot mess. Just when her hair looked the worse and her clothes were wrinkled and sweaty, she had to meet a man she'd idol for the longest in the technology business. It had nothing to do with the fact Axel Black was sickeningly filthy rich. That meant absolutely nothing to Stefanie. Being in the technology business, she dealt with millions and almost billionaires. She had been a fan of his mind. His creativity in technology had garnered him thousands of accolades and honors, plus every software developer and tech geek knew him but had never really met him. He was just like Stefanie in the fact he loved sitting behind his computer loving the sounds of clicking on the keyboard and the quietness of life, rather than networking with people or joining with others who admired his work. She remembered reading those words on his blog and feeling an instant connection. Remembering she was an avid commentator of his blog pushed her insides to hurricane swirls in the pit of her belly. Now she was getting that honor of meeting someone no one she knew had ever met – not even Nick had said he met him. If this was the real Axel Black, she knew she would be the envy of all her colleagues. He was so damn rich, he could probably pay someone to go around and be him so no one would know how he really looked. Keeping her composure she outstretched her hand, craning her neck to look up at him. “Mr Black, it’s an honor to meet you.” He looked down at her hand and then hesitantly shook palm firmly. “Really? What’s your name?” “This is Stefanie Kent, the software-“ Axel cut off Dexter and took Stefanie’s hand again with a crook to his thin lips. “Stefanie Kent. The Stefanie Kent?” he asked. Did his voice sound spellbinding or was it the fact she was holding her breathe again and about to pass out. Her outward appearance kept her cool as she smiled honored by the extra attention. “I’m a fan of your work. I used the configurations and bought over three thousand licenses for a custom framework I designed for a recent client.” He leaned in close as if he were telling her a secret, but spoke in his normal sensuous deep voice. “They asked what was my secret weapon for completing the job so quickly, but you’ve got to promise never to tell.” Don’t you dare blush! She ordered her outer composure. Stefanie lets a full smile release, though. “I promise I won’t if you stop this rain, Mr. Black.” “Axel,” he insisted. “If you allow me to call you, Stefanie.” “Sure.” He looked over at Dexter. “Did you invite her to coffee?” “I tried, but she said she’s busy,” Dexter said. Feeling awkward after turning Dexter down but very much wanting to go to coffee with Axel Black, she shrugged a shoulder bashfully. She didn't know if she wanted to look away but used the excuse to pull back a stray sweaty cowlick to pull her hand from his touch. "Then obviously, you didn't specify we were taking to a unique Arabian coffee shop right across the street." “Have you invited Stefanie to coffee, Dexter?" Axel asks, his eyes now focused hard on her. "I really am not dressed for coffee with you," she said feeling horribly under dressed despite his workout attire. She knew her sweaty hair was all over her head and her clothes were screaming for an iron. Even walking with a guy this height in her beat up gym shoes, she only came to his elbows without heels on. This was not how she expected to meet Axel Black. "Dexter, go to the desk and see if there are any guest umbrellas we can borrow," Axel ordered sternly, but he never took his eyes off of Stefanie. Did he see how nervous she was? Outwardly, Stefanie could keep perfectly unaffected by her inner turmoil. Right about now, she had a hurricane of nervous emotions going on inside of her. When they were alone, he asked, "Was that a load of bullshit you gave him about being too busy?" He crossed his thick arms over his thick chest. She blushed at being caught in a lie and tickled by his brusque tone. "He's slightly involved with a socall friend of mine and I just didn't feel comfortable sir," she admitted.

His cheek twitched a little and he looked like he grimaced at the sound of her reference to Lauren, but she just thought she was paying too much attention to his handsome face. "Well, I'm not involved with anyone you know, so you could join me for coffee, couldn't you?" He raised a brow of inquiry, but she had a feeling this man was not used to being refused. Hell, this was Axel Black, who she would love to pick his mind about algorithms, software designs and so much more. "I would love to have coffee with you, Mr. Black." "Only if you call me Axel as I’ve asked," he insisted. Embarrassed she nodded glad Dexter was returning with one umbrella to interrupt them and hoping he would join them. "They only had one, sir," Dexter admitted. Axel took the umbrella and said not even looking at Dexter, but outside at the rain above Stefanie’s head, "When you return to the office, could you let my assistant know I'm canceling my morning, Dexter. I left my phone in my car four blocks away." "Yes, sir." Dexter looked a little disappointed he wasn't going. Stefanie decided to make him feel a little better. "Well, you have that out of town trip this weekend starting tomorrow with Lauren right? You probably have a million things to do at the office before you leave, right?" Both of them looked at her as if she had just spoken in Japanese. She was glad the thunder boomed loud, which seemed to wake both men out of their stuck on stupid trance at her. "I'll be going," Dexter said and walked the other way to another exit on the other side of the building. Axel opened the door for her and opened up the umbrella. "If you don't mind walking close, I think we both can fit." He held out his thick arm for her to take. Taking a deep breath knowing she would have to walk arm and arm with him, she kept her composure. Straightening up her back, she took his arm feeling the warmness and … something else. She wanted to look up at him because she knew those unique eyes were bearing down at her. Stefanie didn’t dare look up at him when he began to walk, she let her breath out slowly. If she took normal breaths, she would look normal and he wouldn’t notice how nervous she was around him. The rain was coming down too hard to even try for conversation while they were outside and he was considerate enough to take smaller strides inside of longer ones that his powerful legs seem to yearn for. Pushing the thought away that somehow Axel Black seemed familiar, she decided to just think about all the questions she was going to ask him once they reached the cafe. “How do you know about this cafe?” she questioned after he seemed to expertly order two cups of Arabic Coffee and an order of Pistachio Baklawa before sitting down across from her. “I try not to spend all my time in front of a monitor and with anonymity I’m able to get out every once in a while. Plus his coffee is excellent.” The waitress brought over two cups of coffee right at that time. She was glad again for the interruption because she felt just like the person he had just described. “I’m more or less talking about myself,” he confessed after taking a sip of the thick roasted coffee. “I started getting out a couple of years ago. I felt the world was passing me by and I didn’t want to except all my talent being attached to my monitor.” She tasted the coffee and he was right. The brew was delicious. “I think I’m still attached to my monitor,” she admitted. “I feel more comfortable in front a monitor than being with anyone and anywhere.” “You ever feel you might be in front of the monitor twenty years from now with a whole bunch of cats, some red bull, and big glasses?” Chuckling she said, “I guess I haven’t thought that far in advance.” He suddenly changed the subject and started asking her about her past and what made her go into computers. She forgot her nervousness and became comfortable. “My mother never could afford the uniforms so I had to wear used ones or the ones from lost and found.” Stefanie omitted the part about her mother using most of their money to buy alcohol or weed. She also never told about the salacious boyfriends who would try to come to her room when her mother was too drunk or passed out somewhere and they wanted to get more of what her mother couldn’t give. All the hiding at school, under beds, down fire escapes in the middle of the night or in closets for weekends at a time, Stefanie was an expert at hiding for long periods of times, erasing herself from

the world until she felt it was safe to come out. “Almost every day after school, I was either picked on, beat on or something else. I would hide in the school until everyone was gone and then go home until my fifth-grade computer teacher found me. He decided to teach me how to write with hyper markup language and I started writing games. By the time I was in high school, I taught myself using the public library and lots of training on my own to copycat programs. I didn’t even know I had fixed a problem Microsoft had been having with the operating system. They found me and that’s when life started getting just a little better for my mother and me.” “Why did you decide to freelance instead of going with a company after college?” “I’m not the office type and I work so well by myself.” “I know what you mean,” he said and she truly felt his honesty. “So tell me more about you, Axel?” “Me?” he asked looking surprised she had asked this question. “Nothing much. I got into computers because my body decided not to catch up with me until I was in my twenties. Hiding in the school’s computer room instead of going home was much better and I learned hacking in the early days because I never had the passwords to use the computers after school. Soon it wasn’t just school systems, there were other government systems I decided to break into just for fun until at fifteen years they almost caught up with me. It was a big scare but instead of stopping, I just got better until three years later I hacked into the Russian President’s computer and downloaded his emails just for fun. Two days later the CIA showed up at my door and said I hit the number one spot on the world hacking list. In return for help using my skills for good and getting lots of money for it, I pursued my Masters at Harvard and then my Ph.D. at M.I.T.” He cut part of the Baklawa and was about to put it toward his mouth, but stopped and held it towards her. “You ever had freshly made Baklawa, Stefanie?” She shook her head. “Go ahead. Taste.” Leaning forward, she opened her mouth and let him place the sweet dessert inside her mouth. Once her lips closed around the fork, he pulled the utensil away. Sticky dough with a taste of honey and Pistachio filled her mouth, still warm from the oven. “Good?” he asked leaning forward on the table his unique eyes seeming to dance in delight. “So tell me more about your world, Stefanie. We sound so similar.” Speaking about her every life with someone seemed foreign, but he was right, they were the same. Techie geeks who enjoyed the solitude of creating complex codes that made people work better and do things better on the computer. It was a hard to explain the joy she received to just anyone, but he understood, sympathize and enjoyed her nuances that no one else in her world could. The rain had stopped but started up again in the time they stayed there while she was on her second cup of coffee. Her alarm on her phone went off to signal she had a conference call with a customer soon and needed to be at home. “I can’t believe we’ve been here three hours,” she said. “Time goes by when you’re having fun,” he said. They both looked out the window as the rain seemed to come down more and more. “My house is just a couple of blocks away,” she said. “I could walk you,” he offered. She would like that a lot.

Chapter 12 If she had not been with Axel, she knew the harsh wind and heavy rains would have made it impossible to get back to her house in time. Although because of the heavy winds, he had to hold the umbrella down to her, while he ended up getting soaked. He ducked in after her and soon as he closed the door, for some reason she was worried about her safety. By the time they got into her foyer, his dark blonde hair was matted to his head and if his clothes weren’t painted on his body before, they were now. She could even see his dark nipples through his tank top and then her eyes moved down to his waist. Blushing profusely, she clearly saw the bulge indicating he had been aroused by her proximity. Pretending she didn’t see what she saw, she forced herself to look up at him. “I-I have towels…” Quickly she walked away and went down the hall to go to her closet. True, he spoke like a geek and knew all about Black Technologies as if he was the CEO and founder, but how did she really know this was Axel Black. Just as she had thought before, the real Axel Black could hire anyone to be him. And you just trapped yourself in your own house with the biggest white man you ever met, she thought worriedly reaching up for a massive black towel on the top shelf. Suddenly there was a noise behind her and when she turned around, he was standing right behind her. Clutching the thick towel to her chest as if that would protect her from the man towering above her, she stepped back until her back pressed against the wall beside the closet. He moved with her and put both his large hands on each side of her head to look down at her. “I thought you were going to stay in the foyer,” she said trying to stay calm feeling danger through every vein in her body. “I thought you might need help,” he said his eyes looking down at her lips. “I thought you might need help drying off.” Even though fear gripped her, she still could feel herself becoming aroused. “I-I think I can dry myself off.” He took off his tank top and she gasped at the sight of perfection. He really did have muscles on top of muscles. Who the hell was this man because the good Lord must’ve broken the mold after his creation? Looking back at his, she couldn’t even take another breath before his mouth swooped down and captured hers in a powerful kiss that made her quiver ubiquitously. Feeling lighter than air for a brief second at the same time, she dropped the towel and easily wrapped her arms around his neck, parting her lips to deepen the kiss. The taste of him thrilled her senses as his thick tongue delved deep into her mouth seeming to want to lick every centimeter of her orifice. She could feel a powerful hunger for her brewing inside of him and the intensity scared her, but at the same time turned her on even more creating a powerful passion that drew her to increase the kisses and touches to his neck, hair and face. His knee edged up between her leg to hold her off the ground so he could easily lift her off the ground and touch her back, neck and soon her chest. Through the haze of lust, she heard knocking on the front door. Hard knocking that soon got her attention and she reluctantly pushed him away. Their eyes met and he clearly looked like he regretted what he had done. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Don’t.” Slowly he let her down so she could stand on her own two feet. She held onto him for a quick moment while she gained her equilibrium but then stepped away from him reluctantly. The knocking continued on the door hard and this time she heard the doorbell. “I should get that.” Turning away, she tried to do something to her hair as she walked to the front door. Soon as she opened the door, Jezica burst through the door. She looked like a wet puppy dog and her makeup was running all over her face. Her business attire clothing were wrinkled and they looked as if she had been crawling through mud. “She’s crazy! Lauren’s fucking crazy!” Jezica screamed hysterically. “What are you talking about?” Stefanie asked confused. “I went over to that bitch’s apartment to demand my money – which I might add she’s not there anymore. I call her up and she meets me over at Heaven Gates Spa, right?” She cackles crazily. “When that bitch can’t get

them to put her on your tab, she turns around and asks me to put up the money for our time there. I flub and say Nick hasn’t given me anything this month, which he hasn’t.” Jezica went on to say how Nick’s been acting crazy suspicious about things and how she’s been careful about hiding everything. “That bitch then has the nerve to threaten to tell Nick about my affairs, which is none of her fucking business, Stefanie.” While Jezica was ranting, Stefanie peeked down the hall, but she didn’t see Axel anywhere, yet she did notice the patio doors leading to her backyard were open. Stefanie cursed to herself and really became upset about Jezica’s interruption of a perfect afternoon delight. Jezica was still ranting hysterically. “The money I’ve been saving has been holding me out until-“ Stefanie interrupted her, “Wait, Jezica! Why are you telling me this? And why are you here? We have nothing to say to each other.” “Lauren stole my money! She took it all and gave it to that creep Dex!” Stefanie left Jezica standing at the foyer and went down the hallway to see if Axel was still there. He wasn’t anywhere in her house and when she went over to the patio door, she saw the lock was open, but he wasn’t in her private backyard. His large body could have hopped over the fence easily and since the security in the house was off, of course she wouldn’t have been alerted. “Stefanie, have you heard a word I’ve said?” Jezica said coming into the kitchen area where the patio doors were. Turning to Jezica perturbed over everything that was happening, Stefanie asked suspiciously, “I thought you said Lauren didn’t have any money.” “She doesn’t,” Jezica answered. “I had to hide some money from Nick and I knew you’d ask too many questions, so I asked Lauren about five years ago to open up an account with me. I told her it was for the kids and if Nick ever got crazy and I had to leave right away. She swore she’d never touch it.” “How much money was it?” “Over three hundred grand.” “How’d you get that kind of money?” Jezica narrowed her eyes. “That’s none of your business.” “But you want me to help you get your money back? Get out Jezica!” Slamming her fist on the counter, Jezica cursed. “Dammit Stefanie! You aren’t going to let her just get away with stealing money from you are you?” “And I’m not about to fight your battle to get your money back.” “I took that money from Nick. I’ve been ciphering it out of our account little by little. From things he bought, I’d return to the store, to going directly to the bank and taking it out without him knowing.” “You don’t think Nick would eventually find out you had a nest egg like that, Jezica? Do you really think Nick is that stupid?” “Nick doesn’t care as long as he has a happy home and no drama. He could care less.” Stefanie knew Nick enough to know Jezica was living in her own lie. “When you accused Lauren of taking this money, what did she say?” “She said she never took the money, but then she started to tell me of this wonderful life she and Dex are starting anew on your dime in the islands. She said she gave him money to triple and she was going to pay you back tomorrow the whole amount before she got on a plane to the islands.” “Tomorrow is the deadline and that’s my money.” “It’s a lie! It’s a lie, Stefanie. This guy took her money. I think he’s got her high on expired crack and she thinks he actually made money in one short week that tripled her investment. That’s exactly what she was trying to convince me, but he’s lying. Please! You have to help me.” Angrily, Stefanie said, “Get out, Jezica. Maybe now you’ll feel what I feel when your friends deceive you and let you down. Maybe now you’ll understand that it’s wrong and it hurts. It really hurts. Get out!” Jezica looked like she wanted to say more, but didn’t. Trudging out of the kitchen, Stefanie listened to Jezica go out the front door. Lightning crackled across the sky as the door slammed and Stefanie leaned on the counter, putting her face in her palms. What the hell was going on? ***

Maybe it was the stress from the long day, but Stefanie found herself passed out in front of her computer when she awoke to the ringing of the phone. Late into the night she had been searching for pictures of Axel Black to no avail. No one had a good description anywhere, except a Harvard technological discussion board calling Axel Black a crazy, white, bastard. No one else responded to that comment and the post was anonymous. The phone rang again which was what had awakened her up in the first place. Without moving her head that was laying on top of her keyboard to her sleeping computer, she dragged the phone to her ear and mumbled, “Hello.” “Stefanie?” Treasure asked with concern. “Are you okay?” She opened one eye to try to determine what time it was. Darkness was all around her, but she still wasn’t sure what time it was. “I’m fine. What time is it?” “It’s seven.” “In the morning?” “No! It’s still Thursday and seven at night.” Stefanie groaned. “I got worried when you didn’t contact me for lunch this afternoon. Are you really okay because you don’t sound okay.” “I’m fine.” She sat up and held her head wishing the headache would go away and realizing she had not had a real cigarette for the past couple of weeks. “We can go to lunch tomorrow. After Lauren’s messenger gets here.” “Where are you?” Treasure asked. Yawning, Stefeanie answered, “I’m home.” “Then open your door. I brought lunch and we can talk.” Sitting up completely, she turned on the desk lamp and stretched some more. “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.” “I think there is. Please open up,” Treasure insisted. Stefanie sighed and hung up the phone. Looking down at all the notes she’d been making and then at the front door. Would two brains be better than one in this case? Could Treasure really help her? Could Stefanie really have a real friend standing out there just waiting for her?

