Joseph placed the receiver in its cradle and let out a heavy sigh.
He knew by the tone of Cassandra's voice that he had frightened her with
his cryptic call. However, no words said over the phone would be able to
describe what happened to AJ and Courtney that afternoon. He couldn't
remove the look of utter despair Courtney had worn from his memory. He and
AJ had gone to her room, but words of comfort evaded Joseph. There was
nothing he could do for either of them. All of his efforts to remove his
eldest son from the strangle hold of the family business had proved to be
fruitless in the end. This feeling of helplessness ate away at Joseph. He
was a man who was used to controlling all things around him. In two very
short days strikes had been made against his family. One was successful
and the other not so much so. The idea that anyone had even dared to defy
the authority that Don Morgan wielded was ludicrous to Joseph.
Jason's words that Anthony was systematically picking the Morgans off one by one haunted Joseph, as did the idea that he was blinded by his loyalty to Rocco. If this had been another time and another place, Joseph knew that shenanigans of Anthony's caliber would have never been tolerated. He also had to question Rocco's loyalty to his own son. The elder Malucci had given Joseph the opportunity to wipe Anthony from the face of the earth without question. So – why was it he was still holding back? Why was he letting his family get caught in this game of cat and mouse that Anthony was orchestrating? Who else would have to be harmed before Joseph would see his way clear to exact revenge?
He rested his head in his hands and attempted to force himself to think straight, to think like the Don who he had been groomed to be. He couldn't stop wondering exactly what his father was thinking as he stared down at him from heaven. Did the man that Joseph revered see his son as weak? Did he see him as having no control over his own sons? Joseph swiveled around to stare at the picture-laden mantle. Photos of AJ, Emily and Jason looked back at him. The old time ways of the Borgata were lost on the generation that encompassed his children and Joseph was saddened by that fact. He could have never imagined going to his own father and telling him that he wanted to be set free of the life that was expected of him in the way that AJ had done, nor could Joseph imagine one of his brothers having an affair with the wife of another confirmed man in the administration as Jason was doing now. Those things were unheard of in the Golden Age of the Mafia. Yet now they seemed to be common place. Men like Joseph and Rocco were playing be a set of rules that seemingly no longer applied to the world they had been prepared to take over. Joseph's eyes came to rest on AJ and Courtney's wedding photo again. His heart ached for their loss. It was a loss that he had had means to control if he had only seen his way clear to handle matters a few months ago.
'...handle Anthony by whatever means necessary...'
Rocco's words resonated through Joseph over and over again. There was no denying that his life long friend had been more willing to move forward with the times in which they now lived. Maybe it was time for Joseph to be doing the same as well.
"Joseph!?" Cassandra's frantic voice called to him. "Joseph?!"
"In here dear." Joseph tried to keep his tone steady. Telling Cassandra about the loss of AJ's child wouldn't be an easy task. He removed himself from his perch and met her as she entered the room. "Come sit down." He reached for his wife's hand as he led her to the sofa.
"Joseph, you are scaring me," Cassandra said as she searched her husband's eyes for some idea of what had him so shaken.
"There was an accident at one of the Matthews Constructions sites today."
"Oh God, AJ!!" Cassandra's voice rose and octave.
"AJ's fine," Joseph reassured his wife.
"Thank the Lord. If AJ is fine, why would you frighten me with such an obscure phone call?" her eyes questioned as she moved closer to her husband.
"The accident involved Courtney."
"Courtney??" Cassandra echoed with confusion. "What does a construction site accident have to with Courtney?"
"I don't know all of the details, but apparently she had gone to see AJ." Joseph paused as he sought the words that eluded him.
"Joseph, is Courtney all right?" Cassandra finally asked him.
"She miscarried this afternoon." The statement sounded so clinical to Joseph, but it was the only way for him to say those words without crying.
"WHAT?!?" Cassandra gasped in horror. "This is some kind of joke right?"
"I'm afraid not. It's all quite real."
"How – how did this happen?" Cassandra stammered.
"There was a mishap with a crane operator today."
"MISHAP!?!?" Cassandra shrieked.
