A/N: Yay! I finally updated— even better. I actually finished this story. All the rest of the chapters are tucked away on my computer. I have Scrivener to thank for that. I got the program in July and it's amazing. It organized everything for me in one program and I have been writing non-stop. Updates will be in a timely fashion again. My goal is to have the last chapter up before the end of the month. Thanks to everyone who kept coming back. :D

Musical Inspiration:

Together (Acoustic) - by Ella Eyre

Time To Say Goodbye

Chapter 18

Give And Take

.~*~.

He watched her flick the end of her shoe back and forth over the heel of her foot. When an intentional sigh left her lips, he cringed inwardly. Another turn of her magazine page and a shift of her weight on the couch followed. It was a continued repetitive pattern.

Trying to ignore yet another sigh, Jason went over everything in his head that would need to be discussed with Sonny. They still had no direct leads on who sent the necklace. The original winner of the bid was an older lady who said the necklace was missing when she went to retrieve it and Nikolas confirmed that he offered to replace it for her.

There was also the tampered video footage of the charity event. 10 full minutes were missing. Most importantly, the last 10 minutes of the function when the necklace was stolen. Carly was livid over that one and said someone would be getting fired.

The whole thing was done by a professional and that worried him. Another sigh, more throaty and lingering, escaping his wife's lips and broke his focus. Jason mentally counted to ten.

Hearing the click on the door, he glanced over to find Spinelli walking through. Jason was not a religious man but at that moment, he was thanking God.

Brenda flipped another page of her magazine and didn't even bother to look up as she spoke, "Welcome to Harborview Penitentiary, please prepare to be frisked and widen your stance for an oral cavity search."

Jason ignored Spinelli's look of horror and pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the headache that was forming. "Brenda, please stop telling visitors they are entering a prison. I've been in prison. Trust me, the penthouse is nothing like Pentonville."

"I may not have to worry about getting shanked when I want to go to the bathroom but I don't have the freedom to walk out the door if I choose to. Hence, it's a prison," Brenda deadpanned, her face the picture of annoyance.

Standing and going to the closet, Jason took out his leather jacket and put it on as he walked towards Spinelli. He took the hacker by the arm and led him to the front door. Bending his head down, Jason lowered his voice, "Just— try to keep her entertained while I'm gone. She's going stir crazy and with the threat still not handled, I need her to stay here."

Spinelli gave his boss a salute. "No worries, Master. Your grasshopper shall handle the task you require with the utmost importance."

With a point of his finger, Jason stressed his final words. "Do not let her try to talk you into letting her go out. I mean it— no walks, no trips to Kelly's, nothing. She has everything she needs here. The guards know she is not to leave the penthouse but I know she has a tendency to wiggle her way out of things. Do not let her. This is only temporary and it's for her safety."

"Understood, Stone Cold. The princess is to stay in her shielded tower," the hacker said with a nod.

Jason made a pained face. "It's not a prison."

When Spinelli didn't respond in agreement, Jason let out a groan and walked past him. He opened the door and looked back at his wife. "I won't take long. Spinelli is going to hang out with you until I get back."

"That's great, I can get my allotted visitor time in. Do I also get one phone call?" Brenda snarked back.

Jason let out his own sigh and left through the front door mumbling "There's not even bars anywhere."

…

It didn't take Jason long to get to the docks. Being it has been one of the colder days in Port Charles, it seemed to keep the residents from venturing out.

Hitting the stand on his motorcycle, the enforcer put his keys in the back pocket of his jeans and walked towards the other guards waiting outside the warehouse. His eyes spotted Max easily enough.

"What's the status?" he questioned, making his way over to the man. He was hoping the sit-down with the five families would have been over by now.

Max gave him a nod of hello. "Boss should be out shortly. Things were tense here and there but the meeting went on without needing us for backup."

"What has them on edge? Things usually go smoothly."

Leaning forward, Max lowered his voice so only Jason would hear. "It wasn't just Lansing that showed up to represent the Zaccharas."

"Johnny showed?" Jason asked.

