Chapter2

"Philip Morgan Corinthos," said Carly softly as she carefully handed her newborn son into Elizabeth's arms. "Sonny and I thought it would be too confusing to have two Jasons around, but we wanted to name him after our best friend." Her face was alight with the luminescent glow of new motherhood.

"I think it's wonderful," Elizabeth said, lightly touching the baby's tiny, fragile fingers as he curled them into little fists and beat the air with them. He stared up at her with a crinkled face, his blue eyes filling with unshed tears as yet another stranger took him from his mother's more familiar embrace. Unable to resist, she cooed at him, making the unintelligible noises most adults used with infants. "He's beautiful, Carly."

Mrs. Sonny Corinthos watched Elizabeth carefully. Something had been bothering the other young woman lately, and Carly had puzzled over it before Philip's labor had interrupted her musings. She thought she might know what it was, but didn't want to say anything until she was sure, or Elizabeth confided in her. Or Jason. Carly had learned her lesson a long time ago when it came to interfering with their relationship. She loved Jason, and she would restrain her usual impulse to meddle only because of that affection. Still, a little prodding wouldn't hurt.

"Jason went with Sonny to visit Thibault Donetaro?" she asked, casually smoothing her hands over the blanket she had wrapped around her. It was good to be home, and not in a hospital bed.

"Yes," Elizabeth said, without looking up from the baby. "He said they might be late."

Carly tried to detect any censure in Elizabeth's voice, but found none. She frowned.

"Has business kept him away a lot, lately?" she asked. "I know Sonny's been gone a lot, and it's been hard to be patient, especially when the baby was due any day. I thought the two of you had been planning a trip…"

"Oh, we were – I mean are," Elizabeth said, finally looking up. "Jason promised me a long time ago that he'd take me to Italy." She smiled. "We were going to go in the fall, but then this whole contract renewal with the Donetaros came up, and we've rescheduled for this spring." She looked happy, but Carly noticed something in the way she held herself, in the tensing of her shoulders, that set off warning bells.

"Is there a problem with spring, now?" she asked. Elizabeth slid her gaze away, looking down at Philip again.

"No, no problem," she said. Carly wasn't convinced. She'd tried, really tried, to restrain herself. Jason couldn't fault her, surely. It was only his best interests she was looking out for, after all. Besides, being a man, he probably didn't even realize yet that something was wrong. It took a woman's intuition to know these things.

"So, still no commitment from him, hmm?" she asked. Subtlety wasn't one of Carly's strong points. Elizabeth looked up, startled. She controlled her expression almost immediately, but not quickly enough to avoid Carly's discerning gaze. "You should talk to him about it, Elizabeth." She kept her voice gentle, so the suggestion might not seem too intrusive. "Especially if it's becoming a problem for you. Jason is…not always the most observant guy I know when it comes to these things. But he is observant enough that he's going to figure it out on his own pretty soon. And he'll wonder why you didn't say anything."

Her expression guarded, Elizabeth handed Philip back to Carly.

"It's nothing, Carly. Jason and I are fine, really."

Amused and a bit exasperated, Carly smiled down into Philip's baby blue eyes, and abandoned all attempts at tact.

"So, the fact that he still hasn't asked you to marry him doesn't bother you, even though you're carrying his child?"

She looked up when the silence had stretched on for too long, and found Elizabeth staring at her with wide eyes, her naturally pale skin ghostly white. She looked like she was about to faint.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, sit down!" Elizabeth slowly sank into a chair across from the divan Carly was stretched out on. "It isn't as if you could have hid it forever. It just happens that a woman, like me, who's been through pregnancy a couple of times, notices little things that other people might not. You haven't been feeling well lately, have you? Haven't been able to eat much? Tired all of the time? Don't worry, that mostly passes after your first trimester." She paused, glancing up at Elizabeth's face. "Liz, I'm not going to tell anyone. Anyway, I only knew for sure when I watched you holding Philip. You got that look on your face, like you were trying to remember every little detail. And I knew."

Elizabeth folded her hands together, her face still pale and worried.

"Please, Carly, don't say anything to anyone. I'll tell Jason, I will, it's just…" She trailed off, but Carly knew what she'd been going to say.

"You want him to propose, but because he loves you and wants to marry you, not because you're pregnant."

Elizabeth nodded. "This wasn't planned. It just happened, and the last thing I want is to make Jason feel trapped into something. It wouldn't be right for either one of us."

