-/-
"So that was the real Blake Carrington?" Adam couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. It had only taken a few minutes and his idealised vision of his father had shattered into pieces.
At least his mother was living up to expectations. No one had ever stuck up for him like that before. It was easy to imagine growing up with Alexis Carrington as his mother, loving and fiercely protective. Alexis had even insisted on accompanying him back to his room and calling the hotel doctor to check him over. The way she had turned her back on her own husband for him...and yet knowing that he was a cause of a rift between his own parents made Adam feel uneasy. He came to Denver hoping to become part of a loving family not to tear one to pieces.
"He's not usually like that you know." Yet even as the words fell from her tongue Alexis Carrington blushed knowing it wasn't exactly true. Blake had an annoying tendency to react first and think later when it came to personal issues.
Yet if Adam realised she was lying he was kind enough not to call her on it. Or perhaps it was the ice pack he was holding to his nose that stopped him from replying.
"He's just very protective and...well in the past I have done things that would make him suspicious." Alexis added the heat in her cheeks growing as her son's blue eyes remained locked on her.
"That's still no excuse for hitting you. I can't forgive him for that."
"No." Adam grunted his pride as dented as his nose, just the memory of how easily his aged father had laid him out was a source of acute embarrassment.
"But he would never have struck you if he had known who you were, Blake has never laid a finger on either Fallon or Steven."
"And you?" Adam muttered wincing as his bruised cheek stung with the movement.
"Oh god no." Alexis exclaimed aghast at the picture of his father Adam had obviously drawn together.
"He might grab my arm but Blake would never strike a lady never. He's not really violent he just grew up in a time when men settled their disputes a little differently. Blake grew up in the Great Depression his mother's family had been wealthy before the crash, that's probably the reason your grandfather married into them. Still they came very close to losing everything and from a young age Blake had to work to earn his keep. He had to learn to stand up for himself to stop others from walking in and destroying what he built. It just means his first instinct is to react like that young wildcatter."
"You must love him very much." Adam muttered his blue eyes watching the way his mother's eyes softened as she talked about his father.
"He's not an easy man to love, and there are times I wonder why the hell I do love him. He can hurt me deeper and in ways no one else could ever dream of." Alexis admitted sadly.
"Those who we love best can always hurt us the most."
Nodding Alexis forced aside her broken heart and decided to focus on something positive, her boy, her baby back after all these years. It was almost too wonderful to be true and Alexis had to reach out and touch his arm to reassure herself she wasn't imagining him."So tell me more about yourself."
Smiling and wincing at his mother's sudden enthusiasm Adam put down the ice pack and covered her hand. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything..." Alexis replied eagerly determined to put thoughts of Blake Carrington and his idiocy out of her mind. "I want to know everything."
-/-
It hadn't taken long for Blake Carrington to realise that he had gone about things completely backwards. He shouldn't had stormed off and left Alexis alone, he should have taken his wife with him. By the time he had calmed down enough to think straight Alexis ad disappeared along with Mr Torrence. Torrence not Adam, that man was not their son. Blake was certain he was right and that the young Mr Torrence was indeed an imposter, a con man of the first calibre. Yet confronting him the way Blake had had been a mistake.
He should never have jumped to the conclusion he had...
After the week that Alexis had just had the last thing she would be interested in was jumping in to bed with anyone. Yet for a moment Blake had been thrown back to the past, Alexis had protested her innocence then as well, even when he had caught her and Grimes red handed she had tried to plead that it wasn't her fault.
Seeing her in Torrence's arms he had felt his heart being ripped out of his chest and instead of using his head Blake had simply reacted.
Reacted like a rash idiot. Not only had he lashed out and accused Alexis but he had lashed out with his fists as well. Torrence was an attorney, if he chose to he could have Blake arrested and charged with violent assault. With Blake's existing conviction for manslaughter and two years suspended sentence there is no way he would avoid jail time.
Then what would happen to Alexis? She would be left alone and vulnerable to Torrence's lies.
