As they stepped off the elevator, Courtney turned towards Sonny and Carly’s penthouse and waved at Max, who was standing guard outside the door.

“Good evening, Mr. Morgan. Are you back home?” he asked, seeing Jason behind her, looking much more alive and happy then he had been lately. He knew it must be because Courtney was home; she was the only person who seemed to be able to make Jason look like that, besides Micheal and little Morgan.

“Yes, Max, I am back where I belong and I intend to stay forever,” she responded, taking Jason’s hand and kissing his wedding ring. The coolness of it felt good and reminded her of the promise they’d made to each other over two months previously, in the warm vineyard in France.

Then, she remembered that Jason had taken the ring off when he had been in her room at Kelly’s a few weeks before, after he’d asked her about her own rings. She turned around and was caught off guard by Jason picking her up once more. She smiled at him and kissed him as he took a step towards their penthouse.

Jason had seen the look in her eyes when she turned to face him after kissing his ring. She was puzzled and clearly remembered the day he’d taken it off. Jason had been keeping the ring in his pocket; he didn’t want to put it away. Sonny had kept him busy with work when he’d asked him to and the entire time he’d been on the island, overseeing the casinos, he’d put his hand in his pocket and rub his fingers across the ring. Just touching it made him feel closer to her, even if they weren’t together, made his arms ache to hold her once again. She had been in his thoughts and heart over Christmas and he couldn’t help but think back to the previous Christmas, their first one together.

Jason opened the door of their home and kicked it shut behind him, continuing to the couch and laying Courtney down on it as she giggled. He sat next to her on the small space left. Courtney stretched her feet over to the other arm of the couch, as her head lay propped up against the opposite end, and looked into Jason’s piercingly blue eyes.

“When did you put your wedding ring back on?” Courtney inquired of him, taking his hand again and running her thumb over the smooth surface of it. It felt so real to her, a solid object that represented their undying love for one another. She kissed it again and looked into his face, as she wanted for his answer.

“Ever since I took it off that day in your room at Kelly’s, I’ve kept it in my pocket. Even over Christmas. I’d reach inside and touch it, just holding it in my hand. I put it on while we were riding over here.” Jason explained, noticing her eyes fill with tears as he spoke.

“Jason…” she said as she reached up and brought his head down in front of her. She leaned in a little and kissed him. Gently, Jason pushed her head back against the arm of the couch and deepened the kiss. Electricity flowed from each of their bodies and Courtney thought she could almost feel it crackle and snap on their lips and where their bodies touched. The kiss was threatening to break Jason’s body the deeper it went. Weeks of being apart from his wife had finally erupted as he could feel her hands on the back of his neck and her body inches away from him. The love he felt for her and the desire to be with her overwhelmed him, smacking him with waves all over his body.

It wasn’t enough for Courtney. Her body ached to be closer to him, she needed it. The electricity sparked, whether it was in her mind or it really was there, she didn’t care. She knew she could feel it. Being across the city from him had been torture and now, he was, at the most, four inches away from her and, where her lips were, less than a millionth of a millimeter. Still, she didn’t feel as if they were close enough. Slowly, she could feel Jason pulling back from the kiss and a moan escaped her lips, letting him know that he was disappointing her by ending what she’d wanted to do since she walked out the door weeks ago.

Jason remained above her, his hands resting on both sides of the couch to steady himself. He didn’t want to stop what they’d started and it’d been an inner struggle. When the moan escaped her lips, he had to fight to stop. Courtney could see the question in his eyes and looked into them and smiled. Immediately, he was carrying her up the stairs. But, when he reached the doorway, she fought to get out of his arms, and although it was the last thing he wanted to do, he released her from his touch.

