Acts of Betrayal

Chapter 1

Jason guzzled the last of his beer and set the bottle on the table with the rest
of the empties. He leaned back in the dark corner booth, which he’d made all the
darker by unscrewing the low wattage bulb in the light fixture over the table, and
wrapped his fingers around the next long necked bottle awaiting his attention.

Numb.

That’s all he wanted to be. Not drunk, buzzed, or high.

Just numb…. enough to stop the thoughts rushing through his mind and deaden the
pain knotted in his heart.

The waitress stopped at the table, set two new bottles next to the two already
waiting and silently filled her tray with his empties. Jason didn’t bother her
with a glance and appreciated the fact that she didn’t try to start a conversation
or fill the silence with chirpy small talk. She obviously had waitressed at Jake’s
long enough to recognize what a customer wanted and learned that respecting those
wants earned her the biggest tips, or she could have simply learned that keeping
quiet and her nose out of other people’s business went along way to keeping her
job. Either way, Jason made a mental note to leave her a nice tip for her trouble.

The crack of pool balls exploded from the far side of the room and a group of
unkempt dockworkers cheered lustily at the break. Jason’s eyes narrowed at the
group. Most wore dirty sleeveless t-shirts, equally dirty jeans, and black knit
caps pulled low over long stringy hair. Several sported garish tattoos meant to
intimidate and he recognized all of them as Corinthos-Morgan dock workers, most
likely out squandering their weekly wages on cheap liquor and even cheaper women.
A loud, crude, boisterous lot laughing and drinking in abandon - they were a bar
fight waiting to happen.

Jason downed half of his newest beer and closed his eyes, willing the numbness to
come. Only in the dark behind his eyelids, he saw the disapproving glare of a
small brunette. Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Sam hated him. She’d said as much and worse. Her words had cut him to his heart
and he still ached from it. He knew she was in pain, the pain of a mother losing a
child - losing a child so soon after having lost her own baby - but had she simply
been lashing out at him in that pain, or had she spoken the truth. Had she only
stayed with him because he could support her and the baby? Had she lied when she
professed her love to him? If she had lied, she’d used him and his love of her
baby and baby Hope to manipulate him. But, what if she hadn’t lied? What did that
mean?

Jason didn’t want to think about it anymore. He only wanted to be numb.

Used or not. Lied to or not. He hurt, and he wanted it to go away.

He lifted the beer bottle to his lips and paused as he heard the bar door slam
open. Instinct had him turning to assess the newest arrival. A gust of wind
brought in a puff of snow and it swirled around a petite figure in a black leather
jacket. The new arrival was wearing nicely snug blue jeans and boots, which she
put to use kicking the door closed. She pulled off her wool cap, letting loose an
avalanche of chocolate brown hair and Jason’s eyes widened in surprise.

Elizabeth Webber.
He lowered his bottle back to the table and folded himself further into the
darkness of the booth. What has she doing here? He watched her make a bee-line for
the bar. He could tell she was angry by the way she sharply yanked off her jacket
and threw it on the bar. Her soft pink sweater molded her like a second skin and
was attracting stares from several men around the room, stares which made Jason
growl in disapproval. Then, she plopped down on a bar stool and he physically
tensed as behind the bar Coleman sauntered over to her, leaned on his elbow to get
in close and gave her one of his brand of slippery smiles and sly winks.

He couldn’t hear their conversation over the song grinding from the jukebox and
the rowdies at the pool table, but Coleman nodded and winked, which made Jason
grit his teeth, and then filled a shot glass with vodka and placed it on the bar
in front of her. Elizabeth lifted it in a mock toast, then tipped her head back
and downed it in one swallow.

Jason frowned. He didn’t like this. This wasn’t like Elizabeth. Granted they
weren’t as close now as they had once been, but he still felt he knew her well
enough to know when something was wrong.

Elizabeth downed her second shot and Coleman was lining up a third when Jason
noticed that the dock crew at the pool table had taken an interest in her. Three
of the burly men were huddled together, leaning on pool cues and ogling her from
across the bar. The one in the middle let out a long wolf whistle and a nod of
approval.

Jason swore to himself. Elizabeth was raising her third shot and wiggled ever so
slightly on her stool as she raised her arm. The men at the pool table hooted
their approval. Yet she still hadn’t a clue what was going on around her. Jason
shook his head, the woman had no idea what kind of havoc she was raising just
being here. He ran his hand through his short spiked hair and sighed. All he’d
wanted to do was to come and drink himself into oblivion, then crash for the night
in his old room upstairs. So much for his well laid plans. It seemed they’d gone
out window the minute Elizabeth Webber stepped into his world again.

He pulled a couple of hundreds out of his wallet and tossed them on the table for
the waitress, then drank the bottom half of his beer and grabbed a full bottle to
take with him. He slid out of the booth and stood, feeling the floor pitch under
him a moment as he got his bearings. How many beers had he drunk? Apparently more
than he’d realized.

The men at the pool table immediately saw him emerging from the corner booth and
their faces told Jason all he needed to know. They saw him, they recognized him,
and with their back-stepping and raised palms, showed they had no intention of
crossing him. Jason pulled himself straighter and inhaled deeply, meeting each
man’s gaze in a silent affirmation of his place as the alpha male in the room.

The dock hands nodded mutely and went back to their pool game. Then Jason slowly
crossed the room, headed directly towards the brunette at the bar downing her
third shot of vodka.

She hadn’t noticed his approach, because when he leaned one hand on the bar next
to her, she jumped in surprise and her eyes widened in recognition.

“Jason.” She said, the word slightly slurred, and reached up to tuck a strand of
hair behind her ear.

Her eyes were red-rimmed and slightly puffy, from crying no doubt, and she wiped
at her reddened nose with a wadded tissue in her hand.

Jason tipped his head at the chair next to her. “Do you mind?”

She shrugged and turned back to Coleman who had just arrived to fill up her shot
glass.

Coleman had a vodka bottle in hand and propped in on the counter top before
filling her glass, “Hey, baby-doll, are you sure I can’t interest you in something
with a cute little umbrella in it, like a frozen daiquiri?”

Elizabeth shook her head and rapped her knuckles on the counter. “Nope. Just fill
me up again.”

Coleman sighed, and shot Jason a knowing look, twisting the bottle for him to get
a good look at the label. Jason saw and tipped his head in approval. It was the
bottle they kept watered down for patrons who were obviously out of control.

Coleman filled Elizabeth’s shot glass and she stared at it for a long minute
before picking it up. Jason watched her bring the glass to her lips and tip her
head back, slamming the drink in one shot. Watered down or not, she was going to
get drunk fast at this rate.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Elizabeth rapped her knuckles on the bar again, looking for Coleman, who was
suddenly nowhere to be found.

Jason took a swig of his beer and a long hard look at Elizabeth. She was staring
down at her glass and as her eyes fluttered closed, a single tear spilled out and
trailed a glossy line down her cheek. Then she turned and met his gaze and his
heart constricted in his chest. So much pain. He recognized the anguish he saw in
her sapphire eyes because it was a reflection of the pain he felt own heart, and
suddenly the years fell away. It felt natural again, just the two of them like it
had been before - in her studio, on the docks, here at Jake‘s - one of them
needing, the other knowing how to just be.

Jason reached over and cupped her chin, gently gliding his thumb over her cheek,
catching the tear and wiping it away. Elizabeth closed her eyes and turned her
cheek into his hand. Her breath hitched as she inhaled and she opened her eyes to
look at him.

“Jason.”

She said his name on an exhale and in it he heard a plea for help.

Jason pushed away from the bar and stood, this time the floor only mildly
teetering under his feet. He looked down at her, her eyes wide and glistening with
unshed tears. He held out a hand to her.

“Come on.”

“Where?” She wiped her cheeks with her fingers and for the first time since she’d
entered, she glanced around at the bar.

“Trust me.”
She looked back up at him and he watched as emotion played across her face and
then he saw her decision. The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile.

She stood and her legs gave way underneath her. She wildly grabbed at Jason as she
began to fall. He caught her easily, but together they swayed and she wound up
having to lean heavily against him in order to remain on her feet.

Jason wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed her coat and purse.

“Ready?“ She nodded, and he tipped his head to the side. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 2

Jason closed the door behind him and turned around to find Elizabeth exactly where
he’d left her, standing in the middle of his old room above Jake’s. She was
looking around in wonder, recognition lighting her eyes. “This was your room.” She
said as she turned and then teetered dangerously before Jason caught her arm and
steadied her.

Navigating up Jake’s back stairs had been a challenge, mainly because Elizabeth
had leaned so heavily against him he was pressed against the wall, which was
compounded by the fact that both of them had repeatedly caught the toes of their
boots on the stairs as they climbed. It was a wonder they’d made it up here
without falling.

Elizabeth stumbled forward and looked up at him with wide, glassy eyes. The vodka
she’d drunk had obviously worked its magic on her.

“But you don’t live here anymore.” She looked up at him quizzically. “Do you?”

“Elizabeth,“ Jason said, putting his hands on her shoulders and shifting her
upright as she started sagging to the left. “I think you should sit.”

He steered her backwards towards the bed, but she’d only taken a couple of steps
when her feet tangled and she tripped, pitching over backwards and pulling him
with her as she went.

They landed heavily on the bed, sprawled side by side, half on and half hanging
off. Jason groaned and rolled onto his back. Elizabeth, however, started giggling
and since she had landed more off the bed than on, her body slowly slid onto the
floor.

Jason closed his eyes, waited for the room to stop spinning and tied to remember
how many beers he had drunk. Elizabeth’s giggles floated up and popped around him
like effervescent bubbles and he couldn‘t help smiling at their cheerful sound.
Then as he listened, the giggling turned into hiccupping and the hiccupping
quickly dissolved into sobbing.

He rolled up on his elbows and eased himself down onto the floor next to her.
Elizabeth turned to him and curled into his side, burrowing her head into the
crook of his neck and fisting her hand in his shirt. He wrapped an arm around her
shaking shoulders, pulled her to him, and simply held her - his chin resting on
the top of her head as he rocked her back and forth and let her cry.

They sat, holding each other, until Elizabeth had cried herself out. Jason let the
silence linger, not wanting to intrude on her pain or offer her meaningless
platitudes.

Finally, she lifted her head and pulled back, absently tucking a stray strand of
hair behind her ear. She didn’t meet his gaze, but he still saw her puffy red-
rimmed eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. His heart swelled painfully in his chest and
he reached up to cup her cheek with his palm and wipe away her tears with a gentle
stroke of his thumb.

“Do you want to talk?” He asked.

Elizabeth’s eyes fluttered closed and she shook her head, pulling her lips into a
thin line. Then she sighed. “Lucky was shot.”

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Almost in the same place you were, but a little higher. The bullet punctured his
lung, but he’s supposed to fully recover.“ Elizabeth paused and seemed to wilt a
little. “When they brought him out of surgery I was ready to go see him, but…” Her
breath hitched and fresh tears started spilling down her cheeks. “He didn’t ask
for me. He asked to see Emily.“ She rolled her eyes. “I knew they were friends,
but you should have seen them Jason. I went to the window and peeked into the
room. Lucky was lying in bed, holding hands with Emily and looking at her just
like…. like….” she started hiccupping between her words, caught somewhere between
crying and talking. “like…. like he used to look at me. I thought we were starting
over. I thought we had another chance, but we don’t. Because he doesn’t love me.
He’s in love with Emily.”

Abruptly she turned pleading eyes toward Jason, her words laced with anger and
hurt. “What’s wrong with me Jason?” Her voice cracked, and her breath hitched.
“Why am I not good enough to love? I’m not good enough for Lucky. I wasn’t good
enough for Ric,”

Jason frowned at her. “Lucky and Ric are both idiots. You’re not the problem
Elizabeth. They are.”

She levered herself up on her knees and pointed a trembling finger at him. “I
wasn’t good enough for you either.”

Jason’s eyes went wide. “Is that what you think?”

“That’s what I know.” Elizabeth angrily swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “You
never fought for me. You never tried to win me back. You never got a special place
for us to meet. Why Jason? Please tell me, what‘s wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Jason struggled to control his composure, but
her words were dredging up memories he thought he’d buried long ago and stirring
feelings he thought he’d forgotten. His head began to ache, how could she believe
he let her walk away because he didn‘t care enough.

“There has to be something about me that makes me not worthy of loving.” The hurt
in her eyes twisted a knife in his heart.

“No!“ He said. “It wasn’t you, it was me.” Then his tone softened and his shoulder
sagged. “I was the one who wasn’t good enough for you.”

He levered himself up on his knees so that he could gaze down into her upturned
face, barely inches from his, and looked her in the eyes as he spoke out loud
truths he’d only ever admitted to himself. “You told me to stay away and I did,
because…” he paused and sighed, “because I knew I wasn’t good enough for you.
Because you deserve a better man than me.”

Elizabeth’s sapphire eyes widened and she raised trembling fingers to her lips.
She searched his face, lingering on his eyes, and he felt like she was looking
straight into his heart. Jason sighed. At least now she knew the truth and could
blame him instead of hating herself.

“Elizabeth…” he began, but she moved her fingers to his lips.

“Shhh….”

She tipped her head ever so slightly and slid her fingers over his cheek. Jason
felt the embers that she had stirred with her words burst into flame at the feel
of her touch. He closed his eyes and steeled himself against the heat spreading
through his veins.

“Oh, Jason.” She said on a sigh, and feathered her fingers into his hair.

Jason’s breath caught in his throat and his eyes snapped open. She was watching
her fingers play through his hair, then a small smile blossomed on her lips and
her eyes fell to his. She held his gaze as she brought her other hand up to smooth
her fingers over his jaw. Then she rose, closing the space between them and softly
brushed her lips across his.

As he felt her lips more over his, Jason’s mind exploded with memories of her. She
tasted like he remembered, petal soft and sweet, but this kiss was better than the
one he held in his mind. He brought his hands up to cup her face and feathered his
lips over hers, keeping his touch as light as hers had been. Each brush of their
lips tightened the desire coiled in his belly and heightened the emotion heating
his blood. Then he remembered more - how she’d changed her mind the last time
they‘d started this. How just a handful of hours before he’d been settled into a
life and content with another woman and a child. How that woman had viciously
turned on him, using his feelings for her and a helpless baby as a weapon against
him. Was he doing this now in reaction to that, erasing the pain and hurt with
offered pleasure, or were he and Elizabeth picking up where they’d left off over
two years ago?

Each memory, each question gave him reason to pause. There were so many reasons
why this wasn’t a good idea. Not the least of which was the fact that they had
both been drinking heavily. He didn’t want to make a mistake. Not with Elizabeth.
She meant too much to him to throw away what they had…. or could have… all in one
drunken night of passion.

He forced himself to pull away and look her in the eye. “You told me this wasn’t
the way you wanted this to happen.” He said, his voice was rough and gravelly.

“And you told me I could always change my mind… again.” She leaned closer,
sneaking her hands down to his waist where she slipped them under the hem of his
t-shirt and slid them up the plane of his stomach.

Jason inhaled sharply and his muscles tensed under her caress, and he reached for
her wrists to keep her hands from wandering higher. “Elizabeth.” he warned, then
he swallowed roughly. His brain was warring with his desires, and her every touch
was drawing his restraint thinner. “I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow morning
and regret this.”

Elizabeth looked up at him through half-lidded eyes, her hair tossed in loose
sensual curls around her face, and smiled a sultry, come-hither smile at him.
Jason’s resolve weakened and the sounds of his thoughts faded behind the throb of
the blood pulsing in his ears. She started to drift closer and he moved his hands
to her waist to hold her back.

“We’re both adults. We both know what this is about.” Elizabeth said, slipping her
hands around his waist and smoothing them up his back, dragging his shirt with her
as she went. Despite his hold on her waist, she leaned closer and brushed her lips
along his jaw, pausing at his ear to whisper. “I need you.”

Jason tensed, unable to breathe. Her words sang through his mind, finding and
filling old desires he’d had of hearing her tell him how much she needed him. His
resolve pulled taut, now nothing more than a fine thread. His fingers had somehow
found their way under the hem of her fuzzy pink sweater and the feel of her smooth
skin under his hands made his head swim. The warning sirens that sounded so loudly
in his head earlier were now lost in a haze of rising passion, and Jason closed
his eyes, drawing back to rest his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes,
feeling her warm breath fanning against his face. He felt her trembling under his
fingers and heard her words echoing in his head. “I need you.“, and still he held
back. Still uncertain. Still afraid of making a mistake that they’d both regret.

Elizabeth turned her head, letting her cheek glide over his. She pulled her
herself further into his arms, bringing her body flush with his. Then she teased
his ear with her lips and whispered to him. “Please, Jason, make me feel wanted.”

And the thread snapped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

General Hospital

Lucky’s heart monitor beeped steadily, a soothing rhythmic pulse in an otherwise

quiet, dimly light room. Emily had pulled the unwieldy hospital chair over to
Lucky’s bed and was now curled up in it watching him sleep. He’d been given a mild
sedative by the doctor so he could get some much needed rest and he’d dozed off
still holding her hand. She looked down at their entwined hands and gently
squeezed his fingers.

Then she faltered, her eyes blurring with tears. So many horrors had happened in
the last twenty-four hours, so much ugliness and pain, and now that the shock of
it all was wearing off, cold hard reality sank its teeth deep into her soul.

She’d been raped.

Connor Bishop had beaten and raped her. A choked sob escaped her lips. It had been
a horror to live through once, but now every time she closed her eyes to think of
the man she loved - her husband, whose memory should be giving her strength and
hope - she only saw the face of her rapist and felt his hands touching her, his
body penetrating hers, and revulsion made her skin crawl.

Then if that weren’t bad enough, Helena Cassadine had arrived in the aftermath of
her assault and had tried to kill her. If Lucky hadn’t jumped between them and
taken a bullet meant for her, she would right now be lying on a slab in the
morgue.

So now, her best friend was in a hospital bed fighting for his life, she was
fighting for her sanity, and Helena Cassadine had slipped through their trap and
disappeared once again.

Too tired to fight anymore, Emily let herself begin to cry, and having finally
stopped resisting the pain, it crashed over her, drowning her in its intensity.
She collapsed forward, her forehead falling against Lucky’s arm, and erupted into
a fit of heart-rending sobs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kelley’s Diner

Sam McCall sat in the dark in the middle of her bed surrounded by photographs. A
large metal bowl that she’d stolen from the downstairs kitchen rested on the
blanket in front of her.

She reached down and picked up a photo. It was a picture of her holding baby Hope
the day Bridget had dropped her off. A small smile lifted the corner of Sam’s
mouth. She’d been so happy that day. Hope had been so small, so precious and
needed her so completely.

She’d taken dozens and dozens of pictures of Hope during those first few days -
supposedly the beginning of a new life for her, and the start of a new family that
had risen from the ashes of the old. She’d had a baby again, a child to fill the
void that the loss of her own baby had left in her heart. She shook her head as
she looked at the tiny baby in the picture, not that Hope was replacing her baby.
No, not replacing at all. Hope just needed so much and she had so much love to
give that they just naturally fit. It was a match made in heaven.

It was perfect.

Then she frowned. Until Jason betrayed her.

Jason had taken away her baby, her baby, and given it to strangers. She had
trusted him, let him into her life, she’d even started to actually like him, and
then he’d gone and destroyed everything.

She lifted a lighter and flicked in on with her thumb. Then she brought it to the
corner of the picture and watched as the flame caught on the paper, spreading and
blackening the photo as the fire licked over it’s surface. Flame curled over baby
Hope’s face and Sam watched with dead, emotionless eyes as the child’s face
disappeared into a crust of black. Then she flicked the burning photo into the
bowl and picked up another picture.

Chapter 3

For the first time in months Elizabeth didn’t wake up to the shrill ringing of her
alarm clock or the crying of a small baby, and she reveled in it. Without opening
her eyes, she let wakefulness come over her slowly, relishing the peace and quiet,
and especially loving the feel of the muscular chest pressed against hers and the
strong arm wrapped around her waist.

Jason’s arm.

She smiled. Last night had been more than she’d ever dreamed it could be.
Admittedly some of the details were a bit foggy, but it had been glorious none the
less. She’d wondered for years what kind of lover Jason Morgan would be, and her
smile widened now that she knew. Oh how she knew. He made love the same way he
rode his motorcycle - with wild abandon, exploding with passion, and as intense as
driving the cliff road after dark, racing fast and furious, taking the turns too
sharply, flying through the night, the wind in their faces, until the world
blurred away, driving them on to where they could almost touch the stars. She
reached the top like she had then, trembling with excitement, breathless from the
thrill, completely spent and yet desperate to do it all over again.

“Good morning.”

Jason’s voice was thick with sleep and her eyes fluttered open to find him gazing
at her, his pale blue eyes twinkling playfully and his normally perfectly styled
hair sticking out in various directions. Her smile widened and she nuzzled into
his shoulder.

“What are you smiling about?” He asked.

“You,” Elizabeth said, then amended her answer, her smile morphing from playful to
sultry. “Us.”

Jason’s eyes fell and she felt him tense, “So you don’t regret last night?”

“No.” She answered, then her eyes widened as panic gripped her heart, “Do you?”

“Never.” His smile widened as his eyes returned to hers, and he reached up to
brush a tumble of curls out of her face and tuck them behind her ear.

Elizabeth slid her hand up to capture his and found watching the slow entwining of
their fingers amazingly erotic. Her heart sped up and she nervously licked her
lips, suddenly acutely aware of the heat of his skin against hers and the tangle
of their legs under the sheets.

Jason released her hand and propped up on one elbow. He looked down at her, taking
his time and letting his eyes feast on her. He lingered on her face, her eyes,
cheeks, lips and then down the line of her neck, her full breasts and slowly let
his eyes drift down the flat plain of her stomach to where she disappeared under
the covers. Elizabeth flushed in embarrassment under his intense gaze, but another
part of her - a very feminine part - enjoyed the feeling of being appreciated and
lusted after by such a virile male as Jason Morgan. That part of her sang loud and
clear, heating her blood and kindling a sweet ache at the junction of her thighs.

Jason’s eyes drew back to her face and he reached out to caress her cheek with his
fingers, letting his thumb glide softly over her lips.

“I never thought I deserved you.” His voice was soft and the confession made
Elizabeth’s heart leap into her throat. She reached up and caressed his cheek, and
Jason closed his eyes and placed his hand over hers, turning his face to kiss her
palm.
“Jason.” Elizabeth sighed. He turned back to her and started to close the space
between them, his intentions written clearly in his smoldering gaze, when the
sprightly tune of a cell phone started playing. Both of them automatically turned
towards sound, and Jason groaned.

“That’s mine,” Elizabeth said. “It’s in my purse.”

Jason leaned over her, scooped her purse off the floor and held it so she could
pull her phone free. One quick glance at the display and she groaned as well.
“It’s Grams. I need to take it.” Jason nodded and Elizabeth flipped the phone open
and lifted it to her ear.

“Hi Grams, how’s Cam?” Elizabeth sat up, pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts
and slid an apologetic look at Jason, who eased out of bed and started gathering
their clothing.

“No, I’m fine. Any word on Lucky?” She paused to listen to Audrey, “When do you
have to be at work?” She covered her eyes with her hand. “No, no problem. I’ll be
there. Then I’ll go and check on Lucky.” She nodded absently. “Okay, bye.”

Elizabeth shut the phone and sighed. Then she looked up at Jason who’d pulled on
his jeans, but had left them undone, giving her a glimpse at his white briefs. He
was holding out her pink lacy bra and matching panties.

“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching out to take her lacy delicates from him, but
pausing as her hand touched his. She cleared her throat and eased her hand away,
then swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pulled on her panties.

“Don’t be. We’re both adults. We both know we have lives and obligations.”

Elizabeth had just finished latching her bra behind her back and paused, suddenly
horrified. She actually hadn’t been thinking of either of their lives or other
obligations. She paled. What about Jason’s life? Had she just done something that
would mess up other aspects of Jason’s life?

She stood and covered her eyes with her hand. “Oh, Jason. I didn’t think about you
and Sam…” She paused, finding herself uncomfortable at the thought of Jason with
another woman, “I don‘t want to cause a…” She stopped when she felt Jason’s hands
settle on her shoulders. She dropped her hand and looked up hesitantly, expecting
to find regret, or maybe a hint of frustration. Instead she saw only a shadow of
sadness in his eyes.

“There is no Sam and me.”

As she watched him, that hint of sadness vanished, and seeing that whiff of
emotion get buried under his normal stoic expression saddened her far more than
seeing it on his face to begin with. She knew him well enough to recognize when he
was in pain. Sam McCall had managed to hurt him deeply.

“I’m so sorry, Jason.”

Jason shrugged and bent to snag his shirt from under the bed. “Don’t be. It’s over
and done with.”

Elizabeth nibbled on her lower lip a moment as she watched Jason tug the shirt on
over his head. She’d never pressed him to talk about something if he didn’t want
to, and she wasn’t about to start now. Obviously he wasn’t ready to talk. So she
tried to focus on something else. Getting dressed… yes… she needed to get dressed.
Quickly she scanned the room to find her clothes and saw her jeans in a crumpled
pile over by the closet. She went to get them, but the silence started to gnaw at
her, making her feel uncomfortable and she started talking to fill the emptiness.

“I really should get to the hospital and check on Lucky. Em’s probably been there
all night, and after everything she’s been through she really….”

Jason swung around to her as she was pulling her jeans over her hips. “What
happened to Emily?”

Elizabeth’s mouth fell open and then she clamped it shut. She closed her eyes and
swore at herself. He didn’t know. Emily hadn’t talked to him yet.

“Elizabeth.” Dread laced his voice. She sighed and opened her eyes.

She put her hands on his arms, and the worry in his ice blue eyes deepened as he
saw the seriousness in hers. “Call her Jason. She needs you right now.”

Jason’s brow furrowed but he didn’t ask questions. He only reached for his jacket
and pulled his cell phone out of its pocket. Turning, he retreated into the
bathroom to make the call and Elizabeth took the opportunity to finish getting
dressed. She cringed. She should have told Jason about Emily last night.

She had just finished pulling on her boots when Jason burst out of the bathroom.
His face was grim as he sat next to her on the bed and quickly jammed his feet
into his boots.

“Come on, I’ll drop you at Audrey’s on the way to the hospital.” He said as he
jumped up and grabbed his jacket.

Elizabeth grabbed her coat and purse, and was putting them on as she followed him
as he pounded down the stairs. “I can call a cab so you can get to the hospital
faster.”

Instead of answering, Jason slammed out of the back door and Elizabeth followed,
then she stopped short in the doorway. Sitting five feet away from them was
Jason’s motorcycle. Elizabeth’s breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t ridden
with him in nearly three years, and the idea of riding behind him again had every
nerve in her body alert and tingling with anticipation.

Jason grabbed the helmet and handed it to her. “Let’s go.”

She took it from him with trembling hands and strapped it on as Jason mounted the
bike and kick-started it. The thrum of the bike’s engine vibrated through her,
making her heart skip a beat. Then she slid behind him on the seat, his body
pressed tightly between her thighs, and wrapped her arms securely around his
waist.

He twisted around to her, “Ready?” He yelled over the sound of the engine.

Elizabeth nodded and she felt him tense as he turned, revved the engine and kicked
the bike into gear. Then they were shooting forward, Jason weaving them expertly
around the bar, through the deserted parking lot and into the street. Once on the
straight away, he accelerated and Elizabeth tightened her hold on him, pressing
herself against his back. The wind whipped by, the buildings began to blur
together, and she couldn’t suppress a squeal of delight.

She felt Jason reach up and put a hand on top of hers and squeeze. Then he revved
the engine again and they shot forward in a burst of speed that made her tremble
from excitement and she wondered how she had ever convinced herself she could live
without this.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth arrived at the hospital a couple of hours later, after she’d showered,
fed Cameron and then dropped him off at the hospital nursery. As she’d made her
way to Lucky’s room she’d seen Emily, Jason and Monica together in the waiting
area. Taking her post at Lucky’s bedside to sit vigil over his sleeping form, she
couldn’t help but watch the small group through the room’s window.

Emily, Monica and Jason had formed a tight circle with their heads together.
Monica was holding Emily, half supporting her in a hug, and Jason had a hand on
either of their shoulders. Emily looked as if she could collapse at any moment and
Monica looked stricken with worry. Elizabeth could see Jason’s concern for his
sister written all over his face, but she also saw beyond the concern to the fury
that roiled underneath his calm surface. From the tightness in his jaw, to the
stiff set of his shoulders and the creases marring his forehead, she saw his anger
shining through like a beacon, and her hands gripped the bar on the side of the
Lucky’s hospital bed until her knuckles were white from the strain.

Finally Monica began steering Emily towards the elevator. Emily went along
awkwardly, her legs moving stiffly, looking more like a rag doll than a person.
Jason stood and watched them go until the elevator doors blocked them from his
sight. Then his hands balled into fists.

He turned towards the room and his eyes locked with hers, then he tipped his head
to the side and beckoned for her with a wave of his hand.

Elizabeth glanced down at Lucky. He was still asleep and his heartbeat was
blipping strong and steady on the monitor. She smoothed a hand over his and
squeezed. “I’ll be right back, Lucky,” she said soothingly to his unresponsive
form. Then she hurried around his bed and into the hall, following Jason as he
lead them back to the corner of the empty waiting area.

When he turned back to her, the anger burning in his eyes made her catch her
breath.

“Did that bastard rape her?” Jason asked bluntly, his barely controlled whisper
thick with emotion.

Elizabeth winced and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. It had been
years since her own rape, and she had dealt the trauma long ago, but sometimes all
it took was one unexpected reminder and the pain would flare up, its sting fresh
and raw.

Jason cringed, “I’m sorry Elizabeth, I didn’t mean to…”

“Its okay, really.” She brushed off his concern. This was a demon she’d faced
thousands of times over and it only took a moment for her to get back in control.
She took a deep, steadying breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “She
didn’t tell me, but…” She let her voice trail off and brought her eyes to Jason’s.
She lifted her brows and sighed, nodding sadly, “I think so. She’s acting a lot
like I did.”

He grimaced, lifting his gaze over her head and running his hands over his face
and back through his hair.

“What did Lucky do with the body?”

Elizabeth shook her head, everything had happened so fast once she and Lucky had
arrived at Wyndemere yesterday morning, she had to concentrate to remember what
had happened when. “I don’t know, he didn’t let me go with him when he took it
away. I stayed with Emily. She was a wreck, but after I got her up to her bedroom
so she could lie down, I went back downstairs to clean up.” Elizabeth covered her
eyes with a shaky hand, remembering all the blood there had been. She rolled her
eyes and took a deep breath. “I was coming back upstairs when I heard the
gunshots. I’m not sure when Lucky got back, but he couldn’t have been gone longer
than an hour.”

“Do the police know about Emily and Connor?” Jason’s eyes hardened.

Elizabeth shook her head, “I don’t think so. They were focused on saving Lucky and
finding Helena.” Her eyes went wide and she reached out and squeezed Jason’s
bicep. “Emily shot Connor in the basement. Lucky was shot in the living room. The
police were searching the living room, but if they go looking around the
basement….” She shook her head. “I cleaned up, but not good enough to stand up to
a forensics team. If they go down there they’ll find evidence of another crime.”

Jason’s jaw set and his eyes slid to the side. She could feel his bicep harden
under her light grip. Then his eyes swung back to hers. “Can you go check on Emily
this afternoon, and talk with Monica? Tell her what you suspect if she doesn’t
already know.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I was going to go see Emily anyway. I‘ll talk to Monica.”

Jason glanced quickly around the room then stepped closer to her. He brought one
hand up, ran his fingers along her cheek, then leaned in and brushed his lips over
hers in a quick unexpected kiss. Elizabeth raised on her toes to deepen it,
letting their lips linger, their tongues briefly tease across each other, and then
Jason pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, breathing fast and shallow.

“I’ve got to go,” he said and pressed another kiss to her forehead before he
turned and started walking away.

“Jason,” Elizabeth called after him, and he paused to turn back to her. “Don’t get
caught.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam had stationed herself across the street from the Harbor View Towers in a booth
in a small café that had a view of both the Tower’s main entrance and the entrance
to the underground parking garage. She’d sat literally for hours, through
breakfast and then lunch , long ago losing count of how many cups of coffee she’d
had before she finally saw Jason drive into the garage on his motorcycle. Then she
leaned back in the booth and began the real waiting.

Less than half an hour later, Jason sped back out of the garage, his motorcycle
going airborne for a second as he flew up the exit ramp, and she was on the move.

Dropping a couple of twenties on the table to cover her tab, she headed for the
door and then straight across the street to the Tower’s main entrance. Nodding at
the doorman, she scurried to the elevator and fidgeted with the tie on her
overcoat as she waited. Jason had looked like he was in a hurry, which she hoped
meant he was going to be gone for a while, because she didn’t want to run into him
- not yet. Not before she was ready.

The solitude of the elevator ride up gave her time to get into character. She
gathered up her anger and hid it behind a mask of grief. Then she stifled a smirk,
she’d pulled off a lot of cons in her career, but this one, this one would be her
coup’ de grace. She was going to cut Jason’s heart out for what he’d done to her.

The elevator door slid open and she stepped into the foyer, her head lowered and
her face pinched in mock-sorrow. Max was standing guard near the door to Sonny’s
apartment and she saw him stiffen as he saw her.

She stopped, hesitated, then stuck her hands in her pockets and shifted from one
foot to the other all the while keeping her head down. Then she turned to Max and
lifted her head just enough to make sure he could see the lone tear she had
squeezed out of her eye as it trailed down her cheek. Max cleared his throat and
approached her almost timidly.

“Sam? Are you alright?” His gruff voice was softened by concern. Sam had to turn
her head and lift a hand to hide the smirk that was threatening to appear.

She kept her voice low and wobbly, and as she started speaking she let herself
stutter for effect. “I…I… forgot a few things at Jason’s.” She hitched her breath
in a good impression of a sigh, “I waited for Jason to leave, I…I… didn’t want to
see him. I just wanted to get my things and go.”

Max was nodding and moving to open Jason’s door for her. She kept her head down
and murmured a thank you to the guard as she entered the penthouse.

After the door shut leaving her alone in the darkened room, she snorted and rolled
her eyes. All this time Faith had been using the wrong approach. All it took to
get into the inner sanctum of the most powerful mob boss on the east coast was a
few tears and a little whimpering.

Sam avoided looking around the room, no need to remind herself of the pain that
had been inflicted here, instead she focused on the task at hand and headed
straight for the desk. Removing the lock picks from her pocket, she crouched and
set to work at opening the locked filing drawer.

She licked her lips in success as she felt the lock give under her expert hand,
and then she tossed a quick glance at the door as she slid the drawer open.
Riffling through the file folders, it only took a moment for her to find what she
was looking for.

Sam rolled her eyes. Leave it to Jason and his non-imaginative brain to label a
file - “AJ‘s Current Location”. Of course she hadn’t doubted that Jason would know
where AJ was - what was that old adage, keep your friends close and your enemies
closer - Jason always knew where all his enemies were and what they were up to. It
was part of the reason the Corinthos-Morgan empire stayed in power - no one was
ever able to get the drop on them.

Sam eased the file out of the drawer and flipped it open. Inside was a single
sheet of paper with a several photos paper-clipped to it. She slid the photos free
and thumbed through them. All of them were slightly out of focus and grainy,
attesting to the fact that they’d been taken with long range photo equipment, but
clearly, all were of AJ. AJ lying on the beach, AJ standing as the ocean surf
crashed over his feet, AJ at a bamboo hut bar ordering a drink and smiling at a
leggy blonde in a barely-there bikini.

The paper listed an address, and Sam grabbed a pen and notepad off the desk to jot
it down. Then she smiled.

This was going to be too easy.

Chapter 4

Elizabeth stood holding Cameron in the foyer of the Quartermaine mansion, the
large opulent room making her feel small in comparison and she straightened her
spine trying not to let herself be intimidated by it. She was nervous enough as it
was given her reason for being here and feeling so out of place in the ornate room
wasn’t helping matters any.

Monica walked in from the living room and crossed to the two of them. “Elizabeth!
I‘m so glad you stopped by. Who is this handsome man on your arm?” The older blond
smiled and squinched her nose at Cameron.

“This is my son Cameron.” Elizabeth smiled with a mother‘s pride, running a hand
up and down Cameron’s back to sooth him as he squealed at Monica’s attention, then
stuck a pudgy fist into his mouth and burrowed his head into his mom’s neck. With
Monica distracted, Elizabeth took the moment to look closely at her. Monica was
smiling, but there was no spark in her eyes, and Elizabeth guessed that she was
unsuccessfully trying to hide her worry behind a happy face.

“How’s Emily?” Elizabeth asked.

Monica’s smile vanished, and she sighed, casting a glance up the stairs in the
direction of her daughter’s room. Then she stepped closer to Elizabeth and said in
hushed tones, “Not well. Elizabeth, I know you are her friend, but if something
happened to her please tell me.”

Elizabeth pulled her lower lip between her teeth and remembered her promise to
Jason. “tell Monica what you suspect if she doesn’t already know”, but she worried
that voicing her suspicions would be impinging on Emily’s right to privacy. She
sighed, it was a no-win situation, either telling or not telling could potentially
hurt Emily, so she chose the option that might possibly help.

“Monica, she hasn’t told me anything about what happened to her…” She paused and
cast a quick glance upstairs feeling a bit like a tattletale, “but she’s acting a
lot like I did after I was raped.”

Monica’s eyes closed and she seemed to shrink into herself. Elizabeth shifted
Cameron into her other arm and reached out to touch her shoulder.

Monica looked back at Elizabeth, nearly begging the younger woman. “Please go talk
to her. Maybe she‘ll open up to you.”

Elizabeth nodded. She didn’t know if she could help, or if Emily would even allow
her to, but she needed to try. No matter what else was happening between Lucky and
her - Emily was her friend first and foremost - if she needed help, Elizabeth
would be there for her.

Monica held her hands out for Cameron. “If you’ll let me, I’ll take Cameron, so
you two can have some privacy.”

Elizabeth hesitated a moment, then seeing the smile spread across Monica’s face,
she relaxed. This was Jason and Emily’s mother, she could trust her. Elizabeth
kissed Cameron on the forehead and handed him into Monica’s waiting arms. Then she
handed over his diaper bag. “There’s a bottle inside if he gets hungry.”

Monica took the diaper bag and smiled at Cameron’s wide-eyed stare, then began
speaking to him in baby-talk. “How are you little man?” She clucked her tongue and
Cameron giggled at her. “I bet Cook takes one look at that cute face of yours and
breaks out her secret stash of chocolate chip cookies.” Cameron’s smile widened,
and Monica brushed her nose against his. “Oh yes, I think she will.”

Elizabeth watched the two of them head across the foyer towards the kitchen and
felt a strange mix of joy and sadness. Except for Audrey, Cameron didn’t have any
Grandparents around to spoil him. She sighed and pushed the thought from her mind
and cast a glance up the stairs. Right now she had bigger problems to worry about.

She climbed the stairs with building trepidation and walked slowly down the hall
to Emily’s bedroom door. She lifted a hand, paused, took a deep breath, and then
knocked.

“Emily are you awake, it’s Elizabeth.” She waited for an answer.

The door opened an inch and Emily peeked out. When she saw Elizabeth she opened
the door wider, carefully staying behind it as she did.

Elizabeth slipped inside and Emily quickly shut the door behind her. Emily was
wearing a grey sweat pantsuit with a jacket she’d zipped all the way to the
throat. A haunted expression cast a shadow over her face and under her eyes, twin
dark circles stood starkly against her pale skin.

As soon as the door shut, Emily nervously wrapped her arms around herself. She
didn’t meet Elizabeth’s gaze and retreated to her bed where she sat and pulled her
legs up so she could wrap her arms around her knees.

Elizabeth sat gingerly on the bed next to her, wanting to reach out, but holding
back, uncertain how Emily would react if she did.

“Lucky told me to tell you ‘Hi’.” Elizabeth’s smile faltered. When Lucky had woken
up, the first thing he’d done was ask about Emily.

Emily managed a wobbly smile. “How’s he doing?”

“He’ll be okay. The doctor said his wound was clean, and with no complications,
he’ll be back on his feet in a few days.”

Emily stared into the distance and Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably. Elizabeth
cleared her throat softly to bring her friend back to reality. “Emily, if there’s
anything you want to talk about, you know I’m here for you.”
Emily turned her head away, “I’m fine.” The tremble in her voice belying her
words. Elizabeth sighed, grieving for her friend’s obvious pain. Emily’s head
lowered, “I… I think I’m going to try to sleep now.”

Elizabeth jumped up as Emily half-rolled, half-crawled under the quilt, and pulled
the sheets up, tucking her friend in bed.

