Episode 1.03 -- All In The Family

When all those decisions we made during the night look absolutely horrific in the morning light, there is little we can do.

 

… We can try to scrub them off, in hopes they’ll fade away…

 

…We can try to sneak around them, but will inevitably get caught…

…Or, we can face them head on, because we stopped caring about those who our infidelities hurt long ago.

Gemma: Your daughter is in the hospital. I thought you’d like to know.

Vittorio: I do know. I spoke with her doctor last night.

Gemma: Lara Dawkins? Is that where you were all night?

Vittorio: We had some catching up to do.

Gemma: Explains the perfume I smelled on your coat. That cheap brand she always wears tends to linger.

Vittorio: Are you going to ask me?

Gemma: Ask you what?

Vittorio: If I’m the one who did this to Giada?

Gemma: I wish I didn’t have to ask you that. I wish you were at home, where you belong, of a night, too.

Vittorio: I didn’t have anything to do with her shooting. What kind of a man do you think I am?

Gemma: I don’t know anymore. You’re so consumed with your money and your power, you think you’re untouchable. You treat your daughters and me like we’re possessions, to be bartered and sold as you see fit.

Vittorio: That isn’t true.

Gemma: Tell that to Ty, or Stefanie. Wasn’t it enough you pushed Ty into marriage with a man as a business maneuver? A man who treats her horribly, who’s responsible for her nearly overdosing on cocaine? We
almost lost Ty and now you’re doing the same thing to Stefanie, pushing her towards Lorenzo Falcon…

Vittorio: He can provide for her and it will ensure Serdahl access to Falcon territory across the harbor.

Gemma: Do you hear yourself? She’s nineteen years old! She wants to go to college, to travel, not to marry some man she doesn’t even like. When she gets married, it should be because she’s madly in love, like I was with you once. You’re going to lose her, Vittorio. You’re going to lose everyone who you claim matters to you if this doesn’t stop.

Vittorio: I know how to handle my business, Gemma.

Gemma: I hope so, because soon all you’re going to have left is your business.

Gemma had her husband’s number, and for better or for worse, she tried to handle his madness. Rose O’Meara, on the other hand, was still blissfully ignorant of her betrothed’s cheating ways. As she practiced her bass in the parlor of Deveraux Manor, she had no idea that her soon-to-be had spent his night in his stepmother’s bed.

Rose: Look who decided to come home.

Alec: Hey, I’m sorry, I should have called –

Rose: It’s okay. You said you had a conference call to handle at the office, so when you didn’t come home, I figured you were just working late.

Alec knew he had to tell her where he really was. She was bound to find out. But, he didn’t know how. Rose was so beautiful, so kind and her heart was the purest he’d ever known. How could he break it?

Alec: Yeah, I was waiting on this call to come in from Japan and I fell asleep in my office.

Rose: You should be glad you weren’t here. I’ve been on something of a creative binge, I doubt you would have gotten much sleep.

Alec: You know I love to watch you when you’re composing music.

Rose: Says the man who carries earplugs on him at all times.

Alec: You’re an amazing woman, Rose. Smart, beautiful and your music is incredible. I love you more than you will ever know.

Rose: I love you, too. What’s wrong? You’re being uncharacteristically mushy.

Alec: Nothing’s wrong. I just realize that I don’t say it enough and you need to know that, I don’t deserve you, but you mean the world to me.

Rose: I do know that. And, you do deserve me. Don’t say things like that.  

 

Alec: I should go, there’s some stuff I need to deal with before the press party at the museum this evening –

Rose: About that, I can’t go.

Alec: Why not?

Rose: Because, there’s something I need to handle myself, family business.

Alec: Of course. It’ll be pretty boring anyway, just reps from the newspapers witnessing my father’s donation to the Oak Harbor Art Museum.

Jessica, meanwhile, met her own betrayed lover in the grand entryway. Her guilt was eating her alive, but she was going to confess everything. She had nothing to lose, now. Xavier was divorcing her anyway. Little did she know her dear husband already knew about her fling with his son, or that he was planning on serving her just desserts very, very soon.

Xavier: Jessica, darling, where have you been?

