1They boarded the plane within the hour and Athena ran up to her father.

"Daddy," she told him, pointing. "I'm gonna sit up front with Jacob, kay?"

"Sure, sweetie, go ahead," he smiled at her. He had bought four seats, two in front of the other on the plane to Miami.

"No, honey, someone should probably sit with you-" Lisa began, desperate not to have to sit with Jackson.

"Go ahead, Athena," Jackson cut her off with his usual grin.

Lisa stared out the window of the plane and bit her lip, trying to devise a plan.

Suddenly Jacob ran up to them. "Mommy?" he cried, bouncing back and forth. "I'm bored."

Lisa didn't answer him at first. "I don't have an idea of something for you to do," she sighed. "Go sit down; I'll try to think of a game you can play."

Jackson smirked at her. "Games are fun, Leese. Think of life as that. A game. I like games. I always win."

Lisa stared at him. For some reason, insurmountable fear was rising in her throat.

"In fact, think of it as a game of poker. Except this time, the item at stake isn't money. It's your life, your kids' life, and your dad's life."

Lisa clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in her cry, shaking from head to toe.

"Let's set a few ground rules, shall we? I'm in charge of you, the kids, and basically everything you three do. You try to get cute or runaway again, and the kids are placed in the hands of my super-fun associate and you'll be wishing I had killed you," his voice held such a malice but his eyes remained calm and cool.

Lisa finally spoke, her voice cracking. "How-how could you do this? Your own children, your wife...and here you are threatening to kill them. I thought you said you loved me, and that no one would ever hurt me again." Her voice fell to a whisper.

"Leese," Jackson sighed. "Get over it. You should know by now exactly what my intentions are. Kids don't spur any sort of emotion in me at all. Sure, I grant them a little leeway, but I won't hesitate to use them as bait. As for you, I've told you before, it's more important to me that I be with you than if you're happy. And as for no one hurting you, I don't want to hurt you unless you give me reason to."

Lisa shook her head, dumbfounded, and struck Jackson as hard as she could on the face. "You're a monster," she whispered. "I don't know how I could be as stupid as to think I loved you."

Jackson seized her wrist. "I think it's time for you to go to the bathroom."

"I don't think so, Jack," she said vehemously.

He glared at her, his hand squeezing tighter on her hand. She kept her stare into his crystalline eyes until finally the pressure on her wrist was so great she thought it would snap off. Lisa gasped and Jackson pulled her to her feet.

"Mommy's not feeling well, kids," he told the twins, shooting a sidelong glance at Lisa. "We'll be right back."

Jackson yanked her roughly to his side and steered her down the aisle. Lisa looked desperately to the eyes of the other passengers, but not one of them met her gaze.

"They don't care, Leese," Jackson muttered as he opened the door to the lavatory and shoved her inside.

Lisa's head knocked against the wall as Jackson locked the door behind them.

"Don't you think this is getting slightly old, Jack?" she spat at him. "You need a new routine."

He grabbed her roughly by the hair. "Don't worry, Leese. I have one. It's interesting, but you'll have to wait until we're on the ground." Lisa screamed but Jackson slapped a hand over her mouth. He pulled a knife from his suit pocket.

How did he get that on here? She wondered. Then she realized that she didn't want to know. Jackson slammed her against the wall and pressed it to her neck.

"Now, you probably should know that all your little violent outburst earned you was a little playtime for the twins with my associate," he whispered harshly, pressing the blade deeper. The blood became a mixture with her tears. "I decided that we're going to go on a little trip. You'll find out where. It's a surprise."

Lisa finally wrenched her head away and searched his eyes. "What happened to you?"

"I just realized that I'm the one with the upper hand, and you shouldn't be controlling me," he sneered. "I want you, now get over it."

"Now," he said, finally putting the knife back in his suit jacket. "Hopefully we won't have to have another little discussion. I trust you've learned your lesson, and you should know that anymore of your violent outbursts will be harshly punished. Do you understand?"

Lisa glared at him, but nodded ever so slightly.

Jackson grinned at her as he began to open the door. But as the heavy metal slider began to open, something she sad almost inaudibly stopped him in his tracks.

"You're just like your father."