Yep it's actually me with an update. You can pick your jaws up off the floor. I really am sorry for the lack of updates on, well, all of my stories. I've been pretty busy looking for a job and it's kinda consuming most of my thoughts and time so there's not really a lot of room left for writing. But I managed to get a chapter for this story done so yay for me and here it is. Enjoy.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Are you sleeping with her?"

Dominic felt his throat close up as he froze at the unexpected and disturbing question, and quickly found it difficult to breathe. He coughed several times, desperately gasping for breath which seemed to make breathing even more difficult.

After a minute or so, he was finally able to stop coughing. He reached for the glass of water on the table that he had poured earlier and quickly drained the glass of the precious liquid. He raised his gaze to see Jason's eyes wide and his brow furrowed in confusion while he gazed at him.

He glanced over to Sam McCall and was immediately annoyed by the pair of dark amused eyes staring back at him, the corner of her mouth twitching as if she were fighting back a smile.

"Well?" She demanded, tapping her high-heeled, boot-clad foot on the floor, emphasizing her own irritation.

He stared at her. "Well what?" Dominic asked, his voice squeaking embarrassingly.

Sam rolled her eyes at his attempt at playing dumb. "You and Olivia Falconeri. Were the two of you playing mattress tag or not?"

Dominic gave a firm shake of his head in the negative. "I haven't slept with her." He went pale all of a sudden as if the topic of conversation was making him nauseous. "And I never will."

Sam's eyebrows rose at such a definite statement. "O. K." Then she turned to Jason Morgan, who looked just as dumbfounded as she was with the newbie's behaviour.

"We still have some things to discuss." She told Jason a few minutes later.

Jason snorted at her complete and utter lack of subtlety. She wanted Dominic gone and she hadn't even bothered to be polite about it. Her eyes swirled with frustration that he hadn't acted yet and he fought back a smirk.

He had just met the woman and she was already a major source of conflict for him. She had incited a number of fights since her arrival and was also the reason behind many more so he figured turnabout was fair play.

He almost laughed when she turned to aim a glare at him and then jerked her chin firmly in Dominic's direction.

Jason finally sighed and looked at Dominic. "Give us a few minutes will you?" He spoke like it was a question but Sam could tell from the look in his eyes that it was an order. She had a feeling the man wasn't used to being disobeyed or questioned.

Dominic took the hint and stood from his seat quickly; murmuring about going to check on how someone named Spinelli was progressing. "I'll let you know if he's found anything." He looked to her and hesitated before he spoke. "Ms. McCall." He nodded his head at her politely but failed to disguise his distaste for her.

She rolled her eyes in response and when he realized she had no intention of speaking to him, he snorted and walked away. When she heard the loud slam of the door closing, she turned to Jason.

"He's hiding something." She commented in a singsong tone. Then she leaned forward seriously. "He's going to cause trouble for you. You can bet on that."

"I'll worry about that another day." He remarked and she took the fact that he didn't dispute what she told him as a compliment. "Let's get back to business, shall we."

"Absolutely." She leaned back against the couch and smiled at him mischievously. "Which item would you like to tackle first? Would you like to arrange when and where I can collect Claudia's remains or would you like to tell me who killed her?"

Jason glanced at her as he thought it over. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you care about retrieving your sister's remains?"

Sam tilted her head at him. "Whether I care or not is irrelevant." She looked around his home and her gaze settled on the pictures that stood over his fireplace. "What should concern you is how much trouble I'll cause for you if you don't give me what I want."

"I can be an unbelievable pain in the ass." She winked at him in promise.

He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Fine." He relented and glared at her. "You'll get your sister's remains. I'll arrange the details with Johnny."

She smiled at him. "Great. Now onto the second item on the list." She leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked him in the eye. "I want a name."

He hesitated and she raised an eyebrow at him inquiringly. "What is it?" She asked tiredly.

