Sequel to A Few Words Too Many.  This scene is not the opening, but it’s the Liason scene and the longest one. 

---

Chapter 1

 All day starin’ at the ceilin’ makin’
Friends with shadows on my wall
All night hearing voices tellin’ me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good for somethin’
Hold on, feelin’ like I’m headed for a breakdown
And I don’t know why
– Unwell, Matchbox 20

---

Friday, May 1, 2007

Harborview Towers: Hallway

The elevator doors slid open and Jason winced when he saw who was waiting on the other side. “Carly,” he sad warily. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Someone had to hang out with Elizabeth and the kids,” Carly said as he stepped out. “What’s this I hear about Puerto Rico?”

“I’m not happy about it either—”

“Then don’t go. I thought the whole reason you took Elizabeth’s guard was so some other guy could do stuff down there.” She folded her arms. “I seem to remember you running off to Puerto Ric when she was pregnant the first time, and I told you were dumb then.”

“You didn’t.” That had been Sonny ironically.

“Oh.” Carly furrowed her brow. “Well, I meant to. Seriously, Jase, what gives? Why isn’t Sonny taking this run? I know you always switch off, but this is insane. Sonny doesn’t have a wife and two and a half kids at home. I keep telling her to get a nanny—”

“It’s a nonstarter,” Jason said. “But I’ll try again.”

“You do that.” Carly paused. “Listen, I know I nag you a lot, and I’m sorry for it. Sonny got you in the divorce, which means I got stuck with the Muffin—”

“Four years,  Carly, and you’re still coming up with excuses.” But Jason smiled, because he knew the concern came from a genuine place. “It’s okay to admit you like each other.”

“Never.” Carly sniffed and pressed the button for the elevator. “When this baby pops out, you better give the girl a break.” She made a cutting gesture with her fingers. “Snip, snip, Jase.”

Jason winced, and went to the penthouse. Inside, he was surprised that it was mostly quiet, with Elizabeth on the sofa, her legs up, and a sketch pad in her hands. He stopped for just a moment, flashing back to another moment just like this. He’d been leaving for Puerto Rico, she’d been mere weeks away from delivery—

But today was different. Elizabeth looked up, smiled at him. No shadows in her eyes, no sadness in their depths. He crossed the room to kiss her, then lifted her legs to sit down. “What did you do with the kids? Carly tie them up?”

“No, thought about it though. Cam’s down for his nap, and Cady’s playing with her dolls. Carly bribed her,” Elizabeth admitted.

Jason nodded. “Worth it. I’m sorry about this,” he said with a sigh. “I know this sucks.”

“It does. But it won’t be long,” Elizabeth said. “It’s not like before,” she said softly and their eyes met. “You’re coming home to me as soon as you can. I know that. Em’s coming over to hang out tomorrow and spending the night, and Robin said she had foundation stuff on Sunday. Sonny will be right across the hall, which Max will be, too.”

“And Kevin,” Jason said.

“And Kevin. Sorry I keep forgetting about him,” Elizabeth admitted with a wince. “It’ll get better during the summer. The kids will get to know him.”

“I’m sorry about Cody.”

“Stop apologizing. Cody’s earned his promotion. I’m happy for him.” Elizabeth leaned back against the armrest. “How long until you have to leave for the airport?”

“I need to be there in an hour, so I need to go pack.” He got to his feet, kissed her again. “I’ll stop in with the kids.”

“I’ll enjoy my solitude for as long as it lasts. We’re adding another kid to this mix, we can kiss silence goodbye for at least a decade.”

“I like the noise.” He grinned when she just made a face, then went upstairs.

It didn’t take him long to toss a few things into a duffel bag. He looped the strap over his shoulder, then went cross the hall, knocking gently on the open door.

Cady’s room was still decorated with the peaches and cream colors, her name painted in an arch that spanned over her bed where her crib had once set. A few months after bringing her home, Elizabeth had stenciled Caroline beneath the swirling pink letters above it, Cadence Audrey.

In the corner, an elaborate Victorian style doll house stood. Elizabeth had been a little hesitant to get it this year—Cady was only three and still learning how to be careful with things but she’d wanted it so much—

And Jason never said no when yes was possible.

Cady sat at the base of the house, her tiny fingers clutched around one of her dolls. Her dark  brown, nearly black hair, hung half down her  back, tangled in some places likely from running after her brother.

“Hey,” Jason said softly. She twisted her head, and her face—miniature replica of Elizabeth’s except for her caramel brown eyes—lit up.

“Daddy!” She jumped to her feet and raced across the room. He scooped her up in his arms, hugged her tightly. She always greeted him just like this—as if they’d been separated by decades and oceans, and not a matter of hours and miles. “You back from the plane?”

“Haven’t left yet.” He kissed her forehead and set her down on the bed, perching next to her. “I need to ask you a big favor.”

Cady sighed. “Okay, I don’t take Mr. Buttons again. Even if Cam drops him, and it’s funny.”

“Well, yeah, that’s a good idea—” Jason frowned, then shook his head. “But that’s not the favor. I have to go away for two days. That’s two nights. Two mornings.”

“Very long. Don’t like.”

“Me either, but getting older means doing things you don’t like.”

“I stay young forever. No adulting, Aunt Car says. She says it sucks.”

“She’s not wrong. You know Mommy gets tired really easily right now.”

“Because the baby kicks a lot. It’s not nice. I tell him that when he gets here.”

“I know you will.” He smiled at the thought of his daughter lecturing a baby. He couldn’t wait to see it. Cady had been eighteen months old when Cameron had joined them, so she probably didn’t remember much. “I need you to be a really great big sister and help Mommy take care of Cameron.”

Cady wrinkled her noes. “Do I gots to?”

“Yeah. I know I don’t have to worry with you looking out for him. You’re his big sister. And he’s going to be a big brother in a few weeks. He needs to know how to do it.”

“That true,” she nodded somberly. “He needs lots of practice. So okay. I  help. I get him up and dressed so Mommy doesn’t.” She tucked herself into his side. “Don’t want you to go, Daddy.”

“I know. I’ll call you every day,” he promised. “And I’ll send you postcards just like always. Even though they’ll get here after I’m already home.” He hugged her one more time, wishing he could just stay here. He hated leaving them behind. Most of the time, he’d taken them with him — leaving them on the island while he was in Puerto Rico, then he’d join them for a day or two, completing his own work in less than a day to spend as much time as he could.

This would be the longest he’d left Cady since Italy more than two years ago.

“Love you, Daddy,” Cady said, squeezing hard, though it felt like a feather trying to hold on. “I take good care of Cam. And Mommy.”

“Love you, too.” He kissed her forehead again, held her close for just another minute. “You probably still owe Aunt Carly some doll playing time.”

“Yep.” Cady climbed off the bed, went back to her dolls and pointed at the clock on her wall. “Aunt Car says when the big hand gets to the twelve.”

“That’s fifteen more minutes.” Thank God for Carly, though he’d never say that outloud.

He reluctantly left Cady playing in her room before going next door to peek in on Cameron, sprawled out on his race car bed, his sunny blond hair dim in the shadows. He adjusted the covers over the two-year-old, kissed the top of his head, and closed the door behind him.

Downstairs, he set the duffel on the floor. “No one’s coming over tonight?” he asked, and Elizabeth frowned, setting aside her sketch pad.

“No. We’re good. Sonny said he’d bring over dinner so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Elizabeth slid off the sofa, and he hurried over to help her up. “A few more weeks—I can’t wait.”

“Me either.” He rested his hand over her belly, enjoying the press of the baby’s foot against his fingers. “And we made it the whole time without knowing if it’s a boy or girl.”

“You say that like it was in doubt. I told you — this baby was a happy accident. Everything about him—or her—should be a surprise.” She fisted her hand in his shirt to tug him down for a kiss. “Stop worrying,” she murmured, winding her arms around his neck. “It’s under control.”

“I’ll never stop worrying about you. Or the kids.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Hurry home.”

Sequel to A Few Words Too Many.  

---

Chapter 1

 All day starin’ at the ceilin’ makin’
Friends with shadows on my wall
All night hearing voices tellin’ me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good for somethin’
Hold on, feelin’ like I’m headed for a breakdown
And I don’t know why
– Unwell, Matchbox 20

---

Friday, May 1, 2007

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

It always felt a little bit like traveling between worlds, Jason Morgan thought, as he left his bright and airy penthouse, filled with the sounds of kids laughing or crying, the hardwood floors littered with toys and the occasionally tipped over sippy cup or potato chip crumbs to cross the hall to the darkly decorated, eerily silent penthouse where his partner and best friend lived.

It had been just over two years since kids had lived in Sonny Corinthos’s home full-time, and even then, Michael was a quiet kid who kept mostly to his room, and his brother, Morgan, barely old enough to walk much less make a mess. After Carly had kept one too many secrets from her husband, their marriage had imploded and Carly had walked away, taking much of the noise with her.

Jason had lived in this penthouse once, for a little under a year, and he’d liked the silence back then. Now, he really couldn’t imagine a day passing without watching his daughter chase her little brother, Cady’s dark curls flying behind like a streamer, and Cameron’s high-pitched maniacal giggles.

He’d have to do without those sounds for a few days, he thought as he nodded to Max Giambetti, the guard in the hallway, then turned to Sonny. “It should be pretty standard. I’ll be back Sunday night at the latest.”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah, I appreciate you taking this one. I’ve got the rest of the summer,” he told him. “So you don’t have to worry about leaving Elizabeth after the baby gets here.” He crossed to sort through some paperwork on his desk, Jason catching sight of some glossy pamphlets—gathered during one of Sonny’s trips over the last two years. London, Paris, Cairo, Hong Kong—Sonny had racked up the miles while Jason hadn’t been able to leave the country other than runs to Puerto Rico every other month. Not since their Italian honeymoon had left them with a surprise nine months later—Cameron.

