“Hey little brother. You feeling any better this morning?” Carrie asked as she smoothed Eric’s hair back from his sleep dazed eyes.

“Umm… feel like I got run over by a truck,” he muttered groggily.

“Well he certainly sounds better,” Sami chirped as she flopped down onto the bed beside Eric.

“Please tell me that’s breakfast I smell.” Sitting up in bed, he ignored Sami.

“Yep. Ham and eggs, yet,” Carrie replied with a nod. “It sure beats those random fish parts they usually eat around here! And you should be hungry. You didn’t eat anything yesterday.”

“I didn’t feel much like eating.”

“You did get pretty banged up,” she said, ruffling his hair as she rose to get his breakfast.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he said almost resentfully, watching her with an accusing glare.

“I know what you meant,” she answered, not meeting his eyes as she settled a serving tray across his legs. “I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Alamain was lying, Carrie. Dad’s not dead. I’ve seen what he can do. There’s no way he’s dead!” Eric snapped, tears springing to the corners of his eyes.

“I hope you’re right Eric. I do. But… what if Stefano’s men betrayed him? What if they took him by surprise? I’m just saying, you have to be careful. You have to think before you act. If you keep making Mikos angry, he will hurt you again, and we can’t be sure that Dad will be there to save us. Not this time.”

Carrie hated the look of pain and doubt in Eric’s eyes, but she was afraid for him. Afraid he would do something rash, and that the next time, her mother would not be able to save him.

“Carrie, you’re wrong,” Sami said, reaching out to take her brother’s hand. “Dad will come. He’ll come and when he does, he’ll make Mikos pay.”

Sighing softly, Carrie met her sister’s blue-eyed gaze. “Sami, even if you’re right, it might be too late. Did you see the way that man looked at Mom? The way he kissed her?”

“Carrie, I do not want to talk about this!” Eric interjected, uneasy with the memory of Mikos’ hands on his mother.

“We have to talk about it!” Carrie shot back. “We have to be smart. We have to think about what we are going to do. Eric, the best thing we can do right now to protect ourselves is to just go along with whatever Mikos wants. He will use us against Mom if he can. You know that! It’s what he did yesterday.”

“So we’re just supposed to sit back and be polite to that asshole?! I don’t think so!” Sami snorted, her temper getting the better of her.

Frustrated, Carrie rose to her feet and looked down on her sister. “Sami, it’s not like I find the thought appealing. But it’s smart. We play along, buy some time, and wait for our chance to escape. If we keep fighting him like this, we’re only going to get hurt. Or worse yet, we’re going to get Mom hurt. Now as much as it pains you to be polite to that man, you ‘are’ going to do it because it may be the only way for us to get out of this mess!”

Hating to admit her sister was right, Sami simply muttered, “Dad’s going to kill him when he gets here.”

“Well we have to make certain that we are all okay when he does get here. So from here on, we try and be polite obedient little prisoners. Agreed?” Carrie asked, her eyes darting from Sami to Eric and back again.

“Yea. Agreed,” Eric replied grudgingly.

With a sigh of resignation, Sami merely nodded.

Relaxing slightly, Carrie sank back onto the bed with her two hot-headed siblings. “Good enough. Now, Eric, let’s figure out how we can play up your injuries so you can stay in the room with us. It’s time to start finding a way out of this mess.”

Mikos rapped gently on the bedroom door. “Marlena? Marlena, open the door please.”

He was not surprised by the lack of a response, and after a moments hesitation he cracked the door slowly open. The room was shrouded in darkness, the heavy drapes holding back the morning sun. Dimly he could make out her pale form, lying beneath the satin comforter on the big bed.

“They told me you refused to come down for breakfast,” he said, his tone kept purposefully gentle.

“I’m not hungry, Mikos. I just want to be left alone. Please respect that,” she replied wearily, closing her eyes so that she did not have to see him.

“I came to apologize, Marlena. My actions yesterday.... It was inexcusable. I was… I suppose I was in a state of shock,” he said as he walked over to stand at her bedside.

“I won’t ask you to forgive me my hasty actions, but I do wish you to understand,” he continued smoothly as he gazed down at her perfect features. “There is something you do not know. Something you need to understand about me. About John. When I was informed that he had been killed.... I never wanted that. I never wanted him hurt in any way. Marlena, John is my brother.”

