Chapter 3

“Mom.” Laura woke to Lucky gently shaking her. “Mom, are you ok?” 

Laura blinked. The room was filled with a dim light. 

“I’m fine, Lucky. Why?” 

“You sounded like your ankle was hurting.” Laura bit her lip, noticing her 
throbbing ankle for the first time since she’d woken up. 

“Yeah. It hurts a little.” Laura looked around. “Where’s Stefan?” 

“Mrs. Landsbury found a book of matches by the fireplace. She’d forgotten about 
them. Stefan told me to stay with you. He went to help her find candles.” Lucky 
laughed softly. 

“What?” Laura pushed herself up on one elbow. 

“Most people buy flashlights. Only the Cassadines would have dozens of 
candelabras just sitting in all the rooms.” She glanced around. There certainly 
were a lot of them. Suddenly Laura caught her breath. They were the exact same 
ones. She could tell by the design on one that sat near her. Of course they 
would be the same ones. Had she expected them to throw all their candelabras 
away and buy new ones just because…

“Mom, you look kinda pale.” 

“I’m fine, Lucky.” she managed. “Why don’t you go check on Liz. Is she in the 
parlor with Nikolas and Emily?” 

“Yeah. I’m sure she’s all right…” Lucky trailed off seeing the far away look in 
his mother’s eyes. He quietly stood, picked up one of candelabras, and walked 
out of the room. When he was gone, Laura closed her eyes. There had been a power 
outage on the island that night… 

~*~

“Lasha?” Stavros walked into their room. 

“Yes?” she continued methodically brushing her hair. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave for a few days. Three to be exact.” Laura 
bit her lip to keep from smiling. 

“Oh.” she tried to sound forlorn. “Where are you going?” 

“To England. I have business I need to take care of there.” 

“When are you leaving?” 

“Tonight. I’m sorry, my dear, but it’s urgent. I hate to leave you like this. 
Especially in a power outage.” 

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be…” she stopped herself. She shouldn’t seem too 
reassuring. “Actually, I’ll be very lonely.” she finished. 

“Will you, darling?” he looked at her in the mirror. 

“Of course. I don’t know what I’ll do without you. I wish you didn’t have to 
go.” she turned to face him. 

“Maybe you could come with me,” he suggested hopefully. Laura silently cursed 
herself. Now she had taken it too far. 

“Oh, Stavros. I would like that. Really I would. But, I’ve got things to do…” 

“What could you do here that would be half as exciting as going to London?” he 
persisted 

“Why, I… I need to…” She stuttered, trying to come with a valid reason to stay. 
Just then there was merciful knock at the door. 

“Just a momen…” 

“Come in.” Laura interrupted her husband. 

“Am I intruding?” Stefan asked as he entered. 

“Well, actually…” 

“No. Not at all. Do sit down.” Laura gestured towards a chair. 

“I’m afraid I can’t stay. I just brought your plane ticket, Stavros.” 

“Plane ticket? What do I need a plane ticket for? Where is the private jet?” 

“Gone. Did you forget? This is the pilot’s week off. He took the jet to France.” 

“I don’t remember giving the pilot a day off. Oh, well. I’ll need another plane 
ticket.” 

“I assure you, Stavros, this one is first class.” Stefan feigned confusion.

“No, you idiot!” Stavros shouted. “I want two.” 

“Two? I’m afraid that’s impossible. The plane flies in twenty minutes. You’ll 
have to go right away to make it yourself.” Stavros turned to Laura. 

“I’m sorry, Lasha. I must leave without you. Forgive me.” 

“Well, Stavros I’m not sure…” Laura still didn’t want to arouse his suspicion. 
Stefan cleared his throat warningly, knowing that if Stavros decided it was 
worth while, he could have strings pulled to get Laura on that plane. Laura 
stood and kissed Stavros on the cheek, then forced a giggle. “I’m just kidding. 
Of course I forgive you.” Stavros sighed in relief. 

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He held her face in his hands. 

“I’m sure you will.” She said, sincerely enough that Stavros was satisfied, but 
sarcastically enough that Stefan nearly choked, trying not to laugh. 

“Good-bye.” Stavros whispered before pulling her into a deep kiss. Laura 
fainting struggled as his tongue began gagging her. After a few moments she 
tried desperately to pull back but he held her head still. 

“Stavros, you’re going to miss your flight.” Stefan warned, sounding very 
innocent. 

“Damn my flight.” He muttered, pulling away and picking up one of the 
candelabras. “I’ll miss you, Lasha.” Stavros called back. 

“Have a nice trip, Stavros.” She answered. The moment she heard his footsteps 
fade away, she ran to the adjoining bathroom. 

“Are you all right?” Stefan asked, worried. 

“I think I’m going to be sick.” She called weakly from behind the closed door. 

“My apologies, Lasha. I should have gotten him to break away sooner.” Stefan 
shook his head. “How do you stand spending the night with Stavros, when a kiss 
makes you queasy?” 

“I don’t know.” She returned a few minutes later, looking disheveled. “I 
honestly don’t know. I’m just so glad that he’s gone.” She began to cry softly. 

“Oh, Lasha, please don’t.” He took her in his arms. 

“I can’t help it.” She sobbed. “I hate him so much.” He gently stroked her hair, 
holding her close. Suddenly she stopped crying. She looked up at him, a small 
smile on her tear streaked face. “Do you think that he’s gone?” 

“I suppose so. It’s been a while.” He nodded. 

“Where’s Helena?” 

“Busy.” 

“Busy?” 

“She’s out looking for a pilot. It seems that the private jet is missing.” 

“You mean that the pilot wasn’t on vacation?” she laughed when he shook his 
head. 

