The next morning Carly strode through the lobby of the Cassadine building
unaware of the fact that she was being watched the whole time. She checked
her watch as she waited for the elevator to come. She didn't notice the
tall young man that joined her until they both boarded the elevator. She
pressed the button for the top floor and glanced at him. "What floor?"

He checked the button Carly had pushed. "Same floor as yours."

Carly nodded. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He said, "Are
you Carly Cassadine?"

Carly nodded and stared forward silently. She wasn't the type to engage in
chitchat in an elevator.

"I was on my way up to see you just now." He informed her.

"Well," She took a step aside. "Good for you..."

"Markopoulos, Nikolas Markopoulos." Nikolas stuck out his hand.

Carly ignored his hand and rolled her eyes. "Watch too many James Bond
movies? Unfortunately for you Mr. Markopoulos, you are not on my schedule
and I have a very full and busy day."

"I can either talk to you or your father. It doesn't matter."

"My father isn't in today." Carly told him just as they reached the top
floor. She stepped out. "So you're out of luck on both accounts."

"It's important that I speak with either of you today." Nikolas followed
her.

Carly paused and looked at him suspiciously. "Are you with J&J Jacks?"

"Excuse me? No."

Carly continued on until she got to Elizabeth's desk. "Any calls?"

"Your father once, Mrs. Collins twice, and your coffee's on the table."
Elizabeth told her.

Carly nodded and looked over her shoulder. "If you want to talk to me,
speak to my secretary and see if she arrange an appointment for you."

"Is it possible for me to get one today? It has to be today." Nikolas
insisted. The faster he does this, the faster he gets the old woman off his
back.

Carly repressed a sigh. Usually she wouldn't do this but he looked so
insistent. "Fine. I have about five minutes before my first morning
meeting. Come in."

Nikolas followed her into the office. Carly picked up her coffee and sipped
it as she settled into her chair. She nodded at him. "Speak."

Nikolas regarded her quietly for a minute before saying. "I lied to you
before. My name isn't Nikolas Markopoulos, that is my adopted name. I just
discovered recently that in truth I am Nikolas Stravosovich Cassadine, the
rightful Cassadine Prince. I am here to claim was is mine."

Carly's lips curved into a smile around her cup. She put it down and leaned
back in her seat. "Someone got their information wrong."

"My mother is Laura Webber Baldwin Spencer. My father was Stravos
Cassadine, younger brother of Stefan Cassadine. My mother named me
herself." Nikolas said coolly.

"Like I said, someone got their information wrong. Nikolas Cassadine is
dead. He died at birth. Now I don't know what kind of sick joke this was
supposed to be but I suggest you do not go to my Aunt Laura with this."
Carly threatened him softly. "You wouldn't want to deal with me or my Uncle
Luke if you decide to mess with her."

"You will not keep me from *my* mother." Nikolas gritted out. "But she's
not why I'm here today."

"Who's paying you to do this? Helena? One of the cousins? It has to be
someone in the family because no one outside knows about this. But let me
tell you whatever they're paying you for this charade, it's not worth it."

Nikolas stood up and walked around his chair. He placed his hands on the
back of the chair and leaned forward. "Enjoy your time here, Carly, I can
call you Carly, right? After all we are cousins. As I was saying, enjoy it
while you can because I will be taking it all over."

Carly laughed. "You can see yourself out I'm sure? Or do you need security
to escort you?" She pressed the intercom button. "Elizabeth? Could you
please get security up here to escort my guest out?"

"No need for that." Nikolas walked to the door. "This was just a quick stop
to let you know what's going on. I'd hate for you to have to read about it
in the papers."

~*~*~
Emily propped herself up on Lucky's bare chest. They sprawled out in the
middle of Emily's bed, the covers tangled around their naked bodies. She
grinned widely as she traced designs on his stomach. He played with the
strands of her hair. He murmured. "Why are you in such a great mood?"

Emily looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "After what we just did you
have to ask?"

