Thanks to all who have been reviewing. This was written so that I didn't have to deal with the story on screen. As a mother of a three year old, what GH is doing and why they are doing it is just pathetic. Now on to my comments.

There will be more on the Skye/Carly friendship, tossing Claudia and Brenda in there as well. BTW, right now, I am having serious Carly hate, so please imagine Tamara Braun or even Kelley Hensley in the role.

There will be no Jaxxie romantic relationship, I was a bit surprised when some of you thought I was going there, then reread my scenes with them. While it won't happen here, I might mess with that at a later date in another story. Jax is going to be with Skye, while Dante will end up with Maxie.

Those cars I wrote about, they do exist. We saw one at Neiman Marcus a few years ago, almost fifty thousand for a toy car that was a copy of a Vette. The real Italian Supercars I wrote about, the Pagani Zonda and the Bugatti Veyron really exist and are frequently featured on my husbands newest fav show Top Gear on BBC.

Now, on with the next chapter.

Chapter Six

Georgie looked at the old man in front of her, she could see that he was serious but had no intention of discussing her relationship with his son. "Sir, while I appreciate that you are here, trying to get to know me, what is between John and I, is just that, between us."

"I get that, I just know that John tends to be single-minded about things, I also know that my son has shown more emotion during the last week or so than he had in the last four years." he told her somberly. "Claudia insisted that there was more to it than losing his mother, I thought she was wrong. I wish I had challenged him about it."

Georgie took a sip of her sweet tea, then said "Like John and I, you can't change the past. Can I ask you a question?"

Seeing her expression, the curious cross between anger and fear, he said "Of course."

"Why on earth would John believe you were so angry with him after his mother's death that he would flee the country? What did you say that broke him so badly." she asked giving him a fierce glare. "It makes no sense."

"I honestly didn't mean to hurt my son." Anthony's mind went back to the day Maria was found on the side of the road and said "When my wife slipped into a coma, John overheard me talking to this doctor, a specialist in Internal medicine. He was unaware that his mother was having some medical problems, we had kept it from the kids."

Sighing in regret, he continued. "John overheard something that day that led him to believe I blamed him for her running out of gas on the road. I didn't, but I knew something was festering underneath his skin. I was so consumed by my grief, so lost, I never found the courage to talk to him about it. When Maria woke up, it was like the last nine months had never happened. We had never discussed it."

"Your wife didn't want to know what had gone on while she was unconscious?" she asked doubting that one.

"She did, but I kept putting off answering her. I was ashamed of my actions and the children were trying to protect her from hearing about how we had fallen apart. The morning I woke up with Maria, her feet were cold; I turned over to tease her..."

"Sir, you don't have to tell me." Georgie felt horrible when she saw him wiping away a tear.

"NO, no, its fine, I think it might help you understand John a bit." he said then reached out for the hand on the table. Clasping it he continued. "She was cold to the touch, I knew, I just knew she was gone. I fell in love with my wife almost the moment I met her. Even today, I feel her, here."

When she felt his heart beat, she found herself wanting to cry. "No, don't cry. I know that someday I will be lucky enough to rejoin her. I also know that in my grief, I hurt my son. Claudia was tough; she seemed almost resigned to her mother's death. John, I think took it harder. He came into the bedroom when the ambulance arrived, to convince me to leave... I yelled at him. Even to this day, I don't recall what was exactly said though; I don't think my son has ever forgotten."

"He hasn't." she said.

"When John came back from Italy, he was angry, cold. We boxed around each other, not really saying what needed to be said until my daughter pushed it. Then after we had what I had thought at the time was a very honest talk, John took a quick trip back to Italy, then returned home. Different."

"I don't understand." she said confused.

"John went to Italy in May full of anger and pain, but you could see it, came home shut down. He was cold, disconnected. He uh, he got involved with this woman we worked with on occasion. Later I overheard her complaining to Claudia about him. She had always made it plain she was interested. Suddenly he took her up on her offer. I think she was convinced she had finally got what she wanted; John went to our casino in Vegas. Came home, I guess it was their second meeting or whatever..."

Anthony had almost skipped telling Georgie this part but he got the idea it might help her understand why John had done what he had. "It was ugly. She led him to think it was a dinner date, he arrived at the restaurant and she was having a party. Tried to introduce him as her boyfriend, he publicly flayed her. John walked out after making it very clear to all there that he was only using her for sex."

With a sigh he continued. "There was this sense of invulnerability to him. He was ice cold, and then he started to feel sick. At the time I was glad, it sounds nuts but until he threw up that day in the boardroom, I had begun to worry about his mental state."

"He told me, I think he was suffering my morning sickness and such." she said lamely. "I was remarkably healthy during my pregnancy and had an extremely easy birth."

"I have heard of sympathy pains." he replied. "A couple of the specialists we called in said that if he was a woman they would had diagnosed him as being pregnant."

"I know, I also know about the Doctor/stalker woman he slept with the night I was giving birth to our son." she said only slightly less bitter. While she was dealing with his having been engaged to 'Luna', that was the one that truly felt like acid being dumped on her heart.

