Chapter Thirty-Two

This is a song for the broken girl

The one pushed aside by the cold, cold world

You are

Hear me when I say

You're not the worthless they made you feel

There is a love they can never steal away

You don't have to stay the broken girl

- Broken Girl, Matthew West

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Hardy Home: Living Room

Elizabeth was crying again as she finished telling her grandmother about Friday, about the final time Lucky had hurt her. Audrey was in tears, too, her voice trembling as she hugged Elizabeth. The two of them rocked back and forth on the sofa.

"I'm so sorry, darling, that I didn't see it. That I didn't make you feel safe enough to tell me—" Audrey drew back and wiped tears from Elizabeth's face. "I love you so very much, and all I've ever wanted is for you to be happy. But you haven't been. I blamed you, and I had no right—"

"No, Gram, you did the same thing to me that I did to myself—"

"But I know better. I saw you after the kidnapping." Audrey pressed her lips together, tried to get herself under control. "I saw the way you broke down—and I kept going. I kept blaming Jason. But it's never been his fault. It's mine. And Jason is right. I saw Lucky last night. I should have seen the signs."

"I should have had more courage and faith in myself. I knew I wasn't in love with Lucky weeks ago. I don't know when it changed—" Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Gram, I had an affair with Jason. I knew it. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself. And I let my guilt over that blind me to what was happening in my marriage. I couldn't see that Lucky's anger was dangerous, I didn't see that he taking drugs—and I didn't just put myself in that situation, I let it happen to Cameron—"

"I put myself back into a marriage with a man that nearly destroyed me," Audrey told her. "You know that. I could say times were different — and they were. The judge wouldn't give me custody of Tommy unless I stayed with his father. And, of course, in the state of New York—" She sighed.

"A husband couldn't rape his wife," Elizabeth said with a sour taste in her throat. "I know. It was never that bad with Lucky, and part of me wants to say it never would have been, but I also—"

She swiped tears from her cheeks. "I never thought it would be like that with Lucky at all. I kept thinking we could have the magic back. I never once stopped to ask myself if I even wanted it."

"I'm sorry, darling. But you've left him now, and I won't ever let you change your mind." Audrey hesitated. "And…this…affair with Jason…is it—well, is it still—"

"When I went back to Lucky, Jason and I stopped seeing each other. I promise. I ran into him last week on the docks by accident. We weren't sleeping together. It was just…a few kisses. A few conversations we shouldn't have had. But it was enough, and I should have listened to my heart."

Elizabeth waited a moment, but Audrey didn't say anything, so she continued. "But yes. Now it's…something. I've told Jason that I want to take it slow. I want to end my marriage, I want to take a breath and give myself space. But I don't want either of us to ignore how we felt. How we feel. I don't want to miss my chance again. He loves Cameron, Gram."

"Does he love you?" Audrey asked carefully.

"I—"

Elizabeth's answer was cut off as there was a harsh knock on the door. Elizabeth frowned and went to the door to look through the peephole. She grimaced, stepping away. "Go away, Lucky!"

"Let me in! Now! You're my wife, and I'll be damned if you're going to keep humiliating me—" Lucky hit the door, kicking it so hard that it shook in the frame.

"Lucky Spencer, you leave this property right now, or I will call the police," Audrey shouted back.

"Open this goddamn door, Elizabeth, or I will break it down!"

Her heart pounding, Elizabeth fumbled for her phone. "I'm calling Jason—he can send a guard or—"

"I'm calling 911 right now!" Audrey shouted as she grabbed the landline. She went to the window where she could see Lucky on her doorstep. She held up the phone, so he could watch her dial. "Get off my property!"

"This isn't over, Elizabeth!" Lucky slammed his fist against the door again but finally stalked away.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath. "Gram—"

"Darling—"

"Don't call 911. Call Mac Scorpio. Robin was right. I need to report him. Because this isn't over."

And while Audrey was calling Mac, Elizabeth made two phone calls of her own. One to Emily, to ask her to come over, and the other to Justus to make an appointment for the next day.

She was done hiding.

