Ben watched Carmen as she watched the men exit the ornate room. He wasn't sure exactly what he had just agreed to but his gut told him that it wasn't good.

All the legwork he had done, wasn't nearly enough preparation for the scene that had unfolded before him. Up until this point he had thought Danny's refusal to accept his rightful position would be but a bump in the road for his mother, yet now after the ire he had seen he wasn't so sure.

"Close the door on your way out," she instructed Dietz.

"But......." he said knowing full well that he wasn't about to stop the powerful machine in his boss's mind. He only wished that he could. This plan of hers what ever it may have been to involve Ben Warren was going to blow up in her face. Ben wasn't the answer to the problem. Danny was the only answer Bernardo and the others would accept.

"No buts Dietz, close the door and leave us!" she said her voice straining to keep her composure.

Ben watched as Dietz complied with Carmen's order but he could clearly see that Mr. Dietz wasn't going willingly.

"That was quite a show," Ben finally said as Carmen paced about the room thoughts running rampant through her head, "So just exactly where is your son Carmen? I am certain of the fact that he is not out expanding the business."

Ben's knowledge picked at her already exposed nerves. Things were falling apart around her. She had known that this day would come but without Danny there to play his part, even if it was only that of figure head, things were getting a bit too dicey even for her.

"I wish I knew," she said quietly despising the fact that there was something irrevocably out of her control. Danny's disappearance had made her vulnerable.

"So my first observation that you son has run away from home wasn't that far from the mark then I would have to say," Ben gained a bit of the upper hand in the room suddenly. From the displayed he had witnessed he surmised that Carmen's back was against the wall on this. No matter what she had envisioned for the two of them it wasn't about to happen without Danny.

"I have to find him," she said more to herself then to him.

"And that is a problem for you why?" Ben wasn't understanding.

"Daniel has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be found. And discovery of him will not be good for all concerned."

"Exactly what are you trying to say here?"

"Daniel knows things. Things that could be devastating to all involved. He made it clear that should anything happen to him that he made arrangements for the ultimate downfall of the families."

"Am I to understand that Danny isn't interested in the family business and the band of merry men doesn't know this yet?" Ben was amused by the fact that Carmen had let herself be put in such a precarious situation.

"YES!" Carmen spat having grown tired of Ben's comedic look at things.

She slumped down in her chair at the head of the table. She had worked so hard to get there she wasn't about to lose her position now. No matter the threats she still had the control and the power. Carmen could only imagine the things Bernardo and the others were discussing upon their departure.

"Dietz," she shouted into the intercom.

"Yes boss," the man's voice filled the air.

"I want you to step up security around the house. No one is to enter without my knowledge. Not so much as a delivery is to make it past the gate without your personal inspection! Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes boss."

"A bit on edge aren't we Carmen?" Ben questioned.

"I haven't stayed alive in this business this long by throwing caution to the wind. We have to find Daniel."

"We?" Ben echoed.

"Yes we! You signed on for the job and now you know too many of the players to think you can just walk away."

"So are you the one now issuing the threats?"

"Not threats Ben. I see them more as the facts at hand. These men aren't playing games. Bernardo has his own agenda here and it by far doesn't include me remaining at the head of this table. Even though it is MY rightful place."

"But you just said that Danny doesn't want anything to do with the business," Ben was getting lost in the maze of things that he by far didn't understand. He was ruthless by his own right however this game had an entirely different set of rules to it.

"He doesn't need to want the business. He just needs to be the one sitting in this chair. I will still ultimately be the one in charge. It's just an optical illusion for the archaic men that occupy the other seats."

"Then exactly what is it you needed me for again? Since private investigation isn't my style."

"I need you for what I told you. Private counsel and to be my right hand man. I know all about your misdeeds Mr. Warren. And just because they weren't appreciated by those in that sector of the business world doesn't mean that those talents couldn't be put to good use in mine," the Carmen finally reemerging.

"Yes I have bent a few rules along the way but that by far doesn't qualify me for the credit that you are doling out."

"You let me worry about who I do and do not give credit to. First things first we need to find Daniel."

"Like I said private investigation isn't my cup of tea."

"But I'm sure you know someone who's forte that might be?" she said more in statement then question form.

"Perhaps."

"Then might I suggest you start making some calls."

"And tell them what exactly? I am still in the dark a bit here."

"Go see Dietz. He will give you access to all the files necessary on Daniel. Things he was working on, people he might have been in contact with. Anything remotely connected to him in the months before he left."

"And this will help me how?"

"Daniel didn't disappear all on his own. And up until this afternoon I wasn't all that concerned about where it is he went. But Bernardo is hell bent on getting what he wants and I don't intend on being a casualty of war thank you. I have worked far to hard to make this empire what it is. Daniel will be brought back into the fold no matter what I have to do to ensure that."

"Casualty of war?"