Why was he telling her this? Why now, as if it would make any difference? Mikos was nothing like John. Nothing at all. Turning her head away from him, she said softly, “So what?”

Her indifference irritated him. He had thought she might soften toward him, thinking that he too shared her loss. Even better would have been the heat of her anger, raging out at him for taking the life of his own brother. Her anger excited him, made him want her all the more. But this, this apathy… there was no satisfaction to be found in that.

“You don’t sound surprised,” he noted, his voice growing hard.

“The physical resemblance is striking, I had guessed that you were related. Unfortunately you lack his character. I suppose that is why you had him killed?” she asked in a monotone, the entire conversation serving only to make her tired.

“From what I know of my brother, he was hardly a paragon of virtue,” Mikos replied snidely. “He was a killer. A hired gun for a criminal cartel. According to my reports, in the last several months he has been arrested for smuggling and assaulting a police officer, has killed several agents for the U.S. government, kidnaped you and your children and quite possibly killed your husband. Compared to my brother, I am a saint!”

She sat up suddenly, her cheeks flushing. “You don’t know him. You don’t know anything about him, and I assuredly do not have to defend him to you!”

Stifling a pleased smile, Mikos raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I am sorry! I meant no offense. Only… I wished to know my brother. You can understand that, can you not? But… he was a dangerous man. An unpredictable man. And the circumstances under which he was lost to the family.... I felt that I needed to be careful in our first meeting. I felt I needed to protect myself.”

Despite herself, Marlena interest was aroused. “Why was he lost? Why was John raised apart from his family?”

Sighing gently, Mikos dropped his head in order to hide the smile that curved his lips. He had no intention of allowing his brother to live on as a martyr in Marlena’s eyes. If he couldn’t personally destroy the man, the least he could do was tear down his character. “We were very little. Alexander, that was his given name, he was always more… aggressive than I. Anyway, he was just a toddler. Maybe three years old. I was eight. The big brother. The heir to the family legacy. Alexi always seemed to resent me, maybe that was why he did it. Whatever the reason, one day when we were out alone, I was sitting beside the pool. The next thing I knew, there was a shove and I was in the water. I would have drowned if one of the servants hadn’t come by. I would have drowned while Alexi stood and watched. After that.... Well, my father was a very protective man. Very protective of the heir to his legacy. I told him that it was an accident. I told him that Alexi was too little to know what he did. But my father, he had Alexander sent away so that he would never pose a threat to me again.”

His fable winding down, Mikos looked up at Marlena to gauge her reaction. “Do you understand now? Do you see why I was so cautious about meeting my brother again? I meant him no harm, but I wasn’t certain how he would react to me. I wanted to control the circumstances of our first meeting. Knowing what I do about the man, I felt I needed to protect myself in case he decided to lash out. I loved my brother, Marlena. I wanted him in my life. Yesterday, the way I acted.... That was out of grief, Marlena. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Marlena wondered if he actually expected her to believe that load of crap. She knew how John felt about family, knew how deeply loyal he was, even to a monster like Stefano. The thought that he would ever hurt a member of his own family was simply ludicrous. Keeping her face carefully neutral, she merely nodded. “I see. Thank you for telling me. But with John gone, I don’t suppose it matters anymore.”

Again she surprised him with her acquiescence. Quirking his brow, he reached out to take her hand in his. “I am so glad you understand, Marlena. You can’t know how much that means to me.”

Despite her better judgement, she could not help but pull free of his grip. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she nodded dismissively. “What’s done is done, Mikos. It is in the past. Now my only concern is to take my children home. They have been through so much this past year. We need to go home and get back to our lives.”

“I am afraid that may not be possible, Marlena,” he said gently, watching closely for her reaction.

Her stomach tensed as she realized that this was the reason behind Mikos’ feigned kindness. He had no intention of letting her go. She was his prisoner and she would remain so. But there was something he wanted from her. Something she could give him. Thus he sought to trick her with kindness, as if she could ever forget the feel of his hands on her skin. As if she could forget what he had done to her son. Forget what he had done to John. Her eyes were cold as she turned to look at him. “I want to leave, Mikos. I want to go home. You no longer need me to get to John.”

