This time, she can feel the vodka as it sears its way down her throat, warming her insides as it settles down inside her. She gasps for air and sets the glass down on the mirrored surface before she turns back to the living room.

The first thing that assaults her eyes however, is a picture of John and Marlena with their children. With a scowl, Grace stalks across to the beautifully framed shot and in a single movement, she snatches it off the wooden surface and brings it facedown with a crack against the corner of the dresser.

"*Damn* you." The stressed words come out through gritted teeth and there is the musical tinkle of shattering glass as she lets it drop from her hand.

Damn John Black. Damn him all the way to *hell*. She looks around her with wild eyes. She can't explain what just happened down at the pier, she can't explain how or why she lost control of her own *will* and it is making her a more than a little crazy.

She doesn't want anything to do with John Black. It's simple, she hates him and she wants to see him suffer. He abandoned her, he had served his own selfish interest and it is time he paid for his crimes. She knows that in her mind, and in her heart. But somehow, her body is betraying her and playing a different tune. She can't get him out of her head, she can't stop replaying the way his hands feel on her body and the warmth of his lips against hers....

God, *stop* it, Grace! Get a grip on yourself. He has no control, *you* are the one in control. So *act* like it.

She takes a deep breath and straightens her posture almost infinitesimally, but it is enough to make her feel better. John Black might think he can have things his own way, he might think that he can tempt her into his bed. He might think that poor Marlena is weak enough that she will cave into submission once he asserts his will. Maybe Marlena would. But then, she is not Marlena.

Her eyes narrow like those of a cat as a slight smile shadows her lips. Maybe she can kill two birds. Maybe if she takes control of the situation, she can get John Black out of her system and destroy him at the same time...

~

"John?" Bo stands in the doorway of his new house and looks at the drenched John with uncertain eyes.
"I need your help, Bo." John can't quite bring himself to meet Bo's eyes and he takes the opportunity to wipe the moisture from his face.
"You know I'll help you in any way I can, bro," Bo nods with surety. John helped him to find Hope, he will do anything he can to help John find his way back to the woman he loves. He owes him that and so much more.

"Go and talk to Marlena for me," John has misgivings about asking Bo this favor. If Marlena told Belle the truth, what is to stop her telling Bo? But surely she will not tell him the *whole* truth. However hurt she is about what has happened between the two of them, she would not deliberately cause a rift in Bo and Hope's relationship. Anyway, right now he is too desperate to care. He just needs to know that she's all right and not alone. And he thinks that Bo can get through to her where he can't.

"I'm worried about her Bo. Her whole life has been turned upside down and she's behaving completely irrationally."
"Have you tried talking to her yourself?" Bo asks carefully.
"Uh, yeah." John's eyes water at the mere thought of what Marlena had done to him down at the pier. "It didn't go well. She's really angry with me, Bo. She needs a friend right now, one who won't take no for an answer. I figure since you've known her so long..."
"And since I'm about as stubborn as she is..." Bo grins despite himself. He has dealt with an angry Marlena before and he knows how intimidating she can be. It takes a strong and determined person to withstand her verbal barrage when she gets going.

"Hey," John manages a weak smile, "you said it, kid."
"I'll do what I can John," Bo is serious again when he speaks. He knows how bad this must be for John to seek his help. And he saw Marlena at the pub the other day, saw how angry and upset she was. Maybe she needs to talk to someone that loved Roman as much as she did
"Thanks Bo." John nods, his relief tangible.

"Who was that at the door honey?" Hope's voice floats down the stairs and John tenses automatically.
"Uh, look, I have to go now Bo. I'll check back with you later. If you could see Marlena as soon as you can, I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, I'll head over there now if you like," Bo nods and then looks backwards to where Hope is descending the stairs. "It's John, Fancyface."
"Thanks, that'd be great," John jumps from one foot to the other, desperate to make his escape before Hope makes it to the door. "Say hi to Hope for me. Call me, okay?" He waved as he turned and hurried down the path.

"Uh, sure..." Bo said under his breath as Hope rounded his side and looked at John's receding figure with confused eyes.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think he's trying to avoid me."

~

Grace shuts of the shower and steps out from the steaming stall. Pulling a towel from the heated rack nearby, she wraps it around her waterlogged hair before she takes a second towel and runs it over her bronzed limbs.

When she is finished, she dusts scented powder over her body and slips into a silk negligee. She shrugs the matching robe on and lets the towel drop from her head.

Her hair is so thick that it takes a good twenty minutes to dry, but still, that's not as long as when her hair was long. She sighs as she looks at herself in the mirror. She misses her long hair, somehow she doesn't quite look like *herself* with this bob that brushes her shoulders. She looks like someone else... like the weak and despised Marlena maybe...?

Shaking her head, she reaches for the bottle of Obsession and dabs a little on her pulse points before she heads for the bedroom. Picking up the half-consumed martini, she takes a sip as she heads for the telephone. She picks up the receiver with the intention to page Craig, but she is interrupted by a knock at the front door.

"Oh, good boy," she smiles as she puts down the phone and heads for the bedroom door.

Her feet are light as she skips down the steps, and she takes care to arrange her negligee as she reaches the door so that it displays her assets to their 'fullest' advantage.