Kelly's: Diner

Jason opened the door and found his tech guy sitting with one of the guards at one of the back tables. Jason hurried over to sit by Stan. "Were you able to find it?"

"Yep." Stan sipped his iced tea then nodded to Marco, who drew out two plastic bags of jewelry. "Everything Lucky Spencer pawned since March. I just told the owner you were an interested party, and he couldn't give them to me fast enough."

Jason took the bags and frowned at the first bag—a man's wedding ring. "He pawned his wedding ring?"

Stan leaned forward. "Oh. Yeah. Guy said Lucky pawned it in March, and never reclaimed it. Came in yesterday around nine, looking all wild-eyed—typical addict crap—and pawned the rest of it." He looked at Jason. "That's what you wanted, right? You didn't care about the television, right?"

"Yeah, I just wanted the jewelry." Jason exhaled slowly, then shoved the bags into his pocket. "What do we owe the owner? Did you tell him we'd make it worth his while, or did you just threaten him?"

"Turns out your name is apparently enough to make the guy crap in his pants," Marco said with a grin. "Probably could have cleaned him out of the diamonds if I'd been interested."

"Thanks. Keep this to yourself, okay?"

"We're protecting a cop?" Stan asked with some confusion. "Isn't he Elizabeth's husband? I mean, maybe I'm overstepping, but wouldn't it be easier for you if he got in trouble—"

"We're protecting the woman who owns the jewelry," Jason said flatly. He got to his feet. "Thanks for doing this so quickly."

Stan accepted his danger and sat back with a shrug. "No problem. We got a break — it was at the second store we contacted."

Jason left them then, intent on heading to Carly's house to pick up Cameron. He wanted to keep moving, to keep focusing on what was next—

Because if he stopped, he'd have to think about the fact that he'd seen the bruises on Elizabeth, had seen her that last night with a cut on her face, with an injured shoulder—

And had never once questioned if Lucky was hurting her. Not even after Sonny had suggested it might be possible. And hadn't Jason told himself then that she'd never confide in him about it—

How could he blame the rest of the world for not seeing it? He hadn't. And now he'd have to live with the guilt.

He shoved open the door to Kelly's and ran straight into Robin. "Sorry—"

"Oh, hey, I was hoping to run into you." She frowned. "You look upset." She tipped her head to the side, squinted her eyes. "Have you been back to the penthouse?"

"Uh, yeah." He let the door to Kelly's close behind him. "I know—" Jason shook his head. "I know. Elizabeth told me. And she told me you knew."

"She told you what?" Robin asked slowly, drawing out the words with a suspicious furrowing of her brows.

"Robin." Jason just sighed. "I know what she's been through. And that you were there for her. That you encouraged her to tell me. Thank you. I'm glad she had someone."

"Okay." Robin folded her arms. "A lot of good it did her — she wouldn't listen to me back when it happened. I wanted her to leave then. I thought about telling you."

"You should have," Jason said flatly. "Someone should have told me—"

"Or maybe you should have seen it—" Robin scowled. "I mean, it was right in front of your face. Patrick and I both saw it—" She pursed her lips. "But I should have told you. I knew if you knew—if Emily knew—she might not have gone back. But—" She shrugged a shoulder. "Water under the bridge. She told you. She left. And now—" She bit her lip. "She did the hard part."

She arched a brow. "Now comes the dangerous part. Most women in an abusive relationship are hurt worse after they leave. Does she have a guard?"

Jason scowled. "No." Damn it. And he'd seen Lucky the night before. He knew exactly how angry he could get. He pulled out his phone. "I'll send Cody over. I promised her I'd get Cameron and bring him home." He started out of the courtyard.

"Tell her I have those pictures," Robin called after him. "She'll need them when she calls my uncle."

He turned back to her for a minute. "Okay. Thanks. For being there."

"I like Elizabeth, too, Jason. And I want her happy. She's been through enough."

That was something they could agree on. So Jason left, leaving Cody a voice mail to head over to the Hardy house in case Lucky showed up.