How any man could make up such a story and try and take advantage...it made Blake's blood boil. He wouldn't even allow himself to consider that there was a chance the boy was genuine, the timing was just too...too perfect.
Besides the police had been certain their son was dead, that some accident had befallen him which was why they hadn't heard from the kidnappers.
Although they hadn't heard from LB's kidnappers either...
Blake was deep in thought when the door to his suite opened. Startled Blake almost dropped the ice pack he was holding to his knuckles.
"Alexis oh thank god." Blake exclaimed getting to his feet his arms outstretched to greet his wife.
Yet Alexis was clearly in no mood to kiss and make up, she ignored Blake's greeting and pushed aside his arms before stalking into their bedroom.
"Alexis please I know you are angry with me Darling and you have every right to be...I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions I should have let you explain..."Blake added his heart jumping to his throat as Alexis opened their wardrobe and began removing the clothes hanging there.
"What are you doing?" Blake stuttered his eyes wide with horror.
"You're the one with all the answers Blake you work it out." Alexis spat back testily as she laid out what little clothing she still had to her name and rummaged in the wardrobe for something to put them in. "I'm not staying in this room with you tonight, god dammit I cannot even bring myself to look at you!"
"Alexis please there is no need for this we can work it out." Blake pleaded grabbing hold of Alexis clothes and hanging them back up.
"Blake stop. I have made up my mind and you have apparently made up yours so what is the point?"
"I love you that's the point." Blake retorted in desperation. "And who says I have made up my mind?"
"Yeah because you have a funny way of showing it." Alexis scoffed rolling her eyes at Blake's sudden change of heart.
"Darling I know I reacted badly, but its only because I love you so much that just the thought of losing you..."
"We were hugging Blake!" Alexis all but yelled retrieving her clothes a second time and slamming down them down on the bed. "Hugging, am I not permitted to go within ten feet of another man lest you accuse me of jumping into bed with them? How could you...how could you?"
"I wasn't thinking." Blake admitted. "I was just blinded by jealously because I love you so much..."
"That's not love that's obsession." Alexis retorted reaching up to rub her aching head. "You made me feel cheap like I really was the whore Fallon accused me of being."
"I was wrong and I am sorry. Sweetheart please we've been through so much recently and it's been too much for both of us but we are so close to coming through it all, Alexis we can't give up now." Blake pleaded reaching out to rub his wife's shoulders, persisting even when she tried to shrug him off.
Eventually Alexis allowed him continue, his hands feeling so good on her stiff neck and as hurt as she was by his earlier outburst Blake had apologised that was something. "What about Adam?"
For a moment Blake froze, just the mention of his son's name connection with that...that...
"You still think he's lying don't you?"
"I remain unconvinced." Blake replied cautiously, raising his hands in protect when Alexis whirled around. "I haven't heard the young man's story Alexis so you cannot blame me if I remain sceptical." Blake added quickly.
"I...I suppose that's fair enough." Alexis grudgingly admitted. Blake hadn't heard what Adam had told her about his abduction and how he had himself discovered the truth from his so called grandmother just before she died.
"Just promise me you'll listen to him? Listen not yell Blake and you have to apologise for lashing out at him like you did. You broke his nose and could have given him a concussion, the doctor wanted him to go into hospital and then where would you be? You're damn lucky he wants this to work as much as I do otherwise he could have pressed charges!" Alexis demanded poking her husband's chest with her middle finger.
"If that is what you want, for you I'll listen to what he has to say." Blake conceded sighing in relief that at least he had avoided jail. Reaching out and grasping his wife's hand Blake pulled it to rest over his heart, after all he was only promising to listen not believe the little liar. "Just promise me you'll stay here tonight don't leave me Alexis."
"I shouldn't." Alexis muttered darkly. "You hurt me."
"I know." Blake replied softly. "I am so sorry Darling but how can I possibly make it up to you if we aren't together?" Blake added softly, tilting his head and his dark eyes to gazed sadly down at his wife.
