Chapter 57
Laura held a slumbering Lulu in her arms as she rocked her baby tenderly and smoothed her hand over the baby's full belly. Lulu was a secure baby, never overly demanding of her mother's attention as she always had what she needed. Frankie had been a good baby like this, Laura reflected. He'd been so full of smiles and fun, always cooing and making noises. I suppose he was very intelligent even at that young age. He tried to communicate with us from day one. A brief memory of the night Frankie had supposedly been killed flashed through Laura's mind, and she teared up in reaction to the feelings of despair that rose up within her. On that fateful night fourteen years ago, all she could think of was her precious baby jumping up and down in his burning crib, screaming for his mama who never came. Laura took in a deep breath and wiped away a stray tear. She looked down at Lulu and smiled through her tears.
Lulu looks so much like Nikolas when he was as a baby. Had Nikolas been more fortunate than Frankie? Not when he was young, Laura decided. He still seems upset by our forced separation. I don't think he ever resolved that in his mind or emotions. Laura wondered if Frankie were upset with her and Luke since they hadn't guessed that he was still alive. Should she have known instinctively that her baby hadn't been killed? What kind of mother was she if she hadn't felt the eternal bond that wasn't broken?
Laura sighed as she continued to rock. Now both of her sons were in trouble. Frankie was staying only half a step away from the law and was seriously ill, and Nikolas had chosen to sever his ties with the family and run off rather than stay and work out his issues. Laura felt so guilty. Had she been as inattentive as Nikolas had claimed? Did she not show Nikolas the enormous amount of love that she had for him? What was wrong? Was she standoffish with her true feelings, afraid that he might be taken away from her as Lucky had been if she revealed the depths of her love? Was she afraid that she didn't deserve the love of her eldest son after the death of the younger one?
Lulu woke up with a squeak. Her tiny pink lips spread into a smile, and she waved her clenched fist in Laura's direction as her deep blue eyes intensely watched her mother. Laura instinctively smiled and cooed at her baby girl. She hugged her daughter and traced patterns on her stomach with an index finger as she talked baby nonsense to the small girl.
Stefan stood at the doorway to the nursery watching his wife and daughter interact. When Laura looked up, he gave her a halfhearted smile. Laura noticed that Stefan seemed haggard with a pale complexion and messed up hair. She couldn't remember seeing him this disorderly with the possible exception of the births of their children. That Stefan had positively decomposed.
Stefan walked over to Laura and smoothed her hair with his hand as he looked over her shoulder at Lulu. "Let me hold her for a minute," he requested. Laura stood up with the baby and passed her over to her husband. Stefan held the baby in the air and interacted with her as most fathers do with their babies - holding the baby up in the air and playing with her in a physical manner. Stefan kissed Lulu's cheek and held her close to his chest as he stroked the baby's soft, fine hair. "Our daughter is beautiful,' he said to Laura with a hushed tone of voice.
"Yes, she is," Laura agreed. "She looks so much like I remember Nikolas as a baby."
"They're brother and sister," Stefan observed. He glanced at Lulu again. "I see a trace of Frankie in her as well. Precious glimpses of my lovely wife." Stefan's eyes were sad with the recent events, but they twinkled with amusement as well. Laura touched the baby's head and leaned against Stefan's shoulder in a light group hug - father, mother and daughter. She looked up into Stefan's eyes. "I'm worried sick about Nikolas - and Frankie, too. Is there any news on our son?"
Stefan walked Lulu over to her crib and
gently laid her down. "I have all of my contacts looking for him, but there's no word
yet. He obviously is trying to avoid detection. We've decided that he is not in
"I'm so worried about him, and I miss him," Laura said quietly. "Have you notified the authorities?"
Stefan shook his head. "I want this to stay out of the news. The authorities don't have the contacts that I do. It is better this way."
