Written by: Dallas Walsh

NEW YORK CITY

"Good morning, how did you sleep last night?" Chase Cooper asks Dyhannah Cooper as they sit across from one another in a small diner having a light breakfast. Chase and his ex-wife are in the Big Apple trying to discover who the father of Quinn Cunningham's child could be as they do not believe it is their son's, Deacon Cooper's, baby.

Dyhannah picks up her coffee and takes a sip of it. "I suppose it was alright. I kept thinking about how we are going to get the hotel surveillance footage to se what Quinn was up too when she was working as Deacon's intern. I am just hoping that we are able to prove that she was with other men while she was sleeping with Deacon."

"I know," Chase nods back to her. "And while I am hopeful, we do have to brace ourselves for the fact that the footage might not reveal anything."

"What are you saying?" Dyhannah looks back at him in surprise. "Are you saying that you believe Quinn's claims are true?"

"Of course not," Chase shakes his head back to her. "I am just saying that we might have to continue to press for a paternity test if this footage doesn't show anything. And, if that comes back proving that Deacon is the father…"

"It won't," Dyhannah protests to him. "I know that Deacon isn't the father. Don't ask me how, but I just know that he isn't the father of that baby."

Before Chase can reply, his cell phone starts to ring. "Chase Cooper," he answers his phone. "Ah yes, that's perfect. I'll be right there."

"Who was that?" Dyhannah asks him as he hangs up the phone.

"It was the hotel," Chase replies to her quickly. "The footage is ready. We can go look at it anytime."

"Let's go," Dyhannah urgently says as she stands up and grabs her jacket.

***

Kent Blackmore parks his large BMW SUV in the parking lot of the marina in Kelsey Lake and looks over at Stacey Rockwell and Quinn Cunningham with worry. He recalls how the women came to him with news that Lex had been brainwashed and kidnapped Houston. Together, they realized that Mac Rockwell had purchased Lex a boat a few years earlier, and so they wondered if Lex could have taken Houston there. If not, they have to continue to search for the missing men so they can try to prevent Lex from hurting Houston.

"We are here," Kent looks over at Stacey. "Do you have any idea where in the marina Lex's boat, the Blue Belle, is?"

"I have no idea," Stacey replies to him as she opens the door to the SUV. "But, I believe there is a site map closer to the docks. We should be able to find the location there."

"I hope so," Quinn tells them. "I can't believe that this has gone this far."

Kent looks at Stacey uneasily before they rush off towards the site map, knowing that time is of the essence.

***

Meanwhile, on the Blue Belle, Houston Blackmore remains tied up in the corner with a gag in his mouth. He is desperately trying to escape as his half-brother, Lex Rockwell, continues to say that he has to kill him. Now, in front of him, stands Mateo Santos, who was presumed dead, who is telling Lex to finish the job. Houston realizes that, somehow, Mateo has gotten into Lex's head and is controlling him.

Mateo, meanwhile, looks at Lex with intent and whispers, in the same voice that he used to brainwash Lex in the main office of Blackmore Ltd, "It's time, Lex. It's time to kill Houston."

Lex nods back to him. "I will kill Houston. I will."

"Perfect," Mateo grins back to him as he passes Lex his hand gun. "You can use this. Do it, do it now, Lex," Mateo tells Lex, who slowly grabs the gun from Mateo's as Houston starts to groan with urgency, horrified that he might die.

***

Carmen Santos paces back and forth on the Silver Lining, the small boat that her brother, Mateo Santos, has been staying on. She had arrived earlier to tell Mateo that she saw Kent, Stacey and Quinn together discussing that Lex and Houston were in danger; she told Mateo this and he left to go to the other boat, where Lex is keeping Houston.

"Please Mateo, be careful," Carmen whispers to herself. "I thought I lost you once, I can't lose you again."

Carmen, then, grabs the binoculars and looks at the Blue Belle. She can see Mateo giving Lex a gun, while Houston is still tied up.

"Okay," she says. "Lex will kill Houston and then this will be over. Lex will go to jail and we will get our revenge. Just hurry up, Mateo. Let Lex kill Houston already!"

She moves her sight to the other end of the boat and gasps out loud when she sees Kent, Stacey and Quinn rushing closer to the boat. Somehow, they have figured out where Lex took Houston, she realizes.

