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The last of the chapters went to my beta yesterday so the story is almost fully edited!
Chapter 14
They went to Johnny's office. Once they both had coffee Jason turned to his friend. "What happened?" There was no need to tip toe around it.
Francis tried to figure out just where to start. "Emily is pregnant with Nikolas's baby." He told his boss.
Jason had no response. He simply had no idea of what to say to that. For some time his sister had not been acting like herself, but this was way outside what he would have expected. His seventeen year old sister was pregnant. That must have gone over well with Monica and Alan. "What else?" Francis could have told him that over the phone.
"Have a seat." The older man instructed.
"That bad?" Jason asked bracing himself.
"Yes and no. The baby was probably the least shocking thing I learned." The older man started. "Emily was spending all that time with Carly because she was keeping track of her plans for Elizabeth. Nikolas needed to know that Carly and Luke were nowhere near catching Liz. When I called you it threw a wrench in Nikolas's plans. He is the one who was tracking Liz. Lucky threatened to take her and leave. He wanted to be able to find her if that happened."
The former enforcer processed that. Lucky was more dangerous than they had realized. "What were Nikolas's plans if he found us?" Jason wanted to know.
"He planned on getting Elizabeth away from you, by force if necessary." Francis had no clue how Nikolas expected to pull that off.
"To take her back to Port Charles?" Jason guessed feeling anger at the younger man.
"No." Francis had watched as another of Jason's guys, Logan Hayes, got the information they needed from the Prince. They didn't even need to beat him which was good. Nikolas started talking as soon as he walked into the warehouse. Francis would have felt bad hurting him. Of course if he found out that Nikolas hadn't been one hundred percent honest he'd have no problem killing him.
"He isn't convinced that you can keep Elizabeth safe. He wanted to send her somewhere that Luke couldn't find her." Francis explained. "Nikolas was able to get some information out of Lucky. Helena's plan was that Lucky would kill his mother. His reward for doing so was Elizabeth. Once Laura was dead and Elizabeth said the words 'I love you Lucky' the programming would be erased."
"She really is the key to curing him." Jason said shocked.
"Yes and No." Francis repeated. "Nikolas didn't think so. He said that Helena would never allow a Spencer to have a happy ending. So they tricked Lucky into thinking that he killed Laura and Nikolas played a recording of Elizabeth saying the words. He had a tape of the two of them before Lucky's death." Francis had found himself impressed at what the younger man had done.
"What happened?" Jason thought they needed to find Helena and end that bitch's life once and for all.
"Lucky went berserk. He was screaming that Elizabeth had to die." Francis had been chilled listening to Nikolas's recounting of his brother's meltdown. "Helena's programming was that he would kill the person he claimed to love. Once Elizabeth is dead the programming ends."
"Father and son both would suffer. She doesn't even know Elizabeth." Jason couldn't wrap his mind around such evil.
"No, but Lucky talked about her nonstop until the programming took hold. As far as we can tell at the moment Helena wants Liz dead for no other reason than she made a Spencer happy. Nikolas said that his Grandmother doesn't like to lose. She might see Elizabeth leaving Port Charles before the endgame as a reason to kill her. According to him his Grandmother is ruthless. Until your guys find her we need to stay here." Francis said sipping his coffee.
"There is something else you should know. Carly told Sonny that Emily was fully on board with killing Elizabeth, that it was her idea. He doesn't believe her. In fact he warned her not to lie about your sister." That comment made Francis believe there was hope for Sonny. "Emily came to see him and told him that it wasn't true. That's how I learned about the spying."
"Do you believe her?" Jason wasn't sure what to think. That showed how far his relationship with Emily had fallen.
"Truthfully, I'm not sure what to believe when it comes to your sister." Francis knew Jason wanted his honest opinion. "I don't trust anyone but us with Liz's safety." That us included Johnny. "Emily could be telling the truth but I would proceed with caution. There have been too many secrets for my liking. All your sister had to do was tell you what was happening. I get that she loves Nikolas but she is supposed to be Liz's best friend and she helped keep her trapped there. If Lucky had killed his mother the day he attacked her who is to say the rest of the killing program wouldn't have kicked in. You should know your sister and Cassadine are getting married soon. The Prince wants to protect Emily from Helena. He said as his wife Emily will be safe." Francis wrapped up his report. "He wanted to know where Liz was. I made sure I wasn't followed when I came here." Francis has left Port Charles three days ago. Moving around to lose any tails. Johnny also had guys shadowing Francis since he landed. They were looking for anyone following the older Italian.
Jason closed his eyes and tried to just have all the pieces make sense. "Give me a minute."
Understanding Francis got up and let himself out of the office. He'd give his boss some time alone before sending in Elizabeth.
