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Estrogen Mafia. Josef Gets a Lesson

It’s going to be a relief to go back to Port Charles; they are only about an hour out now. The plane coming back from Mexico arrives back at a semi decent hour Sunday, of course after a week of swimming, snorkling, sailing, deep sea fishing, golfing and horseback riding, the kids are exhausted and the trip home feels like the quietest part of the last week. This is the time to decompress back to reality. Baba and Pavel have gotten rest unlike the rest of the group because they didn’t stay up til dawn dancing and clubbing. Karin and Kristina had lead the men on a merry chase with neither of them willing to cry enough and admit they couldn’t keep up with the girls. The only down time they seemed to have taken was sunning on the deck in the mornings.

“I think that we should go straight to Pavel’s from the airport. That way we can give the kids their presents.” Karin suggests as she snuggles next to Mark. They might have come to Mexico with no luggage but everyone is going back with a suitcase. Of course it would be a few months before the clothes they’d picked up down in Mexico could be worn in upstate New York. But they’d also been careful in the packing to make sure that all gifts were together. Karin and Kristina both have full sets of luggage at home so the matching set of luggage they’d purchased for hauling back all the presents would actually go with Chandy for her adventures down in Berklee. Something they both know that Uncle Cole is not going to be happy with. He’s all for the gym duffle bag style of travel for his daughter where she’d be back to do laundry.

“Drop Pavel off.” Kristina nods. “Josef and Baba after. Mark, did you leave your car at the airport?”

“Yep.” Mark nods.

“Good, you can drop me off. Get the packages sorted for the guys. We’re going to have to go to Chandy’s tomorrow.”

“I can’t believe I couldn’t get you to run away with me.” Karin gives Mark a mock punch in the arm.

“Ask me again on Tuesday after the stuff hits the fan.”

“You’re not going to get in any trouble.” Karin shrugs. “You were with me the whole time. I can vouch for your very good behavior. And you learned a new skill set. Scuba comes in handy the world over.” Mark and Karin’s back and forth cover for the fact that Josef isn’t saying anything just eyeing Kristina. They both know it’s not going to last long. Josef really has been making an effort to just enjoy the vacation. It’s not like he’s taken one in a years maybe a long weekend here or there and plenty of mixing pleasure with business but not a real vacation. But even so everyone knows there is going to be a fight coming. They’d known it all week even if they managed to forget for a few hours here and there.

“I’ll drop you off after I drop Baba off.” Josef says quietly.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Kristina counters. “I’ll be giving the presents I bought to the guys, to Michael. Which is another reason why Karin needs to come out to the cottage.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is excuse.” Josef interjects tersely.

Kristina unfastens her seat belt and heads toward the back of the plane. Josef is right on her heels. The other four people look at each other and wince. There are no raised voices from the back or the sounds of anything breaking but the low very angry tones do carry.

“Is good for them to... clear air.” Baba tells the others but she still keeps a worried eye on the closed curtain separating her grandson and his girlfriend from the rest.

“Very true.” Karin agrees with a nod. “As long as nobody goes out a window. That happens and we’re all boned.”

Pavel snorts but does the translation... as well as a little cleaning up of the language.

Once back in Port Charles, Josef isn’t at Baba’s long before he’s putting on his coat and preparing to go out. They’d ended up not going over to Pavel’s house but instead split from the group right from the airport.

“Where are you going?” Baba asks.

“Out.”

“You’re not going to her house. Josef, there will be trouble. Let the waters smooth.”

“I’m not going to the cottage. Just out.”

Baba bites her tongue and nods. “I’ll see you later.”

After driving around for awhile, Josef ends up at the Harrison Pier. This is really all Kristina’s mother’s fault. If he could just get her on his side then Kristina would relax and quit acting like any day would be the last. He slips a boat captain some money and is soon over on Spoon Island. And maybe if he were more familiar with the island he might have been able to make it a surprise but Tasha Cassadine- Smith is waiting for him bundled up in a long wool coat when he makes it to the front door.

“I was wondering when you would be out to see me.” Tasha shakes her head. “Come on. Lets go to the green house there is no need to freeze off body parts and I’m thinking you don’t want Stefan and Zander throwing their opinions in the ring.”

