Show: General Hospital
Title: Las Vidas de los Corinthos'- Chapter 24
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: I have to say: "Muchas Gracias!" for all of the wonderful feedback, especially from three
particular ladies: Karlie, it's a pity you're a Journey fan but I'm glad you're rooting for the other
side, Liason forever! Also, Shadow Phenix, I'm glad you don't hate me too much! You are a riot!
And Micky, I wish I could will her dead, too! Ah well, I have to content taking potshots at her
character! Also, please note I know absolutely nothing about emergency medicine, so I decided
to take the easy way out in this Chapter. Enough with the rambling… enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth had been stabilized for the moment, but her condition was still critical. Alexis sat beside
her elder daughter, fearfully clutching Elizabeth's limp hand to her tear-streaked face. Her face
was pale and mottled with bruises, and her breathing was shallow and light, accompanied with
the mechanical beeping of the respirator that she had been temporarily put on.
Monica had clinically explained that Liz had received two broken ribs that were pressing close to
her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe. Accompanied with other fractured ribs and a badly
bruised kidney, they were lucky that she was still alive. If Jason hadn't found her when he had…
well they all know what would have happened.
From outside the sterile ICU room, Sonny watched the woman he loved grieve over the pain that
their daughter was going through. He saw red that Taggliatti would dare to cause *his* daughter
harm. He instinctively knew that it was Taggliatti who had kidnapped Kristina before Benny had
even reported what Gino had learnt. He would make the bastard *pay*! No… he would make the
bastard *suffer*, then pay!
Jason quietly came to stand beside his partner, and together they gazed through the Venetian
blinds at the awful sight before them. "Kristina's been gone for almost three hours now," stated
Jason, after a few minutes of silence.
"I know," Sonny replied, disgusted that his voice broke. **Now is not the time to be weak!**
"What do you want to do? Benny is waiting. He says Gino can't stay away from Taggliatti for
much longer."
Sonny said nothing, silently watching as Alexis wearily lay her head against Elizabeth's bed,
weeping quietly.
Finally, after a few more seconds of tense silence, he turned to his best friend. His eyes were
murderous and his voice was like ice. "Bring Taggliatti to me. He has some explaining to do."
Jason nodded his head in consent. "What about Jax and Skye? Gino said something about
Ashton."
Sonny shook his head and turned back to the window. "They're not important right now. We
already know what they were coming to tell me. Get a hold of my brother, he'll know how to
handle them."
Jason made to move away but he halted and hesitated. "What are you going to do with Taggliatti,
Sonny?" He knew his friend would be in a murderous rage and God knows what, in his anger,
Sonny would do to the man that dared jeopardize his family.
Sonny's eyes hardened. "He had my daughter kidnapped, Jason," his voice was deceptively
calm. "What do you think I'm going to do?" With those ominous words, Sonny pushed his way into
the hospital room, and came to stand beside Alexis, wrapping a comforting arm around her
shoulders.
Jason stood watching them a little longer, alone in the hallway, the hustle and bustle of the now
awakening hospital fading to a dull din in the back of his mind. His heart squeezed painfully as he
looked at Elizabeth, lying so small and pitiful surrounded by machinery keeping her alive. He
didn't even want to think of what if he hadn't gotten her to the hospital when he had. The thought
of never being able to see her beautiful smile again because her vibrant life had been stolen by a
murderous bastard, made him see red. He would find the men who had done this. If he had to, he
would beat their names out of Taggliatti. And when he found them, and returned Kristina to her
parents… then he would kill them.
Jason balled his fists, imprinting Elizabeth's tiny form fighting for her life from the hospital room on
the back of his mind, before he turned on his heel and beckoned Johnny to follow him, Francis
replacing him as the guard. There was work to be done… and people to kill.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Joseph Taggliatti was in a quandary. Instinctively, he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't
quite put his finger on it. It had all started when he had lost contact with Newman and Gino. He
knew as soon as the job was done, his hitmen would call in to tell him. But three and a half hours
after they'd first called to tell them they had snatched Jacks and his female visitor, neither man
had called in.
Scaduto, like clockwork though, had called him every thirty minutes from his hiding place across
from Alexis's home before he had been given the order to take the baby, and he had first called in
forty-five minutes ago to let his boss know that it had been successful, and they had the baby,
and were currently awaiting further orders.
That had been a little ray of sunshine on the otherwise dark night, but still his nerves got the
better of him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, his stomach roiled and he was
breaking out in cold sweats. He was waiting… waiting for something. But he wasn't entirely sure,
what. Whatever it was, he knew it was not good; it was not good at all.
Taggliatti swallowed his fear, albeit difficultly. There were still things to be done. Mechanically
reaching for the telephone, he dialed Conrad Neilson's private extension. He knew the calls
would be automatically forwarded to the man's house; ironically he was Alexis's closest
neighbour, and could probably see through her living-room window with a telescope if he wanted
to.
Neither Neilson nor the Quartermaines had been informed of the night's proceedings. Indeed the
rich stuffy bastards probably still lay fast asleep on their feather pillows (simple foam for Ashton of
course), while Taggliatti had been forcibly kept awake all night, constantly waiting.
The snobbish, nasal voice of the Quartermaine lawyer filled his ear after the telephone rang four
times.
"Hello?" came the slightly annoyed sleep-laden voice. Indeed, Neilson had just been awakened
from the warm confines of his bed.
The thought that Neilson was disgruntled upon being woken up after he himself had spent a night
in sleeplessness infuriated Taggliatti. "There was a change of plans," he didn't even bother to
identify himself.
"Mr. Taggliatti!" Neilson was decidedly more alert. "What do you mean: 'There was a change in
plans.'"
"Jacks had a visitor last night," he explained. "Apparently, *someone* at the Quartermaine office
got a little sloppy and kept a email from a certain esteemed Attorney. She read it, and then went
off and blabbed to Jacks. When we grabbed them, they were in their way to tell Sonny," he spat.
"If I hadn't grabbed them when I had, we could all be floating at the bottom of the Harbour, fish
food for the barracudas!" in his outrage, Taggliatti practically spitted like an irate cat.
He could hear Neilson loudly swallow a knot of fear in his throat. "I took the Corinthos baby last
night," he continued. "My men are waiting for your boss's orders."
"Well…" sputtered Neilson, "I haven't spoken to either Quartermaine," he admitted, audibly
frightened.
"Of course not, you idiot! We snatched them at two in the fuckin' mornin'!"
"There is no need to get hostile now, Mr. Taggliatti," Neilson replied arrogantly, miffed that this
gangster would speak to him like that.
