Jason nearly dropped the receiver from his hand as Elizabeth emerged
from behind the secret panel he had only revealed to her days ago.
"Boss??" Johnny's voice pierced Jason's eardrum. "Where do you want me to start looking for Elizabeth Malucci?"
"Never mind. I'll be in touch..." Jason answered haphazardly laying the phone down.
"What do you mean you'll...." Johnny started as the line went dead in his ear.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Jason tried to sound angry as Elizabeth threw herself into his arms, yet he was filled with relief in knowing that she was alive and well. His mind suddenly began to spin. Jason hadn't prepared himself for having to face her so soon.
"I've been calling your cell phone all day, but I just kept getting your voice mail. I was getting worried." Elizabeth stroked his cheek gently.
Jason looked down at the display screen of his phone. He finally saw the symbol that indicated he had messages in the reflection of its face. With all the events that happened that day, he hadn't even bothered to think about his cell phone. "How'd you get up here? Did anyone see you? It's too dangerous for you to be here!" Jason shot out his comments in rapid succession as he moved away from Elizabeth's soft touch.
"You're wrong, there's no danger. Anthony never said so much as a word about you. Emily called this morning just as you said she would. We are completely in the clear." Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jason's neck and gave him a joyful kiss.
He tried not to laugh at her words. They were far from being in the clear. If anything, he and Elizabeth were even more in the thick of things when it came to Anthony and his madman's games. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Elizabeth heard the detached manner in which he spoke to her. "Jason – what do you mean? What's going on?"
"Nothing." He shrugged off her hands as they tried to make contact with him again. Jason couldn't afford the confusion Elizabeth's touch brought him.
"Jason?" Elizabeth furrowed her brow as she sought some explanation for his behavior.
"Hmmm?"
Elizabeth's closeness only served to make it more difficult for Jason to push her away. This would be at least his third attempt at removing her from his life. He mused about saying 'the third time's the charm'. At this point, Jason had his doubts.
"Jason, what's wrong?" Elizabeth continued to follow in his path as he made his way around the expansive penthouse living room.
"I told you it's nothing," he answered as his pacing began to resemble that of a caged animal.
"Obviously it's something that's a lot more than 'nothing'," Elizabeth mocked him. "You handled the Anthony situation marvelously. What more can we have to worry about?" she asked in a rather naïve fashion as she rubbed his tense shoulders.
"Plenty," Jason countered under his breath.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing." Jason shook his head as he made a retreat behind the bar. He hoped the thick mahogany structure would serve as enough of a barrier between the two of them. He needed the distance so he could stay focused on the task before him.
"Please don't shut me out," she asked. "Is it business? Did something happen?" Elizabeth continued with her barrage of questions. "Maybe I can help."
"The best way for you to help me is for you to just leave."
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language.
"You can't be here," Jason stated calmly gathering his strength.
"Jason, enough already! What the hell's going on with you?" Elizabeth almost shouted. She had grown tried of his riddles.
"You heard me. You can't be here. This thing, whatever it is, between us is over." Jason's face was stoic as he recited the speech he had been rehearsing in his head.
"This 'thing'....." Elizabeth did little to disguise the hurt she felt at Jason's flip comment. "This thing, Jason, is love and it's far from over!" she returned forcefully.
"Elizabeth, don't do this. Don't make this harder than it has to be!" Jason almost pleaded. He knew she wasn't about to tuck her tail between her legs and slink away, but right now Jason wished that she would do just that. It would have been much easier to watch her walk away from him than it would be to standing in front of her and see hurt and anger fill her features.
"Don't do what, Jason?" she asked with exasperation.
"Don't push this... ..."
"This – don't push this??"
"Elizabeth," Jason groaned, finally partaking of the drink he had pushed away earlier.
"WHAT!?" Elizabeth threw her hands up in utter frustration.
"We can't see each other anymore." Jason brought the crystal glass to his mouth and swallowed the caustic liquid in one fail swoop.
"What?" Elizabeth nearly choked on the single syllable word.
"You heard me. This is over."
"I don't understand," she cried. "Why? Why after one day away from each other is it suddenly over?"
"It's over because it has to be, nothing more nothing less."
"Jason, what the hell's going on here? This doesn't make any sense!" Elizabeth wailed in frustrated anger.
"It makes perfect sense if you would just open your starry eyes to the truth that's starring you square in the face!" Jason swallowed hard as he watched Elizabeth's mouth drop. She was stunned by his mean-spirited remarks.
