Chapter 29
Sami set her fork down on her plate and looked down at the few crumbs she had failed to inhale.
She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach and groaned a little, so full after scarfing down the dinner EJ had brought her it felt as if she had gained another baby growing inside her. Yet still she wasn't yet showing the baby she carried.
Sami didn't know what to do about EJ but she didn't know how to stop thinking about him. Oh I think I'll about that tomorrow, she said to herself.
Then something she spied across the room through the corner of her eye caught her attention.
Sami walked toward the attic walk-in closet and decided it was time to explore more of the secrets of Maison Blanche. She dragged her hands over the elaborate ball gowns of gold and purple and green and black, smiling as she felt the unique, cool, luxurious texture of each dress on her skin, before stopping on the red.
It reminded her of something she'd seen in a movie once before.
Sami examined the burgundy ball gown of French silk velvet and marveled at its heart shaped bodice clearly intended to accentuate the wearer's décolletage, its poofy sleeves and flowing skirt. Pinned inside the dress she found a matching set of gloves which she slid on her hands and arms.
Suddenly she felt elegant and graceful. She felt wealthy and powerful. She wondered what sort of a woman wore those gloves before her, if any Dimera woman had worn them or they were just kept as props for Stefano's games.
Still, even the thought of Stefano couldn't shake the spell this gown had over her. She can began to disrobe down to her bra and underwear and held the dress up to her front while standing in front of a full-length mirror with her back to the doorway.
So taken by this outfit, Sami hadn't noticed the man who had just entered into the room with her until she saw him in the mirror.
"E.J. Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Sami snarled with frustration.
"Sorry. Sorry." E.J. said averting his gaze and covering his eyes with his large right hand. "I didn't mean to interrupt dress up time. I just needed to talk to you."
Sami quickly pulled the dress over her head but had not unfastened all the buttons in the back before doing so. E.J. couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he listened to Sami struggle with the gown with her face covered and peeked through the space between his fingers so he could watch her arms pumping furiously in the attempt to pull the dress down.
"Sweetheart, do you need some help?" E.J. asked, not really interested in helping Sami become fully clothed, but making the attempt at being chivalrous.
"No, I think I got it," Sami huffed as she finally pulled the dress into place and bent over the bed heaving out of breath from the struggle, her face flushed and her long golden hair flowing wildly.
"So what do you want?" Sami asked standing up to face E.J.
"Wow." E.J. said emphatically. "Darling, you look amazing."
Sami looked down and noticed her cleavage practically spilling out onto the floor and covered her chest with her arms self-consciously.
"I said... what do you want?" Sami said.
E.J. shook his head for a second as if snapped back into reality.
"I wanted to talk to you, Samantha," E.J. said sitting down on the bed to face her while she stood. "Although I must admit I feel a little funny having this talk with you dressed like this."
"We're not having this conversation with me naked, E.J., so just say what you came here to say," Sami said impatiently.
"All right. Here it is. Something has bothered me all day today, darling. What was it you were trying to tell me before? Before your pains started? Before I helped you breathe again? Before we...?"
"Any WE before was a mistake, E.J." Sami scolded. "I regret asking you to lay with me even if it was only to sleep. It was wrong and it was unfair to you."
"How was it unfair to me?" E.J. asked.
"Because I'm married!" Sami said. "And I plan on staying that way."
E.J. had sensed as much as he felt the gold band around her ring finger when they held hands before, but he had hoped the man in question had left her when she decided to become Stefano's surrogate. Or better yet the man who had given her that ring was dead.
"Oh," E.J. said. "Well I'm sorry if I haven't been as gentlemanly as I should have been in my dealings with you, Samantha. But may I ask... when did you marry this man? Before you agreed to be the surrogate mother of my father's child?"
"Dammit E.J. I am NOT Stefano's surrogate and this baby isn't his!" Sami screamed. "It's yours!"
"But you said you're married to another man..." E.J. said awash in confusion.
"I am," Sami said exasperated. "But I am pregnant with your child because..."
"Because what, Samantha?"
"Because you RAPED me!"
Sami gasped after she said the words and tears started spilling out her eyes as she watched the words explode in E.J.'s face like a nuclear bomb. First there was the shocking noise they made, then brilliant, bright fury and finally total devastation.
"What do you mean, I raped you?" E.J. said, his voice quivering. "We just met this morning for the first time and you are accusing me of rape? Accusing me when I have been nothing but kind to you, nothing but a gentleman to you aside from this moment when I didn't announce my presence before entering the room?"
Sami sobbed as she watched E.J. pace around the room.
"I could NEVER rape someone. Never... especially... especially not someone like you." E.J. said defensively though he didn't know why. "Where do you get these crazy ideas anyway?"
"I got these ideas from the truth, E.J.," Sami said through tears walking toward him and putting her hand on his face. "Even if you don't remember it. It's the truth."
E.J. looked deeply in her eyes and put his hand on hers and he knew her hurt was real. Yet still he had no memories of hurting her that way. Even if he knew he had lied when he told her he wasn't capable of hurting her that way.
"I'm sorry that you think this is what happened, Samantha, but I need to go," E.J. said crestfallen and pushing her hand away. "Good night."
Sami cried as she watched E.J. solemnly walk out the door of the attic and shut the door behind him. She quickly threw off her dress and climbed into bed collapsing in a heap of sobs and wishing she had kept her big mouth shut and wondering if she had thrown away any chance of escape.
That night Sami cried herself to sleep.
Chapter 30
Sami awoke to the sound of two men arguing. At first she thought she was still dreaming as she groggily listened to them carry on.
"We need to get her into surgery now. Father may not last if we wait another five months for the umbilical cord blood. I don't know why you are fighting me on this."