Chapter 13 Treasure had two large paper bags and her large purse with her as she walked in. As always she wore heels, but she was still short. Today, she wore her black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and her obsidian eyes were looking concern. “When you didn’t answer any of my text messages, I said I needed to drop in and make sure you even ate.” “I was working,” Stefanie said. “Really?” Treasure started taking the food out of the bag and placing everything on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Sit down and let’s eat.” “I’m not hungry.” Treasure smiled pleasantly, but her eyes belied the way her lips curved. “Sit and eat,” she said firmly. Her strong Heart's blood seemed to vibrate from every pore and though she looked cool on the outside, Stefanie had no doubt she could get her way by any means necessary. Stefanie was glad she had showered and changed into some more jogging pants and a t-shirt. Her hair was wrapped and she was ready for bed, but she really was hungry. Too tired to fight, she didn't mind Treasure's company this late in the evening when she was usually working. Sitting beside Treasure, she relaxed and knew she was going to have to tell Treasure because even though this woman was small, there was no way Treasure was leaving tonight until she knew everything. *** Two hours later Treasure knew all the details and just sat there looking like Stefanie had just confessed to murder. “Your friends - or so-called friends - stole a load of money from you because they were jealous of your brains? And now some gorgeous guy, name Dexter, comes along and steals all their money from them?” Treasure summed up. “That about says it all.” “Do you remember Dexter’s last name?” Treasure questioned. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry, but he said he worked at Black Technologies.” Treasure flinched. “I’d rather try to steal a bar of gold from Fort Knox than find out anything I can about that company." "You know about them?" "Of course. Lethal's not only in offline security, but he's also in online and Black Technologies do a lot of things in software security development. My other cousin Emperor works closely with Axel Heart and has funded some of his ventures, but Emperor's so damn secretive with our current family feud and side choosing, he most likely will tell me to bugger off." She looked a little frustrated, but then her look brightened. "I could ask my cousin Prince Heart to try. He's only Lethal's side at the moment so he won't mind. He's good at squeezing anything out of anyone even if he doesn't get hired at the company.” Stefanie knew Emperor Heart also had something to do with Treasure's sister getting killed but Treasure really never talked in detail about what happened. “I don’t want you to do anything that would get someone else in trouble.” “Oh don't worry. Prince is good at finding human weak links. Plus, trouble is our middle name. We’re either causing it or knee deep in it. What else do you know about this Dexter other than he could be rich or running some type of Ponzi scheme?” “Nothing except what Lauren’s emails tells me. And if this Dexter is stealing where would he get the money unless you think Axel Black is helping him out.” “I'm still wondering about it all as well and I'll need some time to think about that. Not to change the subject but, why would Jezica need to hide money from Nick?” “There’s no prenup. If Nick or his controlling mother decides to get rid of her, then she leaves with what she came in to – absolutely nothing. He even gets their daughter.” “That’s pretty harsh,” Treasure said. "Despite her deceit, she is the mother of his child." "That might sway him to at least let her drive away in one of the cars, but in college, someone cheated off of Nick's papers and he deliberately destroyed them completely. I've seen him mad, which is rare, but it's not pretty." "It sounds petty. When you said his mother's decision, what did you mean?"

“Jezica didn’t know she’d be marrying his mother, but he’s always been close to her. He'll do whatever she asks. I've never had a problem with her. Matter of fact, she adores me and hates Jezica.” “And you don’t think Nick could tell you anything about Axel Black?” “Even if Jezica didn’t mind me speaking with him, I don’t think Nick knows who he is because he told me a long time ago he’d love to meet him. If Nick had ever met Axel Black, I’d have known a long time ago. Even though I don’t speak with Nick, I still follow him on social networks and company blog that he occasionally writes on.” “And now you’re suspicious that this Axel Black is in on it as well.” “I don’t know. I met him through Dexter, who now is suspicious to me because of what Jezica just told me. Plus I don't even know how the real Axel Black looks and this could be a boogey to set me up to steal what I have. Or this could all be a coincidence and I'm just pleasantly aroused and excited he's interested in me.” Treasure looked purely skeptical. "And he sounds like a nerd, but looks like Thor?" "With funny colored eyes," Stefanie added. “Coincidences don’t just happen around me,” Treasure said suspiciously. They’d finished the food up and a half a bottle of red wine was still there. Treasure sipped a little bit deep in thought staring and pursing her lips together repeatedly. “You shouldn’t see him anymore,” Treasure said suddenly standing up. “Axel Black? Is this because I'm not helping you with your client?” Stefanie asked warily. “That has nothing to do with anything. I understand your reasons for not seeing my client, but he has his own reasons for not doing a face to face, which he explained. This Axel Black worries me.” Gathering her personal belongings, she began to get ready to leave. "I should also note, Black Technologies wrote the software program for my business." This was probably why Treasure needed to check some things out. “What makes you think Axel Black will even want to see me again? He didn’t leave any contact information for me and just because we kissed it doesn’t mean he wants to see me again.” Treasure raised a black brow and smiled wickedly. “Let me do some digging. If anything else comes up-“ Stefanie’s phone rang. "Are you going to answer it?" Treasure questioned after the first ring and Stefanie made no move to her desk to answer it. "Should I?" Stefanie didn't want to speak to Jezica or Lauren and if Axel Black just happened to get her number, she didn't know if she really wanted to turn him down like Treasure wanted her to. The third ring forced her to go over to her desk and pick up the phone. On the screen was Kenneth Bianchi. Before she had a chance to pleasantly say hello, he burst on the line with, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Even Treasure heard his voice and she was across the room from him. She put down her things and came over to where Stefanie stood dumbfounded by her desk. "Hello?! Stefanie are you there?" Kenneth demanded to know. "I-I am, but I don't think I understand why you are mad at me, Kenneth. I haven't done anything." He took a deep breath and calmed down just a little. "Did you put a check in the bank recently?" It took her a moment to think about it, but then she remembered. "Yes, I did." "From L-Designs?" "Yes, Kenneth. That's Lauren's company. She owed me money from the laundry I picked up for her." "I just got an alert from the bank that the check bounced like rubber." Stefanie put the phone on speaker and moved to sit on the couch. "The check Lauren gave me bounced?" she asked again to be sure of what he said. "Immediately and the bank tried to run it twice. There's no mistake. And she knew this when she wrote the check." "That's fine. I'll just let her know when she delivers the first payment to me tomorrow by messenger. I'll even call her tomorrow morning and let her know to make a money order and not a check." She looked at Treasure, who looked very skeptical. "Do you really think she's going to pay you, Stefanie?" Kenneth asked. Stefanie knew Treasure was thinking the same thing. "I'm hoping she does."

"Why don't you let me take the steps to ensure you at least get something back or just see if she can instead of taking her word?" Kenneth said. Treasure nodded for Stefanie to take the offer. That illness in her gut returned quickly. "What exactly are you going to do, Kenneth?" "I'm not going to do anything. Dwight Bowman owes me a favor and he's an expert at financial recovery. He'll do what he can." Treasure nodded enthusiastically. "Fine, Kenneth. Do what you have to, but if she gives me the first payment like she's supposed to, then we'll sit back and just see how things go." "I'll get him on it right away," Kenneth said and disconnected the call. Treasure smiled. "You made the best decision, Stefanie." "So why do I feel like shit?" "Because you still feel sympathy towards your so call friends. You're hoping somehow they'll gain a conscious overnight and actually care about you and care about how much they hurt you, but I can tell you now, they won't Stefanie. Stop feeling bad for them and start feeling bad you wasted your life caring about people who could give a damn about you." Stefanie knew Treasure's words were so right and she put the phone back on the desk and turned to Treasure. "Thank you for letting me pull your ear." Treasure gathered her things again. "That's what friends are for." She blew her a kiss and let herself out. Turning off lights except the small lamp in the front room after cleaning up everything, she decided clean herself up and maybe do a little work before heading to bed. She went to brush her teeth and wash her face all the while thinking about the whole day and how much she had changed from this morning. Her outlook on her future seemed so positive and she felt a burst of energy. Going back into her front room, she started to head for the computer to do a little extra personal work. Her doorbell rang and she thought maybe Treasure had left something. Getting to the door, she smiled brightly thinking Treasure would be standing with her short self at the door, but her eyes were looking at a man's groin. Raising her eyes slowly to visually engulf the solid brawny male figure dressed in jeans, T-shirt and dark blazer of Axel Black. Fine as he wanted to be and making her breath catch in her throat all over again.

Chapter 14 "I forgot my shirt," he said. She couldn't think and frowned. "Your shirt?" "Yes, this afternoon. I took my shirt off and your doorbell rang, but I didn't think you wanted them to know you had a guest." "I-I didn't... I mean, I wouldn't have minded," she said. "Please come in." He walked inside ducking as usual due to his unusual height. Just to make conversation, she asked while closing the door, "You ever play sports?" "I get that question a lot. I learned at an early I would inherit height, but unfortunately, I received my mother's knees. Bad from the beginning and it wasn't until I got surgery for them after college that I was able to even support my height and weight." She was barely able to concentrate on what he was saying because she was just mesmerized by the fact that he was there again in her dimly lit foyer. If someone had asked her later who took the first step toward the other and initiated the kiss, she wouldn't be able to tell them, but one moment she was listening to him talk and the next, she was being lifted in his arms and kissing him all over again. He carried her to the front room and she reeled feeling her back on the couch and his body over her. His jacket was already on the floor somewhere and her shirt was off. The feel of his body against hers was titillating beyond belief and damn if his mouth wasn't delicious. He kissed like he couldn't get enough of her and he touched her as if his soul couldn't do without. She ground her body against his, spreading her legs around his waist and loving the large budge pressed against her womanhood. He felt so damn good and she wanted to feel the real thing. Axel groaned and gasped, cursed viciously and then held her so tight she couldn't breathe for a good minute. Time seemed to stand still as she felt his whole body shudder over her and then the room was silent... He had broken the kiss off and was panting hard in her neck. When she knew she had to breathe, she lightly tapped his shoulder hoping he had not died on top of her because she wasn't sure if she had the strength to push him off of her. An exasperated groan came from his lips as he lifted up and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry." She smiled wickedly and moved her hands down to the front of his pants to undo them. "That's fine, but do you think next time I can be in on it?" Chuckling softly, he kissed her brow while placing a firm hand on her wrists to halt her movements. "I shouldn't have come. Everything in me told me to stay away." "Why?" she asked. He moved off of her and stood up. There was a stain on the front of his pants and he turned away, took off his shirt and wrapped it around his waist. She watched as he ran a frustrated hand through his thick hair and then picked up her shirt. "It's a long story and ... I can't explain. I just shouldn't have let it go this far." He turned to her just as she was sitting up and handed her shirt to her. Standing up and putting on her shirt, she knew this wasn't enough to really intimidate him, yet she noticed he stepped away and shoved his hands in his pants. "I don't think this was a mistake, Axel." "That's because you're still horny. I have a little bit of a clear head and I think I should make it up to you. Let me take you out to dinner tomorrow night. Please." Stefanie was confused, frustrated and definitely very horny, but she didn't know how else to explain that he needed to get naked and take her in her bedroom right now. Taking a deep breath, she tried to convince herself she was still horny and she shouldn't be rushing into something like sex with a man like Axel Black. Nodding reluctantly, she said, "You're right and yes, dinner would be nice." He leaned and kissed her cheek. "And I promise to be a gentleman." She really didn't want him to be but kept that opinion to herself as she watched him walk out of the front room and listened to her door closed. Flopping down on the couch groaning in frustration. Damn! Damn! Damn! Grabbing the sofa pillow, she screamed her sexual frustration as loud as possible. Her phone rang through the second scream. Reluctantly, she answered really not wanting to speak to anyone else tonight.

“It’s Treasure,” the voice on the other end. “Hi,” she said forcing herself to sound enthuse. “I know you said you don’t want to, but the client just called me again.” Before Stefanie could even think of protesting, Treasure said quickly. “I know you didn’t want to, but I started thinking about how frustrated you are.” Defensively, Stefanie said, “How did you know I was frustrated?” "You told me," Treasure said obviously. "I was just there when you told me about the hallway?" Calming down, Stefanie gripped the pillow harder. How the hell had she allowed Axel to leave?! Damn! She felt her whole body was in knots! "Yeah," Stefanie said calming down with a deep breath. "That clearly shows you need to get the edge off. And I know you said you didn't want to and I perfectly understand your circumstances regarding why you didn't want to see the client anymore Stefanie, but he just called me and asked if I would try again just one more time and, this time, let you know that he was begging for just one more time." Stefanie rolled her eyes wanting to smile because it felt so good to know a man wanted her very much even if she didn't know him that well. "Are you there?" Treasure asked when there was too much quietness on the phone. "I'm here," Stefanie said almost in a whisper, very confused about what she should do. On one hand she really wanted to accept, but on the other, she really wanted more from a man. These past few days, she wanted a change in her life and she knew not accepting less from anyone anymore would be the change she needed. Plus, in some small way, she felt this client was being deceitful by not showing his real identity and although she was sexually attracted to him, she still didn’t want any more deceit in her life. Treasure noted. “I’ve never heard a man so desperate to have a woman before. You should really consider letting the client take the edge off before considering other possibilities.” Stefanie was enthralled her mystery man wanted her that much and she was still very much sexually frustrated. In truth, she held no real commitment to Axel Black - yet and she was very positive the client would not leave her in her state of current frustration. Yet Treasure had tried to sneak her request of staying away from Axel Black in her request. “I’ll consider it if you answer on question, Treasure,” Stefanie said. “Anything,” Treasure said enthusiastically. “Why do you want me to stay away from Axel Black for a while? And it can’t just be about him designing the software for your company.” Treasure sighed in her own frustration. “It’s a long story, but I think there’s a conflict of interest and in my attempt to be discreet about my client that’s really all I can say. I hope you don’t pressure for more but still consider the option of being with him.” The answer was rather evasive and Stefanie really wanted to demand to know more about Treasure’s misgivings about Axel Black. Taking a deep moment of consideration for all she was going to accept, she decided to give Treasure the answer to the question. “Fine, Treasure. I’ll meet with the client one more time under his terms, but let him know this is the very last unless we can meet under mine.” “Most definitely,” Treasure agreed. “I have something special for the both of you, but I must ask in this endeavor, you trust me. Know that I’m just arranging this for his experience and to take the edge off for at least a while.” “A while?” “Just trust me.” Stefanie relaxed. “I trust you,” she said confidently and listened to Treasure’s instructions. *** In one hour just as Treasure had told her, there was a car waiting for Stefanie in front of her home. Dress in a black dress with nothing underneath and four-inch platform heels she had to dig in the back of her closet to find, Stefanie stepped outside and gasped as the cool night wind whipped under her dress. A tall black guy dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt leaned on the side of the dark gray Ford 500. What was so unique about him even though it was dark on the street, she could clearly see he had red hair and cinnamon red eyes. There was this dark amusement in his eyes. “You Stefanie?” he questioned as she walked up to him.

“Yes.” “I’m Stephen Heart. I’m here to drive you to your destination.” He opened the rear passenger door for her and handed her a black envelope. “Sorry about my dress, but Trez called at the last minute and I couldn’t find a driver to boot tonight, so I decided to take the responsibility myself.” Stefanie gasped. “Oh my! You’re Red Heart! Aren’t you? Your father...” She stopped what she was saying and bit her tongue. The side of his lip twitched and the humor erased for a second but then returned. “I like to be called Red, although I was saddled with the nickname due to my coloring. Can’t deny my blood, Ms. Stefanie and thankfully it didn’t affect my decision just now, huh?” A little bit of fear gripped her, but dealing with any Heart, she knew she was taking a chance. Red Heart just came from a line of the family not many people wanted to get to know. To change the subject, she asked, “You own this?” “I own a fleet of fifty which I often rent or lease out.” He shrugged. “We could stand out here all night and talk about me or you can get in and we can be on our way.” Getting inside, she was very glad to be sitting behind him instead of beside him. While he got on the driver’s side and started the car to the destination, she opened the envelope she knew was sent by Treasure with the rest of the instructions. He gave her a moment to read the letter, before he said, “I’m to let you know I’m going to wait for you at the exact location I drop you off at, but I’m supposed to walk you down to a certain location.” She nodded. Most of the instructions he had just said were in the letter. Stefanie knew she had ever second that passed as they came closer to their destination to change their mind, call Treasure and let her know there was no way in hell she was going to do this. Yet, curiosity and sexual frustration were eating her from inside out and Stefanie really wanted to see how this was all going to play out. Red parked the car blocking the delivery alleyway behind the St Royal Hotel. It was power washed to keep away all vermin - animal or human and tonight it was even cleared of the large dumpsters used for trash. Nervously, she let Red escort her toward the delivery door. Right before there was one narrow walkway and it was dark. Just like the instructions said, she watched Red give her a wink and walk away toward the car, while she took out the black silk blindfold that had been in the envelope. Tying that around her eyes, she made sure she was pointed down the dark narrowed alleyway. The letter had said, “Four steps to heaven.” Taking a deep breath, she knew her mystery man was down there in the dark, waiting for her. What was to come, she didn’t know, but all the letter said was, “Open your mind, allay your fears and trust you will enjoy yourself completely.”

Chapter 15 One... The clicking of her heels didn’t seem as loud as her heart beat. Two... She didn’t hear a sound, but the smell of a man was close. His smell of almond and deep earth cologne... Three... Her heartbeat increased in volume and pulse. Four... Nothing. No sound. No one touched her and she let a breath out in disappointment. Suddenly a hand covered her mouth and she was pressed back against his hard chest. Was he curved down to feel her body? “Are you scared?” he whispered. She tried to think about Axel’s voice. Was this the same? The pressure of his other arm around her waist increased and he whispered the question again. She shook her head. His hand fell away to moved down to massage her breasts, but at the same time his lips kissed her neck, behind her ears and to her nape. His other hand moved the front of her dress up and he groaned feeling her nakedness in the palm of his hands. He dipped his finger between her valley and she matched his groan with one of her own as her wetness saturated his hand. Stefanie didn’t need much to get her going right then. His hungry kisses and touch were nice, but she was gearing for a quickly to get the edge off. Grinding her body against his and reaching back to open his pants, he didn’t stop her. Matter of fact, the hand massaging her front now helped her move away the barriers that kept them from joining together. In one moment they were just rubbing against each other and then next he was driving himself deep into her. Putting her hands against the cold brick to steady herself from the powerful thrust that knocked the breath out of her body, her own body goaded him for more - grinding up against him as if she was trying to start a fire. He listened to her call and plummeted repeated up to her - harder and harder as her insides began to do a dance around his phallus in a voracious attempt to suckle him dry. He gripped her hips so tight she knew she was bruising, but she didn’t care because by his fifth stroke she was coming like a river that had been uncorked. He didn’t stop though and she didn’t dare want him. He reaches under her right thigh to curve her knee up in midstride to pummel into her harder, each thrust lifting her off the ground and hitting the right spot to send her orgasming once more into Valhalla. If she screamed, she didn’t know but tears were running down her cheek as she cried in pure ecstasy. She reached back to hold onto his neck as he bit down in her shoulder and his other arm held her around her waist. The fact he could pick her up so easy told her either he was just as lost in his own sexual passion or this was the man of steel. His rod felt like Titanium, hitting the back of her making a loud slapping noise as her essence ran down her leg. Soon his own burst forth from him and she could feel his body shudder and gyrate sending shots of passionate electric through her veins. His fingers dug into her thighs and waist hard and she was positive her shoulder had started bleeding from his teeth digging down into her skin. Stefanie was past the point of no return and his wildness terrified her and turned her own - especially when he didn’t stop after his orgasm. He only slightly turned her body to the side, made sure she had her balance, adjusted her thigh over his shoulder and continued to stroke his manhood in and out of her. By this time, she was panting, crying and trembling through various types of orgasms she had never had before. This side position gave his access not only to curve his long body over to suckle on her breasts, but his hand to make its way to insert into her rear. He used their shared essence to wet his finger and then pressed against her anus until he was granted entry. He started gyrating more and more, bringing her to a pinnacle she knew she was going to scream to the heavens for. She didn’t care where they were, she just wanted to feel him deeper and deeper inside of her. He seemed to read her mind and give her exactly what she wanted. Her body took over good sense and Stefanie let loose a long howl of joy, unable to hold herself up, but knowing he was all in control of her safety, her body and now the peak of her pleasure.

