~*~Chapter 85~*~

Nikolas stares silently at Sergei, still having difficulty taking in the news. How could he have had a twin brother all this time and never known it?

“This is just too weird,” Emily says, breaking the silence. “It’s like you’re looking in a mirror!”

Nikolas nods, but doesn’t respond, so she speaks again, trying to get some sort of dialogue going. “Um, so what happened in Greece? Where’s Helena?”

“She’s locked up,” Luke answers. “With the evidence against her, she’ll probably be there for a long time.”

“So, she was just keeping Liz locked up on some island all this time?”

“Sort of,” Laura offers. “She was trying to repeat what happened to me twenty years ago.”

“But, how could she? You were forced to marry Stavros and have his baby. How could she repeat that without....?” Nikolas begins to ask, then trails off when he realizes what happened. He turns to look at Sergei. “You didn’t....?”

Sergei sighs and looks down at his hands. “Yes, Helena ordered me to marry Elish- um, Liz, and wanted her to have my child.”

“But, the baby she had, it was Lucky’s, wasn’t it?” Emily asks, confused.

“Yes, but no one knew that until he was born, and even then I think Liz was the only one who really knew. I didn’t figure it out until Lucky showed up and I saw the resemblance.”

“Wait, if everyone thought the baby was yours at first, then that means you and Liz....” Emily says quietly, unable to finish the question.

Sergei closes his eyes and nods, not proud of what he had done. The last thing he wanted was for his real family to think he was a monster. “A few times in the beginning, but once she found out she was pregnant, Helena didn’t force me to go to her any longer.”

“Oh, no, she must have been.... oh, poor Liz,” Emily sighs, then quickly looks up at Sergei and shakes her head. “Oh, I didn’t mean...no offense to you of course, it’s just that...”

“I know about her being raped,” Sergei cuts in. “Helena made sure I knew everything.”

“Wow, that must have been so weird for her, since you look just like Nikolas!”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this,” Laura says quickly, noticing that Nikolas is becoming uncomfortable. “Liz might not want us discussing something so personal.”

“You’re right, um, so how did the rescue go?” Emily asks, relieved to change the subject. Just thinking about Liz sleeping with Sergei gave her a creepy feeling, since it was so close to her sleeping with Nikolas.

“It had a few bumps, but it went pretty well,” Laura responds with a small smile. “Helena tried to stop Liz from leaving by telling her she had to leave her son behind, but Sergei saved the day!”

Sergei blushes, not feeling anything even close to a hero at that moment. “I just did what I knew was right. Besides, I had been dying to get away from Helena for a long time.”

“What did you do?” Emily asks, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Seeing that he doesn’t want to tell the story himself, Luke speaks up. “He pulled a gun on Helena and returned the kid to Liz. If it wasn’t for him, we probably wouldn’t have gotten off that island too easily, and she wouldn’t be in custody right now.”

Nikolas looks over at his parents. “How is Lucky handling all of this?” He knows his brother’s temper all too well, especially when it comes to Liz, and something tells him Lucky wouldn’t be too thrilled to know all of this.

Luke shrugs. “He did what you’re probably thinking he’d do. He got mad, hid away from the rest of us, wouldn’t talk to her, the usual Spencer pride rearing its ugly head. But, after some good, hard thinking, and a little reminder of his own behavior in her absence, he came around. As you can see, they’re fine now, although I think it may take some time for him to warm up to his new brother.”

Nikolas nods, understanding what he means. “I’m sure it will. But, underneath his macho attitude, he’s pretty fair, so I’m sure given time, he’ll come around.”

“So, let me get this straight. You got to the island to rescue her, then Helena shows up with this secret twin brother that no one knew about, tries to use Liz’s baby to keep her there, which turns out to be Lucky’s, then Sergei pulls a gun on her and you all escape, managing to get her tossed in jail on top of everything? And now Liz and Lucky are back together, ready to live happily ever after?” Emily asks with a grin, obviously impressed. “The whole thing sounds like a movie!”

“Yeah, well, our whole lives have been like one big movie,” Luke chuckles, looking over at Laura. “But now that the evil villain is out of the picture, maybe we can finally have that happy ending!”

~*~Chapter 86~*~

Kimber grins widely at Lucky and saunters over to him, ignoring the dirty looks she was receiving from Liz. “Lucky, you’re home! I was starting to wonder if you were going to come back!”

Lucky takes a step back, trying to stay away from her. “Kimber, why are you here? How did you get in, and why are you wearing my clothes?”

“Well, after you left me on your doorstep in such a hurry, I missed you, so I decided to wait here.” She continues to smile, knowing that she sounds crazy, but with his wife back in town, she has to take drastic measures.

“I don’t believe I’m hearing this!” he says, exasperated. “You have no right to be here. You hardly know me, you drove me home a few times when I had too much to drink, that doesn’t mean you can break into my house!”

Kimber sidles up to him and tilts her head to the side. “Oh, but we shared so much more than that, Lucky. Or did you forget?”

Backing away from her again, Lucky shakes his head. “We had nothing, Kimber. You took advantage of me when I was drunk, but V stopped you before I had a chance to do something I would have regretted!”

Kimber flinches slightly, but quickly regains her composure, glancing over at Liz, who is watching the whole scene, silently fuming. “I see, now that your wife decided to come back to you, you’re changing your tune? And what’s with the baby? Some bastard child she had while she was running off on you, leaving you behind to drink yourself to sleep every night?”

