A Fresh Start
Chapter Six
Jeffrey is just returning from Cassie's villa when William's car pulls through the palace gates behind him. Turning he is surprised to see William and Ava get out, laughing. "I see you both had a good time tonight." Jeffrey says, as they walk up to him.
"William took me down to the harbor to look around and then we took a walk on the beach and had dinner at one of the beach café's and watched the sunset, and then we went to one of the new clubs." Ava says, walking up to him.
"It sounds like fun." Jeffrey replies, looking over at William
"It was. I wish you would have gotten back before we left. You would have had fun." Ava says, walking into the palace.
"I had some business to take care of." Jeffrey replies, following behind her, with William behind them.
"William told me. Is Cassie alright?"
"She's fine."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm just tired."
"Well, I'm wide awake and I feel like a swim." Ava says, holding up the bag in her hand.
"New swimsuit." Jeffrey asks
"Yes, William bought it for me when he found out that I didn't have one." Ava replies, as Jeffrey looks over at him.
"You can't be in paradise without a swimsuit." William says.
"Right." Jeffrey replies, still watching him
"I'm going to go change." Ava says. "Are you coming Will?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to talk to Jeffrey."
"Then I'll meet you in the pool."
"I'll be there shortly."
Ava walks upstairs, as Jeffrey turns and stares at William for a few seconds before he says. "She has a boyfriend."
"I know, she told me. I was simply showing her around the capital and the harbor."
"And you bought the swimsuit because…"
"She's on a tropical island, she needed a swimsuit. I offered to buy her one."
"And if I remember correctly the palace has swimsuits for any guest." William looks away. "Do I want to see what you picked out?"
"She picked it out. I only paid for it. Where is this coming from?"
"She's my daughter, I don't want her hurt."
"I would never hurt her. I respect her and you too much. How did it go with Cassie?"
"Just as you suggested, she freaked. She blames me for not telling her when I first came to Springfield, even though we both know I couldn't tell her."
"Have you been over there all evening?"
"Yes, after I told her, she ran out of the villa and I had to stay with the boys."
"I assume since you're here that she came back."
"Yes, but she's confused and has questions. She doesn't know where to go or what to do. She wants to see him, but I'm not even sure if the agency will let her."
"What did she say about Camille?"
"Basically, she can rot in hell." Jeffrey replies, with a smile. "I would not want to be in Camille's shoes if Cassie ever sees her."
"Those two have never seen eye to eye." William replies, as they walk upstairs. "Are you going to call the agency tonight?"
"No, it's Saturday night, Noah's out for the weekend."
"So, you're stuck here until Monday."
"At least." Jeffrey replies.
"Why don't you take the time to show Ava around? I'm sure she would love to see where her mother grew up and were you spent some of your youth."
"Where I spent my youth down here, I don't want her to know about." Jeffrey replies, with a smile.
"Of course, there are a few places I've been on this island that I won't admit to ever being at, if someone were to ask me."
"I'm sure there are. I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long and exhausting day. And I have a feeling tomorrow Cassie's going to be over here with more questions."
"You're probably right, but you know you're welcome to join us."
"Thank you, but no thank you. I need to be alone with my thoughts right now."
"Is there something else that is bothering you?"
"No, I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night and then the flight this morning, telling Cassie that Richard's alive. It's just drained me." Jeffrey replies, reaching up and rubbing his face with his hands.
"I'll tell Ava that you've turned in for the night."
"Thank you and Alon… William. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."
"It's okay, you're her father."
"Thank you for understanding." Jeffrey replies, as they stop at the door to Jeffrey's suite. "I'm going to go take a quick shower and then I'm going to bed."
"Sleep well; we'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you." Jeffrey replies as he opens the door to his suite and walks in, closing the door behind him as William continues down the hall to his suite.
Ava is already in the pool when William arrives, swimming over to the side as he walks up she asks. "Is he alright?"
"He's fine, he's just tired."
"I got this strange feeling from him, like he is mad at us."
"He's your father, and he has a lot on his mind."
"About the agency and Richard."
"Yes, how much to do you know about that?" William asks, slipping into the water
"He told me about your brother and his accident."
"Is that all he told you?"
"He told that he survived and that they caught the person who tried to kill him."
"That's it."
"Yes, why?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to know how much you knew." William replies, "Enough about business, I'll race you." Will says, as he kicks off with Ava chasing him.
Jeffrey is watching from the window of his suite. "Be careful Ava." He says as he turns away from the window and walks into the bathroom.
When they reach the other side of the pool, Ava won by the way; she turns to William, watching him. "You know I had a lot of fun today." Ava says, holding onto the side of the pool.
