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Chapter 25

"How much longer do we have to stay?" Elizabeth asked Claudia. They had been here almost three hours. Elizabeth was worried about Jason. She wanted to get him home so that he could rest.

"You can probably leave anytime now. The wake will go on without you." The older brunette thought Jason looked tired. "No one will expect him to stay the entire afternoon. His dislike of socializing is well known. While you are here the guys will keep everyone who doesn't need to speak to Jason away."

Elizabeth looked at herself in the mirror. They were in the ladies room off the large private room upstairs in Polluzo's. "Thank you for all your help this weekend. The crash course in mob 101 was most appreciated."

"You did great, I was merely back up." Claudia grinned. She had always wanted a younger sister. Elizabeth had quickly become that. "Robin tried to see Jason after the service, she will try again."

"I'm not threatened by her." Elizabeth shrugged.

"Good, because you don't need to be." Elizabeth was already sure of her place in Jason's life. Something that neither Carly nor Robin ever seem to achieve. Claudia thought the reason the two women didn't get along was because at their cores they were too much alike. Each needed to be the center of Jason's attention all the time. Honestly if Carly had stayed out of Jason's personal life he might still be with Robin. Of course Jason didn't tell Carly to behave, something he did with Elizabeth, so maybe Robin wasn't as important as everyone thought. "At some point they will run into one another."

"I know. My working at the hospital increases those odds." Before leaving the church Emily had passed the news of Robin's hiring along.

"Are you sure you want to do that. Work at the hospital?" Claudia asked her friend.

"Why do you ask?" Elizabeth was confused at the question.

"It's a security nightmare." Claudia explained. "When Carly gave birth I watched the guys stress over keeping her and the baby safe. It's a very public building with multiple entrances and exits. You are also out of the guys' sight for large stretches of time. Not to mention general interaction with the public." Claudia figured no one was going to bring this up. Jason wanted Elizabeth happy, and if working at the hospital did that he would find a way to make it happen.

"I never thought about that." Elizabeth said frowning some. On the heels of that came another thought, if one of Jason's enemies came after her at the hospital it put her patients and the other staff members at risk. She didn't doubt that Jason would do everything he could to keep her safe, but she could help by working somewhere else.

"He's going to kill me for bringing this up." Claudia smirked.

"Jason wants me happy, and I have no intention of telling him you did. Thank you." Elizabeth had to smile at that. It was the job that would make her happy, not the location. She'd need to give this some thought. "We should get back."

"Yup." Claudia looked at herself one more time in the mirror before they headed out.

"I had my guys drug Smith to get him to talk." Manny was sitting in a private corner with Jason. The Florida mob boss was granted the first meeting of the afternoon. "Damian has no clue what his young partner is up to. As far as he knew Diego was just coming up early to look for his uncle, and keep tabs on the funeral. He had no idea Diego planned on killing him too. Smith was entirely too trusting. When I return home I will be dispatching him."

"Did your men ask him about his contacts other than Smith?" Jason was hoping to get a new name.

"They did. Damian gave up Bishop and Baker. He knows who Carlos is, but said that he wasn't part of the plan." Manny trusted very few people implicitly. Jason was on the list. The blonde was very upfront about his intentions, and he didn't lie. "Are you missing someone?"

"We are. Hopefully I will get a name from my guest." Jason was going to see Carlos tomorrow night. When he left the warehouse the other man would be dead. Francis was going to handle the interrogation tonight.

"Hopefully. I'm sure that Ms. Webber's guards are top notch." Manny watched as the petite woman, along with Ms. Zacchara came out of the ladies room. "Your lady has been very kind to Angel. If you need more assistance, I'm available."

"Thank you." Since this was now a strictly New York issue Jason didn't see himself calling on Manny again. "Elizabeth mentioned liking her." Jason gave his friend a smile. "My girl has never been to Florida."

"You must correct that. Sooner rather than later." Manny said smiling wide. "Let me know when you come. I will make sure you are treated well."

"Gracias." Jason said smiling, and feeling happy for the first time all day. He knew Elizabeth would love it. Especially a boat ride out into the open ocean.

"Da nada." Manny rose and Jason did too. "Be well my friend." He said shaking Jason's hand. Manny would be leaving shortly.

