Carly smoothed her dress down and pushed past him. She walked over to
Luke's desk. She leaned against it and folded her arms. Sonny watched her
every move silently. He was waiting for her next big announcement.
Carly glanced at him. "Are you going to try and deny it? "
He folded his arms also. "No, absolutely not."
"You're just wondering how I knew, is that it?" Carly laughed softly. "You
think I wouldn't have had your past looked into? Honey, do you think I
would be so stupid as to not find out all I could about you?"
"You tell me." He said flatly.
"The same night we got together I had you investigated. That's right, right
after I left your office I was on the phone with one of my men. Imagine my
surprise when I discovered that you've been married for fifteen years with
two kids."
"That was an invasion of my privacy." He said softly, his soft tone not
masking the anger behind it. "What else do you know?"
"You're upset about that?" She said in disbelief. "We have bigger problems
than me poking into your past."
Sonny walked over to the desk. "If you've known for so long, why didn't you
say something?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I guess I was being foolish. I was giving
you the chance to tell me the truth. I thought, 'he's married, he'll tell
me. After all he knows about Jason.' Maybe I am stupid."
He sat down in front of her. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I said my
marriage's been over for years. I haven't lived with her for three years. I
only stay married for the kids."
Carly snorted. "Right. Let's see, you have a fifteen year old named Brooke
Lynn, who the hell came up with that?"
"I got Lois in trouble, I did the right thing." He said stiffly.
"You also have a one-year old named Michael Corinthos the third, I think
you call him little Mikey? Yeah, your marriage's been over for *years*."
She said snidely.
"Anniversary surprise." He shrugged.
She nodded. "Whatever, Sonny."
"What do you want from me, Caroline? To apologize for having a life before
I ever met you?" He snapped. "I'm not going to do that."
"It's not like I'm telling to leave Lois. Fifteen years together isn't
something you just ignore. It means something. You have *kids*. I'm not
trying to break that up. I'm just saying that you should have told me. I'm
screwing you, I had a right to know." Carly growled.
Sonny sat back in his seat and studied her. He covered his chin with his
hand and murmured. "So now it's all out in the open. Now what do you want?"
"What I want is to know what gives you the right to get pissed at me for
being with Jason when you're *married*."
"You were throwing him in my face. What, I was supposed to *smile*? You
were obviously mad at me about something, what I have no idea. I go to
Brooklyn for my kid's birthday party, I come back and you're acting like a
bitch."
Carly wasn't going to explain her erratic behavior to him when she couldn't
even explain it to herself. Instead she shook her head. "Forget that."
"Come here." He took her hand and tried to pull her towards him but she
wouldn't budge.
"You're not listening to me."
"So I'm married, so what? It's got nothing to do with you and me, right
here, right now. Lois is all the way in Brooklyn, she could care less what
I'm doing up here as long as I make sure the kids are supported." He stood
up and walked over to her since she wouldn't come to him.
Carly laughed softly. "Honey, if you think any woman could care less about
what you do, you truly are a fool. I'm surprised she isn't begging you to
come back home."
"She isn't and she doesn't matter, Caroline." Sonny cupped her face. Carly
licked her lips and looked into his eyes. He murmured. "So can we just
forget all this, querida?"
He kissed her long and slow. Carly kissed him back then abruptly broke
away. She said softly. "I don't know."
She then marched out of the office, leaving Sonny staring after her. She
quickly made her way through the crowds to her table. Jason smiled at her.
"You were gone for a long time."
"I want to leave now Jason."
"What? We just got here. Dara's not even halfway through her set." Jason
protested.
Carly pressed her hand to her forehead. "I'm not feeling that well."
Jason stood up and looked at her in concern. "You think you're coming down
with something?"
"My stomach…I've been feeling off all day…" She shrugged.
"How about I order you some seltzer water. That should settle your
stomach."
"I need to go home and lie down." She insisted.
Jason frowned. "Okay, let's get you home then."
They gathered up his stuff and Jason escorted Carly towards the door. She
paused once to look over her shoulder. Sonny was leaning against the wall
watching her. She looked away and followed Jason out of the club.
~*~*~
Emily was walking past the many bars that dotted the street that Luke's was
located on. She had to park down the street because the parking lot was
full because of Dara's performance. She was late meeting Lucky at his
father's club. She got held up at the Quartermaine Mansion. Monica had
started in another 'you're too young to get married' speech and Emily had
to sit through it before she was finally allowed to go. She was just about
to cross the street to Luke's when someone called out to her.
"Hey, if it isn't my little friend." A voice slurred from the shadows.
Emily clutched her purse and whirled around. She relaxed slightly when she
saw it was just the stranger from the other day. She stiffened when she
remembered their last encounter. She laughed nervously. "You aren't going
to kiss me again are you?"
Nikolas leaned against a wall and smiled at her. There was something about
his smile that made Emily's stomach do flip flops. He chuckled. "Not
tonight, not unless you ask me to."
Emily narrowed her eyes. "Are you drunk?"
"Maybe." He lifted his shoulder in a lazy shrug. He had started drinking to
get the look of fear in Laura's eyes out of his head. One drink followed
another until he couldn't remember why he was drinking in the first place.
Emily bit her lip. She didn't know this man at all but for some reason she
felt sorry for him. "You don't look so good."
"Don't I know it." He slid down the wall until he was on the ground. He
brought his knees up to his chest and bent his head.
Emily took a hesitant step towards him. "Um, Nikolas? That's your name
right?"
He glanced up at her. "That's the name she gave me."
Emily looked at him in confusion. "Who is she?"
"My mother." He sighed.
"Okay." Emily nodded. She came closer to him and leaned down. She brushed a
strand of hair out of her face and said. "I think you should go home,
Nikolas."
