Elizabeth stood and watched Jason hail for a taxi, an odd gesture
since she naturally assumed his Porsche was neatly tucked away in the
garage as it had been the other night. "Where are we going?" she asked as
she slid into the rear seat.
"632 North Dearborn," Jason said to the cabby while he ignored Elizabeth's pointed question.
"Where are we going?" she chanted again.
"It's a surprise," Jason smiled, attempting to fake the illusion of a happy couple.
"Surprise?" Elizabeth countered.
"Yes, a surprise," Jason stressed. He was almost dumbfounded that she clearly wasn't getting his well-placed farce.
"Ja....."
"Must you spoil all of my fun?" he quickly said not wanting to have even his first name bantered around the cab's interior. Jason knew full well that his face wasn't one that was easily lost in a crowd and tonight he needed all the anonymity he could get. "I just want to surprise you baby, that's all." Jason reached for Elizabeth's hand hoping to calm her into silence.
"Fine." She was suddenly not as concerned about their destination as she was with Jason's hand resting in her own. The mere touch of his skin had set her nerves a quiver. Elizabeth felt as if she had been transported back to her much younger years, when the current rush of adrenaline meant the beginning of a new love, before the harsh reality of life had crushed her spirit.
She stole a sideways glance at Jason, who had decided staring straight ahead better served him at the moment and wonder what her life might have been if she had met Jason Morgan first. Suddenly being married to the mob wasn't looking so bad, that was if she had been Mrs. Jason Morgan rather than Mrs. Anthony Malucci.
The taxi wound its way through the Chicago City streets. Elizabeth watched the scenery pass before her until the car stopped in front of an ominous stone building that vaguely resembled a church. Jason paid the required fare and he and Elizabeth vacated the cab.
"Would you mind telling me what the hell we are doing here?" Elizabeth gave him a puzzled look. "What the hell is Excalibur?" she questioned pointing to the large neon sign that hung on the corner of the building.
"A club."
"A night club?" she echoed in disbelief. "I thought you wanted to go where no one would know either of us? Elizabeth asked parroting his words from their earlier exit from the bar at The Drake Hotel.
"Exactly."
"I still don't think I am getting this."
"Look at this place Elizabeth." Jason gestured toward the stone structure looming large over their heads. "Have you ever been here before? Hell before tonight, did you even know this place existed?"
"No," she admitted.
"Well then it's pretty safe to say that none of your friends do either. It's pretty safe to assume it's not on the 'social register' Anthony has you keeping. Getting my meaning yet?" Jason questioned.
"What friends?" Elizabeth's question was rhetorical at best.
"Huh?" Jason said.
"Never mind," she was quick to cover. "Okay so I'm set, but what you? How did you know about this place?"
"Don't worry about how I know," he shot back in true Mafia form.
"I am worried."
"Don't be." Jason resisted the urge to stroke her face and allay the fear he could see behind her deep blue eyes. "No one would ever think to look for either of us here. Can we just leave it at that?"
"Do I have a choice?" she countered already knowing the answer.
"Let's go inside." He stretched his arm in the direction of the wide stone staircase laden with people awaiting entry into the club.
"What about ID's? Surely they will card us. There goes your idea that no one will know us," Elizabeth said as she chided Jason in a way she would have done with Anthony. Old habits die hard she thought.
"It's under control," Jason said as he tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders and wished this could have been a true date.
They inched their way through the line until finally reaching the window. Jason placed a fifty-dollar bill through the open slot and he and Elizabeth made their way through the heavy wooden doors, which to Elizabeth resembled something out of the medieval days.
"How did you do that?" She couldn't hide her astonishment. Being in public with Jason was the complete opposite of any time with her husband.
"Do what?"
"Just waltz right in without any questions asked?"
"Simply how I did it. Why?" He felt compelled to ask.
"I'm just surprised is all."
"Surprised? Surprised by me or by the fact that I am not the barbarian your husband can be?" Jason couldn't resist the opening to a stab at Anthony.
