In the study at Wyndemere, Katherine Bell debated her next move. She had looked up Stefan's flight online and determined that without car service delays or launch snafus he would likely be returning to Wyndemere a hare after seven. So, she had been waiting on his desk with croissants and coffee wearing the skimpiest of teddys. She had envisioned that they would retreat to Stefan's private suite to make love. That hadn't happened.

Instead, Stefan had seemed rushed and stressed when he came into the study. Katherine was sure it was her imagination he almost seemed disappointed to see her. She had wrapped her nubile limbs around him anyway and he had literally pulled himself from her embrace and ignored her to ruffle through drawers. Eventually he had retrieved some file and left claiming he was late for a hospital board meeting.

She had tried to not take that personally. She knew that Stefan was a busy man; a very important man. She had decided to touch up her makeup and hair and then retire to Stefan's suite. Regrettably, Mrs. Lansbury had chosen that exact moment to clean the suite. So, she had returned to the study to wait. Except she was wondering if simply leaving might be the more alluring option. Perhaps it was time to remind Stefan that she was not to be taken for granted.

XXXXXXXX

"Where were you this morning?" Alexis Davis asked her cousin after they had returned to his office at Port Charles General Hospital.

"I was unavoidably detained, which I would have explained if Edward Quartermaine had allowed me to speak," Stefan said flatly.

Edward Quartermaine was the current Chair of the Port Charles General Hospital Board. At best, he tolerated her cousin as hospital CEO. At worst, he was actively trying to find a loophole that allowed him to terminate Stefan without majority board approval. Alexis had reviewed Stefan's contract and had negotiated that particular clause so she knew that Edward needed to get a 2/3 majority to fire her cousin. Of course, considering that seven out of ten board members were personal friends or family of Edward, Alexis felt anything but reassured.

"I have no clue why you wanted this job in the first place, or why you want to keep it, but if you do then you need to be careful. Edward only needs seven votes to remove you. He has four just from himself and his family. Amanda Barrington and Lee Baldwin are close friends. Now, Lee can't vote as pro-counsel but he can certainly guide his son's vote. Or maybe he doesn't even need to since Scott Baldwin is pretty close to his brother in law, Dr. Alan Quartermaine. Basically, your fate is in the hands of Director of Nursing, Audrey Hardy, Eleanor Farnsworth Murdoch, and Stuart Longsworth. The Longsworths currently consider Dr. Monica Quartermaine a hero because she made some rare diagnosis and their granddaughter is getting better so I wouldn't count on him voting against the Quartermaine contingent."

"I suspect that Edward Quartermaine will have enough pressing concerns in his own business that dethroning me as CEO will hardly be a worthy consideration," Stefan said.

Alexis wondered about that. She knew better to question Stefan though. "I will leave that to your discretion," she said.

"I appreciate that."

"There is another matter we should discuss. Please understand that this is not idle curiosity on my part, but did you and Katherine part at least somewhat amicably?"

"Explain the reasoning for your question!"

"I saw Katherine dining with Nikolas at the PC Grille. I am afraid that Katherine may try to retaliate against you through Nikolas."

"That is not possible!"

"Because she is such an upstanding moral person? Oh please! She tried to extort Scott Baldwin. She raped Ned Ashton! I don't think morality really applies."

"Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to tell Katherine that our relationship can be no longer," Stefan said.

"Stefan! You promised you were going to tell her last week."

"I will end things today," Stefan said.

"You must," Alexis said. Yet, as she headed off to what seemed sure to be another fruitless contract negotiation with Dr. Rachel Locke at Murdoch, Drake, & Lansing she contemplated all that her lies had set in motion. If the truth ever came out, then Stefan would understand that she had acted on his behalf with only his best interests at heart. That was what family did. Of course, they were Cassadines. The latter made Alexis even more desperate that the truth must never come out.

XXXXXXXX

Amy Elizabeth Morgan glanced up from her computer when her cousin appeared in the doorway.

"Your secretary seems to be AWOL. Don't tell me that Katherine has usurped another of your secretaries!" Ned Ashton said as he stepped into her office.

Amy laughed. Although that hadn't happened again, yet, it was likely that it would happen sometime soon in fact. "I sent Danielle to pick up the binders from the printers and, as far as I know, Lacey is still working for Katherine," she said.

"Well, that's good," Ned said as he sat down on the couch against the far wall of her office.

Amy noted that her cousin did not look comfortable. She suspected that his visit was at the direction of her sister or her Great Aunt Lila, rather than his own accord. "So did Aunt Lila or my sister put you up to this little visit?"

"If you must know, Grandfather mentioned that Grandmother was concerned that Katherine was leaving you to do all the work. That is kind of stating the obvious but I told Grandfather I would check in and make sure you didn't need anything before the shareholder's meeting."

"Or after Chloe's visit?" Amy asked.

"That too, listen, this is probably highly hypocritical coming from me but maybe you should consider telling your sister what you told me. You used to be so close once."

"I was a different person before. Maybe we both were, but I definitely was."

"I'm sorry," Ned said quietly.

"I know. I am too, and to answer your original question, we should be fine for Friday. The third quarter figures look great too!"

