Also, I'd like to note that I do not own NBC's Days of Our Lives or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
I hope you like my story and please don't forget to review...
Chapter One :::
Lawrence Alamain was a man tortured by the darkness of his past. When he was a little boy of eight, something horrible happened in the family pool. He and his little brother Forrest were swimming one summer's day. A nanny was supposed to be watching them, but she mysteriously disappeared just before the incident occurred. After playing with his brother in the pool, Forrest was found by his Aunt Vivian, floating facedown and drowned. Lawrence was traumatized and always blamed himself. His Aunt Vivian began giving him pills to help him forget. And the incident coupled with the loss of her youngest son left Lawrence's mother, Philomena in a deep state of depression. She stayed in her room constantly and hardly spoke again after Forrest's death. Leopold Alamain tried to comfort his wife, but her grief was so great, she eventually withered away and died shortly after Lawrence's tenth birthday.
Lawrence grew up haunted by his brother's death, saddened by his mother's depression, and shaped by his father's greed for wealth and power. Deep inside of him something was missing, but he had no idea what it might be. Then when he turned 18, his father announced he was to be married. He had entered his son into a prearranged marriage to Katerina VonLoushner, the daughter of the wealthy and powerful Henri and Kyra VonLoushner, and in 8 years, on Katerina's 21st birthday, Katerina and Lawrence were to be wed. Lawrence wasn't sure about marrying a young woman he did not know but when he was 22, he hired a private detective to snap some photos of his bride-to-be. Lawrence fell in love with the young woman he saw in the photograph. He couldn't wait to marry her and make her his bride. Yet he was told by the man he hired that Katerina hated him and everything his name stood for and she had vowed never to marry him. Lawrence was horrified by the thought of losing her and never marrying her, so he devised a plan to make Katerina fall in love with him, so she would never leave him. Katerina, now 16, was attending boarding school in Paris, France and was sharing a room in the dorms with her best friend Jennifer Rose Horton. Lawrence sent Katerina an invitation to meet him for dinner, despite the fact their parents would be upset and angered that they had met one another before the wedding.
When Katerina got the message from Lawrence, she was outraged. She hated the man and all he stood for. She had heard the many stories of his womanizing,
his evil deeds, and his ruthless greed for power. She wanted nothing to do with Lawrence Alamain and she swore she would run away before the wedding date,
so she wouldn't have to be his unwilling bride. Jennifer, seeing Katerina's distress, agreed to put on a dark wig and stand in for her best friend so that Lawrence would be fooled and he would not have a meeting with his actual betrothed bride. Katerina thought if she fooled him, later she could just "disappear," changing her identity and would not be forced into marrying him. She was determined that he would never see her face, but little did she know that he had seen her photographs and that hers and Jennifer's plan would not succeed.
At first Lawrence was angered and slightly baffled when Jenn stood in for Katerina during their dinner. He knew immediately that this was not the young woman he was intended to wed. He put on a good act though, making Jenn think she had fooled him. When Jennifer returned, Katerina questioned her about the meeting. Had they fooled Lawrence? Jennifer told Katerina that the plan had worked, Lawrence truly believed Jennifer was Katerina, his bride-to-be, and she told Katerina how handsome and charming he was, and that he didn't seem so ruthless, evil, or disgusting. Katerina wasn't so easily charmed by Jennifer's description of Lawrence, especially when Jennifer described the heated and passionate kiss Lawrence had given her. Katerina felt nauseated, thinking that Lawrence had thought himself to be kissing her. Her hate for the man only grew stronger, almost to the point of suffocating her.
Since asking Katerina to join him for dinner did not work, Lawrence began scheming once again, intent on meeting Katerina and making her fall in love with him in hopes she would agree to marrying him and would not ever leave him. Finally an idea came to him, once he discovered that Katerina would be leaving the boarding school for the day to meet her younger brother Francois at a Paris Museum. His plan was to meet her there instead, introduce himself as James (a man seemingly different from his true self), and sweep her off her feet so she would fall in love with him. He never thought ahead to the time when he'd have to tell her the truth. Instead he could only think of the present and having Katerina for his own.
Lawrence stood beside Katerina on the 4th floor of museum where she was admiring a beautiful oil painting while waiting to meet up with her brother. He stood there at a slight distance, gazing at her, entranced with her beauty. Finally he approached. "Hello there, my name is James... I don't think we have met..." he spoke, giving her a charming smile.
As they stood there, speaking to one another, there was an instant spark between them, and it wasn't long at all until Katerina had warmed up to him. They spent the whole day together, since Katerina's brother didn't show up afterall.
Secretly, Francois hadn't sent the message at all; it had been Lawrence as it was all part of his plan to get Katerina alone somewhere and meet up with her. "Katerina, you are a very beautiful young woman. I'd like to go out with you again, get to know you; that is if you don't have someone else in your life," Lawrence said as they stood right outside of her dorm after their day at the museum.
Katerina assured him that there was no one, thinking fleetingly of Lawrence, the man she was supposed to marry, yet despised, and told him that 'yes', she'd love to go out with him again. Lawrence was thrilled with her words and very slowly his lips met hers in the softest of kisses, just a soft brush of his lips against hers. "I'll see you soon, Katerina," he promised.
And that his how their romance began...
In the days ahead, Lawrence sent her messages to meet him at the park. They'd spend the whole day together, and she found him to be very romantic, often reading her poetry or arranging picnics for the two of them. Other times he took her to bistros or ballroom dances. And as time went on, he asked her to go with him to his Villa to spend a weekend. "I know you are only 16, but I want to be with you... and I cannot wait a moment longer," he said. "Will you go with me to my Italian Villa by the sea?" And it seemed when he spoke those words, he was asking her for so much more than just this, because if she said 'yes', there would be no turning back. She would be his. His Forever.
Katerina was finding it hard to resist such an invitation; James was just so incredible. She knew she couldn't go away with him but she guessed since there was no one to stop her now, why not?
"Yes," she said with a bright smile." I will go with you to your villa."
It all sounded so romantic, James and an Italian Villa. She was looking forward to this now, very much.
Lifting Katerina up into his strong arms, Lawrence hugged her tightly, ecstatic with her answer. "I'll arrange everything, and I will pick up in the morning. You won't regret this, Katerina. I promise." He then lowered his lips to hers, once again kissing her, but this time more passionately. He then walked her back to her dormitory.
He went back to his hotel room, making plans for their getaway at his Villa in Italy. He knew if his father ever found out, he'd be furious, but he really didn't care. He wanted Katerina, and he'd have her. To hell with his father.
His father had no clue what Lawrence was up to, but Vivian did, and she sent her spies to Lawrence's villa to find out what her nephew may be doing. She had always been somewhat like a mother to Lawrence, especially after his mother had been unable parent him. But Vivian was evil and conniving, and she didn't want just anyone to be in her nephew's life. She knew that one day Lawrence would marry Katerina VonLoushner, but she swore she wouldn't allow the marriage if she found she did not like the girl. No one was good enough for her dear, sweet Lawrence.
Lawrence arrived in his limo the following morning to get Katerina and they could leave for their trip to Italy. Little did they know that Vivian's spies were already there, awaiting their arrival.
"Rest, Love. We have a long drive ahead of us," said Lawrence as he and his beloved relaxed in the backseat of the limo. Lawrence poured her a glass of wine, handing it to her. He gazed at her with his greenish-hazel eyes, thinking her beautiful and amazing. Was she falling in love with him? He truly hoped so because he loved her with his every breath.
He wrapped an arm around her, holding her as he sipped his own glass of wine. By sundown, they would arrive at his Villa in Italy... and tonight he was determined to make her his.