"Like hell there isn't, you arrogant prick! Listen, my men are sitting like targets with the Corinthos
baby, and in a couple of hours one very pissed off daddy is gonna come looking for his daughter!
You get that ass of a boss on the phone and you tell him what happened. If not, I'll just dump the
fucking girl in a dumpster and cut my losses! That Quartermaine bastard can find someone else
to do his dirty work and I'll just blow that ship full of guns clear out of the water! Better to lose a
couple of millions than my life because some insane bastard wants a baby that isn't his!" he
hissed venomously.
That sucked the arrogance clear out of Neilson's voice. "Of course, Mr. Taggliatti. I will call you
within the hour," he replied, his voice decidedly cowed.
"Good!" A very disgruntled Taggliatti slammed the phone back down on its cradle. Balefully, he
looked at the decanter of whiskey sitting at the corner of his desk. It was too early for drinking,
only just barely 6 a.m. but God knows after the night he had, he deserved it.
A knock at his office door sounded, just as the first fiery burn trailed down his throat. His head
snapped up. "Come in!" he commanded.
Gino lumbered around the corner and came to stand before his 'boss'.
"Well…?" Taggliatti demanded impatiently.
Gino said nothing, just stared at the man who had foolishly dared to cause the Corinthos family
any harm.
Watching the stony faced giant of a man saying nothing, shooting murderous daggers from his
eyes, caused Taggliatti's heart to quake with fear. Something was wrong… deadly wrong.
Painstakingly slow, Gino reached into his pocket and pulled a gun from it. Taggliatti could only
watch in silence as Gino pointed it at his throat. The realization that is a tranquilizer gun did
nothing to ease his fear. He knew what would happen when he awoke… and he would wish he
were dead.
Gino pulled the trigger and immediately, Taggliatti slumped unconsciously to his desk. Seconds
later, Jason strode into the room. Clinically he checked for Taggliatti's pulse. Mechanically, he
reached a gloved hand to the desk phone, and hit for call-log. On the digital screen came a series
of calls, most notably: Newman(cell), Scaduto(cell), Neilson & Connelly(ext.).
He knew Neilson & Connelly were his 'family's' lawyers, and that Newman was Gino's partner. At
the presence of Scaduto's name, Jason's blood ran cold. Scaduto was a ruthless sonofabitch,
notorious for his savage temper when riled. As Taggliatti's Enforcer, he had a formidable
reputation. Jason knew without a doubt that it was he who had personally kidnapped Kristina and
assaulted Max and Liz, both of whom were lying in hospital beds fighting for their lives. Eyes
narrowed, he set the phone on the cradle and fished his cell-phone from his pocket.
Pressing speed-dial, he waited for Francis to pick up. "Goodson," came the short abrupt greeting.
Jason could hear the weariness in the man's voice. Hell, they were all tired, and just a bit scared,
for Liz, Max and for the poor defenseless little girl that had been snatched from her home. The
unfamiliar feeling of pride of knowing just from the simple greeting that this man cared wormed its
way through to his heart.
"It's Morgan," he replied, businesslike, the moment gone as his mind once again turned to the
situation at hand. "I'm in Taggliatti's office. Tell Sonny that we're taking him to the warehouse."
"Got it," he replied, snapping the phone shut and terminating the call.
Back in Taggliatti's office, Jason nodded to Gino, and wordlessly the man hoisted his fourth prone
body for the morning over his massive shoulders.
**All in a day's work** mused Gino, as he quickly followed the Enforcer's footsteps, taking care
not to soil his expensive crocodiles on the blood spattered hallway, but not giving a damn that
Taggliatti bounced like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder. **Oh boy, Taggs, you're in for it,
now!**
*~*~*~*~*~*
The past couple of hours had been abject torture for Alexis. Her world had effectively stopped
spinning on its axis the moment she pushed into the cold sterile hospital room and focused her
distressed eyes on Elizabeth lying so still on the bed. She couldn't stop herself from collapsing at
the sight, and only Sonny's strong embrace had saved her from slipping to the floor.
He was still there, standing silently beside her, his hand wrapped in her hair as he silently
watched his daughter. Slowly, Alexis lifted her eyes to his face. The stress and pain of the past
few hours were starkly etched on his beautiful features, the creases of fatigue lining his mouth.
The anger mixed with the pain swirled in his eyes. But he had not cried. He would never cry. He
would retaliate.
As though he felt her silent surveillance, Sonny looked down at her. Alexis could not staunch the
fresh flow of tears that threatened to overflow. But she felt no shame. He alone knew the pain and
anxiety that she was going through, because he felt it himself.
Sonny turned away from her and grabbed the other chair reserved for visitors closer to hers.
Settling his weary body onto the chair, he grasped her hand and guided her head to his shoulder.
Alexis released a sob and Sonny kissed her hair as she released another torrent of grievous
tears.
She was so scared – scared for her daughters: Elizabeth, Kristina…. God knows where the little
toddler was! What they were going to do with her! She couldn't think rationally… didn't want to
think rationally! When she released this grief, she wanted them to pay… wanted them all to
suffer! She didn't care about the consequences. But for the moment, she would sit here with him
and grieve.
Sonny swallowed the deep knot of fear in his throat and gripped her hand tighter. He struggled to
quell the fear that tugged on his mind. He refused to be weak! He would sit there and comfort
Alexis for the moment and then when everything was 'fine', he would set things straight. Revenge
is a dish best served cold… deathly cold.
As these murderous thoughts floated through his head, Francis knocked and stuck his head
around the corner. "Excuse me, Mr. Corinthos, Ms. Davis," he apologized as Sonny turned a
narrowed eye to him, "Mr. Morgan called. He said to tell you they have Taggliatti."
At the revelation Alexis's head popped up, her anxious brown eyes riveted on his. He paid little
attention to her, instead turned back to Francis. "Where are they taking him?" he asked, his voice
deceptively cool, however, his fingers were gripping Alexis's hard enough to break.
"To the warehouse, sir," the bodyguard replied, fidgeting a little under his boss's intense gaze.
Sonny nodded his head, but said nothing.
"Sir…" Francis trailed off expectantly. Sonny had seemingly zoned out, his gaze flitting back and
forth between his daughter and Alexis.
Sonny caught Alexis's gaze before saying, "Gimme a minute."
Francis nodded, "Of course, sir," he replied before shutting the door and leaving them in relative
privacy.
Alexis said nothing, but she didn't break Sonny's gaze either.