“I wish we could skip this month completely,” Jason muttered. “I don’t like being out of town with her this close to the due date.”

“Still got three weeks, don’t you? Elizabeth missed the due date last time, anyway. She could go late.”

“Or she could go early—” Jason exhaled slowly. No point in worrying about any of that. This wasn’t four years ago, he wasn’t running to Puerto Rico to avoid the tension tearing apart his home. They’d been married for three years, together for four, and surprise baby two was due at the end of the month. And their daughter, whose birth he’d nearly missed chasing ghosts in Puerto Rico, had just turned three in December.

“I’m right across the hall,” Sonny reminded Jason. “Max is outside the odor, and—” He frowned. “Who did we end up putting on yours? I can’t remember.”

“Kevin,” Jason said, a bit irritated now. Cody had been the best choice to take over after they’d moved Francis to Puerto Rico, but it wasn’t really a great time to switch up the guard who knew Elizabeth and the kids best. “I know your trip is scheduled for Tuesday—”

“Yeah, that’s all set. I haven’t been back to Rome in years, and I’ll have time to enjoy the food with Kate busy at the photoshoot.” Sonny started rifling through some more paperwork.  “Anyway, Elizabeth is in good hands. You know that.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“And if I ever let anything happen to her, Carly would murder me.”

“That’s true,” Jason said dryly. “All right. I have to go to the warehouse, and then I need to finish packing. I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“See you then.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Ugh.” Elizabeth Morgan put a hand on the arm of the sofa and lowered herself slowly to the cushion. “I feel like a ship docking.”

“I don’t miss that,” Carly Jacks offered with a shudder. She swirled her spoon around what was left of her Rocky Road. “But Jax thinks we should think about trying soon.”

“Really? You want to go through this again?” Elizabeth pressed a hand to her swollen belly, grimacing as the baby rolled and then delivered a solid kick to her ribs. “Knock it off. You’re not winning any scholarships in there, buddy.”

Carly pursed her lips. “Maybe not this part, but hey, you’re the one who decided to get pregnant three times in four years.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Not a lot of deciding going on.” A spontaneous round in the shower one morning in Venice (or maybe it been the hot tub—or—well—there had been a lot of spontaneous moments on their honeymoon), and a defective condom mixed with a city wide-blackout, a sleepover at the grandparents, and candlelight — and suddenly, Elizabeth was about to pop out a third kid.

It really wasn’t exactly what she’d planned, but it was still a pretty good deal. She sighed as the oldest, Cady, flew past the coffee table, something clutched in her hands. “Oh, no, she has Mr. Buttons again—”

“On it.” Carly set the bowl on the coffee table and plucked Cady out of the air. “What did we tell you about Mr. Buttons?” she demanded as she held the giggling little girl upside down.

“Mama!” Cameron sobbed as he toddled around the side of the sofa, rubbing his eyes. “Mama! Buttons! Sissy took Buttons!”

“Aunt Carly is on it, baby.” Elizabeth held out a hand to steady him as he climbed onto the sofa and tucked himself into her side. He set one of his tiny hands on Elizabeth’s belly.

“Hi, baby.”  His tears faded as the baby kicked back. “Baby says hi, Mama!”

“Yes, it does—and look—”

Carly dropped the stuffed rabbit into Cameron’s lap. He grinned at her, hugging it closely. “Aunt Car bestest.”

“Bored, Mommy.” Cady sat on the ground dramatically. “Want Daddy.”

“We all do,” Elizabeth said, wincing. “Why is it always the ribs?”

“Because they’re there.” Carly perched Cady on her hip. “Where is your husband? I thought we talked about him leaving you alone with the Twin Terrors right now.”

“Daddy talk to Unca Sonny,” Cady told her aunt. “He has to go on a plane.”

Carly narrowed her eyes, then glared at Elizabeth who just sighed again. “What?’

“Puerto Rico. First weekend of the month. You know that doesn’t change—”

“I know that this doesn’t fall apart if you miss a month—” Carly hissed, set Cady on the ground. “Where’s he going this time, huh? Mexico?”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Elizabeth said. Then gave up under Carly’s withering stare. “He’s leaving on Tuesday for Rome.”

“I knew it—”

“Jason will be back by then—”

“He didn’t even tell me he’s going out of town in four days.” Carly sat back down. “I know we’re divorced, but next weekend is his. He’s only going for a few days? I don’t buy it. It’ll be like that cruise with that last bimbo—”

“Amelia?”

“No, the one before her—” Carly snapped her fingers. “The lawyer. Janna? Joan?”

“Jordan.”

“Right. He’s already cruising the islands of Greece, and I’m waiting for him to pick up the boys—”

“You mad, Aunt Car?” Cady asked. “Unca Sonny do a bad?”

“No,” Carly muttered. “Unca Sonny just sucks at communication. Man, you lie about one little thing—”

“Kristina isn’t really little or a thing—”

“Deathbed confessions mean nothing anymore, do they?” Carly huffed and got to her feet. “Well, when your husband gets home, we’re going to have words.  I told him—”

“He already feels bad enough,” Elizabeth said, and Carly grimaced, recognizing Elizabeth’s tone. “And Sonny already agreed to do the next three months. He’s right across the hall if I need anything, and I seem to remember Sonny being pretty good about women in labor. He was here for Cady.”

“I remember. Okay. But I still think this sucks.”

“Aunt Car, that’s a bad word,” Cady said, shaking her finger sternly. “You say you sorry. Or Mommy gets the soap.”

“I find it hard to believe your mother ever came near you with a bar of soap,” Carly said to her goddaughter.

“Cuz I not say bad words.”

“Nuh uh, Sissy.” Cameron had clearly waited his entire life—all two years of it anyway. “Sissy says the baddest word.”

Cady gasped. “Nuh uh!”

“Uh huh!”

“I should be paying attention to that,” Elizabeth told Carly as their voices got higher and shriller. “But I’ve got worse news.”

“What’s that?”

“I have to pee.” Elizabeth let the back of her head fall against the sofa. “Oh, man, I don’t want to get back up.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“I’m not late, I’m not late!”

The bells over the Kelly’s door were still jingly as Nadine Crowell crashed landed into a chair across from Robin Scorpio and Emily Quartermaine. “I made it!”

“Technically,” Robin said. “My watch just turned to 1:31.”

“But I was inside the diner, so it doesn’t count.” Nadine grinned at her, set the pile of folders down. “I was stuck in traffic—”

“Robin leaves ten minutes early for everything to allow for traffic,” Emily said to Nadine. Robin scowled, but threw a French fry at the younger woman.

“Anyway, now that we’re all here—I do appreciate you helping out for the next few months,” Robin told Nadine. “When Elizabeth and I decided to start the foundation last year, she wasn’t exactly planning to be pregnant during our biggest season.”

“No, I think that was my family’s fault,” Emily said.

“I think it’ll be fun to work together. We always have a good time when I volunteer, and Elizabeth said that you’re a master of details,” Nadine told Robin. “Which I suck at, but I make up for it in enthusiasm—”

“And I’m here for comedic relief,” Emily said.

“Perfect.” Robin opened her planner. “Let’s get started.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

The elevator doors slid open and Jason winced when he saw who was waiting on the other side. “Carly,” he sad warily. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Someone had to hang out with Elizabeth and the kids,” Carly said as he stepped out. “What’s this I hear about Puerto Rico?”

“I’m not happy about it either—”

“Then don’t go. I thought the whole reason you took Elizabeth’s guard was so some other guy could do stuff down there.” She folded her arms. “I seem to remember you running off to Puerto Ric when she was pregnant the first time, and I told you were dumb then.”

“You didn’t.” That had been Sonny ironically.

“Oh.” Carly furrowed her brow. “Well, I meant to. Seriously, Jase, what gives? Why isn’t Sonny taking this run? I know you always switch off, but this is insane. Sonny doesn’t have a wife and two and a half kids at home. I keep telling her to get a nanny—”

“It’s a nonstarter,” Jason said. “But I’ll try again.”

“You do that.” Carly paused. “Listen, I know I nag you a lot, and I’m sorry for it. Sonny got you in the divorce, which means I got stuck with the Muffin—”

“Four years,  Carly, and you’re still coming up with excuses.” But Jason smiled, because he knew the concern came from a genuine place. “It’s okay to admit you like each other.”

“Never.” Carly sniffed and pressed the button for the elevator. “When this baby pops out, you better give the girl a break.” She made a cutting gesture with her fingers. “Snip, snip, Jase.”

Jason winced, and went to the penthouse. Inside, he was surprised that it was mostly quiet, with Elizabeth on the sofa, her legs up, and a sketch pad in her hands. He stopped for just a moment, flashing back to another moment just like this. He’d been leaving for Puerto Rico, she’d been mere weeks away from delivery—

But today was different. Elizabeth looked up, smiled at him. No shadows in her eyes, no sadness in their depths. He crossed the room to kiss her, then lifted her legs to sit down. “What did you do with the kids? Carly tie them up?”

“No, thought about it though. Cam’s down for his nap, and Cady’s playing with her dolls. Carly bribed her,” Elizabeth admitted.

Jason nodded. “Worth it. I’m sorry about this,” he said with a sigh. “I know this sucks.”

“It does. But it won’t be long,” Elizabeth said. “It’s not like before,” she said softly and their eyes met. “You’re coming home to me as soon as you can. I know that. Em’s coming over to hang out tomorrow and spending the night, and Robin said she had foundation stuff on Sunday. Sonny will be right across the hall, which Max will be, too.”

“And Kevin,” Jason said.

“And Kevin. Sorry I keep forgetting about him,” Elizabeth admitted with a wince. “It’ll get better during the summer. The kids will get to know him.”

“I’m sorry about Cody.”