“They’ve already informed me of their opinions. But they aren’t being quoted back to me during... disagreements.”

“Baby kidnaped your grandmother back in what... September? It’s been six months; you’ve had a good run really– especially considering Baby’s age. Maybe it’s time for you to cut your losses and move on.” Tasha moves to the green house around the back of the building. She opens the door and steps gratefully into the humid warmth of the lushly planted building. “First things first.” Tasha pulls out her phone and calls a preset number. “Hello Baby? Where are you; it’s loud? Ah still at Pavel’s. I am going to be very honest with Josef. Just thought you should know. It isn’t fair to him to allow him... expectations. Talk to you later, it’s good to have you back.” Tasha hangs up the phone and then takes a seat in a chair back by the heater. She indicates the chair next to her. “I’ll answer all questions you ask me but let me put one thing out of your head right now. Do not think if you get my daughter pregnant that she will stay with you. That will in fact guarantee the end of your relationship.”

“You are an unnatural woman.”

“Thank you. It’s kind of you to notice.” Tasha’s voice is wry. She really does like Josef but she has no confidence that he is what is best for her daughter. “If only you’d come along ten years from now.”

“That’s the same thing Kristina said. And since you’re said you’ll answer all my questions we’ll come back to that. What do you mean about getting Kristina pregnant.”

Tasha’s smile widens and she nods. It’s a mental confirmation. She knew that would be Josef’s next trick to try to bind her daughter to him. “I was not married to Baby’s father. My mother was not married to my father. There is no expectation of marriage. Kristina doesn’t need a ring on her finger to support herself or anyone else.”

“You were engaged to her father.”

“Ah you’ve done your research. Yes, I was engaged to Ned Ashton. I also ran screaming from the church and flagged down the nearest semi to get out of Port Charles and that was before I took my long mental break– in fact long before I was pregnant with Baby. We didn’t get married when he discovered I was pregnant or after she was born. In fact I was dating another man, Cameron Lewis, when I was pregnant.”

Josef takes a step back for a minute and considers what Tasha just said. There was an inflection, a bit of verbal sophistry. He’d said father and she’d come back with Ned Ashton but the way she’d said it. “Ned Ashton isn’t Kristina’s father.”

“He raised her. He’s her father. Was he the sperm donor? No. The sperm donor was a very handsome, a tortured soul and so very dangerous. I fell hard and was acting like a kid. I knew he was married. I knew he was still in love with his wife and probably always would be and still I fell into bed with him. I knew it was a mistake even before his wife walked in on us. I didn’t know how big until my sister was dead and I ended up being the collaterial damage in a war with Alcazars. Because you see he was an international businessman too.” The twist that Tasha puts on the phrase lets Josef know exactly what she means. “Ned claimed Baby to protect her and he’s never treated her as anything but his beloved child. I couldn’t have a better father for my child.”

“She tans very well for someone of Swedish/Russian descent.” Josef already suspects the truth but hints around.

“One of the positive things her Greek/Puerto Rican father gave her. He was a good cook too although since he didn’t know he had a daughter until the week before he died I can’t say that Baby got that from him.”

“Sonny Corinthos. The man who killed her step mother.” Josef murmurs.

“Oh Faith is the tip of the iceberg on his body count. Attorney/client privilege doesn’t end when the lawyer is no longer practicing. Faith’s just the one he finally went to prison for. Kristina has known for years who her biological father was but how does the old saying go? Take a child until the age of seven and you have them for life. Faith Ashton had six years with my daughter. She was Baby’s mother when I couldn’t be. And everything that belonged to Faith belongs to Baby now. She came into all of it when she was 18. Arranging your grandmother’s kidnaping is just a piece of what she can and would do. She had that planned from the day Nikolas started the negotiation. Just waiting for one of the people at the table to go where you went.”

“And you’re okay with this?”

“You started the kidnaping. Kristina was just better at it.” Tasha shrugs. “And it was to protect Nikolas. If blood tells then run for the hills, Mr Koslov. Baby is a mix of Cassadine and Corinthos. Her life changed the day Faith was killed. She has known since she was a baby that she would be the one to rule that empire. And that is the reason why it will never work between the two of you. Why being with you will get her killed. She has to be perceived as autonomous and strong or there are many others who would try to take what is hers. Having you anywhere near my daughter damages her ability to rule. There becomes a perception that she is weak or a your puppet. Then she becomes a slave to her fate rather than it’s master.”

