Chapter 18

Jack's pliant lips were staking their claim on Ally's smooth bare shoulder as her fingers explored the muscular contours of his back. Keys jingling in the door of the outer room could not be heard beyond their ragged breaths and pounding heartbeats. For brief seconds that seemed like hours their eyes met and held. Brown eyes and blue eyes lost in each other read the absolute consent and love that shined there. No words were needed as the two brought their lips together in a frenetic kiss of passion.

While Ally and Jack were caught up in the rapture of love on the sofa in the living room the as yet unheard arrival was entering the house.

"Hi babe, let me help you," Matt said coming up behind Ellen.

The sound of Matt's voice caused the two young people to abruptly jump to their feet.

"My parents are back!" Ally shrieked as she hurriedly pushed the shoulder strap to her bikini top back up.

Jack's state of arousal was now a distant memory as fear and dread became the new emotions he felt. "Your father is going to kill me. He's going to kill me," Jack declared his heart pounding furiously in terror as he took the bath towel from the arm of the couch and placed it around his neck in an attempt to appear more clothed than he was.

"Jack calm down, it's going to be okay." Grabbing the oversized shirt she dropped on the love seat upon entering the room Ally quickly donned it, haphazardly fastening the buttons as her parents' voices got closer.

"I think I did pretty well today. I only have three shopping bags," Ellen proudly proclaimed.

"Considering you were with Lucy I'd say that's an accomplishment," Matt laughed.

Ally and Jack were still pulling themselves together when her parents entered the room. The flushed and flustered appearance of the young couple before them put the easy exchange Ellen and Matt were having to an immediate end.

"Mom, Daddy you're home," Ally said as she finished fastening the third of the middle buttons of her shirt, trying desperately not to sound or appear as anxious and uncomfortable as she felt.

Jack who was standing next to Ally offered a weak smile and wave to her folks as he silently prayed Matt wouldn't rip his heart out of his chest and roll over it with his chair.

Ellen sat the bag she was carrying on the end table. "I guess that explains why everything looks so familiar," she remarked wryly, noting the duo's lack of attire and strange behavior.

"What's going on here?" Matt asked deathly calm, his hard stare practically boring holes into Jack. Glancing over at his daughter for an extended moment, "Allison where are your clothes?"

"Daddy I'm wearing them," she answered with a nervous smile. Picking up the clear tote bag that contained her poolside necessities. "We were about to go swimming."

"Is that what they call it now," Matt muttered under his breath, his eyes becoming tiny slits as he fixed his gaze back on Jack.

"Well uh we'll be out at the pool if you want us," Ally told them as she grabbed Jack's hand. "Bye," she said all but sprinting out to the backyard.

"Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse," Matt fumed placing the bags on the couch with a little more force than warranted.

"Matt--" Ellen began feeling his eruption about to happen.

"We come into our house to find our daughter practically naked in the living room about to do a hell of a lot more than swimming, with a boy I can barely stand to look at. What is she thinking about?!!" he bellowed.

Pushing the bags over Ellen took a seat on the sofa. "Matt you don't have to shout, I'm right here."

"I'M NOT SHOUTING!" he boomed.

Ellen flinched from the loud force of his voice.

Breezing over to his wife Matt took her hands in his and kissed them. "I'm sorry baby. I'm sorry. I was shouting." Raking his fingers through his hair in frustration, "Damn it Ellen. Why is this happening?"

"Which this would that be?" Ellen asked, settling back on the couch and holding a throw pillow close to her chest as she waited for his response.

"Allison growing up, her falling in love with that Ramsey kid, MJ wanting to do an expose' on the Mancusis."

"What?" Ellen said tossing the pillow aside as she sat up more erect. "Rewind that last part."

"Yes, after we finished working out he disclosed to me that he would like to do an expose' on the underworld, more specifically the Mancusis. Of course he wouldn't identify them but that's who he would be concentrating on."

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. I did manage to convince him that this specific story idea would not be a good subject to follow up and after a bit of prodding he finally saw things my way."

"Thank heavens," she said taking his hand in hers. "I imagine hearing him discuss them threw you a bit. Sharing with him and Ally the truth about your life was hard enough but for MJ to want to delve deeper into all of that."