“Thank you for coming. Tell Lucky I’ll be by to visit him later.” Then Emily
turned her back to Elizabeth and tucked her head into her pillow. Frowning,
Elizabeth backed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her. Then she
leaned heavily against the solid wood and sighed. Emily wasn’t dealing with this
well at all.

Her first impulse was to call Jason, simply because Emily had always leaned on her
brother for support, but then she remembered what Jason had said this morning and
realized Emily hadn’t said anything to him about her rape either.

Jason.

Groaning, Elizabeth closed her eyes. Between spending time in the hospital with
Lucky and now dealing with Emily, she hadn’t had a chance to even think about what
had happened between them last night.

Last night at Jake’s.

Her and Jason.

Upstairs in his room.

Naked.

A sudden fit of trembling seized her and in a panic she darted across the hall
into the bathroom and locked herself in. Perching on the edge of the bathtub, she
covered her face with shaky hands. What had she done? What had they done? She’d
gone to Jake’s because she’d felt betrayed by Lucky’s feelings for Emily. Seeing
so undeniably that his heart belonged to another had hurt and she’d wanted nothing
more than to go and drown her sorrows. She hadn’t planned on running into Jason,
much less spending the whole night making love with him. She stifled a groan. How
many times had it been? Three, four?

Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember. Four, she thought, as she tried to
pull memories out of the drunken haze that was last night. There had been the
first time on the floor, the second in the bed, then the third after she’d woken
him up - a smile spread over her face remembering how much he’d enjoyed being
awoken like that - and a fourth when he’d returned the favor and woken her up -
her smile widened remembering how much she’d enjoyed being awoken in nearly the
same way.

That made four.

Right?

Then a hazy memory of her straddling Jason in the desk chair floated into her
mind. His hands were wrapped around her hips lifting her as she rode him and her
head was tipped back so his tongue could have ample access to her…..

Suddenly hot and dizzy, Elizabeth jumped up off the edge of the tub, turned on the
cold water and splashed her face.

Five.

Okay, it’d been five times.

Then another jolt of panic swept over her and she closed her eyes. What about
birth control? Then she blushed, as she remembered. Yes, they’d used condoms. She
groaned again and let her head fall into her hands. At least that was one thing
she didn’t have to worry about.

No, she only had to worry about what it meant. When they’d awoken that morning,
they’d both admitted they didn’t regret what‘d happened, but then they really
hadn’t had a chance to talk about it either.

Then she paled as her words from last night swirled out of the alcohol induced
mists blanketing her memory - “Please Jason, make me feel wanted.” - and she
cringed. She’d shamelessly begged Jason to make love to her. Her face reddened and
her hands began quivering all over again. What if that’s all last night had been
for him - pity sex.

Elizabeth pulled her lower lip between her teeth. He had kissed her in the
hospital this morning. Didn‘t that mean something? She sighed and rubbed her
forehead. She was going to drive herself insane.

They needed to talk.

She unzipped her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jason shined his flashlight straight ahead and at the end of the dark tunnel he
caught a glimpse of the churning water of the bay. There was no moon this night to
paint the water with silver highlights and the waves dipped and swelled a matte
black.

Jason paused in his search of the tunnels to pinched the bridge of his nose, then
he pressed the pads of his thumb and fingers into his closed eyelids. His eyes
were dry and gritty from lack of sleep, but he knew there was still a lot that
needed done before he could rest.

It had been a relatively simple task to contact one of the police sergeants on
Sonny’s payroll and arrange for certain ‘favorable’ officers to be standing guard
outside Wyndemere that evening. Since the case involved the shooting of a police
officer, he’d met with some resistance, but Jason wasn’t above giving not-so-
subtle-reminders of who owned who to get what he wanted. It hadn’t taken much
persuading to get Police Sergeant Griffith to accommodate Jason’s needs.

When Jason and his team arrived at Wyndemere, they’d found the docks and grounds
devoid of a police presence, just as he’d requested. Leaving the clean-up team in
the basement to do their job, Jason personally spent the better part of the day
and night combing the island for signs of a newly dug grave or a hastily hidden
body. Lucky may have had good intentions for protecting Emily, but Jason didn’t
have much faith in his ability to cover up a crime, not when it was his sister‘s
life and freedom on the line.

Now in the wee hours of the morning, as he finished inspecting the last few feet
of tunnel snaking underneath Wyndemere, Jason completed his grid search of the
island without having a grave or a body to show for it. In fact, the only clues
he’d found were some fresh foot prints leading to the cliff. From them he guessed
that Lucky had thrown Connor’s corpse off the cliff and into the water. Jason
frowned. He hated giving Lucky credit, but that was the smartest way he could have
disposed of the body. The rough current would sweep it out to the ocean and soon
Connor Bishop would be nothing more than dinner in the bellies of hungry fish.

Jason sighed. All the same, he wanted to get confirmation of his suspicions.
Emily’s future was at stake and he couldn’t take chances with assumptions, no
matter how likely they seemed.

As he emerged from the cave, his boots sloshing through ankle deep water, his cell
phone beeped to life. Jason pulled the phone out of his pocket and shone the
flashlight on it. He’d missed a call while he’d been underground. He pushed a
button and a number lit up in the display. He recognized it immediately.

Elizabeth.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a grin, and his thoughts flashed to last
night. In all the years he’d wanted her, before and especially after they’d
finally admitted how they felt for each other, he’d tried to imagine what it’d be
like to make love to her. To feel her skin under his fingers or her body move with
his, but he never could. He simply wasn’t capable, but after last night, he knew
if he had managed to imagine something, it wouldn’t have come anywhere close to
the real thing.

Maybe it’d been the years of bottled up sexual frustration that once uncorked,
erupted into a passion that had overwhelmed the both of them. He simply hadn’t
been able to get enough of her. Each time had left him spent and exhausted, but
craving her all the more. This morning while he was pulling his pants on, he’d
counted four condoms in the trash can and knew if she hadn’t gotten that cell
phone call they would have added another to the pile.

His smile grew sly as he remembered one time fumbling the condom wrapper in his
urgency and her taking it from him and ripping it open with her teeth.

Then there was this morning in the hospital, when he’d impulsively reached out and
kissed her. It had been only one little kiss and yet it’d taken all his willpower
not to drag her into an empty supply closet and ravage her right then.

His smile faltered as a hint of doubt scuttled through his mind. She’d been
hurting last night. In truth, they’d both been hurting and needy. He’d gone to
Jake’s stinging from a betrayal of trust by a woman he’d thought he’d loved. What
if that’s all it had been for her? A night of soothing raw emotional wounds.
Jason’s jaw tightened as he closed his eyes. What if he’d only filled a role for
her that Zander had once occupied? With all the push and pull between them over
the years, he suddenly wasn’t sure what to believe.

Still she’d called him. That was a good sign? Wasn’t it? He looked down at this
cell phone, this time checking his watch and then sighing. It was well after three
in the morning, and she’d undoubtedly be asleep. He paused for a moment in
indecision, then pressed the call button and lifted the phone to his ear. He could
at least leave her a message.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam walked along the beach, wearing a sheer sarong over a skimpy red thong bikini
and carrying her sandals loosely in one hand. The fine grained sand gave silkily
under her feet and the tropical sun kissed her skin with its warmth. However, she
didn’t find the clear blue expanse of the ocean nor the sound of the calypso music
floating through the air the slightest bit enjoyable. Her only interest lay in
finding a man.

Her frown deepened as she stopped to scan the beach. It was a glorious tropical
island day and the beach was packed with vacationers. A bamboo hut sat at the edge
of the nearby pier and she recognized it from the grainy surveillance photos in
Jason’s drawer as the bar AJ frequented. The place was bustling with people lining
the tiny palm covered porch. None of whom was the man she searched for.

She grumbled under her breath and slapped her sandals against her thigh. How hard
could it be to find one man on a small island? No one had been at his house when
she‘d stopped by earlier and now after several hours of prowling the beaches and
local hangouts, she was getting not only tired and grumpy, but also angry as well.

She was about to start walking further down the beach when the sound of laughter
filled her ears. Mixing in with the din of the surf, blenders, music and shouting
filling the air, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all, except for the fact that she
recognized it.

She turned slowly, scanning the area, looking for the man who’d made the sound,
and found him walking down from the ocean end of the pier with three other men.

AJ Quartermaine.

Sam lowered her tortoise shell sunglasses far enough to peek over the rims, and
sized him up. He was looking good, tan and lean in low riding black swim trunks
and sandals. His dark hair was windswept and longer than she remembered. She
watched him smile confidently and hand some cash to the local working the docking
slips, then point back down the pier in the direction of a pristine sailing sloop.
The three other men with him, all reeking of old money and playboy attitudes,
laughed and pounded each other on the backs, no doubt congratulating each other on
a great day of sailing.

Pushing her sunglasses back up her nose, she headed for the pier, all the while
keeping her eyes locked on AJ, like a lioness stalking its prey.

Under her feet, sand gave way to weathered wood and as she closed the distance
between them, one of AJ’s companions noticed her approach. With a smug smile he
nudged the man next to him and brought the second man’s attention to her with a
tip of his head.

Sam didn’t spare either of them a glance, she had her goal in sight and nothing
would distract her from it. AJ finally glanced over and saw her, his smile
faltering a moment before it widened in recognition.

She stopped a couple of steps in front of him and raised an eyebrow. “Mr.
Quartermaine, you‘re a hard man to find.”

AJ turned to his companions and waggled his eyebrows, “Well, gentlemen, it looks
like I’m wanted elsewhere. Shall we meet again next week for cards, same time,
same place?” The three men muttered their affirmations and left in a gang, giving
Sam lingering looks of appreciation as they went.

Sam turned and started walking slowly back down the pier, making sure to tic her
hips to show off her rounded and virtually naked bottom at its seductive best.
Then she paused, looked back over her shoulder, and waited for AJ to catch up with
her.

“McCall, right?” AJ asked as he stopped behind her. “Sam McCall. It took me a

minute to place you, but now I remember. You’re from Port Charles, you were part
of that whole ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ card fiasco.”

Sam turned back to him, suppressing an urge to roll her eyes. Instead she waved
her hand dismissively, “This has nothing to do with cards.”

AJ tipped his head to the side and crossed his arms over his toned chest.
“Whatever it has to do with, I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time Ms. McCall. There
is nothing in Port Charles that interests me.”

Sam propped her hands on her hips, leaned slightly forward at the waist, and let
her head tip back. It was a carefully crafted move that worked exactly as planned
as she watched AJ’s gaze fall directly to her cleavage.

AJ chuckled as he lifted his eyes back to hers. “Nice display, but it’s not going
to work. Nothing you have to say will change my mind.”

Sam smiled seductively, “Oh, I’m afraid you’re wrong about that.” She cocked her
head to the side and raised her eyebrows. “I’m about to make you an offer you
can’t refuse.”

Chapter 5

The door slammed shut behind Elizabeth and the familiarity of her surroundings
made her smile. The sound of pool balls clacking together and hard rock music
pumping out of the corner jukebox wrapped around her and made her feel downright
giddy, even the thick yeasty smell of beer made her stomach flutter.

Jake’s.

Everything between her and Jason had started right here at Jake’s one night almost
five years ago. It seemed more than fitting that their relationship had restarted
in the same place.

Elizabeth tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she made her way to the bar
and scanned the room for a familiar figure clad in a black leather jacket. The
place was nearly empty, only a pair of pool players and a few serious drinkers
were scattered around the tables - none of them Jason.

She checked her watch. It was only nine fifty, so according to the message he’d
left asking her to meet him, she was ten minutes early. Sighing nervously, she
eased onto a barstool and swiveled to find Coleman headed her way. The shaggy-
haired bartender picked up a bottle of Tequila by its neck as he sauntered over
and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

“A tequila shooter for the lady?” Coleman asked with a sly grin and his head
cocked to the side.

Elizabeth shook her head and waved the drink away. “I think I’ll pass tonight.”

Coleman stashed the bottle on one of the glass shelves behind him and then leaned
forward, bracing his elbows on the bar. “I don’t supposed you’ll take me up on my
offer?” He asked, raising an eyebrow to go along with his sly smile.

Elizabeth’s blush deepened at the bartender’s blatant flirting and she fidgeted on
the stool. For the life of her she couldn’t remember what he was talking about.
She tipped her head to the side as she desperately tried to figure out what kind
of offer he’d made her the other evening.

Coleman chuckled and leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially, “For a fruity
drink with an umbrella in it.”

A laugh of relief escaped her, and the sound widened Coleman’s smile and set his
hazel eyes twinkling.

She met his gaze with a twinkle of her own. “Although it’s a very tempting offer,
I think I need to stick to Diet Coke tonight.”

Coleman winked at her again and filled a glass from the fountain. He sat the drink
in front of her, then holding up a finger for her to wait, he reached under the
counter, pulled out a straw crowned with a colorful little paper umbrella and
placed it in her drink. She giggled at the gesture and he grinned at her
flirtatiously, then spread his arms wide and braced both hands on the bar. “I know
this is a corny pick-up line, but what is a beautiful lady like you doing in a
place like this?”

This time Elizabeth leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially, “This is
where I come when I’m looking for trouble.”

Just then, the front door banged open and Coleman’s gaze lifted at the noise. A
shadow passed over his features and the twinkle faded from his eyes. “Well,” he
snorted, “talk about trouble, and here he is.”

Elizabeth twisted on her stool and found a very familiar spiky-haired, black
leather-jacketed man standing in the doorway, his eyes narrow as he surveyed the
room.

A slow, appreciative smile bloomed across her face, and when Jason’s eyes found
hers, an identical smile spread across his as well.

That smile sent a host of butterflies to flight in her stomach and as she watched
him approach, his eyes never wavering from her, she found herself rising in her
seat to meet him.

He stopped in front of her, their eyes still locked, and despite the dim light of
the bar, she could see the twinkle in his blue eyes.

“Elizabeth.”
The huskiness in his voice sent a chill down her spine and she found herself so
breathless she had to remind herself to inhale before she could say his name.

“Jason.”

His gaze dropped to her lips and he started to lean in, but then hesitated,
instead turning to glare at Coleman who was watching them both with rapt,
unabashed fascination.

Jason glowered at the barkeep, then put his hand on Elizabeth’s arm and tipped his
head toward the back staircase. Understanding perfectly what he meant, Elizabeth
jumped off the stool and felt Jason’s hand slide possessively to her lower back as
he started away from the bar and began maneuvering her towards the stairs.

Elizabeth turned to Coleman who seemed amused at Jason’s annoyance and flashed him
a quick wink before she turned into the back hallway. She heard Coleman chuckle
following her as she started up the stairs with Jason’s hand nestled on her hip
and his heavy boots pounding up the stairs behind her.

She was fine all the way up the stairs, down the hall and even into Jason’s room,
but once the door clicked shut behind them, the butterflies in Elizabeth’s stomach
turned sour. Vague feelings and memories began to lift from the haze in her mind,
and she was suddenly unsure of herself. She turned in a nervous circle, fiddling
with her purse strap when her gaze fell on the bed and triggered a burst of
memories. Memories of them. Together. In that bed. Skin against skin. Their bodies
entwined and moving together in a heated rhythm. The touch of his lips. The feel
of his hands on her body. The way his muscles rippled and pumped under her
fingers. Holding onto the bed’s headboard for dear life as she screamed his name.

Suddenly the room was too small and too warm. Had it always been this small?
Trembling, she turned away from the bed to find Jason right behind her, still
smiling, and had to turn away. He was too close. She couldn’t think with him so
close. She brought a shaking hand over her eyes, and started to back up a step,
then realized that step would bring her next to the bed and stopped.

Feeling dizzy in the wake of the rush of heat that swept over her, she tried to
laugh, but her nervousness strangled the sound. “This is more embarrassing that I
thought it would be.”

Jason shifted closer to her and cupped her chin, lifting her face to meet his.
“You don’t ever need to feel embarrassed with me.”

His voice was low and husky and the sound of it soothed the raw edges of her
nerves. She dropped the hand covering her eyes and sighed as she turned her face
into his palm. Looking up at him, she realized how right this moment felt. How she
really did want to be here with him, not just this minutes, but tomorrow and the
day after that as well. Now, if only she knew what he wanted.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and forced herself to step away from him. She had to
know, and as pleasurable a distraction as his touch was, if she wanted to get
through this next question, it was still a distraction she couldn’t afford.

“Jason,” she began, her voice quavering. He was watching her intently, his
expression a blend of worry and concern, and she had to look away in order to ask
him the question that’d been haunting her since yesterday. “The other night when
I…. I mean… when we…. you know…. and I was… well, I mean…. you seemed….” She felt
her cheeks burning and clenched her teeth, hoping the floor would just open up and
swallow her to end this torture. She swore at herself, took a deep breath and
forced herself to spit out the words, “Did you sleep with me because you felt
sorry for me?” Then she squeezed her eyes closed and tensed, both mortified for
asking and terrified of what his answer might be.

After a long silent pause, she peeked out of one eye and found Jason staring at
her with an unrecognizable expression on his face. Was he hurt? Surprised?
Incredulous? Relieved? She couldn’t tell and her stomach started to sink in
disappointment. Then he blinked and took a deep breath as he shook his head. One
corner of his mouth lifted into a smile and he reached out with both hands to cup
her face.

“Elizabeth.” he began, his voice sandpapery with emotion, “of all the things I
felt that night, pity wasn’t one of them.” Her shoulders sagged and a single tear
of relief slid down her cheek. His thumb shifted to gently wipe that tear away and
he sighed. “Two years ago we both admitted we wanted to try a life together. My
feelings for you are the same now as they were then.” He cleared his throat, and
his eyes fell away from hers. “When you walked out, I thought your feelings for me
had changed and you didn’t want me in your life anymore. That’s why I stayed
away.”

Jason drew her closer, his thumb gently stroking her cheek, his cerulean eyes
fastened on hers, “I still want this, but if you don’t, if what happened was just
about making the hurt go away for the moment,” he swallowed thickly, “then tell
me. If that’s all you want, I’ll respect that and walk away right now.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened at Jason’s confession and her heart leapt into her
throat. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He still wanted her. After all
this time and everything that had happened, he still wanted her. Yet, he was
willing to walk away if that’s what she wanted. She knew he’d do it if she asked -
walk away and never look back, despite what he wanted for himself - because she’d
watched him do it before. He’d walked away more than once with his heart broken
and bleeding, back when she’d been scared, confused and trying to live her life by
a misguided sense of loyalty and misplaced love. She’d let him walk away from her
even though her heart had screamed at her to stop him.

Elizabeth lifted her hands to cup his face and took a long moment to simply look
at him. She saw the guarded hope that shone in his ice blue eyes, the tension
playing across his forehead as he waited for her answer. She was still a little
scared and confused, but she knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t about to let it
walk away from her again.

“I want this too.” She said, and shushing him with a finger over his lips when he
started to speak. “My feelings for you didn’t change. Yes, I was angry, but when I
walked out, I wanted you to come after me, to fight for our relationship. Maybe
even to prove I was important to you. When you didn’t, I thought that meant you
didn’t want me….”

Jason slid his hands into her hair and pulled her to him, silencing her in a kiss
borne of urgency and hunger. Elizabeth rose on her toes to deepen it, pressing her
body against his as she slid one hand into his hair, the other finding the hem of
his t-shirt and stealing underneath it so her fingers could splay across the skin
of his lower back.

Then Jason broke away, pulling back to rest his forehead against hers. Breathing
heavily, he braced his hands against her shoulders and backed a step away. Slowly
shaking his head, he released her and scrubbed his hands over his face before
running them over his head and twining his fingers behind his neck.
He looked at her, the war between his desire and the need for honesty plainly
showing on his face. “The reasons you walked away haven‘t changed. There are still
things I won’t be able to tell you, times I’ll be gone and can’t explain why. Can
you live with that?”

“It wasn’t your life, Jason.” She argued, wanting to make him understand. “ I left
because of the lies you told. I was angry that you spent weeks avoiding me and
shutting me out.”

Jason sighed, his voice lowering in resignation. “But that’s the problem, I may
have to keep something like that from you again.”

Elizabeth closed the distance he‘d put between them. “Then tell me straight out
‘There’s something going on right now that I can’t tell you.’ That I can deal
with.”

A frown creased his forehead. “How is that different from not saying anything?”

“Because one is the truth and one is a lie.” Elizabeth eased closer to him,
“Jason, we don’t have to have all the answers this minute. We can find our way as
we go, just as long as you don‘t let me walk away without a fight.” She lifted an
eyebrow questioningly at him, “Can you live with that?”

He reached out and wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “I can
live with that.”

He grinned as he dipped his head to capture her lips, but Elizabeth ducked away.

“There’s just one more problem.” She said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she
pulled her lower lip nervously between her teeth.

Jason’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “What?”

Elizabeth slid her eyes to the side and smoothed her hands over his shoulders.
“I’d always dreamed that our first time would be special. It sounds silly but I
wanted it to be something incredible that we’d remember for the rest of our
lives.”

“You didn’t think it was incredible?” Jason asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

Elizabeth blushed and then confessed, “I can’t really remember.” Then she
shrugged, “I guess it isn’t really that important, but I was kind of hoping you
could tell me… ” she felt her blush deepening as she finished the question. “…what
happened.”

Jason grinned at her in amusement, “Would it make you feel any better if I said
it’s pretty fuzzy for me too.”

She sighed, and mentally berated herself. She was being silly, after two years of
hurt and misunderstanding, they were together and working out their problems, she
shouldn’t be so bothered by a little bit of foggy memory. There would be other
times, other memories they would create that would last her a lifetime, there was
no need to mourn the loss of one, no matter how much she’d been looking forward to
it.

Jason reached out to tuck a wayward strand of her chocolate hair behind her ear.
Then he feathered his fingertips down her jaw. “We have something much better.”
She lifted a eyebrow, “We do?”

“Yes,” he answered, slipping his hand behind the nape of her neck as his voice
grew thick with emotion, “we have the first time we both know it’s out of love.”

“Love?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened as the word slipped from her on a sigh. Jason
nodded as he drew her to him, brushing his lips softly over hers. She eased closer
for another kiss, but he pivoted and swept her off her feet and into his arms
instead. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down.

With one knee planted by her hip and his arms braced to hold himself over her, he
looked down on her with the blue of his eyes deepening in passion and his
sandpapery voice a near whisper, and asked, “Elizabeth, will you let me love you?”

Elizabeth’s heart fluttered in her chest and her breath caught in her throat.
Never before in her life had anything felt so perfectly right. A sultry smile
spread across her face as slid a hand behind his neck and gently pulled him closer
as she murmured.

“Yes, Jason, please make me feel loved.”

Chapter 6

Standing alone the in the hospital supply closet, Elizabeth went about the job of
restocking. Boxes of medical sundries were stacked on the counter awaiting their
turn to be unpacked, sorted and stored in their appropriate places. It was just
another one of the tedious menial tasks of her job.

Boredom had set her mind to wandering and her thoughts drifted to her current
concerns. Lucky was steadily improving and was expected to be discharged any day
now. His wound, bad as it had been, was healing with no complications. Emily, on
the other hand, seemed to be locked in a holding pattern. After trying to talk
with her, Elizabeth had backed off, being there for her if she needed but not
pushing. So far Emily had only begun to open up to Lucky.

Then there was Jason.

She sighed and the corner of her mouth hitched into a shameless smile. All it took
was the thought of his name to get her tingly all over.

It’d been a week now since their ‘first time when we know its because of love’
evening together and Jason had truly made that first time a time she would
remember forever. The tingles grew into a warmth she could feel redden her cheeks,
and her shameless smile widened as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

They’d managed to meet four more nights since then. Each time Elizabeth had taken
a cab from her Gram’s house to a different location where she’d meet Jason, and
they’d ride off into the night together. Each night had been magical, riding
behind Jason under the stars, then finding an out of the way hotel where they’d
make love until they fell asleep in each others arms. Nights she wished could go
on forever, but then she also loved waking up feeling his body wrapped around
hers, cocooning her with his warmth. He was always careful to get her back to an
already waiting cab, so she would make it to her Gram’s by six a.m. and be there
for Cameron when he woke up each morning.

She absently sorted packages of gauze by size and indulged herself in the memories
of last night.

She was kneeling on the bed and Jason knelt behind her. She arched her back into
him, cradling her head on his shoulder, his lips finding their way down her neck
and over her bare shoulder. His hands cupped her breasts, his fingers sliding up
to tease her nipples, gently rasping over them until they were hard and she was
moaning with pleasure. Then she gasped as she felt his hardness slide between her
legs, not inside her but over her - and he slowly, teasingly, eased himself back
and forth, creating a delicious friction that made her thighs quiver and tightened
her ache to have him inside her. He rolled her nipples between his fingers and a
zing of erotic electricity made her shudder and cry out his name. Jason growled
low in his throat and lifted one hand to turn her head so he could hungrily
captured her mouth with his, as his other hand skimmed down the plane of her
stomach and his finger slid…

“A penny for your thoughts.”

Elizabeth jumped in surprise and packages of gauze flew wildly as she started at
Stephen’s words. She leaned heavily against the counter, covering her pounding
heart with one hand while staring in wide-eyed shock at her brother.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

Stephen gave her a mischievous look. “Well, I think I’m getting the better end of
the deal here. From the look on your face those thoughts are worth a whole lot
more than a penny.” He grinned wickedly at her.

Elizabeth tried to glower at her brother in mock annoyance, but instead shuffled
nervously and felt her face turning a bright shade of red.

Stephen noticed and lifted an eyebrow at her. “Elizabeth! For shame!”

Elizabeth tried to ignore him and bent to pick up the spilled packets, but Stephen
wouldn’t let the matter drop.

“So who’s the lucky guy?” he asked as he bent to help her. Then leaned in closer,
and half-whispered, “Lucky guy - get it… Lucky…” He waggled his eyebrows and
Elizabeth frowned at him.

“Lucky and I are just friends. That’s all.” She said a little too defensively,
then stood to deposit an armload of packages on the counter.

Stephen stood and piled the rest of the gauze next to hers and looked at his
sister questioningly. “I thought you two had started dating again.”

“No, it didn’t really work out.” she answered, busying herself sorting packages to
avoid looking her brother in the eye. She really didn’t want to talk to him about
this.

“So…” he drawled, “this guy you were thinking about who has you smiling like a
Cheshire cat and turning beet-red when I try to get you to talk about him…. Is he
someone I know?”

This time Elizabeth did glare at her brother, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So I do know him.” Stephen chuckled, “Is he that new doctor in pediatrics? I
caught him checking you out last week.”
Elizabeth braced herself on the counter with her elbows and hid her face in her
hands. “Stephen…”

The beeping of her brother’s pager filled the small room and Elizabeth turned to
see him checking his message. He was backpedaling toward the door as he spoke to
her.

“We’re not done with this conversation.” he said as he pointed at her for
emphasis. Then he turned and was gone down the hall.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Now if she could manage to avoid him for the next
couple of days, maybe he’d forget all about this. Then she snorted, yeah right,
like that was going to happen. He’d no doubt be calling Grams to check up on her
and find out she’d been staying out all night. Rolling her eyes, she groaned,
sooner or later she’d have to face up to him about the truth, she couldn’t avoid
him forever.

Elizabeth finished stowing supplies and headed back to the nurse’s station. On the
way she paused as she passed Lucky’s room. She’d stopped in before her shift and
talked to him for a few minutes, but now as she slowed, she saw Emily perched on
the edge of his bed. She was wiping a tear from her cheek with one hand and
holding Lucky’s hand with the other. Lucky was looking up at her in concern and
reached up with his free hand to rub her arm. He smiled at her and said something
that made Emily giggle. Elizabeth backed away quietly, hoping not to disturb them.
Right now what Emily needed was someone she could open up to and Lucky certainly
was someone who could help her.

With no real surprise, Elizabeth discovered that she wasn’t bothered by the idea.
The restart of her relationship with Lucky had been a nice dream, but in her heart
of hearts she knew that’s all it had been - just a dream - a teenage dream to be
more exact. Her and Lucky had loved each other once and that love would always be
alive in her heart, but she’d grown and moved on since then. There was no going
back.

Besides, she didn’t want to go back. Even if she and Jason hadn’t reconnected in
such an amazing and intimate way, she knew she and Lucky wouldn’t have worked.

Jason.

She sighed again, and that smile slipped back into place. Somehow they’d found
their way to a place of openness and honestly they’d never had before, and getting
there had been far easier than she’d ever imagined it could be. They hadn’t
formally decided to keep their relationship a secret, but with the complications
of Emily’s situation and Lucky’s recuperation, it didn‘t seem like the right time
to tell them. Her smile widened. Besides, she thought he was enjoying keeping them
a secret as much as she was. Somehow sneaking away made it a little more special,
their relationship was like a treasure only the two of them knew existed, a sweet
escape that was only a phone call away.

Stepping behind the nurse’s station, Elizabeth pulled her lower lip between her
teeth as she plopped down into one of the chairs and started going through patient
charts. Soon enough everyone would know. Then she’d have to deal with her Gram’s
disapproval and no doubt lectures on responsibility from Stephen, but until then
she’d enjoy every second of every stolen moment to the fullest.

Her phone vibrated to life in the pocket of her nurse’s jacket. Reaching for it,
she checked the display. There was a one line text message and her heart skipped a
beat as she read it.
The corner of Roosevelt and Third. J

Elizabeth quickly checked her watch. It was almost two, only eight hours to go.
She would spend the evening with Cameron, tuck him into bed, Gram would be there
to baby-sit and then she’d be free. One corner of her mouth hooked up into a smile
and her palms started to sweat as she thought of tonight - of being alone with
Jason …

“Elizabeth have you checked the patient in room 152?”

Elizabeth jumped at the Head Nurse’s question, staring at her blankly a moment as
the large woman came swinging around the desk. It took her a second to get her
head clear and process what she was saying.

“No, not yet. Is his IV ready to be changed?”

“It should be, why don’t you go check.”

Elizabeth ignored slight accusatory tone in the nurse’s voice and hurried off
toward room 152, happy to have an excuse to get away.

Eight more hours, she thought, and her stomach fluttered in excitement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam sat in the same booth in the same diner and watched the same underground exit
waiting for the same motorcycle to enter. Jason had been out all night again last
night and she knew she didn’t have long to wait.

Just as she finished the thought, Jason’s motorcycle came tearing down the street,
then turned into the parking garage, and Sam smiled smugly. Right on time. She’d
been running surveillance on him for a week now and had his pattern down to a
virtual science. Each night he’d been out, he’d returned home at the same time -
six-thirty in the morning - like clockwork. Then he’d spend no less than a couple
of hours at the penthouse before heading out again.

She eased out of the booth and this time instead of hurrying across the street she
went to the restroom and spent a good twenty minutes getting prepared. This
morning she needed everything to be perfect.

In no less than thirty minutes she exited the elevator and turned toward Jason’s
door. Max hurried over when he saw her, the worried look on his face easing when
he saw she wasn‘t crying.

Playing it cool, she smiled shyly at the guard. “I need to talk to Jason.”

Max shifted, the burly guard was clearly uncomfortable in her presence, as if he
expected her to break into tears or have an emotional breakdown at any moment.
“Okay, hold on. I‘ll get him.” He said and practically fell over himself getting
to Jason’s door. Opening it, he bellowed loudly for his boss.
Safely behind him and out of sight, Sam smirked and rolled her eyes. Men.

She followed Max into Jason’s penthouse squelching any remaining look of humor on
her face in case Jason was in the room. This little performance was going to set
the stage for everything that followed and she couldn‘t afford any slip-ups.

Max stepped aside to let her by and she timidly took a step into the room. Jason
was nowhere to be seen. Then she tensed as she heard his boots start pounding down
the stairs.

The sight of him coming down the stairs in his jeans and grey t-shirt, his spiked
hair still damp from his shower, almost made her break her cover. She hadn’t seen
him since the day he’d given Hope back to her birth mother, and seeing him now
ripped those wounds open again, making her loss fresh and raw. Anger welled up in
her, anger that he could be so casual, so unaffected when she was still hurting so
deeply. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t lose it now, too much was at stake. If
she didn’t get this right today, everything she’d done would be for nothing.

Jason stopped abruptly on the stairs, stiffening and frowning, his eyes hardening
when he saw her.

Sam breathed deep, pushing her emotions away, and focused on her plan. Contrite.
Demure. She needed to be the essence of a woman who realized she had made a
terrible mistake and was trying her best to correct it. She crossed her arms over
her chest and let her eyes fall to the floor.

“Jason.” she shifted nervously and sighed, letting her shoulders sag. “I need to
talk to you.”

Jason descended the last few stairs, his expression unchanging. Behind her she
heard Max back out of the room and close the door behind him.

She raised her eyes timidly to meet his cold gaze, “I know I said some cruel
things when I left and you probably don’t want to see me, but I had to come and
apologize.” She lifted her chin so he could see it tremble and squeezed a single
tear from her eye.

Jason didn’t move.

Sam took a deep breath and forged on. “I lashed out at you because I was hurting.
I’m not proud of it, but I wanted to make you hurt as bad as I was.” She sniffled,
blinked out another tear and let her voice fall to a wobbly whisper, “Jason, I
still love you. I always loved you. I miss you and want to try to make things
right, so we can get back what we had.”

Jason’s face softened but the frown stayed in place. Sam leaned in and reached out
to him with one hand, “Please Jason, can you forgive me?”

Jason sighed, scrubbed his face with his hands and turned away from her. “Sam….”
He started, then paused, and the resignation in his voice made her blanch. Dread
knotted her stomach as she watched him walk to the fireplace and brace his arms
against it. Her tears had always worked on him before. He’d always reached out to
comfort her when she’d started crying. Always. It was a staple she’d been able to
count on to keep him where she wanted him. The fact that he wasn’t responding to
them now made her realize that something major had changed, something she hadn’t
counted on.

Jason turned and took a deep breath preparing to speak, and the look of regret on
his face made her panic. She jumped ahead in her plot, pulling out a card she knew
would trump anything he was about to say.

“Jason, I’m pregnant”

Chapter 7

“I’m pregnant.”

Jason froze. Anything he’d been about to say was now lost as Sam’s words echoed
through his mind, his brain refusing to process them.

Sam smiled shyly at him and tipped her head to the side. “This isn’t the way I
wanted to tell you. I wanted to wait until tonight after I’d made a nice romantic
dinner and set the mood. You know, candles, wine… okay, well maybe not wine.” She
laughed easily and eased toward him, reaching out to take his hands in hers. He
found he couldn’t move to stop her, his brain still stuck in a loop of
incomprehension. “But I’m too excited! I couldn’t wait to tell you that you‘re
going to be a daddy!”

She squealed and flew into him, pressing her body against his and closing her arms
around him in a hug. Jason didn’t move to return the embrace. Instead one of his
hands went to the bridge of his nose, pinching it with enough force to shoot pain
back through his eyeballs. The jolt kick started his brain and he stepped back,
putting his hands on Sam’s shoulders to peel her off of him.

He kept moving back, putting a few feet of distance between the two of them. He
needed space. He needed to think.

He scrubbed his face with his hands, then raked them through his hair, over his
head and finally twined his fingers together behind his neck. Pacing restlessly in
the small living room, he turned to see Sam beaming at him blissfully and then
turned away, his stomach souring.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now, not when he and Elizabeth had just found each
other again.

“This is just what we wanted.” Sam said, the happiness in her voice cutting
through his thoughts like a knife. “This is going to be the family we hoped for.
The family we planned on raising, and this time it will be our family. Yours and
mine. Our own baby.”

Not even two weeks ago, he would have been as excited about this as she was. He
would have been happy and content at the thought of them raising a family
together. Yet now, today, the same thought was making him ill and threatening to
ruin the best thing he’d ever had in his life.

Sam was still prattling on in the background, but he didn’t hear her. Her words
easily passed through him without notice. He turned his back to her, found himself
facing the pool table, and braced his arms on its rail, gripping it so tightly
with his fingers that his knuckles whitened.

“…I’ll move back in and we can redo the nursery…” her voice floated through his
mind and cringing he hung his head. How could everything go from being so right to
so incredibly wrong so fast?

His thoughts whirled through his head and he had a hard time focusing on each of
them before jumping to the next. Yes, she’d have to move back in, he still needed
to protect her and the baby. A baby? She wasn’t supposed to get pregnant this
soon, the doctor said it was dangerous. How would Elizabeth react to the news? How
would Sam react to knowing about Elizabeth? What’d she just say…paint the nursery
again?

Sam came up behind him, ran her hands up the length of his back, then leaned in,
wrapping her arms around him to half lay on him and half hug him from behind.
Suddenly it was too much. The room was too small. Everything was too close. There
was no room to think.

He started to move, but found himself trapped between the pool table and Sam’s
body. He turned carefully, and Sam let him move in the circle of her arms,
settling her cheek on his chest when he was finished and sighing happily.

“Jason, the three of us are going to be so happy.”

He bit his lip to stifle a groan. Placing his hands on her shoulders he backed her
away from him and maneuvered her around the couch. With little coaxing she
followed his lead, letting him guide her around and sit her on the couch. She
smiled up at him wide-eyed, like a happy puppy, and shifted to make room for him
on the couch next to her.

He didn’t sit.

Instead he crossed behind the upholstered chair and leaned on the back of it,
letting his arms bear his weight as he hung his head and took a deep breath to get
everything in perspective.

Except nothing would get into perspective and every time he tried to process the
fact that Sam was pregnant with his baby, his mind zoned out on him.

A hand caressed his arm and he nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. Sam was
kneeling in the chair facing him, with one hand on his arm and the other cupping
her belly as if there were already a baby bulge there to hold.

“Jason, you are going to be the best daddy.” She seemed oblivious of his less than
happy reaction to the news.

He pulled his arm away from her touch and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sam.”
He sighed. “Are you sure?”

She giggled, “The little stick turned blue.”

Everything crashed in on him all over again. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.
The room seemed to be shrinking, pressing in on him, making it hard to breath, to
think. He needed to get away. He needed to process this, to figure out what he had
to do to make everything work out.

Backing away from the chair and Sam inside it, he caught the back of his legs on
the side of the desk and staggered to catch his balance.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked, frowning at him.

He wasn’t good at lying, even when it was scripted for him long before he had to
say it, but coming up with lies and excuses on the fly was an impossibility. So
nothing came to his mind to explain his sudden need to leave. He hesitated a
moment before simply cutting to an abbreviated version of the truth. “I have to
go. I’ll send Max to Kelly’s to pick up your stuff. We’ll talk more about this
later.”

Then he grabbed his jacket and was out the door, completely missing the smug look
of victory on Sam’s face as the door slammed behind him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jason flew on his bike, running the ragged edge as close as he could. He nearly
lost it on a curve, leaving a long arc of rubber on the pavement before he yanked
the bike back under control and shot off down the straight away with his jacket
snapping behind him. Miles clicked away under his tires, only the scream of the
wind wouldn’t clear his head. His thoughts seemed to roar louder, refusing to give
way to the noise of the ride, and he finally gave up trying to silence them.

He found himself pulling into Sonny’s driveway without even consciously deciding
to talk to his best friend. He’d sorted nothing out on his ride. The news of the
baby still made his brain grind to a halt every time he tried to think about it.
He pulled off his helmet and hung it from the handlebar, then scrubbed his face
with his hands.

With a quick kick, he lowered the kick-stand and eased the bike down to rest. He
sat for a moment in indecision. Then swinging his leg back over the seat, he stood
and crossed to the front door. He trusted Sonny, and even if Sonny didn’t have
answers to give, he at least needed to know what was going on.

Jason entered the house expecting to hear the sounds of children at play. Michael
it seemed was never quiet and even though Morgan couldn’t quite keep up yet, he
was getting almost as loud as his older brother. Only today there was no rowdy
horseplay going on, no zooming noises made by little mouths to imitate the sound
of cars or trucks. Silence and the sight of Sonny at the desk looking over ledgers
were all that greeted him.

Jason rolled his shoulders, his pale blue eyes taking in the room for any glimpse
of the boys he might have missed.

“They’re not here.” Sonny answered Jason’s unspoken question, “The boys are at
Carly’s today, and Kristina is at Alexis’.”

Jason nodded absently and Sonny leaned back from his desk, “What’s wrong?”

Jason rolled his shoulders again, but the tension refused to give way. “If we
hadn’t lied to Carly about Sam, do you think you two would still be together?”

Sonny’s obsidian eyes flashed in irritation, irritation not directed at his

friend, but at the tenderness of the nerve struck by the subject matter. Shaking
his head, he stood and paced to the bar.

“Carly and I had more problems than what went on with Sam.” Picking up an empty
tumbler, he turned to his friend. “What’s this really about?” He asked, his voice
low and foreboding as it always got when he talked about his soon-to-be-ex-wife.
He poured a slug of scotch into the empty glass in his hand and downed it in one
swallow. He closed his eyes as the heat of the alcohol scalded his throat.

Jason crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head. “Sam’s pregnant.”

