Chapter TEN

EJ felt Sami move against him and knew that they had to talk but just wanted a few more blissful minutes to enjoy her being in his arms again. As soon as he'd seen her EJ had lost all his reason, knowing that he had to have Sami again and thank god she'd let him. EJ wasn't exactly sure what he'd have done if she'd denied him, even though it would have been the totally sensible thing to do of course. There was still so much left unsaid between them but none of that had mattered as soon as he touched her.

"EJ," she said and he could hear the hesitancy in her voice.

"Just a little longer," he begged her, closing his eyes and pulling Sami closer to him as they lay there, sweaty bodies entwined and he breathed in deeply the scent of her.

Sami complied, lying back down and EJ felt a contentment settle down on him that he hadn't felt since the last time he'd held her in his arms like this. Eventually though Sami sat up, looking down at him seriously.

"We have to talk," she said tremulously, her voice wavering, "EJ I've got so many things to tell you that I don't know where to start..."

EJ watched as Sami nervously whet her lips, unable to stop himself from tracking the movement and feeling his body respond helplessly to her simple action despite his recent forceful release.

"I suppose you're wondering what I was doing here?" she began, a frown marring her lovely face.

"You're here to find your daughter," EJ interrupted her calmly, "To find our daughter."

Sami gave an audible gasp at that, her eyes practically falling out of her head at his words.

"Wh... what?!" she exclaimed in disbelief, "You... you knew EJ? How could you know? Why didn't you do something?!"

EJ sat up in bed then, resting his back against the headboard of the bed and turning to face Sami as she clutched the sheets to her and looked at him in confused horror.

"I only put it together recently," said EJ evenly, "I had DNA testing done and found out that Ali and Stella were half sisters. It all just fell into place for me then. It explained so much. Why you were so keen on going into witness protection, how Nicole's been acting, the anomalies in her pregnancy and the strange circumstances of Stella's birth. I looked at that little girl and just knew that she was yours Samantha, even before I had the DNA results but I hadn't dared to let myself hope before that. When the DNA results confirmed that Ali and Stella were related I realised what Nicole had done, at least in part."

"She told me she lost your baby," said Sami softly and she looked at him with such compassion as EJ felt a lump come to his throat.

"I figured that was what had happened and I'm pretty sure I know when," he said hoarsely, emotion tightening his throat at the thought of his lost child that he'd never even been given the chance to say goodbye to or mourn.

"I'm so sorry EJ," said Sami sympathetically, putting a hand to his chest comfortingly, "I can't imagine how horrible it was for you to find out that way."

EJ nodded, finding it hard to speak for a moment while the grief for the child he'd never know, never have a chance to hold in his arms washed over him.

"That was a horrible thing Nicole did keeping such a thing from you."

EJ watched as a guilty expression came over her face then.

"I know I kept my pregnancy from you," she whispered, hanging her head, "You must feel as betrayed by me as you do by Nicole."

She looked up at him pleadingly then.

"But I had a good reason..." she began, clearly desperate to explain.

"You were trying to protect this new baby from Stefano," EJ interrupted her again and earning another startled gasp at his insight.

"Y... yes," she stammered, looking at him in wonder, "I was so scared EJ, of what your father might have planned for another DiMera heir that I felt like I had to protect her from him at all costs."

"Why didn't you come to me Samantha?" asked EJ achingly, feeling the loss of sharing another pregnancy with her, "I would have protected you, kept you safe from my father."

"You're living under his roof EJ," said Sami shakily, "You were with Nicole and she'd just told you she was pregnant and we'd gotten proof that the baby was yours. I was trying to do the right thing by everyone. I hated the thought of you and Nicole being together but I knew you'd want to be there for the baby she was carrying. I know it was wrong of me to keep my pregnancy from you EJ but I was just really, really scared and I thought you were sick of me, that you didn't want me in your life anymore and that you'd truly moved on with Nicole."

"I'd tried," admitted EJ, feeling the bitter sting of regret now, "I tried so hard to make what I felt for her to be real love, to convince myself that it wasn't all about the baby she was... the baby I thought she was carrying. I imagined a life for us, one that I thought I could never have with you Samantha. She told me she loved me, reciprocated my feelings and wanted the same things I did. She wasn't indecisive about what she wanted and for a time that felt really good to have after all that I'd been through with you."

Sami looked away then and EJ could see he'd hurt her with that but EJ wanted to be totally honest with Sami now, no more lies or things unsaid between them.

"I know that you hate me EJ," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes, "And I don't blame you for it one bit. I was going to keep your daughter from you and that is as bad what Nicole has done to you."

