Chapter 39

The stalwart police officer Bo assigned to guard Olivia's room shook his head firmly. 'Family members only.'

Accustomed to having his way always, E.J was more upset than angry. The news of Olivia Brady found unconscious in her kitchen had spread like wildfire round Salem. Kate had gathered from Will that Olivia had been poisoned but Bo was yet to prove that Vivian Alamain was responsible. She'd been questioned by Hope but the interrogation had yielded zero results; Vivian stubbornly maintained that she was innocent and Bo's accusations were on the grounds of their bitter history. No one of course believed that for a second but Bo was yet to have enough evidence to hold her.

Listening to Kate's report, E.J was more certain than ever that what he felt for Olivia Brady was not plain passing passion. The realisation had stunned him but he couldn't deny it; Olivia sparked something in him, a burning flame that consumed him. If Vivian Alamain truly poisoned her, Bo Brady would have to wait in line.

He stopped pacing and faced the guard again. 'One minute, I have to see her... please.' He said urgently.

The guard shook his head again, wondering what was with Pretty Boy E.J all of a sudden. There was no way he was Olivia's boyfriend; Commissioner Brady would skin him alive and ask questions later. Sergeant Newton could already visualise the look on his boss's face if he saw E.J camped outside his daughter's door.

'I'm sorry Mr. DiMera, I have my orders.'

As the words came from his mouth, Nathan strode up to E.J. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'I came to see Olivia, not that it's any of your business.'

'It's bad enough you caused her family a lot of pain; now you want to get your claws on her.' Nathan accused.

E.J raised an eyebrow, his expression scornful. 'So do you, from the sound of things.'

'We're talking about you, not me! What do you want with her exactly, her money?'

'My intentions towards Olivia are nothing but honourable.'

Nathan made a disgusted, incredulous noise. 'You're sick, E.J DiMera... like that beautiful, wonderful girl would have anything to do with the likes of you.'

'And who do you have in mind for her, yourself? It wasn't my family who labelled Dr. Manning a home wrecking whore. Yes, Horton... word gets round.' E.J added, seeing the angry flush creep across Nathan's face. 'I at least stand a better chance with her.'

'In your dreams!' Nathan found his voice again, laced with scornful contempt. 'Olivia knows you for what you are... so do the Bradys. There's no way she'll walk into your trap, you know why? She's not like Sami!'

E.J's expression was inscrutable. 'Exactly. That's why I aim to keep her.'

'Like hell you will!' Nathan grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. 'Just you dare try it!'

'HEY!' the guard jumped in the fray. 'Break it up!' He pulled them apart. 'Enough of that. Mr DiMera, I'm gonna have to ask you leave, right now.'

Again the arrogant lift of an eyebrow as E.J straightened his tie. 'It's not your call, Nathan. Block me; I'll merely step around you or everyone else for that matter.'

Watching E.J walk towards the elevators, Nathan had no way of knowing that the arrogant demeanour was camouflaging the huge pain in his heart. Just why he loved Olivia so loved much, E.J didn't know and couldn't care less about the reason. It had begun with fascination that day he'd seen her through the Brady Pub's window; standing out from the rest of the people surrounding her. The first thing he'd noticed was her laugh, sweeter than the sound of a silver bell and the chestnut curls framing that unbearably beautiful face. He remembered how she'd looked up at him when he'd approached her at the newsstand; for the first time seeing her eyes, which had pored deep into his soul. There was more woman than girl in her, thanks to the pain and torture she'd lived through with her mother but she still had a strong aura of innocence around her; a woman with no guile or blemish, unlike his two ex-wives. Could that be the reason why he loved her, why he felt so different from the man he used to be?

E.J shook his head as the elevator doors closed. He didn't care what Stefano or anyone else thought; all he knew was that having Olivia in his life would erase his sins and mistakes of the past because she would be his very own guiding angel, filling the places Johnny and Sydney, much as he loved them dearly, couldn't. She has to get well, hear him out and give him a chance. Of course her family would be outraged... Sami especially. But love knew no obstacles; somehow or other he and Olivia will be together.

