Date: 2012-10-23T13:00:00+00:00
Keywords: cookie429; Extratorrents; Kat
Description: Ramon Belham, has planned the perfect seduction for his wife, for their seventh wedding anniversary, and everything is falling into place. It's a mastermind of a plan, precisely designed to re-capture the heart of the woman who stole his, nine years ago! More than anything else, Ramon wants his wife to love and trust him fully, and he's not prepared to take no for an answer any more! Courtney Belham still loves her husband, in fact just the sight of him makes her weak in the knees. But, she's still haunted by the disappointment and rejection she faced in the past and is afraid to surrender her
Publisher: Passionately Married

NOT SO EASILY BROKEN

Not so Easily Broken
by

Annalisa Simon

A Marriage Spice Collection Novella

Derrien Island Trilogy

Book 1

Not So Easily Broken

Text Copyright © 2012 Annalisa Simon All rights reserved. Except for use in book reviews, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part, in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage or retrieval system in any form or by any means, whether electronic or manual, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the author.

All characters in this book exist only within the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. More information about the author and other books produced by the author can be found at: http://passionatelymarried.wordpress.com

Summary

Ramon Belham is planning the perfect seduction for his wife for their seventh wedding anniversary and everything is falling into place. Every plan he's envisioned is precisely designed to capture the heart of the woman who stole his heart nine years ago; because more than anything else he wants his wife to love and trust him.

Courtney Belham loves her husband, but haunted by the disappointments and abandonment she's faced in the past, she is not prepared to give her heart fully to anyone, especially not to Ramon. Faced with insecurities about his past relationship with another woman, she was ready for a divorce. But, no matter how hard she tried she seemed to be fighting a losing battle with her own heart and mind.

Now seven years into their marriage, they both recognize that it is time for change; it is time for something new. Courtney wants to open her heart to Ramon fully, and he's done waiting for her to try. He is a man on a mission and will stop at nothing until his beautiful and talented wife surrenders to him heart, mind and soul.

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

and every tongue which raises against you in judgment

you shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

and their righteousness is from Me,”

says the LORD.

Table of Contents

Summary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Note to the Reader:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Coming Attractions

Chapter 1

As the morning sunlight fell on the round solitaire diamond on the ring finger on Courtney Belham’s left hand, it radiated the beauty of ten thousand rainbows. Against the backdrop of the crystal blue waters at the north end of the Port Elizabeth marina, it shone like an explosion of light that mirrored the happiness and beginnings of hope she felt in her heart. Admiring it thoughtfully, she twisted her hand watching the light reflect in every direction till the diamond sparkled like fire. Courtney smiled and allowed her thoughts to drift back to the day when she and her husband Ramon took their wedding vows in Cassidy Gardens, in an intimate morning affair.

When he slipped this ring onto her finger and promised to be faithful to her and to love her for the rest of his life she wanted so much to believe that it was all true, so much to trust his words and the love she saw in his eyes. She was twenty-four then compared his twenty-eight and both of them were hopelessly in love with each other. As she walked down the rose carpeted aisle wearing her ivory, satin, princess cut Alfred Angelo gown she remembered how he chuckled and bit his hand as he stared longingly yet appreciatively at her, and how he took her hand at the bridal arch with such gentleness and care, never once breaking contact with her eyes. She was mesmerized by him, and his powerful magnetism overpowered her senses till she barely heard what the minister said that day. For as long as she lived, she would never forget the look of possession, love and tenderness that filled his eyes. It shook her to very her core and filled her with an insatiable heat to become one with him in the closest way possible between a man and a woman. It was at that moment that she really thought that she was the luckiest woman alive.

Prior to their wedding had been two years of excruciating exclusive dating before she accepted Ramon’s marriage proposal to her. Sometimes she wondered why she made him wait so long considering how hard it had always been for them to keep their hands off each other. Whenever they were alone the result was the same. Those warm heady sensations would overwhelm them both whenever they touched or kissed and they would make love up to the last possible point before she struggled to regain control over her emotions and her actions. She saw the frustration it caused him on countless occasions and knew that he was often stretched beyond the limits of control but somehow he always respected her decision to stop. She struggled to stay true to the values she learned while growing up but her body betrayed her every single time making it impossible to keep her values and still be with him. Leaving him was impossible so it was then that she stopped fighting him and accepted his proposal. He had actually asked her about five times before she said yes! This decision was difficult for her because at the age of seventeen before she met him she decided that she would not open her heart to the pain of marriage and would remain a free and independent woman. But Ramon somehow managed to slip by every one of her defences and took her heart and never gave it back.

On their honeymoon, they had barely made it into the room before they were overwhelmed with desire and passion for each other. Over the two years they dated the desire they felt for each other had built up to such a fever pitch that she felt as though she was drowning in liquid fire for that entire week. Wave after wave of pleasure swept over them till they were absolutely drunk with love. She swore that at points they forgot to eat, too consumed with devouring each other mind, body and soul. Oh the memories they made in that resort on Grand Cayman!

Had it really been seven years of married life already? she wondered to herself. Courtney frowned as she looked at the rhythm of the ocean swells as they slapped against the boards of the deck. To her disappointment, what had started out so well had dissolved into complacency and routine and by the fourth year she started to believe that the happily ever fairy tale did not exist, at least not for her. In fact, they had recently faced some pretty turbulent times but they were learning that the secret to a successful marriage was in making each other the centre of their lives again. In fact, just two years earlier they were on the brink of divorce and at the time it seemed that it really was over between them. The arguments, the accusations, the lack of communication all created the recipe for the chaos and pain they had experienced. It was the nightmare that formed her decision not marry in the first place, one that she hoped she would never have encountered.

Courtney shook her head as if in an attempt to clear away the awful memories and firmly reminded herself,

“All of that is in the past Courtney; you have absolutely nothing to worry about so stay focused. Today is going to be amazing! ”.

Her flashback into the past was suddenly interrupted by the shrill and almost singsong voice of Patricia Helmsley, owner of Lascelle’s Boutique. Courtney had once again asked for her expert help in finding the perfect dress for her anniversary dinner that night. Whenever she needed that ultra formal and unique outfit it was Patricia who could always make sure she looked her best. Actually, she had arrived over thirty minutes before but she had unsuccessfully tried to find what she was looking for. Feeling a little frustrated, overwhelmed and angry at her own procrastination she decided to take a stroll along the boardwalk to get some inspiration. It was early and being a freelance photographer meant that she could set her own hours. She still had almost an hour before her first appointment for the day at 10:30. So she had strolled along allowing the tension in her body to drain away as she inhaled the salty air of the Caribbean Sea. Somehow she always had a connection with water and often chose an activity near it when she needed to de-stress. Perhaps that is why she chose to situate her studio close to the marina district when the commercial space opened up four years before. Now that she was back in front of the boutique, Patricia had come out to find her, no doubt having found the perfect ensemble.

“Sorry Courtney love, for taking so long, but I wanted to make sure that I found all of the dresses suited to your skin tone and the occasion before I called you in. I know how special an anniversary celebration can be,” she laughed, placing a jewelled hand on her bosom. “My husband and I just celebrated our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary last month.”

“Really? That is really great!” smiled Courtney impressed at their achievement. “I hope that Ramon and I make it that far”.

“Honey, marriage takes work and most of all it takes commitment. It will work if you both want it to work”, said Patricia. “Now come on inside here and try on these dresses. I know that at least one of them will be just what you are looking for.”

Courtney walked into the boutique and into the dressing room and began looking through the selection of dresses which Patricia had hung on the dressing room hooks for her. There were actually three extremely beautiful dresses hanging on the rack inside the dressing room that looked as though they belonged on the bodies of celebrities at the Academy Awards.

“Uh Patricia, these look really haute couture, are you sure they are in my budget?” came Courtney’s voice from inside the dressing room.

Patricia shook her head silently because she could never understand Courtney’s obsession with budgeting for clothes. This was a relatively wealthy woman married to a very wealthy husband. Money was the least of her issues. She heard the door open and saw Courtney come out holding a teal blue sequined dress in her hands. Amazingly, it perfectly matched the teal blue knee-length halter sundress Courtney was already wearing at the moment. What it did not match though were the white tennis shoes on her feet. Patricia noted how her attractive and breezy style of dressing matched her light-hearted and easygoing personality. Sometimes she wondered how such a brilliant photographer could miss knowing how beautiful she really was and how suited she was to wearing even the finest gems.

“Don’t worry about the price, I know what you like so trust me, you can afford them.” Patricia said as she walked over to Courtney.

Without waiting for another comment Patricia gently guided Courtney back into the spacious dressing room and shut the door behind her. Outside, Patricia went as far across the store as she could to make a quick phone call. When she was positive that her voice would not carry across the room she then dialled the number.

“Good morning”, responded a rich baritone voice.

“Hello is this Ramon Belham?” asked Patricia.

“Yes it is.”

“Good, this is Patricia from Lascelle’s Boutique. Your plan is unfolding quite well, and Courtney is inside right this minute trying on the dress you selected,” whispered Patricia.

Ramon smiled to himself because he knew that the plans he had in mind for Courtney that night were going to blow her mind and his as well in the process. The thought of seeing her wearing the dress he selected was already stirring his imagination and driving him wild with desire. If he was going to make it through the day he would have to really control his thoughts, but right now that seemed like impossibility. Adding a little more force to what he was afraid sounded like a broken voice he asked,

“Great, now you are sure she will select the white one?”

“Yes, of course, I gave her sizes in the others that would not fit as well, so she will select the right dress, Mr. Belham. I will also add the two cashmere and silk scarves to the bags as you suggested.”

“Ok. I also want you to slip the pearl and diamond set I gave you yesterday into her shopping bag with the card attached as well. Don’t forget. I want her to have the new jewellery because I know how you ladies need to have that perfectly matched set,” laughed Ramon.

“Okay I won’t forget. This is so exciting and romantic, I just love to see young couples in love,” cooed Patricia.

Ramon just laughed as he listened to the older woman live vicariously through the experience. After a few more instructions, they ended the call all unbeknownst to Courtney.

After ending the call on his cell phone Ramon looked up at the curious stares of his staff members who were all seated around the conference table in the meeting room. Ramon Belham, was the owner and CEO of Belham Event Enterprises a successful event planning company that specialized in creating unusual themes for parties, conferences, weddings and the like and today he was placing the final touches on the event of the century, his own 7 wedding anniversary celebration. His business was well respected on Derrien Island and he was often hired to cater and plan the logistics for the biggest events that occurred throughout the Caribbean. That was a mark of his professionalism and also his creativity of thought.

“So is she there on schedule?” queried Marsha his secretary.

“Yes she is,” he said blowing out a gust of air. “I wasn’t sure that she would go through with the shopping trip after the trying week she had at the studio, but she has.”

Everyone else also released a sigh of relief because to get this operation to work without Courtney suspecting a thing was going to be hard. As a photographer, his wife had an uncanny eye for detail and razor sharp discernment. He had been trying all week to seem all nonchalant about their anniversary and had casually suggested that they go out for dinner that evening. But, little did she know just how much he wanted every detail of their anniversary to be perfect right down to the cross on the t in perfect.

Earlier that morning, they had breakfast together on their outdoor deck which overlooked Carlisle Bay. The sun was already up and a cool breeze stirred the leaves of the orange trees they had planted in the backyard.  That morning, Courtney made sure he had his favourite banana nut muffin and a steaming cup of latte before he left home. She was always the thoughtful type of person who tried to go out of her way to let him know how much she appreciated him. Sometimes she would slip in a simple I love you note into his briefcase or sometimes she would call him during the day just to hear his voice. But this time, in addition to making sure he had his favourite breakfast she had also served him a fruit salad of grapes, sliced peaches and pineapple in a bowl of light syrup. He could not remember who first came up with the idea to feed each other the fruit, but considering what happened next that point really was insignificant. At one point she got up from the table and moved over to the patio doors and placing a juicy piece of pineapple between her lips beckoned him to come closer with her index finger and a seductive come-and-get- me expression in her eyes. The smile and the promise in her eyes were enough to ignite the fires of desire in him within half a second so in two strides and without a moment of hesitation he had eliminated the distance between them, carefully bitten off the pineapple that she offered him, chewed it and swallowed it to get it out of the way. What he was really after was a maddening desire to taste every drop of the remaining syrup coating her lips. Slowly, he traced her lips with his tongue, enjoying the sweet taste and as he sucked every drop of that intoxicating juice from her soft lips like a man who had not drunk water in a decade. As he did he felt her body press closer against his rubbing against him rhythmically as if in response to some inaudible but provocative music. Responding to the warm softness of her body, he remembered cupping her lush breasts through the thin material of her sundress until her nipples hardened in response. Her simple invitation had spiralled out of control and as he inhaled her fragrance he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would be late for work that day. The truth was that at that moment he just did not care! After all, being the boss had its perks! All he could think about were the now soft moaning sounds and the feel of his wife’s now pliant body against him and imagining what it would like to press into her hot moist body until they became one. Half stumbling through the sliding doors that led from the outer deck to their living area, they had only made it as far as the sofa before they began peeling off their clothes with frenzied and jerky movements, just wanting to be free of those bothersome barriers. At the back of his mind Ramon could not stop asking himself, who was this new wild woman in his arms. Hardly had Courtney ever wanted to make love during the day and much less outside of the bedroom. The thick fog of desire made it difficult to follow his own line of thinking through because at the moment he preferred to feel and to experience this dream come to real life rather than to analyse it. A bit of reality did creep back in though when she had paused to ask if he had a condom. Pushing aside the momentary annoyance of this constant request he took one from his wallet and put it on hastily. Grabbing two throw cushions he placed one under Courtney’s head and one under her hips so that he could fill her as deeply as possible. As he kissed her again, and their tongues mated with an intensity that left him stunned, the urgency to be inside her consumed him and he could see that she was all but lost as her hips undulated rhythmically against his body. Quickly, he pressed into the sweetness that she offered him, relishing the hot tightness that enveloped him and he began to gyrate in those slow circles that he knew drove her to the point of madness. Courtney gripped his buttocks and had ground herself against him in response as she pleaded with him for more. Ramon increased his tempo and with each possessive thrust that he made in her body they were both filled with a wild excitement. Then Courtney had arched off the rug in unspeakable ecstasy as she climaxed sending him to his own shuddering release.  It had to be the most exhilarating breakfast he ever had. This was not the tender and more conservative woman he had married seven years ago. Courtney had really surprised him with this sudden boldness, but he was glad because it was another sign that she was welcoming him more and more back into her heart. This was not at all what he had planned for this morning. In fact he had envisioned that he would be the one to initiate today’s seduction but much later.

After they had showered for the second time he ‘casually’ suggested that she go down to her favourite boutique on the marina and buy a dress that she could wear to dinner tonight. He saw her think about it for a little while as she mentally reviewed what she already had in her closet, but finally she said sure. At her response he felt the surge of adrenaline coursing through every vein in his body. It was the surge of knowing that step one in his plan for their wedding anniversary was falling into place, the surge of knowing how the night would end. Although he was a wealthy man and she made an excellent income as a talented photographer Courtney was not the type to spend a lot of money on herself. She was the most beautiful and generous woman he knew, but sometimes a little too generous. She often took her money and used it to help improve conditions at the geriatric and children’s homes on the island where they lived. Yes, she had a big heart and a great sense of style but he wanted to treat her to something ridiculously expensive, something she would never knowingly purchase for herself. So months ago he arranged with Patricia to import one of the latest styles by one of her favourite designers Naeema Khan. She often commented that the outfits created by this designer always photographed well and also fit the wearers well. So, he did the almost impossible. He had made contact with and sent Courtney’s measurements to Naeema and had her design a custom-made dress just for Courtney. Naeema even wrote a personal note dedicating the dress to her on her anniversary. Patricia was instructed to suggest that the gown was discounted that week so that Courtney would not be suspicious about the price she heard. He could picture her right now; tall, slender and shapely with her smooth honey brown skin contrasting against the stark white of the gown Naeema had designed. Sometimes when he thought of her he just wanted to taste her skin with his lips, to run his hands along the hair at the nape of her neck in the way he knew she liked. She had short straight black hair which she recently cut like Tia Mowry-Hardrict, her favourite actress, into a foxy pixie cut that enhanced her large almond shaped eyes. Looking into her eyes was like looking into a sea of veiled gold and he felt drawn in to her magnetic personality every single time. Her eyes were simply amazing and often Ramon would find himself just looking at her while she spoke, at the way her eyelashes would brush her cheek when she blinked and then to reopen to reveal those discs of honey gold once again. When it came to his wife Ramon was a man lost who never wanted to be found again, not now, and not ever.

“Mr. Belham? Mr. Belham?...”