Rolling her eyes at Blake's pathetic attempt at puppy dog eyes Alexis had to snort in amusement. "Dear god you are hopeless."
"Yes hopelessly in love with you." Blake replied smoothly.
"And your lines aren't getting any better with age."
"Just as long as the rest of me is?" Blake retorted with a teasing smile. "Don't leave me. Life really has no meaning for me without you in it."
"Fine I'll stay if only to keep an eye on you." Alexis grudgingly conceded. "But you're sleeping on the couch!"
"Alright." Blake agreed it was more than he had hoped for when Alexis had started packing and when he exposed Torrence for the con artist he really was Alexis would forgive him. He was only acting to protect her and their family after-all and surely she couldn't fault him for that.
-/-
Blake Carrington was not a patient man. When he decided to go ahead and do something that meant now, not tomorrow or next week but right away, this instant where possible. So he found he had little patience for other people's timewasting, especially when their choice to take holidays or go off on sick leave impacted upon his life.
So when the head of Denver Memorial's haematology department refused to cancel his vacation plans to accommodate a meeting with him Blake was already in a bitchy mood. After all what is the point of donating all that money to the damn hospital if they can't even do him a small favour once and a while? It wasn't like Blake could simply head down there himself, he had a multibillion dollar company to run and besides the last thing Blake wanted was for one of his paparazzi stalkers to take a picture of Blake visiting the hospital.
That was not a picture Blake wanted to have to explain to Alexis, not whilst he was still in the proverbial dog house.
Well if medical science wasn't going to be able to help him uncover the fraud that was trying to worm itself way into his family then Blake would fall back on the old fashioned tried and tested method.
The phone at his desk buzzed and Blake punched the button. "Yes?"
"A Mr Morgan Hess to see you Mr Carrington."
"Send him in." Blake grunted gruffly not caring to hide his gruff tone, Marsha had been his secretary for years now and luckily she had developed a thick skin, Blake couldn't be dealing with emotional women at work….at home was bad enough.
- /-
"How's your head?"
"Feeling better than my wounded pride." Adam quipped smiling out of the unbruised side of his face. "The old man is certainly quick with his fists I'll give him that."
"Yes well." Alexis muttered as she pushed her fruit cocktail around in the little glass bowl trying to find the appetite to finish it.
When Blake had left for the office early that morning barely kissing her on the cheek and muttering something about being back for lunch before he was out the door, Alexis had been thrilled to receive the invitation from Adam to join him for breakfast. Yet now in the light of day and with the on looking stares of other breakfast patrons Alexis almost wished she had turned him down, that or insisted they eat in the privacy of her suite. Yet then the unsavoury rumour of her entertaining other men in her hotel room would start circulating and Blake was near enough to the edge as it was.
She was trapped between a rock and a hard place…between her first born and her husband. It was hard enough with Blake being as hard headed as he was she really didn't need Adam to take after him, not in that regard.
"Blake has often been a react first and think second kind of man, well at least in private at least, he just cares about his family and we have been somewhat under siege recently..."
"And once he accepts me into it everything will be just rosy….just one big happy family." Adam added sarcastically, regretting his tone when his mother winced. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that."
"Yes you did." Alexis replied softly a wry smile tugging at her lips. "Don't lie to your Mother."
Relaxing slightly Adam shook his head. "Ok I didn't mean it like that exactly…" Adam added pausing as his mother lifted her emerald gaze from her half eaten breakfast to stare at him curiously.
"I just never had that type of family life before, I never had a father figure in my life, I just had my grandmother and we lived out on the farm just the two of us. I didn't have any cousins to grow up with or extended family…I guess I was always jealous of the other kids at school because they had mothers and fathers and siblings to play with…I was always very much alone."
"Well you're not alone now." Alexis replied softly, her heart breaking at the wistful lonely expression on her son's face. Reaching out she covered his hand with her own and squeezed it. "I am so sorry that you missed out on so much and I wish I could give those stolen years back to all of us but I can't, we can only move forward and try and make up for those lost years somehow."