Simmering with rage at E.J's words, Nathan composed himself before entering Olivia's room and was surprised to see she had a visitor.

'Gram.' He closed the door and moved to kiss Alice's cheek. 'How long have you been here?'

'Not very long.' Alice stroked his hair. 'Maggie gave me a lift. I thought I heard some sort of commotion outside.'

Nathan hesitated at first but knew he wouldn't get away with lying to Alice of all people. Alice listened intently as he narrated the conversation with E.J.

'He's in love with Olivia?'

'Please.' Nathan scoffed, 'that son of a bitch is incapable of loving anyone. It's nothing but some sick obsession and Bo's going to hear about it.'

'He's already upset enough as it is, have some consideration.'

'Gram...'

The look in Alice's ancient eyes silenced him. 'Bo's main priority right now is finding the person who poisoned Olivia, the last thing he needs is having an altercation with E.J. He doesn't have access to her for now, so there's nothing to worry about.'

'What happens after she's up and about, Gram? E.J will do all he can to manipulate her...'

'Oh, Nathan dear... you say you love Olivia and yet you don't know the first time about her.' Alice scolded him. 'Can you actually look at me and say that child over there can be manipulated? I've not known her long but I've known Bo long before you were ever born... from the moment I first saw her, I saw him. She's not some naive damsel in need of direction and I'm more than sure she'll hold her on against anyone, including E.J DiMera.'

Nathan chose not to argue with Alice's assessment. Instead he sat down next to her. 'How did you know about my feelings for her?'

'Maggie told me.' She smiled. 'At least you're more flexible than Bo.'

'I am?'

'Oh, yes. It took him a long time to admit he loved Carly and by the time he did, she'd given up on him... poor dear and it got to be his turn to do the chasing.' She patted his hand. 'Does she know?'

Nathan shook his head, suddenly miserable. 'After what happened... at the wake... she didn't want to have anything to do with me- wouldn't even give me a chance.' Tears suddenly threatened to fall. 'The last time I saw her, we had a fight over him... over E.J. I... I...actually accused her of sneaking around with him, I knew it wasn't true... I just got so mad seeing him talking to her...'

Getting up, he walked over to Olivia, fighting back tears. When he'd first heard about the poisoning he'd been devastated, especially after remembering their last encounter. The prominent toxicologist consulted was yet to formulate the right antidote. A vigilant team of doctors managed to prevent the poison from getting to her heart but she now had respiratory problems; hence the oxygen mask. If it wasn't forthcoming anytime soon...

'She's not going to die.' Alice broke into his troubled thoughts. Getting up with surprising ease for a woman of her age, she moved to his side. 'Before you know it, she'll be up and about Salem again and you two will work things out once and for all. That is... if you're really serious about her.'

'I love her Gram, very much.' Nathan whispered. 'I'd give anything for her know that.'

'Patience and faith, Nathan. It's exactly what I told Carly when Bo was very ill with a rare virus. He'd just told Carly, at long last, that he wanted to be with her and I prayed very hard that he would come out it and be with her like he should have been sooner. And that's what going to happen with you and Olivia, darling. You must believe that.'

Nathan closed his eyes as Alice rubbed his arm; willing for her to be right. He couldn't lose Olivia, for anything.

Suddenly remembering what he'd come for, he reached into his pocket and brought out a prayer card depicting a woman standing in front of a castle holding a chalice and host in one hand, a sword in the other. Taking Olivia's hand, he wrapped the long slim fingers around the card, kissed her palm before placing it back on her chest. St. Barbara; patron saint against storms. And Olivia was going to get through this one.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The manager of the pizzeria had told Hope the delivery boy he'd sent to Bo and Carly's house that night never came back. Whether Vivian had hired or bribed him to plant the poison or he'd acted alone was a mystery, but he's definitely skipped town. The question of how the suspect knew of Olivia's order was answered after discovering a minute microphone in the living room's phone receiver; probably planted the day Olivia was out of the house with Phoebe to pick Ciara up. With that discovery, Bo had all the locks changed and installed an alarm system.