"Let's get one thing straight Mr. Warren...if I wanted someone who's only job was to repeat whatever I say I would have saved myself a great deal of money and bought a parrot! You are a smart man Ben and I know you are well aware that Bernardo, or any of the other's in this room do not make idle threats. Daniel's return is a key role in the continuation of The Santos Family. I don't intend on disappearing from the scene no matter what my son's intentions are. FIND HIM!!!!!!"

Carmen pressed a button on the intercom again and the panel that she and Ben had walked through earlier again slid open enabling him to exit. He almost turned back to say something but then thought better of it. He had indeed tangled himself in the black widow's web and there was no way out of it now, alive that is.

Danny deposited the basket in the trunk and closed it. He looked at the back of Melanie's head full of massive curls. It still amazed him the feelings that she had conjured up in him in such a short period of time. The more he looked at her the easier it was to buy into his uncle's explanation of things. His resolve was fading fast.

"You ready?" he asked as he took his position behind the wheel.

"Where are we going?" Michelle asked looking into his mischievous dark eyes. The reservations she had had were gone the minute he returned with a picnic basket in hand. No one could be cruel enough to have such a romantic set-up for a break up of sorts.

"You'll see," he returned starting the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

Danny wound the car through the heart of the city to the outskirts of town. Michelle watched as the scenery passed by. Finally Danny pulled off onto a dirt road that opened up into a clearing. Michelle saw a small pond in the distance.

"It's beautiful," she said removing her body from the car.

"I thought you might like it."

"I do," she breathed a silent sigh of relief. The fears from this afternoon had vanished into the crisp night air. She was letting Tony Rodgers words enter now. She was glad that she hadn't doomed Danny like she had originally intended.

Danny took her hand in his and led her to the edge of the water. It was spectacular. "Would you like to walk for a bit before we eat?" he asked gazing at her gorgeous face.

"Yes."

Michelle was letting herself get lost in the picturesque beauty before her. The pond was illuminated with the approaching moonlight. The water was hues of deep greens and blues almost black in some places yet the moon's bright light glistened just below the surface. In many ways this place reminded her of the lighthouse and the beach. It had a peacefulness about it that she had only been able to find there.

They strolled around the pond in a comfortable silence that neither chose to break with idle words. Right now words weren't necessary. The gentle way that Danny draped his arm over her shoulder and the way she brought he hand to meet his was enough for both of them to know what the other was thinking.

"I brought some wine, would you like a glass?" he asked as they sat down on the blanket that Danny had carefully laid out at the shoreline.

"Yes." Michelle reached for the glass that Danny offered. She looked on as he pulled plate after plate from the basket, "You must have had the men in the kitchen working over time. Look at this feast."

"Nothing is too good for you. Besides I wasn't exactly sure what you liked. I just wanted to be prepared."

"Well that you are."

"Here try one of these crab cakes. Reggie says they are all the rave." He brought the sample to her lips.

"He was certainly right. It is delicious."

They went on tasting and talking for a while before either had the nerve to broach the subject as to exactly why they were there. "You said that we needed to talk," Michelle finally had enough nerve to ask.

"Yes, yes I did," Danny drew in a deep breath.

"Well?"

"I just wanted to be sure that you are ready for this. I know that you have been hurt before. I just want you to know that we will go at whatever speed it is you want to go," Danny said his original plan lost to him.

Sitting there along side of her, he couldn't risk it. Didn't want to chance that he could lose her. He was so drawn to this girl that he couldn't imagine her not being there. And telling his story was certain to ensure that she wouldn't be.

For the moment he had bought into the words and thoughts that Albert had told him earlier. That he had everything under control. He knew that Carmen wasn't about to let anything happen to him because his safety was ultimately the only way to ensure that her empire would remain status quo.

He deserved a good life as much as anyone else for that matter. And that life included Melanie Branson.

True relief filled Michelle. It was like she could finally let out the breath that she had been holding in her chest waiting for the other shoe to drop. She stared into his eyes. They looked as deep as the pond before them. There were no words to express the elation that she was feeling. She was getting a true second chance this time. A chance at a complete and fulfilled life. She tried not to concentrate on the fact that someone's death had brought this chance about. She only fixated her thoughts on the life she could finally start living.

Michelle leaned in closer to him. Close enough for Danny to feel her hot breath against his lips, "What do you think about this speed?" she asked softly bringing her lips to his parting them with her tongue. His willingness to explore her mouth as well was all the answer that she needed.

Danny pulled back for a moment to drink in all the things about her he could. The twinkle in her eye, the softness of her features everything that he found mesmerizing about her. He was unable to grasp the concept that he was deserving of all of this. That even with the sins that would follow him that he could have something this good, this pure be his.

