Chapter ONE HUNDRED & EIGHTY ONE – Eye Spy With My Little Eye
War is based on deception.
Sun Tzu quotes
(Chinese General and Author, b.500 BC)
"Well," Stefano said calmly, "This is a surprise – to what do I owe the pleasure I wonder?"
"Do I need a reason to drop by and visit with an old friend dahling?" asked Celeste with a small smile as she watched him turn down the music.
"Of course not," said Stefano evenly, "But you must excuse my casual attire, I wasn't expecting to be entertaining a beautiful woman tonight."
"Are we alone?" asked Celeste, "No one answered my knocking so I just let myself in – I hope that is alright?"
"But of course," said Stefano quickly, "And yes, everyone else in the household is out tonight."
"I've heard that you haven't been well lately," said Celeste, arching a carefully groomed eyebrow, "Is it wise for you to be by yourself Stefano?"
"I am not by myself now that you are here," pointed out Stefano logically, "Now, please will you sit eh?"
Celeste settled into a sofa while Stefano wheeled himself over to her, looking at her with interest.
"What is this?" he asked, looking down at the paper carry bag that Celeste was still holding onto.
"A gift," she said with a little bit of a shrug, "For when you are feeling better perhaps."
She offered it up to him and Stefano accepted it, pulling out a bottle from the bag and looking to the label.
"A Cuvée from the house of Camus Cognac," he said admiringly, recognising the particular vintage and knowing that the bottle was closer to $3000 then $2000 a bottle, "How delightful and such a wonderful gift Celeste – thank you."
"I remembered your preference for it," said Celeste easily, "I thought you might enjoy it once you are feeling a little better."
"Such a generous gift when-" Stefano stopped, eyeing her thoughtfully.
"When what dahling?" asked Celeste casually.
"When things have been a little strained between us of late," continued on Stefano smoothly, "Since Alexandra has left town."
"Alexandra has not left town," said Celeste tightly, "At least not of her own accord because she would have told me about it and certainly not left it this long to contact me."
"And do you still think that I have had something to do with the disappearance of our daughter?" asked Stefano, his face not giving anything away, "I remember several heated discussions where you accused me of doing away with her. I have no idea why you would think I would want to harm my beautiful daughter but you were very adamant Celeste."
"I was upset," said Celeste stiffly, "I am a mother and I was worried sick about my child. I didn't know what I was thinking or saying when it first happened."
"So you accept now that I would never hurt a hair on Alexandra's head, on any of my children's head for that matter?" Stefano pushed her, watching her face carefully.
"I accept that you are capable of many acts of violence Stefano," said Celeste quietly, "But not against your own child, I know that now. I suppose the cognac is by way of a peace offering for ever having thought you could."
"I am very pleased to hear you say that Celeste," said Stefano with a smile, "And you can be rest assured that I have several good men set on tracking her down – it will only be a matter of time, I promise you."
"I hope they find something soon," said Celeste, her face clouded, "But I know that you love our daughter and I appreciate you trying to find her."
He wasn't exactly sure if he believed what she was saying to him, his innately suspicious nature making him wary but he hoped it was true. Celeste had gotten in his way on more than one occasion with all of her questions and accusations and it would grieve him terribly to have to put pay to that once and for all. Of course Stefano knew he wouldn't hesitate when push comes to shove but it was a happy thought that he might have one less thing to worry about right then. The room was suddenly quiet and Celeste looked around, clearly looking for something to distract her from sad thoughts of her daughter.
"I see you have the latest Coglan thriller," she commented, picking up the book that was on the coffee table, "I have already read it and enjoyed it very much."
"I am halfway through," said Stefano, "But I'm finding it a bit of a trial."
"It gets better," Celeste promised him, "The ending is worth preserving for – there is a real twist in the tale in the last couple of chapters."
