Before the Dawn
Chapter 32
EJ briefly watched Kate walk up the stairs after she had dropped that bombshell, thinking he would have to have a quick change of plans this evening. God damn that bitch to hell. This is just fucking great. So not the way I wanted Samantha to hear out about Kate gaining joint custody of Allie.
He was furious, but with Arianna being in the house with him and his need to keep her believing he was a good man, one that was simply misunderstood by everyone, he had to keep the ruse up with her. With that thought in mind, EJ went back to her, giving her the most aggrieved face he could manage on such short notice.
Luckily Arianna hadn't followed him out when he had blindly went after Samantha, an action of his that he still couldn't quell. He found Arianna standing by one of the windows looking out of it. She turned to give him a smile and a part of him instantly felt bad for having to use her like he was doing and would continue to do, but she was vital to his plans.
"Is everything all right EJ?"
EJ tightly held onto the ransom note for Arianna to plainly see, "I wish it were, but of course things are complicated…" He let his voice trail off and looked down at the ransom note again for emphasis.
"I can help if you let me," she began, but EJ immediately shook his head.
"Arianna, I need to talk this out with Samantha since we are Sydney's parents. I apologize for our evening being cut short, but if you don't mind I need to work on this with her, even if things are very strained between us. I'll have Chance drive you home."
Arianna reached out a hand to him which EJ accepted readily, "I understand, maybe another time?"
"Most definitely another time, I promise to make it up to you. I…I don't know what I would do if I didn't have your friendship."
Arianna took that as a positive sign and she went up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, "You'll always have me in your corner. No one can make me change my mind about you."
"Thank you," EJ sweetly kissed her hand before he let go of it and exited the room, thinking at least all wasn't lost with Arianna, if anything them being together for only a short time tonight seemed to only made her more determined to stand by him. He found Harold in the hall where he knew the man would be because how else would he know exactly what was going on with his entire family? He didn't even have to instruct Harold to inform Chance to take Arianna home since he told EJ he would be sure Miss Arianna found her way safely home.
The man was definitely getting a substantial raise in his next pay check. Since Harold had been successful in diverting Kate away from breaking in on him and Samantha today to knowing exactly what needed to be done for Arianna. At least EJ could count on one person in this household, well make that two because he had convinced Mary to come back to be a nanny once more to the children.
But right now, he had to go find Samantha before she did something in retaliation to the news of him helping Kate with the paperwork for Allie's temporary custody. Well at least Kate hadn't blabbed he had been the mastermind behind it all which would have made it even worse.
Somehow he had to convince Samantha he was still on her side in this, that he had only done it as a last resort. He smiled as it came to him; he knew exactly what he would say.
Now he had to find that woman, calm her down and convince her was in her best interest.
*Before the Dawn*
Sami stalked out into the darkness, so furious she was shaking. After she had almost tripped up for the second time she realized she shouldn't have parked so far away from the mansion. At the time when she arrived earlier she hadn't wanted to pull up to the circular drive in case she had found EJ in some kind of compromising position with Arianna.
Sami hated to admit it even to herself, but her pride was hurt that EJ could go from what they had shared this afternoon to spending time with Arianna. To make it worse she thought she was going to cry when EJ had kissed Arianna on the cheek.
"EJ is such a stupid fucker," Sami muttered not looking where she was going and then she finally fell down. She took off her shoes; the heel was broken on one of them.
"Great, just fucking great!"Now she had ruined one of her most favourite pair of shoes, another bad mark was going on her list for EJ. This was his entire damn fault.
Sami managed to get up, shoes in one hand as she eventually spied her company car, a bright red Mercedes SL Roadster Madison had given to her for her use with company business. Tonight Sami hadn't wanted to drive to her apartment to exchange vehicles. Well at least she could leave here and go for a long drive, hopefully that would clear her mind.
She had almost made it to her car when she heard him calling her name. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she loved that he called her Samantha and hearing his voice stalled her from getting into her car and tearing off into the night.
"Damn it Samantha, why did you park this far away from the mansion?"EJ asked when he finally came close enough to see her.
For moment Sami wanted to pretend she hadn't even heard him approach, but her waiting to leave after he had called out for her now made her escape impossible. Yet she didn't turn around to face him, she doesn't want him to see how upset he has made her, how angry she is with herself as well.
"Samantha?" EJ speaks in a kinder tone, one in which she could almost believe he cared for her and that made it even harder to turn around and face him. She quickly swiped under her eyes in case there were any stray tears on her cheeks and then straightened up her spine.
Her movements to compose herself weren't lost upon EJ. He knew she was hurting, hell he'd been the one to start this craziness in the first place.
When Sami turned to face him, her voice was harsh, "What do you want from me now?"