Never wanting to come down, she knew the exact moment he joined her again. Damn! She swore the entire universe had rocked just because of them and she floated back to earth. By the time she was back in reality, he had her back against the wall and her arms pinned above her head trying to catch his own breath. She didn’t know when he had situated her body to stand straight, but she was glad his knee was between her legs and his body pressed against hers to hold her up. Once she regained her own equilibrium, he seemed to tell and moved away slowly so she could get her own ground. When he stepped completely away from her, she fixed her clothes and then she knew instantly, he wasn’t there anymore. “Hello?” she said, but no one answered. Pulling the blindfold away, she looked toward the light at the end of the passageway and knew that was the way to get back to the car. Going out of the space and back to the car, she saw Red leaning up against the car. When he saw her, he immediately rushed up to her in concern. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?” She didn’t understand his concern until she looked down and saw her dress was torn and there were bruises all over her arm. “I’m fine, Red,” she assured him. He didn’t look like he believed her. “Is this why Treasure gave me that package of clothes to put on the back seat? What the hell has Treasure gotten you in?” “I’m okay,” she reiterated. “Please let’s go before someone thinks you did this to me.” Shaking his head, he opened the door and let her in. When he got in the driver’s door, he put the partition up so she could have some privacy in the backseat. The windows in the rear were tinted so she could get undress with the light on in the rear. Looking at her arms, thighs and side, she gasped and then smiled knowing she had been just a wild and there were some scratches on his thigh or arm. This time, though she realized he had not used a condom and she took the moment alone as she was driven home to think about what the consequences could be. *** She awoke the next morning with the same thoughts on her mind. Aimlessly, she went to work and didn’t realize how long she had worked without eating until her stomach growled hungrily about three in the afternoon. Grabbing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she went to take another shower and tried to remember what her day was supposed to be like. Just so she wouldn’t seem like she was being impatient, she wrote Lauren a text message, “I hope to see your messenger by five. I have an appointment to keep.” “Soon,” Lauren responded immediately. She put her phone down and went back to work. After sending off some files, uploading new images on her website, plus updating some blogs, she went to work on a new client file, but, this time, keeping track of the time. At five, she heard her text message alert go off and she was hopeful this was Lauren. To her misfortune, which also felt like a gain, it wasn’t Lauren, it was Axel Black. He was confirming their dinner. “I’m honored by the time you’ve chosen to spend with me tonight. Is seven a good time for me to pick you up?” She stared at the text message for a long time before answering the message by saying, “Yes. See you at seven.” Soon as she sent the message, her phone rang. Damn! It was Treasure.

Chapter 16 “Are you okay?” “Why do you ask me that after every time I see him lately, Treasure?” Stefanie asked suspiciously. “I was going to call you last night and ask you but I wanted you to get some rest and then I thought you might call me if it was something bad. Red made it seem like it was something bad.” “I’m fine,” she assured Treasure. “Red took things out of proportion. The client was … wild, but passionately tamed? Let Red know you didn’t get me into anything. I asked for it. I wanted it.” She took a deep breath and admitted more to herself than to Treasure out loud. “I needed him.” She was able to think so much more clearly at what she wanted in life and really needed for herself whenever she was with him - despite the fact she knew nothing of him, his touch, his kisses, his love making made the rest of her lonely life almost bearable. Even knowing that she needed to go out on the date for dinner and she was not going to tell Treasure about the date. “I wanted to make sure you were fine,” Treasure said. “Red had me so worried. As if you two would be so silly as to have unprotected sex.” Sweat broke out on her forehead as she truly realized the severity of her wild, untamed passion and the consequences she had just placed on herself. Quickly without worrying Treasure, she lied, “Of course not, but Thank you Treasure, for checking on me and giving me this opportunity to help with a lot of things going on with me personally. This whole experience with the client has helped me.” “I’m glad, but I understand that you need more and at least I helped a little and that’s satisfaction enough,” Treasure chuckled. “I know my advice to stay away from Axel seemed a little bit forward, but I just thought it was the best for you and the client.” “But I really won’t find out about the entire conflict for now.” “Just for now, but as your friend, I promise to tell you soon. Give me some time.” She almost felt inclined about canceling the date with Axel Black, but she was too curious to find out what this man found so attractive about her? Was it really her brain? Changing the subject, Stefanie said, “I finished the changes to the software Lethal requested. I know how he feels about dropping things digitally so do you want me to deliver them?” “We could meet for dinner tonight and you can give them to me,” Treasure suggested. “Oh no,” she said quickly. “How about a lunch and this time for sure we’ll both make it tomorrow at the restaurant across from Heaven’s Gate Spa? I want to swing by there and close my account up just in case Lauren tries to use it again.” “By the way, did you hear back from your accountant yet about Lauren?” “I didn’t expect to hear anything yet and I certainly haven’t heard from her at all. Why would my accountant come back to me so soon?” “Because Dwight Bowman is a shark when it comes to getting money – whether it’s business or personal. I heard once you put him on the job there’s a guarantee he’ll get what’s owed to you.” “He won’t hurt Lauren, will he?” “Oh no, Dwight doesn’t hurt anyone – anymore.” There was a semi-light tone in Treasure’s voice, but the whole statement didn’t sit right with Stefanie. She looked at the clock and realized she hadn’t heard from Lauren at all and if she was planning on using a messenger, a delivery needed to be headed out soon. “Just as a reminder, I should call her,” Stefanie said. “Yes, you should and if I were you, don’t warn her about the actions you are taking.” “Why do you think I shouldn’t?” “Whether she’s planning on paying you back or not, people get real upset when they know Dwight Bowman is coming after them. It’s best to keep that information to yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow morning about eleven,” Treasure confirmed. Stefanie offhandedly confirmed and hung up deeply wondering what had she agreed to with her accountant by hiring Dwight Bowman. When she did a search on the Internet about him, all she heard were great things about how he was one of the best financial recovery specialists and many businesses hailed his professionalism and integrity. When dealing with money that made sense, yet there was just something that didn’t sit well after that conversation with Treasure.

Dialing Lauren’s number, she was confused hearing the operator say the number was disconnected. She called again just to be sure the number she knew was Lauren’s. The same message came back again. She decided to dial Jezica’s number. Relief filled her when Jezica answered. “Did Lauren get a new number?” “I don’t know, but she hasn’t returned one damn email or text message from me. I even left a message on her socials and she hasn’t replied or updated her status since yesterday. I’m on my way over there,” Jezica said. “And I’ll give you an update.” There was a lot of stress in her voice and even though Stefanie didn’t care, she still asked, “Is everything going okay with you?” “Actually no, it’s not Stefanie. When Lauren gave that big chunk of money to Dexter, it ruined a large part of my life and now… now I think Nick knows … well, he knows I’ve been sleeping around on him and supporting some activities behind his back with his money.” She sobbed a moment. “I don’t know what to do.” “Has he said something to you about everything?” Stefanie asked almost a little concern knowing Nick’s temper. “No! He hasn’t made mention and I'm not stupid enough to bring it up. If he divorces me, you know I get nothing, right Stefanie? Not even my own child!” In the past, Stefanie would have just asked Jezica how much she needed and written a checkout, but things were different. She didn’t look at Jezica as a “friend” anymore and she refused to help Lauren or Jezica out of any financial troubles they were having. “Well, I’m still trying to get my money from Lauren,” she said as if that was an excuse not to give Jessica any money. “I’ve even considered getting the services of a financial recovery specialist.” “Who? Doesn’t your accountant do that?” “He’s asked if I wanted to hire one – a really good one.” “who?” There was a slight apprehension to telling Jezica who she was hiring, but she felt at this point nothing would get back to Lauren. “Dwight Bowman.” There was silence on the other end of the phone. “hello?” Stefanie called out to make sure the line had not disconnected. “You hired him already?” “Lauren has until the close of business day to get a good faith payment before he starts to really work on her, but yes, I am going to officially hire him if she doesn’t.” “Which she won’t and I can’t believe you’ve got the balls to hire him and sic him on poor Lauren?” “Poor Lauren?” she exasperated. “You were just crying about the money she took from you.” “But Dwight Bowman?!” Lauren exclaimed. “do you know what you’re really doing, Stefanie?” “Not with you in my ear. I think I’ve taken your advice long enough Jezica and if you think you’re being a friend now, maybe you should have been a friend before when I really needed one. A real friend.” She hung up the phone and huffed in frustration. One moment Jezica wanted to help and the next she was acting as if Stefanie was the bad person. The whole thing was frustrating and she would at least listen to Kenneth Biachi’s advice on staying away from Lauren and Jezica and never ever giving them another dime of her money. Now she had to think about clearing her thoughts on her wreckless behavior last night. Grabbing her purse, she rushed out the door to the same day clinic so she could be back before her dinner date. If Lauren's messenger actually showed up, she would be notified by her neighbor who often watched out for packages delivered to her doorstep. When she returned to her home, she felt almost serene. Her peace of mind had been gone most of the time, but once she got her test results back to show she was okay, she felt a lot better. She wouldn’t get her blood work back until tomorrow, but that was fine because she knew Treasure wouldn’t get her involved with someone on that level without knowing if he was okay or not. After a shower and fighting with her hair, she started to get ready for her date with Axel Black. A couple of hours later, nervous and excited, she watched as he pulled up in front of her home in a just off the showroom floor gray Mercedes Benz. She could almost smell the new car scent from the front window she was peeking out of. In a salmon colored dress with matching heels outfit which she had thought she would never wear in her life, she gleamed like a love sick schoolgirl watching him get out of the car and then retrieving a dozen roses out of his trunk along with something else he carefully hid behind his back.

Composing herself rubbing an extra hand over the French roll she mangled her tough hair into, she rushed to the door took a deep breath and calmed herself down so she wouldn’t look too sappy. Putting on business self-control as she opened the door to let him into her home-loving how he ducked down and entered with an eager smile on his lips. “You look great!” he said. “Thank you and thank you,” she said for the compliment and because he handed the flowers to her. She hadn't gotten flowers from a guy in so long she wanted to cry. “I wasn’t sure which flowers you liked because you never talk about what kind you like.” Frowning, she asked, “What do you mean?” “I read your blog all the time. You hardly talk about your personal interests, so I had to take a guess.” She was too ecstatic to care how creepy this sounded. “Because if you didn’t like the flowers, I thought you’d like this.” He pulled out a six-pack of Red Bull. She laughed and couldn’t help to hug him having to stand on her toes in order to do so. He kissed her cheek and they both looked at each other. There was this deep searching look in his odd colored eyes that stirred her body. Suddenly the room felt very hot and she wanted him to carry her to her bedroom. He moved away and put his head down. “I thought you’d be interested in finding out more about me tonight, Stefanie.” “I-I do,” she said feeling flush. “I’d better put this away and then we can go.” She took the flowers and Red Bull in the kitchen. After putting the drinks in the refrigerator, she found a dusty old vase under her sink and put the roses in promising to clean it off later. She was glad for the minute away from him to gather herself. Of course she wanted to find out all she could about this extraordinary man. This was her dream, but all she could think about was what her so called friends would think. Most likely they’d try to take him away or say she wasn’t good enough for him. He came in the kitchen. “You are curious about me, aren’t you?” he questioned. “I’m curious,” she admitted out loud coming around the counter to stand in front of him. He rested on a stool to be her eye level. “Then ask,” he encouraged. Did he know how silky deep his voice was? And the more excited he seemed to get, the more seductive he sounded. She could listen to him talk all day. “What other things do you do to keep busy?” “Other than writing security ware, I sell Internet Startups and focus on plugins for Content Management Systems.” “How old are you?” He smirked. “Actually, I’m thirty-five, but a lot of people tell me I look younger. Most of what I know of my father’s family lives in Detroit, but my mother was a one night stand and she decided she wanted nothing to do with him – maybe because he was actually sane while bits and pieces of her family were half past crazy. She died married to a black guy and then he married another woman after her death. Guardianship was passed around like a bank loan. Everybody wanted the money my guardianship entailed but no one really wanting me around.” She understood the not wanting around. The only reason her mother kept her around was because of the government checks she received. He continued. “I love Michigan, which is why I returned here after a stint around the world on business. I have lots of property here and also in Florida, Colorado, Massachusetts and just recently purchased some land in Italy and Japan. Detroit is logical for my company instead of Grand Rapids where my mother’s family is originally from, which is why I reside here inside of the city.” “You do look young. I mean not that young, but young,” she agreed leaning on the counter. “I feel young. I haven’t experienced much except in terms of education and business. My personal life is a void, but I’m sure you understand when it comes to sitting behind a computer and finding very few people who can deal with your love for your work or refer to it as the thingy you do.” She smiled in pure understanding remembering that term being used more than once from Jezica and Lauren. It was too unbelievable how they had so much in common. “So my next question would be what rock did you craw out from, Axel? You seem too good to be true.” He threw his head back and laughed deeply. His laughter was sexy and infectious and Stefanie couldn’t help also laugh.

Answering her question, through spurts of chuckles, he said, “A very big rock, trust me. Like I said I’ve been stuck behind a computer since I was ten because my mother was all about appearance and back then she didn’t think I looked good enough to be her son. I’ve got three half sisters from my mother – through various other men – and they all feel outer beauty is so much more important because of my mother and for a while she made me think it too, until I just got tired of being someone I wasn’t.” He took her hand and tenderly touched his index finger down her pinkie finger. “When I hear people talk about you or read your blog, I feel a kindred soul, Stefanie. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why you hung around Jezica and Lauren. I’d see you dragging your feet into the club reluctantly knowing you didn’t want to be there or around them.” Stefanie picked up on what he said instantly and snatched her hand away. “What do you mean? You’ve been watching me? Stalking me?”

Chapter 17 Guiltily, he bit his lip knowing he’d let something slip out that he wasn’t supposed to. “Okay, I’ll admit some things but only because I don’t want you to think I’m creepy. I’ve been watching you for the past six months trying to get the gumption to walk over there and speak to you.” “Watching me?” “Yeah,” he said as if that should be obvious. “Six months ago my younger sister calls me reluctantly to come over and pick her up because she was stranded. When she didn’t come out to the car, I came into the club and I saw you. Sitting at a booth while Lauren and Jezica constantly got asked to dance by other guys, I wondered why the hell didn’t anyone ask you and I wanted to ask you, but…” His voice trailed off and he looked down ashamed. Was that a blush? She’d never seen a grown man blush before and damn if that didn’t make him look even more handsome. When he looked back at her, he smiled rubbed his bottom lip nervously. “I hope this isn’t creeping you out.” Shaking her head, she was just in disbelief about what she was hearing. Had Lauren put him up to this to make Stefanie forget about how much money was owed? Would Lauren stoop so low to use her boyfriend’s boss to seduce Stefanie to forget about the money? Damn! Because the plan might actually work. Stefanie was finding herself very infatuated with Axel Black. “Please keep going,” she insisted. “Why didn’t you ever come over and introduce yourself to me and does this involve your employee, Dexter?” “Like I said, I was reading algorithms since I was ten. Math doesn’t teach you how to talk to girls, so I found myself confused about what to exactly say to you. On top of that, I never saw you speak to guys like me so I didn’t approach you." She interrupted him. "Guys like you?" He flushed. "White men?" Gasping in shock, she asked in a deadly serious voice, "You're white?! I just thought we were waiting for your color to come in." Axel looked absolutely dumbfounded and she couldn't help to chuckle in amusement. She explained her teasing, "It's just a saying some people like to tell new mothers when the baby comes out too light." He smiled handsomely taking her breath away. Stefanie tore her eyes away because she was so tempted to kiss him. "Is that why you sent Dexter over?" she questioned. "Because you were shy and you thought I wouldn't like you because you were white. Even though you can clearly see we have so much in common?" "Yes, Stefanie, I did think my color could be a determent to you liking me. I hid in the crowd and just watched, but I was disappointed about Lauren's interference." "So was I. I think Dexter's pretty cute," she teased and noticed how he frowned flashing a little jealousy in his eyes. "But I think they'd been drooling with envy if you'd have come over instead of Dexter. I'd have love for you to have come over and sweep me on the dance floor..." She blushed this time. "Even though I don't know how to dance." He smiled proudly. "I'll have to teach you then." Stefanie smiled with a nod. "I do understand though Lauren overshadowing me. I'm used to it. I blend in or disappear when Lauren or Jezica is around." Emphatically, he said, "No you don't! You actually stand out so much that I can see why guys are intimidated by you." Now he was going overboard! Looking around as if someone else had come up beside her, she asked him, "Did Lauren put you up to this ?" "What do you mean?" he questioned confused. "Axel, really?" she snickered sarcastically. "I would have almost believed you were you actually stalking me if you hadn't said that." "Stefanie, I'm dead serious. I've been attracted to you since I first saw you."