He tugged on a strand of hair. "I'm talking about before you. You
practically jumped me when I came in. Now usually I'd put it down for my
overwhelming good looks…"

Emily pulled herself up until she lay fully on top of him. She rested her
chin on his chest and laughed. "You wish."

"So what was it?" He trailed his fingertips up and down her back.

"I didn't want to tell you until I was sure but now that I know for sure…"
Emily bit her lip and giggled. After worrying for days about being pregnant
she was incredibly relived to know she wasn't.

Lucky's hand stilled. "Does this have anything to do with why you've been
so sad lately?"

"Yes. Lucky…I'm not pregnant!" She squealed and bounced on his chest.

"What?" He tried to sit up. Emily rolled off him and he sat up to stare at
her incredulously. "You're not pregnant? When did you think you were
pregnant?"

"This week." Emily sat up also. She pulled the sheet up to her chest.

"Why didn't you *say* anything?" He frowned.

"I wanted to be sure. Lucky, isn't this great?"

"Emily, this had to be…how could you keep something like this from me?"

Emily frowned at him. She couldn't understand why he was so angry. He
should be ecstatic that she wasn't pregnant. "I didn't want to worry you if
it turned out to be nothing. Why are you upset?"

Lucky grabbed her by the arms and pulled her forward. "Why would you think
I would want you to go through something like this by yourself? Why didn't
you trust me enough?"

"I trust you." She said softly.

"Obviously not enough." He pressed his forehead against hers. "Did you
think I would have run out on you?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "I would never…no."

"Emily, I *want* to marry you, I *want* to have kids with you." He swore.

"I know that. It's just that, I wanted to make sure before we started
making any big plans." She told him. "Yes, we are getting married but
Lucky, come on, do you know how drastically different our lives would
become if I did get pregnant? This wedding is a year away; we would have
had to move it up to next week. And forget about me going to school.
Married life would be a lot harder for us if you add a baby to it. We're
still young and I don't know about you but I'm too young to be having a
baby."

Lucky grew quiet. He clenched his jaw and stared at the sheet. Emily became
concerned when he stayed quiet for several minutes. She brushed her fingers
across his jaw and said softly, "Lucky?"

He spoke softly. "We would have figured something out. We would have come
up with a plan. Something, I don't know Emily but we should have went
through this *together*. Not me thinking everything's fine while you
suffered through this crisis alone."

"But it's over, Lucky," She tried smiling at him but it didn't work.
"There's no reason for you to be upset."

"You didn't trust me." He said simply.

"You're being crazy." Emily rolled off the bed. She needed some distance
from him. She took the sheet with her leaving him naked on the bed without
covering and settled on the window seat. She curled her feet up under her
and thrust her hands into her hair. "I *trust* you."

"You kept this a secret from me." He said.

"Everybody has secrets, Lucky." She snapped. She immediately thought of her
encounter with Nikolas.

"I know that." He snapped back. "But this shouldn't have been one. Not when
it would have effected me also."

"I told you, didn't I?" She sighed.

"After the fact. I should have known from the get-go. I should have been
there to hold your hand, to let you know that it would be okay." He took a
deep breath and asked. "What would you have done if you were pregnant?
Would have told me? Or would you have gotten an abortion?"

"What? No!" Emily exclaimed. "I wouldn't have done something like that
without talking to you first. I was too busy worrying about being pregnant
to think about getting rid of it. God, Lucky."

She turned her head to the window. He slid out of the bed and walked over
to her. He knelt beside her and took her hand in his. He kissed the back of
it and murmured. "I'm sorry."

She looked down at the top of his head. "You're right. I should have told
you."

Lucky looked up at her earnestly. "I don't want us to keep secrets from
each other, Emily. If something's happening in our lives, I want you to
promise me, the big stuff, the things that'll effect us both, you tell me.
Do you understand me?"

"Of course, Lucky."

He cupped her face and stared into her eyes. "No, I want it clear that you
understand. Promise me." He thought of the hurt that his mother was putting
his father through by not telling him the truth.