Michelle closed the distance between their lips again. She felt her need for his touch growing deep within her. She let her lips travel to his ears as she suckled his lobes letting her short hot bursts of breath escape into them. She heard Danny's soft moaning as her lips moved further down his neck. He sat there totally in awe of the power she has over his body. The instant that she touched him he lost all control over himself.

He felt her shiver as he brought his body along side of hers. He laid her gently on the blanket as his fingers trailed the features of her face. His touch sending pulses through her already heated body. Easily he toyed with the buttons of her shirts. Even the slightest graze of his fingers through the fabric had Michelle's heart skipping a beat. He watched as her teeth tugged at her lower lip and eyes went to where his hands were beginning to undo the buttons revealing the lace bra and soft flesh of her body. Gracefully he dropped the shirt off her shoulders bringing his mouth to base of her neck. His tongue teased her. The shock waves of excitement forcing her nipples to stand erect. Danny easily walked his fingers to the deep cavern between her breasts. Michelle arched her neck as he slipped his fingertips between the thin fabric and her skin. Silently she could hear the voices in her head begging for him to touch her nipples.

If he had heard her unspoken thoughts his fingers did just as she had thought. First rubbing them gently and then more forcefully taking them between his thumb and forefinger until she was crazed with pleasure. Before she knew what she was doing, Michelle was slipping her bra off herself to reveal her breast to him completely. Swiftly he brought his mouth to engulf one breast then the next her soft cries of desire filling his ears. His tongue teased each peak until Michelle was powerless to stop her hips from arching in anticipation.

She brought his hips against her enflamed core to only feel his heat as well. She felt his manhood pulsing beneath the thin fabric of his dress pants. She held herself against him letting her imagination get the better of her. She wanted to feel him inside of her in a way that she had never wanted before. She slipped off his belt and button at the top of his pants. Her hands found their way to his throbbing manhood. She cupped him in her hands feeling the power he possessed there. She could see his ragged breaths as was unable to control the volcano that was about to erupt under her caress.

Before either of them knew what had happened they were laying naked before the other. It was as though instinct had come to claim them.

Michelle laid her body between his open legs. She let herself toy with him heightening both of their pleasure until their desire was so great for the other that in one fail swoop they consumed each other.

The fever of the moment grew until neither of them could see straight. The melodic rhythm that they fell into was something that Michelle had never experienced before. She had found a perfect match in Danny as he had in her. There was no denying it and there was no turning back, for either of them.

The ringing phone behind the bar persisted as Joe hopped from customer to customer, "Do you think that maybe you could get the damn phone?" he spat at Carl who wasn't doing anything more but starring at the device as it rang on.

"I thought Danny instructed you that you were in charge of the bar functions, ALL of its functions," Carl quipped enjoying every minute of throwing Danny's words of authority around.

"If you haven't noticed I'm kinda busy here," Joe said stating the obvious.

"Is one of you planning on answering that god damned phone," the edge to Albert's voice was a mixture of so many emotions that he was having difficulty wading through the maze of them. "Hello?" he said gruffly into the mouthpiece. "We are quite busy. What is it you want Jenny?"

Carl's ear perked at the mention of Albert's wife's name. He was a bit disappointed that she had not been at the club that night.

"I will be home after the club closes," even though Carl could only hear Albert's side of the conversation it was hard to miss that both were still on the outs due to what had transpired the previous night. "No Danny can't close tonight. It doesn't matter where he is!" Carl watched as Albert's cheeks reddened and his voice harden. "I am not about to justify anything to you. I will be home when I am. We can talk about this then and only then."

"Problem?" Carl asked as Albert slammed the phone into its cradle.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Albert," Carl began not certain if he should or not, "You know there once was a time I was your right hand. If you need to head home I can most definitely handle closing up this evening. That's been my job for years now," Carl did his best to hide the anger that had been growing inside him since Danny's arrival. That emotion at the moment wouldn't serve him in his present endeavor.

"This place is my obligation. Seeing it prosper is as much my dream as it is Danny's."

"I have just noticed that things with you and Jenny have gotten a bit strained," Carl stepped lightly as he navigated this subject. "I couldn't help but over hear that you were speaking with her. I just want you to know that if you need to go to her," he paused, "the club will run smoothly under my control," Carl laid on the concern as thick as his emotions would allow.

"My marriage isn't any concern of yours," Albert returned forcefully, "What happens between my wife and I, hell my family in general isn't open for discussion! Am I making myself clear?"

"I just wanted to do what you pay me for," Carl countered, "That is what you pay me for....to run this place."

"You were hired to run my restaurant and if you haven't noticed.......take a good look around Carl this isn't just a restaurant anymore," Albert's voice was ice cold as were his eyes. Carl knew that he had just crossed over some imaginary line into a place where he didn't belong.

"Understood," was all Carl said doing his very best to remain tight lipped with his new found information on Albert and his "family".

"I'll be in the office," Albert said as he headed away from the bar.