Jessica: The Bridge View Hotel.

Xavier: Why were you there?

Jessica: I reserved a room for us. I sent you a message to meet me there, so we could celebrate and work on our marriage, but you didn’t show. I was heartbroken and then Alec showed up and he said you weren’t coming because you were divorcing me and –

Xavier: Slow down, slow down. Honey, I never got a text message from you.

Jessica: What?

Xavier: If I had, I would have been there. Why would Alec tell you I was divorcing you?

Jessica: Because, I thought you were. I overheard you talking to Harrold about finalizing things and hoping I wouldn’t be too upset, then you wanted me to go sign papers, and I thought you were leaving me for Nora.

Xavier: I can’t believe Alec would let you think such a thing.

Jessica: You weren’t divorcing me?

Xavier: I was having the article of my will that provides for you amended so you’ll receive a greater share of Deveraux. I have no intention of divorcing you. Why, you’re carrying my child…That’s why I’m wearing this apron. I decided to cook you breakfast, all your favorites, including that French toast with confectioner’s sugar you like so much.

Jessica: You’re still in love with me?

Xavier: You have no idea.

Jessica: Oh my God…I thought it was over…

Xavier: No, my darling, it’s not over by a long shot. I’m going to take good care of you, make sure you get everything you deserve.

Lara Dawkins finished her rounds and made her way to the post-op recovery wing. Her GSW had been transferred there from the ICU overnight.

Lara: You shouldn’t be up moving around. You just had surgery.

Giada: I can’t stay in that bed. I’m going stir crazy.

Lara: And, you’ll be here even longer if you tear your stitches. But, I am glad you’re awake. The hospital has some questions about your injuries.

Giada: The hospital has some questions or you have some questions?

Lara: Professional capacity and personal capacity both, I guess. Do you blame me for worrying? We used to be friends.

Giada: We used to be a lot of things, Lara. But, there’s no sense dwelling on a past neither of us can change. What do you want to know?

Lara: Who shot you?

Giada: A man named Tobias Walsh.

Lara: You saw him?

Giada: No. He was wearing a mask. But, I recognized his voice. He works for a man named Clarence Falcon –

Lara: Falcon? As in Falcon Enterprises?

Giada: Yeah, you’re familiar?

Lara: Vaguely. Go on.

Giada: Hired gun. I’d done some investigating into Falcon’s questionable ethics when I first joined the ranks of the FBI. Don’t know why they waited until now to send him after me.

Lara: How did he even know you were here now?

Giada: I don’t know. No one knew I was back except for my mother and Ree Bennet.

Lara: Ree?

Giada: The house I’m staying at is one of her rental properties.

Someone really should have had a talk with Ree about security for her tenants. After all, she couldn’t protect Giada, nor did she notice there was another threat living right under her roof.

Madienne waited until the coast was clear before she went snooping in Damian’s room. She checked the drawers, the shelves, under his bed – as if he were a twelve-year-old boy still stashing his dirty magazines where Mom wouldn’t find them – and finally his computer.

She accessed his documents, his financial records, his internet cache, looked all the places her boss told her to look.

If only she knew Damian was taking the day off from work and only went outside to check the mail…

Damian: What are you doing in my room?

Madienne: I’m sorry. I only wanted to borrow your internet for a moment.

Damian: You work at the library. You have access to computers and the net all day long. Besides, Ree has wireless here and I saw your laptop when I was helping you move your things in. So, why don't you tell me what you were really looking for on my computer?

Madienne: People are asking questions about you, Mr. Blanche.

Damian: What kinds of people?

Madienne: Powerful people. There are things about you that raise red flags, like why does someone worth as much as you live in a cheap boarding house?

Damian: I have my reasons for staying here.

Madienne: And, why are you so close with Vittorio Serdahl’s daughter?

Damian: He sent you?

Madienne: No. It’s mere observation. Stefanie Serdahl is of little importance to my employer.

Damian: I don’t know who you are or who you work for, but I will tell you this – you don’t want to mess with me, lady.

Madienne: Or you’ll make me disappear? You have a talent for making people disappear, don’t you, Mr. Blanche?

