| Previously...
Alex
hired Eddie to dig up dirt on Renee & Sierra. Eddie
discovered that Sierra was Renee's biological daughter,
and Alex happily revealed the information to a devestated
Sierra, hoping to stick it to Renee. Sierra ran
off into Nathan's arms before Alex got the chance to
tell her Nathan was her father. Heather continued
to push Brett away, despite his proclomation that he
was falling for her. Brett informed Seth that
Kenny denied the variance on a piece of land he was
interested in. Brett dodged Marilee's advances.
Ethan blasted James for his devotion to Nathan.
Jordan and Alex slept together again. Jordan issued
Nathan a stern warning. Fed up with James not
believing her about the attack, Brooke moved out of
the mansion, just as Leigh showed up.
Episode
64
"Explosions"
James handed Leigh a glass of red wine and then poured
himself a bourbon and branch. They were
in the library at the Blackthorne mansion, the fireplace roaring and the sun
beginning to set through the enormous floor to ceiling windows.
“James,
your home is beautiful,” Leigh Purcell said, taking in the richly decorated
room. “It’s all so stylish and old Hollywood, exactly the way I pictured it.”
James
smiled and sat down in the chair across from her. “Thank you,” he said, unable to take his mind
off of Brooke. She’d packed her bags and
left an hour ago. He was determined to
go after her, but Leigh had shown up at that very moment, a surprise that proved
extremely distracting. How was he going
to make things right with her? Never in
a million years did he think that Nathan’s return to Hollywood would spell the downfall of his
marriage. Or that Leigh’s return to his
life would make it so much easier.
“James?”
Leigh asked, crossing her legs and leaning forward on the cognac leather
sofa. “Are you with me?”
He
smiled again and tried suppressing his worries over Brooke. “Leigh, you still haven’t told me you’re
doing in Los
Angeles. When we left the
energy conference you were on your way back to Acapulco.”
“Business,”
she replied casually and without further explanation. “And to be honest, I was hoping I’d get a
chance to see you while I was here.”
James
got up and moved restlessly around the room.
“I hate to say it, but this isn’t exactly a good time,” he said. “That was Brooke leaving when you showed up
earlier.”
“I
thought it might be. I also saw her
carrying suitcases. What happened,
James? Did you tell her about what
happened in Rio?
Is that why she left?”
“I
never got a chance to tell her,” James replied. “I fully intended to. Thought I’d never see you again. I wanted to be honest with her, but-“
“What
happened?” Leigh asked and moved across the room toward him. She put a delicate hand on his shoulder and caressed
it gently.
He
didn’t want to get into the whole mess so he shorthanded it as best as he
could. “She made some accusations about
someone in my family. I questioned her,
so she left, and took our child with her.”
“James,
I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can
do?”
“No,
but thank you,” he finally said, his eyes twinkling as he gazed at her. “Things are a mess right now, but I hope that
you’ll stay in Los Angeles for a while. That is, if business doesn’t take up all your
time.”
She
grinned and licked her jammy red lips. “Oh,
I’ll make time for you,” she
said. “We had such a good time in Rio.”
James
nodded. “I just need to get things
settled with Brooke.”
His
devotion only made him even more attractive to her. “Just as long as you know that I’ll be here
when you need someone. Think about it, James. It can be just like that night in Rio.”
He
smiled fondly, growing slightly flushed when he thought of that night and how
passionate and intense their lovemaking had been. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want it to
happen again. But for now, he’d have to
control himself. If there was a chance
of repairing this mess with Brooke then he had to take it.

Ethan
knocked on the door of room 829 at Hotel
Terranova, digging his hands in his pockets and offering a sympathetic look
as Brooke opened the door.
“Hi,”
she said, dejected, and stood clear of the door. “Thanks for coming over, Ethan.”
“Are
you okay?” he asked as he rushed inside the suite. “Where’s Michael?”
“He’s
in the bedroom,” Brooke replied and sat down on the sofa in tears. “I left James.
I told him that if he didn’t believe me about Nathan then I didn’t want to
be anywhere near him.”
Ethan
sighed and sat down beside her. “I’m so
sorry. I know how hard this must be for
you.”
“How could he have
done that? I’m his wife. We have a child together and-“ She paused, realizing that that wasn’t even
true. She could see the hurt in Ethan’s
eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
But
he was used to the lie now. Maybe not
comfortable with it, but he knew it was Brooke’s choice to continue leading
James to believe that he was Michael’s father.
He had no right to interfere in that.
Besides, right now the issue was the insulting way his uncle was treating
her. It wasn’t fair. He wanted to put his arms around her and hold
her forever.
“What
are you going to do?” he finally asked after the moment of awkwardness had
passed.
She
looked into his eyes and shook her had in despair. “I don’t know. But I do know that I can ever forgive him for
what he’s done.”

