Chapter Fifty Nine

Three days later, Sam walked into the lake house late at night. It was the first time she’d been ‘home’ since talking to Lorenzo on the phone outside the coffee shop. She was too annoyed to face him and didn’t care to argue, so she’d stayed away. He hadn’t called at all, much to her relief, and asked where she was, what she was doing, or when she would be coming back to her temporary home.

Sam wandered into the kitchen, searching for a glass so she could get something to drink, and heard Lorenzo’s voice coming from the living room. Her ears immediately perked up at the sound of his voice, mostly from curiosity than the joy of hearing it. She loved him, but not in a sentimental way. More of a fierce, desirous love than anything, but she knew that he loved her with no cynicism, completely opposite of her. That’s what you get for watching you sister’s heart break and seen how destructive love can be. She could still visualize it in her head, the betrayal, the threats of divorce, the lying about being pregnant, she’d watched it at its worst, but then he went back to her. Sam had watched something destructive destroy something pure and hurt the sister she loved. A destructive love had overpowered her sister’s love and won. I won’t let it happen again, not to her. I’m another issue altogether…Damn, I’m such a hypocrite. Sort of. I wouldn’t call loving Lorenzo destructive, but it’s definitely not good and pure. But Sonny and Carly, that’s destructive, even to other people who happen to fall in love with the wrong person.

“Okay, just keep the compound under heavy guard and keep in touch with the other people in Venezuela. Civil war isn’t good but it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.”

“If the situation gets worse in the area around you, call me and I’ll come down. I’m not comfortable with being away right now, but Sam asked me to come.”

Yeah, I asked you to come and help or keep out of it like you said you would. Pick one, or you can go back to your precious prison. She brought a glass of water to her lips and drank the cool, tasteless liquid in one gulp as the dark, steel eyed man walked in.

“I see you’ve decided to check in,” he said, sarcasm in his voice. He was just as upset with her as she was with him. Yes, he’d said that he was going to stay out of I t, but that was whatever plan she came yup with, or was still thinking about. I didn’t mean that I was going to let her risk her life so she could get revenge on Sonny Corinthos. It’s not worth it.

The brunette shot him the nastiest glare she could muster, secretly hoping hey may pass out from fright. Of course, he didn’t, but instead stared right back. “I do not check in with you and I do not have to tell you where I am at all hours of the day. Don’t treat me as if I’m a child or a piece of property that you have to keep track of all the time.”

Alcazar chose to ignore her response to his comment, he wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. “Do you want to know how your sister is doing or would you rather wait until you’ve killed Corinthos, or whatever you plan on doing?”

Right now, you may be the one who winds up dead. “Is she okay?”

Lorenzo nodded. “She’s doing fine. She’s been getting out a bit more, but still heartbroken. She saw the doctor the other day and he wants to put her on anti depressants again. He says they could help this time, but it won’t heal her broken heart.”

“Nothing can heal that. And, they didn’t work last time, they won’t work this time.”

~*~

Sonny Corinthos sat at the desk in his office at the warehouse, and he removed the phone receiver from his ear, laying it back on the cradle. He’d talked to Brenda in Switzerland, after thinking about whether he should ask about the man she met or not. He didn’t want to involve her, but he wanted to know if she knew how Alcazar could be connected to Sam. There had been a possibility that he may have mentioned Sam to her if they’d kept in touch.

But, they hadn’t, so they had no idea how Sam and her sister could be connected to a legit coffee businessman. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I never told her I loved her, never hinted at it. She knew that I loved Carly, despite everything going on between us at the time.

------

Chapter Sixty

Around noon the next morning, Carly and Courtney stood inside the finished section of the darker blonde’s new club. It was coming along nicely, which pleased both Carly and her partner, and Courtney was getting as excited as the two of them.

“So, when do you plan on it being finished and ready to open?” Courtney asked as she walked up to the counter that would be used as the bar.