"A steel beam that was being hauled up to one of the upper floors of the structure slipped. Luckily Pete was able to alert AJ in time. He pushed Courtney out of the way. The doctors are fairly sure that the impact of her fall is what caused her to lose the baby." Joseph's sentences were short and almost choppy in nature. It was more like he was reading the happenings from a newspaper article rather than relaying the events that had unfolded that afternoon.
"How could this have happened?" Cassandra asked again.
"It was an accident," Joseph replied.
Cassandra stared into the depths of her husband's eyes. It was easy to see the torment that lay behind those sky colored orbs. There was also no mistaking that there was more to this story than Joseph was willing to divulge. "Just an accident?" Cassandra questioned.
"Yes."
"Why is it that I don't believe you?"
"Exactly why don't you believe me?" Joseph asked moving away from her and heading toward the sideboard for a much-needed dose of liquid comfort.
"I know you Joseph. I know that there's something you aren't telling me!" Cassandra persisted.
"There's nothing left to tell. I have told you all that I know about it."
"Hardly!" she scoffed. "My son and the girl who has grown to be like a second daughter to me lost a child today, and I want to know why!"
"Cassandra, it was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he offered. He turned and stared out onto the patio, hoping to avoid his wife's burning glare.
"You mean like the accident that we almost had last night?" Cassandra countered sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Joseph was quick to agree.
"I am beginning to think that that's not the case at all."
"You said so yourself, Cassandra. Last night was just an accident and so was what happened to Courtney today. It was just a horrible accident." Joseph felt the bile rise higher in his throat with those remarks. He tried to quench it with each gulp of scotch he consumed, however that only served to heighten the burning sensation.
"Accidents are never really accidents when it comes to this family are they?" Cassandra arched her brow to show Joseph that she was asking if this had anything to do with the family business without really asking the question.
"I have it under control," he offered.
"What do you have under control?" Cassandra pressed. It was one thing for her and Joseph to be targets in some war, but it was an entirely different matter when her children were included in the battle too. She wasn't about to sit idly by and let Joseph keep her in the dark. There was a time to be silent and a time to ask questions. This was the latter.
"Cassandra," Joseph crossed the room and stood next to his wife. "I have always been able to handle things up until now. I promise I will continue to do so."
"Are our children in danger?"
"I think right now Courtney needs you......"
"You can't ignore my question, Joseph!" Cassandra almost ordered. "If my children are in danger, I have a right to know from whom."
Joseph ran his hands over his face. He knew that Cassandra wasn't about to give up without knowing the full scale of all that was happening. "I will make sure no one is in danger," he replied without giving her the answer she was looking for.
"So – you are at least admitting that there is some sort of danger?"
"You know as well as I do that danger and the life that we lead go hand in hand. I have never lied to you about that."
"Then why are you lying to me now? Why can't you just tell me who this family is in danger from?"
"We aren't in danger per se... ..."
"The hell we aren't! We lost a grandchild today and all you can do is stand here spouting that it was some kind of accident??? You may have sheltered the women of this family, Joseph, but we are by no means stupid."
"I never... ..."
"What's going on here?" Cassandra cut him off. "Who is targeting this family, Joseph? Please tell me. We haven't had a rival family rise up against us in quite some time. The only problems we've had have been with... ..." Cassandra's voice trailed off as thoughts inside her head clicked together.
"What?" Joseph said.
"This is about Anthony Malucci, isn't it? This has something to do with what I heard Anthony's wife telling Emily months ago, doesn't it? What is going on here Joseph? You assured me that you had the situation under control." Joseph wasn't about to meet his wife's blazing eyes. "Are Jason and Elizabeth Malucci involved with one another? Are they having an affair?" Joseph's silence spoke volumes to her. The blunt force of his lack of response to her accusation caused her to drop her body on to the sofa. "My son, my Jason, is having an adulterous affair with the wife of his worst enemy?" Cassandra questioned bewildered by it all.
"I think that there's more to it than just a mere affair. I believe that Jason loves the girl.
Cassandra's eyes grew wide in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing pass through her husband's lips. "You are condoning this?" She almost choked on the words.
"No – yes – hell I don't know anymore! So many things don't add up right now." Joseph's own frustration finally came bursting through to the surface. "There's more to this than meets the eye. I just can't put my finger on it."
"Might I suggest that you get a handle on it sooner rather than later, before any more harm comes to this family and namely to Jason."