She gently touched his hands. "I promise."

He relaxed slightly and kissed her forehead. "Thank you. I promise you the
same thing. Now be honest, there's nothing else is there?"

Emily once again thought of Nikolas. She shook her head. "No, nothing." She
quickly changed the subject. "Aren't you cold like that?"

Lucky looked down at his nakedness and chuckled. "I didn't even notice."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Then maybe you should get back into
bed?"

"Good idea." He kissed her quickly and then scooped her up in his arms.

"Lucky!" She laughed.

He glanced at her door. "Is that thing locked? I don't want Edward or Alan
bursting in on us."

"You didn't worry about that before."

"I was swept up in the moment. Is it locked?"

"Yup." He carried her over to the bed and had just laid her out on it when
there was a knock. Lucky and Emily froze.

"Damn it." He muttered. He rolled off of her and dove under the bed. It
didn't matter if they were engaged, if anyone found a naked Lucky in her
bed there'd be hell to pay. Emily grabbed her robe and tossed it on. She
opened the door a crack and stuck her head out. "Yes?"

It was Reginald. "Having fun?"

Emily looked around nervously. "Is it just you?"

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah."

Emily broke out into a big smile. "Then yeah I'm having fun."

"Well it looks like your Grandfather has been finally found. He called from
the airport to say that he'll be home soon, maybe a half hour."

"Thanks for the warning."

He glanced at Emily's bed. "He's under there isn't he? Hi Lucky."

Lucky's hand appeared from under the bed. "What's up, Reg?"

"*Reginald*, thank you." He sniffed. He tossed out the reminder as he
parted. "Thirty minutes."

Emily leaned against the door and watched as Lucky slid out from under the
bed. He grinned up at her. "You know there's a lot we can do in thirty
minutes."

"I should take a shower." Emily headed for the bathroom.

"There too." Lucky smiled and followed behind her.

Emily placed her hand on Lucky's chest and pushed him back. "I'm showering,
alone."

Lucky nodded slowly. "Right. Of course. I understand completely. Shower.
Alone. Got it."

Emily giggled helplessly as Lucky dragged her into the bathroom all the
while agreeing with her.

~*~*~
That evening at Wyndemere Carly and Stefan ate their dinner quietly. That
afternoon Carly finally picked up the phone and called Stefan. She claimed
that she left behind a few essentials that she wanted Mrs. Landsbury to
pack up for her. She would come out later that evening to pick them up. Of
course neither mentioned that she could have called Mrs. Landsbury herself
or that it was simpler to have her things shipped like before. Once at
Wyndemere he asked her to stay for dinner. She reluctantly accepted after
Stefan told her that Barbara was at GH.

Carly put aside her fork and sipped her wine. "Do you know anyone by the
name of Markopoulos? I heard the name today and it seemed familiar."

Stefan stroked his chin as he thought about it. "It does sound familiar."

"From the island maybe?" Carly pressed.

"If I recall correctly… Markopoulos was the name of Helena's long time
maid." Stefan said.

Helena, Carly thought, of course. Stefan looked her closely. "Why do you
ask?"

"I had an interesting visitor today." Carly said.

"Oh?" Stefan raised his eyebrow.

"Some impostor strolled into my office today. At first he said his name was
Nikolas Markopoulos and then he claimed to be Nikolas Cassadine." Carly
told him.

"Excuse me? Stravos's son is dead."

"Obviously Helena's hatched another plot using the son of her *maid* for
goodness sake. Though you'd think she'd be cleverer than to use the old
back from the dead plan." Carly shook her head.

"This could be more serious than you think." Stefan cautioned.

"Father, don't tell me that you actually buy into this?" Carly gasped. "The
guy's obviously a fake."

"We know that but there are other members of this family, Caroline, who
will be ready to believe that he is the real thing." Stefan reminded her of
all the people who was against Carly becoming the heiress.

"Then we get a blood test to prove it once and for all. Simple." Carly
shrugged.

"Do you want to put Laura through such a thing?"