"And I'm next in line for the Pope." She stepped away from him very ready to tell him to get the hell out of her house. He jumped up and grabbed her hand, but she snatched it away. "No more games, Axel," Stefanie said. "Tell Lauren she can send Denzel Washington or George Clooney my way, but it won't make me forget she owes me money." "What are you talking about? I have nothing to do with Lauren or Jezica" He looked duly insulted. "Please don't push me away, Stefanie! Please!" Was he honestly begging?" Damn! Stefanie turned away from him but didn't walk away. She was utterly confused to this whole situation. Why did she want to believe him? Yet, why would he be so attracted to her compared to Lauren and Jezica, when no other man seemed to be. Turning back to him, craning her neck to look up at him, she asked, “Be honest with me, Dexter.” “I can be no other way, Stefanie.” Her neck was hurting from looking up at him and she moved to a stool. He sat next to her with a very serious look in his different colored eyes waiting or her to speak with baited breath. “When Dexter came over to the table, he seemed to be only interested in Lauren.” “Even he agreed that you outshone them all. Lauren was rather aggressive at taking the attention off of you and on her. He didn’t want to be rude,” he explained. “Plus, he thought to dance with her to find out more about you.I saw you leave out, but I was still too shy to speak with you.” “and the date he took her on afterwards? The dinner? His boat?’ “I convinced him to take her to a nearby sports bar, but it was just to ask more questions about you, although he said she talked mostly about herself, but told every embarrassing and horrible story you’ve ever experienced around her.”. He looked confused again. “I’m not saying I know all my employees business but I do know I don’t pay him enough to get a boat unless he doing something I don’t know about.” Putting her face in her hands in humiliation, Stefanie could only imagine the horror stories Lauren told him. “Can I ask you a question now if I haven’t creeped you out too much?” he asked warily. She gave him permission by nodding. “Why have you hung around them for so long?” Stefanie sighed regretfully. “I guess they’re the only people I have in my life since I was young and I keep them around to remind me of something familiar.” “What could you possibly want familiar with them?” “Let’s just say I didn’t have a good home life.” “What about your real family?” The word was rather foreign to her since she really never had one. “I’m an only child. Well, that I know of. My mother was an alcoholic.” She rolled her eyes. “Not just a plain alcoholic, she was a super alcoholic. I think I saw my mother eat food five times in my whole life. Other than that, she had a bottle to her lips any chance she got. She even drank my cold medicine. I used to go to school so hungry because there was never any food in the house. I remember one summer I lived a week on basil, cinnamon sticks, and seasoning salt.” she had never really told anyone everything of her lie with her mom. “She was angry at a lot of things that had happened to her when she was growing up. And she used to tell me I looked like my father, so that was her reason for always yelling and screaming at me all the time. I used to think all mothers did that until I saw how nice Lauren and Jezica’s mother treated them.” Axel looked completely devastated as if someone had slapped him across the face. “Don’t be sad, though,” she insisted. “I survived. I wasn’t abused physically or sold for drugs.” she tried to chuckle to make light of the situation. “I just remember being hungry all the time when I was little. We didn’t have anyone else to turn to and basically, my mother’s drunk pals enabled her or felt pity because she had a child. At least we had a house to stay in. Water, heat, and electricity were always optional, though. Clothing was usually handed me downs I learned how to sew so I didn’t look completely dirty or homely.” He cleared his throat. “And your dad?” “That’s a real joke. He ran off when I was still in my mother’s stomach. Later on, I found out ironically, he was killed in a drunk driving accident and my mother had drunk all the insurance money that was supposed to go to my college education. I had to do something to get out of there because I refused to end up like her. Back then, everyone who was smart enough knew computers were the wave of the future and if I wanted to make

some money, I had to be better than everyone else. If I wasn’t hanging around trying to be a girl with Lauren and Jezica, I was living at the library and staling food out of garbage cans.” “I’m flabbergasted over what you experienced, Stefanie. It just makes me like you even more. You’re stronger than what I felt you were.” “Please stop that, Axel,” she insisted. “Stop what? Liking you?” “Stop saying things like that - that aren’t true.” “But I do like you, Stefanie. I'm not lying. I’ve waited a long time to have this time with you. I’ll show you every damn receipt I spent up in that club sipping on nasty ass club soda, waiting for you and watching you. Why is that so hard to believe?” She decided to be very honest with him. “Because you’re too damn perfect! You’re rich, gorgeous beyond belief and you’re nice.” Shaking her head, she emphatically stated. “Guys like you don’t look twice at girls like me. I’ve been through too many of them to know they either stay around me to get closer to Lauren and Jezica or try to use me for my money. Plus Lauren’s already staked her claim in Dexter, so that means friends are off limit as well. She’s all ready calling him the next Mr Lauren.” He looked devastated at her. “Have they fucked you up mentally that badly, Stefanie?” His language surprised her, but his words hit her hard in her gut. “Like I said, they were familiar to me.” He stood up and she craned her neck to look at him. With ease, he moved down and literally lifted her with no effort to sit on the counter so she was eye level with him. There was this intense yet worshipful look in his eyes that seem to mesmerize her soul. He didn’t need to say his attraction to her, his look clearly told her how much. And yet she was still overwhelmed with his attraction to her. “I also don’t need your money, Stefanie,” he said insulted. “And even if I had a ten-foot pole and they paid me all the money in the world, I still wouldn’t touch Lauren or Jezica.” Stefanie burst out laughing. “Oh, that was nasty!” Through his chuckles, he agreed, “It was, wasn’t it?!” His gorgeous smile was almost too delicious for words. “Has anyone ever told you, you’re too good to be true, Axel?” Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “If I’m your dream come true, I hope you never wake up, Stefanie.” She was positive her heart fell out of her mouth this time.

Chapter 18 She pushed him away needed a moment to catch her breath. “I should refresh myself before we leave, please.” Axel helped her down and politely stepped away. “You make me forget what our plans are very easily, Stefanie.” “Is that a good thing or bad?” she question. He raised a wicked brow. “Good for you, trust me.” He lightly brushed his lips over hers. “Hurry before I forget my control I promised to keep,” he whispered. Stefanie walked out before she found herself begging him to carry her to her bedroom, rip her clothes off and make love to her. Soon as she got to the bathroom, she changed into a new pair of underwear because she had drenched the ones she was wearing. You will not act like a horny fool, she ordered herself. Yet already she was remembering how his lips tasted and how his body felt against hers -Even though she had not gotten complete satisfaction, everything about him made her feel good. She was almost terrified of what could possibly happen once they really came together. Could he make feel even better than her mystery man? The idea made her dizzy and she quickly gulped some cold water so she would not pass out at her thoughts of being with Axel Black. Straightening out her clothes, refreshing her makeup, she joined him in the front room. “Where are we off too?” “Gaston’s.” She stopped in her tracks and he halted his step. “Gaston’s? At your private booth?” “Yes, I have one. How’d you know about that?” Right after he asked, he rolled his eyes and answered his own question. “Lauren, right?” He chuckled. “Dexter must have lied to her, to impress her, Stefanie, to tell him whatever he wanted.” Wealth always loosened Lauren’s tongue. “She said he took her there for dinner and then took her on a boat. The next morning he sent her flowers.” “Have you ever heard Lauren lie about anything before? Has she always been truthful about everything with you, Stefanie?" he questioned. Feeling confused because there was a lot of things Stefanie doubted about Lauren, she could only answer his inquiry with a shrug. “Let me take you on the date that she dreamed of going on, Stefanie,” Axel challenged. “I promise you after tonight you won’t have to hang on another word from their lives or live vicariously through them. I’ll show you how a real man is supposed to have been treating you.” He kissed her forehead, lips, cheek, and neck. . Damn! She was going to have to change her panties again. Feeling ridiculous, she asked sarcastically, “Dexter wouldn’t have his own private booth at Gaston’s.” “Along with his boat,” Axel responded with the same sarcasm. On one hand her gut told her to inquire more, but in the next she wanted this to be the perfect night for her. For once in her life, she didn’t hear the negative voices of others in her head and she felt like she was walking on Cloud Nine. Relaxing, she said, “I should really stop believing what Lauren says, shouldn’t I?” this felt wonderful to say out loud and solidified her determination to always find out the truth before she believed another word Lauren or Jezica said. “Do I need to answer that?” She shook her head and leaned up on him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his check. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I just want to be your dream come true, Stefanie. I want to everything you’ve ever wanted in a man. I’m yours,” he said with deep promise in his blue and green eyes gleaming so bright, her blood seemed to heat up. Yes, she was dreaming - wide awake and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. ***

Almost a block away from Gaston’s there were cars packed in lots and when he drive by the front, there was a line waiting outside in the guest waiting area. Even on a Friday evening, one could tell this restaurant was jumping and a seat would be heard to find. Axel didn’t stop in front, though. He pulled to the side where there was a special VIP valet and they were ushered inside, up some carpeted stairs right past the kitchen where the delicious smells of Gaston’s Desserts were being constantly baked. The smell made her mouth water and she was floating higher than heaven from the thought of tasting them with Axel. They were escorted to the eighth booth on the second floor with a curtain to give them privacy. His booth seated our people comfortably. To her disappointment, he sat across from her in the booth and began to order their drink and a light appetizer. Once the waiter was gone, leaving them alone, he asked, “Are you interested in finding out more about me?” There was this deep searching look in his extraordinary eyes that stirred her all the way to her soul. Of course she wanted to find out everything there was to this man, but in the back of her head, all she could think about was what would Lauren and Jezica really think about Axel Black? “I’m curious,” she admitted shyly. “But for now, let’s just enjoy each other’s company.” He smiled as if that was the best thing that she could ever suggest. “I know we haven’t known each other long and I know this time is hard, but I want you to know you may use my shoulder anytime.” “What if I don’t feel like crying?” she teased. He chuckled. “Well, since my ear is close by I’ll let you borrow that as well.” Stefanie smiled because she needed his humor right now and gratefully kissed him on the cheek. “I thought rich, nice looking guys were supposed to be selfish and stuck up.” “Maybe I haven’t realized that I am that guy yet, so don’t keep telling me I am.” After the appetizer and wine arrived, he ordered them dinner. The conversation focused on personal things about him. She found out the things he liked. Mostly, she learned he was overly shy when it came to women. He often avoided topics that had to do with his looks, but she didn’t let this bother her. Axel Black was too damn gorgeous to even care why he didn’t think very highly of his looks. Actually, this fact made her very comfortable around him because he was so honest in his emotions toward her. An hour later, they were still there eating the best meal she had ever met when the curtain opened. Stefanie expected the waiter to come deliver the special surprise dessert Axel had just ordered. To her disappointment and surprise, instead of the waiter standing there in the private booth, Nick Wright stood there with a “very glad to see you” smile on his lips. “Long time no see, Stefanie Kent,” Nick said, with open arms. “Aren’t you going to give your old friend a hug?” Nick was a fixed foot four lean built, nicely dressed guy, with nicely cut hair and warm brown skin. There was a playful wickedness in his hazel brown eyes. In college, Stefanie used to be infatuated by his lips and the way the grin never seemed to leave his lips, yet now as she noticed the way his lips natural curved on one side of his face, she found the permanent sarcastic smile annoying. Stiffly, she stood up and hugged Nick. His arms gripped around her waist and he held her overly long. She didn’t push him away, but let him hold her until he finally released her, but with that move, he kissed her on the cheek very close to her mouth. It took everything inside of her not to wipe his human stain away and she also forced himself to smile. “You are looking so beautiful, Stefanie.” When she started to sit down again, she noticed Axel had moved to the middle of the booth so when she sat down, she would be sitting close to him. Without being invited, Nick sat down across from her. Axel’s proximity eased her upset, yet he still didn’t speak. Matter of fact, he looked guilty. “So you know Axel?” she asked Nick. “Who doesn’t know Axel Black?” he said the name as if there was something funny about that question, yet she didn’t catch the joke. “I guess I should ask how do you know him?” she questioned looking at Axel and then Nick for answers. Simultaneously, they said, “College.” She looked at Axel. “You went to school in Michigan?’

Again they spoke simultaneously, “No.” Axel took her hand and gently squeezed her palm. “Nick and I met at Harvard.” “Yeah,” Nick said as if his confirmation was needed in order for this statement from Axel needed to be believed. “But the algorithms Nick created-“ “Funny,” she said cutting Nick off. “I was sure you’d scream from the ceiling if you’d ever met Axel Black, Nick.” Nick chuckled, but it was the fakest laugh she’d ever heard. “I don’t put all my business on the Internet. If you’d come around more, you’d know there’s more to me than meets the eye.” “I didn’t want to be the cause of another argument between you and Jezica, Nick.” There was a tense moment of silence and she decided to ask, ”Where’s Jezica?” Nick stiffened and gritted out, "As much as Jezica loves to go out, she doesn't like to go out with her husband. She states that she spends too much time putting up with your geekiness that she's just too exhausted for me." Why did it sound like he was accusing her of who his wife chooses to spend time with? She never forced Jezica to go out with her. Defensively, she said, "I never wanted to come between you and Jezica, Nick. That's why I stayed away from the house because she asked me to." "A good friend makes sacrifices and do whatever they had to do to spend time with friends they really care about." She gripped the table to hide her growing turmoil. Nick had a lot of nerve saying that to her when he dropped her like a bad habit to be with and marry Jezica. "I should refresh myself," she said. "Before we leave." "Good idea," Axel agreed with a sympatric look wishing as if he could help her. "We'll meet you at the bottom of the steps." She drunk all the wine from her glass and suddenly felt she was going to throw up. “Excuse me,” she said abruptly standing up. Both men stood out of respect and watched her as she walked away. Getting out of the booth, she staggered to the bathroom praying she wouldn’t throw up before getting to a stall. Being away from Nick, her anxiety dissipated and she hoped he wasn’t there when she got back. By the time she made it down the steps to the bathroom, she was feeling a lot better and just needed to press her face against the cool bathroom wall. She went into a stall for privacy. After taking deep gulps of breaths, she bit down on her lip forcing herself not to scream. What the hell was he doing here and how could he be angry at her? Nick never made any attempt to see her! He never said one word to her when Jezica had clearly told them Stefanie didn't need to come around. He had even avoided Stefanie's calls when she tried to call him at work. So why was she upset about something so trivial? Now he was miserable and probably wishing he had stayed with Stefanie. On top of that, he was most likely jealous because she was here with Axel Black. Composing herself, she confidently opened the stall door. Instead of just walking out, she was face to face with Jezica looking as if someone had run her over with a truck. Jezica had always been one to make sure her appearance was kept up. Even on a bad day, Jezica looked nice. Except now! How Jezica had gotten into the restaurant dressed as if she had not changed her clothes in about a week, along with rolling around in the dirt, was a mystery to Stefanie. Her hair was ratted all over her hair and seem to cry out in desperation for a comb. To make matters worse, she was broken out with pimples and something funny growing over her lip and had the nerve to wear large sunglasses as if to disguise herself. "What is wrong with you, Jezica? What are you doing here?" Stefanie asked. "I should be asking you that!" Jezica said her eyes filled with accusation. "Conspiring with the enemy."

Chapter 19 Completely baffled, Stefanie exclaimed, "What the hell are you talking about? Conspiring? What enemy?!" "Axel Black! He's the enemy!" She pointed accusingly at the door as if Axel was right outside on the other side. "Don't you know that?! Nick is a petty ass freak who thinks he's going to destroy me." She went over to the door and looked out. "Damn them both. He'll get his, though." Stefanie could see Nick and Axel talking heatedly about something, but carefully keeping their voices down. "What do you mean about Nick getting it in the end? You haven't lost your mind and plan to do something stupid, Jezica, have you?" "Stupid or the smartest thing ever and leave him. I may have lost that money I saved up, but I can do bad by myself. Who cares Nick'll find out about the lovers and gifts and affairs." "What gifts?" Stefanie inquired. "Cars, houses," she cackled. "I paid off their bills and bought lots and lots of stuff." "You didn't think Nick was going to ever find out? A car? A house? What were you thinking, Jezica." Jezica shrugged nonchalantly. "It was all his money anyway. I'll be living okay while you'll still be consorting with the enemy." "How is Axel Black the enemy?" "You're not the smartest tool in the shed, Stefanie," Jezica sneered as she closed the door went over to the sink and grabbed some paper towel. Blowing her nose viciously, she said, "Especially when it comes to deceit. They've all been playing you. All of them." "Would all of them include you?" she asked. Guiltily, Jezica nodded. "I've been using you. Thinking I could possibly get something out of you that Nick couldn't give me." Tears rolled down her eyes and she blew her nose again. "I thought maybe some smarts would actually rub off and I could... accomplish something." She hurled the mucus filled paper at Stefanie's feet. "And you had to go ruin it by getting some balls. Everything was perfect!" She was thoroughly confused Jezica's whole demeanor. "Well, I'm sorry I ruined your life, Jezica," she said sarcastically. "But keep in mind you ruined mine first." "I know! I know!" Jezica stressed. Frustrated with Jezica's horrible attempt to feel sorry, Stefanie asked, "Have you seen or heard from Lauren yet?" "No! I haven't heard a thing! I found that son of a bitch Dexter at the bar where we hang out." "Has he seen her?" "NO!" Jezica exclaimed madly. "And the money? Did he know anything about it?" Looking fully disappointed, Jezica said, "Of course not. He pretended he didn't know anything about that or where Lauren had gone. But all of them are in cahoots. I learned the truth from his bitch ass mother." Stefanie didn't want to care anymore. Walking out, she noticed how Axel and Nick immediately seemed to just stop talking and smile at her as she approached. Axel pulled her close to him with a deep look of concern. "I'm sorry, Stefanie, about my behavior," Nick apologized looking at her, but then sneaking a more worried look at Axel. "I guess misery likes company." She figured Axel reamed Nick out about his behavior and she relaxed. Jezica was crazy, or going crazy. Axel Black was not the enemy. Hopefully, tonight he would be her lover. "Well, we're not going to join your pity party if you don't mind Nick," Axel said. "Talk to you later and next time you want to discuss business, please make an appointment with my secretary." Nick only nodded uncomfortably. The waiter brought out two small white boxes and Axel tipped the man twenty. "Thanks, D," the waiter said and walked away. She was about to say something but then figured maybe she heard the waiter address Axel wrong. "Ready to go?" Axel questioned. "Very much."