~*~*~*~
7:30PM
"Oooooh!" Alexis moaned tiredly as she closed the door to her apartment. She placed a hand on Sly's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Want some microwave popcorn? It's my special dish."
Sly laughed and turned to look at Alexis. "Sure, Mom. Sounds good." Sly smiled as he knew that even Luke was a better cook than his new mother. Heck, maybe he was a better cook after his brief, unsuccessful stint in home economics.
Alexis patted Sly on the shoulder. "Go watch some TV and relax. I'll bring it in shortly. Maybe we can talk after we've both had some food." Sly slid down to the floor in the living room and leaned against Alexis' brown, leather couch as he stretched for the remote that was sitting on a side table. He pressed mute and surfed through the sixty channels on Alexis' cable subscription. He sighed and blanked out as he felt an enormous relief to be in his mother's apartment and away from the oppressive gothic structure that was Wyndemere. The expensive furnishings and decorations weren't his cup of tea. When he was there he felt as if anything he touched might break. Even the toilet seats were probably some fancy antique that someone's royal bum once sat upon.
"Would you set us up some tray tables?" Alexis called out from the kitchen. "They're in the hall closet." All I want is a huge glass of wine and a nice cheeseball, she thought tiredly. But my son is a growing boy, and he needs vitamins. Alexis squatted down in front of a lower kitchen cabinet and rifled through the canned goods. Vegetable soup! That's nutritious. Add some popcorn and a glass of milk, and I think we have a meal. Alexis carried out a large glass of milk for Sly and a glass of wine for herself. "Soups cooking," she said.
"Great," Sly replied. He smiled at Alexis and then turned toward the television. Alexis frowned as she squinted and leaned forward to inspect what was on the screen. "Sly?" she asked in a puzzled voice with a finger pointed toward the rapidly flashing video. "Why are there old, naked men wandering around a cockroach infested apartment? What is this?"
Sly nodded his head. "It's a music video. I'm watching MTV. I don't know why there are old, naked men hanging out. I guess it has something to do with the song, but they're not singing about them, so who knows. It's artistic expression."
"Or not," Alexis frowned. So this is what it's like to have a teenager. I've been sheltered. I need to crawl back into my hole now. Alexis shuddered and concentrated on her wine as she reached for a woman's magazine and inspected the articles outlining the latest fashion and makeup trends. Alexis was very careful to maintain her figure and exercised at the gym at least twice a week. The exercise seemed to help her sanity, too - especially with all of the upsets in the last few weeks.
"I think I smell the soup," Sly said worriedly.
"Oh!" Alexis exclaimed. She threw down the magazine and raced toward the kitchen, almost tripping and falling flat on her face in her haste to rescue the soup. Damn these high heels! I'm going to replace them with slippers and put my feet up. The soup was merely boiling rapidly, so she turned off the heat and reached for two bowls. She placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and set the timer. Ah, the staff of life.
Moments later, Sly and Alexis were contently munching on their makeshift, late dinner. Sly was glued to the television, and Alexis was valiantly trying to ignore it. "I'm going to have to learn how to cook a proper meal," Alexis stated with a sheepish look on her face. "You boys need decent food."
"We can cook," Sly volunteered. "Or at least I can. Dad is a fair cook. I don't know about Frankie. I think the servants did it at his mansion. That's what he said anyway."
Frankie and Nikolas are more alike than they know, Alexis reflected. "That's kind of you, Sly," Alexis said brightly. "I appreciate it. I'll probably take you up on your offer. What's your best dish?"
Sly shrugged. "Dad specializes in whatever is in a can. I can make muffins."
"Muffins, soup and popcorn. I guess that's a start. Give me your empty bowl."
When Alexis returned from the kitchen, she patted the space beside her on the couch. "Come here, Sly. I want to talk to you a sec."
Sly reached for the remote and turned off the TV. His green eyes looked curiously at his new mother as he carefully sat beside her.
