Sean dropped his bag at his feet as he reached for his passport. His Italian was worse than pitiful and he shrugged at the customs officer. "Thanks." He offered gently as they handed it back to him with an indulgent smile. "Grazie" He remembered from the plane.

The officer smiled and waved him towards the beautiful glass doors leading to Rome. Sean lifted his pack to his back and grinned at the city. He felt more alive in a new place. The terrible numbness in his stomach was starting to cease, and for the first time in days, he felt hunger dig into his stomach.

He exchanged his money in a little bank on the corner. With lira he could buy food, and a train ticket to Florence. It didn't matter that he wasn't sure where he was going, or what he'd find. He just wanted answers. What power was it that bought and traded lives like things? What was his place in the circle of mysterious men that had asked him to kill his sister?

What darkness was inside of him?

-----------------

"Immigration said he took a flight from Los Angeles to Newark, then another plane to Rome. He's got his passport, all the money in his checking account, and a good head on his shoulders." Roger tipped back his coffee cup and sighed at the empty white bottom. "It's not going to be easy for either of them to hear, but, it's what he needs."

"It's not what his parents need." Bette shot back grimly. "I'm not telling Olivia her son is in Rome."

Roger grinned easily, reaching for her glittering hand. "Oh why not? He's with his family. It's not as if he's run off to join the foreign legion. Maybe he needed some time apart, some time to find himself. His family will take good care of him. He might even learn more about his roots. What drives Gregory."

Bette took a bite of her breakfast and shook her head. "Do we really want him to know anything about that?"

"Just because Olivia doesn't know, doesn't mean Sean can't. For reasons that are Gregory's alone, he hasn't told Olivia the truth about his family." Roger held up his hand and nodded to quiet her worries. "I know that bothers you."

"Of course it bothers me." Slamming her fork down to the table only made the china bounce angrily and did little for her temper. "If anyone should know better-"

"It's Gregory." Roger picked up the fallen vase of flowers and dropped his napkin on the spilled water running under the lacy tablecloth. "I know."

Folding her arms firmly, Bette left her chair and stared out the huge window over the quaint downtown skyline. "She's going to kill him when she finds out."

Running his hands over the pink paisley print of her robe, Roger nodded over her shoulder, "He'd deserve it."

Finding his hands on her shoulders, she wrapped her fingers in. "Are you keeping any secrets from me? Any dark contracts with the mafia I should know about?"

Laughing as he spun her around, he waited until he could see her eyes to answer. "I still have feelings for my ex-wife.

Bette fled from his arms to the table. Rescuing her coffee, she snuggled back in. She sighed and leaned back into his shoulder.

"My feelings for my exes would require a two hour special on Oprah."

Emboldened by his first admission, Roger kissed the back of her neck, just behind the hanging pendant of her earring. "I think I should have married you a few husbands ago. Although-" He paused thoughtfully. "There's something to be said for being the last man to marry little Bette Douglas."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Who says you'll be the last?"

"I do." He quieted her with a smile best suited to a Roman emperor. "I'm too good to follow up."

-----------------------------

AJ had certainly had his share of surprises lately. Caitlin attacking her father in cold blood was the stuff of high tragedy. Something he could only have planned better if Gregory had been good enough to die. His death would have made the whole situation just that much easier. In the event of Gregory's death, Olivia inherited half of Sunset Beach. Money and power she had no use for. She was carrying Gregory's bastard and she'd need all her strength for that. She wouldn't have time or energy to worry about the business side of things.

Her little circle of protectors was dwindling down. Sean had fled to Europe, apparently hoping to lose himself in the wilderness of Italy and God only knew when- AJ settled back into his chair and let the paper drop to the floor as he slipped into thought. Perhaps the Richards boy should meet with an accident. Wandering the continent alone could be a dangerous way to try and understand the death of a beloved sister.

Caitlin's death was another oddly shaped piece of the puzzle. Though the Sentinel put forth the reasonable explanation of Caitlin just being the wrong blond American falling on the wrong side of a drug cartel, AJ knew better. The quiet way everyone seemed in such hurry to write it off and move on. The way, according to his sources, Gregory was barely phased. Instead of mourning his daughter and demanding to see proof of her fate, he'd gone to bed with his wife.

Gregory didn't choose Olivia over Caitlin. He never had. He wouldn't have traded Caitlin's life for Olivia's safety. Olivia couldn't have even taken out a hit on his son. AJ doubted she even knew how to protect herself. Gregory was always turning up to save her. Pulling her bodily from the ocean when the deck collapsed was a nice touch.

Olivia was dependent on whatever man was most likely to protect her. First her father, whom she worshipped, then Roger who brought her to the states and found her the perfect husband. Of course, AJ only had himself to blame for being too young to see clearly what he was giving up when he moved on to Elaine, Morgan, Elizabetta, Susanna, Gloria, Lauren, Paige, Abigail- He couldn't remember after that.

Gregory's list was nearly as long, but he was the reformed playboy. He'd settled down. He'd found someone without the strength to leave him.

Perhaps that was the heart of AJ's resentment. That Gregory had succeeded, he was everything he promised to be. Brilliant lawyer, intuitive businessman, indulgent father and doting husband. AJ gave the photo of Gregory citing his "miraculous recovery" a scornful glance that threatened to send the paper up in smoke. He was manipulative, not brilliant. Grasping and desperately greedy in his business. He controlled his children with an iron fist and Olivia was drawn to him. Enraptured and trapped like a moth to the flame of a lantern.

AJ pulled the delicate silver bracelet from the breast pocket of his robe and grinned at it, as if it were Olivia herself. "A day will come when you won't even remember his name. I promise you that mon amour."