Chapter 7: Friend or Enemy?
"Thank you," Stefan told the man that had just given him the report of Nikolas' miniature golf game. "I never pictured Nikolas with a girlfriend"
"Cute little thing, too," the man added, thinking that Stefan wanted his opinion. "Her sister is a troublemaker, though"
"I don't really care about Elizabeth Imogene Webber!" Stefan said as he threw the report that read had the girl's name on his desk. "Sarah Caroline Webber, though, interests me far more. Keep your men on my nephew, I will let you know when I want to move ahead with our plan"
"Yes, sir. May I ask a question?"
"By all means"
"Nikolas never goes anywhere alone, not since your mother sent her letter about reclaiming the Cassadine Heir," the man started to say, clearly unsure of the phrasing.
"Yes, I know. The letter was my idea. I wanted to warn Laura about my mother's plan. I wanted to give Laura time to think about how to fight my mother of my plan ever fails." Stefan pointed out. "What is your question?"
"Like I said, Nikolas' family is making sure that he is never alone. More often than not, it's your nephew's young half brother, Lucas Junior, also known as Lucky, who's with him. The boy isn't tall, and he is skinny, but he has been seen in a fight. My guess is that he knows how to take care of himself, or his brother if need be. "
"Get to the point!" A very impatient Stefan snapped.
"What do I do with the Spencer boy when we move ahead?"
"As much as I despise Lucky Spencer's father, I will not mix the boy with this. He is, after all, Laura's son as much as Nikolas is and I will not see him harmed. Make sure that he is restrained and cannot interfere, but DO NOT hurt him. Same goes for the young ladies."
After the man left, Stefan turned to stare out of the window. He wasn't sure that his plan was the best one, he wasn't sure it was full proof, but it was the best he could do with the amount of time given.
No one thought Helena would ever come out of her catatonic state, and Stefan had thought that the boy was safe from all Cassadine influence. Giving him to Laura had been the hardest thing he had ever done, but he had no choice. After he met with Laura and her husband, he had come back to Greece and told everyone that Laura had a hold on the Cassadine family, and her price for not destroying them was that her son was to never have any contact with the Cassadines ever again. The entire family was more than willing to save their hides when Stefan assured them that he saw the incriminating evidences she had on them. They were even more eager to believe him since they knew that both father and son, Mikkos and Stavros, had been defeated at the hands of Laura's husband, so they had agreed that Nikolas would stay with the Spencers until he was old enough to take his place as the Prince. Stefan had been happy that he had bought Nikolas an 18 year reprieve from his crazy paternal family. Stefan had been sure, when Helena had started to get sick, that he would be able to save Nikolas even longer by just saying he had lost trace of the boy.
But Helena had ruined everything by waking up! She had hired a private investigator without Stefan's knowledge. When he had finally heard about it, he convinced his mother that it was wiser to warn the Spencer that they were about to take Nikolas away. He said that, because it would give the Spencers time to know what was going to happen, which would give them time to grow anxious about not losing the boy, and, finally, the anticipation would weaken them. To Stefan's astonishment, Helena had bought it all!
Or so he thought.
***************
"Oh come on, at least admit it, Lucky!" Nikolas told his brother with a smile. "You like bantering with Elizabeth as much as dad likes to pretend Claude is incompetent!"
The teenagers were eating ice creaming and sitting on a bench in the middle of the park. Sarah and Elizabeth had gone to the bathroom, leaving the guys to talk about them at their leisure.
"I don't like bantering with her!" Lucky answered before he took a sip of his milkshake. "She's obnoxious and loud!"
"Fine, live in denial little brother," Nikolas said and smiled at Lucky. "But I know sparks when I see them, and you and Elizabeth definitely sizzled."
Lucky snorted to show how much he believed him. Elizabeth had been on his case all evening, putting his nerves through hell. Why couldn't they have waited until Emily was free to double date like they often did? Now he was stuck with a headache and a brother who thought he saw love at first sight. Not bloody likely!
"I wonder what Elizabeth is saying about you to Sarah," Nikolas taunted his brother. "Probably that you are a big dud!"
"I'm the cutest guy she's ever dated!" Lucky said indignantly.
"Says who?" Nikolas' head shot up. "Did she tell you that?"
"No, but you just have to look at me to know THAT it doesn't get any better than me!"
"Poor girl," Nikolas teased as the girls came back to them. As soon as Sarah was in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
"Aren't they disgusting?" Lucky asked Elizabeth as he pretended to gag.
"Oh yeah," Liz nodded. "They shouldn't be allowed out!"
"Why is this guy following us?" Sarah asked as she pointed to a guy walking slowly under the sun. "He was at the golf game and he is here now"
Lucky looked where she pointed and frowned at Nikolas. "I'm insulted! Dad didn't have enough faith in me to keep you safe, he called Sonny for him to stick one of his goons on you!"
"What makes you so sure the guy is working for Sonny?" Nikolas asked with a frown.
"Isn't it obvious? If he had been working for your psycho grandmother, he wouldn't be alone, now, would he?" Lucky answered in his know it all attitude.
"I'm not so sure. What if he was sent to see if I was alone and what kind of security dad has for me?" Nikolas asked nervously. "I mean, my grandmother's crazy but she isn't a fool. She won't attack for me before she knows what kind of defense dad has against her, Lucky!"
"But this guy WANTS us to see him, don't you see? If he was working for your grandmother, he would do his damnest for us NOT to realize he's there. Sonny's men would do that, to make sure that we knew we were protected."
"But I thought we knew all of Sonny's men" Nikolas countered.
"Guys, why don't we just go home? Who ever that man is, his presence here just gives me the creeps!" Sarah said to both brothers.
"I think she's right. Let's take the girls home and see what has been going on at our house," Lucky agreed. "Maybe dad thought of something"
"Sorry to bother you, but can I have a word with you?" The teenagers heard as the man who was watching them approached.