"Maybe you had better tell me." he said then hearing her unwillingness at first, he thought back to that blond woman, then why John had been at the hospital that day. Mentally cursing as he got what was causing most of the problems with the younger couple, he tried to think what Maria would have done if they had been in that situation.

Grimacing because his hot headed wife would have removed his gentleman's sausage, he found himself feeling bad for both of them. This was one that only time would heal, time and John helping Georgie heal. "Why don't we head back? I am not as young as I used to be and honestly driving that car my daughter wanted, gave me a rush I haven't felt in years."

Georgie stood then went to pay the check only for Anthony to laugh. "Georgie stop, the gentleman looking uncomfortable in that three piece suit; it is his job to take care of things like that. He is my valet, my driver and most importantly my money handler. I discovered years ago, I don't have the patience for waiting in lines. Marie took care of it when she was alive, then I talked Thomas into working for me when John came home."

When they arrived back at the hotel, Georgie used the key that Anthony had given her to let herself into the suite. John was reading one of Antonio's books while their son was fast asleep on the matching sofa, she put down the card and her purse onto the table in front of him.

Looking up, he was surprised when Georgie leaned down and kissed him before taking the book away she said "How long did you have to read to him?"

"I didn't." he said then admitted. "I saw how worn this book was and figured out it was one of his favorites. I wanted to know what it was about."

Looking over at a sleeping Antonio, she said "Sorry about this."

"Sorry about what?" he asked only to smile when she curled up next to him and laid her head down on his lap. "Are we a bit tired?"

"Yes, plus I ache, I did when I woke up this morning. I feel like I ran a marathon last night, or like we went a lot further than we really did." she said then yawning started to fall asleep.

"We could move this to bedroom, you could stretch out and be a whole lot more comfortable." he offered only to hear her sort of muffled no as she answered him on her way to dreamland. "Not fair, I was the one you kept up all night. Literally."

Easing out from underneath her, he tucked one of the pillows from the chair beneath her head. Checked the door lock then turned off both of their cell phones before moving back to the sofa. Soon joining her in a nap, John's last thought before falling asleep was that he could get very used to this.

Back in Port Charles, Claudia smirked at the man she saw talking to Jasper Jacks. Waiting until the tall Aussie had left; she walked up, slapped the man across the face and said "Well, well, Mr. Craig. How nice to see you again, you slimy piece of crap."

The well dressed man winced then said "Ms. Zachara, how are you? How long has it been, a couple of months?"

"You know damn well how long it has been. You were committing industrial espionage for the Jacks Corporation. I can't believe that you thought you would get away with it." she fumed as she recalled how angry she had been."

"Well darlin, I hate to disappoint you, but Jax had already made a bid on that project, long before the two of us enjoyed carnal knowledge of one another. Now be nice, I came to Port Charles, to help you out. Well, Jax and I will tell you what I know, for old time's sake." he said his eyes traveling down the length of her very attractive body.

"There is nothing you could say that would interest me." she said scornfully.

"Really, then you won't care that Laura Spencer has teamed up with Ric Lansing, possibly the sleaziest attorney in town next to her ex-husband Scott Baldwin." he said starting to walk away until he felt her hand grip his arm tightly. Turning he said "Laura had her current husband Luke Spencer committed, she now has ownership of the Haunted Star and has put it up on the auction block, along with his half of the diner here in town."

"Why would she do that?" asked Claudia. "Why would Lansing be interested in helping her?"

"Simple, she has defunct ownership papers for half of Deception Cosmetics; she used them to get a loan from the bank a few years ago, mainly on the building that was its headquarters. The company also owns the patent for something called lip plumper. When Lucy Coe and she closed the company down, it was worthless but now, Jax Enterprises has a use for it. Laura wants to buy the Coe women out before she gets word."

"Why would this interest me, we have no interest in that area." she said giving him a top lofty smirk.

"The Deception building, its the one right next to where you broke ground on the casino you no longer have any use for." he offered up. Claudia stopped yet again from walking away as she finally got what he was trying to say. "Thank you, James. Now I would appreciate it if you would tell me why you are suddenly offering up your help."

"I used to be engaged to Bobbie Spencer, her sister-in-law. I left town under terrible circumstances and I owe her. One hand washes the other; you got my help, now I want you to help Bobbie. If Sonny Corinthos tries to buy into the diner, I need you to stop him." he replied.

"Corinthos, he is a restaurateur, why would he be interested in a diner more noted for food poisoning than anything else." she asked then it hit her. "Rumors, there are rumors he is interested in opening up a line of coffee shops. Sort of Sonnybucks."

"Plus he wanted Carly Alcazar when she was engaged to AJ Quartermaine, the blond who seduced the man. It was his sister." he told her.

"My you are just a fountain of information." she replied then stated. "Why didn't you ask your brother to help out your ex-fiancee?"