"Something like that," Elizabeth said looking away as a sudden wave of guilt washed over her.
"I am nothing like Anthony," Jason stated firmly. "Would you like something from the bar or if you are hungry they do serve food on the lower level."
"A drink would be fine," she answered.
Elizabeth watched Jason make his way across the crowded floor to one of the many bar areas that filled the room. Her surroundings had her spellbound. The building itself was breathtaking. Even in the dark of night, the spotlights illuminated the many stained glass windows and showcased what a pristine place this must have been in its day.
"Excuse me," a man said as he almost spilled his drink down the front of Elizabeth's shirt.
"No harm done," she smiled. Elizabeth sensed his eyes parading up and down her petite frame as a myriad of emotions ran wild through her. Those emotions toggled between tension and elation. This nightlife was something that she had never truly experienced. During the time when she would have been the right age to party, Elizabeth was dutifully sitting by her mother's bedside. Then before she had had a chance to experience much of her own life, Jeff had her married to Anthony. The party was pretty much over after that.
"Would you like to dance?" the man asked breaking Elizabeth's train of thought.
"Yes, she would, but she'll be dancing with me!" Jason asserted as he handed Elizabeth her drink. The other man backed away without so much as a further word. "Shall we?" Jason offered her his arm.
"You didn't have to do that. I could have handled him. I have handled worse you know?"
"You should have to," Jason remarked as he led her to the overly crowded dance floor.
Jason's words bounced about in Elizabeth's brain as she and Jason snaked their way to the middle of the packed dance floor. Again Elizabeth felt enveloped by Jason's obvious blanket of protection. The sensation was so strange to her. If that little incident just now had been with Anthony, Elizabeth knew that she wouldn't be dancing in her husband's arms as she was right now with Jason. Instead she would probably be in the midst of a shouting match. Elizabeth easily rested her head on Jason's rock hard chest and decided to enjoy the fantasy while it lasted.
While the room was alive with people, everything but he and Elizabeth melted away. He couldn't even berate himself for his obvious jealous display moments ago. Jason wasn't about to relinquish any time that he had with Elizabeth. Resting his chin on the top of her head, Jason breathed deep and let her vanilla scent fill his nostrils. If he couldn't have captured that smell in a bottle, he would have done so he could partake of it anytime he chose to.
It amazed him how effortlessly they fit together. For the first time in his life, Jason's actions came without a long drawn out thought process. It was almost as if his body took over with no regard to the thoughts his mind was screaming. His father's face was an ever-present picture in his mind but Jason wasn't about to let Joseph ruin this night. Tonight was for him and him alone. Jason would deal with the consequences in the morning. "Let's go upstairs," Jason suggested.
"Upstairs?"
"It's quieter up there," he offered when she gave him a strange look.
"If you want," Elizabeth said disappointed at losing the touch of his body against hers.
Elizabeth followed Jason up the staircase and waited while he again gave money to the two men posted on the landing. The third floor was a stark contrast to the one they had just emerged from. While there was still a dance floor, it was more subdued and walled off with glass. The remainder of the room was dark and mysterious. It appeared almost gothic in nature to Elizabeth. She half laughed as she wondered when Count Dracula would appear from his coffin. She understood now why Jason had brought her there. Anthony wouldn't have been caught dead in a place like this. Especially since on closer inspection, Elizabeth noticed that opposite sex couples seemed to be a rarity.
"Jason," Elizabeth whispered pointing toward the cluster of males in the corner of the room. "Are you sure this is where we should be?"
Jason hid a faint smile. "We will be fine." He patted her arm lightly.
"I have my doubts about that," she countered as her eyes scanned the room once more.
"How about another drink?" Jason laughed as he directed he to the main bar on the floor.
"Yeah, sure..." she answered thinking to herself she would need more than a stiff drink to make it through the rest of the evening, Jason or no Jason.
