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“So how long until you can move in?”
Dara made a face as she leaned against the plush chair in the high end restaurant. “Next week, which means I’m without a place until then.” Painting in the bathrooms and bedrooms, new lighting in the kitchen, the high end window treatments that still needed to be installed were just some of the roadblocks to Dara moving into her new home any sooner.
“Oooh, you could stay here!” Sabrina’s excited voice leapt through the receiver. “You wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Alexis. I’m very good at avoiding her when I want to,” she teased.
Dara smiled but decided against Sabrina’s kind offer. “I’m fine at the hotel, but as soon as everything’s ready and I’m moved in, I’m inviting all the ladies to the housewarming. It’s been too long since we’ve gotten together.”
Sabrina closed her eyes in relief at the lightness in Dara’s voice. It sounded like the friction between Dara and Alexis might finally be addressed and ultimately, ironed out. They all needed a night together to just relax, laugh, eat and drink.
Dara ended the call and began to scroll through her tablet, keeping up on the court cases that had been put aside during the trial. Now that she had some free time, she could peruse at her leisure while enjoying her grilled salmon salad at the PC Grille.
Two new guests were led to a table just behind hers, a secluded rounded booth with a privacy screen to separate Dara from them. Normally she would have gone back to her lunch but the fact that the two guests in question were none other than the widow of Anthony Sorel and the daughter of Joseph Moreno, a mob boss in his own right who were currently making noise about once again sweeping Port Charles into his territory, made it difficult to ignore.
After making their drink orders and settling into appetizers, the two women began to dish and much to Dara’s chagrin, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop.
“So, has he called you?” Tory Sorel’s question was seemingly innocent, but the barb in the tone pricked Dara’s ears.
“I don’t know what his problem is,” Isabella Moreno replied, her irritation evident. “He tells me to cool off for the trial and wait until it’s over, so like a moron, that’s exactly what I do. Then he calls me up out of the blue, comes over and damn near fucks me blind and then nothing.”
“Fucked you blind? Are you serious?” Tory sounded doubtful, but there was a hint of lust as well.
Isabella smiled at the memory. “Ohmygod, it was amazing. He was a man possessed,” she said, the blush evident in her voice. “I mean, it was always good between us, but the last time, he was insatiable. Carly must have pissed him off good.”
Dara froze as the reality of who these two women were talking about dawned on her. Isabella Moreno had been a person of interest, a woman who had once been considered a potential witness in Sonny’s trial. It was long assumed that she had been his mistress. A fact that had never been a blip on Dara’s radar.
Until now.
“They broke up, you know,” Tory reported as she twirled a strand of her fiery red hair through her fingers. Isabella sighed. “Yes, I know which is why I’m pissed that he’s not called me since that night.”
“Maybe he found someone new.” Dara’s heart lurched.
As usual, Tory’s words came out like a challenge, designed to get under her friend’s skin. Even with her back to them, Dara felt the chill rolling off Isabella’s silence.
“What are you trying to say Tory?” Isabella’s voice had dropped an octave and with it, the woman’s true nature emerged. She was very much her father’s daughter when it came to protecting what she perceived as HER territory.
Tory let out a laugh to ease the tension. “Are you kidding me? I would never go for Sonny. He’s the reason I’m a widow.” She would never mention the few times she and Sonny did get together behind Isabella’s back. She wasn’t looking to get a bullet with her name engraved on it.
Isabella snorted. “Yeah, your devastation overwhelms me. How long did you wait before crawling into Morgan’s bed?”
Tory giggled. “Everyone mourns differently, Izzy. And Jason came to me,” she pointed out. She closed her eyes briefly at the memory of their first time together.
*~*
She let out a gasp as she pressed her face up against the cool wall, Jason’s hot breath fanning the back of her neck, making her shiver with anticipation. Already he had shucked her from her clothing, the black dress from the funeral she’d attended only hours earlier in a pool at her feet. She let out a whimper as his hands moved along her skin, clutching possessively onto her breasts. A moment later, she heard the hum of the zipper on his jeans.
“You’re mine now,” he hissed into her ear before he thrust himself into her completely. She let out a cry of approval as his hand snaked around her waist. Her nails scratched against the wallpaper as her hands sought for any purchase to hang onto as Jason began to move within her walls, already at a punishing pace.
*~*
“Uh-huh. He’s not coming to you anymore though, is he?” Now it was Isabella’s turn to be cruel.
“He’s busy,” Tory said, feeling flustered. Isabella let out a sharp laugh at the excuse. “Yeah, busy for the last six months or so? Maybe he found someone new?” she mimicked back to Tory.
“You’re such a bitch!” Tory hissed in frustration.
“So are you!” Isabella retorted.
Dara had heard enough. Her appetite gone, her stomach churning at the way these two ‘friends’ treated each other, she threw down her money and grabbed her things, hurrying from the restaurant and into the much needed fresh air of downtown Port Charles.
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*~*
It only took a moment for her to glance at Gia’s phone as it sat carelessly on the table. Back from their hot yoga class, they’d been relaxing on Emily’s patio when Gia had gone inside to fetch them more lemonade. Emily had just sent a text to Thane, confirming their date for that night when the buzz on Gia’s phone signaled an incoming phone call.