Cassandra's remarks mirrored her husband's exact thoughts. The idea of any harm coming to Jason by way of Anthony's hand had Joseph seeing red. No matter how he did or didn't feel about what Jason was doing with Elizabeth, that didn't take away from the fact that Jason was his son, his flesh and blood. Joseph wasn't about to let harm come to him. "There is a way to handle this matter, but I am hesitant to take action. It goes against everything that I was brought up to believe in. I was told that families handled their own and if I cross this line, I don't know if I can ever come back again." The anguish that Joseph felt about acting on Rocco's request was evident on his face.
"So what are you saying? Are you saying that you would honor some letter of the law rather than protect your children?" Cassandra nearly cursed him with those words.
"NO!"
"Then what other alternative do you have?"
"I don't know," he returned honestly. "I just don't know."
Jason aimlessly walked the streets of Chicago. His mind was filled with so many questions and far too few answers. The pained expression on his brother's face plagued him. AJ's biting words of Jason's hatred for him stung. Jason had never professed to hate his brother. Yes, he hated the fact that AJ had been set free to live a normal life, but in no way did that equate to a hatred for his own flesh and blood. Jason shook his head in an attempt to surmise just where and how this all had gotten so far out of hand. He just couldn't buy into his father's time line. He couldn't accept the notion that Elizabeth and her appearance in his life caused this snowball effect. Jason heard the melodic sound of her name rolling around in his brain. Elizabeth – Elizabeth – Elizabeth, to him it sounded almost like a chorus of angels. Elizabeth was like an angel to him. From the first time he had laid his eyes on her, Jason had felt such warmth radiating from her being. It was a warmth that had steadily melted his ice- encrusted heart. As Jason stood lost in his blissful existence with Elizabeth, his conscience reared its ugly head. It asked questions that Jason didn't want to ponder. It asked if Elizabeth's presence in his life had changed him? Had she forced him to see what an empty existence he had led without her? Was his love for her making him careless with the things that were the most precious to him? Had she reminded him of all the things that he thought he could never have, things that were only reserved for his siblings?
Jason stopped and looked at his reflection in the mirrored surface of an office building as he walked passed it. He was having a difficult time recognizing the man who was looking back at him. In the light of what happened in the past few days, it seemed as thought his conscience was finally winning the war with his heart. Jason felt a pang of guilt as he sat down on the front steps of the Drake Hotel. His brother and sister in law had lost a precious gift that afternoon. He recalled how angry he had been the day that AJ had delivered his joyous news. However, Jason had not been angry enough to wish such a nightmare on even his worst enemy. Tears pooled in his eyes at the thought of never getting to hold his niece or nephew. That delight had been stolen not from just him, but the entire Morgan family.
Anthony Malucci's face filled Jason's thoughts. It was that sardonic face that forced Jason to realize that it wasn't his family and the way of life he had been schooled in that kept him from what he wanted most. It was ultimately Anthony Malucci who was the culprit. Anthony and his warped version of the way things should have been. Anthony's need for power and the lengths that he would go to get it was what cost Jason, AJ and Elizabeth their dreams. Jason toyed with that thought as he slipped the key card for his penthouse into the designated slot in the doorframe. Anthony was nothing more than a bully. In his younger days, Jason had been able to take care of the playground bullies with a quick fist and a few caustic words. Now though, he knew the stakes in this adult playground were far too high for that. Jason wasn't about to let anyone else pay the price for Anthony's wrath, even if that meant walking away from the person who he knew in his heart was his soul mate.
Jason felt his chest constrict around his heart at the idea of leaving Elizabeth. He crossed the living room. It was filled with so many memories of their union – as short as it was. There wasn't any corner of the penthouse that Jason didn't see Elizabeth looking back at him. He groaned as he filled the highball glass before him to its rim with scotch. There was nowhere that he could hide from her. Even an alcohol filled haze was not enough to make Jason believe that he would ever be able to forget Elizabeth. He pushed the glass away and paced the room.