"I'm glad. It's one of my official duties as Prince of San Cristobel to make sure all of my guests at the palace have fun." Ava busts out laughing. "What's so funny?"
"You sound so proper and princely."
"I am a prince. How should I sound?"
"I don't know." Ava replies, smiling at him. William watches her for a couple seconds, before he moves closer to her.
"You have a beautiful smile." He says, reaching out to caress her cheek
"Thank you." There was a couple of seconds of silence before Ava asks, "What was it like growing up here?" She asks, nodding towards the palace.
"Oh, I didn't grow up at the palace. I was raised on the other side of the island in a fishing village."
"You weren't raised in the palace?"
"No, I was given up for adoption and Richard was put in my place as prince. I didn't know who my parents were until about a year before Richard was… before his accident."
"Why were you given up?"
"I don't know. Prince George was dead before I found out about my heritage."
"I didn't know I was adopted until last year, when my mother tried to have me killed."
"Your mother tried to kill you."
"Yes, there was an accident while I was watching my sister Emma and I guess she went a little crazy. She didn't know who I was at the time. She hired a guy to kidnap and kill me but it didn't work out. It was the same guy that later killed your niece Tammy."
"Do you… I mean does she…"
"We see each other, but it took a long time for me to forgive her or to trust her. As much as that was a shock, finding out that Jeffrey was my father was even more of a shock."
"How did you find that out?"
"After he ran for mayor, and the story broke about his past with Olivia. She tried to keep him away from me, but we've sort of evolved into a family. Now they've found out that Jeffrey may not have been the one that attacked Olivia that night. They think it might have been your other brother Edmund that attacked her, and that he might be my father."
"How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know Edmund, but from what I've heard he's not a very nice man."
"No, he's not. You know he's in prison down here."
"Yes, Jeffrey told me."
"If you wanted to see him…"
"No, Jeffrey's my father. I know he is."
"You know that Jeffrey asked me to get…?"
"Edmund's DNA, yes, he has to know if he's the one that raped Olivia that night or if he's been innocent all these years. If it were left up to me, I don't care what a DNA test would say, Jeffrey's my Dad but he needs to know so I told him I would have the test run."
"I was going to have the sample shipped to Jeffrey next week, but if you want we can have the test done here and you won't have to wait as long."
"Really."
"Sure, the lab at the hospital downtown could run the test. They don't even have to know who the subjects are. We could have the results in a couple days."
"That would be great." Ava says, moving to give William a hug. "It would take one more load off Jeffrey's mind to know once and for all if he was the one that raped Olivia that night, or if I was conceived through a decision they both made." She says, leaning back and looking up at him.
"I'm glad I could help." William replies, staring down into her face. Reaching out, he slowly began to caress her cheek. "You know, you are very beautiful."
"Thank you." Ava replies, smiling up at him as he moves closer to her, wrapping one arm around her waist.
"We shouldn't do this." William whispers, staring at her mouth.
"I know. I have a boyfriend."
"Your father will…"
"Don't think about Jeffrey, I'm a big girl."
"You certainly are that." William replies looking down her body below the water as Ava moves closer to him. Slowly their mouths come together in a warm kiss. It only last a couple seconds, be it was enough to fan the flames of desire burning inside them. "We shouldn't be doing this. William whispers again, moving closer and kissing her again.
"There are a lot of things we shouldn't do." Ava whispers, breaking the kiss.
"If…"
"Shhh." Ava says, laying a finger across his lips. He kisses it lightly before she pulls herself out of the water with him following behind her.
Jeffrey is standing under the hot spray of the shower as he lets his thoughts drift back to the first night he and Rebeca had spent in St. Petersburg. The next morning they were both scheduled to appear at the club to start surveillance on one of the Russian mob's biggest bosses. They had spent the day in one briefing after another, until they were both exhausted and Colonel Mathews and Lieutenant Russell had released them for the night, with strict orders to stay inside.
Rebeca had been the first one to arrive back at the hotel room. The agency had packed up everything they had except for the clothes they would wear the next morning. They had taken everything to an apartment the agency had rented under Jeffrey and Rebeca's aliases. A few minutes later, Jeffrey walks through the door.
"Beca." He calls, as he closes the door behind him.
"I'm in here." She calls back. Walking through the suite, Jeffrey finds her in the bathroom. She was getting ready for a hot shower.
Turning, Jeffrey leans back against the shower. Closing his eyes he lets his mind drift again.
"That looks wonderful." Jeffrey says, glancing at the shower.
"You want to join me." Rebeca asks, walking up to him and kissing him lightly. "Because, once we leave here tomorrow when we're in public we have to act like we're not involved."
