Time To Heal [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MISUNDERSTANDING

"Hell, this is ingenious," Devin inferred ardently, bending over her to have a better look into the laptop monitor, seemingly unaware of the eloquent effect he was having on her. Throat dry with nervousness, she scrolled down the page with a semblance of normality as they searched for the name Alyssa Huntington on the online directory.

Dispirited when nothing came up, she grimaced at the screen, resisting the urge to look back in his direction, his male musky scent giving a pretty indication of his closeness. She felt an uncomfortable urge at her nape, striving not to turn her neck in his direction.

"Why don't you try looking only for Huntington?" he suggested, his hot breath blowing against the juncture at her neck, and she gulped heavily as her traitorous heart did a somersault. Maybe he was right; come to think of it, it wasn't such a good idea after all.

If it wasn't for her half-sister, she would have let Dev carried on with his sordid plan. But how could she, in her full senses assent to such a mishap befalling her sister? Ana was in the best position to know how much Devin Crighton could bulldozer someone's life with no respect to feelings or any regard to propriety.

Concentrating on the chore at hand, she applied the corresponding filters of sex and age, and the search eventually drilled down to five Huntingtons and three Alyssas. Since it was more probable that her sister would have changed her last name, they opted to hunt down the Alyssa first, even if wasn't the most resourceful idea, they had to start somewhere. The problem was that each Alyssa resided in three different states.

Biting her lip in worry, Ana pondered over how to manage the dilemma – as far as she knew Devin, he would want to finish the task as soon as possible, and would probably suggest she appropriated their first target in Michigan while he would cover the others. It would have been a brilliant strategy, except for one salient fact. Ana did not want Dev to meet her sister on a one-to-one basis alone, at least not before she had a word first.

"I'm going back to New York tomorrow," she started, still plundering her lips in deep thought. "Michigan is on my way; I could make a stop to meet this... Alyssa Cooper."

Dev was shaking his head before she'd even finished. "That would be so complicated with a commercial flight. Why don't I come with you and we meet her together?"

Almost weak with relief, Ana felt it was a better option she had and she should make the most of it. If Dev tagged along with her, there was a huge possibility that she might get to talk to her sister before he intervened. She wanted to spare Alyssa the same destiny as hers, she knew that nothing would deter him from his plan now. He seemed to have that fixation that marriage to the owner of his property would solve his problem, would erase the horrible childhood memories which must inexorably haunt him.

When Devin had announced confidently that he still intended to marry the one who'd inherited Ashford properties, she'd grasped two things. One that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals for what he believed was his due, and second was that he'd never loved her at all. Not that she'd doubted it but being replaceable somehow demolished any lingering doubt with abrupt irrevocability.

He'd even been prepared to marry Melissa after seeing her tantrums at the graveyard – if that didn't show his despair, then nothing would. So, her quest had begun then. She wanted to stop him from duping Alyssa Huntington at any cost, Dev would only end up ruining her life with his obstinacy.

Not that Dev would have an inkling about her hidden agenda; if he knew her intentions, he would purposely start blackmailing her sister right away. Her alliance was a pretext to watch his every move, and intervene in the subtlest way possible to sort out the matter with tact.