"I don't hate you Samantha," said EJ softly, putting a finger up and turning Sami's head to look at him, his dark eyes holding her gaze steadily, "Despite my best efforts I could never hate you. And what you did wasn't like Nicole at all. You acted thinking of our child first. What Nicole did showed she only thought of herself first."

"I think she was frightened of losing you if she told you about there not being a baby anymore," said Sami, looking relieved at his reassurance that he didn't hate her.

"She should have trusted in me more," said EJ sombrely, "I wouldn't have abandoned Nicole over a tragedy like that, especially after making a commitment to her."

"I know EJ, you're not that kind of man," said Sami softly and it did things to EJ to hear her say that, to hear Sami endorse his character like that after her maligning it for so long, often deservedly so, especially in the beginning of their relationship.

They'd come so far, EJ realised but there was still more to go.

"So I know that Nicole lost our baby," said EJ, determinedly continuing on and needing to know the whole story now, "I know that you went into witness protection to hide your pregnancy from my father. I'm assuming that somehow yours and Nicole's paths crossed at some point for her to find out about your pregnancy and that was when she came up with this heinous plot of hers to pass your baby off as hers. What I can't quite figure out is why a whole month has gone by before you came for our daughter Samantha?"

"The first time I saw Nicole was just after I'd given birth in the back seat of Rafe's car," said Sami, seeming to be relieved to be able to tell someone her story at last.

"Rafe?" questioned EJ with a frown, unable to help the little stir of jealousy at the sound of another man's name on her lips.

"He was the FBI agent they assigned to protect me," explained Sami, "Anyway, I'd just given birth to our daughter and suddenly Nicole and some other guy were there. Nicole shot Rafe when he tried to protect us and then knocked me out. When I came to I was in the car and it was filling with water. Rafe somehow managed to get us both out of the car and the lake that Nicole had rolled our car into but then everything pretty much went blank for me. I woke up in a hospital bed only to find out that I've been in a coma for a month and that Rafe was in the same care facility on life support."

Sami went on to explain her next movements and the whole time EJ just sat there, stoically listening to every word. His outwardly calm demeanour gave nothing away of the terribly turmoil he was feeling inside. It was agony to listen to what Sami had gone through at the hands of Nicole. To know that Sami was lying there in a coma while EJ had been trying his best to love and reassure the very person that had put her there was a very bitter pill to swallow. He'd known something was slightly off between Stella and Nicole but had put it down to post partum blues on Nicole's behalf. The truth would have been too terrible for EJ to even begin to imagine but how he'd wished he'd listened to his feelings of unrest before now.

"So you came back to the mansion and set about getting your revenge on Nicole," said EJ calmly, "By giving her an old fashion haunting."

"How are you doing this?" asked Sami in amazement as yet again EJ astutely worked out what she'd done.

"I knew about the secret passage ways from my father," said EJ evenly, enjoying the look of awe Sami was giving him, it was nice to finally be back on top of his game again after what felt like months in a dim fog, "When Nicole started acting strangely a couple of days ago... more strangely than normal that is, I began to suspect something was up. I remembered the passage ways when Nicole seemed so certain that Mary had taken her engagement ring. It was more than just being a little muddled, she was downright shocked to see the ring on the dresser, like she knew it was impossible. I knew something had gone on between Mary and Nicole, even though Mary was too professional to say anything and it didn't seem outside the realms of possibility to me that Nicole might try and get rid of the woman by setting her up to steal something. She seemed very adamant that Mary had taken the ring and it just seemed strange to me."

"I watched Nicole put her ring in Mary's room," said Sami disapprovingly, "But I just retrieved it and put it back in her room via the hidden passage ways. I like Mary and she didn't deserve to have her name besmirched like that."

EJ had to smile at that and Sami pouted at his amusement.

"What?" she asked him challengingly and trying to look offended, "That's a word."

She hesitated then, seeming to think about that.

"Isn't it?" she asked a little hesitantly then.

"Absolutely," nodded EJ, his smile widening, "And I love that you didn't want Mary's name besmirched sweetheart."

"Are you laughing at me?" asked Sami with a bit of a frown.

"No," sighed EJ happily and felt a swell of love for the woman sitting beside him pouting so prettily, "Never."

"Mm," said Sami sceptically but obviously intrigued to hear the rest of his story, "So you were saying?"

"I was saying," continued on EJ with a smile at her eagerness to hear more, "When I saw Nicole's reaction to the ring I began to suspect that someone might be playing games with her and that's when I remembered the passage ways and knew how easy that would be if someone had a mind to do such a thing. As soon as I got confirmation that Stella must be your daughter I knew who it was toying with Nicole, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"You knew it was me?" asked Sami with an arched eyebrow, "A lot of people hate Nicole EJ, it could have been any number of people."