Sonny’s eyebrows arched in surprise and he eyed Jason up and down. “You don’t look
very happy about it.”

Jason’s eyes slid towards Sonny. “It’s complicated.”

Pouring himself another slug, he filled a second tumbler and handed it to his
friend. “Isn’t it always.” Sonny tossed back his drink and scowled as the liquid
scorched its way to his stomach. “You’re not worried about how Carly is going to
react are you?”

Jason rolled the alcohol around in the glass, watching the light play off the
amber liquid. He shook his head slowly, “Not Carly. There’s someone else.”

For the second time Sonny’s eyes widened in surprise. “Someone else?” Jason heard
the question in Sonny’s voice, but didn’t look over at his business partner.
Instead he tipped his head back and downed his scotch in one swallow, then set the
glass on the coffee table and lowered himself onto the couch, bracing his elbows
on his knees and propping his head in his hands.

Sonny brought the bottle of scotch with him as he crossed to the couch and sat
next to his friend. He poured them both another generous round and leaned back in
the overstuffed cushions, crossing his legs at the knee and settling one arm
across the couch’s arm with his chin in his hand. “You’re in love with this
someone else?” The question was more of a statement of fact and Jason groaned at
the truth in it.

Sonny nodded slowly, his glass of scotch dangling from his hand. The hand under
his chin lifted to cover his mouth, then he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on
his knees, hands clasping his glass between them, mimicking Jason’s pose. “Sam…”
he started, pointing a finger at Jason, “left you less than two weeks ago. There
is no way you’ve fallen in love with someone since then. I know you better than
that.”

Jason turned his head to look at Sonny. “It’s Elizabeth.” Then he reached out,
took his glass and slugged the drink.

“Does she know yet?”

Jason shook his head studying the empty glass in his hands like it was one of the
seven wonders of the world.

“And you love her?”

Jason’s eyes softened as he thought about Elizabeth and the last week and half
they’d spent together. A smile crept across his face. He’d never felt more happy
or content. With Elizabeth by his side he felt whole, complete, like he could
really breathe for the first time.

“I love her.” He said, nodding.

Sonny sighed and ran a hand over his slicked back black hair. “Sam won‘t handle
the news well.”

Jason snorted, his fingers tightening around the empty glass in his hand until his
knuckles whitened. He of all people understood only too perfectly how badly Sam
would handle the news.

“Do you need me to help you hide it from Elizabeth?” Sonny asked studying his
glass carefully.

Jason shook his head, stubbornly resolute. “I’m not going to lie to her.”

Sonny sighed. “Then you have to make a choice.” He said sagely, leaning back into
the plump couch cushions like a wizened old man imparting the wisdom of the ages.
“The woman you love or your child.”

Wordlessly Jason placed the glass on the table and stood. His head was pounding
more now that it had when he’d arrived. He’d hoped that somehow Sonny would help
make things easier, but he hadn’t. Nothing could.

Without looking back, Jason walked out of the house. The guard on the porch
started to approach him as he left, but Jason waved him off.

He knew what he had to do.

Walking down the driveway toward his bike, he pulled out his cell phone and
dialed. After two rings a familiar feminine voice answered, and the sound
painfully squeezed his heart. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter 8

The door flew open just as Jason lifted his hand to knock.

Elizabeth stood in the open doorway, her hair pulled into a sloppy pony tail,
looking a bit worse for the wear in an oversized t-shirt with baby spit-up on the
shoulder and blue yoga pants. In her arms a very unhappy Cameron was crying at the
top of his lungs and trying to bury his face in her shoulder. She looked frazzled
and her relief at seeing him was apparent. She grabbed him by the jacket and
pulled him inside, kicking the door closed behind them.

Jason frowned the two of them, concerned as Cameron broke into a new round of
squealing. “Is he okay?”

Elizabeth shifted Cameron onto her other arm and bounced him against her shoulder.
“He’s teething and it’s past his bedtime. So no, he‘s not okay. He’s tired, cranky
and in pain.” She rubbed her cheek over her son’s pudgy face and he wailed louder,
batting her away with his small hand. “I just changed him and was about to try
rocking him to sleep again.” She started down the hall, tipping her head for Jason
to follow.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” he asked, warily looking around as
they passed through the house, keeping an eye out for Elizabeth’s disapproving
grandmother. He was fairly certain Audrey didn’t know about their renewed
relationship and he didn‘t want to have a confrontation with the woman. Not
tonight.

“There was an emergency at the hospital and Gram was called into work.” Elizabeth
explained as she led them up the steps and down the hall to her and Cameron’s
room. “She didn’t think she’d be home for several hours. I was getting ready to
call and tell you when you called me.”
The small bedroom was lit only by a purple dinosaur nightlight and as they
entered, Cameron started fussing louder in Elizabeth’s arms, kicking himself up
and down, and protesting her hold on him with his most frustrated baby wail. His
little hands balled into fists and he wearily rubbed at his half-closed eyes, then
kicked again, clearly unhappy.

Jason shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it on the back of the wooden
rocking chair next to the baby crib. He held his hands out, “Let me take him for a
while.” He saw a wave of relief pass over Elizabeth’s face.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “He’s really cranky.”

He raised an are-you-kidding-me eyebrow at her and carefully lifted Cameron off

her shoulder. Cameron let out a squeal of displeasure and kicked and batted out at
Jason as he turned and settled the little boy against his shoulder.

Elizabeth ran a hand over her forehead, closed her eyes, “I don’t know what else
to do for him. I’ve given him baby pain reliever and put that numbing stuff on his
gums.” Then she sighed and lifted her arms in defeat. “Nothing seems to help.”

Jason rubbed Cameron’s back in slow circles and bounced him in a gentle rhythm,
while Cameron alternated kicking and stiffening his body against Jason’s touch.
Jason’s voice softened as he spoke, “Michael had a hard time when he was teething.
I spent a lot of nights pacing the floor with him crying the same way.”

Elizabeth smiled sadly at her son and brushed her hand over the back of his head,
then looked up at Jason. “I’ll go warm up a bottle, maybe that will help him calm
down.”

Jason nodded, concentrating on the baby in his arms, who was wailing loudly,
fisting his hands in Jason’s grey cotton t-shirt and pressing his face in Jason’s
shoulder.

Elizabeth slipped out the door and Jason started pacing, beginning a soothing
rhythm of back rubbing and slow rocking. Keeping his voice low and even as he
started talking, soothing Cameron with sound as well as touch.

“You have a big temper for such a little boy,” he began, as he paced to the crib
and slowly turned, “I bet you got that from your daddy.” Then he rolled his eyes,
“Although your mommy has a pretty good temper too.”

Jason started back across the room, gently rocking and rubbing Cameron’s back as
he went. “You don’t know this but your daddy and I didn’t like each other very
well.” He peeked down at Cameron. “In fact, the only thing we ever agreed on was
how special your mommy is.”

Another turn had him headed back toward the crib and he noticed that Cameron’s
wails were quieting. Jason slowed his pace, feeling Cameron heave a sigh and then
hiccup several times as he settled against his chest. Jason ran his cheek over the
little boys head and Cameron squirmed, rubbing his closed eye with a fist before
heaving another small sigh.

Jason dropped his voice another notch as he softly rocked Cameron back and forth.
“You don’t know how lucky you are to have the mommy you have. When she loves
someone, she loves them with all her heart, and she loves you more than she’s ever
loved anyone else. One day she‘ll teach you how to fingerpaint.” Elizabeth had
once spent an afternoon fingerpainting with Michael and Jason remembered walking
in on them, covered in paint and beaming from ear to ear. The joy on both of their
faces had made his heart skip a beat and now he wondered how much more joy she
would get out of fingerpainting with her own son.

Cameron’s little body relaxed against him and Jason slowly stopped rocking.
Cameron twitched once in his sleep, and Jason held his breath a moment waiting to
see if the little boy would wake up. Instead he only felt Cameron’s tiny even
breaths on his neck and the rise and fall of his chest under his hand. He smiled.

He’d held Michael like this when he was small, had paced the floor with him when
he was sick, read him books about Italy and Africa as bedtime stories, and he
wondered what would it feel like to hold his own child. To rock his own baby to
sleep at night and pace the floor with him when he was cranky. He tried to imagine
seeing a little newborn with a blend of his and Sam’s faces but couldn‘t. The only
baby he could picture in his mind’s eye was the one in his arms.

Jason brushed a finger over Cameron’s crown, and the little boy hiccupped in his
sleep. Jason smiled sadly, Cameron reminded him so much of Elizabeth, from the
blue of his eyes to his little button nose. Jason inhaled deeply and heaved a long
sigh.

The bedroom door eased open and Elizabeth tip-toed into the room holding a baby
bottle in her hand. Seeing them together, a smile lit up her face and even in the
darkness he could see the sparkle in her eye.

“You got him to go to sleep,” she said softly and reached out to caress her
sleeping son’s head.

“I think he wore himself out.” Jason moved to the crib and carefully laid Cameron
down. Elizabeth set the bottle on the changing table and tucked a blanket around
her sleeping boy. She ruffled his fine, dark hair and ran a finger over his cheek.

She slid an arm around Jason’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank
you.”

Jason slid his arm around her, drew her into his side, and rested his cheek on the
top of her head. This felt so right, the two of them standing over Cameron in his
crib. It felt like they were a family, his family, and the realization made his
heart sink. He wanted to turn and fully pull her to him, to hold her and tell her
he wanted them to be a real family, but he couldn’t. Not any more.

Letting go, he turned from the crib and crossed the room to stand in front of the
bed against the far wall. He stared down at it blankly.

“You two share a room?” he said, more a statement of fact than a question.

She answered as she followed him across the room. “Gram offered to clean out
another bedroom for us, but I like having Cam in here while he’s little. It’s
easier to hear him when he wakes up.” She shrugged as she turned and sat on the
edge of the bed, “Besides I didn’t expect to be staying here this long.”

Jason’s head fell, he was stalling. Avoiding saying what he needed to tell her.

Elizabeth looked up at him, drawing her lip between her teeth. She fidgeted a
minute before reaching up to take his hand. “Jason, is there something wrong?”

Jason groaned and pulled his hand from hers, using both hands to rub his forehead.
Then he mentally swore at himself. He hated this. He hated seeing the look of
concern on her face and know that he was about to hurt her - again.

Turning, he lowered himself next to her on the bed and stared straight ahead. He
couldn’t bring himself to look at her, to see the pain on her face when he told
her. Closing his eyes, he sighed. “Sam came to the penthouse this morning.” The
next words caught in his throat. He pressed his lips together and let his head
drop. “She’s pregnant.”

He heard Elizabeth’s startled breath and felt her stiffen at his side. He expected
more, he expected anger, but her next question surprised him.

“Do you love her?”

Jason whipped his head around and found her staring at him. She was trying to hide
her hurt, but he saw it peeking out from the depths of her sapphire eyes.

“No,” he said, his voice tight and clipped, and she visibly relaxed at his answer.
“I thought I was at one time, and I still care about her as a friend, but what
happened between us was only two people coming together out of pain.”

Elizabeth slid her hand into his and squeezed it. Jason wrapped his long fingers
around her small hand. Looking across at Cameron’s crib, he realized for the first
time how much she understood what he was going through.

“I’ve had Max move her back into the penthouse.”

Elizabeth’s hand tightened in his, and when she spoke her voice was a little too
high pitched to be natural, and it belied her worry, “So you can protect her, like
you moved me in once to protect me. I understand.”

Jason hated this, hated hurting her, but he had to make her understand.

“It’s more complicated than that.” Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his
nose. “I have to protect the baby from Sam.”

Elizabeth turned to Jason, searching his eyes for understanding. “Why do you have
to protect your baby from its own mother?”

Jason scrubbed his face again. The more he explained, the worse it all seemed. His
child already had so much going against it with Sam’s medical problems, the last
thing it needed was the added complications of her erratic behavior. He took a
deep breath before attempting to explain.

“When Sam was pregnant with Sonny’s baby, Sonny and Carly started trying to work
things out and get back together. Sam watched the family she thought she was going
to have with Sonny disappear, and she panicked and took off to get an abortion.
Later she ran again and told me she’d had a miscarriage. Then she ran away so she
could have the baby in hiding and give it up for adoption. I was always the one
who went after her and made sure Sonny’s child stayed safe. If she finds out about
us, I’m afraid she’ll do the same thing.” He paused, his voice hitching, “What if
she runs away to get an abortion and this time I don‘t find her in time?”

Jason slowly shook his head, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “I can’t ask you to
put your life on hold and wait for me for nine months. You and Cameron both
deserve better. It wouldn’t be fair to you or to him.”

Elizabeth slid off the bed, turning to kneel in front of Jason, and looked up into
his down turned eyes. “Jason, what do you want?” She asked, her gentle, loving
gaze pricking his heart.

His eyes glazed over with unshed tears. He knew exactly what he wanted. “I want
all of it - I want you and Cameron and my baby.”

Then he fisted his hands as he turned from her. “But I don’t see how it can
happen.”

Elizabeth reached up and cupping his cheek with her hand, gently turned his face
back to hers. “Jason, I’ve seen the way you are with Cameron, how much you love
him in spite of his being another man’s son, and I know if he were ever in trouble
you’d do everything in your power to save him.”

Despite his heartache, Jason smiled. He did love that little boy and he would do
anything for him just like he’d do anything for his mother.

A watery smile spread over Elizabeth’s face and she wiped a tear from Jason‘s
cheek with her thumb. “I will do whatever you need me to do to make sure your
child survives.”

Jason felt a weight lift from his chest and he pulled Elizabeth up into his arms,
holding her tightly to him as silent tears of relief trailed down his cheeks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam McCall flopped back onto the bed and stretched lazily. “I told you there was
nothing to worry about.”

Across the small room AJ Quartermaine snorted loudly.

The second rate motel he’d been staying in for the last week came up lacking in
just about every area imaginable. The room was too small, the curtains were too
thin, the bathroom faucet leaked and the showerhead only trickled water even when
he had it turned up full blast. It been a week of torment for a man used to having
servants bring him champagne and caviar on a silver tray for a mid-afternoon
snack. So having the ‘plan‘ start to unravel so soon after its execution was
highly discomforting.

“You told him you were pregnant?” AJ asked, his voice dripping with irritation as
he braced his hands against his hips.

Sam lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. “And…”

“And he believed you?”

Sam‘s eyes widened, lifting her eyebrows, “Why wouldn’t he?”

AJ groaned.

“You know, you’re not very good at his revenge thing,” Sam said, rolling onto her
stomach and bracing her chin on her hands. “You’re too skittish. Things change,
plans evolve. You have to go with the flow, take advantage of situations as they
present themselves. My pregnancy was always a part of the plan. It’s just
happening a little sooner than we planned.”

The plan, AJ shook his head. It sounded so nice and tidy when she’d explained it
standing on the sun-washed boards of a pier on a tropical island. He would steal
from Jason what Jason had stolen from him - the woman he loved and the child he
was having with her. It was as simple as it was apropos.

Sam cocked her head to the side, watching AJ with a little smirk on her face. “I
think this would be a good time for you to make your grand return to Port Charles.
I‘m back in the penthouse. You blow back into town. Start stirring up trouble. We
‘meet’.” She lifted up her fingers to make little brackets, “Then voila. You steal
me away from Jason leaving him alone this time. No wife, no child.”

Sam laughed as if the thought amused her, and AJ found himself once again warming
to the idea. He didn’t know why it sounded to much more wickedly vengeful when she
said it. Maybe it had to do with the amount of pleasure she got from simply
explaining it to him. He crossed the room to where she was stretched out on the
bed. He never thought it possible, but he’d actually found someone more interested
in getting revenge on Jason Morgan than he was. Watching her get so excited about
her plan was highly enjoyable. He smiled, the truth was, she was the one who was
making this fun.

“You’re not his wife yet.” AJ countered, antagonizing her just to see the sparks
light up in her eyes.

Which they did as she shot him a glare, “Are you kidding, he was going to marry me
when I was having Sonny’s baby. Now that I’m having his,” she shrugged, “we’ll be
married before the month is over.”

Curiosity got the better of him. A big part of this plan hinged on her being
pregnant. Stealing Jason’s woman would be a slap in the face, but taking his child
was the ultimate revenge. He knew personally the depths of pain and betrayal of
having your child stolen from you, and it was a torment he meant to repay in full.

The prospect of raising Jason’s child as his own had been the linchpin in his
decision to partner with Sam. It had been the only thing he’d demanded - a primary
role in the raising of the baby. Sam hadn’t even paused before agreeing to his
request. He could only guess that she found the prospect of having a wealthy man
supporting her for the foreseeable future most appealing.

AJ crossed his arms over his chest and looked curiously down at Sam. “So are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Pregnant.”

Sam smiled devilishly, a look of complete confidence on her face. “I will be after
tonight.”

Chapter 9

Sam paced the floor in Jason’s bedroom. Moonlight slipped in through the slightly
parted curtains bathing her nude body in gold overtones. It was well after one in
the morning, Jason hadn’t returned home yet and she was pissed. She crossed her
arms under her breasts and tapped her foot against the plush carpeting.

So where was he?

She’d been careful to keep her visit with AJ as short as possible so she would be
back at the penthouse, moved in and ready by the time Jason returned. That was
over 8 hours ago and she was still waiting.

Okay, maybe she’d been a bit overconfident with AJ when she was explaining how
well the plan was working, but honestly how could things to go wrong. Jason would
never walk away from his own child, and as far as his feelings for her went… well,
she’d made him fall in love with her once, she had no doubt she could do it again.

Moving her hands to her hips, she turned to start pacing again when the sound of
the front door opening filtered up the stairs and through the bedroom door. A zing
of excitement made her pulse race and as quietly as possible she climbed into
Jason’s bed. She wanted him to find her asleep, at peace and right at home in his
bed.

Sliding under the sheets, she forced herself to slow her breathing, then listened
as his booted steps came up the stairs.

She closed her eyes as she waited to hear him enter the room. Lying still with her
hair fanned around her head like a silken pillow and one bare leg peeking out from
under the covers, she held her breath expecting Jason at any moment.

Only he didn’t enter the room.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, but only ten minutes by the clock,
she opened one eye barely a slit and peered around the room. She was alone.
Opening both eyes she lifted her head enough to search the entire room to make
sure she hadn’t missed him in the dark. She hadn’t. He wasn’t in here. Her head
snapped around to look toward the bathroom, but it was also dark and empty. Her
forehead creased as she tried to figure out where he’d gone.

Stretched out on her stomach with her chin resting on her crossed arms, Sam
impatiently waited fifteen minutes longer and when she still heard nothing, she
climbed out of bed. Then without bothering to put on a robe, she went searching
for him.

She found him in the guest bedroom. His clothes abandoned on the floor and the man
himself stretched out under the sheets sound asleep.

Seeing him triggered another painful flash of hurt and loss, and made her arms
ache to hold he baby he‘d taken from her. She winced at the rawness of its sting,
tears filling her eyes. Part of her wanted to run far, far away from the painful
memories, but another part steeled her will and reminded her of her goal.

Sam tightened her jaw. She only had a small window of opportunity to get pregnant
this month. The ovulation test she’d taken early this morning had come back
positive, and that positive result was what had sent her to Jason’s doorstep
today. She wanted revenge for the suffering Jason had put her through more than
anything she’d ever wanted in her life and that’s why she’d carefully
choreographed every possible detail to bring her to this point - conception.

Focusing her mind on her goal, she swallowed the revulsion she felt over what she
was about to do with the man who’d taken the last and only good thing in her life
- her child - away from her, and crossed to the bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Elizabeth.”

The name drifted through his mind, but only a moan made it through to his lips.
His thoughts sleep-heavy, he stretched, his eyes still closed as reached to
capture Elizabeth’s hand in his. She eluded his grasp, her hand teasing across his
chest before sliding down his stomach to the band of his briefs.

He felt Elizabeth stretch out against him, her body warm and lithe as it pressed
intimately against his, and he smiled sleepily, giving up on trying to catch her
hand. Instead he reached around her waist and pulled her on top of him. As his
hands settled low on her bare hips, a warning bell went off in the back of his
mind.

Something was wrong.

His forehead creased as he tried to figure out what wasn‘t right. It came to him
just as Elizabeth’s hand slid inside his briefs. Her breasts were too big. Then
she moaned in his ear, and his whole body froze in shock. That wasn‘t Elizabeth‘s
moan.

Instantly awake, Jason’s eyes flew open and he found Sam McCall’s face inches from
his. She was smiling seductively down at him and he became acutely aware of her
hand inside his briefs… feeling it slide lower…

Reacting without thinking, he threw her off of him. His sudden move surprised her,
and he watched her eyes widen like saucers as she flew away from him. She dropped
unceremoniously on the bed, while he rolled away, his feet landing on the floor.
Then he put the length of the room between them before he turned back to her, his
eyes narrow and accusatory.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, his voice deceptively calm as his
hands gripped his hips. True, he was angry with her, but he was also nursing a
pang of guilt for the pleasure he’d been feeling before realizing who was in bed
with him.

The shock on Sam’s face quickly turned to hurt. “When you asked me to move back
in, I thought that meant you were okay with us.”

Jason paced the room, raking his hands through his short hair. Sam collected
herself, sitting on her knees in the middle of the bed, not making the least
effort to cover her nudity. He wanted to keep being angry with her, but found
blaming himself easier. She could have made an honest mistake, he had left this
morning without making his feelings on the matter clear.

He stopped pacing and turned back to her. She was looking at him with a mixture of
confusion and hurt on her face. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, his
exasperation evident in his voice. “Sam, it wasn’t even two weeks ago that you
told me you never loved me and you were only with me so I could support you and
the baby. Now you show up, and tell me you’re pregnant. What am I supposed to
believe?” He opened his arms wide, “I don’t know if you’re being honest with me
about how you feel or if you‘re just here because of the baby.”

Sam’s face fell, hurt giving way to dejection, as her lower lip began trembling,
she lifted a hand to hide it. Jason felt second wave of guilt swell in his heart
as he watched her eyes glaze over with tears and he scrubbed his hands over his
face.

“Jason, I wouldn’t lie to you.” Sam’s voice trembled. “I explained why I tried to
hurt you before.” She crawled toward him on her knees, holding out a hand
invitingly. “Won’t you let me prove to you how much I love you?”

“Sam…” he began, not moving from his position. “this isn’t going to happen. Not
now.”

Jason started picking up his clothes and Sam was off the bed, clutching at his
arm. He thought he heard a tinge of desperation in her voice. “Jason, please, just
stay with me. Hold me tonight in bed tonight like you used to. I need you.”

Shrugging her off, he pulled on his pants and stuffed his feet in his boots. Sam
padded behind him following him like a lost puppy as he crossed to the door,
zipping his jeans as he went.

“I can’t stay here tonight. I need to think.” He told her as he made his way to
the stairs, tugging his shirt over his head as he hurried down the steps two at a
time.

Grabbing his jacket from the desk chair and pulling it on, Jason stopped as he
opened the front door, half in the penthouse, half in the hall. Turning back, he
saw Sam stalled halfway down the steps, tears running down her cheeks. He heaved a
sigh, he hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he couldn’t let her believe everything was
alright between them either.

“Listen, I’ll be back in the morning and then we can talk.” He shuffled a moment
longer, wanting to say more, but clamped his mouth shut and closed the door behind
him, leaving her standing alone on the stairs.

Less than an half an hour later, he pulled his motorcycle into Jake’s parking lot.
This place been his safe haven before he’d moved into the penthouse and coming
here tonight for refuge felt like coming home again.

Once in his room with the door locked behind him, he finally let himself relax. He
didn’t know if Sam knew about this room, or if she’d try to find him, but for the
moment he felt safe.

Stripped down to his briefs, he climbed into bed. Lying back he remembered the
last time he’d slept here. Elizabeth had been with him that night, and the two of
them had made love in this bed before falling asleep with their bodies entwined
the way only lovers can. He turned his head into the pillow and smiled.

It still smelled like her.

Earlier, he and Elizabeth had spent hours talking about Jason‘s situation. She’d
asked him if he was certain Sam’s baby was his and regrettably he’d had to say
‘yes’. He’d spent most of his time during his bike ride that morning trying to
figure a way out of the baby’s paternity. The problem was he simply couldn’t. Of
the months Sam had spent living in his apartment, both before and after they’d
become a couple, there had been no one else. Not even Sonny had been a real
presence in her life since the time she’d moved in. Then after her baby died, it
had only the two of them. They’d grieved together, bonded in their pain and after
she’d brought baby Hope home, they’d officially become a family. There had been no
one else, he was certain of that fact.

Even when she’d walked out on him, she hadn’t gotten as far as the lobby before
he’d sent Max after her to keep watch on her. She’d stayed holed up in a room over
Kelly’s not going anywhere or seeing anyone for nearly a week before she
approached Max and calmly told him to tell Jason she was fine and didn’t need him
keeping check on her. Jason had respected her request, putting Max back on door
duty and leaving Sam to her own life, but of the two weeks between the time she
left and the time she showed up at his door announcing her pregnancy, he knew
she’d spent the first week alone. Which, in his mind, left no opportunity for this
baby to be anyone but his.

When Elizabeth had asked if he was sure Sam was really pregnant, Jason had been
stumped. He hadn’t thought of the possibility of Sam lying to him about the baby,
but after considering the possibility, he couldn’t come up with any valid reason
why she would. She didn’t need money, he and Sonny both had set up generous
accounts for her. Besides it would be such an easy thing to check, as a simple
Doctor’s appointment would expose a lie. He just didn’t see what reason she would
have to lie about it.

Elizabeth had amazed him by choosing to stand by his side through this, even
though it meant keeping their relationship a secret and sacrificing some of their
already brief time together. She‘d explained her decision by saying, “I lost you
once because you lied, I’m not going to lose you again for telling the truth.” and
he’d realized how fortunate he was to have found her all over again.

She’d willingly become his partner in this subterfuge, taking time to carefully
coach him on how to deal with Sam. Since lying wasn’t his strong suit, she gave
him specific words to use to answer, avoid or redirect pointed questions Sam might
have if she started getting suspicious of him. Her advice on how to outright lie
when needed was as simple as it was ingenious, he’d deal with it like he dealt
with certain aspects of his job - focus, close down and keep his answers short and
blunt. One word was best. Yes. No. That would give Sam the least amount of
information to work with. As long drawn out explanations could easily be toyed
with, sifted and pulled apart until the lie became obvious. On the other hand, it
was hard to argue with a simple, stern “no.”

He’d left Elizabeth’s feeling confident in his ability to handle anything Sam
could throw at him. Little did he know that less than an hour later he’d nearly
ruin everything.

Jason tucked his forearm under his head and his eyes fell to his jacket. His cell
phone was in its pocket and he longed to call Elizabeth. However, it was nearly
two-thirty in the morning and he knew she’d be asleep. He frowned remembering how
fussy Cameron had been. He wouldn’t wake her, she needed her sleep tonight.

Then he thought of calling Sam to check on her, but easily dismissed that idea. He
hadn’t said anything to her that would make her think their relationship was over
before it began. He’d been careful, even in his discomfort, to remember what
Elizabeth had told him, and had done his best to kept her hope of a relationship
alive. He knew as long as she thought they could work things out, his baby would
be safe.

No, he thought as he settled back into bed, he was sure Sam wouldn’t rush off and
do anything rash, not tonight anyway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AJ woke up to pounding on his hotel room door. He lay in bed, blinking sleep away
for a moment before the pounding started again, and then he was up, headed to the
door wearing only his boxers and fisting his hands over his ears.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.” He yelled.

He’d barely gotten the door unlocked and the knob turned when it was shoved from
the outside, making him jump back so it wouldn’t crack him in the skull. Sam
stormed into the room and loudly tossed her keys and purse on the table.

AJ glared at her as he shut the door. “Are you trying to wake the entire hotel?”
he asked, his eyes flicking to the alarm clock beside the bed, “It’s three in the
morning, most civilized people are asleep at this hour.”

Sam turned an icy glare at him, yanked off her denim jacket, and with a roundhouse
swing, flung it against the far wall.

AJ’s eyes widened and he chuckled at her fury. Her gaze turned back to him, her
eyes snapping with fire.

“So I take it my little brother didn’t fall for your plan to get pregnant
tonight.”

Sam’s features darkened as her face twisted into a scowl. She crossed her arms
over her chest and ticked a hip out to the side. “You don’t understand. I’m
ovulating. If I don’t get pregnant tonight, it will be another month before I’ll
be able to.” Her tone turned scathing, “And I think even your brain-damaged
brother can do math well enough to figure out I’m lying to him about the baby. Two
weeks I can fudge. Six weeks, no way. It won‘t work.”

AJ tipped his head back, sighed in frustration, and half turned away from her. A
move which proved to be the wrong thing for him to do because Sam crossed to him
and jerked him around by the arm so that he was facing her again, and if looks
could kill, he’d have dropped dead at her feet right then.

“What you’re not getting,” Sam verbally lashed out at him, saying each word slowly
and precisely. “is that I have to get pregnant tonight.”

AJ’s eyes widened in understanding and he backed away from her shaking his head.
“Oh, no….” He began, “no, no, no…this was never a part of the plan.”

Sam’s glare hardened. “It’s not like we have to enjoy it. Think of it as a stud
service.”

She was serious. AJ backed another step away as he twined his fingers behind his
neck. She was serious about him getting her pregnant - right here, right now.

Shaking his head and turning away from her, AJ crossed the room, and fisted his
hands in anger. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to work. He’d only gotten
involved in this insane plan because he wanted Jason’s biological child, that was
what would serve his need for revenge - raising Jason’s child and teaching it to
despise everything Jason was.

Sam came up behind him, her voice low and lethal. “Does it really matter if this
baby isn’t Jason’s? As long as he believes it is, he’ll love it like his own, and
when he loses it to you, he’ll still hurt like he’s losing his own kid. Isn‘t
hurting Jason what really matters?”

Her words had AJ remembering how much Jason had loved Michael, despite Michael’s
true paternity. He remembered how hard it had been for Jason to walk away and how
much Jason had suffered losing Michael. Grudgingly, he had to agree that Sam’s
idea could work. Then another idea came to him and the corner of his mouth hooked
up into a wicked grin. If Jason ever did find out Sam’s baby wasn’t his, maybe
it’d turn the screws even harder to find out the child was really AJ’s.

It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was definitely workable.

Sam’s voice carried a shrug of indifference with it as she spoke, “You know, never
mind, if you’re not interested I’ll go find someone who is.”

Suddenly turning on her, AJ grabbed her by the arms and spun her around, shoving
her back against the wall and pinning her hands above her head. Her eyes narrowed
and she angrily bucked against his hold, but he leaned in using his body weight to
hold her in place.

“If we do this, it’s not going to be a stud servicing.” AJ’s lip curled in
contempt, his eyes darkening as a smug smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I’m
going to make sure you enjoy it.”
Chapter 10

One Week Later…

Elizabeth leaned on the doorjamb leading into Lucky’s hospital room. He was alone,
stretched out under the sheet on his bed in a non-descript hospital gown, his
hands tucked behind his head as he stared blankly out the window. She knocked on
the door to get his attention.

He turned, and seeing her, he smiled broadly.

“I hear you’re getting out of here tomorrow,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess they’re finally tired of hearing me complain about the food.”

Crossing to his bedside, Elizabeth laughed easily with him and smacked him across
the arm with the charts in her hand. Lucky reached out for her hand, but she shied
away, keeping both of hers wrapped tightly around her papers.

He looked up at her questioningly, “Is everything alright?”

Elizabeth shuffled, then clutched the charts to her chest and tucked a loose
strand of hair behind her ear before completely sidestepping the question. “Have
you heard anything from Luke and Skye?”

He beetled his eyebrows at her in confusion. “No, not yet, but I didn’t expect
them to get a lead on Helena this quick.” Reaching out to take her by the elbow,
he tried to ease her toward him, but she shied away from his touch again.
“Elizabeth.” The questioning tone in his voice clearly told her he knew something
was up, “What’s going on?”

Elizabeth shuffled her papers, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. She didn’t know
why she was finding it so difficult to tell him they couldn’t see each other. They
weren’t even really dating, so it wasn’t like she was breaking up with him. No,
that’s not true, she sighed in resignation. They’d both had a perfectly clear
understanding of the situation between them as of three weeks ago. They’d both
understood that they were working their way back together and at this moment Lucky
didn’t have any reason to suspect the situation had changed.

The complicating factor in this break up was the thorny little problem of her and
Jason keeping their relationship a secret. She sighed. Breaking up with Lucky was
difficult enough, now she had to do it without even having another relationship to
use as the reason.

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead, groaned lightly and then met Lucky’s eyes. They
stood for a moment, gazes locked - hers regretful, his concerned - then before she
had to said anything, she saw the light click on in his head and knew he knew.

“You’ve met someone else, haven’t you?”

Elizabeth’s face wrinkled up in an apologetic frown and she nodded. She honestly
didn’t want to hurt Lucky. As a friend, he was important to her, but she wasn‘t
about to give up her happiness to spare his feelings.

She sighed and her head drooped as she perched on the edge of his bed, “I didn’t
mean for this to happen Lucky, but it did and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt
you.”

He leaned toward her and lifted her chin with his finger so he could see into her
eyes. “Are you happy Elizabeth? I mean, really happy?”

Elizabeth thought about Jason and their last two weeks together and couldn’t help
smiling. Even though things had gotten complicated and this last week, they’d only
been able to see each other a couple of times, she didn’t regret any moment of it.
Not only had they found each other again, she’d rediscovered a part of her soul
she’d thought she’d lost forever when she had walked out of his penthouse that day
so long ago. A blush crept into her cheeks as she remembered waking up two
mornings ago wrapped in Jason’s arms and she had to look away from her ex-
boyfriend to compose herself. “Yes, I’m happy.”

“Then I’m happy for you.” Lucky said. She looked up at him and found his eyes
beaming with complete honesty. He really was happy that she was happy. His well
wishes weren’t completely unexpected, but hearing them helped ease her guilt.

“Thank you,“ she said as she leaned in and hugged him. No matter what, he was
still one of her best and dearest friends. That, she knew, would never change.

“So when do I get to meet him?” Lucky lifted an eyebrow at her as she pulled away
from him.

“Well, it’s kind of complicated.” Her eyes darted away as she answered and she
almost laughed out loud. Complicated would be his family not liking her, or his
job schedule clashing with hers. She wasn’t sure what you would call what they
had. She was in a relationship with a known mob enforcer, but keeping it secret so
his pregnant ex-lover could be led to believe she still had a chance at a
relationship with him to keep her from running away to abort his baby, or possibly
miscarrying from the stress of losing her ‘family‘, or going off into hiding so
said mob enforcer would never know if his child was dead or alive and being raise
by who knows who, who knows where.

When she didn’t answer, Lucky narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “He’s not
married is he?”

Elizabeth laughed out loud, if only it were that simple. “No!” She protested, mock
glaring at Lucky for daring to suggest such a thing. “Good grief, no. What do you
think I am?”

Lucky looked at her pointedly and her mouth dropped open in surprise. She smacked
him again with the charts in her hands. “You know, just for that, Lucas Lorenzo
Spencer, I’m going to have Steven order you an enema.”

Lucky’s mouth dropped open, “You wouldn’t dare!”

Elizabeth only raised her chin and smiled like the cat who ate the canary.

“Elizabeth Imogene Webber!” Lucky lunged at her, pulled her down on the bed next
to him, and started tickling her in the ribs.

“Lucky! Stop it, we are in a hospital.” Laughing Elizabeth batted at him again
with the charts and he reluctantly let her go. She gave him her best ‘disapproving
nurse’ look as she scooted away from him. “Besides you could hurt yourself. Do I
have to remind you that you are still recovering from a nearly fatal gunshot
wound?”

He frowned at her, although behind it his deep blue eyes sparked gleefully, and he
crossed his arms over his chest.

Elizabeth shifted further away from him and nervously nibbled her lower lip. There
was something else on her mind she needed to discuss with him and this subject had
her even more anxious than the first.

“How’s Emily doing?”

Lucky reacted like she’d doused him with a bucket of ice water. Immediately, he
became serious, his smile giving way to worry. Concern etched itself across his
features and rubbing at a temple with one hand, he slouched back into the
mattress. “A little better. I think I’ve got her talked into seeing Gail for
counseling.”

“Really!” Elizabeth perked up at this bit of good news, it seemed as if Lucky had
managed to make great strides in helping Emily after all.

Lucky’s eyebrows beetled together and a frown creased the corners of his lips
downward. “She’s still not doing very well. Because Connor looked so much like
Nikolas, she’s afraid to go visit him in jail. She’s afraid to see him at all. She
thinks all she‘ll see is the man who raped her, and not the husband who loves
her.”

“Lucky,” Elizabeth found herself nervous again, afraid of stirring up trouble

where she shouldn’t, but knowing there were things that needed to be discussed.
“How do you feel about Emily?”

Lucky looked up at her puzzled. “What do you mean? We’re friends. She’s in trouble
and I’m helping her…” He shrugged half-heartedly and Elizabeth sighed, wondering
if he even fully understood himself how he felt about Emily.
Yet she couldn’t let it go that easily. With Emily in such a fragile state of
mind, she was afraid if Emily started suspecting Lucky’s true feelings for her, it
would confuse or hurt her, or she would wind up hurting him with some kind of knee
jerk self-defense reaction. Emily was recovering from a terrible emotional trauma,
and they all needed to be careful about anything that might make her healing
process more difficult than it needed to be. Surely finding out her husband’s
brother, who she cared for and relied on as a best friend, was secretly in love
with her would unsettle her already conflicted emotions.

Elizabeth’s voice lowered to a near whisper. “Lucky, you’re in love with her.”

He started shaking his head in denial, but didn’t meet her eyes. “No, we’re just
friends.”

Elizabeth sighed, “Lucky…”

Lucky cut her off sharply. “Look it doesn’t matter how I feel, Elizabeth. Emily is
married to my brother and she’s going through something no woman should ever have
to endure.” The pained expression on his face made Elizabeth’s heart hurt for him.
“All I want is for her to be happy and whole again, and if that means helping her
work things out with my brother, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Elizabeth reached out and took his hand in hers. “Have I told you lately that you
are the best friend anyone could have.”

Lucky shrugged off her compliment and batted her hand away. “Well you know what
they say about us good guys.” He rolled his eyes, “We finish last, die first….
you, know, that sorta thing.”

Elizabeth’s lip curled into a wary smile just as her cell phone rang. She pulled
it out of her coat pocket and a text message scrolled across the screen.

Jakes 10.

Her smile was immediate and brilliant. Lucky leaned in to read the screen over her
shoulder and Elizabeth twisted away so he couldn’t see it.

“So that must be from Mr. Mystery Man,” he said disapprovingly.

“What makes you say that?” she asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant but
doing a very poor job of it.

Lucky just snorted at her. “You’re such a horrible liar. Just make sure to tell
Mr. Mysterious if he hurts you, he’ll have to answer to me.”

Elizabeth bounced off his bed and turned to face him. “You know I love you don’t
you?” She leaned in, gave Lucky a quick kiss on the cheek and headed for the door
with a spring in her step.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sam stopped pacing the bedroom and threw a glance at the clock on the nightstand.

Two more minutes.

She was alone in the apartment and with no fear of being discovered she didn‘t try
to be sneaky. The box the pregnancy test kit had come in and its unfolded page of
instructions were both tossed haphazardly on the bed. Jason had left bright and
early this morning just as he’d had every other morning this week, and she’d
patiently waited in bed until she’d heard him closing the door downstairs before
she’d gotten up to take the test.

It’d been only a week, but this home test kit had promised accurate results up to
five days before her scheduled period. Technically she wasn’t quite five days
away, but she couldn’t wait another day or two to find out.

She glanced at the clock and twisted her fingers together nervously, still another
minute to go.

Striding to the bathroom door she stood and peered in, ticking her toes against
the carpet as she counted off the seconds. She had managed to duck her guards
every day this week and sneak off to meet AJ . All in all, not a difficult feat
seeing how Jason had been making a career out of making himself scarce. Oh, he’d
come back that first morning and they’d ‘talked’. She rolled her eyes. Jason had
made it perfectly clear that nothing sexual would be happening between them until
at least after the baby arrived, and trust, if was to exist between them again,
would be hard earned.

She’d taken it all light-heartedly, knowing she would soon sway the mobster’s
heart like she had already done once before, but this last week hadn’t gone nearly
as well as she‘d expected. He’d had reasons and excuses for being gone each day
and a couple of nights. All well and good - job-related - he explained, and she’d
gritted her teeth and smiled. Then cooed over him like a love-sick teenager while
hating every moment of it.

Still, she didn’t doubt her plan would work, after all she had at least nine
months to work out the details. She’d be like the spider who’d spun her web and
then lay in wait for her prey to blunder in. Sam was still carefully lying out all
the strands of her web, and soon enough her prey would have nowhere to go except
into her trap.

