~~ I don’t want the world to see me, ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand. When everything’s made to be broken – I just want you to know who I am. ~~ The GooGoo Dolls

Elizabeth’s eyes frantically traveled over every surface, checking to make certain that none of Lucky’s things were in sight. ‘He must’ve hidden them,’ she thought as they began to make their way upstairs. There wasn’t anything in the living room or the kitchen. But what if…

Dear God…what if…in the bedroom. Lucky was always very careful – but he’d gotten ready for the Gala here tonight right? What if he’d left some of his clothes behind…or…

"Alex why don’t you get us some candles?!"

The abruptness of her voice caused him to turn towards her on the staircase. Finally letting her hand drop from his. Having been tightly linked to her throughout their journey through the woods and into the guesthouse. Tightly, as if she might run away.

"Bethie…come on," he countered. Taking her hand again and pulling her forward. "We have to get back to the house soon, remember?"

Pushing out her bottom lip in a mock pout, Elizabeth leaned against the wall. She HAD to get into that bedroom first. Had to make sure Lucky didn’t have any of his things lying out in the open. He had to have stored them somewhere, right?

"Pleeeeeeeeeease, Alex….pllllleeeeeeeeeease…I know we only have time for a quickie…but can’t we make it a little bit special?…I promise I’ll make it worth your while," she added flirtatiously.

Groaning, Alex let go of her hand once more and literally pushed himself down one step. "Ok…ok…"

"Goody!" Elizabeth squealed. Half-jumping up to kiss him lightly on the cheek as he made his way down.

God, he was a sucker for this idiotic sugary sweet crap. But this was what he had always wanted her to be. The completely devoted, young trophy wife…and tonight she would play her role perfectly.

"Why don’t you let me hold that?" She asked. Taking his glass of champagne from his other hand.

A glass he’d YET to consume fully. It was still more than halfway full, damn it. What the Hell was it gonna take to get him to drink! He had to drink if his lips were ever going to loosen any. And she would just have to take good mental notes. She know longer had the help of a trusty tape recorder.

Images of Mr. Murty snatching it away from her in a small classroom on a sweltering summer afternoon played through her mind and she quickly banished it. Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her.

She was starting to confuse things.

"Here…" he sighed. "You better be ready when I come up."

Elizabeth grinned back, despising his tone…the sight of his face.

She turned on her heel the moment he’d rounded the corner downstairs. Hurling her self up the stairs and into the bedroom. Her eyes fell upon the guitar that stood in the corner, immediately.

She quickly sat the two glasses of champagne down on the nightstand and grabbed the guitar. Shoving it beneath the bed. Careful not to damage what even years hadn’t. Lucky had taken such excellent care of it since the day she’d first presented him with it. The night of their first kiss…

‘Stop with the reminiscing!’ She thought. Silently admonishing herself as she checked the room for any other possible clues that Lucky had been on the grounds for days. She didn’t see anything. Nothing in the drawers, nothing in the closets…

He must’ve stored them all out in his car…but had left his guitar…he never had been able to be separated from his instrument for very long.

"Alrighty…here are your candles," Alex sighed, walking through the bedroom door. He looked up at her. An expression of shock lacing her features as she closed an armoire in the corner. "What are you looking for?"

Elizabeth swallowed and sauntered over to him, removing the candles from his hands. "Oh…I was just looking to see if maybe there were more candles up here….I just wanted the whole place to sparkle ya know?" She added dreamily.

"Aren’t these enough?" Alex asked, pointing to the two small votive candles he’d searched the entire damn kitchen for. They better be efuckingnough.

"More than enough," Elizabeth smiled, shaking her head. She quietly set them down on the nightstand and grabbed the lighter from his hands. Lighting them after she turned. She jumped a bit when his hands slid around her waist from behind.

Alex’s face burrowed into the crook of her neck. "Mmm…you smell good."

"It’s the perfume you bought me for our anniversary," Elizabeth lied. Like she’d ever wear that crap…but it wasn’t like he remembered what he bought her anyway. Wasn’t like he’d ever picked them with any kind of thought or sentimentality. His assistant was more likely to know where a gift had come from than he was.

Her hands shook as she placed the lighter down next to his champagne.

"I wonder if it tastes as good as it smells," he growled. The tip of his tongue flicking out along her shoulder in a snakelike manner.

‘What if I pour the entire bottle down your throat?’ Elizabeth thought. Holding back the bile that threatened to rise up into her esophagus. ‘You’d probably be able to do a taste test then.’

Alex’s hands clutched her around the midsection. Pulling her more tightly against him from behind. She knew she’d be sick…she knew she would be…and then the entire plan would be ruined on account of her stomach.

"Oooh…I think somebody’s put on little weight, haven’t they?" Alex grinned. Smoothing his hands along her belly.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tried even harder not to gag. "No, it’s just been awhile since you’ve touched me."

"No, no…" Alex sighed. Moving her hair out of the way to kiss and nibble at her neck. "I know my Bethie…You used to be a little flatter around here," he chuckled. Feeling her stomach. "But hey…pretty soon you’ll be pregnant and fat all over…so it won’t matter will it?"

