Chapter Twelve

"We kidnapped you because you kidnapped my wife and children, Luke. That's unacceptable!" Sonny yelled at his former business partner. His dark eyes were ablaze with a temper most people knew to be deadly. How dare Luke act so cavalier about the disappearance of over twenty people that he organized?

"I didn't kidnap anybody! We're on vacation. Look it up, Sonny. You might have heard of it. People with nine-to-five jobs get them every once in awhile where you go places with your family. It isn't like your kind of vacations though. We don't swim with fishes," Luke said, taking out a cigar from his shirt pocket, looking for a lighter.

Sonny Corinthos was the least of his worries. He had to find out what Morgan knew about Sweet Caroline and her brood. He had to find out what Sonny himself knew about the Helena situation before Natasha blew a gasket. He had to find a way to keep Robert from finding out about his son-in-law's little mishap of sticking his wick where it didn't belong. He had to find a way to avoid Felicia and Frisco finding out about their eldest's bun in the oven. He had to make sure Mac and Frisco didn't end up within ten miles of each other. Most importantly, he had to get Cowboy back before his little woman came looking for them.

He had entirely too much to do!

"Dammit, Luke. Where the hell is Alexis and my kids? I'm their father. I want to know where they are…"

"Aw, shut up! I ain't concerned with you. Cowboy, let's go." Luke lit the cigar and motioned for his son to follow. Lucky jerked the cigar from his father's mouth, stomping it out.

"I want to know what you all think you're fixing to accomplish by kidnapping my dad, Felicia, and me." Lucky asked. "We have more important things to worry about than your egos about your women."

"We're going to help you." Robert answered.

"We don't need your help." Luke replied with a hard look.

"You came to Felicia." Frisco returned.

"I want her help. Not yours. Not any of yours." Luke told him. "So if you'll excuse me."

He started toward the door and Frisco was gearing to hit him with another sedative when the quiet Jason Morgan stepped in. Jason's cold blue eyes settled on Luke's lively ones, gripping the older man's arm desperately.

"Morgan, I don't have time for this."

"I need to see Carly."

"I can't take you with me, Jason." Luke said, rarely sincere and feeling for the younger man with the unfortunate luck to be forever fixated on Sweet Caroline. He would've laughed if it hadn't been so heart-breaking. After all these years, the poor SOB was still head over heels in love with his niece.

"I'm not asking, Luke. You're taking me to Carly. Now."

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"Let's start at the beginning. You told MY MOTHER that your baby isn't Lucas'?" Sam asked Nadine again as the Diamonds sat in a circle on Carly's bed. Nadine was slumped against the headboard with a tear-stained face and a broken heart. Maxie held her hand and thanked God for big favors for sending her Nikolas. Carly and Robin sat idly at the foot of the bed, quietly letting Sam rant as she paced the floor.

"Yes, I told her." Nadine said yet again.

"You know that the game's over now, right?" Sam told her, half-terrified for her friend and half-mad that Nadine didn't fall in love with Lucas and join the extended Spencer clan.

"Not necessarily. I might could make this work." Carly said, a plan forming. Robin groaned at the sight of wheels turning in the blonde beauty's head.

"Oh, stop planning your next stunt, Knievel. The jig's up." Maxie warned, but Carly didn't hear her. She just stared out the window with a faraway look in her eyes and a smile that grew by the second.

"I don't like this." Sam said, her pacing subsided by her fear of the Carly she felt coming on for the entire group.

"Me either," Maxie agreed, despite the fact she was known for having Carly moments herself. "Carly, this isn't going to work."

"Of course, it is. All we have to do is fake Alexis out. Here's what we'll do…" Carly began, knowing that to keep up this lie was to further hurt the entire family when they found out the truth. She didn't care because in her perfect Carly world, they would never know.

In her perfect Carly world, Nadine would remain with her brother and raise that baby.

"NO!" Nadine screamed angrily despite the tears running down her cheeks. All four of her friends looked at her like she was crazy, especially Carly.

"Nadine…" Carly began, trying to make her understand the reasoning behind the inclusion of a Carly plan.

"No, you guys, this is my mess. I'll clean it up."

"My brother. I'm involved whether you like it or not." Carly told her, not backing down.

"Carly, Lucas is a grown-ass man! He doesn't need his big sister to take care of him." Nadine forcefully told the older blonde. "It's my mess. It's time I stood up for myself instead of letting everyone else do it for me. I was the one to chicken to tell Johnny the truth, that I didn't want him in our son's life. I was the one who let Lucas volunteer to be my baby's daddy. I was the one who let Robin doctor the amnio. This is my mess! I have to be the one to clean it up. Johnny and Lucas --- I've ruined their lives and quite possibly my son's."

"Lucas knew what he was getting into," admitted Robin. "So did I."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You make the rest of us look like saints. I mean, at least your baby was real." Maxie said with an easy shrug, causing the rest of the room to shake their heads in laughter and awe of her.

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Dmitri Kohl had been working for the Cassadines for years, but this was the first time his job had taken him to the Midwest. The fields and the family-oriented lifestyle was beginning to negate on his nerves. He was ready to complete this mission and return to the Greek Island with his Madam's present waiting for her.

Yes, he would be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams when he delivered the Spencers to Helena's doorstep, and he could hardly wait.