Damian: You need to leave. Now.

Madienne: I’ll send Mr. Falcon your regards.

When she was gone, Damian checked to make sure nothing was missing. He knew Madienne hadn’t found what she was looking for – he wasn’t dumb enough to keep such delicate information lying around his room – but part of him worried. If Falcon sent her, then he was closing in on the truth. He had to warn her.

Giada had allowed Lara to give her a sedative, against her better judgment. She woke from her nap to find her mother sitting in the chair in the corner.

Giada: Mama?

Gemma: Giada, sweetheart. Oh, you’re so pale.

Giada: I’ll be alright.

Gemma: Someone shot you. Who would do such a thing?

Giada: It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve told the local police everything I know. What’s important is that you came to see me.

Gemma: Of course, I came. You honestly think I would let that man’s stubbornness keep me from seeing my little girl?

Giada: He was angry. Vittorio Serdahl’s daughter joining the FBI? Oh, the things the other mobsters must have said about him on the playground.

Gemma: I have never been more proud of you. I only hope Stefanie has the courage and the strength to break away from this world like you did, like Ty couldn’t…

Giada: How is Ty?

Gemma: In rehab, again. Marcus allowed her to seek treatment after she almost died.

Giada: I hate him.

Gemma: So do I. I hate all of this. I only wish that I would have had the foresight to see what Vittorio would become, but all I knew of him was that he was a charming young man with a beautiful smile. If only I would have known, I would have left. But, I didn’t and now I’ve damned you girls.

Giada: We’re going to be okay, Mama. We’re going to get Ty better and I’m going to make sure Stefanie doesn’t follow down her path. I promise you.

Gemma: Thank you, Giada.

Amber had just finished checking on a patient when her beloved, Sam, showed up.

Amber: This is a nice surprise.

Sam: Can you leave?

Amber: Why?

Sam: Because, there’s a party we’re going to crash.

Jason and Stefanie stole a moment together in the kitchen of the house on the vineyard while Vittorio was away.

Stefanie: I just spoke to Damian. The money cleared.

Jason: Good. You can leave tonight.

Stefanie: I can leave tonight? We can leave tonight…

Jason: Stef, we’ve been over this, I can’t go with you.

Stefanie: Yes, you can. There’s more than enough money for two. We can go to an island somewhere, just you and me and –

Jason: I can’t leave, not when I’m this close. I’ve been working for a year to infiltrate your father’s organization and get the evidence we need to put him away. I won’t leave before I do the job I came here to do.

Stefanie: Then, neither will I.

Jason: You’re being unreasonable.

Stefanie: No, I’m not. I would rather be here with you than safe and alone.

Jason: You’re the most stubborn girl I know.

Stefanie: It’s why you love me.

Later that afternoon, the Oak Harbor Press Association gathered at the art museum to witness a generous donation from Xavier Deveraux. On hand were his eldest son, Alec, and his beautiful wife, Jessica. Jessica’s friend, Damian Blanche, was in attendance, too, though Xavier had no idea why he’d showed up.

The press bombarded him with questions about Nora and her miraculous recovery, about Deveraux business and rumors of a merger with an undisclosed corporation in Japan, but he’d answered those with short, vague answers. Nora was doing well, business was under control.

Xavier: I want to thank all of you for coming here. Funding for the arts throughout Oak Harbor is significantly lacking. My son, Alec, is engaged to a young woman who teaches a youth music program and, though she was unable to attend because of a family matter, I’m sure if she were here, she would attest to how important the arts are to children, not only to encourage their creative development but to ensure they have a well-rounded education. My other son, Joshua, who is with his mother right now, would just as passionately support the arts. He was a film student.

That is why I have donated ten million dollars to the development of this museum, on behalf of my family. These programs are very important to them and there is nothing more important to me than my family. My sons, Josh and Alec, and my beautiful wife. And, as I’ve learned recently, there’s nothing more important to my wife than my sons. Vapid whore she is, she spent last night on top of one of them.

A hush fell over the museum’s reception room.

Amber: Did he just say what I think he just said?

