Chapter NINE
EJ paused in front of the front doors of the DiMera Mansion, taking a deep breath before entering the great unknown on the other side of the heavy door. He'd had confirmation earlier in the day that today had indeed been the day of Lucas' release from prison as he'd been assured. It had taken some fancy footwork and all of his lawyer skill's but he'd managed it. Normally they'd didn't let men convicted of attempted murder out quite that easily but when it was the man's victim doing the campaigning… well it made for quite the compelling case.
He knew that Lucas would have come straight here to see Samantha and he'd spent the day determinedly keeping away and occupying his thoughts with working through every possible scenario that he might return home to this evening. Thinking things through like that made EJ feel as though he had all the angles covered but then there was always a wild card somewhere in the mix when it came to his Samantha. Well, this wasn't getting him any closer to his ultimate goal he decided, just standing there in the growing dark so he just took another deep breath and opened the door, walking into the house.
Rather surprisingly all three members of his extended family were standing in the hallway as he entered and they all turned to look at him as one as he entered, all. They all had totally different expressions on their faces. John's was one of curious interest, Marlene's was one of worried concern and Sami's, well Sami had so many expressions fighting for a place that EJ gave up trying to pick one. Okay - scenario 26 on his list - he could handle this.
"Good evening all," he said calmly, smiling back at them as though it was any other day.
"Nephew."
"EJ."
John and Marlena acknowledged his greeting but Sami had yet to do so. She was just standing there, holding Ali and staring at him.
"How was everyone's day?" he asked cheerfully.
"EJ," said Sami tersely, "Can you help me put Ali down please?"
"Of course sweetheart," said EJ with a smile, wrinkling his nose at the little girl, "Where's Johnny?"
"He's already in bed," she said shortly, "He was up so early this morning that he crashed early."
EJ held out his hands to the baby and Ali went willing to him, gurgling happily. Sami started to walk up the stairs, clump up the stairs really and he gave a rueful look at the others before following her up, carrying Ali with him. EJ made sure that he was a couple of steps behind Sami as she trudged up the stairs, her unhappiness evident with every heavy foot fall but he didn't care because right now he had a very up close and personal view of her incredibly enticing derrière.
Oh god she had the best wiggle in her walk ever EJ decided as he stared shamelessly at her arse as they walked up the steps together. If Sami hadn't been so preoccupied with being annoyed EJ thought she might have suspected what it was he was doing but he was more than happy that she was so distracted that he could continue his enjoyment of her assets without fear of being found out.
It had not been an easy two weeks.
Pretending he had absolutely no physical interest in her had practically brought him to tears on several occasions. One of those more notable occasions being when she'd just finished bathing the twins and had emerged from the bathroom with her white shirt sopping wet and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination! The wet fabric had clung to every curve of those breasts that he was so fixated with and it took all of his strength not to fall at her feet and beg her to let him make love to her right there and then!
That had been a close call - a very close call indeed.
Kind of like now really mused EJ.
If he wanted to he could just move his head a few inches and sink his teeth into that luscious bottom right now and it was a very appealing thought. Sami did not know how lucky she was that she'd given him Ali to hold otherwise things could be taking a very sudden turn right about now. Even when they reached the top of the stairs EJ couldn't seem to tear his eyes off her backside, continuing to trail behind deliberately and enjoying immensely the way her hips swayed back and forth so enticingly as she led the way to her bedroom.
He remembered that night in her bed, when he'd had has hands on that glorious arse, the way she'd whimpered as he squeezed and kneaded it, pulling her closer to his ever growing…
"AHHH!" EJ gave a strangled cry as, yet again, his head connected with the chin up bar in her room.
He'd been so intent on watching her bum that he hadn't noticed that they were already in her room and he'd walked straight into that bar without even thinking about it. EJ swallowed the expletive that he wanted to vent for the benefit of his daughter who thought this latest trick of Daddy's was hysterical and was giving great belly laughs of approving laughter.
"Think that's funny do you, you little minx?" growled EJ in mock anger, "Well you're your mothers daughter I'll give you that."
"Are you serious?" said Sami in annoyance, "What is up with you and that bar?"
"It is extremely low Samantha," he said in his defence, rubbing his head ruefully as Ali still chuckled away.
"Well Lucas didn't seem to have any problem," she said flatly and then her eyes widened, suddenly realising what that must sound like.
"Not… not that we did…" she stammered, her cheeks reddening as she hurried to explain even though she wasn't sure why she felt like she had to, "I mean we just came up here for some privacy… you know with Ali… it wasn't like anything happened… I wouldn't… I mean… "
"It's fine Samantha," said EJ evenly, "You don't have to explain anything to me."
Thank god she explained otherwise he would have been left with no option but to go to Lucas' and kill the little toe rag with his bare hands!
Sami shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other, oblivious of the fact that she'd just saved her ex-husbands life because EJ was giving a very convincing display of a man who really didn't seem to care one way or the other what she did with her ex-husband in her bedroom. If she'd had even an inkling of his thoughts she would have been prepared to pay way more than a penny for them!
