Chapter 17
Lucas decided he could not stand for one more second to listen to his mother coo as she flirted up a storm with Tony Dimera over their lunch at Chez Rouge.
While the two of them were blissfully unaware and lost in their own conversation, Lucas turned around to get up to leave. But just then their giggling stopped when Kate and Tony felt a middle-aged man's hands on each of their shoulders.
"Hey, just what in the HELL is going on here?" the man said.
Lucas turned around and sat back down at the table.
"Roman... hello... it's nice to see you," Kate said uncomfortably.
"Nice to see you, too, Kate," Roman said passing harsh judgment on her with his eyes and then turning his attention to Tony. "But I can't say the same thing for this bastard. Not very smart of you to come back to Salem after you broke out of jail, Dimera."
Tony smiled.
"I understand if you're not interested in being friends now that I'm back in town, Roman, but I'm a free man now and have the right to live wherever I please and be with whomever I please," Tony said looking at Kate for that last part before shifting his attention back to Roman. "But I just want you to know that in a show of good will and my interest in showing that I am an upstanding citizen of Salem, I promise I will help you however I can as you search for my brother and your daughter."
"Your brother and my daughter? E.J. and Sami? What's he talking about?" Roman said looking at Lucas.
"You haven't told him yet, Lucas?" Tony asked.
"Told me what?" Roman wanted to know.
Lucas started to speak but quickly shut his mouth to try choke back the emotion he felt.
"Lucas, it's OK," Kate told him. "I'll tell him."
"What is going on?" Roman asked as he was getting impatient. "Oh God, Is something wrong with Sami? The baby?"
"In a way, Roman... both. You see E.J. apparently tracked down Lucas and Sami to New Orleans. And she ran away with him," Kate said. "Because the baby she is carrying... is a Dimera."
Roman was shocked and shook his head in disgust for a few moments before collecting himself again.
"I don't believe it," Roman said. "I don't believe it for a second."
"It's true, Roman," Kate said. "Lucas, tell him."
Lucas still was too hurt to speak but the pain in his eyes let Roman know that Lucas agreed with his mother's assessment of the situation.
"Look, I know Sami's done some pretty horrible things to the three of us," Roman said looking at Lucas and Kate.
Tony cleared his throat.
Roman glared at him but continued, "I know she's done some pretty horrible things to ALL the people of Salem... but running away with E.J. just days after she married Lucas? It doesn't make any sense."
"Since when has there been any sense to the things that little witch does," Kate said.
"Hey!" Lucas and Roman said in unison.
"Oops, I slipped. Sorry," Kate said remembering herself as Tony quietly chuckled.
Roman glared at him then looked at Lucas.
"When were you gonna tell me this? Tell her family that she was gone?" Roman asked. "And how do you even know it's true? She told you that she was leaving you for this scum?"
"Not... exactly..." Lucas said.
"Well what is it then exactly, Lucas?" Roman asked.
"Well... she left me a note..." Lucas said as he reached into his suit coat pocket and handed it to Roman. "...and then she left me and she left Will and she left you and she left all her family for E.J. Wells."
Roman looked over the note and scanned it.
"This is all you got," Roman said scoffing. "You gave up on your wife because of a piece of paper? You really think she would abandon her wedding vows and run off with this bastard who shot her step-father, tortured her uncle and God knows what other horrible things he's done to her family? After she finally got the wedding she wanted all these years? How do you even know that Sami wrote this letter? I'm taking this down to the police station to get handwriting analysis done and check this piece of paper for fingerprints."
Tony eyed Roman nervously as he remembered handling the note with his bare hands when he forced Sami to write it back at Maison Blanche.
Chapter 18
"This is all you got," Roman said scoffing. "You gave up on your wife because of a piece of paper? You really think she would abandon her wedding vows and run off with this bastard who shot her step-father, tortured her uncle and God knows what other horrible things he's done to her family? After she finally got the wedding she wanted all these years? How do you even know that Sami wrote this letter?"
Roman turned to walk out and said, "I'm taking this down to the police station to get handwriting analysis done and check this piece of paper for fingerprints."
