She looked exquisite. Nikolas couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He held out his hand to help her out of the limousine. They followed the long line of people into the Versailles Room of the Port Charles Hotel.

The whole room was decorated in black and gold. Helena had spared no expense. Classical music-from a live orchestra-flooded the room. It was far more extravagant than the Nurse's Ball. "Oh Nikolas," she whispered in his ear, "this is lovely!"

"You haven't seen anything yet. When I marry you, I'll throw you an engagement party that will make this thing look like a back yard barbecue."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mr. Cassadine. I might not want to marry you."

"If you don't, you will. No one can resist me," he declared, cradling her hand in his.

"Your ego's showing. Tuck it back in before you trip over it," Gia smirked. She moved into the circle of his arms. She could feel his hands slid over her naked back. He groaned slightly against her ear.

"I love this dress on you...of course I would prefer it in a heap on my bedroom floor, but I’ll wait for later."

"What are you doing here?"

Nikolas and Gia broke apart, both turning to see Alexis.

"What do you mean? We were invited," Nikolas replied, moving to embrace his aunt.

"I just didn't think you'd come. Why did you come? You hate this stuffy formal crap."

"That's my fault," Gia interjected, "I wanted to play dress up."

Alexis took a step back. She took a long, slow, sweeping glance at her nephew's girlfriend. "It doesn't look like you're playing to me, Gia. That is some dress you have there."

"You like it?"

"No! I hate it! Go home right now and stop making everyone else look so...I can't even say it..." Alexis sputtered with a fake pout.

"I believe," Ned said, creeping up behind his wife, "the word you were looking for was OLD. But darling-"

Alexis and Gia immediately circled in on a grinning Ned. "What did you mean by OLD?"

Gia was miffed. "OLD? There is nothing old about Alexis. She looks fabulous."

"I do, actually, look fabulous. Can you imagine that my own husband--my dear husband---a man I make popcorn for, a man I bought leather pants for---would say that I look OLD."

"That's not what I meant-"

"Oh, then what did you mean, Ned Ashton?" Gia snapped.

"Only that-"

"Only that you put your big ole foot in your big ole mouth?" Alexis said crisply.

"Nikolas!" Ned pleaded, "you're PR, get me out of this."

Nikolas laughed. "You are on your own. I can't help you out."

"You could-"

"Not," Gia broke in, " if he knows what's good for him."

"There was a whole other part to the sentence before you zeroed in on one word..."

Nikolas felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Stefan. "Hey, you didn't tell me you were coming."

"I have to. As the CEO of the hospital, I have to be  here when Helena announces whatever donation she's going to make."

"Do you have any idea what she's planning?"

"None. She's refused to release that information. As much as I wanted to reject her offer, the hospital does need any charitable donation it can get."

Nodding, Nikolas smiled as Chloe came sliding into the conversation. "Hello Chloe. How are you?"

Chloe beamed brightly. "I'm absolutely fabulous! I'm always in high spirits when I'm with this devilishly handsome man, here," she said, taking Stefan's hand in her own. "Love, Nikolas, is an absolutely beautiful thing. It has to be protected at all costs. All costs."

Nikolas felt slightly nauseated as he continued to smile. "Well, you certainly seem...happy."

"It's the strangest thing. Chloe is always joyful. She is so refreshing to be around," Stefan replied, looking down into Chloe's adoring eyes.

"Who's refreshing to be around?" Gia asked after finally disentangling herself from Ned and Alexis' conversation. She turned around to see SugarFest 2000. "Oh, we must be talking about Chloe." Turning to the blond woman, she continued, "It's been a while since I've seen you, Chloe. How are you?"

"I'm perfect, Gia. I was really sad about Emily, but I realize that things happen and that, as the loved ones left behind, we have to continue to live and see the beauty of life."

"Yeah...that's exactly what I was thinking," Gia muttered under her breath. Nikolas, seeing the look on Gia's face, bit his lip in an attempt not to laugh.

"C h l o e,"Stefan drew out slowly. Everyone else in the room disappeared as their eyes met. Her lips parted, her tongue darting out to moisten the corners of her mouth. Dramatically, he pulled her in close, planting a long linger kiss on her soft mouth.

Nikolas dropped his head into his hands in utter embarrassment. Stefan's new love affair was a bit too melodramatic and..succulent for his tastes.

