Chapter 27
The Docks several hours later.
Brie’s footsteps are loud on the wooden planks as she hurries along the
deserted dock.
B - "You coming?" she yells over her shoulder to Jake who has fallen behind.
Jake - "Oh, your speaking to me now?"
B - "I never stopped, I just didn’t feel like talking."
Jake - "Oh…that’s what you call it." She had sat silently all through lunch;
well his lunch, she had been too agitated to eat, and now was the first time
she had spoken to him during their short walk from Kelly’s.
B - Okay, I’m sorry. I’m just not good company right now." He says nothing
just continues to watch her "You saw Gage." She says to him more as a
statement than a question.
Jake - "He’s pretty upset, and to be honest I can understand why."
B - "I didn’t mean to hurt him," she paused "or you." She adds looking up at
him with bleak eyes.
Jake - "Why didn’t you tell me? Were you ever planning on telling me or
anyone for that matter?"
B - "Jake it hurts to much to even mention let alone talk about it."
Jake - "Honey just tell me." He says softly.
B - She walks over to the edge where water met wood and leans back against a
post, then staring out over the harbor she begins in a quiet voice "Do you
know that I lived on a boat for six months?" He walks up beside her and shakes
his head "If you would have know me back then you would have laughed at the
thought." She smiles "I loved it, it was safe, warm, and I was loved. All
three were emotions that I had felt so rarely in my life, I didn’t ever want
to let them go. It was just me, the ocean, the man I loved, and the child we
had created." She rests her hand on her stomach for a brief moment as if she
were remembering and for a second a vague memory haunts Jake, but just like a
blink it was gone so he shook it off as she began to talk again "My baby, she
was conceived on the boat, I think she would have loved the water, but now
we’ll never know."
Jake - "What happened, why did the boat stop being safe and where is she?"
B - "We left for the baby, I was four months pregnant and more than a little
nervous so we wanted to be close to some medical care. We moved around a lot;
Tahiti, France, Spain, Ireland, England, you name it, but always near the
water since it had become an addiction of mine. Then it was time, time for
the baby to be born, I went into the hospital the happiest woman in the world;
married to a man I loved more than my own life and ready to have our child,
but everything went wrong. I went into that delivery room positive that life
was perfect and by the time it was over I opened by eyes to a shattered world
- no husband, no child, no family, and no future."
Jake - "Brie, I’m so sorry." He said and put a comforting hand on her
shoulder.
B - She wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and then pulled
a long chain out from under her clothes "I cried a lot that first year but I
am not going to start that again. I can’t let myself." She whispers
fingering the delicate chain.
Jake - "The ring," he says instantly recognizing the item dangling from it
"was that your wedding ring?"
B - "No - my engagement ring. The day he put this on my finger was one of the
happiest in my life and I swore that I would never take it off, but I did."
She said sadly "I told you once I wore it because it was a reminder and that
is true. It reminds me of something that I will never be able to be: a wife,
a mother, and a person who was loved and ultimately died for that love."
Jake - "But Brie your still alive."
B - She smiles sadly "Yes I am, but the person I was died."
Jake - "You told Gage that your husband left you."
B - "Yes."
Jake - "Why?"
B - "Because I killed our child." His eyes widen "Oh not intentionally, I’m
not a murderess, but all the same I failed him. Do you know at night when I
sleep I sometimes hear children cry out for me and I wake up just aching to
hold my little girl. I never got that chance, my daughter died before anyone
had that chance."
Jake - "But what about your husband?"
B - "I remember him in the delivery room before everything went black, then
when I woke up from the anesthetic the doctor told me he had gone. He never
came to the hospital again, all the bills were paid and there was a note and
some money, but he and my wedding ring had disappeared." She says looking down
at her bare ring finger.
Jake - "He just left you in the hospital, walked away and never came back?" he
says angrily. "What kind of man would do that, it wasn’t your fault."
B - "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, we’ll never know. That part of my life is
over and there can be no going back."
Jake - "Is it really?" he asks her gently
B - "Yes." She states firmly "Can we go now? The suns setting and I am
getting cold."