Jason stared at her for a few intense moments and she could see the wheels turning in his head as he debated with himself. "How can I be sure that the second I tell you what you want to know, you won't go to the police with the information?"

She blinked at him. "You have my word."

Jason's eyebrows flew to his hairline and she didn't know why but she felt offended by his lack of trust. After all, between the two of them, he was the one that had lied about something. Most recently, anyway.

"You used to be a con artist, didn't you?" He asked her slowly.

"Yes." She answered reluctantly, wondering why he was asking about her past occupation.

"Then that means you made your living by lying to people and screwing them over." He looked at her incredulously. "And I'm supposed to share important information with you and just trust that you'll keep it to yourself out of the goodness of your heart?"

Her temper flared at the reminder of how she used to live but she shoved her anger down. "That was a long time ago."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"It means that when I say I won't tell the police who killed Claudia, I'm telling you the truth."

He scoffed at that and her dark eyes narrowed, burning with fire as she glared at him murderously.

That gesture reignited her temper and she could no longer rein it in. "Need I remind you that I am the wronged party here, Mr. Morgan. Someone from your side murdered my sister and then you prevented us from being able to have her funeral thus dragging this whole ordeal out way longer than was necessary." She rose from her seat and stomped a few feet away before she whirled back around to face him. "I came here to get answers and to stop a war from starting."

Cold blue eyes regarded her carefully at that outburst and he waited for her to continue on. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Anthony was chomping at the bit over Claudia's death, ranting about getting revenge no matter the cost when I visited him. I should think you'd want to avoid this getting messy since you obviously care about the person you're covering for."

"I do." He admitted, feeling a small amount of guilt for the way he had acted. "And I don't want to start a war over this."

"Well, neither do I." She held his gaze for a few heated seconds before she finally looked away. "The truce between the Zacchara and the Corinthos-Morgan organizations needs to stay in effect for everyone's sake."

"And you have the power to make sure that it does?" Jason asked, his doubt about her capabilities obvious in his tone of voice.

She smirked and tossed her head to the side, her hair following her movements, and the slightly curled brown locks quickly reframed her face. "I was born a Zacchara. That's all the power that I need. And if there are problems, I have ways of making them disappear."

Jason's interest flared at the calculating way she spoke. There was no doubt as to what she meant when she said that the threats would be eliminated and he had an urge to get some answers about what those 'methods' may be.

"Such as?"

She winked at him suggestively, taking a step back away from him. "If there's a bug causing problems, the simple solution is to squish it. I provide the boot that does the squishing."

He looked at her in amazement. "Are you telling me that you're a facilitator?"

"That's such a harsh word." Sam said, not appreciating his disbelieving and somewhat judgmental tone either. Their jobs weren't that much different, really. His was just… messier. And given what he did, who was he to criticize?

"I'm more of a liaison when you think about it. A go-between if you will. The higher-ups give an order and I simply," She paused as she searched for the right way to explain. "I make it happen."

"You make it sound like you're a secretary."

She drew back in offence. "Hardly." Shaking her head, she began muttering under her breath and from what he could hear, she was cursing him out. After she was finished, she took a deep breath, probably to calm down and looked at him patiently.

"Let's say that a boss wanted someone to disappear."

"'The boss' being your grandfather?" He wondered if she would admit that she does her family's dirty work.

"Someone within the organization in a position of authority," She said, evading the direct question, choosing not to give any specific names. "There are a lot of people that fit the description."

"You do know that I know who your grandfather is don't you?" He interrupted her.

A frustrated sigh was the only acknowledgement she gave before she went right back to what she was saying. "As I was saying, a higher-up says that someone needs to go away. What I do is arrange it. I find the hit-man, provide a weapon if necessary and come up with a time and place and a plausible alibi if the man turns out to be incompetent and gets caught."

"So why didn't Claudia call you?"

Her eyes widened at the unexpected question. She remained speechless as she processed for a few seconds but when she finally comprehended what he was asking; her eyes went black with rage, sparking bolts of fury throughout the room.