Stefano gave a little smile, realising in that moment how much he'd missed having feminine company around. For all of the trails that women had brought to his life they filled a void that no amount of power and money could. He wondered idly what Celeste would make of an invitation to come and live with him again here at the mansion. It was something Stefano decided to give more thought to but in the meantime he would just enjoy Celeste's company.
"We should drink to perseverance and happy surprises," he said jovially, suddenly in a good mood.
"Do you think that is wise?" asked Celeste looking concerned and taking in his wheelchair, "I thought I'd heard that you'd just had some kind of operation?"
"Bah," said Stefano dismissively, "It was but a trifle."
"Really?" asked Celeste sceptically.
"You have known me long enough to know that I do not allow these things to keep me down for long eh?" said Stefano with a half smile.
"That is true dahling," she said with an answering smile, "But I don't know if it would be good for your health right now to be drinking."
"Drinking with a beautiful woman is always good for my health," Stefano informed her with a quirk of his lips, "It fortifies the soul."
Celeste gave a little laugh at his justification and shook her head.
"You are incorrigible Stefano," she tutted at him.
"I have been called much worse by far less charming people," said Stefano with a smile.
"Very well," Celeste relented and stood up, "I will pour us both a glass."
"Excellent," said Stefano happily and handed her the bottle, "Make mine a large one."
"Your excesses will be the death of you Stefano," said Celeste with a shake of her head as she walked over to the drinks cabinet and set out two glasses.
"I believe they will have to get to the back of a very long line as to what will be the death of me," said Stefano in amusement, watching her pour the drinks, her back to him.
Celeste turned around then and sauntered towards him in that way of hers and handed him a glass.
"The devil looks after his own eh dahling?" she said with a small quirk of her lips as she took a seat on the sofa again.
"Do you think I am the devil my dear?" asked Stefano as they clinked glasses and then he took a sip, enjoying how the smooth liquid slid down his throat and warmed him from within.
Celeste paused in taking her own sip and looked at him over the rim of her glass and didn't answer immediately.
"Sometimes," she said at last and then sampled her drink.
"There has been unpleasantness between us in the past," agreed Stefano with a slight tilt of his head.
"Years locked in one of your dungeons would probably qualify as unpleasantness," commented Celeste dryly.
"That was a long time ago," said Stefano with a careless shrug.
"Indeed," she agreed with him, "And it taught me many things."
"Like what?" asked Stefano curiously as he took another sip from his drink.
One of his great talents was the ability to read people and it had gotten him far in this life. If you understood a person you knew how to find his weakness and best him when it counted. It was a powerful tool and one he was happy to say that his youngest son had seemed to have inherited. Elvis had the same ability to size people up despite his youth and it was another reason that Stefano knew with some more training and focus Elvis would indeed be a mighty force for the good of the DiMera empire. As skilled as Stefano was at gaining a sense of people though there were still people that could surprise him. It was rare but Celeste was definitely one of them and any time he had the chance to see into the internal workings of her mind Stefano didn't hesitate to take it, knowing one day he might need such information.
"It taught me that I am strong," said Celeste, her jaw hardening ever so slightly, "It taught me that I can endure past the point of what would cause many to simply give up."
"These are important things to know about yourself," Stefano nodded thoughtfully, "It is only in our hour of adversity that we truly find ourselves eh?"
"Yes," said Celeste quietly, "And it taught me to trust the voices and visions that fate has given me. I used to see them as a burden but now I know that they have been given to me because I am strong and can bear them when others may not be able to."
Stefano tilted his head and eyed her speculatively before taking another couple of sips of his drink. Celeste and her so called visions were a curiosity to him. Stefano had lived too long on this earth to discount them out of hand but there was a strong streak of pragmatism in him that found such things to be highly unlikely. Mind you if they did exist then this exotic creature sitting in front of him would indeed be a perfect vessel for them. Celeste had caught his eye all those years ago, not only because of her great beauty but there had been something else as well, a tangible strangeness to her that had him intrigued with its uniqueness. Despite himself he still found her as alluring and compelling as he ever did.