“Marlena, I have come to care about you. To care very deeply. You are the woman my brother loved. That makes you my responsibility. I take my responsibilities seriously. If you were to return home, I could not protect you. I could not protect your children. Marlena, you would not want your children to come to harm, would you?”

Her eyes narrowed in recognition of the veiled threat. “Who would harm my children, Mikos? What is it that you think we need ‘protection’ from?”

“Marlena, I don’t mean to upset you, but you know it’s true. Every report I have indicates that Stefano Dimera has been obsessed with you for years. I can’t hold the man here. I have already agreed to his release. And now… well, there is nothing to prevent him from simply taking you away now that… now that you’re alone. I care too much for you to allow that to happen. I owe this to my brother.”

His dark eyes mocked her as his words tried to ensnare her. “I am not afraid of Stefano,” she answered him coldly.

“You should be. He is a dangerous man. I will not allow you to leave this castle while a threat to you exists.”

“So I am to be a prisoner for the rest of my life? Is this how you repay your brother?!” she spat out, anger and frustration overwhelming her.

He smiled as she gave him the opening he had sought. “No. Of course not. There is another way, Marlena. A way that will benefit us all. Marlena, if you were married to someone with the strength, the power, to stand against Dimera.... You would be safe. Your children would be safe. You would be free to go anywhere you wished and never worry.”

She stared at him in shock, unable to believe what he was proposing. The gall of the man, to think that she could love him.

He could not help a small smile of satisfaction at her expression. She had never expected him to go this far. Had never imagined that his desire to posses her ran this deep. In time she would come to understand that he owned her, body and soul. Reaching out, he again took her hand in his. “Marlena, I am asking you to marry me,” he said gently.

As if his words brought her back to reality, she ripped free from his grip and scrambled from the bed, hugging the comforter around her. Eyes wide with sudden fear, she shook her head from side to side. “No. Mikos, no. I don’t love you. I don’t want you. No, I will not marry you!” she said, stunned by the very idea.

Smiling at her from across the other side of the bed, he tried to hide his irritation. “You don’t have to decide now, Marlena. I know this is sudden. But,” he said, his voice growing hard, “You will not leave here unless it is as my wife. After all, your children’s safety depends on it. I know you would never forgive yourself if something were to happen to them.”

He walked down the long hallway, a self-satisfied grin on his face. The look in her eyes when he had asked her to marry him had been priceless. For once her defenses had dropped and he had seen a glimpse of the fear that she normally hid so well. She would do as he asked, he had no doubt of it. Her love for her children would leave her no choice. He could have chosen no one better to sit by his side. To bear ‘his’ children. Once she carried his child, she would never be able to escape him. He doubted she would even try. Now if Dimera could be dealt with as successfully, nothing would stand between him and his destiny.

With a peremptory knock, he entered Stefano’s room, his confidence making him almost jovial. “Stefano? May I assume that you are anxious to prepare for your departure? We simply need to decide on the ‘when and where’ and then inform your men. If you wish, you can be out of my home tonight.”

Irritated at the man’s intrusion, Stefano put down the novel he had been reading and rose to his feet. “A wise decision on your part, Mikos,” he said dryly. “However, it has occurred to me that we might not have been clear on all of my terms. When I leave here, I am taking Dr. Evans and her children with me. You do understand that?”

Stefano’s directness threw Mikos momentarily off balance. “Well, I do understand your interest in the beautiful doctor, but I am afraid that that is simply not possible,” he replied defensively.

“It is more than possible, Mikos. She is under my protection. If anything were to happen to her or her children, I would take it as a personal insult. An insult that would be dealt with most harshly,” Stefano stated, his anger showing in his voice.

Mikos’ hands clenched tightly as his temper flared. “Marlena is staying, Dimera. She no longer requires your ‘protection’. In fact, the lady is soon to be my wife! As such, she will have all of the protection she needs. The only question now is whether you present a greater threat to me dead or alive.”

Dumbfounded, Stefano stood in shocked silence. Marlena would never consent to marry this arrogant psychopath. He had pursued her long enough himself to know the futility of it. There was no way she would be coerced into a union with a man like Mikos. Then the obvious answer presented itself and he gave a grudging laugh. “You blackmailed her. You used her children, didn’t you?” he asked, smiling faintly.