Ramon was suddenly pulled back into the present reality as he realized that someone was calling his name. He hoped he had not been staring off into space like he was crazy, but his staff were probably accustomed to the faraway look he got whenever his wife was on his mind. Today was his seventh wedding anniversary for goodness sakes and he almost did not make it out of sheer and utter stupidity. He had something to be happy about.

“Yes, David!” he said as he turned his attention back to the meeting in what he hoped was a business-like tone. The chuckles and laughter which followed let him know that they were not fooled one bit, and Ramon knew that it was going to be a great day.

Back at the boutique, Courtney tried on all of the dresses and finally decided on the flowing white dress. It was not only beautiful but it fit her body like if it was custom-made for her. The other two were nice as well but one was a little too short and tight and the other had a plunging neckline down to her waist and was too tight around her hips. The white one featured a cold shoulder and was cut in a style that was reminiscent of the dresses worn in Greek mythology, with flowing chiffon and a cinched jewelled waistline that accentuated her narrow waist and shapely hips. On the shoulder and spreading out onto the bodice was an array of fine pearls of all shapes and sparkling diamond crystals. This dress was so exquisite and unlike what she would normally select, but today she had already decided that she would step out of the mould just to be a little more exciting. Sometimes she wondered if her sometimes laid back and conservative personality was a little boring for Ramon who was always used to a high paced lifestyle as a successful event planner. Trying to step out of her defences was something that she was determined to do more and more. In fact, that was why she thought she would break out of the mould and spice things up this morning at breakfast. To her surprise Ramon did not hesitate to respond to her advances and it gave her just a bit more confidence that things between them were only going to get better.

As a photographer, she often found herself behind the camera rather than in front of it because she really loved to capture the beauty of life. Strangely, for a photographer she also tended to be a little camera shy, preferring to take the pictures rather than to pose for them. However, as she looked into the full length mirror before her she knew this dress would give Ramon a heart attack of the best kind.

“Patricia, I think I have found the one I want.”

Courtney emerged from the dressing area to show Patricia her selection and to pay. Patricia gasped with delight and asked her to turn. As she did the soft material swished around her ankles.

“Courtney, you look absolutely gorgeous,” said Patricia truly stunned at what she saw. She knew Ramon had no idea what he was in for later that night. Remembering her ruse she quickly quipped,

“Courtney, I think you made an excellent choice, and I know your husband will not be able to breathe tonight as long as you are wearing this dress.”

Courtney laughed, “I don’t want to kill him but I do want tonight to be special”.

“Trust me, with this dress and the plans I am sure you have for each other you have already succeeded.”

As Courtney went ‘through the motions’ of paying, Patricia slipped the jewellery set and the scarves into the bags as well under the counter and out of sight.

Chapter 2

Before Courtney went to her studio she made a quick stop at Victoria Secret to acquire a new lingerie set and also ended up being coerced by the saleslady into buying an unusually provocative soft dusky rose coloured slip that reached only to her hips with a deep plunging neckline that would reveal the tops of her breasts. She had never been the type to wear lingerie before because the thought made her feel a little too vulnerable, as if she were trying too hard. Today though, she just wanted to do things differently to come away from the shell of fear that she had been hiding in for the past seven years. Her final stop took her to the shoe store to buy a matching pair of shoes to match the occasion. She knew that whenever Ramon took her to dinner it was always to fine dining and never to a fast food joint or even to casual dining so she was confident that she would not be overdressed. He always insisted on having the best and it was that attitude for excellence that set his business head and shoulders above the rest of his competitors.

Once she was finished shopping she made her way through the sunshine along the city streets to her studio stopping only to buy a cup of caramel macchiato and to have her daily conversation with the cafe manager. While laughing at the story Marco was relaying to her she happened to glance at the clock on the wall and realized that she would be late for her first appointment if she did not hurry. Not bothering to discard the half-filled cup she hurriedly excused herself and grabbing her bags half walked, and half ran the final distance to her studio.

This appointment was important because she would have a brand new client coming in about five minutes. As with all new clients she liked to make sure that everything was in place to make the experience as seamless and professional as possible.

As she opened the door the chimes sounded and an unmistakable whiff of roses flowed out of the room and filled her nostrils. She stepped through the door quickly completely puzzled by the scent. Walking over to her desk she deposited her bags and waited for the temporary blindness to clear from her eyes. The brightness of the sun outside compared to the dim interior of the studio had caused her to see only in shadows but she was an expert at navigating her way to her desk.  As her eyes became accustomed to the room she scanned it, and almost screamed when she saw the outline of a tall man dressed only in black slacks bending over the music player in the far corner. The outline of his back was muscled and he looked powerful.

“Lock the door,” the voice said.

Courtney could not believe that she was hearing the voice of her husband Ramon.

“Rrramon, what are you doing here? I have an appointment in three minutes with a new client.” Courtney stammered as her hands slid around on the wall in search of the light switch which for some reason she could not find at all. By then, Ramon had turned to face her and began walking slowly toward her with deliberately predatory steps.

“You are right about the new client, but that appointment is with me, I’m Mr. Harvey, now lock the door.” he said softly.

Swallowing hard, Courtney walked over to the door and locked it from the inside. Her heart now hammering in her chest, she once again turned to face her husband and took the time to admire the wonder of his physique. As he stood before her he looked so incredibly sexy that it took her breath away. In the background, she could hear that he had started playing the song they danced to at their wedding reception. “I Need You” by Marc Anthony filled the air with the strains of Latin guitar and for some reason she could almost smell the blossoms in the garden where they held the brunch after their wedding ceremony. Ramon had walked out to the centre and in front of everyone did exactly what he was doing now, holding out his hand for her to come to him. It was an incredibly intimate thing to do and even more so now.

Still reeling from the surprise of it all Courtney walked with unsteady legs over to Ramon and as she neared him she caught the aroma of the cologne she had given him for his birthday earlier in the year. The combination of that and his aura of power and confidence were doing strange things to her insides and now breathless with anticipation she let herself be taken fully into his arms. As she placed her hand in his, he spun her in a circle before pulling her firmly against his bare chest. At six foot three he was a tall man and Courtney’s head only came as high as his shoulder. As they swayed together, he ran his large hands along her back and up her neck and finally to her chin as he raised her face to his. He looked into her eyes and the love that he saw shining there for him almost brought him to his knees. He wanted to renew every commitment that he had ever made to this woman, and erase every hurt that he had ever caused her up to this moment.

“Courtney, I could not let today pass by without spending some time with you. You are so beautiful and I love you so much right now.” whispered Ramon intimately.

“Ramon I love you too”, said Courtney, as a single tear slid out of her right eye and down her cheek.

He bent his head toward hers and kissed the tears that ran down her cheek before tasting the full sweetness of her mouth with such slow deliberation that it felt as though time stopped for them. He could smell the flowery scent of her perfume and taste the remaining caramel from her favourite gourmet caramel macchiato which she usually bought and sipped on her way to the studio every day. Now for the second time that morning he found himself devouring her mouth and stroking her body with his hands. Although he did not plan what happened between them at home earlier it had not dampened the passion he felt for her, instead it had raised it by several degrees. He nipped at her neck and her earlobes and heard his own breathing become shallow as he explored the range of flavours along her neck. From the sharp taste the perfume close to her ears to the saltiness of the perspiration on her neck he swirled his tongue over her neck tasting and sampling her like a fine dessert. Fully aroused, he wanted nothing more than to take what already belonged to him against the wall at the back of the studio. There were no windows there and Courtney had recently installed a soft rug over the hardwood flooring so it would provide a measure of comfort. Noting the calculating direction his thoughts had taken Ramon knew that he had to restrain himself or he would make love to her right here in her studio. That was not the reason why he made this appointment.

He was crafting the perfect seduction, the perfect experience for his wife and he did not want a lack of self-control to cheapen his plans. Those thoughts though were growing fuzzier by the minute as he felt Courtney’s arms tighten around his shoulders and as she pressed her body fully against him. If he did not stop this soon they would be against that very wall, very, very soon. With superhuman strength Ramon tore his mouth away from hers, and as he did his thumb traced the area on her lips where his mouth had just been. Both of them still had their eyes closed as they tried to get control of their breathing and of the insane desire to have round two of that morning’s lovemaking session here in the studio right now. It was as though a new spark had been ignited in their relationship, as if they were discovering a new level of passion that could exist between man and wife. Courtney rested her head against his chest and inhaled his manly woodsy scent as she gently stroked the muscles in his back.

“Courtney... Ramon groaned with a guttural voice, you feel so good here in my arms.”

As she lay on his chest Courtney was bursting with happiness. This, never in her wildest dreams had ever happened before. Usually Ramon was so busy at work that she would see him in the mornings at night and on weekends. For him to plan a special secret rendezvous for them in the middle of the morning told her that he was thinking of her and that this was on his mind for a while because her appointments were usually made a week in advance. It was then that she remembered the reason for this photo shoot. The client had requested that he wanted intimate shots of himself taken as a gift to his wife to let her know how much he loved her. At the time she thought that was such a sweet idea and she had even selected a complimentary album in which to place the photos once they were developed.

As realization slowly dawned upon her that she would be taking these intimate shots of her own husband in all of his decadent glory she raised her face and looked into his eyes questioningly. As if reading her mind, Ramon replied,

“I want you to be able to look into my eyes anytime during the day and see just how much I love you. I also want you to be the one to take the pictures because I simply cannot look at anyone else in that way,” he confessed, his voice filled with deep sincerity.

Ramon could see her struggling with the idea of the vulnerability she would feel in doing this and he hoped that she would not refuse him. Courtney felt as though her tongue was suddenly glued to the roof of her mouth. As she looked up into the handsome face of her husband, and saw the sincerity in his dark brown eyes she knew she could not refuse him this and simply nodded. It was as if she was completely robbed of speech. Ramon took her hand and led her over to the area that she had set up with the stool on the white rug. She now noticed the source of the fragrance she detected as she opened the door only ten minutes earlier. It was the scent of hundreds of rose petals that Ramon had scattered on the rug. Somehow, the picture of their wedding once again flashed into her mind as she remembered walking on a bed of rose petals and simultaneous the flashes of cameras as the guests took pictures.

Finding her voice, Courtney asked, “When did you do all of this Ramon?”

Ramon laughed, “A man is entitled to a few secrets isn’t he?

At those words he saw her eyes narrow and darken a little and he knew she was thinking back to two years ago when he kept a secret that could have cost them their marriage. He had failed to tell her about the financial difficulty his event planning firm was experiencing at the time and also about the employee who had been making inappropriate sexual advances toward him during that period. The misunderstandings that had followed had almost cost him his marriage! Since then, they had learned to communicate openly and she was learning to trust him again though it came with much difficulty.

“Courtney, you know that is not what I mean. I am doing this because I want you to know you can trust me, you can trust my love for you. I want you to see it for yourself.” Ramon said insistently, his tone displaying a sense of urgency matched by the expression in his eyes.

“I know, I know, replied Courtney, it is just that sometimes I do remember those times, but I want you to know that I do trust you.”

This was the last topic they needed to discuss today and Ramon was determined that it would never come up again so he spoke quickly.

“Well, let’s get set up, and honey I want you to make this your fantasy.”

“Ramon, it already is.” laughed Courtney as she went to complete setting up her equipment.

The music continued to play softly in the background as Courtney finished setting up the lighting and the equipment. She recognized several songs from her wedding reception that she had not heard in a while. Was it all a coincidence or did Ramon really put some effort into planning this surprise for her? The thought of it stirred up the sensation of butterflies in her stomach and her hands trembled slightly at the anticipation of seeing the raw desire and emotion in her husband’s chocolate coloured eyes as she took his pictures. It was nerve wracking to say the least, but she was determined to play along. She stood behind the camera, and adjusted the focus. As a former rugby player and fitness enthusiast, Ramon was broad shouldered and had a thick muscled chest and arms. She loved the shape of his head which was reminiscent of Shemar Moore’s, and as usual he liked to sport a closely cropped hair cut with his facial hair well trimmed.

“Ok, you can sit sideways on the stool and look toward the camera”, instructed Courtney praying inwardly that she could do this and remain calm. Ramon obeyed and when he raised his eyes to look at Courtney, he held nothing back. All she saw was passion and desire radiating from his eyes as he looked at her.

“Ramon I don’t think I can do this,” said Courtney, closing her eyes and chewing on her bottom lip and willing her hands to stop trembling. She thought she was ready to open up to Ramon but this was taking things way over the top for her.

“Courtney, look at me,” said Ramon with a low voice, “Look at me,” he coaxed again.

Slowly, Courtney opened her eyes and looked at Ramon. Once again she saw his sincerity and saw how much he loved her and she felt some strength return to her hands. She began to take the shots and Ramon continued to communicate with her with his eyes.

With every pose his eyes said you are the only one for me, I need you in my life, and I want to make love to you right now...

Courtney felt her legs begin to tremble and she felt her body become aroused as she took the pictures. Each pose demonstrated how powerful he was but yet how much he loved her. It was so overwhelming that by the thirteenth shot Courtney was crying. Not because she was sad but because this experience was just too overwhelming for her. She already had her winning shot from the first take and nothing further needed to be said. It was forcing her to push away every negative thought, every doubt she had about him and about whether or not they could build a real lasting marriage. Courtney felt almost weak with love for Ramon; literally she had no strength left. She simply sank to the floor and sat down and Ramon got up from the set, walked over to her and after scooping her up in his arms led her back over to the rug with him. She did not know it was possible to feel limp and totally alive all at the same time. Instead of kissing her as she expected, immediately he got back up and set the camera on auto shoot. As he sat back down and took Courtney in his arms, he looked into her eyes and said to her as the flash went off,

“I love you and Happy Anniversary!”

He kissed her lips softly and they held each other there for some time after not wanting the magical moment to ever end.

Chapter 3

Ramon finally left the studio around 12:30 in response to a call that he had received from the office reminding him of an appointment he had in the afternoon. He apologized and indicated that he had to attend to some business and promised to see her at home later by 6:00 p.m. After helping her to clean up the hundreds of rose petals, he put back on his shirt and let himself out. As Ramon left the studio, he felt as though he could fly and laughed at the absurdity of his thoughts. As he walked along the street to the parking area behind the complex where the studio was located he noticed a young couple walking and holding hands. The man leaned over and whispered something into the lady’s ear and she laughed in response, playfully punching his arm. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close as they continued walking oblivious to everything else around them.

“I can’t believe that I nearly threw that all away,” said Ramon to himself as he pressed in the security code on his SUV to unlock the door. As he got in he sat for a while in the seat, thinking about his plans and thinking about the incredible woman he was married to. Courtney just had a way of making him feel so alive, so creative, and extremely male. He wanted to take care of her, to protect her, to make sure she had all she needed. Every time he thought about how close he came to throwing his marriage away he felt like kicking himself repeatedly.

“God, I love her”, said Ramon raggedly as he leaned forward placing his forearms against the steering wheel. “If only she knew just how much.”

Ramon now more determined than ever to carry out his plans to the hilt, stared out into the distance as he envisioned all that he had already set into motion.

“Tonight, Courtney you will know for sure, who I am and my commitment to you,” promised Ramon as he spoke to himself.

Putting on his sunglasses, he started the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot and into the midday traffic. He had some last minute details to take care of and nothing was going to get in his way, not today.

Inside the studio, Courtney slowly dismantled the set to prepare for her afternoon shoot. Ramon had been really sweet to bring along a roast beef sandwich for her lunch but somehow she felt full and satisfied as though she had already eaten. They did not have sex but sat together in each other’s arms just talking and sharing their hopes for the future. Still in a daze over what had just happened between her and Ramon, she still felt a little disoriented when the phone suddenly rang. Her first thought was to let it go to voicemail but then she reconsidered and hurried across the wide room to where her desk was situated. She really did not feel like talking to anyone just then but was concerned that it might be her next client calling.

“Hello. Good afternoon, Belham Studios, this is Courtney speaking.”

“Mrs. Belham, you don’t know me, but I need to meet with you today. It is very important!” pleaded a female voice laced with urgency.

“Who is this?

“My name is Alicia Sorellio and I am your husband’s mistress.”

Courtney laughed out loud, and felt a rush of pity for the person who would dare to call her and tell such an abominable lie on her wedding anniversary.

“What?”Are you out of your mind? That is impossible, why would you say that?” asked Courtney, her face wrinkled with disgust.

“Listen, this is serious. It is far from being a lie and I have the proof. He has been lying to both of us. He never told me that he was married and now we are going to have a baby together. He refuses to take my calls and I need to know where our relationship stands.”

