PART ELEVEN
Stefan's cellular phone sounded from the desk across the room. "One moment," he instructed Alexis. "Yes? . . . Very good," Stefan told his employee. "Were there any difficulties?" He listened intently to the response. "Indeed. You have done well."
Stefan turned to Alexis, who had been trying to unobtrusively monitor his conversation. "It would seem that your timing is excellent. My attorney is on her way up from the launch. You will have the opportunity to meet her before you leave."
Alexis understood her brother's not-so-subtle hint and began gathering her coat and gloves. "There was no need for this, Stefan." She could not disguise her hurt.
Stefan took a sip of his drink. "A trusted mutual friend thought you might be . . . unwilling to come to my assistance."
"Have I ever failed you?" Alexis asked angrily.
"She did not think it prudent to take that chance." Stefan looked at Alexis over his drink. "In light of the events of the past few hours, I am quite appreciative of Lucinda's quick thinking. It was a comfort to have use of an attorney I could rely on."
Jessica heard Stefan's last comment as she reached the study door. He stood with his back toward her, speaking to a dark-haired woman Jessica recognized as his sister and attorney, Alexis Davis.
"Miss Davis," Jessica introduced herself, ignoring Stefan's presence. "I am Jessica Griffin."
"It is nice to meet you," Alexis replied.
"I hope that you aren't leaving," Jessica said, observing as the other woman began to pull on her gloves.
"Yes, I'm afraid I have other plans."
"I am sorry to hear that," Jessica remarked pointedly. "I would have liked the opportunity to speak with you at length about the current situation. It is always an awkward thing to be tossed into the center of someone else's agenda."
Intrigued, Alexis offered, "Perhaps we can meet some time tomorrow."
"I will be on my way back to Oakdale tomorrow. My involvement with your brother's legal troubles is ended."
Alexis considered the woman standing before her. A shrewd judge of character, she realized instantly that Jessica had somehow fathomed just how her brother operated. And she seemed to be calling him on it. As much as she would have liked to stay and see the two of them 'spar', Alexis was content to leave Jessica to her own devices.
Alexis offered her hand. "I am sorry we did not get the chance to know one another, Miss Griffin. If you are ever in Port Charles again -"
"I will look you up," Jessica finished. "Count on it."
"It would seem that you and Alexis have an affinity for one another," Stefan observed. "Perhaps it is the shared profession."
"Perhaps what we share is an understanding of human behavior."
"Meaning?"
"Well," Jessica began, "let's begin with your decision to arrange this little excursion for me." She began shedding her coat and scarf. Stefan hurried to assist her.
"When did you know what I had planned?"
"I didn't know anything until your chauffeur picked me up. That was when I began to suspect your hand in things."
Stefan walked to the bar, looking askance for her drink preference. "Cabernet'," Jessica supplied.
"What aroused your suspicions?"
Jessica laughed reluctantly. "I haven't met such a large number of people with European accents since I went to Scotland a few years ago." She accepted the glass he handed her. "And . . ."
"There is more?"
"You accepted my refusal of dinner far too easily."
"I am a gentleman, Miss Griffin." Stefan stepped around the bar and stood near her. "I do not force my attentions upon a woman."
Jessica raised an eyebrow. She would refrain from pointing out the obvious fact that Stefan had engineered her arrival at Wyndemere despite her wishes to the contrary. Carefully placing her glass down on the bar behind her, Jessica addressed her host. "Mr. Cassadine, just admit that you did all this so that I would have dinner with you."
"Perhaps you flatter yourself, Miss Griffin." He closed the distance between them in an attempt to rattle her.
Without warning Jessica grasped his face and kissed him soundly and deeply. Placing her cheek against his, she whispered in his ear. "Would you believe that I have wanted to do that from the moment I met you?"
Stefan pulled back triumphantly. "Indeed?"
Jessica stepped away from him. "Now you flatter yourself, Mr. Cassadine."