'Even we do find him, Olivia's the only one that can give a positive ID; according to Phillip, she answered the door- he and Brady didn't get a look at him at all.'

It's been a week since Olivia's been in a coma- no leads and still not remedy for the poison. Carly's been handling the situation as bravely as she could; only Bo knew what it was doing to her. For three days she'd camped in Olivia's room, not sleeping or eating until he'd bullied her to go back home and get some rest. For the first time since they got back together they'd even fought; Carly had shouted that she needed to be nearby and he'd fired back that she wouldn't be any use to their daughter if she got sick herself and should stop being so pig-headed over it.

Roman objected to Bo being involved with the investigation but his protests fell on deaf ears. Bo wasn't prepared to just sit back and wait for results or details; the fact that the victim was his daughter gave him more than enough reason to hunt down the culprit.

'So what's our next line of action?' Bo demanded. Officer Davidson knocked on the door.

'Sorry to interrupt...sir, Dr. Manning's here.'

Roman saw the way Hope's face clearly dropped as Bo left the room.

'You okay?'

Hope folded her arms, eyes averted. 'Yeah... I am. It still needs getting used to, seeing them together. What gets makes me mad is the nagging feeling he's comparing us both... his perfect countess and his bitchy ex-wife.'

Guilty conscience or jealousy talking? Roman thought drily.

'If you don't finally wake up and accept the reality, you never will.' He said in his blunt manner. 'And if you have any love left for Bo, you should put his happiness first, instead of assuming a ridiculous thing like that. He's not with Carly out of spite; he loved her once and he's in love with her again. She didn't cause your problems, and you darn well know that. For the last time, let it go.'

'Can't everyone see it's really difficult for me?' Hope snapped, hurt at his words.

'It's difficult because you're making it difficult for yourself.' Roman's tone was unrelenting. 'When Marlena cheated on me with John, it hurt like hell but I faced the fact that things could never be the same between us ever again. It was hard, very hard but I stepped aside... mostly for her- not him. Look at the three of us now, best of friends.' He stared Hope down. 'I don't expect you to ask for Carly's friendship but at least start showing some sort of maturity about this. Especially since Ciara and Shawn D love that little girl lying at the hospital right now. It ain't going to be pretty if Bo's kids are split in two camps. Am I reaching you?'

Hope swallowed, wondering how on earth she'll be able to live through this. Until Davidson announced Carly's presence, she'd felt that she and Bo were back to what they used to be; a team working hand in hand. Now she was forcibly reminded that Bo belonged to another woman, who'd given him his first daughter... and was now wearing his ring.

Perched on Bo's desk, Carly fiddled with her fingers; not noticing several male officers checking her out as they passed by Bo's door, the preoccupied expression on her face not at all diminishing her beauty.

'That's her?'

'Uh huh. What do you think?'

'Man, now that's what I call...'

'Can I help you boys with something?' came Bo's cold voice behind them.

'Sorry sir,' was the universal mumble as they dispersed hastily. Carly got up as he closed the door and went to her.

'Hi Princess,' he hugged her, stroking her hair. 'You okay?' he asked, although he didn't need to. Carly's done nothing except handle the whole situation with stolidity.

'Hanging in there. I came by to check if there's anything new.'

'Nothing. Whoever delivered Olivia's order to the house, we have no idea where he is.'

Carly shook her head. 'So what now? Without him, no evidence to hold Vivian. And I can't believe Victor's sticking up for her; he's really gone crazy this time. It's almost as if he's trying to spite us; me especially for some reason. Or what do you think?'

'I don't know. He hasn't even been by to see Olivia, not showing any concern- the same guy who was so obsessed with her in the beginning.'