Jake - "Sure, but Brie?" she turns to him "Do you still love him?"
B - "He was the only man I ever loved, and probably the only man I will ever
love. But I will never, ever, let him hurt me again." She says softly before
walking ahead of him to the car.
Chapter 28
8:30 Friday morning
Jake, Sonny, and Jason are all in the kitchen of the penthouse. Sonny is
slicing up fruit and scrambling eggs while Jason and Jake sip coffee and
watch.
S - "Jason did you find anything more on Brianna?"
J - "No, but I’m still looking."
S - "Keep at it, I’m gonna be busy for the next few days with Lois coming down
for the gig tomorrow, she is bringing the kids and I think they are going to
stay with us at the house for a night or two, maybe until Valentines Day so
they can all spend some time with Ned."
J - "No problem, information is hard to get on the weekend anyway."
Jake - "I don’t know if this helps or not but I found out last night that she
was married."
J - He jerks his hand nearly spilling coffee all over himself "What? Brie?"
Jake - "Yep, that was pretty much my reaction too."
J - "Was married or is married." He asks curiously.
Jake - "Was. Her husband split."
J - "Anything else?"
Jake - "Nothing that could help."
J - "She give you any names, her maiden name, her husbands, anything?"
Jake - "Nope, she wasn’t real talkative about the whole situation. What she
did tell me was really hard on her and frankly I feel like I am betraying a
confidence even talking about it."
J - "I’m sorry Jake."
Jake - He nods his head "No problem, it was just a rough night. She’s had a
real difficult life but I swear she won’t do anything to hurt either of you.
I may not know all of her secrets but I do know Brie and she wouldn’t hurt
you."
S - "Enough." Sonny’s voice cuts in "Jason keep looking. Jake your
conversation with Brie is private, Jason and I understand that, you don’t have
to feel compelled to share it with us if you don’t want to."
Jake - "Thanks."
S - "All the same, weather I trust her or not, I do not want either her or
Gage near the house. We stick with the same routine until we are sure, that
means they stay in town and we will use the chopper to go back and forth."
J & Jake - "Sure." "Fine." The both agree.
S - "Good," he nods "and now breakfast is served."
The three sit down to eat and talk about nothing in general for the next hour
until there is a knock on the door.
Jake - "You expecting anyone?" Jason and Sonny both shake their heads "Brie
and Gage aren’t due for another half an hour."
J - "Who is at the door?" he asks referring to the guards.
Jake - "Johnny and Renaldo. They would let us know if something was up, it’s
probably just Lois or your sister." He says to Jason.
J - "I’ll get it." He says and beings to rise from his chair.
Jake - "Na, I’m closest finish your coffee while I check it out." He says and
starts toward the door only to have it pushed open by Renaldo. "What the
hell?" he says staring at the large man in the doorway who is looking less
than pleased, Jake understands the expression when a petite redhead steps out
from behind him gun in hand. Jake and Jason immediately go for their weapons
only to be stilled by her voice.
B - "Don’t bother boys you would already be dead." She says leaning forward to
remove the short red wig and large glasses that were perched on her delicate
nose "Jason and Jake you two are getting sloppy and Corinthos we definitely
need to talk about your security." She tells them striding around Renaldo and
further into the room.
Jake - "Damn it Brie, you need to quit pulling stunts like this someone is
gonna get hurt."
B - She shrugs "Yep and you know what? It isn’t going to be me, if you don’t
tightened stuff up around here it will be you three." She states in a somber
voice waving her hand in their general direction.
S - "Where’s Johnny?" he says cutting in.
B - "In the hallway and when he wakes up I’m sure he is not going to be too
thrilled with me."
S - "You aren’t winning any points in the popularity contest you know." He
tells her while at the same time nodding to Renaldo who gives her one more
murderous look before retreating into the hallway.
B - "Well, you didn’t hire me to be Miss Congeniality now did you?"
S - "Your right I didn’t. Want something to eat." He asks changing the
subject.
B - "No thanks, just tea if you have some."
