One year earlier......
Elizabeth lifted the frosted glass to her lips letting its contents cool her from within. The summer season had hit Chicago earlier than usual this year and she intended on taking advantage of its sun filled days. Through the black lens of her sunglasses, she studied her surroundings vaguely wondering how it was she had gotten there in the first place – to a place that was filled with so much emptiness.
Two years before she had been a blushing bride yet now she was nothing more than a trophy that Anthony Malucci brought out when he needed to court a sense of legitimacy. What a fool she had been so young and so naïve to think that his romantic sentiments had been real. She had willingly bought into the fantasy he and her own father created for her. The first six months of their marriage had been an extension of the idyllic illusion but soon after Elizabeth came to realize that the rumors floating around regarding the 'Great Tony Malucci' held more truth than she wanted to believe.
She had easily fallen for all his tales of the loves gone wrong in his life. She believed him when he told her that in her he had found his soul mate. Being the romantic that she was, Elizabeth let the charismatic man that her father had brought to their house completely sweep her off her feet in a time when she needed it the most.
She now wished she had listened to that nagging voice in the back of her mind that kept repeating – if it seems too good to be true it more than likely is. But at the tender age of nineteen, she hadn't been forced yet to see the world without her rose colored glasses.
Elizabeth changed positions again allowing the sun's rays to assault her back as she motioned for Helena to bring her another margarita. It seemed as of late her days passed endlessly in the same fashion. Anthony was barely home and when he was most of that time was spent in hushed conversations not meant for her ears.
In the onset of their marriage, Elizabeth was under the mistaken impression that she was to be a part of all aspects of her husband's life. To her that's what a marriage was, a partnership where both parties shared everything with the other. However it didn't take long for her to understand that any ideas she harbored about marriage became null and void the day she became Mrs. Anthony Malucci.
The concepts of faithfulness and honoring a commitment were things that her husband put very little if any stock in. The passion that the start of their relationship held was to be no more as Anthony did little if anything to hide the goomahs that frequented his bed and as time wore on he, as well the women, become more and more brazen. A fact that not only sickened Elizabeth but had also pushed her to get lost in a liquor filled haze.
She knew that there was no walking away from her life with Anthony. He had made that perfectly clear. He had fed her enough information in the beginning to ensure that should she ever think of leaving him she would be seen as a threat to the family and dealt with as such. Anthony's initial threat was one to this day that Elizabeth would never forget. Thinking back on it now, she was curious if he hadn't purposely set her up to hear all that she had, but really none of that mattered anymore. Tony Malucci played his young wife from the very start. It was simple to see that she had a fairy tale idea of what marriage was and when he came to realize that he couldn't provide her with such things it was time for him to ensure that his little arrangement would be cemented none the less.
For him Elizabeth was so predictable, so easy to manipulate but then again he was the master manipulator. The men in his crew had told him of countless times that they had caught his lovely young bride lurking around rooms and doors that had been better left alone. One night after a rather heated argument, one in which Elizabeth said in no uncertain terms that this wasn't the kind of marriage she signed on for and that she was leaving, Tony knew that it was time to take action to guarantee his plans.
He called a bogus meeting of his crew, a meeting that he was sure Elizabeth was to have knowledge of. Purposely leaving the door ajar, Anthony went about ordering a hit on an imaginary enemy. Through the crack in the door he could see the color draining from her face until she was paler than a ghost. He had to stifle a laugh at how easily she had been played. Yet the true fear came when he had confronted her that night as she hastily packed her bags.
'Bruno said he caught you lurking outside my study this afternoon,' Anthony said eyeing his wife and her actions.
'What?' she heard her voice shake and wished she was able to control it.
'You heard me. What were you doing outside of my study?'
'Nothing......nothing......'
'What did you hear Elizabeth?' he was relentless in his questioning.
'Nothing – I didn't hear anything." She continued haphazardly throwing her clothes into the open suitcase.
'Then what's with the sudden urge to pack?'
'I told you I couldn't live like this. I told you last night I was leaving!' Elizabeth said with more force than she believed she had.
'Oh my dear I don't think so' he spat toppling the case to the floor.
'You can't make me stay here!' she yelled as she inched away from him.
'THE FUCK I CAN'T!!' Anthony grabbed her hard by the forearms dragging her body to his own. 'What the fuck did you hear?'
'Nothing!' Elizabeth said again knowing that feigning ignorance was her best defense.
'What makes you think you can get away with lying to me?' he laughed.
'I swear to you Tony, I didn't hear anything. I didn't even know you were having a meeting today.'
'Let's get one thing straight my dear wife. I know what you heard. I know you know about the hit against Victor Falco.' Elizabeth shook her head as if to say she didn't. 'Well you do now! Just so we understand one another, that makes you a true member of this family, a member in every sense of the word. Am I making myself clear Elizabeth?' he questioned.
