CHAPTER 113

(EVA)

I stare out of the window of the room I am currently occupying and sigh deeply. It feels very strange being back here. I glance down at the small cabana on the beach which is surprisingly still there where Gideon had practically demanded that I married him, and my eyes roam across the deserted private beach where I had married Gideon and become Mrs Cross, with only the wedding official, Angus and the hotel manager as witnesses. That was all nearly 5 years ago now as our 5th wedding anniversary is coming up soon.

This is the first time we've been back here since we married and it's all very familiar. We are in the same room we occupied when we got married although it has clearly been repainted since then. It is where we had spent our wedding night together and Gideon had beaten himself up about being so irresponsible for allowing that to happen. I glance at the other room in the suite where my husband is currently sleeping. He is doing so well with his therapy that the nightmares have receded considerably but for this vacation he still preferred to err on the side of caution. We have been sleeping together on occasions as sort of test runs and while he really has improved considerably, he still worries about what could happen. I know it still haunts him the way he had attacked me in his sleep and he is determined never to put me in that position ever again. But his obvious improvement gives me hope that in the not too distant future we will be able to share a bed and spend the entire night together. I am surprised we are here as normally we go to our home on the Outer Banks for our anniversary and seclude ourselves for a couple of weeks, and considering our wedding anniversary is so close I'm wondering why we have come here now – not that I'm complaining of course as it is lovely to be back.

My neck suddenly prickles as I feel him before I see him.

"Good morning, Angel" Gideon murmurs in my ear as I feel his arms go around me.

"Good morning, Ace" I reply as I lean back against him and allow him access to my neck. I feel his lips touch me and I stand up and turning in his arms I wrap my arms around him and kiss him.

His hand moves to my ass and pulls me against him so I have no choice but to feel how aroused he is. I look up and grin at him.

"Is that a hint?" I ask and I see a bright smile engulf his face, before he wordlessly urges us towards the bed.

oooOOOooo

A few hours later…

"Where are we going?" I ask as Angus drives us away from the resort.

"You'll see" Gideon replies with an enigmatic smile.

"You're up to something" I say and that smile just gets wider.

"Of course I am" he replies and simply presses a kiss to the back of my hand which he has firmly clasped in his.

My confusion peaks as we reach the airport as we haven't packed to leave, so why the hell are we here? I look at Gideon questioningly but he still refuses to divulge what all this is about.

"Gideon? Why? What are we doing here?" I ask.

Gideon looks at his watch and peers out of the window of the car. I can hear aeroplanes but my attention is fixed on my husband waiting for some kind of explanation as to why we are sitting at the airport.

Gideon points, "That should explain everything for you angel" he replies.

I lean past him to look and my jaw drops as I see the GEH jet coming in to land.

"Ana!" I gasp, I turn towards Gideon, "You arranged for Ana to fly in!?" I ask and he nods but shrugs at the same time.

"Christian and I discussed it and I suggested he take Ana to my hotel in Japan for their wedding anniversary and then bring her here so you two could spend some time together before I whisked you away to the Outer Banks for our anniversary. I know you had told Ana about this place and she had mentioned to Christian that it was a place she'd like to visit. Plus, I thought it gives you both chance to discuss this joint party you were thinking about for Elliot's, Ana's and my birthdays in September".

I fling my arms around him and kiss him fiercely. "I love you so much" I whisper into his mouth as he holds me with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

We watch as the plane comes in to land and as soon as it is on the ground, I open the car door and am out of the car almost bouncing with excitement at the prospect of seeing my sister again.

As soon as the doors of the jet open, I see her and I call out, waving like a lunatic.

"ANA!" I yell, Ana looks down and she waves back, Christian emerges from the plane and I wave enthusiastically to him as well.

"Oh my god!" I exclaim as I fling myself at my sister as soon as she reaches me.

"Hi, how are you Eva?" Ana asks. She doesn't seem as surprised as I am so I am guessing Christian had told her what he was planning. I turn towards Christian and envelope him in a massive hug.

"Thank you for this" I whisper in his ear.

"You are very welcome" he replies as he returns the hug.

I watch as he holds out his hand to Gideon, who steps forward and accepting Christian's outstretched hand pulls him into a manly hug.

"Good flight?" Gideon asks politely and Christian nods.

"Not bad at all, considering the distance" he replies.

It suddenly occurs to me how long my sister has been flying as they have practically gone all the way around the world.

"You must be exhausted, flying to the Caribbean from Japan" I say and Ana grins.

"It was a long flight but not quite that long" she says, "as we flew here from Hawaii" she adds.

"Hawaii? What were you doing there?" I ask.

Ana's smile gets wider, "Christian has bought an island" she says and my mouth drops open.

"An island?" I ask incredulously.