"How are you doing?" Alexis asked. "It's been a day since the incident at the hospital. Do you want to talk about it?" She tried to read the expressions on Sly's face to determine if he were showing anxiety or tension, but the boy turned away before she could get a good look at him.
"I'm still upset," Sly said in a small voice. "I'm trying not to think about it, but it keeps coming back in my mind." Sly's sad eyes turned toward Alexis, and his face sank. "I thought I'd see his head blown off, you know. That's what I expected." Sly let out a long breath and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands folded. Alexis rubbed his back, trying to soothe him.
"Frankie is your brother and your friend," Alexis sympathized. "It was a terrible thing to witness."
Sly shot a confused look at Alexis. "Why can't he be happy? We both have a family now. It should be a good time, but he's always so upset. I don't know what to do or say. Anything that I say seems to be the wrong thing. Why does it have to be this way?"
"Honey, that's partly why Frankie is in the hospital - so we can find out why he's upset and learn how to help him be happy. We'll probably attend a few family counseling sessions together so we can all learn how to be a family and how to help each other out. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"
"Yeah," Sly breathed out as he ran his hand over his hair. "But for now, it seems like the world is coming to an end."
"That's because you haven't been alive that long. When you're as old as I am, you go through a lot of troubles and survive them. It gives you more confidence to meet whatever challenges life hits you over the head with. When you're young, everything is magnified by several times so it seems worse than perhaps it really is. Does that make sense to you?"
"Sort of. Like, take the way I'm feeling and reduce it so that it's not so big and scary?"
Alexis patted Sly on the back. "You'll get through this. Your dad and I will help both you and Frankie." Alexis' face took on a worried aspect. But who will help Nikolas?
~*~*~*~
Stefan and Laura lay together in their bed, relaxing with each other before retiring for the day. They were spooned together tightly, deriving comfort from their mutual closeness. Stefan rested his face in Laura's hair and breathed in its fresh scent while Laura took his hands and wrapped them around her midriff.
After several minutes, they separated, and Laura turned toward Stefan. "Am I a bad mother?" she questioned seriously. "Should I have known that Frankie was alive? He's suffered so much at the hands of that kidnapper. Damn Frank Smith!"
"There was no way you could have known," Stefan said reassuringly as he stroked the side of her face and moved her hair away. "You've done everything possible for the boy since his return. He loves his mother. It's very obvious."
"But he's in so much trouble," Laura said with a shaky voice. "How do we know what Frank did to him? Just the glimpses I've seen terrify me. Is this what that evil man had in mind to torture me and Luke? To take our son and abuse him?"
"There is no way to know," Stefan replied. "The man is dead now. We're left to deal with what has happened. But, we are doing the right things for the boy. He has an extended family who loves him very much, and we will do what we must to help him."
"It is working out well," Laura reflected. "We all seem to be cooperating with one another, and that's a blessing. Alexis will make a good stepmother for Frankie as you're a wonderful stepfather. Is that a Cassadine trait?"
Stefan chuckled wryly. "Hardly. But Alexis has a big heart in her own right, and there's plenty of my own heart to share with another child."
"I hope Lulu isn't affected by the absence of her brothers."
"She's a bit young yet to notice these things. Hopefully, we'll soon achieve some stability in the family, and it won't be an issue."
~*~*~*~
Luke shook his head and rubbed it wearily as he followed the nurse down the hallway to Frankie's room. The lights were dimmed in the hallway due to the late hour, and Luke's bleary eyes barely registered the cream colored, textured vinyl wallpaper and gray carpeting that were the nondescript commercial decorating of many an office and medical building. The nurse had come to the family visitation dorm room to wake Luke up and ask him to accompany her as his son was in the midst of causing a ruckus. That's all he'd needed to hear. He'd already been privy to Frankie-sized disruptions of the peace and wondered what his son was up to now.