"Damnit," she says as she drops the binoculars. "I won't let anyone stop this from happening," she whispers as she opens her own purse and grabs another gun. "I will help you Mateo."

***

Kent, Stacey and Quinn reach the Blue Belle, which is tied to the marina. Kent points to the name "the Blue Belle," telling the women that they have arrived. Stacey and Quinn nod back to him as Kent jumps on board. He then turns back and helps pull Stacey and then Quinn on to the deck with him.

"They must be out back," Kent whispers to him. "You two stay here, and I'll go see what's happening."

"No," Stacey grabs Kent's arm to stop him from leaving. "I won't let you go back there alone. It might be dangerous!"

"Stacey, please," Kent pleads with her.

"No, I mean it Kent," Stacey looks into his eyes, scared that something bad is going to happen to him. Despite everything, she realizes that she does still care for Kent. "I can't…I won't lose you!"

"Okay, come on, but be careful, both of you," Kent whispers to them, as he and Stacey make eye contact one final time. He can't help but remember how they made love right before his wedding to Lydia Rockwell, Stacey's mother. Now, she is worried about losing him.

They slowly start to move to the back of the boat, but freeze when they see Mateo giving Lex a gun. Mateo, then, turns to look at Houston, which means his back is towards Kent. Without thinking, Kent jumps at Mateo and tackles him down to the ground, as Mateo yells out in pain.

"This ends now, you son of a bitch!" Kent yells as he pulls Mateo into a headlock. "This is over!"

"Do it!" Mateo yells back to Lex. "Kill Houston! Kill him now!"

Lex, who remains in his trance, looks at Mateo and then moves closer to Houston. "Lex, it's me!" Kent tells his son. "It's your father, please, you have to understand that Mateo is alive! He's brainwashing you!"

Stacey, quickly, moves up to Lex and looks back into his eyes. "Lex, it's me, Stacey. This has to stop, please!"

Before Lex can say anything back to his sister, Carmen appears on the deck and points her gun at Stacey and then over at Kent.

"Everyone freeze," she announces to the group of people on the Blue Belle. "You're all going to play by my rules now."

***

"I…I don't think I heard you correctly," a startled Sabine Andrews says back to her fiancé, Nathan Lockhart, as they stand together in the Rockwell mansion living room. Sabine, who just discovered that she is pregnant, but has no idea if Nathan or Mac Rockwell is the father, just heard Nathan admit that he is going to kill Cole Rockwell, Mac's son, because he believes that Mac killed his son, Slate Lockhart. "You…you want to kill my nephew?"

Nathan nervously looks back at her. "I know he's your family," he moves up to Sabine. "But, please, darling, see this from my point of view. This is eye for an eye."

Sabine shakes her head back to him. "Nathan, this is insane! Please tell me you realize that this is crazy!"

"You know what crazy is, Sabine?" Nathan asks her quickly. "The fact that Mac killed Slate but is still walking around a free man! If the police won't do anything, then I have to take matters into my own hands! And that means, Cole must die."

Sabine lets a tear fall down her cheek. "I … I don't know the man you've become," she whispers back to him. "You want to kill my nephew because all you fucking care about is this damn feud you have with Mac? This has to stop, Nathan! It has to end!"

"It will end," Nathan glares back at her. "Once Cole is dead; I will finally end this feud with my brother."

***

"I was thinking about something," Cole Rockwell tells Celeste Baldwin as they stand in the main office at Rockwell Mining. Cole recalls how he agreed to stop posing as Richard Coleman to snoop around the company because Celeste has a sense of loyalty to Nathan as he is the one who gave her the second chance that she was so desperate for.

Celeste purses her lips together. "What's that? You want to tell Nathan that you were Richard the entire time?"

Cole chuckles back to her. "No, of course not," he shakes his head back to her. "You know that Nathan would lose it if he found out what I did."

"I know, I was teasing you."

"What about you, though?" he asks her quickly. "Could you look around and give me any information that you think might be helpful to me and my Dad?"

Celeste looks back at him in surprise. "You want me to spy for you?"

