Fallout
~ Chapter Fifty Three ~ Written by Grey
"Are you sure they're going to be alright?" Marco murmured as the plane taxied off the runway. The turquoise, azure and silver of the ocean reflected back up at them from the different levels of the inlet surrounding the different Bahamian islands as he peered down through the window.
"Stop being such a mother hen, of course they will. They're DiMeras." Stefano pinched his two forefingers and thumb together, staring down at the screen of his cell, as if that explained everything.
"You just left a dozen teenagers in a beach house in the Bahamas alone. Don't you think - maybe you should have left me there with them? And let's not forget. Not all of them are DiMeras." Marco shifted on his seat, turning to get a look at where Victor and Kate watched with ill-disguised interest.
"Should we be nervous?" Kate asked, the color draining from her face.
"No, Tony is there, they will all be fine." Stefano's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he angled his face toward his right hand man.
"There are eleven other kids there in that house alone! Not to mention the three hundred on DiMera Isle and the four thousand on the other islands currently on Spring Break."
Kate's water glass clattered back down to the tray table and everyone's eyes swung to hers. She apologized, two bright spots of color splotching her cheeks.
"Marco!" Stefano interrupted.
"I'm sorry, this is what you pay me for, right? To tell you when I think you're making a bad decision. Well, I think this was a bad call on your part."
"Jeff Preston was released from the hospital this morning." Stefano hissed.
"Shit," Marco's chin dropped to his chest. Despair hurtling toward flat out dread in his chest.
"I'm sorry," Victor leaned in from across the aisle. "I'm a little behind. What exactly does Knox's father have to do with our children being left without adult supervision?"
Stefano and Marco shared a loaded look.
"You know that Titan has just had a major security breach, what you don't know is that it was an inside job, I am going back to probably kill someone. Nico has the person he believes perpetrated the entire event holed up in my private offices in Titan Tower and I'm going to make the call on how to handle it, when I get back to Salem. There, now does that make you feel a little better? A little more apt to share, perhaps?" Victor lifted a brow and shared a small, but intense smile, leaning back into his plush airline accommodations.
Stefano exhaled, patting his chest pocket. "Do you mind if I smoke?"
"Only if you don't share." Victor extended his hand. A few seconds passed as Stefano pulled three thinly rolled cigarillos from the inner pocket of his suit coat. Lighting up, he thanked God that he was rich and flying privately, aware that he was probably breaking a bunch of laws. Mulling over how to word it, he decided to just shoot straight and point blank and laid it out.
"Jeff Preston was driving the car that ran Lennox and Alexandra off the road."
"That son of a bitch. And he is still breathing, why?" Victor's hand gripped the arm rest with brute force, puffing the smoke out his mouth like a chimney. Kate rested her hand over top of his, her own instincts screaming that the bastard should be six feet under.
"Because he was with his mistress at the time of the accident and his wife asked that she be allowed to handle it."
"Kylie Preston is either a saint or an idiot." Kate shook her head, fanning the smoke away from her face.
"So what now?" Victor puffed.
"Well, I got word from a source that Jeff was released this morning. I tried to reach Kylie, to check on her and I haven't been able to get a response."
Marco wheezed, failing at perfecting his trio of smoke rings, the aromatic smoke tinging the air. "You haven't been able to reach her in how long?"
"Two hours. Almost three."
"Jesus." Kate cussed.
"Will he hurt her?" Victor reached for his own phone, thumbing through his contacts.
"Not if he knows what's good for him. But obviously, his priorities have been a little skewed and his track record not so stellar."
"Harold?" Marco supplied.
"I texted him when we got on the plane." Stefano nodded.
"Your butler?" Kate arched an eyebrow.
"He's been with me from the beginning. I trust him with my life and the lives of my children on a daily basis." Stefano explained, inhaling deeply, before turning back to Marco. "Still think it was a bad idea to bring you home with me?"
"No, but nonetheless, I still wish we could have left an adult with all those hormones." Marco shook his head.
"I can have a man at the Preston house in ten minutes." Victor's thumb hovered over the screen.
