“John? Hey John, what ya doing?” Bo asked, peering around the door into the study.

The soft glow of the table lamp was the only source of illumination. Caught within its circle of light, John’s still form gave no acknowledgment of Bo’s presence.

Gingerly he entered the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Standing silently, he watched John as he sat at the desk, his black hair hanging down around his shoulders in damp strands. Water droplets fell unnoticed, forming pools on the polished surface of the desk. Oblivious, the man remained hunched over the desk, his attention focused on a glint of metal held between his fingers.

Feeling suddenly like he was intruding, Bo loudly cleared his throat. “Uh, John! Jeesh, ever think of drying off when you get out of the shower?! I tracked you down by following the puddles on the floor!”

As if it took a great effort to bring his thoughts back to the present, John slowly lifted his head and focused on Bo. “What do you want, Bo?” he asked mildly, his hands clenching tight shut around the shining bits of metal as if to conceal them from prying eyes.

“Well, right now what I want is for you to finish drying off and then come eat some dinner. A shower was a nice first step in rejoining the human race, but you’ve still got a ways to go before you’re done,” Bo answered with a forced smile.

“Bo, I am not hungry and I don’t need a mother. Now go away,” John said tiredly, dropping his head to again study the desktop.

With an irritated sigh, Bo stepped forward to grab a throw off of the couch. Moving to John, he said, “First off, I don’t care if you are hungry. You haven’t eaten in at least 24 hours, thus you need to eat, hungry or not. As to the second point, you do need a ‘mother’ or you wouldn’t have bothered to spirit me out of Salem in the first place. You aren’t worried about trusting Jensen! Hell, the man is a bulldog where you are concerned. I thought he was going to jump me for trying to make him wait to tell you about Dimera’s news. The only reason you had for bringing me along was because you knew you were going to need somebody who wasn’t afraid of you and who wouldn’t accept your crap when you decided to get all moody! In short, you do need a mother and I am it!” Bo stated emphatically, finishing his lecture by throwing the blanket across John’s wet shoulders.

Tugging the blanket about his body, John gave a low groan and stretched back in the thick leather desk-chair. He felt suddenly cold and tired, as if remaining upright took more effort than he had to give. “I really did bring you because you are the only one I trust, Bo. I trust you to put her above everything else. Even me,” he said softly, allowing his eyes to fall closed.

“I know,” Bo answered more gently, perching a hip on the edge of the desk. “But John, right now what’s best for Marlena is keeping you healthy. You need to take care of yourself if you want to help her.”

When his efforts received no response, Bo leaned forward to nudge a shoulder. “John, come on. You’ve hardly said a word since you found out about the marriage. I wish you’d talk to me, dammit!”

John snorted in grim amusement. “What is it you want me to say, Bo? What is it you want to know? My darkest fears? My deepest dreams? You want to know what I wish for, Bo?”

“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you,” he said, sitting up suddenly to look the younger man in the eye. “I wish she ‘was’ getting married. I wish she was marrying some nice normal guy who worked in accounting or something. Some guy who will come home to her every night and tell her that he will never hurt her and that he will always be there for her, and actually be telling the truth! That’s what I wish for Bo!” he almost yelled, the sound of his fist impacting against the desktop ringing out in the room.

Startled by the sudden flash of anger, Bo backed away from the man seated at the desk. “Take it easy, man. This isn’t doing anybody any good. You can’t dwell on what might have been, John. Losing your temper isn’t going to help get her back!”

For a moment, John simply sat contemplating his closed fist. Finally, he took a deep breath, trying to make himself relax as he exhaled. “I hope you recognize the irony of you lecturing me on controlling my temper,” he muttered weakly.

With a wry grin, Bo replied, “I don’t know what you mean.”

Sighing tiredly, John looked over at him. “Thanks for trying to help Bo. I do appreciate it. But right now.... I just want to be alone, okay?”

“What about dinner?” Bo prodded.

With a shrug, John glanced back down at the desk, his fingers absently twirling a gleaming bit of gold. “I want to hear from the men in St. Julian. Once I know where she is, I’ll take a break and get some dinner. Okay?”

“Okay,” Bo replied reluctantly, his eyes following the path of John’s vacant gaze.

“Um, what you got there?” he asked, gesturing at John’s hand.

