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Message: <blockquote data-quote="80&#039;s Cha Cha Cha" data-source="post: 429485" data-attributes="member: 6964">Chapter 6Amanda awoke and slowly sat up in bed.  She looked over at the empty space beside her and felt horrible.  Her darling prince, the man she thought she would love forever, was gone.  And Amanda realized that somehow, she had thought that her affair with Michael Culhane, would amount to nothing, and that she and her husband would find their way back to one another.They did not.  They did not find their way back to each other because they ran out of time.  And because apparently, her lover had killed her husband.This was not how things were supposed to be.  Her and Michael should’ve been living in Moldavia.  They should have had a proper wedding reception.  No one should have been killed by machine gun fire.And yet her wedding changed everything.  And it especially changed things for Prince Michael.  He could never accept running La Mirage as his future.  He wanted his kingdom back.  And Amanda realized she didn’t want what her husband wanted.Michael Culhane had made her realize that.  Oh, Michael, Amanda thought, why did you do it?  Michael, the former family chauffeur.  Big sister, Fallon’s ex lover.Amanda would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that that was part of Culhane’s appeal.  The Fallon Factor.  Fallon.  A beloved daughter that once existed to her only in a portrait.Now Fallon was real. Back alive and soon, she would be back in this house with Jeff and Little Blake.Amanda knew she had bigger problems to focus on than an unwanted older sister, and she put her head in her hands, just as someone knocked softly on her door.  She knew from the knock that it was Krystle and Amanda quickly called out for her to come in.  As much as she loved Mummy, Krystle was the mother she actually wished she had, at times.   She envied Krystina.Krystle walked in and closed the door.  Amanda held out her arms to her and Krystle quickly sat on the bed and embraced her for a long moment, before setting her step-daughter away from her.“How are you?” Krystle whispered.“Guilty,” Amanda admitted, “If it had not been for Michael Culhane and myself…”“Amanda,” Krystle said gravely, “Daniel Reece got Michael a lawyer. A good one and your father got a hold of the police report.  There might be a chance that Duchess Elena killed Prince Michael.”Amanda’s eyes widened!“Oh my God! Why does that not surprise me? Is Michael alright?”Krystle gave Amanda a look.“I don’t think you should go anywhere near him.  There is more going on here than your father is comfortable with.  There is reason to believe that Matthew Blaisdel was in the hotel as well.” Krystle confided.  She tried to swallow her own uneasiness at that reveal.“He is Claudia’s first husband, right?” Amanda asked, now very aware of how complicated this whole thing was becoming.“Yes. And I was once involved with him.  While he was married to Claudia.” Krystle admitted shamefully.  “This Blaisdel is involved with the terrorists that attacked us at my wedding, isn’t he?” Amanda asked fearfully.Krystle stood stood up from the bed.“That is the feeling.  That Matthew is involved with the rogue government, and Elena is with a faction that wants to put Adam on the throne. Somehow we have to keep Adam, Kirby, Audrina and you, safe.  Fallon and Jeff are here for support. Come down when you feel up to it.”  Krystle said, giving her a soft, comforting smile before turning to leave the room.  What she left out of that reveal, was that Sammy Jo was now caught up in this mess as well.  She and Matthew had met and become lovers, somehow, someway.***Kirby sat across the breakfast table from Fallon, who was outright staring at her.  Claudia was a couple of chairs away from Kirby, looking worried and sullen.  Audrina and Krystina were being fed in a nearby room by their nannies, who had come highly recommended. Fallon tore her eyes off of Kirby to look at Claudia.“How are you holding up, Claudia? I know this whole thing has been hard on you.”Claudia, who had nothing but fruit on her plate and a cup of coffee, stared over at Fallon.“It’s been horrible.  I had made my peace with Lindsey being dead.  I had made my peace with the fact that she wouldn’t be dead, if Matthew had not taken her from me.  He is here in Denver.  I can feel it.”“And according to Daddy, has taken up with Sammy Jo, of all people.” Fallon commiserated. She then looked over at Kirby again, who was calmly eating a piece of toast.“Surely you have opinion about all of this, Kirby? I mean Adam and you have a stake in this.” Fallon said.Kirby wasn’t in the mood for any of Fallon’s nonsense.  Mostly because she was still trying to shake off the tingly way her body felt, after her encounter with Adam on her father’s grave.  She hoped she would not burn in hell for doing something so shameful!And yet it was quite clear that Adam had felt no shame at all over anything they had done.  He had been quite insistent on making love to her in the shower this morning and the experience had been quite intense.  And long.“We have nothing to do with this, Fallon.  Adam has nothing to do with Moldavia.  And once Dex and Mr. Boyd bring King Galen back here, all of this will be cleared up.” Kirby told her, before looking over at Claudia.“Claudia, I am sorry you are going through this.  I also hope that Elena is telling the truth about your daughter and Luke.”  Kirby said.But Fallon looked at Claudia again.“If Matthew is with those terrorists that took over Moldavia, then you had to have seen him there when you went to Amanda’s wedding?” Fallon asked.Claudia glared at her!