Yeah, it might sound strange, but yes, I'm still alive! An I finally got holidays!!! Means that for the next six weeks I got nothing better to do than continuing the story that I've actually wanted to be finished two months ago, because – call me crazy – I'm already working on the sequel. Hell, I don't even know, if you guys want a sequel, but hey…………….

Anyhow, I just wanted to warn you: if I understood your rating system correctly, this chapter is rated R! Please tell me, if it's not, because the German rating system is a lot easier to get due to the ratings being way easier to distinguish.

Have fun reading this one, kay?  

Morning has broken, part 1

Sucking in a deep breath through clenched teeth, Lilly stepped onto the quite spacious veranda from where she could see the whole pool area, including Carter Verone who was talking to some woman wearing a white bikini and a towel wrapped around her hair. While eying her, something in Lilly's brain made click. Hadn't her brother mentioned an undercover agent that was living at Verone's? Yeah, he had……….but he hadn't said a damn word about this agent being a woman and one with – how would Brian put it? – potential at that!

Great! Just great! This Verone guy's probably gonna kill me because of my brother's libido wanting to fuck that agent! Perfect! He wants to get laid and I gotta bear the consequences, just like the last time when he had the hots for Mia! I……………..wow', Lilly shook her head slightly as though that would clear it. Where had these thoughts come from? She had sounded………..she had sounded like Spike! This was exactly the way Spike thought of Brian, as a sunnyboy, somebody who didn't give a damn about other people, who only cared about his personal needs: freedom and sex. Once Lilly had told Spike her story, how they had ended up in Miami and stuff, her surrogate brother had started telling her that Brian wouldn't care for her the way she deserved it, that, if he really loved her, he wouldn't have messed up in L.A. so that Lilly wouldn't have had to deal with all the shit that had come up due to them moving to Miami.

"C'mon, Tiger", Spike had said and looked her straight into the eye while breathing out the smoke of the cigarette in his hand,"don' deny the facts. I'm just tellin' you the fuckin' obvious. 'E doesn' soddin' care for you the way 'e should. I mean, just look a' the last six months. Did 'e bloody asked you, if 't was righ' to fuck that chit? No. 'E wanned to fuck 'er, so 'e 'ad to make friends wit' 'er bro. 'is downfall, coz one should never fuck or make friends wit' 'is job, no matter 'ow 'ot tis. All o' the time, did 'e, just once, asked you 'bout your 'pinion? No. 'E jus' continued 'is way down 'nto 'er pants an' when 'e'd messed up, 'e took advantage o' you 'aving nobody else but 'im, unfor'nately. An' now",Spike had taken another drag from his cigarette,"now, 'e's 'aving the time o' 'is life while you're workin' your sexy ass off. You go to school, work 'n the afternoon an' in the evening, you may still 'ave to do bloody 'omework while ev'rythin' 'e does is sleepin', racin', afterwards some partyin' and even some fuckin'. You're more like an 'dult than 'e is, Tiger, I ain't shittin' you. 'E never notice when you aren't a' 'ome durin' the nigh' – not that I mind, coz you're one 'ot 'ell to party wit' – but I think that an ol'er brother that cares should notice su' things. But no, 'e doesn'. You go "Club", nothin', you go partyin', nothin', a coupla times, you didn' even go to school, coz you were throwin' up a' Sugar's 'n mine from either too mu' liquor or pills or joints………or all o' it, still, 'e didn' fuckin' notice. 'Ell, you even fake 'is signature ev'ry now an' then! Ev'rythin' you guys seem to share is some blood an' that darn racin', as long as you do that, 'e thinks you're fine. Does 'e care for your art? Does 'e care for the books you read? Does 'e care for your dancin'? No, 'e doesn' even know 'bout that an' don' come up wit' that 'e only doesn' know coz I don' let 'im shit, I'm an ol'er brother myself an' Nico 'as been livin' wit' me since 'e was fourteen. I knew whenever somethin' was up, coz I felt it an' if 'e didn' wanna talk to me, I would fin' a way to make 'im an' then, we would talk 'bout it. I offered my 'elp an' if 'e took it, fine, an' if 'e didn', fine, too, coz I raised my brother to be an adult one day an' that meant that 'e 'ad to learn where 'is limits are. Same goes for you. I let you drink an' take whatever you feel like, coz I know that you're smar' enough to say no when tis been too much",and another drag,"'sides, I guess that the pukin' an' the 'ole feelin' sick the next day is punishment enough. Your bro would simply forbid you t' do any o' this, coz 'e doesn' realize that you're already grown. 'E still thinks o' you as 'is little innocen' angel, comple'ly helpless wit'out him, takin' wha'ever shit 'e produces wit'out complainin'. Tha's no righ', Tiger. 'E's nothin' but a fuckin' sunnybody an' the day you realize it, there's this lil' spare room a' Sugar's 'n mine where Nico used to live till last year an' we would love to 'ave you 'round." The cigarette had been finished by then.