Tried as she might, Carly couldn't comprehend Victor's odd behaviour either; but then again her ex-husband always kept things way below the surface and it took an astute person to work the way through the layers he hid himself in. The only time Carl remembered Victor displaying shreds of human feeling was after he'd found out about Isabella's cancer, had been devastated when she'd told him there was no hope for Izzy.

'Perhaps he's trying to help us somehow?' she suggested, tentatively. 'By taking Vivian's side he could get some important info that will expose her.'

Bo thought about that for a while but shook his head. 'Does that explain why he believed her story about being crazy when she buried you alive? For some sick reason he's protecting her and it's only a matter of time before I find out why, count on that.'

Carly watched her fiancé pace the office, more confused. The only reason Vivian was back in Salem was to get revenge, going as far as to risk facing Bo's wrath. The first person she'd turned to was Victor- who had no reason to help her at all, except perhaps to prevent Bo from doing something drastic. That made sense. Taking Vivian's side in the present situation however made no sense at all.

'Are we ever going to get any peace in our lives at all, Bo? You would think that after everything we've been through all these years; we would finally have some reprieve. It's even affecting Ciara; she's so attached to Olivia now, she fears the very worse. It breaks my heart every time I tell her I don't know when her sister's going to wake up! I mean...' she struggled to pull herself together as Bo reached out, hugging her again. 'When will this end?'

Bo kissed her forehead, feeling too helpless and angry to comfort her in words. Right now, Vivian Alamain was probably laughing her head off at how she's able to wiggle her way out of an arrest; thanks to the smooth way she covered her tracks and getting Victor to side with her. The whole family was furious with Victor's behaviour, especially Caroline who'd flown at Vivian on the street; calling her a scheming, devious cow and it had taken the combined efforts of Carly and Marlena to prise her off. Bo felt like strangling the woman himself for the pain she was putting them all through every time he thought of her smug confident face. So far, Shawn Douglas didn't know about Olivia' condition neither did Frankie who would surely murder Vivian if he did. Once he got real evidence, not even Victor will be able to protect that bitch from her long overdue punishment.

A knock sounded on the door.

'Come in,' Bo said, keeping an arm round Carly's shoulders.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The last time Victor Kiriakis remembered sitting in the dark, staring at nothing was the fateful night several years ago when John had called from Venice to inform him of Isabella's death. Vivian had attempted console him but he'd gruffly told her he needed to mourn his daughter in private. Isabella had been his second chance at being a father as she had been a bit more yielding than her brother. Losing her so young had been a huge blow.

What Vivian had revealed to him had been an even bigger blow.

At first he'd dismissed it as one of her vicious lies but she'd dished out more facts and more papers. Bo and Carly's daughter had died five minutes after birth and now lying in the Alamain family vault, next to Nicky. Olivia was the result of an affair Carly had when she and Lawrence were at Ibiza; a one night stand with a Russian surgeon, who'd been one of Lawrence's house guests. Carly never knew that Lawrence had had him killed- disguised as an accident -before going back to Alamainia.

That explained the years of beatings and abuse... punishment for daring to cuckold him. His injury close to the bone, Lawrence had taken out his anger out on Carly and then her bastard child. It all added up; after getting back her memory decided to use Olivia as her ticket back into Bo's life and she had more than enough time to coach her daughter on Bo's mannerisms. With that and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Carly; Bo had been unable to resist.

Conniving, whoring bitch! Victor snarled over and over in his head. Marital vows were nothing to Carly; she'd betrayed him during the course of their marriage, betrayed Lawrence then wrecked Bo's marriage and now had him firmly under her thumb. Bo, poor besotted fool had fallen hook, line and sinker! Victor never felt more enraged in his life. No wonder Carly had been so reluctant to have the girl anywhere near him... she was afraid something about Olivia would give her away.

'The only flaw in your fool-proof plan was that Brady and Phillip and Ciara could have eaten out of that damned pizza as well!' he scolded her now.

'I had no idea they were at Carly's house, I told you that before!' Vivian retorted. 'No harm's been done; Olivia ended up eating it alone.'