“Well, the back room should be completely done by the middle of next week, according to the contractor. So, if they are on schedule, I’ll have the furniture delivered by Wednesday of the following week. I’ll have to get all of that set up, see where I want it placed, then comes the rest of the paperwork and inspections. If those all go according to plan, or as well as Ric and I hope, we should be ready for opening night in a month, a month and a half tops,” Carly explained as she boosted herself up to sit on the counter.

Courtney chuckled. “Wow, that’s a lot more planning than I thought had to go into a club. I’ve seen you fill out about as many papers as I have at the office.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect all that stuff either when I first started working on The Cellar. But now I know the drill. It’s definitely the most boring part of getting one up and running.” She grinned devilishly at the younger woman. “Speaking of important plans…”

Courtney shot a look at her, knowing full well what was going on behind those deep chocolate eyes of hers. I know what you’re thinking, and don’t even go there.”

“What? I’m just trying to get things going, I haven’t heard anything since he proposed.”

I should have expected some Carly encouragement sooner or later. “When we’re ready to start planning, we’ll do so. But, so far, I’m enjoying engagement just fine. We’re not going to do this when everyone else wants us to.” The tone in her voice told her friend that the conversation was over and that they needed to find something else to discuss. But, the light in Courtney’s eyes couldn’t be denied as Carly watched her. Girl, you know that you would get married right now if it was left completely up to you, and so would Jason. Neither of you want to rush each other, that’s understandable, but don’t take too long or you’re really going to have me on your tails.

~*~

Jason walked into Kelly’s at the same time that his fiancé and best friend admired the progress of the club. He took a seat at one of the tables in the corner and Penny quickly came to take his order. “What would you like, Mr. Morgan?”

“Um, just a cup of coffee for now, thanks Penny.” The waitress nodded and went back to the counter to retrieve a couple of orders from the kitchen and put another pot of coffee on.

The bell above the door of the diner jingled, announcing the entrance of another patron and Jason looked up to see his lawyer. “Justus.” He said, drawing the man’s attention to the table.

The dark lawyer turned and nodded before taking a seat across from his sapphire eyed client. “Hey, Jason, what do you need?”

“Well, first of all, thanks for meeting me on short notice.” Jason said as a cup of coffee was set in front of him.

“It’s no problem, really. I’m meeting Alexis Davis here in a couple of minutes anyway.”

His remark earned him a confusing look by the man sitting across from him and a surprised raise of the eyebrows. “Alexis? I know you’re both lawyers, Justus, but don’t take it the wrong way when I tell you that she doesn’t really seem to be your type.”

The lawyer chuckled and shook his head. “It’s not like that. We’re working together on a case for a couple. It’s nothing romantic.”

The spiky haired mob enforcer took a sip of the deep, black liquid in the mug. “If you say so, it’s really none of my business.”

“Okay, now that we’ve got my personal life, or lake of, whichever you prefer, out of the way, we can talk business. What do you and Sonny need?”

“Sonny wants you to draw up a few pieces of paperwork for him.”

~*~

Sam walked down the dark wooden staircase and grabbed they keys to the forest green jeep that Alcazar bought a few days after they’d arrived from Costa Rica. The metal chimed together softly and she heard Lorenzo’s feet move as he appeared in the doorway behind her.

“Where are you going?” he asked, taking out a section of the newspaper and opening it as he leaned his body back to settle against the door frame.

“You know, I’m starting to think that you ask that just to piss me off.  I’ve told you before that you don’t need to know where I go. I’m an adult woman, which revokes you of whatever right you think you have to keep an eye on me.”

The dark haired man continued to allow his eyes to travel over the stocks page in front of him. “Well, I’m just going to tell you that I’m going to be leaving to go back to Costa Rica in three hours. One of my employees will be staying here in case you need anything.”