"Yes but this had a certain dramatic flair to it that just screamed Samantha Brady to me," said EJ with a half smile and couldn't help but marvel at the magnificence of the woman sitting across from him.

He leaned over then with a teasing look in his eye, almost whispering to her now.

"Besides," he said huskily, "I taught you that trick. Remember, after you thought you'd killed me at the cabin?"

"I remember," said Sami, wrinkling her pretty nose at him, "You scared the hell out of me EJ."

"And no doubt was the inspiration for this little game," commented EJ knowingly, regretting terribly how he'd gone about things back then.

"It might have had the smallest amount to do with it," said Sami, feigning casualness even while there was a decidedly impish twinkle in her eyes now.

The teasing faded from EJ's eyes then as he recalled what Sami had just told him, all that she'd endured at the hands of Nicole. It was still hard for him to fathom the depths of Nicole's heartlessness with all the things she'd done. Everyone had told him she was capable of such things but EJ just hadn't chosen to listen and inescapable waves of guilt washed over him knowing that.

"Why didn't you just take Stella when you came to the mansion?" EJ rasped the question, his throat tight with held in emotion over his dark thoughts.

"I couldn't do that EJ," said Sami softly, "Not once I saw you and her together. I saw how much you loved our daughter and I couldn't put you through that kind of separation that I'd just endured."

"Why not?" asked EJ bitterly, full of self loathing, "I let all this happen. You warned me from the beginning about Nicole, what she was capable of but I didn't take you seriously. I thought I could see through all her tricks and lies."

"But you did," said Sami quietly, "You got the DNA testing done and figured it all out."

"It took me long enough and in the meantime you were alone and suffering," said EJ, his voice full of remorse, "Can you ever forgive me Samantha?"

"That depends," said Sami hesitantly and EJ's heart dropped at that.

"On what?" he asked her unevenly.

"Do you still love Nicole?" she asked him and he could see real fear in her eyes as she waited for him to answer.

"No," he answered without hesitation, "I tried to make myself believe that I was but the moment I laid eyes on you again I knew I could never love anyone like I love you Samantha."

"You still love me?" asked Sami in amazement, "After everything that I did and put you through?"

"More than ever," said EJ hopelessly and knew it was true.

Sami was everything to him and he was done fighting it. Stubbornness and hurt male pride had got him this far but he could go no further. He needed Sami in his life and that was it. Every other woman would be a substitute for him and EJ just had to accept it.

"I know you don't love me Samantha," he said earnestly, "But you told me once that anything was possible..."

"I do love you EJ," said Sami, her bottom lip quivering as she said the words.

EJ gave her an incredulous look at that, not sure he'd heard her right.

"I love you," repeated Sami very definitely, seeing his disbelief, "I know it's taken me a really long time to get here and I'm sorry for that but the whole time I was in witness protection you were all I could think of and it broke my heart to think of you and Nicole being together, knowing I'd thrown away any chance of us ever being together. I realised then how much I loved you, how much I wanted us to be together but it was too late, you'd moved on."

EJ felt his heart begin to beat erratically as Sami said all the things he'd ever longed to hear from her. It was almost too much to bear to have her say those three little words to him and EJ was terrified that this was some wonderful dream that he'd be forced to wake up from any minute now.

"I'd have given anything to know that you still thought about me," Sami whispered, tears filling her eyes, "But I was so scared that you'd hate me forever once you'd found out that I'd kept my pregnancy from you. I tried so many times to tell you but something always happened and then when I found out Nicole was pregnant I knew I'd lost my chance; that we could never be together. When you rang me to tell me you were going to marry Nicole I just knew that you were done with me forever."

Sami choked back a sob then, a lone tear escaping down her cheek and it broke EJ's heart to see it.

"I wanted to believe that I was," said EJ softly, lifting a hand and brushing her tear away with his thumb as he cupped her face with one large hand, "I thought you would never love me Samantha and I couldn't stay in that desolate place forever. I needed to try and move forward with my life and that meant letting you go."

"Which you did," said Sami sadly.

"I thought I did," said EJ ruefully and he saw the hope flare in Sami's eyes, "But then I got word of your disappearance."

EJ studied her beautiful face, recalling the many long nights that he tortured himself with the fact that he may never see it again and how that had made him feel.

"I died a thousand deaths everyday you were missing," EJ whispered achingly, "It was beyond terrible sweetheart. Finding you was all I could think of but in the end you found me."

It was important to EJ for Sami to know that he would have never given up looking for her, no matter what.

