Luke Spencer stepped out of the shadows of the docks and puffed on his everpresent cigar. He had watched the younger man disembark from the Hera, Helena's yacht and make his way up the pier to where he stood.
"Luke." Justus Ward acknowledged him quietly. "I didn't know my friends concerned you."
"They don't. But I got my eye on old Hells over there, and anything that involves her concerns me." Luke flicked his discarded ashes toward Justus. "So why don't you tell me what you were doing with Helena Cassadine?"
Justus tilted his head to one side and considered the man he once called 'friend'. "That's between her and me." He stepped around Luke and tried to pass.
A long arm shot out and blocked his path. "I asked you a question. I want an answer."
Slowly Justus' gaze moved to the arm which impeded his exit, and then back up into Luke's face. "Get out of my way, Luke."
"Or what?" the older man threatened. "We both know you aren't gonna do anything, Justus. You've got a habit of that. You are the same coward who-"
"Let your wife stand trial for something she never did. Yeah, yeah!" Justus mocked. "I know that song. You need to get another one, Luke. This one's played out." Justus' brilliant teeth gleamed in the darkness as the handsome young lawyer smiled at Luke's seeming speechlessness. "What's the matter? Not the reaction you were expecting?"
Luke's mouth snapped shut. "Listen up-," he began.
"No, you listen up." Justus commanded. "You think I'm a coward. That I let a woman take the fall for a crime I committed. That's okay. Cause I think you're a far worse coward than I am. The kind who rapes women and then convinces himself it was an act of love."
Luke stiffened and his hands clenched to form fists. Enraged he listened as Justus continued.
"Truth hurts, doesn't it? You see, while I was gone, I did some digging." Justus gave a nod toward the older man. "You and the Old Man taught me the value of always having a little leverage stashed away. And your past was just full of stuff." He stepped to Luke. "So let me give you a warning, Luke. I'm not that broken man you knew a couple of years ago."
"Stay out of my business," Justus intoned, his words precise. "Or I'll make you sorry." His voice grew deadly. "That's a promise."