“Where are you getting that from?!” she snapped.  “I saw nothing but blood, heard nothing but machine gun fire and screams…no, Fallon, I did not see Matthew lurking around the palace! And I doubt he would’ve been directly involved with that!”Claudia suddenly pushed away from the table and skulked out of the dining room!  Kirby gave Fallon a reproving look.“What were you trying to prove by being so rude to Claudia?” Kirby asked her.“Kirby, you didn’t know Matthew Blaisdel.  He was many things but a terrorist he was not.  What would he get out of throwing in with the terrorist government in Moldavia? And what happened in South America after that jeep crash?  The one that he and Lindsey were supposedly killed in?  This whole thing makes no sense and Amanda needs some clarification, if she’s going stake her claim as Prince Michael’s widow.”Kirby eyed Fallon.“‘Stake her claim’? I don’t think Amanda is interested in having anything to do with Moldavia.  She wasn’t interested in it when her husband was alive.”“That is because she never got a chance to live there! She only got a chance to get married there and that’s it! My sister almost died trying to marry a man that I know she loved at the time.  I don’t think Amanda should just give up and go away.”  Fallon argued.Kirby doubted Amanda was thinking along those lines at all.“You certainly are concerned for a sister you barely know.” Kirby noted.“And you are?” Fallon countered.Kirby stood up.“Yes, Fallon.  I am.  I was here when Amanda and Prince Michael met and then grew apart.  You were in California suffering from amnesia…except for when it came to Adam.”Kirby then walked out of the dining room and Fallon stuck her tongue out at her back! Dominique entered, said a quick good morning to Kirby, before walking over to the buffet.  She put a sparse amount of food on her plate, before settling down next to Fallon.“So, where is everyone this morning?” Dominique asked.“The men are in the library talking family strategy.  Daddy thinks that Jeff and I should have a double wedding with Garrett and yourself.  For security reasons.”  Fallon told her.Dominique said nothing to that.  Fallon got the feeling that it wasn’t the idea that bothered her.“You know,” Fallon ventured, “Jackie seemed to really take to Zachary Powers at his party.  She said that he offered her a position at his company?”“Jackie will not be working for that man.  Your father has been gracious enough to offer Jackie a position at Denver Carrington.  And she WILL take it.”  Dominique said firmly.Fallon decided to drop the pretenses…“Dominique, moving Jackie back here isn’t going to keep her away from Jonathan Lake.”Fallon could tell from her aunt’s facial expression, that she had just gotten to the root of the problem.“Jonathan was more hurt by my ending our relationship, that never really grew into anything, than I thought.  I don’t believe for one moment that he cares for her.  I don’t want my daughter hurt and I don’t want her involved with someone that is old enough to be her father.”  Dominique sighed.“Let it play out.  I know you plan on living in California with Garrett.  We will watch over this whole Jonathan Lake thing from here.  Daddy will watch over it.  And if anything gets out of line, Daddy will deal with it.”  Fallon assured her.***In the library, the conversation was a bit more severe…“We need to find out just how long Blaisdel was working with the shadow government in Moldavia.   We need to know what he gets out of all of this.”  Blake said.“Blake, we don’t even know if Blaisdel is really alive! We’re getting this from some stupid statement Culhane gave to his lawyer…” Jeff began.But Garrett cut him off.“Jeff, I know Greg and Jordan Reardon.  I’ve faced off in court with both of them.  It was not easy prying that statement out of Jordan, nor was it ethical for her to let me see it.  But she understands that there are bigger issues at stake.”  Garrett said.“You mean you had to tell Mrs. Reardon something she did not know, in order to get that statement.” Adam surmised.“Jordan is well satisfied that the Duchess of Branagh killed Prince Michael to put you on the Moldavian throne, when the King dies.” Garrett told Adam.“Galen could be dead already.” Jeff reminded everyone.“Krystle is very distressed,” Blake said, “about her niece and Blaisdel.  The police know about the Duchess and are looking for her.  They know nothing about Blaisdel or Sammy Jo.  And apparently there is no record of them signing in yesterday at the hotel.”“Culhane saw them in the mirror while he was drinking.  So that alone puts his statement in doubt.” Garrett said.Adam looked at his watch.“Audrina has a pediatrician appointment this morning and I promised Kirby I would go with them.”“Of course, you go, but I have hired security.  Armed men to go where Kirby, Audrina and you go.”  Blake said firmly,Adam clenched a jaw.“Kirby will not like…”“I think that Kirby wants to feel safe.” Jeff interjected.  “And she wants Audrina to be safe as well.”“And I don’t?” Adam asked calmly.Blake could feel trouble brewing and decided to serve as a buffer!“Just humor me, Adam, about this.  Please?”Adam nodded at his father and Garrett, glared at Jeff and left the room.  When the door closed, Jeff looked at Blake.“Why didn’t Steven join us?” Jeff asked.“Steven is looking for Sammy Jo.  I don’t like it, since he could very well run in to Blaisdel, but I could not stop him.  And, God help us, we need some answers as to why all of this is happening.” Blake told him.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?