| Chapter 16 �Open the door.� Adonia held the tray in front of her. It was not a request, it was an order. The guard shook his head. �No, I will take it in, he is awake.� �You have seen him?� Adonia pulled the tray away when he reached for it. �Of course I have seen him! I brought him up.� �Is he handsome?� The guard scratched his head. �Is he handsome? How should I know? Give me the tray old woman and go back to your kitchen. No one is allowed in the room by order of the Prince.� Adonia glared at him. �Open this door.� �The Prince would have me shot.� �What do you fear more, being shot or a slow and painful death by starvation?� �You would never���� �Don�t test me Roberto. Open this door or I will whip you as I did when you were a boy and then let you starve for your insolence!� Roberto looked up and down the hall. �He�s violent.� �I will be as well if you do not open this door.� Roberto took out his gun and then his key. He gave Adonia a weary glance and then braced himself as he opened the door. The room was a disaster. Broken glass, broken furniture, paintings ripped from the walls. Adonia pursed her lips. He was a very rude guest indeed. But where was he? Roberto continued to push the door back and then felt the blow to his arm. It didn�t even make him angry. The man had a right to attempt escape, it was simply fruitless and he didn�t know that. Roberto was a rather large man. Perhaps that was why the threat of starvation was more frightening than being shot. For Adonia to deny him food, well that was just unthinkable. He easily knocked the smaller man off his feet. His gun never wavered and as Sonny lay sprawled in the floor, Adonia took her tray in and looked for a place to set it down. Not an easy task with half the furniture broken or turned upside down. �Why wasn�t he placed in a cell?� Adonia asked. �Alexis wouldn�t hear of it.� Sonny tried to get his bearings, the wind had been knocked out of him. �Where is Alexis?� He snapped. �She is at dinner.� �I demand to see her now!� Adonia gave Roberto a quick smile before turning to face the most ill-fated and bad-mannered guest she had the misfortune of dealing with in years. The family could be rude, yes, but guests should know better. �Will you please stand? I would prefer not to address a man in the floor.� �Who are you?� Sonny climbed to his feet. He briefly thought of rebelling but something in her attitude and the guard�s stature told him it wouldn�t get him anything but kicked. �I am Adonia.� �You a Cassadine?� The guard had to stifle a laugh. Adonia simply folded her hands in front of her. �No, I am the cook.� �I want to see Stavros! Where is the bastard?� �He is not a bastard, I assure you. If he were, you would not be in your current predicament. He is the Prince and you will address him as such.� �I don�t take orders from cooks.� �And I don�t take orders from vulgar, boorish men of little to no consequence on this island.� Sonny stared at her for a moment. �Do you know who I am?� �Yes, you are Sonny Corinthos, a common criminal who somehow managed to catch the eye of my Alexis.� �Your Alexis?� �That girl is precious to me.� �That girl stole my child! Where is my daughter?� �I have no idea. But Alexis� daughter is in her nursery, sleeping I imagine.� Sonny sighed, �I need to speak to Alexis immediately.� �No, you need to eat.� �I�m not hungry.� �Don�t be ridiculous, you must have worked up quite an appetite destroying this room. That table was an antique, brought over from Russia����� �Let me out and you won�t have to worry about your precious antiques.� �That is not my decision to make, I am only the cook so the only decision I do have power over is what you eat and when you eat it.� �I told you, I�m not hungry.� Adonia huffed. She crossed the room, righted a table he�d knocked into the floor and pulled up a chair. She moved the tray from the dresser to the table and pointed to the chair. �Sit.� �What is it?� �Food.� �I don�t���. �Roberto, tell the man what happens to guests who refuse my cooking.� �It�s not pretty.� �You could be dead tomorrow and this could be your last meal. Or you could be here for a very, very long time and regret irritating me. Now what point is there in wearing on the nerves of an old woman who only offers you nourishment?� Sonny frowned and took a seat. He picked up his fork and poked at the asparagus. �It is not poisonous.� �How do I know that?� �That would be rather obvious. When one poisons someone, they try to have a rather large crowd present, it diverts suspicion, not that it matters, if I wanted you dead I could simply tell Roberto to shoot you.� �Why don�t you?� Sonny grumbled as he picked at his plate. �I�m curious about you. I expected a handsome man but you look rather common to me. Corinthos is a Greek name though so you simply look like most of the men around here. So if not your looks, how did you capture the heart of my girl?� �Charm.� Sonny grinned. Adonia shook her head, �Your behavior has been anything but charming thus far.� �Well, I don�t want your heart.� �No, you want your daughter and you seem to be going about it in all the wrong ways.� �That�s between me and Alexis.� �Do you see her here? She�s not coming to your rescue.� �I heard the guard, she ordered them not to lock me in a cell.� �No, she requested you not be put in a cell and the Prince must have been feeling generous. I doubt that will continue when he sees the state of this room.