Jason wanted to believe his father when he said that he would handle Anthony. From what Jason had seen of Joseph's attempt thus far, he didn't hold out much hope of seeing the action he felt needed to be taken in order to truly deal with Anthony. Jason didn't have any choice but to set Elizabeth free. He had to defuse the one bomb he had control over. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat as his heart began with its familiar barrage like commentary. Suddenly his conscience had been silenced, leading Jason into another bout of confusion.
He made his was to the bank of windows that looked down on the cityscape of Chicago. He was drawn again to how normal everything below him appeared to be. There were people going about the business of their daily lives. Jason stood questioning exactly what the word 'normal' meant at all. Certainly there was the dictionary definition but Jason couldn't help but think of the word as nothing more than a subjective term. The Morgan 'normal' was most certainly very different from that of the average man on the street. Just as the working single mother's normal was a far cry from the 'normal' of a doctor's wife. The word 'normal' took on a different meaning depending on each person's perspective. So why was it that Jason couldn't make a 'normal' for himself that would include Elizabeth too?
"STOP IT!!" Jason shouted at the voices bantering in his head. "Just do what you have to do! For everyone's sake, just walk away!" He spoke as though he was having a conversation with someone who wasn't even in the room. Walking away from Elizabeth wasn't going to be as easy to do as it had been to say. Simply walking away wasn't necessarily going to keep Jason's family or Elizabeth safe. Jason was certain that even if Joseph didn't clean house where Anthony was concerned, he would surely tighten the reins of security around his loved ones. The same thing would have to be done for Elizabeth. Jason couldn't virtually turn her out to pasture and then just hope that her wolf of a husband wouldn't find her. Jason leaving Elizabeth certainly didn't negate the fact that he still loved her and God help Anthony Malucci if anything so much as a hangnail happened to his wife.
"Hey, Johnny," Jason said to the voice on the other end of his cell phone. "I need you on a private project."
"Private project?" Johnny parroted back to Jason.
"Yes. This is never to be mentioned to my father. Do you understand me?"
"Sure boss."
"I need you to keep a close eye on Elizabeth Malucci. I want you to be her shadow."
"For how long?"
"For as long as I feel it's necessary. I want you to report anything even remotely suspicious. I want you to tell me if Anthony so much as harms one hair on her head... ..."
"I don't get... ..." Johnny cut him off.
"You don't have to get it. You just have to DO IT!" Jason growled.
"Where am I supposed to find her? I mean I can't exactly walk onto the Malucci grounds and say 'Hey don't mind me. I am just here to follow your wife'," Johnny quipped.
"I don't know where... ..." Jason began to answer but he stopped short as the hidden panel slid away to reveal Elizabeth standing in front of him.
Jason's words that Anthony was systematically picking the Morgans off one by one haunted Joseph, as did the idea that he was blinded by his loyalty to Rocco. If this had been another time and another place, Joseph knew that shenanigans of Anthony's caliber would have never been tolerated. He also had to question Rocco's loyalty to his own son. The elder Malucci had given Joseph the opportunity to wipe Anthony from the face of the earth without question. So – why was it he was still holding back? Why was he letting his family get caught in this game of cat and mouse that Anthony was orchestrating? Who else would have to be harmed before Joseph would see his way clear to exact revenge?
He rested his head in his hands and attempted to force himself to think straight, to think like the Don who he had been groomed to be. He couldn't stop wondering exactly what his father was thinking as he stared down at him from heaven. Did the man that Joseph revered see his son as weak? Did he see him as having no control over his own sons? Joseph swiveled around to stare at the picture-laden mantle. Photos of AJ, Emily and Jason looked back at him. The old time ways of the Borgata were lost on the generation that encompassed his children and Joseph was saddened by that fact. He could have never imagined going to his own father and telling him that he wanted to be set free of the life that was expected of him in the way that AJ had done, nor could Joseph imagine one of his brothers having an affair with the wife of another confirmed man in the administration as Jason was doing now. Those things were unheard of in the Golden Age of the Mafia. Yet now they seemed to be common place. Men like Joseph and Rocco were playing be a set of rules that seemingly no longer applied to the world they had been prepared to take over. Joseph's eyes came to rest on AJ and Courtney's wedding photo again. His heart ached for their loss. It was a loss that he had had means to control if he had only seen his way clear to handle matters a few months ago.
'...handle Anthony by whatever means necessary...'
