This story has been in the pipeline for a very long time and I'm thrilled to finally start posting it. Thanks to BlueBlood82 and her awesome dad for the feedback on this one!

Please leave a review, they make us happy, not only to know our story is hopefully being enjoyed, but to take any criticism and use it to improve our writing. :)

This story takes part in the 'One of Our Own' universe in between 'Laugh Often, Love Much' and 'Waiting on You' when Eddie and Jamie are still newlyweds (a full listing of the stories in this universe has been added to my profile page). Most of the story takes place approx. six months after their wedding. An incident from 'Laugh Often, Love Much' is the trigger for the events in this story, so I would recommend reading that first just so that it makes sense, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Chapter 1

Eric Weller followed the young woman who had accompanied him home around his small apartment as she searched for her scattered belongings. "Come on, sweetie. There's no reason for you to go. Spend the night with me," he pleaded, giving her his signature puppy dog eyes. "I'll make it worth your while," he promised seductively as he reached for the brunette's tiny waist.

The coed giggled, but slid out of his grasp and placed a well manicured hand against her new acquaintance's bare chest. "You already did, Eric, but I really gotta go. I have a full day of classes tomorrow," she said with an exaggerated pout. "I had fun, though. Maybe we can hook up this weekend?"

Eric sighed in disappointment. "Alright."

"See ya," the woman said with a quick kiss to his lips before walking out the apartment door.

"Yeah...see you later," Eric said as he watched her sachet down the hall, stopping short of saying her name as he realized he wasn't certain of what it was.

Eric closed the door behind Sarah...or was it Sandy? He shrugged and rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. It was highly unlikely he'd get any girl to spend the night if he didn't learn their names first. He was getting a little tired of waking up alone every morning; Eric was a player by nature, but these days, that was starting to feel really old. Who would of thought the day would come that he, of all people, would have any sort of yearning to settle down? In the end, though, old habits were hard to break and Eric was never one to put a lot of effort into breaking the ones that even he knew had to go.

Resigned to fact that he'd be solo again tonight, Eric eyed his tiny one bedroom apartment with disdain before heading over to the couch. He lit up the joint he'd shared earlier with Sarah-Sandy and took a long drag, holding it in for several long moments until he began to feel himself relax again. Eric slowly blew out a breath as he let his head roll back...yeah, this was one of those old habits that were really hard to break, but this was nothing compared to some of the other things he'd gotten into before. Eric placed the joint back in the ashtray, trading it for his trusty laptop as he reclined against the back of the sofa in a comfortable slouch, balancing the computer across his lap as he waited for it to start up. It was sad, he thought. When he got lonely, he'd resort to scouring the internet for news from back home. He would soak in any articles he could get online just to see what was happening back in his hometown, missing the city and the life he had there every single day.

His life these days consisted of mindless work managing a chain restaurant where he had no real say in how to run the place, obligated to work under strict corporate guidelines, and random hookups with any coed he could charm with his big city talk. And sometimes that got boring considering how easy it was. Life in a small college town left a lot to be desired for a savvy guy like him, as far as he was concerned. There were no real thrills and challenges. That, along with the fact that he now had no contact with his family, sometimes made him feel like he was close to saying the hell with all of it; he'd come very close to doing just that several times already.

Eric's foggy brain was slow to realize his computer was up and running between the weed and the pity party going on in his head, but he was quick to bring up the first site he had bookmarked on the browser: The New York Post. He always felt a little closer to home when he read the Post. Eric casually ran a hand through his wavy hair as the site loaded, but froze suddenly when a familiar face popped up on the home page.

"Holy crap," Eric whispered as he sat up. The marijuana haze quickly evaporated leaving him stone cold sober and staring into the blue eyes of someone he once considered a friend but turned out to be nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Eric skimmed the headline and the inset, his eyes then focusing back on his one-time buddy. "Jameson Reagan...so that's your real name," Eric whispered to himself as he clicked the link to the day's front page story. He couldn't read it fast enough, his eyes widening further when the story claimed he was the son of the city's police commissioner. "You've gotta be freaking kidding me!"

Jameson Reagan was getting married, but Eric skimmed over the parts about his bride and his soon to be father-in-law's white collar crimes, more interested in learning all he could about the man that had once saved his life. "So you go by Jamie," he mumbled as he read on, laughing humorlessly as he thought of his cover.

When he was done, Eric cursed himself. He'd been right when he told him he'd recognized him that first night at the bar. He never forgot a face, but he had forgotten where he had seen his particular face and he doubted this was the first time the son of New York's Police Commissioner was splashed across the pages of a major city paper.

Now that he new his real name, Eric entered it into the search engine on the Post's website, surprised at the number of stories that popped up. He clicked on the first link and realized this was it. It came back to him now, this was the newspaper article he'd seen with Jamie Reagan's departmental photo on the cover after he chased some gang banger into Chinatown traffic.

Eric got lost in it all, clicking on link after link, running a wider search on Jameson Reagan and his career with the NYPD, finding an almost endless amount of information and images - a Harvard-educated lawyer turned cop who graduated at the top of his academy class as the youngest son of the sitting PC, the investigation into that Chinatown accident, suspensions for misconduct, injuries sustained after he was targeted by some nut job with a grudge against cops and a jewelry store heist and hostage situation amongst others. It was a lot to take in, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Jamie Reagan's whole adult life, both personal and professional were fully available to him on the internet. As a member of New York City Police royalty, he and his family were constant fodder for an endless number of local blogs and gossip sites...he couldn't get enough.

Eric sat back, rubbing his burning, tired eyes after staring at the screen for what felt like hours as a sudden wave of anger overcame him. He was sitting in some ratty apartment in Hicktown, Colorado, separated from his family, forced to leave his growing business and the great life he had built for himself in New York City, and all because he was duped by some stupid baby-faced cop?

Much like everything else in his life, he lay the blame for his misfortune on others. And all he could think about right now was that Jamie Reagan was leading a seemingly charmed life, getting ready to marry the love of his life and live happily ever after while he led a miserable existence hidden away in the sticks of middle America. He went against his family to save himself and for what, to live in hell anyway? He might have been better off taking his chances with his murderous family.

And like with all who dared to cross Noble Sanfino, Jamie Reagan now became the sole focus of his wrath, determined to give Officer Jimmy a little payback.