"Ellen the person I was and the life I lived back when I was Eric Mancusi was so long ago it's almost like it happened to someone else. I put all that behind me years ago, but to hear my son ask me to share mob stories with him, Ellen it jarred me. We've been fortunate in that Sal hasn't come back into our lives since that day at the funeral home, but the idea that he can obviously couldn't have been too far from my mind. The thought of MJ wanting to do a story on him and that world he lives in, it truly scared the hell out of me."

Ellen's fingers gently rake through the hair at his left temple. "You think your father could still try take revenge out on you, on us? Matt it's been so many years."

"Not enough years can go by for Salvatore Mancusi to forget I killed his son. I don't think he will come after us again because like you said it has been years, but the fact remains that yes, he could always do it." Placing a kiss in her open palm he then released a wearisome breath, "Let's not talk about Sal anymore,"
Matt requested. "He's taken up enough of my day, besides we have our own in house problem, or should I say poolside problem to contend with. They're probably out there skinny-dipping as we speak," he said moving to the far end of the room and looking through the glass panes of the French doors in the direction of the pool. "Ellen where are her clothes?" he groaned.

Joining Matt, Ellen wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Matt, honey she's wearing her clothes." Watching Ally dive into the pool, "I was with her when she got that suit, it's extremely conservative," she shared.

"Conservative for who, a Playboy bunny? Ellen you do realize that if we had shown up a few minutes later we would have walked in on something…something that I would rather not think about. Did you talk to her this morning?"

Ellen nodded. "Yes I talked to her."

"And?" Matt replied desperate for some words that would squelch his distressing thoughts.

"And she's said I don't need to worry. Everything is fine."

"What we just came in on tells me everything is not fine and if it is 'fine' now it won't be for much longer. Ellen they can't keep their hands off each other. Look at em out there," Matt said as he watched them frolicking in the pool and sharing stolen kisses. "It's like they're in heat. No wonder they wanted to go swimming, they need to cool off."

"I trust Allison to do the right thing. She's a very mature and responsible young woman."

"It's not that I don't trust Ally, it's that Ramsey kid. And there's that word again, 'responsible'. You know something Ellen."

"Yes I do. I know that you need to take a few minutes and talk with Jack. Not shout at him, not glare at him but talk to him. He really is a nice young man and I think it will be good for both of you."

Rolling his eyes in disgust, "Yeah right," Matt muttered.

"Matt he loves Allison and she loves him, and the sooner you take some steps in accepting that, and I mean really accepting it, the better off we'll all be. Now come along," she said taking his hand and leading him out the double door and to the pool.

"Ellen, babe what are you doing?" Matt protested as Ellen dragged him along with her toward the pool.

The splashing and sounds of laughter and merriment drifting from Jack's end of the pool came to an end upon catching sight of Matt and Ellen.

After a big splash hit Jack squarely in the face without his responding to her in kind Ally knew something was amiss. "Jack?" she said turning to see what he was looking at and finding a determined Ellen and an uneasy Matt approaching. Her once happy face contorted into a frown. "Is something wrong?"

"No Ally nothing's wrong. I just need for you to come into the house with me for a few minutes. There's something I want to show you," Ellen told her.

Ally swam over to Jack. "Mom, can't it wait?" she offered looking from her boyfriend to her father, the thought of leaving the two alone together not very appealing to her.

"As a matter of fact it can't," Ellen said giving Ally a look that said trust me.

"Alright," she said putting her faith in her mother's judgment.

Taking Ally's hand, "You're going to leave me?" Jack murmured to her, trying to keep the strong sense of foreboding he felt out of his voice.

"I don't think I have much choice," she said giving him a quick kiss. "Be yourself Jack. If Daddy is finally ready to talk to you and not at you I think everything will turn out okay." Stroking his upper arm reassuringly as a sign of support Ally then climbed out of the pool.

Even with the suit being 'conservative' as Ellen put it, his baby girl was showing way too much skin for Matt's liking especially with that Ramsey kid's eyes firmly placed on her. "Here," he said handing her one of the sheet towels from the chaise. "You don't want to catch cold."

"I'm sure I won't Daddy it's 93 degrees out here, but I'll humor you," she said taking the towel and wrapping it around her body. "I implore you to reciprocate this action," looking over at Jack, "please," she whispered to him before walking into the house.

"You can do this," Ellen said softly to Matt. "Don't disappoint me," she added with a kiss before joining Ally inside.