Absolutely offended by the implication of the woman’s words, Courtney could hear the earnest expression in the other woman’s voice but could not link what she was saying to anything that could possibly have anything to do with her. As a matter of fact, she was just here with Ramon and he made it clear to her that she was the only woman in his life and that she was the only one that he loved. It was impossible for someone to lie that convincingly. She trusted Ramon, she had to. No one could be capable of such insane deceit; no man could have that degree of evil in his heart. She would not make the mistake of judging him based on hearsay again.

Without another word Courtney hung up the phone but in seconds, it rang again. Courtney let the phone ring off three times before answering it again feeling sure that the awful woman who called had gotten the message that her call was unwelcome.

“Hello, Belham Studios, this is Courtney speaking.”

“Mrs. Belham, this is Alicia, you need to listen to what I have to say” blurted the woman on the line.

Removing the phone from her ear again and without saying another word Courtney hung it up again, this time with more force. Determined to put some distance between herself and the desperate prank caller Courtney decided to continue setting up the set for the next photo shoot. As she walked over to the equipment her mind was racing as she replayed the words the other woman spoke over and over again. Ramon had a mistress that was pregnant? It just did not seem plausible. Ramon would have to be the devil himself to be working on their marriage pretentiously while still seeing another woman. Despite her disbelief she could sense that her old insecurities were being troubled and as she pushed them out of her thoughts the phone rang again. By the fourth ring Courtney could not take the harassment anymore and snatched up the receiver answering angrily,

“You don’t get the hint do you, Alicia or whoever you are, leave me and my husband alone, you filthy liar!” shouted Courtney. As she was about to hang up she heard a familiar voice that caused her to stop in her tracks.

“Courtney, this is Constance Parker, are you ok, and who on earth is Alicia?”

Now flaming with embarrassment, Courtney recognized the concerned voice of Constance Parker her 2:00 appointment and good friend. She was bringing her twin granddaughters into the studios for a photo shoot to celebrate their 1 birthdays and also to take headshots for their visa applications. They were going to be soon taking a trip to the United States with their parents for a two week vacation in Orlando, Florida.

“Oh Constance, I am so sorry that I answered the phone like that but I had a really awful caller just now”, explained Courtney.

Courtney often met Constance at a downtown cafe on Wednesday afternoon’s to talk about life and to just get good and godly advice from a woman of wisdom. She liked and respected the fact that Constance was married to the same man for the last thirty one years and was still happy. Not only that, but she was a mother and a well travelled business woman who had a strong relationship with God. Constance always attributed her successes to the latter with much humility citing that without God she would not be where she was in life. She encountered many trials and circumstances but none had soured her or changed her positive outlook, her beauty or her health. Instead they provided her with a stronger faith and many interesting stories with important lessons which she took great delight in sharing with Courtney. In fact it was Constance who had given her the great advice that helped to save her marriage two years ago.

“Is it a bad time? Do you want me to reschedule the appointment for Danae and Demaria?” asked Constance.

“No, let them come still, it will be a good distraction for me,” sighed Courtney still puzzled over the audacity of that woman in calling her and making her shameful accusations.

“Ok, I will bring along their babysitter so that she can take them back home afterwards. That will give us a chance to sit and talk.”

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine. I know you are a busy woman.”

“Courtney, you should know by now that I am never too busy for you when you need me. I will be there in an hour.” said Constance firmly.

Courtney smiled at the no nonsense yet motherly attitude that she had grown to love about Constance Parker. She knew from the tone of her reply that Constance would not be dissuaded easily. Courtney’s own mother had moved away overseas and left her in the care of her grandmother since she was fourteen years old. They were not in contact at all and Courtney had not spoken to her mother in years. Courtney had tried several times over the years to reconnect with her mother but she never ever responded. The biggest insult her mother had dealt her though was not responding to the invitation she sent her to attend her wedding seven years ago.

Throughout her teenage years she was raised by her grandmother Eunie. Her name was really Eunice but she and her sister’s thought it was old fashioned and chose Eunie as a more affectionate and appropriate name for her. Courtney and her two sisters Paula and Maria knew how much Eunie had sacrificed for and loved them when their mother left and they had always been grateful to her. Her grandmother passed away three years ago and she still missed her a lot. Sadly again, her mother had not even attended her own mother’s funeral and no one knew how to contact her at the time. She had often wondered if maybe that is why she really enjoyed her talks with Constance so much. She was really like a mother to her in many ways.

She was still smiling at the thought when she heard a knock at the door.  As she walked to the door and looked out past the short curtain which covered the lookout glass she saw that a courier from UPS stood outside wearing the typical brown uniform. Turning the handle on the door she opened it and saw standing before her a sandy- haired man in his late twenties with sallow yellow skin. He was about five foot ten inches tall and had a thin wiry frame. He was well groomed though and Courtney thought nothing about opening the door to receive him.

“Hello”, she said.

“Yes hello, I have a delivery here for Courtney Belham”, he said hurriedly, holding out a clipboard to her.

Knowing the tight schedule that these companies kept, Courtney identified herself and took the clipboard and signed off on the packet that he held in his hand. Strangely, there were no charges to be paid, so whatever was in the envelope wasn’t something that she had bought for herself. Courtney began to sense her stomach turning over in giant flip flops that made her feel lightheaded, because her mail was never delivered here at her office. This was indeed strange, but remembering the surprise her husband had already delivered to her earlier that day she thought that perhaps it was something else from him. She would normally pick up her mail at her post office box in the city and, she knew that she had not placed an order for anything recently that could be delivered through UPS.

The sandy-haired man handed her a thick envelope and turned and walked briskly away. Who could possibly have sent her mail here? Was it Ramon? What did he have up his sleeve this time, she wondered as a slow smile began to radiate from her face. She let the door close and waited for the sound of the lock to click in place behind her before she looked at the receipt and saw that the package was sent to her from an Alicia Sorellio.

Recognizing the name from her previous caller she dropped the package as though it had suddenly caught fire or had begun to secrete corrosive acid. Her heart pounded rapidly as she considered what this could mean. An envelope of that size could only contain one thing; photographs or documents of some kind. Leaving the envelope on the floor she turned around quickly and yanked open the door hoping to catch the courier before he drove off, but he was nowhere in sight. In fact, now that she thought about it she never did see a UPS van.

Courtney now consumed with curiosity closed the door and picked up the envelope. Checking her watch quickly and seeing that it was a quarter to two o’clock, she grabbed a letter opener from her desk and opened the envelope quickly intending to survey the contents before Constance arrived. She looked inside first and then reached in to take out the stack of papers and photographs that were neatly stacked inside. When she looked at the photo on the top, she saw a picture of her husband Ramon sitting at a table in a restaurant with a beautiful woman dressed in red that was laughing and reaching across the table to touch his hand. The next photo showed more of the same, with the same woman in red touching Ramon, standing close to him and finally in the last one she was kissing him fully on the lips, fully encircled in his arms.

Anger began to surge through Courtney as she viewed the photos and her hands began to tremble violently. The papers below the photographs were transcripts of text messages sent from his phone to an Alicia. The conversations were far from innocent, ranging from plans to meet each other and dirty talk about what they would do to each other when they hooked up.

Courtney began to feel as if the room was spinning and she felt faint, sweaty and her mind was racing. She checked through the photographs again and saw that there were dates on them. As she looked at the date she realized that this event happened just two months ago during a week Ramon left town on business for a week to plan the official welcome dinner for the Prime Minister of Barbados who had just been recently elected to office.

“No, this cannot be true”, stammered Courtney as she looked through the photos again not believing her eyes.

Over and over she examined the photos and she began to pace the room like a caged tiger and with each lap she squeezed the photos tighter and tighter in her hands. Finally she flung the photos to the ground in disbelief. Disbelief that she was looking at those poisonous photos on her wedding anniversary! Disbelief that she had let herself get comfortable and begin to think that she could trust a man with her heart. Disbelief that Ramon would put her in this position again! Two years ago, when his secretary began to show interest in him, he noticed it and he did absolutely nothing but in fact allowed it to continue and even encouraged it. At that time things had become pretty sour in their marriage and Ramon was always working late. She could see that he was under some kind of strain but he never shared it with her and he simply stopped communicating with her in any meaningful way. Seeing his detached attitude she too had begun retreating from him in order to preserve her own feelings. They had stopped sharing meals together and sex was pretty infrequent and when it did happen it felt mechanical and pretentious. It was as if she did not know who she was married to anymore. When she found out through a concerned friend that Ramon had taken his secretary to lunch at The Rizzo, a new Italian-Asian fusion restaurant at the Belgrade Resort, she lost it. She was told that they had an intimate table for two on a balcony that overlooked the ocean and they spent about two hours there eating lunch together. It was no ordinary working lunch because they looked as if they were in a relationship. A business lunch would have been a quick bite or even take away. But instead they sat there for over two hours, going way past the time for the lunch hour talking and enjoying each other’s company. She was told that Ramon had even leaned over at one point and had taken something out of his secretary’s hair before bringing his hand down to cover hers on the table. When they left, they were hooked arm in arm and left in the same car.

She would never forget Lela Samuels as long as she lived. That woman had no morals, no remorse and no respect for marriage. But the blame could not be laid squarely at her feet alone because Ramon should have known better. When she confronted him later that night she was filled with hurt and a fury she did not know she could possess. He came home late as usual and had barely, entered the house before she spat out the words,

“You lying cheating bastard! I always knew that I was right in never trusting you.”

Ramon clearly blindsided by the accusation looked shocked and completely bewildered at her words. Courtney remembered how she let him have a real piece of her mind that night. She told him that she knew all about his secret affair and that he would have to choose who he wanted, because she would not let him humiliate her in that way. Ramon had stood and actually challenged her to reveal what she knew. He did not admit that he was doing anything and that stance infuriated Courtney even more. Finally she spat out the details that her friend has shared with her and at that point, he did confess to having the lunch date.

He told her that when he got back to the office he realized that he made a serious error in judgement and that it had only happened that one time. He explained that he was on a high because he had just signed a huge contract with the same Belgrade Hotel Chain to be the official event coordinator on the island. It was a big deal for him because of the financial difficulties the company was experiencing at the time. He continued to explain that Lela had come with him to organize the documentation and they had lunch together in the restaurant afterwards. But he swore that nothing else happened.

Courtney could not believe first of all that Ramon never told her such a big deal was in the works, and that there were such major financial difficulties that he was struggling through alone. It really hurt that he did not tell her anything and that his first instinct was to share the moment of triumph with his secretary Lela. At a time when he shut her out completely, he opened up to someone else and his secretary for that matter. As she thought more about it, she may have never known any of it if her friend had not informed her. Men could be so blind sometimes!

She remembered shouting at him and telling him how ridiculous he was and how blind he was because he never noticed for months how Lela would bring little treats to the office under the guise of serving everyone else but she made sure she gave him his special plate personally adding little extras like chocolates to his. Or even how her skirt splits were always a little too high in the back and her insistence on bending over her desk whenever he was passing. Or, how she never had anything respectful to say to her as his wife when she came to his office. When Courtney brought it up he had the audacity to defend Lela saying that she was blowing things out of proportion and that Lela was just being nice to him. He even said that she could learn a thing or two from Lela in that regard!

Arrrgh! After that statement she could have strangled him on the spot. That began the two months of her marriage that she wanted so desperately to forget. Ramon started to work even later so that he could avoid running in to her at home and she would call him and leave messages at his office that were not always so refined. On one occasion, Lela answered the phone and in a curt and cold tone let her know that Mr. Belham was unavailable. Courtney recalled with anger how she asked her if she knew who she was. Lela replied yes and hung up. Courtney was ready for a divorce!

When Ramon finally came home that night looking spent and dishevelled she was waiting for him in the living room and the fight they had was to say the least epic. It resulted in Ramon moving out that very night and staying in a hotel on the South Coast for three weeks. Courtney felt as though she was going to go out of her mind and she stopped eating and cancelled her photo shoots at work. The pain she felt was unbearable and she was unable to focus on anything, and cried all the time. She could not believe that her Ramon would cheat on her and lie to her about it even when she demanded that he told her the truth. Every time she asked if he and Lela were sleeping together, he denied it and had the nerve to try to turn it all around on her as if the whole situation was actually her fault. She could not believe that she married a man just like her father, a liar and a cheat. But to her surprise, despite it all she missed him like crazy and it did not help that every night that he spent away, he called for a minute just to make sure she got home safely. Her heart felt as though it had gone up in flames and she just wanted to stay indoors and hide away from the world.

If it had not been for her friendship with Constance Parker she did not know who or what she would have become. At first she would not take any of her calls at the house but the day she heard that firm knock at the door and Constance’s voice calling out to her, she ran and opened it, revealing a tear-stained, unwashed wreck. Constance took her and made sure she took care of herself, and ate something healthy before calming her down and talking to her. Through Constance’s sage advice she realized that she never gave Ramon the benefit of the doubt and never tried to have a rational conversation with him. She just flew at him all barrels blazing and was ready for a fight. After all, what he did is what she grew up seeing her father do to her own mother as a young teenager. The day her mother left Derrien Island to live overseas in England was two weeks to the day after they all walked in and found her father entertaining another woman in the living room of their home. It broke her mother’s heart and the fighting led to her father moving out and asking for a divorce and her mother going away and leaving the children with her mother Eunice. She heard rumours that her father had married the other lady and she never heard from him again. He never made the effort to contact her or her sisters and eventually she heard that he emigrated to the United States. Her mother would periodically send money for her and her sisters while she was away and the occasional birthday card but nothing that indicated she wanted to reconnect on a deeper level with her daughters. Courtney’s views on family had been irrevocably shattered in that very moment and she vowed never to marry and never to fall in love. Resisting her attraction to Ramon had been hard and she held on as long as she could to her vow. Eventually he wore her down with his promises of love and a future and she actually began to believe that maybe she could have found some happiness with Ramon. Although he stole her heart, she was determined even after the wedding that she would not lose her mind and fall into the trap that destroyed her mother. She was still determined that she would never fully trust a man and finally Ramon had proven her right.

Courtney still standing in the midst of her studio finally sank to her knees and wept as the realization that she could be on the brink of losing it all again. Just hours earlier her knees were weak because of the loving gaze of her husband but now she was weak with the fear of his betrayal. Courtney did not know what to believe anymore. She did not know how long she was in that curled position on the floor because time seemed to stand still as emotions she thought she had buried and released came flooding back at their full intensity.

She did not hear the chimes over the door as Constance came in with her granddaughters. Nor did she hear the hurried exchange as Constance asked the baby sitter to take the girls back home immediately. But she did feel a pair of warm arms encircle her shoulders and smelled the perfume of her good friend. Courtney did not know that such a gnawing fear and emptiness could so quickly replace the feelings of bliss and happiness she felt only two hours earlier. It was like falling from the atmosphere of heaven into the fiery abyss of hell with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.

“Sssshh, it’s ok, I’m here”, whispered Constance as she held a sobbing Courtney in her arms. “Tell me, what happened, why are you crying like this?” she queried.

Courtney had no words to offer so she simply handed her faithful friend the envelope and pointed to the photos that were scattered across the floor. Constance took it from her hands and put on the gold-rimmed reading glasses that always hung from the chain around her neck. She sat on the ground beside Courtney and was suddenly glad that she wore a pair of loose fitting slacks that day. Although she was a woman in her late fifties, she kept up a regular exercise regime that kept her body limber and flexible. As she took her first glance at one of the photos she saw a beautiful woman in red encircled in Ramon’s arms on the dance floor in a restaurant. For some reason, the restaurant looked vaguely familiar to her but she just could not place it. Constance picked up another photograph and yet another before finally reading the text message transcript with horror.

Surely this was not the Ramon Belham who for weeks was secretly planning to remarry his beautiful bride Courtney on the night of their 7 anniversary? He had planned a secret ceremony out on the Port Elizabeth marina to end with a sunset catamaran cruise for two. He knew how much Courtney loved being close to the sea, so his choice of location was obvious. He had asked her to help him by escorting Courtney to the marina at 6:00 that evening. He even had said that he would call Courtney at 5:30 to say that he would be home a bit late, so his plan to include Constance could work. This could not be the Ramon who had specially ordered in over two hundred and fifty red roses to decorate the penthouse suite at the new five-star Derrien Island Hilton where he and his “new” bride would spend a week of renewed marital bliss. It just could not be!  Who was this woman in the red dress?

“Courtney we need to think rationally about this, I am having quite a lot of difficulty believing that Ramon would do this to you again.”

“That is what I am telling myself Constance. There must be some explanation for all of this, or I am the biggest fool on Derrien.” sniffed Courtney.