Max shook his head. "A woman." Seeing the confused look on Jason's face, the guard continued, "I don't know the details but she was important enough that Lansing ushered her in and she had her own set of security tailing her."

Jason furrowed his brow in thought. He didn't like the idea of a new player in the area. He already had a lot on his plate with the current threat to Brenda and the now open scramble for Alcazar's docks.

His phone buzzing in his pocket stopped his thoughts. Seeing the Spinelli's number flash on the screen made him answer it instantly. "Yeah, Spinelli. Is everything okay?" Jason asked, walking away from the other lingering guards.

"No, Stone Cold," his hysterical voice replied. "The Jackal is ill-equipped for this duty. You need to make haste."

Jason then heard noises in the background that made his own panic spike. It was Brenda's cries. He could vaguely hear her sobbing that she killed somebody.

"Please come home!" Spinelli begged urgently before the line went silent.

"Spinelli!" Jason called out but realized he had already hung up.

Ignoring Max's concerned yells, Jason jumped on his bike and sped away from the warehouse.

He had broken so many traffic laws that he ended up back at Harborview in half the time. Jason rushed out of the elevator and noticed instantly the guards were not at their stations. Grabbing his gun from the back of his pants, he bolted through the penthouse door and could see Brenda crying on the couch surrounded by her night-men. Spinelli was tucked away in the corner of the room looking like a scared rabbit.

Jason paused to access where the threat could be. He scanned the room but didn't find any intruders or bodies as he expected.

"Brenda," he sprinted over to his wife. "What happened?"

"I killed him," she choked out, "and I did it without thought. I'm going to be somebody's mother and I just chose to end his life. What does that say about me— that I could just kill. What kind of role model will I be for our child if I can do that?"

Jason noticed the guards backing away slowly as she broke down. He really wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Bren, who did you kill?"

"De Santa. Michael De Santa." She sniffled.

Running through the names of anyone linked to local crime rings or Port Charles, he was coming up blank.

"At first I thought he deserved it. He was a snitch so he had to go but afterward, I remembered he had a family. I took their father away from them," she said and began to cry again.

Jason for the life of him could not figure out who she was talking about.

"Bren, I don't know who this De Santa is, you need to give me more information."

Brenda lifted her hand and pointed.

Following the direction of her finger, Jason's eyes landed on the TV screen. The picture was frozen on an animated character who appeared dead on the ground with his head surrounded by blood.

Jason closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

It was a video game.

"Spinelli," he growled out.

"Master told his grasshopper to entertain Venus. Grand Theft Auto seemed like an ideal way to cure boredom. The outcome was not successful."

He would deal with the hacker later for this fuck up. Now, he had to calm down his hormonal wife. "It's okay," Jason said, putting his arms around her. "You don't need to be upset, it's not real."

Brenda leaned away from him to rub her eyes and scowl at him. "I know that! I know my pregnancy craziness is all over the place but I do know what's reality and what's not. It just made me remember."

Jason looked at Spinelli and tilted his head toward the door. The kid got the meaning and high-tailed it out of the room. "What did you remember," he asked, focusing back on Brenda.

"That I actually have killed people before."

"In self-defense," Jason inserted.

Brenda burrowed herself back into Jason's arms. "What if they had families?"

"They made their choice to do what they did without considering the consequences to those they care about. Anyone who came into the line of fire for either of us was not a good person."

"How do you know? I mean, what defines a good person?" Brenda asked.

"Our actions," Jason replied, rubbing her back.

"Who knew my husband was so philosophical?" Brenda let out a small laugh.

Jason shrugged. "I like to keep things simple," he said and paused. "You are one of the good ones, Bren. I always knew that. So, no more worrying. You are going to be an amazing mother."

"I hope you're right."

"I know I'm right. Do you think I would offer to marry you twice if I wasn't?"

Brenda looked up at him and smiled. "I thought maybe it was a spur of the moment thing on your part. We haven't talked about it since."

"You thought I wasn't serious?" Jason furrowed his brow and gently untangled himself from her. "Stay there."