Once Courtney got Jason to see her down, she turned back to him and took his hand as she pulled him over to their bed. His back was to the bed while his lower legs were touching it. Courtney looked into his face shyly as she took the top bottom on his shirt in her fingers and unbuttoned it, continuing all the way down to the last one, exposing his hard chest and stomach. Jason leaned down and kiss her again, and she felt as if she was drowning in his sweet kiss. Placing one hand on his chest and the other on his face, she let her thumb run over his jaw line, tickling him slightly. It sent a tremble through Jason’s body and her shy, sweet seductiveness was almost more than he could bear.

He felt as if he’d collapse, he was so intoxicated by her. Although he had initiated the kiss, Courtney had quickly taken over. He’d missed her while she was living above Kelly’s and this was just a small reason why. He loved the moments he held her in his arms and kissed her. But watching her was the best part of lying in bed with her, when she looked so happy.

Courtney slowly pushed him back on the bed, all the while still holding on to his kiss. This was the best homecoming she could have hoped for.

Carly was wide awake the next morning, already at Kelly’s with Micheal for breakfast, waiting for Bobbie to get done with the employee’s paychecks so they could take Micheal sledding at the park. Sonny had gone to the island that morning because he wanted to see how things were at the casino for himself. He was only going to be gone for three days and had expressed his concern over leaving to begin with, but Carly knew they’d be fine.

“Mommy, where’s grandma?” little Micheal asked, looking up from his plate of French toast.

“She’s in the back, honey, doing some work. She’ll be out in a little while and then we’ll take you to the park to try out the sled that Uncle Jason got you for Christmas.” Carly told him, taking a sip of her tear. The reply from his mother seemed to satisfy the little boy because he went back to eating his syrupy breakfast.

*~*

Brian had gone up to his room across the hall from Courtney after Jason showed up and got into bed, halfway expecting to be started awake by Morgan banging on the door, demanding that he stay away from his wife. But, he hadn’t and Brian hadn’t heard Courtney in the hallway like he usually did whenever he was room when she came home. She must have come in late, even after he finally fell asleep, which was sometime after two that morning.

Now, he was awake and at the desk in his room, writing out a letter to his wife’s mother. He still kept in touch with his mother-in-law, although they didn’t see each other often anymore, since his wife and son had died. It brought back too many painful memories and after one visit, shortly after their deaths, they’d decided to keep in touch by mail, trying not to cause pain to the other.

In the hallway, Brian heard Courtney coming out of her room. He grabbed his jacket and tried to act casual as he walked out the door, expecting Courtney to be locking the door. Instead, a man with brown hair and dressed in a gray suit was using a key to get into the room.

“Excuse me? Why are you trying to get into Courtney’s room?” Brian asked of the suspicious looking man. He’s probably trying to get at Courtney because of her connection to Jason, Brian thought to himself. Jason Morgan was going to get her killed if she didn’t divorce him, even if she did still love the cold hit man.

“Mr. Morgan has instructed me to get Mrs. Morgan’s things from her room and bring them to him at his penthouse.” Marco informed the man. He seemed to know Mrs. Morgan and had referred to her by her first name. Paying no further attention the main, Marco unlocked the door with the key Jason had given him and opened it as Max came up the stairs.

“What are you doing here?” Brian asked, seething with anger at Morgan for obviously trying to control Courtney’s life without her knowledge or approval. Even while she was working at Kelly’s!

Max turned to the cop and answered. “I’m helping my coworker in removing Mrs. Morgan’s belongings from her room.” Max entered the room behind Marco. The bodyguards could tell that Brian wasn’t exactly happy about the news of what they were doing in Mrs. Morgan’s room when, as far as the cop knew, they were still separated. But, this was obviously not their problem to deal with. Their job was to do as the Morgans and Corinthoses asked, although they knew when they were not to oblige to Mrs. Corinthos’ requests. They were bodyguards, not peacekeepers, unless it was for the physical protection of the bosses.

Brian was beyond angry. He was absolutely disgusted with the way that Jason Morgan still tried to control Courtney’s life, even after leaving him and their marriage, though technically still married to him. You would think that Morgan would get the hint that he wasn’t the person in charge of Courtney and she was independent from him, whether he liked it or not.