“Stop apologizing. Cody’s earned his promotion. I’m happy for him.” Elizabeth leaned back against the armrest. “How long until you have to leave for the airport?”

“I need to be there in an hour, so I need to go pack.” He got to his feet, kissed her again. “I’ll stop in with the kids.”

“I’ll enjoy my solitude for as long as it lasts. We’re adding another kid to this mix, we can kiss silence goodbye for at least a decade.”

“I like the noise.” He grinned when she just made a face, then went upstairs.

It didn’t take him long to toss a few things into a duffel bag. He looped the strap over his shoulder, then went cross the hall, knocking gently on the open door.

Cady’s room was still decorated with the peaches and cream colors, her name painted in an arch that spanned over her bed where her crib had once set. A few months after bringing her home, Elizabeth had stenciled Caroline beneath the swirling pink letters above it, Cadence Audrey.

In the corner, an elaborate Victorian style doll house stood. Elizabeth had been a little hesitant to get it this year—Cady was only three and still learning how to be careful with things but she’d wanted it so much—

And Jason never said no when yes was possible.

Cady sat at the base of the house, her tiny fingers clutched around one of her dolls. Her dark  brown, nearly black hair, hung half down her  back, tangled in some places likely from running after her brother.

“Hey,” Jason said softly. She twisted her head, and her face—miniature replica of Elizabeth’s except for her caramel brown eyes—lit up.

“Daddy!” She jumped to her feet and raced across the room. He scooped her up in his arms, hugged her tightly. She always greeted him just like this—as if they’d been separated by decades and oceans, and not a matter of hours and miles. “You back from the plane?”

“Haven’t left yet.” He kissed her forehead and set her down on the bed, perching next to her. “I need to ask you a big favor.”

Cady sighed. “Okay, I don’t take Mr. Buttons again. Even if Cam drops him, and it’s funny.”

“Well, yeah, that’s a good idea—” Jason frowned, then shook his head. “But that’s not the favor. I have to go away for two days. That’s two nights. Two mornings.”

“Very long. Don’t like.”

“Me either, but getting older means doing things you don’t like.”

“I stay young forever. No adulting, Aunt Car says. She says it sucks.”

“She’s not wrong. You know Mommy gets tired really easily right now.”

“Because the baby kicks a lot. It’s not nice. I tell him that when he gets here.”

“I know you will.” He smiled at the thought of his daughter lecturing a baby. He couldn’t wait to see it. Cady had been eighteen months old when Cameron had joined them, so she probably didn’t remember much. “I need you to be a really great big sister and help Mommy take care of Cameron.”

Cady wrinkled her noes. “Do I gots to?”

“Yeah. I know I don’t have to worry with you looking out for him. You’re his big sister. And he’s going to be a big brother in a few weeks. He needs to know how to do it.”

“That true,” she nodded somberly. “He needs lots of practice. So okay. I  help. I get him up and dressed so Mommy doesn’t.” She tucked herself into his side. “Don’t want you to go, Daddy.”

“I know. I’ll call you every day,” he promised. “And I’ll send you postcards just like always. Even though they’ll get here after I’m already home.” He hugged her one more time, wishing he could just stay here. He hated leaving them behind. Most of the time, he’d taken them with him — leaving them on the island while he was in Puerto Rico, then he’d join them for a day or two, completing his own work in less than a day to spend as much time as he could.

This would be the longest he’d left Cady since Italy more than two years ago.

“Love you, Daddy,” Cady said, squeezing hard, though it felt like a feather trying to hold on. “I take good care of Cam. And Mommy.”

“Love you, too.” He kissed her forehead again, held her close for just another minute. “You probably still owe Aunt Carly some doll playing time.”

“Yep.” Cady climbed off the bed, went back to her dolls and pointed at the clock on her wall. “Aunt Car says when the big hand gets to the twelve.”

“That’s fifteen more minutes.” Thank God for Carly, though he’d never say that outloud.

He reluctantly left Cady playing in her room before going next door to peek in on Cameron, sprawled out on his race car bed, his sunny blond hair dim in the shadows. He adjusted the covers over the two-year-old, kissed the top of his head, and closed the door behind him.

Downstairs, he set the duffel on the floor. “No one’s coming over tonight?” he asked, and Elizabeth frowned, setting aside her sketch pad.

“No. We’re good. Sonny said he’d bring over dinner so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Elizabeth slid off the sofa, and he hurried over to help her up. “A few more weeks—I can’t wait.”

“Me either.” He rested his hand over her belly, enjoying the press of the baby’s foot against his fingers. “And we made it the whole time without knowing if it’s a boy or girl.”

“You say that like it was in doubt. I told you — this baby was a happy accident. Everything about him—or her—should be a surprise.” She fisted her hand in his shirt to tug him down for a kiss. “Stop worrying,” she murmured, winding her arms around his neck. “It’s under control.”

“I’ll never stop worrying about you. Or the kids.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Hurry home.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

Across the hall, Sonny waited for his call to connect, then grinned as the clipped tone of Kate Howard came over line. “I’m sorry, did I interrupt you?”

“No, of course not.” Her voice softened. “I thought it might be Maxie or Lulu telling me about another disaster. Are we still good for Tuesday?”

“Absolutely,” Sonny said. “I’ll be in Rome on Tuesday. Wouldn’t miss it.”

Set immediately after Book 1 ended. This scene is not the opening scene, but the last one in the chapter. I just thought you’d guys would want the Liason scene as an excerpt 😛

---

Chapter 33

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes
But I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
– Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield

---

Monday, May 15, 2006

Hardy House: Living Room

Elizabeth stepped off the bottom step, the white monitor in her hand. “He always falls sleep the second time through Spiderman,” she reminded Jason as she went over to sit next to him on the sofa. She snuggled close to him, sighing as his arm closed around her shoulder. “I can recite that movie in my sleep.”

He laughed and reached for her hand, drawing it in his lap, lacing their fingers together. “It’s not a bad movie.”

“No, it wasn’t the first eighteen times I saw it. The last one thousand times, it starts to wear on you. But it makes him happy.” She closed her eyes, and just let herself enjoy the moment. The warmth and safety she felt right now.

She didn’t exactly know what they had right now — was a little scared to put a label on it. The last thing Elizabeth wanted to do was rush into another relationship. She’d rushed into marriage with Lucky, she could see that now. Barely a few months after beginning to date again, he’d proposed and she’d accepted. They’d fought so much when she’d tried to be a surrogate—

There had been red flags from the beginning, Elizabeth could see it now, but she’d so wanted a family for her little boy, and when things had been good with Lucky, they’d been really good. She’d trusted the sweet more than she’d noticed the dark.

It would be different this time, she promised herself. Yes, she and Jason had already skipped a few stages. They’d said the L word and had slept together on Saturday, but she’d already taken a step back. She hoped he’d be patient.

And she hoped she’d know when it was right to move forward, and not just her impatience to  get to the happy ending. This time, she really wanted to enjoy the journey.

“You seemed a bit sad earlier,” Jason said. “Was work okay?”

“It sucked. But that’s not why.” Elizabeth leaned up, twisting on the sofa so that she faced him. “I ran into Luke at Kelly’s. I’d been avoiding his calls. He knew I’d left, but not the details.”

Jason tensed. “He didn’t try to change your mind, did he? Emily told me what he did the last time—”

“No. And even if he did, there’s no going back. I like where I am. Where I want to go.” She took the hand he’d clenched into a fist, holding it between both of her own. “But he needed to know about the drugs. And he realized on his own that I’d left before I found out about the drugs. So he knew Lucky…” She paused. It was still so hard to say. Especially to Jason. “He knew Lucky had gotten violent again.”

“Again—” Jason scowled. “He knew the last time?”

“Yes. And if it happened again. Luke knew I was leaving. I know there are reasons I’m not sorry I went back. I needed to understand, I think, that it wasn’t just Lucky’s injuries. It wasn’t just you and me, or Manny, or the situation. I needed to know that it was a deeper problem than that. Lucky and I were always going to end up here. Somehow, someway. He doesn’t love me. Not who I am today. And I don’t love him. And we were destroying each other by looking for who we used to be.”

Jason’s shoulders seemed to relax slightly. “I’m sorry. That you had to go through it at all. You deserved so much more.”

“I’m learning to believe that. And Lucky—he doesn’t deserve to be an obligation. That’s all he was at the end.” Elizabeth sighed. “But it was hard to tell Luke about the drugs. He might have questions for you. I hope you’ll tell him what he needs to know.”

“I will, but—”

“I want to be done with Lucky. I will be as soon as the lawyer Justus recommended can get the divorce petition together. I don’t want anything from him — just his signature on the dotted line. I want my life back, and I want my little boy to be surrounded by love and kindness.” She paused. “But Lucky matters to be people I care about. To Bobbie and Luke. I know you’re angry that Luke asked me to stay. But I said yes. I let myself be convinced, Jason. That’s not entirely his fault. I let myself think that the boy I loved so much could be saved. It was arrogance that sent me back. Arrogance that I could be enough to save him from himself. I can’t save Lucky, but that doesn’t mean I don’t hope someone else will some day. Or that he finds a way to save himself. Because the boy I loved deserves it. It just doesn’t have to be me.”

She stopped, then smiled nervously. “Sorry. I know Lucky is the last person you want to talk about.”

“I want to spend time with you,” Jason told her gently. “And I know that everything you’ve  been through doesn’t disappear overnight because I told you I loved you.”

“I love you, too.” She leaned forward, brushed her mouth against his. “And I hope you’ll still love me when the new rumors start flying because these ones are my fault.”

Jason frowned, tipped his head, his thumb against her chin. “What rumors?”

“Listen, if you hear anything about your ass, jeans, or the lack of them, just know that I was really ticked off.”

“Wait, what?”

Set immediately after Book 1 ended.