“So Jason Morgan is not her cousin. He’s been threatening her but she has no family protection from him.”

“Actually she has more now than she ever had before. Jason and Sonny were like brothers even if they were... estranged at the end. Jason liked Ned best of all the male Quartermaines. Which is not much at all.”

“And Michael Quartermaine, the man living with your daughter, He has no blood tie either.”

“No, he doesn’t. And frankly he’s a better match for my daughter than you. Even though Michael was raised for the first part of his life in a mob family he is going to be a doctor. No one would suspect him of running Kristina’s business or accuse Kristina of fronting for him. Now if he were only gay so you could have a cover for your relationship with my daughter. But as far as I know he’s very straight and his stepmother would love more ties to Baby. Lydia, Faith and Skye Radcliffe became very good frie... wrong word... allies before Faith’s death. But if you want to know about that you’d have to ask my husband. He had a front row to all of it. I was... otherwise occupied for about a decade.”

“I want Michael Quartermaine out of that house.”

“How nice for you. It’s good to want things. And if moving Michael out of there endangers Baby do you still want it? Thanks to Sonny’s will, Baby’s paternity will soon become common knowledge. Having Michael there is good cover and a protection from Jason.”

“Damn it.” Josef gets up and starts pacing.

“You okay in here?” Zander comes in after a brief knock.

Tasha smiles at her husband. “You’re timing is perfect. Zander, how long have you and I known each other?”

“Twenty five years give or take.”

“And how long have we been married?”

“I didn’t forget an anniversary or something.” Zander asks suspiciously.

“I’d let you know. This is for Josef.”

“Eight years.” Zander realizes what Tasha is trying to do. He makes his answer to Josef. “The first five I was in love with someone else and Tasha was my best friend.”

“The next ten I was trying to put the pieces back together... and you were still my best friend.”

“And the last eight we’ve been on the same page.... finally.” Zander leans over and gives his wife a kiss. “You trying to clue him in on backing off of Baby?”

“It’s not going well. He’s more concerned about Michael Quartermaine living there now that he knows there is no blood tie.”

“Does Michael know there is no blood tie? Has Baby told him?” Zander asks his wife.

“I really don’t know.”

“It’s that much of a secret... really.” Josef snorts in disbelief.

“For ten years even I didn’t know.” Tasha counters. “Zander?”

“Ned from the start, me, my dad but he covered that with privilege. I told Dara Jensen, again covered by privilege. She was sleeping with Stefan back then and she never told him. We told Baby together when she was old enough to know that Ned was still her father whatever the biology. We also told her after Sonny was already in prison for killing Faith, so it wasn’t too likely that she’d be broadcasting it. Baby didn’t tell anyone but Sonny that week before he was put down. Sonny is the one who is broadcasting wide from the grave putting it in his will.”

“You are seriously trying to tell me that you’ve kept a secret this huge, this close for eighteen years?”

Zander takes the seat vacated by Josef and then reaches out to take his wife’s hand. “Oh yeah, absolutely.” His face is very serious. “It was the only way to protect Baby. She was in just as much danger from Tasha’s stepmother as she was from Sonny’s enemies if the truth came out. Ned may be a Quartermaine but the craziest thing he ever did was marry Faith. Faith didn’t know or she would have killed Baby in her crib as a payback against Sonny. If I could have grabbed Baby and Tasha both and ran...”

“I needed the doctor’s care.” Tasha reassures her husband; it’s an old regret. “You did the best you could. You kept an eye on Baby for me, an eye on the Quartermaines. You brought Baby to the Cassadines when Ned started having problems dealing with Faith’s death.” Tasha turns back to Josef. “It’s really the least of the secrets that the Cassadines have kept over the years. We are a very... eccentric but private family.”

Josef remember all the stories of kidnaping told by Lucky Spencer. “Dah. I forgot who I was speaking to.”