"Believe me Jason, I know what the truth is here. It seems to me that you are the one not facing it."
"You seem to think that just because you want something a certain way that it is. Well that's not the case here. This is one fairy tale that should have ended before it ever even started!" Jason retorted avoiding Elizabeth's pointed comment.
"Fairy tale?" Elizabeth was bewildered by every word that fell from Jason's mouth. "This – us – was never a fairy tale for me Jason."
"What was it then? You surely couldn't have thought that it would ever amount to more than what it is now. It was never destined to be some great romance. It was sex Elizabeth and nothing more!"
Jason watched Elizabeth's face fall with sound of each hateful word. He listened to himself and the venom that spilled forth from his mouth. His heart slowly died with each tear Elizabeth shed. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH YOU!?!" Elizabeth begged for a logical response.
"THIS AFFAIR IS OVER!" Jason spat.
"NO!!!"
"Yes!" Jason growled as he narrowed his eyes in a vain attempt to hold back his own tears.
"Why?" She found herself asking for the hundredth time.
"It's over Elizabeth. Just accept that fact and move on."
"Move on?!?" There was no stopping the flood of tears that made silent tracks down her flushed cheeks. "Exactly who is it you think I have to move on with, Jason? My husband – if you can even call Anthony that, is a womanizer who has never really loved me in the first place. My father – well he's more worried about grabbing his precious senatorial seat and keeping his ass out of jail than he is about my being happy. Rocco – isn't long for this world, and now the one sane force in my miserable life is walking out on me. So, please tell me exactly who it is you think I should move on with?"
Jason took a long swig from his third glass of scotch. He did his best not to think about Elizabeth's remarks even thought the reality of those comments hit him like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately, he couldn't forget the wounded look AJ had worn that afternoon or the biting words that still stung when Jason let himself think about them. He had to remain steadfast in his conviction for everyone's sake. As much as it hurt, Jason knew that breaking off his relationship with Elizabeth was the only thing to do. "You have to make the best of the hand that you were dealt," Jason said not only to Elizabeth but to himself as well.
"THIS ISN'T SOME GOD DAMN POKER GAME, JASON!!" she screamed.
"Yes, Elizabeth, it is but in a regular poker game all you can lose is your money. In this game of ours you, we all, could lose our lives."
"What do you mean lose our lives? What happened Jason? What aren't you telling me?"
"It doesn't matter what did or didn't happen. All that does matter is that I need to walk out of your life and never look back." Jason almost choked on his words.
"Are you telling me that you don't love me Jason? Are you telling me that when we are apart you don't feel as empty as I do? I don't believe you can look me in the eye and tell me those things." Elizabeth closed the gap between them and forced Jason's eyes to meet hers. "Come on Jason, tell me that's how you feel!"
"Elizabeth, this can't continue, no matter how I feel or don't feel. Our relationship has been wrong from the very beginning .. ..."
"No it's not wrong! It is the most right thing I have ever felt in my life," she cried cutting him off.
"Right or wrong it's over!"
"NO – NO!!!!" Elizabeth stomped her feet in defiance.
"Listen to me!" he ordered. "I am done taking chances with other people's lives... ..."
"It's my life Jason, I can take whatever chances I want!" Elizabeth felt as if they had been dropped back in time twenty-four hours and were now having the same argument they had had the previous evening.
"The hell you can! This doesn't just involve us any more!"
"What? What do you mean this doesn't just involve us anymore?"
"Elizabeth, please go ... ... for god sakes just GO!!" Jason's voice resonated off the walls.
"NO!! Not until you tell me what happened."
The stubborn streak that he had witnessed that first night, the quality that Jason admired most about her, was now coming back to haunt him in spades. "Elizabeth, your knowing what's going on isn't going to change the fact that you have to go. So, why not make it easier on us both and just go?"
"The hell I will make it easier on you, Jason! I don't just cut and run when the going gets tough."
"Elizabeth this isn't some movie where everything ends happily," Jason sighed in aggravation. "When it ends, it's going to end badly. I won't be responsible for that."
"There you go again talking in riddles. What the hell are you trying to say Jason? What happened between last night and today that has you so spooked?" Elizabeth moved closer to him again resting her hands on his shoulders. She leaned her forehead against his back as her lips made contact with the bare skin of his neck.
"STOP IT!!" Jason growled as he pushed her away from him. "STOP IT!!"
