A/N: I tried to post last night but was having issues. For those of you wondering what happened to Joe, this chapter explains.

Clarisse stirred, batting at whatever was touching her cheek. She wasn't ready to wake up, but whatever it was, was being persistent. Slowly opening one eye, she smiled and opened the other when she realized what had woken her.

"Joe," she whispered with a soft smile, happy that he was finally healed with only the slightest hint of the beating he'd endured.

"Good morning, my darling."

Looking at the clock, she frowned. "Why are you awake so early?"

"Because, I had a meeting. I have some news."

"They've found her?"

"We think so. It also seems that what happened to us, was part of the plan. You could say it's revenge."

"Mabery." She scowled.

"My friends seem to think it's a combination of the Viscount, the Baron Von Troken and," Joe paused. Did he really want to tell her the last part?

"Please, Joseph, don't say it." Clarisse knew what he wasn't saying, but by not hearing it, she could go on denying in her mind that it wasn't true.

"I'm sorry, Darling." Joe kissed her when a tear rolled down her cheek and her lip trembled. "They're going to do some more digging, but right now, that's how it stands."

"Why?" she asked, but she already knew the answer.

"You know why," he gently acknowledged her own unspoken answer to her question.

She nodded. "Yes, I do. I tried to believe that the curse had skipped my sons, but it didn't."

"No, it didn't. We should have told Mia about it."

"Yes, we should have, but I didn't want to ruin her image of her father anymore than I already had." Clarisse bit her lip to keep it from trembling.

"It's alright, Darling. It doesn't look like Mia inherited it, so maybe we won't have to tell her." Joe kept his voice low and soothing as he pulled Clarisse against his chest. "I was relieved the day Pierre said he was entering the church. I had hoped that would help him."

Clarisse shivered at the thought of what her son seemed to have become. "He was always so much like his father. I prayed for Philippe to be spared after I realized Pierre hadn't been, but Philippe wasn't spared either."

"No, he wasn't, but it didn't hit him as early as it did Pierre. At least you had a few happy years with Philippe before it took hold."

"Yes, I did." A tear rolled down her cheek. "He was so mad at me that night. The way he went into a rage it was just like the night Rupert tried to kill me. Even the look on Philippe's face before he stormed out," her voice cracked.

"Shh, Rissee. Don't think about that. Concentrate on being here in my arms, instead." Joe smiled down at her, his thumb gently wiping away her tears.

Clarisse gave him a watery smile and gave into his tender kisses and light as a feather touches. Closing her eyes, she let him take her away from the pain that had been surrounding her life for what seemed like forever, but in reality had only been a few months.

"It's been so long, my darling." Joe whispered against the soft skin of her graceful neck. "Your love, and being able to remember making love to you, was how I made it through every night in jail. Knowing that I was going to hold you again is how I made it home." He pulled back and looked down into her watery blue eyes. "And this is home, Clarisse. Anywhere that you and I can be together, is home. It could be a shack or a box under a bridge, as long as you were in my arms it wouldn't matter."

No more words were spoken as Joe made love to her slowly, tenderly and, as she would describe it later, beautifully.

CnJ

Anger boiled inside Clarisse as she listened to Joe as he finally told her what had happened to him during his time in jail. With the anger also came pain and hot tears that burned her skin as they fell from her eyes.

"Oh god, please stop," she begged as she heard the tremble in his voice and saw the pain lurking in his eyes. Standing up from the chair Joe had made her sit in, she walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "No more. I don't want to hear anymore of their horrible treatment of you."

"I'm sorry, Rissee. I've told you too much," he whispered against her hair as he held her tightly to him.

Clarisse looked up at him. "No, that isn't why I'm upset. I'm upset because it's hurting you to relive those things. Maybe, when a year or two has gone by, I'll ask you again to tell me, but not now. It's too painful for you still." Her lips gently touched his.

Joe reveled in the feel of her lips against his. "What did I do to deserve such a wonderful and loving wife?" he sighed as he looked down at her, his hand caressing her face.

"You loved me when no one else would." Clarisse answered him softly, her eyes never leaving his.

Taking her hand in his, Joe walked toward their bed. Settling down against the pillows, he pulled her against him and stared into the fire as she snuggled against his chest. "I think I loved you the moment I first laid eyes on you. I'd never seen such a beautiful creature before. You were so innocent and guileless. The depth in the blue of your eyes almost frightened me. It was as if you could see beyond the world we existed in. When you shyly looked at me, my heart stuttered to a stop. I was so afraid you would see through my tough outer walls and learn the fear I felt for you."

Clarisse was startled by his admission. "You were afraid for me even then?"

Joe nodded. "Yes. I never dreamed the woman coming into the royal family would be nothing more than a slip of a girl. I had thought the Queen would have chosen a woman more like herself to be the wife of her son. I soon learned that she had, that Rupert had even helped her pick the woman he wanted, but the King would have none of it. He wanted someone that hopefully would rid the Renaldi line of its curse. Unfortunately, in his desire to stop the curse, the curse almost killed the hopeful savior. You never knew this, but you almost died that first night. Nearly bled to death."

Clarisse leaned back and stared at him. "No wonder I didn't know how I wound up back in my bedroom."

"You wouldn't." Joe took her hand in his and brought the soft fingers to his lips. "They just left you there, satisfied that you were a virgin. Luckily Granna," he stopped when he heard her slight giggle. "What?"

Clarisse smiled up at him. "Even you call her Granna."

"Well, everyone did, and most of us still do. It's been so long since I have heard her given name that I can't remember it."

"I'm sorry I interrupted. Go on."

"As I was saying, Granna had warned me so I was waiting out of sight for the right moment to rescue you." He closed his eyes, lost in the memories of that long ago night. "I felt so sick when I saw what he had done to you. Never did know what caused you to hemorrhage, but old doc and Granna worked through the night to stop it. If it hadn't been the two of them there, you wouldn't have survived because they used old folk remedies that the other doctors dismissed as being nothing more than folklore. Once we were sure you were going to be okay, I carried you to your room using the secret passage."

"I vaguely remember the feel of being wrapped up in a blanket and lifted into someone's arms, but that's all." She looked up at Joe. "Of course, back then I didn't know it was you, and I assumed that I hadn't struggled because I was so weak, but I think it was more than that."

"Oh?" Joe's soft green eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked down at her.

"I think somehow my heart knew it had found the missing piece to complete its unfinished puzzle."

Caressing her face, Joe smiled tenderly. "Te quiero."

"Mi amore," she sighed as she closed her eyes and let the touch of his hand lull her to sleep.

Joe watched her as she slept, wondering if he would ever be able to tell her what had happened to him in prison. Lightly caressing her soft skin, he knew that her love would be his healing. Sighing, he finally drifted off not realizing that danger was lurking in the night surrounding them.