*~*~*
The bass rocked the very frame of the house. Chloe, Melanie and many other Salemites had arrived earlier in the Bahamas that afternoon. There were people everywhere. As Tony had promised, a party was in full swing. Now, as daylight edged toward evening, the orange hue from one of many bonfires out on the beach glowed through a slit in the curtains.
"Lexie, are you sure about this?" Sami breathed, blinked from her lotus style seated position on Lexie's bed. Nikki and Kristen were winding curling irons in Lexie's chestnut colored tresses.
"Sami, hush cupcake, please." Nikki giggled.
"Cupcake? Why do you call her cupcake?" Kristen capitalized on the nickname, dropping a hot segment of Lexie's hair, moving to a new one, pinning Sami in her sights.
"I don't remember actually." Nikki shrugged, dismissing the question. "So Brandon's going to come up and he's going to walk you down to the party."
Sami wanted to roll her eyes, of course Nikki remembered. However, she'd leave it in Sami's court to tell them, and that was only one of the reasons why she loved her so much.
"No, I want to walk myself into the party. I'm a big girl." Lexie lifted her chin, making eye contact with Nicole.
"Alrighty then. Brandon's going to come up here and we're going to go over the game plan. Then he's going to go back down there for a while. Then you can make your grand entrance. Better?"
Lexie nodded, nibbling on the corner of her lip, appearing much younger than her eighteen years all of a sudden.
"Lexie, Brandon is a nice guy."
"He is a nice guy, who can totally handle himself. And not for nothing, but Knox is busted up right now. Brandon could totally take him." Nikki was quick to insert, effectively hushing Sami once again. "Don't listen to her. Besides, he wouldn't have offered to help if he didn't want to."
"I don't know, maybe I am going too far." Lexie glanced down at her clothes, or lack thereof.
"Stop it. Knox needs a fucking reality check." Kristen grabbed her sister by her shoulders, stepping in front of her to look into her eyes. "He needs to pull his head out of his ass. Now you need to either put up or shut up, sister dearest."
"But maybe he's not interested anymore."
"Horseshit. If that man was any less interested - he'd be eating you for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And we'd be selling tickets like sex was a spectator sport. Which… are you opposed to that sort of thing?" Nikki flashed a wicked grin.
Lexie gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Nikki's suspicions were confirmed with that one move and she barely repressed the urge to pet her head and wrap her in bubble wrap.
"I just want him to talk to me." Shoulders slumped, she blinked back tears. Forlorn, Lexie was almost at the point of giving up entirely.
"Well, I think we can get him to do more than talk to you." Kristen tugged at the fluttering top of Lexie's black strapless dress. It dipped low between her breasts, lifting them up and displaying them to their most advantageous.
"Kristen!" Sami groaned, her next words caught in her throat as a knock echoed at the door.
"Time to put up or shut up. Or is that put out… I never get this one right." Kristen pretended to seriously ponder the question, tapping one finger on her chin, as Sami hopped up to answer the door.
"Just me." Brandon peeked his head around the door jamb.
"Get in here, we're not done yet." Nikki glowered at her older brother, waving him in with the hot curling wand. Pressing his back against the door, Brandon looked around the room. Sami glanced at him with an appraising eye and slightly uncomfortable blink of one that is looking at someone she'd once kissed… when she was like thirteen. "Spill it."
Brandon smiled, his teeth gleaming so white in his tanned face. Sami almost wished that Lexie was attracted to him instead. It would be so much easier for her. She snuck a quick look at Kristen, but she was still fixated on making sure Lexie's boobs looked their absolute best. "Knox is out there at the second bonfire to the right. There is a crew of kids around, but he doesn't seem to be really talking to any of them. Has had a couple beers by the looks of it."
"Oh hell." Lexie cursed, looking down.
"No, that's a good thing." Nikki smiled, grabbing a can of touchably soft hair spray from the counter top.
"It is?" Her head came up sharply.
"Yep. Close your eyes." A cloud of spray came from the canister as Nikki gave a kiss of lastability to Lexie's touched up curls. "This is what you're going to do."