� �Alexis will get me out, I know her.� Adonia reached down and righted another chair to sit across the table from him. �You think you know Alexis?� �Yes, I do.� �That will accomplish nothing here Mr. Corinthos. It is not Alexis you need to worry about, but her family.� Sonny took a sip of very good wine and leaned back. �This is good, how long have you been the cook here?� �Since before Alexis arrived.� �That�s right, she wasn�t born here.� �No.� �But you cooked for her?� �Yes.� �How come she doesn�t know anything about food?� �It never interested her. I doubt most Cassadines know how to boil water, they never had to.� �Alexis exists on popcorn. She�d never even had biscotti.� �Ah, biscotti, the food of Italian peasants and people who do not care if they chip their teeth.� Sonny looked up. �Biscotti is���.� �Biscotti cannot be properly digested by the human body unless it is first soaked in coffee. It is the desert equivalent of mopping gravy up with bread. Civilized people know better. Biscotti falls into the fruit cake category.� �Fruit cake category?� �Fruit cake looks appetizing but rarely is. Food should not only present well but be edible. When the two theories reversed roles I will never know. It�s like modern California cuisine, very pretty with little substance. Some American tourist thought biscotti was charming and brought it home and now everyone eats it because it is trendy, not because it is good.� �I�ve had good biscotti.� �Well you won�t have any here. We eat scones. If you cease in destroying the furniture you may have one for breakfast tomorrow.� �You like me.� Adonia rose, �No, I do not. I pity you, you are arrogant and probably won�t last long here.� �I still need to speak to Alexis.� �Yes you do but that is up to Alexis. I would tone down your attitude Mr. Corinthos. This is a small island and can only hold so much ego.� �Stavros takes up a lot of space.� She smiled. �Yes he does.� �I�ll have to fall back on charm.� �You aren�t as long on that as you think.� Roberto and Adonia left the room. She�d help him, he could feel it. Adonia crossed herself as she made her way back to the kitchen. He was a dead man. The poor child. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ �Xenia, I will see you in the morning.� Stavros tickled her chin and kissed her forehead just outside the study. Just outside. As in, blocking her from getting in. What the HELL was this? The men retire to the study for brandy and cigars and she gets a chin tickle and a swift boot to the ass? Nikolas Cassadine needed to DIE! Okay, so she could be shot for even thinking that but�..something really, really bad needed to happen to him! Like now. She gritted her teeth and smiled at Stavros. �Nice Pet, don�t bite.� He teased. She growled, turned around and stormed off. �I�ll pay for that tomorrow.� Stavros smiled as he closed the door. Nikolas looked around. �Alone at last.� �Yes.� �Is this the scene where I cower before you and beg for mercy?� Nikolas fell back into an oversized chair near the fire. �Cassadines don�t cower.� �Grovel?� �Boring.� �Shall I swear my allegiance and plot to kill you later?� �Rather Shakespearean, at least it shows initiative, now that is a quality my dear son seems to lack.� �Yes, I missed out on several Cassadine traits.� Nikolas sighed. �The coldness, the craziness, the desire to take over the world��..� �How long did you spend plotting to �dethrone� me tonight, Nikolas? You are rather obvious or perhaps it is just the bond between us that makes it so easy for me to see the wheels turning. You gave up on Gregor ten seconds after you sat down, but Xenia�.you want Xenia.� �What is her story? Why don�t I know her?� �Clever boy, don�t even deny it.� �Stefan kept her away.� �Clever Stefan, didn�t want the competition.� �You believe Uncle saw her as competition? She is too young, only a few years older than I am. You are wrong, there is another reason he kept her away but you want me to believe Uncle feared her. He did not.� �How do you know? You said yourself you don�t know her.� �Neither do you. How old was she when you �died�?� Stavros sat across from him. �Seven�eight perhaps.� �So she was only a child. Were you close to her then?� �I hardly remember her. I had no use for children until you were born.� Nikolas stared at the door and imagined her listening through it. But she wouldn�t be so obvious and her pride wouldn�t allow it. He knew that. He knew that as certainly as he knew he would never do it either. �She was wild.� Stavros said quietly. �I remember that.� �Where did she go? She was never here when I was growing up.� �Away at school, camps, ballet��.� �Ballet?� �Yes, she studied for a long time. Stefan forced her to.� �Uncle forced her?� Stavros shook his head, stood up and poured himself a drink. �Forced�perhaps not the proper word. That was how Stefan chose for her to spend her time. She excelled at it and so she was sent to dance schools for breaks and holidays.� Nikolas picked at a loose thread on the chair. �Holidays�.she was alone.� He whispered. �Yes, quite.� �Why isn�t she a dancer?� �She hates it. I said she was good, I did not say she enjoyed it.� �It still does not explain why she was kept at such a distance.� �Ask your Uncle. I was dead.� He smiled before draining his glass. �What happened when you came here? How did the two of you become so close?