Chapter Six

As Jason headed into Sonny's home, the stoic blond continued to think about what Diane had said to him the night before. When did everything change? For so long, all Jason knew was his loyalty to Sonny. The ex-enforcer owed him everything for many years of his life, but, now, he just wasn't sure what to do. Jason wasn't someone who looked back with regrets, but, since Elizabeth's death, that's all he had been doing. Should he just give the business back to the Latino and return to being Sonny's enforcer? Really, would it be that bad? Jason just shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to make any decisions right now, not until Anthony was caught, Spinelli was cleared, and Elizabeth's children were with him forever. Letting out a big sigh, Jason took a deep breath and opened the door to Sonny's living room.

"Sonny..."

But before the blond could even finish his sentence, his mouth stopped moving and his legs stopped working. Very little surprised Jason Morgan, but entering Sonny's home and seeing Carly and her former husband sharing a breakfast or, more like it, sharing food off the same plate on his living room couch stopped the mob king right in his tracks.

The former married couple glanced up from their meal, realizing they were caught in a very intimate moment. Turning towards each other and smiling, they swallowed their food and turned their attention towards their best friend.

Carly, immediately jumped off the couch and ran to Jason, wrapping her arms around him in a ferocious hug. "Jason, I'm so glad you're here."

Quickly taking his large, calloused hands and raising them to pull Carly's arms from around his neck, Jason looked at Sonny, raising his eyebrow and, without words, questioning what was going on there.

Sonny, on cue, rose from the couch, smiling big, showing off his famous dimples, shrugged his shoulders at his ex-enforcer as if silently saying, 'if it's what you're thinking, then that's what happened,' and then extended his hand in greeting. "Jason, glad to see you man."

Jason, still a little unsure of what was going on, accepted the handshake and got right down to business. "We need to talk."

Sonny, not wanting to allow Jason to take control of the situation, immediately rotated to again face the couch and gestured towards his and Carly's dishes. "Can I offer you breakfast?"

Not being deterred, Jason pointedly looked at Sonny and repeated, "No. We. Need. To. Talk." Then, after glancing briefly at Carly, he added, "business."

Carly, desperately wanting Jason and Sonny to mend the bridge between them that had crumbled since Michael's shooting, decided to, for once, make things easier and, after glancing between her ex-husband and best friend, she knew exactly what she was going to do. Proud of her ingenuity, the blond smiled. Jason and Sonny, seeing Carly's mind start to work, both groaned in frustration.

"Carly…," the two ex-friends said in unison.

But she didn't even flinch at either of their reprimands. The previous Mrs. Jax just quickly maneuvered herself around to the back of Sonny's couch, reaching for her coat and draping it over her arm as she replied, "Oh, don't worry, you two. I know when I am supposed to leave the room. The word business is Carly's cue to exit." With that statement, both men raised their eyebrows in question towards the blond. "Okay, well not always, but this time I do. But..." Now pointedly looking at Jason, she said, "I will only go if Jason promises to come to Kelly's reopening later this afternoon."

Jason just visibly sighed, and, meeting Carly's stare, he said, "Carly, you know why that's not a good idea."

Not about to be deterred by her best friend, Carly countered, "Oh, come on, Jason. What could possibly happen? Sonny and I have talked." Jason just glared at her, not really believing that last night his former two best friends had actually done any talking. He knew them both all too well. Carly stomped her foot in frustration, wanting her best friend to believe and understand what she was saying, and continued, "I mean really talked, and we have agreed that both of us have made our fair share of mistakes, ones that those closest to us have paid dearly for, but we want to make an effort to correct our past mistakes. We are going to try and see where this takes us. Sonny and I have agreed to take things slow." Realizing, though, that what Jason walked in on did not paint the picture of slow, Carly hastily tried to continue to explain, "Well... slow for Sonny and I, and let's just leave it at that."

Wanting to come to his ex-wife's rescue, Sonny walked over to Carly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, bringing her close to him, and decided to take over. "We aren't going to take undue risks, we will have guards with us, and we're just starting with going to Kelly's." Shrugging his shoulders again and glancing at Carly before turning his attention back to Jason, Sonny said, "from there, who knows what will happen."

Stepping over to Jason, Carly gave him a quick hug. "Jason, we want you to be there with us. It would mean a lot to Morgan and to Sonny and me. Besides," smiling up at him, she added, "I am sure my Mom wouldn't mind seeing you. And who knows. Maybe Cameron and Jake will be there, too. I did hear that Mama was babysitting last night." And, with that last statement for Jason to think about even after she was gone, Carly exited the room.

Both men watched and waited for the blond to leave, visibly relaxing as they heard the front door close.

Knowing Jason wanted to get down to business immediately, the present head of the Zacchara organization strode over to his bar and glanced back at his former enforcer, asking while offering him a bottle of water, "so, what's so important?"

Shaking his head at the offer for a drink, Jason responded, "I spoke with John Zacchara last night. We've set up a meeting at an old run down garage on the outskirts of town later today."

