Elizabeth could feel their desire to know everything that happened, but she wasn't quite ready to have that conversation with them just yet. Sensing her desire to put it off for the moment, the guys give her the space she needs, opting to set the table for dinner while she cooks in the kitchen.
More than anything, she wants to go back to before she saw that picture, back to when her only family in this world is the one she's known all her life. She is Elizabeth Giambetti. Maximus Giambetti's daughter. Max and Milo Giambetti's sister. She is a Giambetti through and through. No photograph on some random table is going to change that.
Roughly twelve hours, that's how long she has to wait for her father to make it stateside and to the safe house. Half a day until she's in the safety of his arms and her world can find its balance. Turning off the stove, Elizabeth closes her eyes for a moment, taking in a slow steady breath and releasing it after a count of ten, praying for a speedy flight.
Dinner is done in silence, none of them really knowing what to say without breaching the topic of what happened when she went with Jason. Once dinner is finished and the dishes cleared, Elizabeth accepts that it's time to loop them in, knowing they deserved to know the state of their family.
Once the words leave her lips, both of them look at each other for a long time before looking at her again, their confusion understandable because she's just as confused by it all as they are. They always knew that Elizabeth wasn't their family by blood, but they never thought that there was even a possibility that her blood family was out there.
"We don't know that you're his blood," Max says after he overcomes the initial shock, continuing when she looks at him with a look of confusion. "You said it yourself, Jason doesn't know much about Sonny's past. For all we know, the whole family thing could just be a cover story."
"Max..." Elizabeth starts to say but he cuts her off with a shake of his head.
"You didn't end up on father's doorstep on your own, Elizabeth," Max points out. "For all we know, Sonny could have been the one to put you there. We don't know anything for sure until we know for sure, right?"
"Right," Elizabeth accepts, glancing at Milo when he reaches out his hand to take hold of hers. "Until we know for sure, it's all speculation and it does no one any good."
"Whatever the outcome, it changes nothing," Milo says seriously. "To hell with blood. We are family and that's forever."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Max agrees, taking hold of her other hand. "We live for each other, we die for each other."
The three of them might not always see eye to eye, but they never once let their disagreements interfere with their kinship. Like many other siblings, she'd wager, the three of them can come at each other till they're blue in the face, but don't anyone dare come at them because they'll have all three of them to deal with. This time no different. They don't know what Elizabeth being in that picture means, all they know is that they'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even if it means going to war with one of their allies.
"What is it?" Jason questions Sonny as they walk into the penthouse after finishing things with the mole.
"Giambetti is making his way here," Sonny voices after having checked his voicemail. "He hasn't been stateside in years. Do you know anything?"
"No," Jason replies though he has his suspicions. "Nothing."
"It has to be something big to force his hand in coming here," Sonny ponders as he pours a glass of whiskey. "Have you gotten anywhere with the guy they're tracking?"
"I'm supposed to meet with Jake later," Jason replies honestly. "She knows the guy's handler."
"And why was it that the daughter took off again?"
"She just said something came up," Jason shrugs, pulling out his phone when it rings. "Didn't exactly stay to explain things."
"Who is it?"
"Robin," Jason voices. "I gotta take it."
"Yeah, of course," Sonny says with a wave of his hand. "We've got some time before he touches down. Try to have an answer before he does."
"Got it," Jason says before pulling open the door, answering the call once he's at the elevator. "Hey, you okay?"
"No, I'm not," Robin replies honestly. "We need to talk."
"Can it wait?" Jason questions, the tone in her voice putting him on edge as he makes his way down to the lobby. "I'm in the middle of something."
"I know you're busy, but this can't wait," Robin counters. "I'm at home. I'll see you soon."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jason squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, having a strong feeling he knows what this conversation entails. It was like Sonny had once said about his relationship with Brenda Barrett, the writing was on the walls and there have been signs for weeks that this conversation was coming.
He had hoped that things would get better and that they'd find their balance again, but it just didn't seem to ever come to pass. Accepting that he couldn't avoid her forever, Jason makes his way out to his bike and takes off in the direction of Robin's uncle's house, bracing himself for the conversation that awaits him.
"The place is locked down tight," Max says to Elizabeth when he finds her in the basement reloading her gun. "Windows and doors are barricaded. Even if they pick the locks, they aren't getting in."
"Understood," Elizabeth replies, moving to put up a fresh target sheet. "Cars stored in the garage?"