Nikolas mumbled something that Emily couldn't hear. She crouched down next
to him. "Excuse me?"
"Your name. What's your name? You never told me your name."
"It's Emily. You really should go home and sleep that off."
He looked over at her, his eyes heavy lidded. Her stomach did flip-flops
again. He twirled the strand of hair that kept falling into her eyes around
his finger. He murmured, "Come home with me, Emily."
Emily pulled away and licked her lips nervously. "I can call you a cab if
you want. You can't drive yourself in this condition."
"You don't want to come home with me, Emily?" He said softly.
"You're drunk and I barely know you. Look, I'll get you a cab."
"What do you need to know? You like money, Emily? Because it looks like I'm
about to come into a lot of money." He boasted.
"My family has enough money thank you. Do you need help standing up?"
"I forgot, you're a Quartermaine, your family has more money than they know
what to do with it." He stood up easily but once he was up he began to
sway.
Emily quickly went to stop him from falling over. She frowned at him.
"How'd you know I was a Quartermaine."
He pressed his finger against her lips and smiled lopsidedly. "Shh, it's
secret how I know."
Emily shook her head and fumbled in her purse for her phone. "I'm going to
call you that cab right now."
Nikolas covered her hand with his hand. "I don't need a cab, you take me
home."
"Your home, not mine." Emily clarified.
He laughed. "You can take me to your home next time."
"There won't be a next time." She warned even as she escorted him to her
car. "I don't like you. I'm just doing this because I feel sorry for you."
"You take care of everyone you feel sorry for?" He said skeptically.
"No, just the really pathetic ones." She quipped.
"I am an not pathetic. Just a little drunk." He grinned.
"A little?" She snorted.
They bantered back and forth like that until they got to Emily's car. Emily
found Nikolas easier to deal with once they were in the car. After telling
Emily his address, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Emily wondered
briefly what happened to his talkative mood but was happy to have the time
to collect her thoughts. She didn't know how she ended up driving home a
complete stranger, who just happened to be drunk.
Emily curled her face up in distaste when they arrived at his building. "I
thought you said you had money? Why are you staying here?"
Nikolas muttered without opening his eyes. "I don't have it now. This is
all I can afford right now."
"Well, here we are." Emily hinted.
He turned his head towards her and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at her
and Emily held her breath expectantly. He said softly. "Come upstairs with
me."
She shook her head quickly. "I brought you home, that's enough."
"What if I trip going up the stairs. I fall, break my neck…anything could
happen." He raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen
to me."
"Nikolas…"
"It'll take five minutes."
She was at his door before she even realized it. Nikolas leaned heavily
against her as he tried to get his keys out of his pocket. He grinned at
her, "Could you…"
"I don't think so." She said sharply. "You're not as drunk as I thought you
were, are you?"
Nikolas winked at her before pulling out his keys and opening his door. He
staggered in. The first thing he did was pull his shirt over his head and
then flopped face down on his bed.
"You're here, you're safe, I'm gone." Emily turned to go.
"Wait." He rolled over on his back. "Somebody's got to take my shoes off."
"Excuse me?"
"Shoes, I can't reach them." He stretched for them.
"Sit up."
"Can't, too tired. Come on, you don't want me to sleep in my shoes do you?"
What should have been a childish looking pout turned out to be something
completely different to Emily. She swallowed hard and approached the bed.
She quickly took his shoes off and dropped them to the floor.
"Okay, bye." Emily turned around.
"You know these pants aren't that comfortable to sleep in." Nikolas grinned
wickedly at her.
Emily whirled around. "Okay, that's enough."
"I was kidding." Nikolas sat up. He pressed his hand to his head. "Okay, I
shouldn't have sat up that fast."
Emily frowned and folded her arms. "Sorry, you used up your pathetic quota
for the night."
"Emily, come here. If I stand up I might fall over." He reached out his
hands for her. Against her better judgment Emily took his hands. He pulled
her down on the bed next to him.
"What is it?" She whispered.
He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and stared into her eyes.
Emily squirmed under his close scrutiny. He sighed. "Thank you for bringing
me home."
"You would have gotten here eventually." Emily shrugged.
Nikolas closed his eyes briefly. "My mother. Don't tell my mother you saw
me."
"I don't know who your mother is." Emily told him.
"You do."
Emily slowly nodded. "Okay…Nikolas, you should go to bed."
"You look very pretty tonight." He said softly.
"Thanks, I was going to Luke's to meet Lucky. He's probably wondering where
I am."
Nikolas continued as if she hadn't said anything. "But then you always look
pretty."
Emily laughed. "We've met, what all of two times? It's not like you've seen
me a lot."
Nikolas smiled mysteriously at her. Emily started to get up. He was
starting to scare her. "Nikolas…"
"Wait." He tugged her hand hard and she fell on him, knocking him back.
Before she could get up Nikolas kissed her. She was so surprised by the
action that her lips parted and he was able to slip his tongue inside. It
took Emily a while to gather herself but when she did she pushed herself
away from him. She jumped up off the bed. She furiously wiped her mouth.
Nikolas sat up. "I'm—"
"What is *wrong* with you?" She demanded.
She didn't give him a chance to answer. She raced out of the room. Nikolas
called out for her. "Emily? Emily, wait!"
When she didn't come back Nikolas fell back with his covering his eyes.
"Damn it."
~*~*~
Barbara lay in the middle of the Stefan's large bed with her arms folded.
She glared at Stefan who was sitting at his desk dressed in his pajama
bottoms and robe. He was going through a file that had been handed to him
just before he and Barbara retired for the evening.
