EJ's pov

"Agreed," Claire's friend responded back. "Parents are super irritating."

I positioned myself in the doorway so I could see who she was talking to. I think that's our former stablehand Chris's little sister.

Confirming my theory, a male voice could be heard now, "Samantha Jean, I thought I made it very clear to you to finish your chores before you'd be allowed to do anything else."

Yep, that's him. Removing any doubt, I could see him behind the girl on Claire's phone screen now.

"Big brothers are too," she said.

"Hang up now!" Chris shouted.

"Claire, I gotta go," she replied hurriedly. "And, uh, it looks like you've got your own sitch to deal with too," she said, pointing in my direction as she could see me in the background, since I had stepped fully into Tony's room. "Later," she called out, as Chris could be heard in the background shouting incomprehensible threats.

Disconnecting the call immediately after replying, "Later," Claire whipped around to face me. "Uh, Uncle EJ, it's not, um, what it looks like. I was just making Dad's bed and I heard a phone ring from under the pillow and it scared the crap outta me and then I thought I better get it cuz it'd be rude not too answer and I even thought maybe it was Dad and he was trying to contact me cuz it might be an emergency or something and he told me to make his bed so..."

"Enough, mia nipote (my niece)!" I barked sternly, as I cut her off. "Good God you can stretch out a lie. You know you really ought to consider a career as an attorney."

Slipping her phone back under the pillow, she timidly asked, "Are you gonna tell Dad?"

"That depends," I replied, raising one eyebrow.

"On what?" she asked cautiously.

"On whether or not you answer my questions honestly and without attitude. Capiscimi (Understand me)?"

"Si, Zio, yo capisco (Yes, Uncle, I understand)," she responded, without being a snot for once.

Cutting to the chase, I asked, "Where is your aunt?"

"I don't know," she answered instantly, almost automatically.

"Why did she leave?" I asked.

"I don't know," the clueless twit replied.

"What did she tell you before she left?"

"I don't know. Lots of things. Why?" she replied, with attitude.

I slowly removed my cellphone from the breast pocket of my dress shirt.

"Not off to a good start," I said. I pressed one button and held the phone up to my ear.

"W_wait! Wh_what are you doing?" Claire asked nervously.

"I'm calling your father."

"No, Uncle EJ! Don't!" she blurted out suddenly. "I'll tell you. I'm sorry. Please hang up," she begged.

I hung up on my voicemail. Good to know the twit's still as gullible as ever.

"Start talking, piccola ragazza (little girl)," I stated flatly.

"But Aunt Lexie..."

"Look," I said, holding up my hand to stop her. "I already know she took off with that ape she calls a fiance. I just want to know if she told you where she was going, brat. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"She really didn't tell me that, Uncle EJ, I swear," she replied emphatically, crossing her heart.

"When did she say she's coming back?"

"In three or four weeks," she replied sadly.

"In the future, you should know better than to try and keep things from us, whether your aunt asks you to or not. Sono chiaro (Am I clear)?"

She nodded.

"Are you really not going to tell Dad you caught me on my phone?"

"If I wanted to see you punished, I'd do it myself. I still might, if you don't finish your father's list of chores before your bedtime."

"Thanks, Uncle EJ."

"Don't thank me yet. You still have plenty of time to screw things up before bed, twerp." I started to leave, but before I got out the door, I turned to her and said, "You know you can talk to us if something's bothering you, Claire. You don't have to keep it inside and act like an obnoxious little snot instead."

"Thanks, Uncle EJ." I heard her call out sarcastically, after I walked out the door.

I texted Tony: we need to talk when you get home

Problem with Claire? he texted back.

No, it's about our sister

fill u in later, I replied.

Three hours later

Tony's pov

After checking on my peacefully sleeping daughter, I called EJ down to the study. Pouring us each a brandy, I motioned for him to sit down beside me in front of the warmly lit fireplace.

"So what did our lovely sister do this time?" I asked.

"She took off with that twat fiance of hers to God knows where for the next month."

"How do you know this?"