Glancing up in distraction, John seemed to notice what he was doing for the first time. Opening his hand, he studied the two rings that lay cradled in his palm. Almost reverently, he reached out with his left hand and picked up a simple gold band. A faint smile crossed his face as he held it up to the light. “My wedding ring,” he said softly, his fingers rubbing gently over the smooth metal.

“You still wear it?” Bo asked curiously.

The smile fading from his face, John lay the ring down in the center of the table. “No. No, I don’t have the right,” he said, his voice emotionless.

“I was there when she put that ring on your finger,” Bo said softly. “Remember that?”

“Like it was yesterday,” he answered, bitterness in his tone.

“She was happy then. As happy as I have ever seen her. You need to remember that too, John. You brought her much happiness. Nothing that happens can take that away from you.”

“Don’t fool yourself, Bo. The man who wore that ring no longer exists. He never did. He was a lie I told myself. The fact that I believed the lie doesn’t make him any more real. It simply makes him pathetic,” John stated harshly.

Stiffly, John rose to his feet, the blanket falling away. Clad only in a pair of faded jeans, the dark bruises stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin. In the dim light, he was all muscle and sinew, as hard as stone and just as cold. “Do you want to know who I am now, Bo? Do you want to see what I’ve become?” he asked, the words hissing out in a dangerous growl.

Bo took a step back as the man before him raised his hand, muscles rippling beneath taut stretched skin. In the cupped palm sat another ring, white-gold holding a massive ruby. In the center of the stone was the familiar sign of the phoenix, depicted in onyx inlay.

“Dimera’s ring,” John said quietly, his thumb running across the face of the stone. “The kidnappers sent it as proof that they had them.”

John’s blue eyes glanced up at Bo, their expression unreadable. “Do you know who this ring belongs to, Bo? It belongs to me. Stefano promised it to me on my twenty-first birthday.”

Almost as if it were an act of defiance, John slid the ring over the middle finger of his right hand. His hand clenched into a fist, the dark stone flashing blood red in the light. “This is who I am. Neither of us should forget that.”

Bo simply looked at him, wondering how he could ever have believed the man before him to be his brother. Questions he had avoided thinking about could no longer be avoided as suppressed anger suddenly surged to the fore. “Why did you do it, John? Why the hell did you ever try and take my brother’s place?” he shot out tightly.

“What? Don’t you get it yet? That was my job, Bo! That’s what I did! Stefano wanted the woman. What he wanted, I did!” John replied, his body coiling itself as if for a fight. “What in the hell do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?!”

Startled by the frank admission, Bo stuttered, “Well… I thought he made you work for him or something. You were coerced. Forced into it...” he trailed off almost hopefully.

For a moment, John wished he could lie about it. Tell Bo some story that he would be only too willing to believe. But if couldn’t make himself believe the lies, it wasn’t fair that Bo should. “Look around you, Bo. Who do you think is in charge of the Dimera cartel? Jensen? Hardly. I am the one who is in control, Bo. It’s how Stefano wanted it. I’m his second in command and I always have been. I am the one man he would trust to watch over his empire, and believe me, that trust was earned. I have done things for him that would make you puke and I’ve never even given it a second thought. He never ‘made’ me do anything I didn’t want to!”

Dropping his eyes, he gave a resigned shrug. “The man was a father to me. I respected him. I would have done anything he asked of me, and been glad of the opportunity. Bo, the truth is that I went to Salem in order to take Marlena away. If things hadn’t… ‘gone wrong’,” he said with a snort, “I would have brought her back to Dimera and considered it a job well done. End of story.”

Disgust colored Bo’s features. Warred with the disbelief. The impossibility of John ever betraying her like that. His voice was harsh when he finally managed to find the right words. “So you had to sleep with her to do that? Was that part of your ‘job’? I guess I didn’t realize you were Dimera’s whore!”

John allowed himself an ugly chuckle. “Nobody had to pay me to sleep with Marlena, Bo. Trust me on that one.”

A snarl on his face, Bo’s hands latched onto John’s neck, yanking the man violently forward. “You son of a bitch,” he grunted, hate flashing in eyes.

Coldly, John knocked the offending touch away with one quick movement of his own. Stepping back, he simply shook his head, his hands raising in a placating gesture. “That’s not what I meant, Bo. I didn’t.... My relationship with Marlena. That wasn’t something Stefano ordered. Hell, it was the last thing he wanted!”