She eyed the clock again, where the last thirty seconds of the remaining minute
were still ticking away and her thoughts shifted to her partner in crime. A
genuinely happy smile spread across her face as she thought about AJ. He was
getting under her skin. Yes, he was devious, vindictive and petty; but frankly she
admired those qualities. Maybe what she saw in him was a kindred spirit of sorts.
Then she shook off the sentimental feelings. They were in on a job together, she
scolded herself, that was all it was, they shared a common goal, nothing more,
nothing less. When her smile returned, she lifted a hand to hide it. The sex had
been pretty amazing, and he did more than deliver on his promise of making her
enjoy it. Yet, however amazing the sex was, that wasn’t anything new to her, she’d
had amazing sex more times than she could remember. What made the difference with
her and AJ was that they were having honest sex, and that was something she hadn’t
had in ages. She’d spent years playing the game, running a con, using her body to
get what she wanted. She was always, always playing an angle. Except now.

This time, there was an angle, no doubt about that, but since she and AJ were both
working the angle together, the honesty made her feel truly naked with a man for
the first time in years. It was a feeling as unsettling as it was enticing.
Sam shook her head and reminded herself that it didn’t matter what she felt for or
about AJ. In the end all that mattered was if that little stick turned blue. Then
everything they’d done would have been worth it.

The clock ticked away the last few seconds and as the minute changed, she sprang
into the bathroom, and with trembling hands gently picking up the pregnancy test
stick which was balanced carefully on the rim of the sink.

She closed her eyes a minute and took a deep steadying breath. Then she opened
them and looked at the stick. A broad smile bloomed across her face.

Running back into the bedroom to flop on the bed, she pulled a cell phone out of
the nightstand drawer and dialed. When she heard the click of the call being
answered, her smile widened.

“It’s positive,” she said, her voice ripe with glee. “Phase Two of our plan is a
go for tomorrow at noon.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth climbed out of the cab and tried to hand the cabbie a tip, but he’d
refused it just like every other time he’d brought her to one of her rendezvous
points. Smiling and waving her off, the burly man explained yet again how he’d
already been paid more than enough to cover the ride and the tip, and drove off
without her money.

She turned towards Jake’s knowing she should feel annoyed with Jason for keeping
her from helping with her part of the expenses, but one look at the front door and
she only felt giddy. The door looked like it had every other time she’d seen it,
but this time a flutter took flight in her stomach, because she knew at this
moment behind that very door, Jason was waiting for her.

Carefully crossing to the door in her four inch black heels, she opened the door,
slid inside, and looked around for Jason. What she saw instead surprised her.

The bar was empty.

Slow seductive music was playing on the jukebox, and one lone table in the middle
of the room was draped with a lacy tablecloth and single slender candle was alit
in its center. A small grin curved her mouth and the scene made her hesitate in
the doorway. Her hand came to her throat when she realized all Jason had done to
make their night alone special. Slipping out of her jacket, she crossed to the bar
and draped it on a stool.

The sound of his boots had her turning to find him walking out of the kitchen, a
mug held in each hand. He rounded the end of the bar and seeing her stopped him in
his tracks. She blushed as she watched his eyes wander slowly over her face, down
her snug red sweater, black leather mini, shapely fishnet stockinged legs to the
strappy stilettos she was wearing before rising again to meet her eyes. The hungry
glint now glowing in them made her pulse kick into high gear and sent a tingle
down her spine.
They were both still caught in each other’s gaze when Coleman burst noisily out of
the kitchen. Their trance broken, both of their sets of eyes snapped to him. As he
rounded the bar, he caught sight of Elizabeth, and stopped, his eyes also skimming
over her very much like Jason‘s had. He whistled his appreciation and earned
himself a lethal glare from Jason.

Catching sight of Jason’s disapproving look, Coleman only chuckled at the enforcer
as he shook his head and headed for the front door, flipping up the collar of his
jacket as he went. He paused with his hand on the knob and turned back, “Just
remember to lock up when you’re done.” With one last appreciative glance tossed
Elizabeth’s way, he was gone, banging the door shut and locking it behind him.

Jason glared heatedly after the man before turning back to Elizabeth. His eyes
softened as they fell on her again.

“You’re early,” he said without accusation. “Everything’s not ready.” Then he

crossed to the lace covered table and set the two mugs next to two plates.
Elizabeth followed behind him, taking in little details she had missed earlier.
The pool table was racked and ready for play, each plate on the table held a large
brownie and her mug was topped with a generous heap of whipped cream and
sprinkles.

“Candles? Music? Kelly’s brownies?” her eyes widened at each revelation and then
she pointed at her mug, “Is that hot cocoa?”

“A packet and a half with extra whipped cream.” Jason smiled as he watching her
face light up.

“You remembered?”

“How could I forget?” he asked, as he reached out to slip a strand of hair behind
her ear, letting his head fall to the side as his fingers lingered over her cheek,
“All that soup you made me drink while you fixed yourself hot cocoa.”

Still amazed at everything special Jason had put together for tonight, she
couldn‘t believe how happy she felt at this moment. “You went to all this trouble
for us?”

“No,” he said, pulling her toward him to place a tender kiss on her lips, “I did
all of this for you.”

Elizabeth felt her heart swell in her chest, and with Jason looking down at her
with so much love in his cerulean eyes it made her weak in the knees. Then she
remembered the little surprise she’d picked up at Victoria’s Secret for his
pleasure and was thinking about leading him into a seductive dance, when she
caught sight of the rack of balls on the pool table and had another idea.

“I have a surprise for you too.” She smiled playfully at him, took him by both
hands and led him to the pool table. “Have you ever heard of strip pool?”

“Strip pool?” He followed her lead, his grin widening at the idea.

“Yes,” She said as she let go of him and picked up a pool cue. “It’s just like
regular pool, only when I sink a shot I get to pick a piece of clothing for you to
take off and when you sink a shot, you get to tell me what to take off.” Then, she
picked up the chalk, started chalking the tip of her cue and raised an eyebrow at
him as she cocked her head to the side. “Are you up for the challenge?”
Jason’s eyes never left hers and a wicked smile spread over his face as he nodded
and reached for a cue stick. “Should I spot you a couple of shots? Or play left-
handed, so I‘m handicapped?”

“You’re awfully sure of yourself.” She said as she circled the table, snatching
the cue ball on her way around and setting it down at the far end of the table.
“I’ll break, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Jason stood holding his cue with both hands, watching her as she
bent low over the stick, sighting her break shot.

Elizabeth slowly licked her lips when she noticed him taking advantage of the view
provided by the dip in the front of her shirt. She laughed to herself, he had no
idea what she had in store for him. She was going to have so much fun.

Pulling her concentration back to her shot, she gripped the cue in her hand and
drove the stick forward, hitting the cue ball and sending it careening into the
triangular rack of balls. With a loud crack the balls broke apart, rolling wildly
across the table, and she watched with a satisfied grin as the red three dropped
into the corner pocket.

“Nice break,” Jason said.

Smiling coyly, Elizabeth picked up the chalk and rechalked the tip of her cue
stick. “Why, thank you,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him, “By the way, you owe
me that shirt.”

Chapter 11

Elizabeth watched Jason line up his shot, more interested in the way the muscles
across his shoulders and back flexed as he moved than in his technical pool
shooting skills. Tonight she was playing the best game of her life and had so far
successfully stripped Jason of his shirt, belt, both boots and jeans. When she’d
sunk her last shot and won his jeans, he’d peeled them off with such a sensual
grin on his face, stripping down to his snug black boxer briefs and socks, she’d
nearly thrown the game right then and tackled him onto the pool table.

Only when she’d started to lean in to kiss him, he wouldn’t let her, and with a
spark of deviltry in his eyes showing just how much he was enjoying this, he put a
finger to her lips, slowly shook his head at her and made her wait.

That’s when she’d decided to make him suffer. If that was the way he wanted to
play then she’d more than oblige him. Besides, he hadn’t done nearly as well in
the game as she had. So far Elizabeth had only removed her red sweater and black
mini. The sweater had come off to reveal a lacy black push-up bra, and then later
when she’d slid off the mini to reveal a matching pair of black lace boyshorts cut
high enough to show off an ample portion of her nicely rounded bottom and thigh
high black stockings, Jason’s game had taken a decided downturn.

In fact, he hadn’t sunk another shot since.

Which made their totals: Elizabeth - 5, Jason - 2.

The shot he was currently lining up was a pretty simple one. Straight in, no fancy
rail angles or multiple ball ricochets happening with this one. Straight from the
cue stick to the cue ball to the blue striped ball and into the corner. Elizabeth
sidled around the table to the corner pocket Jason was aiming for and leaned over,
bending at the waist and extending her arms wide as she braced her hands on the
edge of the table, giving him a clear view of her cleavage as he looked down the
length of his pool cue.

His eyes lifted to her, and she saw his knuckles whiten around his pool cue as his
gaze lifted to her face. She gave him a “Gee-is-something-bothering-you-because-I-
can’t-possibly-imagine-what-it-might-be” look and a smile lifted the corner of his
mouth.

He closed his eyes a second, took a deep breath and with a shake of his head
brought his focus back to his shot. He was practically glowering at the pool balls
and after a tense moment, he drew back and connected with the cue ball. Elizabeth
watched the cue ball dart forward, impact with the blue striped ball making it
roll straight into the corner pocket.

She looked up, cocking an eyebrow at him, and found a broad grin on his face. He
crooked an eyebrow back at her and she straightened, placing a hand low on each
hip. With a sultry ticking of her hips she purposefully rounded the table to face
him, then looked down giving herself the once over.

She lifted one black stilettoed foot and pointed down at it, “Shoe?”

His eyes darkened as he pursed his lips and slowly shook his head, “No, the shoes
stay.”

Her eyes widened as she watched him look her up and down and then circle her. She
could practically feel his gaze on her body like a pair of hands and she felt
herself flush. She wanted to feel his hands on her, his long talented fingers
sliding over her skin…

“Stocking.”

She jumped, “What?” She hadn’t realized how distracted she’d become.

“I want your stocking.” He repeated with a sly smile.

She pointed at her leg, “This? Are you sure this is what you want?”

Jason nodded, his sly smile slowly becoming seductive.

Elizabeth leaned back against the pool table and slipped her foot out of her shoe,
then braced her toes on a table. Licking her lips, she made a slow, teasing show
out of sliding her hands up her thigh and hooking her fingers under the lacy edge
of her stocking then slowly easing it down the length of her leg. Jason kept his
eyes locked on her hands for the entire show.

Standing slowly, Elizabeth tucked her foot back into her black three-inch heel,
and sauntered toward Jason with the stocking dangling from her hand. Their eyes
locked, his ice blue ones darkening with desire as she stopped in front of him and
draped the scrap of filmy material around his neck. “You wanted this. It‘s yours.”
She drew her lower lip between her teeth and watched his pupils widen. She was
enjoying this. “Now, I think it’s my turn.”

He watched her walk away and she made sure to sway her hips for his viewing
pleasure. Then she stopped and bent low at the waist under the pretense of getting
a bead on a shot. She rejected the angle and stood, bracing a hand on her hip and
arching her back seductively. She was determined to play this for everything it
was worth, and tease him to his limits, to see how far she could push him before
he snapped.

She made her way around the table, ostensibly looking for her best shot, but
really just giving him plenty of time to watch her move. Jason moved with her
keeping the pool table between them, his eyes locked on her as if he were animal
on the hunt, stalking her, waiting for the right moment to pounce. She stopped at
their little dining table to swirl the end of her finger in the whipped cream
topping her now cool hot cocoa and then, turning to make sure he could watch, she
slid her finger into her mouth, wrapped her lips around her cream covered digit,
and eased it back out again. Across the table, she heard Jason groan.

She didn’t try to hid her smile of pleasure as she turned back to the pool table,
it was her shot after all and as fun as teasing him was, stripping him down to the
buff was even better. Spying the shot she wanted to take, she was only mildly
surprised to find where Jason’s prowling had taken him. She raised an eyebrow at
him as she rounded the corner of the table and approached his position. Raising an
eyebrow back at her, he planted his cue stick by his side and didn’t move.

He’d stationed himself right where she needed to be to make her shot, and with
that little eyebrow wiggle he’d done, he was clearly challenging her to make her
shot anyway. Well, she wasn’t about to let him beat her at her own game.

She sidled up with her back to him and eased herself into the space he’d left
between himself and the table, her rounded bottom sliding across his groin. She
could feel him pressing into her, and a shiver went through her as she felt his
reaction to their physical contact.

Elizabeth’s hands trembled as she grasped the pool cue. She leaned forward to line
up her shot, a move that settled her even more intimately against him and he
pressed his hips forward making her gasp. Suddenly, she was having a hard time
breathing, much less concentrating on finding the proper angle in which to hit a
little white cue ball to knock another ball into a pocket.

Peering back over her shoulder, she saw Jason watching her with a truly wicked
glint in his eye and then she widened her eyes innocently, “Do you think you can
you help me with this shot?”

Jason’s smile broadened and he lowered himself over her, planting one hand by hers
on the table and the other on her pool stick. She felt the broad expanse of his
chest across her back and his warm breath fan across her neck, and the tremble in
her hands spread outward, not stopping until it reached her toes.

Jason’s voice was in her ear, low and seductive, giving her instructions on aim
and ball English, and she bent one knee, listening as his voice stuttered as her
hip shifted against him. She had set out to push him to his limits, but was
finding herself testing her own. She wouldn’t be able to endure much more of this,
it was time to go in for the kill.

“Jason, “ she paused, and had to swallow to wet her mouth before she could
continue, “Have I ever told you about this fantasy I have about you and me and a
pool table?”

His whole body stiffened and she felt his breathing become ragged. Then she stood
and he rose with her, and turning to him, she found his face drained of all its
humor, leaving only raw desire in its place. His eyes consumed her and she licked
her lips, trembling under his heated stare.
Her voice was breathless, nearly a whisper, “From the first day you taught me to
play pool, I wondered what it would be like for you to take me on top….” His arm
went around her waist, roughly pulling her to him and lifting her as his mouth
took hers, hungry and desperate with desire. Wrapping her arms around his neck,
she met his kisses with a hunger of her own and he bent her back, rolling pool
balls out of their way with a sweep of his arm. Laying her out on the table, he
stretched the length of his body over her, and passions that had been stoked and
smoldering all evening erupted in a flame of hot bright need that consumed them
both.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emily rounded a corner in the hospital. It was way past visiting hours, but she
couldn’t stay away. Her nightmares were getting the best of her and she needed a
friendly face to help keep them at bay.

She stole silently down the hall, doing her best to avoid nurses and orderlies who
might stop and question her about where she was going or send her away.

Turning down the last hallway, she snuck over, quietly opened the door to Lucky’s
room and slipped inside.

She found Lucky still awake with his small television turned on and the faint
rumbling of WWF wrestling filling the room. He had the head of the bed cranked up
and one arm braced behind his head.

Emily hesitated in the doorway, suddenly unsure of herself and wondering why she
was here. Her uncertainty added to the maelstrom of emotions already swirling
through her and pushed her beyond her limits of control. Tears began silently
sliding down her cheeks and she crossed her arms over her chest as she shifted
from one foot to the other. Why was she here? She didn’t know. She didn’t know
anything anymore. Everything she’d placed her trust in to make a solid foundation
for her life was now gone. Her husband was in prison and because of what Connor
Bishop had done to her, she couldn’t even picture him in her mind without being
seized by a feeling of abject terror.

“Emily?” Lucky’s voice floated to her, barely registering over the noise in her
head. Then he was next to her, pulling her into his arms and she leaned into his
chest, burying her face and letting herself cry.

Lucky guided her to the bed and they sat, his arm around her and her head on his
shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Emily said through her tears, “I don’t even know why I’m here.”

Lucky lifted her chin with one finger and met her eyes, “You know you can tell me
anything.”

Emily sighed, “Nikolas called today. He wants me to come see him tomorrow.” She
dropped her head, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “I don’t think I can go.”
Her shoulders started shaking as her tears came faster, her words coming out
between sobs. “What if I can never look at him again without remembering… without
remembering….”

Lucky pulled her to him and she went, crying out her fears into his shoulder and
finding comfort in the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. It was all too
confusing, but she didn’t care, she just needed something to hold on to, to make
the pain feel less overwhelming.

When she found her voice again, it was barely a whisper, “Can I stay here
tonight?”

“Of course.” he answered, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead, “I’m here
whenever you need me.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sitting on the edge of the bed with his bag packed and at his feet, AJ
Quartermaine should have felt excited. Today was his grand re-entry into Port
Charles. His big splash come-back, welcome, welcome, guess-who’s-here-again day.
The day his revenge on his brother for stealing his son from him kicked into high
gear.

But Sam had called yesterday morning and turned his world upside-down.

Sam.

His mouth hooked into a grin. Now she was a woman after his own heart. This last
week had been amazing. Her appetites were unbelievable. Never before had he been
with a woman so sexually uninhibited, she even had Carly beat, hands down. She was
a sassy, saucy, tarty little firecracker who could literally bring him to tears
with pleasure in the bedroom, and yesterday she’d called him and told him she was
pregnant with his baby.

His baby.

The wonder of it made everything else a little less substantial in comparison.

He hoped they had a girl. A little sprite of a baby girl with her momma’s
chocolate brown eyes. His grin widened as he thought about his daughter, a feisty
little brunette with her mother’s spark, and his hand stole up to his chest to
cover his heart.

He was going to be a daddy.

He’d come back to Port Charles to give his brother a taste of his own medicine.
Tit for tat. An eye for an eye and all that jazz. Only now he was the one had
everything and more. He had the girl, the baby and the revenge was just the cherry
on top.

So today when he walked into Kelley’s Diner at half past noon to make his grand
appearance in front of Sam and his brother, he would know he’d already won. The
downfall of the great Jason Morgan had begun and nothing would stop it now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth rolled over in bed, the morning sun bleeding in through the curtains,
settling a faint glow around the room. In the hazy light she saw Cameron in lying
in his bed, awake and on his back, perfectly content as he played with his feet.

Elizabeth snuggled into the covers, savoring the warmth the feather comforter
afforded. She and Jason hadn’t spent the entire night together last night. After
their game of ‘pool’ - her grin widened remembering how incredibly that fantasy
had been fulfilled - they’d stayed at Jake’s a while talking, but with Cameron
teething and not sleeping well, she hadn’t wanted to be away all night.

Cameron, having gotten bored playing catch and release with his toes, rolled onto
his stomach and using the slats of the crib, levered himself up on his knees.
Smiling broadly, he looked over toward her bed and starting making grunting noises
to get her attention.

Elizabeth loved this time in the morning with him, he was always in a good mood
when he woke up and they’d worked out a pleasant morning routine. He’d wake up and
she’d change him, then they’d climb back into her bed where they’d snuggle and
play patty-cake or peek-a-boo. It was a wonderful time, just the two of them,
happy and content, and it’d usually last all of fifteen minutes, if she was lucky,
before Cameron realized he was hungry.

Today was no different, Cameron was happy to be awake, looking over to her bed for
her to come pick him and just like every other morning, Elizabeth sat up and swung
her legs over the side of the bed. Except today, her stomach lurched and heaved,
and she froze in mid-move as a wave of nausea swept over her. She swallowed
thickly as bile rose in her throat and she brought a shaky hand up to cover her
mouth. A cold clammy feeling spread its icy fingers over her and for a moment she
thought she was going to throw up on her feet.

On the other side of the room, oblivious to his mother’s distress, Cameron was
laughing. Elizabeth let the sound flow over her, rocking slightly with one hand on
her stomach, the other still covering her mouth, mentally willing herself not to
toss her cookies. She couldn’t be hung over, she reasoned, she hadn’t drank
anything harder than hot cocoa last night, unless it was too much hot cocoa and
Kelley’s brownies on an empty stomach that was making her sick.

A few deep breathes had her nausea calming slightly, and she slowly stood and
carefully crossed the room to Cameron. He was smiling widely at her and she forced
a smile on her face as well.

“Hey there big boy.” She lifted her son out of the crib and he fell into her,
wrapping his short arms around her as far as he could. She caressed his head with
her cheek and for a brief moment forgot how horrible she felt.

Their together time in bed didn’t last long that morning as all Cameron was
interested in doing was rock back and forth on his hands and knees, which made the
bed shake, which in turn made her stomach feel like she was riding the washing
machine during the spin cycle. So in less than two minutes Elizabeth had her son
in her arms and was headed downstairs to get him his breakfast.

Audrey was already up, wearing one of her signature pastel suits with her hair
perfectly coifed, and eating her morning staple of an English muffin with
strawberry jam and a cup of coffee with two creamers and two sugars. She gave her
granddaughter a reproachful look as Elizabeth strapped Cameron into his highchair.

“You don’t look well this morning.” Audrey said dryly.

Grabbing a baby food jar of peaches and a spoon, Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the
disapproval in her Gram’s voice. Elizabeth knew Gram wasn’t happy with her night
time excursions, but more than anything else she though her Gram had her nose out
of joint because Elizabeth hadn’t taken Gram into her confidence about what she
was doing. This morning, however, she didn’t really feel like dealing with elderly
woman’s attitude, Grandmother or not.

“I’m fine, I just have some kind of stomach bug. There’s one going around at
work.” Elizabeth said, as she tucked a bib around Cameron’s neck and unscrewed the
jar of peaches. She’d normally eat her breakfast as she fed Cam, but with her
stomach acting up this morning she didn’t feel much like looking at food, much
less eating.

“Maybe if you wouldn’t stay out till all hours you wouldn’t be getting sick.” Gram
arched a thin eyebrow pointedly at her and Elizabeth bit her tongue before a nasty
retort shot out of her mouth. She was after all indebted to Gram for letting her
and Cameron live here rent free. The least she could do is put up with a little
heavy-handed Grandparental concern.

Instead Elizabeth focused on dodging Cameron’s hands as he tried to grab the spoon
of peaches she was feeding him. Then the front door bell rang, and Gram huffed in
annoyance and left to go answer it. In a minute Elizabeth heard the voice of her
brother Stephen floating in from the foyer.

Cameron had one whole fistful of fingers stuck inside his mouth, and was grinning
at her with his deep blue eyes sparkling as she held up another spoonful of
peaches to try to tempt him into taking another bite. He laughed at her and
started smacking his peach-puree covered hand on the tray of his highchair,
splattering pale orange goo all over himself, Elizabeth, the table, and the wall
next to them.

Elizabeth sighed and rested her head on her hand, looking at her giggling son with
a mixture of frustration and joy.

Gram came back into the kitchen carrying her coffee cup with Stephen trailing
behind her, her low-heeled pastel sling-backs clacking softly on the hard wood
floor. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her, Stephen,” Gram was saying as she
entered, “she stays out until all hours, and now she’s gotten sick. She just can’t
keep this up with a baby to take care of.”

Elizabeth’s stomach lurched as the smell of Gram’s coffee wafted over her, and she
bolted out of the kitchen for the bathroom, making it just in time to get sick in
the toilet.

By the time her stomach settled, she’d cleaned up and gotten back to the kitchen,
Gram was nowhere to be seen and Stephen was finishing feeding Cameron his
breakfast.

She grinned sheepishly at her brother, “Sorry about that.”

He shrugged it off, taking the spoon of peaches on a winding airplane ride to
Cameron’s mouth, “Don’t worry about it. I’m a doctor. I’ve seen worse.” He slid
his eyes to her and raised an eyebrow at her. “You are awfully pale. Are you sure
you’re alright?”

Elizabeth collapsed in a chair opposite him and laid her cheek on the table top,
her auburn hair fanning out around her head like a dark cloud. “Yes, it’s just a
stomach bug. There’s one going around the hospital. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few
hours.” She lifted her head to look at him, “By the way, where did Gram go?”

“Work.” Stephen turned back to his nephew and used the spoon to scrape up the
peaches he’d pushed back out of his mouth in his attempts to chew. “I told her to
leave you alone and mind her own business.”

“Thanks.” She smiled lopsidedly at her brother. “Did she fill you in on all the
areas I’m falling short in?”

“I got the general rundown.” He spooned the last bit of peaches into Cameron’s
mouth and kept his eyes on Cam as he made her an offer, “You know you and Cameron
could move in with me.”

Elizabeth smiled at her brother. “Thank you, but I couldn’t do that to you.” Then
talked over him when he tried to interrupt. “I love that you offered, but I just
can’t. You’re working crazy hours at the hospital and Cameron would keep you up
when you need to be sleeping. I‘m sure your patients would much rather have a well
rested doctor than one who is sleep deprived and cranky.”

Stephen gave her an annoyed look, “Elizabeth, I‘m being serious.”

“So am I,” she said, tipping her head to the side, “I know you mean well, but it
wouldn’t work.”

Stephen sighed. “Are you scheduled to work today?”

Elizabeth shook her head no.

“Well then, would you at least let me take care of Cameron this morning so you can
go back to bed and get some sleep?” He raised his eyebrows in challenge, but it
wasn’t necessary, the sound of more sleep was too good an offer for her to refuse.

“Have I told you, you’re a saint?” Elizabeth asked as she stood. “I’d kiss you
right now, but I don’t want to give you what I have.”

Stephen laughed and pulled Cameron out of his high chair, turning him around so
that the little boy’s back was to his chest and held him in place with one arm
wrapped around his middle. Cameron gurgled happily in his new position and started
waving his arms and legs in the air.

“Go,” Stephen ordered, pointing toward the stairs, “go back to bed before I change
my mind. If you‘re feeling better when you wake up, I‘ll even spring for lunch at
Kelley‘s.”

“Thank you.” Elizabeth mouthed as she backed out of the room and headed back to
her bedroom.

Chapter 12
Despite Jason’s arrival during the peak of the lunch rush, Kelly’s had an
unusually small smattering of customers scattered at various tables. The cold
February chill kept most sensible people indoors out of the icy, cutting wind and
the few that had braved the elements had come prepared, their mass of coats, hats
and scarves covering the coat rack by the door making it look very much like a
lumpy multi-colored Christmas tree.

Jason took it in with a sweep of his eyes, the sparsely filled room, the winter
garments, Penny behind the counter, and the small dark-haired woman draped like a
rag doll over the counter with her head resting on her crossed forearms.

Sam had called him less than fifteen minutes ago in a panic and Jason had made it
here from the warehouse in record time. Having heard the door open, she lifted her
head from the counter and seeing Jason made a shaky smile bloom on her face.

“Where’s Greg?” Jason asked gruffly as he crossed to her, irritated the guard was
nowhere in sight.

“I ducked him back at Wyndam’s.” Sam propped her head on her hand. “You know I
hate being followed around like I can’t take care of myself.”

Jason frowned and without bothering to sit, he pulled out his phone and flipped it
open. “I don’t care if you don’t like it. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“But I can always call you if I need help.” Sam smiled at him and Jason’s frown
deepened as he brought his cell phone to his ear.

“No you can’t Sam.” He cocked the mouthpiece aside and struggled to keep the
irritation out of his voice, “I won’t always be available, that’s why you have
Greg.”

As the phone rang, he studied her. Her color was good. Her eyes were bright. Maybe
she looked a little more tired than normal, but then she was pregnant - with his
baby- and that reminder made him cringe. He hadn’t even asked her how she was
doing. With a sigh, he rubbed his forehead.

“How are you feeling? Have you eaten lunch yet?”

Sam waved her hand dismissively and lowered her head back to the counter. “I had
some toast for breakfast. I wasn’t feeling very well this morning.”

Toast. That’s why he’d dropped everything, including sitting in on a scheduled

conference call to Puerto Rico, and nearly broken his neck getting over here?
Because it was two friggin’ o’clock in the afternoon and the only thing she’d
eaten all day was toast. He swore to himself. That call was important, things in
Puerto Rico were beginning to get shaky again and he needed to keep a firm hand on
the situation before it got out of control. Screwing up one well timed ‘reminder’
could possibly tip the balance of power, and it was all because of toast. His jaw
tightened as the cell phone at his ear clicked over to Greg’s voice mail, and
Jason barely suppressed an urge to throw the electronic device through the window.
Greg was in for a lot more than a simple reprimand when Jason got his hands on
him.

The front door of the diner slammed open, spilling a frigid breeze across the
room, and Jason’s gaze automatically flicked toward it, instinctively checking out
the diner’s new arrival. Then he froze, his eyes narrowing and his gaze hardening.
The muscle in his jaw ticked as he ground his teeth together.
He didn’t need this, not now.

Sauntering toward him wearing a long black wool coat, casually unbuttoned with its
ends flaring out behind him as he moved, was his brother - AJ Quartermaine.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well, well, well…look at what we have here.” AJ stopped in front of his little
brother, his lip curling into a half amused and half disgusted smile. Jason didn’t
answer, not that AJ expected him to.

“Did you miss me?” AJ crossed his arms over his chest and settled back on his
heels. He watched as annoyance flickered across Jason‘s eyes and chuckled. “I see
you haven’t changed a bit.”

“What do you want?”

“Can’t I stop by and say ‘Hi’ to my baby brother without having an ulterior
motive?”

Jason glared at him.

AJ let his gaze roam over Sam who watched him blankly, not surprised by her
feigned disinterest, and cocked his head to the side.

“Well, hello there,” He dramatically arched an eyebrow in a display of curiosity,

entirely for Jason‘s benefit. “Don’t I know you?” Then he made a show of rolling
his eyes as if shuffling through his memories, then snapped his fingers in mock-
recollection, “You’re Sam McCall aren’t you? We met during that whole Dead Man’s
Hand treasure hunt.”

He nodded his head as Sam raked her eyes over him in distain. He had to struggle
to keep his admiration for her off his face. She, however, seemed to have no
trouble playing her part, and if he hadn’t known better he would have sworn she’d
never met him at all, much less suspect that the child she carried was his.

Before she could reply, Jason stepped in front of her putting himself between the
two of them, effectively shielding her and blocking their conversation. AJ dragged
his eyes back to his brother’s, the annoyance he’d seen in them earlier had turned
into the first glimmerings of anger.

“What do you want?” Jason repeated, this time with a hard edge in his voice.

Stroking his goatee between his finger and thumb, AJ considered how far he could
push his brother without starting a brawl. The ragged edge of Jason’s anger was an
uncertain place to tread, but he’d had enough practice to tell when he was safe
and when he was nearing the edge. Right now, he was still well within safe
territory.

“To tell you I’m back in town.” AJ’s eyes sparkled.

AJ heard the bell chime as the door to Kelly’s swung open and watched Jason’s eyes
flick past him to inspect the new arrival. Then, as he watched, Jason’s face
relaxed, its hard edge slipping away into a ghost of an almost-but-not-quite
smile, and the anger in his eyes melted into a spark of something AJ would have
taken for happiness on any other man except his stone cold killer of a brother.

Surprise and blatant curiosity had him turning toward the door to see what had
caused his brother to bloom into instant good-tidings and joy.

What he saw made him pause.

Elizabeth Webber maneuvered a stroller through the door, laughing out loud at some
comment the man holding the door open for her had made. Together the two of them
managed to muscle the baby stroller inside and close the door behind them. Then as
AJ watched, Elizabeth’s eyes lifted and seeing Jason brought a look to her face
that was eerily similar to what he’d just seen on his brother’s, only the shy
smile and glint in her eye was accompanied by a pinking of her cheeks. Then the
man with her asked her for her coat, breaking the spell and she turned away, her
smile melting, her movements suddenly awkward as she avoided looking back in
Jason’s direction.

AJ’s eyes narrowed as he turned back to his brother and found him staring not at
Elizabeth or himself, but off to the side. His face once again a mask of
indifference, or nearly so, because when Jason’s eyes cut back to him, the open
hostility in them was tempered with a look of unease.

“Are you done?” Jason asked, his voice tight, and out of the corner of his eye, AJ
saw the baby in Elizabeth’s arms turn toward the sound of Jason’s voice with a
big, wet, sloppy smile spreading across his pudgy face.

A red flag popped up in AJ’s mind. This was interesting. In fact, it was more than
interesting enough to call for an impromptu experiment.

“For now.” He slid his eyes to Sam, who from her position behind Jason’s back
hadn’t caught the look that had passed between his brother and Elizabeth, “I will
leave you and your lovely lady…” AJ openly winked at her, noting the lack of
change in Jason’s expression. Interesting. “alone so you two can eat lunch.”

Backing away from them, he watched a flicker of confusion pass over Sam’s face,
then turned and headed for the table where Elizabeth Webber was seated.

Pausing next to Elizabeth’s chair, he turned around as if he’d forgotten to say

something. He was close enough to her that all he had to do was shift his hand to
the right a few inches and he could brush against her arm. AJ feigned a near miss,
raising his hand to rub his forehead, and took close note of Jason’s reaction.
Unlike his wink at Sam, this almost-but-not-quite contact made Jason tense, his
hands fisted at his sides, his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed threateningly.

Most interesting indeed.

Satisfied, AJ waved an arm as if deciding not to make his remembered comment, then
turned and headed out of the diner.

Chuckling to himself as he closed the door behind him. He cast a glance back over
his shoulder and watched through the glass as Elizabeth Webber pulled a jar of
baby food out of her bag for the little boy squirming in her arms. Running a
finger and thumb over his goatee, he started walking away. He wasn’t sure what
kind of relationship existed between his brother and Elizabeth and her baby, but
knew without a doubt she was important to Jason.

And since she was important to Jason, she was also important to him.

He needed make sure he knew everything there was to know about Ms. Elizabeth
Webber.

Chapter 13

Sitting in the visitors waiting room at Pentonville prison, Emily felt like she
could puke on her shoes and pass out, or run screaming down the hall, fleeing
until she was safely huddled under her blankets in her bed at the Quartermaine
mansion.

Why was she here?

Bringing trembling hands up to cover her face, she resigned herself to the answer.
She was here to see her husband. The husband who still loved her, still needed
her, and knew absolutely nothing about her rape or his terrifying resemblance to
her rapist. A part of her, the sensible part, knew she needed to tell Nik about
what happened to her, but she couldn’t.

There were a million reasons why. He would be upset. He’d want to help her. He’d
feel guilty. He’d blame himself for not being there to protect her. She sighed.
She didn’t want to burden him with guilt, for being away from her, or for not
being able to help her now or then. She simply couldn’t deal with his emotions
right now, she had enough trouble dealing with her own.

However, the biggest reason she couldn’t tell him was that she couldn’t bring
herself to tell him that the mere sight of him made her want to run screaming in
blinding terror.

An arm went around her shoulders, tightened into a hug, and she let herself lean
into Lucky’s side.

“I can’t do this.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Lucky wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her closer, tucking his chin
over her head as she curled into him. “You don’t have to.”

Safe in Lucky’s arms, Emily shook her head and let herself cry freely. “I can’t. I
can‘t go see him. I‘m not ready.”

“I can go in and explain…”

“No!” Emily’s head popped up, her eyes wide with fear, “No! You can’t tell him
what happened. I don’t want him to know. Not yet.”

Lucky’s hands rubbed up and down her arms and he ducked his head to look her in
the eyes. “Emily, I won’t tell him anything you don’t want me to.”

Emily closed her eyes and sighed. Of course he wouldn’t, she knew she could trust
Lucky.

“But he loves you, Em, he would do everything he could to help you if you told
him.”
Emily shook her head, not in denial of his words, but in disagreement, “That’s why
I can’t tell him. It’d kill him to know and not be able to do anything.” Besides
I’m not ready for him to know.

A door opened next to them and a tall guard in a starched blue police uniform
stepped out and appraised them with a sharp edged look that bespoke years of
police training. “Nikolas Cassadine is ready. Only one visitor at a time.”

Lucky looked Emily in the eye and she wilted under his questioning gaze, shaking
her head and covering her eyes with a shaky hand.

Lucky stood, gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and followed his fellow
officer into the visitors room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucky watched the smile on Nikolas’ face melt away when he saw his brother.

“What?” Lucky took a seat in the plain metal chair across the small table from his
brother and frowned in mock offense. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Nik’s face twitched into a smile. “I was expecting someone much better looking.”
Then his smile melted away again, “Is Emily here?”

Lucky leaned forward bracing both elbows against the table, clasped his hands in
front of his face, and stared intently at the battered metal tabletop. He’d only
had the walk into the room to come up with a cover story and he’d decided to go
with one that was mostly true. He took a deep breath and scratched his ear. “Yes,
she’s here, but…” He glanced over his shoulder toward the spot where Emily waited
on the other side of the wall, hurting and alone. “She’s been stressed about you
being here for so long, then coming here, seeing the prison…” He slowly shook his
head. “It was too much for her.”

Nikolas’ expression darkened and he tugged restlessly at the handcuff chaining his
wrist to the table. His jaw set and ticked to the side as his eyes followed
Lucky’s to the spot on the wall hiding Emily from his view. He looked like he
wanted to claw his way through it to the woman he loved. “I’m worried about her.”
Slowly shaking his head, he turned back to Lucky, “Something’s wrong, but she
won’t tell me what it is. She barely talks to me on the phone.” His dark eyes
flicked back and bore into Lucky’s, as worry lined his face and filled his voice,
“What’s wrong with her Lucky?”

Lucky hated lying to his brother, and not any lie either, but a lie that would cut
him to his core once he found out the truth. A knot of guilt formed a lump in his
chest, making it hard to breath.

“She’s trying to handle everything on her own. Convince everyone she’s fine. Not
let you know how much she’s worried so you won’t worry about her.” Lucky paused,
collecting his thoughts and adjusted his words so he wouldn’t give too much away,
“She’s worrying herself sick. She’s not sleeping well, and she won‘t let anyone
help her.”
Frowning grimly, Nikolas tapped his finger against the table. Lucky leaned in
closer and asked in a low voice. “How are you doing?”

Nikolas lifted his arm as far as the cuff would allow and jerked upward a couple
of times, making the metal bracelet and chain rattle. “It’s not exactly a dinner
party at the country club, but I’m managing.”

Lucky was going ask more, but his brother’s eyes focused on the wall Emily was
behind. Nikolas turned pleading eyes back on him. “Please take care of her for me,
Lucky. While I can’t. Be there for her and help her get through this.”

Lucky’s chest grew tighter, making it hard for him to breathe, swallow, or look
his brother in the eye. He settled instead for staring at the table top and
nodding.

“I will.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Drawing her leather jacket more tightly around her, Elizabeth sat waiting on a
bench in the park. After an uncomfortable lunch at Kelly’s pretending to not
notice the man she loved hovering protectively over another woman, she’d gone home
and tucked Cameron in for his afternoon nap. Steven had offered to sit with his
sleeping nephew so she could sneak away for some alone time. An offer she quickly
took advantage of. Then after she’d left, she’d immediately phoned Jason to see if
he could meet her for a quick rendezvous in the park.

Right at three o’clock she heard the familiar tromp of motorcycle boots and her
heart kicked into double time in her chest.

Jason appeared rounding a clump of tall shrubs and at the sight of him something
inside her snapped. The hurt and frustration that had been building all afternoon
broke loose and a wet sob broke from her as she launched herself off the bench and
wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her closer, holding her tightly and she
clung on to him desperately as if she were afraid he’d vanish if she let go.

Jason nuzzled her hair with his cheek and murmured apologies into her ear.

Elizabeth pulled away and wiped away the tears that had streaked her cheeks with
twin iridescent trails. Looking into Jason’s pale blue eyes and seeing the pain
and regret in them made her heart break all over again. “It’s not your fault. We
both knew this would happen sooner or later.”

It was inevitable their paths would cross while Jason was with Sam. While she
expected it to happen, she hadn’t expected it to hurt so much. It’d been like a
sucker punch to the gut. Even knowing that he didn’t love Sam didn’t blunt the
shock of seeing him pretend to be half of a loving couple. It knifed her through
the heart, a quick painful stab of reality.

Shaking his head, he stroked his leather gloved fingers over her jaw, brushed her
hair back from her cheek and sighed. “I can’t do this to you, or Cameron. I saw
him recognize me.” A dark shadow passed over Jason’s face, “I hated acting like I
didn’t see him. I don’t want to hurt him or you.”

Reaching up to cup his cheek, she let her head fall to the side. “We‘ve been
friends for a long time. I don’t think anyone would be suspicious if we acted like
friends when we run in to each other. As long as you and I keep our secret,
everything will be fine.“ She leaned into him, resting her head in the crook of
his neck, “Besides, the first time is the hardest. Next time will be easier.” She
said the last with a conviction she didn’t really feel, yet knowing she’d endure
fire and brimstone for him if need be.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Elizabeth pulled back and looked up at him wondering where that question had come
from. “What? Why?”

“You were eating soup.” He half-shrugged as if that explained everything.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Elizabeth stepped back in surprise. “You noticed
what I was eating?” With everything else going on at the diner, he had noticed she
was eating soup and was worried about her. A smile broke across her face, and she
sighed. She loved this man. So there was no way she’d burden him the news of a
little bout of stomach virus, which she was already completely over. “I’m fine.”
She reassured him, but her eyes narrowed. “Seeing you with her ruined my
appetite.”