Forcing a smile Adam wished he could believe that was possible, when his mother said so it was almost possible to do so she said it with such conviction, yet Adam was no stranger to disappointment and broken promises. Dr Edwards had once promised that after he finished treatment for his drug problem Michael would be able to move on with his life, to forget it had even happened. Well Michael had never been able to shake away the shadows of that time; even now they haunted him…
Yet perhaps as Adam Carrington?
Returning his mother's smile with a hopeful one of his own Adam resolved to try harder. He was a Carrington now it was time he started acting like one.
-/-
"So let me get this straight Mr Carrington you want me to dig out everything I can on this Michael Torrance from Billings Montana…Is there something specific I should be looking for?" Morgan Hess couldn't help but wonder what exactly Blake Carrington was looking for. So far all the Carrington Patriarch had given him was a name, a grainy photograph of a young man taken from the back of a press pack and a place to start digging?
"Forgive me Mr Hess but I thought that was why I was hiring you?" Blake spat back his dark eyes narrowing on the slimy private detective that was supposedly the best Denver had to offer. "If you want me to do your job for you…"
"No Mr Carrington I meant what sort of information do you want?" Hess tried to explain. "A general background check will mean I dip into his past ensure he is who he claims to be, school records, driving license, any registered felonies…that sort of thing. Or if you are interested more in the unofficial side of things, say something the young man might prefer to kept private if you get my drift." Hess added.
"You mean blackmail material." Blake retorted bluntly, before nodding. "I want it all, I don't care how many rocks you need to look under you need to find out everything there is to know about this young man. I want to know things about him that even his closest friends don't know, and get pictures, from when he was an infant if possible and his medical records if you can manage that from back when he was a baby."
Unable to completely quash the surprised expression on his face Hess was quick to nod. "I can do that but it won't come cheap."
"If you need money to help make people talk then do it but be sensible about it." Blake replied, after all he needed blackmail worthy material if Blake was to regain control of this situation.
"Oh and another thing Hess no one not even my wife is to gain so much as a hint that this is happening." Blake insisted, after all the last thing he needed was to let Torrance on to the fact that he was after him, not yet any way.
Nodding Hess agreed. "I wouldn't be doing my job if anyone found out Mr Carrington; you can count on me I will have a preliminary report within 48 hrs."
Relieved that at least something was going right, 48 hrs that was more like it, even Alexis couldn't become too emotionally involved in just a few days….but just in case Blake had better arrange to keep his wife as busy as possible…perhaps Fallon could help him there?
-/-
It had been too much to hope that the imposter would actually keep his distance and allow his so called parents time to adapt to his sudden arrival in their lives. A real son might have been so courteous but a fake…
It was just one more gut reaction that reinforced Blake's first impression as he hurried to track down his wife and the con artist that called himself a Carrington.
Still at least it had gotten Alexis out of the hotel room, no mean feat in itself as his wife had practically hidden herself away since she had been released from hospital her only outing for the funeral. Yet Blake couldn't squash the flash of jealousy that it was this insolent lying pup that had managed to achieve this when Blake himself had failed.
Striding past the neglected tennis courts of La Mirage and into the frost covered gardens Blake made a mental note to have that looked into, the place just felt shabby and unworthy of being part of his property portfolio. They would be far more comfortable moving into The Carlton until the house repairs were completed, the 5 star hotel was far more suited to their usual lifestyle, but Blake didn't own The Carlton and he felt somewhat uncomfortable surrendering that sort of control. Here at least he could impose a strict ban on members of the press and he could leave instructions for the staff to assist his wife with anything she needed.
"…and then as I was swimming away from the yacht I suddenly thought I saw a shark…"
"There you are." Blake couldn't help that is came out gruffer than he intended and his sudden arrival startled the pair he had finally caught up to. "What on earth possessed you to come out this far its freezing?"