"Are you ever coming to bed, Stefan?" She demanded.
"Give me a moment, Barbara." Stefan murmured.
She threw the covers back and walked over to him. She draped her arms
around his neck and blew into his ear. "What is so engrossing that even *I*
can't tear you away?"
"Caroline was—"
"Carly, of course." She rolled her eyes.
Stefan continued as if she hadn't said a word. "Caroline was visited by a
young man pretending to be Stravos and Laura's son, Nikolas."
Barbara frowned. "When?"
"A few days ago. I had some people compile a report for me and this is
result." Stefan made a sweeping gesture regarding the papers on his desk.
"What did you find out?" Barbara came around and sat on his lap. She picked
up one of the pictures that Stefan was able to get of him.
"Yes." Stefan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It
would appear that this is another of my mother's power plays."
"Helena's behind this?" Barbara frowned.
"Yes. It would seem that he's the son of her former maid. Caroline and I
recognized the name. She's been meeting with him for awhile. I don't
understand why she would wait until now to try something like this."
"Who knows what goes on in that woman's mind." She spat out. Stefan wrapped
his arms around her and she rubbed her hands up them. "What are you going
to do now?"
"First, I will visit with this Markopoulos person. I was able to procure
his local address. Then I shall have a talk with my mother."
"And that will be the end of this all?"
"I believe so." Stefan said hopefully.
~*~*~
Chris was stretched out on a cot in the on call room when Jason came in
that morning. He nodded at Chris. "Hey, I saw you at Luke's last night with
Eve. I see she finally gave you another chance."
"Oh no, no, no." Chris shook his head. "What you saw was me sitting *next*
to her at the bar. Would you believe she ignored me the whole night?"
Jason laughed. "What did you *do* to her?"
"Damned if I know." Chris groaned. "Saw you and the ice queen, you guys ran
out pretty fast."
"Carly wasn't feeling well." For the rest of the night, Jason thought
bitterly.
"Well I think I'll take your advice on Nurse Spencer." Chris said, changing
the subject abruptly.
"What happened now?" Jason said curiously.
"Coming in this morning I see her, I become my usual *charming* self,"
Chris paused to smile, "little did I know that Stefan Cassadine was with
her."
"Should I even ask?"
"He didn't say a word but the look he gave me…" Chris shook his head.
"Told you not to mess with her." Jason said.
"Now I know better." Chris checked his watch. "I have to go on rounds. I'll
see you later though."
"Later." Jason lay down on the cot that Chris abandoned. He placed his
hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
A few minutes later he felt someone sit down the cot next to him. Without
opening his eyes, he said. "Something happen Chris? Stefan back to kick
your butt for talking to his woman?"
"It's not Chris." Karen whispered.
Jason opened his eyes to see Karen sitting next to him dressed only in a
towel with her hair wet. He sat up. "I didn't know you were in the shower."
"I just got out when you came in." She said softly.
"Oh." He nodded. "You want me to leave while you get dressed."
"Actually, I wanted to talk about us."
"What about us?" Jason said slowly.
"Jason, don't play around okay. I'm being serious here. You know what I'm
talking about." She trailed her finger down his arm.
"Karen…your jealousy of Carly is getting out of hand."
"Jealousy? I'm not jealous of Carly." She snapped.
"How do you explain this then? Before I got engaged to Carly, you acted
like you were just my friend. The moment you heard I propose, you were all
over me."
"It took realizing that I could lose you forever to open my eyes." Karen
murmured.
Jason shook his head. "Karen…"
"Shh." She whispered. "I should have told you before but... I don't know
why I didn't."
Jason took her hands in his. "Karen, I know why you're acting like this.
It's only been a short while since you and Jagger broke up. If he walked in
here right now asking for another chance you'd drop me without a second
glance."
"You're wrong." She swore. "And I'm going to show you."
Karen stood up and dropped her towel. She licked her lips and ran her hands
through her half-dried hair. Jason stared at her speechless. He had no idea
she would go so far. It's been years since he last saw her naked and her
body had changed some, all for the better. She smiled confidently at the
way he stared at her. She knelt down the cot. She tossed her hair back and
leaned down.
Jason's conscience was warring with him. He knew this was wrong. He was
committed to Carly. Doing this would be a betrayal. But that didn't stop
his body from reacting. It had been too long since he and Carly had been
together. And Carly had already practically given him permission…
He didn't have any more time to think because Karen's lips covered his. He
reacted instantly and without further thought. He wrapped his arms around
her and in one easy move rolled on top of her. He pressed his body against
hers.
"I forgot my—oh boy." Chris stared at them in shock.
Jason looked over his shoulder. "Damn it Chris, get out!"
Karen, realizing that the moment was over, grabbed her towel. Jason sat up
and covered her while Chris turned his back. Karen scrambled into the
bathroom.
"You should uh, lock the door next time." Chris laughed nervously.
Jason narrowed his eyes. "Don't you say a word of this to Carly."
Chris put his hands up. "Hey, why would I say *anything* to her? I'm not
exactly her closest confidant."
Jason pointed at him. "I'm not joking, Ramsey."
"Okay, as far as I'm concerned *this* never happened." Chris swore.
~*~*~
Carly was sitting behind her desk when Elizabeth buzzed her. "What is it
Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth whispered. "There's a…gentleman here to see you, Ms. Cassadine.
He doesn't have an appointment and he won't leave."
"Call security." Carly snapped. Then she thought of the Nikolas impostor.
"Is it that same guy from last week?"
"It's me *Ms. Cassadine*." Sonny's mocking voice came through the intercom
crystal clear.
Carly frowned. "Let him in, Elizabeth."
Carly got up and walked over to the door as Sonny came in. She said curtly
to Elizabeth. "Hold all my calls."