Jason groaned.

Elizabeth’s lip curled into a smirk. “You’re lucky all I did was order soup. What
I really wanted to do was to tackle her and snatch her bald.”

Watching Jason’s face break into a grin lifted her spirits more than any of his
reassurances. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rocked back on his heels and
rolled his eyes.

“There’s something I’ve been thinking about.” Reaching up, he scratched the back
of his neck in what Elizabeth recognized as nervousness.

She lifted an eyebrow, instantly curious. “What?”

“I’d like to get you and Cameron a place to live.”

“Jason!” Elizabeth’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“A nice little house, where the two of you would be comfortable. Some place out of
the way, where I can come visit without attracting attention.” He met her eyes and
lifted a hand to caress her cheek with his thumb, “A home, for the three of us.”

Elizabeth covered her mouth with one hand and stood in shock as she processed what
he’d said. A home. No, not just a home. Their home. Somehow she’d never imagined
them in a home together. In the penthouse maybe, but a home…. She didn’t know what
to think. It would be wonderful to share a home with Jason. Being at ease together
in a place all their own, eating dinner together, sleeping in the same bed - their
bed - waking up in the morning together. It would be heaven, even if it was in
secret for the next few months, but still…

Something felt wrong about it too. Because it was a secret. Would if make her feel
like a mistress living off her lover, paying her way on her back. She shook the
thoughts away. She was overreacting. Their relationship wasn’t like that. Jason
wasn’t like that. There wasn’t anything sleazy about his offer. Still she would
feel better about the arrangement if she supported herself. She didn’t want to
live off him. Not yet. That was a huge step in their relationship which she wasn’t
prepared for.

She smiled at him, “Well, if I agreed to this there would be conditions…”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Conditions?”

“First, I’d have to pay rent.” Jason started to protest, but she cut him off with
a twist of her head and a raised hand.

“Second,” She rolled her eyes lazily, then scrunched her face thoughtfully and
brought the end of her finger to her chin, “It would have to have a pool table.”

A wicked glint sparked in Jason’s eyes and he reached out with one arm to snag her
around the waist and pull her to him. Cupping the back of her neck with his gloved
fingers, he bent her back and kissed her hard.

Elizabeth pressed herself more firmly against him, his kiss setting a fiery need
pulsing between her thighs. Her hand fisted in the back of his hair as his mouth
began to work its way over her jaw and down her neck. Each brush of his lips was
like a little electric spark and her mind groped vainly trying to think of a place
close by where they could continue this in private. She swore to herself when she
came up blank. What she wouldn’t give right now to still be renting her old
studio. It was what they needed: private, empty and just a couple of blocks away.

Then Jason’s cell phone rang. He ignored it, concentrating instead on sliding a
hand under the hem of her sweater. The cool feel of his leather-encased hand
against her warm skin made her knees weak, but then his cell phone rang again.

Elizabeth broke away and backed up a step. She was breathing hard and every
molecule of her being protested the interruption. “You’d probably better answer
that.”

Jason growled and pulled out his phone, scowling at it when he saw the name in the
display. Giving her an apologetic look, he flipped the phone open and held it to
his ear. “What?” After a moment, he closed his eyes, his shoulders sagged and he
reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be right there.”

He looked back at Elizabeth with a frown on his face, and she nodded in
understanding.

“I’ll call you later.” He pulled her close for one more quick kiss, lingering a
moment before releasing her, shaking his head, and walking away.

Elizabeth watched him go and sighed. Her heart still pounded in her ears, the ache
low in her belly throbbed, and the idea of having a place where they could be
together without having to worry sounded much better now than it had a few moments
ago.

A home. He’d called it a home for the three of them.

She smiled. She liked that idea.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AJ Quartermaine held himself perfectly still behind the large bush. He was curled
on his side lying half in a mud puddle and from the feel of the damp seeping in
through his clothes, his new wool coat was ruined. Yet he didn’t care. Considering
what he’d just seen, the coat was more than a worthwhile sacrifice.

Watching Elizabeth leave, he carefully levered himself to his feet and stood. In
his hand he held his camera-phone. The wide grin on his face grew even wider as he
stared at the picture he’d just snapped of his brother locked in a passionate kiss
with Elizabeth Webber.

He stroked his goatee as he chuckled and turned to slink away.

Chapter 14

Jason watched Sonny stare out of the picture window in his new living room. Sonny
rolled his shoulders and cocked his head to the side. Jason had seen him this way
enough to know what was bothering him. Something in the business needed his
special attention.

And he had no doubts that special something was in Puerto Rico.

Sonny rarely shied away from giving the order to eliminate a problem when it
became necessary, but he’d never become completely comfortable giving that order
either. Jason respected that hesitation. Respected that Sonny took the burden
seriously. That made his job easier. He became the last resource when all else
failed, and when an order came, he knew it was well deserved and not the result of
a casual whim.

Sonny turned slowly, a finger at his lips, his eyes focused on the drink in his
hand. Then his eyes lifted, met Jason’s, dark and serious, and he shook his head.
“The problem in Puerto Rico has gotten out of hand.”

Jason’s lips drew into a thin line. He’d missed making his call today. He pressed
his thumb and forefinger into his eyes. He’d screwed up and now he was going to
have to go down in person and straighten it out.

“What happened today?” The soft spoken words carried no accusation, no anger, but
Jason flinched.

“Sam had an emergency.” Which hadn’t been an emergency, but he’d believed it to be
when he’d abandoned his duties and charged out of the warehouse to help her.

Sonny’s head snapped up. “Is she okay?”

Jason nodded.

“The baby?”

Jason nodded again, and Sonny visibly relaxed. Then he looked his friend up and
down carefully. “You don’t look good.”

Scrubbing his face with his hands, Jason sighed. “I’m tired, that‘s all.” Then he
shook his head. “It’s not easy dealing with Sam.”
Sonny smirked. “You my friend, should never have an affair.” Then he crossed to
his bar and refilled his glass, lifting the bottle in a silent offer to Jason,
which he refused with a single shake of his head. “How’s Elizabeth doing?” Sonny
asked as he turned away from the bar.

Simply hearing her name lifted a weight from his shoulders. He remembered their
all-to-brief encounter in the park that afternoon and a boyish grin broke across
his face. “Better than I am.”

Catching Sonny watching him with a knowing grin on his face, Jason straightened.
“What do you want me to do in Puerto Rico?”

Sonny watched Jason for another moment then took a deep breath. “Deliver a message
and make sure Enrico listens this time. He needs to understand this will be the
last message I send. Next time…” He let the threat lie and took a swig of his
drink.

Jason rolled his shoulders and nodded. “When?”

“Tonight.”

Jason nodded again, turned to leave and then hesitated. Debating with himself a
moment before turning back to Sonny. Sonny raised an eyebrow and waited for him to
speak.

“Could you watch Sam, so she doesn’t take off while I’m gone?” He rubbed the back
of his neck and fidgeted a moment, rolling his eyes to the side before
straightening and looking Sonny in the eye. “Elizabeth and Cameron are my family.
Keep them safe for me.”

Sonny’s dark eyes held Jason’s pale ones, understanding flowing between the two
men, then he nodded once. “Done.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AJ’s cell phone rang again. He’d ignored it for the better part of the evening,
currently racking up over ten missed calls from the same number. He chuckled,
letting it ring one more time for good measure before finally answering it.

“Where have you been?” Sam shrieked into his ear.

“Busy.” His grin widened at the irritation in her voice. He didn’t know why he
liked riling her so much - no, he shook his head, that wasn’t true, he did know
why - and it was a shame he wouldn‘t be able to take advantage of the results of
his efforts tonight.

The silence on the other end almost convinced him she’d hung up. Then she started
talking, her voice tight with anger.

“What happened this afternoon at Kelly’s? You didn’t follow the plan.”
AJ chuckled. “Baby, you don’t know Jason like I do. What I did was more than
enough for one day.” So what if he didn’t tell her he’d found out his brother had
a woman on the side. What Sam didn’t know couldn’t ruin his plans.

“I don’t like this.”

He sat up straighter, his voice hardening. “Listen to me, Sam, Jason’s not stupid.
If we started falling all over each other the moment we met, he’d know it was a
set up. We have to go slowly or we’ll ruin everything.”

Silence.

“Trust me. I’ve been dealing with Jason longer than you’ve been wearing a bra. I
know what I‘m doing.”

He could hear her breathing over the phone, then she curtly said, “Fine,” and cut
the connection.

A smile broke across AJ’s face, keeping Sam in line wouldn’t be a problem, his
little firecracker was in too deep and wanted her revenge too badly to screw
things up now. He leaned back in his chair, punched buttons on his cell phone and
brought up the picture of Jason and Elizabeth he’d taken earlier in the park.

So far everything was going smoothly. The baby half of the plan was progressing
perfectly. All that remained for his complete retribution was taking Jason’s
woman.

With his thumb he covered Jason’s face in the picture and grinned broadly. He’d
thought taking Sam would do the trick, but now he knew better….

He raised a finger and caressed Elizabeth’s face.

Now the real fun would begin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rocking Cameron in the dim light of their bedroom, Elizabeth sang a soft lullaby
to her dozing baby boy. He was snuggled into her chest, wearing fleece footed-
pajamas with a cartoon truck stitched on its front, his eyes closed and his thumb
in his mouth in the first light stages of sleep. She rubbed her cheek lightly over
his crown and closed her eyes.

Across the room, she heard the muted ring of her cell phone. Standing carefully,
supporting Cameron against her chest with one hand tucked under his bottom and the
other on his back, she made her way to the bed. Leaning back to keep Cam secured
on her chest, she rummaged through her purse for her phone. Then snagging it, she
check the display, grinning widely when she saw who was calling. Punching the
button to answer, she lifted it to her ear.

“Hey.” She whispered.

“Hey.” Jason’s voice was tight, carrying a note of reservation, and immediately
she knew something was wrong. Her stomach lurched and she lowered herself onto the
bed.

“Jason?” The one word overflowed with question and she heard Jason take a deep
breath.

“I have to go out of town for a few days…”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and felt herself tense. He hadn’t said it, and she
wouldn’t ask, but she knew. This was business. She pulled her lower lip between
her teeth as a trickle of icy fear worked its way down her spine.

Elizabeth eyes welled with tears and she scolded herself for overreacting. Good
grief, what was wrong with her? Jason knew what he was doing, she shouldn’t be
acting like she was never going to see him again. That thought made her chin
tremble, and she sucked in a breath, forcing herself to regain control before she
spoke. A thousand responses ran through her head, Don’t go. Stay with me. Be
careful. Please don’t get hurt. Can’t Sonny send someone else? She bit her fear
back and managed to say, “Can we see each other before you go?”

Jason’s voice softened. “No. I’m at the airport. I’ll call you when I get back.”

Elizabeth cradled Cameron closer and blinked back tears. She managed to choke out
an “Okay.” without her voice cracking.

Jason hesitated a moment, the silence between them thick with emotion. “I love
you.”

Elizabeth smiled as a bloom of love warmed her heart and chased away some of her
worry. “I love you, too.”

Chapter 15

The morning after Jason left, Elizabeth woke up sick to her stomach. While heaving
last night’s dinner into the toilet, it didn’t occur to her this was the second
morning in a row she’d been nauseous. She simply dismissed it as nervous worry
about Jason.

The third morning she found herself crouching, head down over the toilet, she
again passed it off as stress, although a little nagging doubt and a suspicion of
something else she really didn’t want to think about started niggling at the back
of her mind. She resolutely ignored the little voice, focusing on her son and her
morning shift at the hospital. By that evening she’d felt fine, forgetting about
the nausea, vomiting, and the little voice.

The fourth morning she woke, lurched across the hall into the bathroom to again
hug the porcelain bowl, she couldn’t ignore that little voice in the back of her
head. The voice dutifully reminded her of the last time she’d felt this way. It
wasn’t just nausea and vomiting bothering her either. She’d been extra tired and
moody, high strung and worried, all of which she’d attributed to a lack of sleep
from staying up late and rocking a cranky, teething Cameron to sleep. Now she
wasn’t so sure.

Hauling herself back across the hall, she flopped into her bed, pulled the covers
over her head and tried to convince herself she was being ridiculous. She couldn’t
be…. Then she closed her eyes, unable to think the word.
They’d been careful, every time.

No. That wasn’t true. She groaned. There had been that first night neither of them
could completely remember. Covering her face with a palm, she tried in vain to
pull memories out of the alcohol induced haze blanketing that evening. She knew
they’d used a condom once, but if she couldn’t remember every time - or even how
many - how could she be certain they’d been careful enough?

She burst into tears.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when she and Jason were finally together,
working things their relationship out. Then she rolled her eyes. What about the
whole Sam situation?

This was not a good time.

Curling under the blankets to cradle her knees against her chest, Elizabeth cursed
herself and her luck. Hadn’t she learned anything from her disastrous one-night
stand with Zander? She’d majorly screwed up her life then, and she of all people
should have known better than to make the same mistake twice.

Wiping away her tears, she sat up in bed and forced herself to stop making
assumptions. She didn’t know for certain what was wrong with her. It could just be
stress, she was under a lot of it - with a baby, a full time job, nursing school,
and carrying on a secret affair with a known mob enforcer. She held onto that thin
thread of hope and smiled wobbly. Stress. It was just stress.

Clamoring out of bed she snagged her purse from the floor and rummaged through it
for her pocket calendar. Finding it, she flipped through the months to find where
she’d marked the beginning of her last period. Maybe she wasn’t late. Maybe she
was overreacting. The only problem was the check mark she found was over a full
five weeks ago.

She was a week late.

Closing her eyes and sagging back onto the bed before her knees could give out,
she clasped her hands to keep them from shaking and felt tears start to well in
her eyes again. She hadn’t even realized she was late.

Cameron rolled over in his crib and groggily lifted his head. Seeing her sitting
up and awake, he giggled and levered himself up on his knees. Elizabeth watched
her young son bounce on his knees while clutching the crib slats, laughing at her
from across the dim room and felt a swell of love bloom in her heart. In a rush
she realized how much she loved that little boy and how her ‘mistake’ with Zander
had turned into the biggest blessing of her life. Even if she could go back and do
that Halloween over, she knew she would do everything exactly the same if it meant
she’d have Cameron. She wouldn’t give up her little boy for anything.

Her hand stole to her stomach. Didn’t she feel the same this time?

Her eyes flicked to the clock beside her bed. She had a double shift to work
today. Closing her eyes, she wiped her face and took a deep breath. First things
first. Right now, she had to be a mommy to her baby boy. The thought made her
pause mid-rise, maybe by tomorrow she’d know if she was going to be a mommy to a
new baby. Jason’s baby.

Tears welled in her eyes, but this time they had nothing to do with fear, and
everything to do with love. The thought of her carrying Jason’s baby made her
heart swell. Yesterday he’d offered to buy a house for the three of them,
Elizabeth wondered what he’d think when he found out it might be a house for the
four of them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emily sat behind the nurse’s station, shuffling papers. She wasn’t back to her
full-time work schedule at the hospital yet, but Dr. Hardy had suggested starting
to volunteer a few hours a day as a way to ease back into the normal routine.
Today she was in the middle of a three hour rotation doing the exciting job of
organizing patient records. Important but mundane, tedious but not over-whelming.
All in all, a good distraction from her real life problems, and after her
miserable visit to the prison she needed a distraction.

Someone flopped tiredly into the chair next to her and Emily stifled an urge to
jump. When she saw her friend Elizabeth next to her she felt herself release a
breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Looking closely at her best friend
Emily screwed up her face in concern.

“You look worse than most of the patients.”

Elizabeth turned tired eyes on her friend and smiled a small, tight, distracted
smile. “I’m just finishing a double shift and Cameron’s been teething.”

Emily frowned and draped an arm over Elizabeth‘s shoulders. “I’m sorry, can I take
Cameron for you tonight so you can get some sleep?”

Her smile faltering just a little, Elizabeth sighed, “Be careful, I might take you
up on your offer.”

“Hey.”

The familiar voice had Emily looking up and she found her brother, AJ
Quartermaine, leaning against the counter of the nurse’s station with a broad
smile on his face. Emily squealed and ran around the nurse’s desk to throw herself
in his arms.

“AJ! I didn’t know you were back in town.”

AJ hugged her, then put his hands on her shoulders and pulled back to look her in
the face. “Where’s the fun in telling you I’m coming, when I can surprise you
instead?”

Emily batted him playfully in the arm, “I didn’t expect to see you after the way
you left last time.” AJ’s eyes rolled in mock-annoyance. “Stop that. Are mom and
dad mad at you?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” AJ shrugged.

“Grandfather.”

“Furious.” AJ leaned in, whispering, “But when isn’t he?”

Emily giggled and stepped back to get a good long look at her brother. He was fit,
tan, and had grown back that goatee she loved so much on him. She nodded, “You
look good. Where‘ve you been? An island somewhere?”

AJ didn’t answer, instead he slid his eyes to a spot beyond her left shoulder and
Emily turned to see what he was looking at. Elizabeth stood behind her a pace,
waiting it seemed for a moment to talk to her. Emily mentally smacked herself on
the forehead, she‘d completely forgotten she‘d been talking to Elizabeth when her
older brother showed up out of the blue.

“Elizabeth, I’m sorry.” Then she turned back to AJ, holding her hand out, palm up
by way of introduction, “You remember by brother AJ.” Elizabeth smiled and nodded.
“AJ you remember my friend Elizabeth Webber.”

AJ smiled broadly as he stuck out his hand and Elizabeth tentatively reached out
to shake it. “Of course I remember Elizabeth. You two were inseparable back in
high school.”

Elizabeth tucked a strand of hair which had escaped from her ponytail back behind
her ear and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to interrupt, I just
wanted to tell you good night.”

Emily glanced out of the window at the darkness that had fallen and felt panic
twist her stomach and rev her heart. “You’re not walking home with Cameron are
you?”

“Gram took Cameron home when she got off this afternoon, he’s probably already in
bed asleep.” Elizabeth turned to walk away, but Emily’s panic had taken on a life
of its own. It felt like a giant fist was squeezing her chest and she couldn’t
force any air down into her lungs. She reached out and grabbed Elizabeth by the
arm.

“Please tell me you’re not walking home alone after dark.” She could feel her
heart banging against her ribs and try as she might to calm herself, she couldn’t.
Elizabeth out at night alone in the park, it was too dangerous.

“Emily, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. It’s not far to Gram’s house.”

Then AJ was by her side, a worried look tightening his face and Emily turned to
him, a thought taking hold of her. “Can you walk her home, AJ? Please, can you
make sure she makes it there okay?”

AJ nodded and cast a worried look at Elizabeth. ”Of course Em. Don’t worry about
it. I’ll make sure she makes it home okay.”

Elizabeth threaded an arm over Emily’s shoulders, turned and walked her back
toward the nurse’s lounge. Emily held onto Elizabeth, feeling panicky, scared and
foolish all at the same time. She’d been doing so well today, yet every shred of
her control had collapsed in an instant.

By the time they’d gotten to the lounge, Emily was crying and Elizabeth made her
sit on the couch, then went to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
Watching Elizabeth unscrew the top and look at her with so much worry in her eyes,
made Emily feel even more foolish. “I’m sorry.” She hiccupped.

“Don’t worry Em.” Elizabeth knelt in front of her and offered her the water. Emily
took it and sipped, her eyes dropping to the floor.
“I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t.” Elizabeth said firmly. “This is nothing compared to some of the stuff I
did.” Emily felt herself tearing up again and Elizabeth leaned in, “Do you want me
to call Lucky?”

Emily nodded and Elizabeth stood, crossed to the small desk and made the phone
call. Then she returned and sat next to Em on the couch, both of them leaning
together, shoulders and forehead touching. Just sitting and letting the room fill
with the silence of understanding and acceptance that said more than mere words
ever could. Two women, two friends, each knowing intimately what the other was
feeling and accepting each other for everything they were.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucky poked his head into the nurse’s lounge fifteen minutes later and Elizabeth
waved him in. He crossed to the two women and knelt in front of Emily. Emily
immediately started crying again and fell into Lucky’s arms.

Elizabeth stood, gave Lucky a nod and snuck out, leaving the two of them alone to
talk. She pulled the door shut behind her as she left, sneaking one last look to
see that Lucky had twisted around to sit on the couch next to Em and Em was
talking to him between her hiccupping sobs.

She felt a twinge of guilt for not staying and helping, but the truth of the
matter was, she couldn’t help Emily. Emily wasn’t opening up to her, she was
opening up to Lucky and as much as Elizabeth wanted to or tried to, there wasn’t
anything she could do. Sighing, she trudged down the hall toward the elevators.
Besides, she had her own troubles to worry about. The largest of which started
with a stop at the drug store on the way home to pick up a pregnancy test.

Rounding the corner of the nurse’s station, she found AJ loitering next to the
waiting area. His eyebrows went up when he saw her and he moved to intercept her.

He had one hand on his hip, the other stroking his goatee, and he looked worried.
Elizabeth sighed. She really didn’t need to deal with this tonight.

“Is Emily okay?” His questioning tone let her know he didn’t think Emily was okay.

Elizabeth pushed the elevator button and shifted her purse higher on her shoulder.
Obviously he didn’t know about what had happened to his sister in the past few
weeks and it wasn’t her place to tell him. It frustrated her to see him worry
about his baby sister and not be in a position to say anything to reassure him.

“You should to talk to Emily.” The elevator doors slid open and Elizabeth stepped
inside, wrapping her scarf around her neck as she moved. AJ stayed rooted to the
spot, staring back down the hall to the lounge where Emily had disappeared. AJ
turned back just as the elevator doors started closing and darted inside before
they shut.

Elizabeth backed away in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to actually walk her
home. “You really don’t have to walk with me.”

AJ smiled politely, clasped his hands behind his back, “I did promise Em.” Then he
leaned slightly toward her as if including her in a secret, “Besides you saw how
worried she was. I don’t want to make her mad at me by not doing what I promised.
She‘s the only family I have who still talks to me and I don‘t want to mess that
up.”

Elizabeth didn’t know what to say to this confession. She knew a lot - not all,
but more than the average person - about the internal Quartermaine family
struggles. AJ was the proverbial black sheep, troublemaking prodigal son. Jason
didn’t trust or like him, but their brother against brother conflict had more
complicated twists and turns than the Mid-East Conflict.

The elevator opened on the ground floor and AJ stepped back to let her exit first,
then followed her as she headed out of the hospital. Elizabeth paused outside the
main hospital door to pull on her wool cap. The February night was dark and cold,
and overhead thick grey clouds threatened snow.

AJ stopped beside her, buttoned his coat and pulled on leather gloves. “Ready?” He
asked. She pulled her leather jacket closer and nodded.

The walk home was short. AJ played the part of the perfect gentleman, carrying on
polite conversation and keeping his hands in his pockets. She got several glimpses
of his million dollar smile and he even asked about Cameron, who he’d seen in
Kelly’s that morning, which brought a smile to her face. Then he complimented
Cameron on his cuteness and she nearly gushed telling him about her little boy.
What mother wouldn’t smile at complements for her child or rattle on about how
amazing they were to an eager audience?

By the time they reached her Gram’s front porch, she’d significantly warmed to AJ,
seeing a sliver of why Emily loved her brother so much, and maybe putting Jason’s
distrust of him into a different perspective. Not dismissing it, more like curious
to look beyond it to try to see the real AJ Quartermaine for herself.

As Elizabeth unlocked the front door, AJ splayed a hand across his chest, bowed
slightly at the waist and backed down the porch steps. “Thank you Elizabeth for
letting me stay in my sister’s good graces.” Then he paused, and his smile
faltered, “and I will be talking to her about what happened very soon.”

Elizabeth watched him go, disappearing into the dark as he walked away, and
wondered just what and how much Emily would tell him about what was happening in
her life. She’d better check with her friend, before she ran into AJ again to find
out what she could talk about and what she couldn’t, just to be safe.

“Elizabeth is that you?” Gram’s voice floated down from upstairs.

“Yes, Gram it’s me, but I need to make a quick run to the store. I forgot to stop
and pick up diapers.”

“Ok honey, be careful.”

Elizabeth checked her watch. She wanted to wait at least ten minutes to make sure
AJ was gone before she snuck back out to the drug store. No need for him or anyone
else to know about her taking a pregnancy test. She took a long deep breath.
Stress, she kept telling herself. It was only stress. Then she pulled her lower
lip between her teeth and sighed. She’d know the truth soon enough.
Chapter 16

Rolling over in bed, Sam squinted at the faint light streaming around the edges of
the curtain. Morning. And again she woke up in the penthouse alone. Jason wasn’t
back from his trip and after three days of being cooped up in the apartment she
was going stir crazy.

Pulling herself out of bed, she crossed to the bathroom and stood looking in the
large vanity mirror at her naked body. It looked the same. Her breasts were the
same. Her stomach was the same. She scrunched up her face and frowned.

She wasn’t even a month along yet. What did she expect?

Still, her hand stole to her belly and she smiled as she cupped the not-yet bulge
of her baby.

“Hey there baby. How are you this morning?” Sam’s long dark hair cascaded around
her face as she lowered her head to talk to her stomach.

Then she lifted her face back to the mirror, drummed her fingers against her belly
and decided she had to get out of this apartment before she lost her mind.

Padding back to the bed after she’d finished in the bathroom, she slid the drawer
in the nightstand open and pulled out her cell phone. Flopping backwards onto the
rumpled silk sheets, she held the phone above her and dialed.

Bringing the phone to her ear, she listened to it ring. Then licked her lips when
she heard the voice that answered.

“Guess what I’m wearing.” She teased in a low seductive voice. Her lips curved
into a smug smile when she heard a low growl in her ear.

“Why don’t you tell me.” AJ’s voice was low and husky and its rumble made her
nipples hard.

“Why don’t you come over and find out for yourself.”

AJ chuckled. “What’s wrong Sam? Jason’s not back, so you need someone else to
torment?”

“No.” I miss you. She frowned. Where had that come from? Squashing the unwanted
emotion, she cleared her throat and did her best to sound casual. “I’m bored.”
Then she remembered her other reason for wanting out of the penthouse today.
“Besides I don’t think I can take another visit from Sonny.” Her ex-lover had been
over every day since Jason left to check up on her and she felt like a butterfly
under a microscope. The feeling was too claustrophobic to be comfortable.

“Give me an hour,” AJ said.

She could hear him yawn and rustle the sheets as he stretched. “I’ll have a car
parked in the alley behind Kelly’s. The keys will be in the ignition and the
garage door opener in the glove box, like always. Make sure you’re not followed.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t take an hour.” Her voice lowered sultrily.

“Why not?” AJ’s voice contained a hint of annoyance.

“Because I’m not wearing anything and I don’t want to have to get dressed long if
I’m only going to get naked again.”

Another low growl filled her ear, and she could hear AJ suck air through his
teeth. “It’ll be there in half an hour.”

AJ disconnected the call and Sam smirked at the urgency filling his voice. It was
good to remind him who was in charge. His little burst of independent alteration
to the plan didn’t sit well with her. She needed to keep him firmly in hand… her
tongue peeked out of her mouth and swept along her upper lip. Oh yes indeed, she
planned on keeping him “in hand” alright.

She lifted an eyebrow and scanned the room. She was going to have to wear
something he’d enjoy, after all she needed his full and undivided attention, or
maybe…. her eyes slid to the side in thought… yes, that was a much better idea.

Forty five minutes later, she’d ducked her guard at Kelly’s, taken the car, and
driven like a crazy woman taking wild turns and careening through traffic to make
sure she wasn’t being followed. Ten minutes after she left Kelly’s she was pulling
into the garage of a non-descript house in an equally non-descript neighborhood
which no one would suspect was being used as an illicit rendezvous point for a mob
moll and her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

Sam slid out from behind the wheel, the garage door grinding shut behind her, and
tightened the belt on her ankle length trench coat. Her four inch spiked heels
clicked against the cement floor as she crossed to the door and let herself into
the kitchen.

AJ was there, waiting for her in his perfectly pressed dress shirt and creased
pants, a smile on his face and two wine glasses full of sparkling white grape
juice waiting on the counter.

Sam’s eyes skimmed over the glasses and uncorked bottle then came to rest on AJ’s
face. He looked smug, too confident and in control. She needed to take him down a
notch and firmly remind him who was in charge.

Keeping her eyes locked with his, she untied her belt. Then with a slight shrug
she let the coat slip off her shoulders and puddle on the floor around her feet,
revealing her naked body. AJ’s eyes widened for an instant, then narrowed as a
lusty grin spread over his face. He reached for her, one hand cupping her bare hip
to draw her to him, but she stopped the move with a hand splayed firmly on his
chest.

“First we are going to talk about the plan.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucky blinked as the door to the Quartermaine mansion swung open and Alice the
maid stood taking up nearly the entire entrance. Her gruff appearance was spoiled
when she smiled at him and then stepped back to allow him entrance.

“Good morning Lucky.”

“Hi Alice.” He said, “Is Emily awake?”

He heard a voice call down from the balcony. “Lucky?”

He leaned to the left to glance around Alice and saw Emily on the top of the
stairs, looking down at him quizzically. She tilted her head and pulled her thick
robe closer. She must have been headed down for breakfast.

“You’re here early.” She descended the stairs, keeping her eyes locked on him the
entire way. Alice gave him a reassuring nod and a wink before turning and leaving
the foyer.

Coming here to cheer up Emily and get her mind off of her breakdown last night had
been the only thing on his mind when he’d left his room at Kelly’s this morning.
He hadn’t thought about how early it was or if Emily might have other plans for
the day.

Shuffling nervously on his feet, he felt awkward and a little foolish. “I have a
surprise for you, but if you have other plans I understand.” He rubbed his
forehead and admitted sheepishly, “I should have called first.”

Emily eyed him up and down, then settled her arm in the crook of his elbow. “Have
you had breakfast?”

Lucky shook his head. Grinning, Emily tugged him toward the living room. “Come on
and don’t let Grandfather scare you. He’s harmless.”

“Wait a minute.” He stood firm against her gentle steering. “ If I’m going to
suffer through breakfast with your family, I’m going to need a promise from you
first.”

Emily raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. “What exactly do I have to promise?”

His face softened and his smile brought a twinkle to his deep blue eyes. “That
you’ll spend the entire day with me without asking any questions about what I’ve
got planned.”

Emily crossed her arms and looked at him sideways. “No questions?”

Lucky shook his head. “None. Today is a day of surprises.”

They stood for a long moment. Emily’s searching eyes locked on his. Then Lucky’s
smile widened as her expression softened. “Ok. I suppose that’s a fair trade for
enduring a meal with my family.”

Lucky took a deep breath as Emily hooked her arm through his and they crossed into
the living room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth lingered in her bed. After her double-shift at the hospital yesterday,
she was off today, and she’d purposefully stayed in bed late, both to put off
taking the test and to make sure her Gram had left, leaving her home alone.
Gram had left about half an hour ago and Elizabeth still couldn’t bring herself to
get up, go the bathroom and find out the truth. There were so many things that
would change forever once she took the test and wasn’t ready to face any of them.
Not on her own. So she procrastinated.

Cameron was sleeping peacefully. So in the quiet, thin light of dawn, she lay
still and tried not to think about how much her life might change. Pulling her
bottom lip between her teeth, she tried to make her mind a blank slate. Only her
mind wouldn’t cooperate, all the ‘what ifs‘ and ‘if onlys‘ wouldn‘t be quiet. She
fidgeted under the sheets. Her bladder wasn’t cooperating either. She couldn’t put
this off much longer or she’d burst.

Sitting up, she slid the night stand drawer open, removed the pregnancy test kit,
and pulled out the sheet of instructions. Holding them with trembling fingers, she
read them for the fifteenth time. Then she sighed, gave up fighting and hauled
herself out of bed and across the hall.

In less than five minutes, she was back in her room, pacing, wringing her hands,
and watching the clock.

Panic started to set in and she wished Jason were here. She wanted him to hold her
and tell her everything would be all right no matter which sign showed up on that
little stick. He’d be happy about this, wouldn’t he? Or would he think it would be
an annoying, unwanted complication?

She bit her lip as the clock ticked slowly forward.

Maybe she should call him. Leave a message on his cell. He would understand why
she called while he was away on business, wouldn’t he? Her forehead crinkled in
indecision. This was a business trip, so whatever he was doing was serious. A
distraction might be dangerous or even fatal. She chewed on her lower lip and
wiped her sweaty palms on her pajama-covered thighs. She couldn’t call, at best
this was important, life-altering news, but it wasn’t a life-threatening
emergency. Besides, if the test came back negative, she would have called and
disturbed him for nothing. If it were positive, it was news she’d rather tell him
in person, rather than over the phone.

The clock’s second hand rounded the top of the dial and headed around the clock
face again to count out another minute. The test was done. Across the hall
balanced on the edge of the sink, sat a little plastic stick upon which the fate
of her entire future rested. Her stomach shriveled and a fine sweat broke out on
her forehead. Part of her wanted to leap out of the room, throw open the bathroom
door and discover the results immediately, another part wanted to hide in the
bedroom buried under the sheets and blankets and deny there was anything wrong.

Striking an uneasy balance between her two impulses, she slowly walked across the
room, through the hall, paused with her hand on the doorknob, and took a deep
steadying breath.

Stepping into the bathroom, she swallowed nervously, and reached for the pregnancy
test. Her hand gripped the cool plastic and she closed her eyes, took another
breath, told herself she could do this, and opened her eyes. They immediately fell
to the little test window, and she sucked in a gasp of surprise. Her hand flew to
her mouth, and she lowered herself to sit on the edge of the tub.

There was no mistaking the bright blue plus sign.

She was pregnant.

Chapter 17

“You do know you’re supposed to hit the ball through the windmill, not over it.”

“It’s not my fault, the windmill arm thingy swooped down and hit my ball.” Emily
gestured wildly with her golf club as she talked, and while trying his best to
stifle a laugh, Lucky snorted loudly.

Emily lifted an eyebrow and grinned, “Oh now that’s attractive. Can you teach me
how to do that?”

“At least I hit the ball through the windmill on the first try.” Lucky teased.
Emily had made good on her promise not to ask where he was taking her, so when he
pulled into the parking lot of the miniature golf course Emily had been surprised.
She’d also been somewhat leery, but after a few holes, she’d relaxed and gotten
into the spirit of the game. Which is exactly what Lucky had set out to accomplish
for the day, to get her to forget her troubles and have an afternoon of simple
fun. Now, Emily’s every smile and laugh gave his soul wings.

“Hey.” Emily’s gaze dropped over his shoulder, “Isn’t that Michael and Leticia?”
She drew her eyebrows together and pointed toward the entrance of the course.
Lucky turned, but didn’t see either Michael or Leticia, then as turned back around
he caught Emily tossing her ball over the windmill onto the putting green.

His mouth dropped open. “Cheater!” Emily’s eyes flew to his, wide with mock-
innocence, and she struggled not to let a smile spread across her face.

“Me? Cheat? Never.” Then she gave up the innocent routine and smiling broadly,
scurried around to the putting green. “My ball’s closer to the hole, I get to go
first.”

Lucky grinned as he followed her. Then he stopped and watched as she putted her
florescent orange ball six inches into the cup, then danced up and down in
victory. His heart expanded in his chest seeing her giggle with so much abandon.
She turned to him, her eyes still twinkling. “Your turn.”

Pushing up his sleeves, Lucky positioned himself in front of his lime green ball
and lined up his two foot putt. Drawing back, he swung, contacted the ball and
sent it on a line straight to the cup. Then right before his ball sank into the
cup, Emily’s club snaked out and batted it away.

Her eyes opened wide and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she sucked in a
breath of surprise. “Look at that, you missed.”

“I missed?” Lucky stalked across the green to her, one brow lifted, his eyes
twinkling.

Emily giggled and smacked his green ball further from the cup as she scampered
away from him.

“Hey!“ Seeing her game, Lucky gave up chasing Emily and darted over to his ball,
making quick work of lining up his shot and hitting it towards the hole. Emily
took position like a goalie in front of the cup and using her club like a hockey
stick, smacked Lucky’s green ball back at him.

Rising to the challenge, Lucky hit the ball wide to the left of the hole and as
Emily leapt to intercept the shot, he went right, catching the ball after it
ricocheted off the far wall. Emily spun, saw Lucky’s wide open shot and reached
out with her putter, catching the ball before it hit the cup. Then Lucky was at
her side, having given up on putting, he used his putter to roll the ball toward
the hole. Emily pushed him with her hip, trying to unbalance him and bat the ball
away with her club. When she couldn’t move him, she resorted to putting her foot
over the cup and Lucky leaned into her with his hip to unseat her, but she
wouldn’t budge. So Lucky wrapped his free arm around her waist and picked her up.

“That’s cheating!” Emily squealed, her feet several inches above the ground.

“No, it’s getting even.“ Lucky said as he rolled his ball into the cup. Then he
raised his club and danced around while holding Emily and giving a hoot of
victory.

Emily laughed, throwing her head back and as Lucky‘s gaze fell on her, he realized
what he’d done. When he’d picked her up, he’d grabbed her around the waist, pulled
her to him and lifted her off her feet. Now they were pressed together chest to
knees, her face inches from his. Her laughter washed warm breath across his neck
and a strand of her silky hair caressed his cheek. Suddenly his playful mood
shifted and desire sparked in the pit of his stomach sending a hot surge up his
spine and out every nerve. His eyes focused for an instant on her lips and warning
sirens went off in his head. He closed his eyes and eased Emily back onto her
feet. This was his brother’s wife, he reminded himself and took a step backward,
blinking and breathing deeply to regain control.

Emily, still giggling, apparently hadn’t noticed his brief battle of wills and
pulled the score card out of her back pocket. Using the pencil to count shoots,
she scrunched her face as she ticked each one in the air. Then she nodded. “Two
for me.”

“Two?” Lucky asked, more than relieved to let his moment of weakness pass without
notice.

Emily ignored his dismay, and concentrated on counting again with her stubby
pencil, then giving another quick nod of her head, she said, “You had ten.”

“Ten! Let me see that scorecard.” Lucky reached for the slip of paper, but Emily
scuttled away, tucking it into her back pocket.

“Sore loser.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Some men can’t take losing
to a woman.” Lucky closed the distance between them and readied a retort, when
Emily leaned into him, put her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Thank you for
today, Lucky. I had a great time.”

Lucky draped an arm across her shoulders and fought an urge to press a kiss to her
head. “So are you ready for the next stop?”

“There’s more?” Emily asked.

Lucky’s eyebrows rose and he shook his head. “You don’t get to ask, remember?”

Emily chuckled. “Fine. Lead away, I‘m ready for anything.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The quiet of the darkened room was disturbed by the muted creak of the front door
hinges. Sonny sat unmoving in the overstuffed chair he’d turned to face to the
penthouse door. Legs crossed at the knee, elbows braced on the chair’s arms,
fingers steepled before of his face, he was a study in calm tranquility. Except
his eyes, where anger swirled, muddying their rich brown.

The light switched on, illuminating him and evoking a startled yelp from Sam.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

Sonny tipped his head to the side and studied her without responding. She tugged
her long trench coat tighter around her and crossed her arms over her chest. She
seemed nervous as she shifted from foot to foot.

He took a deep breath and let his eyes rove the room. “Jason asked me to watch
over you while he was gone. So far I’ve been able to trust you.” His eyes snapped
back to hers, pinning her as if he held her with his fist. “However, you’ve
betrayed that trust.”

Her jaw tightened, “I wanted to go out for some air. Alone.”

“I don’t care.” Sonny propped his head with his fingers on his temple. “Jason left
you in my care and I’m going to make sure you stay safe while he’s gone.” As if on
cue, three men and one woman dressed in identical dark suits filed out of the
kitchen and stood silently behind Sonny. “I’m assigning you four new guards.
Including Anna.“ The woman, whose auburn hair was pulled into a severe pony tail,
nodded. “They will accompany you everywhere you go while you are out of the
penthouse. Anna will be following you into bathrooms, changing rooms, and anywhere
else the male guards can’t go.”

Sam’s face contorted and reddened, her hands went to her hips, her movements
jerky. “Jason won’t be happy about his.” She said, her head snapping forward as
she talked.

“Jason trusts me.” Sonny kept his face impassive and watched her strut back and
forth in front of him like an angry peacock. “When he returns he can adjust the
guards however he wants, but until then, you won’t go anywhere without all four of
them.”

Sam glared at the four guards behind Sonny, then turned her harshest look yet on
the mob boss. Her jaw slid to the side and she shook her head in disbelief.
Turning away from him, she stomped up the stairs and disappeared into the second
floor.

Sonny watched her go, an unsettled feeling knotting his gut. Her initial surge of
anger was too strong to be simple annoyance and her feeble attempt at arguing
about his extra precautions smacked more of assuaging his suspicions than
compliance.

