"What?" Gregory wound his hand around her arm, sneaking his fingers into her palm. "Why the big sigh?"
Olivia bit her lip, smiling as slight embarrassment put a pink flush in her cheeks. "You'll think it's silly."
Pulling his hand away, he shut their shopping bags away in the back of the blue Jaguar and reached for both of her hands this time. "Olivia- try me."
Looking down towards his shoes, she sighed again as she brought her head back up. "I'm hungry."
"We just had breakfast at Elaine's, no more than two hours ago and both of us have a lot to do today-" Gregory began with great irritation as he slammed shut the trunk of the car.
Olivia's slight flush faded and turned into a smile. "Told you."
He leaned back against the car and watched as Agents Sorenson and Craig circled the car and waited patiently on either side of them. "What do you want to do?" Reaching for her hands, Gregory pulled her back towards him. "Want to go back for lunch?"
Agent Kevin Sorenson pointed down the street thoughtfully. "I don't mean to evesdrop, but there's an ice cream shop down the street I'm fond off."
His partner nodded in agreement as she straightened her sunglasses. "Street's clear enough, you can walk if you like."
Kissing his wife's cheek, Gregory tried to find the humor in having to be escorted down the street for ice cream. "What do you think darling? Would ice cream be acceptable?"
"Ice cream would be lovely." Olivia felt his arm slip behind her back and she snuggled into it. "We'll have plenty of time to get everything done, I promise not to force you to feed me again for at least an hour."
"Good practice for the baby I suppose." Shaking his head as he started down the street, Gregory remembered walking the upstairs hallway with a shrieking baby in his arms. "I'm going to have to remember how to do without sleep again aren't I?"
"You won some of your best trials without sleep." She giggled and remembered how no matter how tired he had been, he'd always been able to get up for Caitlin's screams in the night. "Maybe this baby will help you win some more, mister District Attorney."
"It's certainly going to be different Liv, no more trying to poke holes in the People's case, trying to instill that last bit of doubt into the jury-" Gregory watched the light glint off her distracting diamond earrings as she tilted her head thoughtfully.
"You are the People now." Olivia felt his eyes on her face and stopped walking. "Think about it darling, you're going to protect all of Sunset Beach." Beaming with quiet pride, she looked down the little market district. "Keep the whole town safe."
Gregory caught her hands and pulled them in close to his chest. "I've only ever wanted to keep you safe, Olivia."
Her bodyguards looked politely past them as they paused on the sidewalk for a lingering kiss. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment like a cat content in the sunlight. "I know Sunset Beach can count on you because, darling, you've never let me down."
They stopped on a bench overlooking the water. Sorenson and Craig kept a close eye on every person who walked within a hundred feet of them. Gregory watched the boats on the distant horizon but stole a glance at the way Olivia kept her ice cream perfect with the edge of her spoon. The great care she took to keep it from melting before she ate it, especially in the warm sun of early afternoon, was absolutely distracting. Her delicate fingers moved with exaggerated care, and she licked the plastic entirely clean each time before she returned spoon to dish.
Completely lost in the experience, Olivia barely noticed his eyes on her. It wasn't until he sunk his hand across her shoulders to play with her hair that she made contact with his twinkling brown eyes. The tip of his nose tickled her cheek as he leaned in close. "I'm almost jealous of your ice cream."
Laughing in great amusement, she pulled away from him on the bench, putting her body between him and her ice cream. "You try giving up coffee for nine months. Actually, you try giving up coffee for a week-"
His playful lunge for her spoon only made her laugh harder as he pried it out of her hands and grinned at her wickedly. "I can ask Rose to buy more coffee ice cream for you, if that's what you want."
"I want my spoon back." Olivia retorted as she watched the first drip of melting ice cream cascade down to pool in the bottom of her dish.
Gregory shook his head, made sure her spoon was far out of reach behind his back and kissed the corner of her mouth. "You're not getting it back."
Pouting as she tried to decide why he was in such a teasing mood, Olivia sighed as she watched the sun continue to attack her ice cream. "Are you going to feed me?"
Waving the spoon as a trophy just out of her reach, Gregory nodded boyishly. "Will you let me?"
"Give up coffee." She ordered firmly as she handed over her dish of slowly melting ice cream.
"Cold turkey?" Gregory filled the sp0on and held it up to her mouth.
Olivia's full lips closed around it in a smile. "Uh-huh."
Stealing the spoon back from her, Gregory traced the edge of the cup and held it up to her again. "For how long?"