"See, I told Grandfather you had the situation well under control," Ned said.

Amy smiled even though she was pretty sure Ned had no illusion she had much of anything under control.

XXXXXXXX

As he sat at his desk, Stefan Cassadine accepted he had taken spineless to a new level. Katherine was predictable. He had correctly presumed that she would not be deterred by his early morning rejection. He had correctly suspected that she would merely take up residence in his bed to await his return. So, he had arranged for Mrs. Lansbury to deep clean his suite and pack up any and all of Katherine's possessions. Then he had left Alfred and Cyrus to do his dirty work and physically remove Katherine from Wyndemere and Spoon Island.

As spineless as his actions were, they were truly his only option. After all, how did one speak from heart and admit that they had consummated a relationship with their half-sister? One did not. One could not. He could not.

Stefan passed a few staccato breaths and then picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Alexis's in-house extension. "It is done," he said.

"It is for the best, Stefan," Alexis assured him.

Stefan ignored his cousin's attempt at empathy. They were Cassadines after all. "Did Dr. Locke sign the contract?" he asked.

"No and, at this point, I don't think she has any intention of doing so. She wants more money than any of the other psychiatrists are getting. She also doesn't want to take anywhere near her share of call. I think we're past a point where we can come to an agreement so I'm going to ask, do we even need to?"

"Dr. Locke is critical to the long-term strategic plan of the hospital. We discussed this before."

"We discussed that Dr. Locke was going to be Dr. Collins' supervising physician but then Dr. Collins' privileges were reinstated in July with Dr. Baldwin as his supervising physician."

"I would prefer that Dr. Baldwin not be Dr. Collins' supervising physician," Stefan said.

"Well, she isn't anymore, and that is kind of my point. Medical Executive Committee suspended Dr. Collins' privileges last month so I don't see why we need to keep pursuing Dr. Locke."

"Why was I not informed before the Medical Executive Committee suspended Dr. Collins' privileges? I thought I made it clear I was to be kept informed on these matters."

"Apparently he abandoned patients. Dr. Grabler and Dr. Baldwin had to take over all his inpatients. Dr. Baldwin managed to reach him eventually and he claimed he had a family emergency. Notably he also had a family emergency right before he started stalking Felicia Jones as well. So, can I please stop trying to negotiate a contract with Dr. Locke?"

"Are you even listening to me, Alexis? I told you that Dr. Locke is critical to the long-term strategic plan of the hospital!" Stefan said. Then before she could respond he terminated the connection. Sometimes he feared that Alexis overestimated her importance in the family hierarchy.

XXXXXXXX

Katherine Bell didn't believe a word she had just read. Stefan had informed her, by messenger no less, that their relationship had exceeded it's usefulness. He had claimed that he had no true feelings for her but felt that it was the most expedient way to resolve the incident from the prior December when he had inadvertently shot her. Clearly his cousin Alexis needed professional help if she thought she would be run off so easily, or that she was above tattling back to Stefan.

Wearing a smug smile, Katherine dialed the number for Stefan's private cell phone. Shockingly she was greeted with an ear-piercing tone after which she was informed that the cellular customer she was trying to reach was no longer active. Had Alexis gone so far as to disconnect Stefan's cellular service? Did Alexis even have that ability? Was it possible that the letter actually had come from Stefan?

"Ms. Bell, your eleven thirty appointment is here," Lacey's voice echoed through the intercom system and pulled Katherine from her thoughts.

Still unsettled, Katherine did her best to pull herself together when Steffi Brewster Alden walked into her office. "Good morning," she croaked.

"Good morning. Thank you for adding me to consideration," Steffi gushed.

Katherine saw a lot of physical similarities between Steffi Alden and Brenda Barrett from their dark hair and eyes to delicate features. There were even similarities to Ryan Fenelli and Ashley Brent who she had interviewed the day before, although Ashley had a more mature look. Apparently, her marketing director, Stewie Lloyd, thought that a certain type worked for the campaign. Or maybe he thought that Katherine had a certain type. He had no idea that when Katherine had hired Brenda Barrett in December 1993 it had almost nothing to do with her face and almost everything to do with her name.

"Of course, I am familiar with your work for the Armourelle Campaign for Lady Alden. Tell me what you have done since 1995," Katherine said.

Steffi appeared uncomfortable as she shifted what little weight she had uneasily in her chair. "I got married and we had our first child in 1996. I wanted to wait until our daughter was a bit older before returning to modeling."

Katherine smiled. She wasn't about to tip her hand but she was aware that Steffi Brewster had married perhaps the sole surviving Alden family heir, Cooper Alden, on New Year's Eve 1995. Although most of the family coffers had been depleted settling the wrongful death actions brought against Gwyneth Alden's Estate and the Lady Alden Soap Company had been absorbed into Enchantment Cosmetics in early 1996 the family still owned the physical campus of Alden University and appeared to be resurrecting the original Alden Family hedge fund.

"Do you realize that this is a spokesmodel position and will require extensive travel?" Katherine asked.

"That is why I have a great nanny!" Steffi said. She flashed a coy smile but Katherine saw insecurity beneath the forced confident veneer. She could exploit that! She had a feeling she had just found the next Face of Deception.