S - "Sure, excuse me I’ll me right back." he tells them turning toward the
kitchen.
Jake - "Brie what did you do to Johnny?" he asks still glaring at her.
B - "No much but you might want to go help Renaldo untie him." She tells him
casually.
Jake - "UNTIE him?" he yells rushing past her and out the front door.
J - Jason had been watching her silently the entire time from a relaxed
position beside the table "You like to shock people don’t you?"
B - She carefully lays the wig and glasses on the bar inside of the door then
puts the gun away and walks towards him. "I wasn’t trying to shock you. What
I WAS doing was showing how vulnerable you and Sonny really are. No one has
moved on you or your territory in over a year and you have slacked off with
your precautions, sure you still sweep the car and the house, you’re followed
around constantly, but what good is that if the men - and you - aren’t working
up to your potential. I can believe how easy it was to get in here, granted
you two don’t need to live in a cage but with a few minor adjustments things
could be much safer for both of you." Sonny and Jake have both returned to
the room sometime during her speech and had remained silent and listened to
her carefully.
Jake - "Brie your right." He says surprising her "As much as I hate to admit
we have slacked off but did you have to take sure drastic measures to prove it
AND yourself, Johnny is gonna have a headache for a week."
B - "Damn, is he okay?" she doesn’t wait for an answer just rushes out the
front door and into the hall.
S - "Is he all right?" He asks Jake while watching her go.
Jake - "Actually he is fine, she just needs to feel a little guilty for being
such a brat." He says with a smile.
S - He looks a Jake and then asks him "Did she really knock him out?"
Jake - "Yep." He replies still grinning.
S - "Damn." He shakes his head "Anyway lets hear what she has to say." Brie
returns to the room and shuts the front door behind her before Sonny begins
speaking to her. "Now that you have seen that Johnny is alive and you’ve
basically ripped our security system to hell, why don’t we sit down so we can
finish breakfast and you can drink your tea." He gestures to the table and
they all sit down.
They all sit silently; Sonny in his customary place at the head of the table,
Jason and Jake each to one side of him and Brie next to Jake.
S - "Where is Gage?" he asks Brie
B - She stirs milk into her tea and doesn’t look up "He was in the shower when
I left." She glances at her watch before continuing "He should be here in
about………" her voice trails off having finally looked up at him and now her
attention was centered immediately over his head.
S - "Brie?" he asks trying to recapture her attention "Brianna?" he asks again
but she continues to stare. Everyone at the table has stopped what they were
doing and were now watching her.
Jake - "Brie?" he asks trying to get her attention and when calling her name
doesn’t appear to work he gently places his hand on her arm. She jumps and
the spoon that was still in her hand clatters to the table. "Honey are you
okay?" He asks quietly while both Jason and Sonny watch her closely.
S - "Brianna, are you all right your as while as a sheet?"
B - She clears her throat "Sure I’m fine." She clasps her hands tightly in
front of her.
S - "Are you sure?" he asks still sounding concerned.
B - "Excuse me, I need a glass of water." She says and then completely
ignoring his question and concern pushes back from the table and heads into
the kitchen.
Jake - "I’ll be right back." He tells a curious Jason and Sonny before
hurrying after her. In the kitchen he watches her walk across the room
directly to the cabinet that held the glasses then to the refrigerator where
she grabbed a large bottle of water and poured some in a glass before leaning
back against the refrigerator and closing her eyes, the bottle hugged against
her chest and the glass clenched tightly in her trembling fist. There she
stood for the longest time oblivious to her audience, the image she was
projecting, and that the carefully molded image she had created was shattering
and was now shrouded with suspicion and doubt.