The dark brunette turned wickedly and her brown eyes sparked fire. “So, you can’t handle it up here? Can’t handle that I’m not going to let you coddle me and instruct me with what I should do or need to do?” Sam didn’t know why the news that he was going back to Costa Rica got this reaction out of her, but it did. She knew that with him there, even though he had started to irritate her immensely, she felt a little less alone. That’s why I asked him to come back with me in the first place. That, and the fact that she loved him, in her own dark, cynical, monstrous way.

Lorenzo tossed the newspaper on the dining room table and walked up to the petite woman and cupped the side of her face in one of his calloused hands. Her first instinct was to pull away from his unwanted touch, if she’d wanted him to touch her, she’d have gone to him, but she didn’t. “Samantha, believe it or not, everything isn’t all about you. I’m going back because there is a civil war in the country and the fighting is getting closer to the compound.”

She moved away from his hand and stared into his cold blue eyes. “Oh, so you’ve got to go save your prison before it gets destroyed? Wow, I see that my well being isn’t as high on your priority list as that wonderful place you call home!”

His eyes flashed, with what she didn’t know, but then his lips covered hers in a violent, forceful kiss. He pulled back and stared her straight in her eyes once again. “Don’t pretend to care, Samantha. We both know you don’t, and we both know that you don’t love in the same way I love you.”

Chapter Sixty-One

Shortly after Alexis had entered the diner and she and Justus had found themselves a table across the room so they could discuss their clients’ case, Courtney walked in to get two cups of coffee. Her bodyguard stood just outside the door, keeping a close eye on her. Carly had sent the two of them to get the hot drink, claiming that she was low on caffeine and it was giving her a migraine. But, Max knew the real reason for the migraine and he wasn’t sure that it would help at all. Trust Carly to rely on coffee to make her problems go away. It’s a good think that it’s not alcohol, though.

The blond stepped up to the counter. “Hey Penny, could I get two coffees to go, please?” she asked as she laughed inwardly. Liz never fails to make Carly’s head hurt, does she?

Jason looked up from a section of newspaper he was reading before going to the warehouse to talk to Meyer. His blue eyes found his fiancé at the counter, and he heard her ask Penny for two cups of coffee. He set the newspaper down on the table and quietly crept up behind her, hoping to surprise the woman. For once in his life, the floor of the diner didn’t squeak and he positioned his hands just above her shoulders and his face near the back of the left side of her head.

“Don’t even think about it, Morgan,” he heard her say and he looked at her confusion. What the hell? Do women really have eyes in the back of their heads?

“How in the hell did you know I was behind you?” he asked her as she turned around to face him, a wide smile adorning her face. She chuckled and pointed over her shoulder and his bright eyes followed. The ‘window’ behind the counter led into the kitchen and the steal colored freezer directly across from it. In it, he could see his and her ‘reflection’ as they stood there.

“Remind me to tell Bobbie to move that freezer or buy one that’s a different color.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m sure she’ll do that just for you.”

The dark haired waitress behind the counter tapped Courtney on the shoulder and slipped two cardboard cups towards her. The blonde handed her the money and took the drinks, one in each hand.

“So, why do you need two cups of coffee, are you that tired?” Jason asked, a small teasing grin taking over his lips.

“Eh, no. Carly and I were at The Sequel building and she was showing me around when Ric came in with Elizabeth, with the intention of showing her the progress as well. She was about to kick them out, but I stopped her since Ric is her partner and he’d probably put up a fight anyway. So, she said that the ‘little witch’ was giving her a headache that only caffeine could cure so Max and I came here to get her some while Johnny promised to keep her under control.”

“I see. Well, knowing Carly and how Ric is, he may be dead by the time we get there.”

The blonde took the change Penny handed back to her and looked at the man in front of her with raised eyebrows. “We? Who’s we?”

“You, me and Max. I’ve got to go to the warehouse anyway so I can go with you two and drop in, just in case Carly leaves Ric’s body, or Elizabeth’s for that matter, lying around.”