"Bobbie would refuse it. You have a connection to your brother's girl friend that you can use as an excuse. Georgie Jones used to work there until she bitch slapped Lulu Spencer into next week while they were still in high school." Seeing her eyes narrowing he added "It isn't quite the secret you think it is. You should be worried because all the terrible things Lulu has done over the years to the Jones girls, it goes back to Laura's loathing for three women. Her sister in law, Bobbie who is their Aunt, their biological mother Felicia and Alexis Davis."

Thinking on what the bartender had told her brother about Lulu and that incident, she decided to go home and take a look at the notes he had made after talking to the owner of Jake's. Make sure that there wasn't anything else they missed. Small town gossip was always important when you were doing business with the people.

Ignoring James Craig, she hurried home, finding John's notes. Grateful for her brother's neat script she read through everything, including her old school pal Skye's connection to the Spencer family. Gagging a bit at finding out she had slept with Luke Spencer while drunk, and how Laura had attacked her publicly over it. Finally she found the hidden gem, smiling as she went online and looked at the photo; Claudia let out a little chuckle then made a call.

"Jax, we need to talk about some business." When the Aussie showed up, she said down and said "If you will contact this Lucy Coe, I will help save this diner from Corinthos."

"I already contact Lucy through my ex-girlfriend Brenda Barrett who used to model for her. Lucy agreed to sell her half to me. I have also spiked the sale of the boat for a bit, so that Laura can't buy her shares back from the bank."

"How is the bank involved, rather how much is it involved for?"

"Laura put up all of her shares a few years ago, the building is the only thing worth anything. I am looking into which of my employees leaked the top secret information about the research and development news. I gather you want the building, what about the formula?"

"You can have it. I want the property next to our construction site. You might want to check into a man by the man of James Craig, he seems to always be-"

Jax sighed and interrupted. "If this is about the Canadian deal, we really did have it already in the bag. James by the way, is a name my brother uses when he travels. He mentioned being involved with you at one point. I am sorry but I stopped apologizing for his womanizing ways a long time ago. He is what he is."

Looking at Jax as he simply shrugged who his brother was off, she said "I don't want an apology. I did believe he went after my business secrets, however I have never known you to deal from the bottom of the deck, so I had my doubts as to the why."

Jax nodded, then said "Do you want me to have Alexis draw up the papers or would you prefer a different attorney since Alexis and I are old friends?"

"No, that is fine. I trust Diane and her." she replied. "I do have to ask, does your friend know of your interest in her daughter?"

Jax looked at her thinking she was nuts for a second then he got what she was going on about.

"Maxie and I understand each other. There is nothing more to it." he replied. Then saw her concern. "If you did any research into Lulu Spencer you know that she literally lives for her mother's approval, craves it, will do anything to get it."

"Yes, until she met this Logan Hayes." she answered rather grateful for the blond Texan whose relationship with Lulu was why the Spencer family couldn't sue them for breach of promise.

"That was a shock, to a lot of people, for a lot of reasons." Jax stood then walked over to the window. "Lulu had lied to her mother, told her that she had been assured prom queen was in the bag. Laura went out, bought this overly elaborate dress for a seventeen year old. When the court was announced before the big dance, Lulu was one of the nominees, but so were both of the Jones girls. Most figured Maxie would be the winner of the two sisters, including Lulu."

"Why not just tell her mother the truth?" asked Claudia. She had no knowledge of this stuff, she had attended a local girls school, at her own request from the time she was fourteen. "Why do what she did to Maxie?"

"Lulu might not have expected him to do it, she did only ask him to help her make it look true. Too bad this Kyle kid had his own issues after a run in with Mac Scorpio while drunk driving. Maxie was so excited to be his date, they were to go out to dinner, instead he made a big deal of telling her he had cooked them dinner at his house."

"He drugged her?" asked the Italian started to get the big picture.

"Yes, but there was no proof, most people believed Maxie, but it didn't change anything. There were still films of her on the Internet. I didn't find out about how bad it was until I overheard Lucas Jones and Dillon Hornsby talking."

"And yet I gather that things still went wrong for Lulu?" Claudia had no real feelings outside of business regarding the blond before meeting her brother's lady but now she would like nothing more than to rip the blond hairs out of the girl's head.

"Yes, Georgie, who had skipped a couple of grades over the years, wasn't loud or as forward as the two blonds, but she had made a lot of friends over the years with some very diverse groups. They were at the dance, Georgie with Dillon and Lulu with some young man her mother had told her to ask because she said he was the perfect foil for her blondness. Laura's words by the way in the police report when this was investigated."

"What happened next?" She couldn't help being fascinated by this story, it sounded so Lifetime Movie to her.

"I was there, with Alexis, Mac couldn't chaperone and Alexis used emotional blackmail to get my help. They invited the court up, one by one. I can still recall how loud and wild it was. There were two other girls, one Brook Ashton wearing this gothic black number and her mother and Tracy being furious."