"Because I overheard Claire tonight telling one of her little friends on the phone," EJ replied.

"Claire was on her phone tonight?"

My little brother's face paled as he began to stutter his reply, "Oh, um, no, uh, what, um..."

Putting him out of his misery, I said, "You know she's grounded from her phone, right?"

"Sì, fratello, ed è per questo che l'ho punita (Yes, brother, and that's why I punished her)," he replied, much too quickly for my liking.

He's lying. But why? To protect her? Huh, that's hard to believe, but what else could it be?

"You know I don't appreciate being lied to, fratellino (little brother). Explain yourself."

"Alright, I didn't punish her because Alexandra leaving is the reason she's been acting like such a brat this past week. I didn't feel it was necessary, fratellone (big brother). If I was out of line, I apologize."

"If you hadn't let it slip accidentally, would you have told me?"

"No sir," he replied quietly.

"That's where we have a problem, Elliot James. I will not accept you keeping things from me where my daughter is concerned. Capiscimi (Understand me)?"

"Si signore (Yes sir)," he said respectfully.

"I'm not sure I agree she doesn't need to be punished but we certainly could have discussed it and I would've heard you out before making my decision." I looked my little brother in the eye and sighed. "I was kept from my daughter for the first nine years of her life and then again for many months when I went into hiding. I don't want to be kept from her anymore. I hope you can understand that."

"I understand, Anthony. Now what are we going to do about Alexandra?" EJ asked.

"I'm afraid there's not much we can do. I mean, I'm sure we could find her in the next week or two but what good would that do? She knows we don't want her to have the baby so she's extremely cautious of everything she eats or drinks. Short of drugging her and inducing an abortion, there's really nothing we can do at this point and to be honest, EJ, I don't think I could hurt her baby. As much as I detest Luciano and want to eliminate him and end their family tree, that baby's still our niece or nephew at the end of the day."

"And still half Dimerra," my brother reminded.

"Exactly. If we can get Luciano out of the picture, we can raise that baby as 100% Dimerra."

The following morning

Claire's pov

My father came into my room just after 8am and woke me up.

I was all set to protest being woken up so early on a Sunday, until I heard him say, "We need to talk."

What he said was bad enough, since everyone knows no good ever comes from conversations that begin that way, but what made it so much worse was the way he said it. He was using his, I'm in charge and I'm not amused voice. I've come to know that voice quite well. I hate that voice. He learned it from Grandfather and he was the only one who ever sounded scarier than my dad when using it. Uncle EJ has his own version with a British spin on it.

So instead of complaining that my dad woke me up early, I kept my mouth shut and got out of bed. Dad did not look happy and I have a feeling it's in my best interests to make sure he doesn't become any unhappier. What can I say? I'm a people pleaser at heart. I got that from my mom.

"I want you dressed and in my study in fifteen minutes. Capiscimi, signorina (Understand me, young lady)?"

"Si signore (Yes sir)," I responded properly, just to get rid of him. I have to figure out what he's mad about before I go down there. I completed all the chores on his list yesterday and went to bed on time. I wonder if my snitch of an uncle sold me out. I really hope not cuz that would be low, even for him. I hurried up and got dressed so I wouldn't be late.

Twelve minutes later, I was sitting across from my father in his study as he sternly stared me down.

"You did a nice job completing all your chores yesterday, Claire, thank you."

My father didn't smile at me so I kept my mouth shut.

"I was going to give you your phone back today, mia figlia (my daughter), until I was made privy to some very interesting information. Any idea what that might be?"

"No, Daddy," I replied sweetly, hoping to soften him up a little. Man, if my stupid uncle ratted me out after promising he wouldn't, I'm gonna bash his stupid British head in, or at the very least, ignore him and never trust him again.

"When I grabbed your phone, I accidentally pressed your call icon and your recents popped up, showing a FaceTime call with Samantha dated yesterday at 20:12. Now how could that be when you weren't in possession of your phone at that time because you were grounded? Care to venture a guess, piccola ragazza (little girl)?"