Chapter 29
After the curious encounter at the breakfast table Brie had managed to
distance herself from both Jason and Sonny and had not said much to Jake
either. She had asked for a tour of the penthouse and that was what she and
Jake had been doing for the last 20 minutes. **Author note: the penthouse has
grown since Sonny and Brenda lived in it, the walls that separated the
original penthouse and the adjoining one (in the other tower, i.e. Harborview
Towers) have been removed and they now formed one penthouse that was double
the size and accommodated more people (picture the original mirrored with the
same layout on the other side of the kitchen/front door/living area.)** There
is one large kitchen with a breakfast area that was the center of the very
large penthouse and then on each side of the kitchen were living and dining
room areas as well as a set of stairs. The living room and dining room that
are by the front door remained formal (the same decor as now) but the one on
the other side of the kitchen had become one large room that was decidedly
less formal; more like a den. It was sunny and bright with a huge
entertainment center and a large fireplace as the focal points of the room.
Two large comfortable sofas and several plush chairs surrounded a brightly
patterned rug on which a large ancient trunk that seemed to serve as a coffee
table sat. The two identical sets of stairs were both next to the balcony
doors and they both led upstairs where there were four large bedrooms, two of
which the doors where closed and four bathrooms. Back downstairs were two
offices, each on separate ends of the penthouse, one that was Sonny’s and the
other Jason’s.
After the impromptu tour Jake and Brie returned to the main living room, Brie
still silent and Jake puzzled but becoming rather concerned. He opens his
mouth but the ringing of the doorbell delays his inquisition.
B - "That must be Gage." She says hurrying to open it.
G - "Hey there you are, you beat me here." He says with a friendly smile.
Jake - "Hey Gage, come on in." Sonny and Jason walk in from the kitchen and
they both greet Gage while Brie shuts the door behind him.
S - "You finally caught up with your partner."
G - He smiles "Yeah, she has a tendency to disappear in case you didn’t
notice." He says with a grin "She didn’t do anything to embarrass us did she?"
he asks jokingly but his statement is met with silence. "Brie," He says
through gritted teeth all traces of his joking demeanor gone "what did you do
now?"
B - "Nothing." She answers a little too quickly.
S - "Gage would you like some coffee? We need to get started, I have a lot of
things to take care of today."
G - "Sure." He says moving toward the table still ticked at Brie but dropping
the subject since Sonny had tried to defuse the situation. They all sit down
at the table freshening their coffee, Brie sipping from her glass of water.
S - "Okay lets get started. Jake is in charge of giving you a run down on all
of our local operations, which he can do later, but right now I just want to
let you know what we expect of you. To put it simply Jason is in charge of
all the day-to-day operations, which include a lot of leg work and
coordinating of people. He also handles all distribution and is responsible
for checking out storage locations and distribution sites and routes. I
handle all the money, accounts, and inventory, along with most of the routing
and storage arrangements. We don’t touch any narcotics or prostitution
circles and they don’t run in our town. Jason ran the business independently
for several years so we are both equal partners, each of us having our
strengths, and yes our weaknesses. In the last six months we have been
acquiring new territory that has either been given to us or forfeited to us,
so we don’t anticipate any trouble with the transitions but they are new areas
to us therefore we need to get men into place. This means sending the guys
that we trust out of our existing holdings and into the new, then bringing
some new guys in and training them our way. That’s why you two are here, we
are sending our existing crew out and away from Jason and I and that leaves us
in a vulnerable position, you two are going to be responsible for us. Jake is
gonna be taking some time off soon to be with his wife and new baby so you two
need to learn quickly. As of right now I am keeping four men plus Renaldo and
Johnny, although right now I am having some doubts about their ability," he
says pausing for a minute and grinning at Brie "the rest will be sent out with
our men to the new territories. Any questions?"
G - "No sir." He answers quickly.
S - "Brianna?"
B - "What kind of time frame are we working on?"
S - "They are all outta here next Sunday night, so that gives you a little
more than a week." She nods her head "Jason, Jake, anything to add?"
Jake - "Nothing important." He says while Jason just shakes his head.
S - "Okay then Jake why don’t you give Gage the grand tour while Jason and
Brianna talk and I make some calls." He excuses himself from the table and
Gage and Jake walk off in the direction of the kitchen leaving Jason and Brie
alone at the table.
B - She watches him warily for a few moments before quietly asking "So what
did you want to talk about?"
J - He continues to watch her before answering her "You."