Pausing before opening the door to his son's room, the nurse leaned in to Luke and said quietly, "He's been demanding a cell phone and insists that he has rights to a phone call. He was fairly compliant and subdued for most of the evening, but when he woke up recently, he was totally belligerent and combative. One of the nurses was trying to give him more of his medications via the IV, and he sprang out of bed and pushed her away."
Luke swallowed hard and nodded in understanding. When he entered the room, Frankie's bed was empty with the sheets and blankets in disarray. Luke frowned with confusion. "Frankie?" he asked. His peripheral vision caught movement to the left side of the room, and he almost laughed out loud at the sight of Frankie in battle position behind a metal night stand that he'd pulled out from the wall. He was holding some medical tubing in his right fist and periodically took a swipe at a nurse who tried to approach him. The tubing hissed through the air with the velocity of a leather whip, and the nurse jumped back to avoid being hit.
Frankie looked over at Luke with his face twisted into an angry expression. "Get dose bitches away from me!" he shouted. "I got rights. I want my phone call. Gimme a cell phone! I want to talk to Harry." He cut his rant short in order to shove the nightstand in the direction of the nurse to get her to back off. Frankie's furious blue eyes glanced quickly in Luke's direction. "Alexis called Harry, didn't she? Did she mess up da bail? Shit, I shoulda stayed with Harry. Dis is so fucking lame! Stupid women."
"Settle down," Luke said in his dad's authoritative voice. "Stop swearing and show some respect." Luke stared down Frankie as he rested his hands on his hips. "Why are you all worked up? I told you this wasn't jail. The charges were dropped against you in exchange for a two day stay in this establishment. This is a vacation compared to spending another night in the Port Charles jail."
Frankie's face dropped in surprise, and he looked around carefully as he inspected his surroundings. He stared at Luke with a wary look for a minute without speaking as he processed the situation. "Where's Johnny?" he yelled in a voice that made Luke jump in surprise.
"Johnny is at home sleeping, which is what you should be doing - sleeping that is."
Frankie huffed and puffed and swore under his breath as his brow knit together. "I'm NOT staying here," he insisted. "You took my guns," he accused Luke. "You took my fucking GUNS. I want 'em back. NOW!" Frankie's eyes flashed dangerously, and he shoved the nightstand into the nurse's leg.
"Ouch!" she cried out as she backed up and rubbed at the tender red spot on her leg.
Luke swiftly grabbed a surprised Frankie with two strong hands, marched him out from the wall and firmly seated him on a chair. Luke stared straight into Frankie's eyes with both hands still on the boy's arms and declared, "You hurt that nurse on purpose. Apologize to her."
Frankie's face started to sneer, but froze when Luke said loudly. "Now. Apologize now."
Frankie shrugged in dismissal of Luke's words, but thought better when an instinctive retort threatened to leave his lips. He reluctantly glanced in the nurse's direction beneath his long eyelashes and mumbled, "I apologize." Bitch. Frankie crossed his arms and stared down at the floor. Looks just like dat Cathy bitch. I hate her! Pushy broad.
"It's late," Luke stated. "You need your rest for the tests tomorrow. Get back into bed and try to sleep." He lifted Frankie from the chair and helped him back onto the bed. "Close your eyes."
"No," Frankie replied defiantly. "I'm not tired. Everybody else can sleep, but I'm wide awake."
The one nurse pointed to the IV. "He has an order for a sleep medication if needed. I'd say he needs it."
"NO!" Frankie shouted. He grabbed a pillow and held it over his head as he screamed out one obscenity after another. His curses were audible although muffled, and Luke wasn't sure if he'd ever heard some of Frankie's more creative word inventions even after all his years of owning a bar.
"Hey!" Luke said calmly as he reached for Frankie's arm. Frankie immediately shook off Luke's hand and screamed louder into the pillow. By this time, one of the nurses had injected Frankie's IV with medications, and the three adults waited for them to take effect. Finally, Frankie stopped screaming, and Luke detected a slight shaking of his shoulders. He must be crying, Luke thought sadly. He's absolutely miserable. After several minutes, Luke removed the pillow from Frankie's face and stared down at his son who was now asleep with long, wet streaks of unwiped tears running down his cheeks and chin.