The door slammed hard, its sound resonating throughout the room. Albert flopped his physically and mentally exhausted frame in the large leather desk chair. In the few short months since Danny's arrival, Albert felt as if he had aged years. Between the fights with his wife, bolstering Danny's confidence to make a go of his life and his own inner turmoil about the life he had once led, Albert was completely played out.

His wife was a mere shadow of the woman she once was and his marriage was a shell of what it once had been as well. Albert was swimming in a sea of complete uncertainty. The loyalty that once was the corner stone of his existence was now the rock that had had shattered his glass house.

Albert ran his fingers through his thinning hair and sighed heavily Jenny's conversation playing over and over again. She insisted on remaining steadfast in her conviction that Danny was the root of all the evil in their lives. It hurt him to admit that he, himself was that evil not his nephew. Danny had only been the spark to ignite a still ever smoldering fire.

He hated himself for the place he had traveled to with his wife. A place where neither one of them knew the other. Albert knew in his heart that that couldn't be blamed on Danny's presence. In all reality they had lost each other the night that Richard died. Both of them closed off a part of their soul to the other. A part that was too painful to think about much less talk about. All Danny had really done was push all those hidden feelings and fears to the forefront once again.

Albert's eyes came to rest on the golden frame sitting on the corner of his desk. There she was. The woman he had pledged to spend his life with. To this day his heart still jumped when she entered a room. Deep down he knew it was the same for her. They had just let so many things get in their way.

For a long time Albert had let himself believe that he was the sole barer of the problem, but now seeing Jenny in this light he knew that she too was caring her share of resentment as well. In a way he should have been thanking Danny, for if it hadn't been for him they would have continued down same path of coexistence and nothing more.

Albert picked up the phone and dialed his familiar number, "Jenny," his voice whispered, "I have been thinking and I think we need to talk."

"About?" she steeled herself for the inevitable. She had always known that this day would come.

"Us," he couldn't help but sound exasperated by the wall that Jenny had surrounded herself with. Not that he blamed her for it; he was just tired of trying to scale it.

"I think we both know where we stand in terms of us," she countered sarcastically.

"Jenny, please give me a chance to explain....."

"Explain what? You can no longer explain away the past. It is what it is. And unfortunately the past had given me a crystal clear picture of what my future holds for me. And frankly I am not interested."

"So you think that leaving me you leave it all behind? The things that we have chasing us will always be there. You can't run......."

"I know you can't run from the MOB!!!" she spat.

"That's not what I was going to say," he did his best to remain calm, "Why is it that you always bring it back to the MOB and to Carmen!!" Albert's ire grew even against his best attempts to stop it, "You can't keep blaming what happened to us on those forces!!"

"The hell I can't. They took my son away from me."

"Jenny are you forgetting I played a crucial role in that too?" he winced awaiting for her reply.

"I know," her voice was barely above a whisper for fear of saying the realization aloud.

"I think it's time we dealt with that," he stated.

"I don't think that we can," she returned.

"I know we can," he countered, "and I love you Jenny. As much as I have always loved you."

"I know. I love you too. I just can't......."

"Can't what?"

"I can't compete with that life.....with Danny."

"This isn't a competition!"

"But it is."

"Jenny I am coming home. We have put the pieces of our life back together."

"And if we can't?" she questioned.

"We will!"

Albert walked out of the room without even noticing the fact that Carl Beck was lurking in the shadows. He couldn't help hear the name Carmen Santos once again. He was intrigued as to why Danny's mother was such a sore spot for them all.

It was obvious that Albert wouldn't be forthcoming with any other information that he was in need of but he couldn't give up now. Something told him that if he stirred the pot long enough all he would need to know would bubble to the surface.

Danny listened to Melanie's easy breathing in his ear, as she lay naked against him. He was completely in awe of what had just happened between them. It wasn't at all what he had expected to take place. By all rights he had wanted to tell her everything about his life. He wanted to give himself that clean slate so to speak. But that hadn't taken place. In an instant he had lost the nerve.

But where did his moment of weakness leave them? In the same place he had been before they had made love. He was still Danny Sampson trapped in Danny Santos's body. He searched his thoughts wondering if he could continue with this charade knowing that sooner or later it was all going to catch up with him and Melanie if he kept her a part of his life. In good conciseness, could he keep her in the dark about everything? When he could no longer hide the things in his past, would she hate him for deceiving her? There were so many questions with too few answers or more importantly answers that Danny didn't much care for.

He let his eyes wander to her beautiful face. She looked so at peace lying there in the crux of his arm. He couldn't fathom her not being a part of his existence. For whatever reason, she was a part of him. It was more then the fact that they had connected on a physical level. He had felt that connection long before they had ever made love. It was something that ran far deeper then just the physical it was almost spiritual. Danny found himself thinking about things Ray had always said about soul mates. Up until the time he had met Melanie, he had assumed that was nothing more then just talk but now he wasn't quite sure.