The entire exchange gave him the impression she was up to something. He scrubbed
his chin with his palm. He didn’t know what, but he doubted it was good.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth sat on the park bench staring at Cameron in his stroller. He was
burbling contentedly to himself after a long ride on the swings. Elizabeth,
however, felt numb.

She was pregnant.

All morning her emotions had swung wildly between denial, shock, and giddiness,
while she’d alternated between crying jags and bouts of giggling. Now she was
numb. How was she going to tell Jason? Hey Hon, remember that night we don’t
remember, well the funny thing is we kinda made a baby.

Her chin trembled and she blinked back tears. What was she going to do?

For the hundredth time that morning she pulled out her cell phone and dialed
Jason’s number, then sat with her finger hovering over the ‘Send’ button. Her chin
wobbled again and her shoulders sank, then she closed the phone and stuck it into
her coat pocket. She didn’t want to tell him over the phone. She wanted to look
him in the eye when she told him the news, and see the smile on his face when he
found out about their baby, and then she could stop worrying.

Cameron squealed and bounced up and down in his seat. A small smile spread over
her face as she watched her son grin at her.

“Your mommy has gotten herself into a real mess this time.” She cooed at her son.
Cameron giggled in return.

“Elizabeth?”

Lifting her head, Elizabeth saw Emily and Lucky walking down the park path toward
her. They were both smiling broadly, so she plastered on a grin.

Emily hurried over to her and sat next to her on the bench, her attention
immediately focusing on Cameron. “Hey there, cutie pie. How are you doing?”
Cameron’s eyes widened and he kicked happily at the attention Emily lavished on
him.

Lucky knelt next to the stroller, reaching in to tickle Cameron with one finger.
Cameron latched onto Lucky’s finger and pulled it into his mouth to gum it.
“Ouch.” Lucky’s face pinched, “He’s already got a tooth coming in.”

“Yes, he chews on everything.” Elizabeth held Cameron’s teething ring in front of

him to lure his attention away from Lucky’s unlucky finger. Cameron’s eyes darted
to the colorful ring, and his interest in Lucky vanished as his pudgy little hands
went for the ring.

Lucky’s gaze lifted to her and he frowned. “You look beat.”

Elizabeth sighed and leaned back against the hard wood of the bench. She was beat
- physically, emotionally - she was tired beyond exhaustion. Yet, telling them the
whole truth wasn’t an option. She wasn’t going to tell anyone about her pregnancy
before Jason. Excuses flowed out of her easily, “Between Cameron’s teething, work
and school, I haven’t been getting much sleep.” She massaged her forehead with her
hand.
Emily and Lucky exchanged a knowing look, and Elizabeth had the sense that an
entire conversation had taken place between them without one word being spoken.
Lucky turned back to her, “We can take Cameron for the evening so you can get some
sleep.”

Her knee-jerk response was to decline, Cameron was her responsibility, but the
longer she sat, the better a nice long uninterrupted nap sounded. She wavered,
arguing with herself about whether being strong meant taking care of herself and
her son without help, or not being afraid to take help when it was offered.

“Are you sure you don‘t mind?” She asked, her eyes flicking over Lucky and Emily.
“You look like you have plans, I don’t want to spoil your day.”

Emily leveled her gaze at Elizabeth, “Elizabeth, you aren’t spoiling anything.”
She quickly glanced at Lucky, then back to Elizabeth, “You’ve always been there
for me when I’ve needed you, please let me help you now.” She smiled as she looked
down at Cameron, and her voice lifted into lilting baby talk. “Besides who
wouldn’t want to spend time with this cute little guy.” Cameron gurgled and smiled
around the teething ring in his mouth.

“Hey.” Lucky frowned, “Aren’t I cute?”

Emily playfully smacked him in the shoulder, “You don’t count.”

Lucky frowned in exaggeration, and Elizabeth laughed at his expression. Then she
rubbed her forehead. A nice long nap did sound like heaven, even a few hours of
quiet time she could use to get a little more adjusted to the idea of being
pregnant with Jason’s baby sounded like bliss.

She was pregnant.

The word rolled around in her head like a pinball and her stomach clenched. Oh no,
not now.. Her hand went to cover her mouth and she breathed slowly through her
nose to ease her way through her nausea.

Emily’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

“I think I’m going to take you up on that offer.” Elizabeth nodded and smiled
wobbly. “Everything Cam needs is in his diaper bag, he shouldn’t be hungry for
another hour.” Elizabeth leaned down and picked up her son. Bringing him to her,
she hugged him and placed a kiss on his forehead. “You be a good boy for Aunt
Emily and Uncle Lucky. Mommy will see you later.”

Emily took Cameron and he immediately starting bouncing on her lap.

They all stood, Emily holding Cam, Lucky pushing the stroller, and Elizabeth
turned to watch as her two best friends left with her son.

“Call if you need anything.” She called after them.

Emily’s laugh floated back to her. “We’ll be fine, you get some rest.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fate was smiling on him. Last night she’d gifted him with a chance encounter with
Elizabeth at the hospital when he’d gone to visit Emily, and he’d eagerly taken
advantage of the opportunity. He’d had a moment of hesitation, a choice to stay
and help Emily, but he’d gone with his gut and his gut told him to stick with
Elizabeth.

It seemed he’d made the correct choice because today Fate was giving him another
gift. He’d happened upon Elizabeth, Emily and Lucky in the park. Keeping well
hidden behind a tall hedge, he watched the three of them chat.

This morning he’d tried to talk to Emily after breakfast about what had happened
at the hospital last night, but she’d brushed him off, reassuring him everything
was fine. He hadn’t believed her for a moment.

Now, as he watched, Emily and Lucky took Elizabeth’s son and headed off in the
general direction of Kelly‘s, while Elizabeth stood and walked in the other
direction.

AJ basked in the glow of the moment. Not only did he have the perfect opportunity
to ’run into’ Elizabeth again, he also had the perfect reason to talk to her - his
concern for Emily. Watching her round a bend, he started off on a path he knew
would intersect with hers over the next hill.

He quickened his steps until he crested the hill and was close to the spot where
the paths crossed, then he slowed to a leisurely pace.

As he guessed, Elizabeth rounded the curve as he entered the intersection and they
nearly bumped into each other. Elizabeth started and jumped back a step.

“Elizabeth?” AJ drew his eyebrows down in a look of mock surprise. “I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to startle you.”

“AJ.” Elizabeth breathed deeply, her eyes widening, “That’s okay, it’s not your
fault. I was distracted and wasn’t watching where I was going.”

AJ got a good look at her and saw she look tired. Her eyes were heavy lidded,
ringed underneath with dark circles, and were puffy and red as if she’d been
crying. His eyebrows drew together, this time in true concern. “Are you okay?”

Nodding, she took a step away from him, “Yes, I didn’t get much sleep last night.
Cameron is teething and was up off and on all night….” Then she laughed, a light
quick noise that lilted over him, and reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her
ear. “You don’t want to hear about this. I just left Emily, if you hurry you could
catch up with her.”

It was the opening he’d been waiting for and he tucked his hands into his pockets
as he schooled his face into a look of worry. He glanced in the direction she
pointed and turned back to her. “Can I talk to you about Emily?”

Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably, shaking her head, “You really should talk to
Emily.”

“I did.” AJ sighed, his frustration not all for show, “She told me she was fine
and not to worry about her.” He frowned, despite all his plotting, he was
genuinely worried about his little sister. She was behaving too strangely for
everything to be alright.

Elizabeth lifted a hand to rub her forehead and wobbled a little on her feet, “I
don’t know what to tell you…” Her voice trailed off, her wobble became a teeter
and just as AJ realized something was wrong, Elizabeth’s knees gave out from under
her and she started to collapse.

AJ jumped forward, grabbing her as she fell, and they went down together in a
pile. He managed to maneuver his body beneath hers, cushioning her impact and
keeping her head from hitting the ground.

As he fumbled for his cell phone to call for an ambulance, Elizabeth groaned,
rolled her head and blinked at him. “What happened?”

“You passed out.”

She started to sit and AJ helped her up. For a moment, she only sat bracing
herself with her arms, then a heated blush crept over her cheeks and her eyes
became glossy with unshed tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you alright?” He was worried about her now, people normally didn’t pass out
without a good reason.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just… I haven’t slept and I skipped lunch.“ Elizabeth wiped at
her eyes and started to lever herself back onto her feet. AJ jumped to his feet,
offering her his hand to help her stand. She took it, leaning heavily on him as
she stood on still wobbly legs.

“You’re not fine.” AJ shook his head, “Let me call someone, a doctor, your
Grandmother…”

“No!” Elizabeth interjected. “Really, I just need to get home and take a nap.”

AJ eyed her suspiciously. Something was up.

“Okay, I won’t call anyone, as long as you let me make sure you make it home.”

Elizabeth visibly relaxed and nodded, and AJ slid his arm around her shoulders for
support as he walked her home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Still ticked that Sonny had set more guards on her, Sam plowed through the park at
a brisk pace. She’d pouted in her room for at least an hour after Sonny left, then
decided that if he believed she needed more guards, she’d at least make them earn
their pay. So she made it her goal to make their collective lives torture and set
off on a shopping rampage, hitting every store, shop and mall in Port Charles.

None of the guards voiced a complaint, but once she’d caught one of the younger
men grimacing while shifting on his feet and it made all her efforts worthwhile.

She barreled around a curve in the path and came to a screeching halt. Across the
way on the far side of a row of bushes AJ Quartermaine walked with his arm around
Elizabeth Webber. They were headed toward her, but with their heads bent together
neither of them saw her or her entourage.

Sam stood frozen in place for a heartbeat, too shocked to move, then she wheeled
around and headed the other direction. What she really wanted to do was find a
hiding spot behind a bush or tree to watch AJ and see what he was up to. However,
with her new gaggle of guards, she didn’t dare. She didn’t need them reporting to
Sonny that she spent time spying on AJ. Sonny would ask questions she didn’t
particularly feel like answering.

Setting her jaw, she quashed down a flare of anger. She didn’t like what she’d
seen. Elizabeth’s head had been resting on AJ’s shoulder and the two of them
looked downright cozy. A swirl of emotion she couldn’t quite place made her queasy
and she decided she didn’t like Elizabeth Webber being cozy with AJ. The image of
her in AJ’s arms made her teeth itch.

Looking at the four goons surrounding her, she knew sneaking off to meet AJ to
find out what was going on between him and the little nursie-poo would be an
impossibility. She’d have to settle for confronting him over the phone.

She pressed her lips together and tightened her hold on her shopping bags. AJ
didn’t have a clue what he was in for if he thought he could play fast and loose
with her.

Chapter 18

Stretching in bed, Elizabeth rolled over and blinked herself awake. She’d slept
like a log, her brain simply giving out after spending all day yesterday worrying.

She frowned at the light streaming in through the window. It was still light out?
She hadn’t slept as long as she thought. Then her eyes found the clock and she sat
bolt upright in bed. 7 a.m.? She’d slept straight through the evening and night.
Her eyes locked onto Cameron’s empty crib and she panicked. Where was Cameron?
Hadn’t Lucky and Emily brought him home last night?

Jumping out of bed, she threw on her robe, bolted out of the room and down the
stairs, only to come to screeching stop in the kitchen where she found Steven
sitting at the kitchen table patiently feeding Cameron his breakfast. A wave of
relief washed over her, and she released a heavy sigh which swept away the tension
which had gripped her.

“Look who finally decided to wake up,” Steven said, shooting her a sideways grin.

Cameron laughed happily when he saw her and held up his arms for her to pick him
up, which she did, pulling him close and lavishing kisses on his chubby cheeks.
Then she turned to look at Steven and her brother smiled broadly at her, his hair
sticking up as if he’d just rolled out of bed. Yellow splatters of mashed banana
dotted his shirt.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you sleep in the gutter?” She teased him with a smirk.

“Close. The couch.” He stood and stretched. “Lucky and Emily brought Cameron back
about eight last night. You were still asleep, so I let him sleep in his playpen
in the living room and I crashed on the couch next to him.”

“Thank you.” Elizabeth hugged her big brother, and with one arm around his back
and the other holding Cameron, they made a neat little family group. “What would I
do without you?”

“You want to thank me?” Steven asked, putting one hand to his lower back.
“Convince Gram to buy a new couch. That one is murder on the spine.”

Elizabeth elbowed her older brother in the ribs and tucked Cameron back into his
highchair. “I don’t suppose you’d mind feeding him breakfast while I get ready for
work?”

Steven canted his head to the side, then slowly shook his head at Cameron and
sighed. “The things I do for my baby sister.” The little boy scrunched his face up
in a grin and giggled at him.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth mouthed at her sibling as she ducked out of the room and
hurried back up the stairs. Twenty minutes later she reentered the kitchen, this
time freshly showered with her hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing a long
sleeved white shirt under a mauve nurse’s uniform. The hot shower had done wonders
for her mood and the saltines she‘d stashed in her nightstand had helped sooth her
nauseous stomach.

Steven was still at the table feeding Cameron, his hair in even more of a disarray
and now sporting a blob of yellow goo smeared across his cheek. Without sparing
his sister a glace he wiped pureed banana from Cameron’s chin with a baby spoon.
“A courier delivered an envelope for you while you were showering.”

Elizabeth crinkled her forehead as she stared down at the plain padded mailing
envelope on the table. It had only a simple white computer label with her name and
address on it’s front. There was no return address or company logo printed on its
face. In fact, there was no hint of any kind about who the sender might be. She
curiously turned it around with one finger, then flipped it to look at its blank
back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Elizabeth answered with a shrug, “I wasn’t expecting anything.”

Lifting the envelope, she hefted it in her hand, judging its weight. It was light.
Then with another shrug, she ripped one end open, tilted it, and key ring with a
single key slid into her palm.

Tucking a strand of hair which had already escaped her ponytail behind her ear,
she studied the key, then flipped it over in her hand. It was an ordinary looking
house key. Then she turned her scrutiny to a paper tag attached to the key ring
and her heart skipped a beat in her chest. An address was written on it in neat
blocky handwriting - Jason’s handwriting.

Pulling her lip between her teeth as a shiver of excitement swept over her, she
turned the tag over and on the other side found written just as neatly the words,
“Rematch. 10:00 p.m.”

Her fingers closed around the key and a knowing smile spread over her face.
Tingles danced down her spine and butterflies took to flight in her stomach. At
10:00 p.m. tonight, she would be with Jason. She took a deep breath, her hand
finding its way to rest protectively on her stomach.

Ready or not, baby, she thought, your daddy’s going to find out about you tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pacing the length of her bedroom, Sam absently wrapped the tie of her bathrobe
around her fingers as she held her cell phone to her ear and listened to it ring.
Instead of getting an answer, her call switched over to voice mail. She growled,
hung up and redialed.
Pacing faster, she ticked her fingernail against the phone as she walked. Then she
stopped in her tracks as AJ’s sleep-fogged voice answered.

“What now Sam?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Her tone acidic enough to peel paint off the
walls.

“Sleeping.”

Clamping her teeth together, she shook her head in irritation. “I saw you in the
park yesterday.” She waited for a response. When none came, she added, “with
Elizabeth Webber.”

A groan emanated from the speaker at her ear.

“That’s right, and I want to know what you think you were doing with your hands
all over her.” She started pacing again, her anger needing an outlet. If AJ had
been standing in front of her, her ’outlet’ would have been a right hook to his
jaw.

AJ started chuckling. “You’re jealous.”

“Jealous!” She screeched, “I am not jealous! Are you insane? I just don’t want you
screwing up my plan!”

“Baby, the plan is fine.” Humor bled from his voice and it rubbed her the wrong
way.

“I thought we settled this yesterday morning. I told you…”

AJ cut her off. “I explained this to you once already. Jason would be suspicious
if we started connecting right off the bat. I have to distract him. Make him think
I’m seeing someone else, then later when we spring the trap, he won‘t suspect
anything.”

Sam rolled her eyes and tapped her foot against the floor. “I don’t like it.”

“Trust me.” AJ chuckled and she slammed the phone shut, severing the connection.

She glared at the phone in her hand. The thought of AJ schmoozing around town with
Elizabeth Webber made her want to hurl the device through the window. What if he
started liking her? Her jaw tightened and her teeth ground together. What if he
starting sleeping with her?

She shook her hair back and took a deep breath, her lips pinching into a thin
line. It didn’t matter. He could screw the entire PCU cheerleading squad for all
she cared. She only cared about her plan and at the moment she needed to get it
refocused and headed in the right direction again. Crossing her arms over her
chest, she tipped her head to the side. Once Jason returned she’d make sure
everything started happening exactly the way she wanted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What a day it had been. Everything that could have gone wrong - did, and nothing -
nothing had gone her way. Her pen had run out of ink while taking a doctor’s
orders. Mrs. Schmidt, the hypochondriac in room 447, had kept calling for the
nurse and the one time she didn’t rush to check with her was the one time she’d
thrown up all over herself. She’d knocked over a food cart, forgotten to get Mr.
Randolf to his MRI, and then Joanna, her replacement on the next shift, had gotten
a flat tire on the way to work and was half an hour late.

The minutes had crawled by like hours and when Joanna finally arrived, she felt
like the gnawed bit of eraser left on a chewed pencil.

Now sitting in the back of the cab she’d come to think of as her own personal
transport to paradise, she was too mentally exhausted to be worried about telling
Jason about her pregnancy. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed
her eyes, right now the only thing she wanted was to be safe in his arms.

She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew the rich baritone voice of
Vincent her cabbie was waking her up. “Miss Webber.”

Elizabeth’s eyes popped open and she abruptly sat up. Vincent’s round Italian face
wrinkled into a grand-fatherly smile. “We’re here, Ma‘am”

Elizabeth rubbed her face sleepily, “Are you going to let me pay you this time
Vincent?” Elizabeth hadn’t yet gotten him to take her money, but the question had
become a familiar routine.

“No, Ma’am.” He shook his head.

“I’ve already been paid.” They both said the words in unison, which won her a
broad smile from the man.

She reached up and patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you Vincent.”

“You‘re welcome, Ma’am. Have a nice night.”

Elizabeth slid out of the back seat and closed the cab door behind her, then
paused as she laid eyes on the house in front of her. It was two story, with a
rock façade, large, yet managed to pull off a quaint look with a prim, neatly
trimmed row of bushes along the front and white shutters framing each window. It
was hard to make out the colors in the darkness, but it looked like the trim was
done in a hue of blue. Turning, she saw a sprinkling of other houses with wide,
well tended yards on a quiet, softly lit street.

The sound of a door opening brought her attention back to the house and she saw
Jason standing in the doorway framed by interior light. Her heart rose into her
throat at the sight of the familiar silhouette and she suddenly felt as if she
were floating. In a few quick steps she was across the porch and in his arms.

“I missed you,” She hadn’t realized how much until this very moment. He pulled her
closer, drawing her more snugly into his embrace and she melted into him.

He’d been gone barely a week, but their entire world had changed. She knew she
needed to tell him the news, only being here in his arms felt too good to
interrupt. Just a minute longer, she reasoned, then she’d tell him.

However, before she could work up the nerve to pull away and tell him he was going
to be a father, Jason drew back, his pale blue eyes lit with one of his rare
boyish grins, and he turned, sweeping one arm to indicate the room around them.
“What do you think?”

Confusion drew her eyebrows together, and she struggled a moment to understand
what he meant. Then it hit her.
The house.

Her eyes widened as she looked around.

The door opened into an living room with a high ceiling. A cream colored couch sat
alone in the middle of the room and a built-in bookshelf graced the far wall. A
dining room opened off the back and a long counter separated it from a kitchen to
its right. The entire area was designed in an open floor plan style and tied
together with clean simple lines, making it seem at once spacious yet cozy, and
she loved every inch of it.

Her eyes met Jason’s and seeing the twinkle in those baby blues made her lose her
train of thought. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth and could only manage
to say, “Ours?”

Jason’s smile faded a bit. “Only if you like it.”

“Oh, Jason.” Tears welled in her eyes, as her emotions swelled. When had he had
the time to look for a house? The fact that he had made time while buried to his
eyeballs in business problems spoke volumes to her about where she fit into his
life. “I love it!”

“Come on.” He tipped his head and took her hand, leading her toward the stairs.

Upstairs there were four bedrooms and two baths. The master bedroom alone was
twice the size of her old studio and already contained a king-sized bed, complete
with sheets and a dark plum patterned comforter. She gravitated toward the bed,
tugging him with her, but he only shook his head his boyish grin still in place.
“Not yet.”

She pouted behind him as he led her back down the stairs and through the kitchen
to a set of double French doors. He turned to her and paused. “This is for you.”

He swept the door open and together they stepped into a large glassed-in room.

“The realtor called it a Sun Room, but I thought it would make a perfect studio.”

As Elizabeth looked around, her hand stole to her mouth. It was the perfect studio
space. A wall of windows rose from the ground then arched gracefully to meet the
side of the house. During the day, light would stream in filling the space, and
she saw where built-in blinds could be raised and lowered on tracks to adjust the
amount of light she wanted. With plenty of light, tons of space, and easy access
to the rest of the house, the room was perfect. She could even put Cameron in a
playpen in the corner where he could watch the world through the windows as she
painted. A single tear spilled down her cheek, and turning to Jason she found she
couldn’t find any words adequate enough to describe how she felt.

Jason, however, watched her with uncertainty. His wrinkled brow and frown making
it obvious to her that he wasn’t sure whether the tear was a good thing or not.

The confused look on his face made her smile all the more and she reached up to
pull him into a kiss. “It’s perfect.” She finally managed in a watery voice. “I
love it.”

“There’s more.” He whispered into her ear.

She looked up at him eyes wide in surprise. What more could there be?
“I saved the best for last.” He took her hand again, leading her this time to a
door in the living room which opened onto a set of stairs leading down to a
basement.

Wiping her cheeks dry as they descended, Elizabeth stepped onto the basement floor
and her jaw fell open. This time she didn’t have the wherewithal to lift her hand
to cover her mouth.

Jason had outdone himself. In the middle of the large room stood a pool table,
with balls racked and ready to play. The walls held braces for cues and other
necessary pool paraphernalia. A table exactly like the ones at Jake’s was sitting
next to the pool table complete with two chairs and two plates of Kelly’s brownies
and mugs of hot cocoa.

However, the item that astounded her the most was the large dark leather couch
situated on the far side of the pool table. She silently crossed to it, running
her hand along its back, feeling the subtle play of the leather under her fingers.
It looked exactly like…

She lifted her head, and fixed Jason with her eyes. “Is this your old couch?”

The corner of his mouth hooked into a grin as he nodded in silent agreement.
Elizabeth beamed. She never thought she’d see the couch again. She’d assumed
Courtney had disposed of it, or had it burned, when she’d redecorated Jason’s
penthouse.

“How?” She could only shake her head in wonder.

Jason’s smile widened as he canted his head to the side and stroked his cheek.
“It’s been in storage. I thought about getting rid of it several times, but I
couldn‘t.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and let his gaze drift over her from head to
toe. “It’s your fault.” Elizabeth’s eyes widened as he stalked toward her. “I
would look at that couch and remember when I’d come home to find you curled up
asleep on it.” He stopped in front of her, reached out and caressed her cheek with
the back of his fingers, his smile taking on a wicked edge. “Then I’d remember all
the things I wanted to do to you on that couch, and I couldn’t bring myself to get
rid of it.”

Heat crept into Elizabeth’s cheeks at Jason’s confession. She’d never imagined
then that he’d felt that way about her. She sidled closer, sliding a hand up his
chest and over his shoulder, her fingers feathering into his hair. Her voice
dropped, low and seductive, “What exactly do you want to do?”

Backing away with a mischievous glint in his eye, Jason prowled around the pool
table, dragging his hand around the rail as he went. “I want a rematch.”

Smiling knowingly, Elizabeth remembered the word on the key’s tag. She’d
understood his meaning from the moment she’d read it. He wanted to get even for
being beaten in their first game of strip pool. She’d even dressed the part,
wearing red stiletto heels, fishnet stockings, leather skirt, tight red sweater,
and underneath it all, a lacy red thong and matching bra. Jason didn’t stand a
chance.

Sauntering to the side of the pool table, Elizabeth selected a cue from the two
laid out, then she raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re a glutton for punishment
aren’t you?”

Picking up his cue stick, Jason tipped his head to the side. “Since you’re so sure
of yourself, why don’t we make it interesting?”

“Interesting?”

“Whoever wins will decide how much rent you’ll pay for this house.” He lifted his
eyebrow at her in unspoken challenge.

“What?” Elizabeth eyes widened in surprise, this wasn‘t what she had expected.

“Unless you’re afraid you might lose.” Jason taunted as he tried to stifle a grin.

That persistent little voice in the back of Elizabeth’s head perked up, reminding
her there was something she needed to tell Jason. Some very important, life-
altering news she’d planned on telling him when she’d first walked through the
door. Yet, she was having too much fun playing along with his game to bring it up
now. After all, she reasoned, he had gone through a lot of trouble to set up this
evening for them, why ruin it when she could as easily tell him later, after she’d
beaten him in a quick game of pool. What harm could come from waiting until later
this evening. She wrinkled her nose. No harm at all.

“Afraid? Me?” She scoffed. “I’ll even let you break.”

Jason picked up the cue ball, then paused, looking at Elizabeth with a gleam in
his eye. “How about the person who makes the shot takes off the clothes.”

Elizabeth’s grin twitched to the side, “So you mean when I sink a shot, I get to
take off your shirt?”

Jason nodded. Elizabeth smiled smugly. She could definitely work that to her
advantage. Jason was so going to lose this game.

“Okay.”

Jason positioned the cue ball, then bent over and lined up his shot. With one
powerful stroke, he sent the white ball flying across the felt and into the
triangle of balls. Colored balls ricocheted wildly around the table and a striped
one sank in a corner pocket.

Jason propped his cue against the side of the table and approached her like a
tiger on the hunt, eyes narrowed, muscles rippling. Elizabeth swallowed, her body
heat ratcheting up several degrees under his unwavering stare.

He stopped in front of her, his smile shameless. “Sweater.”

Elizabeth obediently set her cue aside and lifted her arms, giving him access to
her sweater. His hands settled at her waist, his fingers easing under the
sweater’s tight knit. His hands were warm on her skin and he moved them with
calculated slowness, sliding up her side, easing the sweater along with him as he
went. Then his hands shifted inward, his thumbs meeting over her belly and
spreading their delicious heat over her ribs before cupping the swell of her
breasts in his palms, then slowly sliding over them, his thumbs strumming across
her nipples. He slipped his calloused fingers over the smooth skin of her arms,
gently chasing her sweater up over her head. Finally lifting the sweater free, he
tossed it aside, let his eyes lower, taking in her body and the red lace of her
bra. She felt the heat of his gaze on her like another set of hands, and it made
her tremble.

Then Jason took a step back, and cleared his throat. “Your turn.”

As he reached for his cue, Elizabeth noticed the white knuckled grip he held it
with and smiled to herself. This wasn’t going to take long.

If their last game could be called ‘playful’, this one was downright wicked. Each
shot either of them made turned into a steamy trail of temptation, each article of
clothing removed a test of the other’s limits, with hands and bodies moving
together wantonly. Elizabeth rubbed herself like a cat against Jason’s chest as
she removed his shirt. Then she sauntered over to stretch languidly across the
leather couch between turns, making sure Jason caught her licking whipped cream
off her fingers. Jason firmly pressed himself into Elizabeth from behind as he
reached around her to slide her skirt off, his long fingers working magic on her
skin as he eased her skirt over her hips. Removing Jason’s jeans became the
slowest process yet, with Elizabeth standing close enough for her lace clad
breasts to brush his chest as she released his snap and lowered his zipper. Her
hands slipped under the waistband and lingered, sliding lower to cup him before
beginning the work of lowering the denim over his hips and thighs. She watch his
pupils dilate as she moved, licking her lips and eliciting a groan from Jason.

After that Elizabeth’s hands trembled so badly she missed an easy shot, but
despite the strain clearly showing through his boxer-briefs, Jason didn’t miss his
next turn.

He fixed his gaze on her after sinking another striped ball and Elizabeth leaned
seductively back against the edge of the pool table, offering herself for his
perusal. “Do you see anything you want?”

His eyes smoldered, and she could hear her blood pulse in her ears. Gripping the
edge of the table on both sides of her hips, he leaned forward, hovering close yet
not touching her, but still making her body tingle as if he had. She could feel
his warm breath on her neck as he whispered in her ear. “Stocking.”

Then he lowered himself to his knees in front of her, his hands still gripping the
edge of the table, his eyes locked intently with hers. Her stomach fluttered and
she held her breath in anticipation. Then she gasped as he leaned in and slid his
tongue under the top edge of her thigh high stocking.

Any thought she’d had of winning the game evaporated in that instant. A tremble
coursed through her and she sank down into his lap, her thighs straddling his,
cupped his face and pulled him into a hungry kiss.

Growling low in his throat, Jason’s hands found her hips, and he pulled her more
firmly against him. Then without breaking their kiss, he stood, lifting her as she
wrapped her legs around his hips and tipped her head back to give his lips access
to her throat.

Then Elizabeth felt cool leather under her bare skin as Jason laid her back on the
couch. Relaxing into the leather, she smiled seductively at him. “So are you
finally going to show me what you want to do to me on the couch?”

Jason’s lips found the spot just under her ear that sent heat blooming low in her
belly, and she arched her back to press herself more firmly against him as she
moaned. His hot breath wrapped around the shell of her ear, “You should lie back
and get comfortable,” Then he looked into her eyes, lifting his eyebrows in a
quick, suggestive flick. “This is going to take a while.”
Chapter 19

She’d honestly meant to tell him

Bracing her elbow on the nurse’s desk, Elizabeth rubbed her forehead and frowned.
She laid the blame for not telling him entirely on that leather couch. Well, she
amended with a smile as a shiver of pleasure raced over her at the memory, not the
leather couch precisely, but what he’d done to her on that couch had driven all
rational thought from her head. Then after the couch Jason had carried her
upstairs to their bed, and for the rest of the night nothing other than the two of
them existed. The world outside, all their problems and complications faded away,
and it was simply the two of them and their love, until they’d fallen asleep
spent, exhausted and entwined in each other’s arms. The next morning she’d been
awakened by a kiss which lifted her just far enough out of the fog of sleep to
hear Jason tell her he had to leave and then her pregnancy induced weariness
sucked her back under the blissful blanket of slumber.

Since that morning they hadn’t seen each other. He’d called later that day to tell
her the rent on the house was five hundred a month. A figure so low she balked and
tried to argue with him about raising it, but he simply chuckled and told her
she’d lost the bet and she didn’t have a say. They‘d talked on the phone several
times since then, but she hadn’t told him because she had a plan. She was going to
make a special dinner for just Jason and her in their home, Cam would be at Gram’s
spending the night, then with everything the perfect moment set up, she’s share
the news.

In the meantime she’d spent her time moving her meager possessions into their new
house. Their new house. She sighed in contentment, thinking she’d ever get tired
of calling it that. She loved that place more with each passing day. Jason had
stocked the kitchen with food as well as dishes and more cooking implements than
she’d ever need. He’d also loaded all the bathrooms with plum colored linens and
in the sunroom, she’d found a cabinet full of canvas, tarps, and paints ready for
her to start working. She’d been so overjoyed at finding them, she’d gotten her
brushes and easels out of storage before she’d moved her clothes over and the
first thing she’d done after settling Cameron in for his nap was to stretch a new
canvas over a frame and set it up on an easel to paint.

Leaning back in her swivel chair, Elizabeth pulled her cell phone out of her
pocket and frowned when it showed no messages. Sighing, she placed a hand
protectively over her still flat belly. She had to tell Jason about this baby, the
sooner the better.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Coming out of Dr. Gail Baldwin’s office, Emily stopped as the door shut behind her
and took a long slow breath. Their sessions were proving helpful, although each
one left her physically exhausted and mentally drained. Dealing with her rape was
only half the problem, the physical violation, although horrific on its own,
wasn’t nearly as devastating as dealing with the image of Nikolas as her attacker.
Seeing her husband’s likeness hovering over her with a leer of hatred twisting his
features as he forced himself inside her made her wonder if she’d ever be able to
look at Nikolas and see her loving husband instead of a monster.

Keeping her head down, her long auburn hair curtaining her face, she walked toward
the elevators. All she wanted was to go home, crawl into bed and take a long nap.
However, the sight of sneakered feet and jean-clad legs approaching made her
pause. She looked up and came face to face with Lucky, his normally handsome
features were pulled into a frown of concern.

“Are you okay?” He raised a hand only to have it falter a moment next to her face
before settling on her shoulder.

“You know you don’t have to wait for me after every session Lucky.” Emily said,
then immediately negated her weak objection by leaning into his shoulder and
letting him wrap his arm around her as he pulled her to his side in a hug.
Together the two of them turned and walked to the elevators, Emily’s head resting
on Lucky’s shoulder with Lucky’s head resting lightly on hers.

“I know.” His brow wrinkling if in deep thought. “I was here for my therapy and I
thought I’d hustle a free lunch out of you.”

Emily giggled and punched him playfully in the ribs. “Free loader.”

“You wound me woman.” Lucky swooned in mock-wounded pride.

“How about Kelly’s then, I’ll buy you a burger.”

“If you insist, my lady.” Lucky scooped an imaginary hat off his head and bent in
a deep bow.

Emily laughed as her cell phone rang. Pulling it out of her purse, she answered
while giving Lucky a stern look to warn him to behave. “Hello.”

“Emily.” Her brother AJ’s voice answered her.

“Hey AJ, how are you?”

“I was going to ask my baby sister to lunch. Are you free?”

Emily eyed Lucky, “Well, Lucky and I were making lunch plans, but you can join us
if you’d like. We’re heading over to Kelly’s.” She half-turned from Lucky, missing
the annoyed roll of his eyes.

“As long as you don’t mind.”

“No, its fine.” Emily crossed an arm over her waist. There was a pause on the
other end of the phone, and she could hear a rasp as if AJ were fingering his
goatee. When he spoke his voice was low and tentative. “Emily, can I ask a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Could you invite Elizabeth Webber along?”

Emily’s eyebrows rose in surprise as she completely turned from Lucky and lowered
her voice, yet managed to keep a teasing tone to her words. “Why AJ, do you like
her?”

“Well.” AJ’s voice was light and she could imagine him rocking onto the balls of
his feet and rolling his head back then to the side. “Let’s see. She’s sweet and
kind and beautiful. What man in their right mind wouldn’t be attracted to her?
Let’s just say I’d like a chance to get to know her better.” He paused a moment.
“She isn’t seeing someone is she?”

“Not that I know of,” Emily answered, then frowned as she pondered AJ’s request.
Her oldest brother was a lot of things, but he was always a gentleman when it came
to women. The thought of him dating her best friend felt odd, but if they met and
Elizabeth wasn’t interested, she knew AJ wouldn’t press her. From where she stood,
nothing bad could seem to come of setting up a lunch between the four of them.
“Okay. I’ll see if she can come along.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pacing the length of the living room, Sam ran the events of the last couple of
days through her mind again. Jason had come home two days ago, unceremoniously
arriving in the afternoon and promptly disappearing into his bedroom without so
much as a “Hi, how are you?”

He’d been tense and ill at ease and she wondered what had happened on his trip to
put him in such a foul mood. Over the rest of that day and the next his mood
degenerated until he was conversing with her in nothing more than grunts.

She’d had enough of it.

It was time for her to take back control. According to plan, today was the day for
another “lunch” at Kelly’s.

She eyed the stairs. Jason was up in his bedroom at the moment. He’d been gone all
morning, returning only to ignore her and head straight for his room.

She heard an upstairs door open and she sprawled across the couch, poking herself
in the eye with her finger to make herself start crying.

Curling into a knot, with her head bent into her forearms on the arm of the couch,
she heard the clump of boots descending the stairs and let out a heart-rending
sob. The boots faltered in their step, and she took advantage of Jason’s attention
by ratcheting up her histrionics, making her shoulders heave and tremble with each
sob.

After an almost grudging pause, the boots clomped closer, stopping next to the
couch. Peering out beneath her arms, she saw Jason crouched beside her. She
stifled a smile and when his hand touched her shoulder, she pulled away.

“What’s wrong Sam?”

Sam sat up ramrod straight, wiped her face dry and looked off into a distant
corner. “You hate me.”

Jason groaned and rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. “Sam, I don’t hate
you.”

“Yes you do. You think I’m not a good enough mother for your baby.” She let
herself dissolve back into tears.

Sitting back on his heels, Jason looked at her. “That’s not what I…”

She didn’t let him finish. “Why else would you not talk to me. Why else would you
not stay and have a conversation with me about our baby. I’ve tried to talk to you
about the baby, and the nursery and the doctor.” She sobbed loudly. “You don’t
think I’m good enough to be the mother of your child. Courtney was good enough,
but I’m not.”

Jason covered his face with his hands, then settled himself on the couch next to
her and took her hand in his. “Sam, I don’t hate you. I don’t think you’re not
good enough to the be mother…”

“You don’t think I’m good enough to be your wife.” She cut him off again,
beginning to wail as she leaned her head into his shoulder. Jason put a hand on
her back in something less than what she’d consider a hug.

“Sam you have to calm down. The doctor said you have to be careful about stress.
It’s not good for the baby.”

With a great sob, Sam threw herself off the couch and away from Jason. “I can’t
keep doing this not knowing how you feel about me. If we can’t be a family then
I’ll just leave and you’ll never have to bother with me or our baby again.”

“Sam.” Jason reached out for her, taking her arm with his hand. “You don’t have to
go. I want you and the baby here. It’s going to take time for us to trust each
other again. That‘s all.”

She shook off his hold, crossed her arms over her chest and walked away. “How can
I believe you when you won’t stay in the house long enough to have a
conversation?”

Jason stood and threw his arms out to the side. “You know how the business works
Sam. I’ve been busy lately. It doesn’t mean I don’t want things between us to work
out.”

Sam turned her back on him and shook her head.

“What can I do to convince you I’m serious?”

His voice carried the barest hint of resignation and a victory smile spread slowly
across Sam’s face. Manipulating Jason was almost too easy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was noon and Kelly’s was full with the lunch rush. Emily, Lucky, Elizabeth and
AJ found an empty table by the windows and shrugged out of their jackets before
sitting. Elizabeth sat across the table from Emily, with Lucky to her right and AJ
to her left.

Elizabeth had questioned Emily on the sly when she found out AJ was meeting the
three of them for lunch, but Emily had laughed off her concern, saying it was
simply her brother wanting to buy her lunch and her own insistence about inviting
her friends along.

AJ hadn’t seemed put off by Emily’s generosity with his money and the four of them
settled into a comfortable lunch. The conversation turned almost immediately to
Elizabeth’s new house.

Emily’s eyes lit up as she sipped her hot cocoa. “Tell us how you found it
Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, she’d been preparing this tall tale for days. She
was sure she could get through it without getting tripped up on details, but the
little stabs of guilt she felt for lying to her friends were unexpected. She
smiled and tipped her head to the side. “When I worked at Kelly’s, there was an
older lady who came in occasionally for breakfast on the weekends. She was very
nice and over time we got to be good friends.”
“What was her name?” Emily prodded.

“Mrs. Peterson.”

Lucky frowned. “I don’t remember her.”

Elizabeth waved off his comment. “I’m sure you’d know her if you saw her. Besides
you weren’t here that often while I was working.”

Lucky nodded and she went on. “Well, last week I was working a shift in
Orthopedics, when who do I see but Mrs. Peterson. She’d fallen and broken her
hip.”

Emily frowned. “How sad. Is she going to be alright?”

“Yes, it was a simple break and she’s healing well, but as we got to talking and
catching up on old times, she said when she was released, her daughter was moving
her to Florida so she could take care of her. Well, long story short, she offered
to sell me her house in a rent-to-own, owner-finance kind of arrangement.”

AJ smiled as he sipped his coffee, “That’s an amazing offer.”

Sinking back into her seat, Elizabeth’s eyes rolled skyward. “I absolutely love
the house. It’s perfect. It has a sunroom I’m going to use as a studio, and
Cameron has his own bedroom. Mrs. Peterson has already had her things packed and
moved out so it’s pretty empty right now. I’ve got some kitchen stuff and a couch.
But that’s about it.”

AJ reached over and poked his sister in the arm. “You know, friends usually give
their friends housewarming presents.”

Emily’s eyes widened in what could only be described as the joyful anticipation of
shopping, and locked her gaze with Elizabeth‘s. Elizabeth could almost see the
ideas flying through her friend’s brain. “You’ve got to let me get you something
special for your house.”

“Emily, you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” She pouted and looked at Elizabeth with sad
puppy dog eyes. “Please, please, please.”

