Chapter 30 Luke's Apartment Over The Club.
"Renee?" Pulling open the door, Luke is dressed only in a pair of jeans.
"You know, getting shot by this guy was one thing. But now I am really beginning to think that Moreno doesn't like me."
"What the hell happened?" Luke helped a shakey Renee to the couch. "You told me that you were at the office."
"Well you know, a reporter's office is the world."
"What did Moreno do?"
"I was meeting with a contact on the docks to get enough dirt to bury him, when Moreno and his thugs showed up."
Luke pulled her into the curve of his arm. He had to do something about Moreno. No more Mr. Nice guy. He'd told Sonny long ago to kill Moreno, that it was the honest thing to do. It was time to get honest. "I thought you told me that you'd dropped this story." Luke frowned. "You knew damn well that I wanted you to."
Renee stiffened in his arms. "Look, Luke. Whatever is going on between us has nothing to do with my career. I'm a journalist. And no matter how hard I might try and forget that sometimes, it's a part of me. And if Moreno thinks that these love spats are going to keep me from exposing him as the filthy, bastard that he is, then he doesn't know me."
"Why is this so important to you? Why Moreno?" Luke brushed her hair off her face. There was a hardness in her eyes when she spoke about Moreno.
"He's a sick evil man Luke. And the only reason that he is still walking this earth is because no one's had the guts to expose him for what he is. I'm not gonna back down. And if I have to put his face on every newspaper from here to Timbuktu I will."
"You make it sound like a crusade."
"It is. I want him rotting in an 8x8 cell." Renee spit out, pulling away to stand up. "Can I use your shower?"
"Sure." Leading her to the shower Luke made a mental note to ask Lucy what connection there was between Renee and Moreno. Then he squashed that idea in the bud. He would wait till she was ready to tell him. He waited for her to step out of the shower. "You wanna tell me?"
"Not particularly." Renee's answer is soft, and with pleading eyes she asked; "But maybe it's time. . . . . ."
Luke reached out and pulled her into his lap. "Yeah. I know what it's like to not want to go over every detail of your life. We don't have to talk about it at all. But I've got good hearing. If you want to tell me. . . ."
Renee's hand curved along his jaw. Luke was solid. Real. She was a fool to care about him so deeply. She knew it, but the more time she spent with him, the more at home she felt. Maybe it was a connection to someone as lost as she felt. It could be the sex. The man knew things she'd only read about. Or, she admitted silently. It could very well just be that he was the man she never knew she wanted all her life. "Thank you." She whispered pulling his lips to hers in a tender kiss. "I love knowing that I can come to you."
"If you'd come to me before nothing would have happened tonight." Luke murmured, lifting her and settling her on the bed as he came to lie beside her. Propping himself on one arm, he studied her slightly flushed face. "I need to know something. You're so determined to take Moreno down. . . .what about me? We're roughly in the same profession."
"The hell you are!" Renee snapped. "You and Sonny aren't even in the same league as Moreno, and don't even kid yourselves into thinking that you are. You don't run drugs, you don't run prostitutes, heck! You may as well be Boyscouts!"
"What'd he do to you?" Luke pressed feeling absolute murder flowing through his veins.
Renee laughed bitterly. "To me? Nothing!" She took a deep breath. "In fact I was once on Moreno's payroll."
"Excuse me?" Luke sputtered.
"Yup. I was 16 years old and my Aunt Charlene and I had had a knock down drag out fight. You know I can barely remember even what it was about anymore. We were living in Nowhere Texas, and I was feeling a little too wild. The night I left I remember Lucy begging me not to go. Telling me that I didn't know what I was getting into. But eventually, when she saw I was leaving anyway, she gave me $500. I got to New York City and realized she was right. I didn't have a clue. I found a cheap place to live with my fake I.D, and found myself outside of the "Pink Lady" club."
"Moreno's strip joint?" Luke asked.
"Don't look like that. I didn't work there."
