Steve heard Shane stomp out of the room. All Steve wanted to do was get up and go after him, but his body once again betrayed him. He felt Kayla's hand on his face and heard her voice saying, "Just lie still, let me look at your lip."

He looked up at Kayla. Her eyes were filled with tears, but Steve refused to acknowledge them. He pushed her hand away and stood up. "Just leave me alone, Kayla," he spat. I don't need your help and I damn well don't need your pity." He did not bother hiding the anger he felt.

"I'm not leaving you alone, Steve," Kayla said in that familiar determined voice.

Steve whirled around. "I told you before, I'm not a child and I'm not an invalid. I can survive Donovan's sucker punch. I've survived much worse. Just leave me the hell alone."

"Fine, you can survive it," Kayla said. "But you don't need to bleed all over the place in the process. So let me take care of your lip." She reached for his arm again.

"Don't," Steve said, pulling his arm away. Without a word he stalked into the kitchen, looking for a towel for his lip.

He heard Kayla come in behind him, and he watched as she went to a drawer and pulled out a first aid kit. Just the fact that Kayla seemed so comfortable in this house angered Steve. "I guess you have this place scoped out, huh, Sweetness? Preparing for the day you became the lady of the manor?"

He saw Kayla flinch at the jibe, but she remained silent. She walked over to him with gauze in her hand. "Just stand still and let me take care of this."

Before Steve could move, Kayla quickly placed the gauze on his lip. "Owww!" Steve exclaimed as the antiseptic hit the cut on his lip. He tried to jerk away, but Kayla had a hold of his head and wouldn't let him. In that moment, Steve flashed back to all the times Kayla had doctored his various wounds in their early relationship. He should have remembered never to let her near him with a medical kit when she was upset.

Kayla dabbed at Steve's lip and then applied a small bandage, all without saying a word. When she had finished, she stepped back and finally spoke. "Are you going to listen to me now and let me explain?" she asked in a quiet, but firm voice.

"What's to explain, Kayla?" Steve said, stalking around the room. "I heard everything just fine. You love Shane and he loves you. My return from the dead seems to have messed up the perfect romance."

"No, your death messed up the perfect romance," Kayla said softly. Steve could hear the emotion in her voice. His sarcastic response died in his throat. As angry as he was, he did not want to hurt her anymore. He stopped pacing and let Kayla talk.

"What I said before is the truth, Steve. When I thought you were dead, a part of me died too. I knelt beside your coffin and all I wanted to do was crawl inside and be with you. I didn't know how to live without you. But I had to. I had Stephanie, and I had promised you that I would be strong for her and make you proud of me."

Steve could see the tears falling freely down her face as Kayla continued. "So that's what I tried to do. I tried to live a life without you that I had never expected. You need to understand that Shane and I never planned on anything happening between us. It just did." Kayla turned to face Steve again.

"Okay. So it just happened. But you can't tell me that Mr. ISA didn't know exactly what he was doing. You were hurting and lonely, and he took advantage of that. He used that to get you into his bed." Steve spat out the words bitterly, the very thought nearly killing him.

"I never slept with Shane," Kayla said. "I wasn't ready to be with him like that and he understood that. But I'm not going to lie to you anymore, Steve. It would have happened eventually."

Steve remained silent. He was torn between rage and hurt and guilt. Rage at Shane for taking advantage of his wife. Hurt at Kayla having misled him and, yes, for having moved on with her life. Guilt at the fact that, if he had been more careful, if he had just walked away from that stupid Jencon case, he would have never been taken from his family and Kayla would have never been in a position to be vulnerable to Shane's advances.

"So where does that leave us now, Kayla? You can't tell me that your feelings for him changed that quickly, baby. So why are you with me now? Out of pity? Obligation? Some misguided sense of loyalty?" There. It was out in the open now. Steve held his breath, waiting for Kayla's response.

"What do you mean where does that leave us?" Kayla asked in an incredulous voice. "You're my husband, the love of my life. Don't you know that by now? After everything we've been through - Jack, Marina, your supposed death - somehow we are still here together. That's where this leaves us - together."

"You're in love with another man, Kayla," Steve yelled out. "That doesn't exactly spell happily ever after."

"I'm not in love with Shane. I'm in love with you," Kayla yelled back. "Don't you get it? The only reason I could feel anything for Shane is because you were dead. I buried part of my heart and soul with you, and the moment I saw you again was the first time I'd felt whole since you left. Whatever Shane and I had died as soon as I saw you. You've had all of my heart since the moment I fell in love with you, and that's something that will never change."

"Then why didn't you just tell me the truth, Kayla? If you have no feelings for Shane anymore, then why didn't you just tell me when I kept asking about your life while I was gone?" Steve's frustration was back. "Why did you and Shane play me for the fool?"

"I never wanted you do find out like this, Steve. I knew I had to tell you, but I just got you back and I just wanted some time with you." Kayla paused. "And I felt guilty, all right. I had just found out that while I was trying to move on with my life, the love of my life was trapped in hell. I should have known that you were alive. I should have felt it."

"You still should have told me. You should have trusted me," Steve said, refusing to back down.

"I know that. But I was scared." Kayla's own frustration began to show. "And call me crazy, but I had this funny feeling that when I told you about my relationship with Shane, it might upset you. I know it was selfish, but I just wanted to hold on to that happiness for a little while."

Steve watched as Kayla took a deep breath and then walked back over to where he was standing. She cupped his face in her hand and looked into his eye. "I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you everything sooner. But I love you with all of my heart. . . . And you can't tell me that you don't believe that - not after everything we've been through."

Steve closed his eye for a moment, wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms and forget everything that had happened today. But he could not forget what he heard and what he saw. And he could not forget the lies. He took Kayla's hands from his face and pushed them away. "I never thought you would lie to me, Kayla, but you did. And now I don't know what to believe anymore."

He let go of her hands and turned to walk out of the kitchen. He could hear Kayla call his name, but he didn't turn around and just kept walking.