---

Chapter 33

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes
But I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
– Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield

---

Monday, May 15, 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Though Elizabeth Spencer didn’t hear the whispers for herself, she saw enough facial expressions and heard conversations that stopped abruptly that she could almost predict their content.

There goes that slut. She left her husband, did you hear? A cop is dead because she can’t keep her legs closed. And her husband nearly lost the ability to walk because she’s addicted to danger—

Her grandmother had suggested she call in sick. Emily had offered to call in a favor with her family for vacation time.

But Elizabeth had refused, insisting on returning to work for her next scheduled shift — the day after she’d reported Lucky to the commissioner for a suspected drug addiction and filed charges of physical abuse.

She kept her head held high as she walked the gauntlet of curious nurses, doctors, orderlys, and other hospital employees between the locker room and the nurse’s station where she logged into the computer to find her rounds for the day.

Please let it be a scheduled surgery. She was supposed to start observing this week after more than two months of training as a surgical nurse, and she wanted nothing more than to be in a quiet room for hours at a time with a small group of people hand-picked by the hospital’s new hotshot neurosurgeon, Patrick Drake, who just happened to be one of Elizabeth’s best friends.

One of the few people who had suspected what was going on in her marriage but had said nothing because of the privilege that existed between doctor and patient, though his girlfriend had told Elizabeth Patrick had agonized over it, wanting to say more. If they were in surgery, Elizabeth wouldn’t have to put up with anything anyone said to her—

But unfortunately, there was no surgery scheduled today. Not for her. She was on post-op rounds and insurance paperwork, just like she had been for the last two months. She wrinkled her nose, then went to pull the patient charts so she could create a stack.

A pair of student nurses stepped up into the hub. One, a dark-haired girl Elizabeth remembered vaguely from working on a different floor, gestured at the computer. “Are you finished?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said, stepping aside. She reached for a pen to begin her work and took the stack over to the waiting area. Not far enough away to avoid the whispers or not to notice the stares from the nurses.

“Can’t believe she bothered to show up.”

“Shhh, Jo, she’ll hear—”

“I don’t care, Leyla. If I got a cop shot because I was standing too close to a gangster, I wouldn’t have the nerve. I don’t care how good Jason Morgan looks in tight jeans. They’re nasty for what they did—”

“We don’t know everything—”

“I know enough,” Jo said with a snort. “She was married. He was engaged. His fiancée went after her right here in the hospital. Don’t you remember?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s trash, and if he were anyone other than the chief of staff’s son, she’d have been fired—”

Elizabeth got to her feet, leaving the charts on the table. She returned to the hub, pleased to find that Jo and Leyla’s whispered conversation halted. Just like the other three or four conversations she’d heard that day.

“Did you want something?” Jo asked flatly.

“The pen doesn’t work.” Elizabeth reached for a new one. “By the way, that cop? He was shot because my husband’s drug dealer was sending a warning shot. Turns out heroin addicts aren’t very good at paying their bills.”

Jo’s mouth dropped. “Excuse me?” she sputtered.

“He was aiming at me, of course,” Elizabeth continued, checking the pen by scribbling on her palm. “So when you tell the story again, you can get it right. Jason Morgan, his nephew, and my son nearly died because they were standing too close to me. And I never did get back the television Lucky pawned to pay off his dealer after the carnival.” She arched a  brow. “Questions? You each get one before I stop finding this amusing.”

Leyla—one of Nadine’s friends, Elizabeth remembered now—darted a panicked look at Jo before clearing her throat. “And the cop?”

“Jesse came over to yell at me for being a slut and a whore. Nothing I could do about that.”

“Well, he wasn’t wrong, was he?” Jo asked, snottily. “You are a slut and a whore. Everyone knows it.”

“Everyone knows? Really? Did I miss the memo?” Elizabeth tipped his head. “That’s a shame. I hope it had some sort of definition for slut and whore. I hope it doesn’t include a woman who leaves someone who shoves her into walls and leaves bruises on her arms.”

“You—” Jo closed her mouth. “I didn’t—”

“And here’s a freebie for you.” Elizabeth leaned in, lowered her voice, and almost laughed when both nurses leaned towards her. “Jason? His ass looks even better out of jeans.”

She took her pen and went back to her paperwork. That probably hadn’t helped her cause at all, Elizabeth thought as a tinge of regret sank in. It wasn’t like anyone would believe her about the abuse. About the drugs. About the reason for the shooting on Saturday. But she knew they’d believe her about Jason, and that would be what spread like wildfire.

But at least she’d attempted to set the record straight. It wasn’t her fault no one would believe her.

Even though everyone word of it had been true.

People always believed what they wanted to, and a sleazy affair between a cop’s wife and the local mobster was better gossip than an abused wife and a drug addiction. Though the affair—she taped her pen against the form—the affair wasn’t a lie. Not entirely.

It just hadn’t been sleazy.

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

Lucky Spencer looked around the room, trying to focus. Something was missing. Wasn’t it? He stumbled into the bedroom, frowning at the stripped down toddler bedroom and empty shelves where toys had once been stacked.

It was all gone.

He lunged for the dresser, dragging out drawers that were so hollow and light that the force of his pull broke them. He fell back, his head spinning. He pressed his cheek to the threadbare carpet, blinking at the small pieces of plastic nearby. He forced himself up and picked up a piece of red — a leg piece —

What—

How did one of Cameron’s toys end up in pieces?

Why couldn’t he remember? He dropped it back to the carpet, then scrubbed his hands over his face. The last thing he remembered was…arguing with Elizabeth…His stomach rolled as flashes bombarded him—

Flying into a wall—knocking over the toys—

He’d done this. He’d destroyed Cameron’s toys. He’d hurt Elizabeth. Again. What day was it? How long had it been?

There was a knock on the door, a brisk but insistent one. Lucky lurched to his feet and stumbled towards the door. Maybe it was Elizabeth, back to give him another chance—their love was permanent, a lock—

But it wasn’t his wife that stood at the door, it was his boss. Commissioner Mac Scorpio who just glared at him, then closed his eyes, muttering something Lucky didn’t quite catch.

“Where the hell have you been?” Mac demanded, his voice like sharp ice picks digging into Lucky’s brain. “I’ve had a guy sitting on this place since Sunday—”

“Sunday?” Lucky shook his head. “No—no—it’s—” He cleared his throat. “It’s…what day is it?”

“Damn it.” Mac gripped Lucky by the forearm and shoved him over towards the sofa. Lucky fell down, still trying to understand. “Robinson said you stumbled in here about an hour ago. No one has seen you since you banged on Audrey Hardy’s door yesterday afternoon.”

Lucky licked his cracked and dry lips. “Audrey—why I was I—”

Mac was walking around the apartment, looking in the the kitchen, in the bedroom — “You were trying to get to Elizabeth.”

“That’s—that’s where she is?” Lucky sprang to his feet. “I have to see her—”

“Not a chance in hell, Spencer.” Mac shoved him back. “She’s pressing charges against you for assault and Morgan’s lawyers are already filing papers for separation and a TRO.”

“TRO—” Lucky hissed. The letters filtered through the fog. Temporary Restraining Order. “He can’t keep me from my wife!”

“No, but he can pay for the lawyers who damn will see it done. Elizabeth is accusing you of hitting her. Of being high on drugs—” Mac scowled. “I can see at least the second part is true. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Lucky said dully. Elizabeth had left him again. She was telling people he’d hurt her. He hadn’t—he hadn’t really meant to. It was an accident. “I didn’t—” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t hit her.”

“Spencer—”

“I—she’s lying. I—I was angry,” Lucky said slowly. “She—she never stopped having the affair.” He looked at Mac now as it became more clear. As the last few days came back to him. “She’s been screwing him the whole time. I went to therapy just like she wanted me to. She made me look stupid. I just—I confronted her. I told her it had to stop—and she—” He remembered now. “She pushed me, and I pushed her back. She just—she hit the wall—I shouldn’t have—”

“Okay. Okay—” Mac exhaled slowly. “I’ll investigate the charges, but I don’t know if the DA will even take it. Not with the Morgan connection.”

Lucky nodded. “Good—”

“But the drugs, Spencer. I can’t overlook those. You need to get yourself cleaned up. You need to accept that Elizabeth is gone and she’s not coming back. She’s going to get the temporary TRO. Ninety days.”

Lucky grimaced. “She’s ruined my career again,” he muttered. “Goddamn it.”

“You go to rehab,” Mac told him. “You get clean, you get back on the job, and you stay the hell away from her for ninety days, the judge won’t make it permanent. But you get yourself checked in, you hear me?”

“I—”

“Look—” Mac hesitated. “You’re not the first cop to get hooked on pills. You’ve spent most of the last year injured, and I’ve seen it happen to others. And you’re also not the first guy to end up with anger problems. You go to rehab, you go to therapy—you’ll still end up on desk duty, but this isn’t the end. Lots of guys make it on desk duty.”

He paused. “Elizabeth says it was more than a push. Look at me, Spencer.” Lucky focused on his boss, squinting at him. “I’ve known her a long time. She’s not someone who lies. Not about this. I know how angry an affair can make you. I went through it with Felicia. I know her leaving you for a guy like Morgan can eat at you — did you put your hands on her first? Ever? Did you hit her?”

“No.” Lucky looked at Mac. “No, I never hit her. She’s trying to make me look like the bad guy. I wouldn’t hit her. You’re right. I let my anger get the best of me, and I shouldn’t have pushed her. She pushed me first, but she’s smaller than me. Weaker.” He cleared his throat, reassured himself. He wasn’t lying. He’d never, not once, hit Elizabeth. He’d never used his fists.

“Okay.” Mac’s shoulders eased. “Okay. I’ll make some calls. I’ll find you a program. We’ll get you sorted, Spencer. I promise.”

Greystone: Living Room

“Where did you leave things with Mateo?” Jason Morgan said as soon as Max closed the doors behind him.  Across the room, Sonny Corinthos paused in the act of pouring himself a bourbon.