‘Such a fucking romantic,’ Elizabeth thought sarcastically. How could anyone not be charmed by this?

"I guess not…" she giggled quickly. "Why don’t you have some champagne?" She asked, changing the subject. She would never have a conversation about babies with this asshole again. NEVER.

Picking up his glass she turned to him. At least his hands had dropped away from her waist for a split second. At least she could breathe.

"I don’t want any champagne, Bethie…I want you," he countered. Taking the glass from her hands. He began steering her towards the bed. A huge grin on his face. He glared at her as if he were about to have her for dinner.

"Oh come on Alex, let’s toast," Elizabeth began. As he sat her down. His large form looming over her as he stood at the edge. "I think we should toast to new beginnings and to –

Her voice was smothered in the back of her throat as he leaned down to kiss her, long and hard. His tongue immediately pushing it’s way through her lips.

‘Kiss back!’ She silently commanded herself. Loathing every moment of his lips against hers. Wanting to vomit at the putrid sensation of his tongue sliding against her own. ‘Kiss back Webber…just do it.’

"You still haven’t – haven’t told me!" She gasped, breathlessly breaking away from him.

Alex shook his head in bewilderment. "What are you talking about Bethie? Told you what?"

"About how you did it! How you split Lucky and I up."

Something in her tone suddenly sounded like an accusation. Not necessarily like something that turned her on so much anymore.

Elizabeth saw the look in Alex’s eye, and quickly corrected the sound in her voice. She trailed a finger along his collar and bit her lip. "I mean it must have been difficult for you…doing that. Lucky and I were…were close – I guess you could say…but you still managed it….

"God, you’re so powerful Alex," she said. Closing her lips over his Adam’s apple. "Do you know how much that turns me on?…It always has…I just used to deny myself because I thought it was wrong…I thought I was wrong."

"Why did you think it was so wrong?" Alex asked. Allowing her to continue to work magic along his neck. Maybe they could take a little more time with this than he previously thought. Yeah…the announcement could wait a few minutes longer.

Her fingers began to push his jacket away from his shoulders.

"Because…part of me still thought I was cheating on Lucky or something by…desiring

you the way I did…So intensely – right after he left."

Alex licked his lips and let his hands travel up her sides. Cupping her breasts in his hands. "And you desired me because Lucky could never give you what I could, right?"

He wanted to hear her say it. Wanted to hear her say those words. If she could say that, then everything really was as she said it was. She really did want him and only him. She really did want to make this marriage work.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and silently asked both God and Lucky for forgiveness. "That’s

right…because you could…you could give me everything." She stumbled over the words, pretending she paused breathlessly due to her burning desire for him.

Turned on beyond belief, Alex leaned over as she began to unfasten the buttons of his shirt. He looked for her zipper…he couldn’t find it.

"Where the Hell is it?" He asked. Practically growling as his hands traveled blindly up her back.

She shook her head and pulled slightly away. "Ah-ah-ah," she smiled. "Not until you tell me all about your plan. How you set things up…"

He kissed her again and laid her back on the bed before she could utter another word. She shuttered as his weight settled on top of her. "Tell me…" she sighed. A nervous giggle escaping her throat as he licked his way down to wear dress met cleavage.

"Quit talking Sunshine," Alex muttered. "Found it," he grinned when his fingers closed around the small zipper under her left arm.

Elizabeth bit down on her lip to keep it from trembling. She could NOT cry now. Now wasn’t the time to shed tears. She just had to think that was all.

‘What would Lucky tell you to do?…He’d say to stay focused…Stay focused and don’t panic.’

But where the Hell WAS Lucky…he had to have seen her note by now right? He’d be coming for her soon, right?

Reaching out to the side of her, Elizabeth fumbled with Alex’s glass of champagne. She pushed up slightly. Forcing him to prop up on his elbows as she grinned. "Let’s toast."

Alex clasped her hand in his and led it back down to the nightstand. They may have had time for a little foreplay…but they didn’t have time for all this champagne crap. "You drink…I’ll just finish up what I’m doing here…"

"No, silly," Elizabeth giggled anxiously. Her entire body beginning to tremble. "Ok…I give in on the toast…but I need to know HOW you did everything Alex…Come on – don’t you wanna help your wife get off a little bit?"

"Right now, all I wanna do is hurry up and get OFF myself Elizabeth…so shut the Hell up."

The tone and words caused her to shiver, but she wasn’t truly scared until his hands became more persistent and a little rougher. Laying her back down to the bed, his fingers traveled up the bottom of her dress. Gripping her thigh as he lay between them, pushing her dress nearly up to her waist.

Elizabeth blinked aggressively against tears. There was no sense in crying because this wasn’t going to happen. She’d merely have to think of something else to get him talking.

Because she couldn’t fight yet. No she couldn’t get out of this room before she got some information.

She wouldn’t let him get away. Wouldn’t let him get away with any of it.

Lucky would tell her to run now, but she couldn’t do that either. She couldn’t until she knew everything there was to know. Until his filthy mouth began to spew every gory detail. Every little aspect of the disgust he’d brought into her life over 3 years ago. She wanted all of it. She wanted to hear what he had to say for himself and the pitiful excuse for a human being that he’d become.