"Scott Baldwin's daughter Serena was next. Serena was this shy and quiet girl who was friendly with Georgie. She had on this sort of hoop number in blue. Then Lulu who was wearing like I said this white strapless number shot through with sequins and her hair was pulled up like she was expecting the crown."

"When they called Georgie's name, I saw Lulu's face. She was pissed when there was a larger response to her name than to Lulu's. Finally they called out Maxie's. There was an announcement that if Maxie wasn't there and her name was on the sheet of paper the award would go to the first runner up." said Jax feeling sad at what happened next.

"The entire Spencer family was there, Lucky with a camera, taping things, Laura talking to a reporter she had invited. Lulu was vying for the Miss Port Charles title with Maxie yet again in a few weeks and Laura had been buttering up the press who had a vote. The Principal announced that Maxie's absence didn't matter that she hadn't won. I could see Georgie felt bad for her sister but then she almost passed out when the man said that the winner was Georgianna Jones. Though, being called by her full name seemed to revive her."

"I gather the Spencers didn't react very well." she said dryly.

"That would be wrong. Luke alienated his wife that night by clapping and whooping it up then telling his daughter not to be so upset, that she was still in the court. His kid, well Lucky always was a bit of an oddball, he just stopped taping and told his mother he had a date, then left."

"What about Lulu?" she asked certain the girl had to have gone ballistic.

"She just stood there, stunned watching the crown being lowered on an astonished Georgie's head. Alexis was moaning that she had wished she had thought to bring a camera; I was using my cell phone when things went insane. Laura charged the stage then demanded a recount of the votes and proceeded to make an ass of herself as she screamed she wanted the crown. Georgie was a class act though, she just hugged the other two who had lost, then tried to do the same to Lulu when Laura caught up to her and ripped the crown off her head."

"What?" asked Claudia laughing in spite of herself as she pictured this in her head.

"Oh yes, she was hauled off by security. Georgie however was understanding and when people tried to shun Lulu for her mother's actions, she insisted on Dillon dancing with the girl while she danced with the boy who had been crowned king. I don't remember his name, just lots of girls squealing when he won." Jax shook his head.

"Then there were a group of boys off in the corner, Alexis and I thought they were watching a porno and she confiscated it but not before they destroyed access." Jax felt sick as he recalled the whispers and then the laughter in the dark corners of the ballroom.

"What a way to learn what was going on." said Claudia feeling bad for all involved.

"By that time, there were rumors, then Kyle showed up half drunk, demanding his money from Lulu saying he had done what she had asked him to do." he told her. "When she sobbed that it hadn't been enough, that she should have had him take care of Georgie, not Maxie. Georgie found out what was going on from Lucas who had heard about it from a couple of the guys. They found Maxie at the boy's house, there weren't enough of the drugs in her system to press charges. He was charged with a misdemeanor but since that day, Maxie has had mainly a whole lot of first dates."

"What, that was high school, wasn't it?" she demanded. "Why would she give this young man so much power over her?"

"Jason Morgan and I had our computer experts get it off the Internet, Edward Q as well. But there are still people who remember and then there is Lucky Spencer. Maxie had a crush on him while she was a teenager. This part goes no further than us." he said while looking down. "Not even her sister knows."

"What did Spencer do?" she asked.

"Maxie went off to college; Georgie went to college here for couple of years until Dillon fell for Lulu's supposed charms and ended up in her bed. When Georgie went off to school in Italy as a senior, Maxie had finished design school. She had worked for a designer and had done some parts modeling to save up the money to own her own shop. Add that to what she inherited from her biological grandparents and she was able to do so. Lucky came sniffing around, she fell for his lies."

"And ended up dating him?" she asked a bit surprised.

"Worse, Lucky was a cop at the time, Maxie had no idea of his drug habit and had been leaving him alone in her shop. He was fired from the department when word got out he was using other people's credit card numbers to scam money and support his drug habit. When the State Police tracked down the credit cards, the only store all of them had in common."

"Was Buttons and Bows?" she said sadly. "Was he sleeping with her as well?"

"Yes that is the part that she doesn't want anyone to know. She had finally given in to his pressure. When he got clean, he apologized, he even paid back restitution, but it did a number on her reputation."

"He is an ass." she said frowning a more. "I am shocked her father didn't run him out of town."

"Mac was asked not to by Maxie. She feels partially at fault. She has no confidence, none. I will say in all honesty, if she was about five years older, I would date her. She is a very lovely, intelligent young lady. But she is still barely 25 and I am over forty. Too much of an age gap."

"If you have feelings for her, why not try?" she asked thinking her parents had been almost that many years apart.

"Too much life experience." he replied ruefully. "Besides, until Skye slept with Luke we were working on something, something I would like to explore more of. When she made it clear she wasn't going to date for a year while she got sober, I backed off. A year is up in twelve days."

"You dog." she exclaimed. "You do know she thinks you only want to be friends, don't you?"

"Yes, I let her think that, for her emotional, mental and physical well being. I made a point of dating a lot of high profile women to get her to relax around me. Thankfully the high maintenance dating is over." he replied with a grin. "Maxie might not be too happy, since I have been spending a lot of money to keep them happy."