“Hello. How are you?” Sonny set the bourbon down. “Nice weather we’re having here—”

Jason scowled. “You’re not serious are you? His nephew tried to kill Elizabeth forty-eight hours ago—”

Sonny sighed. “I told you, I’d handle it. I talked to Mateo, and he basically repeated what we talked about Sunday morning. If we want to take out Santiago, we’re welcome to do it, but he’s not going to be the one to do in his own nephew.”

Jason grimaced, shoved his hands in his pockets. “That’s not good enough—”

“No. I told him that. It was one thing when we thought it was the idiots making an attempt on you with the kids around,” Sonny continued. “That’s suicide on its own, but aiming for a cop’s wife and killing a cop instead? That’s asking the PCPD to roll into Courtland Street and dismantle everything. Hell, I’d slip them the information they need if I thought it suited us. But the cops start digging into the Escobars, one of them will take a deal and next thing you know, we’re in the line of far.” He sipped the bourbon. “So we got two choices — take out Santiago and hope he’s just a rogue dickhead, or sit back and see if it’s worse than we thought.”

“Sonny, we’ve known for months that the Escobars are crawling out of Courtland Street. They’ve already hit Kelly’s, and Luke said they’ve been sniffing around him for protection.” Jason shook his head. “Either Matteo is testing us or his nephew is looking to take the reins. Either way, it’s not good to let it sit.”

“Until things calm down from the carnival,” Sonny said, “that’s exactly what we’re going to do. The cops are all over all of us. I don’t like it either, Jason, so don’t look at me that way. That shooter was aiming for Elizabeth. We’re damn lucky she got grazed and the kids came out unscathed.”

Jason folded his arms. “Elizabeth almost died the last time you wanted to sit back and wait,” he reminded him. “Manny Ruiz could have had her out of the country if he hadn’t been crazy enough to grab Lucky the same time and call me.” Though it made sense to Jason now — Manny had seen the bruises and leapt to the right conclusion that they’d been created by Lucky, and in a bizarre way, had punished Lucky for hurting Elizabeth. Psychopaths never did the expected. Jason had seen the same bruise on her face and had immediately swallowed a story about tripping on a rug.

He’d never forgive himself for not noticing, for not listening when she’d hinted at how bad Lucky’s anger had become. She was out of it now, but it wouldn’t be enough. Lucky Spencer had better stay the hell away from Jason or he’d make sure the asshole stopped breathing—

Sonny scowled. “Look, I made it clear to Mateo that Elizabeth is off limits. Even if she was still a cop’s wife, going after your customer’s family to get the bills paid is going to create more trouble that anyone needs right now.”

Jason bit back a response to that. All Sonny seemed to care about these days was avoiding trouble. It wasn’t like Jason wanted to go looking for violence, but they’d let the Escobars get away with way too much over the last few months, distracted by internal issues and Manny Ruiz.

But it was Sonny’s show, and Jason wasn’t going against him on this. Not outright. But he’d be keeping his own eye on Santiago Escobar. Eventually the little shit would mess up and Jason would be there to take care of it.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Elizabeth managed to get through the rest of her shift, even though the whispers and stares only seemed to get worse. She really should have just kept her mouth shut, she thought as she headed for the entrance of the diner. The momentary satisfaction hadn’t really been worth it—

But the shift was over, and she’d find a way to battle through the next day. She’d seen this cycle over and over again in the two years since she’d started working at the hospital. If she kept her head down and her life quiet, then it would eventually blow over. Someone would get caught stealing from the drug closet or in the supply closet, and they’d forget her.

Her hand was on the handle, nearly ready to tug it open, when she heard a voice behind her. Elizabeth sighed, then turned just as her father-in-law, Luke Spencer, ambled into the courtyard from the parking lot. “Hey, Luke.”

“Hey, darlin’. You’ve, uh, been avoiding my calls.” But he smiled as he said it, and she was relieved not to see any judgment. “You got a minute?”

She checked her watch. “A few. I’m early picking up dinner.” She was going to have a quiet night at home with Cameron and Jason — Gram was going out with friends. She desperately wanted some normalcy, to just enjoy her son and whatever was happening with Jason.

But Luke had done a lot to support her, so he was at least owed an explanation for this weekend, and a warning about Lucky and the drugs. She didn’t think Mac planned to take her situation all that seriously, and someone had to do something about it.

She was just done being that someone.

She sat at the table, and Luke sat across from her. “I know it feels like it all went crazy, but—” She focused on him. “Luke, Lucky’s abusing drugs.”

The smile faded from Luke’s face. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t really know all the details—I’m not even the one who figured it out.” She bit her lip. “He’s been on pain meds off and on since last year. When he was shot and in the hospital. Then the train accident, the car accident, then Manny—he just never got off them this time. Patrick cut him off, so Lucky used contacts on the street.”

“Christ.”

“I didn’t see it. I was so—” Elizabeth rubbed her wrist. “I knew he was angry. I knew he wasn’t okay. But we couldn’t really talk. And—” She closed her eyes. “Things were really crazy. Manny was always lurking, and Sonny and Emily just blew everything up.”

“And there was your guilt,” Luke said gently. “Over whatever happened with Morgan. Am I right?”

Tears stung her eyes. “Yes. We—we just had—we had conversations we shouldn’t have. And just once—before Lucky pushed me that first time. We kissed. But that’s it, Luke. And I didn’t—”

“Honey, you owe me zero explanations for any of that. I know how a marriage goes rotten from the inside out. You look around one day and it’s collapsed, but you’re don’t even remember seeing the cracks. I’m no saint, sweetheart.” He patted her hand. “Lucky used contacts. How bad is it?”

“Bad,” Elizabeth whispered. “Luke, the shooting at the carnival, it wasn’t about Jesse. It was me. Jason took me to the apartment on Sunday morning to pack some things, and my jewelry was missing. Apparently, he told me later, the TV was gone, too. It’s what made Jason look into it.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Um, he might know more if you wanted to ask, I know he didn’t say everything. But the dealer Lucky used — Lucky wasn’t paying him, so the carnival—”

“Warning shot,” Luke said dully. He scrubbed a hand down his face. “They were aiming for you, weren’t they?”

“That’s what Jason said. Um, Lucky pawned everything to make good, but Luke — it’s not just pain meds he’s buying. Jason said Lucky’s been buying heroin.”

Luke dipped his head, took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. That’s—that’s not good. But it’s early. We can—” His head snapped up. “You left him before the carnival. Why?”

“Luke—”

“He put his hands on you again? I told him if he did it again, I’d tear his damn head off—”

“I broke my promises, too,” Elizabeth said gently. “I told him I wouldn’t see or talk to Jason. I didn’t mean to, but we ran into each other on the docks, and I didn’t walk away—”

“I don’t care if you staged an orgy in front of him, he doesn’t put his hands on you—” Luke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Damn it. Damn it. He was supposed to be better than me. He was once, wasn’t he?” He looked met, his blue eyes pleading. “He was something special. It wasn’t wrong of me to want that back, was it?”

“No.” Elizabeth reached for his hand. “No, Luke. It wasn’t. He was so good to me once, and we both wanted to believe we could find him again. Maybe he’s still in there, I don’t know. I just know that I can’t keep looking. It’s killing me.”

“No, no. You’re out of it now. You take your boy, and you run. You run the way I wish like hell my mother would have.” Luke closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “You’re okay, I mean? Did he hurt you?”

“Scared me. But no, no marks. Not like last time.” Elizabeth’s heart broke for him, for the father who had just tried to do right by his son. “I’m so sorry, Luke. For all of us.”

“I know, kid. I know. Thank you for sitting with me. For taking the time. For trying so damn hard. You always did, you know? Somewhere inside, our Lucky, the boy we knew—he’d be telling you to run. You don’t have anything else to prove to me. Or him. Or yourself. You did everything you could, Elizabeth. More than I ever had a right to ask of you.”

“I shouldn’t have gone back,” Elizabeth said. “I’m glad I did in some ways because now I have no regrets. I have no what ifs. But I made things worse. I wish I could have learned that lesson another way.”

“That’s life, darlin’.” Luke got to his feet. “I’ll take it from here. You look that kid of yours. He’s just a sweet little boy. I’m going to—” He closed his eyes. “I’ll miss the hell out of him.”

“He’ll still be at Bobbie’s all the time,” Elizabeth said gently. “He loves you, too, Luke. You stop by anytime to see him, okay?”

“Thanks.” He kissed her forehead. “Go get your dinner. I got work to do.”

Hardy House: Living Room

Elizabeth stepped off the bottom step, the white monitor in her hand. “He always falls sleep the second time through Spiderman,” she reminded Jason as she went over to sit next to him on the sofa. She snuggled close to him, sighing as his arm closed around her shoulder. “I can recite that movie in my sleep.”

He laughed and reached for her hand, drawing it in his lap, lacing their fingers together. “It’s not a bad movie.”

“No, it wasn’t the first eighteen times I saw it. The last one thousand times, it starts to wear on you. But it makes him happy.” She closed her eyes, and just let herself enjoy the moment. The warmth and safety she felt right now.

She didn’t exactly know what they had right now — was a little scared to put a label on it. The last thing Elizabeth wanted to do was rush into another relationship. She’d rushed into marriage with Lucky, she could see that now. Barely a few months after beginning to date again, he’d proposed and she’d accepted. They’d fought so much when she’d tried to be a surrogate—

There had been red flags from the beginning, Elizabeth could see it now, but she’d so wanted a family for her little boy, and when things had been good with Lucky, they’d been really good. She’d trusted the sweet more than she’d noticed the dark.

It would be different this time, she promised herself. Yes, she and Jason had already skipped a few stages. They’d said the L word and had slept together on Saturday, but she’d already taken a step back. She hoped he’d be patient.