Jason raced upstairs for a moment to retrieve the box he had been hiding and then came back down to the living room. He paced over to Brenda and knelt down in front of her. "I had planned to do this the right way but with us, it's always right so there is no need to wait." He opened the small box to expose the diamond ring inside. "Brenda Barrett Morgan, will you do me the honor of continuing to be a Morgan. Just a reminder— you already said yes."

"No takebacks, huh?" Brenda gave him a watery smile.

"Sorry," Jason replied with a grin.

Brenda placed her hands on his cheeks and softly pulled him forward so her lips could meet his. "I'll always say yes to you."

"That is very good to know," Jason nodded and went in for another kiss.

He had just leaned her back into the couch when an annoying buzz began to vibrate on the end table. "Ignore it," he murmured into the skin of her neck. Brenda gave a breathy nod and he slid his hand up the inside of her top.

Again, the incessant buzzing began.

Jason groaned and Brenda wiggled herself out from under him. "It might be important," she declared and reached for her phone.

As she read the words on the screen he watched her smile grow and she rushed to text something back. She turned her head and beamed at him. "It looks like you are getting an engagement present."

"I thought I already was," he said, attempting to pull her back into his arms. Instead, Brenda scooted away and stood up. She walked over to the corner of the room to slide on her flats.

"You can have that later. Now, I want you to come with me."

He knew he could have made an easy retort at that comment but decided against it. The fact that she was trying to leave the penthouse took precedence. "Brenda, I can't have you going out."

His wife held out her hand, waiting for him to take it. "That's why you are coming with me and we are only going for a short walk. I promise it's worth it and we won't be out in the open."

Jason looked at her, skeptical and curious.

"Please, just trust me," she added.

When she asked like that, how could he say no? Standing, he walked over and took her hand.

After the elevator ride down to the lobby, he expected her to either go towards the front doors or to the left, where the garage access was— instead, she led him in the direction to the back of the building, pass the main desk.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," she sing-songed in a giddy fashion.

The security on the ground level gave them odd glances but didn't say anything. They continued down the hall and right out the back door to the open alley. He assumed she would stop outside but she didn't. She continued on her mission and passed straight across, pulling him through another door.

"Brenda, I don't think we can be in here," he commented, seeing the rows of clothes inching up the mechanical line. If his sense of direction was right, this would be the back of the dry cleaning place the next block over.

"It's fine," she said, dragging him around a few bags of laundry.

Finally, they came to another door. To his surprise, Brenda began to push a number combination on the keypad and the door clicked open.

When they walked through together, Jason's confusion only grew. She didn't seem to want to take them any further but he couldn't understand what they were doing here. The room they were now in was freshly painted white and half decalled with childlike figures. Boxes of toys and colorful mats lined the room. There was an office in the corner and some large character wall mounts layered on the floor.

"This back here, is a work in progress," Brenda said looking around. "The main room is done already. You can see that later."

He was about to question her further but the buzz of a different locked door caught his attention. He was stunned when he saw who walked through. There, holding his son, Jake, was Francis.

"Ah, good timing, Franny," Brenda said walking over to the guard and putting out her hands. He easily slipped Jake into Brenda's arms.

"I've only had him for 5 minutes. He's a good baby," Francis commented.

Brenda bounced Jake. "That's because he's a wonderful little boy. Yes he is," she said in a playful tone to Jake, making him give her a gummy smile.

As his wife walked over, with his son propped on the side of her hip, Jason had yet to say a word. He was shocked by what he was seeing.

"Ready to go to daddy?" Brenda asked Jake. "I bet you are. You two have lots of time to make up." She held his son outward.

Jason instinctively took Jake in his arms and gave him a gentle squeeze. It was such an overwhelming feeling to be near him. He looked at his face and noticed the different changes in his appearance since the last time he laid eyes on him. Jason could see a touch of Elizabeth here and there but his own features came through strongly. This was his son, no Spencer genes there.

Jake smiled at him and rested his head on his chest so easily that it was like he remembered who he was. Jason attempted to swallow down his emotions before turning to his wife. "How?" he asked, his voice cracking with one word.