"Sorry, Tony, I won't let you do that to her. Or to her innocent child."
Sami was filled with panic as she recognized the voices. It was E.J. and he was arguing with Tony Dimera, who had come to try to take her baby. At first Sami reached down beneath the bed for Stefano's diary and prepared to reveal all to Tony, but the menace in Tony's voice terrified her so much so that instead she quickly pulled her arm back without the men noticing and pretended to be asleep. Sami pulled the sheets up to her eyes while listening in horror.
"Where did your sudden interest in the innocents of this world come from, brother?" Tony asked. "You know as well as I do that this woman agreed of her own free will to Father's plan to pay her $10 million to become pregnant with this child for the sole purpose of saving Father's life."
"Do I?" E.J. muttered, but not so quiet that Tony couldn't hear him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked.
But before E.J. could answer they heard rustling and then the murmurs of people's voices through the vents downstairs.
"Damn," Tony said. "I thought they would arrive here later than this."
"Who is they?" E.J. asked.
"Don't worry about it," Tony said. "Just keep the girl here in this room and keep her quiet. Do NOT let her get out so that they might see her."
"Why can't these people see her, Tony?" E.J. asked.
"I'll tell you later," Tony said. "Just know that Father's life depends on you following these orders."
Tony left the room to head downstairs while E.J. looked over at Samantha now sitting upright in bed clutching the sheets tightly with her hands. He pondered what to do next.
Chapter 31
Tony shut the door and worried what E.J. would do. He had hoped to get Sami downstairs and through the secret passageway to bring her into surgery before the Salem search party arrived, but now he would have to rely on his suddenly quite untrustworthy brother to subdue her and hope for the best -- that no one would look in the attic.
Rolf had told him about his memory erasing procedure he had undertaken on his brother and while Tony regretted Rolf's doing so without his authority he was disappointed it did not afford them the control over E.J. that they expected.
Tony quietly tiptoed down the steps to the second floor when suddenly he heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs.
Luckily, Tony was able to dart back up and hide behind a bend in the staircase between the second floor and the attic while he watched Marlena, Roman and Lucas ascend the top steps of the grand staircase without noticing him and then turn right and disappear down a long hallway once they arrived at the second floor. He listened as Lucas led them into a far bedroom and showed them where he slept the night Sami disappeared.
Seeing his opportunity, Tony bounded down the steps of the grand staircase swiftly but with precision, like a tiger. Heaving a sigh of relief when he saw no one and nothing downstairs in the large front room he calmly adjusted his suit tie and walked toward the fireplace just about to press the button to open the secret passageway and make his escape... when a familiar voice stopped him.
"Tony, just what do you think you are doing here?" Kate whispered.
Tony recognized the voice and turned on his heels back to face her with a smile over his face.
"Kate, love, I'm here to join the search party," Tony said. " E.J. made off with $10 million of our money and I intend to track him down and get it back from him."
Kate scoffed.
"I see, Tony," Kate said throwing her hands up in the air. "Funny how you failed to mention your New Orleans trip yesterday."
"Am I sensing a little skepticism?" Tony asked flirtatiously.
"Not a little," Kate said just as flirtatiously. "A lot."
"Well, Kate, dear," Tony said moving toward her and caressing her face. "I assure you that I want to find E.J. and Sami and bring them back to Salem just as much as you do."
Kate knew that meant he actually didn't want to find Sami and E.J. at all, but considering them staying gone would mean the end of Lucas's marriage to the witch she was intrigued.
Kate licked her lips and leaned in for a kiss but stopped when they were interrupted.
"Hey, just what in the hell is going on here?" Roman asked furiously, while a disgusted Marlena and a horrified Lucas looked on.
Chapter 32
"Damn," Tony said. "I thought they would arrive here later than this."
"Who is they?" E.J. asked.
"Don't worry about it," Tony said. "Just keep the girl here in this room and keep her quiet. Do NOT let her get out so that they might see her."
"Why can't these people see her, Tony?" E.J. asked.
"I'll tell you later," Tony said. "Just know that Father's life depends on you following these orders."
Tony left the room to head downstairs while E.J. looked over at Samantha now sitting upright in bed clutching the sheets tightly with her hands. He pondered what to do next.
E.J. turned away from Sami and walked toward the door to see if anyone was coming. He heard nothing and began pacing the room anxiously wondering how long Sami had been listening to their conversation.
"E.J., what's going on?" Sami said. "Who is here?"
E.J. walked toward Sami and sat at the end of the bed and turned to face her but said nothing and sighed.
"Is someone here to save me? Is something good happening to Samantha Brady FOR ONCE? Am I really getting out of this awful place?" Sami said to herself as she excitedly hopped out of bed with her voice picking up in volume as she bounded around the room until it had built to a shout. "Is my dad here? My mom? Did Lu...?"
E.J. stood and covered her mouth with the palm of her right hand before she could finish her thought about her husband coming back for her.
"Samantha... I... I can't let you... I'm so sorry... So so sorry," he whispered.
To E.J.'s surprise Sami bit down hard on his hand.
"Owww," E.J. said in shock more than pain as he shook away the minor sting.
"You're sorry?" Sami said incredulously, turning to face him and pounding at his chest with her fists. "No, you're not sorry. Maybe you could have been sorry before. But not now. Not after Rolf wiped your memory clean. Not after Tony has just proven that you were never here to PROTECT ME you're hear to IMPRISON ME."
Sami began to sob.
"Not after I've told you the truth which you refuse to acknowledge and you still believe that this child..."
"Samantha, I don't know what the truth is..." E.J. said pausing to wipe a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I only know that disobeying Tony right now puts your child... or our child... if that is the case... in more danger than doing what he says."