Reverently, Sonny pushed a wispy strand of chestnut hair from her face before kissing her on her
forehead softly. "I promised you more than once that I would protect our family. I almost failed you
today," he began, his voice husky with emotion. "I don't intend to do that again…. I have to fix this
Alexis… and there's only one way to do it… a way that you hate. But I have to Alexis… in order to
protect our family… but I want to know that when it's done you'll still be here… that you won't
leave like you said you would if I ever did it…"
Alexis shook her head and returned the favour, kissing this man who was so dear to her. "Shush,"
she admonished him softly. "I'm not leaving Sonny… and I won't let you leave me either…."
Sonny swallowed and pulled her to him, wrapping her in his embrace, hugging her fiercely. "I love
you, Alexis…." He admitted softly. He pulled away but captured her gaze once more. "When this
is over… I want to stop running…."
Alexis gave him a tremulous smile and kissed his lips softly, her teeth lightly nipping his bottom
lips as she molded herself to him from her seat. "I love you, too, Sonny."
Sonny nodded his head and extricated himself from her embrace. Standing up, he placed a
gentle kiss to Elizabeth's bruised cheek.
As he made to eave the room, Alexis caught his hand before she left. "Be careful," she implored.
He nodded in consent, his love for this woman locking deep in his heart as he gripped the
doorknob. Schooling his features, his piercing gaze met Francis's expectant one. "Let's go," he
commanded.
As Sonny and Francis retreated down the sterile hallway, another stony-faced guard took
Francis's place opposite the door. Alexis would not be entirely alone today.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was dark. That was the only detail his frayed nerves could comprehend. Taggliatti sat chained
to a hard cold metal chair in a dark, damp room. Straight ahead a narrow fluorescent light
proclaimed that that the door. He could see the faint movement of feet, proclaiming that he was
not alone. The fear latched hold of his brain. Oh, how he wished to God he were alone!
In the dark he could not see his watch but he knew that it was more than likely daylight. He had
lost track of how long he had been in the room, but he didn't think he'd been there that long. But
for the time he *had* been alone, he had used the time to reflect on the happenings of the past
couple of weeks. He should *never* have forged an alliance with the crazy Quartermaine
bastard… he should've known daring to cross the ruthless Sonny Corinthos was like signing your
own death warrant.
He knew that he would be dead in a couple of hours. He could feel it. Sonny Corinthos would not
accept this gross disrespect of his family and still allow him to breathe. The cockiness of assured
power faded as he truly recognized how small a fish he was in the big ocean that was Corinthos.
Sonny could hook and slash him from the face of the earth and no one in the Underworld would
so much as bat an eyelash.
It's amazing how epiphanies seem to come fast and furious to a man who knows that in a matter
of hours he could be dead. But this soon-to-be dead man still had his pride, and his hatred for
Sonny Corinthos still ran deep, and he would be damned if he made this any easier for him.
The thought had no sooner flitted through his head than the metal door of the room swung open,
slamming into the concrete walls, the din deafening to his ears, grown so accustomed to the
silence of the holding room. Suddenly a switch was flicked and an array of giant overhead lights
was flicked on. Taggliatti quickly screwed his eyes shut, in an effort not to be blinded.
Two sets of ominous footsteps made their way over to where he sat shackled to the chair. His
eyes didn't have to be open in order for him to know to whom they belonged. Slowly allowing his
eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room, he opened his eyes and gazed up at the
unreadable faces of Sonny Corinthos and the Enforcer, Jason Morgan.
Sonny's face may have seemed unreadable but Taggliatti could read the outrage flaming in his
fathomless brown gaze. His eyes darted from Sonny to the silent form of Jason standing beside
his partner. His glacial blue eyes hardened even more as he openly stared at the man sitting
before them.
From behind the two men, Taggliatti could hear the distinct sound of something being wheeled
toward him. Lifting a sardonic eyebrow, Sonny moved from in front him, allowing him a clear
unobstructed view of Johnny wheeling in a small table, covered in a black linen tablecloth. Starkly
against the black linen lay an array of silver objects that, upon closer inspection Taggliatti
recognized as an array of knives, daggers, and other formidable looking weapons as well as a
particularly wicked looking pearl-handled hand gun. Johnny rolled the table to a stop next to
Jason, and turned on his heels and walked away, his heels echoing eerily off the concrete walls.
The silence in the room was deafening as neither captor said anything. The fear leapt unbidden
into his throat and Taggliatti could feel his knees quaking. Any thoughts of putting up a brave
resistance fled from his brain as Jason calmly removed his jacket and tossed it to Sonny who in
turn, draped it over his arms.
Taggliatti's frightened black eyes followed Jason as the man calmly reached out and proceeded
to loudly snap a pair of surgical rubber gloves on his hands. Mechanically, Jason reached out for
one of the daggers. Except, when he lifted it up to the light and tested the sharpness of the point,
Taggliatti cursed himself for his lack of observance. This was no dagger; but a knife, a really big
knife, its blade extending to 8 inches.
Taggliatti could not keep the whimper of fear from escaping his throat and Sonny turned a baleful
eye to the man before him. "Are you scared, Taggliatti?" he asked softly, his voice deceptively
mild.
Taggliatti said nothing; he couldn't. His knees were visibly knocking against each other and the
cold sweat was dripping profusely down his brow. His eyes were glued to Jason's actions.
"I'll bet you are," Sonny continued silkily stepping closer and closer to the captive. "Just like my
daughters were!" he spat, forcefully grabbing the other man's hair, and yanking his head to the
side. At the same instant Jason crossed forward and laid the ice-cold blade against the man's
exposed throat, just above his jugular, which thudded erratically behind the taunt skin.
At the touch of the cold steel Taggliatti cried out. **Oh shit!** Literally; his bowels had cut loose.
At the acrid scent of Taggliatti's waste floating around the room, both Sonny and Jason wrinkled
their noses in disgust. "You disgust me!" Sonny spat, thrusting the man's head away from him,
and wiping his hands on his pants. The sudden action caused Jason's knife to draw a menacingly
thin line of blood down the side of his throat and Taggliatti was whimpering in earnest now.
Sonny strode a tight circle around the chair, and Taggliatti forced himself to watch Sonny. "You
know why you're here, right?" he asked conversationally, coming to stop by the table next to
Jason. "You've apparently been a very bad boy, Taggliatti. Not only do you conspire with Ned
Ashton, a man that everyone knows I *loathe*, but you had the *audacity* to touch my family! To
beat and kidnap my daughters!" Sonny's voice had risen to almost deafening decibels, his spittle
sprayed Taggliatti's face as he leaned ominously over the cowering man.
"And now, you're here to repay the disrespect you've shown me and my family," the harshness
dropped from his voice again, and he spoke to Taggliatti as though he would have the option of
forgiveness. Even swimming in his sea of fear, Taggliatti was still coherent enough to know that
this was not so.
