Alexis put the latest issue of the newspaper down thinking she had read just about enough. She had picked it up that morning to see Shawn's face splashed again on the front page with the headline "Jilted" on top of his crestfallen face. Wait a minute, she had ditched their nuptials quite a while ago and he was still playing the wronged fiancé angle.

But what got her a bit steamed was the sidebar where they splashed one of her mug shots, god if she could only figure out which one and then speculated about whether or not she'd gone crazy and a date with Fern cliff was in her future.

They mentioned the time when she'd had DID, no faked having DID to avoid taking the rap for Luis' murder and then dressed up in drag to work as a male butler at the Q mansion. She'd been a little surprised to have pulled that one as long as she did…though she knew Alice had gunned for her after finding out her "crush" was actually one runaway wedding away from being a Q in law.

Oh and they mentioned that aborted wedding too even showing a picture of her running away in her wedding gown…wait a minute was that really her in the photo?

Her history…her one night stand with the mayor she barely remembered…smoking happy grass to get through chemo for Christ's sake…sleazy Ric's attempts to get her declared an unfit mother of Molly after the stunts he'd pulled.

Why wasn't anyone paying attention to the fact that Shawn been exposed as a professional hit man? And not just any hired killer either but one who worked for the five families…instead of as a poster child for jilted men everywhere. Her image on the other hand hadn't been doing nearly as well. She was being portrayed by that talk show duo Ken and Kendra as the scarlet woman, the one who no man could trust not to love him and leave him hanging. They hadn't quite yet figured out how to define Julian yet but give them enough time and they would paint him as her partner in crime, a villain by the same brush.

Another one of her bad boys, one who'd blown up a few boats in PC harbor and may or may not have been responsible for the disappearance of a few local mobsters and other riff raff.

Fortunately, Julian had gotten up with the sun to go running on the beach. She hadn't had any of those crazy dreams she'd been having mostly because she'd tossed and turned about some of what he'd been saying to her.

He'd looked a bit sleepy this morning, hair a bit mussed up and hadn't really answered her when she asked him how he slept last night.

She got up away from the headlines and went to the kitchen to stir up some breakfast. Damn, she thought she really had to start picking her men better. Stay away from narcissist sociopathic characters and psychotic killers. Maybe next time she'd try a professional matchmaker. But then she really didn't mind this latest one…she might even like him better if he hadn't hurt her so much. But wasn't that what a bad boy was destined to do?

She got into the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs. Just what she needed now was to whip up an omelet and put some chilies in it along with sausage and ham. She took several eggs to crack into a bowl and then whip into a frothy mix, just perfect for her favorite recipe.

One of the cooks who hadn't been terrified of Helena Cassadine had taught her how to make it while she'd been living at the compound. She took her meals separately and often alone given that her "aunt" hadn't been around much either. Stefan sometimes joined her collecting the ingredients she needed, while they talked about where he went to school, his trips abroad. She didn't see much of the world outside the island that imprisoned her so she often lived through books and his detailed adventures.

Thinking about that now, she took some colorful looking chilies out trying to remember if they'd been part of the recipe and then figured it didn't really matter as long as they gave it some flavor and kick.

She heard the door open from somewhere and realized that Julian had returned from his run and sure enough, he walked in the kitchen dressed in his workout clothes. He went to get some water to drink.

"Hard run?"

Julian sipped his water looking at her. A thorough appraisal as always as if he were looking at something of great value. Then he smiled.

"Those dunes are tougher than they look."

She nodded wondering why he'd chosen to work himself so hard when they were hiding out on a vacation. But he never allowed his fitness level to drop, always wanting to remain sharp for whatever happened. She knew at this point that anything could happen especially if Shawn was intent on revenge.

"Any trouble…?"

She frowned at his question while pouring the egg mixture on the skillet.

"No…why I mean beyond the latest headlines about the scorned groom…?"

He looked at her and then at her cooking, seeing all the ingredients lying on the kitchen counter, knowing that she engaged in culinary pursuits mainly to relax.

"Alexis…you planning on feeding an army…?"

She looked around her at the peppers that she still had laid out and the carton of eggs.

"No, I'm just making an omelet," she said, "Would you like one?"

He nodded.