Sami started to get annoyed then at his seeming total lack of interest in who she spent her time with and what she did. Where was the man that had backed her up against a sauna wall and tortured her body until she was screaming out his name as punishment for even joking about thinking about another man during the 'treadmill incident' she wondered?
But why did she even care?
Wasn't the whole point that she was trying to get out of this marriage with EJ and back to one with Lucas? Wasn't that why she wore Lucas' wedding ring around her neck all the time? She really should be grateful that she didn't have to fend off his advances - it was a good thing. No matter how hard Sami tried she just couldn't seem to convince herself that the growing devastation she was feeling wasn't from being married to the wrong man but rather that this 'wrong' man didn't seem to care if he was married to her or not anymore. Why did everything have to be so complicated - why couldn't she just be totally happy about Lucas being back?
Wait, Lucas, that's right, she'd brought EJ up here to yell at him about Lucas but had gotten side tracked with her wayward thoughts.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were organising to get Lucas paroled?" she demanded of him.
"I was under the impression that you wanted Lucas out of prison," said EJ mildly, "I thought you might even be pleased about it… you are pleased aren't you Samantha?"
"Of course I am!" she snapped, sounding anything but and then when she saw Ali's little face screw up a little at the harshness in her mother's voice Sami determinedly soften her tone, "Of course I am EJ - it was just such a shock - I didn't know what to think. I thought he'd escaped or something."
"Well now you know he didn't so you can get on with planning the rest of your life," he said evenly and then smiled down at Ali, jiggling her up and down to amuse her, "Can't she sweetheart, Mummy can get her life sorted out now eh?"
"I didn't realise my life was such a mess to begin with," said Sami numbly, feeling control of the situation slipping through her fingers yet again.
"Really?" said EJ in surprise, "I find that hard to believe darling when all you have done through out the entirety of this marriage was tell me how you were married to the wrong man, how much you wanted out and how unhappy you were."
"I know what I said," said Sami sharply, realising for the first time what it must have been like for him to hear her say those words to him over and over again.
She was ready to curl up into a ball and start crying just because he didn't seem to care about what she did with Lucas all of a sudden. Her whole understanding of the world and how things were was suddenly spiralling out of control!
"So did you, Lucas and Ali have a nice day today?" asked EJ mildly and he may as well have been asking her to pass the butter for all the emotion he was showing.
"Yes," she said shortly, "It was fine… great in fact."
"Oh baby I've missed you guys so much," said Lucas walking into Sami's bedroom and not even noticing the chin up bar in the doorway, smiling at his daughter that Sami was holding, "She's gotten so big! I can't believe it."
Lucas went to take her from Sami but Ali shied away, nervous of this strange man.
"Sorry," apologised Sami as the little girl buried her head in her neck, "It's just… well she was so little when you… ahh… you know - she just doesn't remember you."
"I know," said Lucas, trying to mask his pain at the child's rejection, "But all that's going to change soon, we're going to be a family again, this nightmare is almost over."
Sami gave a smile that she hoped didn't look as forced as it felt. For so long this was what she'd said was all that she wanted but now it was here it didn't feel anything like she thought it would.
"Johnny will be up soon," said Sami, changing the subject slightly so she didn't have to think about such things right then.
"Great," smiled Lucas, "Can't wait to see him.
Sami nodded and smiled back but her smile slipped when Lucas took his eyes off her and went back to trying to cajole Ali into having a cuddle. There had been the barest hesitation in Lucas' response to her mention of Johnny. It had only been slight but the mother in Sami heard it. He thought of Johnny differently to Ali, Sami could hear it in his voice even though he tried to mask it. She'd never heard that hesitation in EJ's voice when he spoke about Ali. In fact she seemed to spend half her day reminding EJ not to get too attached, not to love her like she was his own. Somehow she didn't think she was going to have that problem with Lucas and Johnny and she had to bite her lip at such a painful thought.
"Hey," said Lucas, seeing her starting to well up, "Don't cry Sami, today is a happy day."
"I know," she said, valiantly trying to smile through her tears, "I know it is."
"I know this has been horrible for you baby," said Lucas, putting his arms around her and Ali even though Ali was still looking at him rather suspiciously, "I can't imagine what it must have been like living with that sick bastard all of this time but it's nearly over now. I'm going to get a place and get you and Ali out of here as soon as I can. You can burn that ring of his, put mine back on and we can put all this nightmare behind us. We can be the family that EJ DiMera tried to destroy again."
Sami returned his embrace, not saying anything but Lucas didn't seem to need her to say anything, taking her agreement as understood. Sami hugged him closer, hoping that he could chase away the slowly growing feeling of dread in her stomach but no matter how hard she held onto him, she just couldn't feel safe.
"In fact it was brilliant," said Sami, more for her benefit than his by this stage.
"Glad to hear it," EJ evenly, "Well I'd better put this little wriggler down before it gets much later and she gets over tired."