Wanted to make him sorry. Wanted to make him pay.

"Ok," Elizabeth panted as one of his hands slid over her crotch and towards the waistband of her panties. And she pressed her eyes shut. ‘Open them! Open them!’ She shouted instantly. It wasn’t good to close them. She’d fall if they were closed…she’d fall deep into that place she couldn’t escape from.

"Why don’t you just tell me how you two set up the poker games then?"

"What?" Alex said, blinking as he looked up from his task. Her hand pressed against his fingers and held them at her belly. He wasn’t going to touch her. She wasn’t going to let him.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said, letting go of his hand now that she had his undivided attention. "You know…the poker games………What did you guys do, figure out Lucky’s greatest weakness and then just play upon that? It’s brilliant – I couldn’t have come up with anything better if I tried Alex.

"How did you know about that?"

Elizabeth kept rambling. Paying no heed to his voice. She couldn’t even hear him anymore. All she could hear was the blood rushing up to her head.

Was it cold in here? She was suddenly freezing.

"And what about when I told you I was pregnant…you knew where Lucky was right? When I decided that I had to find him – had to tell him about the baby…Did you have him moved to a new city? A new country maybe? What exactly did you do? I know you must have taken some kind of action to make sure he never found out…I mean that would have been the only smart thing to do…You and Helena were really brilliant – I mean how did you swing it so that Lucky was in Florence right after I miscarried anyway?…We were both there at the same time and had no idea – how did you -

"Shut up," he muttered. Beginning to roll down her underwear as he attacked her neck again. "We’ll talk about this later…I don’t want to discuss this now."

"No," Elizabeth said bluntly, pushing roughly at his shoulders. "No! I wanna talk about it now…I want you to tell me."

Her voice had risen to heights above innocent play. Above that of a wife trying to her husband to ‘talk dirty’ to her. There was an unmistakable edge. Clear, clean, and deadly.

Alex, looked up and gazed into her eyes. They hated him. Without a doubt they hated him.

"What the Hell are you doing Bethie?" His voice was ice cold.

So was hers.

"Just trying to find out how a bastard like you gets his kicks…that’s all."

~~~~~~~

Lucky’s eyes darted around the room in a wild frenzy. "Where the Hell are they?…Where the Hell ar-

"Don’t panic," Nikolas interrupted. Lucky hearing his voice vaguely through the sirens that went off on his head. His brother placed a hand on his shoulder from behind, before traipsing across the room in search of a clue.

"What the fuck do you mean don’t panic?" Lucky asked, forcing himself to start moving. To unroot his feet from the carpet and start looking for signs. "They’re supposed to be here…We said it would happen HERE…nowhere else – here."

"Maybe she just hasn’t gotten him up here yet," Nikolas lent, weakly.

"Oh come on!" Lucky practically shouted. "That guy wasn’t about to turn her down for a quickie upstairs…he obviously took her somewhere else…"

Lucky dropped to the floor in front of the bed and pulled up the bed skirt. His heart stilling for a moment. "The tape recorder’s still here."

Nikolas heard the unadulterated fear in his brother’s quiet voice. "Like I said Lucky…maybe they haven’t been up here yet – maybe."

"Angela SAW Elizabeth with the champagne, Nikolas! Everyone downstairs is wondering where the hosts are, and giggling about it – what the FUCK do you think happened?? They just took off and decided to go to Disneyland?!"

The older brother took a deep breath. Knowing Lucky’s outburst was a direct result of the tremendous amount of stress he was under tonight. The stress he’d been under for the past few years coming to a very distinct head.

"You don’t think Elizabeth is planning anything crazy, do you?"

"Oh you mean more crazy than trying to seduce the truth out of Alex? More crazy than THAT plan that I stupidly went along with? You mean more crazy than that Nikolas?…YES! I think she’s planning something crazy."

"Why?" Nikolas asked, shaking his head. "Why would she go against the plan? Take matters into her own hands?"

"Because that’s ELIZABETH!" Lucky shouted again. Turning over the comforter in search of….something – anything. He didn’t have time to explain this to Nikolas! "She’s impulsive and when she’s angry…when she’s backed into a corner with nowhere to go – she gets reckless. She just attacks without thinking it through…it’s just the way she works…

"Now would you please stop talking to me and just look for something! Anything –

Nikolas nodded in his brother’s direction. Hearing Lucky’s voice nearly give out in anxiety. He was cracking…

He’d been strong all this time, but the weight of it was finally getting to him.

When Nikolas turned back, what he saw turned his blood terribly cold. Lucky stood in the middle of the bathroom. A completely horrified expression on his face - his body…so still.

Nikolas walked over calmly. "What is it?"

His voice managed to shake Lucky from the thick haze that enveloped him. "It’s Eliza – Elizabeth…he’s got her at the Guest house…let’s go."

~~~~~~~

Alex stood up. The words that had just emerged from Elizabeth’s mouth, hanging in mid air like a bullet that had gotten stuck in some altered dimension. His eyes traveled from hers, to the half full glass of champagne on the nightstand. Hers was nearly empty. Though he’d never seen her take a single drink.