He escorted her out and his car was waiting for them. When they were inside, he drove away asking, "Do you mind me taking you somewhere? We don't have to get out of the car. I just would like to share something with you." She nodded her acquiesce. "I do apologize for Nick just showing up like that," he said. "It's really no problem. I mean, Jezica is doing him wrong. I can understand his frustrations. He made some bad decisions in college and no matter what how I tried to warn him he just wouldn't listen." They pulled up to a red light and he looked at her suspiciously. "Warn him?" "Yes. I think he thought I was just saying things because I liked him a lot. I mean I did. He was like my college crush and I just thought... you know for a moment in my life, I really believed in love at first sight. Nick made me feel like I was normal for the first time." She sighed regretfully, but not because she missed those days, she just still cared for Nick as a friend and wished she could have warned him better about Jezica. Stiffly, he asked, "But what exactly did you warn him about?" "I said Jezica didn't love him like I loved him." "And do you still?" She saw the answer to this question meant a whole hell of a lot by the intensity in his eyes. Shaking her hand and putting her hand on top of his, she said, "No, Axel. Once I knew Jezica's claws was in him, I knew I was no match for her." "And that's why you won't let yourself fall for me because you think Lauren's going to get her claws in me and do the same, right?" "I'm confident, but there's just this little fear that yes, she will." The light changed green and he took off. Taking her hand in his and pulling her knuckles to his lips, he said, "She can't." "Why?" "Because she's not you, Stefanie. I love you. I've always loved." Her heart did a quadruple flip and she smiled because his words were sincere. If he kept this up, she'd be definitely in love with him by the end of the night. They pulled up in the parking lot of the Erma Henderson Marina owned by the City of Detroit. With the fall rolling in, a lot of the boats were moved to storage. He was able to drive down the Marina and park in front of a seventy foot three-floor white boat. "You like her?" he questioned. She blinked twice and couldn't believe what he was showing her. "That's yours? He nodded. "It's a current year Alaskan Raised Pilothouse. I just got her a few months ago after I bought the island in Lake Michigan. Thought it would be fun to travel around Michigan on the Lakes keeping warm through the winter." "What?" she seemed dazed by the capacity of wealth he had. Stefanie was no spring chicken, but the majority of her wealth she put in stocks and bonds or large savings accounts because she wasn't into material things much except when it came to electronics. "The boat. What do you think of her?" Trying not to seem overly impressed, she shrugged, "It's nice, but do you think you're trying to compensate for what's lacking?" He chuckled. "Are you trying to hit below the belt or just being sarcastic?" "A little bit of both," she teased. Leaning over to her, he asked, "Can I kiss you, Stefanie Kent?" At that point, he could do a lot more than that. Calmly, she said, "Yes you may Mr. Black." A wicked look of triumph crossed his features as he dipped down and gave her the sweetest kiss the world could ever imagine. Yes, she was fully falling in love with Axel Black. His mouth was so warm and every time she kissed him she found she was losing just a little bit more and more of her own sanity. No man had made her feel so sweet and wicked at the same time and Stefanie knew she wanted to feel so much more. Moving over into his seat straddling his waist, while he pulled the bar to move the driver’s seat back for more room, they never stopped kissing and she could tell he was enjoying himself just as much as she was. Grinding herself against his manhood that pressed from her groin to her stomach, she relished his mumbled moan. Running her hands behind his nape and then encircling her arms around his neck, she increased her

grind-loving how his thick arms circled her body to hold her in place hard against his clothed shaft as if his life depended on everything move she made. His moans were getting louder and Colette was fascinated by the loss of control this man seemed to have with her as she felt his hips bolt from the seat, pull her body so tight into hers and his mouth attacked her neck voraciously. The breath seemed to be squeezed out of her for a moment and then she heard him curse. When she tried to move, he seemed to hold her tighter, so she kept still until he seemed to get his equilibrium back. Did it just happen again? Her mind was screaming in dissatisfaction, but her exterior kept cool. She was aware when he returned to reality because his arms circled her waist tightly and he groaned in her neck. "Fuck! Fuck!" he whispered. "I should be honored that you lose all control around me," she said with a giggle trying to assuage him. "You should slap me," he said disappointedly. "I should be able to control myself." "Well, at least until I can get mine," she pretended to be affronted. He kissed her softly on her neck, cheek and then lips. "I should take you home and find ways to show my apology." Reluctantly she moved off his lap and into the passenger seat. He growled from just the friction and she could see he was still pronounced. Yet even as he arrived at her home he made no attempt to invite himself in. Stefanie tried to insinuate a reason for him to come in. "You could come inside and clean up." Axel took a deep breath as if he had already considered that, but after another second, he shook his head. "I really shouldn't. I don't trust myself and I really can't move to even open your door or walk you to your front door. I'm sorry. But I'll make it up to you, I promise." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Getting out before her own disappointment began to show, she felt confused, horny and... Frustrated - all over again. Going into the house, Stefanie went to her computer just too upset to even try to get relaxed. At first, she tried answering some emails but was too distracted by the entire night to really try to think about anything else. Should she be honored that he was unable to have any type of control around her? A man as handsome and perfect looking as this man was must have plenty of women and have had plenty of practice. The doorbell ringing startled her. Turning on her security camera by her desk all she could see was a dark Stetson, but she knew instantly whom it was.

Chapter 20 Unlike most of her clients who came at normal business hours, this one had the oddest hours she ever knew. Yet, she couldn't complain because he paid on time and even gave nice tips. Usually, during normal hours, Stefanie was in contact with Treasure, but every once in a while she had to deal with his presence. Stefanie went to reluctantly open her door to let Lethal Heart into her home. At six feet five and almost as broad as the doorframe, the largely African American man had to duck and turn sideways to get in the home. She stepped more than an arm’s length away and tried to look as brave as possible pushing away the fear in her gut. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, even though every nerve in her body automatically wanted to get away from him, yet Lethal had a strong sexuality about him that made one forget they were in danger. Pitch-black ominous eyes glared down at her as if she had done something wrong and giving her chills down her spine. She tried not to rub away the Goosebumps that leaped on her arms or shiver from the mortal fear she felt in every inch of her veins. Lethal Heart not only eluded sexiness, but he also brought danger to the hearts of anyone who dared to look him in the eye. "It's about damn time," he sneered. "I didn't know we had a meeting." "I didn't expect a homebody like you would be out." He looked at her state of dress from her head to toes and then back again. "You actually clean up better than I thought." She turned away not wanting to know if that was a compliment or insult. "What do you want Lethal? I sent over the new security code you specially ordered a month ago." Moving behind her desk, she knew if he wanted to kill her the furniture provided a little protection but at least it made her feel just a little safe. "Unless you want the flash drive I was going to hand deliver to Treasure tomorrow." Unlocking her work drawer, she picked up the flash drive and handed it his way. He took an envelope out of his long black leather Macintosh jacket, which was so thick and long, she swore two cows had been needed to cover this man's massive body. At the same time, he took off his Stetson and his long black dread braids moved around and hung over his shoulders. After dropping the envelope on the desk, leaned over the desk at her. She could see his head almost touched her ceilings and she forced her eyes to look away trying to pretend what she had on her computer screen was much more important than looking him over closely. “Any other woman would be honored by my presence this late at night,” he said quite arrogantly. “Any other woman would be stupid,” she snorted. His eye flinched and she thought that was his attempt at smiling, but Lethal Heart didn’t smile – or she had never seen that occurrence happened. Matter of fact, she would see more blue moons happened in one human’s time than a smile from Lethal’s lips. He handed her the envelope he had pulled out of the MacIntosh and then sat on the other side of her desk, putting his big boot up on the edge of the desk. She had to hold down the other side to keep everything on her desk including her computer from tipping over from his weight. “I have a client who’s had several attempts on his life, despite my ability to protect him,” Lethal spoke as if they had been discussing this topic before, but Stefanie really had no idea what he was talking about. Yet, she wasn’t about to correct him in this knowledge because Lethal rarely explained himself and she was not in the mood to get on his bad side tonight after her long day. Glad she wasn’t a feeble woman as she held down the table from the logs he called legs, she sniped, “I’m a computer software designer, Lethal Heart, and I don’t make bullet proof vests.” “I know that,” he snorted. “But would there be a way to find him through technology that I haven’t thought about yet and who would design something like that?” “Get your legs off my desk and I’ll tell you,” she said in her most pleasant voice. He hesitated as if he was affronted by her request, but eventually put his feet on the floor. She relaxed her grip on her end of the desk, sighing in relief. “There could be ways to track people with apps and widgets.” “I’ve looked into that. I had Treasure looked through any of his systems and twice we had times where an unknown virus tried to even break down the firewall you built to get into his system.”

That was an insult because Stefanie took great pains to design that system and now knew why Lethal had come to her. The only one she could think of that would have the audacity to break into her system would be… “Who?” Lethal asked as if reading her mind. “Nicolas Wright.” Standing up, she pounded her fist on the table. “The son of a bitch!” Lethal only raised a black brow in slight curiosity. “And he would be?” "Wait, first off, who is this client that's so important that they'd even hire Nick to do something like this to me?" "That's none of your business." "But you expect me to help you, Lethal? Yet you give me no information? You aren't being fair." "Life isn't fair. Spill the beans. Who is Nicolas Wright?" “Another Computer software analyst I went to college with. Damn! He’s here in Metro Detroit. Why? And who the hell is this client?” Lethal stood up sharply as if she had demanded his soul. Ignoring her question, he asked, “Can you help me track this Nicolas while he’s doing this? I want a better reason to shove my fist down his throat and send him to jail for stalking, hacking and whatever else I can pin to him and I need to catch in the act.” She flinched at the imagery of Lethal’s fist in Nick’s mouth. “The software I designed should have easily activated the GPS location system immediately. You should know his location and where he’s been working from to get the information.” “You don’t think I hadn't tried everything before I came to you.” She knew that had been a dumb solution to suggest to Lethal. He was one of her rare clients that could come up with the solution she needed but depended on her expertise as the final straw. “I could come up with a simple algorithm to go behind him. There’s always a trail and be on call to get into the system to stop and catch whoever this is. I mean maybe it’s something he designed that someone else is using.” “You think it could be this Nick?” “I know it has to be his work. We worked closely enough that he could probably guess where I’ve got a weak link at in the system.” She wrote down his address. “I designed that software in so much secrecy that the government even bought a version for one of their systems down in Langley, Lethal. Once it’s password encoded, even God might have a hard time breaking in. But Nick must have figured something out or he was the only one that could get to my notes.” “So what about his cell phones and other devices? Could the client be tracked that way even if we’ve scanned each device?” “Yes,” she said. “Someone as good as Nick could easily find out the unique signal each device transmit and create software to track him.” “But can you stop this?” “I can’t stop the signal, but I can hide it. I’ll make him a ghost and he can only be seen unless you want him to be seen. Let me tweak something I’ve been working on. I’ll need all electronic devices he uses including his car.” “His car?” “Yes. If It’s a newer model, it’s got a computer.” “I’ll have to get you to Chicago.” “No deal.” He looked as if he could easily jump over the desk and drag her out of there, without stopping until they got to Chicago. For a moment, she was in very real fear for her life. “Give me a day to have someone drive it here and even have Red bring over his limousine he only uses when he’s in town.” “Thank you,” she said relieved. “That’ll give me enough time to finish up the program for you in a day or so.” “You will be compensated immensely,” he promised. She wondered was he only talking about money, but she was too shy to even hint or flirt with Lethal Heart. “Thank you.” He leaned on the desk evenly distributing his weight this time so she wouldn’t have to hold anything down. “Now what can I do for you? And who the hell was that in the car who didn’t have the decency to get out and walk you to your door? I’ll blow him a new hole if you want me to, Stefanie. It’d be my pleasure.”

“I think it would give you more pleasure than me to shoot someone for me, Lethal.” That was a guess on her part. She knew that was a fact. “You were watching me?” “I didn’t want to call and I was in the neighborhood for a client. Plus, you hardly ever go anywhere. I’ve known you to be locked up in this hell hole for weeks without coming out.” “How long have you been watching me?” “I don’t do the watching.” “How long have you had me watched?” she demanded to know. He only shrugged. “Del did some watching for me.” Stefanie was aware of the strangely quiet expert tracker, Delicious Heart. Why he was called that and if it was his real name she didn’t dare asked, but the more she knew about anyone related to Lethal Heart, the wackier their names became. “It was in the beginning when I wanted to use you.” Lethal explained shifting uncomfortably. “Don’t watch me,” she ordered. “I’ll bring the software over to your office personally in a couple of days and you can take me out to the cars afterwards.” Lethal nodded and put his Stetson back on. “So who do you want me to kill?” “He’s no one, Lethal Heart. Please let it go.” He only glared hard at her because he wasn’t one to repeat himself. Conceding so he would leave sooner, she said, “He’s just this perfect guy I met that wants me from first sight, but can’t seem to control himself around me. He leaves me … horny and I don’t know what to do about that or him. He doesn’t want to rush things, but I wouldn’t mind if he did. I just know how to tell him.” Lethal’s eye twitched and he stood up fully. “He isn’t, you know.” “What? He doesn’t want me from first sight?” “No, Stefanie. That man’s keeping something from you. He’s taking it slow because he’s either siphoning information out of you or he’s going to use you for something not very good. The loss of control could be stress related over the deception he's going to do, but also something else he's keeping from you pertaining to his physical health.” “How would you know all that?” she questioned suspiciously. “I know people. I know a lot of bad people and I know people who do bad things to others for a reason.” “He’s not –“ she vehemently protected him. Lethal cut her off. “I don’t give advice often, Stefanie, but trust me enough to know I owe you and this is payment on what you’re doing for me. Keep your legs closed and your senses open. They’ve probably already told you something’s wrong, but you’re too caught up in his perfection to not see it. She followed him slowly as he walked to the door trying to contemplate what he had said to her. Lethal stopped before going out the door staring out into the darkness as if he could see clear as day what was around. Slowly, he turned around as if he were about to pounce on her. “I could top off your horniness for you, Stefanie.” His voice had become a deep husky melodious song, making her panties wetter. Flustered, she said, “I’m fine. I’ll take your advice as favor enough.” He only shrugged and turned around. “Stay sharp, Stefanie.” She looked down for just a moment to take that information in and when she looked up to the doorway, there was no one standing there. Going to close the door, she wondered how a man that large could move so silently. Locking up the house for the night, she went to her bedroom and took the longest shower she could. Just standing there letting the water running over her body gave her time to think, clear her mind and then become sleepy enough to want to go to bed. She didn't bother to put on pajamas, she just dried off, wrapped her hair and crawled in the bed. A phone ringing in the middle of the night didn’t get her to open her eyes but groggily reach in the direction of the noise and drag the phone up to her ear. “Hello?” “Stefanie?” a low silky voice said. It took her a moment to realize Axel was on the other line. Holding her breath, she wasn’t sure if she was still asleep and if this was a dream, she really didn’t want to wake up from it this time.

Chapter 21 “Stefanie?” he said again. Letting out the breath she had been holding and asked, “Axel?’ “Were you sleeping?” “Yes, but that’s fine. Are you okay? What time is it?” “It’s going on midnight. I’m okay, but I didn’t mean to wake you.” He sounded like he was upset. “Where are you?” “Out.” Sitting up in bed, she looked at the window and then back at the phone. “Outside where?” He didn’t answer her. Matter of fact, he didn’t even speak and she looked at the window again. “Axel?” When she strained her ears, she could hear him breathing. Again, she called his name, “Axel? Are you really okay?” “I got home and felt like shit. I showered and changed and told myself I was a selfish ass.” Relaxing, she said, “It’s okay. Things happen. Sometimes we can’t control ourselves.” “But I don’t think you understand how much I can’t, Stefanie. Not around you. Not when you’re near. I-“ He cut himself off and huffed in frustration. “I want you morning, noon and night. Do you know that?” “I do now.” She felt a tightness in her chest and pulled a pillow in front of her to hold tightly. “I forgive you for being a selfish ass, Axel.” “You’ll have to let me make it up to you.” “And you will, but it’s late and we both need some rest.” “I’m rested, but I can’t have another sun rise without giving you pleasure, Stefanie.” She looked at the window again and something seemed to draw her over to look out. His car was parked in front of her house. “You’re outside,” she said in an almost whisper. “I tried to drive somewhere else, but everywhere I turned, I ended back here.” Pressing her face against the window, she licked her dry lips wishing he was there kissing on her. “I’ll go,” he said. The car started to drive away. “No!” she said. The car stopped. The phone was quiet between them. Listening to his restless breathing turned the lust in her soul for him. “You want to make it up to me?” she questioned in a quiet voice. There was a strain in his voice as he answered, “Yes.” The words of Lethal Heart and Treasure echoed in her head, but she ignored all common and moral sense. “But I don’t want to lose control again. I don’t know how to please you on my own.” The statement was confusing to make, but she decided to help him. “If I unlocked the door, you could come up and we could learn... together.” “You promise to teach me everything there is to please you?” “If it takes all night, I won’t mind.” The line was silent again and she decided to initiate going over to the code box where she could electronically unlock the door with a pass code. “It’s open, Axel. Please don’t make me beg.” His line went dead and she went back over to the window. His car lights were off and then she saw a dark shadow enter her home. Putting her phone down, she ran to the bathroom, brushed her teeth hurriedly and then pounced in the bed trying to pretend she’d been there the whole time. She was only wearing a large t-shirt and positioned herself on the bed so he could see the thick curve of her bare thighs and the full shape of her body through the shirt. The only light came from her bedroom’s bathroom. Her door opened and she shivered in lust seeing his large body fill the doorframe as if he belonged there. Ducking in, he stood at the end of her bed looking down at her with his fists tightened. He started to get on the bed, but she said, “No!”