~*~*~*~
Meanwhile
in
The soft sand crunched warmly under his bare, tan feet, and the overhead sun kissed his bare back and chest, turning his skin into an appealing bronze tone. Nikolas smiled as he held the rare island orchid between his fingers. He'd gotten up early that morning to go to the market to search for something special to present to Athena. He planned to wake her up with a big kiss and tickle fest. Nikolas looked around him through his fashionable designer sunglasses that were rectangular in shape. The island was a truly paradise with its sandy beaches, aqua colored ocean, and tropical foliage. Good thing he was fluent in French. That language was definitely coming in handy during their stay here.
Nikolas crept into their suite, which was a private beach house surrounded by palm trees and no other vacationers in sight. He'd been thorough in booking them a rental property that was highly secluded and romantic. Athena had oohed and ahhed endlessly as she'd walked through the sumptuous interior, which was outfitted in a sultry colonial manner right down to the mosquito netting laced over the generous king-sized bed. Nikolas removed his pants and slid nakedly into the warm, inviting bed. Athena was still asleep with her black curls spread prettily over the satin pillowcase, and her lovely hand curled near her fresh cheek. Nikolas couldn’t resist and bent over his lover with puckered lips that brushed her lips. He gently traced her features with the white orchid, and Athena wrinkled her nose at the sensual intrusion of the fragrant petals.
"Chère Athena," Nikolas whispered sexily into her ear. He was delighted when she opened her large green eyes, and he immediately fell under their sparkling spell. "Je vous aimerais presenter cette fleur de beauté - pour vous, ma chèrie." Athena smiled as she gently reached for the flower and breathed in its intoxicating scent.
"Nikky," she answered sleepily as her lips curved up.
"Shhh..." Nikolas whispered before wrapping his leg over hers and pulling Athena into a passionate, early morning embrace.
~*~*~*~
Next
morning...
Frankie had woken up in a dour mood, and
no one could coax him into eating breakfast. It was now the third day since he'd eaten
solid food, but his stomach clenched nauseously at the thought. He wasn’t talking
much, mainly shaking his head no at any helpful suggestions from the staff.
Luke had been grateful that he'd been able to catch a few winks of sleep without any more scenes from Frankie during the middle of the night. He was going to leave for the day but wanted to talk to his son before he left the building. One of the nurses had informed him that Frankie wasn't being cooperative, and he thought he might be able to talk some sense into him - maybe.
Luke felt sad at the sight of Frankie curled up tightly in a ball with a blank, drawn look on his face. "Hey partner," he said softly as he sat beside his son. Frankie's eyes turned toward Luke, but he made no effort to move. "Hi Daddy," he said softly. Luke frowned with surprise as he'd never heard Frankie call him that before, only Luke or more recently, Dad. "Yeah, I'm here," he answered. "Can I give you a hug?" Luke asked carefully, not wanting to upset his son by touching him without permission. Frankie nodded, and Luke lifted him upright. He's not even trying to move, Luke thought worriedly. Frankie's head lolled on Luke's shoulder, and as Luke lightly stroked his bruised back, he couldn't help but notice how thin his son still was with his bony spine sticking up and the obvious feel of his ribs. We'll have to watch and make sure he eats well when we bring him home, Luke noted. First we need to learn how to cook. Sheesh.
"Did you have breakfast?" Luke asked conversationally. He felt Frankie's head shake no. Luke placed Frankie back down on the bed and looked him in the eye. "Why not?"
Frankie held a hand over his stomach and made a face. "My tummy hurts," he said.
Luke blinked in surprise. Since when did his overly intelligent and educated son use words like that? "You mean your stomach?" he asked for clarification. Frankie nodded.