“How about getting her a big screen TV with surround sound and digital cable with
all the sports channels prepaid for a year.” Lucky smiled and waggled his
eyebrows, earning him a smack on the arm.

“You men stay out of this.” Emily shook a finger warningly first at Lucky then AJ.
“This is between us women. You have no say in my housewarming gift.”

AJ lifted his palms in mock surrender and Lucky’s counter argument stopped short
when Penny arrived at the table balancing four plates of food. AJ handed Elizabeth
her plate, and his hand brushed hers making her draw away awkwardly when his
fingers lingered a little longer than necessary.

Nervously Elizabeth swept a strand of hair behind her ear, and AJ took the moment
to lean closer to her, keeping his voice low so only she could hear. “Are you
feeling better?”
She nodded stiffly. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

Beside them the door to Kelly’s swung open with a jingle of bells, and Emily, who
had a direct view of the new arrivals, paused with a forkful of food raised half
way to her mouth. Her eyes went wide in concern and her smile faltered. Before
Elizabeth could ask about the change in her friend, Lucky’s disapproving grunt
pulled her attention to him. She turned to find him glaring with open annoyance at
the doorway, and curiosity had her turning around in her seat to see who it was
who had walked in and thrown a bucket of cold water on their lunch.

She found herself staring at Jason.

Having stopped just inside the door and not a foot from their table, he was
wearing his signature black leather jacket, well-worn jeans and motorcycle boots.
Sam McCall hung on his arm looking every bit like a cheap hooker in her nearly x-
rated top and micro-mini skirt. She tightened her hold on Jason’s arm and smiled a
nasty smile at them.

Jason’s crystal eyes flashed like ice as he frowned. Their eyes locked for an
instant, then he flicked his hard gaze at AJ who was still half leaning toward her
in his chair. Elizabeth’s stomach soured and she gripped the edge of the table to
steady herself.

Emily stood and smiled at Jason, throwing herself into a valiant effort at keeping
the peace between the two brothers. “Jason. Hi.” She faltered a moment, the brief
silence ripe with tension. “Did you know AJ was back in town?”

Jason’s pointed stare didn’t falter from his older sibling. “Yes.”

Sam brought one arm around Jason’s back and up to his shoulder while her other
hand slid intimately across the plane of his stomach, then she used her hold on
his waist to pull herself closer. Elizabeth had to look away, her eyes falling
down to the floor. She lifted a hand to cover her mouth as her stomach lurched and
rolled.

Doing her best to look casual, she reached out and lifted her mug to take a sip of
hot cocoa. She’d just gotten it to her lips when Sam stuck out her left hand,
turning her fingers to bring everyone’s attention to the diamond ring on her third
finger. “Jason and I are getting married.”

Elizabeth froze with the cup at her lips. The huge diamond ring on Sam’s finger
filled her vision. Her own fingers tightened around her mug and she fought to keep
her now trembling hand from spilling hot cocoa over the table.

Closing her eyes Elizabeth set the mug back on the table. It wasn’t true. It
couldn’t be true. He wouldn’t actually marry her. Would he? Then against her will
and better judgment, she looked at Jason, and the tight frown and flash of regret
she saw on his face told her everything she needed to know. He was going to marry
Sam.

Suddenly the room seemed to turn on its side and everything around her zoned into
a wash of whiteness. Every thought came to her with a crystal clarity, and she
knew she had to leave because she was going to start crying if she stayed a minute
longer.

Pushing her chair out, she turned to Lucky, her safest option of everyone around
her at the moment, and smiled sweetly. She didn‘t know where the excuse came from,
but the words flowed out of her as if of their own will. “I really have to go. I
forgot I have to pick up Cameron from the sitter.”

She turned and smiled pleasantly at Emily, mumbling something nonsensical as she
inadvertently got another look at Sam running a hand over Jason’s chest. She
turned away mechanically, missing the smug look Sam directed at AJ, the equally
smug look AJ returned first to Sam then to Jason as he draped an arm across the
back of her chair, and the ensuing glare Jason focused on AJ as he stilled Sam’s
wandering hand by grabbing her wrist and lifting it off his chest.

Elizabeth stood and walked away, her vision narrowing to the floor in front of her
feet. As she reached the door, someone was there beside her helping her put on her
coat. Silently she accepted the help and blindly walked through the door. She felt
a hand at her lower back and she let it guide her through the empty outdoor tables
to the street and finally into a cab.

Only after the cab was underway did she let herself take a deep shuddering breath
and sink into the seat. That’s when she noticed the person who had followed her
out of Kelly’s was AJ and not Lucky as she’d assumed. She suppressed a groan and
covered her face with her hands to keep herself from dissolving into tears.

“Are you okay?”

She heard the concern in his voice, but couldn’t bring herself to move her hands
or trust herself to answer with anything more than a nod.

“Good, I didn’t want you passing out again without anyone around to catch you.”

She could hear his smile in his gentle ribbing and took a long slow breath, then
lowered her hands to her lap and raised her eyes to meet his. AJ sat watching her.
A flicker of relief passed over his features as their eyes met. He was worried
because he thought she was sick. She almost heaved a sigh of relief. At least he
didn’t suspect her strange behavior was connected to the announcement of Jason’s
marriage.

“Where do you want to go?” The cabbies deep baritone broke into their conversation
and Elizabeth quickly rattled off her address.

AJ relaxed into the seat, not pressing her with any more questions. A small favor
she was more than thankful for. She wasn’t in the mental state to tap dance around
the truth while trying to answer any more questions. Less than ten minutes later,
they were pulling into her new driveway and she was reaching into her purse for
money to pay the cabbie. AJ beat her to the punch, paying the fare before she had
the chance, and then waved away her protests as he climbed out after her. As he
leaned back in to ask the cabbie to wait for him, Elizabeth suddenly remembered
Vincent and how he always waved away her attempts to pay for the rides he gave her
to meet Jason, and something inside her snapped. The emotion she’d held tightly in
check since Sam’s announcement broke free and with a stifled sob her tears finally
started falling.

Whirling around, she ran for the house. Throwing the door open, she burst into the
living room making Georgie Jones jump in surprise. She didn’t pause as she ran up
the stairs, making a bee-line for Cameron’s bedroom.

All Elizabeth wanted was to feel the security of holding her little boy in her
arms. Something real, something solid and safe she could hold onto while
everything else crumbled. It was a selfish desire, but after Sam’s emotional punch
to the gut, she needed a little selfish time.
She found Cameron lying on his back, asleep in his crib. She gently caressed his
crown, ruffling his swatch of dark hair before bringing her fingers down to cup
one pudgy cheek. Cameron stirred in his sleep, jerking at the unexpected touch and
making sucking movements with his lips. Elizabeth hesitated. He was sleeping so
peacefully, the mother in her demanded she leave him alone to finish his nap,
overriding her personal need to use him to console herself.

Lifting a hand to her mouth she stifled the sob about to break free and took a
long deep breath to steady herself. Tears welled in her eyes and in the safety of
the nursery she let them fall soundlessly down her cheeks, dropping to make small
wet circles on the sheet.

Stupid. She shook her head. She was being stupid. She’d known this plan wouldn’t
be easy, but she’d never foreseen this. Marriage. A chill passed over her at the
thought, the possibility of Jason marrying Sam hadn’t even occurred to her.

A noise filtered up from downstairs and she groaned. Georgie was still down there
and considering the way she’d run through the room, she probably thought something
was wrong. With a deep sigh, Elizabeth gathered up her wounded emotions and wiped
her face. With one last caress to Cameron’s cheek, she turned and headed
downstairs.

To her surprise she found only AJ waiting for her. He’d made himself comfortable
on the couch but stood to meet her as he heard her coming down the stairs.

“Where’s Georgie?” She looked around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed the
girl.

“She said she had to go and you could pay her for babysitting later.” AJ ‘s head
tipped to the side and he stared at her for along moment. “Are you sure you’re
okay?”

“Yes.” Elizabeth forced a grin and repeated the mantra. “I’m fine. You don’t have
to stay.”

AJ nodded and headed toward the door. Opening it, he paused in the doorway,
turning back to look at her with a sheepish grin. He shuffled and cleared his
voice, before asking, “Would you like to go out for drinks with me sometime?”

Elizabeth stood rooted to the floor, dumbfounded. The invitation was so completely
unexpected, it caught her off guard. Finally she mentally smacked herself and
forced herself to take a deep breath.

Meeting his hopeful gaze, Elizabeth cringed slightly as she rejected his offer.
“Thank you, AJ but no.” She cleared her throat and then shifted uncomfortably on
her feet. “I’d rather we stayed…. friends.”

AJ took the rejection in stride, smiling as he took a step backwards. “Well, you
can’t blame a guy for trying.” Then he scooped up her hand and pressed a kiss onto
its back before turning and heading down the path toward the waiting cab.

Elizabeth closed the door, leaned heavily against it, and closing her eyes,
wondered how this day could possibly get any worse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Safely in the back of the cab and headed down the street, AJ flipped out his cell
phone and dialed. When the other end was picked up, he smiled wickedly. “It’s
done.”

He turned to watch Elizabeth’s house recede into the distance as he listened to

the reply, then narrowed his eyes.

“Fine. Just make sure you’re not seen.”

Chapter 20

Jason had spent the afternoon stalking around the penthouse like a caged lion. He
was unhappy with Sam over her little performance at Kelly’s and he was especially
unhappy about the look he’d seen pass over Elizabeth’s face when Sam had flashed
her ring and made their wedding announcement.

He stopped in front of the balcony, the sunset casting long shadows around him,
fisted his hands at his sides and growled. He hadn’t wanted Elizabeth to find out
that way, he’d wanted to explain to her himself why he’d gotten re-engaged to Sam.
Only it hadn’t happened the way he’d planned and now Elizabeth wasn’t answering
his phone calls.

Sam, on the other hand, had spent the afternoon stretched on the couch pouting
petulantly, unhappy with him because of his annoyance with her. She didn’t
understand his foul mood and he refused to explain it to her. He, in fact, didn’t
feel the least bit motivated to explain anything at the moment.

Jason ground his teeth in frustration. Then there was the AJ problem. AJ had been
irritatingly smug sitting with his arm around the back of Elizabeth’s chair. Jason
had nearly ruptured a blood vessel restraining himself from yanking AJ bodily out
of his chair and tossing him into the back alley for a little lesson in keeping
his hands to himself.

Frowning, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He couldn’t let Elizabeth
keep thinking he was going to marry Sam. He needed to talk to her, soon and in
person. Striding out onto the balcony to get out of sight and ear shot of the
woman lounging on the couch, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Sonny’s
number.

“Call me back in five minutes,” he said when Sonny answered, then snapped the
phone shut.

Returning inside, he crossed to the desk where he sat and pulled out paperwork as
if preparing to spend the evening going over coffee warehouse inventories and
spreadsheets. Sam cast him a cursory glance and went back to reading her magazine.
In exactly five minutes his cell phone rang.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he answered. “Yeah.”

“It’s been five minutes. Now what?”

Jason half turned toward the couch and got a look at Sam watching him quizzically
out of the corner of his eye. “When do you need me there?” He sighed and pinched
the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“It must be bad if you’re establishing an alibi.”

“In half an hour.” Jason kept Sam in his peripheral vision, making sure she heard
every word of his faux conversation.
“Is Sam there?”

“Yes,” Jason affirmed. “Do you have my back on this one?”

Sonny chuckled. “I believe you’ve finally become a first rate liar. I guess all
you needed was the proper motivation.”

Jason blew a long sigh into the phone, eliciting another round of chuckles from
his boss. Then he snapped the phone shut. He turned his gaze to Sam, who quickly
looked back at her magazine and pretended not to have been eavesdropping.

He stood, swept all his papers back into their folder and stashed them in the desk
drawer. “That was Sonny. I have to go.”

Sam stood and sauntered over to him as he went to pull his leather jacket out of
the closet. Her pout deepened as she stopped in front of him and watched him pull
it on. “Don’t go while you’re mad at me.”

“Sam.” Her name came out as more a warning than an endearment.

She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled herself closer, pressing her
breasts into his chest and letting the low cut of her shirt give him a clear view
of her cleavage. “At least give me a kiss before you go.”

Staring down at her and trying to hide his irritation, Jason placed his hands on
her shoulders and backed her up a step, then leaned down and placed a quick peck
on her lips before turning and yanking the door open.

Sam frowned at his back, but didn’t have time to complain before the door slammed
shut in her face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was fully dark by the time Jason ditched his bike at Jake’s and had Vincent
drive him to Elizabeth’s. They cruised slowly down her street, skirting a white
plumbing repair van several houses down before turning into the back alley and
slowly easing to a stop behind the house. Jason was counting on the cover of
darkness to help hide his arrival.

Easing through the back gate, Jason stopped in his tracks. The sunroom was fully
lit and inside using her paintbrush more like a knife than an artistic tool,
Elizabeth was literally attacking the canvas in front of her. Blue and black paint
was smeared across one porcelain cheek and she was furiously intent, using short
staccato stabs of her brush to put paint to canvas. Anger radiated from her
movements and she backed up a step, then swung her arm broadly, swiping back and
forth at the canvas.

Jason stood a moment in the darkness, watching her and rubbed a hand over his
face. This wasn’t good.

Crossing to the back door, he knocked and in the sunroom he could see her startled
reaction to the sound.

Waiting and counting the seconds as she made her way through the kitchen and to
the backdoor, he bowed his head as the doorknob rattled. He didn’t feel he was in
any position to greet her with his head held high.

What he expected was anger, but when the door opened and he lifted his eyes to
meet hers, what he found in them was hurt. A knife twisted in his heart at the
sight of her red-rimmed and swollen royal blue eyes.

His first instinct was to pull her to him and hold her until the pain shining in
her eyes disappeared. He reached out, saw her stiffen and hesitated, settling
instead on caressing her cheek with his fingers.

“I had to talk to you.” Frustration made his jaw clench. He hated that she was
hurting because of him. His eyes fell to the floor as his hand dropped from her
face. “If you don’t want to talk, I’ll say what I came to say and leave.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to talk.” Elizabeth’s voice was shaky, her tightly held
emotions bleeding through despite her efforts to keep them hidden.

“You weren’t answering my calls.” He shrugged half-heartedly.

“You called?“ Elizabeth’s eyes widened and she abruptly turned, heading through
the kitchen and into the living room. Jason shut the door behind him and followed
close on her heels, watching as she snagged her purse off the closet door handle
and rummaged through it to find her cell phone. When she held it up, her shoulders
sagged, and she turned, looking apologetically at Jason.

“The battery is dead.” Her lower lip quivered. “I forgot to recharge it. I thought
you weren’t calling on purpose and….” Her hand covered her mouth and she closed
her eyes. “I should have known better.”

She looked up at him through glossy eyes and Jason’s heart constricted painfully.
This time when he reached for her, she didn’t flinch and he pulled her to him,
wrapping his arms around her and enveloping her in his embrace.

“I hate this,” he said. ““I should have said something at Kelly‘s.”

“No.” Elizabeth pulled away just enough to look into his eyes and shook her head,
“I’m glad you didn’t. As hard as this is, your baby is worth it.”

Jason closed his eyes and sighed. His baby. The one and only reason they were both
stuck in this situation. They were both willingly enduring this pain to make sure
his child was given every possible chance to live. Yet, as often as he’d tried to
picture a baby with a blending of his and Sam’s features, he couldn’t see it.

“Are you really going to marry her?”

Elizabeth’s question brought his eyes back to her. She looked so vulnerable at
that moment, like she was handing her heart to him for safekeeping, yet was unsure
if he would nurture it or cut it to ribbons. He reached up to tuck a strand of her
hair behind her ear and used his thumb to wipe the smudge of paint off her cheek.

“No.”

Then he tensed remembering how quickly the events in his penthouse that morning
had become a runaway train he’d been helpless to stop. “Sam lost it this morning.
She accused me of not trying hard enough to work things out between us and she
threatened to leave. She said I’d never see her or the baby again.” His voice
lowering guiltily at his admission. “I asked her to marry me to calm her down and
keep her from taking off.” He took a deep breath. “I wanted to call and tell you,
but I didn’t have a chance.”

Her lower lip quivering, Elizabeth settled her cheek against his chest. Her hands
slid up his back as his arms pulled her firmly to him. “Jason.” She relaxed into
him. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Good.“ Jason rested his cheek on the top of her head. “Because I don’t want to
talk about Sam or babies anymore. That‘s the only thing Sam talks about anymore.
The baby this. The baby that. I‘m tired of hearing about the baby.” Sam was
obsessed. She hadn’t been that way when she’d been pregnant with Sonny’s baby, and
he guessed her obsessive focus was due in part because of the death of that child.
It was understandable, but it didn’t make it easier to endure.

Elizabeth stiffened. Then she pulled away from him, crossing her arms over her
chest as her brows drew together in a frown. Jason watched tension settle on her
face and a feeling of dread settled in his gut. “What’s wrong?”

Dropping her gaze to the floor, she shook her head and swept her hair off her
forehead as she fidgeted a moment as if struggling with her courage.

“Elizabeth?”

Then she sighed and her shoulders fell. “AJ asked me out on a date.”

Every muscle in Jason’s body tensed with anger. He should have beaten the crap out
of AJ when he’d had the chance. His gut instincts had been right. AJ was up to no
good.

“Jason.”

Focusing on Elizabeth, Jason found her gripping the front of his shirt, worry
etched onto her face. “What?” He frowned and his hands pumped at his sides,
squeezing and releasing as he fisted them in mute fury. “Did he hurt you?

“No.” Elizabeth was shaking her head. “Jason, you can’t do anything to him. If you
talk to him about this, he’ll get suspicious.”

He hated this. It killed him to be unable to have a discussion with his brother
about keeping away from Elizabeth. It went against every male instinct he had not
to protect the woman he loved.

“Jason.“ Elizabeth‘s grip on his shirt tightened and as he met her eyes, her gaze
bore into him and a soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “Forget about AJ.
He can’t hurt us. I love you and nothing is going to change that.”

Elizabeth rose on her toes to press her lips to his. Deepening their kiss, Jason
slid one hand around to her lower back to pull her firmly against him.

Trailing kisses across his jaw, Elizabeth stopped to purr sexily in his ear. “Make
love to me.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A couple of houses down from Elizabeth‘s, AJ Quartermaine sat inside a white van
sporting a plumbing logo on its side. He smiled broadly, listening to the
conversation through headphones as he watched it play out on the monitor in front
of him. The slightly grainy picture showed a live feed of his younger brother
pulling Elizabeth Webber into an intense kiss.

As Elizabeth’s hands went to Jason’s belt, AJ leaned back in his seat causing a
metallic screech to resonate through the van. He turned to Ron, the balding and
slightly paunchy tech working the control panel and lifted one side of the
headphones off his ear.

“You’re recording this, right?”

Ron didn’t turn to face AJ, instead he kept his eyes on the readouts as he
answered. “Yep, we got everything from the moment Jason arrived.”

AJ smiled wickedly, leaning forward in his chair and tenting his hands in front of
his face. He watched as Jason swept Elizabeth’s shirt over her head and began
trailing kisses down her throat.

“Oh little brother.” He chuckled. “I’ve got you now.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam drove slowly through the docks, keeping a close watch for anything suspicious.
Jason had taken his motorcycle when he’d gone out and even in the moonless dark
she knew she would recognize it when she saw it.

He’d lied to her tonight about what he was going to do. It’d been obvious he’d
wanted her to overhear his conversation, wanted her to think he was out doing a
job for Sonny, but she knew better. The giveaway had been his turning toward her
instead of turning away to keep her from overhearing his conversation. She ground
her teeth together, it was a small oversight, but that old saying “never con a
con” ran through her mind. Jason had tried to con her and she’d seen right through
him.

In the seat next to her Anna scanned the area as well, although Sam knew the
bodyguard was looking for a different type of trouble. Another of Jason’s
concessions to her had been a reduction in the number of her guards. She’d tried
to get them all relieved of their duty, but Jason had insisted she keep one and
she’d finally relented, agreeing to keep Anna. An arrangement, which in her
estimation, was a mistake on Jason’s part. He never should have left her with a
female guard. No matter how loyal Anna was to her boss, there was a kindred spirit
among women that Sam had no qualms of playing to her benefit. It had only taken a
little crying and some insinuation about Jason’s whereabouts and Anna had been
more than willing to take her hunting for the scoundrel.

Sam pinched her lips together as she scanned the darkness for signs of Jason. Why
was she out here in the dead of night searching for him? She asked herself.
Couldn’t she wait until he returned home and confront him then? She scowled at the
idea. No. He’d lied to her and she couldn’t let him get away with that. She had to
be the one in control. She had to call the shots or her plan might fail, and that
was not an option. She’d worked too hard for this and Jason was going to suffer
the loss of his child. She was going to do everything within in her power to make
sure he suffered as much or more than she had.

Rolling to a stop at the end of the long stretch of docks, she frowned. She hadn’t
seen any hint of Jason. He wasn’t here.

Where could he have gone? She’d already driven by Sonny’s, Carly’s, the police
station, the hospital, the warehouse and now the docks. Then she cocked her head
to the side. Next to her Anna turned and lifted an eyebrow. “Are you ready to head
back to the penthouse?”

“No.” Sam said setting her jaw. “There’s one more place we can try.”
Chapter 21

As Coleman wiped down the bar with a damp rag, he kept an eye on a group of
sailors at the pool tables. It had been a rough night. He’d already had to break
up two fights, toss six guys out, and it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet.

Things hadn’t necessarily ‘quieted down’, but everyone seemed to be keeping to

themselves. Well, everyone except the foreign sailors at the pool tables working
out their cabin fever from being trapped aboard ocean-going freighters for weeks.
They were loud, rude and Coleman watched them warily. They were trouble waiting to
happen.

The front door slammed open and he turned to size up the newcomers. Then groaned
when he saw who entered.

Samantha McCall.

He’d met the raven haired beauty months ago and pegged her as a troublemaker. Yet,
if he’d still been running the Oasis he’d offer her a job stripping. He recognized
the type; she had the look and attitude of a woman willing to make money riding a
pole or living off any rich sugar daddy who took a fancy to a hot little sex toy
like her.

To see her walking into his bar tonight, of all nights, made him roll his eyes. He
hadn’t kicked any puppies or robbed any nuns lately, and he wondered what horrible
deed he could have done to so royally screw up his karma.

Sam fixed him with her steady gaze and made a beeline for the bar. She was
followed closely by another woman who made no effort to hide the fact that she was
keeping a close watch on the other patrons. Coleman narrowed his eyes at her.
Obviously she was a bodyguard, who else would be sending out ‘don’t mess with us
or you won’t live to regret it’ body language to anyone who glanced their way.

Coleman leaned forward bracing one elbow on the bar and watched Sam slink across
the room. In her low cut top and high cut skirt, she flaunted her sexuality like a
siren and the group of sailors at the pool tables took notice. Whistles and
catcalls followed in her wake.

Sam, though, only had eyes for him.

“Where’s Jason?”

Coleman smiled a lopsided smile. Normally he liked a woman who cut to the chase,
but Sam rubbed him the wrong way. He didn’t like her much and he trusted her less.
He knew where his loyalties lay, and they weren’t with the little con artist.

“What makes you think I know where Jason is?” Coleman drawled, shifting his
toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “He doesn’t check in with me before he
goes out.”

Sam frowned in annoyance. “His motorcycle is parked in the back. Where is he?’’

Coleman chuckled, then reached up to remove the toothpick. “Do you see him here?”

“No.” Sam answered, cocking her head to the side and crossing her arms under her
breasts.

“Then I don’t know where he is.”

Sam lifted her left hand and waggled her engagement ring for Coleman to see. “I’m
his fiancée, and I’m sure he’d appreciate you telling me where he is. I have
important information for him.”

“Then call him on his cell phone, sweetheart.” Coleman brazenly winked at her. “I
know the man never goes anywhere without it.”

Sam huffed, fixed Coleman with a glare and turned to the woman with her. “Let’s
go.”

Backing away from the bar, Sam gave the room one last look before she headed for
the door. However, before she could reach it, one of the sailors, a tall dark-
haired lout with a Mediterranean look about him, intercepted her.

“Hello sweetie.” He crooned in a thickly accented voice. “Would you like a drink?”

Sam lifted her eyes to his smiling face, then without warning, brought her knee up
in a swift shot to the man’s groin. The man’s face drained of color and he uttered
a stifled grunt as he fell into a heap to the floor, curling up in a fetal
position with his hands holding his injured privates.

The room went silent.

Sam flicked her long black hair over her shoulder and turned to look at Coleman.
“I’ll remember all your help.” Then she turned and exited the bar with all eyes on
her.

Coleman shook his head, took a long pull from his beer bottle and frowned. What
game was Jason playing? Sam McCall was his fiancée? He’d seen Jason with Elizabeth
and knew without a doubt how they both felt about each other. What did this mean?
And now that he knew, what was he going to do with the information?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sam paced the length of her bedroom brooding on her failure to find Jason. She
didn’t like that he’d lied to her and she really didn’t like that she couldn’t
find him. Where was he and what was he up to?

Growling, she snatched her cell phone from the nightstand and speed dialed the
only number programmed into its memory.

Despite the fact that it was two in the morning, AJ picked up on the first ring
and sounded positively perky.

“Sam.” She could hear the smile on his face over the phone. ”You should be asleep.
A woman in your condition needs her rest.”

“Shut up, AJ.” She growled into the phone. His good mood was irritating.

AJ tsked. “What do you want, Sam?”

Sam paused. What did she want? Why had she called him? To tell him Jason had lied
to her and had taken off for parts unknown. She rubbed her forehead. Suddenly she
felt like crying and wished AJ were here so she lean into him and cradle her head
on his shoulder while he wrapped his arms around her. Then AJ sighed loudly in
annoyance and the moment was lost. What was she thinking? She was stronger than
that. She’d never needed anyone before and she wasn’t about to let herself get all
weak and needy now.

Sam tossed her hair over her shoulder. “We need to speed up the plan.”

“No. Everything is fine.”

Sam closed her eyes and suppressed an urge to yell. “No, the plan isn’t fine.” She
took a deep breath and hardened her resolve. It went against her grain to admit
weakness, much less defeat, but her goal was much too precious to lose over her
own pride. Besides, she had been in the business long enough to know when a deal
was going bad and this one was going south fast. “I’m losing my hold on Jason. We
need to speed things up to get him back on the hook.”

“Sam.” AJ’s voice took on a soothing tone, not the least bit condescending, but
quietly reassuring. “I saw Jason tonight. He‘s still on the hook. You haven‘t lost
him. Relax. Everything is going perfectly.“ Then she could hear his smile again.
“Trust me.”

Sam rubbed her forehead, physically relaxing under AJ’s calming influence. If he
was right and Jason was still on the hook, that meant she was overreacting. She
rolled her eyes. AJ was after the same thing she was, he wouldn’t lie to her.
“You’re sure?”

“Sam. You have him right where you want him. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
On the other end of the line, AJ leaned back in his squeaky metal chair, watching
the light glint off a DVD he held in his hand. A grin spread across his face.
“Everything is working exactly the way we planned.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jason ran his fingers through his hair as he stepped out of the cab. His eyes
instinctively darted around the back parking lot of Jake’s, searching deep into
the shadowy corners to make sure the area was safe. Not seeing anything
suspicious, he shut the taxi door behind him, and crossed through the early
morning darkness to his bike.

He’d hated leaving so early, before the sun had even risen, but he had things he
had to take care of. Business was still a priority despite the mess his personal
life had become, and with new enemies in town, he couldn’t relax, no matter how
much he wanted to stay the night with Elizabeth snuggled safely in his arms. The
time when he could stay with her without having to sneak around couldn‘t come soon
enough. Clenching his jaw he inwardly cursed himself and the situation he’d gotten
himself into.

Rounding the dumpster he found his bike. However, it wasn’t as he’d left it. A
heavy chain was woven through the front tire, twisted around the frame and secured
with a heavy duty lock. There was a note taped to the seat. You need to talk to
me. Coleman.

Jason crumbled the note in his fist and ground his teeth together. Turning on his
heel, he slammed through the back door and stalked inside, finding Coleman
lounging behind the bar, an elbow braced against the wood countertop.

Coleman casually raised a eyebrow, not showing the least bit of intimidation in
the face of Jason’s cold glower. “Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged
in.”

Jason frowned and narrowed his eyes at the bartender. “What do you want?”
Coleman leaned back, cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. “Your
fiancée was here last night.” Rolling his head, he glanced at the ceiling while
scratching at the stubble on his neck. “She caused quite a commotion while she was
here.”

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sam was here?” He turned his head and rubbed
his jaw, swearing to himself before looking back at Coleman. “Is she okay?”

Coleman hitched his hip against the bar and nodded as he crossed his arms over his
chest. “She was looking for you and thought I might know where you were.”

Jason raised his eyebrows in unspoken question. Coleman shook his head. “I didn’t
tell her Jack, man, and she wasn‘t happy when she left.”

Jaw muscle ticking, Jason shook his head. Sam should have been at the penthouse
where she was safe, instead of out running around looking for him. His anger
started to simmer. Here he was turning his own life inside out to protect his
baby, and Sam was putting herself and their child in danger by coming to places
like this and stirring up trouble. He’d given in to her demands about the guards
and the first thing she’d done was proven that he couldn’t trust her. Leaning
forward to grip the bar with both hands, he let loose a string of curses.

Pushing off the bar, Coleman made his way around to Jason. Squaring his shoulders
he pulled himself to his full height as Jason turned to meet him. Coleman frowned
as he stared at the younger man. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve got going on, but
I’ve seen you in here with Elizabeth.”

Jason tensed at Coleman’s mention of Elizabeth and his glare at the bartender
hardened.

“Elizabeth is a classy lady. Men like you and me don’t deserve women like that.”

“What are you saying?” Jason stepped forward, but Coleman didn’t back down, if
anything he pressed himself forward to meet the threat.

“I’m saying Elizabeth deserves better than to be treated badly by the likes of
you.” Neither of them blinked and Coleman lifted his head a little higher. “If you
hurt her, I’ll make you pay.”

And in the face of Coleman’s statement, Jason flinched. He couldn’t argue the
point. Elizabeth did deserve better than to be hurt by the likes of him. Stepping
back, his eyes slid away.

Coleman pulled a set of padlock keys out of his shirt pocket and tossed them on
the bar.

Frowning, Jason reached over and took them. Without meeting Coleman’s eyes, Jason
skirted the man and headed toward the back exit, stopping in the doorway to turn
and flash an icy glare at the older man.

“Not many men get away with threatening me.”

Coleman was leaning back against
lit it. It caught in a flare and
looked Jason slowly up and down.
forefinger, Coleman flicked away
“I’m not worried.”
the bar cupping one hand around a cigarette as he
he shook the match out as he took a long drag and
Pinching the cigarette between his thumb and
its ash tip and blew out a long stream of smoke.
Jason narrowed his eyes at the man. “Why?”

A sly grin lifted one corner of Coleman’s mouth. “Because you know I’m right.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sun was fully risen, its bright light seeping in through the curtains as
Elizabeth fitfully rolled over in bed. She hadn’t slept well last night. It was
because she’d stayed up late with Jason, then he’d had to leave before she could
fall asleep. Their bed was too large and too cold without him in it.

She frowned.

Liar, she told herself.

Her tossing and turning had more to
frustrations with babies. Sure he’d
complaining, but still, would he be
and her talking about their babies?
found out about their child, but he
either.
do with her worry about Jason’s very vocal
been talking about Sam’s baby when he’d been
less frustrated to have to listed to both Sam
Not that she thought he’d be angry when he
sure didn’t seem like he’d be happy about it

Elizabeth felt tears well up in her eyes and cursed herself. If she’d only told
him the first night he’d gotten back she wouldn‘t be in this awkward position. Her
hand splayed protectively on her stomach and she found herself speaking out loud
to ease her fears. “Don’t worry baby, your daddy will love you.” She took a long
shuddering breath to hold in her emotions and squeezed her eyes closed. “I just
need to figure out how to tell him about you.”

Downstairs she heard the front doorbell ring. Rolling over, Elizabeth determined
to ignore it and whoever was down there. She had bigger problems at the moment.

But the doorbell rang again, then the third time the caller held the button down
turning the bell tone into a solid whine. Down the hall she heard Cameron start
crying and Elizabeth groaned, pulled on a robe and swore to give an earful to
whoever was down there disturbing her life.

Stopping to pick up Cameron, Elizabeth descended the stairs, crossed to the front
door, threw it open with a huff and found herself glaring daggers at her older
brother.

Stephen smiled brightly at her. “Wake up sleepy head!” Then he noticed her scowl
and his smile faltered. “What?”

“I was sleeping! Or don’t you care that you dragged me out of bed on my day off.”

Stephen lifted the lid on the heavy paper box he was carrying. “I brought
doughnuts.” He said in a sing-song voice with a smile and a lifted eyebrow.

Locking her eyes on a chocolate glazed doughnut, Elizabeth faltered. “Doughnuts?”

“Yep.” He skirted around her, bringing the smell of freshly baked doughnuts with
him into the living room. Elizabeth inhaled deeply, shutting the door behind her
as she followed her brother into the kitchen. He was busy pulling out plates as
she entered.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she worked up a little righteous indignation. “You play
dirty.”

“But I always win.”

“Fine.” She reached over and put Cameron in his arms. “You go change Cameron and
I’ll make the coffee.” Then she snagged the chocolate glazed doughnut Stephen had
put on a plate for himself and took a big bite out of it as Cameron laughed and
smacked him on the cheek with a pudgy hand.

“Hey! That‘s not a fair trade.” Stephen said as he tried to catch Cameron’s hand
before he could hit him again. Cameron laughed at the game and deftly dodged
Stephen’s grasp and smacked him across the cheek.

“La, la, la. I can’t hear you.” Elizabeth turned to the sink and ran the faucet to
fill the coffee pot. Making a banging noise with the pot against the metal sink,
she continued to ignore her brother’s arguments until he gave up and with a
disgruntled harrumph, took Cameron upstairs to change his diaper.

Elizabeth started the coffee brewing and leaned against the counter. Rubbing her
forehead, she inwardly groaned as she thought about the mess she’d made of her
life. She’d been nervous about telling Jason before, but now that she knew he
wasn’t thrilled about hearing about babies, she was positively mortified.

The front doorbell rang again and pulled Elizabeth out of her frump. Tightening
her robe around her, she went to the front door and peeked through the spy hole.
Standing on her front stoop was a courier with a flat legal-sized package tucked
under one arm. A trill of excitement passed over her. The last courier delivery
she’d received had been from Jason, and she wondered what he could be sending her
this time.

Opening the door as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the deliveryman
barely made eye contact with her. “Elizabeth Webber?“ When she nodded, he thrust a
clipboard at her. “Your signature please.”

Elizabeth took the clipboard and signed her name. Then without another word, the
man handed her the package and turned to head back to his delivery van.

Closing the door, Elizabeth inspected the large mailing envelope. This one was
different from the last one she’d received. This envelope was emblazoned with
“Urgent” and “Important Legal Documents” stamped across it’s face, and neatly
typed across the upper left corner was a return address. This package wasn’t from
Jason.

Curiosity creased her forehead
sheaf of papers bound together
page she scanned the document,
understand, and as she flipped
hand to cover her mouth.
as she ripped open the envelope and pulled out a
with a large binder clip. Starting at the first
trying to translate what legalese she could
to the next page, her jaw dropped and she lifted a

This had to be a mistake.

Chapter 22

Elizabeth shifted nervously in the overstuffed leather chair and sat a little
straighter. She’d dressed up for this visit and even in the professional looking
black pencil skirt and v-necked mauve button-up shirt she felt awkward. In spite
of the fact that she considered Alexis a friend, even if it was in a highly
respected teacher kind of way, being here in her office seeking legal advice had
Elizabeth’s nerves on edge.

Alexis had been the first person she’d thought of to help her when she’d gotten
the documents this morning. She’d briefly considered calling Ric, but things were
still touchy between them concerning her ‘relationship’ with Zander and she felt
asking him about this would be too emotionally touchy. Besides, Elizabeth trusted
Alexis, and despite the fact she was married to Ric, she knew Alexis was too
professional to discuss confidential information with him or anyone else for that
matter.

Smoothing her hands over her skirt, she watched Alexis look down her nose though
reading glasses as she perused the legal document. The lawyer wrinkled her nose as
she read and Elizabeth tugged her lower lip between her teeth. It was certainly
taking her long enough to read the thing. She’d flipped through it three times
already and was now going back and picking apart selected sections.

Cameron grunted loudly in the stroller next to her chair. He was leaning forward,
gumming the padded bar holding him in the seat and kicking his legs furiously. His
grunt caught Alexis’ attention and she sat the papers down on the table to lean
forward and rub his forehead with her fingers.

“Are you getting bored little guy?” She smiled at Cameron and Cameron giggled at
her. “You remind me of your daddy.” Alexis tipped her head to the side and ran her
fingers through his swath of dark hair. “Yes, you do, but you have your mommy’s
eyes.”

Cameron gurgled and grabbed Alexis’ finger in his fist.

She looked at Elizabeth, a wide smile on her face. “May I hold him?”

“Of course.” Elizabeth reached down and unbelted her son. Alexis slid a hand under
each of his armpits and lifted him from the stroller. Cameron giggled at his new
found freedom and kicked his legs wildly. Balancing his feet on her knees, Alexis
held onto him tightly as Cameron took advantage of his position to start bouncing.

“Look at you go.” Alexis turned to Elizabeth, a look of concern on her face. “Is
he always this full of energy?”

Elizabeth beamed. “Oh, yes, and now that he’s crawling I can barely keep up with
him.”

Alexis turned Cameron around and set him on her knee. In a clearly practiced move
she laced an arm around his belly and held him so that he could flail his arms and
legs, while she was able to pick up the legal forms with her other hand.

She looked at Elizabeth over the top of her reading glasses. “This is Cameron
Lewis’ Last Will and Testament. He apparently changed it a couple of months before
he died. He left everything to his unborn grandchild.”

Elizabeth lifted a hand and pointed at the document, a frown creasing her brow. “I
don’t understand. He died almost a year ago. Why did it take so long for me to
find out about this?”

Alexis shifted through the papers. “It looks like there were other interested
parties who contested the will. They’ve kept it locked in probate and managed to
keep you out of the loop, no doubt through a little illegal bending of the law.
Their claims have just been dismissed and the court has declared the new will to
be authentic and binding.” She lifted her eyes to Elizabeth, a smile on her face.
“So you inherit the entire estate. Two point three million and a house in
Florida.”

“No.” Elizabeth lifted a shaky hand to her forehead. “I don’t deserve all that. I
barely knew the man.”

Setting the papers down. Alexis pulled off her glasses and gave Elizabeth a stern
look. “It’s Cameron’s inheritance Elizabeth. He is Zander’s only child and Cameron
Lewis’ only grandchild. It all belongs to him.”

Elizabeth looked away, lowering her hand to her mouth. “I know, but it’s so…. I
don’t know.” She shook her head. “Undeserved. I guess.” She knew the facts, her
son was Cameron Lewis’ biological grandchild, but thinking of inheriting the man’s
life legacy felt so inappropriate. Her spur of the moment decision to sleep with
Zander to push Ric away kept popping up with new and unforeseen consequences.

Alexis turned Elizabeth’s son around in her lap and smiled at him. “Your
Grandfather would have loved you. Granddad? Grandpa?” She screwed up her face in
thought then shook her head. “He was more of a Grandpa I think.”

Elizabeth sighed and leaned back in the chair. It was too much to take in.

“Elizabeth.” She looked up at Alexis gentle prodding. “I knew Cameron Lewis very
well, and he may have been a stubborn old goat, but he was a good man. He would
have wanted to take care of his family. He would have wanted you to have this.
Take some time. Think about what this could mean for your son. You could quit
working and stay at home with him if you wanted. You could send him to the best
schools and colleges.”

Wiping at a tear collecting in the corner of her eye, Elizabeth sat forward. “I
need to think about this.” She smiled at Alexis. “Maybe get a financial planner to
explain my options.”

Alexis smiled. “I’ll file all of the necessary legal paperwork.” She gave Cameron
one last hug, then brushed the tip of her nose against his, eliciting a bubbling
fit of giggles from the little boy. “You handsome little guy, you be good to your
mommy. No sneaking out of the house and taking the car for a joyride when you turn
sixteen.”

Cameron laughed and reached for a lock of her hair. With a quick flick of her head
Alexis swept it out of his grasp and handed him back to his mom.

Elizabeth settled him on her lap, then dug through her diaper bag for a teething
ring, which Cameron swiped from her hand, immediately sticking it into his mouth
and gumming it.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Elizabeth looked at Alexis. “How is
Kristina doing?” She hadn’t seen the little girl since she’d been sent home from
the hospital.

Alexis’ smile widened. “She’s doing wonderfully. The doctors say she’ll make a
full recovery.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.”

