Warning- The last few paragraphs are very explicit. If you don't enjoy smut skip it.

Chapter 4

Crane Industries

Alistair sat in his leather chair, a fat Cuban cigar in one hand and a tumbler of whiskey in the other as he watched his errant wife and her lackey making love on one of the screens in front of him.

"You stupid bitch, did you really think that you could double-cross Alistair Crane and live to tell about it? How I'm going to enjoy making you pay for your transgressions Katherine. You and your Latino lover are going to pay for crossing me. By the time I'm done with the two of you, you're both going to wish you'd never been born," he murmured with a savage grin.

A knock on the door interrupted his musings and he looked up when his secretary strolled in.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Mr. Crane but there's a young lady here to see you. She say's its urgent," the woman told him.

"Send her in," he replied gruffly, having a rough idea of who was waiting for him on the other side of the door.

He wasn't disappointed when a flustered and very nervous Teresa walked in a few minutes later.

"Teresa, how lovely to see you, sit down my dear," he told her motioning to a chair.

Teresa sat, nervously biting her lip and tugging a lock of hair behind one ear.

"Alistair, I've thought hard about the deal you offered and I'm willing to accept. But there's an added condition," Teresa informed her soon to be grandfather-in-law.

"You want me to pay for Pilar's treatments," Alistair commented and Teresa's mouth dropped open in shock.

"How---how did you know that?" she asked and Alistair laughed.

"I know everything that goes on in this town, Teresa so let that be a warning to you in case you ever decide to double-cross me," Alistair replied.

"I'm not a moron Alistair. I know better than to renege on a deal with the devil," she retorted and Alistair laughed again. He enjoyed exchanging wits with Teresa. She was a worthy opponent.

"Alright my dear, then we have a bargain. I pay for your mother's treatments and return your son to you and you help me secure my empire," he told her, opening a drawer and taking out his checkbook. "That should cover Pilar's medical expenses quite nicely," he added handing her the check.

Teresa's eyes widened at the disclosed amount but she said nothing. Alistair had agreed to her terms to readily. There had to be a catch.

"Are you ready to put part one of my plan into action?" the Crane patriarch asked and Teresa nodded.

Her mother's health and her son were the only thing that mattered. Her family was all she had left and she would do anything to protect those that she loved. No matter who got hurt along the way.

Across town...

"I wonder where Teresa rushed off to so quickly?" a puzzled Luis asked Fox and Fox frowned.

He didn't know what was going on but he had a sneaking suspicion that his grandfather was somehow involved. That story Teresa had told him of Sheridan having allowed the Lopez-Fitzgerald's access to the Crane Condominiums didn't ring true. Those apartments belonged to Alistair. Something was definitely off and he meant to find out what it was.

Crane Mansion...

"The nerve of that bitch, kicking us out of the hospital like she owned the place. Who the hell does she think she is?" an angry Gwen muttered to her husband.

"Gwen, please just calm down ok. Teresa had every right to ask us to leave. That was a family emergency and we're not family," Ethan reminded her.

"She doesn't own the hospital Ethan. And we had every right to be there. Pilar practically raised you and I care about her deeply," Gwen replied though that wasn't quite the truth.

She hated the Lopez-Fitzgerald's, every last one of them for supporting Teresa in every one of her schemes. Even Luis had turned Sheridan against her after Ethan had dumped Tacosita to marry her.

"But I got the last laugh," Gwen reminded herself. "I'm raising Teresa's son and there's not a damn thing she can do about it."

Crane Industries...

"Do you understand what I want you to do Teresa?" Alistair asked his new protégé.

Teresa looked up at him from eyes sparkling with laugher. The papers she held in her hand were not only going to get her son back for her, they would destroy Rebecca and Gwen in the process.

"Oh, yes Alistair, I understand completely. And I can't wait to get started," she told him a slight smile curved on her mouth.

Days later…

A jubilant Teresa hurried home as plans for the night that awaited her dominated her thoughts. Time with Fox was always a treasure, but because his days were usually occupied with Crane Industry business and she had been preoccupied with plans of revenge, the two young lovers had hardly had one moment to spare. Now that the plans of revenge were settled and the wheels in motion, Teresa needed some quality time with the man who owned her heart.