Elizabeth was undaunted by Jason's rebuff of her affections. She wasn't about to give up on him or their relationship. "Please talk to me," she whispered returning her hands to his shoulders.
"There's nothing to talk about," Jason protested.
"I think there is. What happened today?" Elizabeth gently prodded.
Jason watched as dusk slowly enveloped the city skyline below. The fact that he was mentally exhausted made it all the easier for Elizabeth to pierce his defenses. The images of AJ's devastated face flooded Jason's memory again. There was no where he could go to escape the thought that he had played a part in his brother's loss. Jason's emotions devoured him until he could no longer hold back the tears.
"Jason?" Elizabeth was shocked and even a bit frightened to see him cry. "What – what is it?"
"AJ's wife miscarried this afternoon," Jason blurted out.
"Oh Jason, I'm so sorry."
"It's my fault. All of it. The accident with my parents, Courtney losing her baby .. ..."
"What do you mean it's your fault?" Elizabeth countered confused by his admission.
"This – you and me –," Jason spun around and pointed his finger between the two of them. "It's started a war Elizabeth. Anthony is out to destroy my family and I have given him the means and motive to do it!"
"You aren't responsible for what Anthony does," Elizabeth assured him to no avail.
"The hell I'm not! I knew that I was walking a tightrope with you Elizabeth, but rather than get off I decided I could defy gravity. Look at what that has already cost my family. I can't let it cost them anymore. I have to let you go. For your sake as well as my own, we can't see each other again!" Jason forced the words from his mouth.
"Please – you can't be serious? I can't just pretend that I don't love you Jason. You can't expect me to just walk back into Anthony's arms as if nothing ever happened between us. I can't do that Jason. I just can't."
"I can't continue to take part in this relationship. The stakes are too high Elizabeth."
"Jason... ..." Her voice was filled with mounting sobs.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth, I'm sorry."
Before she could say any more Jason made his way to the door and left her to watch his retreating back.
Cassandra sat in the darkened house. She had been unable to join her husband when he retired for the evening. There were far too many thoughts racing through her mind to even think about sleep at that point. All she was able to focus on was the facts that she knew to be true. Jason's affair with Anthony Malucci's wife had put her entire family in jeopardy. Cassandra was baffled by her son's behavior. She couldn't wrap her mind around the thought that Jason was having an ongoing Liaison with a married woman. The reality of it hit her like a lead weight, as did Joseph's revelation of Jason's love for Elizabeth. Cassandra believed that to be the toughest pill to swallow in all of this. She knew her son well enough to be sure that if there was even a grain of truth to Joseph's thoughts, this war between Anthony Malucci and the Morgan family was far from over. It actually had only just begun.
Cassandra crossed the room and poured herself another cup of coffee as she heard the lock on the front door click as it opened. She knew it had to be Jason without even looking. Cassandra debated whether to approach him or to leave well enough alone. She hadn't gotten very far in her discussion with Joseph that evening, and now she wondered if talking to Jason might be a better way to approach the situation. Feeling as if she needed to be the proactive one in this matter, Cassandra stopped Jason just as he reached the foot of the staircase. "Jason." Cassandra's voice wasn't above a whisper, but in the stillness of the house it seemed booming my comparison.
Jason was startled by it as he turned around to face his mother. "Mama, what are you doing up so late?" He looked down at the face of his watch to check the time. It was well passed four in the morning. After leaving Elizabeth standing in the middle of his penthouse, Jason had made his rounds to the many bars that the city of Chicago had to offer. Never once had he taken a drink. Instead Jason sat mesmerized by the mating rituals taking place before him.
"I could ask you the same question," Cassandra said driving Jason from his destructive thoughts. "Where were you son? Tonight should have been a night that the family was together." She gave Jason an open invitation to explain the facts she already knew.
"I needed some time alone," he offered.
His mother eyed him curiously and wondered just how alone he had been. "That may have been what you needed Jason, but I believe that your brother could have used the support of his family during this very difficult time."
Jason bit his tongue to stop the words that he had truly wanted to say. He had wanted to tell his mother that he was the last person AJ wanted or needed to see right now. Jason couldn't blame him for that. The idea of looking at his own reflection in the mirror didn't do much for him either. "Papa and I saw AJ at the hospital this afternoon."
"Jason," Cassandra's tone was almost scolding. "I don't think that nearly qualifies do you?"
"I thought maybe AJ would prefer to be alone with his wife. This was their tragedy, not mine."
