Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele

Tilly's face goes from pale pink to beet red in less time than it takes to blink.

Looking down at the shoe, and up at my smug face, she realizes that I must know something.

"Um," she laughs, nervously rubbing her neck and averting her eyes. "I wondered where I had lost that."

"It's a good thing I found it in the hallway this morning," I take a long sip of my coffee, eyeing her over the cup. "Right outside of Clark's door."

"Oh," she tries to hide her horror behind her cup. "What a strange place for that to be."

I laugh at her discomfort. "Oh Tilly, you can stop now. I saw you two."NôvelDrama.Org owns all © content.

She freezes as her mind processes the meaning of my words. "So you were in the corridor spying on us?" her tone is a little frosty but not unfriendly. "Or were you sneaking around yourself?" She got me there. "Sneaking is too strong a word, more like 'quietly returning'."

She snorts, breaking the ice between us. Laughing together, I tell her a bit more about my night with Atlas and why I didn't return until the wee hours of the morning. Happy for me, she squeezes my hand.

"And you're sure about him?" Tilly looks me in the eye, giving my hand another squeeze. "Are you sure he feels as strongly for you this time as you do about him?"

I pause to think about this. She remembers how heartbroken I was when I came to her, thrown out onto the street with nowhere else to go when I thought Atlas was cheating with Sydney. She was there to hold my hand after the divorce was final, and by my side when I discovered the pregnancy. She has been my constant companion, looking out for my well-being and my heart.

But then I think of Atlas' face when I confessed that I loved him. The way he held on to me never wanting to let me go. "You taste like forever," he had told me as we made love.

"Yes, I'm sure," I nod with surety and conviction. "He wants me to reconsider our divorce."

"Oh Cordy," she comes around the counter to give me a bit hug. "I am so happy for you." And I know she means it-every single word. Tilly loves me like the older sister I wish I had.

My mind flashes to Angelica, the sister I do have, and I feel a wave of shame and guilt. Poor Angelica with her fragile, broken mind. Is she right? Did I steal her fiance?

I expressed my concerns to Tilly, telling her everything about Angelica's dramatic entrance and how she behaved. I also tell her about the day before, and Angelica being responsible for the destruction of my Hine. I feel Tilly tense beside me as I go into detail about what had been done and how it was managed.

"There's no way that's amnesia," Tilly says out loud what I've been thinking for days now. "She's playing us all. But why?"

"I don't know," I shake my head. "I think maybe she might be a little bit crazy," I confess, feeling guilty for discussing my sister like a mental health case. But what other excuse could there be?

"And this Magnus guy?" Tilly scratches her head. "I don't see why he'd want her to do this. It makes no sense. Are you sure it isn't just Jude calling her from prison to make revenge mischief from afar?

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe it isn't a new enemy that we need to worry about, but an old one.

"I'll mention that to Atlas," I grimace. "It may be time to monitor her calls, although I don't know how we'll manage it with her living with my parents now."

"Oh," she raises her eyebrows. "He kicked her out?"

I nod my head in confirmation. "And I think he wants me to move back in," but then I add, "But I'm not sure that I'm ready for that yet. I just learned how to be an adult on my own. I want to make sure that he understands that before I return if I return at all." "I see," she takes another sip of her coffee but I can tell she doesn't believe me, almost as if her eyes were daring me to see how long my resolve can last.

We spend some time brainstorming ideas about what we can do about Angelica when Tilly asks the more obvious question, "Why again did you NOT press charges against her? The police would be able to track her calls then and see what her motivations are." "I'm not sure," I admit. "But I feel that we should take care of this as a family. I'd rather not have the police involved if we can avoid it."

She doesn't say anything, but I can feel her judgment in her raised eyebrow and low hum. "If you say so." "So about you and Clark," I change the subject.

"It kind of just happened," she sighed. "We ran into each other in Malibu and...well things just..." "Happened," I finish for her shaking my head. "But why did you hide it from me?"

"We weren't sure what you'd say when you found out. I mean, Clark was supposed to be your fiance, at least in public." She then goes on to explain her fears, and how she was going to tell the public once they found out about their news. "News?"

She rotates what looks like a plain, platinum band revealing a diamond the size of her thumbnail.

"Oh Tilly," I jump up and down. "You're engaged!"

VictoryAnne Vice