With slight annoyance, Chloe watched her companion devour his breakfast. She almost feared receiving the bill for the feast he had ordered from room service. Chloe could only groan as he popped the remainder of his blueberry muffin into his smiling mouth. Chloe was beginning to find his smug expression quite infuriating.

"I hate you," simply stated Chloe.

The man swallowed his mouthful of muffin before replying, "You might at times, but I doubt that you'll allow it to interfere with our working relationship."

"What working relationship?" Chloe scoffed.

"You know, the one where we work together to manipulate anyone that gets in our way," the man responded, reaching for the last muffin.

Rolling her pretty blue eyes, Chloe took the muffin from the man's hand and responded, "Now, wouldn't that be a scheming relationship?"

Chloe had just taken a bite of the muffin and was moving it away from her lips when the man captured her hand. Wrapping his fingers around Chloe's delicate hand, he directed the muffin to his own mouth.

Once her partner in crime had taken a bite, Chloe pulled herself free of his grasp and promptly dropped the muffin down on her plate. Giving the man a dirty look, Chloe stated, "I've had enough of your little games, Jason."

"Ah, but the games have only just begun."

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Philip skillfully directed his car through the streets of Salem as the weather forecast erupted from the same speakers that had been blaring music from a local classic rock station only minutes before. Philip was far too lost in his own miseries to pay much attention to the thunder showers that were being predicted for that evening. After all, no physical storm could ever compare to the emotional one that was casting itself over his mind and heart.

Pulling the car onto a side street, Philip tried to force his worries and insecurities out of his mind. He knew that he needed to be at the top of his game for the confrontation to come. With his personal life in such imminent danger, there was no room for error.

After staying awake most of the night waiting for a phone call from Chloe that he knew he would never receive, Philip had finally gotten out of bed early that morning and made a decision that would surely change his future.

He wasn't exactly proud of the decision he had made, but Philip felt that he had no choice. As the saying went, desperate times called for desperate measures.

Philip was not a bad person, nor had he ever been. But, he was a man that possessed a great determination and love for family. Though both were admirable qualities, they proved quite detrimental when coupled together. Philip wanted to keep his family, and he was determined to go to any lengths necessary to do so. He would even turn to a person less trustworthy than a snake charmer and more dangerous than the snake.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Breakfast complete, Jason and Chloe moved themselves to the bed. Laying on their backs, the two stared at the beige ceiling and casually discussed just how they would get everything that they ever wanted - including love.

Neither deluded themselves by thinking that it would be simple. Both Jason and Chloe knew that there were many things about Brady and Mimi's marriage that they didn't know and would never understand. At the top of the list was why the two had married in the first place.

Though he truly hated having some type of open and honest relationship with Chloe, Jason knew that he would have to completely trust her to win back his own true love. For the first time in his life, Jason needed someone to help him - and, much to his own dismay, that someone was Chloe Lane. Despite the night they had shared and the sexual innuendos that plagued their association, Jason and Chloe were far from friends. They had simply become two adults who were willing to join forces to capture a lost love.

Deciding that it was time to be completely truthful with his fellow schemer, Jason begrudgingly confessed, "Shawn knows that you and I slept together."

"How?"

"I told him."

Turning her face so that she could direct a cold glare in Jason's direction, Chloe angrily asked, "You what?"

"Calm down, Chloe. It really isn't that big of a deal. He and I were at the club talking about some of the stuff he's missed, and I just felt like it was time I confessed. I've never told anyone, and I just wanted to get if off my chest."

Chloe returned her gaze to the dull ceiling as she attempted to understand why Jason Masters would choose to tell Shawn about that night. It made little or no sense. But, then again, not many things made sense with Jason. Chloe may have been given credit as being the baffling one, but Jason was surely a close second. Never had Chloe been able to understand the motivation for his often erratic decisions.

Of course, Chloe understood that it wasn't really the time to analyze Jason or his actions. They had far more important things to worry about. Maintaining a soft and even tone, Chloe asked, "Let's just focus on Brady and Mimi. What exactly is your plan for breaking them up? I hope you realize that just because Mimi is putty in your hands, Brady might not be that way with me. The way things ended between us was pretty bad, and Brady's never exactly been the kind to forgive and forget overnight."

"We'll deal with Brady's resentment later. Right now, we just need to concentrate on tearing him and Mimi apart. The way I see it, if we want to put an end to their marriage, we have to start at the beginning. That means finding out exactly why those two got married in the first place."

"And, you don't have any ideas why they did it?"

"No, Chloe, I'm telling you, one minute they were barely speaking to each other, and the next, they were plastering fake smiles on their faces and announcing their engagement. It was just weird."

"Yeah, well, considering how you and I brought in that new year, I'm not that surprised that it turned out to be a weird year."

Jason took a moment to consider what Chloe had said. The year that followed their secret night had truly proven to be quite strange. "You're right, that year turned out to be crazy. I mean, it was less than three months after you and I slept together that Brady and Meems tied the knot. Then, that August, Jan skipped town and stayed gone for more than a year. And, when she did resurface, she had a ton more cash. She never did tell me how she ended up with so much money. Also, that was the same year that Belle's dad had that fling or whatever with Nicole Walker. Plus, Philly-boy popped the question to Belle twice that year. And, she turned him down every single time."

"I heard about Mr. Black and Nicole. As usual, my mother was being nosy and found out about it even before Dr. Evans. She actually called me at eleven o'clock at night so she could try and gossip about it."

Realizing that the conversation had somehow taken a detour from its original route, Jason declared, "We have to get a definite plan. Seriously, Chloe, if Brady and Mimi weren't able to tear each other apart after being married for three or so years, then you know that we're going to have a hard time trying to drive a wedge between them."

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

"First, you have to make contact with Brady. Once he sees you again, it's bound to change things. Then, while you're off doing your thing with him, I get Mimi alone and see if I can't get her to tell me how that jerk convinced her to marry him in the first place."

"You're trying to make Brady look like the bad one? Now, that's rich. Jason, you and I both know that Mimi isn't exactly a little angel girl. She was more than likely just using Brady for his money. And, that's probably the reason she won't leave him for you. He's got the cash, and you don't."

His eyes expressing his anger quite well, Jason turned on his side and glared at Chloe. "You're wrong. Mimi's not like that. She wouldn't marry Brady for his money."

"So, she's too good to marry someone for money, but not too good to cheat on her own husband with a guy that treated her like trash during most of high school? Yeah, Mimi sounds like quite the catch."

"Shut your mouth, Chloe."

Moving closer to Jason on the bed, Chloe placed her face only a few inches from his and dared, "Make me."

Just as Jason was about to kiss Chloe, there was a knock on the door. Though Jason thought it was bad enough being interrupted, he knew things got worse when he heard a familiar man's voice say, "Chloe, it's Shawn. I was wondering if you were busy today. I understand that you don't want to help me, but I was hoping that we could still spend some time together while we're both in Salem. Chloe? Are you in there?"

Rolling not only his eyes, but his body off the bed, Jason made a quick dash for the bathroom. Even knowing that he was quite near getting caught in Chloe's hotel room, Jason's mind was pondering something completely different. What exactly had Shawn wanted Chloe's help with? And, was there any way Jason could use that to his advantage?