"Where is she?"

Sterling frantically asked himself that question as he tried calling his home in North Carolina again. He was in his jet on his way back to the States.

The photograph of him and Diamond that appeared everywhere in the newspapers was damaging enough, but the article deliberately raised doubts of his faithfulness to Colby. It was just the type of thing they didn't need to deal with right now.

He released a deep sigh then tried calling James's house. There wasn't an answer there, either. And he couldn't locate Mac. Where was everyone?

No sooner had he hung up the phone, than it rang.

He s.n.a.t.c.hed it up immediately. "Colby?"

His face showed disappointment that the caller wasn't Colby. "Yes, Diamond, I'm fine. No, I haven't been able to reach Colby, and no, it's not your fault." He nodded. "Everything will be fine once I talk to her and explain things."

He shook his head. "No. That won't be necessary. Just let me handle this. Colby has to trust me. Otherwise, our marriage will never stand a chance against this sort of garbage. Just sit tight and don't worry about me and Colby. We'll be fine."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll keep in touch."

Sterling hung up the phone, hoping what he'd just told Diamond was true and that he and Colby would be fine. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. He didn't want to think about the possibility that he could lose Colby over this.

He stood and began pacing the length of his cabin. He knew she'd probably seen the article by now and he had a lot of explaining to do. He just hoped that wherever she was, she believed he loved her more than anything. He couldn't imagine living his life without her.

He sat back down in his seat and gazed outside the window at the clouds, believing there had to be sunshine out there somewhere. The kind of sunshine to brighten the earth like Colby had brightened his life.

He refused to be another Hamilton who lost the woman he loved, and he simply refused to live his remaining years in heartache and pain.

He was determined to keep the woman he loved with him always.

It was late afternoon when Mac and Colby arrived back in North Carolina.

"I'm going to stay at my own place tonight," Mac said after opening the door to let Colby in. "You and Sterling will need plenty of privacy."

Colby nodded. Mac's place was on the other end of Sterling's property. He stayed there whenever Sterling was in town, and only stayed with her in Sterling's home whenever he was away for protection against possible trespa.s.sing reporters.

After checking out the place he came back to her and let her know everything was okay. Then he teasingly told her there weren't any reporters hiding out under the beds.

"And you really think Sterling's on his way home?"

"Yes, I'm almost certain of it," Mac replied. "I've been trying to reach him in the air but keep running into some sort of interference. There must be bad weather somewhere."

Colby nodded. "I'm going to get settled in. Good night, Mac, and thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it. I promised Chandler a long time ago that I'd look after that boy. And I'm meaning to keep my word. You're good for him, Colby. You're just what he needs."

No sooner had Sterling's plane landed at the airport in Raleigh, than a helicopter was standing by to fly him the rest of the way to Hamilton. Bad weather conditions in New York had forced his flight out of the city to be delayed. It hadn't helped matters that he was still unable to get in touch with Colby.

He gave a sigh of relief when the copter landed in the clearing on his property. It was night, and he could barely make his way through the darkness, but he didn't intend to stop until he held Colby in his arms.

A showered Colby had just slipped into her nightgown when she heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. She grabbed her robe, wondering if it was Mac returning. He usually knocked before entering.

"Colby!"

The sound of Sterling calling her name thundered loudly throughout the house. Excitement p.r.i.c.ked her every nerve. He was actually home!

Tossing her robe aside she raced out of the room. She stopped at the landing and stared down at Sterling who was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her with dark, intense eyes. She loved him so much and no matter what, she believed he loved her.

"Hi," she said quietly, watching him watch her. She had seen the relief on his face when he had seen her. Mac had been right. Sterling had actually thought there was a possibility she wouldn't be there.

"Hi, yourself," he said huskily. "We need to talk don't we?"

She nodded, knowing he was referring to the article that had appeared in the newspaper that morning. "Yes."

Sterling said nothing else for a moment but continued to look at her. He then said, "I know we need to talk, but I have some questions I need answered right now."

"What are they?"

