Gabriella wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole. Her eyes; her eyes had always been the subject of snickers and suppositions. That same topic had been a sensitive subject and an argument between her parents ever since she could remember. Her father had died over ten years before and at the end they had been close. She treasured those last months and she hated her blue eyes, which everyone found necessary to mention. As a child, schoolteachers always expressed interest when her parents would come to parent-teachers conferences about her eyes. After a while, her father just didn't come anymore. He began to look at her differently. He never said a word to her. He loved her….she was his child but Gabriella always felt the distance between them that the question of her eyes had created in his mind.

"He must have known. My father must have known." Gabriella sobbed as she buried herself in the warmth of the arms around her closer to her still.

"Shhhh…it's all right. Shhh…" Blayne said as her hands caressed Gabriella's back.

Gabriella only felt the strength of the arms around her. It had been so long since she had felt the security of such an embrace. Only in her father's arms had she ever felt safe as she did now and she gave herself to that emotion she so desperately needed at the moment. She leaned into Blayne and cried all the harder. Her father had been gone for so long. Her husband Joseph had stopped making her feel anything similar to safety for a long time. Gabriella clung to the security of the arms that held her so tightly; after awhile all she felt was the heat in her body begin to burn and encompass her. She clung to that warmth and sought it. The world became filled with strong arms and soft caresses as her face looked up to meet lips that covered her own. Her eyes closed and the emptiness that had always been inside her suddenly filled. She had felt the cold inside her grow for so long and now Gabriella pressed harder against that which seemed to cover her whole body with the warmth that she had sought her whole life.

Blayne wasn't sure how it happened. One moment all she could do was kiss the soft dark tresses of hair. Then Gabriella's mouth came up and her mouth naturally met it. There was no thinking; no thought at all. Suddenly her thoroughly orderly life crashed around her and for the first time she didn't care about anything. Blayne didn't think, she didn't weigh her actions or her options as she did with every step and every action in her life. Something inside her, long dormant, had taken over and the emotion was all that mattered.

Passion was the only thing that seemed to reign, where they were did not matter, who they were was not important. They had no will. The desire had awakened and it would not be denied. Hands traveled and explored as mouths tasted and bit hungrily. There were no expectations, no questions. Each woman could no more fight what was happening then they could continue living without taking another breath.

Blayne hands unbuttoned Gabriella's blouse with a mind of their own and before Gabriella realized it Blayne's mouth was sucking hungrily on her breast. Gabriella's head fell back in wanton abandonment as a moan escaped her lips.

A car door slammed hard. Something in Blayne's head clicked through her jumbled emotions and she pulled away quickly but not before locking eyes with those of the woman that had made her lose all her control. Gabriella cried a little as she tried to pull Blayne back towards her.

"Someone just got here," Blayne said trying to catch her breath. Holding Gabriella's hand tightly she took a few long steps to the door and locked it moments before the knob turned. That one action would give them the minute they both needed.

Gabriella's hands were trembling as she tried to button up her blouse. Blayne pushed her hands away and finished buttoning the blouse quickly for her. Blayne then looked up into those blue eyes again and saw the distance growing quickly between them. She pulled Gabriella roughly into her arms once more and kissed her soundly and hungrily on the lips. Both women just regarded one another questioning, waiting, guessing….until the pounding on the door shook them out of their trance.

Blayne then took a few steps away and waited for an even more distressed Gabriella to open the door.

Gabriella just stared at her a moment longer and then suddenly she seemed to realized the enormity of what had just happened.

The knocking grew louder still.

"You better open the door, Mrs. Matheson," Blayne said coldly.

That was all that Gabriella needed. Her blood that had a moment ago been boiling had suddenly turned cold as she felt the frigidity of the iceberg before her.

Gabriella turned and opened the door. Her mother came in looking very distraught.

Elena Sotomayor walked into the room and noticed immediately the other woman in the room. She quickly deduced that said woman was the one that had given her daughter the news. Elena was not exactly sure what or how much her daughter knew so she would wait and listen before she would say anything.