Chapter 4

Marsha “Alicia” Davis sat in Ramon’s office seething with fury at being hung up on by Ramon’s wife. Ever since she started working for Ramon as his secretary a year ago, she fell in love with him, totally head over heels till she thought she would just lose her composure every time she saw him. It was not that he was just drop dead gorgeous on the outside but she saw how he treated his wife with respect and how he ran his company with integrity and creativity and realized that he was the man of her dreams. He was a man who exuded strength but still you could see that he was capable of the deepest love. He was the man she had been dreaming of since her teenage years and here he was ‘trapped in marriage’ to someone else. Well trapped might be a strong word to use but she was just tired of being alone and only being looked upon by men who had no money, no class and nothing to offer her. Marsha knew that if she did not make her move today, by tonight based on the magnitude her boss’s plans for his wife she would lose her opportunity forever. She grudgingly acknowledged that Ramon loved his wife more than anything, but she wanted him to love her. It was a little irrational she knew but she could not see another way for her to continue living. Ramon had to know how she felt about him and today she was determined that he would see her as more than just his secretary.

For three months she worked tirelessly to set a plan in place to win his heart. On her first attempt she had planned to follow him to Barbados for the dinner to celebrate the election of the new Prime Minister. There she would have found a way to slip into his hotel room and while he slept she would have pretended to be his wife in the hope that he would make love to her on reflex. However, the day before the trip she had come down with a terrible flu and ended up spending two days at home burning up with fever and retching in the bathroom. So much for a romantic trip! Her second attempt led her to hire a private investigator to follow Courtney to see if he could dig up any dirt on her. After two weeks she gave up what turned out to be a pretty expensive yet worthless venture. The woman was practically a saint and the thought that Courtney Belham lived her life above reproach stung Marsha to her core, further deepening her resentment towards her. After two prior failed attempts to capture Ramon’s attention, she had heard rumours that he had fired his last secretary Lela for her inappropriate behaviour on the job and toward him. In fact, she was told that he went through four male secretaries after that before he hired her. One of the staff members laughed and said it did not matter that she was female because she could pose any real threat to his marriage. That statement truly offended her but she never let it show. Marsha ‘Alicia’ Davis was five foot six inches tall with short natural hair cut in an afro and was about twenty pounds overweight which gave her a curvy pear-shaped appearance. Not that she minded, because she personally thought it added the extra appeal to her lower body that she lacked on top. She might not be described as a classic beauty with her dark skin, thick full lips and short nose and narrow eyes but she knew she had the intelligence and the tenacity to win the heart of Ramon Belham.

He was not a shallow man by any means, but to her chagrin he never once responded to any of her subtle advances. He never gave her one compliment on her appearance, never even lingered looking at her as she left his office adding an extra swing to her ample hips, never gave her one inclination that he knew she was a woman. She knew this because she often checked his expression in the mirrored glass on the wall of his office as she walked away from him. It was as though she was invisible to him. He was her boss and she was just his plain Jane secretary. She even tried to wear different scents to work and even had a spell caster work on something for her but it never worked. It turned out that Ramon Belham was a Christian man who had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour about two years ago so casting spells were not just a waste of time but potentially dangerous for her. But she was determined not to give up. She made sure she only made the best of impressions and even pretended to be helpful and supportive as the office worked together to plan the details of his wedding anniversary. With every fake smile she had to give as she heard Courtney’s name and saw how Ramon’s features softened as he thought of her, she grew to hate her more and more. Instead, she began fantasizing about being the one he would marry and set his affections on and being the one he would take to the hotel. The more she fantasized about it, the more real it became until finally she believed that she could make it happen. She knew that she would have to find a way to discredit Ramon in Courtney’s eyes to break the trust that existed between them. To her immense glee she knew she could not find a better plan than in re-creating the scenario that almost caused their divorce two years ago.

Smiling to herself, she laughed at how much office gossip one could glean by just supplying cake and coffee to the ladies in the creative art department. They told her everything that she needed to know about Courtney and Ramon Belham’s marital difficulties and she did not even need to prod. Yes, when their anniversary plans fell apart she planned to be there to comfort Ramon and pick up all of the pieces.

Looking at her watch she realized that by now Courtney should have received the doctored pictures of Ramon and the mysterious woman in red. She laughed to herself as she imagined the pain Courtney must be experiencing right this moment. She truly hated Courtney, oh how she hated her wonderful personality. This was the entirety of the problem. She was a trophy wife, a woman any man would want to have on his arm, with her soft honeyed beauty and gentle manner. She could not find a way to truly discredit her. It was Courtney who had pushed her to these lengths to make Ramon look like a liar and a cheat. The thought of that caused Marsha to feel a slight twinge of guilt but she immediately decided that it was all a means to an end. Her preferred end! Ramon was no liar and definitely not a cheat. She had witnessed his fairness in his business dealings far too many times to ever think that. But in times of desperation, and with no time left, Marsha was willing to do even the unthinkable to have him.

At that moment, thought Marsha, Ramon should have already arrived at the hotel to make sure that the final details for his second honeymoon were in place. He was the kind of man who wanted to see to those details personally. He wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for Courtney that night. Ramon Belham was the perfect man for her and she was determined to have him and be the one sharing his hotel room that weekend.

Sensing the urgency of ensuring that her plans were set in motion, she began dialling the number of the man she paid to deliver the envelope to Courtney on her cell phone. As she did, she got up from Ramon’s office chair and returned to her desk.  She enjoyed the cool smooth feel of the leather and the lingering scent of Ramon in the room and she often found an excuse to leave work late so she could spend some time sitting in his chair, fantasizing about him. Besides she wanted to call Courtney from his chair because it made her feel triumphant, and even a little turned on by the fact that her plans were almost about to succeed.

“Rob here,” said the sandy haired man into his phone.

“Hey Rob, it is me Marsha. Did you deliver the package to Courtney?”

“Yes. I did” he responded curtly.

“How did she look, what did she do?” questioned Marsha filled with an insane desire to hear of Courtney’s pain.

“Listen, I did not stick around to see anything, I just hurried to get back to the taxi and to head back to the hotel. Do you have my money ready?”

“Yes. Rob you know I wouldn’t leave you unpaid,” laughed Marsha.

The sound of Marsha’s laughter left Rob a little cold when he considered just how malevolent her plans really were. He shuddered instinctively and felt a flash of heat followed by a sensation of eerie coldness creep into his body right along his spine.

“Ok two more questions, did you see Ramon at the Hilton?”

“Yes, just as planned I told him that the room would be 307 instead of 310. Thankfully he seemed distracted and did not really question me about the change.”

“Ok good, and are you sure that you did not see him come back out?”

“No. He has not come back out and it has been over thirty minutes since he went upstairs,” Rob replied.

“Listen Marsha, I have a bad feeling about all of this, I hope that you have my money ready. I want to leave this hotel as soon as my shift ends in twenty minutes.”

Marsha reassured Rob and thanked him for his help, promising to transfer the money to his account within the hour. Rob hung up the phone and suddenly felt dirty and ashamed. He was shocked to see just how beautiful Courtney Belham was when she took the envelope from him earlier that afternoon. Ramon was a lucky man to have her. That poor woman had no idea what she would be in for when she opened the envelope. From what he could see during their brief encounter, she radiated a sense of class and beauty that Marsha could not even hope to hold a candle to even in a brightly lit room. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible before she realized that he was not who he said he was. He had practically run down the street when she closed the door and jumped into the taxi which he had paid to wait for him in the side street. He was not yet finished with the deception crafted by Marsha. He had to be back at the front desk of the Derrien Hotel where he worked before Ramon Belham arrived so he could give him the room details. The more he thought about it on the way back to the hotel the more he realized that this was not the way to earn honest money and swore to himself that he had to change the way he was living his life. All the lies and the stealing were just not worth it if he got caught. This was not the way he wanted to live and he would make sure no one had the power to put him in this position again as long as he lived.

Within three hours he planned to be on a plane to Trinidad where he would catch a connecting flight leaving for New York, leaving no trail of his work for her. Marsha was a deranged woman and he did not want to be anywhere on Derrien Island when Ramon Belham woke up to discover that his well-laid plans had been foiled. He dared not remain on any island where Ramon Belham would wake up entangled intimately with his secretary in a bed he only shared with his wife. Bile rose in his throat when he recalled how Marsha would then claim to be pregnant with his child later to force him to stay with her. She was truly a sick and insane woman! But the real question was, what did that make him then? He had questioned himself about why he was allowing her to do this to him, and why he couldn't say no to her. The truth was that he just needed the money to pay off some bad gambling debts that hung over him for some time now. He already had to walk around looking over his shoulder to see if one of the bookies he owed had someone following him. This was another reason why he needed to leave the country quickly. But as the plans with Marsha deepened he decided that instead of paying his debts, he would just leave his life on Derrien Island far behind him and start over somewhere else.

He had installed in the arrangement of roses on the side table in the bedroom of room 307, a motion sensitive diffuser filled with a medium dosage of nitrous oxide gas. This gas was used by dentists to anaesthetize their patients and he hoped it would keep Ramon under until Marsha could get there. He was not sure how Marsha would get him to the bed and he did not care. He was not sticking around. The number of crimes he committed in this one day were enough to put him away for a long time. From impersonating a courier to adding sleeping pills to Ramon’s customary welcome punch, to stealing the gas from his dentist. He knew if he was discovered he would be in big trouble with the law. Ramon Belham was an important man in this country with many social connections that ranged even as high as friends who were in the government. He was positive that his old college friend Marsha had lost her marbles for sure this time but he needed the money and this was just a faster way to get it.

Rob surveyed the hotel lobby one more time and did not see Ramon come back downstairs and leave. He was really supposed to find a reason to go upstairs and do a final check in room 307 to confirm that Ramon was indeed in there but he decided against it. That would take too long and he did not want to have to answer any questions should the plan have failed. Marsha need not know that he did not follow through with the final aspect of the plan. This was getting too dangerous and he just wanted out.

Checking the computerized bookings he noted that no one was scheduled to check into the hotel for another thirty minutes so Rob took his cellular phone and walked quickly across the marbled tiles at the Derrien Island Hilton and entered the men’s bathroom. His replacement should be arriving in about ten minutes which would allow him to leave and head to the airport. Making sure that he was alone, he threw his cell phone into the garbage can and checked his watch knowing that it would be emptied almost immediately. He did not want to be caught in possession of that phone should plans go awry. He then splashed some water on his face in an effort to calm his nerves before exiting the bathroom.

As he came out of the bathroom he collided with the broad solid frame of Ramon Belham. All of the colour drained from his face and he felt a wave of nausea as he realized that he had just thrown out his only connection to Marsha and that the plan was suddenly on very shaky legs. He knew that Ramon had no way of knowing that he had any connection to anything he may have experienced so he steeled himself not to show any undue emotions. If he played his cards right he could be outside and gone in a few minutes.

“Mr. Belham sir, I, I, I did not see you there, was the room to your liking?” stammered Rob.

“Actually, I did not go to the room, but I needed to clear something up with you. I am quite sure that I requested room 310, not room 307,” said Ramon authoritatively. I need you to check the computer and confirm this so I can have the correct passkey.”

As Rob observed Ramon, he could see that he was a man that knew exactly what he wanted and was determined to get it. Deep inside he felt that somehow they were similar in that regard but unfortunately for him he lacked the integrity that Ramon displayed, which gave his character a solid foundation.

“Ok certainly, come with me and I will check the system to see if there was a mix up.” replied Rob.

“Good let’s go, I need to be somewhere else in forty-five minutes”, replied Ramon looking at the watch on his wrist.

Both men walked briskly across the foyer and as Rob reached the desk he checked his watch and knew that any minute now the garbage in the men’s room would be emptied and all hope of retrieving his phone would be lost. He would have no way of warning Marsha that her ‘man’ as she loved to call him was wide awake and walking around in the lobby demanding to be given the room he requested. This was bad and it was then that he began sweating profusely.

Ramon observed the nervous front desk clerk with narrowed eyes and sensed that something was not right. When he went up to the room a few minutes ago, he had a gut feeling that somehow everything just did not add up. He clearly remembered asking Marsha to call the Derrien Island Hilton and told her to arrange to have flowers delivered to room 310 today at 2:30 p.m. He wanted to go upstairs to ensure that everything was set out just as he had ordered. It was the perfect suite because of its contemporary decor of white wicker furniture with thick overstuffed cushions accentuated with accents of turquoise, blues and greens in the throw cushions, rugs, and vases. Knowing how much Courtney loved water and nature themes he wanted the room that boasted of the best view of the sparkling calm ocean on the west coast of the island. It even had a wide covered balcony with a private plunge pool and hanging sofa bed that he envisioned them using many nights as they sipped wine and looked at the stars in each other’s arms. Room 310 was the ideal and it seemed to be designed with Courtney in mind. He was on the committee that was responsible for the opening of the Derrien only six months earlier and he had been taken on a tour along with several other stakeholders to see the best rooms the hotel had to offer. After touring suite 310 he decided that he would bring Courtney there for a special occasion. So Ramon wanted an explanation and he wanted it immediately.

At first he did not fully grasp that he was given the wrong room number because his mind was filled with several of the last minute details, including a current business deal that he was working on. He really expected to be automatically given the right passkey. To tell the truth he only half-heard what Rob said to him when he took the key from him at the front desk about forty five minutes earlier. On his way to the hotel he had another appointment to attend to first and when he finally arrived at the Derrien Island Hilton, he took another phone call as he entered the hotel, still finalizing details on another event the company was planning the following week. Admittedly, it was bad manners to talk to the sandy-haired front desk clerk while he was on a phone call but he felt time getting away from him, so he took the chance to multi-task.  He had a vague recollection of the clerk saying something about a room 307 and there being a change of room. Ignoring the need to understand what was said, he merely nodded took the keys and proceeded across the lobby the bank of elevators.

To his surprise though, as he was on the way to the suite he ran in to his former secretary Lela. He had given her a cursory nod but she flagged him down just before he stepped on to the elevator and asked for just a moment to speak with him. His phone call ended just about that time to his dismay because at that moment Ramon would have preferred to trampled by a herd of elephants rather than to have to listen to anything that Lela had to say to him. Being courteous, he agreed to listen and it was then that she admitted to him how sorry she was about what happened two years earlier and that she wanted his forgiveness for trying to break up his marriage. He thought to himself then that her timing could not be worse and in an attempt to get out of the situation as quickly as possible he said that he had already put it behind him. By then, they were both standing in the elevator because he had never really stopped walking and she had continued to follow him. He had selected the tenth floor when he entered and groaned inwardly when he saw that Lela was still there. To his great relief she selected the third floor.  When the doors closed and the elevator began to ascend, he was thankful that she had said all that needed to be said outside when suddenly she clapped her hand over her mouth and exclaimed that she forgot her beach bag in the lobby. She explained that she saw him and immediately knew that she had to apologize and ran over to him, leaving her bag on the chair.

Thankfully, she was only going as high as the third floor and she begged his indulgence to go back down because she had left her engagement ring in that bag and did not want it to be stolen. Seeing her concern, Ramon agreed to let her go back down for the bag and upon reaching the lobby she saw her fiancé Carl waiting outside the elevator doors with her bag in his hand. Ramon was shocked to discover that Lela’s fiancé Carl went to the same school as he did and had graduated in the same year as well. They had also grown up together in the same neighbourhood of Jacinth in the Northern mountain ranges of Derrien Island and spent many days together along with the group of boys who also lived in their neighbourhood. So, what had previously been tense minutes of uncomfortable apologies and words of forgiveness became a hearty reunion between old friends. As the elevator went up again he and Carl ended up chatting about life as they reminisced on their days growing up. He ended up getting off with both of them on the third floor as he and Carl traded stories about what they were doing and how life had changed for both of them. He had also exchanged contact information with them before wishing them all the best in their upcoming marriage.

By then forty-five minutes had passed and he got back on to the elevator to continue up to the suite. He did not mean to chat with Carl for such a long time but they really were good friends in the past and had not seen each other in over seventeen years. When he finally reached the tenth floor, he had instinctively walked to room 310 and tried the passkey he was given in the door. It did not work and he tried it again a few more times before remembering that the sandy-haired desk clerk had told him the room had been changed to 307. He once again sensed that gut feeling that something was wrong. Ramon had walked to room 307 and paused at the door to open it. Never being a man to settle for what he did not want, Ramon put the passkey back into his pocket and decided to go back downstairs to find out why his room was changed and he was not respectfully notified.

When he got back to the front desk, it was deserted. He was on the verge of losing his good impression of this hotel. He waited at the desk for a minute before deciding to use the bathroom before trying again. It was then that he ran into the notably nervous desk clerk while he was on his way out. He could not help but notice how his eyes shifted to the left and to the right and how he looked away when he spoke to him. At this moment, his eyes were definitely shifting again. Hundreds of business deals and daily encounters with people had taught Ramon how to identify liars and he was having difficulty believing that the front desk clerk at the Derrien Island Hilton was telling him the truth.