"Elizabeth," said Carly gently, "you never saw Jason with Michael right after he was born, when Jason was playing the role of father. He will be such a great father, that you'll be amazed. He has so much love within him to give. He won't feel trapped; he'll be ecstatic."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but Carly held up a hand to forestall her.

"Don't worry. I won't say anything. Jason should hear it from you. But you need to decide how long you're going to wait before telling him. The longer you put it off, the bigger the chance that he'll figure it out on his own. You don't want that complication."

Elizabeth didn't say anything, and for once she didn't argue with Carly's advice.

* * *

"Gregori Lanzo," said Thibault Donetaro, tossing a paper clipped folder to Sonny, "is becoming a problem that will have to dealt with." His two bodyguards stood in semi relaxed postures at corners of the hotel suite, hands folded professionally before them, watching Jason and the discreet guard who stood behind Morgan and Corinthos. Not that any trouble was expected between the two business partners, but men like Arturo and Gilen were paid to be alert.

Sonny flipped open the folder and quickly scanned through the pages of notes and pictures inside. He held it intentionally so that Jason could read with him, then handed the dossier over to the other man.

"So?" he said dismissively, "that should be your problem to take care of. He's on your soil, not mine."

"Ah, yes, but not anymore, we believe. He appeared on the scene rather suddenly about six months ago, not really doing anything overt, but meddling in our affairs just enough to be an irritant. Just enough for us to notice the name, and count the number of times it was mentioned during business." Thibault paused, adjusting his glasses in a gesture so carefully controlled, it had to be a deliberate movement. Every move he made was deliberate and calculated. Jason took note of them all, sure that Thibault wanted him to. Almost as if the other man were testing him on some level. "Often enough for my father to order him warned off. The first time, he sent men like these," he jerked a thumb toward Arturo, "and they never came back to report in. As you can imagine, my father was rather…irate. He replaced them in the roster, but sent me next."

Thibault stopped, crossing over to the small bar and pouring himself a soda water. He never drank; it dulled the senses.

"And?" asked Sonny, blinking slightly in irritation. He liked Thibault's father, Faviano Donetaro, slightly better than he liked Thibault, mostly because the older man never played any word games. He said what he meant, when he meant it, and angry or happy, you knew exactly where you stood. Thibault's confidence bordered on cockiness; Sonny wouldn't have accepted that attitude, not even in his own son.

"And he wasn't there. I did some searching, and found he'd left Italy for America. I have a reasonable belief that he'll show up here, sooner or later."

"Why is that?" asked Jason, aware of Sonny's growing intolerance and trying to diffuse it before anything detrimental was said. Sonny could complain of Thibault's behavior later, and if necessary, to the young man's father. Faviano shared a good relationship with Sonny, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd asked Corinthos about his son's attitude in business. The old man was testing the young, to find out, presumably, if he would be leaving his business in good hands with his death.

"Because, apparently, once upon a time, he knew your father. And loathed him." Thibault smiled, and shrugged. "You know how these old Italian feuds are – they never die out, but just keep building and building with each subsequent generation. My father and I believe that Gregori meddled with us merely to find out the extent of our dealings with you. I am here to warn you, and to help you deal with the problem, if you wish." His eyes moved to Jason. "Unless you feel your own resources can handle it."

Sonny was shocked, but didn't show it. He couldn't remember his father ever dealing with any family by the name of Lanzo, and he had detailed information on all of his family's past business. Mike had made sure of that. But Thibault didn't need to know that. He'd contact Faviano directly, to verify everything the son was saying now. He glanced over at Jason, not surprised to see him watching Thibault with his characteristic glacial expression, the one that said, 'step out of line and I'll kill you'. No, he didn't like Thibault much, either.

"Thank-you," said Sonny graciously, turning back to Thibault. "But we can handle it. Tell your father I appreciate the offer, but I'm sure he can use you back home."

Thibault smiled and nodded, unsurprised. "As you wish," he said.

Sonny and Jason left soon after.

"You don't like him, hmm?" said Sonny as soon as they were safely ensconced in his car together. Jason frowned, and shook his head.

"No. I don't trust him. I don't want to work beside someone I'd always be watching my back around. I think we'd better prepare to dissolve this business arrangement when the father dies. The son will double cross us if he sees an advantage in it."

"I agree. Do some digging. Find out everything you can on this Gregori guy that isn't listed in that file." Sonny looked out the window as the car moved through the city. "I'm going to talk to my father."