Cabos San Lucas

"What's wrong?" Daniel's green eyes looked at her and asked questions about her silence.

Brenda and Daniel were enjoying a breakfast together, without interruptions, without thoughts, with nothing to do but enjoy the time.

They had ordered a hearty Italian breakfast on the terrace of Brenda's room. The sea was straight ahead of them but Brenda already seemed beyond whatever horizon Daniel looked at. Daniel had some free time before leaving for the boat trip with the Kavensish and Valerie.

Brenda couldn't even look him in the eye. She felt guilty and wrong. She was not a traitor, she had never been, she had suffered the betrayal and had marked her for a lifetime.

She needed to think. To understand.

Valerie arrived at that moment, wearing a military green bikini and a white sundeck.

"Wow, sweety," Daniel said jokingly, "is it already that late?"

"We have an appointment at 10.30. If Kevin still touch me I'll have to throw up..." Valerie said looking at Daniel.

He smiled, Valerie was right Kevin was a slimy. He knew it was all fiction but couldn't help but watch him while he was slimy towards Valerie and before his eyes, considering that he was the husband. He tried to leave them alone so that she could do her job but not too much so that she was in no danger.

"I'm going to get ready too. Give me a minute" Daniel stood up and kissed Brenda on the lips. A kiss that Brenda welcomed and wanted to hold back almost to ask him for forgiveness that she didn't have the courage to ask him.

Valerie followed him with her gaze as he walked out of the terrace.

"Wow Daniel is awesome, I really mean, he's top, he's nice, gorgeous, when you're fed up tell me I'll take him" Valerie said, peeling off a grape and blowing it in her mouth.

Brenda gave her a dull smile that drew Valerie's attention.

"Are you all right Bren?"

"Yes.. no...I don't know," Brenda replied, "something happened last night.. with Dylan."

"What the hell! Brenda and what were you waiting to tell me" Valerie was thrilled.

"Shhh lower your voice, Daniel is in the other room," Brenda replied.

Valerie grinned.

"And how was it?"

Brenda gave a half-smile "God, great," she replied.

"I believe it" smiled Valerie who however noticed Brenda's gaze and try to set up a serious speech "ok, you feel guilty"

"A lot" Brenda tried to find the words "believe it or not, I love Daniel, really, after so many stupid mistakes, like Stuart, I had finally managed to find someone for me, someone special, away from this world... but Dylan..."

"You love him too, Dylan" Valerie concluded the sentence while playing with a fork.

"I don't think I'll ever stop, but I know this road very well and I already know where it will take me," Brenda sighed.

"You're scared, it's normal, but you love Dylan, deep down you know that too, and he loves you."

"Yes, but my future? London?"

Valerie sighed and there was no time to say more because Daniel returned to the terrace.

"I'm ready," he said.

"Well" Valerie stood up enthusiastically and intertwining her hands with Daniel's "what an amazing couple we are" she said winking at Brenda who accepted the joke.

"We can go"

Brenda jumped up and headed towards Daniel giving him a deep kiss "good luck" she told him.

He smiled at her.

Los Angeles

Kelly and Donna were waiting in the cafeteria. Kelly was waiting for Brandon to arrive while Donna absent-mindedly kept the book open. The exam was a rather demanding medium-term exam, unfortunately Ray couldn't stand her absences much. He required her to be with him and to be able to spend time with her. Ray didn't go to college and therefore couldn't fully understand why Donna did whatever was necessary not to pity him or make him angry, however it seemed to her that whatever she did was never enough.

"Can I ask you a question Kelly?" Asked Donna.

Kelly put the cup on the table and smiled "certainly".

Donna bit her lip "Is Brandon ever mean to you?"

Kelly frened her forehead.

'Mean?'

"Yes, does he ever answer you badly, or does he often get nervous with you?"

"No" Kelly shook her head "never, of course we fight, it happens, but it never goes beyond certain limits."

A few minutes of silence followed in which Donna did not add anything else to what she had already said.

"Donna," Kelly asked, "Is Ray mean to you?"

Donna looked at Kelly, she felt that the tears were rising "I always feel like I have to please him, that I have to dress in a certain way so as not to make him angry, not to misunderstand me, Ray, he's a very sweet guy, and when we're together I'm happy, he makes me happy, but sometimes he gets nervous easily, he pretends to spend all the time with me, and I don't have time to study anymore. Also, my mother got in the way."

"Your mother?" Kelly asked.

"I brought him home to dinner, and as soon as my mother heard that he comes from a humble family in Reseda she looked at him as she looks at an insect on the wall, and I felt responsible."

