Chapter 1

Todd had been on his way to the deserted air strip and private jet that was going to carry him to freedom when he had turned around. He had asked her to come with him. He had asked her to give up her life, her work, her friends everything she held dear for him. He had told her he loved her and he had meant every word. With their last kiss seared on his mind and lips, he kept replaying the scenes in his office. Trying to decide just where he had lost her. Todd knew, even if Carly hadn't said it, that she loved him and had been damned tempted to leave with him. As he drove to his destination in the car he had "borrowed" from Starr, he HAD paid for it, it hit him just why she had turned him down. Josselyn! He hadn't taken Josselyn into account. All of the times he had left when Starr was a child had programmed him to think you left your kids for their own good. Then you made it up to them when you returned. It had worked for he and Starr. But Carly was a mother.

Todd pulled up to the large house on Harbor View Drive. He waited for a half hour parked across the street from the long driveway and watched. He hadn't seen any signs of police activity or security outside of the gate. He walked up the long driveway and bypassing the front porch where he had picked her up on New Year's Eve, turned towards the back of the house. Toward the kitchen doors. While they were on the plane to Llanview to stop Blair's nightmare nuptials, Todd had overheard her on the phone with her nanny. Apparently, little Joss had turned the lock as they were leaving and they had been locked out. Todd looked to his left at the huge dormant potted plant and lifting it saw that the spare key hadn't been moved since that incident. He quickly unlocked the kitchen door and slipped inside her perfect kitchen reaching for the silent alarm that had been triggered. Remembering the pathogen scare, and Carly's words to Michael, to play her birthday, he quickly entered those digits into the system, effectively disarming it.

As he walked through the dark house, Todd realized he had never been any farther inside her home than the foyer. He wandered silently until he found the stairs and climbing them he noticed how many bedrooms there were on the second floor. But he knew immediately which was the master, only one had double doors and occupied the entire side wing. As he walked to her, something caught his eye, on the door perpendicular to the master was a pink name plate with "Josselyn" embossed in purple letters. Todd remembered a similar plaque on Starr's room in his old Penthouse. A pain stabbed him and stopped him in his tracks, would he ever see Starr again? Had Hope ever have a pink name plate? Had Danielle?

Remorse making his steps heavy in Nikolas Cassadine's too tight loafers, he entered Carly's large bedroom. At the sight of her, sprawled in the middle of her king size bed, all thoughts of his past vanished. As he gazed at her, just as he had after their lovemaking on New Year's Eve, all he saw was his future. Tonight was different the light through her windows was different, brighter, softer...something it illuminated her skin in a way he'd never seen. Carly had been naked within minutes of him getting her into his bed and she'd stayed that way until she rose from it on New Year's Day. She had been completely comfortable with his eyes on her. Her hair had tangled and covered both of them spreading across his chest. Tonight, Carly wore an ice blue nightgown that hugged her curves but kept her skin most enticingly hidden from him. All of that thick golden hair was gone now. The short chic haircut emphasized her long neck, strong jaw and high cheekbones. Todd had loved having his hands in all of that silky golden hair but he liked this new cut more.

He broke out of the trance he had been in for many minutes. Todd realized he had momentarily reverted to the creepy ways he'd established during his marriage to Tea, when he had spent countless hours watching her sleep. He had to wake her but he had to keep her quiet too. Todd knew he was going to frighten her but he didnt want the little girl next door awakened by her mother's startled screams. As he started for her, Carly shifted toward him as though her body sensed his presence.

Carly had been irritable and short tempered since her meeting with Todd. The whisper of a kiss Todd had given her right before he had walked out of her life forever still lingered on her lips. His words describing the life they could have together had bewitched her. She had allowed herself to daydream of what life with him would be like, before reality reared it's ugly head. Carly had taken her children and gone on the run before. For Sonny and for Jason. Every time a new enemy or perceived threat to their families arose, off to the island she and Michael and later Morgan would go. And look how that had turned out. Michael had been the most affected and was still suffering, healing the scars his childhood had inflicted. She, Jason and Jax had been able to mostly shelter Morgan. And her baby, Joss, would never know that life. Carly knew that Todd could trump all of her previous loves if she allowed herself to fully fall. She admitted to herself that she had fallen in love, she had realized that New Year's Eve, but if she told him, there would be no coming back from this man. She would drown in him.

After she left the hotel, she'd gone through the motions, having a light supper with Mercedes and Joss. Watching Joss shower, like her father Joss loved showers, a new quirk Carly was indulging. Then she tucked her in before she herself had taken a bath, had two glasses of Syrah and gone to bed early. Falling into a fitful dreamfilled sleep. Aching with the knowledge she would never see Todd again.

Carly awakened with a jerk, a man's hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the ones she had just been dreaming of. Todd put his mouth next to her ear and whispered,

"Don't scream, it's me, Sweetheart."

Slowly, gauging her reaction, Todd slowly removed his hand from her mouth and gently grabbed her waist. He pulled her to a seated position on her huge bed. In the process, the strap of her silk nightgown fell to her elbow exposing her right breast to not only the chilly night air but to his hungry eyes. Before Carly could reach for it, Todd who hadn't had his hands on her body in too many weeks, allowed a thumb to graze the tight peak as he reached for the strap of the silky negligee and pulled it up her shoulder effectively covering her.

"What are you doing here?" Carly hissed at him while making a concerted effort at keeping her voice low due to the proximity of Josselyn's bedroom.

Her eyes devoured him. Her hands had automatically gone to his arms for balance as he lifted her. Only Todd, while on the run would be wearing the lushest of cashmere and hand tailored wool slacks. Where had he been? SHE knew for a fact he hadn't been to his room and there were no clothes this nice left untouched after her drunken night with AJ. Had he been wearing them in his office? She honestly could only remember his eyes and his lips and his hands.

"I needed to see you one last time."