"Until our baby is born." She demanded simply as she licked her lips.
Gregory pretended to drop the sp0on in shock. "That's a bit harsh don't you think?"
Looking down at the swell of her waistline, Olivia shook her head slowly. "Try gaining twenty pounds, being nauseous, getting dizzy, having your back hurt, your ankles swell up-"
He set down the ice cream on the bench next to him and caught her chin. Her lips with sticky with ice cream as he kissed her and lazily found every stray trace. "I love you." Gregory leaned his forehead against hers, finding everything in the sparkling blue of her eyes. "I will forever be grateful to you for carrying our children and-"
Her finger flashed up to cut him off. "And you'll give up coffee with me. At least-" She paused as she ran her hand down his chest. "Lawyers do love to compromise don't they?" You won't have any coffee, none, until I go into labor."
"Why then?" He studied her hands curiously and sighed as if the world was coming to an end. "Why not the baby's first birthday? Or college graduation for that matter?"
Olivia dropped her voice to a whisper. "I can't have you falling asleep on me when I need you can I?"
Suddenly shy with embarrassment, he stared down at the entwined fingers of their hands. "You know I couldn't sleep through that. I get too nervous."
Giggling, she nodded quickly in agreement. Her labors were much more traumatic for him than they ever were for her.
"I will always be here, with you."
The fluttering sensation below her navel made her heart skip. It was as if the baby had been waiting for Cole to be gone to awaken. "And our baby." He finished gently.
Her half smile and the sudden softening of her eyes made him stop. Olivia's smile blossomed as the movement continued. "He keeps moving when you're nearby." Her arms snuck up around his shoulders and she clung to him as relief threatened to overwhelm her. "Oh darling, I was so afraid that something was wrong, that something Cole had done-"
"Shhh-" His extraordinary way of being so calm was something she relied on. Olivia wondered if he knew how much strength she drew from him. The way any panic could be washed away into the quiet of his brown eyes.
Feeling her throat tighten, she felt his hands brush the stray tear from her cheek. "Or something I had done-"
"Liv," Gregory felt her nervous trembling and wished he had killed Cole the moment the bastard had set foot in Sunset Beach. "Stop, just stop doing this to yourself."
Olivia fought back her guilt and brought her smile back for him. "I'm sorry."
"I'll bet you are, your ice cream's melted." He held up the dish of soup and shook his head. "Now you're going to have to wait for lunch." Gregory jumped to his feet and held out a hand to her. As he pulled her up, he stole another moment to whisper, "I love you. Everything's going to be all right now. Just trust me. Trust us Liv, we can beat anything. Conquer anything."
"Together." She finished for him. Taking her hand, Gregory started back towards the car. Before the bodyguards were within earshot, Olivia stood on her tiptoes. "And thank you."
"For the ice cream?" Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed it warmly. "Always."
Shaking her head, Olivia stopped him dead in his tracks when she clarified. "For killing Cole St. John."
AJ's day had gone to hell. His carefully constructed plans were destroyed and Gregory's touch was all over it. Cole had disappeared, and though he believed at first that his wayward son was simply hiding from his wrath. Cole had strict instructions not to kill Olivia and he had tossed them aside to suit his own devices. As his son, Cole needed to mind his father.
A return to Europe would be understandable, Cole was second to none when it came to collecting jewels around the tables of Monte Carlo. The usual sources in Europe had come up empty handed. AJ stormed back to his window and his liquor cabinet. With Olivia still out of the office recovering from Cole's attack, there really was no point to coming in to the office. In fact, he realized he could return to his apartment and search the European phones for Cole.
AJ finished his whiskey and picked up his briefcase. Beneath the papers on the hospital project were pictures of Olivia. The latest ones of her leaving the hospital a few days ago, surrounded by bodyguards. The stunned look on her face was captured perfectly alongside the helplessness of Gregory's. That was the way he preferred to see him. Cole may have been misguided, but the results were certainly interesting enough.
How long could Sunset Beach's newly appointed District Attorney play the caring husband? When would his patience for the Olivia's fears last long enough to keep her in the illusion safety? "Maybe you'll be ready to see reason when he hurts you again. And you know he's only going to hurt you again, don't you Angel?"
He ran his hand lovingly over the silver bracelet in his breast pocket of his jacket and shut his briefcase. AJ was waiting by the elevator when it opened onto his most private torment.
Gregory broke the lingering kiss he shared with his wife with a smile of victory. "Oh AJ, I'm sorry, we didn't realize you were there."