Rocco's words resonated through Joseph over and over again. There was no denying that his life long friend had been more willing to move forward with the times in which they now lived. Maybe it was time for Joseph to be doing the same as well.
"Joseph!?" Cassandra's frantic voice called to him. "Joseph?!"
"In here dear." Joseph tried to keep his tone steady. Telling Cassandra about the loss of AJ's child wouldn't be an easy task. He removed himself from his perch and met her as she entered the room. "Come sit down." He reached for his wife's hand as he led her to the sofa.
"Joseph, you are scaring me," Cassandra said as she searched her husband's eyes for some idea of what had him so shaken.
"There was an accident at one of the Matthews Constructions sites today."
"Oh God, AJ!!" Cassandra's voice rose and octave.
"AJ's fine," Joseph reassured his wife.
"Thank the Lord. If AJ is fine, why would you frighten me with such an obscure phone call?" her eyes questioned as she moved closer to her husband.
"The accident involved Courtney."
"Courtney??" Cassandra echoed with confusion. "What does a construction site accident have to with Courtney?"
"I don't know all of the details, but apparently she had gone to see AJ." Joseph paused as he sought the words that eluded him.
"Joseph, is Courtney all right?" Cassandra finally asked him.
"She miscarried this afternoon." The statement sounded so clinical to Joseph, but it was the only way for him to say those words without crying.
"WHAT?!?" Cassandra gasped in horror. "This is some kind of joke right?"
"I'm afraid not. It's all quite real."
"How – how did this happen?" Cassandra stammered.
"There was a mishap with a crane operator today."
"MISHAP!?!?" Cassandra shrieked.
"A steel beam that was being hauled up to one of the upper floors of the structure slipped. Luckily Pete was able to alert AJ in time. He pushed Courtney out of the way. The doctors are fairly sure that the impact of her fall is what caused her to lose the baby." Joseph's sentences were short and almost choppy in nature. It was more like he was reading the happenings from a newspaper article rather than relaying the events that had unfolded that afternoon.
"How could this have happened?" Cassandra asked again.
"It was an accident," Joseph replied.
Cassandra stared into the depths of her husband's eyes. It was easy to see the torment that lay behind those sky colored orbs. There was also no mistaking that there was more to this story than Joseph was willing to divulge. "Just an accident?" Cassandra questioned.
"Yes."
"Why is it that I don't believe you?"
"Exactly why don't you believe me?" Joseph asked moving away from her and heading toward the sideboard for a much-needed dose of liquid comfort.
"I know you Joseph. I know that there's something you aren't telling me!" Cassandra persisted.
"There's nothing left to tell. I have told you all that I know about it."
"Hardly!" she scoffed. "My son and the girl who has grown to be like a second daughter to me lost a child today, and I want to know why!"
"Cassandra, it was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he offered. He turned and stared out onto the patio, hoping to avoid his wife's burning glare.
"You mean like the accident that we almost had last night?" Cassandra countered sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Joseph was quick to agree.
"I am beginning to think that that's not the case at all."
"You said so yourself, Cassandra. Last night was just an accident and so was what happened to Courtney today. It was just a horrible accident." Joseph felt the bile rise higher in his throat with those remarks. He tried to quench it with each gulp of scotch he consumed, however that only served to heighten the burning sensation.
"Accidents are never really accidents when it comes to this family are they?" Cassandra arched her brow to show Joseph that she was asking if this had anything to do with the family business without really asking the question.
"I have it under control," he offered.
"What do you have under control?" Cassandra pressed. It was one thing for her and Joseph to be targets in some war, but it was an entirely different matter when her children were included in the battle too. She wasn't about to sit idly by and let Joseph keep her in the dark. There was a time to be silent and a time to ask questions. This was the latter.
"Cassandra," Joseph crossed the room and stood next to his wife. "I have always been able to handle things up until now. I promise I will continue to do so."
"Are our children in danger?"
"I think right now Courtney needs you......"
"You can't ignore my question, Joseph!" Cassandra almost ordered. "If my children are in danger, I have a right to know from whom."
Joseph ran his hands over his face. He knew that Cassandra wasn't about to give up without knowing the full scale of all that was happening. "I will make sure no one is in danger," he replied without giving her the answer she was looking for.
