| Chapter 14 Lucky was lying on the bed listening to the shower. Emily had bolted from the bed right after their lovemaking had ended and he was worried that he might have hurt her. She was a virgin and he had tried to be careful with her. He thought about joining her in the shower but changed his mind. He had a feeling that Emily wanted to be alone. Lucky prayed that she wasn't mad at him for what had happened. He knew she said that she wanted it too, but he was having second thoughts about whether she really meant it. Emily stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't really see any changes on the outside but she felt so drastically different. Emily wondered how such life altering changes could be invisible. In the last 24 hours, her life had been turned upside down. Her father had been murdered but she didn't feel any grief over his death. He had been so cruel to her since her mother's death. She didn't think she would ever be able to be free but his death had given her just that. Freedom. She could live for the first time in two years, without being afraid of what to say or how to act. She could finally just be herself. No more worrying about being slapped or beaten. She heard Lucky moving around in the other room and her eyes filled with tears. They weren’t tears of sorrow or regret, they were tears of joy. Lucky had given her something that had been lost to her for two years. Love. "Em, are you okay?" Lucky asked. He couldn’t take anymore. He had to know if she was okay. "I'm fine Lucky," Emily said. But Lucky wanted to see for himself, so he opened the bathroom door. Emily was surprised and didn't have a chance to wipe her tears away before he saw them. Lucky saw the tears and thought they were tears of regret. He cursed himself for making her cry. "Emily, God I'm so sorry!" "Lucky...” But before Emily could explain the tears, the front door was kicked in and the next thing she knew the police were telling her and Lucky not to move. She must have fainted because she woke up in a hospital room at General Hospital alone. She looked around the room for Lucky but he wasn’t there. "Lucky?" she whispered to herself. If he was in any trouble because of her she would never be able to forgive herself. * * * * * Jax and Alexis were lying in each others arms, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Alexis was worried about Maddie and Jax's parents, whether or not they would like her. Jax had told her that his daughter and his parents would love her but she wasn't so sure. And Maddie, she was just a child and she didn't know the first thing about caring for a child. She didn't ever know how to talk to children. And today they were going to have breakfast at the Jacks’s house where she would meet her in-laws and her new step-daughter for the very first time. She could almost feel the panic attack coming on. Jax thoughts were on his deal with Stefan and how Alexis would feel when she found out he had lied to her. He wished he hadn’t agreed to keep Alexis in the dark but that was the only way he could get what he wanted from Stefan. Now he wished he had never even met the man. He quickly changed his mind about that though because without Stefan he wouldn’t be in Port Charles in the first place. Alexis was now watching Jax and she sensed that he was far away from her. "Jax?" "Hmm?" "Is something wrong?" Jax looked into her big, brown eyes and knew that he would do anything not to lose her or the love that was shining in her eyes. So he would live with the lie he had told and pray that he never had to tell her the real reason for their marriage. Because even though their marriage began without love on either of their parts, he truly did love her with all of his heart now. "No. Everything is perfect. I’m holding the woman I love in my arms. What could be wrong?" Alexis blushed every time Jax confessed his love for her. She wasn't used to hearing words like love, beautiful, sexy and my wife to describe her and she still wasn't used to the depths of Jax’s love. But she knew that she didn't ever want to lose it. "Jax, are you sure Maddie will like me?" "Alexis, Maddie has been dreaming of a mother since she was old enough to talk. That’s all she ever wanted. You have made my daughter a very happy little girl." Alexis felt tears fill her eyes. She knew what it was like to be a little girl and wishing for a mother. The thought that she was making a little girl’s dream come true had awakened something deep inside of her, she thought she had lost. "Alexis, honey what’s wrong?" Jax asked upon seeing her tears. Alexis didn't answer his question. She climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom, leaving a confused Jax alone to wonder what he had done this time to upset her. * * * * * "I hate you Sonny..." Carly yelled as she fell to her knees in front of him, sobbing. "I'm sorry Carly. I don't know what else to say," Sonny said as knelt down beside her. "Sorry isn't going to bring Michael home, Sonny. Hank worked for you, so why would he take my baby?" "Carly, Hank used to work for me but I fired him about 3 months ago for selling drugs. Johnny saw him at Jake's selling to a couple of kids and he told me what he saw. I fired Hank the same day." "Do you think he took Michael to get back at you for firing him?" Carly asked knowing in her gut that wasn't the reason. "I don't think so Carly. I'm just as thrown as you are about Hank’s involvement in this." Carly saw something in Sonny’s eyes that make her think that maybe he had a idea. "Sonny, what?" "Well maybe this isn't about me or Jason or what happened to Moreno's son.” "What are you getting at?" Carly asked. "What if this is about you period,” Sonny whispered. "I don't understand." "What if someone wants something from you?" "What Sonny? What do I have? I don't have money or power or anything that someone would want to kidnap my son for." "Carly, my gut is telling me that this is more about you than me and I'm not just saying that to ease my guilty conscience." Carly believed him but she still wasn’t ready to admit that she could be wrong about this not being Sonny’s fault. That would mean she would have to deal with the other feelings raging inside of her. * * * * * "Put my grandson down now!" Stefan yelled as his hand started to tremble. Helena saw the nervousness in her son. "You always were the weak one!" Helena remarked as she laid Michael down in his crib. "You’re wrong Mother. I'm not as weak as you might think!" Helena laughed at her son. He was always too whiny for her tastes. Sometimes she wondered if he was actually her child. "God, you’re such a disappointment Stefan. You never understood what being a Cassadine was all about." It was Stefan’s turn to laugh. "Oh Mother, I understand perfectly." "Then you know why I took Michael. I want what is rightfully mine!" "What would that be, Mother?" “The Cassadine Empire, it belongs to me Stefan!" Helena said as she poured herself a drink and offered one to Stefan. He took the offered drink and waited until his mother had consumed more than half of her's before he dared to take a sip himself. "What makes you think that I can give you the Cassadine Empire?" "Come on Stefan. You left Alexis in charge until Nikolas becomes 21 and Cassadine Industries was almost stolen away from her. And do you know that she married Jasper Jacks recently?" Helena watched Stefan's face turn pale white. He was shaken by the news that Alexis had married Jax. Stefan was hiding something and it had something to do with Alexis’s new husband. Helena was sure of that. She made a mental note to check into Jasper Jacks’s past." "You know that faking your death was a big mistake," Helena whispered. "How is that Mother?” Stefan said as the room started spinning. Helena watched her son fall to the floor. She knelt down beside him. "No one will miss you or even look for you," Helena whispered before she kissed Stefan’s cheek. |