"You too." Jason nodded to Johnny who nodded to Hector Rivera. "Mr. Rivera."

"Mr. Morgan." Hector said taking the seat Manny vacated. There was a heavy silence before the older man spoke. "I did not wish to believe the information that Maximus gave to me, but I have known him for some time and he does not lie about matters such as this. Lily was my heart. I began dying the minute they told me she had been killed. That Carlos would do this for power, that Lily didn't even want, saddens me. That he would go after another woman leaves me dumbfounded." Hector was trying to figure out where he went wrong with his son.

Jason just kept silent.

"I will begin turning over control of my organization to Nico in the next few months. " Hector continued. "I would like an alliance, understanding that when Nico is in charge he will need to renegotiate." Which shouldn't be an issue as Jason and Nico got along.

"An alliance is possible." Jason said extending his hand.

"Thank you Jason. I apologize for my son's part in the plot to hurt your young lady." Hector had listened to the tape and felt deep shame. "I spoke with her earlier, she is lovely."

"She is." Jason agreed. "When Nico is ready send him to see me."

"I will." Hector rose and walked past Johnny nodding. Nico also nodded as both men walked toward the door. They were also leaving.

"Maximus wishes to speak to you." Johnny told his boss. "That should be it for the afternoon."

"Good." Jason rolled his neck before nodding.

"It was a good service." Maximus said taking a seat. "Max called everything is good." Meaning Carly and Michael were with Sonny.

"I don't need any more updates." Jason said looking at the older man.

"Good. I know it is painful, but that is for the best." Maximus had been prepared to suggest that Jason let the Corinthos family go, that he didn't have to wasn't at all surprising. "I have decided that the boys are going to stay on this duty." Which meant that Max and Milo would not be returning.

"That makes me feel better." Jason said leaning back in his chair. "We have taken steps to remove the threat to Elizabeth. However we have not completely done so. Last night we ran into an unforeseen event. Diego is no longer alive."

Maximus nodded. "You are missing information?"

"We are, hopeful Carlos will shed some light on that." Jason said letting the head of the families know they were still working on this issue.

"Do what is necessary to protect your family." Maximus advised. "There is nothing more important than keeping them safe. All this means nothing if at the end of the day you are alone." He firmly believed that. Maximus credited his wife with keeping him in touch with his humanity. Power did strange things to good men.

"I intend to." Jason said in a cold voice. He stood and his guest did as well. "We are leaving, have a good flight back to Palermo."

"I will. Come visit Italy soon." Maximus extended the invitation. Jason wouldn't come to Palermo until Sonny left, but the rest of the country could be explored.

"Thank you." Jason moved away from the table walking across the room to where Elizabeth was talking with Galina Karpov. When he stopped the older Russian woman ended the conversation and moved off. "I'd like to go." He told his girl.

"Alright." Elizabeth agreed. "Do we have to announce that we are going?"

"No." Jason said placing a hand on her lower back as they walked to the elevator. Shawn and Cody were going to walk them down to the limo. Renaldo was already downstairs along with some of the other guys. Cody would go with them, but Shawn was staying at the wake.

They didn't speak again until they were in the back of the car. "Would you like to go for a bike ride?" She asked cuddling close.

"We can't just yet." Jason said rubbing his cheek across her soft hair. Maximus was right, without Elizabeth none of this would work. She wasn't interested in his power or money, which was why she was perfect for him. She kept his heart safe.

"Okay." Elizabeth figured it had something to do with the fact that so many other organizations were in town.

"I would like to play pool, and just relax." Jason thought that sounded like fun. "We can order in when we get hungry. But for now I just need it to be us." Later he had to go out. Carlos was tomorrow night, but there was someone else Jason needed to have a chat with. Tonight would be a good time for that to happen.

"Then that's all it will be." Elizabeth said holding him tight. For the rest of the night she was going to spoil him.

Courtney was working the afternoon shift. If Ruby thought it was odd that she was here on the day of her brother's funeral the older woman didn't speak on it. Courtney however wasn't thinking about Sonny, nope she was trying to figure out how to arrange a chance meeting with Robin Scorpio. The sooner that happened, the sooner Courtney could get the plan moving. Diego had been clear about why they needed the doctor. And that she couldn't know what was happening. He was leaving the how, of getting what they needed up to Courtney. No one had ever placed this much faith in her before and she wasn't going to screw it up.