"I know. I'm going to have a hell of a time watching you up on that stage, with those guys watching you, flirting with you and I can't…"
"Don't think about it. Just think about the fact that I'm yours, completely and totally. And I'll prove it every night when our shift is over." Rebeca says, leaning up and kissing him.
"I know you will, but right now I want a shower. My shoulder is killing me." Jeffrey says, reaching up and rubbing his right shoulder.
"It's the cold, get in and I'll be right back." Rebeca says, leaving the bathroom.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to get something."
"Okay." Jeffrey says, as he strips off his clothes and walks towards the shower. She stops and watches him for a couple seconds before she goes into their bedroom. Earlier she had found some oils that the hotel left for guests in one of the drawers of the dresser. Pulling the drawer open, she picks up the Lavender and Chamomile scented oil. Closing the drawer, she walks back into the bathroom, shedding her robe as she goes.
Jeffrey is standing under the hot spray with his eyes closed when Rebeca opens the door and steps in. Moving up behind him, she wraps her arms around him. "Feeling better."
"Yes, the heat is helping the muscles relax." Jeffrey replies, turning in her embrace and looking down at her.
"Good, but I think I can help some more. Sit down on the stool." Rebeca says, nodding towards the back of the shower.
"What do you have planned?" Jeffrey asks, walking over to the stool and sitting down.
"No, straddle it." Rebeca says. "With your back to me."
Jeffrey moves to straddle the stool as Rebeca sits down behind him. Taking the bottle, she twists the lid off and then pours some of the oil into the palm of her hand, sitting the bottle on the floor; she rubs her hands together before slowly rubbing his shoulders and the back of his neck.
After a couple minutes, Jeffrey feels the muscles in his neck and shoulders relax. "Umm." He sighs. "What is that?" He asks.
"It's Lavender and Chamomile oil. I found it in the dresser drawer the other day. The maid left it there."
"It's certainly working. My shoulder isn't hurting anymore." Jeffrey says, rolling his right shoulder.
"Good." Rebeca replies reaching down for the bottle. Turning around as she starts to put the lid back on the bottle.
"Let me see it." Jeffrey says, holding out his hand.
"Why?" Rebeca asks, holding it out to him.
"Turn around." Jeffrey says, tipping the bottle and pouring some of the oil into his hand.
"Jeffrey, I don't need you to rub my back." Rebeca says, turning around.
"Do you have a clip?"
"Yes, behind you on the window sill."
Leaning over, Jeffrey picks up the hair clip and hands it to her. "Put your hair up."
Taking the clip Rebeca twists her hair up and then clips it in place. "You don't have to do this."
"Shhh, you're just as tense as I am." Jeffrey whispers, leaning over and kissing the side of her neck as he rubs his hands together and then reaches for her lower back.
The minute he touches her, she sucks in a breath. "You don't need this." Jeffrey whispers, slowly working on the knotted muscles in her lower back. "These have been here for days haven't they." He says, rubbing gently.
"Yes." She whispers as she feels her lower back start to relax.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"We've been so busy and we were both so tired when we got home I didn't want to bother you."
"Rebeca Ann Whitmere." Jeffrey replies, slowly making his way up her back. "I am never too tired to take care of you." He says, softly, reaching her neck and slowly massaging the muscles in her neck and shoulders.
"I know." She replies softly, feeling her muscles in her back and neck relax completely for the first time in several days.
When he is sure she is completely relaxed, Jeffrey wraps his arm around her, pulling her back against him. "I love you." He whispers, kissing the side of her neck.
"I love you too." Rebeca replies, leaning back against him and feeling his body respond to hers. "You're not so relaxed anymore, darlin."
"I know." Jeffrey replies, tightening his arms around her.
Leaning to the side, she looks up at him. "We haven't even done anything."
"I know, all you have to do is be, and I'm there." Jeffrey replies, leaning in and kissing her, deep and long. Turning until she is facing him, she wraps her arms around his neck and moves closer to him, deepening the kiss. After about a minute and a half, Jeffrey pulls away. "Beca, I don't think I can wait…"
Standing up, she straddles his lap. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she feels him slip inside her. "Jeffrey." She sighs, slowly rocking against him.
"Oh, baby." He whispers, pushing against her rocking hips as he wraps his arms around her, holding her tightly against him.
"Yes." She whispers, reaching for release. She feels it tighten around him, holding him deep inside as he catches her mouth, kissing her deeply, as he pushes harder against her.
"Yes, yes, yes, JEFFREY!" she cries, as her desire shatters inside her.
