Silence reigns for a moment following Stefano's order. But despite Stefano's words, the words that could well seal his fate tonight, Roman only has eyes for Grace.
And she can't help but return his stare. She feels angry and violated and torn, but most of all, she feels terrified. Terrified that she'll never get the chance to see him again. To talk to him. To touch him.
"No..." she finally tears her eyes from Roman's and turns to Stefano. "No, you *can't*, Stefano. He's *not* John Black anymore. Not now."
This is unexpected and Stefano holds his hand up, stopping Simmons in his tracks. Then he turns with a raised eyebrow and a sense of foreboding.
"What?" Roman manages a taut smile, despite the gun that is trained on him. "No welcome back, Stefano?"
"Roman Brady," Stefano says with no small amount of disgust. "I would say it was an unexpected pleasure. But I will not lie."
"You never were good with the pleasantries, were you DiMera?" Roman's eyes flick to Grace. She is looking at Stefano with an unreadable expression. And then she turns her gaze back to Roman. "So what? You just going to have me killed? Keep Grace caged like an animal?" He is serious now as he looks at Grace with a measure of defiance and sadness. "Because she'll never stay with you willingly. Not now she knows the truth. Not now she knows all the lies you've told."
"Grace will know that whatever I have done, I have done with only her best interests at heart." Stefano turns back to Grace, his black eyes filled with confidence. "I am truly sorry my dear that you had to suffer this."
"You lied to me," she whispers weakly. She no longer knows what to think or believe or what to feel. She's devastated. Violated. And so lost. "All the way through. You lied to me Stefano." The tears are coming again and she wipes them away furiously with the back of her fingers. A gesture which makes Roman's heart skip a beat. "Why?"
"Do you not think that if Roman Brady had *really* loved you, he would not have scoured the *earth* to find you when you had disappeared?" Stefano demands angrily. He will not let Roman take this situation and use it to manipulate Grace. If she chooses to believe him, it could be disastrous. "My love, I was trying to protect you. He hurt Marlena again and *again* after her return to Salem. I was trying to save you from that pain."
"That's *bullshit* DiMera, and we *all* know it," Roman rasps. His hands are curled into tight fists as he resists the urge to fly at DiMera and pummel him into capitulation. He knows that he can't do that though, it would be like signing his own death warrant. "It was all a game to you. To hurt and manipulate her and twist her for your own devious ends." His impossibly blue eyes lock with Stefano's as he continues to accuse the man he hates most in this world. The man that has tried time and time again to destroy his life. "You hurt her and you used her in order to punish *me*." He 's shaking again as he begins to recall Stefano's narrative in the room below. "You *bastard*, she was innocent. She was broken and *vulnerable* and you just made it *so* much worse."
"And what of you, Roman?" Stefano sneers. "Leaving her to her fate. If she was broken, it was only because she washed up on the rocks that way. You could have pursued her but you were far too ready to believe the worst, and you left her in my hands."
"Stop it!" Grace screams as she pushes shaking fingers to her pounding temples. Her heart is thumping in her chest and her body is telling her to flee the room and this confrontation. But she can't move. Her body is battered and broken. She needs rest and she just wants all of them gone. She wants to bury herself in sleep and alcohol and just forget any of this ever happened. "I don't want to hear any more. You're both as bad as each other. I can't even *think* any more. How can I trust either of you to be honest about *anything*?"
"Grace," Stefano says softly. "I never meant to hurt you. You must believe that. And Roman, he...." He indicates the state of her with a pained wave. "Look at what he has *done* to you. "
"Roman didn't lay a finger on me," Grace hisses before closing her eyes and dropping her head. The pain in her head combined with the throbbing where John had hit her is making her nauseous. She takes a stilting breath and then opens her eyes. Stefano practically recoils at the hatred manifest in the cinnamon depths. "That was all down to your 'creation', John Black. It was only Roman that stopped John from..." She stops short, swallowing convulsively at the memory of John's rage-filled eyes and the sound of tearing silk...
By the window, Roman lets out a quiet breath of thanks. He had been unsure that Grace would understand or be able to differentiate between him and John. That doesn't decrease his guilt any, but at least it brings him a little bit of hope.
"Pah!" Stefano waves his hand. "I am tired of this, who is to blame, who is the guilty party. Grace, I have looked after you, I have loved you as no-one else could." He places a chunky hand against his heart as a questionable softness enters his voice. "I have given you everything you desired and I will give you the world. What more can I offer you?"
"How about the truth, for a start." Roman retorts bitterly. He won't let Stefano twist this around again. He hates to do this, but if he protects her now, he'll only be leaving her open to more pain and more destruction in the long run. And she deserves to know. Deserves the truth.
"How about you tell her how you set her up. How you sent Lamont to attack her so that you could rescue her. And when that didn't work, you let that *animal* Orpheus loose on her." Tears fill his eyes as he sees the horrified look on Grace's face and he feels like he's slowly dying inside. He really hadn't wanted her to find out this way. But the way things are going, he might not have the chance to tell her later. And he has to make her understand... has to ensure that if anything happens to him, that she doesn't fall for any more of Stefano's lies.
If he has to tell her the truth, if he has to hurt her like that to protect her... he will do it. Because he will die before he lets Stefano hurt her again. But the problem is, this situation is looking more and more hopeless. And he could well not be around to protect her after today.
