IN THE ATTIC AT MAISON BLANCHE:

Sami set her fork down on her plate and looked down at the few crumbs she had failed to inhale.

She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach and groaned a little, so full after scarfing down the dinner EJ had brought her it felt as if she had gained another baby growing inside her. Yet still she wasn't yet showing the baby she carried.

Sami didn't know what to do about EJ but she didn't know how to stop thinking about him. Oh I think I'll about that tomorrow, she said to herself.

Then something she spied across the room through the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Sami walked toward the attic walk-in closet and decided it was time to explore more of the secrets of Maison Blanche. She dragged her hands over the elaborate ballgowns of gold and purple and green and black, smiling as she felt the unique, cool, luxurious texture of each dress on her skin, before stopping on the red.

It reminded her of something she'd seen in a movie once before.

Sami examined the burgundy ball gown of French silk velvet and marveled at its heart shaped bodice clearly intended to accentuate the wearer's decolletage, its poofy sleeves and flowing skirt. Pinned inside the dress she found a matching set of gloves which she slid on her hands and arms.

Suddenly she felt elegant and graceful. She felt wealthy and powerful. She wondered what sort of a woman wore those gloves before her, if any Dimera woman had worn them or they were just kept as props for Stefano's games.

Still, even the thought of Stefano couldn't shake the spell this gown had over her. She can began to disrobe down to her bra and underwear and held the dress up to her front while standing in front of a full-length mirror with her back to the doorway.

So taken by this outfit, Sami hadn't noticed the man who had just entered into the room with her until she saw him in the mirror.

"E.J. Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Sami snarled with frustration.

"Sorry. Sorry." E.J. said averting his gaze and covering his eyes with his large right hand. "I didn't mean to interrupt dressup time. I just needed to talk to you."

Sami quickly pulled the dress over her head but had not unfastened all the buttons in the back before doing so. E.J. couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he listened to Sami struggle with the gown with her face covered and peeked through the space between his fingers so he could watch her arms pumping furiously in the attempt to pull the dress down.

"Sweetheart, do you need some help?" E.J. asked, not really interested in helping Sami become fully clothed, but making the attempt at being chivalrous.

"No, I think I got it," Sami huffed as she finally pulled the dress into place and bent over the bed heaving out of breath from the struggle, her face flushed and her long golden hair flowing wildly.

"So what do you want?" Sami asked standing up to face E.J.

"Wow." E.J. said emphatically. "Darling, you look amazing."

Sami looked down and noticed her cleavage practically spilling out onto the floor and covered her chest with her arms self-consciously.

"I said... what do you want?" Sami said.

E.J. shook his head for a second as if snapped back into reality.

"I wanted to talk to you, Samantha," E.J. said sitting down on the bed to face her while she stood. "Although I must admit I feel a little funny having this talk with you dressed like this."

"We're not having this conversation with me naked, E.J., so just say what you came here to say," Sami said impatiently.

"All right. Here it is. Something has bothered me all day today, darling. What was it you were trying to tell me before? Before your pains started? Before I helped you breathe again? Before we...?"

"Any WE before was a mistake, E.J." Sami scolded. "I regret asking you to lay with me even if it was only to sleep. It was wrong and it was unfair to you."

"How was it unfair to me?" E.J. asked.

"Because I'm married!" Sami said. "And I plan on staying that way."

E.J. had sensed as much as he felt the gold band around her ring finger when they held hands before, but he had hoped the man in question had left her when she decided to become Stefano's surrogate. Or better yet the man who had given her that ring was dead.

"Oh," E.J. said. "Well I'm sorry if I haven't been as gentlemanly as I should have been in my dealings with you, Samantha. But may I ask... when did you marry this man? Before you agreed to be the surrogate mother of my father's child?"

"Dammit E.J. I am NOT Stefano's surrogate and this baby isn't his!" Sami screamed. "It's yours!"

"But you said you're married to another man..." E.J. said awash in confusion.

"I am," Sami said exasperated. "But I am pregnant with your child because..."

"Because what, Samantha?"

"Because you RAPED me!"

Sami gasped after she said the words and tears started spilling out her eyes as she watched the words explode in E.J.'s face like a nuclear bomb. First there was the shocking noise they made, then brilliant, bright fury and finally total devastation.

"What do you mean, I raped you?" E.J. said, his voice quivering. "We just met this morning for the first time and you are accusing me of rape? Accusing me when I have been nothing but kind to you, nothing but a gentleman to you aside from this moment when I didn't announce my presence before entering the room?"

Sami sobbed as she watched E.J. pace around the room.

"I could NEVER rape someone. Never... especially... especially not someone like you." E.J. said defensively though he didn't know why. "Where do you get these crazy ideas anyway?"

"I got these ideas from the truth, E.J.," Sami said through tears walking toward him and putting her hand on his face. "Even if you don't remember it. It's the truth."

E.J. looked deeply in her eyes and put his hand on hers and he knew her hurt was real. Yet still he had no memories of hurting her that way. Even if he knew he had lied when he told her he wasn't capable of hurting her that way.

"I'm sorry that you think this is what happened, Samantha, but I need to go," E.J. said crestfallen and pushing her hand away. "Good night."

Sami cried as she watched E.J. solemnly walk out the door of the attic and shut the door behind him. She quickly threw off her dress and climbed into bed collapsing in a heap of sobs and wishing she had kept her big mouth shut and wondering if she had thrown away any chance of escape.

That night Sami cried herself to sleep.

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