"Shut the fuck up, Spike",Lilly had said to him and went onto the dancefloor to blow off some steam. She had been shocked by – how she called it by now – Spike's version. It still was a boiling point between them and they didn't talk about it very often, but every now and then, he would still indicate certain things.

"I only don' want 'im to 'urt you, Tiger. You already 'ad to deal wit' so much shit in your life",Spike had said. He really loved her like a younger sister and she really loved him like an older brother, yet……….it bothered her that he thought like that of Brian because, unfortunately, Spike didn't keep his version to himself but told it to others as well and, unfortunately, the others believed him. Oh, they wouldn't say it – at least most of them not – but she could see it in their eyes whenever she mentioned Brian. Even Sugar, Mouse, Nico, Thomas and Will believed Spike………..and Alex who was working together with her at Tej's Garage believed him as well. He worked as a dancer, just like Lilly and her friends, so he knew about her nightlife, but he didn't say anything, it was their secret.

"If I told your brother or anybody else, you'd only get into unnecessary trouble an' I like you way too much to let that happen. Besides, I know how it is to have a strict Dad. People like us gotta back each other up." That was why he didn't like Brian all that much and would offer Lilly his help for thinking of alibis.

So, how come that the blonde would suddenly think like Spike? She had always denied every single comment that had left her surrogate brother's mouth, always. Maybe it was because of the circumstances, the stress had to be responsible for this, yet………..the girl felt confused, she wanted to have a cigarette. Immediately.

"Miss O'Conner",Lilly looked up, straight into Carter Verone's icy blue eyes. She had been to busy thinking to notice that he had stopped his little chat with the woman and come over to her. Now, he was standing in front of her, smiling all too friendly but as he looked down at her, an expression that came close to disappointment appeared on his face,"I'm sorry to see that the clothes don't quite fit, please don't feel insulted by me having chosen the wrong size",then, the man looked up again, one of these smiles on his lips,"I should have taken a closer look at you, it definitely wouldn't have been a waste of time."

"I think that you have already been too close to me, Mister Verone",Lilly cocked her head slightly to the side and a sadistic but nonetheless pleased smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth when she saw his light red cheek,"or do you wish me to continue what I started earlier this morning?"

"Who knows",the brunette let his tongue dart out and then run over his upper lip. She definitely is a woman………and a challenge. Not like Monica leaping onto my arm whenever she wants me to buy her a new outfit or a new necklace. No, this one respects herself. I will have to think of something to make her realize the many reasons for her to want me. "You may wish to continue in a different way."

Lilly raised one eyebrow. "Oh, really? And you assume that because……?"

"Let yourself be surprised",Verone told her before indicating with his left hand the room that led to the veranda,"for now, I happen to remember that you haven't had breakfast, yet. Ladies first."