Sonny stepped away and looked up at Jason, who removed the knife from Taggliatti's throat. The
bound man slumped in relief, wallowing in his misery, smelling his waste on his body. Sonny
chuckled at this show of fear. "You know, I've found that scare tactics in the PC Underworld have
become a little outdated, a little blah," Sonny continued. The fact that he was showing such
constant mood swings when talking to him baffled Taggliatti.
"I think the time has passed from when a man settled disputes with fists and bullets in every
situation. Some things are too *special* to be so easy…." His voice trailed off as he looked
suggestively from the table back to Taggliatti again. "Guess what… *this* is a special occasion
Taggs, and it sure as hell won't be easy!" hissed Sonny.
Taggliatti paled even more as his gaze darted from each man. At a pointed look from Sonny,
Jason stripped off the surgical gloves and switched to a pair of black leather. Next, looking up to
ensure he had Taggliatti's full attention, he slipped a pair of shiny brass knuckles over his fists.
"But then again…" continued Sonny with a harsh crack of a laugh, "some things are best settled
the old way."
With those words Jason stepped before him and looking him straight in his eyes, the glacier pools
sending shivers up his spine, he watched fearfully as Jason drew back a brass-knuckled fist and
rammed in straight into his face.
Taggliatti screamed in pain as he felt a bone in his nose snap, the audible crunching noise
reverberating sickeningly against the bare concrete walls. The thin snake-like trail of blood
trickled from his nose. He barely had time to recover from the painful blow before the fist was
drawn back again and slammed into him again.
Taggliatti's cries of pain filled the small room, a constant echo as Jason took out his pent-up
frustration on Taggliatti's face, his fists a blur in the fluorescent light.
"Enough!" commanded Sonny after fifteen minutes of pure violence passed. "I don't want him
dead yet!"
Grudgingly, Jason halted, his breathing laboured and heavy the planes of his face spattered with
tiny drops of Joseph Taggliatti's blood. The sight of the man's face was disgusting – mottled and
crossed with cuts, almost pulp-like, red with his shed blood. Taggliatti was whimpering like a baby
and in addition to shitting himself, a puddle of acrid yellow liquid pooled beneath the chair.
Sonny bit back the bile in his throat, staring with cold hard eyes at the disfigured face below him.
"Where is my daughter, Taggliatti?"
Silence reigned as he waited for the man to speak, feeling no pity for the broken man whimpering
before him. More than likely he was so traumatized he couldn't speak. But he didn't give a damn!
"Where is my daughter!" he asked, his voice rising to a roar.
Taggliatti groaned in pain; he wanted to die, the pain was so intense. Blood dripping from his
head blurred his view and he could swear when he just spit out the blood in his mouth he had
heard the tinkle of teeth hitting the cold concrete floor.
Sonny narrowed his eyes. "What is it about men who are about to die, huh? All of a sudden you
grow balls?" Still Taggliatti said nothing. Sonny nodded to Jason and the torture began anew, with
Jason picking up a nice shiny new crowbar.
Jason was freaking Taggliatti out with his silence. In the twenty-five minutes they had been in the
room, the Enforcer had yet to say a word. But even in his state Taggliatti could tell he was angry,
a cold fire lit behind his glacial eyes.
With a smirk, Jason took great pleasure in bringing the crowbar down with all his might onto
Joseph's left kneecap.
"Agggggggggggghhhhhh! Oh God!" Taggliatti screamed in pain as all three men heard the
sickening snap of the bone. "Oh God! Stop! Stop!" he begged as Jason made to slam it back
down on the same knee. "Oh God! Just stop! Please just stop!"
"You dare to ask me for mercy?" whispered Jason menacingly, speaking the first words for the
visit. "Where was your mercy when you ordered your men to kidnap an innocent child, and beat
her sister! Where was *your* fucking mercy!" Jason's face was red as he screamed at the man.
"You don't deserve any mercy!"
"It wasn't my idea to take the little girl, I swear it!" Taggliatti admitted, breaking. "That was all
Ashton! I only did it for the dock space!"
"Dock space?" asked a curious Sonny.
Taggliatti struggled to catch his breath, finding it hard to breathe between the pain. "He offered
me dock space for my ship."
"You mean the ship full of the same guns I told you to get rid of?" Sonny's eyes narrowed as
Taggliatti nodded his head.
"He wanted to take you down. He didn't care how, once he did it. He was going to give me $5
million for the guns and another $2 million for the baby! He said he was going to help take you
down…." Taggliatti trailed off.
Sonny chuckled mirthfully. "You've both tried… and failed. And now, all you've done is make me
very *very* mad. But I don't just get mad Joe no, no, no, no, no, I get *even*. And no doubt about
it, I will. But first you have something very precious of mine that I want back. And you're going to
tell me where my daughter is before I lose my patience and kill you myself."
As an incentive, Jason raised the crowbar again. "No! OK! Scaduto has her!" he admitted.
"Where?" hissed Sonny.
"Pier 19!" Joseph finished in a rush. "Pier 19 in the old stockyard building!"
At his announcement, Sonny nodded in satisfaction. "Good… very good Taggliatti."
Hurriedly, Sonny whirled and headed toward the door. Taggliatti exhaled a pained breath of relief
as he thought Jason was to follow right behind him. No such luck.
Taggliatti watched in horror as the metal door slammed shut and he was left alone with the
murderous looking Enforcer.
Jason saw red as he watched the pathetic excuse of a man before him. The man had pissed and
shit himself after less than thirty minutes of torture, but still had the guts to try to take down the
Corinthos family. He disgusted him! And he himself had a bone to pick with him. He knew that
Sonny had not rushed off to the Pier as Taggliatti thought but indeed was outside waiting for him
to come out. They would go to get Kristina together. Sonny would take her home and then… then
the Enforcer would go berserk and he would not be leaving until every single man responsible for
Kristina's kidnapping and Elizabeth's beating was dead.
Jason advanced to the cowering gangster. Savagely he yanked Taggliati's head up and stared
into the man's tear-filled eyes. "Now, about this Scaduto…" said Jason he lifted the crowbar high
above his head and slammed it down on Taggliatti's other kneecap.
TBC…
A/N: Well, since I didn't in the beginning, I would like to apologize for the delay, but like I've told
you all before, I've been extremely busy with exams. This may be the last chapter for a while, so I
made it a little longer than usual, so I expect lots and lots of reviews. Thanks a bunch, especially
to Tigerlily who helped me out a bit when I had major writer's block, and I'll write as soon as my
exams are over (June 11th).Ciao!