Hardy House: Living Room

Mac arrived just after Emily did, and the police commissioner was in a rotten mood. Elizabeth understood that—he'd lost a police officer the night before, and she knew Maxie must be traumatized. It was only out of respect for Audrey and her grandfather that Mac had even taken Audrey's call and come over as quickly as he had.

"I don't have a lot of time," Mac snapped as Audrey closed the door behind him. "What's this about?"

"You will not take that tone with me, Mac Scorpio," Audrey snapped.

Emily looked back and forth between Elizabeth's grandmother and Mac before meeting Elizabeth's tired and puffy eyes. "What's going on? What's happened since last night?"

"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know. I've been trying to find you for nearly twenty-four hours," Mac retorted. "You fled the scene of a crime—you're lucky I don't have an arrest warrant—"

Elizabeth arched a brow. "You mean, I fled a place where a maniac was shooting at people? Yeah, I can see why that would be suspicious. You can't get an arrest warrant for that. If you could make those charges stick, Jason would still be at the PCPD."

"Don't get me started on that—"

"You're here because I need to file charges against Lucky," Elizabeth said. Emily's head snapped up, and she stared at Elizabeth, startled. "For assault."

"Assault," Mac repeated, slowly. He tensed with the air of a man who knew what was coming but was hoping like hell he was wrong. "Against who?"

"Me." Elizabeth folded her arms tightly. "On four separate occasions, Lucky assaulted me, the last being Friday night."

Mac cleared his throat. He scrubbed a hand over his face, then sighed. "Okay, uh, let's just—let's just start from the beginning. What happened?"

So Elizabeth told him. She told him in the same detail as she had Jason, but this time she was able to keep herself together. Some of the details were new for Audrey, who was weeping again. Emily put an arm around Audrey's shoulder, her own face pale, her expression frozen like granite.

"And then Lucky left the apartment," Elizabeth finished finally. "I got up, looked at myself in the mirror, took a call from Emily, and then left. I didn't see Lucky again until last night when he came to Greystone and tried to get on the grounds to make me leave."

Mac frowned, squinting. "You—You saw Lucky last night—when—"

"Before Jason and Sonny were arrested," Elizabeth told him. "He knew where I was and knew I was there because I wanted to be."

"Which is a very different story than he told either of us at the station last night," Audrey reminded Mac.

"Yeah, I caught that," Mac muttered. "Your grandmother said you'd seen him today—"

"Yeah, about a half hour ago, when he came to Gram's door and threatened to break it down."

Mac closed his notebook and stared down at it for a long moment. "He's been under a little pressure," he said, but it was clear from his tone even he didn't believe that.

"You should have him drug tested," Elizabeth said. "Because I'm pretty sure he pawned my jewelry to pay off his drug dealer. I think he started buying oxycontin on the street because he was always taking pills, and Patrick cut him off months ago."

"You're accusing him of taking drugs, too?" Mac said. "Look, I can—I can believe the rest of it, but do you have proof of this? I know this has been a rough time for you, and maybe you want to make sure Lucky can't see your son—"

"Don't you dare," Emily said in a tightly controlled voice. "Because if you're about to accuse her of lying, I will call my grandfather and make sure he calls the mayor. I am done watching you and the rest of the PCPD treat Elizabeth like this."

"I didn't even get a chance—" Mac looked at Elizabeth. "I believe you," he repeated. "I don't know about the drugs, but I don't think you'd accuse him of the abuse if it weren't true. I know that Lucky's been under a lot of pressure from the job, and the injuries didn't help. That doesn't excuse it, but it means I believe you."

"But?" Elizabeth prompted. "Because I can hear you saying it."

"But it would be your word against his without evidence. The incidents that caused injury were from a month ago, and you didn't report it—"

"Robin took pictures," Elizabeth said. "They're dated. Before Manny kidnapped me that night. So hopefully, you'd believe her."

"I…" Mac pursed his lips. "I would, yes."

"And Patrick has seen Lucky screaming at me. He's a witness to the anger."

"Elizabeth—"

"But you're not going to do anything. Even with the pictures."