Cole uneasily nods his head back to her. "Absolutely not," Celeste firmly tells him. "I told you, Cole, I owe Nathan my job and my fresh start. I am enjoying us reconnecting but you have to respect my decision. So please, don't ever mention that again."

***

A short time later, Cole is pouring a drink in Mac's hotel suite above the country club. He has to tell his father that he won't be able to spy on Nathan at Rockwell Mining anymore. He can't risk Celeste telling him the truth.

"You made it seem important that you had to see me," Mac tells his son, who passes him a brandy.

"It is Dad," Cole replies to him quickly as he takes a sip of his brandy. "I…I can't spy on Nathan anymore. I can't pretend to be Richard Coleman."

"Celeste is threatening to tell Nathan, isn't she?"

Cole nods back to him. "I've gotten her to keep quiet but I do think that she will tell him if I continue on this path."

"I figured as much," Mac whispers back to him.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I tried, I really did."

"You've done more than enough, Cole," Mac looks back at him. "The fact is, I need to take control of this situation, the way I should have a long time ago. It is high time that I handle Nathan Lockhart once and for all."

Cole gulps as he hasn't seen Mac this intense in a very long time. "What are you going to do, Dad?"

"Don't worry about that," Mac forces an awkward smile on his face. "Just sit back and enjoy the show."

***

Carmen continues to point the gun at Houston, Stacey, Kent and Mateo as they stand on the Blue Belle.

"You're all going to do exactly what I say, do you understand me?" Carmen grits her teeth together. "First, Kent, you let my brother go, right now."

Mateo's eyes open wider in surprise as he can see Quinn slowly approaching Carmen from behind. He is about to say something, but Kent increases his hold on his neck, which causes Mateo to groan and cough.

"I told you to let him…" Carmen says before she falls to the ground in a loud thud as Quinn has pushed her over with a buoy that was on the boat.

"Not so fast," Quinn whispers back to her as Carmen slithers on the deck

Stacey, immediately, rushes over to Carmen and they start to fight for control of the gun. "Stop this Carmen! It's over, you won't get away with this!" Stacey yells at her as they continue to battle for control of the gun. Quinn, meanwhile, grabs her phone and calls 9-1-1.

"You bitch," Carmen spits back at Stacey. "You and your family have hurt me and Mateo enough! It's time for you to pay!"

Suddenly, the two gun shots emerge from the gun and Quinn screams in horror! As the police sirens get closer, Carmen opens her eyes and is horrified to see both Stacey and Mateo laying on the deck in a large pool of blood.

"Oh my God," she gasps as a tear falls down her cheek. "What have I done?"

"Stacey?" Kent says in horror as he sees her laying in blood. "Stacey! Come on, don't you leave me! Don't you leave me, Stacey!"

***

About thirty minutes later, Kent is pacing back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital as he waits to hear about everyone's status. Everyone that was on the Blue Belle came to the hospital to get checked out; Houston to see if he was hurt from the kidnapping; Lex to help him get out of this trance he was in; Quinn to ensure that her baby was fine; Carmen to ensure she was hurt in the shooting; and of course, both Stacey and Mateo had been shot.

"What the hell happened?" Lydia Rockwell asks as he comes into the waiting room and immediately pulls Kent into a hug. "Where are my children?"

"It's a long story," Kent replies to her quickly. "Needless to say, Mateo Santos is alive and well and was trying to brainwash Lexington into killing Houston. I just hope that we got there in time before anyone was seriously hurt."

"My God," Lydia shakes her head back to him. "We've been worried about Lex for a while; I can't believe that this was the cause of it all."

"Carmen was there with a gun," Kent continues to explain to her. "She and Stacey fought over the weapon and the gun went off; Stacey and Mateo were shot. We are just waiting to hear from the doctor."

"My daughter can't be dead," Lydia covers her mouth. "This can't be happening."

Before Kent can respond, a doctor comes into the waiting room. Both Lydia and Kent rush up to him.

"Doctor, please, tell us how Stacey is? Is my daughter going to be okay?" Lydia asks with desperation in her voice.

***

Carmen slowly opens her eyes and looks around, trying to figure out where she is. She quickly realizes that she is in the hospital. She groans a little as her head is throbbing from the fall that Quinn caused on the Blue Belle.