*~*~*
Twenty minutes later, Sami stepped out onto the beach. She wore a tight blue tank top that she'd knotted at the base of her spine and a little pair of denim cutoffs, opting to go bare foot. Less for EJ to take off in a little while. She bit her lip. They'd agreed that as soon as things really got into a full swing or a dull roar as the case may be, that she and EJ would just slip away. Up to his room, because it was on the third floor, less likely for them to be spotted. And being as though he was rooming with Philip, and Chloe had arrived, no one else was going to be touching that room with a ten foot pole, thinking it was already in use. A perfect plan.
She felt pale, really white. Can you feel a shade of a color? Because she totally did. The heat from the day seeped up from the sand into her feet as she took steps toward the bonfires, searching for anyone she could glom onto.
Her eyes took in the bonfires spaced at random intervals, the pool and shrieks as someone had obviously just taken an unexpected plunge. "Sami!" Philip called her over. "We're over here!" He sat a little away from the second fire, Chloe practically plastered to him. Top 40 music blared from hidden beach speakers. Sami picked her way around party-goers. Some she knew, and some she didn't. Making her way down to the fire, she searched for him.
A direct hit scored as their eyes connected across the fire. She felt the corresponding pull, a tingle and a flash heat, then bubble and boil her blood. A zap and a zing snake around her lady parts as EJ's eyes trailed down the length of her body and back up. She worried that someone else might notice his attention, but EJ sat next to Philip, who sat next to Knox.
It was almost a who's who of the Salem hierarchy. The fire grew as did the crew of people around it. Not long after, Lexie made her appearance. Sami was careful to watch Knox's reaction. He seemed intent on avoidance, a picture of relaxation, grabbing another beer. When Brandon stood, giving up his seat, Sami knew this was the moment, it was all going to come up a head, right here - right now. She grabbed the sides of the chair she was perched on the edge of, her stomach in a tight vicious knot that no longer had anything to do with her future plans for the evening. Every muscle in her body was keyed for a fight or flight response. The fine hairs on her arms stood straight up, heedless of the fact that it was 80 degrees, plus she sat in front of a roaring beach fire. On cue, a piece of driftwood popped, sending sparks flying and she jumped in place, anxiety keeping her wound tighter than tight.
Bonfire smoke twisted up into the air and Sami chided herself for her nerves, watching the delicate swirls float up into the sky and the stars beyond. It was beautiful, she should be enjoying the night, but like it was almost as if the heaven's themselves were holding their breath, anticipating the moment. Except Knox. He portrayed the visage of inebriated obliviousness. He tipped back his bottle as he stood too, "gotta hit the head."
"Want me to hold it for you?" A girl Sami thought she recognized from her Study Hall offered from his left side much to the uproarious delight of the male contingent of their grouping. Her dark hair bobbed in a pony on top of her hair, Sami barely resisted the urge to snatch her bald on the charge of sisterly solidarity. Her fingernails dug into her palms, in her attempts to stay quiet.
The corner of his lip lifted, "why sweet thing, that's the best offer I've had all day." A whole litany of hoots and catcalls accompanied them as the pair disappeared, the shadows away from the blaze of the fire hiding them from view almost as soon as they'd taken a couple of steps away. Sami was hesitant to look in Lexie's direction, the gut punch she'd felt at Knox's words was sharp, she could only imagine how Lexie was taking it.
As they entered the house, Knox was quick to dismiss the young chit, he had no interest in her or anyone else for that matter. But if he hadn't had an excuse, he was going to throw down with Brandon Walker and there was absolutely no doubt of that in his mind. Spying a partial bottle of vodka on the counter, he snagged it and took the stairs at a jog, closing himself in his upstairs bedroom, headphones in, curtains drawn tight. If nothing else, he was going to drink himself stupid and forget about Lexie DiMera. Come hell or high tide.
Sami shook her head. Lexie scooted into Knox's chair, if nothing else, she was going to make him work for his seat when he returned, not realizing he had no plans to return that night. EJ again caught her eye, darting his eyes between her and Lexie. His jaw was hard, his eyes even harder. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of the conversation between Knox and EJ either, she knew that wasn't going to end well. Damn, being a teenager sucked sometimes. All she wanted to do was be alone with her boyfriend, and at this point, it was looking like it was going to quite a bit longer until that happened.