She nodded and closed the doors. Carly stared at Sonny. "What are you doing
here?"
"We have a conversation that we didn't get to finished." He walked past
her. "You ran out on me last night."
"I didn't run out." She denied.
"You brought up Lois then you got scared and ran." He said smoothly.
"I did not get scared. I left because we weren't going to work anything out
last night."
Sonny propped his hip on Carly's desk and studied her. "Exactly what were
we supposed to be working out? All I remember was you throwing my marriage
in my face."
"And the fact that you lied to me."
"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you. You never asked if I was married."
He shrugged. "And why would you have cared?"
"I cared about the fact that you didn't even bothered to tell me. That I
had to sit on this information for *three* months, Sonny. In all that time
you didn't think to mention *once* that you were married."
"I don't see why this is such a big deal to you. In case you didn't
noticed, you're engaged yourself. I'm not the only one in a relationship
here, though *my* relationship is all but over." He narrowed his eyes at
her.
Carly folded her arms and looked away. Sonny continued, "Yeah, I'm married,
you're engaged, we're two adults in established relationships who can't
stay away from each other. It's the lure of the forbidden. If we weren't
involved with other people when we first met, would we even be together?"
"Sonny…" Carly shook her head and laughed a little. "What I don't like
about this is, you act jealous over Jason. You disparage him at every
opportunity, you dictate that certain outfits of mine are his while others
are yours, you try to control the things I do with *him* and god forbid you
happen to see me with him. But I bet if I did any of that to you regarding
Lois, you'd have my ass."
"You think I want to hear or even think about you and the man you're going
to marry!" Sonny exploded.
"You don't *get* to be jealous Sonny. You're married, you have no control
or say in what goes on between me and Jason."
Sonny stared at her. "You want me to leave Lois."
The words came out too fast before he was able to stop them. The silence
that followed was charged with electricity. Neither spoke, they just stared
into each other's eyes. It was a long time before Carly broke the stare.
She looked at the floor and said softly, so softly that Sonny had to strain
to hear her,
"No."
Sonny ran his hands through his hair. He nodded. "Okay, come here."
Carly glanced up. "Excuse me?"
"Come here, Caroline." He demanded softly.
Carly walked over to him and into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her
and breathed deeply. Carly toyed with his suit jacket. She licked her lips
and murmured. "So what now?"
"I don't know. You seem to be the one orchestrating this train wreck." He
winced when she pinched him. "You brought this all out when things were
fine between us."
"Maybe that was it. When things are too calm I have to shake them up a
bit." She screwed up her face.
"Next time, choose something else to shake up." He tilted her face up and
kissed her gently. Carly threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed
him back. That kiss lead to another which lead to another.
Sonny had started to push up her blouse when Carly stilled his hands.
Between kisses she was able to say, "Can't. I have an appointment to get
to."
"Forget them." Sonny kissed his way down her neck.
"Ha ha, you're funny. This is my business, Sonny." She said insistently
though she didn't stop him from touching her.
"You're the boss, screw them." He smiled.
She grinned. "I bet they'd love that, however…"
Sonny sighed. "Tonight, my place. I'll cook."
"You can cook?" She said surprised.
"I'm an excellent cook."
"Okay, I'll bring the wine."
They helped each other straighten their clothes and then Carly walked him
to the door. He kissed her quick and hard then left. Carly sighed and
leaned against the closed door.
~*~*~
The first thing Nikolas woke up to the next morning was cold water being
dumped over him. He shot up in his tiny bed and cursed loudly. Wiping the
water out of his eyes, he looked around for the culprit. He didn't have to
look far. Luke was standing over him smoking a cigar and holding an empty
water bucket.
Luke snarled around his cigar. "Morning, sunshine."
Nikolas wiped the water off his face as his mind raced, trying to connect
the dots of last night. He was half-naked and all he could remember was
Emily. Emily, was she still there? It took him a while to remember her
running out. What the hell was Luke Spencer doing in his room? Did he say
anything to Emily while he was drunk about his mother? Something that sent
her running to Spencer? Damn, he couldn't remember.
Nikolas glared up at Luke. "What do you think you're doing? Who are you?"
"Name's Luke Spencer. Remember it." Luke growled.
Nikolas took a moment. "I don't even know you. What are you doing here?"
"You know *exactly* why I'm here. I don't know what kind of game you and
Helena are playing but it stops *now*."
"Helena?" Nikolas said in confusion. Who the hell was *Helena*?
"Don't play dumb with me, boy." Luke sneered. "I don't know where Helena
Cassadine dug you up from but believe me, you mess with my wife and I'm
sending you back in pieces."
The deadly serious look on Luke's face cause Nikolas to swallow hard. Did
Laura tell him about their encounter? Maybe he didn't let anything slip to
Emily after all. But how did Spencer know where he was?
"You made a mistake going to Caroline. Helena had to have known she'd come
to me. She knows I wouldn't stand for anyone messing with my angel. I don't
care what you guys do to the Cassadine but you leave Laura, out of it."
Carly. Nikolas closed his eyes. It had been Carly. Laura obviously hadn't
said a word.
"Open your eyes, little man, this ain't a dream." Luke leaned over him and
whispered, lowly but with his message clear, "If I hear about you speaking
to my wife, you're dead. If I hear about you coming near my wife, you're
dead. Breathing near her, looking at her, *thinking* about her, dead, dead,
*dead*. She cries one tear over her son and I'll kill you. Don't try and
call my bluff, you won't like the results."
Luke ground his cigar out in the wall above the bed, dropped the bucket on
the floor and stalked out of the room. Nikolas released the breath he'd
been holding and collapsed on the bed.