Olivia was beautiful, radiant with the passion of her stolen moment with her husband. Seeming far younger than AJ knew her to be, she giggled softly as Gregory whispered something in her ear. "You're working late tonight."
"I had some things to finish up." He shifted his briefcase to hold the door open as they slipped out of the elevator. "But what are you two doing here? I thought you were spending some more time recovering from your terrible ordeal at the hospital-"
"Oh that's sweet of you to worry about me AJ." She patted his hand but her gaze went immediately back to her husband. "But Gregory's taken good care of me."
"Thank you darling." Gregory wrapped his arms around her protectively and smiled as if he were embarrassed she had even noticed his fussing. "But it's my pleasure really."
"We were just sneaking away from our bodyguards- they think the Liberty building is safe enough to give us a little time by ourselves." Olivia leaned back into his embrace and gave AJ a wink. "Something about Gregory's security system makes even my bodyguards proud. But don't let us keep you. You looked like you were going home for the evening."
AJ pressed the elevator call button and sighed heavily. "I'm starting to remember why I retired. I hope you enjoy your time together."
Gregory chuckled as he toyed with the buttons of the oxford shirt of his Olivia had put on that morning in their rush to the morgue. He was certain the symbolism of Olivia wearing his clothing wasn't lost on AJ. "Oh we won't have a problem doing that. Will we darling?"
AJ felt cold fingers of jealousy close around his throat, but he kept a smile on his face. "I'm sure you will. Goodnight to you both."
Waving lazily goodbye, Olivia burst into giggles again as Gregory whirled her around to kiss her. The elevator doors took eternity to close, allowing him a framed view as Gregory caught her chin and backed her towards the wall. His hand tightened the shirt over her belly, revealing Gregory's most prominent mark on her. The baby, the final intimacy between two people that AJ had never been a part of.
Though he'd fathered a few children in his time, he'd never felt them move through their mother's skin. Never caressed them as they grew inside of his lovers. Maybe it wasn't Olivia he wanted, but the intimacy Gregory had with her. That connection AJ had only seen from a distance. Like a ghost of an emotion he couldn't describe because he'd never felt it. Just as he was as he walked to his car and drove home to his empty apartment, AJ was alone.
"I don't know what there is to understand." Bette tossed up her hands in exasperation. "You've been helping the man who tried to kill your mother! What possible explanation could you have?"
Roger grabbed her back from the sobbing younger woman and pushed Bette behind him. "You're not helping." He advised her softly. "Let her explain."
Crossing her arms firmly over her chest, Bette growled behind his back but was too disgusted to say anything more to Caitlin. Roger touched Caitlin's shoulder and fished his handkerchief out of his pocket to hand it to her. "Tell me sweetheart, I'll just sit here and listen okay? Take your time."
"I didn't want to hurt her." Roger's handkerchief became immediately soaked by her torrent of tears. "I swear, he-" Caitlin gulped and tried to find her voice through the lump in her throat. "Cole wasn't going to kill mom, he just wanted to scare her."
Her hands balled into fists as she advanced on the girl. "Scare her!"
Roger threw Bette a dirty look as she cried out in indignation, reminding her to keep quiet long enough for him to hear Caitlin's story. They needed to know everything she knew. Now that Cole was dead, it was the only way they were going to know anything he was really after.
"He wanted-" Caitlin collapsed to her knees, holding them tightly to her chest. "He just wanted the jewels, they're worth a fortune, he thought daddy would give them up- that daddy wouldn't want mom to suffer-" His arm went around her shoulders, and he listened. Roger heard every tortured word.
"He'd let the jewels go to keep mom safe, he got carried away." She gasped for breath and brought her tears to a halt. "We were going to run away with them and mom would have been safe. I never meant for her to get hurt, Cole loved me. We would have gone away, far away."
She reached for him, letting him rock her like a little girl. "I just wanted to run away and start my own life. He loved me, he loved me-"
Roger wrapped his arms around her. Mouthing to Bette over her shoulder that he'd talk to her later, he watched as she slammed the door to his apartment and left him alone with Caitlin. She'd be all right. A long walk on the beach would calm her down and Cole was dead. He wasn't dangerous anymore and Caitlin was young. She'd find another lover, someone else to steal her heart and fill her pretty head with dreams.
"Everything is going to be all right." Roger assured her with great patience. "Sometimes you just have to believe that it'll work out in the end and let things happen as they may."