"My dear Marlena," the reptilian voice makes Marlena's skin crawl as she freezes in the middle of Salem Place.
John's hand tightens around hers. "Just ignore him Doc," he murmurs gently.
"Ah John. It is so good to see you both." Stefano laughs, casting his arm around the amphitheater of the average American mall. "Such a beautiful day don't you think? Full of such ... *bountiful* possibilities."
He flicks his searingly black eyes across Marlena, something akin to amusement curling his long, cruel lips. "You do look quite beautiful today my dear Dr. Evans. The spring air agrees with you, I think."
"Leave her alone old man," John's jaw tightens as he edges between his wife and Stefano DiMera. Whatever Hope says about him, John doesn't trust the old man and he doesn't want him anywhere near Marlena. He has always been dangerous, but now he represents another threat to John's family. All he has to do is speak the truth and they will be split apart thanks to his own inconceivable foolishness.
"You sound frightened John," Stefano lays thick fingers on John's bare arm. "Now why will you be frightened of me I wonder?"
"Let's go John," Marlena tugs on John's hand, wanting to spell an end to this encounter.
They are on their way to have lunch with Sami and Belle at the pub and Stefano is the last person she wants to deal with today. Not after walking in to find Hope at the penthouse yesterday. Why can't she just have one day, *one day* in her life where she can actually put aside the worries of the past, the fears for the future and just concentrate on her family? Surely it can't be *that* much to ask. Can it?
"In such a hurry to leave Marlena?" Stefano removes his hand from John's arm and moves around him to where Marlena stands, her white cotton sundress billowing around her ankles in the light breeze. "Why do you think John will be frightened of me Marlena? After all, I helped save Hope's life. Do you not think that deserves at least a little generosity of spirit?"
"There are a lot of things you deserve Stefano," Marlena says harshly, "but I am not willing to discuss them with you here and now. John and I have a luncheon appointment."
"Ah yes, with your lovely daughters," Stefano laughs lightly but it is weighted with unspoken threats and John can feel Marlena's tremor through their linked hands. "And what about Hope. Will she be joining you also?"
"Why would Hope be joining us?" Marlena looks up at him from underneath her heavy bangs trying to figure out what he is up to now.
"Well, she seems to be spending rather a lot of time with John lately, don't you think?" Stefano arches his thick brows, embellishing his next question. "Why do you suppose that is?"
"She wants some answers," Marlena replies benignly. "And I want my lunch. John?"
John is glaring at Stefano, furiously wondering just what kind of a game the old bastard is playing now. Sometimes, he'd be more than happy to lock his fingers around that pudgy neck, and just squeeze until all life has gone. He would do it to protect his family, he knows that. He'd do it in the blink of an eye, with no remorse. He's felt the urge more than once, and it scares him.
"Ah, answers." Stefano nods, the smile broadening as he lifts his forefinger to his lips. "It seems to me that there are more answers out there than just the ones that Hope is seeking."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Marlena crosses her free arm in front of her defensively, her fingers curling around the edge of her purse.
"John?" Stefano turns to his former protégé with a malevolent smile. John says nothing, his chest raising and falling with controlled breaths as he regards Stefano with steady eyes. "You see Marlena, John knows the answers to questions that no one has even asked yet. Don't you John?"
"Don't listen to him Doc, he's just trying to make trouble," John can feel the fury building inside his head, an odd kind of drone sounding in his ears as he slides his arm around Marlena's bared shoulders and tries to guide her away from Stefano.
"I know he is," she murmurs, turning from Stefano to seek the comfort of John's cerulean eyes. "We're late."
"Ah well, please don't let me keep you," Stefano smiles vindictively, "after all, John has avoided telling you the truth so successfully until now. Why will you want to hear it from me?"
"Just *what* is that supposed to mean?" Marlena swings around to fix Stefano with angry hazel eyes.