“Sir, room 310 is undergoing renovations at this time and will be unavailable for the next two weeks,” whispered Rob after spending a few moments supposedly checking the computer.

Ramon wondered to himself why the clerk was speaking in such low tones and became infuriated at the run around he was clearly being given.

“Renovations? That’s impossible this hotel is practically brand new,” retorted Ramon deliberately raising his voice. “I attended the opening six months ago. These facilities are state-of-the-art.

“Sir, I am sorry but...”

“Sorry? I want to speak to your manager right now. This service is unacceptable” exclaimed Ramon angrily.

Rob saw the flash of anger in Ramon Belham’s eyes and knew he was not a man to be tested in this way. He clearly knew what he wanted and was not prepared to settle for anything less. He could see now that Marsha had underestimated her boss, and she in her blind obsession had put too much confidence in her weak plans.

The front desk manager hearing the commotion from her office behind the counter came outside quickly to see if she could pacify the infuriated guest. As she came around the corner she recognized Ramon Belham standing at the desk. She could see that he was not pleased and knowing of his close friendship with the hotel owner, it was also in her best interest to pacify him while she was on duty.

“Oh Mr. Belham, it is you, how can we help you? I hope that you are pleased with our arrangements for your anniversary,” smiled the desk manager when she reached the front desk area.

“At this moment, no I am not pleased at all. I requested that room 310 be reserved for the week, and now I am being told by this gentleman here that the room is currently under renovations. I want an explanation for this right now, Mrs. Lewis,” Ramon demanded.

Sandra Lewis the front desk manager knew that she had to resolve this issue quickly and as quietly. Already, other guests who were passing through the lobby were pausing and looking over to the front desk with curious stares. Not understanding his response based on the preparations she knew were scheduled to be made, she quickly asked Rob to stand aside as she checked through the computer system for the reservation data. By this time Rob had turned beet red and his sallow yellow complexion was too light to hide the blood that rushed to his face.

Ramon looked at the name tag pinned to the sandy-haired man’s shirt and saw that his name was Robert Delisle. He made a mental note of the name depending on how the situation would pan out.

“Robert, what is the meaning of this? Room 310 is not under renovations, you know that it has been reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Belham. In fact, the hotel owner briefed us all about it in the staff meeting this morning. You remember that don’t you?” asked Sandra with concern.

Robert could not answer, and looked down at the floor under the razor sharp glares of Ramon Belham and Sandra Lewis his supervisor.

“I knew it, I felt something was wrong about all of this!” exclaimed Ramon growing angrier by the moment.

Robert was not sure what to do. This was not a part of the plan. Mr. Belham was supposed to be upstairs sleeping after drinking his welcome punch and when he moved near to the arrangement of roses near the canopied king-sized bed to rest from the dizziness, the motion detectors would have released the gas immediately.

“I am waiting for an explanation!” roared Ramon

“Mr. Belham, I am not sure what is going on here but you have my word that we will get to the bottom of this.” said Sandra.

As Sandra stepped away from Robert to call housekeeping and to verify that room 310 was indeed prepared, Robert decided to make his move. As a former track athlete ten years ago, he hoped that he still had what it took to sprint as fast as he could out of there. He could only hope that Marsha would not find out about it before he collected his money at the airport bank. Suddenly he began to run, but Ramon seeing his intent tried to block his escape by closing the gap between the reservations desk and the wall. Unfortunately, Robert got there first and manoeuvred his lithe body so that he half ran and half dived sideways, rolled and got up running before Ramon could grab him.

Sandra shouted after him in alarm, “Robert? Come back here!”

Immediately she picked up the in-house phone to call for security and the police department. Robert’s rapidly retreating figure was moving so quickly that it appeared as though he flew out of the door leading out to the parking lot. He could hear the commotion of shouting and feet hammering on the marble floors behind him but the sound of the wind rushing past his ears and the blood pounding in his head urged him on. He almost thought he had made it to the open door of a taxi that had just dropped off some newly arrived tourists when he felt a huge body slam into him. It felt as though he was hit by a two ton truck on the freeway. Suddenly, his body was suspended in the air for a second before his left shoulder slammed into the ground and he skidded and rolled to a stop about ten feet away from the taxi he was about to climb into. The next thing he knew, he was turned over roughly and restrained by the hotel security guard Leland. As he looked to the side still dazed by the impact, he saw Ramon Belham getting up off the ground near the taxi and dusting of his black slacks. It was then, as he looked into the blazing angry eyes of Ramon Belham that he knew what had hit him. It wasn’t Leland, but Mr. Belham and by all looks of it he was not about to take this lying down.

“Games up, Robert. It is time to talk”, growled Ramon with his breathing showing signs of the chase.

Chapter 5

Constance helped Courtney up off the floor and led her to the aqua and lime themed seating area in the studio where her clients normally sat as they awaited their appointments. It had been designed to lift their spirits and relax any clients who might be a little apprehensive about their photo shoot. But today, the bright airy contemporary decor held little appeal for either woman. Constance had gathered the photos into a stack and brought them with her because she wanted to study them more closely. One of the photos in particular had piqued her curiosity. As they sat down, Constance leafed through the photos once again and stopped when she reached the one with Ramon dancing with the woman in red. As she peered into the background she saw something that caused her heart to leap with faith.

Not only did she now finally remember why the setting looked so familiar but she had actually attended this event. It was a meet and greet hosted by the Barbados Tourism Authority to launch a Caribbean tourism partnership initiative that would allow guests of certain hotel chains found on each island to travel through the Caribbean and enjoy discounted meals at selected restaurants in addition to rebates on hotel rooms. As a restaurant owner on Derrien Island she was invited to take part. As she looked into the background she saw herself leaning against the balustrade speaking to the CEO of Angus Antillean Realty. Also, if she remembered correctly while she was there she did notice a woman in red on the dance floor and she was even more convinced that Ramon was not the man she danced with that night, simply because he was not there.

Her full confidence sprung from the fact that as part of the event a couple had been hired to do ballroom and Latin dance for entertainment. They were local Barbadians who had won several international dance events over the last two years and had just established their own dance school on the island. Constance remembered how graceful they were and she remembered telling Mr. Angus that back in her younger days she could cut a mean Venetian Waltz on the dance floor with her husband too. She was positive now that the man could not have been Ramon. In fact, the man dancing at the event with the woman in red could not have been more than five feet nine inches compared to the towering powerful physique Ramon carried at six foot three.

“Courtney wait here there is something I need to check,” said Constance standing quickly.

She walked over to Courtney’s desk to retrieve her bag and her tablet. Her eldest daughter always teased her saying that she was a ‘techno granny’; always up to date with the latest gadgets. Feeling assured that she was right, she remembered that she was so impressed with the couple that night that she had asked the event coordinator for their contact information just in case she could use their services at some point in the future at her own restaurant on Derrien Island. She scrolled through the names until she came to the names she was looking for, James and Alicia Sorellio of Ritz Dance School, Barbados. Quickly she brought up the browser on her tablet and put in the website supplied in their contact information. She browsed through the site for clues as to where the photos came from with little success before linking on to the Facebook fan page for the Ritz Dance School. It was there that she saw the photos, the very same ones that lay on the loveseat beside a distraught Courtney Belham.

Constance rushed back over to where Courtney was seated eager to share her news but the confused and hurt expression in her swollen tear-filled eyes nearly broke her heart. Determined to make her understand Constance pressed on.

“Courtney, you need to see this, I don’t think that Ramon is cheating on you, in fact I know that he isn’t, and I think that deep down you know that he isn’t too,” said Constance.

“But you saw the pictures Constance, you saw the evidence.”

“Courtney, you are a photographer and you know how easy it is to doctor photos these days. All kinds of software exists now to edit and create something that really does not exist. Have a little more faith in Ramon.”

“I want to Constance. None of this makes any sense to me, but I do remember that he was in Barbados that week for the Prime Minister’s inaugural dinner.”

“That may be true but this event is not the Prime Minister’s dinner,” stated Constance firmly.

The decisiveness in Constance’s tone touched a chord in Courtney and raised her curiosity so that she lifted her eyes and turned her head to face her.

“What do you mean?” Courtney asked.

“Something about those photos really bothered me and I finally saw what it was. Do you remember that the same weekend Ramon was out of town I also travelled to Barbados?” asked Constance with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

Courtney sat up straight at that moment and leaned her head to a side while signalling for Constance to continue using her hands.

“This is the tourism partnership event that I attended when I went to Barbados,” said Constance excitedly.

Courtney’s eyes widened as she tried to absorb what Constance was saying to her.

“The event was held at Sierra Tides, that seafood restaurant I told you about a few months back,” said Constance. Do you remember me telling you about a restaurant with the life- like coral motifs on the walls and the floor- to- ceiling aquariums?”

“Yes, I do. You said that you really had a good time there and the decor really inspired you to make some changes at your own restaurant here on Derrien,” replied Courtney sensing the beginnings rays of hope entering her heart.

“Exactly, I am glad that you remember. That night the Barbados Tourism Authority hired a talented Latin dance couple to provide entertainment at the event. They are actually a married couple who run a dance school on the island. They even taught us some steps to the dances and we all had a great time. What I want you to see are these photos on their Facebook page. Not only were these pictures edited but they did not edit out a very important link,” Constance paused for effect before finally saying, “Me” and handed Courtney the tablet.

Courtney did not understand what was going on but over the years she had learned to trust this woman’s judgement. Constance handed her tablet to Courtney showing her the photos on the fan page of James and Alicia Sorellio on Facebook. Courtney gasped first in surprise at seeing Constance in the background and then she clicked through every other photograph in the set of twelve without taking another breath. When she was done she exhaled and slumped back in her chair feeling utter dismay. Inside she was relieved that her fears were needless but she was also very disappointed in herself. Constance was right from the beginning that there had to be a rational explanation for all of this. She had let her fears and disappointments from the past cloud her judgement once again, and Ramon was innocent. He had done nothing but prove to her how much he loved her and she still measured him based on unconfirmed evidence.

“Ramon is innocent! Oh Constance, who would want to do something like this to us?” asked Courtney wearily as she placed the tablet on the chair beside her before allowing her head to fall into her hands.

Constance shook her head not having any immediate answers to satisfy Courtney’s query.

“I do know this though, that whoever it is that is behind this elaborate ruse cannot be not sane at all”, said Constance.

“Constance, do you know that today my husband came here and told me in no uncertain terms that he loved me and that he was committed to me. Today is our seventh wedding anniversary,” said Courtney.

Constance struggled to force her face to register delayed surprise as she pretended that she was only just remembering that bit of information while nodding thoughtfully.

“Oh yes, you are right, Happy anniversary,”

“Today, right before you called me, a woman by the name of Alicia called me to say that she was my husband’s mistress. I told her she was a liar and I hung up on her. I did not believe what she said. She even said she was having Ramon’s baby. I knew it was a lie but then I saw the photographs and...well...

Courtney paused as her voice broke and fresh tears flowed from her eyes. Constance fished out another tissue from her bag and handed it to her and tried to reassure her by placing a comforting hand on her thigh.

“That must have been when I called you to confirm our appointment earlier then.”

Blowing her nose loudly, Courtney nodded in confirmation.

Constance thought quietly for a moment before replying. “You know Courtney; there are truly people in this world that need a lot of help. They are so warped in their minds and it really is incomprehensible how a person could work so hard to try to destroy the lives of other people.”

“I know Constance, we have worked so hard at getting our marriage back on solid ground by talking more and we even began to pray together and for each other like you suggested. It has been working and I was sure that we had developed a new bond and a stronger relationship.” said Courtney sadly.

“I agree with you and I knowing all of this could not take what I saw at face value. You know, there are times when your faith is really challenged when you are presented with a situation that you cannot understand. I have found that is best to remain calm and pray first. I know it is hard when your feelings are hurt but sometimes we miss a lot when we choose to believe the worst about someone before believing the best,” advised Constance.

“You are two wonderful young people and it is inevitable that someone will find either of you attractive. You have to accept that, but still come to the place together where you can leave the past in the past. Ramon is not your father, nor is he your mother Courtney. I really believe that he is more than fully committed to building a life with you and only you”.

Courtney thought about what Constance said for a moment before responding. It was becoming clear to her that if she was to really move forward with Ramon she would have to put their hurtful past behind and forgive not only Ramon but also her parents completely. Ramon did not deserve all of the labels she had attached to him over the years and today marked the day when it all had to stop. Taking in a deep breath Courtney finally spoke from her heart.

“Constance, you are right, I have to let it go, I have to let go of my past before it destroys any hope of my future. I can’t allow my fears to cause me to sabotage my marriage anymore, “decided Courtney finally.

“Good, I am glad that you understand.”

“I have been resisting Ramon from the very beginning and he has really endured a lot to put up with me and my fears. I want to forgive my parents Constance, I really do.”

“Well just do it. Decide finally in your heart that you will let what happened to their marriage go and that you will not allow it to cloud your thinking any longer,” said Constance.

Exhaling deeply Courtney finally surrendered and released her parents and released Ramon and suddenly she felt lightness and peace settle over her mind and her heart. It felt as though she had been walking around with a heavy burden for years and now she felt so light and finally so free. Free to express what was really in her heart to Ramon. This morning at home she tried and knew that she had made a lot of progress but now she felt she could open her heart all the way.

Suddenly Courtney stood up and walked briskly over to her desk with the photographs in her hand and sat down.

“This is an excellent Photoshop job here Constance. If I was this person I would be using this talent to make a successful living rather than to wreck lives. It is obvious that whoever it is, they have access to many photos of Ramon as well.”

Courtney switched on the lamp on her desk and saw that it was now four o’clock in the afternoon. She was supposed to have a hair appointment right now in preparation for dinner tonight but what she was doing was much more important.  Taking up the magnifying glass she used to examine photographs more closely, she looked at the photos again and then saw the fine flaws that indicated the pictures had indeed been cropped and cut. Her heart sank thinking how quick she was to believe the worst about her husband yet again. She was wrong about him having a sexual relationship with his secretary the last time and she was wrong this time once again. Thank God she had not done anything foolish.

Seeing her reaction Constance knew she still had to be feeling pretty terrible about her response to seeing the photographs. This was not the time for guilt and shame and she wanted to keep Courtney’s spirits up after all, tonight was her second surprise wedding night.

“Courtney, I have gotten to know Ramon especially well over these last two years and I can tell you that man is over the moon where you are concerned. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I just pray that the person who did this is exposed. This is sick. I mean, Ramon could be in real danger. Someone capable of doing this is very unstable and who knows how far they will be willing to go to make their point, replied Courtney.

“Do you think it might be Lela?” asked Constance.

“No, somehow I don’t think it is her. I ran into her at the mall last month and she came over to me and apologized for the pain she caused me two years ago. She said that her life was very different now, and that she had gotten counselling and had found a new job and was moving on with her life. She even showed me that she was engaged. It was hard seeing her, you know, remembering all she did, but I told her I forgave her and when I did that I really felt a release inside then as well.”

“Hey you never told me that!” smiled Constance. “It really is unfortunate how many of us hold on to past hurts and regrets and use them as a benchmark to decide how we approach the circumstances in the present. I am glad you were able to finally come to that point with her.”

“It has been difficult for me, but as I said before, Ramon and I have really worked hard at being a couple. We never let a day go by without calling each other during the day even if just for two minutes, we pray together, we try to have at least one meal a day together and we make time to make love. Right now, I think our marriage is in the best place it has ever been. Which is why I could not understand how he could do this? I should have trusted him.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this Courtney; you are a woman in love, a woman with emotions. You will feel hurt and crying is alright. Feeling weak is alright too but today God had you in the palm of his hand. I remember that verse that says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that raises up against you shall be condemned”. I believe that God has honoured your commitment to each other and to Him and He is going to ensure that this anniversary and this marriage will not be so easily broken by the schemes and plans of those that hate you”.

“Thank you for saying that. I really believe that now Constance, I believe that,” said Courtney slowly nodding her head.

Now revived and full of restored faith, Courtney fished her phone out of her bag and dialled Ramon’s number.

“I need to call Ramon and see how he is doing?” said Courtney.

As she listened to the handset his number just kept ringing and ringing and the answering service picked up each time that she called back.

“Ramon honey, if you get this message please call me immediately, we have to talk, said Courtney.

Disappointed Courtney hung up the phone and once again looked at the mysterious envelope from “Alicia Sorellio” and said just under her breath,

“Alicia, or whoever you are, you just messed with the wrong couple.”