Unable to hold her tongue any longer, Liz quickly hands Luke to Lucky and approaches Kimber, anger boiling up inside of her. “Not that it’s any of your business, but that baby is Lucky’s son. And no, I did not run off on him, I was kidnapped and held against my will for nearly a year. It was hell, it was one of the worst experiences of my life, but he found me, and now I’m home, where I belong, with my husband!”

Kimber smiles wickedly at her, not backing down. “Well, as much as my heart bleeds for you, you may not be so defensive of him if you knew what he was doing while you were gone.”

“As a matter of fact, I do know what he did. He told me all about you, Kimber,” she said, spitting out the name like it was sewage. “I know how you chased after him until he had to move out of our house in order to avoid you. You took advantage of his grief, you deluded yourself into thinking he actually liked you, but you were dead wrong. He was lonely and depressed, and you made sure you were there whenever he was vulnerable. You waited until he was nice and drunk before you made a move, because you knew he wouldn’t want anything to do with you if he was sober!”

“For someone who’s never met me before, you sure do think you know me pretty well, don’t you?” Kimber asks, becoming annoyed. She was sure that by insinuating that something went on between her and Lucky, it would plant enough doubt and suspicion in Liz’s head, but instead, it only seemed to strengthen her resolve.

“I don’t need to know you, I know your kind. What exactly did you think would happen here? Did you think Lucky would come home and be happy to find that you broke into his house? Did you think that would endear you to him? Because if you did, you’re highly delusional!”

“I’m delusional?” Kimber asks with a wry laugh. “I’m not the one who just found a strange woman in my house, wearing my husband’s shirt, and keeps telling herself that there’s nothing going on!”

“But there isn’t anything going on, Kimber,” Lucky cuts in, trying to keep his temper in check. “You and I both know that, so why don’t you give up this stupid game of yours and leave?”

“All right, fine, I’ll go, but that doesn’t mean this is over yet,” she sighs, turning to go back to the bedroom.

“Where are you going?” Lucky asks loudly, stopping her. She turns to him and smiles broadly.

“Well, I didn’t think I should walk outside like this,” she says, pulling at the shirt she’s wearing. “I thought it would be best if I changed clothes first.”

As Kimber retreats into their bedroom, Liz groans and turns to face Lucky, smiling sadly when she sees the worried look on his face. “Don’t worry, I don’t believe anything she said. I know you wouldn’t lie to me.”

Smiling with relief, he steps closer to her. “I can’t believe you’re being so calm about this. You amaze me, you know that?”

“Calm? Lucky, were you watching someone else? I was far from calm, it was all I could do not to strangle her right there!”

He laughs softly and places a soft kiss on her lips. “I saw everything just fine, and trust me, you’re handling this whole thing much better than I would be if I was in your place!”

“I know, I’ve seen you in my place. Speaking of which, do you think there will ever be a time where you can think of Sergei as your brother, and not as.....?”

“The other man you slept with?” Lucky finishes, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. “I don’t know, Elizabeth. It may never happen, or it may just take a long time. Can we talk about it later, though? I think we have enough problems to deal with right now, starting with getting Kimber out of our house.”

Liz nods, reaching up to caress his cheek. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have mentioned it yet. I was just curious. He’s really not a bad guy, I mean, if it weren’t for him, we might not have gotten off that island...”

“Elizabeth, please,” he says, cutting her off. “I really don’t want to get into this now.”

“Aw, are you two fighting already?” Kimber asks condescendingly as she struts out of the bedroom, back in her own clothes. “I hope it’s not about me.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not,” Liz grumbles. “You’re not worth the effort it takes to fight. No, the only thing we could even possibly argue about is which one of us gets to throw you out.”

Lucky turns to Liz and smiles. “Oh, I think you should do the honors, honey.”

“Really? Oh, you’re too sweet,” she says, grinning back at him.

“Don’t bother, I know the way out,” Kimber sighs, backing towards the door. “I’ll see you around, Lucky.”

“No, you won’t!” Liz insists, storming up to her. “Look, I realize that Lucky is an attractive man, and that he’s a great guy. Obviously, I know that, or else I wouldn’t have married him. But, I did, which means he’s taken. He’s not some land you can take over. He doesn’t want you, so back off.”

“Hey, all I said was that I’d see him around, no need to get all huffy.”

“Fine, I’m just saying it’s time for you to find someone else to chase after. You’re a fairly attractive woman, in a cheap kind of way, I’m sure you wouldn’t have any trouble,” she says, smiling in satisfaction at the expression on her face, which was quickly turning red.

Kimber turns to Lucky and gasps. “I can’t believe you’re married to such a bitch! What do you see in her, anyway?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Liz’s fist shoots out, hitting Kimber squarely in the jaw, sending her flying onto the floor in shock.

Lucky laughs and shakes his head. “Well, for starters, she’s got a mean right hook!”

Liz steps up to Kimber, standing over her as she rubs her jaw. “Pardon me for being such a bitch, but I guess after being cooped up on that island for so long, my people skills could use a little work.”

Kimber gasps and staggers to her feet, then flees out of the house. Lucky quickly sets the baby on the couch, then steps up behind Liz, wrapping his arms around her waist. He places a soft kiss on her neck and whispers seductively in her ear, “I like it when you get all territorial.”

Smiling, Liz turns around in his arms. “Yeah, well, she just better not bother you again, because I don’t know if my fist can take any more punching.”

“Mmm,” he mumbles, pulling her against him. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her again. I just hope you never get mad at me like that!”

Liz laughs and shakes her head. “Well, if you don’t kiss me soon, I might!”

“Hm, I guess I better. Wouldn’t want you to hurt your fist again,” Lucky mutters, grinning as he leans down to her, their lips finally meeting in an intense, heated kiss.

Graphics Courtesy Of: