Disclaimer: I do not own or have any affiliation with the characters, cast, or writers of General Hospital.
Author's note: Alcazar managed to save both Elizabeth and Carly from Ric. Sonny let Ric live, making him stick around to see Elizabeth's hatred for him as his punishment, which of course only drove Ric further into insanity. Alcazar has never met Faith Roscoe, who is still going after Ric.
Lorenzo Ramon Alcazar peered through the venetian blinds in the apartment he still leased from Ric Lansing. Poor bastard. Lorenzo felt pity for the man, who had only grown more pathetic in the past four months since his plan had gone awry. Pity was an emotion that had only ever bred contempt for Lorenzo.
In the early morning hours, the docks at Port Charles were flurried with the activity of men loading and unloading various goods. Some of these men worked for Lorenzo, but most of them worked for Sonny Corinthos.
After Lorenzo had freed Corinthos' wife from the hell she had been living in the panic room at Lansing's house, Sonny paid his debt by giving Lorenzo what he seemed to have wanted all along. Access to the docks, to move his product back and forth between Port Charles and South America. Lorenzo was actually surprised at how easy Corinthos made it for him. He didn't even really have to stay in Port Charles to oversee it, he knew at this point. It had been four months, and Sonny's men had tried no funny business, and dealt fairly with his own. But Lorenzo liked the little town that liked to behave like a city. There was more excitement than there had been in his life for a very long time.
He still did not understand how the love of a woman could throw all of an intelligent man's principles out the window. The love of a woman always led to a downfall, Lorenzo thought, immediately thinking of his brother, and then Ric Lansing.
After Mrs. Lansing discovered Carly in the panic room, she had a stroke from the shock. Lorenzo still wasn't sure if Ric would have killed her, if he hadn't intervened…
The clock on the wall struck seven, and, remembering the real reason he had stayed in Port Charles, Lorenzo prepared for the rest of his day.
* * *
Elizabeth Webber, shivered as she bundled her coat tighter around her on the way to Kelly's. Carly had offered her to resume her job there after the divorce had gone through, but Elizabeth was too humiliated to go to work there again. She remembered the day she'd given her notice, how happy she had been, how proud of her successful husband.
The summer seemed like a million years ago. After Elizabeth got away from Ric, she'd taken a job teaching art at the Charles Street School. It didn't pay much, but it did keep her modest roof over her head. Her grandmother had invited Elizabeth to go live with her, but as much as she loved her, Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to take her grandmother's charity.
Because that's what she had become. She knew what people thought of her. How could she not know her own husband was keeping a woman confined within the walls of her own house? How could she marry such a monster? How could she fall in love with him?
These questions and more had plagued Elizabeth every day for the past four months, since she had gotten out of the hospital. And because of them, she had become a recluse, barely able to look at herself in the mirror, much less see her family and friends. She was so ashamed that she hadn't seen it coming, had trusted him so completely. And she felt so guilty for the people he had hurt.
Michael Corinthos was in one of her first-grade classes, and every time she'd look at the little boy, all she could think of was the pain that her husband had brought onto his family. No, Elizabeth could barely face herself.
She checked her watch. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to grab a cup of coffee before she got to work. Quickening her stride along the docks, she wasn't looking where she was going and ran smack into a solid wall of black wool.
"Oh, excuse me, I wasn't watching where I was going," Elizabeth rambled out before she looked up into the face of the man she had stumbled upon. When she looked up into Lorenzo Alcazar's slate blue eyes, she gasped and took a small step back.
"It's perfectly all right, Mrs. Lansing," he answered with all of the formality she had always heard him use.
"Webber. My name is Elizabeth Webber," she nearly spat out, then regretted her rude tone of voice.
"Of course. Ms. Webber." Elizabeth chewed nervously on her lower lip. This man had saved her life, and she ran into him from time to time. But it didn't shake her fear of him. She knew he was a dangerous man, but she couldn't help feeling grateful. "You look like you're in a hurry. Can I offer you a ride somewhere?"
"Oh no," she said much too quickly. "I wouldn't want to trouble you. Good-bye Mr. Alcazar. Sorry for running you over."
And Elizabeth nearly sprinted away, cursing herself as she did every time she saw him that she didn't have the courage to thank him for all that he'd done for her.
* * *
Lorenzo took a deep breath. It was one small indulgence that he allowed himself, purposely running into Elizabeth Webber. She fascinated him, and he didn't know why.
Well, that was a lie.