Kendall and Bianca stepped out of the elevator in their mother's penthouse. They hadn't heard from Erica in a few days, so they were surprised when Jackson had called them to come over for dinner. They gave each other a look before knocking on the door. They knew their mother, knew that she had moods...especially now.
Kendall knocked on the door and it quickly opened to reveal Reggie.
Bianca and Kendall immediately felt at ease.
"Reggie." Bianca said with a smile. He hugged her warmly. Kendall watched happily, hugging Reggie with all her might as well. He returned the gesture.
"Kendall, Bianca, so glad you could make it." Jackson hugged them both. "I just thought it was high time for us all to get together for a family dinner."
Reggie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and this family would be perfect if we were all here-"
He was interrupted when Greenlee came rushing out of the elevator, nearly colliding with Reggie as she wasn't expecting the door to be open. "I'm sorry if I'm late, Dad."
"Not too late." Jackson smiled. Bianca and Kendall hugged Greenlee.
"Good to see you are feeling like a part of the family." Bianca smiled at her cousin.
"Well, you know, I'm blood. So, I'm going to be here whether you want me to or not."
"So, it is ok if I wished you not to be here." Erica's voice came from the hallway. They all turned to see her standing there coolly. "I was so happy with Jackson, Reggie, Kendall, and Bianca being here." She sighed. Jackson put his arm around Greenlee's shoulder. For the first time in a while, Greenlee felt over exposed. "Well, at least you didn't bring your mother with you this time."
"My mother isn't a part of this family." Greenlee replied just as coolly, though her voice gave a hint of shakiness.
"Well, I can smell that dinner is ready, so why don't we all sit down?" Reggie broke the silence as he rushed to sit in his favorite seat at Erica's table. Smiled appeared on faces that had not been happy in quite some time, as they each took a seat. "Smiling. Now, that is what I like to see from my family!"
"I think my smile might be the only one not welcomed." A voice came from the doorway. They all turned quickly to see Michael standing there. They had not even heard him coming through the door. "Hope you don't mind, I let myself in."
"Get out." Jackson stood tall, strong, firm. He could be an incredibly imposing presence.
"Hey, I thought I overheard that this was a family dinner." Michael cut in.
"It is. Family means no rapists/men who should be dead." Reggie said harshly as he stood up. He was ready to defend his dad.
"Oh, come one now. Jackson can't be the only father at this table." He started to move forward. Bianca let her head fall down, ashamed.
"Don't you dare let him make you feel ashamed." Greenlee said to her cousin, grasping her hand.
"I told you once, I will not repeat myself." Jackson's eyes were menacing. He hated feeling this way towards another person. But, he hated the person more.
Michael ignored this. He walked in, closing the door behind him.
"I never realized how much power I could have over an entire family." He was amused.
How dare he! Kendall stood up. "We will force you out of this house."
Michael almost looked surprised. "Really? I thought your family hated the use of force."
Reggie lunged at him. "I swear, you bastard, I will kill-" but Jackson held him back quickly.
"Let me go, Dad! I got to protect my family!"
Michael knew just how to get to them.
"Bianca, you're being awfully quiet."
"Don't talk to her!" Erica shrilled.
"Have you reconsidered my offer yet, Binks? I thought I was very generous." He was completely serious. Yet amused at the same time.
"She doesn't want anything from you." Jackson said harshly.
"Christ, you have no idea what a deal she might throw away! Bianca, listen, why don't we go to your room and talk about this?"
"No!" She cried out, standing up.
"No? Find, the hallway good? I need a moment alone with the mother of my child."
"You will never spend another second with her for the rest of your life." Erica said icily.
"You don't need me." Bianca whispered. Everyone could hear the resolve in her voice, see the fear in her face.
"Oh, but I do, Bianca." He turned toward the door. "I'll let myself out."
He left everyone in the room in shock and confusion.
There was complete silence. Then Bianca let out a deep shaky breath she didn't know she had held in.