Danny lay there looking up at the night sky illuminated with tiny flashes of light from the stars. At this very moment all rational thoughts escaped him. Danny was ready to do whatever necessary to continue to be with her. Damn the consequences.

Damn the consequences he laughed to himself. Those consequences were high ones. He couldn't bring himself to truly think about them. So what if he had provided insurance for himself. In all reality he knew that that offered little security. The only thing it did assure him was that Carmen would leave him alone. But there was no guarantee about the others. Danny knew how much Bernardo was expecting him to step up to the plate and take the reins. He had waited patiently for the last seven years now for that to happen and it hadn't. Danny was sure that he had grown tired of the endless waiting.

They would do whatever necessary to rid themselves of Carmen, a woman who they never truly wanted at the head of the table in the first place. It could have been so easy for them to dispose of her. Danny knew how simple it was to have a problem vanish. There was a part of him that was horrified by the thought that his mother could be whacked in effort to bring the organization back into it's proper alignment, yet there was a small part of him that couldn't muster an ounce of feeling for it. And that frightened him. The thought that he had lost all feeling for a woman whom had once meant the world to him. Danny tried to rationalize that those times had been so long ago that they were now null and void. He tried to recall the woman who had been there to pick him up when he had fallen learning to ride his two wheeler for the first time, the woman who walked him to the bus stop on the first day of kindergarten. He couldn't find that woman in his thoughts. All he could see was the power hungry woman she had become. And that saddened him.

"Hi," Michelle's soft voice thick with sleep startled him from his thoughts.

"Hi," he couldn't resist leaning in to kiss her again.

Michelle snuggled closer to him letting herself get lost in his warm embrace. "You provide one hell of a picnic supper, Mr. Sampson," she smiled.

"Thank you," he returned.

"Actually thank you."

"For what?" he was a little confused by the gratitude in her voice.

"For showing me how to live again. That I deserved a second chance at.....," she hesitated in whether to speak these words or not, "a second chance at love."

For the moment Danny was stunned into silence. He wanted to believe that love was where they were headed but actually hearing the words aloud made him realize how real this all truly was. Part of him was elated by the thought yet a larger part was scared to death. He was scared by the fact that one day she would know who he really was and hate him for it.

"Danny????" his silence left her a bit apprehensive.

"Huh?" he returned still lost in his own thoughts.

"I'm sorry...I didn't...I mean...." Michelle said tripping over her words as she moved away from Danny in search of her clothes. The crashing reality washing over her like a tidal wave. She was once again getting her heart trashed.

"Melanie, wait a minute," Danny said fully understanding now what must be going through her mind.

"Wait for what?" she said holding back the tears that were threatening to fall past her thick lashes, "For you to tell me what a fool I just made of myself?!?!"

"NO! NEVER!!!" he couldn't believe what she was saying. He hadn't known how deep her hurts actually ran, "That's not what I meant....not at all."

"Then why do you have the deer in the headlight look in your eyes as soon as I dared to say the word love?"

Danny struggled with the words to make this make sense. If that was even possible without dragging out every part of his life, which was something he wasn't ready to do. If he ever would be.

"See, you are still speechless," she said as she did up the buttons on her shirt.

"Melanie," he grabbed for her, "Please come here," he pulled her back to the blanket.

"Why???? Is this the part where you try to let me down easy? For the record been there done that," she stated harshly.

"I wouldn't do that to you, ever. I wouldn't have made love to you then tell you to get lost!" he was hurt that she would have thought but in the back of his mind he understood why she did, "Listen to me." I am not going to let you down easy. Frankly, I don't ever intend on letting you go. So what do you think about that?" he questioned with a slight smile.

"What?" she whispered fearing she had misunderstood his words.

"How many times or ways do I have to say this? I want to be with you Melanie. You are all I can think about. And as for what happened with us here tonight it was anything but foolish. It was magical and spectacular. I have never in my life felt more connected to a person then I do right now. Even if we had never made love, Melanie I couldn't let you go. I can't explain it but you are a part of me. Does any of this make any sense?"

It was now Michelle's turn to be stunned into silence. She so desperately wanted to believe Danny's words.

"Melanie, I love you," Danny stated pulling her back into his embrace.

"Can I trust this? Can I really believe that this is real?" she questioned.

"You can trust my feelings for you. They are real." Danny couldn't help but feel a bit of a heal at the moment. Trust wasn't a word that he should have been bantering around. One day he was certain it would come back to haunt him.

"I want to. I want to so badly cause I can't help myself I'm falling in love with you too Danny," Michelle said not believing that she let those words pass by her lips.