"And Good Afternoon to you as well Darling." Alexis quipped back pulling her sable more closely around her body. She at least was perfectly warm, Adam had insisted on her going back for her coat and gloves before they went for their walk, yet no one had made the sensible suggestion to her husband it seemed.
"Honestly Blake you look half frozen." Alexis couldn't help but frown in concern, her husband's face was red from a combination of the cold and the exertion as he stood there in little more than the suit he had gone to the office in. "Why didn't you stop to put on a coat."
"Because I didn't realise my wife had suddenly developed a passion for distance walking, I only expected you to be out on the terrace not half way across the grounds." Blake snapped back his eyes narrowing on a silent Adam who returned his father's glare with a serene not-guilty expression.
"Especially when you have only been out of the hospital for a week." Blake added watching as now the boy winced…so he was a better actor than Blake had given him credit for.
"Blake don't fuss I'm fine." Alexis insisted reaching out and catching one of her husband's hands trying to rub some warmth into it. "See look all in one piece you really don't need to worry."
"The day I stop worrying about you is the day I die Alexis I'm your husband it is in the job description." Blake muttered back turning his gaze on the far more pleasant visage of his wife's face, and it was true she did look well; her porcelain cheeks finally had something approaching a glow back in them. Clearly fresh air was good for something because Blake refused to acknowledge that it might be the company that was responsible for this rejuvenation.
"I am glad you are feeling better but please come inside before we both freeze I would rather not have an icicle for a wife." Blake added softly smiling down at her as he squeezed her fingers back. "Besides Mrs Carrington I believe I promised you a lunch date."
"Oh so that was what that garbled nonsense this morning was all about I hardly caught it since you were rushing out the door without so much as a Good Morning." Alexis retorted primly, refusing to allow Blake off the hook quite that easily, nor had it escaped her notice that he was doing his level best to ignore their son. "I hope you got whatever it was that was soo very important sorted."
"Darling I'm sorry I had to leave like that but there was a lot to get through and I have missed so many days recently and there really are some things that only the boss can deal with. Jeff has been a godsend but it is hardly fair to expect him to keep covering for me especially now that LB is ready to be discharged."
"He is?" Alexis gasped in delight that really was good news. "Yes and I was hoping you would help me…" Blake paused all too suddenly aware that they still had an audience. "Well perhaps that would be better left…"
"Why because it's Carrington family business?" Adam couldn't help himself. He had thought it was bad enough last night when his own father had struck him, yet being ignored and excluded hurt more deeply.
"Because it is private between me and my wife." Blake spat back testily, inwardly cursing the boy for even being there and undoing all his own hard work as Alexis suddenly pulled out of his grasp.
"Boys that's enough!" Alexis snapped her blazing emerald gaze turning from her husband to her son and back again. "You both promised me to listen to each other, to hear both sides of the story before jumping to conclusions. Or do your promises to me mean so little to you?" Alexis added this time her message was clearly intended for Blake who couldn't hold her gaze.
"Now I am going to go inside and the two of you are going to get whatever it is out of your system without descending to violence and then you are going to talk and you are both going to listen and you can stay outside until you stop acting like squabbling children!" Alexis insisted, cutting off Blake's objection before he could make it. "You owe me that much at least Blake!"
Hanging his head Blake didn't watch his wife leave, her words had cut him to the quick. Did she honestly still doubt him? Still doubt that his feelings for and his promises of forever this time were just that? Just what was it going to take to get through to Alexis?
Or who…Blake had a sinking suspicion that he already knew what it was going to take but the question remained was that a price he was ever going to be prepared to pay?
-/-
It was stalemate.
Neither of them was prepared to make the first move and the silence was starting to become deafening. In the end it was the discomfort caused by the cold that forced Blake into going first.
"So you're trained as a lawyer I understand."
Clearly whatever the imposter had been expecting that had not been it and the young man's face closed down warily.
"Yes I went to Yale." Adam replied defensively yet there was no hiding the pride in his voice as he spoke.