"Sorry darlin'. I was just imagin' you in a pair of go-go boots and some pasties."
Renee let out a chuckle. "I didn't strip. I waited tables, and the money was good. All I had to do was schlep drinks and let Moreno's pals drool down my shirt and pinch my butt."
"Nice. He touch you?" Visions of breaking all of Moreno's fingers dance through Luke's head. How did he get so protective of this woman? How had she slipped in under his walls?
"Not once." Renee shuddered in revulsion. "I was too old for him."
"What?"
"Moreno built his empire not on dope, or running girls like everyone thinks. He made all his money in child pornography."
Luke felt his stomach churn. "You're kidding?"
"No. He bought and sold kids to use for kiddie porn." Renee repeated. "I didn't know at first. I mean there were all these winks, and nudges about how Moreno liked 'em young. And all that, but I thought they all meant young women. I was fresh off the bus and naieve as hell. I didn't know that they meant kids Luke." She struggled to continue. "Some of them weren't older than 12. He used them up, and then. . . sold them off. I - I tried to call the cops on him. I sent in 15 anonymous tips in two months but the police never came. No one ever said anything. I tried calling social services, nothing. I tried child and family welfare and no one came."
Luke rubbed her back. "What happened?"
"One of the bartenders heard me calling in a tip." Renee said slowly. "He took me out back, gave me $1,000 bucks and told me to get the hell out of town. To never show up near the club again cause he knew that Moreno would kill me. I was a kid. I took the money and went to the bus station and I never looked back. Till four months later, there was a fire in a warehouse I knew he was using to make movies." Renee clung to him tightly. "Ten kids Luke. Ten children died in that fire. The cops ruled it an accident and said that the children were a gang of vagrants."
Luke dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Oh babe."
"So you see? I couldn't do anything about him then. He was too powerful and I was just a kid. But I can do something now. I won't let him hurt anymore children. Never again Luke."
"It's okay darlin'." Luke reassured her. "I've been neglecting my duties lately, letting that scum walk around is a mistake." His jaw set in a rigid line.
"Luke. I don't want him dead." Renee snapped. "That's too easy."
"Being dead's easy?"
"Compared to what I want for Moreno YES!" Renee lifted her head off his chest. "If I wanted Moreno dead I could have done it by now. You know how they feel about men that abuse and hurt children in prison? That's what I want for him. I want for his life to become a living hell of non-consensual sex, and feeling filthy till the day he dies." Renee continues viciously. "I want that sleazy revolting child molester in an 8x8 cell with a huge, hairy convict named Bubba who hasn't seen a woman in 15 years."
"Then we'll come up with something." Luke murmured into her hair. "But no more of the Lone Ranger crap okay? I'm not gonna bury you."
*~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~*
"Um Jason." Carly nibbled her lip. "Are you crazy?"
"I don't think so. But if I were crazy would I know it?" Jason asked locking the hotel room door behind them.
"Niagra Falls is the honeymoon capitol of the universe. Why did you bring me here?"
"Cause I heard it was romantic. And I realized that we've never done anything romantic." Jason replied dropping her bag on the bed. "I thought we could start."
Carly flopped down on the bed. "Gee. . . you could have brought me flowers." She cracked a grin. "But you never do anything half way."
"Nope." Jason opened the adjoining door. "My room is right over there."
"Aren't you afraid I'm going to ravish you in the middle of the night?" Carly asked playfully.
"I wish." Jason replied tossing his bag into his room without bothering to look. "You tired, or want to take a walk around?"
"You know what I want?" Carly asked. "I would love a swim right now in that gorgeous pool downstairs." She admitted already digging into her bag for her swimsuit. "Wanna come with me?"
"Sure."
Fifteen minutes later Carly slid into the warm indoor pool with a powerful, and splashless dive. "Ah. . .water's warm. Jump on in." She called finally surfacing halfway across the pool. She'd always loved to swim, and it felt good to be in the water again.