Brenda tilted her head and gave him a heartfelt grin. "I worked it out. I sat down with Elizabeth to discuss my plan and went over every last detail with her to ensure Jake's safety and the safety of the secret." She rolled her eyes at the last part. "Elizabeth now has a nanny three days a week. The nanny, Mary, was handpicked by Franny and she takes Jake here to 'PC Playdate' one day a week. She only knows she is supposed to drop him off, no questions asked. There is no paper trail and the only other person to know the truth is Franny, which Elizabeth was okay with. The nanny is linked to a service under a front business just like this building, which by the way, I made legit under a false name because I thought it was a cute idea. Anyway, Jake will be here every Tuesday for time with his daddy. Tuesdays are kid yoga day and they are always," she put up her fingers to make quotation marks, "booked out."

She did all this for him. She crafted this elaborate plan all for him. "I love you," he burst out, unable to think of any other way to convey what he was feeling. It was the truth, he did love her and he knew he said it before but this particular time— the phrase held how grateful he was for her.

He was reminded of the words echoed by Jagger, about how strongly Brenda loved. And she did— she did it with heartfelt actions. It was times like this that Jason knew why men had trouble letting go of Brenda Barrett. He wouldn't be one of them because she was a Morgan now and that would be tagged onto her name forever.

"I love you too," she replied, giving him and his son a peck on the cheek. "Now, let's see what toys Jake likes."

She excitedly dragged him over to one of the colorful bins.

.~*~.

Lounging on the couch with a drawing pad tilted over her pregnant belly, Brenda continued to sketch out designs. She was never the artistic type but knowing the way fabric lays on the human form was like second nature to her. She knew where to draw each seam. She had just drawn the perfect line when the paper punched back at her.

This wasn't the first time Brenda was kicked, her daughter was extremely active and Jason got that fatherly excitement every time it happened. But— this is the first time Brenda saw an actual little bump popping out of her stomach. She quickly pushed her top up to get a better look. "That's new," she said to herself, trying to determine if it was a foot or elbow. She gave the bump a small little push and it pushed back. "Definitely a foot," she mumbled. "Are you trying to play with mommy?"

And so started the game of kick and push. Brenda's work took a break for about 15 minutes until her daughter got tired of playing.

A knock at the penthouse door made her lower her blouse back over her stomach. Brenda heard the door open but couldn't see who it was. She gave her usual greeting. "Welcome to Harborview Penitentiary. Please remove all jewelry, sharp objects, and perishables— and place them in the bin."

Hearing a girlish laugh, Brenda turned her head to see her new assistant smiling at her. "Do I need to take my shoes off too?" Georgie asked.

"Nah. You look safe enough," Brenda replied and gestured for her to sit down.

"I got the samples you asked for. I really like your idea of only using black, white, and gray. Some of the patterns in the third panel are really pretty," Georgie said, handing over the large fabric book.

"Let's hope others think so too. When '½ Spec Designs' launches I want to be ready to do a full spread layout." Brenda said, looking over the swatches of material. She glanced at Georgie hoping to find out if she decided to accept her ex's proposal. "So, what's new?"

The younger woman quirked the corner of her mouth upward. "You mean, what's new on the Dillon front."

"I know, I'm being nosy but Spinelli has been quiet about the whole thing."

"Has he?" Georgie said, frowning. "Spin has been avoiding me. I don't know why."

Brenda thought maybe Spinelli finally realized he felt something for Georgie but it wasn't her place to say it. "Boy's are weird," she opted instead.

Georgie nodded. "I don't know what to do about Dillon. I thought I moved on but my new feelings didn't seem to be going anywhere. Maybe, I was just moving in circles." She sighed. "Dillon does want to try again. I told him I would think about it."

Dammit. Spin really needed to figure his shit out.

"Follow your heart. It's the best advice I can give you," Brenda said.

"How did you know Jason was the one?" Georgie asked, her face curious.

"That's a complicated question. Jason was with Sam when I knew I was in love with him."