“Zander, maybe I’m the wrong person to be having this conversation with Josef. You were there and knew what was going on all those years ago. Maybe he would hear it from you and understand. Beer and pool at Jakes maybe?” Tasha suggests.

“Your call.” Zander looks at Josef. “But really if you plan on having a chance in hell with Baby you better get the lay of the land and know what you can demand and what is going to get you buried under somebody’s rose bushes.”

Josef gets the feeling this is a one time only offer and nods. “I’ll buy the first round.”

Sunday nights at Jakes, there is nothing much going on and wouldn’t be until football season starts up again. Cole is there for a bit just to figure out what the hell his people had done to his bar while he’s been down in Boston for a week. But then he’d be heading home to his wife and kids. At least that is the plan until he sees Zander Smith and Josef Koslov walk in. “Well this can’t be good.” One of the first things he’d heard when he got back is that Karin and Kristina had jumped the country for spring break and gone to Mexico. The only things that had stopped the old man from calling up his congressman on Karin is that a) she’d left a note, b) her boyfriend had followed the same day and c) a call from AJ saying he’d ok’d the whole thing. Course he probably hadn’t cleared it with Ned. But Kristina is over the age of 18 even if she is still in high school. He walks over to the unexpected duo. “What can I get for you two?”

“Beers.” Zander pulls up a chair and flips his jacket over the back of it. It has been quite a few years since he lived here. Since he’d heard Lorenzo Alcazar’s cop basically spying on a hit list that had included Tasha. “If you want to join us that would be great. Tasha and Baby have given the okay to give Josef a history lesson. Tasha wasn’t around for the Faith years.”

“Ah. Three beers coming up.” Sure enough Coleman is back with three beers and a round of shots as well. “Been down in Boston this last week. Baby picked up four properties down there. I was working on rehabbing one of them with Manny.”

“I heard one of them is going to be yours but the other three were going CSMC.”

“Yeah, Baby arranged for the financing to be against my shares in CSMC. Sweat Equity.” Cole nods. He eyeballs Josef. The guy is too old for Kristina. Josef is keeping his mouth shut just letting him and Zander talk probably planning on picking up clues. Hell he’d draw the guy a day glow map. “So what do you figure, Zander... if Faith would have seen this one. **** him or kill him?”

“Probably both. If sleeping with him didn’t wreck his relationship with Baby.. then she would have killed him. Or she would have married Baby off to him and then killed him and brought all his assets back into CSMS. It always pissed Faith off that she couldn’t track Helena in Europe because she didn’t have the holdings there.”
“Helena?” Josef asks.

“Helena Cassadine. The reason why it’s a good thing Ned is Baby’s father and he married Faith. Faith would have killed anyone who came after Baby. All the guys know it and are the same way.” Cole answers. His tone takes on more than a hint of warning. “There aren’t many women in your line of business. Most are widows and even then they don’t have any respect just their husband’s reputation. Not like anyone is going to end up in court on a sexual harassment or discrimination suit.”

Both of the other guys smirk just thinking about that one ended up in front of the judge when both parties would spend their whole time pleading the fifth. Zander steps up with the next part of the story. “Everything Cassadine goes to Nikolas and his first born son. The bulk of the Cassadine estate, it’s a like being CEO of the family and all the family work for the business. There may be tokens for Tasha or Baby but the estate is held together for the continuation of the clan.” Zander holds up a hand in Cole’s direction not wanting to hear it. Sometimes Cole could be as bad as Luke Spencer on the subject of Cassadines. They are an easy target. “So even though Baby isn’t really going to be getting anything from the Cassadines she’s seen the way the power is consolidated under the head of the family. She’s seen the way he hates it and worries about passing it on to his son even as he’s training his son to take over. Duty is bred into their very bones.”

“Along with the stick up the butt but that skipped a generation with Baby.” Cole takes a sip of his beer.

“Nah it’s only passed along on the male side.” Zander grins. The smile falls away. “As far as I know most of the money coming into CSMC is legit. Since Faith was killed, Dillon and Edward have been running things for Baby.”

“More like Edward was running the legit side.” Cole counters. “The old man might think he was running things in the grey but that was strictly the real estate management. Then you’ve got Bruno, Manny and Mouse working with Dillon. It’s a smaller percentage then when Faith was in charge but it’s probably still huge.”

“Dillon came to live with his brother and Faith when he was 17.” Zander tells Josef in case he didn’t already know.

“Faith took him in hand from day two. She spent day one bitching about the situation. She’d only hooked up with Ned in order to destroy Sonny Corinthos then Alexis had her break and Ned had a whole different set of priorities. Ned was fighting with Edward about ELQ and trying to be responsible for the baby. Day to day, Faith and the guys were influencing Dillon while raising Baby. Teaching him how to drive, how to shoot, how to dress, how to seduce a woman and that rule one is, was and will always be Protect Baby.”

“I’ve seen this.” Josef nods. “Her guards have a... crazy look in their eyes when they are working her security.”

“It’s better to call before coming over.” Zander agrees with a nod. “And if it were just the guys or just CSMC then it would be no big deal of you hooking up with Kristina. Nobody in that little circle is ever going to take your opinion on anything over Kristina’s. There is Rule One and then there is Baby says. That’s it.”

Cole tilts his head to the side as he looks at Josef. “Problem comes up when you go outside that circle. Where Baby’s carefully nurtured holdings start brushing against someone else’s. She isn’t going to let anyone take what is hers. That’s the way she’s been brought up-- whether it was Faith, the Quartermaines or the Cassadines.”

Josef glances over at Zander and sees nothing different in the other man’s expression. Evidently it is true. It is not common knowledge about Kristina’s paternity. “I don’t see why I would be a problem. Kristina is surrounded by her... advisors. Wouldn’t anyone trying to manipulate her go through them?”

“Oh absolutely.” Cole nods. “And it wouldn’t work. They’d go straight back to Baby and tell her what was up. It used to be Dillon but since Baby hit eighteen he and Bruno both have taken a step back and made sure they are out of the country except for major holidays. Fact is Dillon made a big stink the last time he was home on how Baby was going to have to take over all aspects of CSMC because he didn’t have time for it and his movies. It was for show sure but Baby has been running everything 100% no input from Dillon or Bruno since her birthday.”

Zander gets a worried look on his face. “I didn’t know that. Tasha didn’t either. We thought 21.”

“Mouse is the face for any contracts that need someone over 21 but it’s hers, Zander. The Queen is dead long live the Queen. Kristina is careful and cautious and uses her advisors. Thanks to be we aren’t talking about Karin or it would be different story. My understanding from when I was talking to Manny down in Boston the agreement is that Baby is handing everything. And Dillon and Bruno can’t bitch about the way she does. Of course if she calls them...”

“Then they’d drop everything and take care of whatever it is.” Zander nods. “It wouldn’t have been like this if Faith was still alive. Sure, Faith would have been grooming her to take over but it wouldn’t have been until Faith was ready to part with power– which would have been over her dead body. She would have set her up with a restaurant or something the way she had Dillon working the vid operations.”

“In my nightmares, I imagine what it would have been like if Faith was still alive.” Cole says grimly. “You and I remember her with clarity. Every one else puts a sugar coat on her, especially around Baby.”

Zander winces. “Ned would be dead that is for sure.”

Cole nods. “First time he asked for a divorce. She would have sexed him out of it but within two weeks she would have been back to wearing black and she would have had Dillon being her rock and solace in her time of great grief. And with Ned gone if Stefan would have tried to take custody of Baby...”

“He would have been harder to kill.” Zander muses. “He’d already had so many years of practice dodging his mother’s efforts to kill him... including poison which was always Faith’s go to method. She would have ordered me to kill him. And promised me she would leave Tasha alone if I did. Or maybe offered me ELQ.”

“Does Kristina know any of this?!” Josef demands.

“Sure.” Zander nods. “But there is know and know.” Zander leans back in his chair. “The more I think about it and think about the way Faith was... she would have encouraged Baby to hook up with Josef.”

Josef has already figured it out from the conversation. “To keep her separate, to not be a challenge to what was going on in Port Charles. For me to teach her my business and my holdings and then what? Kill me and take over?”

Cole shrugs. “It’s a good plan. Kristina looks good in black and you know she would take excellent care of your grandmother.”

Well I guess they told him! So what's up next? If you want to know before next week well then-- reply reply reply!

Deb