"And what do your visions tell you of late eh?" he asked her with a little smile.
Celeste fixed him with an almost fierce look as she answered him.
"Knowledge known can never be unknown," she told him throatily.
"Am I to take it that I am not going to like what I hear?" asked Stefano mildly.
Whilst he wasn't one to put a huge amount of stock in these things he was also not one to ignore any kind of future heads up as it were. He may not necessarily believe what Celeste was going to tell him but he'd seen her come close enough to the mark on too many occasions to not at least want to hear what she had to say.
"Change is coming, I can taste it in the air," she said, suddenly not seeming to be seeing him anymore, a faraway expression on her face, "I hear it in the silences."
"Life is nothing but change my dear," pointed out Stefano logically and blinked a couple of times, suddenly feeling very tired.
Clearly he wasn't as quite up to entertaining as he'd believed he thought wearily to himself. Curse this tiresome body.
"Your world is crumbling Stefano, decaying around you but you cannot see it," she continued on, looking at him directly now, her eyes suddenly dark and shining, "You walk amongst the ruins and do not realise."
"You are not the first person to predict my demise Celeste," said Stefano tiredly, putting down his glass as he suddenly found it hard to focus on her properly, "And you will undoubtedly not be the last."
"Your arrogance has sustained you all these years Stefano," she warned him darkly, "But it will be your undoing – the viper is in the nest, just waiting for a time to strike but you believe yourself safe. I can feel the ground shaking beneath my feet as death races toward Salem, intent on collecting its bounty and there will be many who fall and very soon."
"That is very dramatic sounding," commented Stefano and shook his head, trying to clear it as he suddenly felt like everything was very far away.
"But you don't believe me do you Stefano?" Celeste said coolly, "You think that you are omnipotent and can stop even death – don't you?"
"What is happening?" asked Stefano faintly, feeling all of the strength leave his body and realising this was more than just fatigue, "What have you done to me Celeste?"
Stefano could barely keep his eyes open, his head suddenly too heavy to keep upright. Unconsciousness was pushing against him from all sides and Stefano knew it was inevitable that he was going to succumb to it but still fought against it with all of his might.
"Only what you deserve dahling."
Her self satisfied voice was the last thing that Stefano heard before his entire world went black…
oooOOOOooo
Kate made an annoyed sound as she gave up knocking on EJ's door. He clearly wasn't home which was a nuisance. She'd arrived home from Switzerland that afternoon and after freshening up had planned on speaking with EJ about Sami and finding out once and for all what, if anything was going on. Kate knew EJ had his own kind of agenda when it came to Sami, something that involved his father, at least he had when they had last been working together. She was curious to know where things were at with that right now, particularly in the light of Lucas' rather extreme threats. Kate had never seen him so worked up and his state of mind seemed fragile at best.
The mother in her worried over how long he'd been taking those drugs and what harm they might have done him because he certainly seemed paranoid of late. Mind you when dealing with the likes of Sami Brady it always paid to be paranoid Kate had found over the years. Whilst Kate knew it was only a matter of time before Sami hurt her son once again even she found it a little unlikely that it would be by cheating. Nothing so banal for Sami thought Kate dourly, no it was usually at the hands of some crazy scheme that backfired in the worst possible way, hurting everyone around her and that usually included Lucas.
"What does he see in her?" Kate muttered, wishing not for the first time that Lucas could try and find himself a good girl to settle down with.
Women like Sami and that money hungry tramp Nicole were not what Kate had in mind when she thought about prospective daughter in laws. Even the supposedly perfect Carrie had proved to be a disappointing clone of her mother. There were so many women in Salem so why did three of her sons always seem to end up fighting over the same couple of women she had to wonder. It made her job as a mother very hard to remain impartial and not take sides.