"It's a family tragedy," his mother corrected pointedly.
"And?" Jason was quick to respond.
"Jason!" Cassandra gasped at her son's lack of compassion and sudden disregard for family loyalty. "What on earth has gotten into you?" Again she provided Jason with and opening to explain his relationship with Anthony's wife.
"Nothing." Jason ran his hands over his weary face. He wanted nothing more than for his mother to disappear.
"I disagree. You have been acting strangely for weeks now."
"So I've heard," Jason said under his breath.
"What?"
"Forget it," he said waving her off.
"Jason, I will not tolerate the disrespectful manner in which you are speaking to me. I am still our mother, grown man or not, and I expect to be treated as such."
Jason felt bursts of hot air escape his nostrils. At four in the morning, he neither wanted nor expected to be having an argument with his mother. "I apologize," he offered taking the high road in the hope that it would provide him with a quick exit. "If you don't mind, I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I would like to grab a little sleep before then."
"I think that you could spare your mother a few minutes of your time."
"For... ..." Jason heard the edge creep into his voice and stopped himself short. "What is it that you need Mama?" he corrected.
"Come sit." She directed him to the sofa in the middle of the room. "Are you all right son?" she asked when they both were settled.
"I'm a little tired and stressed but that goes along with the territory doesn't it?"
"Unfortunately, yes it does, but it seems that more is troubling you than just the usual business struggles."
"It's nothing I can't handle." Jason shifted beside his mother uneasily as his mind was forced to recall Elizabeth's pained expression as he left her in tears.
Cassandra looked at her son and thought about how much he and Joseph were alike. Their responses to her questions were nearly one in the same, yet Jason's face portrayed more confusion than he was willing to admit to anyone. "Jason," Cassandra reached out to him. "Please son, tell me what's troubling you. Is it what happened to AJ and Courtney this afternoon? I know it was a horrific accident, but it won't do any of us any good to bottle up our feelings."
There was that word again...accident. The only accident Jason could see was his accidental meeting with Elizabeth Malucci. The things that followed that encounter had been in Jason's control and now they were in Anthony's. "I'm not the son you need to be worrying about right now, Mama. AJ's the one who lost a child today, not me." I only lost the love of my life, Jason thought to himself.
"I beg to differ."
"Is there something you want to say, Mama?" Jason asked suddenly thinking that there was far more to his mother's concern than met the eye.
"I just want you to know that I am here for you Jason. I only want what's best for you, for all of my children."
Jason attempted not to laugh. The sheer contradiction of her statement was absurd. "Don't you mean what's best for the family? That's what's truly important here, isn't it?"
"Yes, family is important. Your father and I have never professed anything different... ..."
"Please spare me the lecture. I know the drill. Hell, I even have it committed to memory. Not to worry, Jason won't be causing the family any more trouble." Jason spat without evening thinking. He had spent so much time trying to avoid this unavoidable conversation that he just didn't care anymore.
"Jason what are you talking about? Cassandra feigned ignorance. "What kind of trouble could you have caused us?"
"The kind of trouble that makes accidents happen."
"Jason, you aren't making much sense. Maybe you were right, maybe it would be better for us to pick up this conversation in the morning."
"Why? Nothing will be any different in the light of day."
"You might be thinking more clearly by then."
"My thinking is crystal clear!"
"Are you sure of that, son?"
"YES MOTHER I AM POSITIVE OF THAT FACT!!" Jason's voice grew deep with hostility. "I am positive that for the good of the family I just walked away from the best thing that ever happened to me!" Jason choked back his tears to no avail.
"Jason..." Cassandra reached out to her son, but he threw his hand out as if to stop her vain attempt at comfort. The tears she had seen cresting on his lashes tore at her heart. There was no denying the agony that Jason was experiencing. It was written all over every feature of his face. As a mother, that torment was something that Cassandra would have done anything to erase. However, as the wife of a Mafia Don, she understood that it came with the empire that Joseph and generations before him had built.
Jason left his mother went up the stairs to his room and closed the door. He leaned back into the hard wooden surface and his emotionally spent body slowly slipped to the floor. In the span of twenty-four hours, he had gone from having everything he had ever dreamed of to once again having nothing. As hard as he tried to hold them in there was no stopping the tears that made their way down his face. Wiping them away, he took out his phone and dialed. "Is she home and is she safe?" he asked. 'Good. Make sure she stays that way." Jason flipped the phone closed. In the blackness of the room, he shut his eyes and relived his memories of Elizabeth. Memories were all that he had left now.
