He
looked up as Bo entered the room, accompanied by another man he recognised as
his brother Roman. He tensed, seeing the nasty scowl on Bo’s face.
‘I
knew you no-good Alamains would show up sooner or later. Bo growled, glaring at
him.
Alamain
reddened with anger, bristling. ‘I will not
be spoken to like that...’
‘Save
the royal theatrics for somebody who cares, Nicky.’
‘Don’t
you presume to address me by that
name; I’m not a little boy anymore!’ Carly’s son-now a grown man-shouted at
back, outraged. ‘And I demand to speak with my mother... right now!’
‘You
don’t have the right to demand anything, Nicky.’
Bo replied coldly, disgusted by his arrogance. Just like Lawrence. Although the young man had Clarice’s eyes, he
was the living image of his scumbag father who beat her severely and left her
to die...and left her in her present condition. ‘Your mother won’t see you.
Even if she wanted to, it’s only going to be when I say so.’
‘And
who do you think you are that you can keep my mother away from me, especially
when she has a lot to answer for!’ He sneered derisively. ‘But then again, why
am I surprised? I should have known when she suddenly decided to abandon her
husband and son; she’ll end up back with her peasant lover! Nothing but a
shameless slut...’
Bo’s
palm viciously struck him across the face, throwing him back on the chair so
hard, he fell off. Bo pulled him to his feet by grabbing him by the lapels of
his jacket. ‘Don’t you ever talk about your mother like that in front of me
again, ever!’
‘Let
go of me.’ Nicholas hissed, green eyes flashing defiantly.
‘Bo,
let him go,’ came Roman’s calm voice from behind.
Bo
pushed the younger man back onto the chair, wiping his hands on his jeans
derisively.
‘We
can’t talk over this situation in the middle of both your tempers.’ Roman went
on. ‘I managed to stop Carly from coming down here but she’s obviously going to
ask questions and we have to decide on what she’ll be told.’
Nicholas’s
eyes darted from him and back to Bo. ‘What
she’ll be told? What do you mean by
that? What in God’s name is going on
here? I demand to speak with her!’
‘It
won’t do you any good to talk to her right now, Nicky.’
‘I
said...’
‘I
don’t give a damn what you prefer right now.’ Roman’s voice was now cold. ‘I
don’t give a damn about you, I care a lot about your Mum and so do a lot of
people. You need to listen to us and listen to us you will. You don’t exist in
Carly’s mind right now. She doesn’t know you.’
Nicholas
wondered if this was some elaborate expensive joke. ‘What?’
‘She has amnesia,
you idiot.’ Bo snapped. ‘She doesn’t remember you, your father or her past. No
thanks to your father who almost beat her to death.’
‘Don’t
you dare slander my father! They had their problems...all married couples do,
but he never laid a hand on her. She’s the one who left him, who abandoned me!’
‘Typical...making
it all about you. I figured your father must have fed your enough lies to
poison your mind against her.’
‘I
know the true facts!’ Nicholas spat.
‘And that story about amnesia is nothing but a fabrication...I don’t believe
you.’
‘Yeah
well, here’s a refresher course on truth.’
Abe walked in, holding the file on Clarice. Roman looked at Bo who shook his
head. ‘You tell him.’ He said, not trusting himself to do so without losing his
temper again. He turned away to lean against the wall, arms folded as Roman sat
opposite Nicholas Alamain and told him the truth about his mother, Abe filling
in some gaps. Nicholas’ expression turned from incredulous to shocked, hands
clenched on the table. Given the file, he went through it, his hands shaking as
he read through every aspect of Shane’s report.
Finally
he sat back, one hand covering his trembling mouth. ‘All this time,’ he
whispered. ‘All this time... he told me she was dead.’ He raised his damp eyes to look
at the three men. ‘I didn’t know he did this... I swear it. I thought she just
left without me...’
Bo
watched him carefully. ‘What really happened that night?’
Nicholas
closed his eyes. He did it to her because
of me. It was my fault.
‘I
asked you a question, Nicky. What really happened that night?’