And she hoped she’d know when it was right to move forward, and not just her impatience to  get to the happy ending. This time, she really wanted to enjoy the journey.

“You seemed a bit sad earlier,” Jason said. “Was work okay?”

“It sucked. But that’s not why.” Elizabeth leaned up, twisting on the sofa so that she faced him. “I ran into Luke at Kelly’s. I’d been avoiding his calls. He knew I’d left, but not the details.”

Jason tensed. “He didn’t try to change your mind, did he? Emily told me what he did the last time—”

“No. And even if he did, there’s no going back. I like where I am. Where I want to go.” She took the hand he’d clenched into a fist, holding it between both of her own. “But he needed to know about the drugs. And he realized on his own that I’d left before I found out about the drugs. So he knew Lucky…” She paused. It was still so hard to say. Especially to Jason. “He knew Lucky had gotten violent again.”

“Again—” Jason scowled. “He knew the last time?”

“Yes. And if it happened again. Luke knew I was leaving. I know there are reasons I’m not sorry I went back. I needed to understand, I think, that it wasn’t just Lucky’s injuries. It wasn’t just you and me, or Manny, or the situation. I needed to know that it was a deeper problem than that. Lucky and I were always going to end up here. Somehow, someway. He doesn’t love me. Not who I am today. And I don’t love him. And we were destroying each other by looking for who we used to be.”

Jason’s shoulders seemed to relax slightly. “I’m sorry. That you had to go through it at all. You deserved so much more.”

“I’m learning to believe that. And Lucky—he doesn’t deserve to be an obligation. That’s all he was at the end.” Elizabeth sighed. “But it was hard to tell Luke about the drugs. He might have questions for you. I hope you’ll tell him what he needs to know.”

“I will, but—”

“I want to be done with Lucky. I will be as soon as the lawyer Justus recommended can get the divorce petition together. I don’t want anything from him — just his signature on the dotted line. I want my life back, and I want my little boy to be surrounded by love and kindness.” She paused. “But Lucky matters to be people I care about. To Bobbie and Luke. I know you’re angry that Luke asked me to stay. But I said yes. I let myself be convinced, Jason. That’s not entirely his fault. I let myself think that the boy I loved so much could be saved. It was arrogance that sent me back. Arrogance that I could be enough to save him from himself. I can’t save Lucky, but that doesn’t mean I don’t hope someone else will some day. Or that he finds a way to save himself. Because the boy I loved deserves it. It just doesn’t have to be me.”

She stopped, then smiled nervously. “Sorry. I know Lucky is the last person you want to talk about.”

“I want to spend time with you,” Jason told her gently. “And I know that everything you’ve  been through doesn’t disappear overnight because I told you I loved you.”

“I love you, too.” She leaned forward, brushed her mouth against his. “And I hope you’ll still love me when the new rumors start flying because these ones are my fault.”

Jason frowned, tipped his head, his thumb against her chin. “What rumors?”

“Listen, if you hear anything about your ass, jeans, or the lack of them, just know that I was really ticked off.”

“Wait, what?”

Timeline: Picks up the day before Kate and Sonny’s wedding in September 2008. Michael was shot in April of that year, on the same day Jason and Elizabeth were engaged. Jason broke it off, and Elizabeth struggled the next six months to let go. She began to push Jason to renew things in private, but he resisted. Finally, he agreed, and offered to take her to Italy.

Lulu has been having mental health issues since accidentally killing Logan Hayes in self-defense, her condition worsening after Scott Baldwin badgered her on the stand with Johnny Zacchara standing accused of the murder. Lulu confessed and had a mental break, resulting in her staying at Shadybrooke.

Lucky and Sam have been together almost a year at this point. Nadine and Nikolas have been flirting for a few weeks, and she nearly died when the clinic Nikolas opened in Emily’s name was burned down the week before.

The Russians have been in Port Charles since July, but haven’t made any real moves other than general nuisances and Spinelli’s car accident. Andre Karpov met with Jason and promised peace.

For access to the full chapter as well as the other five stories getting sample chapters this week, consider purchasing the bundle for $2 total (six chapters for $20)

---

Chapter 1

I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I’m in a world that tries to take ’em away
Oh, but I’m taking ’em back
All this time I’ve just been too blind to understand
What should matter to me
My friend, this life we live
Is not what we have, it’s what we believe
– It’s Not My Time, 3 Doors Down

---

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Studio

When your dream came true, you should probably feel a bit happier.

The thought slithered into Elizabeth Webber’s mind as she rifled through the papers Jason Morgan had given her, which included her renewed passport, first class tickets, and—

She wrinkled her nose, looked up at him. “Power of attorney?”

“Uh, yeah—” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re going out of the country and neither of our legal next of kin will be there—”

“And we’re not exactly related to each other,” Elizabeth finished. Though they would have been, she thought wistfully, if he hadn’t backed out of their engagement six months earlier. As soon as that thought occurred to her, she shoved it right back out. It had taken a lot of hard work to get Jason even back to the point where he was considering renewing their relationship in private—

And she wasn’t going to think about any of that either. They’d bought tickets, she’d taken the vacation time, arranged for the boys to be looked after —

She and Jason were finally going to Italy, just like they’d always talked about. She should have gone seven years earlier when he’d held out his hand, when they’d both been younger and less jaded by life.

Because even as she scribbled her name at the bottom of a legal document stating she had the right to make medical decisions for Jason in the event he became incapacitated, part of her still expected something to go wrong.

It always did.

“The flight starts boarding at six,” Jason told her, “but I won’t be able to get to the airport until around five-thirty. As long as the ceremony goes as planned.”

Elizabeth nodded, tucking the papers in her purse. “Right. Did you add in extra time? Sonny’s weddings never go the way they’re supposed to. Especially church weddings.”

Jason winced at the reminder of Sonny Corinthos’s aborted wedding to Brenda Barrett over a decade earlier. “This one should,” he said. “Sonny’s out of the business, no one’s making threats.”

“It’ll be a shame to miss it. I had good seats for the last one,” Elizabeth said. “Even if I did have to steal them.” She folded her arms. “Sonny invited me you know, but I got the invitation when we were…” Broken up? How to describe the twists and turns of this last year. “Anyway, it’s fine. I’ll just wait in the first-class lounge until you get there.”

“Yeah, I’ll get through security pretty quick. I have to go to Puerto Rico once a month, so I have pre-clearance.” He hesitated. “I didn’t realize he’d invited you.”

No, of course he wouldn’t. The cream-colored envelope had arrived in July when rumors had still flying about Jason’s relationship with Claudia Zacchara, and he’d been avoiding Elizabeth like the plague. She had stared at the invitation far longer than necessary, tracing her fingers over the slightly raised lettering. Would their invitation have looked like this, she’d wondered, if not that phone call?

How many minutes of pure happiness had the world allowed her between the moment he’d asked her to marry him, and the world had shattered?

“He came by when I sent my regrets,” Elizabeth murmured. She turned away from Jason, heading to the sink to sort through old paintbrushes. “Said he hoped I’d change my mind.” She cleared her throat, looked back. “It’s not like it matters. We wouldn’t have sat together.” Jason would never have allowed the public demonstration of their relationship. She should be fortunate he was even allowing anything in private.

Jason opened his mouth, but then closed it. “I’m sorry,” he said finally, his voice a bit rougher.

“No, it’s fine. I understand why it has to be this way,” Elizabeth said briskly. “And I told you—” She leaned up on her toes, brushed her mouth against his, letting their eyes meet. “This is better than nothing, and this time tomorrow, we’ll be landing in Italy.”

“I can’t wait.” He caught her arm as she started to pull back, tugged her in for a deeper, lingering kiss, his thumb brushing her throat, shivers cascading down her spine. “I have to go,” he said, stepping back, his expression lined with regret. “If I’m going to be out of reach for a week, I need to make sure some things are in place.”

“I know. I have to get home to the boys before dinner. We’re transitioning Cameron from his sippy cup to a real glass, and Jake into a booster seat. It ends up being a mess—” She smiled, and this time it almost felt genuine. “I’ll see you at the gate tomorrow.”

Timeline: Picks up the day before Kate and Sonny’s wedding in September 2008. Michael was shot in April of that year, on the same day Jason and Elizabeth were engaged. Jason broke it off, and Elizabeth struggled the next six months to let go. She began to push Jason to renew things in private, but he resisted. Finally, he agreed, and offered to take her to Italy.

Lulu has been having mental health issues since accidentally killing Logan Hayes in self-defense, her condition worsening after Scott Baldwin badgered her on the stand with Johnny Zacchara standing accused of the murder. Lulu confessed and had a mental break, resulting in her staying at Shadybrooke.

Lucky and Sam have been together almost a year at this point. Nadine and Nikolas have been flirting for a few weeks, and she nearly died when the clinic Nikolas opened in Emily’s name was burned down the week before.

The Russians have been in Port Charles since July but haven’t made any real moves other than general nuisances and Spinelli’s car accident. Andre Karpov met with Jason and promised peace.

---

Chapter 1

I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I’m in a world that tries to take ’em away
Oh, but I’m taking ’em back
All this time I’ve just been too blind to understand
What should matter to me
My friend, this life we live
Is not what we have, it’s what we believe
– It’s Not My Time, 3 Doors Down

---

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Studio

When your dream came true, you should probably feel a bit happier.

The thought slithered into Elizabeth Webber’s mind as she rifled through the papers Jason Morgan had given her, which included her renewed passport, first class tickets, and—

She wrinkled her nose, looked up at him. “Power of attorney?”