"Donna , you're not your mother," Kelly replied with a smile.

Donna sighed and said nothing else.

Kelly looked at her while Donna's gaze was on the books in front of her but she wasn't really reading.

"Donna, there are things you never have to tolerate in a relationship, it's not important how much you like a person but the important thing is how he treats you, look at me and Dylan, as much as I liked him or the idea of him, we didn't treat each other well, it was always a drama, a tragedy, an exhausting negotiation, then he said four words, snapped his fingers and I went back to him, and I also apologized to him. This is not love."

Donna nodded.

Kelly passed a consoling hand over her back.

"Listen, I have to go to Professor Finley's seminar this afternoon. It's really great. Why you don't come with me, maybe it might make you understand some things. It's helping me a lot."

Donna shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't, I have to go with Ray to deliver some timber."

'What?'

"He wants us to spend time together since I had class this morning and he had to work this afternoon, Clare also said she's going to be out in the afternoon, she's busy with the physics lab."

Donna quickly closed the books in front of her.

"I have to go" Donna greeted with a sad smile Kelly and also Brandon who had approached in the meantime.

"Se you later"

Brandon followed with his gaze Donna leaving and sat next to Kelly giving her an intense kiss on the lips.

"So, my princess, what do you say if we drop everything today and go to Santa Monica? We could have dinner together there, just you and me," he said as he gently kissed her neck making her smile.

"That would be really nice, but I can't, I have to go to Professor Finley's seminar."

Brandon interrupted the kiss and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Another day?" She asked guilty.

"Of course," he replied with a smile.

" But I still have two hours before lunch.." Kelly suggested raising her eyebrow " and I have a free house."

Brandon immediately turned on again and went back to kissing her neck "even better " he said.

Cabos San Lucas.

Valerie and Daniel reached the pier. The Kavendish had not yet arrived.

Daniel and Valerie sat down on a bench.

"I won't leave you alone with him for a long time," Daniel told him, "I saw the look that Kevin has."

"It's repulsive," Valerie said in a veil of sadness. That horrible feeling could rise at any time and Kevin carried it in front of her with his only presence.

Daniel placed her hair behind her ear because the wind made them fly.

"You're a wonderful girl," Daniel said, "I really say, it's a pity I have a busy heart," he sighed.

'Brenda?' Valerie asked.

"I didn't think I could fall in love with a girl this way"

Valerie smiled and at the same time felt bad for him.

"It's wonderful, Do you have a boyfriend Valerie?"

"Yes and no but it's complicated"

"Tell me when it's not complicated" Daniel smiled looking at the ground.

"It's always really really complicated for me," Valerie smiled.

In the distance they saw the Kavendish arrive.

"They're coming, we have to kiss," she said.

"It's going to be hard for me," he said with a smile.

Daniel and Valerie let themselves go to a long kiss, deep and passionate, it was just fiction they said to each other... for a moment it seemed to them that it was nothing fake.

Jonesy heard them chatting and looking for the boat.

Kevin made arrangements with the sailor on the route and the shot to be done. There wasn't much time left, it was necessary to find that damn code.

Jonesey was listening as always, some reference, something that could turn on the light, studied all of them closely, recorded every piece of information by transcribing it in a notebook.

Dylan was next to him, Brenda hadn't shown up yet. He knew that that morning she had spent time with Daniel, he wondered what was going through her head, what her thoughts were, he couldn't grasp them, and yet he felt happy about what had happened, for being able to have her, because he had made her his own.

Dylan jumped up..

"Where are you going?" Jonesy asked him.

"Is this not the time Erica goes to dance class?" Dylan asked.

"Dylan you don't have to do bullshit," Jonesy scolded him.

"I won't do it," he replied as he walked out of the room.

Dylan went to knock on Brenda's room which opened shortly after.

"Hey"

"Hey," she replied in embarrassment.

God how beautiful she was.

"I thought I'd go see Erica, maybe I could try to talk to her."

Brenda's eyes widened 'maybe it's risky'

"Maybe, but Erica is my sister, I'm sure of her and her loyalty, and she lives in that house, deep down we're here to save her too."

Brenda took a few minutes for herself then looked at Dylan "I take the sunglasses and the bag" she said and went out with him.

Beach House

Clare and Steve were in bed together. They took advantage of any time when the house was free to spend time together. Sometimes they were together even in Steve's room at the university but Andrea often came with the little girl to find some peace and that room had become an unsafe place to keep that newly born relationship together.

They had fun together and didn't want commitments involving the rest of the group and Steve's grades had even improved since he dated Clare, plus Clare had helped him recover from the bad story of David and Valerie.