"Don't you wonder Marlena?" Stefano shrugs, the smile falling from his face to reveal the anger that lurks inside. He is tired of playing the nice Stefano. It is getting tedious and it is time to shake things in Salem up a little. Shattering Marlena and John's nice comfortable little life will be a good start. "Don't you have *any* questions that John might have the answers to?"
"I don't know what kind of game you're playing Stefano, but there is nothing you can tell me about John that will *ever* change how I feel about him. So why don't you save your breath?" She is shaking with anger and the last few words come out as little more than a hiss.
"Doc, don't let him upset you," John's body is alive with tight nerves as he tries to guide Marlena away from Stefano. This is getting dangerous. "Just leave us alone old man. Don't you think you've done enough damage all ready?"
"Ah but John, I'm not the one that did the damage this time am I?" he purses his lips as he raises his eyebrows again. "I'm not the one that has been lying to my wife. You should know by now that secrets will *always* come out in the end."
"You *bastard*," the only thing that stops John lunging for Stefano and trying to kill him is Marlena's hand on his arm. Her touch is the one thing that grounds him, that keeps the buzzing to a level that he can still think over it but even so, the urge to beat the life out of Stefano is almost overwhelming.
"John," Marlena pulls on his arm, not liking the glares that are flying between Stefano and John. She has a very bad feeling about this. "Please. I want to go."
"Not so fast my dear." Despite Stefano's size, he is unusually agile and almost before she turns around to look for her car, he is in front of her again. "You really think your impression of your husband can't be changed? Surely, after everything that has happened, your faith cannot be that blind."
"I love John," Marlena says in a low voice. "I trust him."
"Your trust is misguided," Stefano looks over at John his, eyes black and malevolent. "Isn't it John? Wouldn't you like to know what your husband was doing on your honeymoon Marlena? Doesn't it seem a little odd to you that both Hope and John disappeared at the same time last July and now Hope is eight months pregnant?"
Marlena swallowed, her throat suddenly arid as adrenaline pulsed through her veins. "Hope was in Europe," she says solidly. "John and I were in Hawaii and Hope was in Europe. There is no connection."
"Are you quite sure about that?" The corner of Stefano's mouth folds into a chilling smile. "I think you might find that your husband has a different interpretation of events." He casts his eyes to where John stands, stock still, his face ghostly pallid.
John shakes his head slowly, pained eyes staring first at Stefano and then at the back of Marlena's head.
"John doesn't remember anything," she says exasperatedly, "we've been over that."
"Now, now Marlena," Stefano shakes his head sadly, "I thought you were brighter than that. You do *know* John has been lying to you? He's been slipping in and out of personalities for months now but he persists on lying to you about it." He smiles but it chills Marlena to the core. There is no mirth, only evil and the need to destroy what he cannot have. "He thinks he's trying to protect you my dear. Why do you think he doesn't want Hope to remember the last year?"
"He's worried about the baby," Marlena says weakly. It doesn't even sound like her voice as her head begins to swim. Too many pieces are falling into place. Pieces whose edges have once been fuzzy, but are quickly becoming solid and intense.
"And why do you think he is so worried about the baby Dr. Evans?" Stefano asks softly, his rich baritone saturated with significance that Marlena doesn't want to hear.
Marlena suddenly feels as though she can't breath as the fear and anguish she felt in the hotel room in Hawaii come back to haunt her. When she and Bo had come to the conclusion that John and Hope were together.
Her head swims with the implications and she feels as though the world is wavering around her, on the verge of blinking out of existence as she stares at Stefano, willing him to take back his words.
"He...." She desperately searches for a rebuttal of the truth that is forming in her mind. "It's a *baby* Stefano. An innocent baby...."
"No Marlena," Stefano shakes his head, ready to deliver the fatal blow. He can feel the power moving with the blood in his veins as he speaks. *This* is what he is about, this is what keeps him invigorated and alive and he will savor this moment for as long as he can. "It's *his* baby. He and Hope had an affair on your honeymoon and she's pregnant with his child. *That* is why he is so desperate to keep the past from her. So that *you* won't find out the kind of man he really is."