"At anytime after seeing that picture and reading that article did you think it was true? At anytime did you doubt my love for you? And do you doubt my love for you now?"

Colby knew she had to be completely honest with both him and herself. A part of her, the part that knew and accepted she was not as beautiful and glamorous as the women he was used to dating, especially someone like Diamond Swain, had tried considering the possibility that it had been true. But she had crushed the idea before it had gotten a chance to fully take root in her mind.

"At first when I saw it, and saw you holding Diamond Swain in your arms, I really didn't know what to think, and I didn't want to believe those accusations. But then after I thought about it, I knew I couldn't believe it, and that I wouldn't believe it. I believe in my heart that you love me and there's a good reason for that picture."

Her smile was bittersweet when she continued. "At least there better be a good reason, Sterling Hamilton."

He smiled. "There is."

"Good. Now can I come down to get the hug I so badly need?" Colby asked softly.

Sterling didn't think he could possibly love her more than he did at that very moment. He needed her more than he needed his next breath. Kyle had been right when he had said Colby was a precious gem.

He held out his arms to her and she flew down the stairs toward him. He caught her, staggering a little at the force of their combined weight. No sooner was she in his arms than he captured her mouth with his, kissing her with a pa.s.sion that conveyed his love and appreciation of her trust. A part of him had been so afraid she wouldn't trust him and that she wouldn't be here when he arrived.

When he lifted his head she asked him why he had stopped. "Because if I don't stop, I'm going to end up carrying you back up those stairs and making love to you. But first we need to talk."

He picked her up in his arms and instead of carrying her up the stairs like he really wanted to do, he carried her into his study.

Colby looked up at Sterling with widened eyes. "Let me make sure I have this straight. Diamond Swain is married to your friend Jake Madaris?"

Sterling nodded, smiling. "Yes, they've been married a little over a year now. But because of Diamond's need for privacy, she and Jake are keeping their marriage a secret. There are members of Jake's family that don't even know yet."

Colby shook his head. "But why?"

"It's a long story and to tell you all of it, I'll have to go back to the very beginning and explain how Jake and Diamond met. I'm the one who introduced them, but it was never either of their intentions to fall in love."

He smiled ruefully. "It was similar to our situation. It just happened."

Sterling pulled Colby closer to him as she sat in his lap. "Diamond has always been a good friend to me, nothing more. We used our friendship to keep the media speculating about us. It served as good publicity. But there has never been anything s.e.xual between us. And after she married Jake, he suggested we continue the charade so the media wouldn't find out about their marriage. That way Diamond could keep her personal life, the one she shares with Jake, private."

Sterling turned Colby around in his lap. "When it was discovered that Rachel Hill was snorting cocaine in her dressing room, she had to go. It was Spielberg's decision, not mine, to call Diamond. She had been his first choice anyway, but Diamond had turned down the part because of a prior commitment. It was sheer luck for him that she had just finished filming in New Mexico and agreed to fly to Spain."

"When was the last time you had seen her?"

"I saw her that week I spent in Texas with Jake. She was spending a couple of weeks at the ranch with him. She had arrived the week his nephew, Clayton Madaris, got married although she didn't attend the wedding with Jake since no one knows they're married."

Sterling held Colby tight in his lap. He inhaled sharply her very special scent. "I talked to both Jake and Diamond before coming home tonight, and they're willing to make a statement to the press announcing their marriage if the article that appeared in the papers this morning has caused problems between us. I told them it didn't. But I want you to tell me how you feel about it. Diamond, Jake and I are willing to bring everything out in the open if-"

"No, that's not necessary. No matter what the papers say, I trust you and I believe in you and that's all that matters."

He leaned down and kissed her lips. "I nearly went crazy when I couldn't reach you earlier today. My mind tried convincing me of the worst, but my heart refused to believe you would have so little trust in me. But then that picture did look pretty convincing, and all I could think about was the Hamilton curse."

Colby rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing as a Hamilton curse. But there is such a thing as bad choices. I hate to say this but all the Hamilton men before you simply made bad choices."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Now getting back to that picture, where was it taken? The article claims it was taken right outside Diamond's hotel room door at three in the morning."

Sterling nodded. "Unfortunately, that's probably true. Because Diamond was thrown into things at the last minute, she hadn't had time to prepare for her part in the movie beforehand. So I volunteered to go over the script with her. Diamond is sort of a huggy person and when I was leaving, she hugged me to thank me for my help. That was all there was to it, but, of course, the papers wanted to make it out to be more than that."

He gently squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry. I just didn't think how bad something like that would look. Jake trusts me with Diamond completely, and I'm so used to not caring what others think. But now I do care what others think because I have you to think about. I don't want anyone thinking you're being made a fool of or that you're unloved."

"I've told you, Sterling, it doesn't matter what others think as long as-"

"It matters to me. You're my wife and I love you, and I want the whole world to know that. I plan to call a press conference in the morning and publicly deny I'm having an affair with Diamond."

Colby looked up at him. "That may not be necessary."

Sterling raised a brow. "Why not?"

"Because if I guess correctly, tomorrow the media's interest will be shifted from you and Diamond to Angeline Chenault."

Sterling was quiet for a moment before asking, "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that I received a call from Nicholas Chenault tonight and it appears Angeline is concerned with all the bad publicity the papers are giving you and Diamond, so she has decided to do something about it."

Sterling looked at Colby thoughtfully, making sure he was following her. "She wants to shift the media's attention elsewhere?"

Colby nodded. "Yes. She has decided to place the heat on herself. She's holding her own press conference in the morning and she's going to announce that she's your mother."

"What! Does she know what she's doing? The media will have a field day with that. They've been trying to figure out who my mother is for years. They'll start digging into her past, hounding her for information and smearing her good name."

"Yes, I know," Colby said smoothly. "And I think those are the things she's counting on happening."

Sterling looked astounded. "Why?"

"To shift the attention from you to her. By the time the papers finish broadcasting her announcement, the news regarding you, Diamond and Rachel will be old news. At least it'll take a backseat to your mother's revelation."

Sterling placed Colby out of his lap and onto the seat next to him. Then he stood and walked over to the window. Since leaving Florida he had been in contact with Nicholas daily regarding Angeline's condition. Then when Angeline had gotten better enough to talk on the phone, he had spoken to her countless times.

"I can't let her do that. She's a sick woman. Although she's no longer in the hospital, she's still not completely well. I won't let her do it."

"I told Nicholas you'd probably feel that way, but he told me to tell you that Angeline's mind is made up, and there's no stopping her. She's going to do it."

A few minutes pa.s.sed before Sterling spoke. "And she's willing to do that for me?"

"Yes, she and Nicholas both are. He'll be subjected to just as much heat from the media as Angeline."

Colby sat for a while and stared at Sterling's profile as he stood across the room. She couldn't believe he was actually there with her, and that because of his love for her he had walked off the set of his movie and immediately flown back home to her. She could feel her throat swell with the emotions she felt. She ached to tell him how much she loved him, and she ached to show him how much she loved him.

She got up and walked over to where he stood looking out the window. She knew he was thinking hard about what she had just told him about Angeline. His mind was in turmoil and she intended to soothe it in a very special way.

She curled her arms around him. "Sterling?"

"Umm?"

"Are we through talking yet?"

He turned around and slowly smiled at her and took her into his arms, bringing her closer to him. "Yes, sweetheart, we are."

She returned his smile with a seductive one of her own. "Good, let's go to bed."

Sterling and Colby had just finished making love again when the sun rose to a brilliant hue over the top of the mountains, announcing it was a brand-new day. They lay in each other's arms, happy with the love they shared for each other and at the moment, completely drained of any strength to do anything but wait to revamp their energy.

"How much longer will it be before you know something?"

Colby smiled as she entwined herself deeper into Sterling's arms. She knew specifically what he was talking about. "I could find out today. I'm a day late already."

"You don't have to find out on my account," Sterling said, smiling happily at her. "My son will be born sometime next March."

Colby chuckled. "You think so?"