EJ held out the ransom note she had forgotten to take back from him in her haste to leave the mansion minutes before. "I thought maybe we should discuss what we needed to do next."
"I thought you were too busy for such things, you were entertaining your new play thing and apparently you had enough time to help Kate try to take my other daughter away from me."
"Arianna is my friend…"
"Yeah, your only friend, right?"
"I thought we had established earlier that we weren't friends, or that has been the mantra you've been giving me for months on end. As for my dealings with Kate…"
"You aligned yourself with that soulless bitch and it never crossed your mind to mention it to me this afternoon?"
"If you recall we were kind of busy."
"Don't worry, it won't happen again," Sami crossed her arms under her chest defensively
EJ moved in closer to her to brush his fingertips along her cheek, "Are you sure about that?"
Sami jerked her head back away from him as if his touch burned her, "I don't have time for this nonsense. Just give me back the ransom note. I'll work on this myself. I was an idiot to think you would want to work with me on trying to find out who had kidnapped Sydney."
EJ decided to take another tactic; he took a few steps back away from Sami and then spoke, "Look I can see you're upset…"
Apparently that was all Sami needed to launch into a full diatribe, "Why should I be upset? Oh yeah, Kate's only a heartless bitch who has made it one of her life's missions to make my life an absolute living hell. Kudos to you if you've risen above it all to forgive that heinous dried up skank for all her misdeeds. If I recall correctly she hasn't been step-mother of the year to you either, but maybe you're fucking her again too…"
"Please I have standards. I am not sleeping with Kate!"
"Not like you haven't sunk down into her depths before," Sami commented acidly.
"Only when you were working with your father and the rest of those bumbling keystone cops of Salem to try and frame me for things I didn't do!"
Sami rolled her eyes at EJ, she knew damn well he had been responsible for several of the things even if he hadn't been caught, but right now she was still on a roll about Kate.
"How was she? I bet she had a cavernous wrinkled up old twat."
That comment almost made EJ laugh aloud since it was partially true, but now wasn't the time for laughter because it would only spur Samantha's ire with him further. He decided to try another avenue with her instead. "Have you even considered the possibility of why I am glad Kate came to me to draw up the joint custody papers?"
"To screw me over?" Sami asked defensively and even though she was right since this had been one step in EJ's plan to take her down, he wasn't going to admit it.
In fact, he was going to mix in some truth with the lies, a good liar always did that and he was one of the best, although the woman standing before him was the queen of lies and deceit.
"No Samantha, I did it to ensure Kate couldn't take off with Allie to anywhere she damn well pleased. If you would have read the papers instead of storming off you would know when Kate has her time with Allie that she would be staying here in the mansion with her twin brother Johnny whom she loves very much. Do you even remember how you made me promise to allow Johnny and Allie to see each other while you went away to the Witness Protection Program?"
Sami reluctantly conceded at least on that one point, if nothing else, she mumbled out a faint, "I remember."
"And I kept that promise no matter how much I despised Lucas, no matter how difficult it was for me even when I knew in my heart all along Allie should have been mine too. That I love her as much as I love Johnny and Sydney even with all your efforts of trying to make me not care for her…"
"I never wanted you to not care about Allie. I just didn't want you to get hurt."
"That's bullshit. It never bothered you if I was hurt."
Sami shook her head, "You're wrong EJ."
"You lied to me then, you lie to me now, you don't know the truth, you never have…"
"You lie, you take advantage of any situation you are in, and you destroy everything in your path…"
"That's rich coming from you. Why even the night we had the candlelight vigil for Sydney you were expounding to Rafael how you wished all along it had been you and him raising my child and I would have never been the wiser."
"I didn't say that…"
"Eavesdroppers hear lots of things people claim they didn't say…"
Realization dawned upon Sami, damn EJ had heard her and Rafe's conversation that night, but not in the entire context she had meant. "You misunderstood me…"
"Really, so you wouldn't have let that imbecile raise my daughter without my knowledge?"
"I can't make you understand…"
"Oh I'm the big bad DiMera, just like my father, a man not worthy to be a father to any of your precious children because all Brady's are good, kind and trustworthy, but wait you're a Brady and honey you're none of those things."
Sami saw red, EJ had twisted her words and now here he was once again reminding her of what she had tried so hard to overcome and of course failed, "I hate you EJ!"
"Did you suddenly come to this realization about me all on your own without Rafe's supreme guidance? Tell me was this before or after we fucked?"
That was all it took and then Sami lunged at EJ ready to strike at him, but he caught her before she could throw him off balance and instead used the momentum to push her back up against her car.
Then the lines were blurred between them once more and they began to kiss savagely…