Ben sat at the large desk looking through all the papers that Dietz had placed before him. He didn't have a clue what it was he was even searching for. Out of all the things in front of him nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary or gave away any secrets to where the hell Danny had taken off to. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The words of the man he only knew as Bernardo played again in his mind. That there wouldn't be a Santos Family without Danny, had his mind racing. Exactly what had he agreed to? Right now it looked as though he had agreed to put himself in the middle of one hell of a turf war. That wasn't a great place to be considering he knew he was the most expendable of all the players here.

"Mrs. Santos would like to know if you have drawn any conclusions yet from the information on Danny," Dietz questioned.

"What?" Ben was stunned. He had only been looking at these things for less then a half-hour.

"Do you have any idea where Danny may have gone?"

You can't be serious."

"Dead serious," Dietz said coldly still angered by the fact that Ben now sat in the spot he used to occupy.

"Well you tell Carmen I am far from being psychic and if she expected me to wave my magic wand and come up with the answer in a matter of minutes, she is going to be highly disappointed."

"She expects you to perform the job she instructed you to do," Dietz forced.

"And if you would leave me in peace I might actually have a chance to do that," Ben countered with the same attitude given to him by Carmen's henchman.

"Let's get on thing straight Warren," Dietz said leaning across the expansive desk, "You may be the man of the hour, but you are as replaceable as the next. So don't forget that shall we?"

"Oh Dietz are we a little jealous?" Ben quipped, "Angry that you are no longer Carmen's right hand man?" Ben was enjoying playing games with this stooge.

"Think what you want Warren, but I know far more then you ever will!!"

Dietz shut the door behind him wondering if it was about time to join forces with those that he knew would soon be taking over.

Michelle stood to the side and looked on as Danny gathered the remains of their picnic. This night had turned out nothing like she had expected it to. All thoughts of a broken heart were now nothing more then faded memories. The whole thing that had transpired between them was unimaginable. She felt the need to pinch herself to be sure that this wasn't all just some elaborate dream of sorts.

She let her eyes follow Danny's frame as he made his way back to the car. Goose bumps raised on her flesh at the recollection of the perfection they had experienced in one another. In the blink of an eye, Jesse and the times she had spent in his arms paled by comparison to those of Danny Sampson. The titillation that still resonated about her body was intoxicating. Michelle never wanted this dizzy feeling to leave her. It was pure elation.

"What are you smiling about?" he questioned coming to stand face to face with her.

"I just can't believe that this is real. I keep waiting to wake up and find out it was all just a beautiful dream."

"Does this feel like a dream to you?" Danny wrapped his arms around her slender waist and gave her a tight squeeze.

"No," she gasped feigning breathlessness all the while reveling in having his body next to hers once more.

"I can assure you that I won't be vanishing by the light of day."

"Good." Michelle smiled brightly as she said it. The thought of this being some vivid fantasy was one she didn't care to entertain. The growing bond she felt with Danny was finally restoring her faith in the idea of falling in love.

She knew eventually that she would find a way to reconcile her need to be completely truthful with him and remaining safe. But right not that was the furthest thing from her mind. All that mattered at the moment, was just that, the moment. This wonderful place and the fantastic experience that they had shared.

"It's pretty late. We really should be heading back," Danny said the words without completely meaning them. He would have been happy to fade into the blackness of the night and disappear.

"One more walk around the pond?" Michelle asked as if reading his inner most thoughts.

"Sure."

Danny cupped his hand in hers and started at the water's edge. It amazed both of them respectively with the secrets that each carried inside them that their conversation was effortless.

Danny found himself telling stories from his childhood that he had long thought to be buried. The pranks that he and his cousin Ray pulled on the girls of the sister school to the all boys' prep school they had been forced to attend. How one time they had actually snack into the school on a dare. A few of the other boys in their group of friends told them they would give them twenty bucks to dress up as girls.

"I bet you made a nice looking girl," Michelle couldn't help but tease him.

"Damn straight!" he laughed, "Ray on the other hand......he was such a gawky kid back then. He was way too tall. I mean when was the last time you saw a 5'7" girl in the seventh grade?"

Michelle did her best to picture the scene that Danny had just scripted. All she was able to do was laugh, even without ever seeing or meeting Danny's cousin she could only imagine how funny he must have looked."

"Well did you win the twenty bucks or not?" she questioned.

"Not exactly."

"What happened?"

"We got caught."

"No kidding. I could have figured that one out all by myself," she punched him in the arm.

"See we had to bring back something to prove that we had actually gotten inside."

"Naturally." Michelle had a pretty good idea where this was about to go.

"So it was Ray's bright idea to bring back a pair of one of the girls panties......."

"Oh and I bet he had to twist your arm with that idea, right?!?!" Michelle was enjoying the playfully barbs and jabs being bantered between them. It was so natural.

"Well......," Danny's large grin and ever growing crimson cheeks told the real story.

"I didn't think so."

"Are you going to let me finish this or what?" he tried to sound frustrated but he was enjoying this just as much as she.

"Please," she said waving him on with her hand.