"A good school." Blake retorted ambiguously as he turned and began to head back toward the hotel, forcing Adam to follow him. "Not a cheap school."
"I got a scholarship that covered part of my tuition the rest I paid for myself. I worked my way through law school Mr Carrington nobody gave me an easy ride." Adam snapped back. "I may have been raised a farm boy from Montana Mr Carrington but I am no fool."
"No but you are rather quick to jump to conclusions though for a lawyer." Blake bit back, turning to glance at the young man who was now matching his stride.
"Mr Pot meet Mr Kettle." Adam muttered under his breath, yet clearly not low enough as his father frowned but held his tongue. "Well at least I come by it honestly." Adam added unable to resist baiting the older man who still clearly doubted him and his claims.
"That can't have been easy studying and working, especially when so many others around you didn't have too." Blake added choosing to ignore the boy's pointed remarks that were a little too close to home to be comfortable and returning to the safer subject.
"I won't deny I would have preferred not to have to clean up after my fellow students but I can take pride in the fact that I owe my success to no one else. That's why I set up my own practice instead of taking a position in one of the large Boston or New York firms when I graduated."
"You prefer to be your own man. I can understand that." Blake muttered nodding, trying to squash down the uneasy feelings that were surfacing.
"And what about you?" Adam shot back his blue eyes narrowing as his father seemed to be lost in thought and clearly uninterested in really talking this through. "I assume the Carrington's aren't allergic to hard work but I suppose inheriting…"
"Now that is where your jumping to conclusions can lead you wrong young man. I may have money, my family may have had money but I made my fortune all by myself. I worked my way through school, I worked on the rigs during the day and went to school at night." Blake countered proudly. "I made my company from the ground up, I earned the seed money from my own sweat and tears, and it is my hard work that has made Denver Carrington what it is today."
For a moment Adam bit his lip, for the first time gaining a glimpse of the impressive man he had first met before he had even realised Carrington was his father. "So we have that in common at least." Adam ventured tentatively, he had promised his mother to try after all but he was so very afraid that this almost understanding would vanish into thin air.
Grunting his grudging agreement Blake couldn't believe he was agreeing with this young man in anything. A quick temper and hardworking weren't universal only to men called Carrington after all but it was enough to have Blake hold his tongue.
"We have another thing." Blake finally added as the pair reached the steps back up to the hospital terrace and Blake came to a sudden stop causing Adam to turn and look at him warily.
"We are both able to deeply hurt a wonderful woman who does not deserve further heartache." Blake added watching as realisation dawned on the young man's face.
"I know my promises don't mean anything to you Mr Carrington but I give you my word I didn't come here to cause trouble, I really am your son." Adam replied earnestly his blue eyes boring into his father's own dark orbs which were filled with doubt and suspicion. "Only you don't believe that do you?"
"Right now I don't know what to believe." Blake admitted evenly, it was a relief to get that admission out in the open.
"I know I am far from convinced that you aren't a very skilled con artist and I warn you now that I will be checking out every detail of your story. I adore my wife young man, she is the centre of my world and the idea of having her hopes raised and dashed by some unfeeling imposter disgusts me….And If I find out that is what you are then there is no place on earth you will be able to hide from me." Blake paused his dark eyes burning with barely repressed fury. "And will destroy you utterly."
Swallowing down the very real fear this version of Blake Carrington could invoke Adam forced himself to meet the older man's gaze. "I can respect that Mr Carrington and in your position I would do nothing less."
"Good so we understand each other." Blake added quickly, turning to head up the stairs and finally get out of this damn cold.
"But let me make one thing clear as well I won't just give up forging a relationship with my mother just because my being here makes things difficult for you. So you had better get used to having me around because I lived without Alexis Carrington in my life for 24 years through no choice or fault of my own." Adam added his own warning, watching as Carrington smarted at his deliberate dig at his parents' divorce and 17 year separation.
"And now that I have her back I won't give that relationship up again not without giving it the fight of my life."
-/-