By now Jack had made his way out of the pool and was toweling off beside one of the empty lounges. Jack nervously fiddled with the damp ends of the towel. "I guess you want to talk to me sir," he croaked through an extremely dry throat.

"No I don't actually but Ellen said I have to so…" Matt explained releasing a deep breath. "Sit down," he said gruffly.

Not uttering a word Jack did as he was told.

"Just what the hell do you think you were doing with my daughter in there?!" Matt growled as he motioned toward the house. "And you had better not say 'About to go swimming'," he advised sternly.

Shaking his head in defeat, "I don't know what I can say Dr. Harmon," Jack answered. "If I tell you a lie you'll rake me over the coals, if I tell you the truth you'll rip me limb from limb then rake what's left of me over the coals."

Easing to within a few feet of the younger man, "Do I have a reason to want to rip you limb from limb?" Matt asked his expression grim.

"Do you need one?" Jack returned. "Nothing happened in there Dr. Harmon."
The look on Matt's face told Jack he didn't buy that for a second.

"Okay, I did touch her," Jack admitted. "Ally is very beautiful, but we were just kissing, that's all," he was quick to explain. "Is this how it's always gonna be? Allison brings me all this happiness and you bring me all this fear?"

Matt thought about that question long and hard before he answered. "No okay, no. I didn't come out here to yell at you."

Matt glanced over at the door to find Ally and Ellen peering out at them through the window. Giving himself a moment he attempted to do what Ellen asked. "My daughter is crazy about you, and my wife likes you too. Seeing as how I'm the odd man out in this equation I figure I should try to forget what your last name is and find out what the appeal is. So Jack, you're pre-med at Columbia?"

Surprise registered on Jack's face. Matt was talking to him in an even tone and his words weren't menacing…for a change. "Yes sir, I start my sophomore year in the fall," he replied.

"I graduated from Columbia."

"Yes I know, Ally told me. She is really looking forward to going."

"It's been a dream of hers for a long time," both men said together before focusing on the slightly rippling water in the pool.

Fleeting awkward silent moments passed.

"You think you know a lot about my daughter don't you?" Matt remarked derisively once again looking at Jack.

"I know I know a lot about your daughter," he answered returning Matt's gaze with a determined one of his own. "I don't just mean the little things like the fact that her favorite fruit is strawberries, and her favorite color is indigo, but who Allison is. Dr. Harmon, I know you're not happy about my feelings for her, more importantly I know you're extremely unhappy with hers for me, but I'm willing to do whatever I have to to show you just how much I care about her. You and my uncle have had your problems in the past…and are still having them," he added after hearing Matt grunt, "but I'm not him." His elbows resting on his upper thighs Jack clasps his hands together and leans forward while maintaining eye contact with Matt. "I haven't known Allison that long where measurement in time is concerned, but in my heart and in my soul I've known her forever. She's a part of me. I know that sounds corny, but it's my truth. I love your daughter very much and I would never do anything to hurt her."

Matt stares long and hard at Jack. "You've managed to cast a spell on the women in my life. I don't know, maybe some of that fairy dust of yours has invaded my senses too. Sitting hear listening to you some part of me, the most minute part of me," he disclosed measuring about a fraction of an inch with his thumb and forefinger, "wants to believe what you're saying."

"Go with that feeling Dr. Harmon," Jack insisted, holding on tightly to the ray of hope he saw coming from him. "I swear, if I ever hurt Ally in any way you have my permission to kill me."

"Can I get that in writing?" Matt jibed with a little chuckle.

"Blood sir," Jack added with a hint of levity as he joined in Matt's light laughter.

After a few moments elapsed Matt became serious again. "All right. I'm willing to give you a shot, a real shot, just don't make me regret it," he said extending his hand to Jack.

"Thank you sir, thank you," Jack said eagerly shaking Matt's hand. "I promise you won't regret it."

"You better hope not," Matt replied only half-jokingly as he tightened his grip on Jack's hand.

Ally was completely stunned by what was going on outside. "Mom, I don't believe it. Daddy is shaking Jack's hand. He didn't hit him and they're actually talking, and they were laughing too," she beamed excitedly.

"Matt is making a conciliatory effort to get to know Jack and they've obviously managed to find some common ground, finally. Let's just hope it keeps. Now young lady," Ellen said taking Ally by the shoulders and turning her attention from the door and the happenings outside and on to her. "What was that your father and I walked in on earlier?" Ellen asked leading her daughter to the sofa as Ally emitted a nervous laugh.