However, on opening the door, she is surprised to find that her visitor is not Craig Wesley, but rather Bo Brady.

Her mind works quickly with this bit of information and even as she sees his eyes widen at her appearance, she smiles as she leans against the doorframe.
"Bo. Honey, what a wonderful surprise."
"Uh..." Bo blinks. "It is?"
"Well, of course." Grace laughs lightly, fixing him with her glittering hazel eyes. "You're my favorite brother-in-law, after all."
"Ex-brother-in-law," Bo corrects, though he is not quite sure why, other than the fact that he is completely disconcerted by the way Marlena is looking and he feels the need to put some distance between them. Even if it is only figurative.
"Yes," she nods slowly, a sensual smile spreading across her perfect lips. "Isn't that fortunate?"

"Excuse me?" Bo swallows, his heart thumping out Morse code in his chest. Those eyes have snared him and he is not quite sure if he is thinking straight because all he can think is how sexy she looks and how much he would like to...
"Oh come on Bo," she reaches out with her free hand and trails a lonely finger down over his bicep. "Don't tell me you've never wondered what it would be like..."
"Uh, Marlena," Bo can hear his heartbeat in his ears now. "Have you been drinking?"
"Just a little martini," she gives him a playful smile. "Why, you want to join me honey?"

Grace lifts the martini to her lips and takes a sip, never moving her eyes from his as she does, letting her double entendre settle in before she says anything more.

"Marlena, I..." Bo *knows* he shouldn't even be tempted by her. After all, she's Roman's ex-wife, he has known her for half his life and... and dammit, she's right – he has wondered what it would be like to make love to her. But he *can't*, he's with Hope and she's having a baby.

A baby that's not yours, a little voice says in his head.

"Yes Bo?" She flutters dark lashes as she moves closer to him. Her scent buffets him and the heady muskiness only adds to the sensations that are washing over him.

Dammit man, you're here to help John. And help Marlena. Fantasizing about making love to her is *not* going to achieve that.

"Marlena, John asked me to come here and talk to you," he brushes past her into the penthouse and looks around him, trying to rid himself of the lust that has suddenly crawled under his skin and taken up residence. He sees the clothes in the middle of the room and the broken picture that lies on the floor over to the left and his tension grows exponentially. "He's worried about you."

"He doesn't need to be." Grace closes the door behind her and leans against the light-coloured wood. Her robe falls open and a split in the nightgown reveals a long, slender leg. "I'm just fine."
"Marlena, he's really concerned. He says you're angry with him and that you're not behaving like yourself," he looks at her and raises his eyebrows. "I gotta say, I'm inclined to agree with him."

"So?" She shrugs easily as she walks towards him, the diaphanous robe floating out behind her. "Maybe I just realized that I was missing out..."
"And how do you figure that?" Bo crosses his arms in front of him.
"Why don't you let me show you?" Grace offers, her voice throaty and sensual as she slides around behind him. He feels her hands on his back and he almost groans as she begins to massage his shoulders. The feeling of her fingers kneading him is somehow *anything* but relaxing.

"Marlena!" He spins around, out of her reach, his voice strained. "I don?t think this is what John meant by helping out."
"Well," Grace raises her eyebrows with a half-smile. "I don't know if it's what John meant either, but that's not about to stop *me*."
"Well, it *should*," Bo points at her, but his finger is shaking. "What you and John have together, it should be treasured. You shouldn't pretend..."

"Who says I'm pretending?" she asks as she advances on him. Catching his hand with hers, she lifts it and fastens her lips around his index finger.

Bo can barely breathe as he feels her tongue envelop the tip of his finger and the invitation in her tawny eyes is almost too much for him to handle. Tearing his hand from her grasp, he backs away from her.

"Marlena, I can't. Not.... it wouldn't be fair to Hope." With that, he turns and practically sprints from the apartment.

Grace watches him go, iciness stealing over her expression.

Hope. There the bitch is again. Hope. Gina. The replacement. And a pathetic imitation at that.

She can see it in Stefano's eyes, the contempt with which he talks of her. He never thought much of the original "Princess Gina" and he thinks even less of her doppleganger.

"Princess, my arse," Grace mutters darkly as she picks up her drink.

Gina had been a whore that Stefano had picked up in the slums of Paris and in a turn right out of 'Pygmalion'; he had made her into a 'princess'. But she had been slow-witted, dull and useless for much more than the simplest heist. And for all her airs and graces, she had still been nothing more than a whore, and Stefano had treated her as little more than that in the end.

He had always told Grace that she had been his saviour after the trials of Gina, the one to fulfil all his hopes and implement all of his dreams. *Why* he replaced her with another Gina, she'll never understand.

Grace scowls as she drains the remains of her martini. Hope. It seems, like Gina, she has perfected the art of inserting her irritating presence exactly where she is not wanted. And Grace doesn't want Hope, or Gina, or whoever she is this week, anywhere near her. In fact, out of Salem would be good. Dead would be even better.

A smile makes its way back to Grace's lips as she contemplates life without Hope. She rather likes the idea. Maybe it is time to put the next part of Stefano's plan into action. Maybe it is time that perfect little Hope Williams Brady finds out that her perfect little life isn't quite as perfect as she would like to believe....

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