"Mama…" Gabriella's hands began to tremble. She could not look at her mother suddenly and she wanted to hide from Blayne. What had just happened? Her whole life had just changed forever. It would never ever be the same again.

"What's wrong, Leila?" Elena asked softly. She used her pet name for her daughter lovingly. Gabriella looked up with pained, tear filled eyes.

"Mama….tell me. I want you to tell me," Gabriella begged.

Elena's eyes filled with tears as well. Gabriella shook her head and put her arms around her body as she turned and took a few steps away from her mother.

"Is it true Mama? Is it true?" Gabriella waited. When Elena looked up she knew.

"Leila…"

"Did Papa know?"

"No."

Gabriella walked over to the couch and sat down. Blayne asked herself how she ever thought that she could just make this happen and…she had not thought, she finally admitted to herself. She had made cold calculations. She had not factored in any of her own emotions, but in retrospect she should have. That perhaps was the problem. Blayne was coldly processing as Elena Sotomayor now faced her.

"You, you told my daughter this news?"

"I represent Arthur Aston-Carlyle. Yes, I told her. He sent me to bring her to him." Blayne figured she should just put it all out there and see where it all stood. Damage control was something she had always been good at.

"Bring her to him?" Elena said in indignation.

"My father is dying. He wants to see her before his demise." Blayne saw the shock of the news register in the older woman's face. Interesting, Blayne thought to herself.

Gabriella got up and faced Blayne in horror. "Your father?" Gabriella looked like she was going to be sick suddenly. "Mama…."

Elena went to her daughter immediately and helped her sit down again. Gabriella then fainted.

"Leila?" Elena looked like she was going to pass out as well.

"She's fainted. Please get a wet towel and some cold water for her to drink." Blayne took control of the situation. Elena looked down at her daughter who seemed to be between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"She's had a shock. Please get the water, Mrs. Sotomayor. I will stay with her," Blayne added as she sat next to Gabriella on the couch.

Elena got up on shaky legs and walked out of the room.

Blayne pulled the semi conscious Gabriella towards her. She caressed the face of the woman in her arms softly. Gabriella's eyes fluttered and opened. Their eyes once again locked.

"No…" cried Gabriella as she pulled away from Blayne. "You knew? And you….?" Gabriella seemed mortified with the implications of the news. If all this is true, Blayne is my half sister! She began to pale again. Oh my God! Oh my God!

"Are you better now?" Blayne asked her politely, totally ignoring the accusation. "Arthur married my mother when I was four years old."

Gabriella raised a shaky hand to her temple trying to catch her breath. At that moment Elena came into the room with the towel and the glass of water. Blayne got up and took them from her.

"Here, drink this." Blayne placed the tip of the glass at Gabriella's mouth. She then put the glass down and wiped her faced gently with the moist towel. "I know that this has been…a day full of surprises." Blayne noticed the slight cringe. "As I said, Arthur is dying and wants to meet you. That's all."

Elena beheld her daughter, unable to say anything. Gabriella looked at her mother with so many questions.

"Leila…" Elena said softly full of emotion as she sat on the chair across from her daughter.

"Arthur abandoned your mother. He left her with very little choices. He just found out he is dying and wants to meet you, his daughter." Blayne laid it all out for them. There was no point in playing with the truth. And by so doing and addressing it she would be able to perhaps assist Elena in explaining her actions to her daughter.

"He was a young man who arrogantly only thought of himself. He made a terrible mistake…and it cost him. He wants to meet you and I am here to take you to him," Blayne said softly.

Elena sat down, still silent. Gabriella looked towards her mother who seemed very distraught. "Mother?"

"I'm sorry, Leila. I'm so sorry," Elena said as she covered her face. "I never wanted you to know."

"Arthur told me how badly he behaved towards you. I'm sorry, Mrs. Sotomayor," Blayne said apologetically. "I left my mother in tears as well."

Gabriella now looked back towards Blayne. Gabriella got up suddenly. "No."