Chapter 6

Marsha was smiling broadly and she had a slight bounce to her step as she crossed the road in front of the Derrien Island Hilton after disembarking from a taxi. She had just come from the bank, where she completed the transference of the funds to Robert’s account. On the way to the hotel, she even stopped off to buy a sexy red and black lingerie set and a box of Belgian chocolates which she planned to enjoy later.

By now at four o’clock, Robert should have left and Ramon should be in room 307 fast asleep. With his plans being a complete surprise to his wife, Courtney would at first have no idea where he was and no explanation as to why he was missing. She would eventually wonder if he was with Alicia and she would probably make a few phone calls to the office but none of the staff would be able to say for sure where Ramon was because he kept the hotel stay a secret. He had only shared it with her one afternoon because she made most of his appointment calls and he needed her assistance while he left to attend an appointment.

Courtney would be distraught to say the least; left alone at her own surprise wedding, thought Marsha laughing cruelly as she began her ascent of the stairs of the Derrien Hilton. She already had a passkey to room 307, having collected it earlier that morning from Rob so there was no need to present herself at the front desk. In her confidence that she would succeed she had paid for the room already as well. This whole escapade had nearly wiped out all her savings but Ramon was like an obsession for her that she could not resist anymore. She no longer cared how she did it; she would have him at any cost.

As she walked across the marble-tiled floors her high heels made that clicking sound that she liked. It made her feel somewhat executive and powerful and that feeling turned her on. She walked right up to the elevator with such confidence and lost in her own world that she never saw the man sitting in the hotel lobby reading the latest edition of the Men’s Health magazine.

As Ramon watched his secretary Marsha cross the lobby he became disgusted to the pit of his stomach that he was working with someone who presented such an air of innocence and quiet but effective performance but was clearly demented to her very core. She was willing to trap him in a hotel room on the night of his seventh wedding anniversary and have her way with him while Courtney would be once again left humiliated and hurt by his seemingly obvious betrayal. It took all of his will power to remain seated where he was and to let justice take its course. This was the first time in his life that he felt that he could do serious bodily harm to a woman. He just sat and prayed for strength, prayed for clear thoughts, and just prayed for Courtney. He just could not imagine what she must be going through at that moment and the thought was driving him crazy with worry. All of his plans could be at stake and he needed the proof of his innocence so he had to follow through with this plan.

After apprehending Robert in the hotel parking lot about an hour and a half earlier, he felt that he was barely holding on to the last thread of patience he had in him to get to the bottom of the truth. When he saw him try to escape he did not hesitate, driven by the intense gut feeling that he needed to know what Robert knew, somehow sensing that if Robert got away, his life would never be the same. Robert was hiding something, because an innocent man would not need to run! He pursued him across the marbled lobby forgetting for a moment who he was and where he was. He only knew that he had to stop him at all cost. When he saw Robert about to step into an idling taxi he closed the distance by tackling him, something he had not done since his college rugby days. Praying that he would not injure himself he managed to knock Robert away from the cab door bumping his right knee hard as he came hard down on the cobbled pavement.  As he felt the pain radiate through his leg, he felt himself grow even angrier but he forced it aside and stood to his feet to help the security guard who had arrived by then. However, not even that pain prepared him for the pain and rage that would engulf him when they had got Robert inside and he was questioned by the police who had also been called in.  Scared for his own skin and intimidated by the intense questioning Robert had confessed that he had delivered photos to Courtney that afternoon, which implicated Ramon and an unknown woman in an extra-marital affair. He also told about the booby-trapped floral arrangement and spiked punch that he and Marsha had set up for him in room 307. This news shook and devastated him to the core and he had to walk to the other side of the room holding his head in his hands before he did something he would regret to Robert. Not even when his own brother Jeremy tried to cheat him out of the money left to both of them by their now deceased uncle Kenrick did he feel this way. This level of deceit and malevolence sickened him intensely until he could not bear to listen anymore. Robert, smartly deciding that he was not going down in flames alone then informed everyone of Marsha’s imminent arrival around four o’clock. The police then decided to set up a plan that would lead to Marsha into implicating herself.

While plans were being laid down, all Ramon could think about was how far both he and Courtney had come over the last two years and how much he hoped that Courtney could see the man that he had become and would give him the benefit of the doubt.  He remembered how stupidly stubborn he had been about Lela and how he had given her the benefit of the doubt instead of Courtney. He knew that Courtney had problems with trust and it peeved him that he was always under suspicion of cheating. She did not always have to say it, but he knew she was always watching to see if he would slip up. If there was one thing that Ramon hated was a liar and a cheat and he tended to want to believe the best about a person before labelling them. He knew the day he ate lunch with Lela at the hotel restaurant that he was making huge mistake but he pushed the thoughts away and decided he would celebrate the victory of the contract that would save his then floundering business. He could see how she was openly flirting with him and his ego just soaked it all in. They may not have had sex but he knew that he had stepped out of the boundaries of what was expected of him as a husband. Also by defending Lela he made an enemy of his wife, and that was something he never intended because despite her flaws he knew he loved her.

When he found out what Lela was doing and that Courtney had been right all along, he knew he had to make some decisions. He offered Lela a severance package and let her go from the company but, it was not before he spent three stubborn weeks at a hotel angry, hurt and bruised. It gave him time to think and to really see what he kept himself blind to and he knew he had to make some changes. That time away caused him to see that he did not want to live without Courtney but he knew that if they both continued with the unforgiveness, the lack of trust and disrespect that their marriage would not survive.  He had offered his name to her in marriage because he wanted her to be his and his alone, so he swallowed his pride and secretly went for counselling at the church that one of his good friends recommended. In his discussions with the man who would later become his pastor and friend he realized his need for God and accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. That decision totally changed his life and caused him to become the man he was right now.

He also came to realize during that time that his wife’s discernment had helped him on other occasions but for some reason when she accused him of cheating it reminded him of his brother Jeremy who had tried to cheat him out of what was rightfully his. He had been insulted and he refused to listen to anything that Courtney had to say to him then even though he knew he was wrong.

During that time at the hotel he was alone with his thoughts and he was gripped with just how much his missed and loved his wife and he began to consider her words. He realized how much he needed to hear her voice and made sure he called everyday to make sure she was safe even if it was for a minute. He even drove by the house to see if she was at home and walked around the house in the dark watching over her protectively.  It did not take him long after that to realize that he was being a fool, especially when he could see how broken she was over the whole thing considering her own family background. The woman he married and promised to love and cherish was hurt and he was defending someone else who he never made any commitments to. He knew he had to make some important decisions where his marriage was concerned. He needed to honour his wife’s opinions more even when they seem to point at something he did. He had to learn humility and what it meant to listen and to open up and communicate.

Today at the photo studio he knew that what he did would have really shocked Courtney and he hoped it would have sent a strong enough message to her about his love for her; one strong enough to salvage this situation. He saw the call from her come through on his phone just before Marsha arrived but he could not bring himself to answer it. He had to know how all of this would turn out. He only wanted to bring her good news.

After his confession, Robert broke down and begged for leniency in exchange for the evidence he shared. The fruit drink was disposed of and the motion sensor in the floral arrangement was deactivated. Instead, they had set up cameras in the room to record what Marsha would say and do as she entered. The police advised that he remain in the lobby while they dealt with the situation upstairs. He had no problem with that because he knew it would serve to keep him out of trouble.

As Marsha neared room 307, she popped a cherry flavoured mint into her mouth and when she reached the door she slid the passkey through the lock. The door sounded a low beep indicating it was open and Marsha stepped through the door.

“Honey, I’m home”, she said in a sing song voice.

As she entered, she turned to close the door while still speaking.

“I know that you did not see any of this coming today, but I know that we can make this work Ramon. I love you so much and I am sorry I had to do things this way but I want us to be together, I want you to give this thing between us a chance.”

She walked across the room and laid her bags on the loveseat. She did not pack a lot of luggage because she did not envision herself as needing a lot of clothes. So she only brought a few things. She began to scan the floor to see if Ramon was lying anywhere in the living area but he was nowhere to be found.

“Ramon, are you here? Are you hiding in the bathroom?” she trilled.

Marsha walked over to the bathroom and pushed open the door. But again Ramon was nowhere to be found, just the majestically beige and white tiled bathroom with gold fixtures and a spray of white tiger lilies in a crystal vase greeted her entry.

“Ramon?” called Marsha softly as she continued her search by walking over the adjoining bedroom. As she neared the door she saw that it was ajar and wondered if he had made it in there before passing out and lying down on the bed to rest. The thought of him lying across the bed caused Marsha to take the last step that would seal her fate. Feeling aroused by the thought of having Ramon there, she paused relishing the heat that began to spread upwards through her body from her abdomen. She removed her clothing leaving only her bra and panties and pushed open the door whispering,

“Ramon, are you here?”

Suddenly, she was blinded by what seemed like a series of explosions of white light, and for a moment frozen on the spot, she was totally bewildered about what happened. As her vision cleared, she could see that she was standing in a room with four officers from the Derrien Island police force, Sandra Lewis the desk manager and the hotel owner, Darius Brogan. Crazed as she was, somehow seeing them did not slow down her search for Ramon. Forcing herself to believe that perhaps she was seeing things she continued to call out, this time with more urgency in her voice.

“Ramon, are you here? Answer me?” she screeched as she looked around the room frantically.

Sandra stood in disbelief as she watched Ramon’s secretary make an utter fool of herself. What made a woman lower herself to the point where she would try to wreck another person’s marriage to ensure her own happiness?

The detective in charge stepped forward and asked, “Are you Marsha Davis?

“Yes I am, who are you, and where is Ramon? He was supposed to be here!” wailed Marsha.

“Miss, I am arresting you on suspicion of attempted assault on Mr. Ramon Belham. You do not have to say anything at this time, but it may harm your defense if you do not answer any questions that are asked. Anything you say or do may be given in evidence later in court. Do you understand?”

Marsha was confused. She was being arrested? How? Then she thought of the last thing she heard from Robert, that liar! He said Ramon never came back down and he was supposed to check the room. Where was Robert? What happened to the plan? How could he do this to her? She drew in a sharp breath as she thought about the bank records showing the transaction of thirty thousand dollars from her bank account to his. That would be hard to explain should they make the link between her and Robert.

Slowly, as the questions raced through her mind, Marsha was still finding it difficult to believe that she had been tricked and that her plans would never come to be. She dropped to her knees and her suddenly faraway expression became glassy. She would never have Ramon! Not even for one night of forbidden pleasure in his arms. As that thought circled through her thoughts she suddenly felt like such a fool. She knew in the beginning that she could be putting too much trust in Robert but he owed her big time for all the times she covered for him with his parents when he would hack into the system at school and change student grades for a fee. He was great with computers and had real talent so she decided to use his skills to her benefit. She was desperate and time was running short. She needed someone to help her implement her plan and he turned up at the time when she needed help the most. She had a great job at Belham Event Enterprises and now she had nothing, not even her dignity as she remembered now that she was practically naked in front of these strangers. She attempted to cover her body with her hands while one detective retrieved her clothing and instructed her to put them on immediately. She obeyed and once she had finished, she was told that she would walk downstairs surrounded by the police force.

Marsha barely heard the words being spoken to her, because all she could think about were her plans falling to shambles around her feet. She had lost! She wondered if Courtney had figured out the pictures were fakes and had already made contact with Ramon. That thought alone filled her with such an insane burst of envy that she aggressively shrugged away the initial attempt of the officer to take her arm.

“Resisting arrest is an offence madam,” were the only words spoken before she felt the officer take her by the arm again and lead her out of the room. No one spoke a word in the elevator and as they emerged in the lobby, Ramon saw that Marsha was in the custody of the police. He once again lifted the magazine up to cover his face just as she looked across the room as if somehow searching for someone. He did not want to see her, and wanted to talk to her even less. He had almost become a totally ruined man. He could not help but think that God had come through for him in a big way this time. As Marsha was placed in the waiting Jeep in the courtyard outside, he finally exhaled and said a silent prayer of thanks to God for uncovering this scheme against him.

While he did so, he saw a pair of black leather Clark’s stop just in front of him and he looked up to see Darius Brogan the hotel owner and his good friend towering over him.

“Ramon, I cannot tell you just how sorry I am about what happened here today. We had no idea that one of our employees was planning something so reprehensible, I am really sorry,” said Darius offering Ramon his sincerest apology.

“Darius, thank you, for your personal concern, I know it wasn’t your fault,” replied Ramon now feeling even more the gravity of the situation. Flooding his mind were the many what if’s had Marsha been successful. What if Marsha had succeeded in bedding him and gotten herself pregnant? What if Courtney, not knowing where he was believed what she saw in those photographs?  He knew the answer and just the thoughts made him sick to his stomach and re-ignited the pounding headache that started after hearing Robert’s testimony. Releasing a gust of air Ramon rubbed his temples with the thumb and middle finger of his right hand, unable to say anything more to his friend.

Darius observing his obvious distress knew that he had to go out of his way to make amends. Ramon Belham was not only an important business partner but a good friend. He admired the love that he had for his wife Courtney and saw it as something rare and precious in these days when marriages were failing. When Ramon first shared his plans with him, he could see that Ramon was a man willing to go all out for his wife. It made him feel a weight of guilt, knowing how he had treated his own wife with complacency, disregard and distance for the ten years they had been married. How he had looked down on her aspirations of being a dancer instead of supporting her dreams. No wonder she had left him and emigrated to live in Barbados where she could attend the university there and finally obtain her degree. They had divorced last year but not a night or day passed without him being haunted by the thought that somehow he did not fight hard enough to save his marriage. But every time he thought that he would call her, his pride got in the way. If he could not help himself, maybe he could see to it that he helped Ramon.

“Listen, I want you to know that we are going to offer you and your wife a free stay here at the hotel as a symbol of our regret. You can have room 310 as planned but I will not allow you to pay,” said Darius firmly.

Ramon could hear the set and firm tone Darius used and stood up and shook the other man’s hand with gratitude.

“Thank you, this means a lot me coming from you.” he said folding his lips and releasing a gust of air from his nostrils.

“Now it is almost 5:30 and I know you have special plans for tonight. I think someone special is waiting for you. I already asked the wait staff to deliver a chilled bottle of our best Dom Perignon to your room around 8:30. I will personally watch over the details for tonight to ensure that nothing else goes wrong. You have my word,” promised Darius.

Ramon felt such relief that at least those plans had been salvaged but he knew the real fight was ahead. How could he convince his beautiful wife Courtney that he was the man he said he was?

Chapter 7

Shortly after Courtney made several unsuccessful phone calls to Ramon, she and Constance left the studio and locked it for the evening. As she drove, she tried calling Ramon’s phone again and again without success. Somehow, she had to trust that everything was okay. She tried calling his workplace but she only got the answering service. Everyone had already left for the day. Ramon had promised to be home by 6:00 to take her to dinner for their anniversary so she decided that it would be best to wait for him there.

Constance however, still concerned about her friend and conscious of her secret role in Ramon’s plans, drove behind Courtney to keep her company until they could get some word from her husband. Driving behind her, she also made a call to Ramon’s phone and this time he answered. Seeing that it was Constance, he pulled his SUV onto the shoulder of the highway to make sure he could speak safely.  He did not bother with the regular greetings and got straight to the point.

“Constance how is Courtney, is she ok? Have you heard from her?” asked Ramon filled with gnawing concern.

“Ramon, yes she is okay! We had a very interesting afternoon to say the least,” she replied. “She has been calling you and leaving messages on your phone since four o clock.”

Ramon exhaled with agonized frustration, “Yes, I know. I had to resolve an issue and I did not want to speak to her before I was sure it was fixed.”

“Ok, so are you ok, is everything back on track?” asked Constance.

“Yes I am and yes the plans are fully set, but we will have to trade stories later. Listen, I need to know something really important. Did Courtney receive an envelope by courier today?” he asked crossing his fingers and hoping that it was all still somehow a horrible mistake.

Constance slightly surprised by his question and hearing his agonized tone quickly answered,

“Yes, she did and she was very confused and hurt.”

At that response Ramon exclaimed loudly and hit the steering wheel forcefully with his hand. Before he could respond, Constance continued.

“Don’t worry Ramon, we had a miracle today that helped us get to the bottom of it and she knows that you are innocent. Actually, she cannot wait to see you tonight. God is good!” explained Constance.

Constance words were like rays of hope that flooded Ramon’s heart as he thought that somehow his marriage was not over for the second time.

“What are you saying?” exclaimed Ramon not daring to believe he could be so blessed twice in one afternoon.

“Like you said, we will have to trade stories later. I am on the way to your house now and I’ve never liked driving and talking on the phone. I want you to keep the plan on schedule. I will help Courtney to get ready and you go on ahead and get changed and meet us at the docks for 6:30. You don’t want to miss the sunset proposal, now do you?” chuckled Constance conspirationally.