It’d been full when she went to the bathroom back at the main house…and even though she said she had to go to the bathroom due to over consumption. She couldn’t have over consumed ANYTHING if she hadn’t drunk anything out that glass.

"What are you doing Elizabeth?"

She sat up on the bed, her eyes afire. Throwing imaginary knives at his. And then she grinned it made him want to smack the living shit out of her.

"Why, whatever could you possibly mean?" Elizabeth sighed. Batting her eyelashes at him. "I’m just sitting here like a good little wife…Waiting for you to tell me all the gory details."

The words seemed to come from somewhere else. Some place inside her body that she hadn’t known existed. It must’ve been the same place that had bought the drugs for Alex.

Inside her there was a person that had had enough. Someone that simply didn’t care anymore what happened as long as the anger was released and somebody bled for it. Preferably Alex.

And at that moment she was powerless to stop the mission of that secret person inside of her.

Alex glanced at the glasses once more. Realization, dawning on him like a thick all consuming toxin. "You bitch…You set me up…You’re trying to get me to talk aren’t you? To say something incriminating…What the Hell did you put in my glass?"

Zipping up the side of her dress, Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. "Obviously not enough of it…because you’re not spilling. You’re not gagging on your own saliva…your eyes aren’t rolling back in your head the way that I’d hoped they’d be by now…it’s very, very disappointing."

He advanced on her before she stood. An evil grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Were you trying to kill me Bethie?"

Something about his smile morphed and before her stood Tom. A grinning, laughing, hideous Tom Baker…

Ridiculing her. Making fun of her. ‘Yeah – red…You know I have an artist’s mind – I visualize…I hope you have a better Valentine’s Day next year Elizabeth…’

"Maybe…but that would just be your word against mine since it didn’t work…Isn’t that right? …Isn’t that how crimes work? It’s the criminals’ word against the victims’ every time…and you know – the victim is always the one that gets screwed in that little arrangement…I oughtta know."

If he never knew what it was like to see red before his eyes, he did now. She tried to kill him. Even if she hadn’t succeeded…that had been her intention here. She’d tried to rob him of his life. Of the great things that were beginning to unfold for him

She’d take his fortune and run. She and her computer hacking boyfriend would live on it for the rest of their lives. Playing house on an island then instead of the broken down shack they’d been playing in before.

He’d been the one to take her out of that shack! He’d brought her to bliss…and THIS?! THIS was how she repaid him?! By trying to take his life?!

She would be sorry. Yes, Elizabeth would be sorry for every day of her pathetic, meaningless life from this point on. Every pitiful bone in her body, would be sorry after tonight.

"Little girl you just bought yourself a lifetime of unhappiness do you know that?…Do you know what I’m going to do to your family? And to all the future little runts you and Spencer produce – Oh no…Excuse me," he laughed. "That won’t happen….because he’s not gonna live to ever make ANYTHING with you – let alone anymore Spencer spawns.

"You won’t lay a hand on him…or anybody else I love."

"Oh really?" Alex said, nodding in her direction as if she’d assumed right with her annoying tone of certainty. "I won’t lay a hand on him like this?!"

When he hit her, she thought maybe she was dreaming. That maybe the pain that burst across the bridge of her nose was some figment of her imagination. An apparition of sorts.

Maybe she was thinking of Tom again…maybe she was 15. Maybe none of this had happened at all and she was going to wake up in her bedroom at Grams with Lucky at her side. Shushing her because she’d had another nightmare.

No, it was Alex. She saw him clearly as she breathed through the searing pain.

He’d never hit her. There had been times when she’d jolted back over the years, thinking he might. Times when he’d screamed so loudly or grabbed her a bit too roughly for her to tell where he might go next. But never had he struck her with his own hand. She should have assumed that with him there was a first time for everything.

Elizabeth pushed viscously at him when he threw her down on the bed. Nothing less than murder in his eyes as he quickly pinned her beneath him.

His voice growling in her ear as he tried to push her farther up on the bed. "You wanna know the details you lying bitch?!…Is that what you want?!" He shouted. His hands groping, as Elizabeth squirmed against him. Pushing at his shoulders…his hips.

She couldn’t talk anymore. Could only fight. Could only fight him, and the instinct to retreat inside the recesses of own her mind. The instinct to fade into nothingness like she had that night in the snow was so strong. So incredibly strong.

His hands were under her skirt. Up her leg, Surrounding her thighs…she was so painfully aware of every inch of skin that he touched. Every centimeter that she would have to scrub raw and then scrub again.

Trying to make use of the split-second he’d taken to pin her arms down with one arm, was no use. His other arm was strong enough on it’s own to hold her leg down.

"Stop it!" She screamed. Trying to kick as his free hand began to unfasten his pants. "No!"

The scream was blood curdling, but he seemed to feed on it. Growing stronger just from hearing it. Every muscle in her body strained against his full weight.

"Stop what?" Alex seethed. Enjoying the tears that were starting to course down her cheeks. "I thought you wanted this? That’s what you brought me out here for right? To seduce the truth out of me?…Well, guess what Sunshine, I’m gonna let you!"

"I don’t want you!" She yelled. Her voice hoarse with fear, loathing, and pain from struggling. "I’ve never, ever wanted…" She broke off, beginning to sob. "Please…please stop."