“Elizabeth.” Alexis’ tone was back to business. “You know I won’t say anything to
anyone about this. Not even Ric.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Thank you. I want to decide what I’m going to do before I tell
anyone.”

“I understand.”

Alexis stood and Elizabeth juggled Cameron in her arms as she stood and shook
Alexis’ hand. Then Alexis sighed and wrapped them both in a quick, awkward hug.
Alexis stepped back, smiled sheepishly and fumbled for something to say. A wave of
relief passed over her face as a knock sounded at the door.

As Alexis retreated to answer the door, Elizabeth tucked Cameron snugly into his
stroller.

When she stood, she turned to find Ric in the open doorway talking quietly with
Alexis. Their eyes met and she saw a question flit across his face as he no doubt
wondered at finding her in his wife’s office. Seeing Ric always stirred up a
myriad of emotions in her. Hurt, betrayal, loss, disappointment, fear, and yet
despite all the negative, there was still a pull at her heartstrings for the man.
A sad bittersweet memory of what they’d once had, or what she’d thought they’d
had, lingered, but much like the love she felt for Lucky, it was firmly anchored
in the past.

“Ric.” She latched onto the handle of the stroller and angled it for a quick
escape.

“Elizabeth.” Ric nodded, stepping out of her way and closer to his wife.

“I was just leaving.” She turned to Alexis. “Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome.” Alexis smiled. “and Elizabeth, think about what I said.”

Nodding, Elizabeth ignored Ric’s confused look and pushed Cameron into the hall.
She didn’t relax until she heard the door shut behind her, then she stopped a
moment, leaning against the wall and letting the truth of what she’d just learned
seep into her.

Two point three million dollars.

Her mind couldn’t wrap itself around that amount of money belonging to Cameron.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she had some serious decisions to make
about their future.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Slamming the door of the penthouse, Jason stalked inside. He was angry with Sam
for following him and even angrier because she’d put herself and their child in
danger.

“Sam!” He yelled when he found the living room empty. The penthouse remained
quiet. He knew she was here somewhere because Max had told him she was.

Swearing to himself, he took the stairs at a run and tromped down the hall to
Sam’s bedroom. Flinging the door open, he found her asleep in bed. She stirred,
stretching and causing the sheet to fall away, revealing the swell of her breasts
barely contained by her black lace negligee.

Propping herself up on one elbow, she gazed at him with a come-hither look, her
head cocked to one side and her hair mussed. “Good morning sexy.”
Jason scowled. “It’s afternoon.”

Sam shrugged carelessly, letting the sheet fall further, exposing the flat of her
stomach peeking out from under the edge of her lacy black camisole. She changed
position to stretch out on her back, thrusting her breasts out and rubbing the bed
beside her. “Would you like to come join me?”

Jason didn’t move, he only narrowed his eyes, his glare hardening. “You went to
Jake’s last night.”

His curt statement completely changed her demeanor. Her jaw tightened and she
levered herself onto her knees, her hands planting themselves on her hips. “Who
told you that?”

“Don’t bother Sam. I know you were there.” Jason frowned at her as he stood his
ground in the doorway. “You know you shouldn’t be out looking for me while I’m
working.”

Sam spring off the bed, giving him full view of her barely covered body. Her
earlier enticing mood was gone, replaced in a flash with anger. “I was worried
about you.”

Jason clenched his teeth to rein in his emotions before continuing. “You can’t put
yourself and the baby in danger like that.”

Sam straightened and glared at him with arms akimbo. “What exactly do you mean ‘I
can’t’? You don’t get to tell what I can and can’t do.”

“Sam.” Jason’s tone carried a heavy warning and he used a finger to point at this
own chest. “I have enemies who would like nothing more than to get their hands on
you and use you and the baby as leverage against me.”

“Maybe if you were honest with me and told me what’s going on I wouldn’t have to
follow you around looking for answers.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” His eyes narrowed at her, suddenly wary. He didn’t
like what she was implying, or that she might suspect he was hiding things from
her.

“You know. You didn’t have business last night. You lied to me.”

Jason closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. If she knew he was lying
last night, he was going to have to be much more careful in the future. He
measured his words carefully, afraid of losing control. “You know there are things
I can’t talk to you about.”

“You’re still lying to me!” Sam yelled, leaning forward at the waist to put more
power behind her words. “Where were you last night?”

Jason turned on his heel and fisting his hand, he swung out, bringing his fist
smashing into the wall in fury. Sam jumped in surprise and then clutched her
stomach, falling to her knees with a moan.

Instantly Jason was at her side, anger forgotten. He frowned as she moaned again.
“What’s wrong?”

Sam’s head came up and she clutched at his shirt with one hand. “Something hurts.”
Jason’s eyes widened in concern. “The baby?”

“I don’t know.” Sam’s chin trembled as she leaned into him. “I’m scared Jason.”

Jason scooped her into his arms and carried her back to the bed. Lying her down,
he pulled the covers over her and took out his cell phone. Dr. Meadow’s office
answered on the second ring and it took only moments to explain the situation.
After answering a few questions, he had orders to keep Sam calm and bring her to
the hospital if her pain worsened or if she started bleeding.

Sam burrowed into the pillows, reaching out to clutch Jason’s hand as tears slid
down her cheeks. “Please stay with me.”

Sweeping her hair from her forehead, Jason knelt next to the bed. “I’m going to
call Sonny and tell him I need to be here today. Don’t worry. I’ll only be gone a
moment.”

Turning toward the door, he missed the smug smile that spread across Sam’s face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Treading down the stairs in black stockinged feet, Elizabeth headed for the
kitchen. She’d put Cameron down for his afternoon nap and before changing out of
her black skirt and mauve top, which now sported baby spit-up on the shoulder, she
wanted to eat lunch.

Throwing together a quick salad, she tucked a juice box under her arm and carried
her lunch into the living room.

Sitting on the couch and picking at the assortment of greens, Elizabeth let her
mind wander. She had too much to think about to make any hard and fast decisions.
First. She had to talk to Jason. He needed to know about their baby. He deserved
to know and together they had decisions to make about how to handle their future
family. No more waiting until the ‘perfect moment’ or other similar romantic
notions, she had to tell him the next time she saw him.

Second, there was the inheritance, which had fallen into her lap out of nowhere.
Her initial response, rejecting it out of hand, had changed. It was, after all,
the only inheritance her son would receive from his father and Cameron deserved
it. Whether she used it to become a stay-at-home mom or saved it for Cameron’s
future was something she wanted to ask Jason’s advice about. He had a wonderful
way of seeing things logically and right now she didn’t feel the least bit logical
about the entire situation.

The doorbell rang and she sighed, wondering what Stephen wanted. No doubt he was
back to find out what she’d found out at the lawyer’s office.

Sighing as she went to the door, carrying her salad bowl with one hand and opening
the door with the other, she was startled to discover it wasn’t Steven back for
information. It was AJ.

Suddenly feeling nervous, Elizabeth braced herself against the door, using her
body to block AJ’s entrance. “Hello AJ.”

He smiled charmingly at her and lifted a hand to his chest. “Good afternoon
Elizabeth. Are you busy?”
Shifting on her feet, Elizabeth glanced behind her, looking for any excuse she
could offer to keep from inviting AJ inside. “I was getting ready to….” She turned
to AJ, her brain slow on the uptake, “to…. do homework. For class. Organic
chemistry. It’s pretty complicated and I need to spend some time studying for my
next test.”

AJ’s smile broadened as he held up a DVD disc which glinted brightly in the
afternoon sun. “Oh, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to make time for this.”

Chapter 23

Watching herself and Jason making love on the laptop screen made the gall rise in
Elizabeth’s throat and her skin prickle with loathing. It was a violation so
intensely intimate that it was the closest she’d ever come to reliving the feeling
of being raped.

AJ reached over and pushed the stop button, his gaze lifting to hers. His smug
smile widened as he closed the laptop and slid it across the table until it was
sitting safely in front of him.

“I think you remember the rest.” His eyes twinkled devilishly. “It’s always the
good girls who surprise you. I‘d never have guess you would have liked….” his
eyebrows flicked upwards, his expression ripe with erotic suggestion and the
insinuation kicked Elizabeth’s brain out of its stunned shock. Her arm flew wide,
the flat of her palm catching AJ squarely across the cheek in a slap that snapped
his head to the side and sent a crack resounding through the room.

AJ slowly turned back toward her massaging his injured jaw, his gaze no less
suggestive for her assault. “I see why Jason likes you. You’ve got sass.”

“I trusted you.” Elizabeth couldn’t get away from him fast enough, practically
leaping from the couch, she moved to the far side of the room where she turned to
glare at him, her voice carrying the full weight of her revulsion. “I thought you
were my friend.”

If her disgust bothered him, he didn’t show it. AJ only settled into his chair and
lifted an eyebrow at her. “You were an opportunity too good to pass by.”

A chill passed over her at AJ’s words. An opportunity. That could only mean one
thing. He was going to try to use her against Jason. Crossing her arms over her
stomach, she eyed him suspiciously. “What exactly do you want AJ?”

AJ leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. Staring unflinchingly into
her eyes, he smiled broadly. “You.”

Elizabeth gaped at him in confusion.

“Yes, Elizabeth, I want you. Jason stole the woman I loved from me and now I’m
returning the favor. You’re the woman he loves and you’re going to make him
believe you left him for me.”

“No.” Elizabeth’s answer fell short of the conviction she’d meant to convey. The
cold chill that had passed over her earlier, now resolved into a knot of icy fear
and settled heavily in her gut. There was no way she could do what AJ was
suggesting. She would never intentionally hurt Jason that way.

“Oh, Elizabeth.” AJ’s voice took on a sing-song quality, as if he were correcting

a petulant child. “Didn’t Jason explain how blackmail works? Shame on him. You
think he would fill you in on the basics of ‘the life’ if he plans on having you
live with him.” He stood, roaming toward her as his voice slowly dropped to a
whisper. “You don’t get to refuse. If you don’t do exactly what I want a copy of
that DVD will be sent straight to Sam.” He’d made his way to her side and leaned
in to speak his next words directly into her ear, making a chill shiver down her
spine. “How do you think she’ll react to hearing her fiancée admit he’s only with
her to secure his rights to her baby, then see him sex up a hot little number like
you?”

Tears welled in Elizabeth’s eyes. Hearing him calmly spell out the havoc he would
wreak on her and Jason’s lives if she didn’t do exactly as he wanted was like
watching a train wreck. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from the horror. Her arms
tightened around her waist to stop them from shaking.

The only glimmer of hope she had was that AJ didn’t know all the facts. Maybe,
once she explained the repercussions of his actions to him, he would change his
mind. Surely he wouldn’t put Sam and her baby’s lives at risk if he knew the whole
truth.

“You don’t understand.” A tear broke over her lashes and trailed down one cheek.
“The doctor told Sam she shouldn’t get pregnant for at least a year after her
delivery. Between the trauma of the placental abruption and the c-section, she
said Sam needed to give her body time to heal. Otherwise, a pregnancy would be
dangerous for both her and the baby. Jason is doing all of this to make sure she
and the baby both survive this pregnancy.”

AJ took a step back, his eyes glazing over, and he turned away, bracing both hands
on his hips. Elizabeth knew by his reaction that that information had surprised
him and now watching his back, she saw his shoulders tighten and thought it meant
she’d gotten through to him and made him understand the gravity of the situation.

She started to relax at the apparent reprieve when AJ suddenly turned on her, his
eyes sparking with barely restrained fury.

“Then that gives you all the more reason to play your part convincingly, doesn’t
it?” Spinning on his heel, he presented his back to her again and barked orders
over his shoulder. “You have a day to break up with him. Make it good. He has to
believe this is real or I’ll make sure Sam finds out the truth.”

Elizabeth felt like she’d been punched. This couldn’t be happening. AJ couldn’t be
so cruel.

AJ paused as he picked up his laptop and slid it into its carrying case. Then he
stood ram-rod straight and squared his shoulders. “And don’t think about telling
Jason what I’m doing so he can rescue you. I’ve made arrangements so that if
anything happens to me, copies of the DVD along with a letter implicating Jason in
my disappearance will be sent not only to the police and FBI, but every major
newspaper across the country.” Then he turned to her, a feral grin spread across
his face. “And then DVD will be downloaded onto all the top porn websites.” He
lifted an eyebrow with a smirk. “You’ll be famous.”

The blood drained from Elizabeth’s face. She knew Jason well enough to know he
wouldn’t stand by and do nothing if he knew how AJ was threatening her. He’d
barely contained his anger when she’d told him AJ had simply asked her on a date.
She had no illusions about what Jason would do to AJ for blackmailing her.

AJ turned to leave, stopping at the front door to issue one last order. “I’ll give
you forty-eight hours, then I’ll be calling to iron out the details of our first
‘date’.” He winked at her as he opened the door. “I hope you enjoy the spotlight,
because I’m going to make sure the entire town knows we’re together.”

Then he was gone and Elizabeth couldn’t move or breathe. She closed her eyes and
lifted a shaky hand to her mouth.

When AJ had turned to her with anger glowing in his eyes, she’d flashed back to a
moment when Ric had turned to her with that exact expression on his face. It had
been after she’d discovered a pregnant Carly being held prisoner in the panic room
and the revenge and hate she’d seen on Ric’s face then perfectly reflected what
she’d just seen in AJ’s expression.

AJ wanted revenge against a brother he’d felt had wronged him. A lover for a wife.
Tit for tat. Yet, in AJ‘s eyes, Jason had taken more from him than a wife, Jason
had also taken AJ’s son.

Elizabeth’s knees wobbled and she let herself sink to the floor. What would AJ do
when he found out she was carrying Jason’s baby? Visions of panic rooms blossomed
in her mind. Would she wind up chained to a wall while AJ brought her food,
watching greedily as her belly grew large with Jason’s child? In her mind AJ
transformed into Ric, making plans to steal her child and raise it as his, all the
while Jason was oblivious to the fact that he even had a child with her much less
aware of the fact that AJ’s new baby was actually his.

Wrapping her arms around her knees, Elizabeth pulled herself into a protective
ball, tears spilling down her cheeks unchecked. What could she do? AJ was right
about Jason. If she told him what AJ was doing, there was no way he wouldn’t deal
with his brother, despite knowing he’d wind up in jail. Yet, if she refused him,
he would tell Sam. At best, Sam would leave, opening the possibility of her
aborting the baby or giving it up for adoption so Jason would never know where his
child was. At worst, the stress and shock would physically push her over the edge,
causing her to miscarry or develop life-threatening complications. She wouldn’t be
able to live with herself if something happened to either Sam or Jason’s baby when
she could have prevented it.

However, if she did what AJ wanted, she would not only hurt Jason and ruin any
chance of them ever being a family, but soon enough AJ would find out about her
pregnancy. What would he do then?

Elizabeth shut her eyes, her shoulders shuddering with every sob. How could she
choose who would suffer the most? Did she put her baby’s life above Sam’s baby?
Both were Jason’s children. As a mother she couldn’t endure the thought of putting
her child into AJ clutches, but neither could she willingly put Sam’s baby in
mortal danger. Then what about Jason? Was his freedom more important than sparing
him apparent betrayal and emotional pain?

No matter what she did, Jason would suffer. She was trapped, and any way she
turned would bring pain to those she loved. Her only choice was in picking the
lesser of the evils, but deciding which would bring the least amount of suffering
to all involved was an impossible task.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AJ hadn’t gotten to the end of the block before he had his cell phone out. Dialing
as he stopped at the corner, he looked both ways before turning and speeding away
from the quiet neighborhood.

Switching the cell to speaker, he dumped it in his lap as he sifted gears and
listed to it ring five times before an automated voice instructed him to leave a
message. Snapping the phone shut, he swore loudly, ramming the ball of his hand
against the steering wheel as he flew down the thoroughfare.

Sam had not told him the whole truth and a lie by omission was still a lie.

She’d failed to mention the fact that she was putting her life and the life of his
child at risk in this revenge scheme of theirs. His knuckles whitened as he
tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He didn’t like being played, and he
especially didn’t like the thought of her or their baby dying because of a little
double-cross gambit he was playing with his brother.

As much as he savored the idea of revenge, he wasn’t willing to sacrifice so much

to achieve those ends.

Picking up the cell phone, he speed dialed Sam’s number again and again listened
to it ring until the automated message center kicked in. Frowning in anger, he
threw the phone across the car, but in the confined space it smacked
unsatisfyingly off the door panel and dropped to the floor with a muted thump.

He realized he’d unconsciously been heading for the Harbor View Towers and slammed
on the brakes, pulling into the nearest parking lot with a screech of tires.
Ramming the car into park, he yanked the door open and climbed out.

He was angry, but not too angry to know that going to confront Sam in front of
Jason would not only be stupid, but potentially deadly. Bracing his hands on his
hips he forced himself to breathe deeply and regain a bit of composure.

Tracing a finger and thumb over his goatee, his eyes narrowed. Sam was going to
explain herself, but their confrontation was going to be on his terms. And when
they were done, she’d understand she’d picked the wrong man to screw over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam had finally dozed off and Jason heaved a sigh of relief.

She’d spent the day endlessly chattering to him about their baby. Contentedly
snuggled into the pillows, she’d held onto him, running a hand up and down his arm
while he sat next to her on the edge of the bed. Each time he’d asked how she
felt, she’d reassure him she was okay but was still scared and then clamped her
hand even tighter on his.

Several times she’d put his hand on her belly, talking about how she hoped their
baby would have his blue eyes and Jason had tried his best to picture their child,
yet each time he failed to bring any face to his mind.

He’d made every excuse he could think of to escape the room, going several times
to get her fresh juice and various snacks. Lunch provided a short respite as well
as a phone call from Sonny asking how the baby was. The day was tense and drawn
out nearly beyond his endurance. How he was going to get through seven more months
of this was impossible for him to guess.

However, she’d finally dozed off and Jason escaped. Standing, he stretched his
aching back before padding softly out of the room. Making his way downstairs, he
pulled out his cell phone.

Coleman’s words had been echoing through his head all day and had inspired an idea
of how to make certain Elizabeth knew without a doubt how he felt about her.
It took a call to Stan and several minutes of searching to find the number he
wanted. Then after getting the information he needed, he made the call he’d been
planning for the last several hours.

He had no doubt Elizabeth would love his surprise and after a brief conversation
everything was in place. Tomorrow afternoon he’d meet a plane at the Port Charles
airport and then head straight for Elizabeth’s.

A smile spread across his face thinking of tomorrow night. It would be a night
they’d both remember for the rest of their lives.

Chapter 24

Jason lowered a booted foot to the tarmac to support his bike as he slowly rolled
to a stop. Giving the engine a last rev before he kicked the kick-stand down, he
swung a leg over the back of the seat and pulled off his sunglasses. A small
business jet was pulling into the hangar and he turned to watch as it rolled to a
stop less than fifty feet from where he stood.

The side exit popped open and a middle aged man with stern features and a receding
hairline stepped out. His dark blue suit was impeccable, as if he just stepped out
of a fashion magazine rather than off an eight hour flight. Seeing Jason, his hand
tightened around the handle of the black leather briefcase he was carrying and he
descended from the plane, then headed across the tarmac straight for the mobster.

“Ciao Mister Morgan.” A smile cracked the man’s features, creating a dazzling
transformation from chiseled stone into brilliantly handsome. His heavily accented
voice added to the man’s charm.

“Do you have what I requested?”

“Si. Luciano Gattuso will never let you down.” The man proceeded to a table and
set the briefcase down, taking a moment to dial the little combination lock on its
top and open the case. Inside, snugged in a layer of shaped foam was a small
velvet box.

He removed the box with a flourish and placing it on his palm, offered it to
Jason.

Jason lifted the small box and flipped the lid open, his eyebrows lifting as he
nodded his approval.

“You like, no?” The man remarked with a growing smile.

Jason lifted his free hand and gestured Milo over. Milo, standing almost invisible
against the hangar wall, was immediately on the move. Stopping beside the two men,
he placed a nearly identical black briefcase on the table next to the first. He
flipped the locks and snapped the case open revealing an interior full of neatly
stacked and wrapped hundred dollar bills.

“Grazie, Mister Morgan. Grazie. If you require my services again. I would be more
than happy to do business with you.” The gentleman bowed as Milo snapped the case
closed and handed it to him.

Jason nodded as he turned, tucking the small box into his inside jacket pocket and
swinging a leg over his bike. Kicking it started he sat back and slid his
sunglasses into place. With one last nod at the businessman, he revved the engine,
turned the motorcycle and sped out of the hangar.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucky turned his small TV so it angled toward the chair in the corner. His small
room above Kelly’s didn’t offer much in the way of space or comfort, but when
Emily had suggested a movie marathon he couldn’t turn her down. There were only a
limited number of places available to them and as neither one had wanted to spend
time at the Quartermaine mansion and Spoon Island was out, his room was their last
option.

He’d cleaned, which meant shoving dirty laundry under the bed and tossing empty
fast food wrappers in the trash. He’d even run out and bought a cheap microwave to
make popcorn for their movie fest.

Emily pulled the room’s one chair next to the bed, plopped into it and crossed her
heels on the edge of the mattress. “It sure is cozy in here.”

Lucky turned to frown at her. “Are you dissing my place?”

Emily lifted her shoulders in a casual shrug. “Who me? Never?” She scoffed. “I
just haven’t been able to pop popcorn in bed before.”

“Just for that.” Lucky glared at her in mock insult, grabbing a DVD case off the
foot of the bed. “We’re watching my movie first.”

“Oh no we’re not!” Emily lunged at him trying to snag the DVD out of his hand.
“You already agreed we’d watch mine first.”

Lucky held the DVD over his head and out of her reach. “That was before you
insulted my digs. Now you must pay the price. We’re watching Death Stalker VI,
Revenge is Mine.” Cackling maniacally, he popped open the case and pulled the disc
out.

Emily pulled away, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her lower lip out
in an exaggerated pout. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me watch that.”

“Hey, you agreed. We both picked out a movie and we both agreed to watch the
other’s choice no matter what it was. Besides,” He waved the disc around as a
magician waves his magic wand. “this movie has ten car explosions. Ten! And one of
them involves an entire parking garage and two gasoline tanker trucks!”

Emily rolled her eyes and intoned, “How intellectually stimulating. I can feel my
IQ rising as we speak.”

“It’s better than,” Lucky picked up the other DVD off the end of the bed. “Pride
and Prejudice.” His lip curled playfully. “They didn’t even have cars back then. I
bet nothing explodes in this entire movie. Worthless.”

Emily inhaled sharply, bringing a hand to her chest as if wounded. “Heathen!”

Lucky grimaced, squinted one eye and stooping to one side, limped toward her.
“Heathen am I? Well then little missy you should be afraid…” Emily backed away,
giggling as she dodged to the other side of the chair.

Lucky’s cell phone rang and the electronic buzz had both of them turning their
heads toward the sound. Lucky groaned and rolled his eyes.
“You’d better answer.” Emily said, with a lifted eyebrow. “It might be important.’

Crawling over the bed, Lucky snatched the phone off the dresser and his eyes
widened at the name on the display. He flipped the phone open and answered.
“Elizabeth?”

Lucky’s eyebrows beetled in worry as he listened to his ex-girlfriend. She sounded

upset. “Are you okay?”

Emily frowned in concern as she listened to Lucky’s end of the conversation and
edged closer to where he was sitting on the bed. He lifted his eyes to meet
Emily’s as he listened and shook his head to answer her unvoiced question.

“Can I watch Cameron tonight?” Lucky peered at Emily with wide eyes seeking an
answer to Elizabeth’s question. Emily immediately nodded, crossing her arms over
her chest as her forehead scrunched in concern.

“Of course I can. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes to pick him up.” Lucky clicked
the phone shut, staring at it in wonder a moment as if the device would offer some
insight into his conversation with Elizabeth.

Lifting his eyes to Emily and seeing the concern on her face, Lucky frowned.
“Elizabeth was upset, but she wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone.” He shook
his head. “Something’s wrong.”

“What do you think it could be?”

“I don’t know, but let’s go pick up Cameron and find out.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tapping his cell phone impatiently against his cheek, AJ peered through the café
window as he kept his eyes glued on the underground parking entrance of Harbor
View Towers. Checking his watch to make sure half an hour had passed since Jason
had left on his motorcycle, he quickly downed the dregs of his coffee and flipped
his cell open.

His mole in the Harbor View Towers office confirmed that Sam hadn’t been through
either the lobby or the parking garage that morning. Which left only one option.
She was still holed up in Jason’s penthouse.

Dialing, he took a deep breath to make sure his anger didn’t bleed into his voice.

The two of them were going to have this out. Now.

“Hello”

Sam sounded happy and that lilt in her voice only managed to piss him off even
more.

“We need to talk.”

She paused a heartbeat and when she spoke again, the cheerfulness was gone.
“What’s wrong?”

AJ closed his eyes and his hand tightened into a fist in his efforts to keep his
tone neutral. “I heard something and I need you to tell me if it’s true.” Dead
silence greeted him, so he continued. “Is it true you were told by Dr. Meadows not
to get pregnant for at least a year after your stillbirth because if you did, you
would be risking both you and your baby’s life?” Despite his best efforts his
voice had risen a notch and as he strangled it back down, he looked over his
shoulder to make sure no one in the café had heard him.

He waited impatiently, his fingers tightening as he squeezed his fist, listening

to Sam breathe on the other end of the phone. Then abruptly the line went dead.

Swearing, he dialed Sam’s number again and listened as it rang over to her
automated message.

Frowning, AJ pulled his wallet out and tossed a fifty on the table as he slid out
of the booth. If that’s the way she was going to be, he was more than happy to
accommodate her.

Crossing the street, he entered the Tower’s lobby and with only a quick elevator
ride, was in the small lobby outside Jason’s penthouse. Max was stationed outside
the door and AJ took a deep breath in preparation for his performance.

“Max!” He bellowed much louder than needed for the small space. “I need to see my
brother.”

Max, hands clasped in front of him, rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance.
“Jason isn’t in.”

“Well, then Max, I’ll wait for him!”

Max lifted his hands, palms out. “AJ you need to calm down…”

“Calm down!” AJ shouted, “Do you think I’d come here if this wasn’t urgent. I‘ve
got information Jason needs to know and I‘m not going anywhere until he hears it!”

AJ didn’t know how long he had
him out, but he was willing to
the penthouse listening to him
the chance of him spilling any
talk to her.
until the guard lost his patience and bodily kicked
push his gambit to the limits. Sam had to be inside
make threats and he was betting she wouldn’t take
secrets when she knew all he really wanted was to

He inhaled for another round of loud protesting when the door to the penthouse
swung open and Sam appeared in the doorway, shooting him a scorching glare across
the small space. AJ grinned pleasantly at her, making her look degrade from anger
to loathing.

Turning, Max tried to shoo her back into the penthouse and Sam twisted her
features into a pleasant smile for the guards benefit. “Don’t worry Ms. McCall.
I’ll get rid of AJ.”

“No, Max.” Sam drawled, her words dripping with sweetness. “It’s alright if AJ
waits for Jason inside.”

Max started to object, “I’m sure Jason wouldn’t want AJ bothering you….”

“Oh, he won’t bother me.” She fixed AJ with a feral grin. “Besides you’ll be right
outside the door. All I have to do is yell and you’ll be right there to protect
me.”

AJ stepped past the guard, giving him a pat on the shoulder as he went. “Don’t
worry Max, old boy. Nothing bad is going to happen. Sam and I will just catch up
on old times while I wait for my brother to return.”

Max glared at AJ in warning, obviously not liking the arrangement in the least.
However since Sam had invited him in and without specific instructions from Jason
to keep him out, there wasn’t anything he could do.

Following Sam inside, AJ shut the door behind him and before he could take another
step, Sam spun around, grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

The surprise of her move distracted him and scattered his thoughts. She molded her
body to his, rubbing against him like a cat, her fingers undoing the buttons on
his shirt. He might have been angry with her, but his body remembered what it was
like to have her in his bed and responded with zeal to her overtures.

A flare of logic welled up through his haze of lust. She was playing him and he
knew it. She was using sex to distract him, so she wouldn’t have to answer his
questions, and as her fingernails scraped over his taunt stomach, he seriously
debated if he really wanted to interrupt her to dig for the answers he needed.

Yet, as much as his lust raged, he couldn’t forget the seriousness of the problem.
She may have knowingly put not only her life, but also their baby’s life, on the
line for revenge against Jason. That thought doused his ardor as effectively as a
bucket of cold water. Wrapping his hands around her wrists, he pulled her hands
away.

Sam broke away and looked at him in confusion. “What‘s wrong?” Her lips were
swollen from their kisses and her half-lidded eyes were smoky with desire. The
sight nearly undid him.

“Is it true?” AJ’s voice was tight as he struggled to control his aroused
emotions. “Did Dr. Meadows tell you that you shouldn’t get pregnant for a year or
you’d be risking you and your baby’s lives?”

Sam’s features hardened and she yanked her arms to try to break AJ’s hold. He held
her firmly and she glared at him when she couldn’t get away.

“Sam.” His voice carried a note of warning. “I can end this right now. All I’d
have to do is make a single call to Jason and it would be over. All your careful
planning and plotting would be for nothing. Jason would walk away without so much
as a paper cut and you‘d have nothing.”

Sam’s hands fisted and her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.” She hissed at him.

“Try me.”

Her mouth gaped open to snap off a retort, then clamped shut again. Then her eyes
narrowed as she studied him and after a moment she huffed. Throwing a quick look
over AJ‘s shoulder to the door, she lowered her voice to keep Max from
overhearing. “Yes, that‘s exactly what Dr. Meadows told me.”

She yanked her arms again and this time he let her go. Backing away from him, she
crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw tightening and lips pursing together. AJ
watched her retreat, placing his arms on his hips and discovering as he did, that
she’d not only managed to undo all his shirt buttons, leaving it untucked and
hanging open, but she’d also undone his belt and the top button of his pants as
well. He didn’t move to refasten anything, he simply watched her drag a hand
across her forehead and sigh.
He hadn’t expected her to volunteer the truth so quickly and he stood for a moment
processing her confession. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have helped me if I did?” She snapped back at him. Then she lifted a
shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, her tone turning placating. “Besides Dr.
Meadow’s is keeping a close watch on me and I’m doing fine. Nothing is wrong.”

AJ wasn’t convinced. Rolling his eyes toward the ceiling in exasperation, he

strode over to collapse on the couch, bracing his elbows on his knees and holding
his face in his hands. Sam sauntered over and slid onto the couch next to him.

She cleared her throat to get his attention. When he lifted his gaze to her, she
fidgeted uncomfortably and sighed. “Dr. Meadows said the baby and I are both fine.
However, I will probably have to have to go on bed rest at about five months and
have my cervix sewn shut again. I won‘t be able to lift anything heavy, or do any
exercising or strenuous physical activity.”

AJ fell back into the couch cushions and groaned. “I should just take you to a
hospital right now and keep you there so both you and the baby are safe.”

“You know, AJ” Sam twisted around, throwing one leg over his so she could sit
straddling his lap. “This could make the plan even better .”

Looking up into her face hovering over his, he tried to ignore the sweet friction
she was generating as she shifted her hips against his crotch . “And why is that?”

She looked down at him, working her fingers through his hair as she kept her hips
moving against his. “Because Jason knows the risks of this pregnancy and if we run
away together when he thinks I’m four months along, he’ll go crazy trying to find
us. He won’t know if we’re safe or if I’m getting proper doctor’s care for the
baby. Think of the torture and worry he’ll put himself through trying to find us.”

She smiled wickedly, her eyes fairly gleaming, and AJ groaned as her fingers found
their way back under his shirt. He knew she was playing him again, using sex as a
distraction, but at the moment he didn’t care. Her argument had merit, not that he
planned on agreeing to anything until he had a chance to think it over with a
clear head.

“Is it safe to do this now?”

Leaning in, her lips brushed his ear as she answered, “Oh, yes.”

AJ abruptly stood, lifting Sam as he moved from the couch. Wrapping her legs
around his hips, Sam captured his lips in a scorching kiss. Wrapping his arms
around her to hold her securely to him, AJ walked them around to the stairs and
started climbing. He had other agendas to take care of as well, including one
return favor of using his brother’s bed for a tryst with his woman, and he wasn’t
about to let a golden opportunity like this slip through his fingers.

Pulling away from Sam, he paused at the top of the stairs, unsure where to go. He
smiled at her questioning gaze. “Which one is Jason’s bedroom?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The cab pulled away, leaving him alone in the alley and Jason slipped through the
back gate under the cover of deepening twilight.

Not pausing as he crossed the backyard, he pulled out his key ring and had the
backdoor key at the ready. It only took a second to open the lock and he was
inside.

Silence greeted him and for a moment that silence worried him. Elizabeth had
called earlier and asked him to come at nine. It was nine and she was nowhere to
be seen. A fleck of something red on the floor caught his eye and a quick surge of
panic flooded his senses, as his first leap of logic told him what he saw was
blood.

Squatting down, he reached out to dab a finger in the dot of red on the floor but
discovered it wasn’t liquid, it was solid. Picking up the small red scrap, he
lifted it to his eyes as he rolled it between his fingers. It was soft and silky
under his calloused touch and bringing it to his nose, he inhaled the scent of
roses.

A rose petal.

Looking up, he saw what he hadn’t noticed earlier in the darkened room, a trail of
red rose petals leading into the living room. His panic faded as quickly as it had
surged forward and with a knowing smile, he stood and followed the rose petal
path.

It led him through the living room, up the stairs and into the master bedroom,
where he found Elizabeth stretched across the bed waiting for him in a long red
silk negligee.

Her hair was twisted up in a knot and tendrils of curls hung to frame her face.
The clinging gown hugged every curve, elegantly accentuating every hill and
valley, and Jason’s body responded. His heart leapt in his chest, sending blood
surging through his veins and heat shooting straight to his groin. His eyes locked
on Elizabeth’s lips, painted a vivid red to match her gown. When those sensual
lips curved into a come-hither smile and she crooked her finger at him, he covered
the distance between them in three steps, pulling her into his arms as she rose to
meet him and kissing her with a hunger born of heated lust.

Elizabeth slid his jacket over his shoulders, the leather landing on the floor
with a muted thump as he kicked his boots off. Climbing onto the bed, he braced
himself with one arm while wrapping the other around Elizabeth’s waist, holding
her to him as he stretched out and lowered her to the mattress. Her fingers found
the lower hem of his shirt and slid beneath it, lifting it as her hands slid up
the long, hard plane of his back.

He pulled away long enough to strip the shirt over his head and as he did, he felt
Elizabeth’s hands popping open the button on his jeans and sliding down his fly.
Lifting her eyes to meet his, her lips curled into a wanton grin as she slid her
hand inside his jeans. Jason groaned in pleasure, as a strum of hot electricity
surged up his spine and through every nerve ending in his body. Elizabeth reached
up with her free hand, grabbing him behind his neck and pulled him down to her,
meeting his lips in an almost desperately intense kiss.

Her demands drove him over the edge and he met her with a ferocity of his own.
Jeans and boxers were quickly stripped away and when her red negligee caught and
twisted as he tried to remove it, he growled low in his throat and grasping the
neckline, ripped the flimsy material away from her body.

There was nothing tender or gentle about their love-making. They were wild, hot
and intense, caught in a feeding frenzy of lust and a firestorm of passion.
When Jason finally collapsed back on the bed panting for breath, a fine sheen of
sweat coating his skin, his arms fell spread eagle as he melted into the mattress
with no energy left to move. Elizabeth lay sprawled half across his chest, one leg
tossed over his thighs, her breathing coming in gasps and feathering across his
chest as she too recuperated from their frantic love-making.

She stretched against him, lifting a hand to run her fingers through his hair.
Moaning in pleasure, her body shuddered. “That was incredible.”

He smiled as he turned to look at her. She was smiling at him and lifting his arm,
her drew her closer in a half-embrace. His fingers wound through her silky hair
and he reached to cup the back of her head, pulling her to him to place a tender
kiss on her lips.

Elizabeth sighed as he pulled away and their eyes met. Then Elizabeth shifted
slightly and a shadow passed behind her eyes as they skipped away from his.

Jason’s eyebrows drew together as he studied her. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

Elizabeth’s eyes flew back to his, wide with surprise. “No! That‘s not it. I
just…” Then she sighed, shifted against him as if to pull away but his arm held
her in place. Instead she lifted a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I
just….” Her voice wavered, and a knot of worry tightened in Jason’s stomach. “It’s
just that things are complicated right now and this has been harder than I
expected.”

Frowning, Jason let his head fall back. He didn’t like seeing her hurting,
especially when he was the one causing her pain. “I’ll tell Sam…”

“No!” Elizabeth interrupted, her eyes pleading with him. “You can’t. You are that
baby’s best chance at survival. As much as I hate seeing you with her, I wouldn’t
be able to live with the guilt if something happened to your child because of us.
I would never ask you to risk your baby’s life for me.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Reaching up, Elizabeth traced her fingers along his jaw and smiled sadly. “Make me
a promise.”

Capturing her fingers with his, he stilled their nervous trembling, and patiently
watched her, he waited for her to continue.

She took a deep breath, “I know over the next seven months you are going to have
to do things you won’t like to make sure Sam and the baby are safe, and I don’t
want you to have to worry about me getting hurt because of it.” She twisted her
hand around in his and twined her delicate fingers through his. “I trust you, and
I promise that no matter what happens I’ll still be here with you when this is all
over.” She dropped her eyes, peeking up at him while pulling her lower lip between
her teeth. “Can you promise me that?”

Jason studied her face. She looked almost desperate for his reassurance and he
didn’t make her wait to hear it. Not when it was a promise so easy for him to give
and keep. “I promise when this is over we will be together.”

“No matter what happens?”

Jason smiled as he ran a thumb over her cheek. “No matter what.”
The relief that passed over her features was immediate. Then he remembered what
he’d planned for her this evening and lifted his shoulders from the mattress,
craning his neck to search for his discarded jacket and the little velvet box
hidden in its pocket. “There’s something I wanted….”

Elizabeth stopped him by placing her fingers over his mouth. He turned to look at
her curiously as she slowly shook her head at him. “I don’t want to talk any
more.” Her eyes roamed his face, settling for a long moment on his lips before
rising to meet his ice blue eyes. “Just be with me and hold me for as long as you
can stay tonight.”

Leaning in she brushed her lips against his, kissing him slowly and tenderly.
Jason pulled her closer, then rolled her over, beginning to making love to her
again. This time he would take his time. They had all night to enjoy themselves
and he planned on making it last.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elizabeth luxuriated in the feel of Jason’s embrace. Their bodies spooned

together, his arms wrapped loosely around her, she snuggled into him, pressing her
back against his hard chiseled chest. Under the sheet his body heat warmed her and
she closed her eyes, etching the moment in her memory. The feel of his skin
against hers, his subtle masculine smell of leather and musk, and the faint sound
of his breathing as it tickled her ear. She wanted to remember this moment for the
rest of her life.

She’d waited until Jason had fallen asleep, then listened to his soft shallow
breathing at least a half hour longer to make sure he was fully and deeply asleep.
Moving carefully so she wouldn’t wake him, she covered his hand with hers and
gently slid it down to her lower belly where she pressed it flat.

With Jason’s hand protectively cupping their unborn child, tears filled
Elizabeth’s eyes and trickled down across her nose. Sorrow welled up from deep
within her but she rigidly held it at bay, forcing herself to kept silent.

Closing her eyes, her chin trembling, she turned her head toward the man she loved
and whispered. “I’m sorry.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jason stretched in bed as wakefulness slowly crept into his brain. As his various
senses awoke, he became aware of the room, the sunlight streaming in the window,
the faint scent of rose petals lingering in the air, the quiet stillness of the
early morning, and the brush of soft cotton sheets against his skin.

He reached out to pull Elizabeth to him. She wasn’t snuggled next to him as she
usually was when they slept together and he missed the feel of her arm draped
across his chest and her leg tossed across his thighs. It was bliss to wake up
with her in his arms, her warm skin and silky hair wrapped intimately around him.
Yet when his arm stretched over her side of the bed he found it empty.

Sitting up and turning his head, he rubbed the last vestiges of sleep out of his
eyes. He hadn’t been mistaken. Elizabeth wasn’t in bed with him. A cold chill
washed over him. Something was wrong. He cast his eyes quickly around the room.
Nothing looked amiss. Everything seemed to be in place. Elizabeth could simply be
downstairs getting breakfast, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness that
soured his gut.
Then, he saw it. A note was lying on Elizabeth’s pillow. Seeing the paper lying
there, neatly folded with his name written across it in Elizabeth’s flowing
handwriting made his stomach lurch.

Swallowing hard, he reached for the paper, lifting and unfolding it with fingers
threatening to tremble. Inside there was only one line, but that one line nearly
undid him.

“Remember your promise.”