Suddenly, her memory comes flooding back to her: the gun shot going off and both Stacey and Mateo were shot from the bullets.

"Mateo," she tries to sit up in the bed but she realizes that she is handcuffed to the bed. "What the hell?"

"Good, you're awake," a police officer says as he moves into the hospital room. "I'm officer Weston. You're in a lot of trouble, young lady."

"Where is my brother? Where is Mateo?" she asks him, ignoring his comments about her own wellbeing.

"You haven't heard?" officer Weston replies to her and she shakes her head no. "Mateo, your brother, he's dead. He died from the gun shot wound that you gave him."

"No," Carmen shakes her head as tears fill her eyes, devastated by the news that she just got. "Noooooooooo!"

***

Kent slowly opens the door to the hospital room and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Houston laying in his hospital bed with his eyes open.

"Dad, hey," Houston looks over and sees Kent standing there. "I'm…I'm so glad that you're here and that you got to the Blue Belle when you did."

"I am so glad to see that you're awake and that you're going to make a full recovery. I just spoke to your doctor."

Houston smiles back to him. "How are Lex and Stacey? They were on the boat too, Dad."

Kent sighs back to him. "Let's just focus on you, okay?" he tells his son. "Are you sure you're okay? There's nothing in pain or anything?"

Houston shakes his head back to him. "I guess I have a slight headache from when Lex knocked me out but otherwise, I'm fine. Maybe shaken but nothing that I can't overcome."

"I'm really happy to hear that, Houston."

"Thanks Dad," Houston grabs his hand. "I can't thank you enough for saving me from Lex. You saved my life and I will forever be indebted to you."

***

Lydia slowly walks back and forth at the base of the hospital bed where Lex is sleeping. She was told by the doctor that he should be waking up anytime now. Once he arrived at the hospital, they put him on an IV to get him rehydrated, which should help him break out of the trance that he was in thanks to Mateo.

"Please be okay when you wake up," Lydia whispers to herself before she turns and looks at Lex, who groans a little while his eyes open. "Darling, it's me, your mother."

Lex's eyes finish opening completely and looks back at Lydia before he looks around, trying to piece together everything that has happened. "Wh…where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, Lexington," Lydia moves up to the edge of the bed and sits down. She grabs his hand in the process. "Do you remember what happened?"

Lex shakes his head back to. "No, I remember being at Blackmore Ltd. and then…it just went black. What happened?"

"That isn't important, Lex," Lydia squeezes his hand back. "What is important is that you're okay and nothing will ever happen to you again."

***

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Kent says as he opens the hospital room door to Stacey's room and sees her in her bed. He moves up to her bed and sits next to her. "You gave us quite a scare, you know."

"Kent," she whispers back to him. "I…I was shot?"

"It was a flesh wound only," Kent replies to her quickly. "You're going to be fine."

Stacey closes her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. "I had no idea a flesh wound could hurt so much."

Kent chuckles back to her. "Do you need anything? Some pain medication?"

"No, I'll be fine," Stacey looks back at him. "Thank you for being here."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else," he replies to her quickly. "When I saw you laying there in that blood, my God, I thought I had lost the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Kent, we can't do that," she tells him as he grabs her hand. "We agreed."

"I know what we agreed to," Kent says back to her as Lydia arrives at the doorway. She pauses, however, when she hears her husband's voice inside her daughter's room. "But, seeing you in that way, Stacey, I couldn't help but think about you and I and everything we have been through together."

"Making love to you was a mistake," Stacey replies to him as Lydia's open wider in horror. "We never should have had sex before you married my mother. You are with her now."

"I know that," Kent tells her. "Just know that you still have a piece of my heart, Stacey. And, I don't think that will ever go away."

Outside the room, Lydia feels her blood start to boil as she realizes that Stacey and Kent slept together before her wedding. She storms off from the room, never revealing to either Kent or Stacey that she was there.

***

The following morning, Sabine storms into the main office at Rockwell Mining and sees Nathan sitting behind the desk, typing into his laptop. Sabine barely slept the previous night as her mind was racing about the fact that Nathan told her that he was planning on killing Cole as a way to get revenge on Mac for killing Slate. Sabine doesn't know what to do but she knows that she has to stop Nathan before it's too late.