“But I don’t understand. She’s not angry with me?” asked Ramon in amazement.

“Ramon, she knows that she has nothing to be angry about. You go ahead and get ready; I will work on a story to get her there on-time. After the ordeal she went through today she deserves the surprise that you have for her,” said Constance.

Ramon suddenly felt encouraged and felt strength return to his body as he anticipated Courtney’s reaction to his plans. He knew they were a little over the top but nothing was too good for his wife! Once again, before pulling off he spoke a prayer of gratitude to God for preserving his marriage. First he had to go to the airport and pick up a surprise guest and then he would be on his way. He just hoped that it would all work out. It had to!

Arriving at the house, Constance watched Courtney literally run across the yard along the chocolate coloured flagstone pavement to the door of her sprawling one story ranch style home. This beautiful house was set among a green landscape of grass, flowers and ferns that Courtney loved so much. She and Ramon had really built a beautiful home here and she was glad that disaster had been averted. Having heard Ramon on the phone, she was relieved that he was safe and hoped nothing else would stop him from completing his plans. Constance parked her car and walked slowly up the walkway before letting herself in the door that Courtney left ajar. As she entered their living room and looked around, she could not help but notice once again how beautiful the decor was. She had always admired Courtney’s sense of style and colour and loved the contrasts of the gold, reds and forest green accents that made up the scheme of the room. It was a room that radiated passion and love and she hoped that that is exactly what happened here between Ramon and Courtney.

“Have you heard from Ramon as yet, Courtney?” Constance asked already knowing the answer to her question.

“No and I am getting worried about him.” replied Courtney who was trying to send Ramon another text message from her phone asking him to call her.

“Why isn’t he returning my calls?” asked Courtney again.

In an effort to calm her down, Constance thought quickly on her feet.

“Listen, tell you what! Why don’t you go and take a bath and start to get ready. Give me your cell phone so that if he calls I will be able to answer it for you. Is that okay?”asked Constance.

Courtney paused and thought about the suggestion. It sounded like it could work. Besides, the invasion of her privacy today did make her feel as though she wanted to wash away the dirt and the grimy feeling the pain had inflicted on her body. Finally, knowing she could trust the woman standing before her, she gave Constance her phone and proceeded to the bathroom to take a much desired shower.

“Promise you will come and get me if he calls?” she asked pausing suddenly and turning around.

“I promise”, said Constance. “Now go on, I will make sure that you do not miss his call.”

Constance felt a slight twinge of guilt for not telling Courtney that she had already heard from Ramon, but she figured that she would be forgiven once the plans for the evening were fully revealed. Also, despite her good relationship with Ramon now, Courtney would not understand why Ramon spoke to her instead. That knowledge would only raise her suspicions that something else was afoot.

When Courtney had finally gone into the bathroom and shut the door, she sat down in the living area to rest and to think. It was then that she noted that she would not have a chance to change her clothes but somehow even that ranked very low on the list of things that were important. She had to figure out how to get Courtney to leave the house without seeing or hearing from Ramon. This was about to get challenging and Constance never backed down from a challenge.

Driving back from the airport, Ramon looked over at his surprise guest and said told himself that he was taking a really big risk. He had no way of knowing how Courtney would react especially after what she went through today. He took her to the home of his good friends Marcus and Natasha Nicholls who agreed to bring her with them to the event later that evening. After that, he went back to his office to change his clothes. He always knew that having a shower facility in the office building would one day come in handy. As he showered and changed into his black tuxedo his thoughts were constantly wondering if Courtney would come with Constance. She would probably put up some resistance at first but he knew Constance was a capable woman. Although it was highly unlikely for Courtney to leave home without hearing from him and without knowing where she was going, he would have to trust that Constance had a good plan B. That woman had an unusual knack for calming Courtney down and bringing the best out of her. He was really grateful that she became the mother that Courtney needed in her life for support and love.

He reached into the jacket of his tuxedo and opened a gold velvet box that contained Courtney’s new diamond and ruby encrusted wedding band. He wanted it to accent her existing wedding band so he requested that the jeweller create a slim band set with a raised array of rubies and diamonds. He chose the ruby because it was the gemstone that represented wholeness of heart in addition to fire and passion. It was all that he knew they both wanted as they moved forward together. Next to Courtney’s wedding band was his own band. It was one which he had seen Courtney admiring when they were in the mall together last month. When she saw it, she confessed that she thought it would look great on his hand and asked the clerk if he could try it on just to humour her. It fit perfectly and although he did not buy it then, he made a mental note of it and came back later to purchase it. Little did Courtney know that tonight she would be placing it on his hand and he would be placing a new band on hers. He splashed on cologne, and replaced the velvet box in his jacket pocket. He grabbed the suitcase he had already packed and kept at the office and made his way down to the SUV. It was time to get back to the marina for his sunset surprise.

As Courtney showered she luxuriated in the tingly sensation of the warm water as its flow relaxed her muscles and caused her mind become clear and focused once again. For a while, she just stood under the stream watching the rivulets of water course down her entire body and pool around her feet. When she was finished and was in the process of drying her skin with the towel, she heard Constance shout through the closed door,

“Courtney, good news, Ramon just called and he asked me to bring you down to the marina to meet him.” Outside the door, Constance closed her eyes and felt another small twinge of guilt about her deception and silently asked God for forgiveness.

Trying not to slip on the tiles Courtney ran over to the door and yanked it open.

“He called, when? Didn’t he want to speak to me?” asked Courtney.

“He cannot wait to see you dear. He did not want me to interrupt your shower because he knows how much it relaxes you.”

“But...”

“No buts, Ramon is ok and is waiting for you. Now go and get dressed.”

Constance kept her expression serious and motherly as she looked into the unimpressed expression on Courtney’s face. By the looks of it Courtney was not going to budge from her position and she saw her eyes narrow in thought. She looked as if she was about to say something else and then thought against it. As she turned and walked to the master bedroom, all Constance heard Courtney saying to herself was,

“Ok...ok...ok....”

She hoped that she was not getting Ramon in too deep with her “verbal inventions” and prayed that the surprise would be enough to erase any bad memories any of them had experienced during the day.

Chapter 8

The southern end of the marina was completely transformed! Ramon had ordered a huge white tent with a central vaulted ceiling to be spread out over the lower end of the boardwalk and the adjoining parking lot. Along the ceiling of the tent were strung rows and rows of fairy lights so that in the deepening dusk it looked like the starlit sky hung so low that each glowing orb of ‘starlight’ could be touched. Along the sides of the tent billowed curtains of satin and chiffon in the gentle breeze that flowed off the sea while on the ground along the sides of the tent were two semicircular areas created with miniature trees and palms that were also covered in fairy lights along with golden floral arrangements. The edges of the tent and the arch at the other end were decorated in exquisite white tiger lilies, with miniature oranges with green cascading ferns. At the farthest end of the tent a luxury catamaran was moored and it too was decorated with fairy lights.

As Courtney approached the marina sitting in passenger seat of Constance’s car she looked out in awe at the beauty of her surroundings. From the time that she began to dress and found the pearl and diamond necklace set from Ramon and the beautiful scarves she knew that something unusual was happening to her that evening. As she slipped on her dress, she felt something stick her in her bosom and as she felt inside saw a tiny note folded and pinned there that had not been there when she tried it on at first. Unfolding it she read the personal note from Naeema Khan that wished her congratulations on her 7 wedding anniversary and a P.S. that told her that she had an incredibly wonderful husband in Ramon. As she read the note and began to understand just how long and how much effort Ramon had put in to planning for their wedding anniversary, it was all she could do to hold back the tears and save the light makeup she had just applied to her face. He even listened to her rants about fashion photography as she watched television or read magazines? This was not a man who was not interested in his wife. Instead, it firmly told her that the complete opposite was true. Ramon did love her and he was paying attention to even the smallest details. She left the house on cloud one hundred and nine, no longer worried about the fact that he did not call. She was just anxious to get down to the restaurant to meet him. She assumed that since Constance was driving her that perhaps he had arranged an evening at her fine dining restaurant. Thrilled beyond happiness she got into the car and did not even question Constance, preferring to stay quiet and enjoy her thoughts of Ramon.

The change in Courtney’s demeanour when she exited her room could not have pleased Constance more and she was blown away by the sight of Courtney in her flowing white Grecian styled gown. Ramon had planned that her day would unfold just like a person would unwrap a gift. One layer at a time, slowly removing the complementary pieces until the true gift was found. Now as they arrived at the marina, and she saw the look of awe and amazement on Courtney’s face she knew that the last piece of the puzzle had fallen neatly into place.

“Wow Constance, what is happening tonight? Is there a festival?” inquired Courtney.

Constance laughed and replied, “A festival of sorts”.

Constance parked near the tent and announced that they had reached their destination laughing at the quizzical expression on Courtney’s face.

“Come dear, you are here.”

Courtney emerged from the vehicle and as soon as she did she inhaled the unmistakable scent of roses and fruit that perfumed the air. She soon realized that below her feet felt soft and as she looked down she saw that the ground was covered in hundreds of rose petals leading toward the magnificently decorated tent.

Courtney then began to slowly realize that this too had Ramon’s signature all over it, the carpet of rose petals were the same as when she got married the first time and also today at the studio when he came by for the surprise photo shoot. Speechless at the sheer beauty of what she saw before her she walked forward till she reached the tent and gently touched the soft petals of the tiger lilies that framed the entry way. Tiger lilies were one of her favourite flowers because of their elegance so she just looked at it all in amazement for a few moments.

“I can’t believe this...” said Courtney finally finding her voice.

“Constance, this is so beautiful, is this for Ramon and me?” asked Courtney.

Not hearing a reply from her dearest friend Courtney turned around but instead of Constance she saw her husband standing and leaning against the door of Constance’s black Mercedes Benz. For a moment neither said anything and all that could be heard was the lapping of the waves against the boardwalk and the sound of the breeze moving against the curtains of the tent behind them.

“Courtney, I love you, I love you so much,” said Ramon staring intently at her. She felt his hot gaze rake over her slowly as he admired her from head to toe and then back to her head again. “You look so beautiful in that dress” he said, “So beautiful!”

Courtney felt as though she could not breathe because her heart was pounding in her chest so forcefully. Ramon stood before her tall and masculine wearing a black tuxedo that emphasized the breadth of his shoulders and the sheer masculinity his aura emanated. Looking deeply into her eyes he held out his hand to her in an invitation for her to come and take hold of it. Unknown to Courtney, Ramon held his breath willing his beautiful bride-to-be to come to him, to forget all that happened and take his hand.

“Ramon, I love you too,” Courtney replied as tears began to stream from her eyes. Floored and overwhelmed by it all she was surprised that somehow she was able to walk toward him. As she did, she knew that every last issue she had with doubting and trusting this man were finally gone. It felt as though someone had freed her and she could dance again. As Courtney neared him, Ramon surprised her again by falling to one knee and reaching into his jacket to retrieve a small gold velvet box.

Hearing her sharp intake of breath, he then looked up into her eyes and said:

“Courtney Alyssa Belham, you have made me the happiest man on this earth and I could not imagine my life without you. I want you to know that I gave my heart to you nine years ago and of those nine, I have never regretted the seven we have been married. I don’t want my heart back, I just want you forever. I never want to know what it would mean to lose you.” Ramon paused as his voice began to break and as he tried to regain his composure.

“What I am trying to say is that nothing is going to break the love that I have for you. That is my commitment and that is my pledge to you. I believe that at the end of seven years we are on the threshold of a new beginning and I wanted that beginning to mean something special for us. Marry me again, Courtney. Will you choose me again?” asked Ramon ardently.

Courtney looked down into her husband’s eyes and felt as though she was seeing him really for the first time in her life. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine that he would do this. She saw the earnest sincerity in his unwavering gaze and knew that she would love and cherish this man forever. She had not recognized before that she had been given a gift in his love, but from today she would treasure him like never before. Courtney tugged on Ramon’s hand so that he would stand and as he did she said,

“Ramon Adrian Belham, I am so happy right now, I don’t know what to say. I do know now that I love you and that I trust you with all my heart. I know that you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life loving. Yes, I will marry you again and again and again.”

After hearing those exquisite words Ramon tugged her to him and crushed his mouth against hers in a passionate and almost savage kiss as he staked his claim to this woman once again. As he did he forgot all the other details of the plan. He had what he wanted; his wife in his arms and she loved him and he loved her. He revelled in everything that he loved about her, her taste, her scent, the feel of her body moulded to his, the sounds she made whenever he kissed her. Wrapped tightly in this haze of love they lost consciousness of time and space while their awareness of each other became heightened to the highest degree.

Slowly as if through a dense fog, they once again became aware of the hum of other voices surrounding them and laughing and someone called out, “Guys we have a wedding!” and they all cheered.

Courtney opened her eyes and looked at the group of close friends and family that Ramon had invited to the occasion, and then she saw her. At first she thought that she was hallucinating, but the more she looked the more real the woman seemed. Immediately, tears came to her eyes and she began to shake as she regarded the woman standing beside her sisters in the blue dress.

“Honey, I’m so sorry, I have been so selfish over these years and I missed seeing you and your sisters grow up,” said Courtney’s mother gesturing as well to her two sisters. Before Courtney could respond she continued, “I know this is a surprise for you and I don’t even know if you want me here but I hope that at some point we could at least become friends.”

“Mom?” said Courtney. “You came.”

Without needing to say another word she opened her arms to her mother and they embraced for the first time since she was fourteen years old. Coming to the decision earlier today to forgive her parents made this so much easier and she found that she held no resentment towards her at all, but only a sense of compassion, forgiveness and a desire to move forward. The time for bitterness was past and there was no point dwelling on failures. This was truly a night of second chances at love.

“Mom, I forgive you, I do.”

At those words both were crying and they were joined by Courtney’s two sisters and Ramon for a group hug. It could truly be a new beginning.

“We have time to reconnect, and you have a wonderful man here. Let’s get this wedding started,” laughed Courtney’s mother wiping away tears from her own eyes.

Someone else, probably the ever prepared Constance, handed everyone tissues to dry their eyes and they all moved together beneath the “starlit” tent. At that moment, a song that both Ramon and Courtney loved began to play, “To Love You More” by Celine Dion. Someone handed her a bouquet of tiger lilies while she wondered how it was that she managed to select a white dress for tonight. She truly looked like a bride again! As they stood before the minister and repeated their wedding vows to each other again, both she and Ramon knew that those words were sealing them together again for a lifetime. Whatever, had become fractured before was now healed and made whole again. When he opened the box to show her the new diamond and ruby encrusted wedding band, Courtney gasped and exclaimed how gorgeous it was. Ramon took her hand gently in his and slowly slipped on her new ring. In the lighting beneath the tent it flashed and sparkled like fire, and as the light reflected off Ramon’s irises she saw that it mirrored the passion and desire she saw growing there. When it was her turn to put on his ring, she exclaimed,

“But I don’t have one to give to you!”

Without saying a word Ramon reached into the box and suddenly grinning he asked,

“Do you recognize this?” and showed her his ring.

Immediately Courtney remembered the ring he was showing to her. It was the same one that she had asked Ramon to try on at the mall. Again, she could not believe that Ramon had been planning this for so long.

“Yes I do, but I think that I am only just beginning to really recognize you, “she replied her voice trailing off in wonder at the man who stood before her.

They completed the ceremony after their union was blessed again and they took several photos with their guests. As they did servers came out with hors d’oeuvres and everyone ate talked, laughed and congratulated the happy couple. At one point in the festivities, Courtney noticed that her friend Natasha Nicholls and her husband Marcus gave each other a hard look and spent most of the night apart on opposite sides of the tent. For a few seconds she wondered if everything between them was okay. She did not have time to reflect on it too deeply because at that point Ramon took her hand and led her down to the end of the boardwalk and onto the waiting catamaran. Again she was amazed by how much attention and detail was paid to the decor with the floral vines of tiger lilies and roses encircling the boat. She took off her heels to climb in and as she did everyone chanted, “Throw the bouquet!” “Throw the bouquet!”

Laughing and just to humour everyone she turned around to face Ramon and threw the bouquet backwards not looking at who caught it on the boardwalk. Instead she dropped her shoes and walked straight into the arms of Ramon, amid all the catcalls and well wishes. As they drew back from each other Ramon asked her if she was ready and she nodded. He signalled to the Captain and they cast off to sea.

“Ramon, where are we going?” asked Courtney.

“It’s a surprise, and I don’t want you to worry about anything!” replied Ramon. “Let me take care of you, you can trust me.”