"Here you go. Why don't you follow me?" Jason suggested as he made his way up onto a staged area shrouded in heavy purple velvet curtains. Again that evening Elizabeth was shocked at her surroundings. Looking around she now truly felt as if she had walked into a vampire's lair. This area was filled with brocade and velvet chaise lounges and large throw pillows in rich jewel tones lined the floor in front of a roaring fire. "Why don't we sit down?" Jason asked. Elizabeth was relieved to see that she and Jason were the only people there. "You know it's okay to breathe, Elizabeth." Jason laughed sensing that she was completely out of her element. In a way that excited him – excited him to know that no matter what happened between them, this night would be one that she wasn't soon to forget.
"I'm fine," she said.
"If you say so."
Jason took a long swig from his bottle of beer and stared intently into the bright red and orange flames that licked at the logs in the hearth. Jason's eyes darted in Elizabeth's direction as he suddenly questioned exactly what it was he was doing. Here he was openly flirting with his enemy's wife and in reality flirting with disaster. The image of his father that he had been successful in imprisoning earlier was staring him down again.
'.........When you and Anthony are involved in anything, it becomes explosive to say the least.........'
Joseph's words from many days prior came back to haunt Jason and left him to wonder just how true they could have been. Could it have been remotely possible that he was playing right into Anthony's well placed hand? Up until now Anthony hadn't been anything more than a mere annoyance to Jason and his family, but as of late his moves had gotten bolder. Jason wondered if underestimating the lengths Malucci would go to get what he wanted was a wise decision. Again Jason's eyes darted to the beautiful young woman sitting beside him – had Anthony elicited his bride's help in bringing him down?
"Do you come here a lot?" Elizabeth asked interrupting Jason's rampant thoughts.
"Huh?"
"I said, do you come here a lot?" Admittedly the current surroundings had left Elizabeth a little more than curious.
"Never been here before tonight."
"Then why here?" she questioned with obvious confusion on her face.
"Because it's the one place I know men from our world would never expect me to be," he offered.
"You mean men like Anthony?" Elizabeth asked half waiting for the walls to come tumbling down at the mere mention of her husband's name.
"Yes."
"Well I will agree with you on that. The Anthony that I know would rather die than be caught in a place like this. So, why doesn't it bother you? I mean being here?" Elizabeth's curiosity was getting the better of her.
"What's to bother me?" Jason quipped.
"Most men I know cringe at the thought of two guys together, let alone having to turn their head and see them in just about every corner," Elizabeth stated.
"I'm not most men," Jason countered with a devilish grin.
"That you aren't," Elizabeth returned with her own purr.
"My turn to ask a question," he said as the nagging voice in his head grew louder.
"Okay."
"Why are you married to Malucci?"
The directness of his question startled her. "Excuse me?" she said in hopes of buying herself a little time to come up with an answer.
"You heard me. Why are you married to Malucci? It's pretty obvious that neither of you loves the other."
"That's not true!"
"Oh really?" Jason arched his brow. "So you are telling me you like sharing your husband?"
"NO!!"
"Then what?"
"I think my relationship with my husband isn't any concern of yours!" Elizabeth shot back.
"I beg to differ. You said so yourself that you feel safe with me. Why is it you feel safe with a complete stranger more so than you do with your own husband?" Jason knew he was pressing the issue but the menacing voice inside his head wouldn't let him stop.
"That's none of your business really."
"Oh yes it is my business. It's my business to know exactly what you have in mind with this little game of yours. You think that I am stupid Elizabeth?!? Do you think that I can't smell a set up a mile away? I know Tony boy – I know he is looking for any reason to bring down my family and me. Personally I think you are just the bait he needs to reel me in!" Jason stared hard into Elizabeth's widened eyes.
The expression he saw was somewhere between disbelief and pure rage, yet that didn't matter all that much to him. No matter what Jason felt coursing through his veins for Elizabeth – be it lust or perhaps something more – he couldn't lose sight of his position in the grand scheme of things. He couldn't forget just who the enemy was – no matter how the package may have been wrapped. His father had taught him at least that much.
