~*~Chapter 69~*~

Kimber leans on the door frame and smiles innocently at Lucky. “I was passing by and I saw your car in the driveway. I just wanted to make sure there weren’t any hard feelings about what happened....last time.”

Lucky shakes his head, wondering what he ever did to deserve having this plague on his life. “Kimber, forget about it, okay? Trust me, I have.” He starts to push past her, but she dodges him and steps into the house.

“I can’t just forget it, Lucky. I feel terrible. I took advantage of the situation, and it was wrong. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew you hated me for it.”

‘Oh, trust me, that’s not the reason I hate you,’ Lucky thinks bitterly. He sighs and turns to look at her. “It’s fine, okay? I’m in a hurry right now, so I can’t stand here and talk all day.”

“Going out of town?” she asks, looking at the duffel bag in his hand.

“Um, yeah. I have to catch a plane, so will you please come out here so I can lock up my house?”

Kimber steps out onto the porch, figuring she had lost that battle. “Fine, but when you get back, I want to talk about this. I want to make things right between us.” “Whatever,” Lucky says dismissively, not really listening to her anymore. He quickly locks the door and hurries to his car, hoping the small setback won’t make him too late getting to his parents’ house. He throws the bag in his backseat and hops into his car. “Bye, Kimber.”

“Bye, Lucky, see you soon!” she calls out, waving as he pulls out of the driveway. Once his car is out of sight, she frowns and looks back at the house. “All right, Lucky, you go on your little trip, but when you get back, I’m going to make sure you notice me.” She walks up the front steps and pulls out a nail file, jiggling it in the lock until the door pops open. “I’m done being nice, now it’s time to play dirty.”

~*~

“Luke, I’m starting to get worried,” Laura says, glancing at the clock again. “Lucky should have been here by now.”

“Maybe he got held up in traffic,” V interjects. Suddenly, the door bursts open and Lucky rushes in.

“Sorry, I got ambushed on the way out of my house,” he says breathlessly. dropping his bags on the floor.

“Ambushed?” Luke asks.

“Yeah, Kimber showed up,” he answers bitterly. V groans, knowing full well how obnoxious that woman can be. “Don’t worry, I threw her out as soon as I could,” he continues, looking at her, knowing what she was probably thinking.

“Who’s Kimber?” Laura asks, completely lost.

“Some waitress from Jake’s that has her eye on Lucky,” V explains. “She’s annoying, but I’m pretty sure she’s harmless.”

“Is that the girl that was sitting with you after the release party?” Luke asks. Lucky nods and rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, she’s like a fungus that just won’t go away. But you know what? I don’t care right now. I just want to get on that plane and go get Elizabeth. That’s all that matters.”

Luke grins and stands up, grabbing his stuff. “You heard the man, let’s get out of here!”

~*~

“Please tell me someone brought Dramamine!” V moans, throwing herself down on a deck chair. “This boat is making me ill.”

“Here,” Laura says, tossing her a bottle. “It’s a knock-off brand, but it’s supposed to be just as good.” V catches it and smiles at her thankfully. “How much longer?” Laura asks, turning to Jax.

“Well, if this map is right, only about 20 more minutes,” Jax answers.

“Okay, I better go down and wake up Luke and Lucky, then.” She stands up and hurries down into the cabin. During the long flight to Greece, Laura and V had napped, then once they got on the boat, Jax took a quick one before taking the wheel, and now Luke and Lucky were resting. The time change and jet lag had hit them all pretty hard, and they wanted to make sure they were alert by the time they reached the island.

She walks into the small room and flips on the light. “Come on guys, rise and shine. We’re almost there!” The two men groan and cover their heads with their pillows, but she won’t be dismissed so easily. She shakes them and tears the pillows out of their hands. “Get up! We’re going to be at the island soon!”

“Aw, Mom, five more minutes,” Lucky mumbles, rolling over to face the wall. She continues to shake him until he finally opens his eyes.

“Do you want to find Liz or not?” she asks firmly, grabbing his attention. He sits up and rubs his face, nodding.

“Of course, sorry. I’m up.” About that time, Luke finally sits up, and after washing their faces, they all make their way up onto the deck to wait out the last few minutes of the long voyage.

“All right, we’re docked,” Jax announces a short while later. “So what’s the plan? V and I stay here with the boat while you go play ‘Three Musketeers’?”

Luke chuckles and grabs his supplies. “More like Three Amigos, probably. But yeah, that’s pretty much it. I’ll go take care of any guards, while Lucky and Laura search for Liz.”

“You’re going to take on the guards by yourself?” V asks.

“Well, I figure Helena’s feeling pretty secure by now, what with being dead and all, so she probably doesn’t have much in the way of security. I don’t see it being a big issue. Come on, let’s go,” he says, motioning for his wife and son to follow him off the boat. They quietly disembark, and Luke immediately goes off in search of guards, leaving Laura and Lucky to figure out how to get into the house without being noticed. They make their way down the beach, discussing plans, when suddenly Lucky stops in his tracks, grabbing his mother’s arm.

A few feet away, standing at the edge of the water, gazing out at the horizon, is Elizabeth. She’s wearing a long, flowing dress, and her hair is loose and blowing around her face. He arms are crossed in front of her, as though she’s cold, and she looks like she’s talking to herself. “There she is,” he whispers, feeling like his legs are about to give out. All this time, he’s been waiting for the moment when he would finally see her again, but he never imagined that it would feel like this. She looks like an angel standing there, so peaceful, so serene. He feels like he’s in a dream, but this time, he knows he won’t be waking up.