Courtney smiled and shook her head, knowing full well that there was just a tiny possibility that Carly and Elizabeth could decide to tear each other apart and they might have to get rid of the brunette’s body, and Ric. Heh, I’ve got a feeling that if Carly was to get into a fight with Liz, she wouldn’t be the one we’d have to help. We’d have to keep her from throwing a party, most likely. She wouldn’t be too scared of getting caught. “Okay, let’s go, we don’t want to make the coffee princess wait too long. That’s not a wrath I want to endure.”

~*~

Sam stood on the roof of a building a couple hundred meters down from Port Charles’ favorite diner. It was pretty bright light outside, and normally she wouldn’t even think of doing something this risky during the day. But, these weren’t what she would call normal, logical or professional circumstances, they were personal. She wasn’t getting paid cash for what she was going to do, so all sense of playing by the unwritten hitman or assassin rules were out the window completely, besides ‘don’t get caught’.

The brunette woman crouched down low on the building top to be sure that she would have a clear view of anyone who stepped out of the one she was watching. The gun was removed from her pocket and cocked. She lay it on the small ledge in front of her, careful not to accidentally touch the trigger. Yeah, wouldn’t that just be hilarious, she asked herself sarcastically. Shoot myself before it even really got good.

She knew her former employers best friend and right hand man was inside the diner, she’d stood in the same position she was in now when he’d entered. And now, his girlfriend, or whatever she is, was inside as well, she knew that by the guard standing outside the door. Two birds with one stone, how sweet. I can almost taste it. I’ll just wait until they’re down the alley a bit and pull the trigger. Maybe I’ll have time to hit the guard, too.

~*~

Jason and the blond next to him walked out of the front doors and she handed him one of the cardboard cups as they turned towards Max. Jason took a sip of the rich liquid, even though he’d just enjoyed a cup himself.

“Hey, that’s Carly’s!” she said as she watched him take another drink.

“Oh well. If she has a problem with it, she can have the one you’re carrying and this one can be ours,” he responded, laughter in his voice as he pictured Carly freaking out over someone taking a drink of her precious coffee.

Courtney rolled her eyes and looked at the bodyguard, who was waiting for what they were going to do next and if he was still needed, since Jason was there. “Max, we’re going to go back to the club. I’ll ride with Jason and you can meet us there.”

The guard nodded and looked at his boss. He was tense now and his eyes had a suspicious glint to them. He’d seen that look many times before. Jason fixed Max with the cold blue eyes and nodded and he understood what Jason was trying to tell him. Something’s off, the brown haired man thought to himself. He tried not to let it show but as he met Courtney’s eyes, he knew that he wasn’t succeeding. He took her free hand in his and squeezed it as Max went to the other side of her and looked around carefully. The blonde sighed slowly, trying to calm her slightly racing heart. I don’t know what it is, but it’s obviously not good.

Max knew what to do if the tension broke: don’t worry about Jason and get Courtney the hell out of there. He saw his boss’ eyes search every building and the small area around them quickly. “Okay, act perfectly normal. If something is going on, we don’t want her to know we know.” Jason whispered softly.

The blond clenched her jaw and fought the human instinct to run. This time, it was her turn to squeeze his hand before he removed it from hers and took the gun from his waistband. Better get practice in before the wedding, she thought. She knew that they wouldn’t be able to avoid this, but she didn’t like the feeling of not having a clue where the person was, if Jason’s instincts were right on, which she was sure they were. Stay calm and let Jason focus.

The started to walk in the direction of the two SUV’s, acting as if they suspected nothing. Jason’s eyes continued to subtly search the tops of the buildings around the alley, looking for Samantha McCall, as his instincts told him that this was her, her first real attempt at revenge instead of playing her games.

As they neared the end of the alley, where it would meet the sidewalk and run into another more busy street, Courtney tensed as Jason moved from her side and a shot rang out across the alley.

