Alexis the Surrogate

Chapter 20

Jason rolled over in his bed and woke up in relief to see Sam sleeping next to him. He rubbed his eyes hoping he wasn't dreaming until his pounding headache forced him to lie back down.

Sam couldn't sleep either. She felt him move. She looked at the clock and realized it was too early for either of them to be awake.

"Bad dream?" She asked him.

Jason sat up in bed. "Your mother manages to talk me into drinking wine. I hate wine so much. But I need it to get through my visits with her."

Sam sat up and looked at him disapprovingly. "Don't be mean. I kind of had too much myself."

"At Wyndemere?"

Sam wasn't ready to go full disclosure with him. "Yea. Nik invited me over for dinner with Spencer."

"I don't get how you can stand that place. It's like me going to the Quartermaine's."

"Since Elizabeth doesn't come around anymore, Spencer misses having a mother-figure."

Jason eyed Sam with suspicion. "That's good that you can do that for him. I sometimes forget that Courtney was Spencer's mother."

"You've lost so many people in your life. How would you feel if you got a second chance to be with the people that you thought you lost?" Sam asked.

Jason took a moment to think. "Depends on who it is? I mean, I loved Courtney once. For Spencer's sake, I'd like her to come back. But it's you I truly love and I know nothing will ever change that."

Lorenzo arrived home again. But it didn't feel the same. He started to walk out the door to take his daily walk on the beach and take in the ocean breeze, but he felt unsafe and exposed to the world again.

He sat down at his desk and kicked his feet up. Staring at the rows and rows of paintings all of the women that he claimed to love, he reflected on one thing that he said to Sam—that he loved Natasha very much.

Over the years, he had claimed to love many women. There was a Maria, a Sophia, there was Lois, there was Carly, and there was Skye. He tried to figure out where Natasha fell in his lineup of love. He thought to himself that maybe he used the term love too loosely.

He thought of Sam. It could never work. Between Sonny, Jason, Alexis, and even Jax, there was no way he'd be able to penetrate the fortress of protection that surrounded Sam. He decided in that moment that no matter the test results, it was best not to even try.

Sam walked into her office and found Spinelli in a trance over his computer munching on BBQ chips.

"Hey Spinelli." Sam snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He jumped from his chair. "Fair Samantha. I apologize for I haven't gotten much sleep."

"I guess nobody's sleeping much."

"Indeed." Spinelli sat back down at his computer.

"I need something from you." She said.

Spinelli put down his bag of chips and gave Sam his undivided attention.

"You have loyalty to Jason even more than me correct?"

Spinelli scratched his head. "Uh, I've never thought of it that way. I mean you and Stone Cold are typically on the same page. If that makes sense?"

"Not for this one. I need you to promise me that you will not breathe a word to Jason of what I'm about to say. You do…" Sam grabbed Spinelli's collar. "And I will kill you."

Sam released Spinelli shocked and mildly appalled by her threats.

"Please proceed Fair Samantha."

"I found my father."

Spinelli bit at his nails. "Do tell?"

"And I need your help telling me where he lives."

Spinelli grabbed his chest knowing the danger that would entail. "Uh. Sure. More information please?"

"This is the part that Jason can't know. Lorenzo Alcazar is my father and he's alive."

Spinelli wanted to throw up. Instead he took a couple deep breaths. "Oh Dear. That's not cool Fair Samantha. The Goddess Mother would not approve of this venture."

"I had a life before Stone Cold and The Goddess Mother and I fully intend to live it."

Spinelli grabbed Sam by the arms. "Did Helena do this you? I've never seen you soo…I don't know…determined to do something so dastardly dangerous. Fair Samantha, we've been through so much together. You know Darth Alcazar is my former boss and he's ruthless to the core."

Sam pried Spinelli's hands from her shoulders. "I'm going to go to Jason and I'm going to tell him that you and I have a case wherever you find out my father lives. I'm going to go to Nik and ask to borrow his private jet to take us there. You will tell Jason nothing."

Sam held up her phone. "I want the location in an hour. I'm going to Wyndemere now."

Sam grabbed hold to the doorknob to leave. "Any questions?"

Spinelli's face winced with indecision. "Yes Fair Samantha. I will do my best."