Sam: I think we’re going to enjoy being a part of this family.

Xavier: It takes a certain kind of woman to go from a man to his son, but I always said my Jessica was special.

Jessica stood stunned at his side. She felt as if someone had just kicked her in the stomach, as the reps from the papers threw out questions and hurried to write every word Xavier said down. Alec, meanwhile, could feel Rose’s humiliation. How cruel his father was. Perhaps he and Jessica did deserve this, but Rose didn’t…

Jessica wanted to yell at him, to tell him he didn’t understand, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. Instead, she ran away, unable to bear the mortification any longer. Damian called after her, but she ran anyway.

Jessica collapsed in the corner of the downstairs gallery.

Xavier: Stop your blubbering. You had to know you couldn’t hide something like that.

Jessica: How did you find out?

Xavier: I saw you, last night. I went to the hotel because I’d seen a charge for a room on your credit card.

Jessica: You’re monitoring my spending?

Xavier: It’s my money. I thought I’d go there and find you with Damian, you’ve been spending so much time with him. I thought maybe Alec was right. Imagine my surprise to find you with him.

Jessica: He set me up! He knew all this time you were going to extend my
placement in your will and he fed my paranoia you were divorcing me. I was a nervous wreck. I set up that hotel room hoping to salvage our marriage and then he was there, talking about how you weren’t coming because you were divorcing me and I was so hurt and so angry –

Xavier: That you had sex with him? Yes, that’s the natural response to anger.

Jessica: It was one time.

Xavier: One time is one time too many.

Jessica: We can fix this –

Xavier: No, we can’t. Alec was right about you. All you ever wanted was the Deveraux money.

Jessica: No! Maybe at first I saw your money and I thought about all the security it could buy me, but I fell in love with you. I love you, Xavier!

Xavier: Security? Ah, yes, because of your past.

Jessica: You know about that?

Xavier: Did you honestly think I would put a ring on your finger without thoroughly investigating you? I know that Jessica Lindsey didn’t exist before six years ago.

Jessica: You know who I really am?

Xavier: And, I married you anyway.

Jessica: I thought you’d hate me if you knew who I was.

 
Xavier: Turns out, I hate you for who you’ve become.

Jessica: Don’t say that!

Xavier: But, it’s true. I regret the day you darkened my door and if it weren’t for that baby you’re carrying…

Jessica: I’m not pregnant.

Xavier: Of course not. I should have expected that would be another lie.

Jessica: I want to be. I still can be. We can go home and make a baby and –

Xavier: It’s over, Jessica. We are going to go home and you are going to pack your things and leave. And, you won’t see a dime of my money. There isn’t a court in the world that would award a divorce settlement to an unfaithful gold digger.

He left Jessica sobbing in the gallery, as alone and broken as she was six years ago, when she first showed up on Damian Blanche’s doorstep.

Rose finished signing the transfer papers and went upstairs to see her mother. She hoped she would like it here. The hospital in Oak Harbor had a nice mental healthcare wing.

Rose: Hi, Mom.

Rose: Look, I know you’re mad I had you moved, but Dad and my sisters and I, we all agreed it was for the best. Here, I can keep an eye on you.

Jenny: Did you get the money?

Rose: I did. Alec gave me a blank check for my music program and I wrote it out for what you wanted.

Jenny: Good girl, Rosie.

Rose: And, then, I ripped it up.

Jenny: Why?

Rose: Because, I’m going tell Alec about you. I’m going to bring him here to meet you.

Jenny: He’ll leave you.

Rose: Maybe he will. I know Alec wants children someday and it’s a lot, asking someone to start a family with you when mental illness runs in your family. But, if I lie to him, if I steal from him to keep you a secret, then that says that I’m ashamed of you and I’m not. I
love you, Mom, and I would rather Alec leave me knowing how proud of you I am than for him to stay with me and you think I consider you some dirty little secret.

Jenny: We can’t afford this place.

Rose: Yes, we can. It’s a public hospital. There’s financial aid and I’m getting paid pretty well now. My salary isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s enough to keep you here, with new doctors and new medication that might help.

Jenny: You’re so grown up now, Rosie.

