Chapter 4
Jason couldn't believe it. He could not believe it. How could Sonny have done that? He asked himself as he walked the paved path through the park to meet Courtney for lunch. How could he hire some stranger to keep the books for him, not only a stranger but also the wife of Lorenzo Alcazar?
He tried to reason with Sonny when the girl left last night but he said not to worry about it. Not worry about it my butt, he thought. His family could be in danger, but no don't worry about it, he thought sarcastically.
He continued to ask himself how Sonny could do it as he walked the rest of the way to the gazebo where Courtney was waiting for him with Rosie. Courtney, he thought. He was so happy to be with her again. He wasn't going to screw it up like last time.
That's the main reason he's so cautious about this Brianna Alcazar woman. He was putting his family first now, putting Courtney first.
Jason couldn't believe it. He could not believe it. How could Sonny have done that? He asked himself as he walked the paved path through the park to meet Courtney for lunch. How could he hire some stranger to keep the books for him, not only a stranger but also the wife of Lorenzo Alcazar?He tried to reason with Sonny when the girl left last night but he said not to worry about it. Not worry about it my butt, he thought. His family could be in danger, but no don't worry about it, he thought sarcastically. He continued to ask himself how Sonny could do it as he walked the rest of the way to the gazebo where Courtney was waiting for him with Rosie. Courtney, he thought. He was so happy to be with her again. He wasn't going to screw it up like last time. That's the main reason he's so cautious about this Brianna Alcazar woman. He was putting his family first now, putting Courtney first.Courtney sat in the gazebo and watched the children and babies play. She automatically rested her hand on top of her baby's head and scratched behind her ears sending the dog into ecstasy. She watched as a little girl ran towards a man, she assumed was her father, and jump up into his arms and he twirled her around.
It made her happy and sad to watch. She was happy to hear the little girls giggles and the father's laugh as they played and sad because she might not be able to have that with Jason. She wiped the tear that ran down her cheek and smiled down at Rosie as the dog sensed her sadness and nudged her nose under her hand.
Suddenly Rosie's head shot up, sniffed and she took off like a rocket dragging a screaming Courtney behind her.
"Rosie, stop. No, Rosie. Rosie," she screamed as she tried to get her hand out of the leash but she couldn't. It was tugging painfully on her wrist. "Rosie, bad girl. Stop, right now."
Rosie was oblivious to her owner's calls as she followed the scent. She bolted through the bushes and caused Courtney to scream again.
The dog skidded to a halt in front of a young women eating a frosting covered doughnut and proceeded to lick the excess frosting off her face. The young woman laughed and fell backwards on the blanket she spread out as Rosie continued to lick at the frosting and Courtney trying to pull her off.
"Rosie, no. Bad girl, stop it," she pulled and tugged but it was no use. Hearing the woman laughing, she dropped the leash and breathed a heavy breath. She rubbed at her soar wrist and looked down to see that it was red and beginning to bruise. There were little scrapes on her legs from where her shorts revealed skin when Rosie hightailed it into the bushes.
The woman continued to laugh as she pushed Rosie off her, "That's a good girl. Yeah, aren't you a gorgeous dog. I think you master's a little mad at you though," she laughed as she looked up. She froze when she looked into the eyes of her aunt.
Courtney looked down and saw the girl from last night. Her face was wet from Rosie kisses. Her eyes were twinkling as she wiped the drool off her face and stood up. She knew those eyes before, Courtney thought distantly. She just couldn't place them.
"You have a beautiful dog," Brianna said bending down to give Rosie a little scratch behind the ears.
"Thanks," Courtney said still rubbing her hurt wrist.
"Are you okay?" Brianna asked as she saw this action.
"Yeah, my hand was caught in the leash when Rosie took off at the first intriguing scent," Courtney laughed as she looked down at Rosie, trying to look pitiful. "Nice try but it isn't going to work," she laughed again when Rosie barked happily and proceeded to jump up, planting her paws on Courtney's shoulders and kiss her wholeheartedly.