'You're lucky my son and grandchildren are safe,' Victor snapped, 'or I would have ended up killing you myself!'

'Come now, darling...'

'Don't you "darling" me. We're partners, nothing more. Just you remember that.'

'Just you also remember to keep your own end of the bargain.'

'I'm well aware of what I promised. Get Carly and her bastard out of Bo's life,' he gave her mock toast with the brandy glass in his hand, 'and you become Mrs Kiriakis, once again. Just don't expect to share my bed this time.'

Vivian reddened. 'You don't have to be so vulgar. That was your idea, not mine.'

'A measure to make sure Bo won't come after you; which he's bound to. I'm not about to let him go to jail for murder.'

'Your parental concern is so touching, Victor. I'm almost sorry I told you Carly's dirty little secret.' Vivian said, knowing her statement will rile him up all over again. Thanks to his intense hatred for Carly Manning, her plan was working out better than she expected, he was her pawn and didn't even know it. The offer of marriage was an unexpected bonus; for she intended to remain Mrs Kiriakis for the rest of her life. Bo Brady can never touch her; he won't even be able to prove she had arranged Olivia's poisoning.

'This should break Carly enough to confess,' Victor broke through her thoughts. 'Accursed bitch; using that brat to wreck my son's marriage and he fell for it; hook, line and sinker! My God, I'll make her pay!' he spat.

'She'll rather die than admit she's been lying to everyone. Even if you decide to publicly denounce her; thanks to her dramatic return from the dead, everyone regards her as pure as the driven snow. No one will believe you.'

'If I openly confront her, they will.'

Vivian managed to swallow her aggravation. If Victor confronted Carly, all hell would break loose and her whole plan ruined.

'I actually thought you'd prefer her dead.' She said slowly.

'It's too quick, too easy; I want to publicly humiliate her- goad her into admitting Olivia isn't Bo's. I'll blackmail her... offer her the cure and in exchange, she confesses in front of everyone what she did!' Victor nodded with grim satisfaction. 'Bo will finally see the snake that woman really is and thank me for it later.'

'We're talking about your son who forgave her for hiding the truth about Nicky from him! So what? He'll forgive her eventually and it will all be for nothing! I really wish you'll let me handle it my way!'

'And what is your way?' Victor demanded. 'Kill Carly? Olivia's the one who killed Lawrence.'

'Do you want her out of Bo's life for good or not? We'll both be getting what we want; Carly out of your son's life and that little bastard getting her comeuppance for murdering my nephew!' she spat, hatred written all over her face. 'You just leave the rest to me.'

Shrugging, Victor turned to pour himself a brandy while Vivian silently reviewed the real plan in her mind. Olivia was dying; Bo had his hands full investigating who poisoned her, thus rendering Carly vulnerable. Gus was just waiting for the green light to grab her. Right now, he was out at Green Oaks, digging a grave. A grave that would soon host Carly's casket.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'And no changes yet?'

Carly shook her head. 'Until Dr. Macaulay comes up with the correct antidote, we're on pins and needles here. But Kayla says he's very good so we have to remain optimistic.' She turned to smile faintly at the sturdy young man beside her as they walked towards Olivia's room. 'Not the homecoming you expected, did you?'

'After finally getting time off; the hell it isn't!' He patted her shoulder. 'But it's really great seeing you again. I couldn't believe it when I heard the whole story. And I'm so glad about you and Bo.'

'Thanks, that's good to know.'

The guard nodded respectfully at Carly and her companion as he opened the door. Olivia's room was filled with flowers, balloons, the nightstand piled high with Get Well cards, including handmade ones from Ciara, Johnny and Allie.

'You have another visitor, kitten.' Carly said, convinced that somehow Olivia could hear her.

Max Brady took one look at the unconscious girl and his heart gave a lurch as he sat beside her bed.

'Well now...' he said softly, stroking the chestnut curls fanned out on the pillow. 'You're a pretty one, aren't you?'

Frankie hadn't exaggerated at all.