Nicholas
managed to pull himself together. ‘Mum seemed out of sorts about two months
after we left Salem. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong and I noticed she and
Dad seemed to snip at each other often but I thought they always managed to
sort things out. Clearly I was wrong about that, it was all an elaborate front.
Sometime later, Dad took us on a holiday in his yacht and one night...Mum came
to my room. She said we were going away on a little trip, that she and Dad were
unhappy and needed some space.’ Nicholas’ voice shook. ‘I yelled at her. I said
I wasn’t going to leave my father and she
was probably making him unhappy with her drama. She tried to calm me down but I
wouldn’t listen to her. I ran away from her and...’ he couldn’t go on.
‘And
what?’ Bo asked, his hands itching to strangle Nicholas as he guessed what was
coming.
‘I
swear, I never thought he would do such a thing to her, I didn’t!’ Tears slid
down Nicholas’ cheeks. ‘I ran into Dad outside and I told him... I repeated
what she said to me.’ He bowed his head in shame.
Roman
raised his eyes to the ceiling, while Abe shook his head.
‘He
said I shouldn’t worry about it, that he would talk to her. I went to bed. The
next morning... he told me she’d packed a case and left, telling him to look
after me since I wouldn’t go with her. And a week later, he told me he’d heard
word that she’d drowned in a boating accident, trying to make it to the
mainland. He lied to me!’
‘But
you were the one who told him she was leaving him.’ Bo’s voice shook with
anger.
‘I
was just a boy, an angry, thoughtless little
boy!’ Nicholas rose to his feet.
‘You’ve
always been blind when your father or Vivian was concerned so don’t expect me
to feel any sympathy for you right now. Half the time you gave that woman grief
but she loved you far too much to ever see your vicious side. Before you left
Salem, I really thought you’d changed. I should’ve expected far less from Larry
Alamain’s spawn!’
Swallowing,
Nicholas hung his head, wiping his eyes.
‘Well,’
Abe said briskly. ‘What are we going to do now? Clarice is going to demand to know who he is and why he attacked her at Bo’s
place.’
‘We’ll
just have to play it well for her benefit. We pretend to interrogate him, he
says it’s a case of false identity; he gets a slap on a wrist and he’s out of
here.’ Bo said, working it out.
‘Is
there no chance at all that she would recognise me? I’m her son.’ Nicholas
protested. ‘I want to help her with her memory, make it up to her.’
‘That’s
partly the reason why we’re doing this, to see if she does recognise you. There’s a chance that she might, if she does;
yeah, you can stay and help her get her memory back. If she doesn’t, you will
leave Salem and keep your mouth shut.
It’s not in her best interest Larry finds out she’s alive.’ Bo said, his tone
broking no argument.
‘I
may have been a thoughtless little boy but I’m not evil.’ Nicholas replied,
chastened. ‘And I don’t see why I can’t stay around and be near her.’
‘That’s
out of the question,’ said Abe firmly. ‘Because then your father will come here
to see you and everything will be out. You can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous
for her...and a lot of people.
Nicholas
turned to looked at Bo. ‘She didn’t remember you on sight yet you two are in a
relationship again. Am I missing something here?’
Bo
didn’t deign to reply.
‘Let’s
now decide what we’re going to let Carly know.’ Roman sat down again.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Rafe Hernandez was quickly briefed and told to
handle the fake interrogation. Clarice arrived at the station the next morning
and she and Bo with Roman watched Nicholas and Rafe talk through the one-way
mirror. Nicholas stated that he had acted impulsively and it had all been a
case of mistaken identity-the woman in Bo’s house had merely reminded him of
someone else. Bo kept looking at her frowning face for any sign of recognition.
‘Lord
knows who this woman was to set him off like that.’
‘Want
to press charges?’ asked Roman.
She
shook her head. ‘No. But I want to talk to him.’
‘Why?’
‘I
don’t know... I just feel this need to.’
Rafe
ended the interview and left the room. Bo stood back, allowing her to enter the
room. Nicholas tensed as he stared at his mother.
‘Hi.’
Clarice said.
‘Hello.’