Not wanting to waste the journey Kate decided to try the roof on the off chance that EJ might be there. She remembered him telling her that he'd set up a gym there a while back. Kate really wanted to make sure that there was nothing to worry about on the Sami front because as much as she hated the thought of it right now Lucas believed he needed the little waste of space. Walking up the internal stairs to the roof Kate once again had to wonder what it was that Sami had that seemed so fascinating to men.
She wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world and god only knows her personality was lacking unless you counted poisonous and childish of course. That was another big reason that Kate found it highly improbable that EJ was really taking that much of an interest in Sami. After all a man like that, rich, handsome and charismatic could have anyone so why would you settle for some little boring, waste of space twit like Sami Brady? It defied logic but still Kate felt like she owed it to Lucas to make sure that all was how it should be.
She was at the top of the stairs now and started to open the door onto the roof and the first thing she saw before the door was even a quarter open was EJ standing there, wearing only sweat pants and lifting weights with his back to her. Kate closed the door a little bit, just watching him for a moment. He certainly was a fine specimen of a man she decided in satisfaction, admiring the way EJ's muscles rippled as he worked out, his long back showing a fine layer of sweat. Kate's eyes drifted down EJ's back to the top of his dark sweat pants and noticed two small scars which were still quite an angry red colour. Kate shook her head, amazed that the man was even alive let alone looking so fine right then.
Two bullets would have taken out a lesser mortal but not a DiMera it seemed. She wondered idly who would have the audacity to do such a thing but then there were plenty of people with a motive she supposed. You'd have to be a real idiot though to only wound a DiMera rather than kill them because whoever it was had made a powerful enemy for life whether they knew it or not. The best hope the person who did this had was to hope the police figured it out before EJ or his father otherwise the future was going to look rather limited for that person.
There as something about powerful men that really did it for Kate, always finding herself drawn instinctively to them. She suddenly felt the need for a little company that night and wondered if the man in front of her would be interested in relieving a little tension. He'd had a rough couple of months, no doubt EJ would be pleased of a distraction and Kate was more than happy to provide it. Even though it had been a means to an end she'd very much enjoyed their little trysts and thought about them often. EJ was a good lover and Kate knew she'd rocked his world as well, knowing exactly how to please a man. She'd been a little surprised that things had died down between them in the end, EJ seeming rather distracted at the time but Kate had just assumed that he'd come back at some point begging for more. She was tired of waiting though and tonight felt like as good as any to rekindle the fire between them. Kate went to make her presence known but someone else beat her to it.
"There you are – I wondered where you had gotten to."
Kate froze, recognising Sami's voice immediately and she pulled the door close a little more so that there was only a little gap open for her to peer through and hopefully remain undetected.
"You ordered me out of your hair."
Kate watched as Sami climbed down a ladder on the far wall and walked over to EJ who had put down his weights.
"You're too much of a distraction."
"Am I distracting?"
"You're very naughty EJ."
"I was under the impression that my naughtiness was one of your most favourite things about me Samantha."
Kate tensed as she listened to their playful banter, knowing she was listening in on far more than talk between work colleagues or neighbours. They sounded entirely too comfortable with one another somehow, all flirty and full of undercurrent. Her eyes widened as she continued to eavesdrop, her mouth practically falling open as the couple began to kiss and their conversation made it very clear that they were indeed lovers.
"You bitch," growled Kate and then grimaced, worried she might have given herself away but neither one seem to have noticed, still wrapped up in each other completely.
Kate shook her head at the disgusting scene, knowing that if Lucas had been the one to return home early he'd be having his heart broken right about now. Was there no depth that Sami Brady wouldn't stoop to thought Kate darkly? How could the little hussy do this to Lucas, a man who worshipped her, a man who'd given her so many chances and benefits of the doubt that it was impossible to count? Kate's outrage was knocked up a notch, this time for herself with their next conversation though when EJ and Sami finally managed to come up for air.
"Okay - tell me how rich you just made Mythic and by extension us after your conversation with Mr Chiba and then we can get back to the important things in life."