As they sailed along the west coast of Derrien Island, Courtney admired the lights from the many restaurants and resorts that held many of the prime beachfront locations along the coastline. This night was pure magic and Courtney did not ever want it to end. As she sat with his arms wrapped protectively around her, the catamaran eventually left the deeper waters and went in to the shallows in front of a large elegant hotel. The captain then proceeded to take the catamaran as close to the beach as possible before mooring it in the sands. One of the exciting features of a catamaran is its ability to navigate safely in extremely shallow water and the captain did an excellent job navigating his craft. As they stood up together, Ramon took her hand to keep her steady as the boat rocked gently on the waves. Suddenly, he scooped her up in his arms and walked down the ramp that the captain had lowered into the shallow calf-deep water and onto the beach.

“Welcome to the Derrien Island Hilton, Mrs. Belham,” said Ramon before lowering his head, capturing her mouth and tenderly kissing her lips. Being here with her like this meant so much more now when he realized what could have been lost today. He would tell her all about it tomorrow, but right now all he wanted to do was to make passionate love to this woman standing in front of him, with her golden eyes and honey coloured skin now beckoning invitingly to him in the moonlight. Again he picked her up and walked across the beach with both of them laughing at the squishing sounds coming from Ramon’s shoes. In his excitement he had completely forgotten to take them off when he got off the catamaran. Courtney mimicked the sound of his shoes as they continued to laugh at his efforts to get off the sand and onto the walkway. It was so refreshing that they had something to laugh about after their harrowing experiences that day.

As per his request he wanted their arrival to be private and without any fanfare and it was so. They walked in through the restaurant walkway and as he passed under the arch he saw Darius Brogan sitting at the bar. Acknowledging that he kept his promise to oversee the rest of the plan was carried out, he and Ramon gave each other a discreet nod.

Upon reaching the lobby, they took the elevator to the tenth floor and all the while Courtney was simply stunned by the beauty of the hotel. This was her first time seeing it in person and it lived up to its reputation as the new five star luxury choice on Derrien Island. By the time the elevator reached the tenth floor they got off and walked half kissing, half stumbling to the door of their room, somehow unable to keep their hands of each other. Finally disengaging his mouth to make sure they were at the right room, Ramon used his passkey and opened the door.

“Mrs. Belham, allow me the honour of taking you over the threshold,” said Ramon smiling broadly. Nothing could have prepared Courtney for what she would see when she entered and although Ramon had planned and envisioned this, the reality was even more incredible to him as well. The room was lined in lit candles in gold and red glass orbs, so the room had a sensuous glow. Music was already playing in the background and the floor was again spread with rose petals.

“Ramon”, gasped Courtney as he put her down and they both surveyed the room.

Courtney turned and touching his cheek said “Ramon, I love you. I will never forget this.” She then tiptoed and kissed her incredibly amazing husband with as much ardour as she could muster. As she did the flame of desire that had been ignited in her earlier expanded and incredible sensations of heat flooded her body from the inside out. She did not want to be conservative Courtney tonight or on any other night in their future. Instead, tonight she would let Ramon truly have all of her, the woman she knew always resided inside that she never let come to the surface.

“Come,” said Ramon as he took her both of her hands in his. Walking backward for a few steps, Courtney watched as the colour of Ramon’s irises darkened two shades as his eyes held hers. For some reason she felt as giddy as a newlywed on her first honeymoon. He led her through the garden of petals and lights and as they turned the corner she saw a large ornate double French door hung with white chiffon curtains on the other side of the glass. Ramon opened the doors before her and she saw that the bedroom also had several candles in the golden and red orbs and the giant four-poster king sized bed dominating the centre of the room was also covered in rose petals. They walked in and stood beside the huge bed, each sharing the others thoughts, each wanting the other with a hunger that began to rise like an uncontrollable blaze. They both knew that as they looked at each other silently it would be mere seconds before everything in the room would be literally scorched by the heat emanating from their bodies.

Feeling even more bold and wanting to show Ramon how deeply she loved and trusted him, she decided that she would do something she had always dreamt of doing but never had the courage to do. A slow striptease.

“Wait, Ramon”, she said.

Seeing his quizzical expression she gently placed both of her hands on his chest and gently pushed him so that he sat on the bed.

“Tonight I am going to open up to you, not just my body but my whole heart,” said Courtney softly.

In the candlelight and shadows, Courtney’s eyes simply glowed and he knew she had no idea just how powerful an effect she had on him, just by looking at him. Ramon felt as though with the words she spoke that someone took a match a set his blood on fire. Heat roared through his body and it took all of his resolve not to interrupt his wife and pull her down onto the bed with him and unite their bodies in a torrid rush. He knew since this morning that she was making steps toward opening up to him so he forced himself to control his breathing and let her do what she needed to do.

Looking into her eyes he saw smouldering desire and with it deep love. She ran her hands along his chest and pushed his jacket slowly off his shoulders and Ramon helped her by wiggling his arms out of it. Her fragrance as she leaned over him was intoxicating and he just wanted to softly caress her beautiful and now partially exposed breasts and to taste her all over. But he waited. Slowly, she opened up the buttons on his shirt and opened them so that his neck and chest were exposed to her view. At the sight of Ramon’s well muscled chest she ran her fingers around the curvature of his well defined pectorals and was rewarded by his shudder and the deepening of his breathing.

“Courtney, I think you should know that I want you right now,” warned Ramon.

“I want you too, but I need to do this for you and for me,” pleaded Courtney.

Ramon closed his eyes for what seemed to be an eternity as he tried to steady his breathing and when he opened them, Courtney stood before him unzipping her dress. As she finished, she slipped the white dress from her shoulders slowly and let it fall to the floor forming a pool around her feet.

In the candlelight her honey coloured skin simply glowed and Ramon ached all over just to touch her, to kiss her and to love her. She reached around her back and unhooked the white strapless bra that held her full breasts in place and as she did she let it fall to the floor, never taking her eyes from Ramón’s’.

From her view it was impossible for her not to see the degree of his arousal, as he sat reclining on the bed watching every move she made all the while with his breathing becoming more quick and shallow. Knowing she was torturing him she moved quickly to remove the final barrier that would separate her from him. As she stepped out of the white G-string satin panties, she said,

“Ramon, I love you and I want you to know that there is no longer anything between us, not in my heart and not in my mind. I choose to let go of my past. Will you take me as I am?” she asked

Ramon needing no further invitation stood and looked at the vision of perfection standing before him. Courtney, though a passionate lover had never given him her mind, body and soul fully. He knew that this was her gift, and he knew it was a gift she would give to him alone, a gift he would treasure.

Quickly removing the rest of his clothing and leaving them in a heap beside the bed he took Courtney by the hand and laid her on the bed beside him. Slowly, tenderly he caressed her body with his fingertips and tongue, taking the time to enjoy her sweet flavour and the soft suppleness of her skin. He ran his hand over every inch of her body as if he were playing music on a harp and it drove Courtney almost mad with longing for his possession of her body as she released her voice like music to his ears. Then covering her body with his own, he hungrily claimed her mouth and began to devour her with such abandon that they both felt as though lava itself was flowing through their veins. With every stroke of his tongue as he swirled and sucked and tasted his wife, he felt Courtney’s body arch against him and he could smell the heat of her arousal. Reaching between them he felt how hot, wet and ready she was for him. Her fragrance filled his nostrils and he knew that he needed to answer the question she asked him after she removed her clothes.

Holding her hips in his hands and raising her up slightly from the bed, he entered her slowly, embedding himself deeply within the folds she offered to him as she released a cry of pleasure that caused every cell in his body to vibrate with need.

“Courtney, I take all of you and give you all of me,” said Ramon raggedly.

Completely surrounded by her softness, he paused letting them both enjoy the sensations of their joined bodies. Claiming her lips, he then began to slowly thrust into her heated core and she raised her hips to meet him and accept him hungrily each time. Slowly, they made love, their undulating bodies flowing together in a rhythmic ancient dance of passion, that created a score all of their own.

Courtney, sensing the heat and electricity flowing from the juncture of her thighs up and across her entire body, knew that she was close to release. Ramon seeing her flushed expression and hearing the rapid sound of the moans leaving her lips he knew he could not hold back his release any longer either. Closing his eyes, he surrendered and together in the midst of almost intolerable pleasure they reached the glorious peak together both exploding in a shattering moment of ecstasy that caused them to hold each other tightly and be carried on waves of delight that felt as though their bodies were ascending through the roof of the hotel. As Courtney heard herself cry out and tremble with unabashed abandon, she also heard Ramon guttural groan and his shuddering release and she felt for the first time, the warm flow of his seed filling her.

It was then that she realized that she did not insist on them using any protection as she always did since they got married. Somehow the thought of having his child no longer scared her to death. Feeling peace rush over her body, she held Ramon’s head in her hand and brought his mouth down to hers as she kissed him as the new love, openness and desire she felt for him flooded her soul. This was more than a defining moment, it was the start of what she hoped would be a new life and slowly she surrendered to the sleep that claimed both her and Ramon.

Chapter 9

It was now morning and Ramon sat across the room quietly watching his bride sleep, her form gently illuminated in the light that streamed in between the cracks of the curtains that covered the floor to ceiling windows. Last night had been so incredible that he was still wondering if he had only imagined it. Not only did Courtney marry him again but she had given him her whole heart this time around. Besides the ardent words she spoke, he knew that she was now completely his because she had not asked him to use protection. For the first time since they got married and began making love, Courtney had allowed him to truly feel her and to release his seed inside of her body. She could get pregnant! Just the thought of them starting a family thrilled Ramon in ways that he had not imagined were possible. As he rode on the waves of elation flooding his body, he recalled that he had always wanted a family but knowing Courtney’s background he was willing to forego starting a one until he knew that she was comfortable with the idea as well. He had been up early despite the fact that after they made love the first time, they awoke in the wee hours of the morning and the same passion engulfed them a second time.

As Courtney stirred under the thick comforter, Ramon got up from the chair on which he was seated and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. As her eyes fluttered open, she looked disoriented for a few seconds as her unfamiliar surroundings came into view, before they settled on Ramon’s face. As she fixed her gaze on him, she smiled and sat up slowly so that she could hug him and lie against his chest. Wearing no clothes, because frankly she had none that she knew of as yet, she made no effort to hide her full breasts from his view. As he held her, enjoying the warm smoothness of her skin against his bare chest, he knew that at some point that day, they would have to talk about yesterday’s events and what happened with Marsha, because it would soon become a court case. Despite knowing that he still did not want to start the day with such an unpleasant topic. As he held her, he heard her voice and felt her warm breath against his chest.

“Good morning,”

“Good morning Courtney, did you sleep well?” responded Ramon as he stroked her back with his hands.

“Yes, I did actually. My body aches all over but I feel amazing!” she purred as she arched her back and stretched against her husband.

Ramon laughed at her confession, and pulled her even closer as she snuggled even closer to his chest. For a few moments they both remained like that until Courtney’s voice broke the silence.

“Ramon, yesterday a woman called me at the studio claiming to be your mistress and had some photos delivered showing you and a woman named Alicia, having an affair.” started Courtney.

Holding her away from his chest slightly, Ramon wanted to explain, but Courtney held up her hand asking him to wait.

“In a way, I am glad it happened because it caused me to finally resolve my issues with trusting you. I was confused and hurt, but as Constance got me to think rationally I knew that I could not doubt you. The very idea that you would openly do that to me on a business trip, knowing how hard we have worked at rebuilding our relationship, was ludicrous! I must say though that the Photoshop work was excellent but they missed one detail.”

As she paused, Ramon was surprised to see the smile that radiated from her face before she said, “Constance.”

Ramon’s eyes widened as he listened to Courtney’s startling tale, “Constance?” echoed Ramon.

“Yes, Constance, she was at the event the photos described and was standing in the background of one of the photos. Once she saw herself she was able to point out the rest of the deception to me with ease.”

Growing serious again, Courtney continued,

“Although that was the case and I am convinced that the way everything unfolded was a miracle, I did not like the idea that I could doubt you so easily especially when you have tried to show me again and again how much you love me. Ramon, I know you weren’t there at the time but I am sorry that I doubted you even for a second.” She said as tears slid out of her eyes.

“Sssh darling, no, you were presented with evidence of the worst kind and you did what any normal person would do, he said. “What I am glad about is that it was resolved quickly.” Pausing briefly before he continued Ramon decided that since she had opened up the discussion, he would bring everything out in the open as well.

“Courtney, I have to tell you my side of that awful mess too,” said Ramon haltingly.

Wiping her eyes on the comforter, she listened to what Ramon had to say about his secretary Marsha and her diabolical plan to entrap him at the hotel and to have her way with him while he was drugged. She listened as he described the capture of Robert Delisle and how Marsha implicated herself through actions in room 307 that lead to her arrest.

The horror that he saw in his wife’s eyes mirrored exactly what he felt in his heart the very moment he had discovered Marsha’s plans. Courtney did not say anything for a few minutes, only shaking her head as if she could actually see all that had taken place. Ramon patiently waited for her to respond searching her eyes for some clue about how she felt about yet another secretary being the source of problems for their marriage. He braced himself for the worst while still hoping for the best. But when she did speak the accusation he expected was replaced by heartfelt compassion.

“Ramon, I had no idea that you went through that yesterday!” she began. “This makes me even more determined to have us become even closer on a spiritual level, because we definitely had some divine kind of help yesterday. I know that these coincidences were not just accidental. I really believe that this relationship is precious and I plan to treasure you for the rest of my life, said Courtney as she tenderly traced her index finger along Ramon’s lower lip.

Hearing those words Ramon’s heart felt so full that he thought it might burst and he kissed his wife tenderly. He had everything that a man could possibly want, money, a good name, a beautiful wife and finally a rock solid marriage.

“Courtney, there is one more thing I want to ask you about, said Ramon. “Last night we did not use a condom. Does that mean what I think it means? Are you ready for us to start a family?

“Ramon, there is nothing I want more than to make a little Ramon Jr. with you right now”, she answered cheekily.

Her answer was enough for him, breakfast could wait a little longer, and so could the lure of the sand, sea and sunshine outside. Pulling Courtney on top of his body he devoured her mouth hungrily, knowing that the future before them could not be brighter.

THE END

Note to the Reader:

The past has a way of getting in the way of the way we perceive the events in the present. By holding on to hurts and disappointments, it becomes easier to respond to the situations faced in marriage through what I like to refer to as tinted lenses, where everything seems to be a threat or an offense.

I want to invite you, to see if, like Courtney, there may be anything in your past that you can let go of, so that you can rebuild a true flame of love and passion with your spouse. Perhaps it might be hurtful words, the secrets kept or simply tragic experiences. Whatever it may be pray about it and spend some time releasing your pain and hurt. You will see that it works wonders in your responses and will make you a happier person and an even better lover and friend. For more on how you can let go of the past, Visit my blog http://passionatelymarried.wordpress.com.

*****

If you loved this story, I want to invite you to connect with me on my blog for book discussions, articles, exclusive offers, information on new eBook releases and much more. Visit: Passionately Married and get active on our boards by leaving your comments on the articles there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Annalisa Simon is a hopeless romantic who melts like butter at the very idea of love, desire and passion, and can often be found curled up with a bowl of popcorn watching the latest romantic comedy. In fact, after watching the movie Titanic she was so moved by the passion of the love story that she cried for over twenty minutes in the cinema much to her chagrin. Throughout her teenage years and adult life her favourite pastime has always been reading romance novels and thus she is quite enamoured with the typical romance story and the happily ever after fairy tale wedding. Having experienced her own fairy tale ‘ending’ six years ago she has come to realize that where the typical romance novels ends is really the beginning of true passion and love. After watching the demise of many marriages and the rapid rise of divorce she is now on a mission to redefine true marriage, passion and romance with her Passionately Married series of books. It is her hope that every reader will see past the romantic wedding and experience the real joys of marriage. Even if a marriage is on the brink of separation she believes that it can be saved one book at a time.

After spending ten years in the teaching profession, she has finally decided to stop ignoring the call to write. Not Easily Broken is her first fiction novel and is also the first book in the Marriage Spice Collection of novellas. Many more books and category romances are set for release over the following months.

She resides on the tropical island of Barbados with her husband and daughter.

If you have enjoyed this book, recommend it to a friend and leave an online review for future readers. Thank you and

Stay passionate....

Coming Attractions

Look out for new eBook releases by Annalisa Simon on Amazon.com. The Derrien Island Trilogy continues to heat up in November with Book Two “Forgotten Desires” – The story of Marcus and Natasha Nicholls. In December, the trilogy climaxes with a Christmas love story, which will take your breath away as Darius Brogan puts aside his pride in Book Three to recapture the heart of his ex-wife.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Summary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Note to the Reader

ABOUT THE AUTHOR