"What about Maxie, are you going to keep flirting with her?" she asked her eyes narrowing.

"Maxie and my flirting is nothing, we both know it, so yes, and I am going to unless Skye objects. However Morgan has been maneuvering Dante into her purview, mainly at the request of the man." Jax wasn't so sure about the detective, mainly because he really was a bit too quiet.

"I wonder if that is why he refused to let me hire him the other day." she murmured. "He said he was friends with the two sisters."

"He is, now I have a question for you." he asked his arms crossing and a glare turning up on his face. "Is your brother the man that abandoned Georgie in Italy? Got her pregnant and fled?"

Seeing the ice in his eyes, she said "Yes but it wasn't on purpose. Neither had really confided in me, but they are together right now. Trying to get this straightened out."

"Good, because Georgie has not been the same since she returned. Alexis had her suspicions and went to her nephew Nik to have John researched, I believe Maxie did the same with Dante, hell I am surprised Robin didn't call in the WSB on him." he replied then gave her an innocent expression when he saw her confusion and surprise.

"Oh, you didn't know, Robin's father and mother are agents. Your poor brother should be very glad that Georgie threatened to disown anyone that said so much as a bad word about John/Giovanni over the years. She let them look for him, but refused to have him hunted down like a dog. From what I hear he still hasn't talked to her father. That should be entertaining."

"I would imagine so; I would guess the conversation takes place in a jail cell. He quite expects it." she told him.

"If he is lucky that is where it takes place. Mac Scorpio was a former Australian Marine Special forces officer. Did most of his training with the Brits." he informed her cheerfully. "So that you know, they are the Aussie version of the Delta Force."

"You don't have to sound so happy about it." she grumbled then joined him when he started to laugh. "Well maybe you do. At least I know that he won't kill him, John loves Georgie and now that he has met Antonio, I guarantee he loves his son."

In Italy, Georgie was cutting up Antonio's hamburger while waiting for her salad. Hearing the conversation between John, their son and his father, she looked up and said "I have a few places I want to see that I loved when we were here before, especially the gardens."

"No, wait; I want us to take Antonio there." John protested.

"Looks like we have to go with my plan." said the older Italian looking at her. "You are making it seem like shopping with me is a punishment."

"Any shopping qualifies." she muttered darkly. "I quite happy to spend the day with you, I would just prefer leaving stores out of it."

"La , la vostra insalata è pronta(Miss your salad is ready.) Georgie sat back and let him place her plate in front of her then watched as John and Antonio were then served. The foursome ate, well aware that the staff was keeping a close eye on them worried about their being disappointed.

"Claudia should receive her car by the end of the week." said Anthony, "I am going to have the toy version shipped home as well. Have the two of you thought about where you are going to live when you return."

"My house, at least, I sort of thought so." she said looking at John with uncertainty. "Um, it's large enough."

"Georgie is right, her place is large enough." he said a bit uncomfortable with the subject. He had never really thought about it, but he wasn't sure that staying at her house was a permanent solution. While it was fine for now, eventually they would outgrow it. Yet he knew that Georgie loved her place.

Anthony let it go, knowing that it was one of the many things that the two of them would have to figure out for themselves. Dinner was quiet; Antonio was enjoying the hamburger and fries while Georgie was thinking on their plans for the next day. And none wanted the staff overhearing them discussing anything truly personal.

"Posso portare sopra il carrello del dessert?" (May I bring over the dessert cart?) offered the waiter only for Georgie to decline and the two men to agree with her.

John was helping his son get out of his chair when Antonio asked his mom if that meant they could watch his newest movie together. "How about we have a little lessons time first, then a bath before you watch your movie."

Kissing Georgie on the cheek, John let her know that they had some work to do. Anthony repeated the kiss, then said goodnight to his grandson who was excited about his new movie. When the four of them arrived at the office, John stopped then looked to see if Sophie was there yet. When he saw she wasn't, he grabbed his phone and ordered her to join him in the main office.

"Georgie, John and I need to speak to Sophie before she heads into the casino for the evening." Anthony told her, and then smiled as mother and son walked away holding hands. His heart skipping a beat in memory of having seen Marie and John in a similar pose over the years, he turned to his son to tell him and saw the lust on his son's face and smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch. What was that for?" John asked glaring at his father while rubbing the sting from the smack on his head.

"That was not an appropriate way to be looking at the mother of your children." he said feeling a bit protective of the young woman.

"Father, those impure thoughts are why she is the mother of my son and any future children. And don't you feel a bit hypocritical when Claudia and I were well aware that you and our mother had sex more than twice in your life." he replied.

Hearing the sound of heels coming their way, Anthony said "We will discuss this later. And John, there will be a discussion about respecting her."

Groaning and not wanting to be dealing with any of this, John glared at his father then switched that glare on the woman who came in with a large smile on her face. That faded quickly when she saw Anthony first then John's crossed arms as he ordered her to sit down. "You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding regarding my interest in our Casino and hotel here. I won't tell you the real reason I have been spending all this time here; however I will tell you that you nor this very small cog in our company had nothing to do with it."