Luke's desk. She leaned against it and folded her arms. Sonny watched her
every move silently. He was waiting for her next big announcement.
Carly glanced at him. "Are you going to try and deny it? "
He folded his arms also. "No, absolutely not."
"You're just wondering how I knew, is that it?" Carly laughed softly. "You
think I wouldn't have had your past looked into? Honey, do you think I
would be so stupid as to not find out all I could about you?"
"You tell me." He said flatly.
"The same night we got together I had you investigated. That's right, right
after I left your office I was on the phone with one of my men. Imagine my
surprise when I discovered that you've been married for fifteen years with
two kids."
"That was an invasion of my privacy." He said softly, his soft tone not
masking the anger behind it. "What else do you know?"
"You're upset about that?" She said in disbelief. "We have bigger problems
than me poking into your past."
Sonny walked over to the desk. "If you've known for so long, why didn't you
say something?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I guess I was being foolish. I was giving
you the chance to tell me the truth. I thought, 'he's married, he'll tell
me. After all he knows about Jason.' Maybe I am stupid."
He sat down in front of her. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I said my
marriage's been over for years. I haven't lived with her for three years. I
only stay married for the kids."
Carly snorted. "Right. Let's see, you have a fifteen year old named Brooke
Lynn, who the hell came up with that?"
"I got Lois in trouble, I did the right thing." He said stiffly.
"You also have a one-year old named Michael Corinthos the third, I think
you call him little Mikey? Yeah, your marriage's been over for *years*."
She said snidely.
"Anniversary surprise." He shrugged.
She nodded. "Whatever, Sonny."
"What do you want from me, Caroline? To apologize for having a life before
I ever met you?" He snapped. "I'm not going to do that."
"It's not like I'm telling to leave Lois. Fifteen years together isn't
something you just ignore. It means something. You have *kids*. I'm not
trying to break that up. I'm just saying that you should have told me. I'm
screwing you, I had a right to know." Carly growled.
Sonny sat back in his seat and studied her. He covered his chin with his
hand and murmured. "So now it's all out in the open. Now what do you want?"
"What I want is to know what gives you the right to get pissed at me for
being with Jason when you're *married*."
"You were throwing him in my face. What, I was supposed to *smile*? You
were obviously mad at me about something, what I have no idea. I go to
Brooklyn for my kid's birthday party, I come back and you're acting like a
bitch."
Carly wasn't going to explain her erratic behavior to him when she couldn't
even explain it to herself. Instead she shook her head. "Forget that."
"Come here." He took her hand and tried to pull her towards him but she
wouldn't budge.
"You're not listening to me."
"So I'm married, so what? It's got nothing to do with you and me, right
here, right now. Lois is all the way in Brooklyn, she could care less what
I'm doing up here as long as I make sure the kids are supported." He stood
up and walked over to her since she wouldn't come to him.
Carly laughed softly. "Honey, if you think any woman could care less about
what you do, you truly are a fool. I'm surprised she isn't begging you to
come back home."
"She isn't and she doesn't matter, Caroline." Sonny cupped her face. Carly
licked her lips and looked into his eyes. He murmured. "So can we just
forget all this, querida?"
He kissed her long and slow. Carly kissed him back then abruptly broke
away. She said softly. "I don't know."
She then marched out of the office, leaving Sonny staring after her. She
quickly made her way through the crowds to her table. Jason smiled at her.
"You were gone for a long time."
"I want to leave now Jason."
"What? We just got here. Dara's not even halfway through her set." Jason
protested.
Carly pressed her hand to her forehead. "I'm not feeling that well."
Jason stood up and looked at her in concern. "You think you're coming down
with something?"
"My stomach…I've been feeling off all day…" She shrugged.
"How about I order you some seltzer water. That should settle your
stomach."
"I need to go home and lie down." She insisted.
Jason frowned. "Okay, let's get you home then."
They gathered up his stuff and Jason escorted Carly towards the door. She
paused once to look over her shoulder. Sonny was leaning against the wall
watching her. She looked away and followed Jason out of the club.
~*~*~
Emily was walking past the many bars that dotted the street that Luke's was
located on. She had to park down the street because the parking lot was
full because of Dara's performance. She was late meeting Lucky at his
father's club. She got held up at the Quartermaine Mansion. Monica had
started in another 'you're too young to get married' speech and Emily had
to sit through it before she was finally allowed to go. She was just about
to cross the street to Luke's when someone called out to her.
"Hey, if it isn't my little friend." A voice slurred from the shadows.
Emily clutched her purse and whirled around. She relaxed slightly when she
saw it was just the stranger from the other day. She stiffened when she
remembered their last encounter. She laughed nervously. "You aren't going
to kiss me again are you?"
Nikolas leaned against a wall and smiled at her. There was something about
his smile that made Emily's stomach do flip flops. He chuckled. "Not
tonight, not unless you ask me to."
Emily narrowed her eyes. "Are you drunk?"
"Maybe." He lifted his shoulder in a lazy shrug. He had started drinking to
get the look of fear in Laura's eyes out of his head. One drink followed
another until he couldn't remember why he was drinking in the first place.
Emily bit her lip. She didn't know this man at all but for some reason she
felt sorry for him. "You don't look so good."
"Don't I know it." He slid down the wall until he was on the ground. He
brought his knees up to his chest and bent his head.
Emily took a hesitant step towards him. "Um, Nikolas? That's your name
right?"
He glanced up at her. "That's the name she gave me."
Emily looked at him in confusion. "Who is she?"
"My mother." He sighed.
"Okay." Emily nodded. She came closer to him and leaned down. She brushed a
strand of hair out of her face and said. "I think you should go home,
Nikolas."