Georgie's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup," Brenda said and took a sip of her water. This conversation would have been so much better starting with alcohol but that wasn't an option. "It wasn't some big gesture that got me to that point. It was something as simple as Jason telling me that he was going to marry Sam. My first thought wasn't— 'oh, okay, we need to finally get those divorce papers'. It was, 'you can't because you're already promised to me'. It was then, that it clicked— I didn't want to let Jason go."

"Wow," Georgie commented, leaning closer off her seat. "So, what did you do?"

Brenda smiled. "Nothing."

Georgie looked at her like she was crazy. "Nothing?"

"Don't get me wrong, a part of me, old me, wanted to get on a plane and come up with something to stop him from going through with it. But the rational part of myself, the part that grew up and had already been down that road, wanted to see him happy, more. If Sam made him happy—" Brenda shrugged, "Then that was good enough for me."

"But what if he loved you too?"

"At that time, he didn't— not the way he does now. Jason is very committed. When he is in love with someone, it's only them. We are so close and were at that time as well. It would have hurt our friendship if I told him. He would have had to choose and I wouldn't do that to him. I've sabotaged relationships before to get what I wanted. It never ended well for me. I had to stop being selfish. Unless the person has their heart to give, it's a losing battle."

"That was the problem with Dillon," she said thoughtfully. "It was always what he needed. He needed to be around Lulu, he needed to put her first, and he needed to follow his dreams. I understood that but he never considered mine or my feelings. And now he needs me to marry him again."

"What is it that Miss Georgianna needs?" Brenda asked with a sly smile.

Georgie stared off into space for a moment before standing up. "I think I found it," she said with conviction and walked out of the room. A few seconds later she came back in. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask if I could go. That was so rude of me to just up and leave while we are working."

Brenda laughed. "Yes. Go." She shooed her away. "Go confess your feelings."

"How did you—" Georgie began but then saw a smirk on Brenda's lips. "Right. Going," She finished rushing out of the room.

.~*~.

Rushing through the emergency room doors, Brenda scanned the area for her friend. She was moving so fast that even her guards were having a hard time keeping up with her. Once she had gotten the phone call about the accident there was no way in hell they were stopping her from coming here, despite their orders to make her stay at the penthouse.

Finally, she saw a perfectly cropped dark head of hair. "Ned!" She ran over to the man and hugged him before pulling back. "How is she? Is she all right? Did you get any info yet?"'

"I just got here myself. My mother called and said they were taking her right into surgery," he said, twisting to look for Tracy.

The pair spotted Tracy over by the front desk arguing with the nurse behind it. Edward was by her side.

Together they paced over.

"Edward, how's Monica?" Brenda asked.

"Oh. My dear, I'm so glad to see you here. They won't tell us anything yet."

Tracy scowled at Brenda over Ned's shoulder. "Who called the thug wife?

"I did," Ned answered while Edward told his daughter to, "Hush it."

"Brenda?" Jason called from across the room before sprinting over to them.

"Oh, great! The whole mob family is here now."

"Tracy, enough! There are more important things happening. What did the nurse say?" Edward asked.

The older woman gestured for them all to move to the side, out of the way of prying ears. "They said a doctor will be out to see us shortly. The problem is, there will also be a police officer waiting to question her once she's conscious."

"Whatever for?" Ned asked.

"She has been drinking a lot lately. So, my guess— her blood alcohol level might have something to do with it," Tracy explained.

Edward put a hand to his mouth. "Dear God."

"No." Brenda shook her head. "Monica wouldn't do that. Not after what happened with AJ." She argued.

Tracy raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Yeah, well, you haven't seen her lately. The poor woman lost her husband and daughter in the same year."

Brenda took Jason's hand in hers, knowing those words would hit him the hardest out of all of them.

"You said she hit a building?" Ned asked Tracy in a low voice.

She nodded in reply. "Thankfully, it was empty at the time so no one got hurt."

"If she gets a DUI, there is a large chance she'll lose her medical license," Jason confirmed.

"This is a nightmare," Edward said leaning against the wall. It seemed like all the family trouble was gradually beginning to wear him down.

Jason looked to each of them. "I could make a call."

