The Bed You Make
Chapter 14, concluded
Reluctantly taking a cue from her husband, Dara settled into a leather-bound seat. She declined Stefan's offer of a drink with a curt shake of her head. “Very well,” he said, and poured himself a small taste of chilled grapefruit juice.
The cockpit hummed with the muted sounds of the pilot making last minute confirmations with the tower of the Port Charles Airport. Dara felt the sudden vibration of the jet's powerful engines roar to life and knew that in only moments they would be taxiing down the runway in preparation for flight.
“I don't see why I couldn't have just taken a look at what Mrs. Landsbury packed for me.” Dara was aware of how perilously close she came to sounding like a petulant child.
Stefan set aside his empty glass. “Would you like me to delay our departure so that you can satisfy your concerns?”
“Don't humor me!” Stefan's longsuffering tone grated on Dara's nerves. She had approached him after breakfast with her uncertainties and he had dismissed her worries with an almost paternalistic air. "I'm sorry if I am not accustomed to having other people do every little thing for me! We weren't all born with a Romanov spoon in our mouths.”
“This is true,” Stefan conceded. “But you have now married a man who was. I suggest you overcome your reluctance and adapt.”
“My reluctance?” Dara's words were clipped and angry. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It is apparent – painfully, at times – that you are uncomfortable with certain aspects of the Cassadine lifestyle. Our wealth is to be apologized for; the amenities we enjoy-”
“You mean the luxuries…”
Stefan continued as though Dara had not interrupted him. “-the amenities which we enjoy meet with your disapproval.” He gazed at her pointedly. “The mere mention of the servants causes you to react with distaste…Much as you just did.”
Dara started to protest, but realized that her face was indeed set in a scowl. “I believe that you are afraid,” Stefan announced.
“Afraid? Afraid of what?”
“Yourself,” Stefan replied. “The safety net you had in place was severed when you were forced to refuse District Attorney Schultz's job offer. Now you are free to embrace all that being Cassadine Trustee entails. Perhaps you fear that you might become more accustomed to our lifestyle than you would like.” Stefan's gaze seemed to cut through Dara. “In the limited time we have been associated, I have come to realize that under different circumstances a marriage to me would be ideal for you.”
Dara gave a very unladylike snort. “Oh, please… Get over yourself. I was… thrown by the thing with DA Schultz. I'm over it now.”
Deliberately she turned away from Stefan, an obvious indicator that the conversation was ended. As a result, she missed the gleam of success in her husband's eye.