Tony eyed Roman nervously as he remembered handling the note with his bare hands when he forced Sami to write it back at Maison Blanche.
But to his relief, an unwitting Kate came to his rescue and stopped Roman in his tracks.
"Roman, did you talk to Sami before she left for the honeymoon? About that picture that showed up in her and Lucas's wedding video?" Kate asked delicately.
"The one of the two of them together the night John Black was shot," Roman said sighing. "No, I didn't have a chance to talk to her about that."
Lucas put his head in his hands listening to his mother explain the situation to Roman.
"Well, after the reception, Sami told Lucas that she and E.J. had slept together that night and E.J. told me the same thing," Kate said. "And this whole time she has been making Lucas think that he was the father of the baby she is carrying, she kept it a secret that the baby may be E.J.'s"
"But she helped us set him up with the police that night," Roman said. "SHE was the reason he went to the boathouse the night John was shot. She wouldn't sleep with him unless she had no choice. Oh God..."
Roman was horrified. Kate put her hand on his shoulder to try to console him as he sat down and laid the note on the table.
"I can't believe I let Sami get drawn into this," Roman said. "What was I thinking? How could I have used her like that to try to get E.J. to the boathouse so we could bring him down? And that bastard gets his revenge by raping her that night?"
Roman was in anguish.
Lucas finally decided to start chiming in.
"Well there's more to the story than that, Roman," Lucas said. "She slept with him that night because she needed his help to save my life and lift up the beam when I was trapped in the cabin and that was the only way he would help her."
In that moment, Roman's nostrils flared as his heart filled with quiet rage when he looked at Lucas and wished Sami had let him die.
"So Sami loved you so much that she let E.J. have sex with her and that's the only reason you're alive today," Roman said angrily. "And now after she marries you, she disappears and you automatically think she would just walk out on you for HIM? What kind of husband are you?"
Lucas pondered Roman's words. The criticism stung but he knew he deserved it after all the times he had doubted Sami before.
"Roman, there's more to this," Kate said trying to justify Lucas's suspicions.
Tony's eyes lit up as he thought how lucky he was to have Kate around to help him, even if she didn't know she was doing it. He leered at her lustily wondering what other ways she could be helpful to him.
"Sami also kept it a secret from Lucas that she drugged him and was with E.J. the night that his cabin burned down," Kate said. "This was after E.J. had told me and Lucas that he was running off that night to Las Vegas to marry a Brandy Mathas."
"What?" Roman asked.
"Brandy Mathas," Kate said. "It's an anagram for Samantha Brady. Remember I told you all this the night that I came to you at Chez Rouge for help getting in Lucas's hotel room the night that it turns out that I was right all along and Sami had drugged him to be with E.J."
Roman wasn't interested.
"Don't you know all of this is just like what Stefano did to break up me and Sami's mother?" Roman said. "He kidnapped Marlena and he made me think... he made me think she had been unfaithful with John."
"Well wasn't she?" Kate said to another quiet chuckle from Tony.
"We were trying to make it work..." Roman blurted before he started getting wistful. "If that monster hadn't taken John and Marlena hostage at Maison Blanche all those years ago and made me think she had run off with him, maybe the two of us could have worked things out. Even after Belle was John's daughter."
Tony didn't like the way this conversation was heading.
"I think I get what you're saying, Roman," Lucas said. "We need to find Sami to find out the truth."
"Exactly," Roman said. "I need to talk to Marlena and tell her what the hell's going on right now, but later all of us need to get together to try to come up with a plan to find Sami."
Roman reached for the note but before he could grab it Tony stood up and upset his martini glass so the letter was drenched in vodka.
"Oh, Roman, I'm dreadfully sorry..." Tony said feigning regret for his calculated clumsiness.
"Dammit," Roman said. "Well there's no way to get the fingerprints off this now. We're going to have to head to New Orleans and that house you two were working at to search for clues."
Tony's impish smile turned to a frown at the words. He didn't like this turn of events at all.
Chapter 19
"I have to say I'm rather confused exactly why you are letting me stay in this room and why you're being so nice to me," Sami said. "I mean if Stefano sent you to guard me and keep me prisoner here, I don't get it."