Carly frowned. "Uncle Luke won't allow it."

"Precisely. I'll take care of our impostor."

Carly laughed under her breath and mumbled. "Yeah."

"Excuse me?" Stefan said softly. "Are you insinuating that I cannot deal
with this?"

"I'm just saying that ever since you and mother got back together you've
been letting things slide." Carly shrugged.

"Your mother and I have been together for three months," Stefan told her
coldly, "and she has not affected my work."

Carly flinched, first from his cold tone and second from the fact that he'd
been seeing her mother for three months without her knowing it. Struggling
to keep her voice steady she said. "I didn't know about that."

"It wasn't for you to know." Stefan told her.

Carly pressed her lips together. "Maybe I should rephrase my earlier
statement. Ever since she moved in you've been letting things slide. Taking
today off for example, you do know that we were supposed to finalize the
Deception deal? Today?"

"Of course. I took care of it my self, from the house."

"Behind my back?" Carly asked. "We went in on that together. I've been
there every step of the way, how dare you cut me out."

He shrugged. "It was a minor detail. There was no need to include you. You
don't include me on all of your business deals. Did you think I wouldn't
hear about J&J Jacks?"

"That was different. That was *my* project. Deception was *ours*." Carly
hit the dinner table. "It was mother wasn't it?"

"Caroline…" Stefan shook his head.

"No, no, I see what's happening. Everyone knows what happens when you and
Mother get together. Hell, even Helena warned me about it the other day."

"You saw Helena?" Stefan sat up straighter.

Carly waved her head. "Yeah, anyway, she warned me about this. You lose all
sense of focus. It's all about her. I remember the "good" times when you
guys were together. You were so wrapped up in each other…"

"Could it be possible that Barbara was right?" Stefan murmured more to
himself than her.

"What? What did she say about me?" Carly growled.

"She more than hinted that you were jealous of her."

"Please. All I'm saying is the woman makes you lose your focus." Carly
rolled her eyes and sank back in her seat. Then as a sudden scary thought
came to her, she sat up quickly. "You don't believe her, do you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Do I believe there's some truth to it? Yes."

"How could you…" Carly trailed off hurt. This was her father. The man, who
always believed in her, took care of her, placed her first…and now he was
taking her mother's side. He's never talked to her in this way before. "See
you always become completely different when she's around. She's going to
make you miserable."

"She makes me happy, Caroline." He said simply.

Carly's mouth dropped open. "How can that woman make you happy at all?
She's my mother, I'm obliged to love her but she's a viper."

"I love her and it's about time you grow up and recognize that."

Carly bit her lip hard to keep from focusing on the shot of pain that went
through her. She whispered. "Grow up?"

"You're being childish."

"Childish?" Carly repeated. She nodded fiercely. "Okay, okay."

"You've been the number one woman in my life for so long that you're
finding it…difficult to step aside." Stefan reasoned.

Carly stood up abruptly. She couldn't stay here any longer. "I'd step aside
if I thought that this was real and that it would last. But I know my
mother and I know you. I've seen the after effects and this time I'm not
going to be there to help you pick up the pieces."

She whirled around and fled the dining room before she ended up breaking
down and crying for him. Stefan curled his hand into a fist and banged the
table. Damn.

~*~*~
On the launch back to the mainland Carly struggled to hold it together. If
there was one thing that she truly hated was fighting with her father.
Fighting about the company or politics was fine but when it got personal,
it was always hurt her.

Sniffing to hold back the tears, she dialed Jason's number. "Jason? Hi,
it's me."

"Carly, I'm can't talk right now." He said immediately.

She rubbed her forehead. "But I need to see you."

"Carly, can I call you back later? I have to go into surgery."

"But Jason…you say we don't see each other enough. Come on, I need to see
you."

"I can't." He insisted. In the background she could hear his name being
called. "I gotta go."

"Can you meet me at my room, soon?" Carly asked.

"I'm on call all night." He said. His name was repeated again. "Listen,
we'll talk tomorrow. Now, I have to go."