'Uh-huh," she nodded drawing her bottom lip between her teeth as a way of staving off the threatening tears.
'You are one of us now. Not to say that you couldn't meet with some accident should you decide that being my wife no longer suits you.'
He let go of her arms and Elizabeth landed in a heap on the floor alongside the bed.
That event still had the ability to make Elizabeth shiver. She knew in her heart that she was expendable and that there was no where she could run that Anthony wouldn't find her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason crossed the room closing the door in a vain attempt at shutting out the noisy preparations going on around him. That evening would be a gala event, the celebration of his baby sister's engagement. To the outside world that's all that would be happening but Jason knew that there would be a great deal more taking place beneath the surface.
It was humorous to him that each great party that had taken place at the Morgan estate had a hidden agenda to it, a real reason for the ostentatious display. Joseph Morgan was all about honor and propriety yet he was ruthless to the core and tonight Jason knew it would be no different. While Joseph would make his rounds playing the doting father for his guests, the true reason that all the heads of the ten crime families were present would come when the party was in full swing so that no one would be missed.
Jason did his best to focus on the sequence of events that had brought about this particular crossroads. All paths led to the Malucci family. Rocco, patriarch of the family, was in failing health and his son Anthony was none too pleased with the current arrangements between his family and the Morgans. In his short sightedness, Anthony had become greedy in an attempt to right the wrong he felt was being committed against his crew. This wasn't something that sat well with either Jason or his father. Joseph knew that Rocco wasn't to live much longer and he needed to put his son in his place before an all out war broke loose.
Jason walked over to the sideboard and opened the tiny bar refrigerator grabbing himself a beer. Throwing his head back, the golden liquid burned a path into the pit of his stomach. He took another long swig in hopes that the stupor he was working on would get him through the upcoming evening. If Joseph Morgan had been witness to his son's actions at the moment, Jason could already hear the older man's words. He would be spouting the rhetoric that Jason now heard in his sleep. It was old and tiresome. He knew his place and didn't need the constant reminders that his father put forth at every turn.
Jason knew that there would never be a party such as the one being planned at the moment in his honor. He wasn't going to have the luxury of finding a true love like Emily had; wasn't going to be afforded the opportunity to walk away from the family business as AJ had been. Those things weren't in the cards that Jason had been dealt. He had come to accept that but at times like this it didn't make it hurt any less.
Again he sat down at the desk listening to the whirlwind of activity taking place just outside his window. He heard his mother's voice as she gave orders to the staff, the orchestra began tuning their various instruments, the caterer and his assistants wheeled cart after cart laidened with food past the open window on their way to the large tent set up adjacent to the pool for what all on the surface seemed so ordinary.
Jason absently wondered what ordinary even was. The dictionary definition certainly didn't fit the bill for the Morgan family or any other family that he had had contact with for most of his life. Yet though Joseph Morgan pulled off ordinary quite well. He had been able to hide most of his activities behind one phony front or another. Jason knew that many of those people on the guest list that night had no clue truly who or what the Morgan family was. The idea of it all amazed him. How his father had one face with two completely separate personalities. That was a trick that Jason had not yet mastered.
Jason had been groomed from a very young age to be the next heir apparent. At the start of it all, he hadn't quite grasped all that it had meant. He simply enjoyed the time his father devoted to him. He enjoyed the closeness that he single handily seemed to share with Joseph. But as time wore on that time that Jason treasured so much became something he grew to despise. He watched as he lived by an entirely different set of rules than his bother and sister. While they were relishing their youth, Jason was suddenly a man before ever physically growing into one. His father's explanation as to why still rang in Jason's ears on times like this.
'Son,' Joseph began, 'I need you to understand something. I need you to know that you are the future of this family.'
'What?' the novice thirteen-year-old asked.
'One day this will all be yours." Joseph gestured to the mahogany-paneled room around them.
'The house?' Jason asked still not understanding his father.
'No son,' Joseph did his best not to sound agitated. 'Our business. You someday will sit in authority over the men that occupy these chairs. It will be you that the others look to for leadership and guidance. One day soon you will wear this ring.' Joseph brought forth his right hand that held the diamond crusted pinkie ring. 'You my son will be the next head of the Morgan family.'
'What about AJ or Emily?'
'Emily?' Joseph laughed. 'No son this is by far not a job for your sister and AJ – well he has no mind for business. He works better with his hands. Jason, you are the chosen one. It is you who will continue what it is I have started......'
That was only the beginning of many more conversations that he and his father would have over the years until Jason came to fully comprehend exactly what was in store for him – a lonely existence forever looking over his shoulder.