"Finally! You are finally acting like a Quartermaine and looking after your own," Tracy spouted with a nod.

"No," Edward said.

"Daddy? He can make this go away. For once he's useful so let's actually use him."

"What good did it do AJ when we made things go away? Did he learn from his mistakes? No. He kept drinking. Monica needs to want to get better on her own."

They all stood quiet after Edward's speech.

"Monica Quartermaine's family?" A doctor asked walking into the waiting area.

"That's us," Tracy said as they all bustled over to the doctor.

The doctor nodded and slipped his clipboard under his arm. "Hello. I'm Doctor Austin and I performed the surgery on Doctor Quartermaine. She suffered a severe break of her right clavicle. The bone protruded through the skin so we had to do an intramedullary fixation. It's basically a long metal-like nail that screws the bones back together. The surgery went fine. She is going to be sore for a while due to that and her other injuries." The doctor pulled the chart back out and flipped over the page. "They were, a proximal humerus fracture on her right side," he said pointing to his shoulder, "and some bruising to her right cheekbone. It appears she turned her body sideways into the steering wheel. She should make a full recovery." He paused for a moment before continuing. "There were some, um, concerns with her blood work so someone will be out to see you about that." The doctor cleared his thought. "You'll be notified when you can go in and visit." With a tight-lipped nod, he left.

"They know," Ned said watching Dr. Austin's retreating back.

"Which means it won't take long for word to get around the hospital. The board will find out soon enough." Tracy sighed.

Edward sullenly dipped his head. "All we can do now is wait and hope for the best."

.~*~.

It had been a few hours of lingering in the waiting room when they received the latest update. Monica had already left from recovery and was staying in her own room but was sleeping from the heavy amounts of medication. The 5 of them took turns sitting with her since they were not all allowed to crowd her.

Brenda leaned forward in the uncomfortable chair hoping to stretch her aching body out.

"It's going to be a long night. Why don't you have the guards drive you home," Jason suggested, making large circles on her back with his palm.

Brenda shook her head. "I want to be here when she wakes up."

"She already did," Ned said walking toward them. "Tracy and Edward both tried talking to her and she's ignoring them. She won't talk." He blew out a long breath before sitting down and offering a coffee to Jason.

Brenda turned to face her husband. "Maybe you should try."

"I think I'm the last person she wants to see."

"That's not true," Brenda said, frowning. "You're her son. No matter how upset she is, she still loves you." Seeing Jason's uncertainty saddened her. With new vigor, Brenda stood and began to march to Monica's room. "I'll try," she said answering Jason and Ned's unspoken question.

Brenda passed Edward and Tracy whispering outside the door as she entered the room. There was one light over the bed that seemed to dim the rest of the walls. It shadowed Monica's form as she lay on her good side. Bandages and casting peeked out from the blankets. Brenda walked over and sat in the chair facing her.

"Hi, Monica."

Getting no reply, she watched as the woman stared at a spot just past her.

"We were worried about you. I wish you would have come to us if you were struggling. I wish we could have been there for you." Brenda tried to adjust herself to get comfortable in the new chair. "They are hard not to miss, aren't they? Alan's quips, Emily's smiles, they brought more warmth to people than I think either of them realized.

Brenda noticed a tear running down the slope of Monica's nose.

"They loved you, just like we do and they would be worried sick for you right now. Please let us— ow." Brenda winced as the baby gave her a good kick. She looked down at her stomach and rubbed the spot that hurt. "Your granddaughter's going to be a soccer player."

"It's a girl?"

Brenda snapped her eyes up to see Monica was looking directly at her. She smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to tell you sooner. We had some things come up."

"Some mob things?" she asked her face hardening. "Why do you allow yourself into that life, Brenda. You have a baby coming. You should be running as far away as possible."

"I love him, Monica. I would never leave him and even if he left me, I'd still be in that life," she said swallowing. "We were stupid kids. We got in too deep and I know that if we both could talk to our younger selves, we would warn them. We would tell them that they would be giving up so much if they continued on the path they were on. I was obsessed with Sonny and got myself noticed by people I shouldn't have. And because of that, I always have to look over my shoulder. And Jason—

"I didn't think of what it would mean to someday have a family surrounded with violence," Jason said from the doorway.