She hated herself now. Hated that she was begging. Hated being weaker. Hated that she’d been stupid enough to think this would work.

"You may have never wanted it sweetheart, but you’re gonna get it now – and you asked for it."

He laughed gruffly in her ear as he finished unzipping his pants. "I saw some of those videos Bethie…some of those naughty things you and Lucky used to do in your apartment…and all these years you never once showed me first hand what it’s like…How do you think that makes me feel….

"Stop it," Elizabeth pleaded. Screaming again as his hand reached up to curl around the elastic band of her panties. "No…" she cried. "No…please."

"Oh yes," he grinned. "All those things…you’re gonna show your HUSBAND tonight, Bethie – you’re gonna –

By the time Alex felt the smack of his own skull against a cold, hard surface he hadn’t even had time to contemplate the feeling of flying backwards through the air. Hadn’t heard the door open, or felt the two strong hands grab him by his neck and hurl him off of Elizabeth and towards the wall. Hadn’t had time to feel the horror one felt at being attacked from behind.

Lucky stood over him for a moment. Panting as he stared at Alex’s closed eyes. Willing them to open with every fiber of his being. He wanted the motherfucker to open his eyes and focus on his. Wanted him to know exactly where this ass beating was about to come from.

There was blood just under her nose, and smeared vividly across her cheek. A red stain that he’d spotted as soon as he’d broken through the door. The stark crimson standing out against ivory skin. Standing out like it sometimes did against clean white snow.

Clean, cold, white, February snow. Icy fingers reaching out to grab at innocent flesh.

Hurting, tearing, ripping, screaming…he’d heard it in his nightmares so many times. Dreams his conscience wouldn’t let him forget. The night he hadn’t been there. The night he’d been dancing with Sarah under construction paper hearts as Elizabeth was torn recklessly in the snow.

Pretty red dress – blood stained. Material camouflaging violence. Rips in the surface to show the wounds…red against white. Red against white…

The colors played like dancing demons through his mind and the red was overpowering…it was everywhere…she was bleeding now…

Lucky whispered "I’m here now," to no one in particular just before he started kicking.

He didn’t care that his opponent was down. He gave no heed to the rules of fighting. Alex hadn’t cared when he’d put his hands on Elizabeth. When he’d wrecked both of their lives simply because he wanted to. Simply because he COULD.

Alex didn’t give a fuck when he’d invaded their lives, and at that moment neither did Lucky.

He didn’t care if Alex died. Didn’t care if he was the one to kill him. He just wanted to hit, and hit, and hit until there was nothing left. No more pain. No more memories of life without Elizabeth. No more having to get to know her all over again. No more having to get to know him self. No more having to get to know ‘them,’ and who they used to be.

No more fear over when the next shoe would finally drop.

All was fair in love and war, and this was war. He would hit until he was too tired to hit or he died himself.

Maybe it was Elizabeth who screamed behind him as he kicked Alex in the ribs and heard something crack. And maybe she screamed again when he got down on his hands and knees and slammed his fist into Alex’s face over and over. He couldn’t be sure. Maybe he was the one screaming.

He felt crazed like that. Like a wild animal, attacking.

"What the fuck did you do?!" Lucky screamed. Starting now to press his hands firmly against Alex’s larynx. "What the fuck did you to her?!"

Elizabeth grasped Lucky’s shoulders, trying to pull him away from an Alex that was starting to disappear from Earth. "Please…Lucky!" She screamed. "Stop…stop! Baby, you’re killing him – please stop! I’m ok – I’m ok…Lucky, please!"

All the pulling in the world didn’t matter. Nothing did. She watched in horror as the veins on Lucky’s neck pushed themselves to the surface, his entire face red with fury. Eyes blurred with unshed tears.

He couldn’t hear her. He couldn’t hear anything but his blind rage, and all she could do was watch and understand it on a very deep level.

When the door swept open again, Elizabeth looked desperately up into Nikolas eyes. Begging him to help.

Nikolas ran inside. Kneeling to pull with all his might against Lucky’s shoulders. Over the years he’d become a little brother who wasn’t so little anymore. He’d torn through the forest like a madman, widening the gap between them with every pace until Nikolas had been forced to find the guest house on his own.

"Lucky," he panted. Half from bounding up the stairs at the sounds of screaming. Half from trying to pull him off now. "Lucky – come on, stop it man – you don’t wanna do this!"

It took all of his strength to finally pull him away from Alex’s very still body. But Lucky sat there for only a moment before lunging at him again. He had to kill him. Had to finish the -

"Cowboy!"

It was that name. That nickname and soothing sound of his father’s voice that finally triggered something in Lucky’s head. Luke walked through the door and quickly wrapped his arms around his sons’ shoulders from behind. Softly tugging him backwards and away from the Asshole that had tried to ruin Lucky’s life. He wasn’t about to let the same Asshole succeed in ruining it completely now.

"Come on Cowboy…that’s it…I know…I know you wanna kill him. I know it son."

Luke didn’t need his strength to pull his son away. Only the sound of his voice. And he kept murmuring to him as he led him over to the bed.