Fate turns cruel

You’re on your knees

So desperate for one truth

Song Credit: ‘I Have Loved You’ by Jessica Simpson

Chapter Sixty Two

As soon as Max saw Jason begin to move, he’d grabbed Courtney and pulled her in an alley off to the side and pushed her to the ground. The guard covered her body with his own as a precaution, but he knew that they were not the ones being shot at. He’d seen Samantha a split second after Jason did and he’d seen his boss bring his gun up to shoot at her as he moved away. You have no idea what a big mistake you just made, the guard thought. Or maybe you do and you have a death wish.

Jason fired one last shot, he’d released three total, and stared above towards the roof top she’d been on moments before. He’d seen her, crouched low over the ledge with a gun pointed straight at them and his mind couldn’t keep up with his body’s instincts. Before he could form a coherent thought, he’d had the gun out in the open and had fired at her, but she was quick. He knew that she hadn’t fired her gun at all, but that didn’t matter. She was going to and she wasn’t about to give her the chance, especially was aimed in Courtney’s direction. Jason couldn’t tell if he’d hit her, but he had come dangerously close to it. She’d moved just as he pulled the trigger, moving under the ledge before running, still low to the floor of the roof, and that was when he’d fired the extra two. She’s good, I’ll give her that, but she doesn’t seem to be as smart Sonny’s said she is. She’ll screw up again and since she was aiming in Courtney’s direction, we’ll definitely be meeting again.

The thought of Sam having the nerve to get that close and even prepare to take a shot at them made him nauseous. All of this because your sister fell in love with Sonny when she knew that he still loved Carly? Is it really that important? That and the fact that you let your emotions get involved when you knew that your stepfather and your boss were on opposite sides?

Jason shook his head and turned to the alley, where he saw Max and Courtney rising carefully from the ground. The two cups of coffee were dumped on the ground, one he’d thrown when his other hand brought the cold, black weapon into view and the other Max had taken from the blond swiftly and tossed it also so that when he pushed her to the ground, the piping hot liquid wouldn’t burn her.

Before words could leave his mouth, Lucky Spencer came around the counter and into the alley, dressed in full police uniform. “I heard gunshots,” he said, eyeing the mob enforcer and Max suspiciously. He didn’t expect either of them to admit it if there had been an exchange of gunfire, but it was his duty as a part of the PCPD to ask.

Jason rolled his eyes and looked at Max, but before he could answer the statement, Courtney spoke. “It wasn’t gunfire, Lucky. Some teenagers were setting off those stupid thunder bombs and we were headed out of Kelly’s at the time. Max yelled at them and they took off,” she finished with a glance at Jason. She knew his only response would have been “I don’t know,” or something around those lines, and frankly, she knew that Lucky wouldn’t be too nosy about it if she were the one giving the explanation. If Jason said something, the young cop would continue to question all three of them.

“Should have known. We ha to take some kids home from the park the other day for setting off ten at a time and causing some parents of little kids to get pretty ticked. School’s about to start soon so I guess they’ve got to have all the fun they can before summer ends,” he replied, throwing a glance at Jason before walking inside the diner a few feet away.

Jason looked at Courtney, ignoring what had just happened, and asked “Are you okay?” He was more worried about her reaction to the situation that had just occurred than anything. They’d avoided this until now, and he couldn’t tell her that this would be the last time, either. He never would.

Courtney nodded. “The shooting didn’t bother me. My uncle hunted every Christmas and sometimes we’d visit him so I could hear his gun go off from the house. I’m used to it.” She paused and looked into his blue eyes, which glowed with his concern for her. He hated it as much as I did. “What I didn’t like was the wondering and waiting for something to happen, even if it wasn’t that long of a wait. It sent chills up my spine.”

Jason reached for her and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his muscular waist and held him as closely to her as she could. “That was one of the most frightening things in the world, just waiting for something bad to happen and not knowing when it would,” she said, her lips moving against the fabric of his soft cotton t-shirt.