Brenda gave a sad smile to Jason as he finally walked in. She knew he wouldn't be mad at her words. They were thoughts that had been expressed many times between them before going to sleep. Just because they accepted the danger in their lives, didn't mean they liked it.

"Despite the way we live, I still hope you'll be a part of our child's life," Brenda pleaded.

Monica began to cry. "Why would you want a drunk around your daughter?"

"Because we are going to get you help and be there for you every step of the way," Jason replied, taking her non-bandaged hand in his.

Turning her head into her pillow, Monica's tears continued. "I just miss them so much. I have nothing left."

"You have us. You have family."

.~*~.

After a long talk with Monica and her accepting support from the rest of the family, the Morgans left the room.

Brenda rested her head on Jason's shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her waist. It was late and the pair of them were ready to get home. They were almost to the elevator when a voice stopped them.

"Well, don't you two make a nice little family portrait."

Brenda felt herself being gently pushed behind her husband.

"What are you doing here?" Jason asked.

"Visiting my vegetable of a father. Odd, that he should have a random stroke isn't it?"

Brenda peeked around Jason to see what all the fuss was about. It was only the girl from the store so Brenda wasn't sure what Jason was all uppity about. "Claudia?"

"You know her?" Jason asked, not letting up on his protective stance.

"Yeah, we met at the Wyndhams."

Jason pointed at Claudia. "You stay away from my wife."

The woman pouted. "That's not very friendly."

"I didn't get a chance to update you. There have been some new developments. Claudia is Johnny Zacchara's sister," Jason explained to his wife.

Brenda's mouth popped open in surprise.

"That I am. I'm helping my brother take over things. But— I'm always in the market for new muscle," she said leering at Jason. "If you're up for switching sides, I'd be willing to discuss it."

Raising a brow, Brenda placed a hand on her cocked hip. "And I officially no longer like you. I definitely don't like you flirting with my husband so you might want to knock that off before I shove that red Christian Dior somewhere you won't like.

"Worried?" Claudia smirked.

"Annoyed," Brenda replied.

Claudia crossed her arms in her own girl battle pose. "I'd get it if you were. You have gained some weight there haven't you? Not that nice little figure anymore."

"I'm sure you would understand it," Brenda nodded and volleyed, "You do have a set of birthing hips yourself, doncha?"

Something flashed in Claudia's eyes but she quickly hid it away. Instead, she looked at Jason. "She's feisty."

Jason opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Brenda. "You have no idea. I shouldn't be underestimated."

"Clearly," Claudia said with an evil grin.

"Leave. Before I make you," Jason said, his tone deadly.

Claudia tipped her head arrogantly and gave the pair an overly dramatic wave. "Have a good evening, Morgans."

Brenda waited until Claudia was out of sight before she raised her hand in the stop signal. "Don't. I already know what you are going to say. I know that was stupid but she pissed me off. I didn't have all the information and it took me off guard."

Jason huffed angrily as he escorted her to the elevator. "You're going to put me in an early grave. Do you know that?"

"At least you didn't tell me to shut up."

.~*~.

Tom stood in the hospital parking lot watching his old charge get into an SUV with her husband. Sometimes, as he watched her, he felt a twinge of guilt for what he was doing. She was a decent lady and he had no hard feelings towards her. But— the money was just too good to ignore.

Taking out his phone he dialed the familiar number he always did for his check-ins.

"Yes," the voice answered.

"Yeah, boss, it's me. She just left the hospital with Morgan. It's the first time she's been out since she got the necklace. Still, her security has been tight. I think the only reason she ventured out is because Morgan's mother was in an accident. The pair of them stayed with her in the hospital room for a while. When they came out they bumped into Miss Zacchara. A few heated words were exchanged but they went their separate ways."

"Where is Claudia now?" his boss asked.

"She took off before they did," Tom replied.

"Fine. Keep me posted. Phase two starts soon."