"I'm going to file the report," Mac told her. "And I'll interview Robin and Patrick. I'll get the pictures. I'll take it to the DA, but Alexis probably won't look at the case because she's related to Lucky's brother. And I don't know that another DA would file charges."

"Why?" Audrey demanded. "My granddaughter is a credible witness with proof!"

"Because of Jason," Elizabeth said with a sinking feeling. Mac looked away. "For the same reason no one believed me about Manny. No one believed me that I hadn't been kidnapped because of Jason. Because people will blame me for it. There are members of your department who think I got what I deserved when Manny kidnapped me. And they'll think that I deserved what Lucky did."

"I'm not one of them—"

"But that's what will happen."

Mac sighed. "Look, you did the right thing. You got out. And I'll put together a report. There will be a paper trail. I'll talk to Lucky about leaving you alone. And I'll encourage him to get counseling. And a drug test. Elizabeth—"

"This is bullshit," Emily said flatly. "I can't believe you're not going to do more—"

"There's nothing else he can do," Elizabeth said with a sad sigh. "Because he's right. The DA's office will never take this case. Even if it were Alexis. Because Lucky would never plead guilty. And a jury would never convict him. They'd just—they'd see the same thing everyone else does. A cop's wife who had an affair with a criminal and ended his career. And got what she deserved for it."

Mac, at least, had the decency to look ashamed as he nodded. "I think that might be the outcome, yeah. I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I work in the system, I can't always make it do the right thing."

"Especially when you agree."

Audrey's voice was carefully controlled as Mac looked at her. Elizabeth blinked at her in surprise, but her grandmother kept her eyes on the commissioner.

"You could push the DA. You could remind them that Jason has never once been convicted of a single thing. You could also remind them that he is, nominally, a Quartermaine. But you're giving up. Because you think if my granddaughter had not been around Jason Morgan, none of this would have happened."

Mac hesitated. "I wouldn't go that far, but I think we're forgetting that a good cop is dead because he was standing too close to Jason Morgan—"

"He's dead because he came over to scream at me for being a whore and was standing too close to me," Elizabeth said flatly. "Because Lucky's drug dealer was sending him a message about paying his bills. You might believe me about some of it, but you clearly have your own narrative."

"Elizabeth—"

"You can go. Thanks for coming. Let me know when the report is ready, so I can ask Justus to get a copy for my divorce petition."

"I'm sorry," Mac repeated, but he left.

"I cannot believe—" Emily took a deep breath, then dragged her hands through her hair. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking at Elizabeth. "I'm so sorry. I should have seen it—"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I didn't want you to see it—" She sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out while I was telling Mac—I didn't know how fast he'd get here—"

"You don't have to apologize to me." Emily took her hands in hers. "You didn't tell me because I think a part of you was scared I might tell you the same thing I'm sure Luke did. That this isn't Lucky, that the Lucky we know and love would never do this to you. That's what he told you to make you stay, right? He told you had to fight for the boy who we used to know."

"Em—"

"Because that's the crap I used to say to you all the time. Never again," Emily declared with a shake of her hand. "Because the boy I knew wouldn't do that. The man he is today? I believe it. He doesn't get one more minute of my time. You and Cameron are who matter to me." She embraced Elizabeth tightly. "Let the Spencers worry about Lucky. He's their problem. He never has to be yours again."

Jake's: Upstairs Hallway

Sam shoved open her door and frowned when she saw Alexis waiting in the hallway. "How did you know—"

"You said you were leaving, so I had someone find out which flight you were on. And I took a chance you'd be staying at Jake's because it's under the radar." Alexis looked down at the duffel bad in Sam's hand. "You have to leave today? Now?"

"There's nothing here for me," Sam said with a shrug. "What's the point? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because there's something I need to say before you walk away forever." Alexis waited, but Sam didn't drop the bag or offer to let her in. "Fine. We'll do this it this way. I understand you were disappointed to learn I was your biological mother—"

Sam snorted. "Disappointed isn't the word—"

"And being connected by blood doesn't mean anything. I'm a Cassadine. We spend a lot of time running from our blood relatives." Alexis folded her arms. "Sometimes, we get to choose our family, Sam, but I understand that right now, you don't have a lot of interest in choosing me."