"So that you can have a closer look at my back? Thank you, but I would prefer walking next to you",the blonde knew exactly that he just wanted to check out on her ass and she wouldn't let that happen. It was already bad enough that he seemed to be truly convinced by the fact that he would get into her pants, but Lilly would certainly not support this perverted way of thinking by just letting him check her out!

Carter Verone merley chuckled. This one's gonna be fun and if things develop the way I want them to, I may not even have to kill her. It would be such a waste of beauty and intelligence. I wonder how she is in bed………… "As you wish",he answered her and walked next to her through the room and then through a hall leading to the place where they would take their breakfast. Actually, Carter had planned to have breakfast with his guest at the pool, but Monica's appearance had made him change his mind. Well, he thought while eying the blonde walking next to him from the side, with a little bit of luck, I will soon be able to replace Monica with something way better.

Parking his Evo in front of the building that the U.S.-Customs used as a secret office, Brian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't done much after Verone and his boys had left, just showered and dressed, the will to shave or to eat hadn't been there, everything Brian had been able to do was to worry about his baby, especially after having seen the bruises on the men's faces who had visited him and Roman this morning. If they had hurt her as well? Lilly had surely fought them, there was no doubt in the fact that his little sister had tried everything to get rid of them, but had they fought her? Was she injured or in pain……….or anything?! It was so frustrating! The blonde man hated situations like that! Actually, he was quite patient, but if it came down to waiting for information about somebody who was that close to him, he just couldn't manage to think about anything else. There was no such thing like distraction for him, particularly not with Lilly! Rome had tried to talk to him about cars, but even cars hadn't worked, because Brian had ended up thinking about which car Lilly might choose to be her first one.

"Don't worry, man",Roman told him while they were getting out of the car,"Kitten's doin' fine, I know she is." And if my Kitten isn't fine when we find her, I'm gonna rip that Verone guy into thousands of tiny pieces and then, feed them to the fish. Nobody hurts Roman Pearce's Kitten, especially not after I've finally gotten her back.

It was true, Lilly was one of the persons Roman had missed the most. She had always made him smile or laugh and Rome had had an ally against Brian. When he had seen her at Tej's Garage for the first time after all of those years, he hadn't believed that this had really been his Kitten. The innocent little girl had grown, or better yet, developed………she could definitely make the Playboy or, at least, a calendar……….something Brian wasn't all too happy about, Roman could tell.

As far as he knew, Lilly didn't have a car, yet, a fact which the black man wasn't quite able to understand because the girl had been into cars for as long as he could remember and she was already 16! But now that Roman Pearce was here, this problem would be taken care of because it just wasn't right to let Kitten walk!

Walking side by side into the building, Brian sucked in a deep breath. Hopefully, Monica had already gotten in touch with Markham or Bilkins, so that they could think of a solution for the situation. The blonde didn't care about the run he had to do anymore, his focus was completely on his baby and on her safety, nothing else mattered to him but this. After having turned to the left, he already saw Dunn, Markham and Bilkins standing there and Brian felt slightly digusted by the bright shirt his former friend was wearing.

"Nice shirt, Bilkins",his little sister's life was endangered like it had been never before and this guy just looked as though he wanted to…………..come down, man, it's not his fault and you can't expect everybody to be worried like shit only because you are.

"It's my day off",Bilkins frowned when he saw how agitated O'Conner was, as though something was wrong.

"Well, anyhow, this is the deal",Brian really wanted this to be over as soon as possible,"last night, Verone threatened a cop into giving us a window. We're driving to an airstrip in the Keys, off Nallwood Avenue. Verone has a plane there and he's taking off for good.

"Wait a minute",Markham shook his head in slight disbelief while raising his hand,"how do you know that?"

"Monica",Brian answered, wanting to change the topic but Roman spoke up before he could have continued.

"She's doing her job. She warned us",his dark eyes were lightly narrowed while burning with mistrust.

"Verone plans to kill us after we give him the money",again, the blonde man wanted to mention Lilly and again, he was interrupted before having even started, this time by Bilkins, though.