"Boss??" Johnny's voice pierced Jason's eardrum. "Where do you want me to start looking for Elizabeth Malucci?"
"Never mind. I'll be in touch..." Jason answered haphazardly laying the phone down.
"What do you mean you'll...." Johnny started as the line went dead in his ear.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Jason tried to sound angry as Elizabeth threw herself into his arms, yet he was filled with relief in knowing that she was alive and well. His mind suddenly began to spin. Jason hadn't prepared himself for having to face her so soon.
"I've been calling your cell phone all day, but I just kept getting your voice mail. I was getting worried." Elizabeth stroked his cheek gently.
Jason looked down at the display screen of his phone. He finally saw the symbol that indicated he had messages in the reflection of its face. With all the events that happened that day, he hadn't even bothered to think about his cell phone. "How'd you get up here? Did anyone see you? It's too dangerous for you to be here!" Jason shot out his comments in rapid succession as he moved away from Elizabeth's soft touch.
"You're wrong, there's no danger. Anthony never said so much as a word about you. Emily called this morning just as you said she would. We are completely in the clear." Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jason's neck and gave him a joyful kiss.
He tried not to laugh at her words. They were far from being in the clear. If anything, he and Elizabeth were even more in the thick of things when it came to Anthony and his madman's games. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Elizabeth heard the detached manner in which he spoke to her. "Jason – what do you mean? What's going on?"
"Nothing." He shrugged off her hands as they tried to make contact with him again. Jason couldn't afford the confusion Elizabeth's touch brought him.
"Jason?" Elizabeth furrowed her brow as she sought some explanation for his behavior.
"Hmmm?"
Elizabeth's closeness only served to make it more difficult for Jason to push her away. This would be at least his third attempt at removing her from his life. He mused about saying 'the third time's the charm'. At this point, Jason had his doubts.
"Jason, what's wrong?" Elizabeth continued to follow in his path as he made his way around the expansive penthouse living room.
"I told you it's nothing," he answered as his pacing began to resemble that of a caged animal.
"Obviously it's something that's a lot more than 'nothing'," Elizabeth mocked him. "You handled the Anthony situation marvelously. What more can we have to worry about?" she asked in a rather naïve fashion as she rubbed his tense shoulders.
"Plenty," Jason countered under his breath.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing." Jason shook his head as he made a retreat behind the bar. He hoped the thick mahogany structure would serve as enough of a barrier between the two of them. He needed the distance so he could stay focused on the task before him.
"Please don't shut me out," she asked. "Is it business? Did something happen?" Elizabeth continued with her barrage of questions. "Maybe I can help."
"The best way for you to help me is for you to just leave."
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language.
"You can't be here," Jason stated calmly gathering his strength.
"Jason, enough already! What the hell's going on with you?" Elizabeth almost shouted. She had grown tried of his riddles.
"You heard me. You can't be here. This thing, whatever it is, between us is over." Jason's face was stoic as he recited the speech he had been rehearsing in his head.
"This 'thing'....." Elizabeth did little to disguise the hurt she felt at Jason's flip comment. "This thing, Jason, is love and it's far from over!" she returned forcefully.
"Elizabeth, don't do this. Don't make this harder than it has to be!" Jason almost pleaded. He knew she wasn't about to tuck her tail between her legs and slink away, but right now Jason wished that she would do just that. It would have been much easier to watch her walk away from him than it would be to standing in front of her and see hurt and anger fill her features.
"Don't do what, Jason?" she asked with exasperation.
"Don't push this... ..."
"This – don't push this??"
"Elizabeth," Jason groaned, finally partaking of the drink he had pushed away earlier.
"WHAT!?" Elizabeth threw her hands up in utter frustration.
"We can't see each other anymore." Jason brought the crystal glass to his mouth and swallowed the caustic liquid in one fail swoop.
"What?" Elizabeth nearly choked on the single syllable word.
"You heard me. This is over."
"I don't understand," she cried. "Why? Why after one day away from each other is it suddenly over?"
"It's over because it has to be, nothing more nothing less."
"Jason, what the hell's going on here? This doesn't make any sense!" Elizabeth wailed in frustrated anger.
"It makes perfect sense if you would just open your starry eyes to the truth that's starring you square in the face!" Jason swallowed hard as he watched Elizabeth's mouth drop. She was stunned by his mean-spirited remarks.
