by Amaya Black
For a moment neither of them said anything. And then she spoke, “So I am truly fired? There’s nothing I can do to change your mind?”
“No,” Darien’s voice had turned to ice and Cassie’s thin ass was about to start sliding.
“Hmm. I wanted this to end differently. But….I can see you leave me with absolutely no choice. Goodbye then, Darien.”
By this time I didn’t even care if they found out I had been eavesdropping. When Cassie pulled the door open, I was standing there looking at her. Her mascara had started to drip down her crazy looking face making swirly patterns and her strawberry blond hair had puffed up from some of the humidity dripping in off the ocean we were so close to.
She didn’t even seem to register that I was there and walked on completely past me and back towards the party. She disappeared out of view. Where in the hell did she think she was going? I stared after her for a moment until I felt Darien’s hand on my shoulder.
“I suppose you heard all of that?” He asked not even daunted by the fact that I hadn’t obeyed his command to stay where I was in the ballroom.
“Yes, I did. You fired that nut?”
“Let’s get back to the party and...”
The smell of smoke began to drift in from the door. I turned and looked out and on the horizon, I saw a hazy fog begging to cover the sky. We looked at each other before Darien dashed away and I followed behind him the steps of the house.
Dirt spun up around us and we both almost tripped over an olive branch that had fallen from a tree nearby. The unmistakable smell of smoke was filling the air and we could see from where we were that a fire had broken out at Darien’s cottage down the dirt path. He was already calling for help on his cellphone when others including Jocasta began to file out on the porch.
“What in the world is going on?” Darien’s mother asked once she reached us.
“We smelled smoke and came to look and ….” Darien shook his head and began yelling out directions in Greek.
“Where is Alex?” I asked.
“I took him into the nursery, he was getting fussy. Helena is with him.”
Jocasta stood and looked on with us, a look of worry on her face. I continued to watch the blaze as well. The fire department arrived within record time. Darien made me promise to stay put as the Hellenic Fire Service appeared on the scene.
I watched him walk down and feeling helpless decided to go check on Alex. A feeling of worry covered me as I watched our home burn. I had come to love the cottage and enjoyed living there with both Alex and Darien. It had been Alex’s first real home that offered him space to roam and grow and explore.
The nursery had been up the stair next to the room Dana had lived in while she had been taken care of. Some days I would bring Alex in to visit her and we would read to her while she slumbered. I know that he would never remember her or know who she was but I would have the memories for as long as I lived and I would tell him someday when he was ready to know her.
I gave a gentle peck on the door to alert Helena before opening. I peered in and my heart dropped into my chest as I found Helena slumped face down on the grey carpet in the room. A rushing feeling flew over me as I immediately came to her side.
“HELENA!” I screamed. “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!”
I tried to turn her over on to her back. Even though she was an older woman, she had some weight on her. My struggle paid off and she finally flipped onto her back. The black and white of the outfit she always wore seemed more wrinkled than normal.
I instantly checked for a pulse on her neck, her skin clammy to the touch. The faint thump, thump, thump of her heart beating away could be felt under my fingertips. There was a little bit of color in her cheeks. I smacked at her face a bit trying to get her to stir.
She opened her eyes with a start and the first word out of her mouth was my child’s name. “Alexander…”
I became extremely shaken; why hadn’t I checked on Alex first? My thoughts were stumbling over themselves as I got up and went to his crib across the room. When I was met with the empty crib, I let out a blood-curdling scream, and an indescribable feeling began to settle into the pits of my stomach. I whirled around the room, my eyes searching looking for any sign of him.
Where was Alexander?
Chapter 8
I surveyed the living room we were sitting in. It was a more cozy room than I would have imagined being in this house and was tucked away near the kitchen. Hanging over the fire place was a large photo of Jocasta and her now dead husband in their youth. I could now see where all the Kiriakis men had gotten their extremely blue color from. I noticed a particular ring on Jocasta’s hand that she had so daintily draped over her husband’s shoulder. Aquamarine and two diamonds seemed to dance in the photo as though they were really there.
My ring…
The cottage had burned completely to the ground and Alexander was missing. I was trying everything in my power not to collapse and crumble into a thousand pieces. The only thing holding me together was Darien and his reassurances. Currently we were sitting on the couch, me and him wrapped up in each other.
Jocasta brought me a cup of tea, the party had been over for hours now. Uniformed police men were in and out of the house and walking the grounds. A detective had been called in and we were waiting for him to arrive.
I took in the blue and white colored tea cup. It felt like an entire weight in my hand. I knew it might calm me down but even the sip tasted too thick and hot. I could tell she had added a dab of honey to the mixture. I glanced at her out the corner of my eyes as I set the cup down on the medium sized glass coffee table in front of us.
“Thank you,” I said and tried to take a deep breath. Where was this detective?
“No need to thank me. I know your nerves are on edge as are mine.”