Sophie stuttered for a moment then she answered. "I never said that."

"So, you are calling my fiancée a liar?" he asked coolly while watching her. "Sophie you have done well at your job; however your ambitions are overreaching your abilities."

"Look, she came to me, accused me of being interested." she protested. "I never went to her."

"Georgie never denied talking to you about this, nor about approaching you first. She just had a better eye on the situation then I did. I never had any clue that you believed my returning here was out of interest with you." John had no idea, none about any of this and wished he had figured it out long ago.

"Sophie, you aren't being fired. You are being warned off. My son wants you gone; Georgie was the one who thought we should keep you on. She feels that you were laboring under a misunderstanding and that this will put an end to it." The hotel manager felt embarrassed as she looked between father and son, then out the window.

"It will be. I wouldn't ever want to be accused chasing after a man who has no interest in me." Sophie stiffly answered before asking "Is that all or should I return to work."

"I would like a tour of the gaming floor." Anthony said then when his son had left looked at the dark haired woman. "Let's make this very clear, you are ambitious, I don't mind that in an employee, I encourage it. I will be watching, keeping a closer eye on you. One wrong move, you will be replaced."

Anthony went up to his suite, made a few calls then headed off to bed looking forward to getting to know Georgie. In the larger suite down the hall, John joined his family while watching cartoons until Antonio went to sleep. Carrying him into the secondary bedroom then placing the pillows so they surrounded him, he returned to where Georgie was putting away the equipment.

"Are you up for some talking?" he asked then handed her a glass of the wine and poured himself one. Once they were seated he said "Sophie was dealt with."

""That's good, for both of your sakes, John. If she was waiting around for you, that isn't good for either of you." she replied then yawned a bit before saying. "What happened last night?"

"You really don't remember last night do you?" he asked amused. "What were you dreaming?"

Flushing a bit, then her eyes widened as she asked "Did I oh my god, did I molest you?"

"I don't think I can say that, considering I was more than willing to let you molest me." he replied slowly. "My only complaint was that it stopped a bit soon."

"I am so sorry, then I accused you, John, why didn't you say something?" she said then saw his grin and smacked his arm. "Stop that; I can see the little hamster turning the wheel in your head."

As they talked, Georgie felt the past slipping away as they discussed what John had planned for the next day, what he was sure his father had planned and what they were going to do with the toy car that was so expensive. When Georgie yawned, John told her he would stay with Antonio. "You could stay with me."

With a sigh, he walked her to the other bedroom, kissed her senseless, then pulled back. "No, I can't. You need your sleep and when we finally take this all the way, it won't be on a day my father intends to drag you all over town. He is already lecturing me about lusting after you."

"He objected to you and me." Georgie was a bit surprised; she had thought Anthony would have been happy that John and she were working things out.

"No, he wasn't happy that I was watching you walk away with Antonio and was admiring the view." he said his voice slightly strangled as what he had been thinking before coming back in vivid color. "My parents liked to pretend that they only had sex twice in their lives."

Laughing at the look of disgust on John's face, she said "Okay, then I will see you in the morning. Are you sure you will be fine with Antonio?"

"We will be fine." he said then went to where his son was sleeping. Removing his tie, then tossing his suit on the chair, climbing into bed wearing just his briefs and t-shirt falling asleep forgetting to set the alarm. He woke up when the toddler got up and went to the bathroom. Falling back to sleep when Antonio curled up on his hand and wiggled a bit before his breathing evened out.

It was early the next morning when Georgie woke up feeling refreshed, between the wonderful dreams she had had and not being in mommy mode. Looking down at the slip that had had John hot and bothered the day before, she stretched went to check on her family.

Seeing Antonio's face squished up against his father, she smiled then grabbed some clothes before heading off to shower. She should have stuck around, as Antonio woke up then rubbed up against his father's rather bristly face. Giggling a bit, he went to the living room and heard the phone ringing.

Seeing his Mommy's purse, he saw the phone halfway out. When it stopped ringing, he was heading back to where Daddy was sleeping, bringing the purse along with him. Setting the purse down on the bed, and then climbing up himself, he looked through the bag for Aunt Maxie's bag of magic tricks.

Not seeing it at first, he saw that Mommy's was at the bottom of the bag. Pulling it out, he saw it wasn't closed and poured everything on the bed. Reaching out he took Mommy's pencil and drew on daddy like Aunt Maxie did him. When Daddy only turned towards him, Antonio saw the one that looked his crayons and used them like his aunt had.

Georgie was coming back to wake up John when she heard the buzz of the doorbell. Letting in Anthony she said "Good morning, you are just in time, I arranged for breakfast to be brought up on a few minutes. Now I have to go and wake up the lazybones."