P.S. : I apologise if anyone was offended by the violence, but it was all part of the story. I'll really
miss this :^(
Title: Las Vidas de los Corinthos'- Chapter 24
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: I have to say: "Muchas Gracias!" for all of the wonderful feedback, especially from three
particular ladies: Karlie, it's a pity you're a Journey fan but I'm glad you're rooting for the other
side, Liason forever! Also, Shadow Phenix, I'm glad you don't hate me too much! You are a riot!
And Micky, I wish I could will her dead, too! Ah well, I have to content taking potshots at her
character! Also, please note I know absolutely nothing about emergency medicine, so I decided
to take the easy way out in this Chapter. Enough with the rambling… enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth had been stabilized for the moment, but her condition was still critical. Alexis sat beside
her elder daughter, fearfully clutching Elizabeth's limp hand to her tear-streaked face. Her face
was pale and mottled with bruises, and her breathing was shallow and light, accompanied with
the mechanical beeping of the respirator that she had been temporarily put on.
Monica had clinically explained that Liz had received two broken ribs that were pressing close to
her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe. Accompanied with other fractured ribs and a badly
bruised kidney, they were lucky that she was still alive. If Jason hadn't found her when he had…
well they all know what would have happened.
From outside the sterile ICU room, Sonny watched the woman he loved grieve over the pain that
their daughter was going through. He saw red that Taggliatti would dare to cause *his* daughter
harm. He instinctively knew that it was Taggliatti who had kidnapped Kristina before Benny had
even reported what Gino had learnt. He would make the bastard *pay*! No… he would make the
bastard *suffer*, then pay!
Jason quietly came to stand beside his partner, and together they gazed through the Venetian
blinds at the awful sight before them. "Kristina's been gone for almost three hours now," stated
Jason, after a few minutes of silence.
"I know," Sonny replied, disgusted that his voice broke. **Now is not the time to be weak!**
"What do you want to do? Benny is waiting. He says Gino can't stay away from Taggliatti for
much longer."
Sonny said nothing, silently watching as Alexis wearily lay her head against Elizabeth's bed,
weeping quietly.
Finally, after a few more seconds of tense silence, he turned to his best friend. His eyes were
murderous and his voice was like ice. "Bring Taggliatti to me. He has some explaining to do."
Jason nodded his head in consent. "What about Jax and Skye? Gino said something about
Ashton."
Sonny shook his head and turned back to the window. "They're not important right now. We
already know what they were coming to tell me. Get a hold of my brother, he'll know how to
handle them."
Jason made to move away but he halted and hesitated. "What are you going to do with Taggliatti,
Sonny?" He knew his friend would be in a murderous rage and God knows what, in his anger,
Sonny would do to the man that dared jeopardize his family.
Sonny's eyes hardened. "He had my daughter kidnapped, Jason," his voice was deceptively
calm. "What do you think I'm going to do?" With those ominous words, Sonny pushed his way into
the hospital room, and came to stand beside Alexis, wrapping a comforting arm around her
shoulders.
Jason stood watching them a little longer, alone in the hallway, the hustle and bustle of the now
awakening hospital fading to a dull din in the back of his mind. His heart squeezed painfully as he
looked at Elizabeth, lying so small and pitiful surrounded by machinery keeping her alive. He
didn't even want to think of what if he hadn't gotten her to the hospital when he had. The thought
of never being able to see her beautiful smile again because her vibrant life had been stolen by a
murderous bastard, made him see red. He would find the men who had done this. If he had to, he
would beat their names out of Taggliatti. And when he found them, and returned Kristina to her
parents… then he would kill them.
Jason balled his fists, imprinting Elizabeth's tiny form fighting for her life from the hospital room on
the back of his mind, before he turned on his heel and beckoned Johnny to follow him, Francis
replacing him as the guard. There was work to be done… and people to kill.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Joseph Taggliatti was in a quandary. Instinctively, he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't
quite put his finger on it. It had all started when he had lost contact with Newman and Gino. He
knew as soon as the job was done, his hitmen would call in to tell him. But three and a half hours
after they'd first called to tell them they had snatched Jacks and his female visitor, neither man
had called in.
Scaduto, like clockwork though, had called him every thirty minutes from his hiding place across
from Alexis's home before he had been given the order to take the baby, and he had first called in
forty-five minutes ago to let his boss know that it had been successful, and they had the baby,
and were currently awaiting further orders.
That had been a little ray of sunshine on the otherwise dark night, but still his nerves got the
better of him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, his stomach roiled and he was
breaking out in cold sweats. He was waiting… waiting for something. But he wasn't entirely sure,
what. Whatever it was, he knew it was not good; it was not good at all.
Taggliatti swallowed his fear, albeit difficultly. There were still things to be done. Mechanically
reaching for the telephone, he dialed Conrad Neilson's private extension. He knew the calls
would be automatically forwarded to the man's house; ironically he was Alexis's closest
neighbour, and could probably see through her living-room window with a telescope if he wanted
to.
Neither Neilson nor the Quartermaines had been informed of the night's proceedings. Indeed the
rich stuffy bastards probably still lay fast asleep on their feather pillows (simple foam for Ashton of
course), while Taggliatti had been forcibly kept awake all night, constantly waiting.
The snobbish, nasal voice of the Quartermaine lawyer filled his ear after the telephone rang four
times.
"Hello?" came the slightly annoyed sleep-laden voice. Indeed, Neilson had just been awakened
from the warm confines of his bed.
The thought that Neilson was disgruntled upon being woken up after he himself had spent a night
in sleeplessness infuriated Taggliatti. "There was a change of plans," he didn't even bother to
identify himself.
"Mr. Taggliatti!" Neilson was decidedly more alert. "What do you mean: 'There was a change in
plans.'"
"Jacks had a visitor last night," he explained. "Apparently, *someone* at the Quartermaine office
got a little sloppy and kept a email from a certain esteemed Attorney. She read it, and then went
off and blabbed to Jacks. When we grabbed them, they were in their way to tell Sonny," he spat.
"If I hadn't grabbed them when I had, we could all be floating at the bottom of the Harbour, fish
food for the barracudas!" in his outrage, Taggliatti practically spitted like an irate cat.
He could hear Neilson loudly swallow a knot of fear in his throat. "I took the Corinthos baby last
night," he continued. "My men are waiting for your boss's orders."
"Well…" sputtered Neilson, "I haven't spoken to either Quartermaine," he admitted, audibly
frightened.
"Of course not, you idiot! We snatched them at two in the fuckin' mornin'!"
"There is no need to get hostile now, Mr. Taggliatti," Neilson replied arrogantly, miffed that this
gangster would speak to him like that.
