CHAPTER 2:

"Connor" The duo replied in unison. The part of Wilhelmina that still loved him suddenly overpowered her and her jaw clenched in anger as she slapped him hard across the face. This slightly startled Daniel who had been watching her the entire time and to him she appeared calm.

"I hate to admit it, but I rather enjoyed that." Connor said lightheartedly, almost seductively

"You let me think you died?" She asked, her anger mounting

"You believed that? Oh, I'm so sorry." She gave him another hard slap in response to that.

"You fucking son of a bitch."

"Willie, please" She gave him one last glare and turned to leave. Connor grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

"What? What the hell do you want from me?"

"Look, I'm sorry. Very sorry. But I have a business proposition for you." He explained while still lost in her eyes "For both of you." He said that part eyeing Daniel

"No, what you have is a minute before I call the cops!" Daniel answered, his voice rising with each word

"No, you won't, Meade. If you want all your money back, you won't and something tells me you need that money because I know Cal Hartley and he is a wanker. He's probably taken over as we speak and you are powerless. Willie, I know you wanna go back to Mode."

"How do you know I left Mode?"

"You know, I wasn't hiding under a rock, Willie. I watched and read the news. You think it's pure coincidence that I'm here?"

"You've been spying on us?" She asked accusatively.

"Oh, please. Your staff members were going on and on about the shoot in the Bahamas on Facebook for weeks."

"What do you want, Connor?"

"I need your help. I'm gonna turn myself in…"

"Hmm, it's pretty lonely living incognito, isn't it?" Asked Willie. Daniel noticed that the former couple appeared to have turned a blind eye to his presence.

"Willie, listen…I need your help. I will surrender to the feds and I need you to use your influence to your father and try to get me a trial as soon as possible. I would also need some information, anything that can reduce my sentence." Willie looked to Daniel who was as confused

"I'll think about it."

"That's my girl." Without saying another word, Willie walked away from the two men.

"I'm sorry about Molly, mate." Connor offered sincerely. Daniel just nodded

"Uh…thanks. But Wilhelmina doesn't have to do shit. You deserve to be in jail."

"Well, why don't you call the police?"

"I should."

"But you're not going to, not if you want to see that money again."

"That money is mine!"

"You want to talk about what's mine and yours? Let's talk about Molly. She was mine until you stole her from me. And in a way, you stole Willie from me, too."

"Wilhelmina? She and I were just talking. What, you think that there's something between me and…"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself. Willie likes men, not spoilt little boys with Daddy issues who sleep around and steal their friends' girlfriends and fiancés. What I meant was, she chose your company over me." Said Connor and walked off before Daniel could take in what he just said to him.


She slammed her door in aggravation when she walked into to her suite. She couldn't believe Connor's nerve to give her such an ultimatum. If she wanted her power back from Hartley, she had to get him a faster trial and a deal that could get him out of jail fast. He wanted a lenient punishment as if what he did to her wasn't that big of a deal. The heartbreak and humiliation she felt when he left her, bankrupting the entire company, putting hundreds of people out of jobs, causing the company to close down 5 magazines all because he didn't want to let go of the plain school teacher seemed like it was nothing to him. And that drove her absurd.

She peeled off her bathing suit and stepped into the shower getting ready for the photo shoot. As the water cascaded from the shower head to her body, her mind kept flashing back to the conversation down at the beach. She now had to deal with the senator. Suddenly, a distinctive knock shook her out of her thoughts. She stepped out of the shower, taking her sweet ass time all the while, hoping he would take the hint and walk away. She threw her robe on and walked to open the door and there he stood, leaning on the door frame smiling smugly.

"Hey, love." He said

"Connor…" He gently pushed the door and she moved aside, letting him in.

"Willie, we need to talk."

"Do we, now? Because I believe we talked when we were down at the beach. I said I'll think about it."

"Oh, come on that was just business, darling. I didn't talk about us because of Daniel."

"There isn't an 'us', Connor." She said furiously

"Darling, come on, please…" He gently grabbed her waist "I'm so sorry, Willie. I'm sorry for what I did. I don't know what possessed me to commit such a…."

"You were possessed by your feelings for Molly, hatred for Daniel and your fear of losing. That's what possessed you to fuck over the woman you claimed to love."

"You're so sexy when you're angry."

"And you have the audacity to treat it like a fucking joke. You hurt me, Connor. And you humiliated me."She said solemnly, her tone causing his expression to turn to shame.

"I know and I'm sorry…so sorry that I want to spend my entire life making up for it. I'll start right now…" He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her softly. She fell into the kiss and responded with as much passion, her hands grasping his hair. He moaned in a mixture of pain and pleasure and they pulled away simultaneously in an attempt to catch their breath. Connor looked at her eyes and saw the desire in them and leaned in and attacked her mouth.