She was wiping down the counter when the door opened. "Robin!" Ruby said with a big smile. "I heard you were coming back." The older woman gave the smaller woman a big hug. "Welcome home."

"Thanks." Robin said laughing. "I'm happy to see you."

"You look wonderful. Paris was good for you." Ruby said urging the younger woman to sit.

"It was." Robin agreed. "Hopefully Port Charles will be too. I see this place hasn't changed."

"If I change anything the customers will riot." Ruby joked. "Only the staff is different. I'll send the waitress over, lunch is on me today."

"Thanks." Robin smiled and didn't even bother to pick up a menu. She was having the chili.

"What can I get for you?" Courtney said smiling and pouring a cup of coffee.

"I'll have the chili." Robin requested.

"Sure thing." Courtney went back and dished up a bowl. She grabbed some crackers and headed to the table planning her opening remarks. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Robin was surprised, and couldn't figure out what the waitress would want to talk about.

"Are you the Robin that Sonny talked about?" Her brother hadn't talked about Robin at all. Carly did though.

"You knew Sonny?" Robin figured most of the citizens of the town knew Sonny on sight, but the waitress must be closer.

"He was my brother. My half-brother." Courtney explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't see you at the funeral." Robin pointed to the chair opposite her. "Have a seat." The diner was empty.

"We weren't that close. I mean we didn't discover were siblings until a little while ago. It took us a bit to get comfortable with each other, so we hadn't spent much time together until recently." Courtney wove her tale. "I'm not really close to the rest of the crew. I was getting close to Jason, until someone got in the way."

"Let me guess Carly?" Robin said with a bit of acid. "She thinks she owns Jason."

Courtney knew that Carly and Robin couldn't stand each other and why. She hadn't meant the blonde, but could work with Robin thinking that. "She doesn't like his new girlfriend either, but Jason was standing his ground on that. It was funny Carly spent so much time scaring me off she didn't even see Elizabeth coming."

"Really? Jason told Carly to back off." Robin found that surprising. Jason was fighting for Elizabeth, it hadn't been hard to get the other woman's name at the funeral, but didn't fight for her. That stung.

Courtney just shrugged. If she could keep Robin and Elizabeth from becoming friends, this would be even easier. The police would be more likely to believe Robin killed Elizabeth out of jealousy. Things had to fit because according to Diego the police commissioner was Robin's uncle. "I didn't get to spend much time with Jason before Carly butted in, but a few weeks ago when I was visiting Sonny I did hear Jason tell her to leave Elizabeth alone. He told Carly if he had to choose he was picking his girlfriend. If I had known about Elizabeth I wouldn't have even tried." Courtney lied. "Jason really loves her." Courtney said laying it on thick. According to Carly, Robin was persona non grata amongst the guys so there wouldn't be a chance for her to find out Courtney was lying about certain things. It also helped that the lies were sprinkled amid the truth.

"Johnny said Jason was happy." Robin hadn't touched her chili yet.

"He is." Courtney said trying to sound happy about that. She didn't want to give any hint that she wanted Jason for herself.

"I'm just surprised he actually told Carly to behave." Robin said shaking her head. The blonde never stops until she got what she wanted. Robin accepted her part in what happened, but Carly never did. She never admitted that her lie about not sleeping with AJ set the foundation for what followed. "I still sorry for your loss." Robin repeated.

"Thanks. Sonny was still generous to me. Named me in the will and everything." Courtney said trying to sound surprised.

"I'm sure Carly will try to stop that." Robin snarked.

"The lawyer said she can't." Courtney explained. "I just need to wait a few weeks for some paperwork to clear. I was thinking of traveling some. You were in Paris right?"

"I was." Robin smiled at the memories.

"Maybe you could tell me about it sometime." Courtney steered the conversation away from Carly and Jason. In fact she was going to do her best to not talk about them again. If they came up Robin would be the one to bring them up. Courtney was going to make Robin the center of every talk. It was a trick the blonde learned at the strip club, folks loved to talk about themselves.

"Sure." Robin said absently still thinking about Jason.

"Great. I have a table. We'll talk again sometime." Courtney said getting up with a smile. The bait had been taken, all she had to do now was reel her catch in.

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