Heading to the bedroom, she stopped at the threshold, and then started to giggle. Waving her hand at the older man until he joined her, she could only point towards the bed. The Italian saw the rather interesting tableau and then saw Georgie reaching down to grab her cell phone which was now on the middle of the floor for some reason, then snapping a picture.

"Antonio here, come to Mommy." she said after handing his grandfather the phone. Lifting the little boy off the bed, she handed him off to his grandfather before giggling as she shook John awake. "John, John, wake up."

"Umm, this is nice." When his face went into the pillow, Georgie reached down and smacked at John's shoulder. "Wake up, smiley face."

Rolling onto his back, he looked up and saw Georgie's amused expression. "Wait, did I oversleep, where is Antonio?"

"Our son is in the living room with your dad." Reaching over, she picked up the compact from her purse, opened it and said "I thought it might be safer that way."

"Why?" he asked yawning then feeling like his face was cracking. "Did I roll over onto him?"

"No, but you might want to." she said in a strained tone as she gave him the mirror. John looked at it, then her before holding it up. Yelping he whimpered as he saw the strange markings all over his face, the lipstick smile that surrounded his lips and a nose that strongly resembled a certain holiday reindeer. "Antonio woke up before you did."

Jumping up off the bed, he went to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth while Georgie quickly went to the other bedroom and grabbed her small bag. Returning to where John was scrubbing away, she giggled yet again then pulled out the small white container and said "Here, sit down."

John sat on the toilet, letting Georgie rub the white gunk on his face then couldn't resist asking. "Why did he do this?"

"Blame Maxie." she said then told him to stop talking for just a moment. Georgie then got the washcloth warm before wiping away all of the makeup. "I do have to say, you look very nice wearing my lipstick."

Removing the washcloth from her hands, John tossed it towards the sink then yanked Georgie down onto his lap. "The only way I want to be wearing your lipstick is if I kiss it off, like this."

As his lips claimed her, John eased his hand up into the curls at the back of Georgie's neck deepening the kiss. They kept it up until the sound of giggling and the patter of little feet fleeing forced them to pull apart. Breathing heavily, John said "We had better join them, before my father comes to find us."

When Georgie entered the living room, composed with her clothes now in order, grandfather and grandson were eating breakfast. "Mommy, I's told grandpa that you wars busy. Can I have a nanna?"

"Yes, monkey, you can have a banana." she said then sat down next to him. Finding her omelet, she asked "Are you excited to go and see the cars?"

"I arranged for a car." said John coming in a few minutes later. Seeing Georgie's expression, he said "Yes, the kind of car you are thinking about and for a safety seat."

By the time the maid staff came to clean the room, Georgie and Anthony head already left one store and father and son were well on their way to the car capital of the world. "What on earth?"

The stiffly dressed maid pulled off the pillowcase, and then found the make up pencil between the bed sheets. "The rich certainly are different, what could have caused this?"

"Who knows, who cares." Said the other woman while giving a shrug. "I want to get this floor done early then head down to market, those delivery drivers should be bringing in the second load this afternoon."

"You chase after men too much." Retorted the other then heard the knock on the door. Opening it, she looked at the blond and said "Mr. Zachara isn't here right now. I would check back later."

"I prefer to wait." Said the woman as she went to sit on the sofa.

"I am sorry miss, but hospital policy doesn't allow us to let you remain in a room that isn't yours." She picked up the phone to call the manager. Telling her boss what was going on, then looking over at the woman said "Yes ma'am."

Hanging up, she looked at the other maid and said "We are to remain until security arrives."

The blond shrugged, she needed to speak to John and couldn't put this off any longer. When the guard arrived she waited until the maids had left then said "I need to speak to my fiancée and this interference with our personal life is going to cost you your job."

"Yeah, right. I have seen Mr. Zachara's fiancée with their son and you are most definitely not her." Replied the senior guard.

Taking out her magazine to show him the picture taken for the article at the Metrocourt, she was about to show it to him when what he said sunk in. Lulu stiffened then looked at the man and said "What on earth are you talking about, John doesn't have any children."

"Then what are those toys in that basket over there?" he asked pointing across the room. Lulu stood and walked over to the square woven basket and looked through the match box cars and had the feeling she had seen them before. Just figuring that they reminded her of the ones that Carly's kids had, she sat back down and read the article announcing her defunct engagement.

When the dark haired woman knocked on the door and was let in, she looked at her security guard and said "Thank you for staying. May I help you?"

"My name is Lulu Spencer, here, proof that your people are so incompetent that they don't know what they are speaking about." Thrusting the magazine at her, she then demanded to know where John was.

"Mr. Zachara went for a drive with his son, his father and his fiancée left about the same time." She informed the other woman. While she loathed Georgie Jones for what had happened the night before, she was well aware of the ruthlessness of Anthony Zachara and would do nothing to get herself fired. "I have no idea what this article is about, but I have met with Mr. Zachara and the woman he introduced as his fiancée, and you aren't her."

Lulu needed John's help, without it, her plan wouldn't work but at the same time was well aware that with his money he could squash her like a bug so she sat back down and said "I will be staying until he returns. You can take your guard with you."

