Stefan walked back into Wyndemere, the cold finally reaching through his coat. He walked over to the fireplace to warm his hands, not even seeing Alexis and Nikolas in the room.
“Where’s Lisa?” Alexis asked.
“She went back to her room at Kelly’s,” Stefan said simply.
Nikolas looked from Stefan to Alexis and back again, “It was my understanding that Leezia was coming home.”
Alexis turned to Stefan, “Mine too. Stefan, what happened?”
Stefan looked at the faces of his family, “Well, it was my hope that Leezia was here to stay, but apparently that was not her intention.”
Sensing that Alexis and Stefan needed to talk, Nikolas stood up, “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” He quickly made a discreet exit.
Alexis crossed over to Stefan, “What happened?” she asked softly.
“She’s so used to living her life in fear, I don’t think she realizes how not to.”
Alexis sighed, “Did you mention...”
Stefan cut her off, “NO,” he said harshly. He took a deep breath, calming down, “I’m sorry Alexis. But no, I would not bring that up in conversation with her. She’s spent the last three years running from all the pain that whole subject brings up. I don’t intend to scare her off by bringing it up the first time I see her.”
“What about Bobbie?” Alexis asked.
“Leezia asked that I not share the details with her. She said that her father was waiting for her, so I rode the launch with her to the mainland and then had Pierce take her home.”
Alexis put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, “I’m sorry, Cousin.”
Stefan just nodded his silent appreciation.
*****
Lisa sat staring at the scenery from the back seat of the Cassadine limo. As she watched trees, houses and people go by, she wondered why her feelings were so twisted when she was with Stefan.
Memories flooded her as she pictured her life as a child, and imagined what it might have been like if she had lived with her father. She reached down and touched one of the scars from where she had been stabbed. Her wounds were healing nicely, but would her mind ever heal?
The abuse from Billy had cost her so much. So much that she had never shared with another soul. She had internalized all her feelings and just took off. Decided that she had to be away from the place that caused all her pain. That worked, for a while.
But her past was chasing her, yet again. This time, it caught up with her, full force. At least she had the satisfaction of knowing that Billy could never hurt her again.
An idea struck her. She picked up the car intercom, “Pierce, would you mind taking me to the Luke’s instead? Thank you.” She hung up the intercom and sighed.
She decided to come clean with her father about Stefan. He would find out sooner or later. And she rationalized that it was better to hear it from her than from someone else. She just hoped that their budding relationship was enough to withstand what she had to say.
She made one more phone call, just to double check and see if Luke was indeed at the club.
*****
Luke paced in his office at the club. He had just found out that the daughter that he thought died 20 years ago was still alive, and now he was hearing stories about her associating with the Cassadines, his mortal enemies. He wanted answers, but he didn’t even know where Lisa had disappeared to after she was released from the hospital. There was a small knock on the door. “Yeah?” Luke asked.
Lisa peeked her head in through the door, “Hey. Mike said that you were in here. Got a minute?" she asked.
Luke nodded. "For you, Sunshine, absolutely."
"I called Ruby and she said you were here.”
Luke looked at her, still slightly pale, but much better than two weeks ago. “I waited at Kelly’s for a while, but then came back here. I had some thinking to do.”
Lisa nodded, “I know the feeling. Sorry about making you wait."
Concerned, Luke said, "Sunshine, you were nearly killed a couple of weeks ago, now your walking around like nothing happened."
She looked right at him. "Well it's not like I have to worry about Billy any more. I heard what you did, Daddy."
Luke smiled, “I didn’t do anything, darlin’.”
“Right,” Lisa said slowly. “I forgot, you arranged for it to happen though.”
She was quick, Luke had to give her that. "I couldn't just let him go unpunished for what he did to you. He was scum, babe. He deserved to be turned into garden fertilizer."
“I won’t ask any questions.” She took a deep breath, “Besides, the truth can be a dangerous thing.”
Luke crossed his arms and leaned against the desk, watching silently as she sat in the chair in front of him. After a moment of awkward silence, he said, “You’re talking about the Cassadines, aren’t you.”
"How did you find out about them?"
"Alexis Davis."
Lisa took a deep breath. "Alexis doesn't like the fact that Stefan feels responsible for me. It makes her nervous. A servant getting lucky, infiltrating the household and cozying up to the decision maker." She nodded to herself. "Yep, it makes her nervous." She smiled her own wicked grin. "And the whole thing made Helena furious. Which, looking back, may have been one of the reasons Stefan did it."
Luke just sat there without breathing, letting it soak in. Trying to understand and fathom what his daughter was saying. After a second, he whispered, "You're sleeping with Steffin Cassadine," he said very slowly. It wasn't a question. He exploded, "Have you lost your mind, child!"
She was perfectly calm. "Stefan wanted this as much as I did."
"He's old enough to be your father!"
She yelled back, "Since when does age matter? Look at you and your wife!"
Luke calmed down quickly. "What do you know about my wife?"
Lisa stood up and headed for the door. "I, uh, nothing. Really."
"Wait! Get back here! We’re not finished with this."