“Stavros said something about wanting to take you with him London. I gave the 
pilot a couple hundred thousand dollars and he agreed to take the plane 
somewhere far away.” 

“Then we’re all alone?” she asked. 

“Completely.” Laura smiled and began unbuttoning his shirt. 

“Don’t you think we should close the door?” he chuckled at her eagerness. 

“I suppose that would be best.” She walked across the room, locked the door, 
then hurried back to finish removing his shirt. Laura pressed her lips to his 
exposed chest, and wrapped her arms around him, savoring the feel of his skin 
against her face. This was the only place felt truly safe. She pulled away a 
moment later, and sat at her vanity. Picking up her brush, Laura began 
seductively running it through her hair, knowing he would love to watch. Soon 
she felt his hand on her hair. 

“Allow me.” He whispered, taking the brush, and beginning to stroke her long, 
beautiful locks. After a few minutes had slipped away, he set the brush down. “I 
got you a present.” He reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a small 
jewelry box. 

“Stefan, you shouldn’t keep getting me these gifts. Stavros will find them.” 

“Open it.” He insisted. She did so, and when she saw a diamond bracelet lying in 
the velvet lined case, she gasped. 

“Stefan, it’s beautiful! Thank you so much” she exclaimed, forgetting her former 
worries, and handing it to him to put on her. When it dangled from her wrist, 
she stood, tears of joy in her eyes. “Thank you… for everything.” She pulled him 
into a warm embrace. 

“Well, getting rid of the plane wasn’t completely selfless. I wanted you all to 
myself.” He whispered, his mouth just above her ear. She pulled back just as a 
gust of wind traveled in from the open window, extinguishing three of the five 
candelabras. The room instantly became much dimmer. Laura reached tentatively up 
and ran her fingers through his hair. He smiled, picking her up in his arms and 
carrying her to the bed, where he laid her gently down. 

“Lasha, I love…” 

“Shhh.” she put her finger to his lips. “Don’t say it.” Laura couldn’t deal with 
the emotions she was feeling for him right now. How could she when there was no 
hope they could ever be together openly. And if he said aloud what they both 
felt that would make it too difficult. His lips soon found their way to hers, 
and she closed her eyes. His tongue, so unlike Stavros’, slid gently inside her 
mouth, caressing first her lips, then her own tongue. Not breaking the kiss, he 
began unbuttoning her dress. As each button left more skin revealed, his mouth 
moved slowly down. Laura moaned softly. 

“Lasha…” she heard him murmuring her name. Then the wind whipped in again and 
blew out the remaining candelabras. She clutched him to her, in momentary fear. 

“I’m here.” He whispered. She relaxed as she felt his hands in her hair, on her 
face, all over body. Her hands flew instinctively to help him out of his pants, 
as the heat between them grew…

“Oh, God. I love you, Lasha.” He gasped when he climaxed. She pretended not to 
hear him… rationalized that he said it only in the heat of the moment, but she 
knew it was true… knew that she loved him just as much as he loved her. And 
before long she was clinging to him, as waves of pleasure swept through her own 
body. 

~*~

“Lasha?” Laura’s eyes flew open. “How is your ankle?” 

“Fine.” She managed to say. The memory of that night had shaken her more than 
she would have expected. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of it for so long…

“As you see, we found matches.” 

“Yes.” 

“Are you all right? You look upset.” 

“No. Not upset.” She was staring at one of the candelabras, and he followed her 
gaze. 

“Do you… do you remember them?” he asked, quietly. Unable to speak, she looked 
up at him. 

“I remember.” She finally whispered. He took a step towards her then stopped, 
deciding not to take advantage of her. But, Laura, desperately wanting him near 
her, held her arms out to him. In an instant he was at her side, holding her, 
pressing soft kisses on her forehead. She rested her head on his shoulder and 
began to cry softly, as he stroked her hair and wiped away her tears. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to remind of… unpleasant things.” He finished, a hint 
of bitterness in his tone. 

“No, Stefan. No.” she pulled back. “Not unpleasant. It was beautiful.” Stefan 
bit his lip, and she saw his eyes mist.

“I, um… I got you a present. Everyone is waiting for us to come open gifts, but 
I thought I had better give this to you in private.” He pulled a small jewelry 
box out of his coat pocket. 

“Stefan you didn’t need to get me anything.” 

“You got me something.” 

“But that didn’t count. It wasn’t new.” 

“Well, this isn’t new either. Not really.” He smiled, and handed it to her. Her 
eyes grew wide as she opened the case. 

“It can’t be the same one… can it?” she couldn’t take her eyes off the familiar 
bracelet. 

“No. I would have had a hard time retrieving it,” he confirmed. “Stavros threw 
it in the ocean, didn’t he?” Laura nodded. She looked down at her wrist, 
remembering how it had hurt for weeks after Stavros had torn it off her. He had, 
as Laura had feared, suspected that it was from Stefan. 

“I should have known better.” He shook his head. 

“It wasn’t your fault.” She touched his arm gently and looked into his eyes. She 
wanted to make him happy, to make up for all the pain she had ever caused him… 
for the lost time. Suddenly things were clearer than ever before. She needed to 
speak the words…

“Stefan, ” Laura whispered. “I love you. I love you so much.” She heard his 
sharp intake of breath, but other than that he gave no sign of hearing her. For 
a moment he simply stared at her, in disbelief. She unconsciously wrung her 
hands, wondering if maybe it was too late. But then he gathered her in his arms. 

“Oh, Lasha.” He cried. “I love you too.” 

“Mom?!” Laura’s mouth dropped open. 

“Lucky.” She whispered.