Chapter 52
Now's Not a Good Time
He woke up to his cell phone ringing. He was exhausted. After their brief conversation, the passion inside both of them burst. They made love with a fury. Nothing was enough. They couldn't get satiated. The bed, the floor, the dresser, the chair, the wall, the closet. Every inch of that room was used. They made love with a yearning they hadn't experienced before. Hours later they laid in each others arms barely able to move, barely able to breathe. Now, after just the briefest of naps, his phone was ringing.
He glanced over at the clock on her side of the bed. 1:28AM He'd only been asleep for about fifteen minutes. He moved to pick up his cell phone off the bedside table. He tried gingerly to reach the phone without waking Elizabeth. She had only been asleep for thirty minutes. He rolled and she started to move with him and then she yelped. A strand of her curls was stuck like glue to his chest.
They should have showered after their last bout of sex. The chocolate Redi-whip was stuck all over them. Now her hair was glued to his chest. Everything was sticky. He knew they shouldn't have used the stuff but what started out as just a little flavored foreplay quickly became insane. They had used the whole can. He leaned up looking down at his chest and peeling her hair from just below his right nipple. Once the curl was free he saw the brownish stain of the cursive E she drew on him then licked off. That was the end of the can and the end of Elizabeth. She laid her head next to the E for the longest time slowly licking the cocoa confection away. She was almost done when he heard her breathing slow. Then the light snort of the sign she was sleeping. He wiped off the rest from his own chest with one long finger and licked it clean.
He laid there thinking about this tiny woman in his arms. She was so beautiful. She was strong and confident. She was one of the smartest people he had ever met and had a personality that drew everyone to her. He now understood more about her than he even thought he would.
For months she had been a puzzle. He didn't mind knowing that he didn't have all the pieces. He trusted her and the secrets she held didn't make that trust falter. When she looked into his eyes, he knew he didn't need all the pieces of the puzzle. However, within days, weeks, he now had all the pieces. She wasn't keeping secrets from him. She was the one being kept in the dark. It was the secrets of others that made her a puzzle. Now he was one of the ones keeping the secrets. He knew he wouldn't be able to for long. Although, if it kept her safe and happy, which according to Dr. Winters it did, he would gladly betray her trust and keeps the secrets her family had shrouded her in.
The ringing of his cell phone again pulled him from his thoughts. "Yeah" he said into the phone. It was Sonny. Sonny would never call if it wasn't important.
"Jason, we've got trouble."
Sitting up and gently placing Elizabeth over on her side of the bed he swung his legs over the side and winced slightly as he noticed his ass cheeks were stuck to the sheets. Peeling the sheet from him he asked, "What's going on?"
"Frank Smith just paid me a visit. He says he's in town for business AND pleasure. He said this was our only warning. Jason, he said this was YOUR only warning."
"What the fuck does he want with me?"
"I don't know man. I called Johnny and Francis and told them to get over to your place immediately. Where is everyone?"
"Um…I don't know. It's just Elizabeth and Aaron here. Shit, her niece and nephew are here too. I don't even know if Chris and Amy or Spinelli have gotten home yet." He was up off the bed and pulling on his jeans. Again a pained look crossed his face as he tried to adjust himself and was peeling skin away from skin from his balls to his cock.
"Are you okay?" Jason asked suddenly worried that Sonny didn't have his own guards in place.
"Yeah man, Greystone is locked up tight. Max is over at Carly's with the boys. Steven went with him to do perimeter and Max is staying in the hall outside the boys rooms tonight. Milo is here with me and Rocco's got perimeter."
"What the fuck does he mean he's here for business AND pleasure. What kind of game is he playing? And why does he keep singling out me…and Elizabeth? I know that damn picture of her used for target practice came from that bastard."
"I know. None of it makes sense. Even Luke hasn't been able to find out anything. He hasn't asked for property, territory or product. He hasn't asked to use shipping lanes or dock or warehouse space. I don't know what we have that he wants."
"Maybe it's my ELQ stock. Didn't you say his son went after that before?"
"Yeah but why would he want yours? He'd be better off going for Tracy's or Ned's or Edward's, someone that has enough to have a controlling interest."
Now downstairs and searching the empty rooms. Spinelli wasn't there and neither were Chris and Amy. Just as he expected. The kids were going to do midnight cosmic bowing and then catch the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the theatre. He didn't expect them until at least four. He went over to the crib and pulled the blanket up on Aaron. He went to rub his hand through Aaron's tiny brown curly locks but thought better of it. He didn't need to get chocolate all over everyone.
"Sonny, I need to get past this damn wedding first. I can't let this touch Elizabeth. I know all the guys are invited to the wedding but we need them running bomb sweeps and full alert security tomorrow. They can't be socializing like we planned. I want all the guards on duty and…never mind. I'll talk to all of them first thing tomorrow morning. You just show up with Carly and the boys. I'll take care of the security."
"It's what you do best. Listen man, you take care of YOUR family tonight. I'll see you at the wedding tomorrow."
"No, meet us at Carly's at noon. I need to talk to you about a lot of stuff. Oh, and call Doug. I want him in on this too. He needs to be aware of what's going on. Even though Elizabeth's on vacation next week, he needs to be in on the loop so he can protect her when she goes back to work."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow at Carly's. Watch your back."
Jason hung up the phone just as Francis and Johnny were walking in the door.
"You guys up to speed?" he asked as he pulled the blanket up and tucked Rachel in on the couch.
"Yeah Jase. I'll take perimeter and Francis will stay in here with the kids. I called Spinelli and they're on their way home now." Johnny said as he checked the cameras on the monitor under the kitchen cabinets.
"And I'll have their progress tracked on the computer in a minute. Don't worry, we got it covered." Francis stated as he pulled open the laptop on the counter. "Go back to bed. Your family is safe."
"For some reason, I just don't believe that right now." Jason said as he turned to walk up the stairs.
Once in the room he noticed the angel sleeping in his bed. "What does Frank Smith want with you?"