Chapter 18, Part 2

*************

"I can't believe we found a house we like so quickly," Dara said as Mac steered the car through the busy Saturday afternoon traffic.

"Me either, but it's nice isn't it?" Mac returned.

"Yeah, it is." Lines from deep thought furrow her forehead. "Mac do you think--? Oh, forget it," she said blowing off her thought.

"No, do I think what honey?" Mac asked glancing from Dara to the road. "What's on your mind?"

"Tanganeva and what he said, well has been saying. We've been here for a couple of days and Jen's been here two months and so far nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Save for this morning when Felicia assumed our daughter was your new main squeeze. Aside from that, it's been quiet."

"I don't want to think the worse Dara, but this could be the calm before the storm. Australia is my birthplace but Port Charles is home and as great as it is to be back I've known Tanganeva long enough to not disregard his 'visions', they do mean something, we both know that." Entering the hotel's parking garage, Mac pulled into the nearest available space and after turning off the car's ignition faced Dara.

"Personally I'm tired of dodging this threat that's been hanging over our heads for the past twenty odd years and I'm ready to deal with it."

"Have you figured out what we're going to tell Jen yet?"

"No," Mac breathed. "She won't let this rest. She knows there's another reason for our being here, besides not wanting her to be alone."

"Maybe we should tell her," Dara suggested.

Shaking his head Mac hesitates before he answers. "I don't know. Tanganeva assured us we didn't have to worry about her while she was here without us, but now that we are here it's going to be different. If we tell her the whole story she's going to get right in the middle of it because she won't be able to help herself."

"She's going keep at us until she knows the truth."

"Maybe if we keep telling her there's no hidden agenda she'll drop it."

Giving Mac an incredulous look, "You don't believe that," Dara said.

"No I don't," he sighed. "Maybe we can hold her off until tomorrow. I've been thinking we should talk to Taggert, tell him what's going on."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You said his wife mentioned some big case he's working on and you also mentioned he was really curious as to what brought us back here."

"You think there's a connection between the two? I mean it's not like we came here because we knew something was about to happen, it was because we thought that it could. Marcus has been working on his case for a while or at least that's the impression I got from Jasmine. Tanganeva warned us of dark forces from within that would seek revenge. Now he speaks in rhymes, but we don't have to do a lot of guessing to figure out which dark forces and what within he's talking about. You think Marcus might be on to something?"

Nodding his head, "Yeah, yeah I do. My gut is telling me something is going to go down and soon. I trust Marcus, he's a good man and he is the law here. He can tell us what he knows if anything and what we tell him he'll keep to himself. More than that he can keep his eye on Jenny and that's the most important thing."

"You're right. Jensyn being Jensyn if she knew what was happening she'd insist on being right in the middle of it, with that yearn for thrills she has." Giving Mac an exasperated scowl that was shrouded in levity, "That's a Scorpio trait if ever I saw one."

Leaning over to give her a kiss, "That it is," he agreed with a smile as he took her hands in his. "However, Port Charles is not Australia and mobsters are not the drunken blokes she had to pick up in the outback from time to time. This is a totally different game and these people play hardball. I don't care how long she's been a cop; she's still my baby and she has to stay out of this one."

"You'll get no arguments from me. I still wish she had gone to law school after college like Tristan did. So when do you want to talk to Marcus?"

"I'll call and ask if we can come by before we head to Kevin and Lucy's tonight, then tomorrow we'll talk to Jenny. Maybe just maybe we can find a way to get a rein on this potential madness before it gets out of control."

**********

After going home to shower and change MJ's quest to find out more information on the Mancusis led him to the public library. It was obvious he couldn't talk to Matt about this so he thought he would start at the beginning of what was the end of his father's dealings with them, Bobby's shooting. Gathering the information he had attained from his search into his father's past MJ got settled at a table in the library and began to peruse the documents. His hope was to find something among his papers that along with the library's vast resources could get him some sort of new angle on the Mancusi Crime Family, the more human side, if such a thing even existed. His father grew up in that environment so that told him there had to be some shred of decency somewhere in there. He figured his grandmother Angela was the missing link. After scanning page after page of what he had and then doing some internet searches that turned out lacking in any new useful information with absolutely nothing discovered on Angela MJ began to realize finding a 'human' side to the Mancusis might be an untenable task. "This is going to be harder than I thought," he grumbled to himself turning away from the computer screen to rest his weary eyes.