“Where are you going to take Mrs. Morgan’s things when you get them packed?” Brian inquired of the two men, one going through Courtney’s closet and putting the clothes he found in bags and the other taking picture frames, make-up, hair clips and other miscellaneous items and placing them in boxes. If Courtney wasn’t with Jason, where else would Morgan have her things relocated?

Max turned around, now frustrated with the nosy cop, who seemed to think that he had the right to know Courtney’s whereabouts when she was with Jason. Brian was like a nasty mosquito, just buzzing around, waiting to be swatted. Marco poked his head out of the closet for a moment. “I told him what we were doing with the stuff when he first stepped out of his room and if he can’t remember, that’s his problem.” He went back to emptying the closet.

“Okay then. Look, if you want to know anything else, go and see Mr. Morgan at his penthouse on the top floor of the Harborview Towers.” Brian seemed to be taking his suggestion, as he went down the stairs and into Kelly’s.

*~*

In the Morgan penthouse, Jason was sitting at his desk, looking through some folders that Sonny had left for him while Courtney was upstairs, taking a shower. They’d lain in bed for most of the morning but when Jason had called Marco to go get Courtney’s clothes and other belongings, Courtney had kissed him and then slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. After Jason returned upstairs after giving Marco the key to Courtney’s room, he’d heard the shower running.

Courtney was happier than she had been in weeks. The night had been wonderful and she was thrilled to wake up with Jason’s arms wrapped around her, holding her, once again. Since her clothes were still at her room, Courtney dressed herself in her robe until Marco and Max could get her things to her. The robe was a deep red and it brought a pink hue to her cheeks. She carefully brushed her hair and then went into her and Jason’s bedroom.

On a shelf in the room was a picture of the two of them on their wedding day in France, shortly after the ceremony had been performed. Courtney looked at the picture, mainly at Jason, and stared at his eyes and his chiseled facial features. He’s gorgeous, absolutely wonderful, she thought to herself as she ran her eyes over her husband’s face.

Jason was still at the desk when there was a loud knock on the door. Assuming it was Marco and Max, he opened it. Immediately, his clear blue eyes clouded over and became hard and cold. “What do you want?” he asked his visitor.

“Who the hell do you think you are ordering to of your bodyguards to go to Kelly’s and take Courtney’s things out of her room? She isn’t with you anymore, stop acting like she is!” Brian yelled, glaring right back at Jason. Truth be told, the man intimidated him. He was well built and tough and had a look that would freeze anyone who looked at him the wrong way. But, that still didn’t give him the right to push Courtney around and force himself into her life when it was evident that she didn’t want anything to do with him or his lifestyle, whatever that really was.

Courtney was still upstairs when she heard a knock on the door below. She assumed it was business and stayed where she was, still standing by the shelf, which held the picture of her and her husband on their wedding day. Then, she heard yelling and quickly left the room and went down the stairs, in the red robe, to see what was going on.

Jason glared at the man, the cop, who obviously thought that he could get involved in Courtney’s life and what was going on in their marriage, whether they were still together or not, which they were. He turned around as he heard soft feet coming down the stairs and saw Courtney reach the bottom stair and as she did so, Jason went over and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. She was gorgeous, and if the unwelcome guest hadn’t been present, it could have been a tender moment. Courtney’s gaze went beyond Jason and saw Brian standing just inside the doorway. He looked angry and she realized where the yelling had come from. What in the world is he doing here? she asked herself.

“Brian, what are you doing here?” Courtney asked in amazement and voicing her question.

Brian couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Courtney was in the penthouse with Jason and had most likely heard him yelling at her husband. I’ve made myself look like an absolute fool in front of her, he thought. “I came to ask Jason why he thought he head the right to have two of his men take everything out of your room at Kelly’s and bring it back here?” Brian answered informatively.