Dimera would never believe him if he denied it, and Mikos didn’t much care what he thought anyway. Shrugging modestly, Mikos gave a half-bow. “I’m surprised you never tried it yourself. My reports show that you wanted her badly enough.”

“I preferred to think that eventually, she would come to me willingly.”

“I prefer to know that she doesn’t,” Mikos said with an ugly smile.

Stefano’s jaw clenched slightly at the reply, but he gave no other indication of his thoughts. “My congratulations, then. You have achieved a prize I had long sought. I don’t suppose there is anything I could offer to convince you to turn her over to me?”

Still smiling, Mikos shook his head. “Oh no, there is nothing you have that is her match. If I must go to war to keep her, I will,” he said grimly.

Nodding in resignation, Stefano replied, “No, there is no point in a war. I am, after all, a businessman. War is bad for business. However, if you are going to deprive me of the fair Marlena, I believe that some form of compensation would be in order.”

Mikos’ interest was peaked. Dimera was accepting his defeat much more graciously than he had anticipated. Perhaps the man and his contacts might prove useful in the future. Cautiously, Mikos asked, “What exactly did you have in mind?”

Stefano eased back down into the armchair and flashed Mikos a smile. “Well, I have had some time to think lately. I believe that there are undeveloped business opportunities in this part of the world. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it seems there are newly independent countries almost every day. New countries, hungry to experience the wonders of capitalism. The joys of freedom. Fertile ground for a man with my resources. However, I would need someone who knows Eastern Europe. Someone with connections, prestige, perhaps even a royal title to lend legitimacy. Do you happen to know anyone like that?”

It was Mikos’ turn to be surprised. “You are proposing a partnership?” he asked, incredulous.

Chuckling, Stefano shook his head. “I don’t think either of us trusts enough for that. But I would like to explore the possibilities of a ‘loose working relationship’, if you could call it that. I assure you, I am not the sort of man who allows my personal life to stand in the way of a good business opportunity. And I do believe it only fair that I receive something for the aggravation of this little kidnaping of yours. This is a business proposition, plain and simple.”

Mikos was suspicious of the man, the ease of his surrender seeming uncharacteristic. However a criminal such as Dimera was probably so lacking in honor that he wouldn’t know how to carry a grudge if he wanted to. His only concern would be profit, and Mikos had been very impressed with how profitable the Dimera cartel appeared to be. “Your proposal is not without a certain appeal,” he replied contemplatively. “At the least, it is worth considering how our two interests might intersect.”

“Yes, the possibilities are intriguing, aren’t they. With your permission, I will call my men and inform them I will be staying on for a few days more, this time as your guest,” Stefano said, smiling as he observed Mikos’ reaction.

Alamain regarded him doubtfully, finally giving a grudging nod. “It is worth exploring, anyway. Though I am sure you will understand my request that you not leave your room without the company of an escort?”

“How very kind of you to be so concerned for my safety,” Stefano responded wryly.

“Yes, well I would hate for you to be tempted to abscond with Dr. Evans. Any such effort would result in an abrupt end to our business dealings. An abrupt and ugly end,” Mikos said.

“I can well understand why you would be protective of your bride-to-be,” Stefano answered sarcastically. “However, before we finalize our plans, I will have to insist on seeing Marlena.”

Mikos’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t see why that is necessary.”

“Then let me rephrase. Before I call my men and tell them ‘not’ to start blowing up your businesses and shooting your relatives down in the street, I ‘will’ talk to her. I may not be prepared to go to war in order to possess her, but I will not leave here without talking to her one last time.”

“What is it that you need to say to her?”

Rolling his eyes, Dimera gave a dismissive wave of his hands. “Mikos, I have been… interested in this woman for years. I wish to speak with her. What is it you fear I will say? We both know that her only choice is to do as you wish. I will not tell her otherwise if only for her own sake. Now, before I call my men, I wish to see her.”

Mikos was reluctant, but he could see no real danger. As Dimera said, the best advice that could be offered was to play along. With a grudging nod, he agreed. “I will have her join you for lunch. Perhaps you can even get her to eat something, she was looking rather pale this morning. When you are done talking, I will have a phone brought in so you can contact your people.”