Chapter 30
B - "Why?" she finally asks after a few minutes of silence while they both
stared at each other suspiciously.
J - "What are you up to?" He asks ignoring her last question.
B - "You tell me, your the one that is checking on me right?" she shots right
back.
J - "Fine. I don’t think I trust you." He tells her through narrowed eyes.
B - "Well, I don’t think I like you." Her honesty brought a grin to his
handsome features.
J - "I know." He says with a small smirk.
B - "Good." She says sitting back and crossing her arms across her chest.
Gage and Jake finally return and join Brie and Jason who are sitting and
watching one another silently across the table.
J - "I’ll get Sonny." He tells the three of them rising from the table.
B - "I’ll go." Jason looks quickly at her before nodding and then watches her
get up and leave the room.
She walks slowly towards Sonny’s office and when she get to the open door she
pauses.
S - "When are you gonna be here?" he asks walking around the office talking on
a cordless phone waiting for an answer "Good. I’ll see ya at the club this
afternoon." He listens again "I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t let me
send the helicopter or the ELQ jet." He listens again and then chuckles
"Honey they’re not that bad." He listens again "Your right I don’t have to
sit with them in a confined space for an hour but they’re yours what else do
you expect? Hey by the way you are going to stay with us aren’t you?" Brie
who has been standing in the doorway finally knocks and Sonny turns around and
waves her in "Look I’ve gotta go." Brie stands stiffly inside the door trying
hard not to listen to his conversation that he is obviously having with a
woman, a woman who he was going to allow to say in his home. "Okay, okay,
I’ll see you soon." He says into the phone obviously trying to get off, the
person on the other end yaps a little more and he rolls his eyes and grins in
Brie’s direction oblivious to her tension "Enough, we will talk in a few
hours, Bye." He says quickly hanging up the phone with a relieved sigh.
B - "Sorry to interrupt." She says sarcastically.
S - "No problem, just trying to get some stuff squared away." He tells her not
noticing her sarcasm.
B - "We are ready for you in the other room." She tells him and turns around
to walk out, she takes one step and her heel catches on a snag in the rug that
pitches her forward only to be caught by Sonny.
S - "Brianna," He says holding her a little tighter than necessary "are you
all right?" he asks quietly.
B - "I’m fine." She replies twisting away from him.
S - "Are you sure." He asks once more placing his hand on her arm and turning
her back towards him. She looks at his hand, then up. Her gaze follows his
arm up, moving from bicep, to shoulder, to chest, neck, mouth, nose, then
finally to his eyes. "Brianna." He whispers still staring at her, slowly her
body tilts a little closer to him and she takes a tiny step forward one small
step closer to him. He gently removes his hand from her arm and brings in up
towards her face gently cupping her check, which she presses deeper into his
palm. She slowly lifts her hand from her side and places it softly on his
chest, curling her fingers inward and taking another step closer.
J - "Hey are you two lost?" Jason calls from down the hall before walking into
the room a split second later. "We’re waiting for…." Brie grabs her hand
back and takes a few jerky steps backwards, Sonny’s hand remains frozen in mid
air where her check had been just moments before. Jason narrows his eyes
trying to figure out what is going on and Brie rushes past him out of the
room. Sonny quietly watches her go then lowers his hand to his side.
J - "What the hell was that all about?"
S - He shakes his head regaining his composure "Man I need a drink."
J - "Now?"
S - He slowly shakes his head. "Na - later buddy, we’ve go work to do." He
tells him straitening his shoulders and clapping a hand on his back and
pushing him out he door towards the other room, towards her.
Chapter 31
Author’s note: These chapters involve L&B and for the purpose of this story I
am changing history - just a little. I realize that at the time of the
wedding Brenda had sold her shares to Ned and Lois was considering doing the
same, but for this story both Lois and Brenda retained their shares. Upon the
*death* of Brenda, Sonny inherited the stock and he now runs it jointly with
Lois, the shares are not in his name (thanks to Ned’s favorite statue - Rico)
but he does control them and Ned owns NO part of the corporation.