"Yeah," Max confirms. "Everything's set."
"Okay," Elizabeth says, putting the safety goggles back on and picking up the earmuffs. "Anything else before I put these on?"
"That's all," Max replies, seeing that she needed to shoot something to help clear her mind. "Just try not to stay up too late."
"Goodnight, Max," Elizabeth smiles slightly, knowing that he's worried for her. "See you in the morning."
"Night."
Waiting long enough for him to walk out of the basement and shut the door behind him, Elizabeth puts the earmuffs into place before emptying her clip into the target sheet, using the adrenaline rushing through her veins to empty her mind of everything clouding it. With nothing to do until her father arrives, her time is best spent practicing her aim than worrying about all the what-ifs.
Something she has learned a long time ago is that speculation and assumptions only prove to drive a person mad with no actual proof of anything. Until she knows anything for certain, she will leave the situation be and pray that her father can find the answers she so desperately needs.
"I wish I was stronger, Jason, I really do," Robin says as the tears start to fall down her face. "But I can't handle any of this. There was a bomb under my car, a BOMB! I almost died and instead of having you to turn to I have two guards watching my every move. I get it, you had to find the person behind it, but where did that leave me? Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I don't know what to say to that," Jason voices honestly, trying to stop his own emotions from showing, not wanting to challenge her on any of it. "I'm sorry any of this happened. I never wanted you hurt."
"I love you, Jason, but this can't be my life," Robin says, hating that their relationship has come to this. "I have been so afraid. A level of fear that I haven't experienced since I was diagnosed. The kind of fear that swallows you whole because you don't know if your life is going to be on the line yet again or if the person that you love most in this world will ever come back. I can't live like this. I just can't."
Standing in front of her, tears frozen in his eyes, he searches his mind for the right words to say at that moment. Anything to stop them from coming to an end, but there are no words to justify what being with him is putting her through. No words to make her stay in a life that she never chose for herself. With nothing more he could possibly do, Jason accepts her choice and promises her that his life will no longer affect hers, leaving her with his hope that she can find her way to the life she truly wants.
"You want any help in there?" Johnny questions Jason when he gets to the spot they're holding the driver.
"No," Jason replies plainly, pushing open the door. "Put the clean-up crew on standby. This is going to get bloody."
Without another word, Jason makes his way into the room and shuts the door, his infamous blank expression on his face as he comes face to face with the man that nearly cost him everything. Robin is justified in the way she feels, he would never deny her truth, no matter how much it kills him inside. Unfortunately for this piece of crap, Jason intends to channel all the pain and heartache he's forced to live into the man before him. Death will not come easy.
"I was wondering when you'd call," Vera, her father's lawyer, says over the line. "Your father called me a few hours ago. How are you holding up?"
"About as well as you'd think," Elizabeth admits. "I've run out of bullets."
"Ah, so that's what had you occupied all this time," Vera replies gently. "It must have been a shock to see that picture in Corinthos' penthouse of all places."
"You can say that," Elizabeth sighs. "I need a straight answer."
"You can always expect that from me," Vera says without hesitation. "You know I don't sugarcoat anything."
"I know," Elizabeth smiles slightly. "If this turns out the way I think it will, will it affect my adoption?"
"Setting aside the circumstances that lead to your adoption, the only people that can reverse your adoption are your birth parents, your adoptive parent, and yourself," Vera explains thoroughly. "Given the fact that you're an adult, for your birth parents to challenge the adoption at this point in your life, it's highly unlikely that they'd be able to do it."
"According to his enforcer, Sonny's mother is deceased," Elizabeth points out. "That would only leave my birth father on the biological side of things."
"No matter how this lands, if you are the long-lost biological sibling of Sonny Corinthos, being an adult you'll have the most leverage in a court battle," Vera assures her. "I'm not saying it'll come to it, but - if it does - you know I will represent you to the best of my abilities. There's nothing I'm not willing to do for you, you know that."
"I know," Elizabeth says wholeheartedly. "It's one of the few things in this life I can rely on."
"Glad to hear it," Vera replies with a slight smile. "Your father should be landing before noon tomorrow, he'll call you with specifics once he's in descent. I, on the other hand, will be there around sunrise."
"You're not with my father?"
"I was handling negotiations for some property in Ontario," Vera explains. "Your father had me put that on hold to fly to Bensonhurst to do some digging. I'll be making my way to Port Charles shortly after I meet with my contact in the BPD. We will get to the bottom of all of this, Elizabeth, you have to trust that."