"No, I don't. Can I go now—"

"But you're not just turning me away," Alexis continued. "You're walking away from Kristina and Molly. I know how close you were to your brother. How fiercely devoted you were to him."

"Don't talk to me about Danny—" Her throat tightened. "How dare you—"

"My girls could use an older sister who loves like that." Alexis stepped to the side. "You can go, Sam. Knowing you're alive, that you're in the world—that gives me peace. For so long, you were a devastating memory. I blamed myself for a long time for not being stronger, for not finding a way to keep you. I thought you'd died because I was weak."

Sam just stared at her biological mother as Alexis took a bracing breath. "But you're alive, Sam. And that's enough for me. I can make it enough."

"I'm going to go now." Sam started down the hallway, but she heard Alexis following her. When they reached the empty bar downstairs—it hadn't yet opened up for the night rush—Sam turned to her. "I don't need you. I don't need your kids. I don't need a family. I'm fine on my own."

"If you ever change your mind," Alexis said, "I'll be here."

"I won't."

And then Sam left.

Hardy House: Front Porch

Emily stayed for a little while longer, but then she had to get back to the hospital. About an hour after she'd left, there was another knock at the door.

Audrey had gone upstairs to start putting together a list of people to call in case Elizabeth decided she wanted to go war against the PCPD and force charges to be filed.

Elizabeth didn't think she was going to go that far, but she appreciated how much support her grandmother had offered her since she'd come home. She knew Audrey wasn't totally sold on Jason, but she was willing to lay down her guard and give him a chance.

She hoped it was Jason at her doorstep, bringing Cameron back to her—and when she opened the door to find her grinning son, smiling sunnily at her from Jason's arms, Elizabeth couldn't help but grin back.

"Hi, Mommy. Jason bringed me home." He leaned forward to hug her, and Jason transferred Cameron into her arms. "Love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Cam." She closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. "Did you have fun with Aunt Carly and Morgan?"

"We eated lots of sugar. All the candy. Morgan says it's cuz his daddy says no fun, and his mommy says too much fun." He grinned at her, flashing his baby teeth. "Then Jason comed, and said I get to go home to Gram. He said my toys be here later."

"Cody is bringing over Cameron's things," Jason told her. "The toys and clothes at least. I figured you'd want them." He hesitated. "I can go—"

"No, no—wait—" She pressed a kiss to Cameron's cheek. "Guess what? Gram is upstairs in her room, and I think she needs a great, big Cam hug."

"I go do that. I love my Gram." Cameron waved, then started for the stairs. She and Jason watched he gradually climbed the staircase, carefully holding onto the railing as he lifted his tiny legs onto the next step.

He waved again from the top of the stairs, then disappeared down the hall. Elizabeth smiled after him, then looked back at Jason. "Let's talk outside. "It's a nice day, and I'm tired of being inside."

Jason nodded. "Uh, when Cody gets back, I asked him to hang out—"

"I was going to ask you about that," she said as she leaned against the wall of her house. "Because Lucky showed up here, and I just—I don't want to deal with it. I'd rather someone stopped him before he got that close again. I don't want my grandmother or Cameron to have to worry."

"You won't have to worry about him anymore." Jason paused. "I have something for you—" He reached into his jacket and drew out two plastic bags. "I thought about leaving these with the pawnshops because I didn't know if you'd want to report them stolen, but—"

"You found my jewelry." Pleased, Elizabeth took the bags. "I thought about filing charges of theft, but—we'll get into that—" She hesitated, looking at the bag with just the wedding ring. "Well, at least he didn't just pawn my stuff—"

"He pawned it in March."

Elizabeth blinked at Jason, then looked back at the bag, with the pawn slip attached. "March 27," she murmured. "Less than two weeks after Patrick cut him off, he was already out of money for the drugs. I know you said it had been that long, but I guess—" She shook her head. "You know what makes me sad about this? I mean, more than the rest of it. What really gets me?"