"Most people wouldn't think of multimillion dollar deals as unimportant EJ."
"Most people don't have the opportunity to make love to you my darling. And if they did they'd know how very unimportant anything else is in light of that singular experience."
"Are you telling me that sex with me is worth millions?"
"No my love, I'm saying sex with you is priceless – there is no monetary value that could be attached to it that would do it justice."
Oh please, gag me thought Kate in disgust as the two cooed at each other endlessly. She'd heard less romantic pap on a Hallmark midday movie. Honestly who did those two think they were – the new Romeo and Juliet? This was a tawdry little affair and yet they were trying to make it sound like it was true love – pitiful. That wasn't what had gotten Kate's attention, what was really concerning her was talk of Shiro Chiba and the deal that Sami had somehow managed to get a stronghold on. How she hadn't utterly cocked it up yet was a mystery to Kate but she knew it was only a matter of time and there was no way that she was prepared to lose millions of dollars because EJ's penis had decided that putting Sami in charge was a good idea. It was embarrassing to Kate to think of Sami as the face of Mythic and humiliating to see her swooping in and taking over these big clients. It made Kate look bad and Kate didn't like looking bad for anyone and especially not trashy little girls who couldn't keep their legs together.
Listening to Sami chirp on endlessly about how well her meeting with Mr Chiba went and how he loved all of her ideas made Kate physically sick. It was apparent to Kate that Sami was intent on not only screwing over Lucas but her as well which she simply wasn't going to stand for. It would be a cold day in hell before she was trumped by the likes of Sami Brady Kate decided in annoyance. Kate immediately began plotting but her train of thought was derailed again by EJ's next words.
"Perhaps we can combine that with our honeymoon eh darling? I know a simply stunning little private retreat outside of Kitakyushu that would do very nicely for out extended honeymoon."
"You keep talking about honeymoons but you are yet to ask me to marry you."
"Impatient - I like that in my woman."
"Technically I'm not yours until there is a ring on my finger."
"Well in that case I'd better get cracking on the eh? I wouldn't want anyone thinking that you were in any way available now would I?"
Surely the little idiot couldn't possibly think that EJ DiMera was actually going to marry her wondered Kate faintly. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at Sami's gullibility. Kate paused then and realised that she didn't exactly know what EJ's agenda had been in regards to Sami other than it suited his purposes to team up with Kate and break up Lucas and Sami at the time. Who knows what his plans really were long term but somehow with Sami being a Brady and EJ being a DiMera all Kate knew for sure was that there was going to be a world of hurt at the end of them all for Sami and Kate was completely alright with that. Of course if EJ was intent on marrying Sami then that meant more heart break for Lucas and Kate didn't know if she could allow that either. It would be one thing for Lucas to lose Sami but another thing entirely to lose her to EJ. Somehow Kate knew he wouldn't handle that very well. To her surprise now one of them seemed to finally give her son a second thought.
"I was just thinking," said Sami with a little shrug.
"About?"
"Lucas."
"What about Lucas?"
"I can't get in contact with him all of a sudden, he's not answering his cell phone."
"Perhaps someone put his phone up on a high shelf and he can't reach it? Sorry, unhelpful I know - just can't seem to help myself with the short jokes."
"Lucas isn't that short EJ."
"Not for a woman no - he's just about right for that."
"He can't help being the height he is no more than you can help being-"
"An impressive mountain of a man?"
"I was just going to say tall."
"I think Mother Nature knows who is going to be the losers and winners in life and hands out her bounty accordingly.
Kate was forced to swallow her outrage at the casual way EJ was talking about her son, as though his feelings were of no consequence. Lucas wasn't a loser, his only folly was that he continued to fall for women who didn't deserve him Kate decided bitterly. She was then forced to listen to Sami going on about how she didn't want to hurt Lucas and that she cared so much about him and it made the bile rise to the back of Kate's throat. If the little wench really did care about Lucas then she wouldn't be giving it away to EJ so freely now would she? The only person Sami cared about was Sami Kate decided bitterly and the rest of the world can be damned. Hearing EJ tell her that Lucas didn't even really count anyway just made Kate's blood boil and the urge to leap out of her hiding place and start screaming at them both was very strong but she somehow managed to hold her tongue.