"Believe me Jason, I know what the truth is here. It seems to me that you are the one not facing it."
"You seem to think that just because you want something a certain way that it is. Well that's not the case here. This is one fairy tale that should have ended before it ever even started!" Jason retorted avoiding Elizabeth's pointed comment.
"Fairy tale?" Elizabeth was bewildered by every word that fell from Jason's mouth. "This – us – was never a fairy tale for me Jason."
"What was it then? You surely couldn't have thought that it would ever amount to more than what it is now. It was never destined to be some great romance. It was sex Elizabeth and nothing more!"
Jason watched Elizabeth's face fall with sound of each hateful word. He listened to himself and the venom that spilled forth from his mouth. His heart slowly died with each tear Elizabeth shed. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH YOU!?!" Elizabeth begged for a logical response.
"THIS AFFAIR IS OVER!" Jason spat.
"NO!!!"
"Yes!" Jason growled as he narrowed his eyes in a vain attempt to hold back his own tears.
"Why?" She found herself asking for the hundredth time.
"It's over Elizabeth. Just accept that fact and move on."
"Move on?!?" There was no stopping the flood of tears that made silent tracks down her flushed cheeks. "Exactly who is it you think I have to move on with, Jason? My husband – if you can even call Anthony that, is a womanizer who has never really loved me in the first place. My father – well he's more worried about grabbing his precious senatorial seat and keeping his ass out of jail than he is about my being happy. Rocco – isn't long for this world, and now the one sane force in my miserable life is walking out on me. So, please tell me exactly who it is you think I should move on with?"
Jason took a long swig from his third glass of scotch. He did his best not to think about Elizabeth's remarks even thought the reality of those comments hit him like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately, he couldn't forget the wounded look AJ had worn that afternoon or the biting words that still stung when Jason let himself think about them. He had to remain steadfast in his conviction for everyone's sake. As much as it hurt, Jason knew that breaking off his relationship with Elizabeth was the only thing to do. "You have to make the best of the hand that you were dealt," Jason said not only to Elizabeth but to himself as well.
"THIS ISN'T SOME GOD DAMN POKER GAME, JASON!!" she screamed.
"Yes, Elizabeth, it is but in a regular poker game all you can lose is your money. In this game of ours you, we all, could lose our lives."
"What do you mean lose our lives? What happened Jason? What aren't you telling me?"
"It doesn't matter what did or didn't happen. All that does matter is that I need to walk out of your life and never look back." Jason almost choked on his words.
"Are you telling me that you don't love me Jason? Are you telling me that when we are apart you don't feel as empty as I do? I don't believe you can look me in the eye and tell me those things." Elizabeth closed the gap between them and forced Jason's eyes to meet hers. "Come on Jason, tell me that's how you feel!"
"Elizabeth, this can't continue, no matter how I feel or don't feel. Our relationship has been wrong from the very beginning .. ..."
"No it's not wrong! It is the most right thing I have ever felt in my life," she cried cutting him off.
"Right or wrong it's over!"
"NO – NO!!!!" Elizabeth stomped her feet in defiance.
"Listen to me!" he ordered. "I am done taking chances with other people's lives... ..."
"It's my life Jason, I can take whatever chances I want!" Elizabeth felt as if they had been dropped back in time twenty-four hours and were now having the same argument they had had the previous evening.
"The hell you can! This doesn't just involve us any more!"
"What? What do you mean this doesn't just involve us anymore?"
"Elizabeth, please go ... ... for god sakes just GO!!" Jason's voice resonated off the walls.
"NO!! Not until you tell me what happened."
The stubborn streak that he had witnessed that first night, the quality that Jason admired most about her, was now coming back to haunt him in spades. "Elizabeth, your knowing what's going on isn't going to change the fact that you have to go. So, why not make it easier on us both and just go?"
"The hell I will make it easier on you, Jason! I don't just cut and run when the going gets tough."
"Elizabeth this isn't some movie where everything ends happily," Jason sighed in aggravation. "When it ends, it's going to end badly. I won't be responsible for that."
"There you go again talking in riddles. What the hell are you trying to say Jason? What happened between last night and today that has you so spooked?" Elizabeth moved closer to him again resting her hands on his shoulders. She leaned her forehead against his back as her lips made contact with the bare skin of his neck.
"STOP IT!!" Jason growled as he pushed her away from him. "STOP IT!!"
Elizabeth was undaunted by Jason's rebuff of her affections. She wasn't about to give up on him or their relationship. "Please talk to me," she whispered returning her hands to his shoulders.