"Ewwwwwwww!" Gia grunted, as the kiss went on, and on, and on. Nikolas grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the middle of the room. "You ought to keep your uncle and that woman in a locked cage. They aren't fit to mingle with common folk."

"Sometimes, I wish Chloe Morgan would disappear."

"It can be arranged, my dear, if you know the right people," Helena purred in Nikolas' ear.

"That was a private conversation."

"Nikolas! I thought I taught you that, at a party such as this, there is no such thing as a private conversation. That is why you must be careful what you say. You never know when someone is listening.  Isn't that right, Gia?"

"How would I know?" Gia said, glaring at Helena.

Helena turned her attention back to her grandson. "I was so pleased that you decided to attend. I really would like it if we can make this donation as a family. A united Cassadine family."

"Not on your life, Helena. I'm only here because Gia wanted to come. That's it."

"Well, then, perhaps I should thank Gia for insisting."

"Don't bother, Mrs. Cassadine. It really is a lovely party so far," Gia said, silently wishing Helena would disappear too.

"Thank you."

"What's this all about? Why all the pretense?" Nikolas demanded impatiently.

"All in due time, Nikolas. All in due time." She patted his arm affectionately before moving to greet another group of people.

"Dance with me," Gia said, suddenly needing to feel  Nikolas' body close to her own. She was feeling conflicted about manipulating him into this party. On one hand, she would do anything to always have Nikolas' loyalty. On the other hand, what good was building a life with him, if she destroyed that life in the process? If she did as Grandma Grim asked, then no good would come of it. She had to figure out a way to extricate herself, and Nikolas, from Helena's web of madness.

Their bodies were pressed closely together as they swayed to a soft melodious piece. He twirled her out, delighting in the way she glowed at being his partner. "I love you, Nikolas," she said.

"I love you, too...You know, before, when I promised you an engagement party?"

"Yes," she said her cheek resting on the lapel of his tuxedo jacket.

"I-"

"Can I have everyone's attention!" Helena's voice interrupted. The orchestra died down as a spot light bathed her in golden light. The regular lights dimmed and everyone swarmed towards the large stage she stood upon. Helena looked spectacular in a regal, jewel encrusted, satin gown.

"First, I would like to thank everyone for attending this party. It means a great deal to me and my family that all of the citizens of Port Charles would come out to support us and our cause. Now," she said extending her hand, "I would like my son, General Hospital's CEO, to come accept my donation."

Stefan's face was blank as he maneuvered through the crowd. He walked gracefully up the stairs to stand beside the woman who had plotted his death.

She smiled warmly. "On behalf of the Cassadine family, I would like to donate this check," Helena started, as Andreas magically produced an insanely large cardboard check, "for $200,000,000."

There was an audible gasp in the crowd, followed by  applause. Nikolas crossed his arms over his chest. Alexis came over to her nephew and they exchanged weary glances.

Helena continued, taking the check from Andreas' hands. "This two million dollars will be used to build and maintain THE MIKKOS CASSADINE ALLIED CRYOGENICS AND RESTORATION WING at General Hospital."

"Cryogenics?" Gia whispered to Nikolas.

"It's a branch of science that deals with very low temperatures."

"Like freezing stuff?"

"Yeah.."

"I can't believe she's doing this," Alexis sneered angrily. "Doesn't she have any respect for my father at all. She's making a joke of him."

"He's already a joke, Alexis. He tried to freeze the world. But I agree. We'll never live it down if she builds a cryogenics lab in his honor."

"Your grandfather tried to do what?" Gia asked.

On the stage, Helena rambled on about honor, family, and tradition. She finished, handing Stefan the check, and starting to smile for pictures.

Stefan looked down at the big dumb check and started laughing. At first, it was soft, but in no time, it was loud and boisterous. Everyone stared as he continued to chuckle.

"Stefan! This is unbecoming-"

Stefan stared at his mother. The look on her face caused him to laugh harder. As he laughed, he ripped the check into seven different pieces, tossing them out into the audience. A big M knocked AJ Quartermaine in the head.

Helena was livid. "WHAT are you doing?"

Stefan's laughter faded as he stalked across the stage and roughly grabbed his mother by her arm. "A better question would be, what are YOU doing, you rotten bitch!"

~*~  ~*~  ~*~

End of chapter Ten, Please e-mail any feedback by clicking on the mailbox below :)

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