� �You won�t take her from me boy. My toy, I saw it first.� Nikolas leaned forward, �Helena never taught you to share?� Stavros sat back and laughed, �Mother taught me to conquer, never share.� �She�.is�.valuable.� �And mine, find your own.� Nikolas shook his head. �Unlce had Alexis. You have Xenia. What am I to do, choose from among Tony�s ruins?� �The entire lot would not equal one Xenia.� �Were you close to her Father?� �Still digging?� �I want to know. I want to understand. She does not like me, she will not obey me, she is clever, would probably plot against me�..� �But if you could change that?� �I could do anything.� Nikolas closed his eyes and leaned back. �I loved both of my Uncles. Do not judge Tony by his children, he was a good man himself, he simply had poor taste in women. Victor on the other hand had exquisite taste.� �He was married.� �Once, though she died when Xenia was born.� �And he only had one child?� �And she was a miracle. He and Katia tried for years.� �And she died giving birth?� �Yes, though some say���� Nikolas opened his eyes. �What?� �They say it was not the labor that killed her but�the nurse.� �Does no one in this family escape the misery?� �It seems not.� �Tell me.� �She was born in Argentina. I believe he was there on business. It was strange, all Cassadine children of legitimate birth that I can remember are born here on the island. But they were far away�.Argentina�some where� But they had been gone some time and I only know from rumor but they say Victor was having an affair with the nurse. Most out of character for him actually, I don�t believe he ever strayed when he was married.� �Well he was unique then.� �I never strayed.� �How long were you and Mother married? A year?� Stavros frowned. �Yor Mother did enough straying for both of us.� �Well you were drunk���� �As I was saying, Victor never strayed but perhaps that wasn�t even his choice. Katia was a clever woman. She always reminded me of Mother.� Stavros looked nostalgic. Nikolas tried not to roll his eyes. �But�� �But he was apparently carrying on with the nurse and moments after Xenia was born, she waited until they were alone and she smothered Katia with a pillow.� He said it in a rush. �What became of the nurse?� �Found dead, only hours later, at the foot of the stairs.� �Victor?� �We will never know. But he was distraught. He returned to the island, with Xenia and became rather obsessed with the child.� �I can imagine.� Stavros was thoughtful, �Come to think of it, that may be why I didn�t really know her. We were never alone with her. Victor spent every second he could with her. He even took her on business trips.� �I suppose Mikkos did not approve.� �He did not, there were arguments but Victor fired one Nanny after another because they never pleased him and later, they never pleased Xenia. She was spoiled. I mean spoiled beyond even Cassadine standards.� �I went through my share of nannies.� �You missed your Mother.� �But I had Uncle, Xenia had no one.� �When Victor went to prison���� Stavros paused. �Yes?� Stavros stood up to pour himself another drink. �You cannot imagine���it is impossible to describe the state this family was in after Father�s death. Tony�s death. And we could not even secure Victor�s release. That child. Running, screaming, demanding, confused�.a violent reminder of all our failures and losses.� �She was only a child.� �And no one knew what to do with her. We were grieving. She would throw fits, nearly have convulsions screaming for him���throwing herself in the floor of the front hall. Crying and crying�.� �Enough.� Stavros wandered over to the window. �Did you cry Nikolas?� �Not like that.� �Why did you cry?� �I didn�t know why�.but I knew I should. I don�t know if that is better or worse. She wanted what she missed, I didn�t know what I missed.� �I don�t ever remember crying. I remember being sad but never crying.� �Ever?� �Never.� �Did you want something?� �I wanted everything, all the time.� �What do you want now?� �I want to know what you want.� �I want to leave.� �You lie, you have set your sites on Xenia as your second, that shows you wish to stay.� �Maybe I will take her with me.� �She cannot leave. Neither can I. Neither can you. Not until Alexis fixes things.� �What if Alexis can�t do it?� �Then she will remain here as well. You know I can keep you here. Stefan is probably dead. I haven�t heard anything from Mother in months. No one is coming for you.� Think again. It was a long shot, but the only one he had. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jax listened to the messages again. Message one. Jax, it�s Nikolas. I�ll have to make this short. Something is up with Alexis. She�s gone home, to the island. I think Helena is behind it. I can probably handle things but just in case, if you don�t hear from us in a few days, well�.you�re about all I got. I didn�t even tell Lucky because I don�t think it�s a good idea to mix him up in this. But you�ve dealt with her before. I hope you get this before���beep. Damn voice mail. Message two. JAX! Get your F****** Ass back here! Your damn screw ball girlfriend has taken my husband off to some FU ***** island! That Bi*** Alexis has stolen Sonny�s KID! When I get my hands around her *(&)() &(*%*&% $^% neck! I am going to !@#$@#% #$%$^�..beep. Um�.this didn�t sound good. But it explained why Brenda wasn�t in Lisbon. |