Gia threw a pillow at her brother. "Shut up, Mark!  I don't want to hear it. You go tell those awful jokes to someone else." 

"What's going on in here?" Gia's mother asked, coming into the living room from the kitchen.

Gia pointed to Marcus. "He's telling those god awful jokes again."

Marcus feigned anger, saying, "I take serious umbrage to the word awful. All of my jokes are certified spectacular."

Mother and daughter looked at each other before bursting into laughter. "Certified ridiculous is more like it," Florence said, joining  in the teasing.

Taggert threw his hands up in frustration. "You guys have no taste. I mean, did I tell you the one about the patrolman who came into duty only to find a chicken at his desk?"

Gia stuck her tongue out at her brother and launched another pillow his way.

"Fine, fine, fine," Marcus grumbled, falling back against the cushions of his sofa. "If you can't appreciate real comedy-" "Are you still talking?" Florence asked, grinning. "Get a clue, son. You suck!"

Taggert stubbornly crossed his arms across his chest. Gia rolled her eyes. Florence leans on the arm of Gia's chair. "So, honey," she starts cautiously, "how's Nikolas holding up? You said that he and Emily were really good friends."

"He's okay...I mean, he really misses her, but he's going to be all right. The last few months have been hectic." Gia leaned back in her chair. In the two months since Emily's death, her life had become unrecognizable. She had become Helena's puppet. She found herself babbling on obnoxiously to Nikolas about the importance of family at least once a day. She knew Helena was listening, and she didn't want to give the woman a reason to circulate those tapes. But, for all that talking, Gia had only succeeded in helping Nikolas realize how  much he needed his uncle.

"Well, make sure to send him my love."

"I will, Mama."

"It really is a shame that such a nice girl was murdered for no reason. I met her at the Nurse's Ball, and she was so polite. Even with what Gia had done to her-"

"Must you keep bringing that up?" Gia snapped.

"Those who don't remember the past are destined to repeat it," Florence lectured. "I want to make sure that you're on the straight and narrow from now on. And if that means reminding you of your transgressions, then so be it."

"Gee, thanks so much," Gia replied sarcastically.

Florence poked her daughter in the arm. "That smart mouth is what got you into trouble in the first place. Anyway, as I was saying, Emily was pleasant. I can't imagine why anyone would kill her. Marcus, are you any closer to finding the scum who did this?"

Taggert scratched his head absently. He wished he could tell his mother that he did, but he couldn't. In truth, the police had nothing. They had a bullet and no gun. They had no eyewitnesses. All they had was a long strand of  black hair. The hair was of no use because forensics weren't even sure that it was a hair. The whole case was at a standstill. "No, Mama, we don't have a thing. This is a pretty tricky case."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out..," Gia said, getting up and walking across Taggert's apartment to the window. Marcus watched her carefully. He had noticed how quiet she got whenever someone broached the topic of Emily's murder. It puzzled him, but he figured she just felt guilty over the blackmail scheme.

Gia tossed her braids out behind her. She exhaled slowly, turning around to face the room. "Why do we have to talk about this? It's such a drag."

"We won't, baby," Florence said, sensing that the topic was disturbing her daughter. "Instead, why don't we talk about when you're going back to school. It's time you give up that silly job at the hospital and get back to what really matters; your future."

"I like my job at the hospital."

"That's all fine and well. You like the hospital, become a doctor. You shouldn't be Tony Jones' secretary. You can do much better."

Gia frowned, looking down at her watch. She was grateful to see that it was time for her to go. "I gotta run, now. I'm meeting Nik and his buds for dinner."

Florence helped Gia put her coat on and then kissed her daughter on the forehead. "This conversation is not over."

"I know...it never is. Bye Mama," Gia muttered. She kissed her brother's cheek, whispering to him, "Can't you do something with that woman?"

He smiled, answering, "I'm staying out of this."

Gia sneered at him and then started towards the door. She could her mother's voice shouting out to her, "I heard that!"

"BYE, MAMA!" ~*~ ~*~  ~*~

Gia fished her keys out of her purse and opened the door to Nikolas' cottage. She tossed her coat and purse onto a chair, yelling out, "I'm here!!"

Moments later, he appeared on the top of the stairs. His bottom portion was swathed in a white terry cloth towel. She was practically drooling as she looked up at him. "Why don't we," Gia said walking lazily across the room, "blow off this dinner with Lucky and Liz?" She moved up the stairs, sensuously switching her hips. She came to stand next to him on the landing. "I am sure that we could find something better to do." She ran her finger around his exposed belly button.

Nikolas kissed her passionately, his tongue probing the inside of her mouth. Then he pulled back. "Not a chance, G." He turned around and walked back towards the bathroom.

"You don't play fair!"

"Neither do you, Princess!" he called before closing the door behind him.

Gia wandered down the stairs and plopped down on the sofa. She propped her legs up on the table. She accidentally kicked a pile of mail. It went scattering across the floor. She moved to pick it up, gathering the envelopes and tossing them on the table. One envelope caught her eye. It was obviously an invitation. She ran her fingers over the gold script that spelled out Nikolas' name and address. Curiosity overtook her and she eased the flap open with practiced skill.

She sighed heavily as she read the fancy invitation:

Helena Cassadine cordially invites you to a grand gala for General Hospital...

Gia knew that she would have to make sure that Nikolas attended. Or else, Helena would be upset. She flopped back on the sofa wearily. How had she gotten herself into this mess? 

If only she hadn't stumbled over Stefan's fake request for an intern. If only she hadn't accepted the job, knowing that she was spying on an unsuspecting person.

She tried to shake those ifs out of her head. They were useless. She had done what she had done. Period!

"Is that my mail?" Nikolas asked, coming up behind the sofa.

"Yeah, kinda," she sheepishly replied. "It was an invitation and I couldn't help myself. You don't mind, do you?"

He smiled. "Nope. I don't have any secrets from you. So, what's it an invitation to?"

"Helena is having a party for the hospital."

"Oh..," he said, taking the pieces of mail from her hand and deliberately tossing them into a nearby trash can. "We're running late. We should probably go."

"Nikolas!" Gia cried, jumping up and saving the invitation from the trash. "Don't! Aren't you going to go?"

"No."

"You have to go. Your grandmother is having a party and she invited you. You have to go."

"Why?"

"Because she'd be upset if her own grandson didn't show up. Imagine how bad she'd feel. You have to go!"

Nikolas narrowed his eyes, taking her arm and pulling her to him. He thought he saw fear in her eyes. He knew something was off. "Why do you care so much about Helena's feelings all of a sudden? What are you trying to pull?" ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

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

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