Instantly he stopped looking affronted and insulted. Moving up, so she rested back on both elbows, she said, “If you’re going to let me teach you how to please me and stay in control, then you have to listen to me. Listen to my body.” He relaxed and nodded. “Take off your shirt,” she ordered. He tore open the expensive shirt and then almost ripped off the undershirt. When his hands started to move to his pants, she stopped him again with a firm, “No.” He stopped again and she could tell he really wasn’t used to being ordered. “Take your shoes off and kneel at the foot of the bed.” His eyes never left hers and that familiar lustful force he had earlier was there heavy and aromatic. She could smell his heat and smile. The bed creaked not used to his weight and she was glad of the queen size bed. He was right by her feet, but he made no attempt to touch her. The power she had over him was delicious. She took off her shirt and he gasped just a little. “You’re beautiful,” he said. “You’re everything I dreamed of, Stefanie.” Laying back on the bed, she laid on leg down and slightly raised the other. “Massage my legs,” she ordered. “But don’t go any farther than that.” A look of confusion crossed his features, but he didn’t protest as he bent down and gently massage her right ankle. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend he wasn’t there, but his hands were so warm on her skin. He knew exactly the right pressure to apply as he worked his way up her calf not missing one spot over her leg. When he reached her thighs, she ordered, “Take your time.” He kneaded the muscles in a slow circular motion massaging aches she didn’t know she had. Moving his palms all over her thigh, she bit her lip feeling him closer to her womanhood. The upper part of her body was so tense, she waited with baited breath as he got closer and closer. Suddenly he stopped and moved to her ankle again. Grr… her frustration was heightened all over again and though she had full control, she knew if she let him take control, she wouldn’t get any satisfaction. Soon he was back at her thigh again this time take his time to knead the back of her thighs and then come around to the front. Grabbing his wrist to suddenly. Using her business control, she rolled on her back and pulled the pillow under her. “Now massage my back,” she ordered. When he first rested his hands on her shoulders, she was positive she felt them tremble. He was taking long deep breaths as if something pained him terribly, but she refused to ask what was wrong. Stefanie knew. Her eyes had seen the bulge pressed so hard against his pants, she was positive she heard the seams starting to tear. Yet, he was obedient and damn if he massaged like a dream. She should have been terrified his strong hands would tear her skin apart, but amazingly he was gentle and took great care in rubbing away the stress of whatever she thought she was suffering – physically and mentally. His hands moved down her back, but she didn’t stop when he came to the top of her posterior. And he didn’t stop himself. He dug his fingers into her rear cheeks lovingly worshiping every centimeter of skin like it was going to be his last touch. Stefanie was in a glorious state of delight feeling him going back down the rear of the thigh and then coming all the way back up to her shoulders again. Slowly, she rolled over on her back and took his hands and put them on her breast. He shuddered. “This isn’t pleasing you,’ he said. “This is torture.” “It’s pleasing me a lot.” “How?” he asked confused. She moved her hand down between her legs and inserted a finger inside of her. His eyes watched in enjoyment. When she showed him her drenched finger, he looked spellbound and reached down to take her hand. He moved her hand up to his face and the next thing she knew he was sucking her love juice from her fingers.

That was just too much and she sat up. With her other hand, she moved around his neck and brought his mouth over to hers. The taste of her on his lips sent an inferno of desire through her whole body. He scooped her up whole body as he rested his rear on the back of his feet. Their tongues entwined in a yearning rumba, vibrant and wanton. Yet, she was still in control although he had lifted her and was holding her without effort in his lap. Stretching her back and breaking the kiss reluctantly, the move brought her breast up to his mouth. He didn’t need to be told. His mouth assaulted her mounds savoring the taste of her skin as if he had not eaten in days. She held him tight, locking her legs around his waist-loving how wetter she became. “Yes, Axel,” she commended him. “Nibble… Ah.. softer… softer… oh… yes… that’s it… that’s…” Tightening and releasing her thighs repeated, brought her clitoris against the rough jeans he wore. Stefanie couldn’t believe her body was taking off like a rocket with just his tender touch, but he was a perfect student and obeyed her every command. For a second, she didn’t care about anything and screamed her appreciation at his wonderful mouth. Pushing away and lying back on the bed, her legs were wide open. “finish using your mouth,” she ordered. “starting here.” Her finger pointed to the top of her stomach. He leaned down his eyes never leaving hers and began to kiss and lick all over her belly. She really tried to keep eye contact with him, but soon as part of his mouth dipped down between her legs, she was gone. Praise for his oral skills was not wasted and she screamed her adulation repeatedly thanking him for all he had done for her. “Did you come?” he asked, moving up and planting small kisses on her chin, forehead, and lips. Breathlessly, she nodded. “More, please.” He didn’t hesitant and smiled at the order moving back down her body. His mouth opened wide covering from her clitoris to her womanhood, then his tongue seemed to draw the alphabet all over her most sensitive area. By the time it felt like he got to H, she was coming again until T, but coming right back again. She gripped his head, loving the silkiness in between her fingers. Time and space seemed to become altered and she didn’t care the penalty to come, but she wanted him so bad. “Take me, Axel. Please. Please.” He moved off the bed and stripped down to nothing in record time. The small move made her rethink her strategy. She knew enough to know what she would have to do to keep him from coming, but would he mind. When he got on the bed, she twisted her body slightly so he would have to come sideways and move her leg up and over his shoulder. He was on his knees and above her and obviously in a deep thought state of mind. “Slowly,” she ordered feeling the pressure of him. She had to force herself to relax so she could concentrate on exactly how hard he was feeling. His thickness made her eyes continuously roll to the back of her head. The angle of her body made him go even slower and this also gave her a chance reach between his legs. The power was all in her hands as he stroked deep into her rocking her hips and the moment she felt his scrotum draw against him, with gentle care she would tug against them. The first time, he gritted his teeth in shock, but then the second made him growl and then soon begging for release. By this time, her own elation was in the fifth ring of rapture and she knew keeping him from coming for so long was driving him insane. “Come with me,” she ordered holding him tight. “Now, Axel. Now.” He held her so tight she was sure her rib cab was going to explode, but she enjoyed every minute of him releasing deep into her fissure, wet with her own orgasms and she found herself dancing in his bliss loving every long sweet moment of their release. What was so wonderful was that with her in control, she knew this was not going to be the first time this could happen between them and they were far from finished tonight.

Chapter 22 As the rays of the early morning sun shone across her face, she knew the large frame laying next to her was not a dream. Seeing him lie there quietly deeply in slumber made her smile the biggest smile ever. His eyes opened as if he sensed her talking about him. Their legs were so wrapped with each others, she wasn’t sure they would ever get untwined. He reached over and gently cupped her face. “Thank you.” “For what?” “Teaching me how to please you.” “I enjoyed every minute of the lesson and definitely allow you to graduate to the next grade.” He chuckled and leaned over to kiss her quickly. An alarm rang from his cell phone. “That’s my eight o’clock arriving at my office and my assistant going out of his mind wondering why the hell I haven’t arrived,” he explained, yet his eyes were closed and he seemed relaxed. “So you have to go,” she said understanding. He looked at her. “You don't mind?” Nodding, she said, “I wouldn’t expect you to be different than what I needed to do.” He kissed her again as he hurriedly got out of the bed almost falling out. “Can I come back? Tonight? We have to talk." She nodded and laughed as he hurriedly put his clothes on and rushed out of the door. Looking at the indent in the pillow where his head had been, she smiled even brightly. What about the warnings? She asked herself. Who cared! She was happy and right now that was the only thing that matter. Falling back to sleep holding the pillow closely to her, she couldn’t wait for tonight. A file slapping her on her lap made her sit straight up and scream out of her sleep, but Lethal's large hand over her mouth stifled for any of her neighbor's hearing anything. "Could you not," he ordered. She pushed his hand away and hysterically asked, "What the hell are you doing here? And how the hell did you get in?" "You might as well ask why did God created a woman and not just some creature without a big ass voice, because those are questions you are not going to get answered at this time, Stefanie." He pointed to the file. “That’s for you.” “Did Axel see you? How long have you been in my house?” “I can only be seen when I want to be seen. What matters is your boyfriend and what you need to know.” “Treasure told me to stay away and you told me not to believe him. I’m a grown woman, Lethal. I can do whatever I want.” She heard the ringer of her phone going off, but she was sure she had left it down by her computer. Instead, Lethal was handing the cell phone to her. "It's your boyfriend!" Holding the cover tightly over her nakedness, she snatched her phone from him and pointed to the door. He did that annoying eye thing with those dark eyes of his but stayed rooted to his spot. Answering the phone, trying not to show her annoyance, she said, "Hello?" "Good morning," Axel said pleasantly on the other end very relaxed. "Are you up yet?” “No, not yet.” “I finished my meeting and wanted to know would you care for some breakfast together. I really need to speak to you?” She looked annoyed at Lethal, who didn’t look like he was going to move at all until he had to say what he came to say. “How about brunch in a couple of hours? I could meet you there.” “Til then,” he said hopefully and disconnected the line. Lethal reached over and took her phone from her. “Open the folder, Stefanie, and see who the real Axel Black is, so I can say you should have listened to me.” She looked down at the manila folder still in her lap and reluctantly opened up the file. A picture of a five hundred pound white man was the first picture she saw. He was grossly fat all over with horrible skin, crooked teeth and coke bottle glasses.

“Who is that?” she asked. “Daxopholos Black!” “What does this have to do with Axel?” “Everything Stefanie? Don’t you see?” “I see you leaving so I can take a shower. I’m naked and very uncomfortable around you, right now.” “You aren’t my type. Look at the picture again. Look at the eyes, Stefanie and tell me what you see.” Raising the picture again to her eyes and looking deep past the coke bottle glasses, she gasped realizing the fat slob in the picture had Heterochromia iridium. He had Axel’s eyes. “Is this his brother?" she asked hopefully, wanting the connections her brain were making at a rapid rate to be wrong. “Are you really this naïve when it comes to people?” Lethal asked. “Read the resume.” She looked past the picture to Daxopholos Black’s resume - Harvard and MIT. Just like Axel… But it couldn’t. He couldn’t. What the hell was going on? Hurling the folder across the room and jumping out of the bed taking the cover with her to wrap around her, she screamed at Lethal, “Get out!” He only raised a brow of curiosity. “I hate you!” she shouted. “You love everyone to be miserable around you and you’re just doing this to make yourself feel good.” “I could care less whether you’re happy or not, Stefanie. I just thought you needed to know who the hell this Axel Black was and he’s not what you think he is.” “That cannot be him!” She said accusingly pointing at the picture on the floor. “That is him. Anyone with the right money can get the best scalpel, laser, and dentist. Think about everything Stefanie,” he said carefully. “Read the file and think about it.” She looked down at the picture on the floor and wanted to screech in pain. How could this be? How could she be so happy one moment and find out the man she was falling for was deceiving her too. Not wanting to take any more, she ran to the bathroom and locked herself in.

Chapter 23 Slamming and locking the bathroom door, she screamed in frustration and despair. This was too much! Why can’t things just go smoothly for her? Why was everyone trying to deceive her? “You can’t stay in there,” Lethal said obviously on the other side of the door. Stefanie almost thought he was going to make an attempt to break the door down, but after a moment, she hear nothing. Slowly falling to the ground, she covered her face with her hands and cried. All this time even Axel had deceived her? Just when she thought she could trust again? Why couldn't she find one once of happiness anywhere in her personal life? Why didn't she deserve some form of happiness? "Sitting there against the door crying does absolutely nothing to solve the dilemma you have yourself in," Lethal said clearly with impatience in his tone on the other side of the door. Startled he'd still been there this whole time, she jumped up as if caught doing something wrong. "You got your point across, Lethal, now leave!" she ordered. Pressing her ear against the door for a long moment, she didn't hear anything but wasn't sure if he was still there or not. Damn Lethal and his penchant for moving quietly. Opening the door, she peeked out to see him standing akimbo by the bed, with only his finger thumping against his thick leather jacket and a slight twitch in his obsidian eyes. "I have better things to do than stand here and wait for you to get some balls, Stefanie." She came out of the bathroom and looked at the bed. He'd neatly laid out all the papers and she bravely walked over to the edge of the bed to look down. Daxopholos Black's entire history was laid out and it was everything Axel had said about himself. In the past, she had not noticed Daxopholos Black eye color because of his body odor. No one could get close to him to see the uniqueness in his eyes. Shortly during his first summer at M.I.T., he started to undergo plastic surgery. He'd spent countless of hours fixing himself up on the outside to try to make himself better. The worse part, he had a rare condition that made him immune to pain medicine and having anesthesia awareness. Most of the operations he had to endure had been done while he was asleep, but he could feel everything. Why he had endured all the surgeries to look like he did must have been horrible for him? Yet, there was no way to doubt Axel was Daxopholos Black from all the evidence Lethal presented before her and she had been a fool to believe Axel could actually be too good to be true. "You must think I'm some stupid girl living in fantasy," she pouted. Lethal came beside her and looked down at the papers on the bed and then at her. "No, I don't actually. I think you're have something I haven't seen in myself since my parents were killed." This shocked her more. From what she knew about Lethal, he never spoke about his parent's death that led him to kill his uncle with his bare hands. Hesitantly, she said, "What was that? What do I have that you no longer have any more?" "Hope for humankind. That there is actually some good inside of everyone and they will eventually do the right thing or do right by you." He moved closer to her and she shivered seeing a cold monster behind those black eyes that seem to press right against her soul. "I lost hope a long time ago for people." "Do you think I should do the same thing? I should be cold and hard?" He looked away as if he had revealed too much. "You do whatever you want. You be however you are." Lethal shrugged an broad indifferent shoulder. "It doesn't matter much to me, but I have to warn you when your hope could hurt my business." He nodded down at the paper. "Here's what he was hiding?" "What made you go after him like this Lethal?" "Del told me he returned last night. I thought I needed to find out for myself who the hell he was for you." "What if I didn't want to know?" "You needed to know the truth, Stefanie." "Maybe I liked my fantasy." She sat on the edge of the bed and picked up all the papers. "Why do you think he endured so much for all this?" "That's a question you'll have to ask him. The Black male line is complicated. Two brothers, one good and one evil - I can understand, but this one is cut from more than that. He, unfortunately, had a demented shallow

mother to also help push him over the edge." He shook his head as if removing empathy for Daxopholos Black was just that easy. "Sometimes there are more secrets to a man's heart, even I don't want to tell a woman." "Ask him? I can't talk to him anymore. Not after all of this! Not after all I know." "You'd be surprised. But I do have to ask you to trust your gut in this matter and not you heart. Knowing that he has close ties to Nick in the past, you have to be careful." Lethal went to the doorway. "And you're not a stupid girl. You're not even naive, Stefanie. You're just a person who still believes in hope. There's nothing wrong with that, but you can't be hurt every time humankind lets you down." She looked back at the papers and then closed her eyes for a brief second. "I still can't talk to him." Opening her eyes and looking at the doorway, she saw Lethal was gone. Her cell phone was lying on the bed where the papers had been. Going to her front room, she looked around to see he was completely gone from her home. Sitting at her computer, she started on Lethal Heart's project for his client. Working on that made her feel better instead of going back up to her room to remember memories of last night and looking over those papers that told her that everything about Axel Black to her had been a lie. Maybe he could be helping Nick with getting information on her. Nick was deceitful enough to use anyone and do anything to help Now she knew she could trust no one.

Chapter 24 A frantic knock drew her away from her computer reluctantly at noon just as she was saving the file to hand deliver to Treasure. Before getting up, she finished ejecting the flash drive from her computer and then placing the drive in the drawer of her desk. In her rush, she mistakenly dropped an empty flash drive on the floor, but quickly picked it up and placed it right by her keyboard to put up after she was done with whoever was at her door. Looking out the key hole, she sighed in frustration seeing Jezica standing there impatiently waiting for the door to open. "I know you're in there!" Jezica screamed, hitting the door as if she were the police. "Open this door!" Still, Stefanie hesitated, but then she felt she could use Jezica to see if she knew more of the truth. Before going to the door, she went to her room to gather the file about Daxopholos Black. Soon as she opened the door, Jezica came charging in screeching, "She's gone! She's gone with my money and everything else! I can't find her anywhere! Anywhere!" Taking a moment to digest the information, Stephanie stayed cool as she asked, "Give me the complete story, Jezica. What happened and are we talking about Lauren?" "Yes!" Jezica sneered between clenched teeth. "She took everything, sold whatever she could and just left, including all my money I've been saving that was in her name." "All your money was in Lauren's name? Was Nick money also?" "All the money I've been stealing from Nick I put in an account in Lauren's name. All of it was in there - close to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in all in that account. She also cleaned out the safe in the carriage house I had money there as well, Nick didn't know about either." Seeing that Lauren had done to Jezica what was done to her, Stephanie questioned indignantly, "Why do you really think I should care Lauren stole your money?" Glaring at her appalled, "You have the nerve to act like you're something special, Stephanie, but you are not. Don't forget I know a hell of a lot more about your background than either one of us wants to admit to." Memories of the past and whispered conversations Stephanie has always tried to forget floated to the top of her mind. "None of which has anything to do with what's going on, Jezica, but most you just like making me feel miserable to make me feel guilty enough to help you out and forget about what you did to me," Stefanie pointed out taking control of the conversation again. "Lauren swindled us both-" Jezica cut her off heatedly. "No, she swindled and conned you, but she outright stole from me! Can't you see this Dexter convinced her to do this?" "And you think he took the money!?" "No! Dexter convinced her to take the money for herself." "Why do you really think I should care that Lauren stole from you, Jezica? Obviously, you didn't care about me when she was conning me! And no matter what fancy words you try to dress up how to describe what she did to me, it still comes back as stealing from me and because you didn't say anything, it just makes you an accessory." Jezica's look was heavy with guilt, as she said, "I wanted to tell you, but you know how vicious Lauren can be when she's mad at someone. I didn't want her mad at me. I didn't want her to use that as an excuse to hurt me or do something awful to me." "Like take your money?" Angrily, Jezica said, "Stefanie you've got to help me! You've got to help me like you're helping yourself. Don't think I don't know about Dwight Bowman and his vicious ways of getting money back. You don't think he's built up a reputation as the best financial restitution agent in the world by his good looks. He'll do whatever it takes to get your money back and I need him to do the same for me. I need you to make him do the same for me or pay him to do the same." Stefanie cackled insanely at the audacity Jezica had. It felt the veil of naivety had been raised and Stefanie wasn't going to stand another second of giving these greedy heifers another penny of her money she had worked hard for. "You want me to help you? You must really think I'm that stupid to fall for anything you have to ask me for, Jezica. No ! No! I won't help you do anything! Now get out so I can finish my work - a word you know nothing about." "But he'll win! He'll take everything from me! He'll leave me with nothing." She grabbed Stefanie's shirt in desperation. "You can't let him do this to me! You can't!"