"Thank you. So anyway all we had to do was get in grab the panties and get out. Piece of cake right?"

"Apparently not."

"Got that right. Getting in and grabbing the underwear was simple. It was the getting out that turned out to be tricky," Michelle found herself laughing at the seriousness of his expression. He looked like he had stepped back in time and was that teenaged boy dressed like a girl, "Well thinking we were home free of course being thirteen and cocky as all hell, we just sauntered out of there like we owned the place."

"Not too smart."

"No shit," he laughed, "Well all of the sudden here come the flood light and there we are, me and Ray standing there like some rejects from a beauty pageant," Michelle was holding her sides at all the images her mind was letting her entertain, "So we take off running, chiffon flapping in the wind. I'm over the fence without giving it a second thought. But Ray on the other hand, can seem to figure out how to climb the fence in those stupid high heels you women insist on wearing. I know what you are thinking........" Danny stopped her before the words were out of her mouth, "What does a 5'7" girl need with high heels? Don't ask me. To this day I still don't have a clue." Danny was even chuckling now. It felt so good to do that. He didn't remember the last time he had laughed like this.

"So what happened?"

"Well of course I'm screaming at him from the other side of the fence to kick off the damn shoes and get over the stupid fence. Well just as he was about to get to his second leg over and jump down the material of his skirt got caught in the top links of the fence and there was Ray hanging upside down by his skirt......." the remainder of the story was drowned out by both of their roaring laughter.

"So I am sure you and Ray caught hell for that," Michelle said when she finally caught her breath.

"Oh yeah my dad and his were so pissed. I mean I don't think I sat down for a week. Seriously. And to this day I don't think Ray can look at a prom dress without cringing," Danny broke out in another fit of giggles.

"I'll bet. So was that last of your pranks I hope?"

"Pretty much so. My father thought it was time for me to come back home. Said that he could take better care of my needs then the school seemed to be doing."

"I bet that was fun," Michelle said, "NOT!"

"Actually it wasn't all that bad. Up until he died."

"Oh Danny I'm sorry."

"He was killed. Random shooting the police called it," Danny knew there wasn't a damn thing random about it and the police definitely weren't involved but this was as much of the truth as he could handle right now, "Nothing was the same after that," and Danny knew that was the one true thing that he had said.

"That's horrible."

"Yeah not really the present I wanted for my fourteenth birthday. I was thinking more along the lines of a new bike or a video game," Danny quipped looking for some levietaty.

"I know I'm sorry is a pretty hollow, but I am sorry. It's a horrible thing to lose a parent."

"How about two," Danny thought to himself. In the wake of the aftermath he had lost his mother even though she was alive and well and going about her business as if nothing had ever happened.

"It is what it is. Not much more to say about it," Danny's voice hardened a bit again. Michelle couldn't miss the edge that had returned to his words.

"Danny, you don't have to pretend you don't miss him," she reached out to stroke his cheek, "I miss my mom every single day."

"Your mom?" Danny looked at her questioning.

"My mom died in a car accident when I was twelve. I went to bed one night with a mom and the next day I didn't have one."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. Not what I'd have asked for as a present either."

Michelle knew she should have stuck with the story that had been furnished to her by Agent Lucas, but in good conscious after hearing Danny talk about his father's brutal death she couldn't lie to him. She knew all too well the pain of losing a parent. She wanted to share something completely real about herself with him, even if it could only be done in generalities.

"Seems as though we have a great deal more in common than I ever expected," He said drawing her close to his chest.

"Appears that way. I am sorry about your father."

"Thank you. And you're right. I do miss him. I miss all the could have beens if he hadn't have died." Danny had to stop himself from thinking that had his father not been cut down would he have been here right now? Would he have had the opportunity to meet Melanie? He didn't think so. And that stabbing realization gnawed at him.

"Me too Danny, me too."

Albert turned off the engine and sat in the darkness of the garage. Somewhere between the club and his home he began wavering in the facts that he and Jenny could ever get past this insurmountable blockade.

For himself he didn't know whether he could or wanted to for that matter dive head long into that black pool that represented his sordid past. He had walked away from so much ugliness then and now he was looking to dredge it up all over again. For the sake of his marriage he knew he had to. His only concern now was would Jenny want to hear him out.

The house was quiet and even a bit eerie. The moonlight bounced shadows off the walls as he made his way into the living room. There was Jenny sitting on the sofa holding a picture of Richard that Albert hadn't seen in years.

"Jenny," he said trying his best not to startle her as he came up behind her.

"He would have been thirty-two years old next month. He could have been a father by now and me a grandmother," she said looking lovingly into the eyes of the only child she would ever have.

"I know," Albert rested his hands lightly on his wife's shoulders.

"Do you understand what you robbed me of? What you and your needs robbed him of?"

"Yes," Albert was stunned by the calm way that Jenny was speaking.