Then something neither of them expected happened. Laura walked in. She had a funny feeling she knew exactly what was going on.
Luke looked from his daughter to his wife and back again. "Laura, Angel, what are you doing here?"
Laura noticed the nervous look on Lisa’s face and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” she softly asked Lisa. When Lisa nodded quickly, Laura turned to her husband, "I think you have some explaining to do, Luke."
Luke looked at the two of them, “What the hell is this?”
Lisa sighed and glanced quickly from her father to her surrogate mother and then down to the floor. "Maybe we all have some explaining to do."
*****
CHAPTER TWELVE
Luke, Laura and Lisa all sat in Luke's office. The silence in the room was palpable. Laura and Lisa just looked at each other nervously while Luke stared at both of them, trying to figure out how well they knew each other.
Luke sighed, "I would start with introductions, but from the look on your faces, I figure you know that much already."
Lisa just looked back at him. "We do."
Harshly Luke asked, "Why don’t you tell me exactly what you know, so I don't have to repeat myself?"
Laura sighed, "I met Lisa while I was living in the Cassadine compound."
Lisa added, "I was about six years old at the time. She figured out who I was, but never told me.”
Laura agreed, “Stavros knew how fond I was becoming of Lisa, so he made sure that I knew who she was. I had figured it out already, but he used to always flaunt her around, saying how could I love a man that could leave an innocent child to fend for herself. Eventually, I arranged it so that she stayed with me all the time.” Laura wiped away a tear, “Having her close to me made me feel close to you.”
“We spent so much time together, I always thought of her as a surrogate mother," Lisa said softly. “She used to read to me and talk to me and we’d play hide and seek in the hidden passages. I remember all of it, like it was yesterday. That’s why to this day, I still call her ‘Momma’.”
Luke absorbed all this information quickly. Laura knew about his daughter and didn’t tell him. He vowed that later, when he and Laura were alone, he would ask how she could keep HIS child from him. But he didn’t want to have a fight in front of Lisa.
"How did you find out about Lu?" Laura asked.
"Caroline told me," Lisa replied, as if that was enough to answer any questions.
Luke glared at Lisa. "How do you know about her?"
"We met while I was traveling around Florida a few years ago," Lisa explained.
“Caroline?” Laura asked, “Isn’t that Bobbie’s daughter’s name?”
"Bobbie thinks Caroline is dead," Luke said simply.
Laura looked horrified, "Oh Luke, why?"
Bluntly, Luke said, "Caroline is Carly Roberts.”
Laura's eyes widened. "The one Tony had the affair with?"
Luke nodded, “The very same. I was about to tell Bobbie the truth, when she told me about their affair. I didn’t want her to find out that her daughter was the one that stole her husband.”
Laura shook her head, “What is it with young girls and older men?”
Luke sighed. "I don’t know, babe, I wish I knew." He gestured towards his daughter. "Why don’t you tell me? I mean, you’re sleeping with Count Vlad. Explain to me why you and your cousin are drawn towards older men."
Lisa was quick in her response. "No father figure. That would be my first guess anyway."
Luke swallowed hard. A punch to the gut.
“Actually,” Lisa continued, “I can’t speak for Caroline. When she came here, I had a funny feeling that she was going to try and destroy Bobbie’s life. That’s one reason I stayed clear. Until she told me about Lu, that is. As for me, Stefan and I have been together since I was 18.” She decided to leave the whole truth for later. They had no reason to know everything, at least not yet.
Just then, the door to the office flew open and an old man wandered in like he owned the place. Carly was hot on his heels trying to stop him.
Carly was apologetic. "I’m sorry. I tried to stop him, Lisa, but I couldn't."
Lisa jumped up and grabbed the old man by the arm and tried to push him out the door. “What the hell are you doing here? You have no right to be.”
Carly tried to help her, but the man shook them both off. "Let go of me!” he ordered. “You girls don't know who you're dealing with. Lucas, tell your daughter and neice to let me go."
“We know exactly who you are, now let’s go,” Carly fussed.
Luke jumped up, his face conveying the hatred he felt. Calmly, he said, "Lisa, Caroline, back away from him."
The girls did as they were told, albeit reluctantly. They stood in one corner and exchanged worried glances. Laura watched the entire exchange, trying to pick up on what the others already knew. She looked from Luke to the old man.
Luke kept his distance from the man. "Get out of my club. You don't belong here,” he ordered with an icy calm demeanor.
The old man was smirking. "It's a free country.” At Luke’s piercing stare, the old man laughed, “Oh come now Lucas, is that any way to talk to me?"
"You're damn lucky I don't kill ya where you stand. Now you'd better leave before I change my mind." Luke began to feel his blood boiling just under the surface.
Laura recognized the look and didn't want to interfere, but she had to know. "Who are you?" she asked the old man.
"Me?" the old man smiled and bowed exaggeratedly. "Pretty lady, I am Alexander Lorenzo Spencer."
Laura gasped, "Then you're..."
Luke cut her off. "No baby. This man is not a father. Abandoning your children does not a father make."
Lisa and Carly just looked at each other and shook their heads, smiling slightly. The whole situation was just too ironic.
*****