"He who?" "Nick! Nick wants revenge against all of us for what we did to him! And he's breaking us up and hurting me to the bone just to do that. Please, Stefanie. Please help me!" Stefanie was confused all over again. "Why is Nick mad at us? You're his wife, what have you done to make him angry?" Jezica cut her eyes at Stefanie. "You know what it is, Stefanie." "Remember," Stefanie snipped. "I'm too stupid." Huffing in exasperation, Jezica said, "You know I've been cheating on him for a long while." Of course, Stefanie knew Jezica was having some indiscretions, but she really needed Jezica to admit this out loud to her and maybe give her details so she could better understand how really mad Nick was. "What do you mean? How long?" "Since... after Nicole." She diverted her eyes and Stefanie had a feeling Jezica was lying. Stefanie didn't interrupt her to prove her wrong as Jezica continued. "You know I only had that baby to get his mother to shut up and ... to make him like me again. It was as if the longer he knew me, the more upset he became with me. As if I was some mistake he'd made." She turned away folding her arms over her chest insecurely. "I wanted him to look at me again like he did in the beginning. Like he'd look at you in awe when we were in college, but then he'd look at me like he was hungry. He would always want to touch me and always want to be with me." "So when did he start to really change?" "A couple of years after we left school. He wouldn't come home all the time or he wouldn't touch me for months at a time. All he talked about was work and how he had to make his mark like you did. I heard his mother saying how I was too selfish to give him a child and I heard him mention he wanted a child, so I had one for him and then after that... he just completely stop." She sounded like a lost child. In the midst of Jezica's explanation, Stefanie had come to a realization. "You really don't know why he stopped Jezica?" Stefanie questioned surprised. When Jezica cut her a hard look, she explained. "You and Lauren have always been so confident and knowledgeable about men I find it hard to believe you didn't realize Nick's love waning for you." Jezica's glare relaxed and walked toward Stefanie's work area as if aimlessly. After another long moment, she sunk in the nearest chair by Stefanie's desk and cried. Stefanie's first instinct was to go over and comfort her, but there was too much anger at what Jezica had never told her keeping her from moving. Her crying turned to a large wail and Stefanie decided she could at least get a glass of water for her and some tissue. Going to the kitchen, she quickly did this and returned to Jezica. Jezica was choking on her own spit and looking a hot mess with massacre running all over her face. "How could he? I was pretty all the time. I made sure of it. So he would desire me!" "Look Jezica, there really is nothing I can do about Nick." Standing up, Jezica said, "But you have to. He's trying to destroy you too. Your credibility. Your work." "How?" Turning away, but not before Stefanie saw a guilty look on her face, Jezica admitted, "T-That program. The one you installed on my computer to help me. Nick found it and he said was going to use it to hurt you like you hurt him." "How'd I hurt him?!" Stefanie asked confused. "I-I told him you were helping me take the money so he wouldn't go after Lauren, but this was before Lauren took my money." "You were stealing from Nick?" Defensively, Jezica said, "Oh don't act so innocent, Stefanie. You've always had money. You've never had to think about what would happen if someone just took money from you and you had nothing." "I do know Jezica! I was poor before I worked hard to get to what I had. You're deluded and blind and greedy. Nick has every right to do whatever he's going to do to you, but you had no right involve me in your scheme." "I know!" Jezica wailed. "I'm sorry and I need your help." "Get out, Jezica." Stefanie had really heard enough and now she just wanted this woman to get away from her.

Jezica squeezed her fists tight and walked to the door, but hesitated before opening the door. "Please, Stefanie. If you help me, I could be the best friend you really never had." Stefanie's chest had started to hurt because of the heartache she was suffering. Years of delusion believing if she stayed friends with these women wasted and now... "I don't need a friend like you, Jezica. I don't need you at all." "Even if I help you stop Nick from destroying you?" Curiosity was killing her and Stefanie had to ask. "How can you get him to stop?" *** Jezica turned to her and said, "Your friend, Lethal Heart. I heard about him and what he can do. You could pay him and he could make Nick disappear." Yet another reason to go into her pocket to do something, Stefanie thought. Would Jezica never learn? "Lethal wouldn't kill for me." "You don't know that. I heard he'd do anything for the right price." "Anything legal, stupid, and point blank, I'm not going to kill anyone. Nick is your problem. I haven't done anything to hurt him only your lies and I'll just tell him." "As if he'll believe you. The man has gone crazy and he's going to do anything to destroy you, including using Daxopholos Black." Stefanie looked at the folder Lethal had given her and for some reason, she didn't think Jezica knew the whole story. "How?" "Just trust me when I say they are conspiring and getting rid of them both will be better for both of us." Now the number of who to kill had increased. "Do you know what they are planning for me?" "Of course not. Nick and his mother are so damn secretive and you know I won't even think of talking to that fat fuck Daxopholos." Stefanie frowned but only briefly because Axel was not fat anymore - far from it, yet Jezica was referring to him as if this was the past. Playing into what Jezica was saying, she asked, "So instead of one body, we now have to get rid of two people?" Casually, Jezica said, "While we're at it, we could have him go after Lauren and that Dexter guy. Once I get my money back, I can help pay for everything we have Lethal do for us." For some reason, Stefanie had a feeling Jezica had an alternate plan when she came over. Bottom line, Jezica was trying to manipulate her. "Be honest with me Jezica and tell me exactly how much did you really steal and how did you steal from Nick? If you lie to me Jezica, I'll never believe a word you say ever again." Jezica smiled and her demeanor relaxed. "Well, easy," she said with a simple shrugged. "Over the years, I could go into the bank account and just siphon a little here and there, but in recent years, Nick's put limits on the accounts I could get money from until it was difficult to see his other accounts. That's why I lied and asked you to put that program on. After that, I could get his keystrokes once I logged in under his name on the computer and get into all his bank accounts." Stefanie bristled at how Jezica just admitted so casually using her. Still, she bit her lip to hold off her severe animosity growing in leaps in bounds at Jezica. "How much did you steal, Jezica?" she asked coolly. Shrugging nonchalantly, Jezica said, "Just about seven hundred fifty thousand." Stefanie didn't have anything in her throat and choked on the air exasperating out of her mouth. "You almost stole a million dollars from your own husband?" "He never knew about it until... well, I was I to know about the economy and shit. And then he started worrying about money all the time and hiding money because he said I was using everything up. I don't think he suspected anything and he wasn't if it wasn't for his nosey ass mother always casting suspicion on me. Then he made a lot of bad investments and buying this stupid startup to be some big Internet Mogul really messed him up. But I was going to be gone this week if it wasn't for the stupid shit Jezica did." "So if I get Lethal to whack everyone, you'll get your money back and we'll be friends right?" "Forever," Jezica promised, walking confidently up to Stefanie as if she had won. "And if I don't help you out?" "You really don't want to know the consequences of that, Stefanie," Jezica had the nerve to threaten. When she was arms length, Stefanie said, "That's far enough."

Jezica looked confused, but the backhanded slap Stefanie delivered across her cheek cleared up any and all confusion. "Don't you ever," Stefanie ordered through clench teeth. "Talk to me, think about me or say another word about me for the rest of your miserable life, Jezica. I never EVER want to see you ever again." Jezica rubbed her cheek with tears about to burst out of her eyes and stormed out of Stefanie's house, slamming the door behind her. Rubbing her hand, although it hurt, Stefanie felt very good. Now she just had to get to the bottom of everything else. Looking at the manila folder for a moment, Stefanie decided to get answers from Treasure. Getting her phone, Stefanie sent a quick text, "Where are you?" Treasure shot back, "At lunch. Gastons." Stefanie didn't answer back. She went over to her work desk to get the flash drive she had locked up. Her plan was to get the flash to Treasure for Lethal and while talking to Treasure, Stefanie could hopefully convince her to reveal the mystery man, plus the deceit of the Axel/Daxapholos mess and then all the crap Lauren and Jezica had done. Once she retrieved the flash drive, she instantly noticed the blank drive missing from the side of her computer. Had Jezica taken the flash drive? What was her plan? Confusion set in and Stefanie really needed to speak Treasure. Her mind was too overwhelmed by everything. Driving as quickly as possible, she forgot to text Treasure to let her know she was coming over there, but when she pulled up, she looked at her phone to see Treasure had texted, "Please don't come here, I can meet you wherever you are." Worried Treasure may have left, she asked the valet if Treasure Heart had come and gone. "Ms Heart is still in dining, ma'am," the valet assured Stefanie. "She would be in the lower level VIP booths." Tipping the valet, she rushed in gripping the flash drive looking desperately for Treasure. And then she heard Treasure's light, trusting laugh behind a closed curtained booth. Going to the closed curtain, Stefanie paused before and listened to Treasure's conversation. "I don't know if we should tell her now despite everything. Stefanie's fragile. She'll be overwhelmed to know the identity of her mystery man." "But she's already been through so much, Treasure," a low deep voice replied. "You've got to see we can't do this to her anymore." For the life of Stefanie, she couldn't catch the voice. Without waiting to hear another second, Stefanie opened the curtains and stepped in. She couldn't see the entire circular booth but clearly saw two people sitting where she stood. She first identified Treasure's small frame sitting face forward. Their eyes met and Treasure's look of surprised was most likely just like Stefanie's, but then Stefanie looked at the guy with his back to the doorway and her heart caught in her throat as she saw Dexter turn around and look at her with a hard glare.

Chapter 25 The booth was designed for premium privacy and initially coming in she barely could see Dexter above the high back of the booth. The room felt dizzy and she gripped the curtain to keep her legs from going from underneath her. At first, her vision was blurred and then cleared as Dexter stood up to catch her before she totally lost her balance. Treasure stood up as well in concern. "Stefanie, what are you doing here?" Treasure demanded. "I told you-" Pushing away from Dexter and then glaring at Treasure, she said, "It's him?" "Stefanie, I think I should explain," Treasure said. "Maybe you should sit-" "I don't want to sit!" Stefanie cut her off. "This is him? All this time?! The guy who stole all the money?! Noooo!" Now Treasure looked confused and Dexter looked guilty. "It's not what you think, Treasure," Dexter said. "That's why we wanted to get the truth out to Stefanie as soon as possible." "What truth from me?!" Stefanie asked incredulously. "It seems that everyone around me has been lying to me!" "I haven't lied to you, Stefanie," Treasure defended. "The truth could take a while to explain," Dexter said hopelessly. "The truth better come out faster than that, Dexter!" Treasure said angrily. "I don't like being lied to." Dexter started to stutter at his words, "Y-you see, we thought everything w-was going..." "Spit it out, dammit!" Stefanie screamed at the top of her lungs. Someone in the booth cleared their deep voice drawing everyone to slowly look in their direction. She had to step forward pass Dexter to see Axel sitting in the middle of the booth. "I think I should explain, Dexter," Axel said standing up from the middle of the booth. Stefanie really wanted to faint now. It was too much! The room started to spin and she gave into the overwhelming welcome of blackness. *** The light tapping to the side of her face drew her softly out of her blackness. Just as her consciousness was turning to grey, the awful smell made her shoot to the white light of reality. Pushing away the vial under her nose, she shot a glare at the culprit who had been holding the vial under her nose. Lethal gave her a wink and then looked around the room. "Now that she's not dead," he said giving Treasure a fiercely angry look. "Can we get down to who you're calling a big fat liar, Treasure?" Lethal said. "I got a plane to catch and if I'm going to shoot someone, I need a least an extra twenty minutes to make it justifiable murder to the police." Looking about, Stefanie saw they were in an office. "Where are we?" Stefanie asked confused. Treasure came over to her. "Gaston's office. Your shrilling made him demand we take the catastrophe in another room and Lethal was actually just leaving and saw Axel carrying you in here." Stefanie started remembering why she had passed out and looked past Lethal's big frame at Axel and Dexter, who were looking very concerned at her. Axel was holding the manila folder she had earlier with all his information Lethal had given her. Stefanie was devastated at the fact she had passed out. On top of that, every person in that room needed to answer all the questions running through her brain right now, which was swimming in confusion. "Do you want something to drink?" Treasure asked. After nodding, she looked at Lethal and said, "You can start by shooting him," she said groggily, pointing at Axel. Lethal's face twitched in annoyance. "I would, but then you'd feel guilty later, Stefanie. I could tell by the way you were wailing when you were passed out." Embarrassed, she asked, "I wasn't wailing!" "Umm, yes, you were. Something about Jezica asking you to pay me to shoot Dexter, Axel, Lauren and Nick and how could she ask you to do something so awful." Treasure backed up what he said as she handed Stefanie a glass of water from the bar, "You sounded very emotionally pained about it, Stefanie. What about a punch? Lethal's got deadly fists."

Lethal cracked his knuckles to prove Treasure's point. Stefanie thought about it and then nodded, not thinking he would take her serious. Lethal started to charge over to Axel, but Stefanie screamed, "NO! WAIT!" Lethal's large concrete fist was inches from punching Axel and holding steady waiting for orders. Axel was bracing, but he didn't run or even flinch - unlike Dexter, who'd jump towards the couch and out of the way. Matter of fact, Axel looked guilty as if he deserved to be pummeled to death. "Just his stomach," Stefanie said conceded. "Can I brace for it?" Axel asked worriedly. Lethal looked back at Stefanie for approval. She was almost enjoying the sweating that started on Axel's brow. After a moment of pause, Stefanie conceded with a nod. Lethal had an almost grin on his lips as he took off his jacket and even rolled up his sleeve. "Ready, white boy?" Axel nodded with a deep concern for his personal safety after handing the folder to Dexter. He was prepared to do whatever it took to make up for what he had done to Stefanie. Yet, all the stomach crunches in the world could never prepare him for the force he was taken aback when Lethal's steel fist connected solidly with his gut. He was sure his intestines were about to burst out of his spine as he fell to his knees. Lethal smacked him on the shoulder. "Blow the air out," he ordered. "And then take a deep breath. It'll help just a little." Actually, pain felt worse, but breathing at least assured Axel he was still alive. Dexter came over warily to help him to the nearest chair by the couch while Lethal put his long black leather McIntosh on. Lethal walked over to Stefanie and leaned down so close she could feel his breath against her cheek. The nearness of having Lethal so close felt dangerous and erotic. Every sexual sense seemed to burst forth inside of her and she thought for sure she was trembling and about to faint again. His long soft dreaded hair caressed her cheek and she was enthralled and mesmerized by his proximity. In a whisper only she could hear, he said, "Trust me when I say listen to him. It's impossible for him to lie to you." When Lethal moved away, she had to close her eyes to compose her equilibrium. Damn, did he smell of the most delicious sex ever just naturally? She licked her lips because her mouth had become dry suddenly as she watched him walked out of the office. "Well, you have some explaining to do, Axel," Treasure demanded. Axel was still looking as if he was about to explode. His face was flushed and Stefanie saw his lips bunched so tight they had started to darken from the blood that seems to be rushing to his face. Damn, she was so turned on she was willing to forget whatever she was angry at him for and just use his body to get rid of the arousal Lethal had illicit in her. Lethal was a sexual vampire that any woman should fear her own sanity at being close to and Stefanie enveloped herself in that fear because she would never want to feel an emotional attachment to him. Unfortunately staring at Axel didn't dissipate her current aroused state because her body had a mind of its own when it concerned him. Though she knew that folder contained evidence that he was Daxopholos Black, what she remembered from their night together and knew of Axel, she was head over heels in love with him, despite his deceit. Stefanie drank all of her water to help the growing heat between her legs. Slowly Axel raised a finger to let the room know to wait and looked over at Dexter. "Umm," Dexter started nervously. "Mr. Black hired me, despite me being a con and arrested for felonies because he said I could put my skill to use." "What skill?" Stefanie asked suspiciously. Dexter flushed. "I conned women out of money." "And you were caught and sent to jail?" Treasure assessed as if this meant absolutely nothing. "How long?" "Twenty years," Dexter said proudly. Treasure actually looked impressed. "That's a lot of time for taking some money." "Ten million dollars is a lot of money." Stefanie almost bit her tongue in shock. "You're pretty young. Should you be out so early?" "Good behavior and some hustling with the warden." Axel grunted. "Truth," he grumbled, still recovering from Lethal's blow.

Dexter rolled his eyes. "I had relationships with the warden and some guards and conned them saying I would file state sexual harassment charges if I didn't get an early release." "That's working the system to your advantage," Treasure said chuckling. "So you're working for Mr. Black and what happened?" "It's hard to find legit work when you have a big ass felony on your record," Dexter pouted. "But Mr. Black took a chance and hired me to be like an advisor. I watch different accounts when others suspect stealing and I'd like do anything for him. So when he asked if I could put my prior skills to task again by seducing two women at once and getting them looking one way while he did something, then hell, I jumped at the chance to put the old skills to work; Especially on those heifers you want to call friends, Ms. Stefanie." She flushed. "Well, they definitely aren't friends anymore." "What exactly were you hired to do?" Treasure asked suspiciously. "Well, first I got to Jezica. She was the easiest - nearly attacked me in the hallway at the club and dragged me into the guy's bathroom to hit it from behind." Stefanie gasped. "You mean the first night we met you?" "Oh yeah. Trust me, I didn't know that freak was going to take me on a wild ride, like that. I mean I thought for sure they'd be all stuck up like you, Ms Stefanie-" Stefanie interrupted him. "How long had you been stalking us?" "I wasn't stalking... I mean, watching you. That was Mr. Black. He was always watching y'all together. Wherever you were out in public, he was always there. I used to meet up with him just to sit and keep him company so I could see how those two really were to you." Treasure and Stefanie looked at Axel who now flushed in embarrassment. Growling, he said, "Not so damn truthful, Dexter." "Oh no, please," Treasure encouraged. "Continue, Dexter." "He's not sick. He just liked what he saw." Stefanie moved to sit up fully feeling a lot better. "So you seduced Lauren too?" "She needed some goading, but Mr. Black helped me in terms of making her think I was richer than spit. I told her I owned a lot of Internet stock that I was willing to sell her if she could come up with the money quickly." Axel was no sitting in a chair a little straight, but he still looked like he was in pain. The whole time, Stefanie knew he was staring at her watching her reaction to what Dexter was saying. She tried very hard to not look at him because she wasn't sure what her feelings were in regards to his entire deceit. She wanted to scream and asked how was he Daxapholos, but she stayed calm. Lethal had said to just listen and she would because she trusted Lethal wouldn't leave unless he knew she was going to be okay. Yet, she gripped the edge of the couch's seat on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Yes, she believed Lethal wouldn't leave if she were not safe, but she didn't think he would care that she would be happy after everything was revealed. Stefanie doubted she would ever find happiness even after this explanation was over with. Treasure has misgivings on her voice to Dexter when she asked, "So you jumped between Jezica and Lauren?" "Nah, I didn't have to, although I wouldn't mind giving them a run for their money together. Once I knew Jezica stole Nick's money and hid it under Lauren's name, I knew I just had to go with one of them to get what I wanted." He looked at Stefanie. "Jezica talks in her sleep when she's exhausted. That's how Nick found out everything, ain't it, Mr. Black?" Axel only nodded, but his piercing green eyes were only at Stefanie. Dexter continued his explanation, "Lauren was like a pussy and I was the catnip, Ms. Stefanie. She wanted everything she thought I had and then she opened up and explained her financial situation. I have her confession on tape how she embezzled all the money and gave the tapes over to Mr. Dwight Sinclaire. She gave me access to everything and right after she got on a plan to the islands to hide out thinking I was right behind her on another plane, I ran to the bank and took all that money out." Now she had to look at Axel for confirmation. He nodded to show his corroboration with a deep look of concern for her. His eyes traveled down to where she was tightly gripping the edge of the couch and then back at her eyes. She could feel he wanted to come over and comfort her, but she didn't want him to - not now and she wasn't sure if she ever wanted comfort as she listened to Dexter. "Were those the same tapes Dwight turned over to Lethal?" Treasure asked.