Sweat poured down Spinelli's face, but he sat back down at his computer and consumed the last of his orange soda before pounding the keyboard.

"I can't do this." He said to himself as he stared at the screen to make a decision.

Alexis wanted nothing more but to focus on her cases. She put on her glasses to start, but her desk phone rang.

"Blocked caller. We don't like blocked callers." She pulled off her glasses and answered the phone. "Hello? Who is it?"

All she could hear was the sound of seagulls and breathing. She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it. "Hello?" The caller hung up.

Sonny walked into her office with a brown bag in his hand. "I brought you lunch."

Alexis looked at her watch. "Well mighty generous of you, but it's still morning."

"I brought you brunch."

Alexis took the bag and said a small prayer before opening it.

"Hold on. What's with the prayer hands?" Sonny asked as he took a seat.

"I'm saying grace."

"Bull!"

Alexis laughed. "I'm praying it's not soup. Again. I can't take it anymore. The soup is torture."

"It's from Kelly's. I will take the soup out of rotation for a couple weeks…"

"A couple months." She interjected. "I just got a weird call from a blocked caller. I rarely get those."

"Want me to have Spinelli check it out?"

"Probably just a wrong number, but my suspicions are heightened."

Lorenzo slid his phone into his pocket and continued his walk on the beach. He looked ahead and saw a recognizable homeless-looking man sitting against a pile of large rocks.

"Lorenzo!"

He approached the man. "You're still invading my space Franco."

Franco pulled the hoodie from his head. "I respect you. I respect you enough to not be in your house without your permission. I love it out here. It's beautiful. I love the sand between my toes."

"The only thing we have in common."

"You've never killed anyone?" Franco asked.

"Of course I have."

"So what makes you any better than me?"

Lorenzo sat down next to Franco. "Not much."

"Wasn't trying to be a smart-ass. Just want you back in the game."

"You're gonna get caught eventually."

"I might go into retirement."

Lorenzo laughed. "What does that mean? Jason's gun doesn't discriminate."

"This last one? Dr. Niles. I kind of felt bad for her. She had no clue what she was getting herself into."

"Why did you kill her?" Lorenzo asked.

"I needed her to screw up Jason and Sam's kid and I'm waiting to find out if she succeeded. She was a chirping bird I could tell."

Lorenzo grew uneasy.

Franco slapped Lorenzo on the back. "Cheer up Mate! Hopefully I did you a solid. Don't get all Daddy on me now."

Sam was amazed at how comfortable she was at Wyndemere. She no longer needed to get permission. Nik had her cleared to be there whenever she wanted. She ended up in the dining room where she waited until Robin showed up.

"Thanks for coming." Sam greeted Robin with a hug.

"Still waiting for results."

"I called you because I figured you'd understand what I'm going through. Anna was presumed dead when you were a little girl right?"

Robin nodded. "It sucked. We missed out on so much time."

"What was it like when you found each other again?"

"Awkward. My mom is very independent and it was like she lost her maternal instincts. We're still working on our relationship. Do you really want a relationship with Lorenzo?" Robin's voice was filled with concern. "My mom wasn't a bad person. But Lorenzo is. He's hurt a lot of people. I just don't know that you want to be involved in that."

"Sonny hurt people. Jason has hurt people." Sam said.

"True. I will keep my mouth shut about this whole thing. And I will support you in whatever decision you make. But I think you and I both know how those test results are going to come out."

Spinelli spotted Nik on the docks.

"Princely One!" He chased him down. "Are you leaving for Wyndemere or coming from?"

Nik seemed irritated by the question. "I'm returning. Why do you ask?"

"I must stop Fair Samantha from making a mistake of epic proportions."

"Of what capacity?"

"Is the Princely One aware of…?"

"I am." Nik stated without missing a beat. "Sam wants to use my private jet and I've told her she's welcome to whatever resources I can offer."

"Even though it's dangerous?"

Nik looked up and noticed a shadow on the sun-drenched wall. "We won't discuss this further here. You're welcome to take the launch with me to Wyndemere and we can discuss it there."

Spinelli agreed and followed Nik to the launch.

Jason waited until they were out of sight to come out and watch Spinelli and Nik go back to Wyndemere.