Author's Note: Please bear with me. Trying out somethig different here. A multi-chapter fic with more dialogue, more character interaction...and an actual story line! lol This is ambitious for me. Special thanks to ravenj47 and Blair, who were kind enough to let this plot bunny run rampant until I could grab it by its ears. And Blair! My buddy, you know how much invaluable your opinion and insight is.

All characters are property of Y&R. Feedback is appreciated and most welcome!

"The Price Of Trust"

Chapter One- The Set-Up

"No."

"No?"

"Oh, I'm sorry- no way in hell."

"Come on, Colleen", Victoria pleaded. "It's only one evening. It's not even a real date. We're talking about dinner at a nice restaurant, with, more than likely, a man who's as old as his family's money."

"Ancient you mean?"

"Probably", Victoria agreed. "Look, all you'd have to do is eat, I don't know, fettucini maybe, nod in the appropriate places and laugh at all of his jokes."

"Will I have to push his wheelchair?", Colleen asked seriously.

"Maybe?"

Colleen rolled her eyes. She was at the Newman ranch, lounging on the terrace with Victoria, lured outdoors by the promise of sunshine and fresh coffee. And that's when her step-mother had sprung the trap on her; it'd begun with the oh-so casual mention of the charity auction that her family was hosting. The Newman's were known for their lavish parties and fetes that they hosted for charity. This year, it was a bachelorette auction where the men of Genoa City could bid on an evening with an eligible beauty. When she'd asked questions in an attempt to make polite conversation, Victoria had pounced. Apparently, one of the women had gotten a rather nasty case of the stomach flu and wouldn't be able to participate. Which threatened to ruin the entire event, and by the way, could she maybe save the day and stand in?

"Wow, as appealing as you make it all sound, I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you down", Colleen said with false disappointment.

"Please, you know how important this is-"

"Victoria, no!" Why couldn't she just leave it alone? Why couldn't she leave her alone? "Don't you already have an army of botox barbies lined up for this thing? One less isn't going to be a tragedy."

"Sharon's never done botox. At least I don't think so", Victoria said, attempting to change tactics.

She rolled her eyes in response, but stubbronly refused to speak. Her patience was waning under the incessant needling. When the silence became heavy and awkward, Victoria sighed in defeat.

"Look, the truth is...I'm worried about you, Colleen. We all are", she said softly, reaching across the table to take her hand. For a moment, the cool mak of indifference she'd so carefully crafted, slipped when she saw the look in Victoria's eyes. The pity. She tore her gaze away, and ripped her hand from the grasp. She'd had enough pity to last a lifetime.

"You mean you feel sorry for me", Colleen said bitterly, cursing the way her voice caught on the lump of emotion in her throat. Suddenly uncomfortable and edgy, she stood up and began pacing. "You don't have to, you know. Feel sorry for me. I mean, this is what you and J.T. warned me about, what everyone warned me about", she said, her voice full of accusation. "But I didn't listen, did I? I let my feelings for Adrian blind me."

It was true. When she'd first met Adrian Korbel, she knew only two things: He was arrogant and stole coffee from unsuspecting patrons. Shortly thereafter, she also learned that he was her Medieval Art History professor, a workaholic by choice and a brutal taskmaster that expected only the very best from his students. But time would reveal other sides to her; brilliant academic, charismatic lecturer, passionate art connoisseur. And there were certain sides that he showed only to her, and they were the ones she loved best; wickedly funny, gentle...an inventive and thoughtful lover. To her, Adrian seemed a wonderful but complicated puzzle.

But there was a side to Adrian that she didn't know about. Couldn't know about, at least not then. A dangerous and secretive side. Knowing now that the same hands that had touched her so intimately had held a gun countless times made her shudder. That even as he whispered sweet endearments in her ear, he lied. That even as he coaxed such exquisite pleasure from her body, he coaxed valuable information about her family, about the Grugeon Reliquary. Her cheeks burned with the shame, and she angrily swiped the moisture from her eyes.

"Colleen?" Victoria had gotten up and now hovered beside her with concern.

"It doesn't matter anyway, not really. Not any more", she said.

"That's not true. Colleen...you have a gift. For seeing the good in people, for giving them the benefit of the doubt."

"And look where it got me!", she shouted.

"You weren't wrong about him, not entirely", Victoria said. "He saved your father...and he saved you."

"Yeah, and he only lied to my face to do it! Vicki,' she said desperately, 'everything I thought I knew about him, everything he told me, it was all lies!"

"Your father lied to me too, but for good reasons, I can see that now."

"That's completely different!" How could Victoria even compare the two? "My father never had an ulterior motive for getting close to you, he never had a conversation with you in the hopes that you'd spill information imperative to his mission!" One had nothing to do with the other. "Where is this coming from anyway? Why are you even defending him?" she demanded.

"Look, I'm just saying that sometimes, people do the wrong things for the right reasons. And that's all I'm going to say on that," she said. "I swear. But you still haven't answered my question."

"What question?" She was too tired to argue. She wanted to leave, get away from this place, away from her traitorous emotions. She didn't feel like being around anyone right now.

"About the auction?"

"I already answered that." Tired of fighting the living as well as her own ghosts, she grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and started walking towards the door. But when she reached it, a thought occurred to her. "But I'll do it. On one condition", she added. She waited until she was sure Victoria was listening. In that moment, she wasn't seeing the door she stood before or the walls of the Newman ranch, but visions of the past filled, with the spector of a man who would always haunt her.

"Never mention Adrian Korbel to me ever again."

Victoria watched Colleen get into her car. When it was nearly to the gates, she took out her cell phone and dialed purposefully.

"It's me. She just left."

Walking back out to the terrace, she stared at the afternoon sun as it began it's lazy descent.

"Well, she was pretty upset...but she'll do it." The reply on the other end was appreciative. She let out a sigh. "Don't thank me just yet. Getting her to agree to it was the easy part. The rest...is up to you."