2. The Set Up

Chase residence, Statham Island

Present day...

Victoria couldn’t believe she was in yet another bedroom. She was looking for Dean, and Kendra’s directions to his study were clearly wrong since she was utterly lost. Dean’s two-story childhood home was massive. Her parents' modest three bedroom place back in Belladonna Cove could easily squeeze into one wing of this mansion and still leave some room.

As Victoria took in her surroundings she wondered just how much it cost to maintain this place. She didn’t really know much about architecture but she thought the style and design of the house was traditional with a hint of Spanish or maybe Italian influence. The room she was currently in, brought the total of bedrooms to six, all were located on the first floor and they all had en-suite bathrooms. She remembered Kendra mentioning something about a state of the art home gym, a home cinema and an indoor pool somewhere inside this massive maze. Behind the house was vast ocean and from here she could hear the waves and sea gulls. The garden, the little she’d seen of it, was beautifully landscaped with perfectly manicured lawns...

"Can I help you?" A low male voice startled her, and she turned around slowly.

Her eyes rested on what was surely one of the most amazing half-naked bodies she'd ever seen. He looked like a darker version of Dean, but while she’d always thought her best friend’s fiancé was cute and adorable, this man was anything but. His virility screamed from every pore of his well-defined physique. He he had a wide, generous mouth that made her want to reach up and trail the tip of her tongue on his lips. His aquiline nose though gave him an air of arrogance she would have found a turn off on any other man. His raven Mohawk was probably the only thing she didn’t like about him. She thought he’d look even sexier if he grew out his hair. But Mohawk or not, he was still a picture of perfection and it took her all of fifty seconds to size him up and know he was a big NO-NO!

"I...m...I'm sorry. I'm looking for Dean," Victoria stuttered, unable to string together a coherent sentence. She really didn’t understand where this sudden urge came from, but the longer she stared at him, the more her body wanted to wrap itself around his perfectly formed frame.  

"He's down the hall," Mr. Blue Eyes replied, a small smile slowly stretched his lips, causing her to blush like a school girl. She quickly ducked her head to hide her flaming cheeks, she could swear the cobalt stones in his eyes saw right through her fascination with him.

"Is there anything else you want?"


Victoria shook her head quickly as she brushed past him, "No, nothing else". She was lying through her teeth, she had a very long list of wicked things she wanted from him, but she thought it best to keep it to herself.

She felt his eyes pierce her back, and her body stiffened at the knowledge that she was being appraised. She allowed herself to relax only when she reached the hallway.

______

 A little while later when Dean walked into her room Victoria couldn’t contain her excitement.

She rushed straight into his outstretched arms and gave him a giant hug, "Dean! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? I don't know how many times I got lost, this place is massive.”

"It's good to have you back in one piece," Dean kissed her cheek and squeezed her back, artfully ignoring her comment about his home. Though his family was one of the wealthiest on the island, he didn't like to brag or talk about his fortune.

They both pulled apart when the man she'd met earlier cleared his throat in the background. He was fully clothed now, but still sexy as hell, and Victoria found herself blushing again at the direction of her thoughts.

"Victoria, this is my brother, Storm," Dean made the introduction.

Victoria racked her brain for something to say to Mr. Blue Eyes. She couldn’t say she had heard so much about him now could she? Up until now, she had always thought Dean was an only child.

"Nice to meet you Victoria," Storm’s voice, as he took her hand in a gentle handshake, was low and sexy. And Victoria found herself wondering if he was doing the voice thing on purpose.

"Oh...I..." Victoria stammered, her tongue was suddenly thick and uncooperative.

"I know...don't worry. He also leaves me speechless at times," Dean joked, filling the silence between them.  "We'll let you get ready. See you in a little while Victoria," he added as he edged out of the room with Storm trailing behind him.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Victoria leaned against it and fanned her face. She didn’t understand why Storm Chase made her stutter so much. But one thing was for sure, she’d never felt this way before about anyone. This excitement, the sudden rush of adrenaline, like she was on the brink of something amazing, was all new to her. A part of her wanted to embrace it and run with it, but another part, her cautious side screamed at her to stop and not get excited over Storm. He was a big no-no!

Downstairs, mixing drinks at the bar, Storm was just as intrigued by Victoria. He started to say something about her to his brother, but quickly changed his mind. He wouldn’t know where to start. He really didn’t understand the sudden quickening of his heart when he had taken her hand in a firm handshake, or the breathlessness he’d felt when gazed into her eyes. He knew complicated dynamite when he saw it and Victoria was exactly that, and he didn’t want any complications…

_______

Throughout dinner Kendra watched in horror as what she had hoped would be a great evening turn to a disaster. Storm, sitting across from her best friend, seemed to be in a strange mood.

