"Luke," Alexis called, rapping gently on the door to the back office at Jake's before slowly pushing it open. She'd gone straight there after quickly finishing her lunch with Kristina, pausing just long enough to call her assistant and have all her afternoon appointments cancelled. Past experience had taught her that she couldn't be too careful when it came to the Cassadines, and if someone wanted to find Natasha - to find her - she needed to know why.

"Come on in, Natasha," he yelled back, and she entered quickly, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Don't call me that," she hissed, glancing around in a sudden fit of paranoia, and Luke looked up behind a stack of papers on his desk in surprise.

"Somethin' wrong, darlin'?" he asked. "It isn't your Dragon Lady stepmother, is it? 'Cause if it is, I'm a bit peeved at her myself. She don't call, she don't write..."

"It's not Helena," Alexis cut in, "Although I can't say I'd be surprised to find out she's involved somehow. Luke, do you know anything about a man by the name of Grigoriy Viktorivitch?"

Luke shrugged, shaking his head. "Should I?"

"I don't know," she replied exhasperatedly, perching herself on the edge of his desk. "He just approached me about working with him on matters relating to the Cassadines."

"What kinds of matters?"

Alexis leaned in so that she could keep her voice low and he would still hear her; in the process, though, inadvertently giving Luke a clear view down her low-cut black shirt that he had no intention of ignoring. "He wants me to help him find Natasha," she whispered.

Luke matched her body language, leaning in so their faces were mere inches apart. "Darlin'," he whispered back conspiratorially, "You are Natasha."

"I know that," she snapped, straightening up. "Clearly, he doesn't."

Luke made a face that clearly expressed his skepticism. "What is he, living under a rock? No, wait, don't tell me - he was just raised from the dead, right? If your nutjob family's involved, it's gotta be that one."

"Are you through?" she asked, tapping her fingers together impatiently.

"All kidding aside," he said, suddenly turning serious, "Why would this guy come to you if he didn't know who you are?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out," she replied. "Maybe he does know, but he's pretending he doesn't? I can't speculate as to why, really, until I know more about him. He said he'd done some research on the Cassadines, and came to me because of my work with them. He knew - or at least, he thinks he knows - that I'm Mikkos' niece, but my blood connection to the family didn't seem as important to him as my business dealings with them. Still, I can't imagine he'd know about Natasha without following the same trail you did to figure out that she's me."

"And this guy didn't tell you anything you can use to find out who he is?" Luke queried.

Alexis shook her head. "Aside from his name, no. He was very evasive, and he left as soon as Kristina showed up, so I didn't have time to try and draw anything out of him. He said he'd be in touch, though."

"Did he say when?"

"No."

"So you're just planning to what, wait by the phone?"

Alexis stopped drumming her fingers and looked up nervously. "I hadn't thought of that. He found me in Kelly's. Do you think he has my phone number?"

"Relax, Tash, I was being sarcastic."

"Oh." She stood up, and started to go, but paused when Luke spoke again.

"Natasha? You weren't planning on calling Count Vlad in on this, were you?"

"I..." Alexis hesitated. "I hadn't thought about it. I mean, he's only been home once since Chloe died, and that was just to meet Kristina for all of one weekend, then he went back to doing whatever the hell he's been doing and I haven't heard from him since... Why?"

"I just don't think it would be a good idea," he responded vaguely, knowing that if he were to go into detail she would fight him on it. He'd never understand the trust Alexis placed in her brother, and he certainly wasn't going to let his own guard down.

Alexis considered arguing, but decided it was unimportant; she hadn't planned on contacting Stefan anyway until she knew more, not because she put stock in Luke's conspiracy theories as to how he could be involved, but because there was simply nothing he could do. "I won't," she said simply before making her exit. Luke watched her go, then picked up the phone.

"Hey, it's me," he said into the receiver. "I need you to get me everything you can on a Grigoriy Viktorivitch. Yeah, I need it as soon as you can get it, and if you can keep it quiet..."

Grigoriy strolled into his hotel suite, not bothering to flip the light switch on the wall as he swiftly made his way across the room. It wasn't until he had seated himself on the couch at the far end that he bothered to turn on a lamp, and even when he did, he took no notice of his surroundings. He'd been in so many different hotels by now that they all looked the same, and he'd stopped paying attention to them long ago, though there were times, like now, when he appreciated having a quiet place to come and think.

He'd made a fool of himself with the Davis woman. He should have waited, watched her longer. It had been a colossal mistake to ambush her like that, and to rush out just as quickly. Might as well have held a neon sign above his head flashing, "Hi, don't trust me."

As a boy, his father had often scolded him for his impatience. Even now, he could hear the dead man's voice in his head, chastising him for his carelessness. But patience had never been a virtue of his, and by God, hadn't he waited long enough?

He sighed, running a hand absently through his dark mop of hair. He knew the answer to that. Of course he hadn't, and he'd pay for it in time. But he would fix his mistakes. Reaching over, he grabbed his laptop off a nearby table, and set off on the Information Superhighway to find out everything he didn't already know about one Ms. Alexis Davis - and, while he was at it, her redhaired friend from the diner.

Author's Note: So, are we liking this? Hating it? Click that sexy purple button down there and tell me!