"What?"

She met his eyes. "I never noticed his wedding ring was gone. All those weeks—and I never noticed." She opened the door slightly and tossed both bags on a table just inside the door, then closed the door again. "I'll give it to Luke or Bobbie. They can give it to him. It's not my problem."

Jason nodded. "How did, uh, how did your grandmother take it?"

"She was upset. You know she felt bad for how hard she'd been on me. And then when Lucky showed up, she wanted to call Mac. So I agreed. I called Emily, too. They both came over." Elizabeth bit her lip. "I filed a report, but Mac doesn't think the DA's office will press charges. Even with the pictures Robin took."

"Because Lucky's a cop," Jason said. "And—"

"And the department still thinks I'm the whore that ruined his career," Elizabeth finished. "Yeah, pretty much. Mac believes me, he said, but he's not willing to push for it either. So…" She shrugged. "I did what I could. And Emily is—she's taking my side. Which I'm not sure I one hundred percent expected. I made an appointment with Justus to file for divorce."

"Good." Jason nodded. "And Santiago Escobar will not be a problem," he told her. "Don't worry about that."

"I figured." She smiled up at him. "You know how hard as this day has been, I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I told you, that I told Emily and my grandmother—that I stopped hiding."

"I'm sorry I didn't see it—" Jason shook his head. "I should have—"

"We were both swimming in guilt, Jason," she said softly. "I realize now part of me thought I deserved it. Because maybe he was right. Maybe if I had loved him better or at all—it wouldn't have been that way."

"Elizabeth—"

"I know that's not true—that I didn't deserve it. But that's why I could hide it. Because to you, it looked like guilt for what we were doing. You felt it, too. For what you were doing to Sam." She bit her lip. "I'm not proud of what we did, Jason. But I don't know if we could have stopped it. We should have."

"I—" He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I guess we should have."

"I don't want to live my life in the dark like that again." She met his eyes. "I know you're okay with taking it slow. I need it. I need this time and space. But I also need you. And I'm not sure how we make that work."

"We'll figure it out," he told her. Then he tipped his head to the side. "I love you."

Elizabeth blinked. "I—" Her chest tightened as tears stung her eyes. God, she hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to hear him say it. Even if she knew it was probably true—

She really had needed to hear him say it. At least once.

"Jason—" Her voice faltered, and she looked down.

He shook his head. "I didn't say it so you'd say it back. I just—I didn't want you to think that it needed to be a secret. It's not something you have to pry out of me. I know I don't…that I don't always tell you what I should."

"I begged you once to ask me," she murmured. Elizabeth lifted her eyes to meet his. "And I wanted you to do that. I wanted it to be your move. I didn't want to be brave. It seemed easier if it was a question. But you were right. If you had to ask me, then I wasn't ready to offer it."

Elizabeth fisted her hand in his shirt and drew him in for a long, slow kiss — right on her front porch where anyone driving past could see them. "I love you, too," she murmured when he pulled back. "I know whatever happens next might be hard, but I just—I don't want us to throw it away again."

"We won't." He kissed her again. "I promise."

"Stay for dinner," she said. "Cameron will want pizza and his Spiderman movie. And I want my grandmother to see you with him."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

She smiled at him as she pushed open the door and they went inside. She stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Cameron, Gram—we're going to order pizza for dinner! Jason's staying—"

"YAY!" came her son's excited shout. She heard his footsteps as he ran down the hallway and started to hurry down the steps. Audrey came to the top of the stairs just as Jason met Cameron halfway, both obviously worried Cameron might fall.

Audrey smiled as Cameron threw himself into Jason's arms. "We watch Biderman?" Cameron demanded. "Get sausage pizza?"

"Yeah, but you have to sing the song for me again. I forgot how it goes," Jason said as they came to the bottom of the stairs.

"Biderman, Biderman, Biderman. Does what Biders can! Look out! Biderman!" Cameron sang loudly as Elizabeth caught her grandmother's sparkling eyes as Audrey fought a smile.