"There's nothing to talk about," Jason protested.
"I think there is. What happened today?" Elizabeth gently prodded.
Jason watched as dusk slowly enveloped the city skyline below. The fact that he was mentally exhausted made it all the easier for Elizabeth to pierce his defenses. The images of AJ's devastated face flooded Jason's memory again. There was no where he could go to escape the thought that he had played a part in his brother's loss. Jason's emotions devoured him until he could no longer hold back the tears.
"Jason?" Elizabeth was shocked and even a bit frightened to see him cry. "What – what is it?"
"AJ's wife miscarried this afternoon," Jason blurted out.
"Oh Jason, I'm so sorry."
"It's my fault. All of it. The accident with my parents, Courtney losing her baby .. ..."
"What do you mean it's your fault?" Elizabeth countered confused by his admission.
"This – you and me –," Jason spun around and pointed his finger between the two of them. "It's started a war Elizabeth. Anthony is out to destroy my family and I have given him the means and motive to do it!"
"You aren't responsible for what Anthony does," Elizabeth assured him to no avail.
"The hell I'm not! I knew that I was walking a tightrope with you Elizabeth, but rather than get off I decided I could defy gravity. Look at what that has already cost my family. I can't let it cost them anymore. I have to let you go. For your sake as well as my own, we can't see each other again!" Jason forced the words from his mouth.
"Please – you can't be serious? I can't just pretend that I don't love you Jason. You can't expect me to just walk back into Anthony's arms as if nothing ever happened between us. I can't do that Jason. I just can't."
"I can't continue to take part in this relationship. The stakes are too high Elizabeth."
"Jason... ..." Her voice was filled with mounting sobs.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth, I'm sorry."
Before she could say any more Jason made his way to the door and left her to watch his retreating back.
Cassandra sat in the darkened house. She had been unable to join her husband when he retired for the evening. There were far too many thoughts racing through her mind to even think about sleep at that point. All she was able to focus on was the facts that she knew to be true. Jason's affair with Anthony Malucci's wife had put her entire family in jeopardy. Cassandra was baffled by her son's behavior. She couldn't wrap her mind around the thought that Jason was having an ongoing Liaison with a married woman. The reality of it hit her like a lead weight, as did Joseph's revelation of Jason's love for Elizabeth. Cassandra believed that to be the toughest pill to swallow in all of this. She knew her son well enough to be sure that if there was even a grain of truth to Joseph's thoughts, this war between Anthony Malucci and the Morgan family was far from over. It actually had only just begun.
Cassandra crossed the room and poured herself another cup of coffee as she heard the lock on the front door click as it opened. She knew it had to be Jason without even looking. Cassandra debated whether to approach him or to leave well enough alone. She hadn't gotten very far in her discussion with Joseph that evening, and now she wondered if talking to Jason might be a better way to approach the situation. Feeling as if she needed to be the proactive one in this matter, Cassandra stopped Jason just as he reached the foot of the staircase. "Jason." Cassandra's voice wasn't above a whisper, but in the stillness of the house it seemed booming my comparison.
Jason was startled by it as he turned around to face his mother. "Mama, what are you doing up so late?" He looked down at the face of his watch to check the time. It was well passed four in the morning. After leaving Elizabeth standing in the middle of his penthouse, Jason had made his rounds to the many bars that the city of Chicago had to offer. Never once had he taken a drink. Instead Jason sat mesmerized by the mating rituals taking place before him.
"I could ask you the same question," Cassandra said driving Jason from his destructive thoughts. "Where were you son? Tonight should have been a night that the family was together." She gave Jason an open invitation to explain the facts she already knew.
"I needed some time alone," he offered.
His mother eyed him curiously and wondered just how alone he had been. "That may have been what you needed Jason, but I believe that your brother could have used the support of his family during this very difficult time."
Jason bit his tongue to stop the words that he had truly wanted to say. He had wanted to tell his mother that he was the last person AJ wanted or needed to see right now. Jason couldn't blame him for that. The idea of looking at his own reflection in the mirror didn't do much for him either. "Papa and I saw AJ at the hospital this afternoon."
"Jason," Cassandra's tone was almost scolding. "I don't think that nearly qualifies do you?"
"I thought maybe AJ would prefer to be alone with his wife. This was their tragedy, not mine."
"It's a family tragedy," his mother corrected pointedly.
"And?" Jason was quick to respond.