The thought tears his heart apart as he watches her horror-struck gaze turn to Stefano.
"He is lying, Grace," Stefano presents the denial swiftly, his heart pounding. This is a disaster, he hadn't anticipated Roman remembering so much of their conversation. IF he can't convince her that this is a lie, he could lose her tonight. And he will *not* lose her. Roman Brady *cannot* win. His expression turns ugly as he turns and looks at Roman. "There is no truth to what he says. He merely wishes to cause you more pain by trying to discredit me. This... this cruel fallacy comes only from Roman Brady's desperation to save his own *pathetic*," he spits the word out as though it is poison on his tongue, "skin."
"No." Roman shakes his head, his eyes readily betraying the fury and the hatred that course through him. But they immediately soften as he turns to Grace.
"You know I'm telling the truth, baby." He speaks directly to her, oblivious to the face that he uses such a heartrending term of endearment. Grace notices it though and her breath catches in her throat. "How the hell do I know what happened with Orpheus unless he told me? *You* told me you killed the bastard, but you never told me what he did you you...." The agony he feels is etched in every line of his face, as he pleads with her and every word he speaks is like a gentle caress. "Why didn't you tell me?"
His every instinct tells him to pull her into his arms and hold her close. He wants to protect her against the pain, but he can't. He can't *ever* make it go away. He can't undo what Orpheus did to her. He can't even avenge her. Stefano is right in that aspect at least. He failed her and he left her to DiMera's sick, twisted machinations. And he will *never* forgive himself for that.
On the bed, Grace feels increasingly sick. Every nerve in her body is wound tight and she feels as though every word that is spoken in this room is a missile being hurled at her ever-weakening armour.
And now, after everything, this disclosure, this... horrific revelation. It's too much to bear. Roman is telling the truth, she knows that. Of course he is. How *could* he have known? *She* hadn't even known until tonight. That was a memory trapped inside her head, buried deep beneath the shit Stefano had fed her.
Stefano, her self-avowed protector, her father figure, her mentor. Had engineered....
Oh God... Oh God, no....
"Grace..." Stefano starts.
"No. *Don't*!" She holds up her hand, her fury getting the better of her as she turns her outraged glare on him. Her voice rises with every word. She is so angry she could *kill* him. "Don't say it, you *bastard*. Don't even *talk* to me." Her breath is coming short and panicked as she pulls the gown tighter around herself. Her knuckles are white with tension and fear and her head feels like it's about to explode. "I can't listen to your lies any more. I *won't*."
"Well..." Stefano's face becomes hard and brutal. If words cannot convince her, then he will have to find another way. "I am disappointed to hear that, Grace." He pushes himself up from the bed, keeping his eyes on Roman as he crosses the room to Simmons. He takes the gun from the lackey's hand and motions with his head to the bed. "I have decided that I would prefer to see this commission through myself. Please make sure that the lovely Grace does not leave the room."
He notes Grace's paling face and laughs cruelly. "You think I would let Roman Brady go just because you wished it Grace? After all, if you care for him so, what better reason could I have to see him dead?"
"No!" Grace starts across the bed in the direction of Roman, but Simmons is too quick for her and he drags her from the bed, wrapping two huge arms around her like bands of steel. She screams in anger and struggles, but she's weakened by the aftermath of the fight with John and by the incapacitating headache, so he holds her back with no trouble.
"Leave her alone!' Roman shouts angrily, starting towards Grace.
"Stay where you are, Roman," Stefano warns as he loosens the safety on the gun. "You wouldn't want the lady to get hurt now, would you?" He laughs as Roman stops short, his dread clearly evident. "Yes, that's right *Mister* Brady. You have officially run out of options. Grace can plead for clemency, but I am not inclined to listen tonight." He shrugs. "Maybe I will have regrets tomorrow, but I doubt it. You have been a thorn in my side for *far* too long. And I will enjoy your death, far more than I have enjoyed your life."
"No!" Grace starts to struggle again in Simmons' arms. "Stefano, *no*! You can't! If you ever loved me, *please*...."
"I have loved you *Grace*," Stefano's eyes narrow with ire. "And I continue to love you, despite your betrayals. And yet, I will be prepared to forgive you for all these transgressions. But I will *not* spare Roman Brady."
"You're a *pig*," she spits, struggling in the thug's arms like a wildcat. And Roman watches her, watches the fire flash in her golden eyes as she fights the inevitable. And his heart quickens, hammering in his chest with the twin rhythms of love and hope.
"You're a lying, deceiving *bastard*!" She continues to shout at him as she flails at her captor. "You never *loved* me. You don't know what love is. You're incapable of it. And I will *die* before I ever beg your forgiveness and you will burn in *hell* before you ever lay another hand on me."
"Doc?" Roman breathes the endearment like the answer is the difference between life and death. And truly, for him, it is. Without Marlena, there is no life worth living. And if he can see her, touch her for just a moment... this will all be worth it.
"NOOOOO!" Stefano screams in rage as he recognizes the truth an instant after Roman. He will not let Roman have her... he will not let the woman he covets slip from his grasp at the final hurdle....
"Roman!" Tears spill from Marlena's eyes and with a final spurt of adrenaline, she kicks her foot up between her captor's legs. Simmons groans with pain and drops her before he falls to his knees.
And with a cry of joy, Marlena dashes towards Roman... at the same time as Stefano fires the revolver......