"And what would that be? Find a word you can't pronounce?" Snapping her finger, "Oh that's right, you're smart 'and' beautiful," Jensyn said mirthfully taking a seat at the empty computer station next to MJ.

"I never said I was beautiful, what I said was I had a pretty face, and I do," he replied his heart fluttering wildly as he took in the sight of the lovely young officer wearing a white tank shirt and beige shorts. Her shapely toffee colored legs seemed to have no end. "You must be part bloodhound because you seem to just sniff me out," he commented, finally pulling his eyes from her luscious lower limbs.

She smiled inwardly from his reaction to her. "Trust me a library is the last place I thought I'd find you. It doesn't seem to have enough mirrors or other reflective objects for your liking," she said skimming the words that covered the screen before him as attentively as he had her legs moments before.

A disgusted frown marring his handsome face MJ closed out the window and clicked off the computer screen. "Has anyone ever told you that you were nosey?"

"No, because what I am is a cop," Jensyn answered assuredly.

"Last I checked it wasn't illegal to do research at the library. Isn't there a little old lady you could be walking across the street or something?" he asked sourly, having no desire to be interrogated by the beautiful policewoman.

Eyeing him curiously, "What's your interest in the Mancusis?"

"Not that I owe you an explanation, but it's personal."

"Personal?" she repeated. "What kind of personal interest could you have with mobsters?"

"I didn't see anything on that screen that said they were mobsters. Besides, what would you know about it, you're just some rookie cop." One that had the most arresting affect on him he thought.

"A rookie cop, maybe, but I do recognize the name of crime lords when I see them. You never said why you were looking into them."

"That's my business officer. What brings you here anyway? Oh I know," he said his face lighting up.
"You're working undercover in an attempt to ticket people for speed-reading. That's got to be it," he smiled extremely pleased with himself.

"And you're a comedian too," she remarked as a slight grin formed on her lips. "Here are some friendly words of advice, don't quit your day job."

"So you're my friend now?" he said easing closer to Jensyn. "I didn't know you cared."

The cologne he wore was wreaking havoc with her senses. "I don't," she said her fingers coming in contact with the solid mass of muscles that was his chest as she pushed him away. She felt her stomach do a somersault when she touched him. Damn, she cursed herself. Why was she so attracted to him?

"Sure you do," he smiled brightly enjoying their banter and the all too brief feel of her hands on his body.
"You can't resist me."

There's the smile she thought. I will not succumb to his charms she silently demanded. "You can't resist yourself!" Jensyn hissed in response to MJ's accurate appraisal.

"Shhh," the librarian warned.

"Sorry," they whispered to the bespectacled older woman before turning back to the screens before them.

Remembering his earlier conversation with his father MJ proceeded. "Look, putting aside all these one-ups we're always throwing at each other, there is an obvious attraction here. See, I admit it," he said placing his arm around her chair. "Do yourself a favor and let me take you out sometime."

Jensyn stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

After a while MJ spoke up. "Well?"

"Well what?" Jensyn asked becoming more miffed by the second even as she was near mesmerized by his smoldering dark eyes.

"You know you're even more beautiful when you play clueless," he said leaning closer to her as his smile brightened even more. "I just asked you out on a date."

The nerve of this man she thought. So what her body delighted in the very idea of him, her head screamed 'He's an asshole Jensyn' and that was the part of her anatomy that she was listening to. "You did? That didn't sound like much of an invitation to me. I guess I'm not as up on my English as I thought. See what I got was a guy patting himself on the back for being some gift to the universe, which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask you."

With a nod of his head he granted her his consent.

"You do all this big talking, you drive this flashy sports car and you're in a library wearing designer clothes," fingering the collar to the white linen shirt of his Ralph Lauren ensemble, "what exactly are you overcompensating for? It can't be brains because you graduated cum laude. Hmm, I guess it must be something else," she smirked giving him a once over.

MJ took serious offense to her insinuation but he refused to give her the satisfaction of knowing that, instead he just laughed it off. "That's cute, real cute. I like nice things so I have them, shoot me…not literally okay," he added not wanting to give her any ideas. "As for overcompensating, I assure you I am lacking for nothing, and I do mean nothing. If you ever want to find that out for yourself I might suggest you put the kibosh on comments like the one just made."