"All right, all right. I forgive you," she said and pushed Rosie off as Brianna laughed.
"I'm Courtney," she held out her good hand to shake Brianna's.
"I'm Brianna," she said and shook her hand.
"You want to sit for a minute?" Brianna asked gesturing towards the blanket.
"I'm actually meeting my fiancée but I could sit for a minute," Courtney said and plopped down on the blanket. Rosie, thinking it was time for a nap, climbed into Courtney's lap and laid her head on her thigh. Brianna laughed at the site. The big dog lying in the small blonde's lap.
Courtney laughed as well, "She think she's a lap dog," she commented and her and Brianna laughed.
Brianna thought she was going to get along fine with Courtney. Courtney's thoughts ran along the same lines but thought she should take it slow and find out if she could trust the woman.
"So…what's your fiancée's name," Brianna asked wanting to know about her family.
"Actually, you've met him before. Jason," she explained.
"Oh, that guy," she said and Courtney laughed when Brianna winced, "He didn't like me very much."
"Well, he's not really acceptant to people he doesn't know. You just got to earn his trust and not hurt his family," Courtney said this while looking into Brianna's eyes.
Brianna got the message and nodded, "I have no intention of hurting anyone," she said, "And you might not believe me now because of Lorenzo but I'm going to earn your trust," she told Courtney.
"Courtney," they both turned and saw Jason coming around the corner and walking up to them.
"Hey, you," Courtney smiled at him. He gave her a small smile back before turning towards Brianna.
Courtney decided to stop something before it started, "Well, Brianna it was nice talking to you. And sorry Rosie ambushed you like that," she said and laughed as she tried to get up but it was hard when a eighty pound dog was a sleep in your lap. With the help of Jason, Courtney finally got to her feet and Brianna followed.
"Nice talking to you too. And don't be sorry, Rosie's a sweetheart," she bent down to pet the dog one last time and laughed when she kissed her face.
"Bye, Courtney. Bye, Jason," Brianna looked at her future uncle.
"Bye, Brianna," Courtney said.
"Brianna," Jason said and watched as Brianna picked up her blanket and walked away.
"What were you doing with her?" Jason questioned as Courtney bent down to pick up Rosie's leash again.
"What do mean, I was just talking to her," she said as she started walking with Jason beside her.
"Yeah, but you don't know her. She could be dangerous," Jason, said irritated that everyone was seeing this differently but him.
"Jason I know, I know okay? But I'm not going to be rude to her," Courtney said and walked into the gazebo to sit down. "And I'm not going to be telling all your business secrets, not that I know any of them any way," Courtney said and looked away as Jason sat down next to her.
"Hey," he said and cupped her chin so she would look at him, "I'm not saying you would. And I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about you and our family and the future we have together," he finish his blue eyes showing love for her.
Courtney reached up and rested her hand on his cheek, "I know you are but you just can't judge someone before you know them. I'm not saying to trust her all I'm saying is give her a chance to earn that trust," she said looking back with the same love in her eyes.
"Okay," he said as he turned and pressed a kiss to her palm, "I don't trust her but I won't be rude and I'll give her a chance to earn my trust."
Courtney smiled at him, "Thank you," she leaned up and kissed him.
Jason grabbed Courtney's other hand and heard her wince, "What? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing its just when Rosie took off running my hand was caught in the leash so its soar," she told him holding out her hand for him to see.
Jason saw the red marks and bruises. He took her hand gently this time lifted so he could press a kiss at the marks. "There…all better," he said, smiling at her.
Courtney laughed and rested her head on his shoulder when he wrapped his arms around her. They ate there lunch in each other's arms, just taking in the scenery of the day.
When Courtney grinned at him with a gleam in his eye Jason knew he was in trouble, "What?" he said wearily.