He closed his eyes and leaned his chin against the top of her head, wanting with every fiber of his being to make it so the last fifteen minutes had never happened. That when they’d walked out that door and all three headed towards the waiting vehicles, they could have just kept walking without any disturbance, but he couldn’t. “I know, Courtney, and I’m sorry that it scared you. I wish it hadn’t happened now, but I can’t promise that it won’t again, or that if it does, it won’t be worse…”

She heard him and he was telling her things she already knew; that there was a risk and danger in being involved in his life and it varied in how bad it got. And, she was willing to take those risks and cope with whatever danger would come their way, because she loved him that much, and more; he was worth it. But, that didn’t mean that she had to like it.

“Jason, I know that,” she told him as she pulled away from him. “I was scared, but I’m okay now. It’s over with and we’ve got to get over it. I don’t like it, but I can deal with it.”

He knew that she was right, but he also knew that it was going to be easier said than done, for the first time in his life. This rivaled most of the times he’d been angry at someone, and he was certain that it was one of the times he’d been the most scared.

Chapter Sixty Three

A deep sigh escaped his lips before he looked to the guard standing next to them. “I’ve got to hurry and go straight to the warehouse now, and tell Sonny what just happened. I want you and Courtney to go back to the club and then take both her and Carly to the penthouse and don’t let them leave. I don’t care what Carly tries to pull, don’t let her out. I’ll send Marco over, too, when I get to the warehouse just to be sure.”

Max nodded. “Got it.”

Jason turned to Courtney, who was relaxing a bit more as time was passing. “Can you help them both with Carly if she starts going crazy, tie her to a chair or something?”

“Yeah, we’ll be okay, you go talk to Sonny and we’ll go back to the penthouse,” she responded, silently wishing that he was taking her back to the loft and staying with her, but she knew that he had to take care of the situation.

“I’ll be back to get you as soon as I can, okay?” He pulled her into another tight hug before the three of them made the short walk to the waiting SUV’s.

~*~

Sam made it to the grounds of Lorenzo Alcazar’s lake house and saw her new babysitter, one of the coffee exporter’s employees, go back into the house. Yeah, go back in so I can get into the house easier. Carefully, she touched the upper part of her shoulder where a cut bled, not deep, but also not just the run of the mill flesh wound. One of Morgan’s bullets had grazed her shoulder, and although it had caught her a bit off guard, she’d managed to keep running and not worry about it, even when she made her way off the roof and into the waiting Jeep.

She pulled her fingers away from the wound and looked at the blood on her fingers. You’ll have to wait and see if you’re going to last, Morgan. I plan on upping the stakes, now. I won’t be hiding when Sonny gets his, I’ll make sure he knows I’m coming.

~*~

Jason walked right in to Sonny’s office at one of the warehouses to find his boss at his desk and their accountant, Meyer, in front of it. Not even caring that Sonny was in the middle of a meeting, he said, “We need to talk.”

Sonny heard the bitter seriousness in Jason’s voice and saw it on his face, so he didn’t both to delay. Something had happened and it was bad, his stomach telling him that it had something to do with Sam. “Okay, Meyer, just draw up the check and have it sent to Father Coates.”

The accountant nodded and headed towards the door as Jason watched him leave. As soon as the man shut the door behind him, Sonny rose to his feet. “What the hell is going on, you look like you’re about to kill someone.”

“I almost did.”

Sonny looked at him questioningly. Now what? “Who?”

“Sam,” Jason replied levelly, pretty sure about what would be coming out of his boss’ mouth next.

“Excuse me? You’re telling me that you almost killed Sam? Why?”

“Because when Max, Courtney and I walked out of Kelly’s, I got a feeling that someone was there. I looked around for a couple minutes but didn’t see her so we started walking towards the cars so we could get back to Carly’s new club before I cam here, but then I saw her on top of a building. She had a gun pointed at us so I took mine out and fired three shots at her. She ran, I’m not sure if I hit her or not.”