Just as annoying was the careless way EJ referred to their encounters – picking out a tie indeed! It made Kate sound like she was less than nothing and her female pride was more than a little wounded. Rich and powerful men had thrown themself at her feet and begged her for a kind word from her so who was EJ to dismiss her so easily she thought angrily? She was more woman than he could handle she told herself and all of his feigned lack of concern was no doubt for that insecure little Sami's benefit, Kate was sure of it. Worse was yet to come for Kate as though to add insult to injury she watched Sami launch herself into EJ's arms.
She watched EJ pick her up effortlessly and carry her to a nearby bench, his back to her and after Sami's jeans hit the ground and she straddled him it didn't take a genius to work out where this was going. Another person might have thought this was a good time to take their leave but not Kate. Years of working in the sex industry when she was younger had made her unabashed about such things and she didn't think twice about staying exactly where she was. Kate knew well enough that in the heat of passion certain things might be said that she could find useful to use against either one of them later. Knowledge was power and right then Kate was intent on getting as much information from the unsuspecting couple as she could to gain the upper hand. She watched them with a professional eye, noting that even from the back EJ seemed vastly different with Sami then he had been with her and wondered if this was still more games on his behalf.
"Do you love me?"
"More than life."
"In that case I want you to do something for me EJ."
Kate couldn't hear the rest of Sami's throaty request because she was whispering it in EJ's ear but whatever it was EJ's loud groan told her that he approved.
"I love how you want me."
"God! No one has ever made me feel this good Samantha, no one!"
Kate frowned at EJ's assertion, not liking the sound of that at all. It could be chalked up to something you said in the heat of the moment but there was a raw vulnerability to his voice that Kate had never heard during their trysts.
"Am I the best you've ever had?"
"Easily, every other woman pales into insignificance to you Samantha."
"Show me."
Kate had seen enough, quietly closing the door and not needing to see EJ and Sami going at it like farmyard animals anymore. She stood in the stairwell, trying to process all that she'd seen. Kate's hand went instinctively to her purse, intent on calling Lucas with news of Sami's betrayal but then stopped herself. Lucas was in no state of mind to receive such crippling news. Kate bit her bottom lip, suddenly presented with a conundrum. Normally she wouldn't think twice about an opportunity to drop Sami into hot water, in fact nothing would give Kate greater pleasure but there was more at stake than just exposing Sami's lies. After having listened to EJ and Sami talking together it certainly sounded like they were planning a future together but Kate had to wonder how much of that was EJ scheming with a bigger agenda. On one hand Kate desperately wanted Lucas away from Sami, particularly if she was in DiMera crosshairs but the way Lucas had been talking she was really afraid what this kind of news would do to him.
Kate also worried about what EJ and Sami working together would mean for her and her company. They'd spoken so confidently of the future and EJ's comment about Kate not going to be around to bother them worried her. It seemed unlikely that Mythic under a now combined force of EJ and Sami would have room for her and Kate hated the thought of being pushed out of her own company by Sami of all people. There were a lot of things to think about she decided, her lips thinning, many pros and cons for which ever course of action she took and Kate knew she had to get this right otherwise the consequences for Lucas and herself could be disastrous. Instinct battled pragmatism as Kate weighed up all of the options, knowing it wasn't going to be an easy decision. Either way Kate knew that she had to get ahead of this game EJ and Sami were playing and stay there. A small, self satisfied smile touched her lips at that thought, liking the fact that at last she had some power in this situation with what she now knew.
It was the only way she could destroy them both utterly for what they had done and planned to do and Kate wasn't going to hesitate in doing just that.