Jason too dove into the pool. They were the only people in the pool room, so he took three steps and dived into the water, making hardly a ripple. He surfaced next to Carly and began to stroke quietly through across the pool.
"I didn't know you could dive." Carly too, began to swim lazily, enjoying the feeling of stretching her muscles.
"Swimming's a good way to stay in shape." Jason answered speeding up his stroke as Carly gained on him. they reached the wall only fractions of a second apart.
"Race ya! Twenty laps." Carly's brown eyes sparkled with the challenge of it. "On the count of three. One . . .two. . . ." She cursed as Jason took off. She caught up at the other end of the pool, and on the return lap, began to surpass him. They raced neck and neck without either taking much of a lead until her wet hand slapped on the tile just before Jason's.
"So, what's your prize?" Jason wiped his face to get the chlorine out of his eyes.
"Hmm. . . a nice sauna." Carly answered pulling herself out of the pool.
Jason admired her bathing suit. It was a swimmer's suit. A simple blue tank suit, but Carly filled it out so perfectly, she made those swimsuit models look sickly. He pulled himself out of the pool on his well deifined arms, and grabbing a towel followed her into the sauna.
Carly laid out her towel on one of the warm benches, and took a seat. When Jason entered, she shivered at the gust of cool air in the hot room. "Pour a little water on the rocks would you?" She asked getting comfortable. It had been one strange day. It seemed like everytime she had a roller coaster of a day, Jason was at the heart of it. Not that she couldn't cause a few bumps herself, but she had to wonder if Jason wasn't the catalyst.
Jason poured two dippers full of water on the hot rocks, and took a seat directly behind Carly. His hands reaching for her shoulders, he began a deep, slow massage, working out all the knots. "You swam hard."
With a soft moan, Carly's head dropped forward savoring the firm pressure. "Yeah. It was nice of you to let me win though." She gasped when he hit a particularly sensitive spot.
"Well Jason Quartermaine was on the swim team." Jason replied. "I think it's one of those things he and I have in common." His hand worked slowly over Carly's slippery flesh. He used his thumbs to roll out several knots, and the heel of his hand to follow down her spine.
"Oh my God." Carly groaned suddenly. "You have got the best hands in the world."
"That's the first time you've said that with so many clothes on." Jason said wickedly. It was great to be able to reach out and touch her when he wanted. To tease her about what had been building for so long. He wasn't afraid of losing her friendship any more. Or of ruining their relationship with Michael. Michael was doing fine, and for the first time since Carly had blown her way into his life, he could focus on what he needed. Her.
Carly ignored that crack and gave herself up to the strong feel of his hands as they pressed and rubbed. She felt him slide off the bench just above hers and position her between his strong thighs. He rested against the wall and pulled her back into his touch. "Your hands should be bronzed." She murmured appreciatetively.
"Rough time?" Jason asked.
"Well, emotional trauma aside, life's okay." Carly answered in between breathy sighs of contentment. "Jerry's started me on flying lessons."
"You like it?"
"I'm not sure. I think I'm still caught between loving it and being terrified." She settled herself back, taking in short breaths. It was impossible to tell if her lungs were working over time because of the oppressive heat, or the feel of Jason's hands slipping over her skin in a deep rythym.
"You're not scared of anything Carly." Jason told her pulling her closer. "I know you pretty well. And you're the bravest person I know. Not always about the right things, or even in the best way. But no one would ever call you a coward."
Carly leaned back, her head falling against his chest, their eyes meeting as Jason leaned over and planted a long, slow, wet kiss that seemed to meander for days on her parted lips. Whatever she had been about to say flew out of her mind the minute they touched. She could feel him wrapped all around her body like a living cocoon. And for once Carly Benson was completely and utterly satisfied. Not planning for the future, or thinking about what now? She was totally content to sit in the hot sauna and kiss and finally, finally be kissed back by Jason Morgan.