"More greens and less reds though," he said, "Alexis you know Shawn's going to be exposed when the five families case goes to court."

She sighed, working the omelet as it sizzled.

"That could be months," she said, "I've never been vilified like that before not even when Jerrry was arrested."

Of course there had been the times she'd been arrested but she didn't want to go into that.

Because with the Jerry thing and the perplexing Mayor Floyd thing, she'd been treated almost like a femme fatale. She wondered why the media gave these men all the breaks and painted the women as being the villainesses.

Her omelet was finished soon and she scooped it on a plate to enjoy while Julian cooked his own so he could join her. She remembered back to when Sonny's wedding with Connie had gone bust. The columnists for the social sections of the newspapers had been more sympathetic with him though there had been this ongoing debate for a while among them and various talk shows about whether or not his profession had needlessly brought danger into their private lives.

Alexis hadn't envied Julian's personal life being put in the spotlight for debate and discussion like that and when it had been her turn…she had almost left town for a while.

"Alexis it won't last long," he said, "I'll make sure the truth about all of Shawn's crimes come to light."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh great then I'll just look like a dimwit woman who can't tell Prince Charming from Jack the Ripper."

She walked to the breakfast nook with her omelet and some fresh orange juice and he watched her dressed up in some faded cotton sweats and a tee-shirt that rose just off of her pants exposing some creamy skin. She's always been a beautiful woman; the way she looked often took his breath away though he never said anything about it to her. Didn't want to spoil what they had going between them which was trying to team up together to make sure that they dealt with this mess.

Julian followed her in a few minutes after he'd finished his own omelet shaped somewhat like…never mind. She smiled at that with some pink in her cheeks as he sat down next to her.

"You're a woman who goes into something with her whole heart and who takes chances," he said, "and he took advantage of that and of you…he's the one who did wrong not you."

She looked up at him from her food.

"Thank you but after Jerry I really thought I knew better than to get involved with another criminal."

He paused with his meal and looked at her carefully, choosing his next words even more so.

"Maybe you got involved with Shawn a bit quickly but…"

Her eyes flashed for a moment but then she nodded slowly instead.

"Maybe you're right …but it's not for you to say Julian."

She didn't want to finish her thought because it might take her where she didn't want to go.

"I have a feeling it was something that I did."

She looked up at him sharply. Actually when she'd thought about it, it had been something he hadn't done or more accurately hadn't said…but he wouldn't know that.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, after taking another bite of his omelet.

"I'd been thinking about it lately," he said, "what happened when everything came out."

She closed her eyes thinking he was so close to nailing it and her. At least in the ballpark already.

"Yeah what about it…?"

He paused again.

"When a beautiful woman told me a few things…."

Oh wow, he'd cut to the chase so quickly considering that night and what he said had stood between them for a few months. Back when there'd been a mob war going on and it seemed like everyone had to take sides.

"I said that because I thought everything was different...and I thought I'd never get another chance."

Her eyes looked guarded when she said just that much and he knew that there was a lot she wasn't sharing with him. That she'd kept to herself for months about what had transpired between them. Even after the mob war had been declared a draw when the feds came in to clean up.

"I know…but I never even answered you."

She smiled to make glide over the feelings that remembering had stirred in both of them.

"You didn't have to…I wasn't expecting it, it was just something I had to tell you."

He picked up the faintest trace of wistfulness beneath her smile and matter of factedness.

"It deserved an answer," he said, "I should have…"

She shook her head.

"No Julian, things were so crazy back then," she said, "You'd been through so much already…everyone was after you and you were after Sonny and a lot of us with divided interests…more than loyalties were caught in the middle."

"You weren't the only one Alexis…though putting you and Sam in that position..."

But he had and had nearly been carted off to jail while she'd been forced to deal with a lot of things to protect her family. That whole experience had left her emotionally raw including when it came to him and she might have been more susceptible to Shawn's declaration's of reforming himself than she might have been otherwise.

"But you did Julian and we're both here now."

He nodded because that was certainly true and she'd become even more beautiful since then but she'd changed in different ways. Beautiful and passionate but more wary and wounded.

It reminded him of that night so long ago when they'd both first met in New Hampshire…he didn't know why he thought about it now but…

Then the doorbell rang interrupting them both and they looked at each other wondering who it might be.