"WHAT!!" Elizabeth's voice raged above the crackling of the fire before them.
"I think you heard me," he countered with his own edgy voice. "Was everything up until now a ruse?"
"I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS!" Elizabeth stood up in an angry huff.
"Oh, but I think you do!" he seethed as he grabbed her hard by the arm.
"Jason," she gasped, "You're hurting me!" With those words Elizabeth was tossed back to earlier that evening when she had said the exact same thing to Anthony.
"All I want is a straight answer." Jason heard the desperation in his own voice. He hated feeling Elizabeth recoil from his touch, hated the irrational way he sounded but his nagging inner voice wasn't letting up – not when he was putting not only himself but his family at risk.
"Straight answer to what? Why I'm married to Anthony or why I'm here with you?" she spat not wanting to show her fear. Elizabeth chastised herself for ever thinking that life with Jason would have been any different than it had been with Anthony. A mobster, no matter who it was, was still a mobster at heart.
"Both."
"Why should I?" The Elizabeth that Jason had seen confront Anthony that day on his patio came through with blunt force.
"Because I have a right to know the real reason I am sticking my neck out for you!"
"I NEVER ASKED YOU TO!!" Elizabeth yelled back.
"No you didn't," Jason's voice abruptly softened at the sight of the tears that Elizabeth was no longer able to hide. Those tiny droplets of water falling onto her soft cheeks rendered Jason speechless and left him feeling like a complete heal.
"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I AM MARRIED TO ANTHONY? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY – I'LL TELL YOU WHY! BECAUSE MY FATHER USED ME AS A GOD DAMNED BARAGAINING CHIP!!"
"What?" Jason questioned.
"You heard me. My father sold me to save his own ass and as for the real reason I am here with you ........" Elizabeth paused for a moment. "Anthony doesn't have a damn thing to do with it!" Elizabeth's angry voice subsided as she brought her lips down hard on Jason's.
"632 North Dearborn," Jason said to the cabby while he ignored Elizabeth's pointed question.
"Where are we going?" she chanted again.
"It's a surprise," Jason smiled, attempting to fake the illusion of a happy couple.
"Surprise?" Elizabeth countered.
"Yes, a surprise," Jason stressed. He was almost dumbfounded that she clearly wasn't getting his well-placed farce.
"Ja....."
"Must you spoil all of my fun?" he quickly said not wanting to have even his first name bantered around the cab's interior. Jason knew full well that his face wasn't one that was easily lost in a crowd and tonight he needed all the anonymity he could get. "I just want to surprise you baby, that's all." Jason reached for Elizabeth's hand hoping to calm her into silence.
"Fine." She was suddenly not as concerned about their destination as she was with Jason's hand resting in her own. The mere touch of his skin had set her nerves a quiver. Elizabeth felt as if she had been transported back to her much younger years, when the current rush of adrenaline meant the beginning of a new love, before the harsh reality of life had crushed her spirit.
She stole a sideways glance at Jason, who had decided staring straight ahead better served him at the moment and wonder what her life might have been if she had met Jason Morgan first. Suddenly being married to the mob wasn't looking so bad, that was if she had been Mrs. Jason Morgan rather than Mrs. Anthony Malucci.
The taxi wound its way through the Chicago City streets. Elizabeth watched the scenery pass before her until the car stopped in front of an ominous stone building that vaguely resembled a church. Jason paid the required fare and he and Elizabeth vacated the cab.
"Would you mind telling me what the hell we are doing here?" Elizabeth gave him a puzzled look. "What the hell is Excalibur?" she questioned pointing to the large neon sign that hung on the corner of the building.
"A club."
"A night club?" she echoed in disbelief. "I thought you wanted to go where no one would know either of us? Elizabeth asked parroting his words from their earlier exit from the bar at The Drake Hotel.