He’d known from the frantic sound of Nikolas’ tone on his ear piece that Lucky was in deep. And when he’d seen just how deep, with his own two eyes…

Who better than Luke understood the instinct to kill when someone you loved more than your own life was put in danger?

He silently bent to take the bastard’s pulse. There was a lot of blood spattered over the carpet and on his face, but he was still breathing. His heart still beating…

It was a damn shame that he had to leave it in that condition. Luke would have taken great pleasure in finishing the job his son had begun.

"It’s ok son," Luke said glancing over to where he sat. And where Elizabeth slowly came to sit next to him. Trembling from head to foot. "Are you alright Elizabeth?"

She nodded silently. Pressing her cheek against Lucky’s…He was so cold.

"Seriously?"

Elizabeth cleared her throat and wrapped her arms around a silent Lucky’s midsection. "Mmmhm…yes."

Nikolas swallowed hard at the scene unfolding in front of him. His brother’s eyes haunted. His jacket covered in blood. Elizabeth rocking and mumbling something very softly to Lucky.

Luke turned towards Nikolas. Addressing him quietly and succinctly. "Take them outside –

"Where should I –

"JUST take them," Luke said with a wave of his hand to silence the kid. "Let them get some air…and then I want YOU to keep on going to the main house. Find your uncle and bring him back here."

Nikolas stared down at Alex in somewhat of a daze. "But what are we gonna do with –

"Don’t ask any questions Cassidine…Just let me worry about Hart for now, and do what I tell ya to do…Think you can handle it?"

He only nodded quietly. His eyes still riveted to the body on the floor. He was so very still. Were they SURE he was still alive?

Luke inhaled deeply through his nose and glanced back at his son and Elizabeth. Quickly turning his eyes on Nikolas. He couldn’t afford to be wrong about this kid right now. "Nikolas I need you to say – I CAN HANDLE THIS, Luke."

The younger man cleared his throat with a bit of annoyance. "I can handle this, Luke."

"Alright," he sighed. "Now go…and go quickly. Tell one of the servants that Mr. Hart has fallen ill and that Mrs. Hart is upstairs taking care of him…that they are NOT to be disturbed under any circumstances. Then, tell whoever it is to make the announcement to the crowd...and make the happy couple’s apologies."

Nikolas nodded. "Ok….what about…Emily? Do I bring her back here with my uncle?"

Luke inhaled again. "No. I want you and Emily to come back for my kid and Elizabeth. You’re to drive them home - NOT in YOUR car…but HIS. In case this slime ball doesn’t make it – his car is to be NOWHERE on this property, you got me?"

Swallowing hard, Nikolas nodded as Luke continued.

"If my guess is right the keys are hidden inside the driver side front hubcap. It’s just about a half-mile behind this gatehouse…I’ll arrange to have your car brought to you tomorrow morning.

"I need this to be done QUICKLY and PRECISELY, Nikolas…so move."

Nikolas nodded rapidly and started towards Elizabeth and Lucky. Gesturing for her to rise and help lead him out of the room and downstairs.

He wasn’t saying anything…he was so…quiet.

Luke watched them leave and pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of the monkey suit he’d worn tonight to impersonate a formal looking security guard. They did come in handy sometimes.