Clare held her head leaning against Steve's chest. Most of the time they laughed. Steve was really funny and was absolutely sexually free like her.

"Do you think we should talk to others about us?"

"Maybe in a while," Steve replied, "I honestly like this aura of mystery around us, crawling away every time you have the house free," Steve ticked her.

"I don't know Steve, it's been a little while now, I'd like to introduce you to my dad."

Steve raised his eyebrow "Really?"

"I don't hide anything from my father"

Steve thought about it "let's think a little more" he didn't really feel ready for family presentations, he didn't really feel like it, he certainly wasn't at that point in the relationship.

Steve and Clare heard the door open.

Clare immediately pulled herself up holding the sheets to cover herself.

"Wasn't you supposed to have the house free?" Steve whispered worried.

"It had to be like that, Kelly was busy at a seminar and Donna was going to deliver wood with Ray," Clare whispered.

'To deliver the wood?' Steve asked.

Clare shrugged her shoulders "forget it".

They heard the voices of Brandon and Kelly laughing.

"It's Brandon and Kelly," Steve whispered with an amused look.

"Maybe Kelly forgot something and they'll leave right away," Clare said with hope.

The whole conversation between the two of them was made up of whispers so as not to be discovered. They heard the two move, move something, enter her room, get out of it, then the silence.

"Are they out?" Clare asked looking at Steve.

"I have no idea"

"Go see,"

"me?" Steve asked

"get slow"Clare whispered

He slowly opened the door. Steve walked down the hallway in his underwear and tiptoe but before he got to the living room he heard Brandon and Kelly's moans. Shit.

They were on the couch in the living room.

She rides on him. Both half-naked, Brandon's face sank between Kelly's breasts.

Shit.

Thankfully Brandon kept his eyes closed as he passed his mouth over Kelly's body and Kelly was on her back and with her head tilted back.

Shit. Shit. Shit. He thought Steve who went back to the room.

'So?'

Steve didn't have time to respond because Kelly's moans became much more intense as did Brandon's pleasure.

"Oh my God," Clare said.

"Ehhh" Steve replied "they are in the living room... on the couch" Steve reported "they're doing..."

"I know what they're doing, Steve."

They closed the door and had to listen to the entire kelly and Brandon's embrace from the couch in the living room.

"I'm never going to sit on that couch again," Clare said.

Steve laughed " come on, maybe it won't take long."

"And what are we doing in the meantime? We can't go out anymore while they're having sex in the living room"

"Bhe," Steve replied mischievously, "we could do it here," he said, reaching out a hand around her.

"You'll like to joke, I can't have sex if someone else is having sex" then she thought about it for a moment and looked at Steve "don't tell me you would..."

Kelly and Brandon's moaning and fucking got much stronger and more intense.

"What the hell," Clare snorted.

"Wow," Steve said with a mischievous smile, "it's like standing in the back of a porn cinema and hearing ..."

Clare hit him with an elbow.

"I was kidding," he replied. Both sat on the ground, with their backs to the wall "I'm hungry," he said.

"I don't have anything here in the room," Clare whispered, "but you'll see they'll be over soon."

As soon as Clare uttered that phrase they heard Kelly orgasm, she shouted Brandon's name.

Steve and Clare looked at each other.

"They're done..." she whispered.

The silence was short-consuming and Kelly and Brandon slowly resumed their moans... they felt very good in Clare's room.

"If you want I have leg waxing," Clare said with a smile, "it's edible..."

Cabos San Lucas.

Brenda walked alongside Dylan on the streets of Cabos San Lucas. Kevin and Suzanne were in the middle of the sea with Valerie and Daniel and there was no chance they would be discovered, it was their chance to approach Erica.

Dylan walked beside Brenda and every now and then looked at her trying to decipher her thoughts.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dylan asked sweetly.

"No," she replied.

The night with Dylan had deeply troubled her. She had questioned everything by messing up the plans and beliefs that Brenda had slowly managed to conquer.

"You regretted..." he sighed wounded.

Brenda turned to his eyes "I never regretted being with you, making love to you, Dylan"

They looked at each other in silence and they both wanted to get and kiss there at that moment.

"But..." he asked.

"But I had just started building a life for myself again, and it's a life that I like, it makes me feel serene, I wake up every morning happy..."

Dylan felt the tears getting in his throat, he was hurt. He looked down.

"We can..." he asked, "can we at least talk about it later?" His eyes were moved.

Brenda didn't answer "there's Erika" she said pointing at her with her finger.

Erika was accompanied by her young babysitter, a girl probably from the place who never left her.