"Exactly."
"I still don't think I am getting this."
"Look at this place Elizabeth." Jason gestured toward the stone structure looming large over their heads. "Have you ever been here before? Hell before tonight, did you even know this place existed?"
"No," she admitted.
"Well then it's pretty safe to say that none of your friends do either. It's pretty safe to assume it's not on the 'social register' Anthony has you keeping. Getting my meaning yet?" Jason questioned.
"What friends?" Elizabeth's question was rhetorical at best.
"Huh?" Jason said.
"Never mind," she was quick to cover. "Okay so I'm set, but what you? How did you know about this place?"
"Don't worry about how I know," he shot back in true Mafia form.
"I am worried."
"Don't be." Jason resisted the urge to stroke her face and allay the fear he could see behind her deep blue eyes. "No one would ever think to look for either of us here. Can we just leave it at that?"
"Do I have a choice?" she countered already knowing the answer.
"Let's go inside." He stretched his arm in the direction of the wide stone staircase laden with people awaiting entry into the club.
"What about ID's? Surely they will card us. There goes your idea that no one will know us," Elizabeth said as she chided Jason in a way she would have done with Anthony. Old habits die hard she thought.
"It's under control," Jason said as he tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders and wished this could have been a true date.
They inched their way through the line until finally reaching the window. Jason placed a fifty-dollar bill through the open slot and he and Elizabeth made their way through the heavy wooden doors, which to Elizabeth resembled something out of the medieval days.
"How did you do that?" She couldn't hide her astonishment. Being in public with Jason was the complete opposite of any time with her husband.
"Do what?"
"Just waltz right in without any questions asked?"
"Simply how I did it. Why?" He felt compelled to ask.
"I'm just surprised is all."
"Surprised? Surprised by me or by the fact that I am not the barbarian your husband can be?" Jason couldn't resist the opening to a stab at Anthony.
"Something like that," Elizabeth said looking away as a sudden wave of guilt washed over her.
"I am nothing like Anthony," Jason stated firmly. "Would you like something from the bar or if you are hungry they do serve food on the lower level."
"A drink would be fine," she answered.
Elizabeth watched Jason make his way across the crowded floor to one of the many bar areas that filled the room. Her surroundings had her spellbound. The building itself was breathtaking. Even in the dark of night, the spotlights illuminated the many stained glass windows and showcased what a pristine place this must have been in its day.
"Excuse me," a man said as he almost spilled his drink down the front of Elizabeth's shirt.
"No harm done," she smiled. Elizabeth sensed his eyes parading up and down her petite frame as a myriad of emotions ran wild through her. Those emotions toggled between tension and elation. This nightlife was something that she had never truly experienced. During the time when she would have been the right age to party, Elizabeth was dutifully sitting by her mother's bedside. Then before she had had a chance to experience much of her own life, Jeff had her married to Anthony. The party was pretty much over after that.
"Would you like to dance?" the man asked breaking Elizabeth's train of thought.
"Yes, she would, but she'll be dancing with me!" Jason asserted as he handed Elizabeth her drink. The other man backed away without so much as a further word. "Shall we?" Jason offered her his arm.
"You didn't have to do that. I could have handled him. I have handled worse you know?"
"You should have to," Jason remarked as he led her to the overly crowded dance floor.
Jason's words bounced about in Elizabeth's brain as she and Jason snaked their way to the middle of the packed dance floor. Again Elizabeth felt enveloped by Jason's obvious blanket of protection. The sensation was so strange to her. If that little incident just now had been with Anthony, Elizabeth knew that she wouldn't be dancing in her husband's arms as she was right now with Jason. Instead she would probably be in the midst of a shouting match. Elizabeth easily rested her head on Jason's rock hard chest and decided to enjoy the fantasy while it lasted.