"That's it baby, take me, deep inside." Jeffrey sighs, pushing against her quivering body, filing her with the passion burning inside him.
"I love you, I so love you." Rebeca whispers, collapsing in his arms and kissing him.
"I love you too." He whispers, holding her tightly against him
Jeffrey feels his body surrendering again to the passion burning inside him as he leans against the shower wall. Slowly he opens his eyes; he isn't in the shower in St. Petersburg. Rebeca isn't with him.
Realizing he is in the palace of San Cristobel, Rebeca is dead and he is alone he hangs his head as hot tears run down his cheeks. In the back of his mind, he hears her whisper "I think we need to get out of here before the water gets cold."
Reaching for the soap, he quickly takes a shower, trying to wash the memories away. Turning the water off, he dries off quickly and then leaves the bathroom. Lying across the bed, he closes his eyes.
The next morning, Jeffrey wakes up to the sun shining brightly into his room, rolling over he buries his face in the other pillow, not wanting to get up yet. His body aches and it feels like he hasn't slept at all. His head hurts along with his eyes. Someone knocking on his door forces him out of bed. Walking slowly into the sitting room, who ever wants him knocks again. "What?" Jeffrey barks as he opens the door.
"I'm sorry to wake you Sir, but the Princess would like a word with you."
"Princess, when did William get married?"
"No, Mrs. Winslow."
"Oh, Cassie."
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
"She's in his Highness's office."
"Tell her I'll be right down."
"Yes sir."
Jeffrey closes the door and then walks back into the bedroom. Falling back across the bed he lays there for several seconds before he sits up and rubs his face before walking into the bathroom. He returns a few minutes later looking at least a little bit refreshed having washed his face, shaved and used some eye drops to erase the redness from lack of sleep.
Pulling out a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt he gets dressed rather quickly before he pulls his tennis shoes back on and leaves his room. Cassie is waiting in William's office when he walks in. "Cassie." He says, closing the door.
"I didn't mean to wake you up." She says, turning to him.
"I was wake." Jeffrey lies, walking over and sitting down on the couch across from her.
"Have you talked to the agency?"
"No. I was going to wait till Monday and talk to Noah."
"Noah, Noah Chase. You know him."
"Yes, he's the senior agent on Richard's accident."
"He and Richard was… are best friend's I thought he was out of the country."
"He was until Richard's accident and then the agency brought him back."
"I didn't know you knew him."
"I know him but I've never worked with him. We met once or twice."
"Do you think they will let me see him?"
"I don't know Cassie, but I can ask."
"I need to see him, with my own eyes."
"I know, and I'll do what I can, but there is a chance that they won't let you in to see him because of where he's at. There's National Security to consider."
"This is my husband… my home… Just try, for me." Cassie pleads
"I will." Jeffrey replies, getting up and walking over to her. "I'll do what I can, but I can't promise that they will let you in to see him." He said, giving her a hug.
"Thank you." Cassie says, sitting back. For the first time, she notices the dark circles under Jeffrey's eyes. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"You look tired."
"I'm fine."
"I can tell your not."
"It's nothing Cassie, I'll be alright."
"I would like to think that we're friends, even with everything that's happened between us… Would you talk to me?"
"I haven't been sleeping very well." Jeffrey replies, sitting back and sounding very tired.
"What's wrong?"
"I've been having a lot of dreams, and I've had other things on my mind. There have been a lot of changes in my life this year."
"What kind of dreams?"
"Different things, I can't really remember them. But I'm sure they'll pass. They have before."
"You've had them before."
"Yes, we all dream Cassie." Jeffrey says, trying to sound unconcerned.
"There's something you're not telling me. Maybe I can help you. Maybe it'll help if you talk about what you can remember from these dreams."
"Cassie, just let it go. They'll pass."
"No, you helped me too many times, Let me help you."
"Alright, do you remember a few years ago the picture you showed me of me, Chris Langham and a woman?"
"Yes, you said it she was just someone you knew."
"She was more than that." Jeffrey replies, getting up and walking over to the window behind William's desk.
"Okay."
There are a couple of minutes of silence while Jeffrey stands at the window looking out over the garden. He notices Ava and William walking through the garden. Turning he looks back at Cassie. "She was my girlfriend, and we were partners in the agency. We were on assignment in Russia when she was killed."
"Jeffrey…"
"For some reason these last few days she's been on my mind and I've been dreaming about her."
"What happened?"
"I'm not really sure. She left our apartment the day she disappeared and she never returned. The agency never conclusively proved that the body they found was hers or that it was someone else's."
"How did you find out?"
"Two agents showed up at our apartment in St. Petersburg and told me that she was missing. It was the night I was going to propose to her. I had the ring and everything."