"You were gone before breakfast was served this morning," she says as she walks up to the desk.

Nathan looks up from his computer screen and nods back to her. "I have a million things to do today, Sabine. I needed to get a head start."

"Well, you're going to make some time for me," Sabine replies to him. "I barely slept last night because of our conversation before bed."

Nathan stands up and moves to the bar to pour himself a cup of coffee. "If this has anything to do with my plan to kill Cole, you can save your breath, I've already made up my mind."

At the doorway, Celeste freezes at the words coming out of Nathan's mouth. She has no idea why he would want to kill Cole, but she intends to find out.

"That's the thing, Nathan," Sabine moves up to her fiancé. "You can't kill Cole! You will go to jail! Is that what you want? You want to go to jail as a way to revenge on Mac?"

"I won't go to jail," Nathan replies to her quickly. "I will make it seem like it was an accident, the same damn way that Mac killed Slate."

"I'm pregnant!" Sabine blurts out to Nathan, as Celeste covers her mouth in shock from the hallway. "I'm pregnant, Nathan. I'm going to have your baby. Now, do you understand why I'm so desperate for you to drop this plan? I don't want the father of my unborn child to do something that will ruin our chance to raise this baby together."

"You're pregnant?" Nathan looks back at her in surprise.

"I just found out yesterday," Sabine admits to him. "I was going to tell you but, as you can imagine, I was distracted by your news about Cole. Please Nathan, I'm begging you, tell me that this news has made you change your mind about Cole. Tell me that you won't kill my nephew?"

***

Celeste urgently walks into the country club. She is in desperate need of a drink after she just heard Nathan and Sabine's conversation at Rockwell Mining. Her head is spinning at the idea that Nathan is going to try to kill Cole and that Sabine is pregnant. Even though she has felt drawn to Nathan since he offered her the job at Rockwell Mining, she realizes that anything more than friends is out of the question between them since he is now going to be a father again.

She orders a vodka martini and waits for it to arrive. "It's a bit early for a drink, isn't it?" Cole asks his lover as he sits next to her. "You don't have to answer that. After the night I had, I could use a drink too."

Celeste looks back at him. "Your night? What happened, Cole?"

"Long story," he chuckles back to her. "Needless to say, Stacey, Lex and Houston were all in the hospital. Don't worry, they will all be fine, but it was stressful."

"I am so sorry to hear that," Celeste replies to him. "If you need anything…"

Cole looks back at her and winks. "If you're offering sex, I wouldn't say no."

"You read my mind," Celeste chuckles back to him. "But Cole, I hope you know, that I do care for you too. And, I'm beginning to think this is our chance to be together too."

Cole leans forward and kisses her passionately. "I'm glad because I'm enjoying this a lot, Celeste. Now, come on, I can't wait to have you."

***

Kent opens the door to the main office at Blackmore Ltd. and moves inside. He sits behind the desk and starts the computer that is on the desk. He quickly starts typing into the computer as he is trying to see what is going on with the company. Since both Lex and Houston are temporarily out of commission, he is back at the office as he will take back control until Lex is able to return to work. As he scrolls through some emails, he can't help but feel like he has missed being at the office day in and day out.

"What the hell is this?" he asks himself quickly as he opens an email, which has an attachment to a news article. "CEO of Blackmore Ltd. Lexington Rockwell goes Crazy and Kidnaps Brother."

"What the actual fuck," Kent sighs in frustration. "This is a disaster! Blackmore is going to suffer because these assholes have published a story that is completely false."

He stands up and rushes over to the bar, where he pours himself a scotch. He takes a hearty sip of it before he runs his hand through his hair.

"There's only one option here," he tells himself. "I have to return as CEO of Blackmore Ltd. I have to make sure this company doesn't suffer because of Lex and Houston's ordeal."

***

Stacey turns her head as she lays in the hospital room when she hears the door to her room open. She sees Marat standing there with his hands in his pocket.

"I came as soon as I heard what happened," Marat admits to her as he moves closer to her bed. "Are you okay?"

"I will be fine, Marat," Stacey nods back to him. "It was just a flesh wound. It could have been so much worse, but thankfully, it wasn't. Mateo, however, he died from his gunshot wound. I'm sure Carmen is devastated."