Her hands fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and it was on the floor in no time. He untied her robe and slid it off her, revealing her perfect curvaceous body. He almost creamed his pants at the sight of her naked form. He trailed kisses down her neck and went on to suck a nipple in his mouth causing her to throw her head back. He moved to the other one and flicked his tongue over it earning a gasp. He kissed his way up her neck went back to attacking her mouth. She undid his belt and let his slacks fall to the floor. She slid her hand down his briefs, grasping his now erect cock. He grabbed her breast as he traced her jaw line with his mouth and he kissed down on her collarbone; his other hand made its way in between her legs and she was already wet for him. He didn't waste any time and he picked her up and laid her on the bed.

She was gasping for air when he hovered over her, looking deep into her eyes. He kissed her with tenderness causing her to moan in pure lust. He trailed his mouth down her body, sensually running his hands up her thighs. She opened her legs to him and he could sense her desire and lowered his head and licked her slit. Before he got to work, she held his head in an effort to stop him from going further.

"Connor, you can do that later. Right now, I just want you FUCK me." She said in between pants.

He didn't need to be told twice and positioned himself at her entrance and gave her a deep, hard kiss as before entering her. She gasped as she felt his member slowly slip inside her. She then latched her mouth on his neck to keep from crying out at the sensation she missed terribly. Sure she screwed a number of guys since he left but it was the feeling of his magic stick that she was longing for. And he was going to give it to her. He gave her another deep, passionate kiss before he started moving. She tightly wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved inside her. She moaned his name as he rocked within her, enticing him to increase his pace. She bucked frantically as he mounted her, moaning his name as he thrust deeper. Her moans soon turned into screams as he gyrated faster than before, resulting into her grabbing on the sheets as he fucked her with intensity. Soon her walls tightened around his shaft and in a moment, her body convulsed in a wave of pleasure and he followed, spilling his seed within her.

She stood by the window, looking out, with her back to him. The former couple dove right back into it as soon they came down from their high and after a couple of rounds, she was satisfied and worn. As great as the sex was, she was still angry with Connor and didn't want to make this tryst anything more than it was. She folded her arms contemplating just how she was going to persuade her cold, judgmental father into helping her. There was a great chance that he wouldn't since he believed that it was the magazine business that turned his once lovely daughter into the vicious monster. As she was thinking about how she was going to approach her dad, she was startled by Connor's voice.

"What ya doing, love?"

"I'm…uh just thinking." She answered sheepishly

"Come back to bed."

"I have to go to the shoot." She protested and he noticed that she sounded a little distant and he knew why. So he did the best thing he could at that moment, he walked over to where she stood and encircled her waist from behind and kissed the nape of her neck.

"Come back to bed, I'm craving you." He whispered

"Still? After 4 rounds of sex?"

"Of course. I've told you this before, you are the best I've ever had and I'll never stop craving you," He said trailing kisses up and down her neck "Ever"

"I…I have to be at the Shakira shoot in about an hour."

"Hmmm I guess we better finish this up in the shower then." He said seductively continuing his actions on her neck. She gave in and turned, and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. He swiftly picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.


She managed to make it to the photo shoot in time. She scanned the set for Daniel and walked over to him when she spotted him. Before, she could say a word he spoke up.

"Hey, where were you? The models got totally hammered and ended up in some boat to Cuba. You were nowhere to found…"

"I know, Marc texted me all about it."

"Betty saved the shoot by convincing Shakira to become the cover. Where were you?"

"In my suite."

"Doing?"

"Daniel, please. I'm here now aren't I? I came to talk to you about the proposal."

"I'm sorry…are you okay? Is this about Connor?"

"What?"

"I mean him, showing up and giving us that proposal. Have you seen him since then?"

"No! Why the hell would I see him? Did you see him? If you didn't then why should I? Do you think he would be dumb enough to walk around in this resort knowing he's a fugitive?"

"Jesus, Wilhelmina I was just making small talk. You didn't need to bite my damn head off."

"Well, your small talk sucks." She snapped. She softened when she saw his hurt expression "I'm sorry, Daniel." She murmured

"What?"

"I said I was sorry. I'm just…I'm mad at the wrong person right now."

"I understand."

"So what do you think about Connor's proposal?"

"Do we have another choice?" He asked matter-of-factly

"No. I just wanted to get your approval as partners."

"You have my 100% approval. Do what needs to be done and I guarantee you an uncontested return to Meade 'cause we'll be able to buy out Hartley."

"Good." She ended the conversation and they watched the rest of the shoot in silence.

As the shoot wrapped up, extremely loud sirens, helicopter blades had everyone's attention and more than 2 dozen police vehicles surrounded the vicinity and soon the island was crawling with armed Bahamian authorities and the FBI. The pair looked at each other knowingly and everybody was ordered to stay where they are as the cops went searching. After several minutes, the police came out of the hotel with a handcuffed and defeated Connor. Everybody who knew the story was shocked, except for Wilhelmina and Daniel who managed to pull off convincing shocked expressions to match everybody else's. The scene was watched with loud gasps and whispers as Connor was whisked away in a chopper, ending the swimsuit issue photo shoot with a bang.


