After the torrid tango with my Uncle Tony, I spent the rest of the night more or less freaking out.
As much as the thought sickened me, I could no longer avoid the truth. I was convinced that Tony was following in the footsteps of his father and trying to turn me into his long-lost Renee come back to life!
The clues were all there. All of the expensive clothes in the armoire, silken fabrics of purples and blues...that made me look exactly like her. The way Tony seemed to have me taken me under his wing so readily when I was a stranger to him. The incredible stories he told me about Andre and EJ that were simply too wild to be believed. And then there were the white roses...
Perhaps those flowers had disturbed me most of all…
Sleep was impossible as the memory of our post-dance clinch kept replaying over and over in my mind.
I was not only afraid of Tony Dimera but of myself. Never had I felt so out of control of my emotions before. Never had I been so attracted to anyone before. It was as if Tony were the only man in the world who had ever existed for me…and ever would.
Perhaps Renee's haunting had truly sent me over the edge. After all, wasn't she the one responsible for my irrationality, force feeding erotic dreams in my psyche at night, causing me to lose hours of sleep, making me want her lover against my will?
OK, so I was crazy. But what was Tony's excuse?
He knew I was his niece. Yet he had intended to kiss me last night, completely oblivious to the incest involved!
I could not trust him. I could not trust myself.
Bart was right. This was all wrong and disgusting. And I could not stay here. It was simply a bad scene.
I made up my mind what I would have to do. And I knew it would not be pretty...
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Steeling my shoulders, I resolutely walked down the hallway toward the dining room in the morning. I was wearing the most utilitarian clothes in the armoire that I could muster up. A plain lilac silk shirt, a pair of tan pleated pants and the flattest sandals I could find. Still, if I found myself in a situation where I would need to make a run for it, it was not going to be easy with the apparel I had to work with.
Tony was dressed all in white, looking ravishingly handsome as he sipped at a cup of tea. But he must have sensed that something was wrong.
"Good morning, Tony," I said grimly, unable to even work up a fake smile.
"Good morning," he answered cautiously. "I apologize about Bart's intrusion last night. Rest assured, I chastised him soundly for his rudeness. He shall not bother us again."
"I'm not angry at Bart."
"But something is wrong?"
I took a deep breath, deciding it was best just to plunge ahead.
"Tony, I appreciate your hospitality in letting me stay here and your gallantry in trying to save me from EJ and Andre and Stefano and whoever else is out to get me. Please do not think that I am ungrateful for all that you have done for me. But I don't think this arrangement is going to work out."
"Indeed?"
Tony seemed pretty cool under the circumstances. At least, he hadn't thrown a dagger at my throat yet.
I swallowed hard, determined to continue.
"The fact of the matter is I am not cut out for a life shut away from the world like this. I'm a reporter. I don't like just sitting around and..."
"If it's exercise you want, you're free to use my gymnasium at any time..."
I sighed with exasperation.
"That's not the point, Tony!"
He wasn't going to make this easy for me. I could see that.
"I-I-I've…" Oh, no, I wasn't going to start stuttering again! "I've just decided that I don't want to stay here." There, I'd said it.
A tense quietness loomed between us. Well, not entirely quiet. I could hear my heart pounding a mile a minute!
"So let me see if I understand you correctly," Tony started, putting down his cup of tea. "You would rather end up dead than stay down here for one more moment in my company? Is that it?"
He gave me a glare that was positively nasty!
"Look, you don't have to make this unpleasant," I said. "It's not personal."
"I thought we were getting on very well together, Leigh," Tony said, ignoring my excuses. "Is there something you need? Something you want? Just ask for it. It's yours!"
His voice was edged with a sort of desperation that I was not accustomed to hearing from him in the short time that I had made his acquaintance.
And it scared me.
"This isn't any sort of bargaining ploy, Tony," I said. "I'm not that sort of person. I just want my freedom."
"I see..."
"You said that I was free to leave here if I chose to do so. Well, I am making that choice. I promise I won't divulge any of the secrets that you've told me. And if something happens to me, I absolve you of any guilt or responsibility. So please have Bart show me the way out..."
Tony calmly lifted up a piece of toast, taking a bite out of it.
"I lied," he said simply.