"I don't care about Carmen," Marat says as he sits next to her. "I…I was so scared when I heard what happened, Stacey. I don't think you realize how much I love you."

Stacey smiles back to him as she grabs his hand. "I know you do," she says as she gets tears in her eyes as she thinks about Kent. "It's just…I don't know."

"I know," he whispers back to her. "I know everything. And, it's okay. I love you too much to stay mad at you."

Stacey looks back at him in surprise. "What do you mean? What do you know?"

A tear escapes Marat's eye as he looks back at her. "I know," he tells her. "About you and Kent. But, I'm willing to move beyond that, if you are. What do you say, Stacey? Let's really try this time? No Houston, no Kent, no Celeste… just you and me? What do you say?"

***

NEW YORK CITY

"I can't believe that the damn manager of this hole made us wait until morning to see this damn video footage," Dyhannah huffs back to Chase as they wait in the hotel lobby while they wait for the manager to come and show them the footage that Chase had requested. They had found out the day before the hotel manager had found the video footage of the time when Quinn had stayed in the hotel, but when they went to the hotel, the manager had already left for the day. Dyhannah was, naturally, not too amused, however, her tune changed when she and Chase spent the day at the Statue of Liberty.

"Let's not dwell on that now," Chase looks back at her. "The good news is that we are about to see, exactly, what Quinn was up too and that will reveal a lot."

Before Dyhannah can respond, the hotel manager emerges from his office. Chase stands up and shakes his hand. "Denis, it has been too long."

"Yes, yes it has," Denis replies to him as he smiles back to Chase. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Please, come into my office and we can review the footage you requested together."

Dyhannah and Chase follow Denis into his office and sit down in the chairs that face his desk. Denis sits behind his desk and turns his computer screen to face Dyhannah and Chase.

"Alright, I'll push play," Denis tells them. "It will be on a fast speed, to save time, but if you need anything slowed down, let me know and I can do that."

"Great," Dyhannah forces a smile on her face. "Push play?"

The video footage starts playing and they wait for about 15 minutes before Dyhannah points at the screen. "Stop! Go slower right here," she says as she can see Quinn on the screen with another man. "I need to see this again."

"Sure," Denis tells her as he rewinds the video and plays it in slower motion.

"My God," Dyhannah gasps as she looks at Chase. "I know him. I know who fathered Quinn's baby, and it sure as hell wasn't Deacon!"

***

"I got here as soon as I could," Deacon says as he opens the door to Quinn's hospital room and quickly moves up to her bedside. "Are you okay? How is the baby?"

Quinn purses her lips back to him as he sits next to her. "We are both fine, you don't have to worry, we are strong."

"I was worried though, Quinn," he replies to her quickly. "What happened? How did you end up on a boat with Mateo and Carmen Santos?"

"Well, that is a long story," she admits to him. "What matters now, however, is that I am fine and the baby is okay. We can put all of this behind us."

"From what I hear, you helped save Lex from Mateo's plan," Deacon replies to her quickly. "You're a hero, Quinn."

Quinn feels her face flush as she knows that if anyone knew how that she played a hand in Lex's brainwashing, they would likely turn on her. The good news, for her, is that Mateo is dead and will not be able to tell anyone that she was being blackmailed by him. Her secret was buried when he died.

"I don't know about that, but thank you, Deacon."

"When are you getting released? Do they know?"

Quinn shrugs back to him. "I'm guessing soon since me and the baby are okay. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Deacon grabs her hand and squeezes it. "I want to marry you, Quinn. As soon as you are released, I want you to be my wife."

***

After Carmen was released from the hospital, she was able to make bail from her arrest. She used the money that she got from Mac after their divorce was finalized, which she is thankful for. She couldn't imagine going to jail after accidently killing her brother. Now, she just hopes that Slate's estate is settled quickly because she will need more money to help with her case. She feels like she is close to a breakdown after losing both Slate and Mateo within weeks of each other.

She opens the front door of the Rockwell mansion and moves swiftly into the living room, where she sees Nathan pouring a drink at the bar.

"Can you pour me one too?" she asks as she moves up to her father in law.

"Carmen?" he turns and looks at her in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you had been arrested?"