"So – you are at least admitting that there is some sort of danger?"
"You know as well as I do that danger and the life that we lead go hand in hand. I have never lied to you about that."
"Then why are you lying to me now? Why can't you just tell me who this family is in danger from?"
"We aren't in danger per se... ..."
"The hell we aren't! We lost a grandchild today and all you can do is stand here spouting that it was some kind of accident??? You may have sheltered the women of this family, Joseph, but we are by no means stupid."
"I never... ..."
"What's going on here?" Cassandra cut him off. "Who is targeting this family, Joseph? Please tell me. We haven't had a rival family rise up against us in quite some time. The only problems we've had have been with... ..." Cassandra's voice trailed off as thoughts inside her head clicked together.
"What?" Joseph said.
"This is about Anthony Malucci, isn't it? This has something to do with what I heard Anthony's wife telling Emily months ago, doesn't it? What is going on here Joseph? You assured me that you had the situation under control." Joseph wasn't about to meet his wife's blazing eyes. "Are Jason and Elizabeth Malucci involved with one another? Are they having an affair?" Joseph's silence spoke volumes to her. The blunt force of his lack of response to her accusation caused her to drop her body on to the sofa. "My son, my Jason, is having an adulterous affair with the wife of his worst enemy?" Cassandra questioned bewildered by it all.
"I think that there's more to it than just a mere affair. I believe that Jason loves the girl.
Cassandra's eyes grew wide in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing pass through her husband's lips. "You are condoning this?" She almost choked on the words.
"No – yes – hell I don't know anymore! So many things don't add up right now." Joseph's own frustration finally came bursting through to the surface. "There's more to this than meets the eye. I just can't put my finger on it."
"Might I suggest that you get a handle on it sooner rather than later, before any more harm comes to this family and namely to Jason."
Cassandra's remarks mirrored her husband's exact thoughts. The idea of any harm coming to Jason by way of Anthony's hand had Joseph seeing red. No matter how he did or didn't feel about what Jason was doing with Elizabeth, that didn't take away from the fact that Jason was his son, his flesh and blood. Joseph wasn't about to let harm come to him. "There is a way to handle this matter, but I am hesitant to take action. It goes against everything that I was brought up to believe in. I was told that families handled their own and if I cross this line, I don't know if I can ever come back again." The anguish that Joseph felt about acting on Rocco's request was evident on his face.
"So what are you saying? Are you saying that you would honor some letter of the law rather than protect your children?" Cassandra nearly cursed him with those words.
"NO!"
"Then what other alternative do you have?"
"I don't know," he returned honestly. "I just don't know."
Jason aimlessly walked the streets of Chicago. His mind was filled with so many questions and far too few answers. The pained expression on his brother's face plagued him. AJ's biting words of Jason's hatred for him stung. Jason had never professed to hate his brother. Yes, he hated the fact that AJ had been set free to live a normal life, but in no way did that equate to a hatred for his own flesh and blood. Jason shook his head in an attempt to surmise just where and how this all had gotten so far out of hand. He just couldn't buy into his father's time line. He couldn't accept the notion that Elizabeth and her appearance in his life caused this snowball effect. Jason heard the melodic sound of her name rolling around in his brain. Elizabeth – Elizabeth – Elizabeth, to him it sounded almost like a chorus of angels. Elizabeth was like an angel to him. From the first time he had laid his eyes on her, Jason had felt such warmth radiating from her being. It was a warmth that had steadily melted his ice- encrusted heart. As Jason stood lost in his blissful existence with Elizabeth, his conscience reared its ugly head. It asked questions that Jason didn't want to ponder. It asked if Elizabeth's presence in his life had changed him? Had she forced him to see what an empty existence he had led without her? Was his love for her making him careless with the things that were the most precious to him? Had she reminded him of all the things that he thought he could never have, things that were only reserved for his siblings?
Jason stopped and looked at his reflection in the mirrored surface of an office building as he walked passed it. He was having a difficult time recognizing the man who was looking back at him. In the light of what happened in the past few days, it seemed as thought his conscience was finally winning the war with his heart. Jason felt a pang of guilt as he sat down on the front steps of the Drake Hotel. His brother and sister in law had lost a precious gift that afternoon. He recalled how angry he had been the day that AJ had delivered his joyous news. However, Jason had not been angry enough to wish such a nightmare on even his worst enemy. Tears pooled in his eyes at the thought of never getting to hold his niece or nephew. That delight had been stolen not from just him, but the entire Morgan family.