Lightly knocking Elizabeth pushed the door to the office open and stepped inside. Jason was stretched out on the couch with his eyes closed. She had been out in the barn laughing with Johnny when Francis found them. All he said was that Jason needed her so they immediately headed back. She left her friends in the living room talking something over.
He didn't open his eyes but held out his hand. When Elizabeth's was in his he urged her forward. Turning to his side he spooned up when she stretched out in front of him. He just let her closeness soothe her. "I need to tell you some things."
"Okay." Elizabeth softly responded.
Jason repeated everything that Francis had told him. When Elizabeth learned what her role in all this drama really was she shuddered hard. "I won't let her hurt you." Jason promised.
"I know, it's just I've never had someone want to kill me before and now two people do." The Carly thing didn't surprise her. It seemed like a move the blonde would make. But when it came to Helena, she was terrified. Nikolas often talked about his Grandmother and how deadly she was. Alexis's mother had been murdered by Helena. Turning she looked up at Jason.
What she saw in his blue eyes was the fierce determination to keep her safe as well as sorrow. "I think you should call Emily." She knew that was the thing that was hurting him. He felt betrayed by his sister's actions.
"What would I say? She helped keep you trapped there because Nikolas wanted her too." Jason was having a hard time accepting that his sister could do something so heartless. "What if you were hurt worse?"
"She made the choice she thought was best. Lucky is her friend too. She wants him to get better like everyone else. As for Nikolas, she loves him. I get it, Jason there isn't much I wouldn't do for you." Elizabeth said trying to have it make sense.
"You wouldn't put someone's life at risk for me. It just isn't in your nature. I would never ask you to do something like that." Jason wasn't sure he would be able to make peace with what his sister had done.
"Let's give it some time." Elizabeth was willing to forgive her friends and to try to move past what had happened. She didn't expect them to ever be as close as they were before Lucky returned but she wanted some type of friendship especially since Jason was going to be an uncle.
"I have men who are looking into the situation. I need to know who is telling the truth and who is lying." Jason wouldn't risk Elizabeth's safety. "We need to stay in Ireland until we have more answers."
"That's fine. It's a beautiful country and you're here." Elizabeth rubbed his arm trying to offer him some comfort.
"Elle." He said softly before licking his lips and kissing her. He pulled back trying to maintain control he didn't want to take her on the couch in Johnny's office.
"Do we have to stay on the property?" She asked when her breathing returned to normal.
"Let me check with Johnny. If we leave we will most likely have a guard with us." He explained. Just to be on the safe side.
"Is Johnny still in the mob?" Elizabeth wasn't sure if Jason could answer that.
"In Ireland, Johnny is the mob." Jason said grinning. "He's more powerful than Sonny."
"Then how come Sonny doesn't know he's alive." Surely the older man would know the names of mob bosses in other countries.
"Johnny uses his given name for business." Jason told her. He wasn't sure she knew what that was.
"Sean O'Brien." Elizabeth looked up at Jason and saw she shocked him. "Johnny is a nickname for Sean."
"How do you know that?" Jason hadn't until Johnny told him.
"Sean is derived from Jean which is French. In English Jean is pronounced John." Elizabeth said smiling up at him. She might not have paid attention in geography but she had aced her foreign language classes.
"You're smart, I think that's hot." Jason said kissing her again. She always managed to life his spirits.
"Really? How hot?" She asked kissing his neck.
"Did Johnny and Francis come back inside with you?" If she said no he was taking her upstairs and showing her how hot.
"They are in the living room." Elizabeth said laughing. "But later on if you like I could tell you more facts that I know." She whispered. "Or I could talk to you in French."
"You speak French?" Jason didn't know that.
"Some, but I do speak fluent German which is why I was excited that we were going there. I was looking forward to impressing you because you don't speak German." Elizabeth told him.
"Why do you speak German?" Jason was enjoying lying here and learning new things about his girl.
"Gram's family is from Germany. She speaks it and taught it to me." Elizabeth cuddled closer. "Maybe one day I can teach it to my children." She wasn't looking up at him. It was the first time she talked about them having a long term future.
"You can teach them German and I'll teach them Italian." Jason said holding her tight. He could feel her smiling against his neck.
"I like the sound of that." Elizabeth said blushing bright. "Want to come meet the horses?"
"Sure." Jason knew how to ride because Jason Quartermaine did. "Do you know how to ride?"
"I do, but it's been a while." Elizabeth admitted. "Maybe we could share."
"You are just trying to torture me aren't you?" Jason said sitting up.
"Why would you say that?" Elizabeth looked up at him with wide innocent eyes.
"Elle." He warned. "You are very close to getting carried upstairs and not let out for a long time."
Her whole body reacted to that statement. She hadn't known she could get hot so fast. "Wow." She said smiling. "That was sexy."
Jason groaned before laughing. "Let's go." He said pulling her from the office. He needed some air.