"Then why is it so easy for you to think you can replace him? Replace him with a man not one-tenth the man Richard could have been."

"Danny is not a replacement for Richard."

"Liar."

"Jenny, I have said this every way except standing on my head.....I am not looking for a replacement of my son."

"I wish I believed that," she sighed looking back again at the boy dressed in his fishing gear holding his first great catch. Which was nothing more then a tiny blue gill, but from the smile on Richard's face you would have thought he had just reeled in a prize winning bass.

"Jenny, we can't keep coming up against this brick wall. I can't take the collisions anymore. I love you. I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

"But you loved that life more."

"That life as you call it is all I ever knew. It was what Miguel and I were bred to do. I know you can't understand that."

"No I can't understand being bred to kill."

"It was never like that."

"Liar! I know what you did for "the family". I knew. I never let you know that I knew but I did."

"Why did you pretend to be in the dark all that time?" he was astonished by her revelation.

"I did it to be able to lie down next to you at night. I did it so that I when I looked at you I didn't see a killer."

"It was never like that."

"Yes it was."

"You really don't understand."

"I understand enough to know that when Miguel gave an order it was you who carried it out. I understand enough to know that you were grooming Richard, my flesh and blood, to fill your shoes when the time came. I understand that that damn rite of passage cost him his life."

"You make it so black and white....so evil!"

"What else am I supposed to call it? My husband killed people and we prospered from their misery. I can't seem to come up with a better definition."

"Jenny, sometimes force is a necessary evil."

"NECESSARY!?!?!?"

"Yes, as ugly as I know it is. That's the nature of the beast."

"Albert, you can't explain this away. Your words of code, honor and loyalty they are warped. Did you ever look them up in the dictionary? I mean really see what they stand for?"

"Your point?" he questioned.

"They don't have Mafia Code of Justice written beside them."

"You want this to be simple Jenny. It's anything but simple."

"But you see Albert it was simple. Very simple up until a few months ago. We were happy. Going about our lives as if nothing had ever happened to taint our gleeful existence."

"Apparently that isn't the truth."

"No as a matter of fact it was exactly the truth. I would have been happy to live out my days as Mrs. Albert Sampson. But your need for the things you left behind shattered that idea."

"Danny didn't harm our life. WE DID......DAMN IT!!!! I did. I was a fool to think that we could run from what cost us Richard. Those ghosts live on in each of us, even if we never speak his name again. They are ever present."

"Then why didn't you take the place that rightfully belonged to you? Why did you pretend that you wanted the life we had made for us?"

"What are you talking about? I did want what we had. I turned down Bernardo and the others for not just you. I did it for me. Watching Richard die in my arms was horrific. It brought so much into focus that up until then had been fuzzy. I couldn't go on that way anymore. Miguel knew it. He knew that I had lost the taste for the life that we had been taught to live. That's why he granted me absolution. The freedom to move on."

"But you haven't!" she cried.

"No Jenny I think that it's your the one who hasn't!" he countered.

"What?"

"I mean that you immediately let Danny negate all that we have had for the past fifteen years. You let a boy who only wants the same thing I did fifteen years ago turn you into a spiteful woman that I don't even recognize."

"Why is it that you trust him? Danny is Carmen's son and you know damn well that she can't be trusted."

"Danny is Miguel's son. That's the point that you aren't grasping. As hard as it was for me to have my son die in my arms, Jenny, turn the tables and put yourself in Danny's place. At fourteen years old you hold your father in your arms, blood draining out of the bullet holes riddled throughout his body without a clue really as to why and tell me that you would want the only man you have known to walk away alive from that life to turn you away at the door."

"I don't trust Carmen."

"Neither do I. But I trust Danny. I know in my heart that he isn't out to get us. He didn't come here to bring me back in. If anything Jenny you and your intolerable behavior pushed more of those buttons then Daniel did."

"What do you mean?"

"Jenny please don't insult my intelligence and yours by making me go through the long list of things that you have done to undermine Daniel."

"I can't stand to look at him Albert. Do you know how much he reminds me of Richard. It breaks my heart."

"I know. But he's not Richard."

"I miss him so much. I just wish I had one more day with him."

"As do I. Maybe instead of trying to bury him in here," Albert pointed to his heart, "We should start pulling out the pictures and the wonderful memories and start rebuilding our lives to include him."

"I'd really like that."

"I would too. He made be gone but he doesn't have to be forgotten."

"Do you think that Danny will ever forgive me?"

"Daniel is a good man. It will take some time but I think we all can make amends."

"I still can't help worrying about Carmen. I can't believe that she would just let her only son go, especially Danny given that he was the chosen one."

"Danny feels that he has Carmen backed into a corner that she will gladly stay in. So for now I plan on backing him on that instinct. But please Jenny," he said taking her hand in his, "The family's business stays in the family. That is one code that we still need to observe."