~*~Chapter 70~*~

Helena walks into the dining room and smiles at Sergei, who is already seated. “Where is Elisha?” she asks, looking at the empty chair.

“I’m sure she’s just getting dressed. She’ll be down soon,” he says quickly, knowing that Helena expected him to be sharing a bed with her again.

“Oh, did the poor dear have a rough night?” she asks wickedly. Sergei frowns for a moment, then forces himself to smile.

“I wouldn’t say rough, but if you’re asking me if we’ve started sleeping together, then yes, we have,” he says quickly, looking at the plate in front of him in order to avoid her piercing gaze.

Helena claps her hands excitedly. “Wonderful! I’m so glad, hopefully it won’t be long before there is another little one around here.”

A minute later, Liz walks into the room, smiling. “Good morning!” she greets cheerfully. Normally, she isn’t this happy in the mornings, but she had just come from the nursery, and playing with Mikkos always put her in a good mood. Helena takes her giddiness the wrong way, however, assuming it is due to the previous evening.

“Well, don’t you seem happy today,” she says, grinning. “It’s good to finally see you in such a good mood, my dear.”

“Thank you,” Liz says, not wanting to let Helena ruin her day. “It’s a beautiful morning, so I think after breakfast I’ll go for a walk along the beach.”

Sergei smiles at the idea. “Mind if I join you?”

Liz glances over at Helena, knowing she will be angry if she turns him down. “Sure, why not?” she asks, sighing. They finish their breakfast in silence, then Liz goes upstairs to check on Mikkos. Sergei meets her outside, and immediately apologizes for inviting himself along.

“Elisha, I’m sorry about this, but I have to talk to you about something, without Helena around.”

“Oh, okay. Is something wrong? It’s not about Mikkos, is it?” she asks worriedly as they slowly make their way down the beach, the water from the sea lapping over her toes.

Sergei shakes his head quickly. “No, he’s fine. It’s about this new plan of Helena’s, how she wants you to have another baby. I gave her the impression this morning that we were already....well, you know.” Liz nods, smiling. No wonder Helena seemed so pleased that she was in a good mood. “Anyway, I can keep doing that for a while, but sooner or later, she’s going to figure it out. She’s not a stupid woman, and I’m afraid one of these days, we’re going to have to sleep together again.”

Liz frowns at the thought. “How much longer do you think she’ll buy your excuses?”

“Not long,” he says, sighing in frustration. “But it would be better for both of us if we don’t wait until she catches on. We can’t risk her getting angry with us. She might hurt you, or even worse, our son.”

“I can take care of myself,” she says firmly. “As for Mikkos, I don’t think she would hurt a baby...do you?”

“Helena will do anything she feels is necessary, even hurting a child. That’s why I think we should just give her what she wants. If she’s happy, and she thinks she’s winning, then life for all of us will be much easier.”

Liz is silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. He has a point, Helena is relentless when she wants something, but just thinking about having to sleep with him again makes her ill. She sighs and looks up at him. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

Sergei smiles sadly and nods. He reaches out and touches her shoulder comfortingly. “Sure, take your time. I’m just trying to make things easier for you and Mikkos, that’s all. I really do care about you, Elisha, and I don’t want to hurt you. I hope one day you can see that.”

She nods, but doesn’t respond. He sighs and turns to walk back to the house. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Sure,” she says quietly, watching him leave. She turns back to look out at the water for a moment, then sighs and walks back to the mansion. She suddenly lost the urge to walk along the beach.

~*~

After lunch, she spends a few minutes with Mikkos, then decides to try taking that walk again. After telling Sergei where she’ll be and asking for space this time, she heads out to the edge of the island, admiring the panoramic view. She takes a deep breath, smiling at the smell of the fresh seabreeze, slowly feeling herself surrender to the calm atmosphere of the shore.

“All right, Elizabeth, now what are you going to do?” she asks herself. “You can’t fend him off forever. What if Lucky never gets that letter, or never figures out the secret message? What if he doesn’t know to look for you here? You can’t just sit around all day waiting for him to show up and rescue you. It may never happen, or it may not happen for a long time.”

She sighs and kicks at the sand, burying her toes in it. “All right Lucky, where are you? If I have to sleep with Sergei again, I may just lose that last shred of sanity that I’m clinging to right now. I can’t do it again, I can’t go through that. I need to stay strong for Mikkos, I know that, but I won’t be able to if I do what Helena wants this time.”

She remains silent for a few minutes, just watching the waves in the distance, letting the soft roar of the surf calm her. Slowly, she begins to feel at peace once more, and smiles. “You know what? I can do whatever I have to. I have faith that you’ll come for me some day, so until then, the best thing I can do is keep Helena happy. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did anything to cause her to harm our son. I have to think of his safety now, before my own problems. If sleeping with Sergei is what I have to do, then I’ll do it. I won’t like it, but I’ll survive, for you, for us.”

She sighs and brushes a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Lucky, I love you, and I just hope that whenever you find me, you can forgive me for what I’ve done here. I know that Luke eventually forgave Laura, so I can only pray that you’ll do the same.”

Liz stops talking suddenly as she hears footsteps approaching behind her. After so many months of Sergei sneaking up on her while she thought she was alone, her ears had gotten very used to picking up the sound of his approach. She sighs, figuring she should have known that this day wouldn’t be any different than the others.

“I thought I said I wanted some space,” she says angrily, still looking out at the water. “I told you I’d think about it, but I can’t do that if you keep following me around. Why can’t you just leave me alone for five minutes?”

“Because I love you, Elizabeth,” a soft voice says from behind her.

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