The dark eyed mob boss ran a hand over the features of his face in frustration. What the hell was he thinking, shooting someone in the middle of the day, especially Sam? “When we discussed this, didn’t I tell you not to shoot her, not matter what, especially not to hit her?”

Jason looked at his boss as if he were crazy. “She had the gun aimed at me, Courtney and Max, Sonny! What the hell do you want me to do, line all of us up and let her pick us off one by one? Sorry, I don’t think so.”

“It’s broad daylight, Jason! You don’t know that she was going to shoot you. Why would she be that stupid and take the chance of getting caught in the middle of the day when she could do it at night? Besides, how can you be sure that it was a gun, hmm? She could have been looking through binoculars or something.”

“So, what, I should have yelled at her and asked her if she had a gun and expect her to tell me the truth? And, she wouldn’t need binoculars from up there, she would be able to see fine.”

“You don’t know that. I tell you not to shoot at her if you see her and you do it anyway. I don’t know if you just don’t understand this or what. I can not let you kill her or shoot at her.”

The blue eyed man’s eyes sparked fire as he stepped towards his boss, rage building in him. “If I feel that someone I love and care about is in danger, I will do whatever I can to protect them. You know that, I do it for you all the time, that’s my job!”

“But, you did not know she was in danger, Jason.”

“Yes, I did.”

“How?” Sonny asked, challenging the man standing in front of him.

Jason squinted his eyes and stared right back at him defensively. “How? You know how, the same way I know ‘how’ when you are in danger.”

Sonny walked away from his best friend and back around behind his desk and let out another deep sigh. This was something that Jason could not take care of, something that he would have to do himself, without his best friend around. He slowly looked back up at him. “You don’t know her, Jason. And, you just could have screwed this up, and I can’t let you do it. She’s not what you would consider a ‘normal’ enemy, especially when she’s out for revenge for two different reasons.” He paused, knowing what he had to do, but not wanting to. I’ve got to do this how I want and I need to do it, he’d just get in my way. “I can’t handle this in the same way we normally would, for reasons you already know and others that wouldn’t make sense to you or anyone else if I tried to explain them. So, right now, you’re fired until I can resolve this situation.”

Jason felt as if he were waking up after being knocked unconscious. What the hell? “You can’t fire me, Sonny. Who would protect you from her?”

“Jason, I know how to protect myself. I did it before you ever met me and I can do it again. Don’t argue with me, I know what I’m doing when it comes to her and I don’t need you going around shooting at her. It’s not a permanent situation.”

He couldn’t say anything back to him. He thought that Sonny was being too lenient with Sam, and he couldn’t believe that he’d just argued with him over the fact that he’d shot at her to protect his fiancé. Jason shook his head in disbelief.

“Just go back to the loft and stay away from the warehouses and the Towers. Think of it as an extended vacation and enjoy some time with Courtney. You two can see the boys and Carly, and you can still look out for them if you want, but not professionally, as usual. Nothing’s changed, you’re just not working and it will just be until I get this done and over with.”

“Sonny, this isn’t a good idea. You know it, and I know it. How do you honestly think that you can resolve this on your own? People are going to notice.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not kidding Jason. Don’t make me do something drastic.”

Jason was defeated, and he was tired of arguing, but he had no intention of just letting all of this go by for long. He may be ‘fired’ temporarily, but it wouldn’t be like that too much. He would act like it, but he would be doing just like he did when Sonny had had those breakdowns, checking with Meyer and the other guards to make sure everything was still being run smoothly. He didn’t like doing this, but Sonny was leaving him no choice.

“Courtney’s at the penthouse,” he said, since Sonny had just told him to stay away from Harborview Towers, which wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t going to be ‘working’, he didn’t really live at his penthouse anymore, anyway.

Sonny nodded. “Okay, I’ll have Johnny, Max and Marco take her home. Just, take this as it is, Jason and use the ‘vacation’ time. You know it will never happen again.”