Rose: I know. I’m old enough to take care of you now the way you’ve always taken care of me. Besides, I think you’ll like it here and the psychiatrist on staff who recommended I move you here, he says if we can get you stabilized, I’ll be able to take you on day passes to lunch.

Jenny: You’re coming back?

Rose: Every day. I promise. I won’t make the mistake of leaving you again.

Downstairs, Lara went back to Giada’s room to check on her. She hoped she wasn’t overdoing it, but Giada never was one to listen to reason.

Sure enough, she found Giada’s room empty, her clothes gone.

Vittorio: Stefanie, there you are. I hope you’re not still in your bad mood –

Giada: Wrong daughter, Vittorio.

Vittorio: Giada. What brings you here?

Giada: I came here for my sister and I’m not leaving without her.

Jessica walked home. How strange it must’ve looked, a girl in an evening gown walking down the street, her mascara running down her face. But, she didn’t care. She needed the air.

She met Rose in the grand entryway of Deveraux Manor.

Rose: Jess? What’s wrong?

Jessica: Ask your fiancé.

In his study, Xavier stood by the window. He’d seen Jessica arrive. A part of him felt for her, while the rest of him knew she’d made a fool of him. He wasn’t done punishing her yet.

Xavier: Thank you, Madienne. Jessica and her dealings with Mr. Blanche are no longer a concern of mine. Please relay a message to Mr. Falcon. She’ll be staying at a condo in the Bridge View Hotel. I’ve sent my son over with her things. He should have her all to himself once Alec’s gone…

When he hung up, he went to the computer and tried to put what he’d done out of mind. Jessica was Mr. Falcon’s problem now.

Jessica showered and changed and took a cab to the Bridge View. She felt like an idiot, leaving forwarding information to Xavier. He wouldn’t care where she was staying. She wouldn’t even have the condo, were it not for Damian.

She let herself inside and found Alec waiting for her.

Jessica: Xavier sent you with my things?

Alec: Yeah. They’re in the bedroom. I just wanted to say --

Jessica: Save it. I’m exhausted and I don’t have the strength to do this tonight.

Alec: I need you to know I’m sorry.

Jessica: So am I. But, there’s nothing either of us can do it about it now. I hope things work out for you and Rose better than they did for me.

Alec left, not noticing the man with the wolf tattoo, lurking outside Jess’ new condo.

When he was gone, she went to her room. She didn’t have the energy to unpack her suitcases. She just wanted to curl up in bed and go to sleep. But, there was a knock at the door.

Jessica: What part of I don’t want to do this tonight did you miss?

She opened the door, expecting to find Alec. Instead, she found someone much, much worse.

Jessica: Tobias?

Tobias: Hello, Miss Lindsey. Or, should I say…Miss Falcon?

Yes, the bonds of family are quite strong. Daughters stand by mothers who know not the things they do, girls defy fathers to protect their sisters and women who just cannot resist their husband’s sons pay for their transgressions in more ways than one. But, perhaps the greatest show of family love is the sacrifices we make to protect family that can no longer protect themselves…

In the attic of Ree Bennet’s boarding house, she stirred. She stood from her chair by the window....

....crossed the floor to the dresser...

...and looked inside. His things were still there, still neatly folded, as they’d been yesterday. 

The door opened and Madienne came inside…and the girl was as frightened as Madienne was confused.

Madienne: Ree?

The girl who looked like Ree began to cry. Madienne came closer and she recoiled. The safe place had been violated. Ree came running, as she always did.

Ree: What the hell are you doing up here?

Madienne: There’s two of you?

Ree: You’re scaring her. You need to leave.

Madienne: You have a twin? Why is she wearing a wedding dress and –

Ree: GET OUT!

When Madienne was gone, Ree went to her sister. She held her while the girl sobbed.

Ree: It’s okay, Rachel. She’s gone. I won’t let anyone come near you again. I promise, just, please, calm down. 

****************

Coming Up on Empire...

-- Jason's cover comes perilously close to being blown.

-- Jess' life hangs in the balance.

-- Lara's old life and new life are on a crash course. 

-- Someone is murdered.