Nikolas mumbled something that Emily couldn't hear. She crouched down next
to him. "Excuse me?"
"Your name. What's your name? You never told me your name."
"It's Emily. You really should go home and sleep that off."
He looked over at her, his eyes heavy lidded. Her stomach did flip-flops
again. He twirled the strand of hair that kept falling into her eyes around
his finger. He murmured, "Come home with me, Emily."
Emily pulled away and licked her lips nervously. "I can call you a cab if
you want. You can't drive yourself in this condition."
"You don't want to come home with me, Emily?" He said softly.
"You're drunk and I barely know you. Look, I'll get you a cab."
"What do you need to know? You like money, Emily? Because it looks like I'm
about to come into a lot of money." He boasted.
"My family has enough money thank you. Do you need help standing up?"
"I forgot, you're a Quartermaine, your family has more money than they know
what to do with it." He stood up easily but once he was up he began to
sway.
Emily quickly went to stop him from falling over. She frowned at him.
"How'd you know I was a Quartermaine."
He pressed his finger against her lips and smiled lopsidedly. "Shh, it's
secret how I know."
Emily shook her head and fumbled in her purse for her phone. "I'm going to
call you that cab right now."
Nikolas covered her hand with his hand. "I don't need a cab, you take me
home."
"Your home, not mine." Emily clarified.
He laughed. "You can take me to your home next time."
"There won't be a next time." She warned even as she escorted him to her
car. "I don't like you. I'm just doing this because I feel sorry for you."
"You take care of everyone you feel sorry for?" He said skeptically.
"No, just the really pathetic ones." She quipped.
"I am an not pathetic. Just a little drunk." He grinned.
"A little?" She snorted.
They bantered back and forth like that until they got to Emily's car. Emily
found Nikolas easier to deal with once they were in the car. After telling
Emily his address, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Emily wondered
briefly what happened to his talkative mood but was happy to have the time
to collect her thoughts. She didn't know how she ended up driving home a
complete stranger, who just happened to be drunk.
Emily curled her face up in distaste when they arrived at his building. "I
thought you said you had money? Why are you staying here?"
Nikolas muttered without opening his eyes. "I don't have it now. This is
all I can afford right now."
"Well, here we are." Emily hinted.
He turned his head towards her and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at her
and Emily held her breath expectantly. He said softly. "Come upstairs with
me."
She shook her head quickly. "I brought you home, that's enough."
"What if I trip going up the stairs. I fall, break my neck…anything could
happen." He raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen
to me."
"Nikolas…"
"It'll take five minutes."
She was at his door before she even realized it. Nikolas leaned heavily
against her as he tried to get his keys out of his pocket. He grinned at
her, "Could you…"
"I don't think so." She said sharply. "You're not as drunk as I thought you
were, are you?"
Nikolas winked at her before pulling out his keys and opening his door. He
staggered in. The first thing he did was pull his shirt over his head and
then flopped face down on his bed.
"You're here, you're safe, I'm gone." Emily turned to go.
"Wait." He rolled over on his back. "Somebody's got to take my shoes off."
"Excuse me?"
"Shoes, I can't reach them." He stretched for them.
"Sit up."
"Can't, too tired. Come on, you don't want me to sleep in my shoes do you?"
What should have been a childish looking pout turned out to be something
completely different to Emily. She swallowed hard and approached the bed.
She quickly took his shoes off and dropped them to the floor.
"Okay, bye." Emily turned around.
"You know these pants aren't that comfortable to sleep in." Nikolas grinned
wickedly at her.
Emily whirled around. "Okay, that's enough."
"I was kidding." Nikolas sat up. He pressed his hand to his head. "Okay, I
shouldn't have sat up that fast."
Emily frowned and folded her arms. "Sorry, you used up your pathetic quota
for the night."
"Emily, come here. If I stand up I might fall over." He reached out his
hands for her. Against her better judgment Emily took his hands. He pulled
her down on the bed next to him.
"What is it?" She whispered.
He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and stared into her eyes.
Emily squirmed under his close scrutiny. He sighed. "Thank you for bringing
me home."
"You would have gotten here eventually." Emily shrugged.
Nikolas closed his eyes briefly. "My mother. Don't tell my mother you saw
me."
"I don't know who your mother is." Emily told him.
"You do."
Emily slowly nodded. "Okay…Nikolas, you should go to bed."
"You look very pretty tonight." He said softly.
"Thanks, I was going to Luke's to meet Lucky. He's probably wondering where
I am."
Nikolas continued as if she hadn't said anything. "But then you always look
pretty."
Emily laughed. "We've met, what all of two times? It's not like you've seen
me a lot."
Nikolas smiled mysteriously at her. Emily started to get up. He was
starting to scare her. "Nikolas…"
"Wait." He tugged her hand hard and she fell on him, knocking him back.
Before she could get up Nikolas kissed her. She was so surprised by the
action that her lips parted and he was able to slip his tongue inside. It
took Emily a while to gather herself but when she did she pushed herself
away from him. She jumped up off the bed. She furiously wiped her mouth.
Nikolas sat up. "I'm—"
"What is *wrong* with you?" She demanded.
She didn't give him a chance to answer. She raced out of the room. Nikolas
called out for her. "Emily? Emily, wait!"
When she didn't come back Nikolas fell back with his covering his eyes.
"Damn it."
~*~*~
Barbara lay in the middle of the Stefan's large bed with her arms folded.
She glared at Stefan who was sitting at his desk dressed in his pajama
bottoms and robe. He was going through a file that had been handed to him
just before he and Barbara retired for the evening.
"Are you ever coming to bed, Stefan?" She demanded.