Dylan's heart tightened when he saw his sister.

They began to follow her through the streets of Cabos San Luca in the hope of being able to find a favorable time for them.

The two slipped into the way of a market.

Dylan took Brenda's hand and slipped behind them.

It was a moment for Erika to see her brother. She was a smart little girl, it was not necessary to explain to her the danger that Dylan was running if she made any wrong movements. She was even happier when she saw Brenda. They looked like two angels.

Erika had been through terrible times when she realized that her mother had taken Dylan's money and that it was thanks to those who lived in luxury in South America.

Erika motioned Dylan to go to the fountain, then told her baby sitter Mercedes that she was thirsty and that she would go to the fountain.

Mercedes didn't pay much attention to her, she was busy talking to a friend of hers she met by chance.

Erika smiled and walked away.

"Please" Dylan told her "don't tell anyone I'm here"

"I'm so happy to see you together," Erika said.

Brenda smiled at her, looked at Dylan, and looked down.

"Please Dylan get me out of here," the little girl said with a sad look.

"I'm here for this," replied the brother, "but I need your help."

Erika turned to Mercedes who was still distracted.

"Tell me everything"

"Erika, do you know where they keep the important documents in the house?"

"Kevin keeps everything under lock and key in his studio but that's not where you'll find the code," Erika said. Dylan widened his eyes.

Erika knew about the code. She had always thought that her sister was endowed with an out-of-the-ordinary curiosity.

"They engraved it in their wedding rings, half in Kevin's and half in mom's, but they never take them off," Erika said with a sigh. Then she turned to Mercedes again, she had little time.

"I know it by heart," Erika said.

'Really?'

"Yes, Mom made me learn that, because she doesn't trust Kevin."

"It doesn't surprise me," Brenda said.

Erika looked at Dylan "I didn't know anything about what they were doing to you, you have to believe me" Erika's eyes were soaked with tears.

He didn't resist and took her for a moment in his arms. That single gesture could ruin everything.

"EV P216 LVO BBL 160521PE"

Brenda wrote quickly.

Mercedes began to look around.

"I have to go" Erika whispered "I'll wait for you Dylan"

Dylan saw her go away, Mercedes took her by the hand and the two disappeared in the crowd.

It was amazing what had just happened.

He had the code.

Los Angeles

Steve and Clare had waited half an hour from the last noise.

They had heard the bathroom door open, plus that of Kelly's room but nothing could be heard anymore.

"Maybe they came out"

"I really think so, Kelly had a seminar, Professor Flinstons, Finney, Finley I don't remember..." Clare replied.

Steve put his ear back to the door.

"You don't hear anything anymore.."

"Finally" Clare replied

Steve opened the door. Waited a few moments. No noise.

but...

Kelly and Brandon were in her room, in bed, her head resting on his chest.

"I have to go, it's getting late," Kelly said.

"I know," he replied as he played with her hair.

A noise was heard coming from the kitchen. It looked like a fallen pot or something. The loud noise jolted both Brandon and Kelly.

"There's someone in the house," she whispered.

Brandon hurriedly searched for his boxers, stuck them in and stood up.

"Brandon..." Kelly whispered.

He put his finger on his lips indicating to be quiet.

Someone had entered the house... and they couldn't be either Donna or Clare.

The noises were becoming more insistent.

Brandon opened the door and saw a figure from behind in the kitchen.

He tried to make as little noise as possible.

When the hallway ended he realized that it was Steve in his underwear who was looking in Kelly's fridge.

"Steve!" Brandon shouted "Jesus! what are you doing here.. and in your underwear"

"You're in your underwear too," Steve replied.

Clare came out with her bathrobe on her.

"Steve you want..." Clare froze when she saw Brandon in the middle of the living room.

Kelly arrived shortly after holding the sheet around her body.

'Clare..'

"Kelly"

"Steve"

"Brandon"

"You two..." Brandon said, pointing at them with a finger.

"Ehh yes," Steve replied.

Kelly was surprised "and since..."

"A little time," Clare replied in embarrassment.

"Wait a minute... when you came in..." Brandon asked, then looked at Steve and Clare.

Their expressions had already given him an answer.

"Don't tell me you've heard everything..." Kelly blushed immediately.

Steve and Clare nodded.

'Everything?..:"Kelly asked with her face on fire.

Steve and Clare nodded again.

Kelly hid her face on Brandon's chest.

"What a shame," she whispered.

"Well" Steve clapped his hands "we don't have any secrets now, and I mean we don't really have any," he winked at Kelly who was burning in the face.

"Do we want to eat something? Eh?" steve asked.