"Jason!" Cassandra gasped at her son's lack of compassion and sudden disregard for family loyalty. "What on earth has gotten into you?" Again she provided Jason with and opening to explain his relationship with Anthony's wife.
"Nothing." Jason ran his hands over his weary face. He wanted nothing more than for his mother to disappear.
"I disagree. You have been acting strangely for weeks now."
"So I've heard," Jason said under his breath.
"What?"
"Forget it," he said waving her off.
"Jason, I will not tolerate the disrespectful manner in which you are speaking to me. I am still our mother, grown man or not, and I expect to be treated as such."
Jason felt bursts of hot air escape his nostrils. At four in the morning, he neither wanted nor expected to be having an argument with his mother. "I apologize," he offered taking the high road in the hope that it would provide him with a quick exit. "If you don't mind, I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I would like to grab a little sleep before then."
"I think that you could spare your mother a few minutes of your time."
"For... ..." Jason heard the edge creep into his voice and stopped himself short. "What is it that you need Mama?" he corrected.
"Come sit." She directed him to the sofa in the middle of the room. "Are you all right son?" she asked when they both were settled.
"I'm a little tired and stressed but that goes along with the territory doesn't it?"
"Unfortunately, yes it does, but it seems that more is troubling you than just the usual business struggles."
"It's nothing I can't handle." Jason shifted beside his mother uneasily as his mind was forced to recall Elizabeth's pained expression as he left her in tears.
Cassandra looked at her son and thought about how much he and Joseph were alike. Their responses to her questions were nearly one in the same, yet Jason's face portrayed more confusion than he was willing to admit to anyone. "Jason," Cassandra reached out to him. "Please son, tell me what's troubling you. Is it what happened to AJ and Courtney this afternoon? I know it was a horrific accident, but it won't do any of us any good to bottle up our feelings."
There was that word again...accident. The only accident Jason could see was his accidental meeting with Elizabeth Malucci. The things that followed that encounter had been in Jason's control and now they were in Anthony's. "I'm not the son you need to be worrying about right now, Mama. AJ's the one who lost a child today, not me." I only lost the love of my life, Jason thought to himself.
"I beg to differ."
"Is there something you want to say, Mama?" Jason asked suddenly thinking that there was far more to his mother's concern than met the eye.
"I just want you to know that I am here for you Jason. I only want what's best for you, for all of my children."
Jason attempted not to laugh. The sheer contradiction of her statement was absurd. "Don't you mean what's best for the family? That's what's truly important here, isn't it?"
"Yes, family is important. Your father and I have never professed anything different... ..."
"Please spare me the lecture. I know the drill. Hell, I even have it committed to memory. Not to worry, Jason won't be causing the family any more trouble." Jason spat without evening thinking. He had spent so much time trying to avoid this unavoidable conversation that he just didn't care anymore.
"Jason what are you talking about? Cassandra feigned ignorance. "What kind of trouble could you have caused us?"
"The kind of trouble that makes accidents happen."
"Jason, you aren't making much sense. Maybe you were right, maybe it would be better for us to pick up this conversation in the morning."
"Why? Nothing will be any different in the light of day."
"You might be thinking more clearly by then."
"My thinking is crystal clear!"
"Are you sure of that, son?"
"YES MOTHER I AM POSITIVE OF THAT FACT!!" Jason's voice grew deep with hostility. "I am positive that for the good of the family I just walked away from the best thing that ever happened to me!" Jason choked back his tears to no avail.
"Jason..." Cassandra reached out to her son, but he threw his hand out as if to stop her vain attempt at comfort. The tears she had seen cresting on his lashes tore at her heart. There was no denying the agony that Jason was experiencing. It was written all over every feature of his face. As a mother, that torment was something that Cassandra would have done anything to erase. However, as the wife of a Mafia Don, she understood that it came with the empire that Joseph and generations before him had built.
Jason left his mother went up the stairs to his room and closed the door. He leaned back into the hard wooden surface and his emotionally spent body slowly slipped to the floor. In the span of twenty-four hours, he had gone from having everything he had ever dreamed of to once again having nothing. As hard as he tried to hold them in there was no stopping the tears that made their way down his face. Wiping them away, he took out his phone and dialed. "Is she home and is she safe?" he asked. 'Good. Make sure she stays that way." Jason flipped the phone closed. In the blackness of the room, he shut his eyes and relived his memories of Elizabeth. Memories were all that he had left now.