Courtney looked at the man in disbelief and then looked back at Jason. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” She walked over to and stood in front of him, arms crossed over her chest. Jason took a few steps and stood beside her, placing his arm around her waist. It was a sign of support and Courtney looked up at him and smiled before turning back to Brian, fixing him with a glare with cold eyes, although it wasn’t as menacing as the one he saw on Jason’s face.

“I woke up this morning as I was getting ready to leave, I thought I heard you coming out of your apartment but as I stepped out of my room, I saw Marco unlocking the door. I know you and Jason are separated so I asked him what he was doing and he told me that Mr. Morgan had instructed him to get all of your things out of the room. Max came up the stairs to help him and I asked another question and he quickly told me that if I had anymore questions to come see Mr. Morgan at his penthouse, which sounded like a good idea to me.” As Brian explained why he’d yelled at Jason, he could see Courtney’s face change from a look of complete unbelief to one of utter disgust. Obviously, she wasn’t thrilled with him. He had expected her to be thankful for trying to stick up for her. He’d almost forgotten that Jason was in the room; even though he was standing protectively at Courtney’s side, arm still around her waist.

Jason was so angry that he wanted to pound Brian’s face in and make him wish he’d never come to Port Charles but he restrained, only because he was a cop and they didn’t need any real trouble right now. But, Jason had a feeling that things with Brian were about to get more interesting.

“Why do you feel the need to know everything that’s going on in my wife’s life, whether she is with me or not?” Jason asked, his glare still pinning Brian to where he stood, suspicious flickering in the depths of his eyes. Obviously, the man was a cop and that certainly gave him enough reason to try to get close to Courtney but this one seemed to have another reason for doing so.

“Because she’s been kind to me and I enjoy talking to her. And, I don’t like people trying to control other people’s lives, whether they’re married or not. That’s not what a marriage is but you don’t seem to realize that,’ the man answered hautily. Jason tool a step towards him, a threatening look in his eyes. Courtney saw the look and put a hand on his chest to keep him from lunging at Brian.

“Jason, he’s not worth it. I love you.” She told her husband. Jason’s look softened as he heard those words and he looked at her and smiled.

“I love you, too,” he said just as his phone rang. He turned and tossed another glare at Brian and walked into the kitchen to keep Brian from listening to the call. Courtney watched him take the call and turned back to the man still in her apartment.

“Brian, back off. My life is none of your business and you have no right at all to insert yourself into it, especially in the middle of my marriage. I love Jason and we are going to make this work.” The cop had overstepped his boundaries as both an officer as an acquaintance and Courtney was determined to let him know that, in addition to informing him that she was with Jason, she loved him and there wasn’t a thing he could do or say to make her change her mind.

Brian was getting frustrated with Courtney yelling at him for caring about how he spent her life. Granted, he didn’t want her to be with Morgan for his own selfish reasons but he was also in her well being as a PC citizen. Obviously she didn’t appreciate his concern.

“So, you’re going to go back to watching over your shoulder, waiting for someone who doesn’t like your husband or your brother to kill one of you? Is this how you truly want to live your life, waiting for someone you love to die or waiting for your own life to be taken from you and break Jason’s heart?” he pressed, intentionally trying to scare her into leaving Jason again.

“I’m getting sick of repeating myself to you. My life is none of your business. I love Jason and when I was living at Kelly’s and away from him, it was complete hell. For both of us, and I refuse to put him or myself through that ever again,” was Courtney’s response, emphasizing every word of the first sentence as if she were talking to a small child.

Brian was losing this battle and he knew it. He didn’t have anything else to say to her so he turned and said “You’re going to be sorry” as he walked out the door.

She watched Brian turned and leave and a sigh of relief left her lips as she turned around and went into the kitchen. Although Jason had went into the kitchen to avoid Brian overhearing, something in Courtney’s stomach told her that the call had had nothing to do with business.