There was a long silence between us.
"You lied?"
"Yes, Leigh! Yes!" Tony answered, throwing down his toast viciously. "I'm a big bad Dimera and I lied! It won't be the first time and sure as hell won't be the last! That can't possibly surprise you!"
I felt a panic attack coming on. Foolishly enough, I was surprised.
"So you're keeping me here against my will?" I asked incredulously. "I'm your prisoner?!"
"I'm saving you from getting yourself killed, whether you want my help or not!"
"Oh, right!" I stormed about, ready to smash the million-dollar porcelain tea set against one of the walls of the dining room. "Whatever! If you lied to me about allowing me to leave here, what else have you lied about? I don't think that EJ or Andre is after me at all! I think you made all of that stuff up! Everything! Being attacked by a tiger! Ha! You probably got those scars in one of your numerous jail breaks! I think you trapped me into coming here and you forced Celeste to bring me to you!"
"You may think whatever you like..." Tony said. As he shrugged, his face was blank and his manner as cold as ice.
I paced about anxiously, feeling like I was going to explode in fury.
"You think I don't know what you're really trying to do?"
"I am sure you will enlighten me...since you seem to know everything."
"You're trying to bring Renee back from the dead!"
"Oh, dear God!" he raged.
I was satisfied to see his anger. At least now, I wasn't the only upset one in the room!
"You think I can't tell? Dressing me in these clothes that make me look like her? Giving me a bouquet of white roses...her favorite flowers? The way you've been inappropriately coming on to me?"
"You shouldn't be a reporter," he spouted. "You should write trashy suspense novels with that wild imagination of yours!"
"Oh, I don't think it's so far-fetched!" I responded, forging on. "Like father, like son, isn't it? Everyone was right about you! Just like Stefano tried to turn Hope Brady into Princess Gina, you're trying to turn me into Renee!"
Tony stood up from the table, glaring at me with fiery eyes.
"You are completely hysterical and out of your mind," he said calmly as he started to walk towards the hallway. "I cannot bear to hear any more of this nonsense. Why don't you take a few moments to compose yourself..."
Oh, I hated him!
I hated Tony Dimera with his snobby airs and his patronizing attitude and his manipulative nature and...!
"DON'T YOU DARE WALK OUT ON ME!" I cried out, rushing at him, almost ready to strike him. "DON"T YOU DARE!"
Violently, he grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me.
"MY GOD, DO YOU THINK I WANT YOU HERE?!" he roared at me. "I was doing just fine here until you showed up, digging into matters that were none of your affair!"
"Then let me go...please..." I begged.
Tony answered by pulling me roughly against him, kissing me harshly on the mouth.
I should have fought against him. His kiss was meant to intimidate, to humiliate and punish me. Any woman in her right mind would have fought against him...
But God help me in my madness, I kissed him back.
Even though the pressure of his mouth hurt with his teeth digging against my lips, I ravaged his mouth back with a wild hunger all my own. The smell and the feel and the taste of him...everything about him was pure addiction. I was unable to hold back my sensual moan as I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the hard muscles of his back through his white silk shirt.
Tony tensed up in surprise, pulling away from me as if I had scorched him.
"Why don't you slap me?" he rasped, his eyes glazed over in shock. "I was a brute! A cad! You should slap me..."
"I don't want to slap you…" I whispered in answer.
Taking Tony's face in my hands, I kissed him over and over again, tracing his scar with my fingertips tenderly. He sighed raggedly as he embraced me. Running my fingers through his black hair, I buried my face in his neck, inhaling deeply of his intoxicating scent...
Maybe I was destined to be this way. I was a Dimera...and insanity was in my blood. It felt so good to stop fighting against what was meant to be.
Tony stroked my hair, holding me close.
"What is happening to us?" Tony asked softly. "I don't understand this..."
Reluctantly, I turned away from him, horrified by what I had just done.
"Tony, we have to stop this!" I cried out in a panic. "It's wrong! You're my uncle!"
"Your uncle?" he asked, almost absentmindedly. "Oh, yes...of course I am..."
Tony Dimera then began to laugh in a demented fashion, practically having a meltdown before my eyes. The walls echoed with his horrible laughter.