While the room was alive with people, everything but he and Elizabeth melted away. He couldn't even berate himself for his obvious jealous display moments ago. Jason wasn't about to relinquish any time that he had with Elizabeth. Resting his chin on the top of her head, Jason breathed deep and let her vanilla scent fill his nostrils. If he couldn't have captured that smell in a bottle, he would have done so he could partake of it anytime he chose to.
It amazed him how effortlessly they fit together. For the first time in his life, Jason's actions came without a long drawn out thought process. It was almost as if his body took over with no regard to the thoughts his mind was screaming. His father's face was an ever-present picture in his mind but Jason wasn't about to let Joseph ruin this night. Tonight was for him and him alone. Jason would deal with the consequences in the morning. "Let's go upstairs," Jason suggested.
"Upstairs?"
"It's quieter up there," he offered when she gave him a strange look.
"If you want," Elizabeth said disappointed at losing the touch of his body against hers.
Elizabeth followed Jason up the staircase and waited while he again gave money to the two men posted on the landing. The third floor was a stark contrast to the one they had just emerged from. While there was still a dance floor, it was more subdued and walled off with glass. The remainder of the room was dark and mysterious. It appeared almost gothic in nature to Elizabeth. She half laughed as she wondered when Count Dracula would appear from his coffin. She understood now why Jason had brought her there. Anthony wouldn't have been caught dead in a place like this. Especially since on closer inspection, Elizabeth noticed that opposite sex couples seemed to be a rarity.
"Jason," Elizabeth whispered pointing toward the cluster of males in the corner of the room. "Are you sure this is where we should be?"
Jason hid a faint smile. "We will be fine." He patted her arm lightly.
"I have my doubts about that," she countered as her eyes scanned the room once more.
"How about another drink?" Jason laughed as he directed he to the main bar on the floor.
"Yeah, sure..." she answered thinking to herself she would need more than a stiff drink to make it through the rest of the evening, Jason or no Jason.
"Here you go. Why don't you follow me?" Jason suggested as he made his way up onto a staged area shrouded in heavy purple velvet curtains. Again that evening Elizabeth was shocked at her surroundings. Looking around she now truly felt as if she had walked into a vampire's lair. This area was filled with brocade and velvet chaise lounges and large throw pillows in rich jewel tones lined the floor in front of a roaring fire. "Why don't we sit down?" Jason asked. Elizabeth was relieved to see that she and Jason were the only people there. "You know it's okay to breathe, Elizabeth." Jason laughed sensing that she was completely out of her element. In a way that excited him – excited him to know that no matter what happened between them, this night would be one that she wasn't soon to forget.
"I'm fine," she said.
"If you say so."
Jason took a long swig from his bottle of beer and stared intently into the bright red and orange flames that licked at the logs in the hearth. Jason's eyes darted in Elizabeth's direction as he suddenly questioned exactly what it was he was doing. Here he was openly flirting with his enemy's wife and in reality flirting with disaster. The image of his father that he had been successful in imprisoning earlier was staring him down again.
'.........When you and Anthony are involved in anything, it becomes explosive to say the least.........'
Joseph's words from many days prior came back to haunt Jason and left him to wonder just how true they could have been. Could it have been remotely possible that he was playing right into Anthony's well placed hand? Up until now Anthony hadn't been anything more than a mere annoyance to Jason and his family, but as of late his moves had gotten bolder. Jason wondered if underestimating the lengths Malucci would go to get what he wanted was a wise decision. Again Jason's eyes darted to the beautiful young woman sitting beside him – had Anthony elicited his bride's help in bringing him down?
"Do you come here a lot?" Elizabeth asked interrupting Jason's rampant thoughts.
"Huh?"
"I said, do you come here a lot?" Admittedly the current surroundings had left Elizabeth a little more than curious.
"Never been here before tonight."
"Then why here?" she questioned with obvious confusion on her face.
"Because it's the one place I know men from our world would never expect me to be," he offered.