Flying into the condo, Teresa hurried to set everything up before Fox arrived. When she was done she stepped back and surveyed her bedroom with a critical eye. The scene before her was like that out of a story book. Fat candles in various shapes and sizes flickered brightly, casting a tawny shadow that lent the night a magical air. Rose petals ranging from the deepest crimson to the palest cream littered the carpeted floor and perfumed the air with their fragrance. Plump cushions in bright jewel colors resided on a corner of the floor and the colorful silk scarves she had draped on the lamps added a slightly exotic look to the room. In the background Aretha's soulful voice crooned about lost love.

"It's perfect," she sighed happily. A glance at the clock on the wall had her scurrying out of her room and rushing to the kitchen. Knowing she barely had enough time to shower and change she quickly gathered up the dishes and flatware she needed and set the small table she had dragged into a corner of her room. The meal itself was waiting in foil covered dishes that would keep everything warm until they got around to eating.

When the doorbell rang twenty minutes later, Teresa had just finished applying her makeup and she was still barefoot. Deciding that would make no difference to Fox, she walked to the door and let her love in.

"You look beautiful babe," he murmured. "And you smell wonderful too," he sighed, lifting her hair and placing a soft kiss on the nape of her neck.

Teresa turned in his arms and met his lips in a soft kiss that quickly turned passionate.

"I'm not the main course, you know," she teased breaking off the kiss and Fox laughed.

"So how about if we skip dinner and start with dessert?" he suggested, pulling her against him and fusing their lips together in a deep kiss.

Teresa let out a catchy little moan and grinded her hips against his pelvis, enticing the lower part of him, and looked at him with shadowed eyes. "But I cooked," she pouted.

"We'll eat later," he told her, his eyes wild and hot. Before she could protest he had scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom door.

"Oh Resa," he murmured, his heart contracting when he saw the lush setting she had prepared for them. He had never been romanced before and a wry grin tugged at his mouth when he realized he liked it.

"I love you so much," she told him and Fox pressed another kiss on her waiting mouth. "I love you too babe," he replied.

As he looked around the room, Fox realized that Teresa had gone to a lot of trouble to make the night special and a sudden tenderness overwhelmed him.

"May I have this dance?" he asked and Teresa nodded.

They swayed lightly to the music, each marveling at the twist of fate that had brought them to this moment.

"I'll never let him go," Teresa thought.

"She's mine," Fox thought possessively.

Wanting to draw out the moment, Fox and Teresa slowly undressed each other and when they were both naked, Fox once again lifted Teresa in his arms and gently placed her on the bed.

"You're so beautiful," he told her, worshipping her body with slow, drugging kisses that made Teresa feel as if she were floating on air. When he opened her thighs and pressed his mouth to the heart of her passion, she whimpered and arched her hips against him.

"Turnabout is fair play," she murmured moments later, shoving him back on the bed and trailing light kisses all over his hard body until she reached his flat belly. With teasing strokes of her tongue, she teased him until he groaned and flipped her over.

"Little witch," he murmured grittily, settling himself against her and joining them with one smooth thrust.

Their cries of passion were drowned out by Aretha's soulful murmurs and when they both returned to earth, Fox cuddled Teresa close, reluctant to let her go after the weeks they had endured apart.

"Fox, promise me that no matter what happens in the future you will never doubt my love for you," Teresa asked worriedly.

"Resa, I know you love me. What's the matter babe?" he asked.

Teresa shook her head and cuddled closer to him. "Just promise me Fox. No matter what happens in the future never doubt my love for you. Next to Ethan Martin you're the most important person in my life," she told him seriously.

"I promise babe," he whispered soothingly, tangling his hands in her dark hair and bringing her mouth to his.

Teresa kissed him back hungrily, wanting to imprint the feel and scent of him in her mind. The next few weeks were going to test the strength of their love and she fervently prayed that her revenge wouldn't cost her the love of her life.