I watched as her own nerves worked up and she began to knead her hands. I could see the faint outline of where a wedding ring had probably resided. I looked away upon hearing someone enter the room. An older balding man with a suit and tie had come into the room, a scowl planted on his face. His suit seemed to be too tight on his body, and a button threatened to pop from the white shirt he wore, at any moment. This had to be the detective that the Hellenic Police had sent over.
“Good evening, apologies for coming so late to the scene,” he spoke. “I’m Detective Theseus Menzel.”
“About time!” Jocasta exclaimed as she spoke first. “My grandson is missing, and no one has said anything to us.”
“It was upon my instructions that no one say anything. I went to the hospital where Alexander’s nanny was. She was awake but stated that she was struck from behind. She blacked out afterwards.”
I let out a loud sigh. “Detective Menzel, I’m Alexander’s aunt. Are there any leads yet?”
He took a moment and I thought Darien was going to scream. I clutched at his hand and awaited the detective’s next words like they were the air I breathed.
“Mrs. Kiriakis has the estate on a great security feed. We had tech’s searching over the video feed. It appears a woman kidnapped the child.”
Me and Darien looked between each other. I was praying that it wasn’t who I thought it was. I knew damn well that she wouldn’t pull a stunt like this. That she wasn’t that crazy. Right? There was no way that she’d go off the rails and hurt a baby.
“I know that the guest list is extensive, but I was wondering if any of you might be able to take a look at the camera footage? Maybe identify who it is?” Menzel turned to a tech that I hadn’t even noticed.
It was a young girl with glasses. She took the laptop and sat it down on the coffee table that contained my now cold tea. She pressed play and stepped back near the detective as Jocasta, Darien and I watched with baited breath. For a few months the camera angle title Camera H that looked gray and grainy. The video sequence seemed to tick on and on into the ether of forever before there was any movement. Finally, about five minutes in, a woman with a child clutched i
n her arms came out of nowhere. She glanced up knowingly at the camera and gave the smile I hated so much.
I looked to Darien. “I knew it was that bitch! UGH! I hate how right I am about her.”
The detective came forward. “Do you know this woman?”
“Yes,” Darien spoke for the first time since the detective. The authoritative tone immediately took over. “Cassandra Petrakas was a former employee of Kiriakis Industries. She also grew up on the estate and probably knew it better than anyone.”
“Do you believe she would harm the child?” the detective had pulled out a pen and pad.
I watched him jot his notes down as Darien gave him as many details as he could. Darien seemed to know Cassie pretty damn well, right now to her having a birthmark behind her left ear. I rolled my eyes. I just wanted my child home and back in my arms. If we had just stayed in New York, none of this would have ever happened. Girl bye. My inner dialogue stayed putting me in my place. Cassie probably would have tried it sooner. Who in the hell knew what this nut job was thinking. I listened as Darien prattled on with details about where she might be. Apparently, she could have been any from Venezuela to Notre Dame in Paris.
I rubbed my temples and felt a headache coming on. I just wanted my child back. I was already forgetting what he smelled like. How was that even possible? He always smelled like a little bit of milk and applesauce. Did Cassie’s crazy ass even know that that was his favorite combination; and that he had to be rocked for just a few moments before he had to get down to explore again?
After the police got everything recorded from Darien and me, Jocasta announced that she was retiring to bed. Even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink. She had called every damn person she knew once it had been confirmed that it was Cassie that had taken Alexander. Jocasta assured me that there would be no place for her to hide. I only wished that I could calm my fears down.
There was hardly in moon out as I stood on the beach. I could hear the waves crashing out and back in the roar was deafining.
Goddamn it!
This was another instance of when I could have used my sister. Why was it I needed her now more than when we had been children. I looked for her even in my dreams but she wasn’t there. Not like when she’d told me to look for the papers. I wanted to ask for a sign. Anything that might tell me that she was with me and watching over Alexander from afar.
I felt a blanket being wrapped around my shoulders. I already knew who it; the smell of Darien’s cologne had announced him.
“Allanah?”
I turned my head to meet his gaze, defeat working its way through my posture. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry. I…..”
“Sorry about?”
He took a deep breath and I could tell he was eating the words and they were hard to digest. He wasn’t a man that apologized for things. People made apologies to him and that was how he had been raised. He was a prince of a man, Darien Nico Kiriakis. Handsome and strong, he was having to let his guard down with me and I’m sure a small piece of him regretted it.
“I’m sorry for all of it. I knew that Cassie wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what? Fucking fond of me. And how YOU, let me emphasize that, YOU! Pushed me into your life. YOU demanded that I be your mistress. Relegated me to that position and now some nut job has our nephew.”
“Son,” Darien corrected me. His tone had turned, and it took me off guard.
“Before all the festivities happen…with the house and now the kidnapping…while I was in New York. I was getting paperwork ready for us to formally be his parents. All you had to do, was sign…if you wanted to….if you still want too.”
He looked away for a moment.
“Of course I want to be Alex’s mother. He’s my blood and its literally what keeps me going. I didn’t grow up with all of this family stuff. Not like you and ….Yes, I want to be Alex’s mom. More than anything in the world.”