"Yes, Ms. Treasure," Dexter answered. "Along with the bank accounts and access codes with all the money she took." "And where is Lauren exactly? Did she really runaway?" Stefanie inquired. Dexter checked his watch. "She's currently landing in the islands and checking in with Nick's credit cards she stole from Jezica's bank box. We've notified Nick and it's up to him to press charges." "So you ARE working for Nick?" Treasure asked. Stefanie wanted to ask the same question, but her stomach was in knots as if she had been punched by Lethal. Dexter looked at Axel. Now it was time for him to explain himself - It was time for Daxopholos Black to speak.

Chapter 26 "I can only say truthfully yes and no, Stefanie," Axel said. She snatched the manila envelope from Dexter and tossed the past horrible photo of Daxopholos Black on the floor at Axel's feet. "You did all this to hurt me, didn't you?" she sneered. "What? I didn't pay attention to you? I was never cruel to you! I was cordial! Despite how other people treated you - even Nick! I never said anything horrible to you." Tightly, looking slightly away, he said, "You're right, you didn't say one bad thing to me and you were cordial." "So why did you hurt me like this?!" she screamed. "Why did you deceive me?!" Her hands gripped tighter on the couch and despite his pain, he shot to his knees in front of her and put his hands over hers to comfort her, but also because he needed to feel some part of her she wouldn't refuse him to touch. Tears instantly started streaming from her eyes and running down her cheek. "Please listen to me, Stefanie. Please, before you jump to conclusion. I have to start from the beginning." Confused, she questions, "The beginning?" He answered, "Before I knew you; so you'll understand everything. Please be patient and listen to me." Hearing him say the word 'listen' brought her back to what Lethal had said to her. Even though she was very upset, she believed Lethal's words and despite her misgivings and anger, she let Axel explain himself, with a nod. "Go ahead, Axel. Tell me why a seven hundred pound man did this to himself to hurt me?" "Nothing I did was to hurt you," he said earnestly. "Matter of fact, everything I've ever done, was because I loved you - even before I met you I loved you, Stefanie. I did everything for you." "You hurt me! You deceived me and it was all for me?" she asked incredulously, her voice trembling on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Axel gripped her thighs as if that was enough to hold her emotional state together. "Please, Stefanie. Please listen to me. In order for you to understand, you have to know everything." He took a deep breath before he started to explain. "Yes, that's me." He picked up the grotesque picture of Daxopholos. "I made myself into some disgusting monster all for the sake of my step-mother. The fatter and horribly ugly I became the less I heard her mouth about looks. I thought I could be happy just like that. Until I saw what you created." Stefanie looked thoroughly confused. He continued to speak. "Through a simple, yet complex algorithm you showed me beauty could come in so many different forms and we're not bound by the people around us, but by ourselves." "My algorithm wasn't intended to be some poetic, philosophical poem, Axel," she said sourly. "But it was to me. From where you came from, from what you had been exposed to and to bring that to fruition, was just as beautiful as what you created. I admired your courage and intellect to create something before I even met you, which prompted me to put my whole M.I.T. scholarship on hold on come to your college to meet you." He flushed in embarrassment. "Knowing how obese and non-approachable I had made myself, I paid Nick to join your clubs and meet you and become friends with you so you could come to the room and I could see you and also meet you." "You paid Nick to be my friend?" He nodded ashamedly. "Truth be told, Nick wasn't interested in anything until he had to take all those computer classes with you and then he started liking it and you." A flash of heated jealousy came in his unique colored eyes. "I saw how Lauren and Jezica treated you even then and hated them very much for what they were doing to you. I wanted to help you with them back then, but you never really looked at me, much less talked to me. You were polite and cordial, but you never looked at me. No need to explain, Stefanie. I had become some monster - Some fat disgusting smelly obese monster that I had no idea how to control anymore. I'd been unhealthy and not taken care of myself for so long, I'd forgotten how and it was easier to just give up with the way I look rather than fight for it because I had no reason. It wasn't anyone's fought, except mine and I was regulated to just give up and never know what it felt like to be with you." "I'm sorry Axel, you felt that way, but getting back at me-" He cut her off. "I'm not done." Taking another deep breath. "I put my transfer to return to M.I.T. and paid Nick to pretend to be sick to make you come to the room to help him out on his work so I could see you one last time. When you came, I knew you were disgusted by my smell because you could hardly think straight."

Stefanie remembered that day very clearly. "And you helped me out on a theory and even explained it better metaphorically. It was cool." Axel smiled warmly. "That's what you said. And you smiled at me honestly and you saw me. It was the first genuine smile I had received in a very long time from anyone and the fact that you really saw me - the feeling was overwhelming and completely changed my whole life." His eyes glistened and she was swept up in his emotions. "And I swore from that day you would want to see me forever. I would do whatever was within my power to do to make you see me again and be happy for the rest of your life. I would spend whatever money I had and do whatever I could possibly do, to help you and make you want to be with me." Treasure picked up the file and looked through it carefully. "That's why you had the surgeries, Axel?" she questioned. "To change yourself so Stefanie wouldn't know who you were?" "I had the surgeries because I needed to make myself better. At the rate I was going, I would have died sooner than later, and no diet or exercise would help. I had my stomach pinned and after getting rid of almost seventy-five percent of the weight, I had surgery for the excess skin to be removed from my body. Of course a visit to a dermatologist, lots of medical spa treatments and two trips to the gym on a daily basis for an eightyear span with trainers, seeing special doctors almost every day, plus a plastic surgeon to tighten everything that I couldn't do natural up would add everything else up." "But according to this," Treasure noted. "You didn't have anesthesia. In some cases, you were allergic to some." He nodded. "I would go without pain medicine." "So you endured all that without relief?" Stefanie asked. Again he nodded. "But why?" "Because even though I hated my mother and let myself go, I hated what I had become and it wasn't until I saw you or knew of you that I wanted to change. Unfortunately, by the time I wanted to do something about myself, I couldn't just fix myself quickly." "But the pain," Stefanie said reaching up to touch his face. His leaned his cheek into her palm and closed his eyes to treasure her touch. In relief, he said, "It was all worth it, Stefanie - All for you." She moved her hand away still annoyed. "So what does Treasure have to do with your plan?" Stefanie asked suspiciously. "How much did you pay her to help you?" Insulted, Treasure said defensively, "I had no idea about this plan, Stefanie!" Axel sided with her. "She's right Stefanie. She didn't have any idea. Once I knew how I was going to help you with Lauren and Jezica through Nick's plan to destroy everyone, I also put into place how I wanted to be with you." "Nick's plan?" she questioned. "Like I said, I was and wasn't working for him. He decided he was going to destroy all of you and since no one hardly knew what I had done, he thought to Institute me into the plan to trick you guys and I decided to help him with Jezica and Lauren, but I had no intentions of allowing him to hurt you." "Why didn't you just refuse his plan to get revenge on them?" Treasure asked. "Because if I had done that, he'd have found somebody else to step in and help him," he answered, but his eyes never left Stefanie's. "By being involved, I could still get done all I needed to get done and also protect you from what he wanted to do." "But why have me, Axel? Why want me so bad you would do all of this?" "I was in love with you Stefanie, from the moment I first knew of you I knew I loved you," he said obviously. She still couldn't fathom anyone being so determined to be with anyone. "I still don't understand how you got Treasure to get to me and how you working for Nick, but not really working for Nick." Axel explained in detail, "Nick came to me about two years ago. He was suspecting his wife cheating on him and blamed all three of you for the destruction of his marriage and his life. I knew you really had nothing to do with it and Nick had also become consumed with jealousy in regards to you. As for Lauren, I didn't suspect her to be so involved in anything that had to do with Nick's money Jezica took. I just suspected Lauren and Jezica gouging you for every penny possibly." "How long have you been watching me?" Stefanie inquired.

He flushed embarrassed. "Since forever, I guess." Axel tried to shrug it away with a thick shoulder. "I felt that if I couldn't have you, I could at least help you with those vultures. Nick wanted me to design some virus for you. Your security algorithm was so good he couldn't crack it, but then I saw what he was doing an even more slightly deter him." Suspiciously, she asked, "What do you mean slightly?" "In lines one ten thru one ninety, you implant a back door that only you can get in. I couldn't figure out how to access, so I just slightly change the door with a window of three seconds before returning to the original security. That's why he was able to crack, it but he can't figure out how to get the door to stay open longer or get through your door in enough time to do what he needs to do." "What is he trying to do?" Treasure gasped. "He's working to hack the security of Lethal Heart's system, isn't he?" "Only for a certain purpose," Axel nodded. "But I assured Lethal he had nothing to worry about. I diverted the hack and made it even more difficult for Nick-" "Who is Nick working for?" Treasure demanded to know. "I don't know for sure, but it has something to do with Lethal's largest client," Axel answered. Treasure's large eyes seem to become wider. "And Lethal has talked with you about this?" Axel again nodded sincerely. "While you were attending to Stefanie when she was passed out, Lethal questioned me or more like gave me the third and fourth degree." He ran a nervous hand through his hair in frustration. "We came to an understanding that he could help me find family on my father's side if I helped him find out who's trying to kill his client. I assured him I'm not working for anyone but myself and my intentions are only for Stefanie. I could give a rat's ass about Nick or anyone else out there." "So you only had Nick thinking you were working for him?" Stefanie asked. "In order to get closer to you without Nick getting in my way, yes." "And now, tell me how did you get Treasure involved?" "I'm not involved!" Treasure said. "I tried to get him to go for hundreds of other women instead of you. I searched for anyone that looked almost like you in physical appearance, emotional state, and personality. He wouldn't go for anyone of them." Bashfully, Axel said, "I knew you worked for Lethal from Nick and then I knew what Treasure did. I approached her with intentions of getting you to agree to the situation I needed and it was specifical that you had to acquiesce to me. I knew no one other than Lauren and Jezica's men were taking you and I was sickened because you deserved more. I knew sooner or later if Treasure kept asking you would eventually agree to my terms. In all honesty, she really did try to offer me others and I turned them all down or found some type of flaw that made them seem incompatible for me because I wanted you and only you." Knowing Axel was also her mysterious thrilled her, but also worried her because she really couldn't understand why he had to go to such elaborate schemes in order to make love to her. The blindfold, the darkness and the anonymity? "But that's what I'm so confused with," Stefanie said with a great deal of frustration in her voice. "Why only me Axel?" "Because," he said passionately as if she knew the obvious answer. "I wanted you to be my first." Stefanie turned her head sideways deeper in confusion and Dexter asked the question she was thinking. "What do you mean your first?" Axel blushed and avoided straight eye contact with Stefanie. Matter of fact, Axel purposely found her knee to be very interesting to look at suddenly. "I mean that I'd never been with a woman before you, Stefanie." She felt his hands squeeze the side of her thighs tightly but recognized this as nervousness and not anything deceitful. "Wait a fucking minute," Dexter said, but then he stopped himself as if he realized the meaning of life and this shocked, but stuck on stupid look came to his face. "Oh man, that's why... you were asking all them questions about girls... I thought... Oh man, are you serious?" Treasure looked shocked also but then there was this look of understanding. "Your weight kept everyone away, right?" "My weight," Axel agreed. "My smell, my looks. You go fifteen years without giving a damn about your body and stuffing anything and everything in there to see what happens. The saturation to my skin was horrible and I'm ashamed at what I had become." "But you had all that money," Dexter said. "It was so bad, I couldn't even pay a woman to be with me."

Stefanie was still flabbergasted at his admission. "Are you saying that being with me that first night that Treasure arranged was your first time with a woman?" He nodded. "I waited for you. I mean after all the damn the surgeries other women approached me, but I turned them down. I figured if I was going to wait that long-" He shrugged as if it were no big deal and his eyes danced with pure pleasure. Dexter burst out in a loud, raucous laughter. "A forty-year-old virgin - for real?" "I'm not forty, Dexter," Axel defended. Treasure rounded the couch and slapped Dexter hard enough to make him grip his arm. "That hurt," he pouted. "Get out and let's give them some privacy," Treasure said. Stefanie put her hands over Axel's after cupping his cheek and making him look at her. When the door to the office was closed again giving them privacy, Stefanie said, "All this time you really waited for me?" "Yes. Like I said, I waited that long, I didn't mind waiting a little bit more once I knew I could actually have a chance at being someone else with you, but still me." "I still think Daxopholos was pretty smart," she said. He leaned in close, but with hesitation. His stomach didn't hurt as much, but he was also very highly aroused like he was usually when he was close to her. "Yeah, but I was ugly as hell," he replied. Stefanie, embarrassed chuckle. "I'm sorry." "No, I should be apologizing Stefanie. I should have told you the first time when I saw you at the gym and I was going to. When we were at your home and I came to you at the closet, I really was going to tell you everything, but... I couldn't begin to tell you because I was still ashamed of all I had done to myself." "You're still smart as all get out, though," she said and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled that gorgeous grin that always took her breath away. "Do you think our child will be smart as you?" Axel abruptly pulled back and sat on the back of his knees looking at her as if she had called him a horrendous name. "What?" she asked, questioning his strange behavior. "Are you pregnant, Stefanie?" he asked in a deadly serious tone. "I think I could be," she said hesitantly. "And you want to have my child?" he demanded to know. "Yes, Axel. I want to have your child." He looked as if he couldn't believe what she said. Kissing his delicious lips with several passionate pecks, he started to respond after the fifth one. His arms circled her as he raised up to hold her closely. Gasping suddenly, she asked, "Wait! Jezica stole a flash drive from me. I should-" Axel pulled out the flash drive. "You mean this one? She brought it to Nick about thirty minutes ago when I was in a meeting here with him. I was with him and convinced him to give it to me to hack because I knew he wasn't intelligent enough to do so. He left just as Treasure arrived for my next meeting with her and Dexter joined us because he had just come from the airport." "What about Lauren?" Stefanie asked. "What about her? She has a round trip ticket to get back home and since she's turned everyone against her, she won't be bothering anyone in her past life. I'd be surprised if she even stays around since she put most of her stuff in storage and moved out of her apartment completely." "But what about the money?" Stefanie questioned. "All that money Dexter supposedly stole from Lauren?" "Dwight Bowman is withdrawing it as we speak from the account he set up for Dexter. Partly to pay you back and the rest is to go to me. Nick owes some monetary debts you wouldn't believe despite his wife's thief and after Dwight pays all of them off, the rest will go to me because Nick owes me a whole hell of a lot of money." "Wow. He made a lot of bad investments." Axel rolled his unique colored blue and green eyes. "You have no idea." He moved his hands around to her backside and pulled her more to him. "Can I kiss you, Stefanie?" She blushed because coming from his lips the question felt like an honor to be asked. "Yes, Axel, you can."

"Not just now," he said with a disturbed frown. "Can I kiss you forever?" "You mean be the last person I kiss?" "Yes!" "Axel, are you asking me to marry you?" "Yes, Stefanie. I want to marry you. I want us to make beautiful algorithms together." She couldn't stop herself from giggling and after she moved her arms around his neck. "Only if you promise we'll never make love in the dark ever again." "That's it? That's all you want?" he asked in disbelief. "I can get you anything you desire." Shrugging nonchalantly, she said, "You mean like a dowry or something?" "I guess you could call it that." "You've already given me a gift, Axel." Now it was his turn to be confused. "What did I give you, Stefanie?" "You gave me you, Daxopholos Black." It was his turn to chuckle, but the sound aroused her completely and she couldn't help kissing him and kissing him and kissing him... and yes, she would kiss him and only him, forever. The End 120330.1708.54676-120412.1542.55345 To read more about the Black Family Series, you can visit my website at: http://sylviahubbard.com/blackfamilyseries

About Author AUTHOR, BLOGGER, MOTHER, SPEAKER, JOURNALIST, RADIO HOST, EMPOWERMENT COACH, CONSULTANT & MORE!

Sylvia Hubbard knew she wanted to be a writer of romance long before she knew there were African-American writers in the world. Weaving stories magically as a summer past time to writing stories to get through the humdrum of school, she was able to create something from nothing. Today, she has independently published over 28 books, is the founder of Motown Writers Network and The AA Electronic Literary Network, CEO of HubBooks Literary Services, runs over five blogs on a variety of subjects, host The Michigan Literary Network Radio Show and is a happily divorced mother of three children in Detroit, Michigan. “I’m no superwoman,” she states with a smile that seems infinite on her lips. “I’m just being an asset in the world instead of a liability.” Considered an addicted blogger by HoneyTechblog.com, nominated and recognized for her literary work in the Metro Detroit area, referred to as “A Literary Diva” by Detroit City Council and donned “Cliffhanger Queen” by her readers, she finds solace in speaking and educating on a variety of topics. Her subjects range from Social Media, Internet Marketing, Creative Intimacy, Single Parenting, Blogging, EBooks, Publishing (all aspects i.e.: writing, publishing, marketing & promoting online & offline), and personal triumphs with inspiration mixed in. Never a disappointment, Sylvia Hubbard, has spoken in front of thousands all over the United States and Canada. www.SylviaHubbard.com

More of this author’s works can be purchased on her website at: http://sylviahubbard.com/fictionbooks Other books related to this book are as follows: • Love Like This • His Substitute Wife… My Sister * • King’s Paradise * • The Mysterious Mr. Black* • Hope Is Love * not yet printed at the time of this book’s release. Onyx Heart can be found in various books as well and her book is due to come out only after her brother’s book. Sheriff Heart can be found in BabyDoll. Blacque, King, and other Hearts can also be found throughout various books by this author. Subscribe for updates to be alerted for more books to come from the Hearts of Detroit & The Black Family Series. Thank you in advance for your support. Connect Online to Sylvia Hubbard: Facebook: http://facebook.com/michigansliteraryworld Twitter: http://twitter.com/SylviaHubbard1 Website: http://SylviaHubbard.com Blog: http://SylviaHubbard.com/blogs Or subscribe to her newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SylviaHubbard Want another book to read now? http://sylviahubbard.com/fictionbooks Happy Reading