"Give me a moment, Barbara." Stefan murmured.
She threw the covers back and walked over to him. She draped her arms
around his neck and blew into his ear. "What is so engrossing that even *I*
can't tear you away?"
"Caroline was—"
"Carly, of course." She rolled her eyes.
Stefan continued as if she hadn't said a word. "Caroline was visited by a
young man pretending to be Stravos and Laura's son, Nikolas."
Barbara frowned. "When?"
"A few days ago. I had some people compile a report for me and this is
result." Stefan made a sweeping gesture regarding the papers on his desk.
"What did you find out?" Barbara came around and sat on his lap. She picked
up one of the pictures that Stefan was able to get of him.
"Yes." Stefan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It
would appear that this is another of my mother's power plays."
"Helena's behind this?" Barbara frowned.
"Yes. It would seem that he's the son of her former maid. Caroline and I
recognized the name. She's been meeting with him for awhile. I don't
understand why she would wait until now to try something like this."
"Who knows what goes on in that woman's mind." She spat out. Stefan wrapped
his arms around her and she rubbed her hands up them. "What are you going
to do now?"
"First, I will visit with this Markopoulos person. I was able to procure
his local address. Then I shall have a talk with my mother."
"And that will be the end of this all?"
"I believe so." Stefan said hopefully.
~*~*~
Chris was stretched out on a cot in the on call room when Jason came in
that morning. He nodded at Chris. "Hey, I saw you at Luke's last night with
Eve. I see she finally gave you another chance."
"Oh no, no, no." Chris shook his head. "What you saw was me sitting *next*
to her at the bar. Would you believe she ignored me the whole night?"
Jason laughed. "What did you *do* to her?"
"Damned if I know." Chris groaned. "Saw you and the ice queen, you guys ran
out pretty fast."
"Carly wasn't feeling well." For the rest of the night, Jason thought
bitterly.
"Well I think I'll take your advice on Nurse Spencer." Chris said, changing
the subject abruptly.
"What happened now?" Jason said curiously.
"Coming in this morning I see her, I become my usual *charming* self,"
Chris paused to smile, "little did I know that Stefan Cassadine was with
her."
"Should I even ask?"
"He didn't say a word but the look he gave me…" Chris shook his head.
"Told you not to mess with her." Jason said.
"Now I know better." Chris checked his watch. "I have to go on rounds. I'll
see you later though."
"Later." Jason lay down on the cot that Chris abandoned. He placed his
hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
A few minutes later he felt someone sit down the cot next to him. Without
opening his eyes, he said. "Something happen Chris? Stefan back to kick
your butt for talking to his woman?"
"It's not Chris." Karen whispered.
Jason opened his eyes to see Karen sitting next to him dressed only in a
towel with her hair wet. He sat up. "I didn't know you were in the shower."
"I just got out when you came in." She said softly.
"Oh." He nodded. "You want me to leave while you get dressed."
"Actually, I wanted to talk about us."
"What about us?" Jason said slowly.
"Jason, don't play around okay. I'm being serious here. You know what I'm
talking about." She trailed her finger down his arm.
"Karen…your jealousy of Carly is getting out of hand."
"Jealousy? I'm not jealous of Carly." She snapped.
"How do you explain this then? Before I got engaged to Carly, you acted
like you were just my friend. The moment you heard I propose, you were all
over me."
"It took realizing that I could lose you forever to open my eyes." Karen
murmured.
Jason shook his head. "Karen…"
"Shh." She whispered. "I should have told you before but... I don't know
why I didn't."
Jason took her hands in his. "Karen, I know why you're acting like this.
It's only been a short while since you and Jagger broke up. If he walked in
here right now asking for another chance you'd drop me without a second
glance."
"You're wrong." She swore. "And I'm going to show you."
Karen stood up and dropped her towel. She licked her lips and ran her hands
through her half-dried hair. Jason stared at her speechless. He had no idea
she would go so far. It's been years since he last saw her naked and her
body had changed some, all for the better. She smiled confidently at the
way he stared at her. She knelt down the cot. She tossed her hair back and
leaned down.
Jason's conscience was warring with him. He knew this was wrong. He was
committed to Carly. Doing this would be a betrayal. But that didn't stop
his body from reacting. It had been too long since he and Carly had been
together. And Carly had already practically given him permission…
He didn't have any more time to think because Karen's lips covered his. He
reacted instantly and without further thought. He wrapped his arms around
her and in one easy move rolled on top of her. He pressed his body against
hers.
"I forgot my—oh boy." Chris stared at them in shock.
Jason looked over his shoulder. "Damn it Chris, get out!"
Karen, realizing that the moment was over, grabbed her towel. Jason sat up
and covered her while Chris turned his back. Karen scrambled into the
bathroom.
"You should uh, lock the door next time." Chris laughed nervously.
Jason narrowed his eyes. "Don't you say a word of this to Carly."
Chris put his hands up. "Hey, why would I say *anything* to her? I'm not
exactly her closest confidant."
Jason pointed at him. "I'm not joking, Ramsey."
"Okay, as far as I'm concerned *this* never happened." Chris swore.
~*~*~
Carly was sitting behind her desk when Elizabeth buzzed her. "What is it
Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth whispered. "There's a…gentleman here to see you, Ms. Cassadine.
He doesn't have an appointment and he won't leave."
"Call security." Carly snapped. Then she thought of the Nikolas impostor.
"Is it that same guy from last week?"
"It's me *Ms. Cassadine*." Sonny's mocking voice came through the intercom
crystal clear.
Carly frowned. "Let him in, Elizabeth."
Carly got up and walked over to the door as Sonny came in. She said curtly
to Elizabeth. "Hold all my calls."
