Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath

Yvonne was getting a bit anxious.

She dreaded Ronald's silence because when he clammed up, it meant he was plotting something big.

"You know, I miss Star too," she said.

Hearing this stirred a wave of unexpected emotion within Stella.

Ronald snorted. "You were in cahoots with Skye, and now you claim you can't reach her?"

Yvonne replied, "I really don't know. She gave me a number, but now she's unreachable."

Yvonne was on the brink of losing it.

What on earth was Skye up to? It was bad enough if others couldn't get hold of her, but Yvonne was her boss, for crying out loud.

Skye had taken so much from her, and now, when Yvonne had instructions, Skye was nowhere to be found. What was she playing at?

"Hey, maybe you could have Idris intercept her or something? Umm... where is he?"

Yvonne asked the last question with a note of trepidation. For years, she had avoided speaking of him, and no one had dared to touch the scar on her heart.

In her mind, she had even accepted his death, holding a solemn vigil for him in the corners of her memory.

Yet, now Ronald was saying he'd seen him.

The long-buried emotions in Yvonne's heart seemed to spring to life, sudden and overwhelming, like a desert blooming after an unexpected rain. Ronald furrowed his brow, "This is your mess..."

"Come on, I'm your sister. Can you really bear to see me live like a widow forever?"

That had been Yvonne's plan. The person who mattered most to her was gone, and she had decided to live her life in mourning for him. Ronald's breath hitched.

didn't fully grasp the conversation between him and Yvonne, but she caught the careful tone in Yvonne's voice. Stella cautiously

at her, meeting her wide, watery eyes, and instantly understood what she

phone, "You really can't get in

me. I wouldn't joke

"him," Yvonne

type to

reached out and gently pinch her cheek, then spoke

City? That isolated place in the middle of a desert, two

would he be

visited once but

with the

just the location-

e there. Content besthe

continued, "It might not be him.

over the

didn't respond, Ronald added, "Idris

records, the man

said, "I'll go see

died right in front of you

I didn't see him burned to ashes, did

and Stella

who they were talking

five years ago, the man who had made Yvonne

mark on her, disappearing just when Yvonne had fallen for him the

people with

a haven for all sorts of shady

Yvonne replied, "No need."