“Uh, yeah—” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re going out of the country and neither of our legal next of kin will be there—”

“And we’re not exactly related to each other,” Elizabeth finished. Though they would have been, she thought wistfully, if he hadn’t backed out of their engagement six months earlier. As soon as that thought occurred to her, she shoved it right back out. It had taken a lot of hard work to get Jason even back to the point where he was considering renewing their relationship in private—

And she wasn’t going to think about any of that either. They’d bought tickets, she’d taken the vacation time, arranged for the boys to be looked after —

She and Jason were finally going to Italy, just like they’d always talked about. She should have gone seven years earlier when he’d held out his hand, when they’d both been younger and less jaded by life.

Because even as she scribbled her name at the bottom of a legal document stating she had the right to make medical decisions for Jason in the event he became incapacitated, part of her still expected something to go wrong.

It always did.

“The flight starts boarding at six,” Jason told her, “but I won’t be able to get to the airport until around five-thirty. As long as the ceremony goes as planned.”

Elizabeth nodded, tucking the papers in her purse. “Right. Did you add in extra time? Sonny’s weddings never go the way they’re supposed to. Especially church weddings.”

Jason winced at the reminder of Sonny Corinthos’s aborted wedding to Brenda Barrett over a decade earlier. “This one should,” he said. “Sonny’s out of the business, no one’s making threats.”

“It’ll be a shame to miss it. I had good seats for the last one,” Elizabeth said. “Even if I did have to steal them.” She folded her arms. “Sonny invited me you know, but I got the invitation when we were…” Broken up? How to describe the twists and turns of this last year. “Anyway, it’s fine. I’ll just wait in the first-class lounge until you get there.”

“Yeah, I’ll get through security pretty quick. I have to go to Puerto Rico once a month, so I have pre-clearance.” He hesitated. “I didn’t realize he’d invited you.”

No, of course he wouldn’t. The cream-colored envelope had arrived in July when rumors had still flying about Jason’s relationship with Claudia Zacchara, and he’d been avoiding Elizabeth like the plague. She had stared at the invitation far longer than necessary, tracing her fingers over the slightly raised lettering. Would their invitation have looked like this, she’d wondered, if not that phone call?

How many minutes of pure happiness had the world allowed her between the moment he’d asked her to marry him, and the world had shattered?

“He came by when I sent my regrets,” Elizabeth murmured. She turned away from Jason, heading to the sink to sort through old paintbrushes. “Said he hoped I’d change my mind.” She cleared her throat, looked back. “It’s not like it matters. We wouldn’t have sat together.” Jason would never have allowed the public demonstration of their relationship. She should be fortunate he was even allowing anything in private.

Jason opened his mouth, but then closed it. “I’m sorry,” he said finally, his voice a bit rougher.

“No, it’s fine. I understand why it has to be this way,” Elizabeth said briskly. “And I told you—” She leaned up on her toes, brushed her mouth against his, letting their eyes meet. “This is better than nothing, and this time tomorrow, we’ll be landing in Italy.”

“I can’t wait.” He caught her arm as she started to pull back, tugged her in for a deeper, lingering kiss, his thumb brushing her throat, shivers cascading down her spine. “I have to go,” he said, stepping back, his expression lined with regret. “If I’m going to be out of reach for a week, I need to make sure some things are in place.”

“I know. I have to get home to the boys before dinner. We’re transitioning Cameron from his sippy cup to a real glass, and Jake into a booster seat. It ends up being a mess—” She smiled, and this time it almost felt genuine. “I’ll see you at the gate tomorrow.”

Shadybrooke: Lulu’s Room

Johnny Zacchara leaned back, grinning as his girlfriend checked her image in the mirror over the dresser. It was good to see her smiling and taking some sort of interest in her appearance. Since her testimony in the trial only a few weeks previous had left her teetering on the edge of another breakdown, he’d worried.

But nothing kept Lesley Lu Spencer down long, and he’d been acquitted of those charges. A few more weeks of rest and therapy, Lulu would be officially discharged. There was still a legal battle of ahead of them—Scott Baldwin wouldn’t rest until someone paid for the murder of his son, Logan Hayes—but Johnny was confident that his lawyer would be able to take care of everything. Ric Lansing had managed to get him acquitted—surely he’d be able to convince a judge Lulu wasn’t responsible for her actions.

“I wish I’d been in the offices,” Lulu said, flopping back on the bed and reaching for one of the editions of Crimson he’d brought her. “I bet Kate tried on a dozen dresses—it would have been fun to be there for it.”

“You’ll get to see the final choice tomorrow,” Johnny reminded her, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “And we’ll have a great time at the reception.”

“Yeah,” Lulu said, smiling at him, then the corners of her mouth dipped, and her hazel eyes became unfocused, almost glassy. Johnny’s pulse picked up as he left the chair where he’d been sitting and perched next to her. He reached for her hand, squeezing it. Lulu blinked, then looked at him. “What?”

He swallowed. “Nothing,” he said. What good would it do for Lulu to know she was still drifting in and out? She was terrified that she’d end up like her mother, sitting in the same catatonic fugue state for the last six years. Laura Spencer sat just down the hall in another room as beautifully decorated as this one, but she might as well have been in a cell for all that she knew.

“It’ll be great for you to be around your friends again,” Johnny said. “Maxie said Kate is letting her have the pick of the closet for tomorrow. And you know Maxie will take care of you.”

“Yeah, Maxie never could stand to be around someone not dressed fashionably. Remember when I started working at Crimson?” Lulu said, her eyes sparkling. “She tried to force her way into my room at home and clean out my closet.” She laughed, and his chest eased. There she was. His bright, beautiful, sparkly Lulu.

“I like that sound.”

Johnny twisted on the bed to find Lulu’s brother, Lucky, and his girlfriend, Sam McCall, in the doorway. Lucky made a face when he saw who was already in the room—there was no love lost there.

“I was just remembering Maxie’s horror at my closet,” Lulu said. “Hey. I didn’t know you guys were coming by today.”

“Nikolas told me he was letting you sign out for a few hours tomorrow,” Lucky said, the humor sliding from his eyes. His jaw clenched. “I wish you were going anywhere but that wedding.”

“I think,” Sam said, squeezing past Lucky and through the doorway, “it’s nice. Maxie and Spinelli will be there, so you’ll be with friends. And Johnny will be there to look out,” she said. She touched Lucky’s arm. “Everything will be fine.”

“It’s a mob wedding,” Lucky muttered. He folded his arms. “If there aren’t bullets, there will be heartbreak.”

“You’re just jealous because you’re not invited to this one,” Lulu said, trying to tease but the spark had faded again. She stared down at the pages of Crimson, tracing her fingers over a perfume ad. “I remember arranging the meeting for this ad,” she murmured. “It was the first really big project Kate gave me. She only hired me because Sonny asked her to. I didn’t even think I’d like it. But I do. And Kate’s given me direction. When I get out of here—because I will get out of here,” she added, her expression fierce, “I have a career waiting. I want to go, Lucky. I want to see Kate be happy.”

“I won’t let her out of my sight,” Johnny pledged.

“You think that reassures me,” Lucky said dryly, “but it doesn’t.”  Sam pinched his arm, and Lucky sighed. “But fine. It might do you some good, Lu. I just worry.”

He worried because his mother already lived down the hall, so Johnny didn’t really take his concern personally. What kind of hell was it to wonder if your mother’s condition was genetic and that your little sister might disappear, too?

As someone who came a criminally insane psychopath, Johnny really couldn’t blame Lucky Spencer for being overprotective. He’d spent most of his life protecting himself from his own father while worrying he’d be just like him one day.

General Hospital: Locker Room

Patrick Drake frowned when he saw Elizabeth come around the row of lockers. “I thought your vacation started today. Do we have to discuss the meaning of the word again?”

“Ignore him,” Nadine Crowell said. She clipped her badge on her scrub top, then tied her sunny blonde hair into bouncy tail. “He wouldn’t know how to stop working if it bit him in the ass. I’m so jealous,” she told Elizabeth. “I can barely bring myself to eat alone in a restaurant, but you’re going to Italy all by yourself. It’s inspiring really.”

Elizabeth smiled weakly, then opened her locker. “I just wanted to grab my emergency clothes and wash them. I’m doing one more laundry before I head out tomorrow. I promise, I’m not even planning to look at the charts or check on my patients—”

“I’ll personally escort you to the elevator,” Patrick said.

“Have a great time,” Nadine said, then disappeared around the row of lockers. A moment later they heard the door close.

“Not that I’m against independence and sisters doing it for themselves as it were,” Patrick said, leaning against the lockers and watching her throw the two sets of emergency jeans and tanks into her tote bag. “But Italy’s a pretty big first solo trip. You don’t wanna start small, like New York City?”

“I’ve been dreaming of Italy for years.” Elizabeth paused. She closed the locker. “And I’m not going alone.”

Patrick furrowed his brow, straightening. “No? Look, Webber, I know I’ve been preoccupied with being put in charge of this place and you know, Robin refusing to marry me, and that pesky detail of my first child being born in like a month, but I feel like you dating someone seriously enough to go out of the country is a big deal. I have to meet him first—”

“You have.” Elizabeth met his eyes. “It’s Jason.”

“Jason,” Patrick repeated. His brows drew together. “Jason Morgan.”

“Yes.”

The neurosurgeon and newly minted Chief of Staff scowled and crossed his arms. “And why am I only learning about this today? I overheard Maxie and Spinelli talking about signing him up for a dating service—”

“Oh, God—” Elizabeth winced.

“And there was the lawyer, Sorcha—Sasha, whatever. And Claudia Zacchara—when exactly—”

“None of those were anything other than rumor. And Spinelli reading into things.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “You know Jason and I have been close for years.”

“I vaguely remember getting arrested because of him, yes. And it was your idea—”

“We both thought of it at the same time, stop distracting me.”

“And I know you guys were, uh, very close that same summer. You testified about it last year—” Patrick pressed his lips together. “You didn’t happen to commit any crimes, did you?”