"Well…I was thinking—," he cut her off.
"Ute-oh, that's not a good sign," he teased and laughed as she hit him in the chest playfully.
"Stop it. I was thinking maybe we could go out tonight. Just the two of us," she said playing with the buttons on his jacket.
Jason gave her a suspicious look, "What did you have in mind?" he asked her.
"Maybe…the Haunted St—," he cut her off again.
"Nope. Sorry, baby, but you have to dress up there and that's out of the question," he shook his head.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese," she said sticking her bottom lip out for a pout.
"Oh, come on. You can't do this to me," he pleaded.
"Come on…It'll be fun. We can play blackjack and then after we could…" she smiled at him before leaning up to press a kiss to his neck.
"Mmm…is this a bribery? If it is that's cheating," he said and leaned his head to the side so she could continue her activities.
"Maybe…" she giggled.
"Well, in that case," he laughed as he pulled her back and pulled her in for a kiss.
She giggled her way into the kiss. Works every time, she thought and lost herself in the kiss.
Nikolas walked into the Haunted Star with Emily on his arm. The place was packed. It always was whenever they came here. Luke and Skye were doing well for themselves.
Emily looked around to try and spot anyone she knew. She saw Lucky and thought about going to say hi but remembered the fight she had with Nikolas yesterday. She decided to wait.
She continued to scan and was shocked to see Jason and Courtney there. What shocked her more was Jason was wearing a suit. Well, no tie but a deep blue shirt with a suit jacket and pants.
"Nik, lets go say hi to my brother and Courtney," she said.
"Okay," Nik said and walked over to where the couple stood.
"Hey, guys," Courtney spotted them coming over, "Emily you look amazing," she said to her as she caught a glimpse of the small black dress she was wearing.
"Yeah, too amazing," Jason, mumbled under his breath but the women heard him and Nikolas laughed.
"Oh, shut up, Jason," Emily told her brother before turning her attention back to Courtney and hugging her, "You don't look so bad yourself," she said looking at the red spaghetti strap dress she was wearing.
"Thanks," Courtney said. "How you doing Nikolas?" she asked when Emily hugged her brother and Nik leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"I'm doing great," he answered.
"That's good," she said as she walked backwards and Jason wrapped his arms around her.
"If you'll excuse me I'm going to take my fiancée to the dance floor," Jason said and lead Courtney away.
"That doesn't sound too bad," Nikolas said and wrapped his arms around Emily and started swaying to the music.
Emily smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. She saw Jason and Courtney dancing a few feet away. Courtney was wrapped tight in Jason's arms with her forehead resting against his. They were looking into each other's eyes with so much love. She smiled knowing her brother was happy. She saw Jason tilted his head up and pressed a sweet kiss to Courtney's forehead and sighed contently into Nikolas' shoulder and closed her eyes.
When the song was over she opened her eyes and saw that Jason and Courtney hadn't stopped dancing and she smiled. She pulled back to look at Nikolas, "I got to use to ladies room, I'll be right back," she said.
"Okay," Nikolas leaned down and kissed her before she left.
He watched her weave through the crowd with a smile on his face. His smile faded quickly when Lucky came up behind her and covered her eyes.
Her smile was big and warm as she lifted her hands to his. There was laughing and teasing and when Emily turned around she leaned up and kissed Lucky on the cheek.
Anger and jealousy ran deep in Nikolas's blood as he watched the warm playfulness between his fiancée and his brother. He waited until Emily excused herself and headed for the bathrooms. He came up behind Lucky and tapped him on the shoulder.
When Lucky turned around Nikolas reared back and punched his brother hard in the face. Lucky flew backwards into a table full of people causing two girls to scream and all attention on them.
Nikolas grabbed Lucky by the collar and hauled him to his feet. "You stay the hell away from Emily," he yelled jerking Lucky forward.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lucky asked pushing against Lucky to get free.