"You mean there's still a chance for me? Ooh yippee hooray," she said feigning exuberant clapping.

"I don't know why I even bothered," MJ grumbled as he gathered his things, her abundance of sarcasm beginning to suffocate him.

Jensyn captured his hand as he was collecting his things, the spark that passed between them from that innocent touch catching them both by surprise. "Are you going to tell me why you were researching the Mancusis?" she asked quickly removing her hand from his while her heart pounded erratically in her chest.

Closing his briefcase he took the handle and rose from his chair. His eyes locked on hers, MJ extended his free hand and gently stroked her cheek. She was a pain in the butt, but she was a very beautiful one. After a few moments he gave her his answer. "Nope," he said before he turned and walked away.

Jensyn touched the spot where moments before MJ's hand lingered. "Fine Mr. Harmon, if you won't tell me why you're researching your father's mobster family, I'll just have to find out for myself."

Chapter 18, Part 3

***************

"Explain this to me again?" Marcus said as he tried to grasp what Mac and Dara had just told him.

"Marcus we told you," Dara replied becoming a bit peeved with her friend's reaction.

"You're telling me after you got married all those years ago and went to Australia for your honeymoon some old Aborigine said he saw danger for the two of you and your family if you were to ever go back to Port Charles or get in contact with anyone here, is that what you're saying?" The story was sounding even more farfetched after he repeated it.

"Yes that's exactly what we're saying," Mac answered. "Look Taggert I know how this sounds but Tanganeva is a man of few words, so he doesn't talk just to hear himself speak. Dara and I had just put away some very dangerous crime lords being marked didn't seem like much of a stretch."

"He was waiting for us when we arrived in Australia," Dara explained. "Mac hadn't told him we were coming or that we were married, yet he already knew. He also knew I was pregnant with twins when we got there, I didn't even know that considering I was maybe two days along. When he mentioned the threat against us I was sure he was just a crazy old man. It didn't take long before I was convinced otherwise."

"It sounded strange but we weren't willing to take the risk, especially after Dara's pregnancy was confirmed, so we didn't. We sent for our things along with the letter stating we wouldn't be back.
Because we didn't want anyone from here trying to reach us we moved far out into the Australian outback and became incommunicado to the people of Port Charles."

"You hid well, because we did try to find you with absolutely no luck. You never told your children about the threat?" Marcus asked.

"We didn't see the point," Dara told him. "Our life was in Australia. When the kids asked about Port Charles we told them that after we put the bad guys away we decided to move on and start fresh. Staying away was hard, but we had to do it."

Marcus shook his head in amazement as he took everything in. "Okay, but you're here now, has something changed?"

"Yes something has changed, our daughter is here. She insisted on coming and there was no talking her out of it. Tanganeva assured us she would be fine so we let her stay here alone for a while, but after a few weeks we couldn't do that anymore. We had to be here with Jenny, so against his better judgment we moved back."

"Your daughter is a very good cop, in fact she's better than good. Knowing she is your daughter I intentionally kept her away from the more gritty activities but she found a way to work herself into things. Her nose for detail and her ability to solve cases is well beyond that of any beat cop. With her experience on the Australian force I'm all but ready to get her prepped to become a detective. She's way too good to just be patrolling. I don't understand why you would worry."

"We worry because we know Jen. She likes to be involved in things, the more excitement and danger involved the better," Dara explained. "That is what scares us. We know eventually she is going to dig into the details surrounding our leaving Port Charles and we don't want that."

Mac continued. "We know she's a good cop and that she is capable of taking care of herself but this is different. I know something is about to go down Marcus, what is it? You have to tell us."

Marcus sighed. "You know I shouldn't be doing this."

"Taggert what is said in this room will stay in this room you know that. Talk."

"Fine," Marcus agreed. "Some of Corinthos' lieutenants have been more active lately, so has Sorel's and Moreno's. There's been a lot of bank transactions and their lawyers have been making a lot of trips upstate."

"What do you make of that?" Dara asked.

"I don't want to speculate," he answered as he shifted in his chair.

"What's your gut telling you Marcus?" Mac asked, certain Taggert had to have drawn some conclusion. "I want to know."

"Something big is in the works and Corinthos, Moreno and Sorel are in it up to their necks."

*****************

Kevin glanced up at the clock. "They should be arriving soon."

"Oh boy, this could be a real disaster," Lucy groaned as she finished setting the table.