Ana nods, "Yep, I couldn't quite believe it either. He said he got the idea from your place on the Outer Banks. Somewhere just for us, to whisk me away to, for us to have some alone time. It is an amazing place Eva, I have taken lots of photographs so you can see what it is like".

"Oh wow!" I reply and as I link my arm in Ana's we turn to walk away. Ana pauses and looks back at Christian and as she does it, it hits me that we are ignoring our husbands again.

"Go ahead Angel, it's ok" Gideon says as he obviously realises what I am now thinking.

Christian smiles indulgently at Ana, "It's ok baby" he says.

(GIDEON)

"An island… seriously?!" I say as I look at Christian with my eyebrows raised. I have to say, when we discussed our Outer Banks house it seemed to trigger an interest for him, but I never expected him to do something like this.

Christian nods, "That is correct, an old acquaintance of mine was looking to sell, and I was looking to buy so everything worked out well" he says.

"Who?" I ask as I wrack my brains as I try and recall who privately owns some of the smaller Hawaiian islands.

"Malachy Jenrich" Christian says and my eyes widen.

"Mal?! You know Mal?" I ask and Christian nods.

"He was kind to me when I first started making a name for myself and he opened doors for me, introduced me to the right people and helped me climb the ladder" Christian explains with a shrug.

"Well, I never realised" I say.

Christian shrugs again, "After you told me about your Outer Banks home, it made me think and I wanted something similar for myself and Ana. Somewhere just for us, I mentioned it in passing when I was talking to Mal when he asked about Ana, and he said that coincidently that he was looking to sell his place and so was I interested? Of course I snapped it up, I'd previously visited there many years ago so I knew how fabulous it was".

"I see… do you know why he was selling?" I ask, wondering if the rumours I'd heard were true that Mal was experiencing some serious financial difficulties.

Christian shakes his head, "He just told me he had tired of the place and was looking to sell; I was looking to buy and everything worked out" he says.

I nod, I am guessing Christian knows more than he is letting on as he wouldn't take that lame explanation as the only reason. But I am also guessing he is respecting Mal's privacy as to his true reasons for selling, so I don't push it.

"You just had to outdo me" I say with a grin and Christian laughs.

"That wasn't my primary intention, but it does appear that I have, doesn't it?" he says smugly.

"How did you cope with having a whole island for just you and Ana, secluded from the world? I mean, I'm actually surprised not to mention more than impressed that you are allowing yourself to be cut off that way" I say.

Christian laughs and shakes his head, "I have access to the outside world. Welch and Barney have done an incredible job of updating security and the internet access to the mainland. Plus, Ana and I won't be totally alone, the other side of the island near the harbour is a small cottage which I've had refurbished for Taylor and Gail so it is as much theirs as mine" he explains.

I smile at that, I should've realised his need to have full control of everything surrounding him would inhibit his desire to be totally isolated and alone.

"Do you have any photographs?" I ask and Christian nods pulling out his phone. He calls up his photographs and hands me his phone. I quickly scroll through the photographs and marvel at this island.

"Wow, this looks amazing" I say as I hand his phone back to him and he pushes it back into his pocket.

Christian nods, "Believe me it is" he says.

"You do realise that I am incredibly jealous" I say jokingly and Christian doesn't reply but just smiles smugly.

As we are walking towards the car I hear his phone ringing again. He rolls his eyes and pulls it from his pocket, as he does so I notice that Taylor appears to be talking to someone as well and I hope that nothing has happened which will cut short this reunion for Eva and Ana.

I silently watch as Christian answers and it appears that he is talking to Elliot. Ana and Eva have noticed the activity and wander over and are watching and listening carefully. As soon as Christian mentions Elliot by name they move even closer with clear concern on their faces, obviously wondering what has happened. I watch Christian though and he doesn't look as though something terrible has happened.

He glances at Ana and Eva, "Do you want to speak to them now, as they are both standing in front of me?" he asks. He smiles and hands his phone to Ana. "El" he says simply.

Ana grabs the phone and presses the speaker button so that Eva can hear what is being said.

"El what's wrong?" Ana asks anxiously.

"Hey sis, nothing is wrong. Everything is good – very good in fact. After Kate's latest antics, and everything we have got on her regarding what she did to Meg and the results, her lawyer is looking for a plea bargain so that we don't have to go to trial. He knows that with everything she has done, and everything we have on her, she would be looking at some hefty charges and a fairly long stretch inside. As it is, she will still be looking at a custodial sentence but before we accept the terms we wanted to run it past the family and see what everyone thought".

"What are the terms?" Eva asks immediately.

"Hi Eva" Elliot replies, "Well… David said her lawyer had told her that what she had done along with everything we had on her showed intention and so she could be up for first degree murder – because she attempted to kill Meg and succeeded in killing one of the babies. We all know what that would mean, life with no parole. Plus all the other shit she has pulled she is looking at stalking and harassment charges and also slander for the stunt she pulled with Jen. She argued that she didn't mean to kill the baby, and that she only wanted to hurt Meg and not kill her, so her lawyer has told her that her best option would be to plead guilty to second degree murder, and to show remorse. By all accounts she wasn't happy with that but her lawyer told her the amount of evidence we have on her if she went to trial there would be no question that she would be facing attempted murder for Meg and first degree murder for the baby and that her actions to date showed a degree of premeditation that was shocking. She thought about it and agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder, if we drop all the other charges stacked against her. That is what was put to us and if we agree to the terms then it all goes away quickly".

"What sentence will she get for that?" Ana asks.

We hear Elliot sigh, "David said 15 years to life, so there is a chance she could still get life, if the judge is feeling vindictive but David thinks she will probably be looking at about 20 years. I've spoken to Eamon and he told me to do what I think is best. Obviously, he isn't happy about the fact his daughter is facing any prison time, but he said she brought it upon herself with her own actions and own stupidity".

"What does Meg say?" Eva asks.

I hear a small bitter laugh, "She agreed straight away. She said that she wanted Kate to be punished for what she did, but she also just wants her out of our lives and to leave us alone, and she said that she really couldn't deal with a full trial right now so she said that she was willing to agree to anything that avoided that". He pauses, "So, what do you guys think?" he asks.

Ana and Eva look at each other and Ana shrugs. "I think that is more than a fair compromise, if I'm honest I believe like Ethan that she has had some kind of breakdown following the break-up of your marriage. She didn't expect her actions to ever come to light and when you divorced her it did something to her because she really hasn't been behaving rationally since then, has she?" Ana says.

"I guess" Elliot says quietly.

Eva leans forward, "El, we will support whatever decision you make. But I'm with Ana I think that this is the best way to get her out of your life, but make sure you set conditions to this agreement, that she isn't allowed to contact you again and that she is to receive some sort of psychiatric help as well".

I see Christian nod at this and I step forward. "Hello Elliot, when will the hearing be held?" I ask.

"Hi Gideon, as soon as possible. David said that if we agree the hearing could be as soon as next week".

Eva looks at me questioningly and I nod, as I know she will want to fly to Washington to support Elliot during the hearing.

"Well, we support whatever you decide El and it goes without saying that we will all be there to support you in person on the day" Eva says.

"Thanks guys" Elliot says, there is a pause then he adds, "You don't think I'm letting her off lightly do you?"

There is a chorus of 'no' and Christian speaks up. "You do what is best for you and your family. This is clearly the quickest cleanest way to get her out of this family and I know that is ultimately what you desire. You obviously have the link with Eamon and he has given you no indication that he would be upset if you accepted the plea, so my advice is get it done, and finally put this to bed".

"Thanks guys" Elliot says with obvious relief and a sense of acceptance in his tone.

Two days later…

"Ready to go Angel?" I ask as I walk into the main room of our suite. I look at the packed suitcases near the door and smile. My wife has clearly been busy.

"I am" she says simply and she walks up to me and wraps her arms around my waist. I automatically respond and hold her against me.

"Are you ok?" I ask and she nods.

"I'm feeling a little odd… a multitude of different and conflicting emotions are going through me at this moment. I am so happy that I've been able to spend time with Ana, sad that it has inevitably come to an end, worry and concern for El with the court case. Then, excitement for our time together at the Outer Banks which is coming up shortly… but of course they are all secondary to the love I feel for you" she says as she gives me a little squeeze.

I smile at that comment and press a kiss to the top of her head. "Well, your time with Ana is to be extended. Elliot called Christian this morning and has informed him that the court hearing is tomorrow. So, we are travelling to Seattle with Christian and Ana today".

I hear her gasp in surprise at that, then I hear her phone ringing. She pulls away from me and I watch as she goes to answer it. I listen, and realise quickly that it is Elliot calling her.

"Hi bro, yeah Gideon just told me… of course we are… yes… we are leaving today… quite shortly I think, we are just getting ready to leave for the airport and I think we will be flying in with Christian and Ana" she looks at me as she says that and I nod.

I watch as she chats with Elliot for a while longer before bringing the call to an end.

"Ready Angel?" I ask as she pushes her phone into her purse.

"I am" she replies. We grab our cases and after one final check around the room we step out to where Angus is waiting.

"Are you ready lad?" he asks as he reaches for the bags I am holding.

"Thank you" I say as he relieves me of the luggage. "We are, we are flying to Seattle with Christian and Ana. Can you arrange for one of the jets to be at SeaTac Wednesday morning, and a flight plan to be in place to take us straight to The Outer Banks?" I ask. Angus nods and I am confident that it will be done.

With that we leave the hotel and after meeting up with Ana and Christian outside, we head to the airport for our flight to Seattle.