Then Elizabeth laughed, watching her son sing happily with his new best friend, excited to watch his favorite movie for the hundredth time.

She couldn't think of a better way to end the day.

THE END

What's Next

I'll be releasing the next projects all at once on my site, Crimson Glass. You can find the link in my profile. This summer, I'm writing daily flash fiction to put together first drafts of shorter stories that I'm revising and polishing for publication. My production schedule is also at the site. Below are synopses of my next four novels - the rest of 2020 and 2021's projects.

Mad World, Book 3 October 2020

The city of Port Charles weathered many scandals and tragedies in 2003 — from the nearly tragic kidnapping of Carly Corinthos and attempted murder of Elizabeth Webber to the serial rapist that stalked the city for months, leaving victims broken and shattered in his wake. The PCPD, having sworn to protect the city, faltered when they learned one of their own was the villain all along.

A few months later, the city tries to recover but they should be careful what they wish for. Ric Lansing still haunts the dreams and memories of the people he damaged — has he really left Port Charles behind for good?

Dante Falconieri breaks under the weight of family secrets and his own weaknesses. Kelsey Joyce wants to find out who murdered her father—no matter what the cost. Carly Corinthos just wants to move on with her life and keep her family safe. And Elizabeth Morgan wants to forget that Ric Lansing ever existed as she awaits the birth of her son.

It's time close the book on this mad, mad, mad world.

Fool Me Twice, Book 1 February 2021

In October of 2017, the city of Port Charles is stunned when a man with Jason Morgan's old face shows up at the Aurora Media re-launch party claiming to be the infamous enforcer. Though his identity is quickly proven to be true, the city will never be the same.

Drew Cain has a new name and new face, but none of his old memories. He's living Jason's life with Jason's wife, raising Jason's children. Who is he? Where did he come from? Jason Morgan has been gone for five years and nothing is the way he thought it would be. His wife has moved on — with a man she thought was him. His dead son has been miraculously resurrected and another son has been identified as his own.

Jason and Drew must learn to work together to find out who stole their lives and put their families in danger. They're not the only patients with memory issues — if Jason is Patient Six — well, who were the first five?

Someone has to pay for the lives destroyed by the twin swap and memory experimentation, but in Port Charles, sometimes it's hard to tell friend from foe.

Damaged May 2021

Set Spring 2014. When AJ Quartermaine is murdered in cold blood, the question isn't who did it — everyone already knows that answer. It's up to the PCPD, under Commissioner Anna Devane, to get justice for AJ's family — for the beleaguered Quartermaine clan that's been decimated in recent years.

Michael has cut ties with the Corinthos clan, devastated by the betrayal of his adopted father, by the secrets of his mother, and the loss of the father he'd only begun to love. Monica is eager to welcome him into the family—he's all that she has left since she's buried all four of her children.

Or so she thinks.

Off the coast of Greece, Victor Cassadine hands Robin Scorpio a shocking assignment — wake Jason Morgan from the coma he's been in for the last five years. If she fails, she'll forfeit Jason's life and her own, never to return to her husband and daughter. If she succeeds — Jason can go home to take his life back from the con artist wearing his face—the man who went off the pier in 2012.

And maybe, just maybe, Victor will let Jason return with the other secret resident of Cassadine Island.

For the Broken Girl, Book 2 September 2021

Elizabeth Webber has never been happier. She's finally walked away from her toxic marriage and filed for divorce. She's working at a job she loves, raising the perfect little boy, enjoying her friends and family, and reveling in the love a man who loves every single part of her—even her flaws. With her estranged husband in a thirty-day rehab, Elizabeth can focus on herself for a change.

Then Lucky returns, sober and begging for another chance. His friends and family are eager to blame the drugs for his abuse and violence, and turn on Elizabeth for not being more understanding. The PCPD don't respect her restraining order and make excuses when Lucky violates it.

Elizabeth doesn't want to look back anymore—she's finally living a life without regrets and planning a new future. She's willing to pay any price to protect it—and it just might cost her everything.