"I know," Elizabeth assures. "I just can't wrap my head around any of this. I mean, what are the chances of me getting an assignment in Port Charles and stumbling onto that photograph? Can it really be nothing but a coincidence?"
"I want to say yes, but there are far too few coincidences in our line of work that's actually a coincidence," Vera replies honestly. "Do me a favor?"
"What's that?"
"Go to sleep," Vera says gently. "With everything that's going on, the last thing you need to be atop of it all is sleep deprived. I'll be there soon and your father soon after. For now, sleep, we'll pick things up once we're all together, okay?"
"Okay," Elizabeth replies simply. "I'll see you when you arrive."
"Don't say okay and then spend the rest of the time overthinking the steps that got you here," Vera says knowingly, cutting her off when she tries to deny it. "Don't argue. You know you won't win. Accept what I'm saying and get to bed. I'll see you in the morning."
"Fair enough," Elizabeth laughs softly. "Sleep it is then."
"Good," Vera replies. "I'm on my way to meet with my contact now. I'll see you soon."
"At this hour?"
"When people owe you the way they owe me, time is irrelevant," Vera counters with a shrug. "Sleep. I'll be there soon."
"Bye, Vera."
"Bye, Elizabeth."
Ending the call, Elizabeth picks up her gun and makes her way upstairs to her bedroom, accepting that sleep is her only option at this point. After she emptied every clip she allotted herself, Elizabeth could feel herself going into the obsessive habit of overthinking a situation till she's on the verge of driving herself mad.
When she gets like this, Vera seems to be the most equipped with helping her handle it, something she's come to rely on over the years. For as long as she can remember, she could always count on three adults in her life, her father, Vera, and Matteo. Her father helps her keep her emotions under control. Vera her mind. Matteo being the person she goes to when she's struggling with getting a job done.
That is her life. Those are her people. She has always known that there was life before she came to be in theirs. A life that remained a mystery to her all these years, but she never yearned for it. She never actively sought it out because she had everything she could ever want in her life.
She had three adults that cared for her as if she were their own, brothers that keep her humble and are there for her no matter what life may throw at them. What more could a girl want? For some reason, someone somewhere has forced her past onto her and Elizabeth isn't entirely sure if she wants to thank them or kill them for doing so.
Taking a quick shower to ease her body from the tension it has been in since seeing the photograph, Elizabeth slides into her nightgown before crawling into bed and snuggling deep into the covers. Just as she's about to close her eyes and leave the world for another day, her cellphone starts to vibrate on the nightstand, prompting her to reach out and see who was calling.
Jason. Letting out a heavy sigh, she silences the phone before tossing it in the drawer, not having the energy to talk to him. If anything, she can simply blame it on her father, having been ordered into lockdown until he arrives, meaning the only calls they're allowed to take are his, Matteo's, and Vera's.
Shutting off the light, Elizabeth buries herself in the blanket and allows the fatigue to pull her under. Everything else will just have to wait for tomorrow. Tonight, she will do as she's instructed and let go of the conscious world for unconsciousness, praying for a dreamless sleep.
"It's Jason, I'm not sure what's going on, but I'd like to help," Jason voices when he gets her voicemail yet again, letting out a deep sigh before tabling it for the other reason he called. "Anyway, I'm about to meet with my contact about your mark. I'll call if it goes anywhere."
Ending the call, Jason stuffs his phone back into his pocket, not at all understanding the feeling that has settled in the pit of his stomach. Even with his relationship with Robin coming to an end, his heart aching for the future that's no longer theirs, he can't help but worry about this girl that he hasn't even known for all that long, not that he actually knows her really.
Straddling his bike, leaving thoughts of the complicated for another day, Jason puts his focus on what he can understand and that's the job. Everything else will just have to wait for another day. Getting to the local bar to meet with the owner, Jason sends a quick text to Sonny to let him know where he's at before heading inside. Thankful for the simplicity that is the job.
Author's Note: Thank you all for sending such sweet words my way. You're right, I do tend to be my worst critic and sometimes I do tend to be a little too hard on myself. I guess it's mostly my insecurities talking and it's definitely a work in progress to overcome them. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all. Quite a few of you have been here from the start of my writing journey on this site and it makes me so blessed to see you so accepting when I change up my writing style every now and again. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this update. As always, thank you for the time you put into reading and reviewing as well as being all-around wonderful people to me. You are truly appreciated. Thank you.