Elizabeth lifted the frosted glass to her lips letting its contents cool her from within. The summer season had hit Chicago earlier than usual this year and she intended on taking advantage of its sun filled days. Through the black lens of her sunglasses, she studied her surroundings vaguely wondering how it was she had gotten there in the first place – to a place that was filled with so much emptiness.
Two years before she had been a blushing bride yet now she was nothing more than a trophy that Anthony Malucci brought out when he needed to court a sense of legitimacy. What a fool she had been so young and so naïve to think that his romantic sentiments had been real. She had willingly bought into the fantasy he and her own father created for her. The first six months of their marriage had been an extension of the idyllic illusion but soon after Elizabeth came to realize that the rumors floating around regarding the 'Great Tony Malucci' held more truth than she wanted to believe.
She had easily fallen for all his tales of the loves gone wrong in his life. She believed him when he told her that in her he had found his soul mate. Being the romantic that she was, Elizabeth let the charismatic man that her father had brought to their house completely sweep her off her feet in a time when she needed it the most.
She now wished she had listened to that nagging voice in the back of her mind that kept repeating – if it seems too good to be true it more than likely is. But at the tender age of nineteen, she hadn't been forced yet to see the world without her rose colored glasses.
Elizabeth changed positions again allowing the sun's rays to assault her back as she motioned for Helena to bring her another margarita. It seemed as of late her days passed endlessly in the same fashion. Anthony was barely home and when he was most of that time was spent in hushed conversations not meant for her ears.
In the onset of their marriage, Elizabeth was under the mistaken impression that she was to be a part of all aspects of her husband's life. To her that's what a marriage was, a partnership where both parties shared everything with the other. However it didn't take long for her to understand that any ideas she harbored about marriage became null and void the day she became Mrs. Anthony Malucci.
The concepts of faithfulness and honoring a commitment were things that her husband put very little if any stock in. The passion that the start of their relationship held was to be no more as Anthony did little if anything to hide the goomahs that frequented his bed and as time wore on he, as well the women, become more and more brazen. A fact that not only sickened Elizabeth but had also pushed her to get lost in a liquor filled haze.
She knew that there was no walking away from her life with Anthony. He had made that perfectly clear. He had fed her enough information in the beginning to ensure that should she ever think of leaving him she would be seen as a threat to the family and dealt with as such. Anthony's initial threat was one to this day that Elizabeth would never forget. Thinking back on it now, she was curious if he hadn't purposely set her up to hear all that she had, but really none of that mattered anymore. Tony Malucci played his young wife from the very start. It was simple to see that she had a fairy tale idea of what marriage was and when he came to realize that he couldn't provide her with such things it was time for him to ensure that his little arrangement would be cemented none the less.
For him Elizabeth was so predictable, so easy to manipulate but then again he was the master manipulator. The men in his crew had told him of countless times that they had caught his lovely young bride lurking around rooms and doors that had been better left alone. One night after a rather heated argument, one in which Elizabeth said in no uncertain terms that this wasn't the kind of marriage she signed on for and that she was leaving, Tony knew that it was time to take action to guarantee his plans.
He called a bogus meeting of his crew, a meeting that he was sure Elizabeth was to have knowledge of. Purposely leaving the door ajar, Anthony went about ordering a hit on an imaginary enemy. Through the crack in the door he could see the color draining from her face until she was paler than a ghost. He had to stifle a laugh at how easily she had been played. Yet the true fear came when he had confronted her that night as she hastily packed her bags.
'Bruno said he caught you lurking outside my study this afternoon,' Anthony said eyeing his wife and her actions.
'What?' she heard her voice shake and wished she was able to control it.
'You heard me. What were you doing outside of my study?'
'Nothing......nothing......'
'What did you hear Elizabeth?' he was relentless in his questioning.
'Nothing – I didn't hear anything." She continued haphazardly throwing her clothes into the open suitcase.
'Then what's with the sudden urge to pack?'
'I told you I couldn't live like this. I told you last night I was leaving!' Elizabeth said with more force than she believed she had.
'Oh my dear I don't think so' he spat toppling the case to the floor.
'You can't make me stay here!' she yelled as she inched away from him.
'THE FUCK I CAN'T!!' Anthony grabbed her hard by the forearms dragging her body to his own. 'What the fuck did you hear?'
'Nothing!' Elizabeth said again knowing that feigning ignorance was her best defense.
'What makes you think you can get away with lying to me?' he laughed.
'I swear to you Tony, I didn't hear anything. I didn't even know you were having a meeting today.'
'Let's get one thing straight my dear wife. I know what you heard. I know you know about the hit against Victor Falco.' Elizabeth shook her head as if to say she didn't. 'Well you do now! Just so we understand one another, that makes you a true member of this family, a member in every sense of the word. Am I making myself clear Elizabeth?' he questioned.