Anthony Malucci's face filled Jason's thoughts. It was that sardonic face that forced Jason to realize that it wasn't his family and the way of life he had been schooled in that kept him from what he wanted most. It was ultimately Anthony Malucci who was the culprit. Anthony and his warped version of the way things should have been. Anthony's need for power and the lengths that he would go to get it was what cost Jason, AJ and Elizabeth their dreams. Jason toyed with that thought as he slipped the key card for his penthouse into the designated slot in the doorframe. Anthony was nothing more than a bully. In his younger days, Jason had been able to take care of the playground bullies with a quick fist and a few caustic words. Now though, he knew the stakes in this adult playground were far too high for that. Jason wasn't about to let anyone else pay the price for Anthony's wrath, even if that meant walking away from the person who he knew in his heart was his soul mate.
Jason felt his chest constrict around his heart at the idea of leaving Elizabeth. He crossed the living room. It was filled with so many memories of their union – as short as it was. There wasn't any corner of the penthouse that Jason didn't see Elizabeth looking back at him. He groaned as he filled the highball glass before him to its rim with scotch. There was nowhere that he could hide from her. Even an alcohol filled haze was not enough to make Jason believe that he would ever be able to forget Elizabeth. He pushed the glass away and paced the room.
Jason wanted to believe his father when he said that he would handle Anthony. From what Jason had seen of Joseph's attempt thus far, he didn't hold out much hope of seeing the action he felt needed to be taken in order to truly deal with Anthony. Jason didn't have any choice but to set Elizabeth free. He had to defuse the one bomb he had control over. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat as his heart began with its familiar barrage like commentary. Suddenly his conscience had been silenced, leading Jason into another bout of confusion.
He made his was to the bank of windows that looked down on the cityscape of Chicago. He was drawn again to how normal everything below him appeared to be. There were people going about the business of their daily lives. Jason stood questioning exactly what the word 'normal' meant at all. Certainly there was the dictionary definition but Jason couldn't help but think of the word as nothing more than a subjective term. The Morgan 'normal' was most certainly very different from that of the average man on the street. Just as the working single mother's normal was a far cry from the 'normal' of a doctor's wife. The word 'normal' took on a different meaning depending on each person's perspective. So why was it that Jason couldn't make a 'normal' for himself that would include Elizabeth too?
"STOP IT!!" Jason shouted at the voices bantering in his head. "Just do what you have to do! For everyone's sake, just walk away!" He spoke as though he was having a conversation with someone who wasn't even in the room. Walking away from Elizabeth wasn't going to be as easy to do as it had been to say. Simply walking away wasn't necessarily going to keep Jason's family or Elizabeth safe. Jason was certain that even if Joseph didn't clean house where Anthony was concerned, he would surely tighten the reins of security around his loved ones. The same thing would have to be done for Elizabeth. Jason couldn't virtually turn her out to pasture and then just hope that her wolf of a husband wouldn't find her. Jason leaving Elizabeth certainly didn't negate the fact that he still loved her and God help Anthony Malucci if anything so much as a hangnail happened to his wife.
"Hey, Johnny," Jason said to the voice on the other end of his cell phone. "I need you on a private project."
"Private project?" Johnny parroted back to Jason.
"Yes. This is never to be mentioned to my father. Do you understand me?"
"Sure boss."
"I need you to keep a close eye on Elizabeth Malucci. I want you to be her shadow."
"For how long?"
"For as long as I feel it's necessary. I want you to report anything even remotely suspicious. I want you to tell me if Anthony so much as harms one hair on her head... ..."
"I don't get... ..." Johnny cut him off.
"You don't have to get it. You just have to DO IT!" Jason growled.
"Where am I supposed to find her? I mean I can't exactly walk onto the Malucci grounds and say 'Hey don't mind me. I am just here to follow your wife'," Johnny quipped.
"I don't know where... ..." Jason began to answer but he stopped short as the hidden panel slid away to reveal Elizabeth standing in front of him.