"I'm your uncle...and you're my niece. Oh, how could I have forgotten?"
He continued to laugh.
And I wanted to kill him!
"My God!" I gasped. "They were right about you! Everyone was right! You are crazy!"
"Oh, what a brilliant deduction! Give the girl a Pulitzer Prize!"
"You're sick, Tony!" I yelled. "That blood disease has messed up your mind! I'm not Renee!"
Tony's laughter stopped abruptly.
"I am not the only one at fault here, Leigh, and you know it! Don't pretend like you didn't enjoy that kiss! And don't pretend that you didn't kiss me back!"
Then he added a vicious retort.
"And believe me, I am very aware that you are not Renee!"
Hurt and humiliated, I ran back to the guest bedroom, sobbing.
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In the crazy weird windowless bunker, I had no idea how long I stayed in my guest bedroom. It must have been several days. Endless days of pacing and crying...
I cried for myself, for being so headstrong and stupid, for not listening to Jack and Jennifer...and getting myself mixed up in all of this craziness of the Dimera Curse...and I was truly a believer in that curse now...
I cried for Renee, being ruthlessly murdered, her soul restless and suffering...
And I cried for Tony and the man that he had once been. It seemed like he had truly lost his mind and had become just like his father. Whether he was innocent of some of the more heinous Dimera crimes or not, there was no avoiding the fact that Tony was insane...
We were both insane.
"Hey, Daniels!!!" There were several bangs on the door. "Lunch time!"
Try as I might, I knew that my self-imposed hunger strike was of no use. I simply could not bear my stomach growling any more.
I sulked as I opened the door. Bart stood before me with a turkey sandwich. The sight of it made my mouth water in agony.
"It's about time!" the goon said. "I thought I was gonna have to stick an IV in you or something!"
I grabbed the sandwich and took a large chomp out of it.
"Look, lady..." Bart started. "Things can't go on this way. The Boss is going completely bonkers and taking it out on me!"
I shrugged indifferently, chewing at the delicious sandwich.
"So? I thought you wanted me away from him. That's what you said."
Bart shook his head.
"This is all whacked out. I just don't get it. Couldn't you just talk to him maybe? Calm him down a bit or something?"
"We don't seem to be a very calming influence on each other," I noted. "Besides, there's no lock on the door. If Tony wants to see me, there's nothing stopping him."
Bart sat down at the chair by my dressing table, oblivious of formality or manners.
"No, he's a proud guy. I don't think he's gonna make the first move."
"Well, it seems we're at a bit of an impasse, doesn't it?"
"An im-what?"
"Never mind. Where is he now?"
"Having one of his fencing sessions of his..."
"Really?"
There was a desperate plan cooking in my brain. I looked at my watch. Eleven o'clock.
"He has these sessions every day, doesn't he?"
"Yup. Never takes a day off. Never."
So at eleven o'clock tomorrow, I could make my move.
"Are you up to something?" Bart asked suspiciously.
"No," I answered with innocent eyes. "Not a thing."
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Eleven o'clock the next day, I finally left the guest bedroom. Dressed in a simple blue blouse and tan skirt, I quietly ventured over to the living room. I knew that Tony had a laptop computer in that room. Back on that first day when we were actually on speaking terms, I had seen him using it although he was very mysterious about what he was doing at the time.
I tentatively pressed a button on the keyboard. There was no password or security lock on it. Very careless of him.
And then I hesitated.
Maybe this was all too careless. Was I only setting a trap for myself?
I had to take that chance, I decided. It was just too upsetting and maddening to stay here like this.
Going to the London Spectator website, I used a secret username and password, getting into their system.
I sent a private e-mail to to the editor:
Such fun basking under the Celestial skies...
P.S. There's no crying in baseball...
I hoped Jack read his own e-mail. If either Vern or Harold received this, they would surely think it was from some crackpot and delete it. Jack or Jennifer might figure out that it was from me...and that I was trying to say that Celeste was the clue to finding me. The baseball thing was just a definite hint to Jack that it was from me. It was a stretch of an escape plan, but I had to do something.
Quickly, I sent the e-mail and exited the website, trying to leave the laptop just as I had found it.
Heart pounding, I stood up and headed for the hallway...only to run smack into Tony Dimera!