“Marlena?” Stefano said with concern, rising from his chair to meet her at the doorway. “Come sit down, you don’t look well.”

“Kidnaping disagrees with me,” she said dryly, but she didn’t resist as he took her arm and led her to one of the armchairs set at the small table.

“Mikos was right, you do look pale,” he said, putting a hand out to check her temperature.

Angrily, she slapped the hand away. “I do not need you telling me that anything about that man is ‘right’,” she snapped.

Stefano drew back, eyes wide with surprise at the outburst. “Well it is nice to see that captivity hasn’t affected your sweet temperament!”

“Don’t start,” she answered tiredly, her hands moving to rub at her temples in an effort at staving off the pounding headache that threatened.

“Marlena, are you all right?” Stefano asked more seriously.

Somehow the tears she had denied herself in Alamain’s presence sprang to her eyes now that she was alone with Stefano. “No, I’m not all right. How could I be? Did he tell you about John?” she managed to gasp out.

Crouching beside her chair, Stefano reached to take one of her trembling hands in his own. “Is that what this is about?” he asked, a faint smile on his face.

Angrily she jerked away. “Of course that’s what this is about! John may be dead, at least you could pretend like you care!” she virtually shouted at him.

Chuckling, he rose and seated himself across from her. “I cannot believe that after all you have seen, after all you have been through, you will simply accept the word of that cretin that John is dead! John will be highly insulted when I tell him.”

Brushing at her eyes, she shot Dimera a hard look. “If you know something, you had better tell me right now.”

He gave an exaggerated shrug. “I know John, isn’t that enough? You don’t really believe that he would be killed so easily do you?”

“No. No, I don’t. But Stefano, sometimes things go wrong....”

Nodding agreeably, he replied, “True. Very true. I will admit, even I had a moment of doubt. It was why I agreed to make a call to my men. I wanted to hear it for myself. I wanted to know if it was true.”

“Well?!” Marlena prodded in exasperation.

“From Jensen’s own lips, I heard the news. ‘No doubt, the Phoenix is dead’,” Dimera said with satisfaction.

When Marlena continued to simply stare at him in puzzlement, he gave her a tight smile and lifted a glass of wine as if in salute. “Don’t be silly, my dear. You should know better than anyone, the Phoenix never dies.”

For a moment it seemed as if she hadn’t understood his meaning. Then a sudden smile lit her face and laughter peeled out full force. She dropped her head to the table and held her sides as she gasped for air, tears streaming freely down her face. “Please tell me you’re serious,” she managed to choke out.

“I am always serious,” he replied with a broad grin, her joy seemingly contagious.

When the last of her chuckles died away, she wiped at her tears in embarrassment. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice, glancing away from him. “You don’t know how scared I was. I can’t lose him. Do you understand that?”

“I understand, Marlena. I do,” he said softly, resisting the urge to reach out to her.

“What… what do you think happened? Mikos seemed so sure that he was dead.”

Stefano shrugged. “It’s not like faking a death is a novel idea. I trained the boy well. Be assured, it is part of some plan to free us. So far, it appears the plan is working,” he concluded with a smile.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a dry chuckle, straightening in her chair as she tried to compose herself. “I must seem an emotional wreck.”

Stefano gave a dismissive snort. “Hardly. Dealing with Alamain is enough to drive a Baptist to drink. He told me of his latest plan for you. A marriage?”

Her face grew hard at the thought. “That will be a cold day in hell,” she said shortly.

Not wanting to disrupt the tenuous truce they seemed to have established, Stefano said hesitantly, “Marlena, perhaps you should consider going along with it?”

“What?!”

He raised his hands as if to deflect her anger. “Please! Hear me out. Marlena, John will come. We can count on that. But it may take him time. If you go along with the wedding plans, it could buy us that time. It will put Alamain off his guard.”

Adamantly she shook her head. “I cannot stand that man! Stefano, he hit Eric! He, he kissed me. In front of my children. And then he hit Eric… No. There is no way I can pretend I will marry him. My God, what would John think!”

“John would think you were doing what was necessary. Necessary to protect your children. Necessary to protect yourself! Marlena, have you considered what Mikos will do if you deny him?” Stefano challenged.

Her only reply was to glance away, her arms moving to wrap protectively around her chest.

Dimera felt the anger growing at what Alamain was doing to her, and consciously tried to soften his tone. “Marlena, if you fight him, he will use force. Do you understand that? If you appear to go along with his plans, however reluctantly, he will relax. He will take his time. He will toy with you. But if you deny him… he will use force. If you can pretend to go along with the marriage, it will buy John the time he needs to find us.”

For a long moment she said nothing, merely staring at the ground. Finally her head rose to meet his gaze. “I hate him,” she whispered vehemently. “I hate to be in the same room with him. To agree to marry him? I don’t know if I can do it.”

He smiled grimly at her response. “That’s because you are not a very good liar, Marlena. An obvious flaw in your upbringing. But not to worry. I’m here to help you, and I am a very good liar. When we are done with Mikos Alamain, he won’t know what hit him.”

Ever so slowly, a matching smile crept across Marlena’s face. “I guess if I’m going to learn, it might as well be from the best.”

Chuckling, he replied, “Thank you for the compliment.”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” she noted with a grin.

With an agreeable nod, he gestured at the dinner plates. “Enough with the insults. Eat your lunch, you are looking far too pale lately. You need to keep your strength up. Who knows, we may even get out of here without waiting for John.”

As she twirled a strand of pasta around her fork, Marlena looked up curiously. “Do you have a plan or are you just bragging?”

Leaning back in his chair, he sipped at his wine and considered how best to classify Vivian D’Pau. “Hmm. For the moment, let me just say I have an intriguing proposition and let’s leave it at that.”

Deciding that she would never truly understand Stefano Dimera, Marlena merely shrugged, content for the moment with the knowledge that John was alive.

“Look, we don’t need to wake him up now. Wait until your men report back with something. There’s nothing we can do ‘til then anyway, and this is just going to upset him,” Bo hissed out in a low voice.

“I was to inform him as soon as we heard anything,” Jensen whispered back in irritation. “I held off about the phone trace, but he has to be told now that we’ve heard from Mr. Dimera. If I don’t wake him up now, he is quite capable of killing me when he does finally find out!”

Jensen tried to get around Bo’s big form, but the man shifted to block his path once again. The two were almost to the point of exchanging blows when a groggy voice interrupted from the couch. “Tell me what?” John muttered hoarsely.

Bo threw his hands up in resignation as Jensen sidled past him, going to stand before John who was sitting gingerly up on the big couch.

“So? What’s the word?” he asked, rubbing at his sore chest.

“Well, sir. We have good news and bad news...” Jensen trailed off, suddenly wishing he had left this job to Bo.

“Jensen, stop screwing around and tell me what happened,” John grunted in irritation, his eyes locked onto Jensen’s worried face.

“Yes. Well, the good news is that we did manage to trace an outgoing call from one of the men we were following. The call went to a little town in Slovichnia called St. Julien. It’s a small country out in the middle of nowhere, formerly a part of Russia. I dispatched a team to check it out and they should be on-sight any hour now. It won’t be hard to discover if Alamain is holding them there.”

John nodded in satisfaction, his mind already going through the requirements of an assault team. “I want everything you have on that town ASAP Jensen. We’ll take out the whole town if we have to, but I want Marlena and the children back, and I want it done yesterday. Now, what’s the bad news?” he asked, rising unsteadily to his feet.

Unconsciously, Jensen took a half-step back. “Sir, we finally got the call from Mr. Dimera. It seems that Mr. Alamain was unwilling to release Dr. Evans and the children. According to Mr. Dimera, he has chosen to stay and work on a business proposal with Alamain. I assume that means he wants to remain on-sight and aid any rescue attempt from the inside.”

John gave a half-shrug and ran a hand through his hair, trying to wake up. “Well, I was hoping they would let them go once I was thought dead, but this isn’t too much of a surprise. It’s not a crisis Jensen.”

“Um, no sir, it’s not. But...”

“But what?!” John snapped in irritation.

“Sir. Mr. Dimera also informed me that Alamain has announced his impending wedding.... to Dr. Evans.”

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