Sonny dipped his head forward, acknowledging that he had heard Jason's statement, and said, "okay, let me know what happens." Then the mob kingpin began to rub his forehead, stating, "I… uh... didn't get much done last night." Looking up and smiling at Jason, the Latino's dimples flashed. All the while, Jason remained silent, staring at his former boss while waiting for him to continue. "I promise to look into Anthony's whereabouts this morning. I will hopefully have something before your meeting."

Jason nodded in recognition and moved to leave, but, as he went to open the door, he stopped, hearing Sonny call out to him.

"Jason, it really would be great if you could meet Carly, Morgan, and myself at Kelly's. I think it would do us all some good."

The blond mob king paused for just a second, didn't look back, and then left the room.

Sonny sighed, not sure what Jason would do, but hoped he would show up later.

~~~

Elizabeth woke up disoriented and confused. At first, the brunette was unsure of where she was, but then, like a tidal wave knocking her down, it instantly came flooding back. She was in Ric's family home on Martha's Vineyard Island, and, not only was she in his home, but the young mother was also handcuffed to a bed in said home with no foreseeable escape. She didn't even want to think about why the ex-DA had handcuffs on hand. No doubt not for making arrests… right?

Thinking back to when she woke up, it probably hadn't been the smartest idea to antagonize her ex-husband, but, when she thought about the way he touched her, caressed her hands, and stroked her face like Jason would, her inner 'Lizzie Webber' just couldn't stay dormant. She had to fight back. Whether it was the right or wrong thing to do, well... looking at her cuffed hand and shaking her head, Elizabeth came to the conclusion that it really wasn't the right thing to do.

She knew Ric though, knew what the man was capable of. The young nurse just had to be smarter than him. His smugness was his greatest weakness, but the fact that the lawyer had cuffed her to the bed also told his ex-wife that he was scared. Oh, he was definitely scared of the possibility she would escape. Now, all Elizabeth needed to do was start to play Ric's little game, no matter how repulsive. She had to make him believe he was winning. It was the only way she could think of to get back to her boys and back to Jason.

Jason… Oh, how she missed him - being in his arms and feeling safe from the whole world. It had been too long, and, right when she thought that yearning and pain of missing him would finally be gone, her whole world was ripped apart once again. The young mother could only imagine what he and her boys were going through.

Unconsciously, as she began to think of the man she loved, the brunette raised her graceful index finger to her mouth, stroking her full bottom lip back and forth with her digit, remembering vividly the last kiss they shared. Elizabeth then recalled how the usually stoic blond took her left hand and oh so gently and sweetly kissed her ring finger, with a promise that was yet to come. And then, again without conscious thought, the young woman began to stroke her left ring finger as it hung limply in the handcuff, secured to the bed's headboard.

Gathering all of her strength, cognizant of what she had to live for, Elizabeth made a resolution to herself that she would get out of this alive and return to her family, and the one thing Ric had done was underestimate 'Lizzie Webber.' Oh, Elizabeth Webber could be manipulated and fooled but not 'Lizzie.' No, she was a force to be reckoned with, one Mr. Ric Lansing never saw coming.

Then, suddenly, Elizabeth heard a door open and close. Realizing that Ric must be home, the brunette tried to control her racing heart rate and rapid breathing. She wasn't ready yet. Elizabeth still needed to formulate a reasonable and obtainable plan, so, preferring not to have to think on her feet, especially since she knew most likely that she had been drugged the night before, the young nurse decided to feign sleep for the time being until she was more prepared to deal with her ex-husband.

~~~

Ric entered his home tired. His meeting with Sonny had not gone as planned, but it didn't matter. He still had the upper hand. He still had his ace in the hole, and, hopefully, that little jewel that was stashed away upstairs was still resting quietly. Poor Elizabeth. She still hadn't fully begun to appreciate who was in control, who held all of the power. Ric sighed, thinking of the pretty brunette. They could have been so good together, but, again, her misguided loyalty and love to that thug Jason Morgan ruined everything.

The lawyer had wanted to return the prior night so as not to give his ex-wife the possibility of escaping, but Ric knew it would be suspicious, even for him, not to visit Molly since he had driven into Port Charles for his meeting with Sonny. So, Ric took a chance, knowing that the drug he had given Elizabeth would most likely keep her unconscious throughout the night, and he decided to spend the evening in the little town that he soon would control. Now that he was home, though, he needed to check on his insurance plan.

However, as Ric turned to head up the stairs to her bedroom, he was startled by a noise off to the left in the living room. Stepping down onto the landing, Ric jumped back, his surprise evident upon his face as he saw what had made the noise. The ex-mob lawyer had a guest, a very uninvited guest, and his new company was sitting on his couch with a gun pointed right between the attorney's eyes. Ric, trying to hide his displeasure at this unexpected event, went to speak, but the intruder stopped him before the young man could get a word to pass through his lips by cocking his revolver.

Using the gun to gesture his host further into the living room, the intruder said, "hello, Ric. We have a lot to talk about."