"Yeah Sonny…I need a very discrete doctor…yeah - now…."

~~~~~~~

Elizabeth sat in the backseat of the Mercury with Lucky. Wondering what was taking Nikolas so long to get back. If he would have only let her drive, they could have been halfway to the highway by now, but he’d insisted against it. Taking the keys with him and talking about Luke’s orders and how he had to get Stephan and Emily first.

Part of his reasoning was probably more about the way her hands shook than anything else.

She pressed them softly to Lucky’s shirt, paying no attention to the blood that dotted the front of it like some ghoulish design.

"Hey," she whispered, rubbing his chest as he continued to stare out into space. She plastered a smile on her face and tried to sound like everything was going to be fine. "Remember the last time we were in the backseat of this car?…I bet you do…We got pretty hot and heavy up at Mount Ascension…but I backed out of it remember?…It turned out to be a special night any way though," she continued rambling and rubbing his chest. "That was the first night we made love again."

He wasn’t responding at all. Not to her touch. Not to her voice…

"Lucky…I bet – I bet we could make up for lost time back here before Nikolas and Emily get back…What do you say huh?"

Even though the idea of being touched made her shudder right now. Made her flash back to moments ago, she offered it up for suggestion anyhow. Anything that brought him back to her…

But she knew she wouldn’t be able to fully give herself to Lucky again until she’d thoroughly bathed and washed every inch of herself.

Her eyes started to flood with tears. "Lucky…please…please talk to me…please…"

Straddling his lap suddenly, she pressed her lips against his. Holding his face in her trembling hands as she kissed him long and deep. Kissing until she started to feel him respond. His lips, beginning to move timidly at first and then with more insistence.

She opened her eyes to find his forehead beginning to crease.

And then he pushed her away a moment later, gasping. Lucky leaned over quickly as he tried to catch his breath. Panting as if he’d just ran a marathon. Even though he’d been sitting still this entire time, and they hadn’t been kissing for that long.

"Baby…it’s ok…" Elizabeth whispered. Kneeling next to him as she started to rub his back. She lay her head where her hand had been and whispered that it was all going to be ok over and over again.

But she could feel the air moving through his lungs at a pace far too rapid and coaxed him to look up at her. "Look at me…Lucky, look at me…"

Their eyes met in what seemed like the first time in a thousand years. "You’re ok," she repeated soberly. "And I’m ok too…nothing happened. We’re fine…Sweetie we’re fine."

"He tried. He –

"I’m fine," she repeated. Holding his face still. "There’s nothing wrong with me that a good, long sleep in your arms won’t cure."

For the first time he saw it again. What he’d seen for only millisecond before he’d started kicking and…

The blood caked darkly, just under her nose. He reached out for it and she tried not to jerk away. "He hit you."

Though it was a statement it came out more like a question and Elizabeth simply blinked back a new onslaught of tears. He didn’t need that right now. He didn’t need her to blubber. He needed her to be strong. Besides, she was the one that had done this. It was her fault that all of this happened anyway.

"I’m ok," she said again. Though Lucky heard the sincerity of that statement drop away from her tone as he smoothed his fingertips across the bridge of her nose.

"We’ll take you to a hospital and –

"No, no…it’s fine…it’s not broken."

"How do you know?"

"Lucky, it’s fine…please," she whispered. Taking the hand that he held to her face in her own. She pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. In an instant she felt his swollen knuckles. "Oh baby…"

He stared at it for a moment. Not having realized how bad it was himself. The skin was red and chapped looking. His voice was low, and hallowed as he spoke.

"Is he dead?"

Staring at the top of his head, as Lucky continued to examine his own hand, Elizabeth shook her head. "No…I saw your father take his pulse…his heart was still beating...he was breathing."

Lucky glanced up into her eyes once more. His azure blue seas still frighteningly haunted. "I couldn’t stop Elizabeth…I just –

"Sssh," she said quickly taking him in her arms before he could say another word. Emily and Nikolas were walking towards the car. "We’ll be home in a little while ok?"

He only nodded against her shoulder as she settled back against the seat and cradled his head.

They’d be home soon.

~~~~~~~

Dr. Stacey Wells rose from the patient and nodded as he looped his stethoscope back around his neck. He grimaced and glared from Mr. Spencer to Mr. Cassidine.

"It’s nasty…but he’ll be fine. I called in a few prescriptions that I can have to you in an hour. We don’t have the luxury of an x-ray machine here, but my guess is that he’s got a mild concussion, a broken nose…and probably one or two broken ribs…lots of bruising."

"Can ya wrap him up and have him ready to go in a few minutes."

The doctor nodded stoically and set about working. Paying no attention to the way Luke talked about the patient as if he were a super sized burger.

Luke figured that with a name like Stacey you probably had to act somber and serious all the time. But he didn’t imagine that Dr. Stacey got many ridiculing his name since he did work primarily as a private mob doctor.

And the good thing about it was that he’d probably seen far worse than this in his day. A few broken ribs weren’t enough to even make him blink.

Luke turned quietly to Stephan. A man who’d been staring menacingly at the body on the carpet since the moment he’d walked in the room. "What do you wanna do with this scum?"

Stephan turned to him, suddenly made aware that Luke was in the room once again. He’d forgotten his presence for awhile. Too caught up in his own thoughts to remember where he was. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I can’t take him home with me – my dog would eat him."

Not the least bit amused, Stephan ran a hand over his goatee. "Surely you can’t be suggesting that I bring him back to Wyndemere?"

"That’s exactly what I’m suggesting Cassidine…Think about it. What better way to keep an eye on the Ratbastard than to have him as a house guest?…Listen," Luke continued. "It seems to me that when this lower life form comes to, he’s gonna start howling about his rights and who he wants to sue and how ‘entitled’ he is to your little Nicky’s fortune…You don’t want that do you?"

Stephan gave a long-suffering sigh. "I don’t see what any of that has to do with me keeping him in my home!"

Luke snapped. "It has to do with that fact that my SON doesn’t need any more grief from this guy! And it also has to do with the fact that my son holds the evidence you need to prove that he’s got no claim to anything with your family’s honorable family crest on it!"

His attention caught, Stephan glared at Luke. His eyes having grown wide. "So they found something…evidence?"

Nodding, Luke lowered his voice. "Right now, it’s in my son’s hands…where I promise you it will STAY if you aren’t willing to open your home to Alex, and play a little hard ball……I can’t believe I’m going to say this Cassidine, but it seems that maybe – just MAYBE, if we put our heads together on this one, we can come out of this with a solution that’s good for everybody…Your nephew gets his inheritance back, and my son gets a shot at happiness…Are you with me?" He asked, swallowing hard over the last few difficult words.