Luke pulled on his lower lip as he thought. "Maybe your stomach hurts because it's been empty so long," he explained. "You'll probably feel better with some toast or other bland food inside you."
Frankie looked at him blankly but didn't reply. He sighed and held his arm over his face, effectively shutting out his father. Luke didn't notice that Frankie's muscles began to tense up as he continued to talk in an attempt to draw out his son and get him to converse. Frankie's fingers curled fiercely into the pillow as his arm still hid his face.
"Frankie, would you look at me for a moment?" Luke asked as he touched Frankie's arm to gain his attention. He was startled when Frankie jerked harshly and scooted away from him with an angry look splashed across his features. The boy held a pillow protectively against his chest and glared at Luke. "Don't touch me!" he yelled fiercely. He jabbed his finger toward Luke. "It's your fault! You took away my guns. They were mine." Frankie threw the pillow across the room. "I shoulda burnt down your fucking bar when I had da chance."
Luke swallowed slowly. "Settle down," he said with some uncertainty.
Frankie's face turned red with his rising anger. "Shut up! Don’t you tell me what to do. I don't listen to nobody!" Frankie crossed his arms and grit his teeth when he noticed he was still hooked up to an IV. "I told you I wasn't goin' back to no hospital. I'm not stayin' here!" Frankie waved his arm and jerked it in an attempt to dismantle the IV.
"I'm going to find a nurse," Luke said tensely as he rose from the chair. He felt inadequate to deal with Frankie's frightening mood changes and bursts of violent temper.
When Luke neared the door and reached his hand for the knob, he heard Frankie call out. "Dad? Don't go!" Luke turned around to see his son's face crumpled with fear. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "Don't leave me." Frankie held his hands to his head and shook it. "Dat's Frank, not me. I'm sorry. I do dat sometimes. I'm sorry." Frankie's eyes filled with tears as he pleaded with his father not to leave.
Luke walked back to the bed and sat back down in the chair. "What was all that about?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know," Frankie replied through his tears. "I get angry sometimes and I can't control it." He trembled as his head hung down. "It's like Frank," he whispered. "I hate it." He raised his shoulder to wipe away his tears, but they still flowed nonetheless.
"Why are you so angry?"
Frankie shrugged. "I don't know exactly."
"The feelings are jumbled up inside?"
Frankie nodded. "Yeah."
"I think it would be good if you tried your hardest to cooperate with the people here, the doctors and nurses and other staff," Luke said carefully. "If you're honest with them, they can help you to sort out your thoughts and feelings, and you'll feel better if you do what they say. Will you cooperate? You'll only be in this hospital today and tomorrow. That's all. It's not too much to ask for, is it? You're a strong guy. You can get through it. Just a bunch of talking and answering questions. You're good at that."
Frankie perked up a bit at Luke's encouraging tone, and he nodded. "Okay."
"I'm going to a few business meetings today," Luke explained. "I'll be away from the hospital, but I'll return in time for dinner. Maybe we can have dinner together, all right?"
Frankie nodded and sighed as he was starting to feel tired and sad again.
"Can I have a hug before I go?" Luke asked respectfully.
When Frankie nodded, he carefully pulled his son into an embrace and held him for a minute. When he released him, he kissed Frankie's hair. "Be good," he said softly as he rose from his chair.
Frankie snickered and let his head fall back onto the bed.
Outside the door to Frankie's room, Luke leaned against the wall. He took in several deep breaths to compose himself. I need to tell the docs about what just happened. They need to know.
~*~*~*~
Nikolas and Athena relaxed outside their beach house as they watched the sun setting with a bright array of purples, reds and oranges splashing throughout the sky. A warm, languorous breeze continually blew their hair with a gentle motion. "It's beautiful," Nikolas commented as he took Athena's hand into his own.
Athena stroked the top of Nikolas hand and nodded. "It is," she said contentedly.