"You mean men like Anthony?" Elizabeth asked half waiting for the walls to come tumbling down at the mere mention of her husband's name.
"Yes."
"Well I will agree with you on that. The Anthony that I know would rather die than be caught in a place like this. So, why doesn't it bother you? I mean being here?" Elizabeth's curiosity was getting the better of her.
"What's to bother me?" Jason quipped.
"Most men I know cringe at the thought of two guys together, let alone having to turn their head and see them in just about every corner," Elizabeth stated.
"I'm not most men," Jason countered with a devilish grin.
"That you aren't," Elizabeth returned with her own purr.
"My turn to ask a question," he said as the nagging voice in his head grew louder.
"Okay."
"Why are you married to Malucci?"
The directness of his question startled her. "Excuse me?" she said in hopes of buying herself a little time to come up with an answer.
"You heard me. Why are you married to Malucci? It's pretty obvious that neither of you loves the other."
"That's not true!"
"Oh really?" Jason arched his brow. "So you are telling me you like sharing your husband?"
"NO!!"
"Then what?"
"I think my relationship with my husband isn't any concern of yours!" Elizabeth shot back.
"I beg to differ. You said so yourself that you feel safe with me. Why is it you feel safe with a complete stranger more so than you do with your own husband?" Jason knew he was pressing the issue but the menacing voice inside his head wouldn't let him stop.
"That's none of your business really."
"Oh yes it is my business. It's my business to know exactly what you have in mind with this little game of yours. You think that I am stupid Elizabeth?!? Do you think that I can't smell a set up a mile away? I know Tony boy – I know he is looking for any reason to bring down my family and me. Personally I think you are just the bait he needs to reel me in!" Jason stared hard into Elizabeth's widened eyes.
The expression he saw was somewhere between disbelief and pure rage, yet that didn't matter all that much to him. No matter what Jason felt coursing through his veins for Elizabeth – be it lust or perhaps something more – he couldn't lose sight of his position in the grand scheme of things. He couldn't forget just who the enemy was – no matter how the package may have been wrapped. His father had taught him at least that much.
"WHAT!!" Elizabeth's voice raged above the crackling of the fire before them.
"I think you heard me," he countered with his own edgy voice. "Was everything up until now a ruse?"
"I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS!" Elizabeth stood up in an angry huff.
"Oh, but I think you do!" he seethed as he grabbed her hard by the arm.
"Jason," she gasped, "You're hurting me!" With those words Elizabeth was tossed back to earlier that evening when she had said the exact same thing to Anthony.
"All I want is a straight answer." Jason heard the desperation in his own voice. He hated feeling Elizabeth recoil from his touch, hated the irrational way he sounded but his nagging inner voice wasn't letting up – not when he was putting not only himself but his family at risk.
"Straight answer to what? Why I'm married to Anthony or why I'm here with you?" she spat not wanting to show her fear. Elizabeth chastised herself for ever thinking that life with Jason would have been any different than it had been with Anthony. A mobster, no matter who it was, was still a mobster at heart.
"Both."
"Why should I?" The Elizabeth that Jason had seen confront Anthony that day on his patio came through with blunt force.
"Because I have a right to know the real reason I am sticking my neck out for you!"
"I NEVER ASKED YOU TO!!" Elizabeth yelled back.
"No you didn't," Jason's voice abruptly softened at the sight of the tears that Elizabeth was no longer able to hide. Those tiny droplets of water falling onto her soft cheeks rendered Jason speechless and left him feeling like a complete heal.
"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I AM MARRIED TO ANTHONY? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY – I'LL TELL YOU WHY! BECAUSE MY FATHER USED ME AS A GOD DAMNED BARAGAINING CHIP!!"
"What?" Jason questioned.
"You heard me. My father sold me to save his own ass and as for the real reason I am here with you ........" Elizabeth paused for a moment. "Anthony doesn't have a damn thing to do with it!" Elizabeth's angry voice subsided as she brought her lips down hard on Jason's.