"I'm out on bail," she replies to him as he passes her a brandy. "Divorcing Mac paid off, finally."

"So, what are your plans? You want to stay here? You know, Slate isn't coming back."

Carmen feels her eyes swell with water. "I'm still his wife, Nathan," Carmen reminds him. "I know that he is dead, but damnit, I loved him."

"He deserved better than a street rat like you," Nathan takes a sip of his brandy. "I don't mean to be rude, Carmen, but my son could have done a hell of a lot better for a wife."

"How dare you," Carmen says as she slaps him across the face. "You will not speak to me that way, Nathan! Slate loved me, so much so that he married me. So you better get used to the fact that I am a member of this family, whether you damn well like it or not!"

***
Sabine paces back and forth in the study of the Rockwell mansion as she thinks about Nathan's plan to wanting to kill Cole as a way to get revenge on Mac for killing Slate. She stops and puts her hand on her stomach and realizes that the two men that could have fathered her unborn child are at war.

"I have to do something," she whispers to herself. "Nathan thinks that Mac killed Slate, which everyone knows isn't true. Mac would never kill anyone, let alone his nephew. I have to make Nathan realize that, but how? He is so angry with Mac for all the years he lost as the true Rockwell."

"What are you doing in here?" Lucinda asks as she moves into the study and sees Sabine standing there. "You do know that this is my private study? You shouldn't be in here, Sabine."

"I'm sorry Lucinda," Sabine replies to her quickly. "I…I just needed somewhere to be alone. And, I knew that this room was a private room, so I came in here."

"Why did you need space from Levy? What has my son done now?"

Sabine sighs back to her and sits next to Lucinda on the large leather sofa. "If I tell you, will you promise me that it will stay between us? I do need to tell someone and to get some advice?"

"Yes, yes," Lucinda waves her hand in the air. "What is it? What could possibly be so bad?"

"Nathan" Sabine begins to tell her. "He wants to get revenge on Mac for killing Slate."

"Mac didn't kill Slate!"

"I know that," Sabine nods back to her. "Everyone knows that, but Nathan has it in his head that Mac is responsible."

"So," Lucinda says back to her. "What does he want to do to get revenge? What scheme is Nathan cooking up now?"

Sabine gulps back to her. "He wants an eye for an eye," she whispers back to Lucinda, who looks back at her in horror. "Nathan wants to kill Cole."

***

Lex slowly walks through the hallways of the hospital. He hasn't been discharged, yet, but he is allowed to walk around to get some exercise from his bed. As he walks, he can't help but think about how he was so easily convinced to kill Houston. He wonders if he has a deeper issue; how could he hear Mateo's voice and want to kill Houston.

"I've been through so much," he whispers to himself as he walks down a hallway of the hospital. "What if I have some underlying issue that I don't know about? I…I thought I was going crazy hearing those voices and seeing Mateo, but he was just playing games with me, right?"

He stops and looks around the hallway. "I'm fine," he tells himself. "This was all just Mateo telling me that I needed to kill Houston. He was fucking with me. I'm not crazy. I'm not."

Lex freezes when a nurse passes him. He does a double take and looks at the nurse that just walked by him. Suddenly, he feels faint. "This isn't happening," he says to himself, as he looks at the nurse, who has stopped at a vending machine in front of him. The nurse is a dead ringer for Jarek Williams, Lex's dead husband.

"Jarek?" Lex whispers in shock, wondering if he is seeing things or if Jarek is actually standing a few feet away from him.

***

"I know this was short notice, but I can't tell you how much it means to me that both of you could be here today," Deacon tells Stacey and Marat as they walk into the small hospital room. "We didn't want to wait."

"I can appreciate that," Marat smiles back to him as he looks over and freezes when he sees Quinn standing in the room wearing a simple white dress. "Quinn?"

Quinn looks back at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm…I'm with Stacey, we are a couple. What are you doing here?"

"Wait, you two know one another?" Stacey asks them in surprise. "What a small world!"

"We met briefly when I was in New York last year," Marat replies to her. "Remember, I saw you at the bar and we talked."

"I remember," Stacey tells him. "I was there because I was mourning Poppy, when I thought she was dead."