"I could stay here forever," Nikolas added.
Athena looked at Nikolas with a quizzical
expression on her face. "How long did you plan for us to stay?" This trip to
"I booked the beach house for two
weeks," Nikolas explained. "Father will be busy looking in
Athena arched an eyebrow in response. "How will we survive? Surely you don't have access to sufficient funds."
Nikolas shrugged and leaned forward with his elbows on the decorative mosaic tile table. He tapped his templed fingers together as he thought. "Hold on a second. Wait here. I'll be back."
Athena watched Nikolas return inside the
beach house, and she turned her sights to the beach and the waves that pushed against the
shore with a nearly hypnotic, regular motion. This
isn't turning out like I'd thought. Nikolas seems to have plans that we didn't discuss. I
thought we'd play in
"It's a letter that I received from my grandmother. It arrived on my seventeenth birthday," he explained as he unfolded the flap on the envelope and pulled out a monogrammed slip of paper. He pushed it toward Athena and gestured. "Read it. She left me some funds that are separate from my regular trust fund. She gave me access to the accounts on my seventeenth birthday. It's five million dollars. She also left me instructions on how to distribute the money to avoid a paper trail or detection."
Athena frowned as she read the elegant handwriting of Helena Cassadine.
"Apparently Grandmother decided that I might have problems with my father at some point in my life. She wanted me to be able to take care of myself in case that happened." Nikolas smiled. "She said that Cassadine men mature early and need to spread their wings independently. I guess she's right." Nikolas leaned in and kissed Athena's cheek as he wrapped his large hands around her small waist. Athena jerked slightly as she was absorbed in reading the letter. She carefully folded it up and replaced it in the envelope.
"I believe your grandmother intended to start trouble within your family," she deduced.
Nikolas laughed. "I suppose that's possible. I hardly remember her at all since she died when I was a small child, but my father has made many cryptic and unflattering comments about her. She's the reason my parents didn't marry for years." A hot flush of color burned Nikolas' cheeks as that topic always seemed hurtful and near the surface of his emotions.
"Won't you miss your family?" Athena gently questioned.
Nikolas ran a hand over his face and looked sheepish. "Yes, I guess so. I already miss my baby sister. My parents, too, I suppose. Not that they miss me I'm sure."
"They're busy people," Athena pointed out. "Perhaps you weren't forthcoming with them, and they weren't aware they'd hurt your feelings."
"Perhaps."
"Is this about the new brother you discovered?"
Nikolas shrugged, but a tense look invaded his features and his eyes darkened. "Sort of. It's not all him, though. The situation brought some things to light and uncovered longstanding issues between me and my parents."
"This is your younger brother we're talking about?"
"My younger half brother. We share the same mother but have different fathers."
My, Laura gets around, Athena thought in a peevish moment. Laura had always bothered her. She wasn't sure if it was because she was an American or if the woman's personality rubbed her the wrong way. At any rate, she'd found the woman to be silly and useless - not that she would ever criticize her to Nikolas. "Why do you dislike him so much? Is it the attention he receives?"
"No. I'm used to zero attention, and he's been ill so he needs it. It's mainly his manner or his personality. He's a cocky son of a bitch, always looking for a fight. I think he has that Napoleon syndrome - you know, where the short guy puffs up his chest and acts all arrogant to hide the fact that he's insecure."
Athena laughed delightedly. "Maybe you're right," she murmured as she appreciatively wrapped her fingers around Nikolas' strong, muscular arm. "You're a very well-built man, Nikolas Cassadine."
Nikolas smiled, and his eyes turned hazy with desire as he took Athena into his arms and kissed her lips, rubbing them insistently until they both moaned and gave into the moment. It wasn't quite dark enough yet for privacy, so Nikolas stood up and took Athena's hand. "Come on," he whispered as he gestured toward the house. "I have a lot more in store for you," he promised.