'Uh-huh," she nodded drawing her bottom lip between her teeth as a way of staving off the threatening tears.
'You are one of us now. Not to say that you couldn't meet with some accident should you decide that being my wife no longer suits you.'
He let go of her arms and Elizabeth landed in a heap on the floor alongside the bed.
That event still had the ability to make Elizabeth shiver. She knew in her heart that she was expendable and that there was no where she could run that Anthony wouldn't find her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason crossed the room closing the door in a vain attempt at shutting out the noisy preparations going on around him. That evening would be a gala event, the celebration of his baby sister's engagement. To the outside world that's all that would be happening but Jason knew that there would be a great deal more taking place beneath the surface.
It was humorous to him that each great party that had taken place at the Morgan estate had a hidden agenda to it, a real reason for the ostentatious display. Joseph Morgan was all about honor and propriety yet he was ruthless to the core and tonight Jason knew it would be no different. While Joseph would make his rounds playing the doting father for his guests, the true reason that all the heads of the ten crime families were present would come when the party was in full swing so that no one would be missed.
Jason did his best to focus on the sequence of events that had brought about this particular crossroads. All paths led to the Malucci family. Rocco, patriarch of the family, was in failing health and his son Anthony was none too pleased with the current arrangements between his family and the Morgans. In his short sightedness, Anthony had become greedy in an attempt to right the wrong he felt was being committed against his crew. This wasn't something that sat well with either Jason or his father. Joseph knew that Rocco wasn't to live much longer and he needed to put his son in his place before an all out war broke loose.
Jason walked over to the sideboard and opened the tiny bar refrigerator grabbing himself a beer. Throwing his head back, the golden liquid burned a path into the pit of his stomach. He took another long swig in hopes that the stupor he was working on would get him through the upcoming evening. If Joseph Morgan had been witness to his son's actions at the moment, Jason could already hear the older man's words. He would be spouting the rhetoric that Jason now heard in his sleep. It was old and tiresome. He knew his place and didn't need the constant reminders that his father put forth at every turn.
Jason knew that there would never be a party such as the one being planned at the moment in his honor. He wasn't going to have the luxury of finding a true love like Emily had; wasn't going to be afforded the opportunity to walk away from the family business as AJ had been. Those things weren't in the cards that Jason had been dealt. He had come to accept that but at times like this it didn't make it hurt any less.
Again he sat down at the desk listening to the whirlwind of activity taking place just outside his window. He heard his mother's voice as she gave orders to the staff, the orchestra began tuning their various instruments, the caterer and his assistants wheeled cart after cart laidened with food past the open window on their way to the large tent set up adjacent to the pool for what all on the surface seemed so ordinary.
Jason absently wondered what ordinary even was. The dictionary definition certainly didn't fit the bill for the Morgan family or any other family that he had had contact with for most of his life. Yet though Joseph Morgan pulled off ordinary quite well. He had been able to hide most of his activities behind one phony front or another. Jason knew that many of those people on the guest list that night had no clue truly who or what the Morgan family was. The idea of it all amazed him. How his father had one face with two completely separate personalities. That was a trick that Jason had not yet mastered.
Jason had been groomed from a very young age to be the next heir apparent. At the start of it all, he hadn't quite grasped all that it had meant. He simply enjoyed the time his father devoted to him. He enjoyed the closeness that he single handily seemed to share with Joseph. But as time wore on that time that Jason treasured so much became something he grew to despise. He watched as he lived by an entirely different set of rules than his bother and sister. While they were relishing their youth, Jason was suddenly a man before ever physically growing into one. His father's explanation as to why still rang in Jason's ears on times like this.
'Son,' Joseph began, 'I need you to understand something. I need you to know that you are the future of this family.'
'What?' the novice thirteen-year-old asked.
'One day this will all be yours." Joseph gestured to the mahogany-paneled room around them.
'The house?' Jason asked still not understanding his father.
'No son,' Joseph did his best not to sound agitated. 'Our business. You someday will sit in authority over the men that occupy these chairs. It will be you that the others look to for leadership and guidance. One day soon you will wear this ring.' Joseph brought forth his right hand that held the diamond crusted pinkie ring. 'You my son will be the next head of the Morgan family.'
'What about AJ or Emily?'
'Emily?' Joseph laughed. 'No son this is by far not a job for your sister and AJ – well he has no mind for business. He works better with his hands. Jason, you are the chosen one. It is you who will continue what it is I have started......'
That was only the beginning of many more conversations that he and his father would have over the years until Jason came to fully comprehend exactly what was in store for him – a lonely existence forever looking over his shoulder.