S - "Great now that we have most things settled I need to go make so calls for
Eddie’s gig." He says pushing back from the table.
B - "Eddie? You mean Ned is actually singing in public again." She blurts
out.
S - He narrows his eyes "You know Ashton?"
B - "Uh….."
G - "If he’s a singer then she knows about him." Gage adds while giving Brie a
quick "She’ll listen to anything - and I do mean anything." He grins "It’s
actually weird, she can listen to some no name group and before you know it
they are on the cover of Rolling Stone and at the top of the charts or
something. I remember a few years ago we were listening to some guy in a dive
in Mexico and she told me he would make it, on my next vacation I walked into
the music store and the first thing I saw was his face; his album had just
gone gold or platinum or something."
S - "Really?"
G - "Yeah it was cool."
S - "We could use that type of talent at L&B. What’s his name?"
G - "Umm, Riley O’Connor - right Brie?" She nods her head yes.
S - "Your kidding he is signed to my label."
G - "No way!" he says surprised.
S - "Yep. He sent my partner a demo out of the blue and she recognized his
talent so we flew him in and signed him inside of a week."
G - "Wow. Well Brie loves music she is always listening to someone new, you
know what she even has a great voice, maybe…."
B - "Excuse me," she interrupts "I am in the room you know." She tells the
two of them in an exasperated tone.
G - He glances at her sheepishly and mutters. "Sorry."
S - "Hey I enjoyed hearing it." He chuckles.
B - "Are you done discussing me now? I really would like to get back to
this." She says taping her fingers on some papers that lay in front of her.
S - "Sure, no problem. Um, sorry if I pried or anything," he looks into her
eyes "it’s just that the music business and L&B are very important to me, they
represent a very important time in my life….." his voice trails off when he
realizes that everyone has stopped and are now watching him. He continues to
hold Brie’s eyes and she finally looks down but not before he saw something;
sadness, regret, maybe; he wonders why but clears his throat trying to erase
some of the tension that hung in the air.
J - "Brie lets get started on those plans okay?" he says rescuing Sonny.
B - "Um, okay." Then she picks up the papers and shuffles them refusing to
lift her head to meet Sonny’s eyes again.
Jake and Gage are sitting on the sofa while Jason and Brie remain at the table
going over the diagrams spread out in front of them. Occasionally a small
argument breaks out between the two and both Jake and Gage stop to watch,
another one is in progress right now and they both sit grinning at the two
equally stubborn people across the room.
B - "I’m telling you this door needs to be walled off!" she says stabbing the
paper with her finger to emphasize her point while she tries very hard not to
raise her voice.
J - "No." he says shaking his head firmly.
B - "That’s it? NO!" she says getting closer to losing her temper.
J - "Um hum." He response calmly.
B - "Why?"
J - "Because it gives us another exit."
B - "No, actually what it gives you is another ENTRANCE." She declares glaring
at him.
J - "Same difference." He says trying to smother a grin that would really set
her off. Sonny walks into the room and heads toward Jake and Gage who are
tempted to go rescue Jason before she really blew up and they both knew that
wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
S - "Should I interrupt?" He asks when he reaches Gage and Jake who barely
give him a glance before they turn back to watch the fireworks.
Jake - "Na, this one is actually mild." Sonny raises his eyebrows.
G - "Yep." He agrees. "You should have seen them go at it when Brie told him
you needed to buy the place across the hall." He says grinning.
S - "What?"
Jake - "The penthouse across the hall." He says jerking his thumb in that
direction while never taking his eyes off Brie and Jason. "She is right and
she made a valid argument, this floor isn’t secure with the other penthouse
accessible by anyone."
S - "I guess."
Jake - "Well she won that round." He smirks.
G - "Actually she has won most of them." He adds.
Jake - "Yep, I think Jason likes arguing with her. What do you think?" all
three chuckle and Brie yanks her head in their direction piercing them with
her eyes and their chuckles immediately cease. The doorbell rings - it was
their reprieve. Brie threw her pencil down onto the table then with one last
scathing look at all of them she stomps towards it and jerks it open.
B - "Lois!"
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