She nodded and closed the doors. Carly stared at Sonny. "What are you doing
here?"
"We have a conversation that we didn't get to finished." He walked past
her. "You ran out on me last night."
"I didn't run out." She denied.
"You brought up Lois then you got scared and ran." He said smoothly.
"I did not get scared. I left because we weren't going to work anything out
last night."
Sonny propped his hip on Carly's desk and studied her. "Exactly what were
we supposed to be working out? All I remember was you throwing my marriage
in my face."
"And the fact that you lied to me."
"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you. You never asked if I was married."
He shrugged. "And why would you have cared?"
"I cared about the fact that you didn't even bothered to tell me. That I
had to sit on this information for *three* months, Sonny. In all that time
you didn't think to mention *once* that you were married."
"I don't see why this is such a big deal to you. In case you didn't
noticed, you're engaged yourself. I'm not the only one in a relationship
here, though *my* relationship is all but over." He narrowed his eyes at
her.
Carly folded her arms and looked away. Sonny continued, "Yeah, I'm married,
you're engaged, we're two adults in established relationships who can't
stay away from each other. It's the lure of the forbidden. If we weren't
involved with other people when we first met, would we even be together?"
"Sonny…" Carly shook her head and laughed a little. "What I don't like
about this is, you act jealous over Jason. You disparage him at every
opportunity, you dictate that certain outfits of mine are his while others
are yours, you try to control the things I do with *him* and god forbid you
happen to see me with him. But I bet if I did any of that to you regarding
Lois, you'd have my ass."
"You think I want to hear or even think about you and the man you're going
to marry!" Sonny exploded.
"You don't *get* to be jealous Sonny. You're married, you have no control
or say in what goes on between me and Jason."
Sonny stared at her. "You want me to leave Lois."
The words came out too fast before he was able to stop them. The silence
that followed was charged with electricity. Neither spoke, they just stared
into each other's eyes. It was a long time before Carly broke the stare.
She looked at the floor and said softly, so softly that Sonny had to strain
to hear her,
"No."
Sonny ran his hands through his hair. He nodded. "Okay, come here."
Carly glanced up. "Excuse me?"
"Come here, Caroline." He demanded softly.
Carly walked over to him and into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her
and breathed deeply. Carly toyed with his suit jacket. She licked her lips
and murmured. "So what now?"
"I don't know. You seem to be the one orchestrating this train wreck." He
winced when she pinched him. "You brought this all out when things were
fine between us."
"Maybe that was it. When things are too calm I have to shake them up a
bit." She screwed up her face.
"Next time, choose something else to shake up." He tilted her face up and
kissed her gently. Carly threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed
him back. That kiss lead to another which lead to another.
Sonny had started to push up her blouse when Carly stilled his hands.
Between kisses she was able to say, "Can't. I have an appointment to get
to."
"Forget them." Sonny kissed his way down her neck.
"Ha ha, you're funny. This is my business, Sonny." She said insistently
though she didn't stop him from touching her.
"You're the boss, screw them." He smiled.
She grinned. "I bet they'd love that, however…"
Sonny sighed. "Tonight, my place. I'll cook."
"You can cook?" She said surprised.
"I'm an excellent cook."
"Okay, I'll bring the wine."
They helped each other straighten their clothes and then Carly walked him
to the door. He kissed her quick and hard then left. Carly sighed and
leaned against the closed door.
~*~*~
The first thing Nikolas woke up to the next morning was cold water being
dumped over him. He shot up in his tiny bed and cursed loudly. Wiping the
water out of his eyes, he looked around for the culprit. He didn't have to
look far. Luke was standing over him smoking a cigar and holding an empty
water bucket.
Luke snarled around his cigar. "Morning, sunshine."
Nikolas wiped the water off his face as his mind raced, trying to connect
the dots of last night. He was half-naked and all he could remember was
Emily. Emily, was she still there? It took him a while to remember her
running out. What the hell was Luke Spencer doing in his room? Did he say
anything to Emily while he was drunk about his mother? Something that sent
her running to Spencer? Damn, he couldn't remember.
Nikolas glared up at Luke. "What do you think you're doing? Who are you?"
"Name's Luke Spencer. Remember it." Luke growled.
Nikolas took a moment. "I don't even know you. What are you doing here?"
"You know *exactly* why I'm here. I don't know what kind of game you and
Helena are playing but it stops *now*."
"Helena?" Nikolas said in confusion. Who the hell was *Helena*?
"Don't play dumb with me, boy." Luke sneered. "I don't know where Helena
Cassadine dug you up from but believe me, you mess with my wife and I'm
sending you back in pieces."
The deadly serious look on Luke's face cause Nikolas to swallow hard. Did
Laura tell him about their encounter? Maybe he didn't let anything slip to
Emily after all. But how did Spencer know where he was?
"You made a mistake going to Caroline. Helena had to have known she'd come
to me. She knows I wouldn't stand for anyone messing with my angel. I don't
care what you guys do to the Cassadine but you leave Laura, out of it."
Carly. Nikolas closed his eyes. It had been Carly. Laura obviously hadn't
said a word.
"Open your eyes, little man, this ain't a dream." Luke leaned over him and
whispered, lowly but with his message clear, "If I hear about you speaking
to my wife, you're dead. If I hear about you coming near my wife, you're
dead. Breathing near her, looking at her, *thinking* about her, dead, dead,
*dead*. She cries one tear over her son and I'll kill you. Don't try and
call my bluff, you won't like the results."
Luke ground his cigar out in the wall above the bed, dropped the bucket on
the floor and stalked out of the room. Nikolas released the breath he'd
been holding and collapsed on the bed.