"The lobby is rather nice, I think you might want to take a stroll around and admire our originals by the various Renaissance artists. You will not be remaining in this suite." She said baring her teeth. Lulu looked around then asked to use the bathroom.

"Fine but then we are heading down to the lobby." Said Sophie. Lulu went straight to the bathroom and found the makeup bag, looking for prescriptions; she was a bit disappointed to find none. Then seeing the cosmetics on the counter frowned. They were limited market products for Jax Enterprises. Who on earth would John know that Jasper Jacks would trust with his company secrets?

Now down in the lobby, she paced back and forth ordered some food and generally annoyed the staff as the day passed by without John showing up.

In Verona, Georgie turned the tides on Anthony and had convinced him to just window shop. She called John to check on the two of them and missed seeing Anthony handing his credit card over to the sales clerk who grinned and wrote down she would handle delivery.

"How are John and my grandson doing?" he asked as they went to the next store. Not finding anything they had soon shopped until it was lunch time. After a traditional three hour lunch Georgie was a bit sleepy when she climbed into the limo with him.

"Now it's your turn my dear." Said Anthony. "Where do you want to go…" Hearing no response, he looked at the right side of the limo and chuckled when he saw she was fast asleep with her head resting against the window. Turning to Thomas he asked. "How long until my son was to return?"

"Mr. John called at lunch sir, he said about two more hours' sir." Giving the man orders to find a place to eat that was half way between where they were and where John was, he sat back and thought about his plans. Next up, talking the two of them into buying a place that wasn't Georgie's nor a place that was John's but a place that belonged to the two of them.

Picking up his phone, he called his architect and then told the man he was of no use. "Six months, six months to build, that is way too long."

Trying his favorite realtor he was about to make the request then said "I will get to you with my requirements, for now, I want any new listings on the outskirts of town with more than four bedrooms flagged for my attention."

John looked at his sleeping son and thought back to their day. Between arriving at the Pagani factory and admiring the town created by Enzo Ferrarri, they had talked. Or rather Antonio had talked and asked questions, all John had gotten to do was answer them but it had given him a better understanding of his son.

His son… those words alone still had the power to shock him. He had a son; a little boy that was a combination of both Georgie and him. His lips twitching as he recalled Antonio's explanation for the makeup and Aunt Maxie's magic bag, all he could do is imagine the future with this bright and creative little boy.

When they had had lunch and after having to convince Antonio to eat the veggies, John had wondered what his mother would have thought about his son and knew she would have been warning him that his son was going to drive him as in insane as he had her.

Sitting at a stop light, he saw the phone on the dash buzzing and pulled off to a slightly wider spot on the road. Reading the message from Thomas he sent his reply and then brushed the curls out of Antonio's face as he slept on.

When they finally pulled into the small roadside restaurant he saw the limo arriving and was waking up their son when Georgie stopped him. Maneuvering him carefully out of the car, she soon had him lying against her as she placed him in the seat of the limo. "Are you sure?"

"Go, have fun." Said the smiling Italian. "I promise I won't let him eat anything too bad for him. I need a moment with my son before you two head out though."

John looked between the two and then followed his father to the other end of the car. "Don't blow this young man. Keep your hands to yourself and talk to her. Romance her, if you need advice-"

"I am quite capable of handling things with Georgie on my own." He growled at his father.

"Good, then do so. And just remember I don't want anymore grandchildren until you two are married." Glared the older man who ruined it by saying. "When you do get around to having more, a granddaughter would be nice."

John glared at his father then helped Georgie into the small two-seater. As the dark long car smoothly pulled away, he started the car then asked "Where do you want to have dinner?"

Taking a chance, she said "Remember the small place down near my old apartment, it is still there. Can we?"

Passing the limo when they came up to it, John beeped the horn while Georgie waved before he pulled forward and on to town. Checking the road, he pulled over in front of where they were planning on eating.

Meanwhile Lulu was getting annoyed and made a call to her husband. "What am I going to do now?"

Not liking the plan that his father had put forth and that Lulu had jumped upon as a way of dealing with her mother, he said "This wasn't such a good idea, Lulu. I don't like the idea of involving him."

"Its fine, I am not worried. I doubt John has any idea of what my mom has been doing." She said blithely ignoring reality like she did every time her mother was involved. Looking around at the hotel lobby that was emptying out as the Casino opened up, she frowned a moment at the little boy calling out to his grandfather and just let it go, certain that it was just her nervousness that made him look familiar.

Then she saw the man turn and heard him calling the little boy Antonio. "No, there is no way. Why on earth would Antonio Jones be calling out to John's father." Suddenly the names hit her and Lulu sat down. Turning white, she was trembling as she closed her eyes. Hoping against hope, she started to stand but her knees were weak.

"Oh god, please, please no. My mom…" With that she slid gracefully to the marble floor as she figured out that somehow Georgie Jones was involved and that by now, John more than likely knew the truth about her family. "What am I going to do now?"