"Like hell there isn't, you arrogant prick! Listen, my men are sitting like targets with the Corinthos
baby, and in a couple of hours one very pissed off daddy is gonna come looking for his daughter!
You get that ass of a boss on the phone and you tell him what happened. If not, I'll just dump the
fucking girl in a dumpster and cut my losses! That Quartermaine bastard can find someone else
to do his dirty work and I'll just blow that ship full of guns clear out of the water! Better to lose a
couple of millions than my life because some insane bastard wants a baby that isn't his!" he
hissed venomously.
That sucked the arrogance clear out of Neilson's voice. "Of course, Mr. Taggliatti. I will call you
within the hour," he replied, his voice decidedly cowed.
"Good!" A very disgruntled Taggliatti slammed the phone back down on its cradle. Balefully, he
looked at the decanter of whiskey sitting at the corner of his desk. It was too early for drinking,
only just barely 6 a.m. but God knows after the night he had, he deserved it.
A knock at his office door sounded, just as the first fiery burn trailed down his throat. His head
snapped up. "Come in!" he commanded.
Gino lumbered around the corner and came to stand before his 'boss'.
"Well…?" Taggliatti demanded impatiently.
Gino said nothing, just stared at the man who had foolishly dared to cause the Corinthos family
any harm.
Watching the stony faced giant of a man saying nothing, shooting murderous daggers from his
eyes, caused Taggliatti's heart to quake with fear. Something was wrong… deadly wrong.
Painstakingly slow, Gino reached into his pocket and pulled a gun from it. Taggliatti could only
watch in silence as Gino pointed it at his throat. The realization that is a tranquilizer gun did
nothing to ease his fear. He knew what would happen when he awoke… and he would wish he
were dead.
Gino pulled the trigger and immediately, Taggliatti slumped unconsciously to his desk. Seconds
later, Jason strode into the room. Clinically he checked for Taggliatti's pulse. Mechanically, he
reached a gloved hand to the desk phone, and hit for call-log. On the digital screen came a series
of calls, most notably: Newman(cell), Scaduto(cell), Neilson & Connelly(ext.).
He knew Neilson & Connelly were his 'family's' lawyers, and that Newman was Gino's partner. At
the presence of Scaduto's name, Jason's blood ran cold. Scaduto was a ruthless sonofabitch,
notorious for his savage temper when riled. As Taggliatti's Enforcer, he had a formidable
reputation. Jason knew without a doubt that it was he who had personally kidnapped Kristina and
assaulted Max and Liz, both of whom were lying in hospital beds fighting for their lives. Eyes
narrowed, he set the phone on the cradle and fished his cell-phone from his pocket.
Pressing speed-dial, he waited for Francis to pick up. "Goodson," came the short abrupt greeting.
Jason could hear the weariness in the man's voice. Hell, they were all tired, and just a bit scared,
for Liz, Max and for the poor defenseless little girl that had been snatched from her home. The
unfamiliar feeling of pride of knowing just from the simple greeting that this man cared wormed its
way through to his heart.
"It's Morgan," he replied, businesslike, the moment gone as his mind once again turned to the
situation at hand. "I'm in Taggliatti's office. Tell Sonny that we're taking him to the warehouse."
"Got it," he replied, snapping the phone shut and terminating the call.
Back in Taggliatti's office, Jason nodded to Gino, and wordlessly the man hoisted his fourth prone
body for the morning over his massive shoulders.
**All in a day's work** mused Gino, as he quickly followed the Enforcer's footsteps, taking care
not to soil his expensive crocodiles on the blood spattered hallway, but not giving a damn that
Taggliatti bounced like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder. **Oh boy, Taggs, you're in for it,
now!**
*~*~*~*~*~*
The past couple of hours had been abject torture for Alexis. Her world had effectively stopped
spinning on its axis the moment she pushed into the cold sterile hospital room and focused her
distressed eyes on Elizabeth lying so still on the bed. She couldn't stop herself from collapsing at
the sight, and only Sonny's strong embrace had saved her from slipping to the floor.
He was still there, standing silently beside her, his hand wrapped in her hair as he silently
watched his daughter. Slowly, Alexis lifted her eyes to his face. The stress and pain of the past
few hours were starkly etched on his beautiful features, the creases of fatigue lining his mouth.
The anger mixed with the pain swirled in his eyes. But he had not cried. He would never cry. He
would retaliate.
As though he felt her silent surveillance, Sonny looked down at her. Alexis could not staunch the
fresh flow of tears that threatened to overflow. But she felt no shame. He alone knew the pain and
anxiety that she was going through, because he felt it himself.
Sonny turned away from her and grabbed the other chair reserved for visitors closer to hers.
Settling his weary body onto the chair, he grasped her hand and guided her head to his shoulder.
Alexis released a sob and Sonny kissed her hair as she released another torrent of grievous
tears.
She was so scared – scared for her daughters: Elizabeth, Kristina…. God knows where the little
toddler was! What they were going to do with her! She couldn't think rationally… didn't want to
think rationally! When she released this grief, she wanted them to pay… wanted them all to
suffer! She didn't care about the consequences. But for the moment, she would sit here with him
and grieve.
Sonny swallowed the deep knot of fear in his throat and gripped her hand tighter. He struggled to
quell the fear that tugged on his mind. He refused to be weak! He would sit there and comfort
Alexis for the moment and then when everything was 'fine', he would set things straight. Revenge
is a dish best served cold… deathly cold.
As these murderous thoughts floated through his head, Francis knocked and stuck his head
around the corner. "Excuse me, Mr. Corinthos, Ms. Davis," he apologized as Sonny turned a
narrowed eye to him, "Mr. Morgan called. He said to tell you they have Taggliatti."
At the revelation Alexis's head popped up, her anxious brown eyes riveted on his. He paid little
attention to her, instead turned back to Francis. "Where are they taking him?" he asked, his voice
deceptively cool, however, his fingers were gripping Alexis's hard enough to break.
"To the warehouse, sir," the bodyguard replied, fidgeting a little under his boss's intense gaze.
Sonny nodded his head, but said nothing.
"Sir…" Francis trailed off expectantly. Sonny had seemingly zoned out, his gaze flitting back and
forth between his daughter and Alexis.
Sonny caught Alexis's gaze before saying, "Gimme a minute."
Francis nodded, "Of course, sir," he replied before shutting the door and leaving them in relative
privacy.
Alexis said nothing, but she didn't break Sonny's gaze either.