Turning away, John moved to put some distance between himself and the angry young man behind him. The man deserved to know the truth. He deserved to understand. With a heavy sigh, John searched for the words that could convey the truth of his life as Roman Brady. “I was… It was a bad time for me, Bo. I was hurt. Angry. I think maybe I was losing my mind. Stefano… I think I scared even him. He had me on some experimental drugs. Something to calm me down. Make me… controllable. I was only supposed to observe Marlena. The family. Get close enough so that when the time came, I would be able to take her out of Salem in such a way that no one would know what happened. But the drugs… the hypnosis to implant Roman’s knowledge of Salem, of the family.... I don’t know, Bo. Something happened. I was out on my own. I didn’t remember anything. Didn’t remember who I was… what I was. Hell, I probably didn’t ‘want’ to remember anything. And then I met Marlena, and everything changed. For a while, I changed.”

Turning to again face Bo, he said calmly. “I would have never hurt her. I would have done anything to protect her. To protect the family. Never doubt that.”

“What about now,” Bo asked, doubt still evident in his voice.

“Now?” With a shrug, John again allowed his fingers to play across the crest on the ring. “Now I remember who I am. I want her safe, Bo. I want to see her happy. But I can’t pretend that I can give her that. I won’t fool myself that way again. Anybody… ‘anybody’ who threatens her, I will make them dead! But I can’t be a part of her life. I’m no longer the type of man she would ‘want’ in her life. She may refuse to see that, but I don’t. I can’t. Not if it places her in harms way.”

Bo studied the man who stood before him. Knew that he meant the words he said. Knew that he believed them. Carefully he reached out and picked the simple gold band up from the table. Holding it up before John, he asked, “And what about this? Does it mean nothing to you anymore?”

For an instance, John’s face seemed to soften and he reached as if to take the ring. With a sudden start, he checked his movement and turned away. “Go away, Bo,” he said softly. “Please, there is no point in talking about it.”

“Did your life together mean so little to you?” Bo shot back, angry now for reasons he could not name.

Without reply, John walked away, retreating to the big window at the back of the study. Peering out into the darkness of the night, he searched for the words that would make sense of his thoughts. “Our life together meant everything to me. ‘She’ means everything to me,” he finally said. “But do you know what I see when I look at that ring? I see a lie. I see a symbol of all of the ways I have betrayed her. I see every broken promise. Promises of a future I can never give her, Bo!”

Turning his back on the night, he again faced the man he had called brother. “If I really loved her, Bo, I would set her free. Free of me! Of my curse! She has known nothing but evil through me. If I had the strength, I would spare her that. If I had the strength, I would leave her,” he finished quietly.

With firm steps, he approached Bo’s silent form. Taking the ring from Bo’s fingers he laid it in the younger man’s palm. “Maybe that’s why I needed you, Bo,” he whispered softly. “If I’m not strong enough to set her free, you have to be. I count on you to protect her. From everyone. Especially from me.”

“What are you saying, John?” Bo asked uncertainly, his fingers tightening around the slender band of gold he held in his hand.

“I am saying that if you sense a threat to Marlena, I want you to kill it. Any threat, Bo. Especially if it’s from me,” he replied flatly. “I want your promise on this, Bo.”

For a moment, the two men’s eyes locked. Finally, Bo dropped his head, no longer certain what to think. The man who stood before him now was not his brother. He was nothing like Roman Brady. He wasn’t even the same man he had been during his time in Salem. That man he would have trusted with his life, brother or not. But what stood before him now.... There was an ugliness there. A danger. The only thing he knew about John Black was that he was a very dangerous man. A dangerous man who loved Marlena with every fiber of his being. Bo was no longer certain that that was enough. Finally, he raised his head to meet those cold eyes in an unblinking stare of his own. “I promise,” he replied softly.

With a brief nod, John turned and moved toward the door. He was halfway out before Bo’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“What if I think the only way to keep her safe is for you to be there for her?” he asked hesitantly, his thoughts in turmoil.

John thought a second before finally replying. “If I can make her happy? Keep her safe? Then I’ll be wanting my damn ring back. Better make sure you don’t lose it,” he said with a half-smile. Feeling suddenly better, he turned and strode down the hall, seeking word on the report from St. Julian.