Brett
walked into Miranda’s office downstairs, tennis racket in hand and perspiration
beading down the sides of his tan face.
She looked up and offered a look of frustration, standing up with her
purse in hand.
“I’m on my way home, Brett, so whatever
you want to talk about will have to wait,” she said and switched off her desk
lamp
“I came by earlier but you weren’t here,”
Brett said with a frown.
“That’s right, I had an appointment with
Dr. Mitchell.”
“Is
everything okay with the baby?” Brett asked, springing to attention and placing
a hand on her shoulder. “What did she
say?”
Miranda shrugged his hand off of her and
sighed heavily. “Relax, it was just a
monthly checkup. Everything’s fine.”
He threw his hands up in resignation and
looked at her in disbelief. “Did you
ever think to ask if I wanted to go along?”
“Why would I?”
“Because
I’m the baby’s father, that’s why,” he insisted. “I told you I wanted to be involved, and now
you’re trying to cut me out again, well I’m not going to let you get away with
it, Miranda. I’m going to be part of our
baby’s life whether you like it or not.”
She
rolled her eyes and started to the door.
“I don’t like it,” she said
and started out into the lobby. Brett
followed fast on her heels, pulling her back angrily.
“I have rights, you know,” he said, his
eyes challenging her.
“All
right, relax,” Miranda said with
irritation. “Yes, you have rights, but
does that mean you have to tag along to every single doctors appointment I
have? Seriously, Brett, you need to
chill out. You can be involved with Biff but you’re not going to suffocate me for the next six months.”
He folded his arms and turned just as
Heather stepped out of the elevator and made her way across the lobby. She turned and saw Brett, immediately tensing
up and picking up her languid pace so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.
Brett frowned, hurt that she was going out
of her way to avoid him lately. Since
their night of passion she’d quickly made it clear that she wanted nothing more
to do with him. They had nothing in
common but sex, she’d said. For the
first time in his life he felt that he couldn’t have something that he
desperately wanted.
“Did
it just get cold in here?” Miranda asked as she came up on Brett from
behind. “I warned Heather to stay away
from you, and from the looks of it, she listened.”
He turned around and shot her a look. “What is it with you and your brother?” he
demanded irately. “You divorce your
spouses, but you don’t want anyone else to be with them either?”
“I don’t care who you use as your next
victim, just as long as it isn’t Heather or anyone else that I care about,”
Miranda said, a warning tone in her voice.
“Heather has been through a lot during the last year and she doesn’t need
you causing more trouble for her.”
“Who says I’m causing her any trouble?”
She
leveled a you’ve got to be kidding
look on him. “We are still talking about you,
aren’t we?” she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Everything you touch you manipulate and
destroy. I just want to make sure that
Heather isn’t next in line.”
“Well it looks like you got your wish
because she’s not talking to me now.”
“Good,” Miranda said before starting away
from him. “Just stick with your
secretaries and your bimbos and leave Heather alone. You’ll have to answer to Stormy and to me if
you don’t.”
He
exhaled deeply, irritated that they had gotten to Heather. He meant what he’d told her the other day, he
was falling in love with her. Hopelessly
in love.

