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Chapter 26

Jason had been awake for almost four hours and he was still in bed. Normally no matter what time it was when he woke up he got moving. Since he didn't need much sleep he tended to start his days fairly early. Now that he had Bella, he was creating a new normal. These early morning hours holding his girl were the best part of the day.

They'd spent most of yesterday in their private suite. Not making love, but just being together after her upset. He'd started their time together by sitting her down and making sure that she understood that nothing came before her. Nothing short of an all out war would keep him away if she needed him. He explained to her that he had very good men working for him and if he needed to focus on her the business would not suffer. He then backed up his words by staying with her for the rest of the day.

It was almost six and Johnny should be heading back to the house with Max and Milo in about an hour or so. He also expected that his sister would be putting in an appearance fairly early. Emily was coming by to have breakfast. The two friends hadn't spent much time together lately because Bella didn't want Emily to get hurt. Almost as if she sensed his running thoughts the woman in his arms shifted beside him and slowly opened her eyes. "Hey there." He said softly.

"Hi." She loved waking up next to Jason. "Do we need to get up?" She knew that he had a busy day ahead of him.

"We have time." Jason assured her. Last night Francis had called up to say he was staying and would start breakfast for everyone.

"I don't want to make you late." At the same time she really didn't want to let him go.

"You won't." He always loved how she looked but he was thinking that right now she'd never looked more beautiful. "Did you sleep well?"

"With you holding me how could I not?" Having him so close had made her feel incredibly safe. "Did you sleep well?" Elizabeth asked him.

"I always sleep well with you beside me." He told her smiling. She blushed so he leaned over and kissed her. He couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. Her lips were so soft under his. When he pulled back she was smiling.

"I should go get dressed." Elizabeth said not really wanting to move. Emily had promised to come over early.

"Me too." Jason made himself open his arms.

With one last smile Elizabeth rolled from the bed and walked into the bathroom.

"Well this is not what I expected." Max said looking at the house they had pulled up in front of. The quiet upper class neighborhood was the last place he would even think of Jason calling home.

"Elizabeth likes it here." Johnny said grinning. It was almost eight. They had stopped off and grabbed breakfast.

"There is a lot of curiosity about her." Max told the other man as they walked up to the porch.

"Many people will disappointed because they will not be getting that curiosity satisfied anytime soon. Jason is planning on keeping Elizabeth as far away from this side of his life as possible." There would be no business dinners in her future. It wasn't uncommon for the men in the business to shield their families. However unlike most of his associates Jason would not be bringing a mistress along to gatherings.

"We get to meet her." Max pointed out.

"Jason trusts you. Plus Port Charles is small, you are bound to bump into one another eventually. This way Jason gets to be there." Johnny told his two friends. "It would be very awkward explaining to your father that Jason shot you because you hit on his girl." Johnny said laughing.

"I like brunettes, but Jason doesn't have to worry." Max said thinking of a certain Italian beauty.

"I like blondes." Milo added not to be left out. "So we should be safe."

"Let's head in." Johnny said wanting to get in out of the cold.

They found the guys in the kitchen. Jason explained that Elizabeth and Emily were upstairs. Once everyone had coffee they moved into the office. Milo was looking around and grinning. "I like your house. It doesn't feel fussy."

"Elizabeth wanted me to be comfortable." Jason said grinning. She was doing her best to spoil him.

"She did a good job." Milo told the mob boss.

"You two should get to meet her later this afternoon after lunch." Jason told them. "Tell me about New York." Until they found out who ordered the contract Elizabeth was still in danger from that person.

"There isn't much too tell. It appears that Cal Atkins was hired directly." Max sipped his coffee and got comfortable in his chair. He was big guy like a lot of the men who worked with Jason and Ms. Webber had decorated the room for a man of his proportions.

"Not through his handler?" Francis asked the younger man. "That's unusual." Every hired gun had a handler. Someone who vetted potential customers and handled the logistics of each job. It was almost unheard of for someone to contact a hitter directly.

"As a result we don't have a name or location. Just a phone number that my dad's tech guy said is a burn phone. It was purchased at one of those little Bodegas here with cash. No cameras to hack into." Max continued with his report.

"Our dad and our Uncle Rudy are both pissed." Milo told Jason. Rudy Zacharra was the head of another powerful family in Italy. He was also the Giambetti brother's godfather. "They were both all but frothing at the mouth that someone put out a hit on a woman."

Maria Giambetti, Max and Milo's mother had been the victim of such a contract. Someone who wanted to hurt Maximus had used her to do it. Rudy felt like he lost a sister that day. Both men were determined to prevent Jason from going through such pain.

"Uncle Rudy is tapping his contacts as well. Who ever ordered the hit will not be able to hide for long." Max was confident about that.

