Aidan was having a hard time dealing with his conscience. After several dives, he felt drained of energy but his mind was occupied with thoughts of Kate. And he wanted some time to think. Thank God the island was the perfect sanctuary for such situations; it was very peaceful and refreshing which gave him ample time to face the questions flowing in his mind. How could he have behaved in such a wanton way? What would Kate think of him? That he was hitting on her even if she was getting married to someone else?Irrespective of how the fiancé was, Aidan knew damned well it was not fair to cheat on him like that. What kind of man that made him? A bastard? And Jennifer? She believed that there was a chance they might come together again. Hell, what a mess!Not feeling very proud of himself, he made up his mind to make it clear to Jennifer and explain to her that he did not love her anymore. But what would he say? That he loved Kate instead. He was not sounding credible even to himself. Dam

Aidan was raking his head about the mystery of the poem. It had to be Kate. The secret admirer. The one who had loved him so passionately. Who else would it be? He never even remembered anyone else. If it was Kate indeed, it would make him the luckiest man on earth. It meant only one thing.That the love of Kate had been so powerful even back then that it had spread so much positive feelings inside him; had almost cured him from the cynical man he had been turning into because of his father. But what if she was no longer in love with him?Well, love or not, the attraction between them was too flagrant to ignore now. And there was no way in freaking hell she would have kissed him back if she felt nothing for him. He had purposely kissed her this time only to judge her reaction. And she had seemed flustered as if she had something to hide. Plus she had not said a word on the way back home and had practically fled from him as soon as they had reached back.And she was nowhere in sight. A

After so much shopping, Aidan wanted to puke out his breakfast. He was already regretting his decision to use Nathalie to test Kate; it was such a stupid plan anyway but it was working. The day before, he had heard everything and had enjoyed every minute of her discomfort but he had discovered one thing.Kate would never admit to loving him because she was too moralistic for that. And by the way Kate had behaved yesterday, he was damned sure that she returned his feelings and had decided to confront her. The jealousy game was working but he could wait no longer. They had only two weeks and four days left and he had to take a decision as soon as possible.But Kate had been nowhere to be seen that morning. Not even for breakfast. When he had politely broached the subject, he had learnt that she had gone out with her father. It was then he remembered she was supposed to be vetting the food arrangement as Judith had asked her yesterday.Impatient, he paced on the alley of the garden waiti

Aidan was getting impatient. It was already eight thirty and he had not seen Kate that morning. She had not been present for breakfast but neither had most of the family. He had sent her three text messages but she had not replied to any of them and he was starting to get worried.After the drama of last night, he had thought that the storm would calm down but was apparently wrong. Something must have happened today for Kate to have disappeared like that. Hell! If only she had given him a hint about what was going on, he would have accompanied her. But she was so damn independent.At first when she had asked him not to mention that they were together, he had been stunned and had not known how to react. Was she ashamed of what was between them? But when she had explained, he had been surprised at her perceptiveness. It was their only choice after all to exonerate their relationship.It was going to look bad anyway. Whatever they said, it was going to sound as if they had cheated on Big

Finally! The truth was out in the open. Aidan did not know how much he had wanted her to confess her feelings for him loud until she just did it. It was as if he had been waiting for that moment all his life and he felt his chest sag with relief.And instead of looking shocked, everyone was grinning from ear to ear looking at each other with knowing looks. Which made Aidan frown. Now, wait a minute! They already knew?? How?? He had taken so much effort during the last two weeks to hide their feelings by avoiding each other. And all for nothing.As he glanced at Kate, he nearly smiled at her priceless expression. It was also the conclusion she came up with since she stared at everyone one by one looking for a trace of surprise on each face. And found none! It would seem that everybody already knew about their “hidden” relationship! Damn!“Mom?” she asked uncertainly her chest heaving with exhaustion after her outburst. And Aidan moved towards her as an attempt to provide her some suppo