"Prisoner?" E.J. said just as confused as Sami had been. "I'm not here to keep you captive. I've been instructed by my father to protect you."
"Protect me?" Sami said exasperated. "From what?"
"From yourself," E.J. said to Sami's surprise.
"Myself?" Sami snickered and turned away from him and sat down on the bed.
E.J. followed her and sat down next to her. He reached for her hand and clasped it in both his hands.
"Look, Samantha, Rolf told me everything..." E.J. said stroking the back of her wrist and hand with his.
"Everything?" Sami said as she rolled her eyes. "Just what did that crazy doctor tell you? I want every last detail."
"Well... I can see this is upsetting to you... I'm not sure if I should bring this up right now, Samantha," E.J. said dropping her hand. "Maybe I should just let you rest."
E.J. got up off the bed to stand up but Sami pulled him back down.
"No, E.J." she said staring deeply in his eyes. "I NEED to know what Rolf told you."
Her head turned as she thought to herself, I need to know what I'm up against.
"OK... well the way I understand it, and while your figure certainly doesn't show it, that beautiful glimmer in your eye is indicative of the fact that you are currently with child... with a Dimera child, is that right?" E.J. asked.
"Yes," Sami said. "It's true. At least that's what YOU told me."
"What I told you?" E.J. said his as his eyebrow raised. "Oh boy. I really don't think I can go on, Samantha. Maybe another time."
E.J. stood up once more yet Samantha tugged on his waist to pull him back to her once more.
"Go on," Sami encouraged. E.J. nodded.
"The plan for this pregnancy with the Dimera child that you're carrying from what I understand is that the umbilical cord blood from the baby's birth is used to develop a cure for my father's illness," E.J. said.
"Yeah, that's the plan," Sami affirmed.
"Is it coming back to you, now?" E.J. said furrowing his brow at her.
"Just finish the story," she sighed.
"And the reason I am assigned to guard you is that you were having too much stress back in Salem and we brought you here for me to keep an eye on you because..."
"Because what?"
"You tried to attempt suicide," E.J. said with pity. "You were upset about something, Rolf didn't tell me what, and you almost burnt yourself alive at a cabin. And you survived but the stress of the whole ordeal put you in the hospital where you almost lost the baby."
"Pfffft," Sami shook her head. "Rolf said that, did he?"
"Yes. And also that you became pregnant because my father, Stefano Dimera, agreed to pay you $10 million if you were willing to have one of your eggs implanted with the Dimera seed and be the surrogate mother for his child," E.J. said somewhat embarrassed even though he wasn't sure why.
"WHAT?" Sami asked, so livid she shot right up out of the bed and folded her arms in front of her chest before turning back toward E.J. who had also stood up. "Rolf told you THAT! Oh how could he do this? How could Stefano do this to both of us?"
Sami's blood pressure went through the roof as she paced back and forth with a scowl enveloping her entire face.
"Samantha, I don't understand what I've said to upset you so," E.J. said attempting to calm her. "I'm so sorry..."
E.J. reached out to put his arms around her and get her to stand in one place.
"It's not true, E.J. It's not true," Sami said pounding her fists on his chest. "The truth is you... you..."
But before Sami could say more she felt a stabbing pregnancy pain and started sobbing.
"Oh no," E.J. said desperate to help Sami back toward the bed so she could lay down.
E.J. positioned the many pillows on the bed to allow her to lay back somewhat upright as he knelt beside her clutching her face.
"Sweetheart, just breathe with me," E.J. said breathing along with her and staring deeply in her teary blue eyes.
Sami complied and stared back at his face with wonder as she calmed down in his gaze. Here he remembered nothing of her, of them, yet somehow he was just as he was back in the hospital when she had these pains before.
The two breathed together for about fifteen seconds when the pains subsided and E.J. wiped her bangs out of her eyes soothingly.
"Are you sure you're OK now?" E.J. asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Yes, I'm all right," Sami said.
"Do you want me to get Lexie so she can check out you and the baby?" E.J. asked.
"No, I think I'm fine," Sami said then sighed.
E.J. smiled with relief.
"Well I'm glad you're all better now," E.J. said smiling and still caressing her face. "You put quite a scare in me just then. Now, at the risk of upsetting you all over again, Samantha, do you think you can tell me now what you were trying to tell me before?"
Sami went to tell him, but stopped herself before she said the words. She knew he wouldn't remember. The truth would only confuse him or make him think she was crazier than he already did.
"Oh, it can wait," Sami said trying to put what she had to say before out of her mind. "But could you do one thing for me?"
"Anything," E.J. grinned from ear to ear.
"Would you just hold me?" Sami asked longingly then blinked quickly surprised at herself for saying it.
Suddenly E.J.'s grin turned to confusion as his lips quivered and he held his mouth agape while he stopped to think.
"Samantha, I'm not sure that's such a good..."
"Please?" Sami begged realizing it was what she really wanted.
"Well, I did say I would do anything for you, didn't I?" E.J. said with a nervous laugh.
E.J.'s pulse quickened as he gingerly climbed into bed with Sami. As soon as he had positioned himself comfortably laying on his back, Sami turned so that she could rest her head over his heart. E.J. self-consciously hoped she couldn't tell how much his heart was racing beneath her head while Sami reached with her left hand to wrap it around the right side of his long torso.
Finally E.J. gave into the moment and clutched the back of her head with his right hand wishing he could touch every last strand of golden hair on her head while his left hand reached out for her right one and found it.
Instinctively he clung to her wishing they could stay like that forever.
Chapter 20
Roman reached for the note but before he could grab it Tony stood up and upset his martini glass so the letter was drenched in vodka.
"Oh, Roman, I'm dreadfully sorry..." Tony said feigning regret for his calculated clumsiness.
"Dammit," Roman said. "Well there's no way to get the fingerprints off this now. We're going to have to head to New Orleans and that house you two were working at to search for clues."
Tony's impish smile turned to a frown at the words. He didn't like this turn of events at all.
Roman told them he was heading to the hospital to tell Marlena what happened. Even though they hadn't spoken in two weeks, he knew the place to find her was with John, who was still in a coma, at his bedside.
"I'm not sure if Doc will want to come with us or not, but we need everybody's help we can get if we want to figure this out," Roman said. "Maybe she'll save us some trouble and let us use John's plane."
He told Lucas to pack his bags and be ready to head out first thing the next morning as he had some loose ends to tie up at the police station.
"Roman, I can come, too," Kate said.
Roman eyed her skeptically but agreed to accept her offer.
"Damn those Dimeras for hurting her once again," Roman muttered to himself as he walked out of Chez Rouge.
Lucas stood up from the table.
"Mom, I'm going to head out too," Lucas said kissing her on the forehead. "Will should be out of school soon and I need to check in with him to try and explain this latest nightmare. Oh, I guess I should stop by the apartment building and see if Billie can handle Will staying with her a few more days."
"That's fine, Lucas, but you'll have to go to Titan find your sister," Kate said. "Maybe I should come with you. I can make sure my grandson is all right after what happened and I'm dying to find out how Billie's first day back at Countess Wilhemina went."
"No, Mom," Lucas said. "I need to do this alone. I need to be alone right now."
Lucas hurriedly left the table but that didn't stop Kate from yelling out to him, "OK honey! Call me later!"
Tony shook his head at all of Kate's smothering. What a waste, he thought, to see a woman like Kate wasting so much of her life lavishing attention on an ungrateful, sniveling son like Lucas when there were better, more satisfying things she could be giving attention her to. Like him.
Kate gulped down her fourth vodka martini, and stood up from the table too quickly so that she needed to put her hands down to steady herself from the head rush. Then she leaned in and flirtatiously told Tony that as much as she enjoyed their lunch she needed to get back to Mythic to settle things before she left for New Orleans.
"Work?" Tony said pulling her on his lap. "Work can wait."
Tony shut his eyes as the two of them leaned in for a passionate kiss, but his lips went as limp as a fish's when he opened them to look over Kate's shoulder and see the stunning blonde coming out of the restroom.