"What the hell was that all about?" Kendall looked at her mother and Jackson.
"That man can't offer you anything, Bianca." Bianca nodded blankly at Greenlee's statement. "The only thing he does is take, not give."
"What did he mean by a deal?" Reggie sat down again.
Jackson walked over to Bianca's seat, kneeling next to her. He took the hand Greenlee had held, patting it. "Bianca, you know what he was talking about. Please tell us what he meant by making you a deal."
She didn't know if she could even find her voice. They will all hate me. They will hate me for what he wants...for what I'm afraid I can't keep from him. "He asked me to marry him." Her small voice was scared of what the statement offered.
"MARRY!?" Erica cried out.
"I don't understand-!"
"Who does he think he is-!"
"He will never get near you-!"
"Bianca, don't take what he says worth a grain of salt!"
All their outbursts came crashing down around her. She didn't even know why she was still thinking about his offer. I don't want him, right? She wanted to be with Lena. I don't want him. She was frustrated. She quickly got up from the table. Her eyes were filled with tears.
"I don't know! Will you all please stop!?"
They all quieted. The air was tense. They were all so worried.
"He asked me to marry him, be a family with him and our baby. He was so strange…so kind and gentle. He wasn't Michael. I just kept repeating that he had raped me! It was the night of the dinner party."
"That's why you didn't come back in." Her uncle realized.
She nodded. She wiped a few tears from her face.
"Well-Bianca, you aren't going to accept his offer, right? I mean he's Michael Cambias. He raped you." Kendall took a step forward, but realized her sister needed space. "He couldn't love anyone if it killed him."
"I can't accept it. I can't. Even though..."
Erica shook her head in frustration. "Even though what?"
"Even though it is the life I wanted." Bianca didn't understand the words as they came out.
Reggie shook his head angrily. "No, Binks, a life with Michael is not the life you want! You want a life with the woman you love, whoever she may be, your beautiful innocent baby girl, and a family who really loves you! That's us, Bianca, us. Your mom, Dad, Kendall, Greenlee, and me."
She looked at everyone in frustration. "I don't know anymore! I don't think that life is possible! Before I was raped, a baby wasn't even in the picture! Everything has changed, and I'm wondering if I have to change with it."
Kendall rushed forward, holding Bianca's arms firmly yet tenderly. "What he is claiming to give you is bull, Bianca. We all know he is incapable of having a loving family. Reggie is right, let us be your family. Let us love and support you and Little Binks. You do not have to change in any way."
"I can't stay, I have to go." Bianca quickly moved to get her purse.
"You are not going anywhere while that man is out there!" Erica quickly moved to stop her daughter.
Bianca closed her eyes. She looked at her mother, Erica's eyes worried, and Bianca's were serious. "He's always going to be out there, Mom. I have to learn to be unafraid." She stepped around Erica and left.
"He shouldn't even be out there. He should be in a box six feet under." Greenlee downed her glass of wine. Reggie, Jackson, and Erica all looked at her, nodding. Kendall seemed lost.
"I don't understand it..." Her words were as quiet as her thoughts were confused. She knew Michael better than anyone in town, save Lena.
"Don't understand what?" Jackson was getting tired of the charade.
Kendall looked towards the door, remembering both Michael and Bianca walking through it. "I don't understand what is going on with Michael, with Bianca. This is not like either of them." She turned to her family. "Michael actually said he needed Bianca! And then, Bianca even told us that he was kind and gentle towards her when he asked her to marry him! That isn't Michael! Besides, it's not like Bianca to let anyone change her, no matter how much power others have over her!"
"Kendall's right." Greenlee admitted, looking at her glass.
Kendall shook her head angrily. "No, it isn't Michael. Michael did something more to her than raping her and getting her pregnant. There is something wrong there-" She moved to grab her purse. Everyone watched her quietly, knowing that there was no stopping her.
"There is something wrong, and I'm going to find out what it is!"