He nodded and came close but didn’t touch me. Finally, I reached out to him and pulled lightly on his unusually non creased shirt. “Cassie’s gonna slip up. And we’re gonna find him. And were going to bring him home….wherever that is now.”
His arms wrapped around me. “Lana?”
“Yes,” I said as our eyes met, my chin now leaning on his chest.
I could feel the thumping of his steady beating heart against my face. His blue eyes almost seemed to glow like some Greek god under this moon. Yet, Darien was just a mortal man. He took a deep breath and the words that came out of his mouth surprised the fuck out of me. And believe me, I had been surprised about five times this day.
“I never thought that this would happen,” he spoke, and I wanted to interrupt him and naturally ask a question. He brushed some wind blown strands away and took my head into his hands. “I haven’t said this to anyone in a long time. I love you. I’m in love with you. I should have said it sooner. I shouldn’t have waited until something crazy happened.”
Hearing that someone loves you for the first time is memorable. It’s like trying to craft fine china and not knowing anything about china in the first place. You’re like a new born lamb stumbling around the alphabet trying to find the right letters and sounds to form the correct word.
“Oh you do now?” I smiled widely. “You love little old me? Mr. Big Bad Corporate Raider is in love with me, Allanah Brook Haughton.”
It got a grin out him once he let go of the breath he’d been holding. “You love me?”
I thought back to the very first time we had met on the roof top. Cindy had just called me to tell me that a stranger had showed up asking to see Alex. The very next moment I was meeting said stranger and collapsing into his arms. And as the darkness had taken me over, all I remembered was his strong arms catching me and his reassuring whisper, “I got you.”
“How do I know if I love you?” I asked playfully. “Is it when I lay there in bed with you and watch you sleep after you’ve had a long day at work. Or is it when I watch you interact with Alex and give him your full attention. Or did I fall in love with you when you gave me your mother’s wedding ring…”
“My mother thought that you would love it. She had stopped wearing it before we met.”
I glanced to my hand, the soft weight of the gold band and gems reflecting in the moonlight. He had given me a family heirloom. Sometimes, I forgot I was even wearing the damn thing and hadn’t really even thought about how special it was.
Until now.
Until he had said he loved me and my insides had started to swell and felt light as air. I had not idea that love could make you feel so woozy in the head. That it could make you feel like you were jumping through clouds and drowning at the same time.
Had there ever been other men? Of course. But none of those men had been in my life long enough to make a dent in my emotional cortex the way that Darien had. This man had imprinted himself onto the surface of my soul.
“I do love you.”
“For a moment, I was getting worried,” he smiled.
Darien was allowing me in. For a few moments he had let his guard down, let it slip away as we stood on the beach. I think we had become content for just a moment. We had shut out the world and gave ourselves five minutes to think and process emotions.
“We really need to get some rest, it has been a long day,” he spoke.
“I don’t think I can sleep. Knowing that Alex isn’t home and safe…”
I hadn’t even thought about food. The only thing I could remember having on my stomach was champagne and the tea Jocasta had served me. We began to walk from the beach and up towards the mansion and the ruins of Darien’s cottage. The smell of smoke was still thick and in the air.
“I know. But I’ve got people working on this. Alex will be safe and home…soon. Very soon.”
Praying to my dead sister that she was watching over him, and keeping him safe and warm, I continued on. Our walk through the grove of olive trees was quick and soon we were back in the ma
in house. We had taken Darien’s bedroom that he had lived in for years until he had had the cottage built. The room contained a dresser and a single large king-sized bed.
After undressing and crawling into the coolness of fresh sheets, Darien pulled me close. I was so exhausted all I could do was let him. He curved into me and we both drifted off into a restless sleep. My dreams were all of Alexander and him being lost. I dreamed about him being in a boat floating out to sea, but I couldn’t get to him and there was a shadow in the background that he was floating too. I desperately tried to move my legs and get to him. Soon he was almost completely out of my view and I was left on the beach. I cried out in desperation for him, but he was gone.
Chapter 9
“Lana,” a whisper was washing over me and pulling me from my restless dreams. My eyes fluttered open and I found Darien leaning over top of me, his blue eyes glowing. They looked tired as if he’d hadn’t slept at all either. “It’s okay, Lana.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked and surveyed the room.
We were still in his childhood bedroom. This had not been a nightmare that I thought I would wake up from. This was indeed real life. That tangled feeling began to rise back up in my stomach.
“You were crying in you sleep, Lana. I had to wake you…” he lay back down and pulled me close.
Darien’s touch was soothing as he ran his hands over my arms to try and appease my sadness and for a little while it worked. I continued to take comfort in his touch and eventually drifted back off into a slight slumber only when I was awoken by Darien talking softly.
“Where in the hell have you taken him, Cassie?”
My eyes flew wide open. Had the psycho bitch really actually called him? My blood began to pump and all reason was started to flow out of my body. Darien must have sensed that I was awake because he turned and met my eyes. The fire that burned behind those blue eyes was apparent and I almost felt some sort of sympathy for Cassie.