She spent her time in business class with her laptop proof reading and editing the articles for editorial. She kept herself busy in an attempt to take her mind off the roller coaster of emotions she was going through. Opening up to Daniel caused her to reflect on her own personal tragedy, the one thing she could never get over. Nonetheless, that wasn't all that was on her mind during the flight, her thoughts were all over the place and the cognac she was drinking didn't provide the usual calming effect she was used to. Her thoughts were consumed by Connor, Nico and the senator and what would happen to her and her career if her father refused to help them. However the thoughts that consumed her more were of her own family, the one she no longer had. Ever since her talk with Daniel two days prior, she just couldn't get them out of her mind. She closed the laptop and drained the last of her cognac. She reached into the secret compartment of her laptop bag and retrieved a few old photographs.

Desolation overcame her as she stared at the family on the photograph. A former version of her true self, smiling and leaning on the shoulder of a man she loved more than life itself, matching her expression, with a small infant in her arms wrapped in a navy blanket. Her mind wandered to that day.

Flashback: 17 July 1991

She was in labor for 18 hours and as the contractions grew stronger, she hated her husband and vowed never to have sex with him ever again. It wasn't until the baby was placed in her arms did she forget about every nasty, mean and unpleasant name she called her significant other. The pain she just went through was almost forgotten as she stared at the slightly pink screaming infant in awe. Every feature of his face completely enamored her.

She thought her wedding day was the happiest day of her life, but that was before the wailing bundle of joy was handed to her by the doctor. How the day she experienced the worst pain of her life be the happiest day of her life was beyond phenomenal. He looked into her baby boy's eyes as he began to quiet down. His soft features and his azure eyes were so captivating, they made her heart melt. Her eyes became misty and she couldn't hold back the tears that coursed. She looked to her other half who also had misty eyes, still mesmerized by their son's birth. He draped his strong arm around her and planted a kiss on her forehead. She caressed his face and placed a tender lingering kiss on his lips.

"Thank you." She whispered. "For making me a mother." She clarified

"No, Will. Thank you." He said wiping the tears from her cheeks

"And I'm sorry about calling you…"

"I know you didn't mean it, Will."

"And I was so not serious when I said I'll never sleep with you again."

"I know. You wouldn't last a month." He teased causing her to titter "I'm sorry it hurt…did it hurt really bad?"

"Like a bitch." The couple both descended into laughter. They spent the rest of the night doting on the new addition to their little family. From then on, every single moment of her life was filled with extra unfathomable joy.

Present:

Little did she know that the happiness she felt would only last eight months, 1 week, 3 days and 21 hours. Without warning, they were taken from her. No goodbyes, no words of farewell, they were just gone. She felt a familiar tightening on her chest but she acted quickly and managed to keep her emotions under control. As she was about to move on to the next photo, Daniel's cologne alerted her of his proximity and before she could even put the photographs back, he settled on the seat next to hers.

"Hey" He started

"Hi"

"So, I think we should talk."

"Here?"

"There's no other Mode employee on this flight, so I think we're good… A pretty dramatic ending to the shoot don't you think?" He said after a while

"Yeah, it was."

"Now that someone tipped off the FBI and Connor got arrested, did our deal with him fall through?"

"I'm assuming that hasn't changed. He still needs what he needs and we need that money."

"This whole plan…how is it gonna work? How is long is it gonna take?"

"Well, I'm gonna set up a meeting with my dad first and we'll take it from there."

"You're sure that your dad will agree to this?"

"No. But I'll do my best to coax him into helping us. After all, he was the one who used to tell me that sometimes good people have to do bad things in order to right a wrong."

"Sounds like a wise guy."

"He sounds like an ass, which he is."

"You're not that close?"

"Our relationship has been rocky for years but don't worry, I'll do my best to get him to help us. Now another important issue…If I can get this done I'm back at Meade with 50% ownership, correct?"

"Yes and we'll buy out Hartley."

"And I'll have equal veto power."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Good."


Soon after returning from the Bahamas, she finally set up a meeting with her father through his secretary. As she was finishing replying to that E-mail, Marc walked in the kitchen with a Mode file in hand.

"The Bahamas proofs just came in. And not that you care about other people's opinions, but the entire staff is buzzing how great they are." He finished with a look of confusion on his face, at seeing her looking happy with a bottle of champagne.

"Oh? Champagne. I thought you'd be more…"

"Heartbroken that the man who broke my heart and humiliated me got arrested?"

"Uh…"

"And that's not why I'm celebrating. Daniel asked me to stay at Mode."

"What? How?"

"Well, he's been through a lot and he's not sure he can handle without me, so he asked for me to stay. And here's the crazy part, Connor said he'll give us back all the money he embezzled after I talk the senator into getting him some information that will reduce his sentence. So you still have your job." She said handing him the flute. He reluctantly took it from her and set it down and cleared his throat nervously.

"Well, there's something I need to tell you…I've accepted a job from Daniel…as his assistant."

"So quit. I'll have a talk with him and…"

"Thing is, I don't want to. I know it's not a job as an editor, but somehow I think Daniel will actually try to make it happen for me." She successfully managed to mask the hurt she felt at that moment.

"Well, uh…congratulations." She uttered, the words almost getting stuck in her throat before chugging the champagne.