"I love horses. Growing up I wanted one of my own, but I couldn't get one because Sarah had one. The most I got was two weeks every summer at a riding camp. It's been a while since I've done any riding, but I still love horses." Elizabeth explained as they headed to the golf cart that Johnny used to get to where the horses were housed.
"Did Johnny tell you that this is where he grew up?" Jason asked as he drove the cart.
"He did, he said his Grandparents left him the ranch. His family has been breeding horses for generations." Elizabeth used to pepper Johnny with questions about what it was like to grow up on a ranch. He was so good at telling the stories she swore she could hear the animals neighing.
"How many horses does he have?" Jason said pulling up outside one of the two large barns.
"Right now fifteen full grown, ten colts and five fillies." For a working horse ranch that wasn't much. Johnny specialized in select breeding and the training they went through made his horses special. And since they sold for as high as one hundred thousand dollars he could keep the operation small and still turn a profit.
"That's not a lot of horses. Did Johnny tell you what he trains them to do?" Jason asked as they walked to the structure.
"He said he trains them to do whatever their new owners need. Most of the horses go to ranches to work with cattle." Elizabeth knew she would be a daily visitor to the large animals. Johnny had told her that was fine. She was also considering taking some pictures.
The big sliding door was open so they walked in through that. Inside the barn was mostly still, but the occasional chuffing of a horse was heard. Elizabeth paused for a moment to take in the beautiful animals who were now looking at both her and Jason. Although the predominant color of the horses was brown other hues stuck out.
Jason had already moved forward and she watched as he stopped to peek in various stalls. "You coming?" He asked with a smile as he looked over his shoulder.
At the end of the barn in a stall twice the size of the rest a mare was standing with her head hanging out. "She's pregnant." Elizabeth told Jason as they slowly approached the animal, horses could be skittish and with her being pregnant Elizabeth didn't want to spook her. She reached up to scratch her forehead.
"Do you know her name?" Jason asked as he moved forward to pet the horse as well.
"Lass." Elizabeth replied. "She's a purebred Irish mare. The only one here but Johnny is hoping to get more. He named her that because she was so young when she arrived."
"She's beautiful." Jason said grinning. Lass had a coat that was more red than brown and big eyes with the longest lashes.
"Johnny told me she likes to be scratched behind her ears. Start under her chin and work your way up and around her head. If we are here when she foals he said we can watch the birth." Elizabeth would love to see that.
"That would be something." Jason said smiling over at his girl. They stood quietly scratching the mare's ears until Lass dipped her head causing their fingers to brush. At the contact Jason looked over and Elizabeth blushed. They spent some time petting the rest of the horses before heading toward the door. Before they reached it Jason grabbed Elizabeth around the waist and pushed her into an empty stall. With a laugh he pulled them down into a pile of clean hay.
"Jason!" Elizabeth was laughing too. That had been totally unexpected. She pushed against him and he rolled them until they were covered in hay and he was over her. Looking up she watched his eyes darken and just before his lips covered hers she tickled him.
"Oh no you don't." Jason said laughing and reaching for her hands. She was quick but he managed to cage her wrists and pin them over her head. "I've got you now." He said grinning at her.
Elizabeth tried to tug her hands free but Jason just tightened his grip. He was over her holding her hands and his greater weight was pinning her down. This was bad, very bad. She felt the first icy tendrils of panic. When Jason dipped his head to kiss her the panic bloomed. "No!" She yelled and started thrashing about trying to get free.
Jason was caught completely off guard. One minute they were headed toward hot sex and the next Elizabeth was yelling for him to stop. He had no idea what was wrong but it was obvious that she was extremely upset. "Elle." He said trying to get her to calm some so he could figure out what was wrong.
"Let me go." She managed to get out between sobs.
He hadn't even realized he was still holding her. When he opened his hand Elizabeth quickly slid away from him scrambling across the hay. She turned away from him. Her hair was hanging in front of her face but he knew she was still crying.
"I'm sorry." She told him.
"Don't apologize." Jason said softly. He watched as she pulled away from him. Right before his eyes she all but crawled back into herself. Her body language spoke of shame and embarrassment. Taking a minute to calm down he held out his hand. "Come here." It seemed like a life time before she reached out and let him draw her close so he could hold her. "It's okay." He said softly rocking her. "I won't do it again." He knew it had been caging her wrists that set her off.
"I'm sorry." Elizabeth said once again gripping him tight. It had been a while since something took her back to that night. In the months after the rape this happened frequently. "I'll be okay I just need a minute."
"Take your time." Jason said rubbing her back. He would make sure this never happened again.
She just let him hold her. His calm and gentle presence was helping her steady herself. "Can we go back to the house?"
"Yeah." Jason said helping her stand. In the cart he took a minute to look at her. She met his gaze and that helped him to know she was doing better. With a nod he turned the key and took them back to Johnny's.
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