“I can’t believe that
he attacked Brooke Blackthorne,” Renee said as she and Jordan stood in her suite at Hotel Terranova. “That poor woman. How many more women is he going to do this
to?”
Jordan regarded her carefully, almost
afraid to tell her of his latest fears.
“Renee, I think you may want to consider telling Sierra the truth.”
She shot him a look
of disgust and placed a hand on her heaving chest. “Jordan, are you crazy?” she asked. “How am I supposed to tell my daughter than
Nathan Blackthorne, a known rapist, is her father?”
“He didn’t rape you,” Jordan considered. “Sierra was conceived through love, or
whatever it was you felt for him at the time.
You have nothing to be ashamed of.
A lot of women get pregnant out of wedlock.”
“But don’t you see?”
Renee asked. “If Sierra learns what kind
of man her father is she’ll be destroyed.
Not to mention the fact that I’ve lied to her for her entire life. Her whole existence is a product of fiction. No, I can never tell her the truth. It will destroy her.”
Jordan rubbed the sides of his
head. “But what if he does the same
thing to her?” he asked. “Nathan is just
as in the dark about who she is. He
could try to seduce her, Renee. His own
daughter. How would you feel if he
succeeded?”
Before she could
reply to the horrifying thought, the door burst open and Sierra entered, her
eyes still glazed over and a look of despair on her pretty young face.
“Sierra,” Renee said
with surprise. “Darling, where have you
been? You look upset. Has something happened?”
Sierra glared at her,
then turned to Jordan and spoke very slowly. “Jordan, may I speak to my mother alone
for a minute, please?”
He looked at Renee
and waited for her to give him the OK.
Grudgingly, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. After he’d gone, Renee approached Sierra and
attempted to pull her into an embrace.
Sierra quickly and violently pushed her away.
“Sierra, what is it?”
Renee asked, alarmed by her reaction.
“I’m your mother, you can tell me anything.”
She laughed. “My mother. Yes, you are
my mother.”
“What is it?
Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“For my entire life
you’ve lied to me,” Sierra cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Kept me away at boarding school to hide me,
only coming when it was convenient or when I begged you to. I was the poor orphan who you adopted
nineteen years ago.”
“Sierra, what are you
talking about?”
“You lied to me!” she
shrieked, pulling the birth certificate from her pocket and thrusting it at
her. “You’re my mother! My biological mother! You said you adopted me but you didn’t! You gave birth to me!”
Renee closed her eyes
tightly, horrified that the truth had gotten out. She looked at the birth certificate and shook
her head in disbelief. “Where did you
get this?”
“Alex Reynolds showed
it to me,” she said. “She told me that you’ve
been lying to me all this time. Why
would you do it, mother? Why would you
pretend that you’d adopted me instead of admitting that I was your true
daughter? I don’t understand!”
“Sweetheart, I’ll
explain it to you, just come sit down,” Renee said and floated across the room
to the sofa. “I’ll tell you everything.”
“Were you ashamed of
me?”
“No!” Renee
exclaimed. “Baby, don’t ever think
that! I’ve loved you since the day I
first held you in my arms.”
“Then why?
Why go through all this trouble just to hide the fact that you’d given
birth to me?”
Renee placed a hand
on her forehead. The room was spinning
and she felt nauseous. “It’s
complicated. I was young.”
“That’s not a
reason. Help me to understand,
Mother. Was it because of my
father? Is that it? Does he even know I exist?”
The reality that she
still didn’t know about Nathan was of minor comfort. At least she had that going for her. “No, he doesn’t.”
Sierra shook her head
in disgust. “So all right, who was he?”
“What?” Renee asked
in a lame attempt to stall.
“Who was my
father? I have a right to know. I just found out that you’re my biological
mother and I’d kind of like to know who my father is.”
“It doesn’t matter,”
Renee said, refusing to admit the truth.
She didn’t care what Jordan said, she would never reveal
that Nathan was her father. “He didn’t
mean anything to me. You’re better off
without him, Sierra.”
“Well where is he?”
she demanded.
“I don’t even know,”
Renee lied, throwing her hands up in resignation. “He was a graduate student and we had a
weekend of romance and then the next thing I knew he was gone. It’s as simple as that.”
“Simple?” Sierra
asked angrily. “There’s nothing simple
about this. I don’t even know who I am
thanks to you. Because of your lies, my
entire life has been taken away from me.”
Renee shook her head
adamantly. “You’ve always known me as
your mother, and that hasn’t changed. If
anything our bond is stronger now that you know the truth. Sierra, I love you so much. If only you would realize that.”
“You don’t know what
love is,” Sierra spat hatefully as she backed up to the door. “All you care about are appearances and what
people think of you. I was the child
that you didn’t want to acknowledge so you wrote me off as some charity case!”
“No!” Renee cried and
ran after her.
“I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate you!”
With that, she turned and bolted out into the hallway in tears.
Renee sunk to the
floor in the doorway, burying her face in her hands and wishing that this
nightmare had never started. She’d never
felt so defeated in her entire life.

It was almost
midnight and Brooke was still awake, her mind racing. She checked in on Michael in the bedroom and
tucked him in gently before walking out into the living room of her suite. A knock at the door sent butterflies
tripping through her stomach and she timidly started across the room.
“Brooke, it’s James,”
he called from the hall.
She backed up
instinctively, in no way ready to talk to him so soon after leaving the mansion
that night. She needed time to think and
to put things in perspective.
“It’s late, James,”
she called through the door. “Please
go.”
He dug his hands in
his pockets, shaking his head in despair.
“I want you and Michael to come home.
Please, Brooke. We can work this
out. We’ve been through worse
together. We can get through anything.”
A tear trickled down
her cheek and she shook her head. “Not
this,” she said quietly.
“I love you,
Brooke. I need you. Just open the door and talk to me.”
She grew angry by his
insistence. “No, I told you that I don’t
want to talk to you and I meant it. You
hurt me, James. I don’t think that
anyone’s ever hurt me as much as you have.
I want you to leave.”
There was a moment of
silence where James tried desperately to think of something he could say to
make her understand. But sadly he knew
that there were no words that would make it all okay. The damage was done.
“Please call me
tomorrow so we can talk,” he finally said before turning and starting down the
hall.
After she was sure
he’d gone, Brooke turned and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She was so confused. She did love James but his betrayal was
something that she couldn’t get over. It
was like a thousand knives sticking in her back.
There was nothing
that tomorrow could fix.

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