“I think that’s your brother!” she called into the house, remembering Gia mentioning that Marcus would be calling about something important.
“Be right there!” Gia called back as she picked up the now full glass jug of pink lemonade, kicking the fridge door shut behind her.
Emily snatched up the phone, not recognizing the number. Another ring and it would go to voicemail. “Hi!” she sang into the phone, imitating Gia’s voice perfectly stalling while Gia emerged from the house. She bit back a giggle as she waited for Marcus’s deep voice to respond.
“Where are you Baby? I need to see you.”
Gia’s face froze as she saw confusion come over Emily.
No no no. It couldn’t be. Not like this.
Emily let out a startled laugh, her eyes flicking to Gia. Her brown eyes were full of questions.
“Gia, there’s a problem. I’ll be at your place in 15.”
The call ended although Emily, stunned, still held the phone to her ear.
Gia set the pitcher on the table. “Is it Marcus?” she asked, her hands beginning to shake. Emily stood abruptly and held the phone out to Gia.
“No,” she replied softly. “It was not your brother; it was mine.”
Gia winced. Damn.
*~*
Jack emerged from the shower, feeling refreshed and invigorated. He pulled a plush maroon towel from the rack and secured it around his waist as he emerged from the ensuite bathroom to the main bedroom he and Sabrina shared. He smiled as he looked at his wife slumbering in the disarray of sheets on their king sized four poster bed. A gentle snore rumbled from her side of the bed, her round backside peeking out from beneath one of his Columbia University shirts. He glanced at the clock as he rubbed his head with a smaller towel. They’d have a few more hours until dinner. He could make a few more phone calls regarding Thane’s whereabouts. He glanced at his phone, noting with a grimace the ignored calls from Tony, Michelle, Chloe and a few other CTU higher ups. The phone suddenly sprang to life, buzzing in his hand, the caller ID indicating it was his daughter, Kim.
Instantly, he answered. “Kim? Hi sweetheart.”
“What the FUCK Bauer!?” Tony Almeida’s furious voice shouted through the receiver.
“Ahhh, shit,” Jack ground out as he moved back into the ensuite, the room still humid from his scorching shower.
“What are you doing?! Tapping into restricted files, screwing around with encryption on behalf of your BROTHER?” Tony took a breath before bellowing some more. “Half the intelligence community is breathing down my neck about you and you can’t be bothered to give me a heads up about ANY of what you’re doing?”
Jack rubbed his face, the tension already back in his shoulders. “I can explain everything,” he began before Tony cut him off.
“Damn right you’re going to explain. You fly the red-eye to New York City tonight. Heller is going to be there and he wants answers. Your itinerary should be coming in about 10 minutes. I’ll talk to you again after the meeting.”
Tony abruptly ended the call and Jack rested his hands on the sink. He glanced at himself in the mirror and expelled a deep sigh.
“Babe?”
Pushing those thoughts from his mind, he returned to the bedroom, padding across the hardwood floors as his wife rolled over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Who was that?” she asked sleepily.
Jack leaned down, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Tony. I’ve screwed up and now I have to meet Heller in NYC tonight.”
Sabrina arched a brow. “So should I get one ticket or two to see Jersey Boys?”
“Babe.”
Sabrina let out a throaty chuckle as she eyed the way the towel hung low on Jack’s hips. “We’ll take a Cassadine jet, have dinner. I’ll see the show and then meet you at the hotel suite.” Clearly, it was all decided and to argue would be pointless, as it always was once she’d made up her mind.
Her hand reached out and tugged the towel towards her. The towel came loose and fell to the floor.
“Oops,” Sabrina said a naughty glint in her eye.
“Now you’ve done it,” Jack purred as he trapped her body beneath his. Sabrina squealed as the rivulets of water fell from his body to hers. “You’re all wet!”
Jack captured her mouth in a slow, probing kiss, his hands running over the small pebbled mounds, tracing slow circles, eliciting a moan from Sabrina as her legs parted, allowing him to settle himself between her thighs. His hand trailed down further, his fingers delving into her walls, his thumb grazing against her sensitive pearl. Sabrina shuddered, her glassy eyes meeting his feral ice blue gaze. “Jack,” she whimpered as his merciless touch began its slow torture. He gave her a knowing smile.
“Now you’re wet too.”
*~*
“It’s arranged. I called in a few favors and you have your meeting.”
“Thanks mate, it’s much appreciated.”
Jerry frowned at the man’s attempt to sound like an Aussie. “That was terrible,” he said dryly and was met with a hearty laugh on the other end.
He still didn’t quite understand why Archer Cassadine had reached out to the WSB through him. The way he heard it, Archer was doing his mother’s bidding within the Cassadine family and securing him a stronghold of sorts with a branch of the main industries. Why that had resulted in a meet with Robert Scorpio still puzzled Jerry, but the money had been welcome and knowing his own curiosity, he knew he’d find a way to either attend the meeting, or eavesdrop.
“You going to tell me what this is all about?” he asked suspiciously.
At the other end of the line, Archer only smiled conspiratorially as he looked across the room to a midnight black settee and the breathtaking woman who now reclined on it. She offered a smile of her own, one that did not reach her dark, troubled eyes. Archer let out a chuckle.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
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