Reverently, Sonny pushed a wispy strand of chestnut hair from her face before kissing her on her
forehead softly. "I promised you more than once that I would protect our family. I almost failed you
today," he began, his voice husky with emotion. "I don't intend to do that again…. I have to fix this
Alexis… and there's only one way to do it… a way that you hate. But I have to Alexis… in order to
protect our family… but I want to know that when it's done you'll still be here… that you won't
leave like you said you would if I ever did it…"
Alexis shook her head and returned the favour, kissing this man who was so dear to her. "Shush,"
she admonished him softly. "I'm not leaving Sonny… and I won't let you leave me either…."
Sonny swallowed and pulled her to him, wrapping her in his embrace, hugging her fiercely. "I love
you, Alexis…." He admitted softly. He pulled away but captured her gaze once more. "When this
is over… I want to stop running…."
Alexis gave him a tremulous smile and kissed his lips softly, her teeth lightly nipping his bottom
lips as she molded herself to him from her seat. "I love you, too, Sonny."
Sonny nodded his head and extricated himself from her embrace. Standing up, he placed a
gentle kiss to Elizabeth's bruised cheek.
As he made to eave the room, Alexis caught his hand before she left. "Be careful," she implored.
He nodded in consent, his love for this woman locking deep in his heart as he gripped the
doorknob. Schooling his features, his piercing gaze met Francis's expectant one. "Let's go," he
commanded.
As Sonny and Francis retreated down the sterile hallway, another stony-faced guard took
Francis's place opposite the door. Alexis would not be entirely alone today.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was dark. That was the only detail his frayed nerves could comprehend. Taggliatti sat chained
to a hard cold metal chair in a dark, damp room. Straight ahead a narrow fluorescent light
proclaimed that that the door. He could see the faint movement of feet, proclaiming that he was
not alone. The fear latched hold of his brain. Oh, how he wished to God he were alone!
In the dark he could not see his watch but he knew that it was more than likely daylight. He had
lost track of how long he had been in the room, but he didn't think he'd been there that long. But
for the time he *had* been alone, he had used the time to reflect on the happenings of the past
couple of weeks. He should *never* have forged an alliance with the crazy Quartermaine
bastard… he should've known daring to cross the ruthless Sonny Corinthos was like signing your
own death warrant.
He knew that he would be dead in a couple of hours. He could feel it. Sonny Corinthos would not
accept this gross disrespect of his family and still allow him to breathe. The cockiness of assured
power faded as he truly recognized how small a fish he was in the big ocean that was Corinthos.
Sonny could hook and slash him from the face of the earth and no one in the Underworld would
so much as bat an eyelash.
It's amazing how epiphanies seem to come fast and furious to a man who knows that in a matter
of hours he could be dead. But this soon-to-be dead man still had his pride, and his hatred for
Sonny Corinthos still ran deep, and he would be damned if he made this any easier for him.
The thought had no sooner flitted through his head than the metal door of the room swung open,
slamming into the concrete walls, the din deafening to his ears, grown so accustomed to the
silence of the holding room. Suddenly a switch was flicked and an array of giant overhead lights
was flicked on. Taggliatti quickly screwed his eyes shut, in an effort not to be blinded.
Two sets of ominous footsteps made their way over to where he sat shackled to the chair. His
eyes didn't have to be open in order for him to know to whom they belonged. Slowly allowing his
eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room, he opened his eyes and gazed up at the
unreadable faces of Sonny Corinthos and the Enforcer, Jason Morgan.
Sonny's face may have seemed unreadable but Taggliatti could read the outrage flaming in his
fathomless brown gaze. His eyes darted from Sonny to the silent form of Jason standing beside
his partner. His glacial blue eyes hardened even more as he openly stared at the man sitting
before them.
From behind the two men, Taggliatti could hear the distinct sound of something being wheeled
toward him. Lifting a sardonic eyebrow, Sonny moved from in front him, allowing him a clear
unobstructed view of Johnny wheeling in a small table, covered in a black linen tablecloth. Starkly
against the black linen lay an array of silver objects that, upon closer inspection Taggliatti
recognized as an array of knives, daggers, and other formidable looking weapons as well as a
particularly wicked looking pearl-handled hand gun. Johnny rolled the table to a stop next to
Jason, and turned on his heels and walked away, his heels echoing eerily off the concrete walls.
The silence in the room was deafening as neither captor said anything. The fear leapt unbidden
into his throat and Taggliatti could feel his knees quaking. Any thoughts of putting up a brave
resistance fled from his brain as Jason calmly removed his jacket and tossed it to Sonny who in
turn, draped it over his arms.
Taggliatti's frightened black eyes followed Jason as the man calmly reached out and proceeded
to loudly snap a pair of surgical rubber gloves on his hands. Mechanically, Jason reached out for
one of the daggers. Except, when he lifted it up to the light and tested the sharpness of the point,
Taggliatti cursed himself for his lack of observance. This was no dagger; but a knife, a really big
knife, its blade extending to 8 inches.
Taggliatti could not keep the whimper of fear from escaping his throat and Sonny turned a baleful
eye to the man before him. "Are you scared, Taggliatti?" he asked softly, his voice deceptively
mild.
Taggliatti said nothing; he couldn't. His knees were visibly knocking against each other and the
cold sweat was dripping profusely down his brow. His eyes were glued to Jason's actions.
"I'll bet you are," Sonny continued silkily stepping closer and closer to the captive. "Just like my
daughters were!" he spat, forcefully grabbing the other man's hair, and yanking his head to the
side. At the same instant Jason crossed forward and laid the ice-cold blade against the man's
exposed throat, just above his jugular, which thudded erratically behind the taunt skin.
At the touch of the cold steel Taggliatti cried out. **Oh shit!** Literally; his bowels had cut loose.
At the acrid scent of Taggliatti's waste floating around the room, both Sonny and Jason wrinkled
their noses in disgust. "You disgust me!" Sonny spat, thrusting the man's head away from him,
and wiping his hands on his pants. The sudden action caused Jason's knife to draw a menacingly
thin line of blood down the side of his throat and Taggliatti was whimpering in earnest now.
Sonny strode a tight circle around the chair, and Taggliatti forced himself to watch Sonny. "You
know why you're here, right?" he asked conversationally, coming to stop by the table next to
Jason. "You've apparently been a very bad boy, Taggliatti. Not only do you conspire with Ned
Ashton, a man that everyone knows I *loathe*, but you had the *audacity* to touch my family! To
beat and kidnap my daughters!" Sonny's voice had risen to almost deafening decibels, his spittle
sprayed Taggliatti's face as he leaned ominously over the cowering man.
"And now, you're here to repay the disrespect you've shown me and my family," the harshness
dropped from his voice again, and he spoke to Taggliatti as though he would have the option of
forgiveness. Even swimming in his sea of fear, Taggliatti was still coherent enough to know that
this was not so.