"You didn't know I had invited Mac and Dara over when Felicia invited herself. We'll just have to try to make the best of this situation. Matt and Ellen are going to be here, that should help."

"It would have helped a lot more if we could have reached Felicia and told her she couldn't come. I don't know how, but she planned this. "

"Mac mentioned she showed up at Kelly's when we were there today. I didn't see her, but I guess she overhead the dinner invitation I extended to him and Dara and when she saw you, she invited herself. Maybe this night will be just what Felicia needs. Seeing how happy Mac and Dara are should convince her she can't come between them."

"I don't think anything will convince her of that. In the world that is Felicia's mind Mac can't be happy without her. She is going to ruin this evening," Lucy complained at the same moment the doorbell chimed.

"I'll get it," Kevin said as he made his way to the door. "Hi guys, you're the first ones here, come on in," he greeted as Matt and Ellen entered the house.

"So Felicia's not here yet," Ellen remarked as she received a kiss on the cheek from Kevin.

"No she isn't and neither are Mac and Dara," Lucy explained as she came in from the dining room.

"Wow, should be a fun evening," Matt quipped.

"What can I get you guys to drink?" Kevin asked.

"Water will be fine," Ellen answered taking a seat on the sofa.

"For me too, thanks," Matt said.

"Mac, Dara and Felicia sharing a meal together. Mind if I ask how that happened?" Ellen inquired as she and Matt received their water from Kevin.

"I suspect Felicia overheard Kevin invite them while they were at Kelly's earlier, so when she saw us there later she 'came up' with the idea for a friendly dinner," Lucy explained. "I knew she was up to something. Old friends getting together my Aunt Fanny."

"Maybe she's ready to accept the fact that Mac is really out of her life now and coming here for dinner is her way of showing that to everyone," Matt reasoned.

"Uh huh," Lucy grumbled. "Tell me Matt, how are things with Jack?" Lucy asked tongue-in-cheek.

"Actually Lucy things with Jack are fine. Matt actually extended an olive branch to him today," Ellen proudly shared as she took Matt's hand in hers.

Taken aback, "You did?" Kevin and Lucy replied.

"Yes I did," Matt informed them as he read their disbelief. "I guess he's not such a bad kid, considering he is Chris Ramsey's nephew and all. We talked and I'm going to try to keep an open mind where he's concerned. He makes Ally happy and I guess that's the most important thing."

"Talk about one-eighties," Lucy remarked still trying to shake off the shock. "I really think that's great and heck if you can do it with Jack maybe there is hope for Felicia."

Mac and Dara had arrived at the Collins' and were making their way hand in hand up the walk when from out of nowhere Felicia appeared alongside them.

"Mac, this is a surprise," Felicia said wrapping her arm around his as Dara looked on from the other side of him. "I didn't know you were going to be here too."

"Too?" Dara and Mac inquired.

"Yes, Lucy and Kevin invited me over for dinner, in fact they insisted I come," she lied. "They neglected to mention that you and your uh--Dara," she sniped glancing at her foe, "would be coming."

Mac removed his arm from Felicia's grip. "Well had my wife and I known you'd be here we would have sent our regrets. Look Felicia we don't want a scene. We came here to have dinner with some friends, that's all."

"The same for me," Felicia added with a syrupy grin. "We're all adults and we were all once friends, although some of us were more than just friends," she smiled at Mac. "Can't we share a meal together?"

"What do you want to do sweetheart? Go back to the hotel or stay?" Mac whispered to Dara.

"I want to stay," Dara answered. "Felicia does not intimidate me and I know she can't touch what we have no matter how hard she tries," she said loud enough for Mac's ex to hear.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, "I love you," he murmured.

"I know this," Dara smiled. "I love you too," lacing her fingers in his curly locks they shared a passionate kiss.

Crushing Dara's body closer to his, Mac slid his tongue between her full sweet lips increasing the intensity of their already flaming kiss.

Highly agitated by the display before her Felicia fled to the house and began to strategize her plan B for winning back her former husband.

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel anyway," he whispered against her lips as he felt his lower body come to life.

"Down boy," Dara giggled, "remember dinner comes before dessert." Looking around, "What happened to Felicia?"

"I don't know," Mac answered having lost all the patience for his former wife. "Maybe she got a clue and went home."

"Don't bet on it," she said taking his hand. "Let's go inside."