“What? Perjury? Yes.” Elizabeth winced. “Jason and I have been kind of…quietly seeing each other since last year. Since—” Her throat tightened the reality hit her again, as it did from time to time. “Since we lost Emily.”

“You’ve been together for a year,” Patrick said slowly. “I repeat—why am I hearing about this now?”

“Because I wanted to tell someone who cares about my happiness, and Lucky doesn’t. He had to know where I was going and how to get in touch because of the boys.”

“Your happiness which includes being some dick’s secret booty call?”

Elizabeth’s fists tightened around the straps of her tote bag. “That’s not what it is—” Even though there were times last year when it felt like Jason had only made time for her long enough for one or two rounds in bed before he hurried away for something else— “It’s not like that. He’s taking me to Italy—”

“Is it your idea to keep it quiet?” Patrick wanted to know.

“At first, yes,” Elizabeth admitted. “The divorce had only been just made final, and I knew Jason was nervous about the danger—”

“So nervous that Spinelli lives with him and Maxie walks in and out of that place like it’s her home?” Patrick retorted. “So nervous that he lets Carly hang around? Yeah, okay.”

“Patrick—” She wanted to be angry with him, wanted to deny it. But it was the same thoughts that drifted into her mind, late at night, when she laid alone in her bed, and wondered. “I love him. And this is enough for me. Okay? I’ve spent half my adult life loving him, and I get to have this.”

“I want you to be happy, okay? I do. It’s just—” Patrick shook his head, drew on his white lab coat, adjusted the collar. “You should demand more from the people who love you, that’s all.”

She’d tried to demand more from Jason but after Michael, he’d never be able to offer it. So Elizabeth had told herself she’d settle for whatever Jason could give. That hadn’t changed. She’d fought so hard just to get to this moment, to this trip. “I promise you, Patrick, that this is enough for me. I’m happy.”

“Okay. You know where I stand, and that’s enough for me.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you, you know that, right?”

“I do know.” He’d been a better brother to her than her own biological one, or even the brother she’d acquired through marriage. “And thank you. For caring.”

“Have a great time. Just—” Patrick paused. “You matter, Elizabeth. And you deserve to have the world. So if you think this is good enough, I’m not going to argue. I just think he’s luckier than he deserves to be.”

“I had chances to be in the open with him, to have the family I want,” Elizabeth admitted, thinking of the proposal in the elevator. “I turned my back on those. Now I get to have at least one of my dreams come true. I’m going to Italy tomorrow with the man I love. That’s more than enough for me.”

Shadybrooke: Hallway

Lucky closed the door behind him as he followed Sam into the hallway. “I’m not happy,” he declared. Sam sighed, wound her arm through his as they started towards the elevators.

“I know.”

“I think she should stay here until she’s not losing time anymore. How many times did she just drift while we were having a normal conversation?” Lucky demanded.

“Twice that I saw.”

“Johnny saw it, too. I saw it in his eyes. But he just waited, and she came back. What happens if something goes wrong tomorrow?” Lucky said. He stopped in front of a room. He stared at the door so hard that his vision nearly blurred. “What if the next time something terrible happens, she drifts so far we can’t drag her back?”

“Is that what happened with your mother?” Sam asked softly.

“I wasn’t there for most of it,” Lucky admitted. “Dad took her on the run after her stepfather died. He wanted to protect her from the cops — but Dad said she was already confused. Didn’t know what year it was—thought they were getting married. She kept slipping in and out the whole time, and then Scott—” His mouth twisted. “Scott kept badgering her, forcing her to relive the moment she bashed Rick Webber’s head in—and Mom just disappeared.” He swallowed hard. “We got her back for a little while two years ago, but it wasn’t enough.”

He knocked on the door but opened it without waiting for anyone to answer. No one would. Inside, the room was decorated like a bedroom with a brass bed and a flowered comforter set between two oak nightstands, a matching dresser on the other side of the room.

Photos of the Spencer family dotted the dresser—of Luke and Laura before kids came along, of Lucky as a child, of Lulu. And the boys — Jake and Cameron — grandchildren Laura had never really met. She’d only seen Cameron briefly during the weeks she’d been awake.

They had filled this room like his mother was going to come back to them at any minute, as if she were a normal patient.

But Laura Webber Spencer wasn’t a normal patient. She sat in a rocking chair looking out the window, dressed in a pair of trousers and a gray sweater. Nikolas paid for someone to take care of her like this. To exercise her muscles, to wash and dress her each morning as if this was the day Laura Spencer would rise from that chair and go back to her life.

And every day, they put her to bed because she was still locked away inside her mind.

Lucky left Sam in the doorway and went over to crouch in front of his mother, to take her hand in his. “Hey, Mom,” he said softly. “It’s me. Just came by to make sure they’re taking good care of you.”

Her eyes, the beautiful blue eyes his father always waxed poetically about, were glassy, unfocused—

Empty.

Lucky swallowed hard. “I’m doing good,” he told his mother. “I’m thinking about taking the sergeant exam sometime next year. And the boys — they’re growing fast. We can’t keep Cameron in shoes. I remember when Lu was that age.”

He felt Sam cross the room, drop a hand on his shoulder. “Hi, Mrs. Spencer. We met a few years ago at Kelly’s. Just for a moment,” she added. “So it’s okay if you don’t remember.”

Lucky smiled, then got to his feet. He kissed his mother’s cheek, then went to the door. In the hallway, he leaned against the wall. “I can’t stand the idea of Lu ending up like that,” he said roughly. “I’d rather slit my wrists—”

“She won’t. She’s got the best care—”

“We’ve kept my mother here because we wanted her close, but Shadybrooke isn’t the answer.” Lucky straightened. “If Lulu doesn’t start getting better, we’ll need to think of something else. I’m not letting her slip away. I didn’t do enough for my mother. I never did enough for her. I’m not making the same mistakes again.”

“You won’t. And whatever happen, I’ll be right there,” Sam promised. She leaned up to kiss him. “We’re in this together, remember?”

“I remember.”

Coffee House: Office

Jason scribbled his own name at the bottom of the power of attorney agreement and made a note to drop it off with Diane on his way to the penthouse. There were a thousand things that needed to get done before he had to leave for the church the next day—

And they had to be done before the church because his window to make the flight was so small—

He looked up when there was a knock at the door, then it opened. Cody Paul, his second-in-command, and Francis Corelli, head of security stepped in. “Hey, you ready for us?”

“Uh, yeah.” Jason slid the paperwork back in the manila envelope. “Did you get a chance to check the security at the church?”

“Spoke with Father Coates,” Francis said. “Sonny wanted us to cut back on the guys at that door checking invitations — said it sent the wrong look to Kate’s people, so that’s out. Other than that—”

Jason grimaced — it had been hard enough to get Sonny to agree to let Jason’s guys handle security in the first place, but Jason had been determined. Sonny might be out of the business, but that had been true that terrible day in the warehouse—

His fist tightened as his side as he remembered the phone call. The day they’d sent Michael to live in a hospital hooked up to machines, knowing he’d never open his eyes again. He took a deep, bracing breath. Looked at Francis again. “Okay. And security at the Spencer house?”

“Have to be careful with that one,” Francis reminded him. “Spencer’s still a cop, so Dougie is going to take the day shift, Vinnie the night. They’ll try to stay on the kids, but—”

“But there’s not much they can do.” Another situation Jason couldn’t really control. Lucky had refused extra security — the whole point of Lucky raising Jake and Cameron, of staying in their lives, was to keep them out of Jason’s.

But there would always be the chance that someone would find out where Jason was—and who was flying with him. He’d wanted to fly private, but Sonny had the jet for the honeymoon, and Jason hadn’t been able to get a charter. Once Elizabeth had been granted the vacation days, they couldn’t change the trip.  He hated leaving the country knowing the boys weren’t as safe as they could be—

“You know,” Cody said, breaking into Jason’s thoughts. “If, uh, things were more public, you could probably talk Spencer into letting a guard hang out closer—”

Jason clenched his jaw, glared at him, and the younger man fell silent. “Do what you can,” he told Francis.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“I won’t contact you unless it’s an emergency,” Cody said. “I can handle pretty much anything that comes up,” he continued.

“I’ll keep my eye on the kid,” Francis said, and Cody shot him a dark look. The “kid” was maybe five years younger than Francis and Jason, but no one ever let him hear the end of it. It was the same attitude the guys had had when Jason had started—Reinaldo hadn’t even wanted to leave Jason alone in the penthouse without a guard on the door in the beginning.

“And anyway, he’s done this longer than you, and Sonny left you holding the bag for everything when you were here a year,” Francis reminded Jason. “We can handle a week.”

“Yeah. I know.” Still, the discomfort itched at him. Things were quiet, but they didn’t feel calm. There was a difference — quiet could just mean everyone was holding their breath before all hell broke loose—and Jason had nearly canceled this trip a dozen times since planning it—

But Elizabeth had already put up with enough, he reminded himself. He’d made her promises of forever, then took them back. He’d been cold and angry with her, demanding she’d give up on them. But she hadn’t, and she was still here, six months after another child had lost his life due to the world Jason lived in. He could never say Elizabeth didn’t know and accept the risks. She did, and she still wanted him.

She deserved this week. She deserved Italy. She deserved far more than any of that, but this was all he could give.

“All right.” Jason got to his feet. “I need to drop some paperwork off with Diane,” he told them. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Got it, Boss.”

When Jason had left, Cody looked at Francis with a bit of confusion. “Does he really think no one knows who’s going with him? Vinnie and Dougie are good guys, but people are going to notice they’re on the Spencer kids.”

“Hell, the little one already looks like him,” Francis muttered. He checked the messages on his phone. “You haven’t been around this long enough, but it’s easier to just smile and nod when Jason does dumb shit like this. The world has known about Elizabeth Webber since she was eighteen. He lives in denial. It’s our job to smile, nod and keep her and the kids safe. He wants to be a moron, that’s on him.”