Sonny stepped away and looked up at Jason, who removed the knife from Taggliatti's throat. The
bound man slumped in relief, wallowing in his misery, smelling his waste on his body. Sonny
chuckled at this show of fear. "You know, I've found that scare tactics in the PC Underworld have
become a little outdated, a little blah," Sonny continued. The fact that he was showing such
constant mood swings when talking to him baffled Taggliatti.
"I think the time has passed from when a man settled disputes with fists and bullets in every
situation. Some things are too *special* to be so easy…." His voice trailed off as he looked
suggestively from the table back to Taggliatti again. "Guess what… *this* is a special occasion
Taggs, and it sure as hell won't be easy!" hissed Sonny.
Taggliatti paled even more as his gaze darted from each man. At a pointed look from Sonny,
Jason stripped off the surgical gloves and switched to a pair of black leather. Next, looking up to
ensure he had Taggliatti's full attention, he slipped a pair of shiny brass knuckles over his fists.
"But then again…" continued Sonny with a harsh crack of a laugh, "some things are best settled
the old way."
With those words Jason stepped before him and looking him straight in his eyes, the glacier pools
sending shivers up his spine, he watched fearfully as Jason drew back a brass-knuckled fist and
rammed in straight into his face.
Taggliatti screamed in pain as he felt a bone in his nose snap, the audible crunching noise
reverberating sickeningly against the bare concrete walls. The thin snake-like trail of blood
trickled from his nose. He barely had time to recover from the painful blow before the fist was
drawn back again and slammed into him again.
Taggliatti's cries of pain filled the small room, a constant echo as Jason took out his pent-up
frustration on Taggliatti's face, his fists a blur in the fluorescent light.
"Enough!" commanded Sonny after fifteen minutes of pure violence passed. "I don't want him
dead yet!"
Grudgingly, Jason halted, his breathing laboured and heavy the planes of his face spattered with
tiny drops of Joseph Taggliatti's blood. The sight of the man's face was disgusting – mottled and
crossed with cuts, almost pulp-like, red with his shed blood. Taggliatti was whimpering like a baby
and in addition to shitting himself, a puddle of acrid yellow liquid pooled beneath the chair.
Sonny bit back the bile in his throat, staring with cold hard eyes at the disfigured face below him.
"Where is my daughter, Taggliatti?"
Silence reigned as he waited for the man to speak, feeling no pity for the broken man whimpering
before him. More than likely he was so traumatized he couldn't speak. But he didn't give a damn!
"Where is my daughter!" he asked, his voice rising to a roar.
Taggliatti groaned in pain; he wanted to die, the pain was so intense. Blood dripping from his
head blurred his view and he could swear when he just spit out the blood in his mouth he had
heard the tinkle of teeth hitting the cold concrete floor.
Sonny narrowed his eyes. "What is it about men who are about to die, huh? All of a sudden you
grow balls?" Still Taggliatti said nothing. Sonny nodded to Jason and the torture began anew, with
Jason picking up a nice shiny new crowbar.
Jason was freaking Taggliatti out with his silence. In the twenty-five minutes they had been in the
room, the Enforcer had yet to say a word. But even in his state Taggliatti could tell he was angry,
a cold fire lit behind his glacial eyes.
With a smirk, Jason took great pleasure in bringing the crowbar down with all his might onto
Joseph's left kneecap.
"Agggggggggggghhhhhh! Oh God!" Taggliatti screamed in pain as all three men heard the
sickening snap of the bone. "Oh God! Stop! Stop!" he begged as Jason made to slam it back
down on the same knee. "Oh God! Just stop! Please just stop!"
"You dare to ask me for mercy?" whispered Jason menacingly, speaking the first words for the
visit. "Where was your mercy when you ordered your men to kidnap an innocent child, and beat
her sister! Where was *your* fucking mercy!" Jason's face was red as he screamed at the man.
"You don't deserve any mercy!"
"It wasn't my idea to take the little girl, I swear it!" Taggliatti admitted, breaking. "That was all
Ashton! I only did it for the dock space!"
"Dock space?" asked a curious Sonny.
Taggliatti struggled to catch his breath, finding it hard to breathe between the pain. "He offered
me dock space for my ship."
"You mean the ship full of the same guns I told you to get rid of?" Sonny's eyes narrowed as
Taggliatti nodded his head.
"He wanted to take you down. He didn't care how, once he did it. He was going to give me $5
million for the guns and another $2 million for the baby! He said he was going to help take you
down…." Taggliatti trailed off.
Sonny chuckled mirthfully. "You've both tried… and failed. And now, all you've done is make me
very *very* mad. But I don't just get mad Joe no, no, no, no, no, I get *even*. And no doubt about
it, I will. But first you have something very precious of mine that I want back. And you're going to
tell me where my daughter is before I lose my patience and kill you myself."
As an incentive, Jason raised the crowbar again. "No! OK! Scaduto has her!" he admitted.
"Where?" hissed Sonny.
"Pier 19!" Joseph finished in a rush. "Pier 19 in the old stockyard building!"
At his announcement, Sonny nodded in satisfaction. "Good… very good Taggliatti."
Hurriedly, Sonny whirled and headed toward the door. Taggliatti exhaled a pained breath of relief
as he thought Jason was to follow right behind him. No such luck.
Taggliatti watched in horror as the metal door slammed shut and he was left alone with the
murderous looking Enforcer.
Jason saw red as he watched the pathetic excuse of a man before him. The man had pissed and
shit himself after less than thirty minutes of torture, but still had the guts to try to take down the
Corinthos family. He disgusted him! And he himself had a bone to pick with him. He knew that
Sonny had not rushed off to the Pier as Taggliatti thought but indeed was outside waiting for him
to come out. They would go to get Kristina together. Sonny would take her home and then… then
the Enforcer would go berserk and he would not be leaving until every single man responsible for
Kristina's kidnapping and Elizabeth's beating was dead.
Jason advanced to the cowering gangster. Savagely he yanked Taggliati's head up and stared
into the man's tear-filled eyes. "Now, about this Scaduto…" said Jason he lifted the crowbar high
above his head and slammed it down on Taggliatti's other kneecap.
TBC…
A/N: Well, since I didn't in the beginning, I would like to apologize for the delay, but like I've told
you all before, I've been extremely busy with exams. This may be the last chapter for a while, so I
made it a little longer than usual, so I expect lots and lots of reviews. Thanks a bunch, especially
to Tigerlily who helped me out a bit when I had major writer's block, and I'll write as soon as my
exams are over (June 11th).Ciao!
P.S. : I apologise if anyone was offended by the violence, but it was all part of the story. I'll really
miss this :^(