"Driving into an ambush wasn't the deal",he said as if he was speaking out loud what he was thinking,"I'm calling it off."

Markham opened his mouth to say something, but this time, Brian was faster.

"That's not everything",Bilkins, Dunn and Markham eyed him in a sceptical wait, there's more way and the young man took a deep breath,"he's got Lilly."

Bilkins just looked at him, eyes widened in shock. "You're kiddin' me, right O'Conner? Tell me that you're kidding me."

"Do you honestly think that I would joke about something like that?"Brian narrowed his blue eyes while regarding his former friend who shook his head no."He's got her. Yesterday evening, she went out with some friend and when I came home, she wasn't there. This morning, Verone and his boys came to visit us and he told me that I'd get her back once I finish the run. Monica already knows and said that she wanted to think of something, but I don't like depending on that 'cause Verone's getting suspicious."

"I knew we should've taken that kid with us!"Markham ran a hand through his hair, obviously pissed off."Great! Now, I don't only have to deal with you guys",he pointed both hands at Brian and Roman,"but also with some kid that's stupid enough to get herself kidnapped!"

"Yo, man, come down",Roman was furious. It angered him like hell that this jerk was talking about his Kitten like that."First of all, it's not her fault and secon….."

"Secondly, she's my problem, now. And",he turned to Bilkins,"no one's calling this off unless I do. I've got enough trust into Fuentes to know that she can handle the problem with that kid on her own, so let's focus back on your actual task because this is real simple",with each hand, the man grabbed the two walky-talkies lying on the desk behind him and then, turned back to Roman and Brian,"make the run, get Verone and his cash together, so I can move in. You don't, I'll file enough charges on you to make you disappear. Take these",he gave them the items in his hands before walking right past them,"we're gonna have GPS on you so you don't get any cute ideas." With that last comment, Markham went to leave the building, but Brian's call made him stop.

"What about my sister? Don't you get it?! Verone's gonna freakin' kill her, while you're doing nothing to help her!"

"I already told you",Markham didn't even have the nerves to turn around, he was simply annoyed by the whole situation,"that Fuentes can handle this on her own."And that was it for him, he left the building.

"He can't do that!"Brian clenched his fists, almost making the walky-talky break into pieces because of the pressure.

"I know",Bilkins responded, a little shocked by Markham's completely cold behaviour,"I'll see what I can do. Don't worry, O'Conner, I'll do everything that's possible."

"Whatever",the blonde muttered before turning around to leave. He had to get out of this place otherwise risks were high that he would do something very stupid.

"I hope everything will be enough",Roman said and followed Brian outside where he caught a glimpse of Markham getting into his car."That guy's a dick",while walking next to the blonde, he reconsidered the situation,"let me get this right. If we don't do this, we go to jail and Kitten's dead. But if we do it, then Verone's going to kill us and Kitten probably, too.

Taking out his cell, Brian sighed heavily."It's a hell of a deal, huh?"

"Yeah, maybe it is",standing side by side, both men looked at the water in the canal that was next to the bulding until Roman's voice broke the silence,"that guy's got an ass full of loot that he's ready to dump in our cars",he grinned slightly and turned to face Brian,"I can think of two reasons why he doesn't need that money anymore."

"Make that three reasons",Brian smiled,"I'm pretty sure that Lilly's gonna demand to get a piece of him as well."

"You, me and Kitten. Just like the old days. What do you think?"       

"They messed with the wrong guys",the blonde said while dialing Tej's number who answered immediately.

"Tej, what's up, bro?"

"What's up? We have one cute Chica missing. She sick?"The worry in Tej's voice was real, it wasn't like Lilly not to come to work without saying anything.

"Long story, but tell me: how quickly can you organise?"

That was it. A little short, I know, but if I had made one part out of the two, it would have been too long an I promised somebody to update this weekend! Please don't be mad at me!