Carly could stare in wonder at her phone. Jason had hung up on her. *Jason*
had hung up on *her*. First her father and now this. "Damn it."

Sonny was waiting on the docks when the launch came in. Carly didn't
hesitate to go to him. He looked at her strangely when she walked into his
arms and hugged. After a second he hugged her back.

She murmured against his neck. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't." He confessed. "I was taking a walk."

"Alone, on the docks at night?" She frowned.

"I was looking an acquaintance. A mouthy accountant named Benny."

"Well, I don't care why you're here, I'm just glad you are."

He moved back so that he could push the hair out of her eyes and cup her
face. He searched her face. "What happened Caroline?"

"My father, a stupid fight." Her voice cracked. Damn, she never cried in
front of anyone. That was a weakness.

Sonny nodded. He could see that she was trying to not cry. "You know what,
my car is just over there. I'll take you home."

They didn't say another word until they got to Carly's penthouse. Carly
used the time to gather herself. Crying because she had a fight with her
father, how pathetic. She kicked off her shoes as soon as she walked in.
She threw her coat and purse on the floor. Sonny stood quietly behind her
waiting. She whirled around to face him. She suddenly felt very nervous and
shy in front of him. Letting him see her without her guard up wasn't
supposed to happen.

She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. "You want a
drink?"

He shook his head. She nodded towards her bedroom. "I'm going to go
changed. I feel, icky."

Carly was surprised to see Sonny following her. She tossed him a hesitant
smile over her shoulder. He smiled back and reached for her. She led him to
her bedroom. He sat down on the edge of her bed and she went to her
dresser. He watched intently as she pulled out a cream colored shortie
satin nightgown.

She crumbled it in her hands and leaned against the dresser. She licked her
lips. "I was going to ask if you want to say the night."

"You know I want to." He said softly as his shirt.

She gave him a half-smile. "I kinda had a feeling you would. I guess I
don't need this anymore." She started to toss the nightgown away but he
held up his hand.

"Put it on." He said huskily.

"Okay, be right back." She escaped to the bathroom. His laughing voice
followed, "Are you shy *now*?"

"I want you to see the finished result." She called back.

When she returned, he was already stripped and lying across her bed. He
whistled in appreciation as she modeled the nightgown for him. The skimpy
skirt scarcely reached the top of her thighs. The bodice barely covered her
breasts. The spaghetti straps slipped off her shoulders and hung limply on
her arms. The whole thing looked like it was going to fall off at any time.
Sonny loved it.

"You haven't worn that for anyone else have you?" He growled, immediately
thinking of Jason.

"What? No. First time anyone but me and the sales girl have seen it." She
said with a smile. "Why?"

"Don't wear it with anyone else." He ordered.

"Oooh, someone's jealous." She laughed.

"Jealous?" He scoffed. "Come here."

She crawled across the bed towards him. Once she reached him she crouched
over him and placed a soft kiss on his chest. He ran his hand up the back
of her leg and up under her short skirt.

She smiled down at him. "Thanks for picking me up at the docks."

He shrugged and continued to explore under her skirt. "I just happened to
be there."

Carly spread her legs wider for him and closed her eyes. She licked her
lips as his fingers worked their magic. "I needed somebody. I tried calling
Jason—"

Sonny squeezed her arm with his other hand. He gritted out. "Don't *ever*
mention doctor boy when you're in my bed."

"This is *my* bed." She corrected.

"You know what I mean." He stared at her. She stared back at him. After a
few seconds she shook her head. "Okay, okay, no Jason talk. Now would you
finish what you were doing?"

He smiled. "Slave driver. Listen, tomorrow I'm going out of town."

"Yeah?"

"Just letting you know in case you came by the club looking for me." He
shrugged.

"Okay. Mind me asking how long?" Carly's hands were roaming over Sonny's
body.

"Just a few days." He said distracted by Carly's actions. "It's uh,
business."

"Okay, if we're not going to see each other for a while then we better make
the most of tonight. What do you think?"