He mumbled, anxiously wondering if she would see anything familiar about him at
all, hence he would be allowed to stay and help her.
‘Nicholas,
is it?’
‘Yes,
but you can call me... umm...Nicky.’ he said, sensing Bo was furiously staring
at him through the one-way mirror but was desperate to see if it would trigger
off something in her mind. It was all still a nightmare to him, a nightmare
that was partly his doing.
‘Nicky.’
Clarice repeated. ‘Doesn’t seem in keeping with you.’
He
was silent.
‘Look,
I’ve decided not to press charges against you. But I feel there’s more than
what you told Detective Hernandez.’
‘I don’t know what else to tell you, Ms Parker. I gave my statement to
your colleague and it’s the truth. And I apologise most sincerely for what
happened.’
Clarice
studied him. He was a handsome young man, from his accent polished and
cultured, yet she sensed a troubled little boy inside. For a very strange reason, she felt like giving him a hug, which
shocked her. ‘I accept your apology. But
I sincerely hope you aren’t going to go around attacking other women under the
guise of “mistaken identity” after your release. Because for some reason, I
don’t believe you.’ She said coldly. ‘I
better not see you around here again, you understand?’
She
honestly doesn’t remember me...my own
mother, Nicholas thought, feeling heartsick. Maybe she was drawn to Bo
Brady despite her condition because her days with him in the past had been all
light and sunshine while her days with Lawrence had been all darkness...and he
had been a part of it. She was this way
because of him, because of his betrayal.
‘Understood.’
He managed to say.
Turning
her heel, she left the room. ‘Cut him loose.’ She told Bo and Roman.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Later
in his hotel room, Nicholas Alamain wept for hours; wracked with guilt and
despair and cursing Lawrence over and over. It had been sheer agony standing in
the same room with Carly, unable to tell her the truth...seeing how she didn’t
even recognise him. How could he have known it would come to this?
Calming
down at last, he drifted off to sleep. And in the morning, he made an
appointment with Bo, agreeing to meet him at the docks.
Bo
found Nicholas staring at the tugboats going along the river, his hands thrust
deep in his jacket pockets. He turned as Bo approached him.
‘I
owe you yet another apology Bo. It won’t erase what happened but...I just hope
you will accept it. I was a spoilt bratty boy who took advantage of my mother’s
love for me. I was the master of manipulation, just like him. And I helped
destroy her life. It was a miracle she survived that ordeal... a miracle she
came back here, back to you. With what she’s going through right now, I’m glad
she has you again.’
‘Appreciate
that.’
Nicholas
shook his head sadly. ‘Is her condition permanent?’
‘We
don’t know. But Roman’s ex wife...she’s a trained psychiatrist, she feels it’s
best her memory comes back naturally. The doctors who tried treating her in the
past only made things worse, which is why in the end her brain had to be
planted with false memories. Somehow or other, she’s going to remember. We just
don’t know when.’
‘I’m
not going to tell my father or Vivian about it, I hope you can trust me on
that. I won’t endanger Mum’s life for anything.’ He gave a harsh, mirthless
laugh. ‘I had the impudence to say she had a lot to answer for when it was I the whole time!’ He dashed some angry
tears away impatiently. ‘I don’t blame you for despising me, I despise me. I just hope when she finally
remembers everything, she’ll find it in her heart to forgive me.’ He turned to
Bo. ‘And I hope you will be able to as well.’
Bo
turned away, unable to look at him.
‘I
don’t need to tell you this but please... take care of her for me. When she
starts to remember,’ he reached into his pocket and brought out a card from his
wallet. ‘Call me by any of these numbers, and I’ll be here. Promise me you
will, Bo. I beg you.’
Bo
turned back and saw the stark desperation on Nicholas’ face. ‘Sure.’ He said at
last, taking the card.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
That
night as they lay entwined in each other’s arms, Clarice jerked awake from
another dream. A dream where she was in a candle lit room and she was in a man’s
arms. A faceless man with a tattoo, a tattoo she now saw clearly enough to see
it was the same as the one on Bo’s back.
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