"I came back to rescue our children from Nicole's clutches," said Sami softly, putting her hand to his that still held her face, "And to rescue you but it turned out I didn't need to."

"You did rescue me Samantha," EJ corrected her quietly, "I was in this living death of mediocrity, trying to convince myself that this was what a normal life was and that I could be happy with that but the truth is, I don't want normal. I don't want an easy, safe life with someone who doesn't drive me absolutely crazy every minute of every day. I don't care if it is an obsession what I feel for you, it's the only way I know how to love properly. I love you Samantha, body and soul, I always have, always will and if I'm not with you then I'm only half alive."

"EJ!" choked out Sami, clearly overwhelmed by his heart felt words.

She fell into his arms and they kissed their first kiss of declared love and it was the sweetest either had ever experienced. EJ drew her into his arms, lying back down on the bed and they simply lay there, kissing one another endlessly, taking their time to reacquaint themselves with each other and cement this new understanding between them. EJ had never been as happy in his life as he was right then. It was all he had ever dreamed of and it was coming true right there and then. Sami loved him, wanted him and even though there was a lot more to discuss between them that was all EJ needed to know right then, allowing himself to fall hopelessly into her kisses.

"Well I suppose it is time to come clean and bring Nicole down once and for all," sighed Sami breathlessly, snuggling into EJ after their marathon make out session.

"Perhaps," said EJ calmly although his breathing was laboured as well after her kisses.

"Perhaps?" repeated Sami, propping herself up on an elbow and looking down at EJ with interest, "What does that mean EJ?"

"It means that history tells us that Nicole has a habit of getting away with these things with very little consequences," said EJ thoughtfully.

"Yeah, she's the queen of Teflon to be sure," said Sami flatly.

"She tried to kill the mother of my children, stole her baby and passed it off as her own and kept me in the dark about the death of my own child," said EJ, his voice hardening as he listed off Nicole's crimes, "I'm hard pressed to imagine any punishment a court can hand down that will satisfactorily repay Nicole for her many betrayals of both of us."

"So what are you thinking?" asked Sami, arching an eyebrow at him.

"I'm thinking..." said EJ slowly before sitting up suddenly and rolling Sami over onto her back, holding himself above her and stealing a kiss.

Sami giggled and returned his kiss whole heartedly, holding nothing back from him. Finally EJ broke the kiss, looking down at the flushed, gorgeous woman underneath him.

"You're thinking that it's time for a little payback?" asked Sami breathlessly, her eyes lighting up at the prospect.

EJ loved seeing Sami like this, full of scheming life and felt his body respond to it helplessly.

"Could be," said EJ playfully.

"Is it wrong that the thought of us getting our revenge on Nicole together really turns me on?" asked Sami mischievously.

"Yes it is my wicked girl," growled EJ, settling himself more fully over the top of her.

Sami's eyes widened as she felt the proof of EJ's returned arousal against her thigh.

"Hm," she said purred, rubbing her body against his knowingly and eliciting small groans of approval from him, "It's seems to me we're going to have to be wicked together then."

"I think you may be right Samantha," said EJ, his eyes flaring with renewed desire for her.

Any feelings for Nicole EJ had ever felt had been killed the instant he'd worked out what she'd done. To keep the death of his baby from him was one thing, he could almost understand her fears but to go ahead and do all the other things she'd done, it was too much. The relentless lies as he'd opened himself up to her wholly, wanting to be honest with her had been turned into nothing more than a mockery with all of Nicole's deceptions.

She'd played him for a fool and then worst of all had been what she'd done to Sami and Stella. To separate a mother and daughter after Nicole had gone through a miscarriage herself and understood what that felt like but to still do it anyway to another woman, it was beyond soulless. EJ realised then that he'd never really known Nicole at all, despite thinking he had. He'd fallen in love with a fantasy, a life he thought she could offer him but none of it was real and as soon as he'd realised what Nicole had done any feelings other than loathing and disgust for her had simply evaporated.

"So what's the plan?" she asked him just as EJ bent his head to kiss her, wanting to banish thoughts of Nicole from his head by tasting Sami once more.

"I was thinking..." said EJ, his lips so close to claiming hers now that they brushed tantalisingly over hers as he spoke, torturing them both, "How would you like to come to a wedding Miss Brady?"

Both of Sami's eyebrows shot up at that, clearly intrigued. EJ could see right away that she knew what he had in mind and saw the mischievous delight in her eyes.

"Why Mr DiMera," she said huskily, "I'd love to but whatever shall I wear?"

EJ looked down at the woman who matched him in every possible way and grinned at her response. He kissed her again then and knew that he'd truly found his home.