Stephan squinted as an actual mob doctor finished wrapping gauze around Alex’s torso. "Mrs. Landsbury will have to change those dressings…because I’m not touching him."

~~~~~~~

Lucky pulled down the thin sheet and blanket, and then propped his pillow against the wall. Letting his head fall against the not-so-thickness of it as he slid into bed. He hadn’t had time in the last few weeks to buy a new one damn it. So they’d have to sleep on this thing again.

They would once Elizabeth made it out of the shower.

She’d been in there for over an hour now. Having gotten in immediately after a mob doctor had come and checked them both out in his apartment.

‘Jesus,’ Lucky thought. Shaking his head. The gravity of what he’d done beginning to sink in. If his father had seen fit to call Sonny in on this, then it had to be bad. Worse than Elizabeth and Nikolas had been willing to let on in the car.

The worse thing was he couldn’t remember much of what had happened for him self. He remembered bursting through the door and seeing the blood on Elizabeth’s face. He remembered seeing Alex positioned above her, with his hands…

He shook the feeling off. Not wanting to picture it again. Knowing he would explode and wind up punching the wall if he did.

Hitting Alex was all a blur. He remembered the first time he kicked him. The first shot of pain that had sang it’s way up his entire leg. But after that, all he remembered was it not being enough. Never enough. Some sensation of dissatisfaction continually churning in his stomach the whole time. Perhaps that sensation is what made him continue. What drove him to hit and hit…

But what he’d done…The outcome…

Lucky couldn’t remember what Alex looked like when he’d been finished with him. But it had to have been bad for Luke to call a mob doctor out and no one else. From what Nikolas said, his father had systematically taken over. Lucky couldn’t remember Luke ever doing that…not even when he was a little boy. His father had always let him take care of his own problems.

He had to have been out of control. And it was THAT, that scared Lucky. He didn’t regret beating the shit out of Alex. Not after all that he’d done. Not after what he’d been about to do to Elizabeth. Hell no, he’d never regret that.

But being out of control was frightening.

Lucky flexed his hand slowly and winced a bit. Reaching over to grab his glass of water and gulp down two tablets the doctor had brought over. The guy had promised that his hand wasn’t broken, but would probably take awhile for the swelling to go completely down. He probably wouldn’t be playing guitar any time soon.

The water shut off in the bathroom, and Lucky glanced up. The doctor had said SHE wasn’t broken either. Her perfect nose, still in tact. Just a little swollen like his hand.

Her spirit was an entirely different matter though. It was that part of Elizabeth that worried Lucky most as he waited for the door to open to the bathroom. As he’d waited for the last hour, hearing the water beat down steadily against the tile.

He’d held her hand as the doctor examined her, and hadn’t been able to ignore or dismiss the small flinch when the man had simply touched her nose. Something told him it hadn’t been her face that was in pain…but her heart.

Lucky smiled weakly at her as she emerged from the small, steam filled room. "Better?"

Elizabeth nodded slowly and then walked the short distance to his dresser as she clutched a towel tightly around her. Thankful that he’d gotten around to buying the right size.

She pulled open a drawer and removed a pair of his sweatpants and sweatshirt. Stilling when she looked up to catch his reflection in the mirror.

He sat behind her on the bed, his blue eyes wide with a terror she didn’t understand at first…until she looked down.

"Oh," she said, shaking her head and going about fiddling with the sweatshirt. "They really aren’t as bad as they look."

How had he not noticed them during the drive back? When the doctor examined her?

There were bruises on her arms on her shoulder blades. Maroon blotches that looked to be darkening before his very eyes by the second. Marks that looked exactly like fingerprints.

Before his anger got the better of him and he said or did something insane again, that wouldn’t make him or her feel any better, Lucky rose from the bed and walked over to Elizabeth. Wrapping his arms lightly around her shoulders from behind before she got a chance to pull the sweatshirt on over her head.

"May I?" He quietly asked. Addressing her eyes in the mirror, as he pulled the thick shirt from her arms and turned her around to face him. He remembered standing in this very mirror moments ago when he’d removed his own stained tuxedo.

For the longest time, standing there…simply staring at his own reflection. Checking to see if he looked any different than he had a few hours ago. He knew she’d been looking for the same thing in her own eyes.

She didn’t shudder when he touched her. Didn’t tremble at the feel of his hands against her arms. Silently, Elizabeth nodded yes to his unasked question.

Never taking his eyes away from hers, Lucky unfastened the towel that draped securely around her breasts. Placing it atop the dresser before he let his eyes travel away from her sad eyes and quietly over her naked body.

He stepped closer the love of his life and let his lips drift gently across the bridge of her nose. Not touching her with any other part of his body. He bent slightly at the knees then and pressed his lips to the bruise on her left shoulder, and then to her right. And then to each little scratch that crossed her flesh where her beautiful evening gown had sat across her chest.

He had to try and take the hurt away. She had to know she was gorgeous and adored.

Lucky moved behind her and lowered himself again. Kissing each dark mark on upper back. When he stepped back in front of her, he got to his knees. Letting his lips linger for long moments against the bruises on her thighs.

Finally he took her hands in his and kissed the insides of her wrists where the darkest blemishes were. Where she’d pushed and fought against him.

When he stood to his complete height, Lucky reached out for her entire body and held her against him in a tight embrace. She came willingly. Her bare flesh pressed against his equally bare chest. His fingers drifted through her hair when she started to cry against his shoulder. Lucky kissed her cheek through the strands that covered the side of her face and wordlessly scooped her up in his arms.

Carrying her to their bed.

He just wanted to feel her in his arms tonight, and know that someone felt him too.