He wasn’t really rude or anything, he just didn’t have anything to say to Victoria. He didn’t share anything about his life voluntarily and the little he did say was due to her sheer persistence and nothing else.

Storm on the other hand, really wanted to be nice to Victoria but feeling confused from their encounter earlier he just couldn’t bring himself to entertain her.
As he looked at everyone at the table, all couples except for him and Victoria, he realized what this weekend was.

It was a set up! To help him get over Emma.

Feeling red hot rage threaten to take over him, he excused himself; he knew if he stuck around he’d strangle Kendra right in front of Dean.

The other guests shrugged and dismissed Storm storming off, unfazed by his abruptness. Kendra though looked very uneasy.

“What just happened?” Victoria whispered for Kendra’s benefit.

“I think he figured it out,” Kendra whispered back.

“Figured out what?”

“The set up,” Kendra replied with a vague smile.

“What set up?” Victoria gasped. Numerous pair of eyes turned to her, putting her under the spotlight.

“Sorry,” she mumbled sheepishly before turning to her best friend again, a confused, almost angry glint in her eyes. “Kendra Mason, I know you did not invite me here to hook me up with your soon to be brother-in-law!”

“Well, you always go on about Mr. Forever. You've just met him,” Kendra shrugged sheepishly.

“Oh My God!” Victoria hissed as the realization hit her. “He thinks I’m in on it doesn’t he?”

“It’s hard to know what Storm thinks."

Victoria was about to leave the table and go explain her side to Storm when she felt Kendra’s arms around her.

“Let him go. It will make things worse. Dean and I will talk to him.”

“You’d better! I don’t want him thinking I was coming on to him,” Victoria fell back in her seat with a sigh.

1. A Girl's Best Friend

RRR, Statham Island

Present day...

"I can’t believe I’m engaged," Kendra gushed, her blonde head bobbed up and down right along with her feet.

"Let me see it!" Victoria squealed in response. Without waiting for her reply, she grabbed Kendra’s hand and screamed some more at the size of the rock.

Dean had proposed two months earlier, and when Kendra called to let her know they’d immediately made plans to meet for lunch as soon as Victoria returned home from her assignment abroad.

“Pretty huge, right?” Kendra grinned when they’d both calmed down; she was referring to the solitaire diamond ring on her finger.

To say Kendra Mason was pretty was an understatement. The word did not do her justice. Her hair, the color of sunshine, framed her small pixie face in soft curls, her green and widely spaced eyes would have looked odd on any other person and her small mouth seemed to be in a perpetual smile. She looked like a fairy tale princess and it was not hard to see why Dean, one of Statham Island’s richest playboys, had decided to marry her after just six months of dating.

“It’s damn huge, I’m surprised your finger hasn’t fallen off,” Victoria joked. She, too, was stunning in a dark, sultry way, courtesy of being a product of mixed parentage.

"How’s Dean? He must be pretty stoked, right?" Victoria asked excitedly as they linked hands and slowly walked into RRR, the “by booking only” restaurant servicing the crème de la crème of Statham Island.

Victoria didn't have to ask how Kendra had secured a booking.  ‘Perks of having a multi-millionaire fiancé,’ she mused to herself as she followed her best friend to their table in front of the large fireplace.

"Dean's amazing. I still can't believe I’m engaged to the most wonderful man in the world," Kendra’s green eyes lit up when she mentioned her fiancé.

 A pianist, close to the bar, caressed his instrument and produced what Victoria believed to be modern classical music; the low lighting added to the already intimate atmosphere in the room, and for a second Victoria found herself wishing she was sitting across the man of her dreams instead of her best friend.

“Why can't I find a catch like Dean? I'm tired of meeting all sorts of jerks. I just want to settle down with Mr. Forever, you know," a frustrated sigh rushed from her lips.

“Victoria, don't rush him. The right man will come along and when he does, you'll know it."

“It’s easy for you to say, you have a rock the size of Big Bear on your finger,” Victoria commented dryly as she took a sip from her wine. She couldn’t believe that at twenty-six she was still single, still going home to a lonely house and a cold bed. If Mr. Forever was out there he’d better hurry up because she was really getting tired of waiting!

“Well, maybe if you stopped being picky, you’d meet the right guy,” Kendra smiled at her.

“I’m not picky!”

“Yes you are!” Kendra insisted.

“No I’m not…” Their lighthearted banter went on for some time, with Kendra reminding Victoria about all the guys she’d turned down in recent months, the list was very long, and they ran through it over the first course of their meal.

By the time they had dessert, they’d already moved on to Kendra’s dinner party that evening to celebrate Victoria’s safe return home, she’d spent the last six months covering  the civil war in Strangetown.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Kendra said much later when they were leaving the restaurant.

“Thanks,” Victoria squeezed her hand. “It’s great to be home.”

_____

Special thanks to Fae/Zhippidy for the poses in the opening screens.