Sami was silent, her eyes shifted towards the floor as she sat there in the chapel pew, contemplating her fate.
Pregnant. With Franco's baby. Is there no justice in the world?
Or was this justice?
I used Will to keep a grip on Austin, and now Franco has given me something that will always remind me of him. . .
A single tear slid down Sami's cheek as her palm came to rest on her abdomen. She was pregnant. It must have happened the last time she and Franco. . .
The tear barely made it to her chin before she wiped it away with a quick, angry gesture. "I'm ready to go."
Lexie's brow furrowed. "Sami, do you understand what I just told you? You're-"
"Pregnant? I know." Sami's chin lifted and she took a deep breath. "Tell Abe I'll be done in a few minutes."
Lexie nodded. She got up and went to the entrance to the chapel where her husband, Police Chief Abe Carver, was waiting to take Sami into custody.
"Is she all right?" Abe asked, concern coloring his tone of inquiry. He didn't like this, having to arrest his best friend's daughter.
"I think she'll be okay," Lexie said, tucking her hand into Abe's. "She's had a very rough day. Her pregnancy will only exacerbate her situation, but she needed to know."
"Don't work too hard, baby." Abe pressed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her.
"I won't," she answered, giving him a kiss and a warm smile. "You get something other than takeout for dinner, do you hear me?"
Abe kissed his index finger and touched it to the tip of her nose. "I love you, Lexie. Just thought you should know that."
"I love you, too, baby," she said, "Give her a few more minutes, and don't be too hard on her."
He smiled ruefully. "I won't."
The Carvers kissed once more and Lexie walked away, in search of Roman. She thought that he should notified when the autopsy on Franco's body was to begin.
Austin reached out and began to stroke Sami's hair gently as she sat there, unmoving, unblinking.
"Sami, are you going to be okay?" he asked.
She didn't say anything. She just buried her face in her hands and began to cry. Just when she thought she had no more tears left, there she was, losing it all over again.
Austin didn't say a word. He gathered her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently. "Shhh, Sami, please don't cry. It's going to be all right. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
Her words were slurred and her throat was raw as she said helplessly, "He never loved me. He used me and he lied to me. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let him do that to me? I want to die!"
Austin kissed the top of her head. He felt horrible. If only he had kept his mouth shut like Carrie had asked him to. If only he had let Sami keep believing in Franco. But the thought of Franco Kelly raising Will was enough to quell those thoughts.
"Don't say that, Sami. Think of Will, think of the baby that you're going to have. . ."
She pulled away from him and turned, her eyes flashing with pain and anger. "Like hell I'm going to give birth to this baby, Austin Reed! I'd rather kill myself than bear Franco Kelly's bastard!"
"Carrie, where are you going?" Mike asked breathlessly as he tried to keep up with her. She was walking at such a brisk pace that it was tough for him to follow her. It was all so clandestine and exciting, this sneaking around, trying to find a place where they could talk without interruption, but he'd just come out of two hours of surgery. He was feeling a little run down when one combined that with the tiny amount of sleep he'd gotten in the past three days.
She didn't say anything, but kept walking at full speed until they came to a relatively quiet section of the hospital, reserved for the older patients who were suffering from degenerative diseases and recovering from operations. She motioned for Mike to come closer.
Mike's eyebrows shot up as she opened the door to a linen closet and pushed him inside, then closed the door. It was pitch black inside.
"Carrie, what are you--?!"
He heard her gentle "Shhh.' As she laid a finger over his lips. There was an audible "click" as she reached for the overhead light.
Her eyes were full of laughter as she smiled up at him impishly. "Mike, you did say you did not want to be interrupted, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah," he replied, running a hand through his hair, "but a linen closet?"
"Can you think of any better place?" She arched her back and caused her vertebrae to pop as well as drawing attention to the low cut of her dress. Mike felt beads of sweat form on his forehead as she let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Mmmm, that feels better."
"Well, it seems a little cramped," he said, looking around, trying not to look at her in that scandalous little dress that had seemed perfectly decent only hours ago.
"Mike, look at me."
He did as she asked, gluing his gaze to the part in her hair. They were so close together that one deep breath would make bring her body into contact with his. He was very aware of this, and tried to get a hold on his overactive imagination.
Carrie scowled and grabbed his jaw with both hands. "Look at me, Mike Horton, not my forehead!"
His eyes met hers.
"That's better. Now, there was something I was going to tell you before we were interrupted."
Mike held his breath, unsure as to what she was going to say. "Yes?"
"Mike. . ."
This is it, Brady, make it count! It's now or never. You made your choice, so damned if you do and damned if you don't, stick by it!
"Mike, I'm getting a divorce from Austin."
There was a split second of hope in Mike's eyes as he looked into Carrie's before the unmistakable sound of the closet lock tumblers being thrown punctuated her words.
They were trapped.
Nancy Wesley's smile showed off her dimples to her best advantage.
Craig, we've got it made. Now if you can only keep that Fredericks woman out of the way, nothing will be able to stop us. . .
"You don't really want to use that on me, Augusta, do you?"
He was using that voice again. That rough, raw, velvety voice that made her think of hot, savage sex on a king-sized bed in a five star hotel during peak season. Gus felt her knees going weak. She couldn't let that happen, not now.
"So help me God, I will. Now give me some answers!" She felt her hand trembling. Her blood was scalding through her veins, making her blush from her collarbone to her scalp.
Craig's eyes were penetrating hers, holding her spellbound. She didn't even realize that his hand had come up to slowly push the gun out of the way until he had a hold on her wrist and was pushing it gently out of the way. His left hand was pressing against the small of her back, pulling her towards him so deliberately and so slowly that it seemed she had all the time in the world to push him away, to say "no," if she so desired.
If he kisses me, I'm a goner, she thought frantically as her body began to respond to him. She had to get out of here, she had to get away from him. She hadn't felt this aroused or afraid in years.
He was so close that she was breathing him in. Her eyes darted from his eyes to his lips to his right hand, which was taking his weight as he leaned in to her. Just when she thought he would kiss her, he shifted his head and went for her neck.
Gus closed her eyes and prayed for divine intervention. It didn't come.
She gasped as she felt his teeth graze her earlobe.
It happened in an instant. One moment she was holding him by the front of his shirt with one hand and clutching her gun tightly with the other. The next, she'd wrapped one arm around his neck, the other around his back, and pulled him on top of her. It was nothing but lips and teeth and tongues and hands as she captured him with her uninjured leg and dug her heel into his hip.
"Gus, baby," he whispered in that voice again, his lips against her neck, nibbling on the delicate skin on the underside of her jaw. "Tell me what you want."
She couldn't speak, truth be told, she couldn't even think. She pulled his shirt out of his jeans and spread her hands over his back, exulting in the feel of his hot, damp skin.
"You," she whispered, "I want you."
If she'd bothered to open her eyes at that moment, she might have seen a smile so insidious that it would have made her blood run cold.
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