"Well, now that we know everyone is friendly," Deacon clasps his hands together. "I'd love to get married to this beautiful woman. What do you say Quinn? Are you ready?"

"I've never been more ready for anything in my life," Quinn purses her lips together as she moves closer to Deacon.

"Very well, let's get started," the minister says, as Stacey and Marat look at one another as they are the witnesses to the marriage. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. If there is anyone that knows just reason for these two not to be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"I know a very good reason!" Dyhannah announces as she opens the door to the hospital room and rushes up to her son. "You can't marry her, Deacon!"

"Mom," Deacon looks back at her in surprise as Chase comes up to him. "Dad, what the hell are you doing? When did you get back from New York?"

"We just got in," Chase replies to him. "And, it looks like we made it just in time."

"What is this all about?" an uneasy Quinn asks them. "Deacon and I, we want to be married. We want to give our child the life that he or she deserves!"

Dyhannah chuckles back to her. "That's the thing," she whispers back to her. "We know that Deacon isn't the father of the baby. We saw you leaving your hotel with another man, Quinn. We know who the real father of your baby is!"

Quinn feels the blood drain from her face. "There … there must be some kind of mistake!" she insists. "Deacon is the father of my baby!"

"No, he's not," Chase sternly tells her. "Marat is! We know that Marat Kafelinkov fathered your child!"

Quinn gasps as all the eyes in the room look at Marat, who gulps heavily as he feels the weight of the room on his shoulders.

***

"I just heard your little announcement," Lydia says as she storms into the main office of Blackmore Ltd. and sees Kent sitting behind the desk. "You're taking back control of the company?"

"I had no choice," Kent looks up and sees his wife. "With Lex and Houston in the hospital, and the news reports of Lex going off the deep end, I had to come back as CEO to ensure the company doesn't suffer. Surely, you can understand that, Lydia?"

Lydia crosses her arms over her chest and glares back at her husband. "You know what I understand?" she glares at him. "It is that you're a no good for nothing son of a bitch!"

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Kent asks her in confusion.

"I heard you," she spits back to him. "Talking to my daughter at the hospital, Kent. I heard about how you fucked her hours before our wedding!"

Kent gulps heavily back to her. "I'm…I'm sorry, Lydia. It did happen, but we realize that it was a mistake. Stacey has made it clear that it won't happen again."

Lydia chuckles back to him. "But if you had it your way, it would happen again, wouldn't it Kent? Don't answer me, I don't want to know the answer! You're disgusting, you know that."

"What are you going to do now that you know the truth?"

Lydia's hand slaps Kent hard across the face. "That's for starters," she whispers back to him. "Secondly, I want a divorce and I will get everything that I want or I will drag your name through the mud. Imagine the headlines, Kent Blackmore Fucks Wife's Daughter…"

"You can't do that!" Kent yells back at her. "That would destroy Stacey!"

Lydia shrugs back to him. "Neither of you thought of me when you had sex, so why the hell should I think of either of you?" she asks him back quickly. "I won't say anything, Kent, but you have to give me something in the divorce."

"You can have all the money I have, if you want it Lydia!" he tells her. "Just don't hurt Stacey."

"I don't want your money, Kent. I want something far more valuable."

"What do you want Lydia?"

"I want this company. I want Blackmore Ltd.," Lydia reveals as she gets a twinkle in her eye and Kent's mouth opens in shock.

***

Nathan sits on the sofa in the Rockwell mansion living with a scotch in his hand. He is trying to come up with a way to carry out his plan to kill Cole; he still wants to exact his revenge on Mac for killing Slate.

"An eye for an eye will always work," he whispers to himself. "I just have to figure out how to make this look like an accident."

He stands up when he hears the front door of the mansion slam closed. He isn't expecting any visitors at this hour of the night, so he wonders who it could be.

"Who is there?" he calls out, but no one answers. Nathan sets his scotch down and moves towards the door. Just then, he freezes when he sees a gun pointing at him.

"Please, no," Nathan gasps back to the intruder. "Don't shoot! Please I'm begging you!"

But it's too late, three bullets escape the gun and hit Nathan's chest! He slowly crumbles to the ground, laying in a large pool of blood, while the unknown assailant rushes out of the mansion, unseen by anyone else.