A knock sounded and Francis opened the door. Cody stepped inside. "Ms. Webber and Ms. Quartermaine are leaving for Queen of Angels to attend Mass. Cooper, Logan and I are going with them. Do you want us to take anyone else?"

"Take Marco." Jason wanted both women protected. "Is Zander going?"

"He's meeting Ms. Quartermaine there." Cody told his boss.

"Ask him to call me." Jason was about to break his own rule. He didn't want Emily dating anyone who worked for him but he was going to offer Zander a full time job. The younger man was a wiz with a computer and Jason needed a tech guy. He would have loved to have Stan come work for him but that wasn't an option. Sonny would kill the man before he let him go.

He wouldn't ask the younger man to break up with Emily but he would ask that he be careful.

"Okay. We'll bring Ms. Webber straight back after mass." Cody assured his boss.

"Elizabeth will probably be invited to go to mansion for brunch after mass, which is fine." Jason told the guard who just nodded. He turned back to the men in the office. "Now let's talk about this newest threat. What do we have?"

"A big fat zero. The flowers were ordered in person and paid for in cash. No name other than Ms. Webber's appears on the form. The clerk can't remember who exactly ordered them as that day was very busy. They also don't have any cameras. The dress is handmade and was purchased in New York. Custom job paid for with one of those credit cards that you put a set amount of money on. Usually they are gifts. The credit card was purchased here with cash. I'm guessing our mystery person delivered the flowers himself but the dress came via the postal service." Johnny had gotten a lot of information in the few hours he searched.

"So that's pretty much a dead end?" Jason asked his second in command.

"Yes." Johnny confirmed.

"And the person who shot Cal Atkins?" Jason asked Francis who was taking the lead on that investigation.

"Not much." The enforcer admitted. "My source at the police department said they took multiple eye witness accounts. The shooter was a man or a woman who was short or tall with dark or light hair and a possible limp. I'm inclined to go with Cody's description."

"Which isn't much." Jason huffed out. He was getting pissed. His guys were good. He trusted them with Bella but they didn't have shit right now and that was a dangerous place to be. Her stalker and the mystery shooter could be anyone.

"I know your frustrated Jason but no one is going to stop looking." Johnny assured him.

"I know." Jason didn't doubt his guys.

"Our dad's computer guy is trying to track Atkin's accounts to see if they can follow the money back to the person who ordered the contract." Milo wanted to give Jason something.

"The kids name is Spinelli and he's a computer genius. If anyone can do it he can." Max was amazed at some of the things the kid could do with a computer.

"Alright, let's table that and come back to it. Johnny bring me up to speed on what happened in the territory yesterday." Jason would move onto other business right now there wasn't much he could do about the threats to Bella. But when he found out who was stalking his girl they would regret it.

At two the guys were going over more business items when there was a knock. Johnny opened the door and Cody stepped inside. "We're back."

"How was everything?" Meaning did anything of note happen.

"It's all good. Although, with much respect, I must say your Grandmother is an evil woman. She tried to put us all in food comas." Cody said grinning. "Poor Logan may never recover. He's passed out on the couch. Your Grandmother sent back a chocolate cake. I put in the kitchen."

Jason just chuckled. "She likes to see people eat." Lila had never met someone she didn't want to care for. Actually that wasn't true Jason remembered, his grandmother couldn't stand Carly. "Where is Elizabeth?"

"She went upstairs to get changed. I mentioned that you wanted her to meet the Bopsey twins over there and she said she'd be right back down." Cody also knew the Giambetti brothers well.

Max flipped the bald guard the bird.

Cody just grinned before leaning back slightly. "Here she comes now." Ms. Webber was not one to keep the guys waiting. Cody stepped back and the petite brunette stepped into the office. All the guys stood and turned in her direction.

"Mio Dio." Max said softly as Milo simply crossed himself.

Everyone turned to look at the brothers who were both white as milk. "Max?" Johnny said trying to get his friend's attention. Both men were staring at Ms. Webber as if she was an alien.

"Are they alright?" Elizabeth said walking over to Jason. The two men were scaring her with the intensity of their gaze.

"I have no idea." Jason had never seen the two brothers act like this. Around women Max tended to be flirty and Milo tended to be pretty shy. But something about Elizabeth had apparently upset the two of them. Jason looked over at Johnny, Francis and Cody all three of whom shrugged their shoulders.

"Should we call a doctor?" Elizabeth asked thinking the bigger of the two might be having a heart attack. He really didn't look very good.

"Guys, what the hell is going on?" Jason asked not liking how they were looking at Elizabeth. It was creepy.

"She looks…" Max started and then fell hard into his chair.

"Just like our mother." Milo finished.

Okay I promised to let you know when the plot line that bjq and doralupine86 requested started. The Giambetti story line is what they wanted to see, so here we go!

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