"Oh, Jeffrey…."
"They found a car similar to hers at the scene of a fiery accident, and they pulled a body from the wreckage but it was too badly burned to identify, except that it was a woman and all her teeth had been pulled out so they couldn't use dental records to identify her."
"So, you don't know for a fact that she was killed. She may still be alive."
"She would have contacted me. I've accepted that she's dead. I don't understand why I'm dreaming about her now."
"Maybe because of everything that's happened this year, Olivia, finding out you have a daughter, the mayor's race, and these developments with Richard. It's stirred up all those old feelings. When things settle down, the dreams will go away."
"Maybe you're right."
"I need to go get RJ. I promised him that we would spend the day together." Cassie says, as the door to William's office opened and Ava and William walk in.
"Good morning." They both say.
"Morning." Jeffrey replies.
"How are you doing?" William asks Cassie.
"I'm alright, I don't think it's sunk in and I don't think it will till I see him for myself. Ava, how are you enjoying San Cristobel?"
"It's great. William has been showing me around. I'm having fun. But I need to talk to Jeffrey."
"Actually, we need to talk to Jeffrey." William says
"Okay, I need to go get RJ, I promised to spend the day with him." She says, as she stands up and walks towards the door.
When the door closes behind her, Jeffrey turns to them. "Okay, what's going on?" He asks, looking back and forth between them.
"Ava and I were talking last night about Edmund." William says
"What about him?" Jeffrey asks.
"You asked William to get a sample of his DNA." Ava says
"Yes, I did. But you both knew that." Jeffrey replies
"Since you're down here, I thought we could get the sample and take the test down here." Ava says.
"Actually, the warden where Edmund is being held already sent over Edmund's sample and if you…"
"Sure." Jeffrey replies.
William walks over to the phone. Picking it up, he pushes one of the buttons. After a couple rings, someone answers. "I need to see you, at the palace." William says
"Yes Sir."
William hangs up and then turns to Jeffrey and Ava. "The doctor is on the way."
"How long will it be till we have the results back?" Jeffrey asks.
"We should get it back by tomorrow night. I'll tell the doctor to put a rush on it." William said.
"I saw you both out in the garden a few minutes ago." Jeffrey says, looking over at Ava.
"We were talking." Ava replies
"You and Cassie seem to be in a pretty deep discussion when we came in." William says.
"We were just talking." Jeffrey replies, looking away but Ava caught the expression on his face.
Someone knocks at the door. Standing William goes to answer the door, thinking that the doctor had arrived to get Jeffrey and Ava's DNA sample. Opening the door, he realized that it isn't the doctor but his assistant Jodi. "Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need you too look over these papers before we send them to the Lord Chancellor."
"Okay. " William replies, turning to Jeffrey and Ava. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Okay." They both reply as William walks out and closes the door behind him.
When the door closes, Ava turns to Jeffrey and says, "You're still dreaming about her."
"What?" Jeffrey asks, looking over at his daughter.
"Beca, you're still dreaming about her. She must have been more than someone you just knew."
"Why do you say that?" Jeffrey asks.
"Because, you were moaning in your sleep yesterday morning and then you call her name. It woke me up." Ava replies.
"She was one of the agents on my team. She was killed in Russia." Jeffrey replies, hedging around the personal details.
"So, she just worked for you."
"Yes." Jeffrey replies.
As much as Jeffrey tries to hide her importance to him, Ava can tell that this woman meant more to him than just being one of the agents he worked with, but she doesn't get the chance to question him further as William's personal physician walks in office.
"I'm sorry I thought his Highness was in here." The doctor says, when he sees Jeffrey and Ava sitting in William's office.
"He had to step out to take care of some paper work, but he should be back any second." Jeffrey replies.
"He called and said he needed to see me."
"Yes, he needs you to run a DNA test for us." Jeffrey replies, as William walks into the office.
"Dr. Reynolds." William says.
"Yes, your Highness. This gentleman was explaining that you need a DNA test run."
"Yes." William replies, walking over to one of the paintings hanging behind door. "I need you to take DNA samples from these two and compare it to this." William replies, opening the safe behind the picture and taking out Edmund's sample.
"Yes Sir." The doctor replies, opening his bag and pulling out two swabs. Turning to Ava and Jeffrey as they both open their mouths to let him get swabs from each of them.
After closing each swab and writing down which is which, the doctor put the swabs in his bag and closes it and then turns to William. "I need those tests run immediately, and run them twice just to be positive of the results."
"We will Sir. I'll have the lab run them immediately."
"Thank you." William replies, opening the office door and escorting the doctor from the office.
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