"Fine," said Sami hollowly, not knowing how she'd expected him to respond to what she'd just told him but not understanding his casualness at all.
EJ started to leave, this time remembering to duck his head under the chin up bar, which Ali found equally amusing for some reason, chortling happily at his antics. He stopped at the door though and turned around to face her as she still stood there in the middle of the room, not seeming to know what to do with herself.
"Oh by the way," he said calmly, "About the annulment - just so you know - that isn't going to be happening."
Sami's heart skipped a beat at his statement. Was this him wanting to stake his claim again? He'd really had her going with this uncaring act he'd had going on but this just proved that he wasn't as immune to all this as he was making out. An unbelievable sense of relief rushed through Sami as she realised that it had all been an act. He did want her and wasn't going to let Lucas just come in and take her without…
"After the events of that night it will have to be a divorce now," he continued on blithely, totally unaware it seemed of what he was doing to her heart, "Sorry about that but it can't be helped now. Seeing as this marriage has been consummated the law says that we are no longer eligible for an annulment."
"Right," said Sami dully, "Fine, whatever."
He left then and Sami bit her lip, trying to keep back tears but she couldn't. She sank down on the bed and let them flow, burning hot rivers of wetness down her cheeks as she felt such a sense of loss that it shook her to the core. Sami lay back on the bed, curled up in a ball and began to sob quietly to herself.
EJ wandered back down to the living room after putting Ali to bed and found his Uncle enjoying a night cap and poured one for himself and sat down in the chair across from him. They both sat in silence for a while, each sipping their drinks and thinking their own thoughts.
"So," said EJ finally, his curiosity getting the better of him at last, "Exactly how did Samantha's and Lucas' first meeting go?"
"Well," said his Uncle, pausing to gather his thoughts, "The cheese really hit the carpet."
"Actually that isn't how that particular expression goes Uncle John," EJ went to correct him.
"Maybe," shrugged John, "But it's what happened."
EJ gave him a confused look but decided to let that one slide.
"Can I ask you a question nephew?" asked John.
"Well as I've yet to found a way to stop you, why not?" said EJ blithely, pretty sure he knew what the question was going to be ahead of time.
"What exactly is your thinking behind having your wife's ex-husband released from prison and back in her life?" asked John, a slight frown on his face, "That seems counter productive to me."
"Not really Uncle," said EJ calmly, "In fact it's very simple."
"Unlikely," countered John flatly, "But go on."
"I have done nothing but offer Samantha my love and devotion for nearly two years," said EJ, "I've renounced my family for her, turned my whole life around and where has it got me eh?"
"I don't know," shrugged John impassively, "Some kind of extreme allergy to cats?"
"Yes well," said EJ with a twitch of his lips, "Allergies aside I need more from Samantha than just a marriage of convenience and the occasional…"
"Rash?" suggested John helpfully.
"If we could move away from the allergy analogy please Uncle," said EJ with a roll of his eyes.
"Allergy analogy," mused John absolutely emotionlessly, "Now that's funny."
EJ looked at the completely stoic expression on the other man's face and raised an eyebrow.
"And this is you being amused?" he queried, waving a finger at John's completely blank face.
John leaned closer and in a slightly lower tone replied.
"My expressions are subtle nowadays," he told EJ in an almost conspiratorial fashion.
"Some would say to the point of being undetectable even Uncle," said EJ not without some humour.
"So your plan is to dangle her ex in front of her face and then she'll miraculously wake up one day and realise that she doesn't love him any more and that she actually loves you," mused John, returning to their original topic of conversation, "Have I understood that correctly?"
"Yes," said EJ determinedly, "Samantha always wants what she can't have. So I'm giving her what she says she wants and with holding from her what she says she doesn't."
"And you're the thing that she says she doesn't want," said John, working it out as he went along.
"Precisely," said EJ triumphantly, "You see, it's a simple plan Uncle and it's going to work."
"If you say so Nephew," said John, the scepticism obvious in his tone, "But how long do you envisage this 'simple plan' taking to work?"
"Well that I'm not sure of," admitted EJ ruefully, "But there is a saying - Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, seldom in a woman, never in a man. Well I intend to disprove that little axiom wrong."
"There's another saying that goes - A fool and his honey are soon parted," John told him.
"The expression is a fool and his money Uncle John," said EJ, rolling his eyes.
John considered that for a moment and then shook his head.
"No," he said dismissively, "That doesn't make the point I was trying to make, my way is better."
"You know Uncle," said EJ dryly, "I'll miss our little chats when Samantha and I eventually move out."
EJ took another sip of his drink and savoured the alcoholic bite. This was going to work, it just had to, failure really wasn't an option at this point. He'd resigned himself to the next little while being absolute hell having Lucas sniffing around Samantha like the lap dog he was but it was a necessary evil. All he had to do was keep it together for long enough for Sami to come to her senses.
No problem… right?
EJ emptied the rest of his drink in one gulp and went to pour himself another.
"Good thinking nephew," John encouraged him straight faced, "I think getting drunk right about now is the smartest thing you've done all day."