Chapter 4 Who Is Lying Next To You
Jason lie in bed next to Liz, he could not stomach her, and he could not handle her touch. He was disgusted, he tried to see things from her point of view but he couldn't there was no excuse. He had gone to Wyndemere but Nikolas was gone, he had gone to Paris, he had no idea who Hayden was.
Jason walked along the docks he had been activated and although he tried to fight it he had to go to Helena. He hid when he spotted Hayden Barnes with her. He had arrived ten minutes early to survey the area.
"Why would you want to go back to your daughter? I have plans for you my sweet little bird. In case you hadn't noticed, you have a new face." Robin cried, she was shaking. Jason was blown away. He immediately went to her.
"Robin." He whispered, she turned toward the voice, one she did not recognize. She was frightened, she wiped her face.
"I am sorry, you have mistaken me for someone else." She said sadly.
""Oh now dear, I forgot that you have not met. Robin meet Jake Doe. The night that you and Jason were foolish enough to try to escape, my guards captured him. He escaped those incompetent fools but Ava Jerome ran right over him. As a result, he had to have complete reconstructive surgery and had no memory. He is known as Jake Doe." Robin's eyes widened as she took him in. She launched herself into his arms.
"Are you okay? Did you heal well? Any other lasting effects?" She went into doctor mode.
"Calm down, I am fine. I am fine, just under this bitch's control." Robin covered her mouth. Blue eyes met brown, a scheme brewing. Together they could beat them.
"As touching as this moment is, I must warn you. Do not get any ideas. I hold all of the cards." She pulled out her phone. "Aww little Emma is so darling. She is at a recital." Jason had to hold Robin back.
"Fly away my little bird, fly away. You have instructions." Helena played a chime. Hayden looked at Jake.
"What are you doing here? How." He looked at her his heart breaking but consumed with hate for Helena.
"Run." He told her. He needed her out of there.
Jason knew that Robin had no memory, likely the conditioning had been altered because of her being shot and losing her memory. Somehow, he knew that he could get to her, he could cause a break through. Once people knew who they were, they had a better chance of destroying Helena. Until then he had to play Jake Doe.
Liz sat up, she was scared. Jake had been acting strange. "Are we really not going to talk about what happened?"
"I don't remember. I was remembering something, it was right there. I guess I was pushing too hard. Do you know how frustrating it is to be right on the cusp? To feel it right there and not be able to grab onto it?" He lied then turned to gauge her reaction.
"Baby I know it must be hard but it is a step right? Don't push yourself so hard. You scared me." He was shocked that she lied so easily, to him. What happened to her?
"It felt like something big, something important and where before I was dealing it left me with a hole. Are you sure you can go through with this marriage where there is this huge missing chunk?" She looked confused but he saw a slight flicker of panic, 'good', he thought.
"Jake, look at me." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "I love you. Life is too short to hang on to what ifs. I love you and I can and will go through with this marriage because whatever happens, we can face it. I will stand by you." He looked at her, he smiled.
"You are so patient with me. I love you but I am beat. I am going to get some sleep okay?" She looked at him for a beat.
"It has been an exhausting day." She snuggled against him as he fought his anger.
When Liz thought that Jason was sleep she eased out of bed. He waited a moment before going to see what she was up to. She was on the phone.
"Liz, what is going on?" Nikolas asked concerned. It was late in the states, his alarms went up.
"Nikolas, Jason is starting to remember. He passed out from the onset of a memory. He doesn't remember but Nikolas something is different. He seems off and was talking about it creating a hole. He even asked me why I want to marry him. I talked him down but I am scared." Liz explained not knowing that he was listening to every word out of her lying mouth.
Nikolas stood and walked away under the curious glance of Hayden. "Okay Liz but he doesn't. Hold on to that. If it comes down to it, I will protect you. Do you understand?"
"What do you mean? Should I pretend not to know?" She asked not realizing that he couldn't talk.
"If that is what you feel. Like I said, I will protect you. I have to go." He hung up. Jason had crept back up the stairs, unheard, unseen and with any doubts he had about her involvement being gone.
"Is she the reason?" He looked at her, she looked vulnerable in that moment. She studied him.
"The reason for?" He moved to sit next to her on the bed. He took her hand in his but she moved it.
"Never mind." She smiled. "I am being ridiculous." She laughed it off.
"Liz, she is concerned with Jake's new bond with Sonny. You don't know a lot about Sonny but one of his men is the reason that you were in a coma." He said it easily. He wanted to believe it. He had ordered a test to find out for certain. In fact he needed to make a call.
"So she is getting scared. I was just trying to let her know that she has nothing to worry about." She looked at him disbelievingly.
"You and the mob? What are you the Russian Syndicate?" He laughed out loud at that.
"Of course not. I abhor what he does. However, I have resources and I can protect her and her children if need be. She is my nephew's mother. The love of my brother's life and yes she and I made mistakes. Yes I loved her but the bulk of that was me still holding on to my late wife." He ran his hand through his hair.
"Most of my decisions have been chasing away the dark parts of me. The pieces that my grandmother tried to infuse in me. What my father hoped I'd be. I am flawed, very much so but once I was stabbed in the back by my former fiancée I had to reevaluate a lot of things. I had to start being a father because I was lost. I had no real example outside of my uncle. He was the only one who gave a damn about me for me." He shook his head.
"I won't bore you with that." He smiled. "She isn't the reason. I care about you but my judgement has been, well it has left a lot to be desired. I promised myself that I would never be the fool again. You came into my life like a firestorm, all heat, passion but you had an agenda and tried hurting someone I care about. So I did not like you on principle. That changed." He ran his hand through her hair.
"Hayden, you did not let me see you then. I see you now and I like what I see. I am moving slowly to allow you to trust me and to build my trust in you." She moved closer to him.
"I guess I can appreciate that. You don't need to hide from me. I am not looking for a handout or to take advantage of you but somehow I feel like I have." There was that familiar feeling bubbling in him again, landing sickenly in the pit of his stomach.
"We took advantage of each other." She looked at him, confused by what he meant.
"What does that mean?" He sighed then decided to give her a nugget of truth.
"Liz was in love with Jake and he was falling for her. Before we found out that Ric had paid you, you and I had a dalliance. She wanted me to distract you. You were a friend so I did not see a problem with that. When the truth came out, I was angry with you but still very much attracted to you. We fought about it, we had sex. It became a cycle." She kissed him and he returned the kiss if only to keep her questions at bay. He found himself drowning in her with each kiss, each one becoming more demanding, more passionate. He gave her what she wanted, what they both did, that time there was no anger, no hate it was as pure as he could offer. As pure as she could give, it was something deeper than he had ever expected.
Hayden lay content in Nikolas' arms. "Hey" She craned her neck to look at him.
"Is for horses." She laughed at him.
"I am being serious." She caressed his face. "You are a great dad. And this whole dark passenger thing. When I look at you I see dark, in the tall dark and handsome sense but I see a good man who has had struggles, demons to conquer but a good man. Hold on to that, no matter what." He stared at her for a moment then kissed her. He was falling and try as he might, he couldn't stop it and from the looks of her she had embraced her fall.
