The fire had died to a slow burn and the ashes were only slightly glowing. Gia’s face felt warm on his chest. His night with Gia had been unlike anything else. He realized it was because it was his. Gia was his. In his mind she didn’t belong to his uncle, as Katherine had. She didn’t think of his brother, as Liz would have. She was there for him, and only for him. She didn’t rail about having been betrayed or pine for a lost love. It was about the two of them and nothing else. In his life it was the only thing that belonged to him, and him alone. It wasn’t for someone else. It wasn’t in service of the name. He finally knew there was something that he wanted for himself. That was why he had to make this work.

He rose slowly and gently covered her with the blanket. Looking at that face, it seemed unreal that he was so lucky, that what had happened last night had actually occurred. He may have been born a prince, but this was the first real thing he’d ever had. He stoked the fire a little, then found his cell phone and slowly dialed Emily’s number…

“Hello, Reginald…can I speak to Emily? This is Nikolas…Hey Em…what we talked about last night….we’re not going to wait….tell your parents you want go shopping in Manhattan with Elizabeth, Lucky and me for the weekend…I’ll call your mother and clear it….get him ready…Oh, and call Dara Jensen…I want that taken care of before we leave.”

He then dialed Lucky. “Hey…I need you to do something for me. Spend a romantic evening in New York with Elizabeth this weekend and go crazy shopping. On my tab. Yeah, there is a catch, but I’ll tell you when I see you…at Kelly’s…at noon.”

“So do I get to do any of this shopping?”

Looking up he saw her laying there curled up, smiling at him and scrunching her face up.

“Oh you get to do better than that…you get to go on a trip with me.”

“Oh the dashing prince going to take me far away to Calgon-land?”

“You mean Camelot?”

She rose up and walked toward him… “That’ll work, too. But do we have to go right now?”

“You know, you bat your eyelashes with the best of them…but we really have to get going….”

“Can’t we just ..” kissing him quickly on the lips… “spare a”….then down his chest… “ an hour…” to his stomach… “or two?” With that she put both hands on his waist and looked up with a wicked grin.

“Ah….sure…what’s an hour or two….?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lucky and Elizabeth sat at Kelley’s, waiting for Nikolas to pick them up. Tammy had given her time off as usual, and Lucky was giving her a hard time about never actually working. He had her laughing then all of a sudden her face got a smirk on it the size of North Dakota.

“What’s wrong, Elizabeth?”

“What is that?”

He turned and saw his brother and Gia approaching. That was a bit odd in that Gia was a fugitive, but of all of them she had always spent the most time with Nikolas. What was really odd was that they were holding hands.

Elizabeth got up and ran into Kelley’s. Lucky sat there dumbfounded. As Nikolas and Gia approached he got up. “Hey guys….if I were you I wouldn’t stick around, I think Elizabeth just went to call the cops.”

Nikolas smiled, and touched Gia’s face. “Let her…”

Gia was almost speechless. “What….I told you we shouldn’t be coming here. Not in the open…”

With that Liz walked out, obviously frustrated. “I don’t understand what’s going on but the cops won’t come get this blackmailing witch.”

That got Gia out of her panic… “Nice to see you, too, Lizzie…”

“She’s not wanted by the cops anymore Elizabeth.”

Gia and Liz simultaneously said “Since when?”

“Since this morning. I dropped the charges.”

Everyone turned to see Emily walk up behind them.

“Why, Emily? She tortured you.”

“Let it go Elizabeth. Gia and I have come to …an understanding, right Gia?”

“Right….right…”

Gia put her hand to Nikolas’s shoulder, and looked at him knowingly.

Nikolas touched her hair, and slowly stroked it. That was about all Liz could take.

“Okay I don’t know what’s going on here. Someone please explain it to me.”

Nikolas shot her a glare. “Elizabeth, what is your problem? Emily dropped the charges against Gia, they’re letting bygones be bygones. If Emily is willing to forgive Gia, why aren’t you?”

“Since when did she start pawing all over you like a bitch in heat? Since when did you start holding her hand wherever you went…”

“Since when did you care, Elizabeth?”, Lucky exclaimed. “If my brother wants to be with Gia, it’s none of your business. If that’s what makes him happy I’m all for it. If you can’t say something nice to Nikolas, just shut up. Or you don’t have to go on this trip. It’s not like Nikolas isn’t footing the bill or anything.”

Liz stood and fumed… “I’m going to go get my bags. I’ll be down in a minute.” She slammed the door as she walked in.

Nikolas turned to Em. “Your end taken care of ?”

“Yeah, he met the driver you sent four hours ago. You sure this’ll work?”

Lucky looked befuddled. “Uh guys, what’s going on here?”

“For once, Lucky, you’re not the one with the plan. All you have to do is fly with us to New York. I have a pair of suites in your name at the Waldorf Astoria and a platinum card at your disposal. Take Elizabeth out, wine her, dine her, buy out Macy’s, I don’t care. If anyone asks, Gia was showing Emily and I around New York all the time we’re there. You’re cool with that?”

“If that’s all you want me to know, yeah I guess I’m cool with that.”

“Just keep Elizabeth entertained.”

“That I can do. Tell me what’s up when it’s over.”

“I promise.”

“And Nikolas?”

“What about Juan?”

Emily quickly replied, “Who the hell cares about Juan?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they got off the private charter, two limousines were waiting for them. Nikolas suggested Elizabeth and Lucky take the first one and they’d take the second. They stood on the tarmac talking as Liz and Lucky’s limo pulled away.

Gia looked around. “So what are we waiting for, let’s get in our limo.”

Nikolas held her back. “No….the limo’s for Em.”

“What do you mean? We gotta take a taxi after you paid for two limos?”

“No…just wait….”

Emily walked up to the limo, and got in. Gia heard a scream. Next thing she knew Emily got out, holding hands with someone. That someone was Zander.

“Nikolas, what’s he doing here? Are you crazy?”

“Gia, it’s all right. Zander and I have made a deal. Right Zander?”

“Right.”

Nikolas looked at Gia. “So…you ready for another trip?”

“Where are we going?”

“Where I grew up…and where Zander’s going to stay for awhile. We’re going to Greece.”

Chapter 12

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