Alone in the room, Bo tucked the tiny band of gold into his pocket. There would be time enough later to decide whether he would ever give it back.

“Ah, Vivian! I hoped to have the pleasure of your company for dinner tonight,” Stefano said, moving forward to take her arm in his.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Vivian replied with a sly smile, linking her fingers around the proffered arm. “I was worried that you might choose to leave us today and I would be deprived of the opportunity to continue our… relationship.”

Holding out the chair for her, Stefano allowed himself a small smile. “You need not concern yourself, Vivian. I hate to leave unfinished business, and my dealings with the Alamains are just starting to get interesting.”

She smiled politely as he took the seat across from her. “Yes, I heard that you and my nephew are exploring the possibilities of a working partnership. I must say, I was a bit surprised at how quickly your concerns regarding Marlena were dropped.”

“I am a pragmatic man,” Dimera answered with a slight shrug. “And may I say, I am impressed by how much you seem to know about what goes on in this house.”

“Oh, I know all of the dirty little secrets,” she replied, shooting him a challenging look from beneath lowered lashes.

“Do you, now?”

“Oh, yes. For example, I know that you have no intention of allowing the wedding between Marlena and my nephew to proceed,” she said nonchalantly, hoping that she had judged the man correctly.

His jaw clenched in anger and a dangerous look darkened his eyes. “And how exactly would you know this?” he asked, his voice somehow threatening.

She met his look with a direct one of her own, lips curving in a slight smile at the fact that once again, her instincts had been correct. “A man like you does not give up so easily Stefano. If you cannot force Mikos to turn Marlena over to you, you will take her by stealth. The one thing you will not do is admit defeat. Certainly not this easily.”

He relaxed slightly, relieved that she had no hard evidence of his plans. “Perhaps I do still have some slight interest in Dr. Evans. However, I see no practical way to extricate her from this situation. Not without help, anyway,” he said, watching her expectantly.

She nodded as if lost in thought. “Yes, alone it would be very difficult. But with the proper aid, the proper accomplice, it might be possible.”

“Have you anyone in mind?” Stefano asked, an amused grin tugging at his lips. The woman across from him certainly knew how the game was played.

“Well, I might be persuaded to help you. As long as your cause is just, of course,” she answered, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

He gave a short bark of laughter at that. “My cause is always just, dear lady. But you would be taking a great risk. Surely there must be some way I could repay your kindness.”

He studied her closely, wondering what it was she wanted from him. Of one thing he had no doubt, Vivian D’Pau was not motivated by altruism. She would get something out of this bargain, and he preferred to know the price before their dealings went any further.

Reaching across the small table, she took his hand in hers. “It will be my pleasure to help you and that poor woman. But… If you insist on repaying the favor, there is something you might do.”

When he failed to respond, she gave a slight sigh and released his hand. Sinking back in her chair, she dropped all pretense. “Stefano, I want my nephew removed from power. He is a dangerous man. An unstable man. He wastes the resources of the family stupidly and recklessly. He sees enemies behind every corner. No one who is close to him is safe from his paranoia, and I grow tired of living in fear.”

“You want me to have him killed?” he answered in surprise. He had thought Vivian more subtle than that.

“No! No, that’s not what I meant. He is my nephew. My closest relative. I… I want him neutralized, Stefano. I have the means to do it, but I lack the contacts, the power to do it safely.”

Confused now, he asked shortly, “What is it exactly that you want me to do, Vivian?”

She glanced down at her hands, trying to collect her thoughts. “Mikos is the head of the family by right of blood. As the first born son, he inherited all of his father’s wealth and power. You must understand, the Alamain bloodline traces back to the Czars. His power rests on the fact that he is the Prince.”

“So?” Stefano said indifferently, unimpressed by the royal pedigree.

“So I have proof that Mikos is not the heir. Proof that his father was not the Prince. He is not the heir, Alexander was. With his death, the bloodline ends. The Alamain power is fragmented, leaving Mikos with nothing.”

An ugly smile lit Dimera’s face. “You have proof of this? Proof that will stand up in court?”

“Oh, yes. I have letters from my sister, naming Mikos’ true father. I even have a medical report that proves Illya could not have been Mikos’ father. The proof will stand up. I simply need someone with the resources to make certain that the evidence isn’t somehow ‘lost’ or the judge bribed or intimidated. Mikos will fight this with everything he has, and he will fight dirty. That is the reason I have never tried to bring this to light myself. It would have been futile and I would have ended up in an early grave. I enjoy life far too much to take that risk.”

“But you assume that I will be willing to do this for you?” he asked with a grin.

“Am I wrong?” was her reply.

“No. No, you’re not. In fact, I rather like the idea of watching Mikos fall from power. And this news does have some interesting repercussions,” he said thoughtfully, already considering the benefits to his empire if John were to take over the Alamain holdings.

“Then we are agreed?” Vivian asked, breaking him from his musings.

“It is an interesting proposition. However, before I agree to anything, I need to know how it is that you can help me. Do you actually have a plan to get Marlena and her children out of here, or are you simply offering to lend moral support?” he asked, watching her with a critical eye.

Feigning insult, Vivian arched her brows. “You think so little of my offer of aid? Of course I have a plan.”

She sat across from him, returning his stare with one of his own until finally his patience ran out. “Well? Are you going to make me beg? What is your plan?” he asked in exasperation.

Smiling sweetly, she continued. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed Ivan? The tall blond, one of Mikos’ most trusted servants? You know, the one with the cute… Anyway, Ivan is very dedicated to me. He will do anything I ask of him. As part of his duties, he makes a weekly trip into town in order to pick up some of the more exotic supplies that Mikos has shipped in. Typically, he drives in after dinner and does not return until late at night. I believe that Marlena and her children could be hidden in the back of the van. The little town of St. Julian can offer no safety, but if Ivan drove straight through, they could reach the city of Stanburg before it was ever discovered that they were missing. I have associates in the city. They would be safe until they could contact your people and be picked up. Of course, Ivan would have to be put under your protection. But he is a dear boy. He would be an asset to your organization, and I am certain that the two of you could work out some mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“You are certain Ivan could be trusted to do this?” he asked doubtfully.

“I am very certain,” she replied with a confident grin.

“And how would Marlena and the children reach the van?” Dimera asked, already running the options over in his mind.

She chuckled, “Stefano, this is a castle! Didn’t you know, all castles are laced with secret passages?”

He shot her an incredulous look. “Are you saying that there is a passage out of our rooms?”

“Well, possibly. Actually, I only know of one in the room the two girls are staying in. It is imperative that they all be together in that room for our plan to work. But if they are there, Ivan can lead them out. Of that, I am certain.”

He gave an appreciative nod. “You have thought this out, haven’t you?”

Modestly, she shrugged, a teasing smile on her lips.

The scenario was not without flaws, but it was the only viable option he could think of. With a pleased nod, he said, “Vivian, I believe that we have a deal. If you help me get them out, I will promise to bring your nephew to his knees. Now, how soon can we put this plan in action?”

“Unfortunately, Ivan has already left on this week’s delivery run. It will be another week before we can make the attempt. Of course, that will give us the time to work out the details. Besides, I am rather enjoying your company.”

Raising his glass, he clinked it lightly against hers in a silent toast. “Then let us drink to the success of our union,” he replied, a pleased smile creasing his face.

“To us,” Vivian said agreeably, her eyes holding his in a challenging gaze as she rose slowly to her feet and closed the gap between them.

He leaned comfortably back in his chair, watching in appreciation as she came to stand at his side. Her warmth pressed against his hand, but he gave no response, waiting for her to make the first move. Taking her time, she bent slowly down to brush her wine sweetened lips against his in a delicate kiss. “To seal our bargain,” she said softly, her breath whispering in his ear.

His blood quickened and he rose swiftly to his feet, the chair falling to the floor behind him. “You know I’m not going to let you stop there, don’t you?” he asked, his voice suddenly thick with desire.

“Who says I want to stop?” she replied, her body pressing tight against his.

He laughed at her audacity, realizing it had been far too long since last he had indulged himself. With one deft move, he swept her into his arms, unleashing a kiss meant to show her exactly who was in control.

She answered the demands of his mouth with a fervor that took his breath away, shoving him back until they both collapsed on the big bed. Red nails slashed his shirt open, and he had but a moment to think that perhaps he had finally met his match. Then his body jerked in response to her touch and he was forced to concentrate on the task at hand. 

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