"You know damn well what I'm talking?" Nikolas reared back again and prepared to plow his fist into Lucky's gut when Jason grabbed a hold of him to stop them.
"Break it up!" he ordered, "I said stop it, right now," he said when Nikolas tried again to get to Lucky.
"What the hell is going on?" they turned to see that Emily had come out of the bathroom and witnessed some of the fight.
"I have no clue," Lucky said, nursing his soar jaw. Emily came up beside him. "I was just standing here and he came up and punched me! Told me to stay away from you."
Jason saw that Nikolas was calmed and let him go. Courtney stood behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.
Emily looked at Nikolas with amazed anger. She took a deep breath and turned to Lucky, "I'm sorry," with that she grabbed her coat and left.
"Emily, wait," Nikolas called out and went after her.
The patrons watched the couple depart. Jason and Lucky helped clean up the mess and all was forgotten.........accept three.
Faith Roscoe unlocked the door to the small, three-bedroom house as she flipped through the mail. Not watching where she was going, she was surprised when she was swept off her feet.
Justus Ward saw Faith pull in and couldn't help but scoop her up and swirl her around the living room.
They'd lived in the house together for almost a year and it still made his heart flutter when she came home.
He set her back on her feet and chuckled when she swayed. "Dizzy?" he asked, his arms securely wrapped around her.
"You always make me dizzy," she admitted with affection.
"That's what they all say," he teased.
"And who, I might ask, is "all"" she said in fake hurt.
"Oh, boo, you are my all," he said and leaned down to kiss her softly.
Faith noticed he was dressed with his coat on, "Where are you going?" she asked bending to pick up the mail that flew when she flew.
"I have to go meet a client," he answered checking his briefcase.
"When will you be back?" she asked plopping down on the couch. "I have a meeting with the coordinator, maybe we can have lunch afterwards," she suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," he turned to her, "Bye," he said leaning down to kiss her, "I love you."
"I love you, too. One more," she said and he kissed her again, "Maybe just one more," and again.
"Bye," he said and was out the door.
Faith watched him leave with a satisfied smile on her face. Ever since she and Justus got together her life was completely different, in a good way. Faith left the mob business with the help of Justus calling in a favor from Sonny. Now they were together, living together, and happy.
Faith was just getting up a new line of clothes called Black Beauty, off the ground. It's going out in stores in NYC, Paris, California, and Chicago and hopefully many more after that.
She had a career, a man she loved, and a beautiful house. Life, Faith thought as she sat back on the couch and closed her eyes on a sigh, is perfect.
Brianna sat on the couch in her and Lorenzo's penthouse going over paper work for Sonny. She couldn't believe it. She was working as an accountant for her father. She wanted desperately to tell him who she was but Lorenzo told her it was too soon.
As she thought of her husband she smiled. She loved him so much and the fact that he was so good, supportive about this made him love him even more.
The object of her love walked into the penthouse, "Hey, sweetie," Brianna said and kissed him when he leaned down to her.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked seeing the files on the coffee table.
"Oh, just work stuff," Brianna said, closing the files and pushing them away.
"How's that going?" he asked getting a drink and sitting next to her.
"Its going good," she said but looked away.
Lorenzo cupped his hand under her chin so she'd look at him, "What's wrong?"
"We haven't really talked. Well, we talked about business but we haven't really talked, talked. I want so badly to tell him who I am, that he's my father," she said tears welling in her brown eyes.
Lorenzo wrapped her arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, "I know you do, baby, but I think it's a good idea to just wait."
"I know you do but why?" she asked.
"All right. I'm going to tell you why Sonny and I don't like each other. When I lived here before me and Sonny's wife, Carly, had an affair."
"Really?" she asked. That explains the fire in her father's eyes when he saw Lorenzo.
"Yeah. Well, technically it was an affair but he was with anoth4er women first. The story's complicated but that's basically it. I fell in love with her. We were together for a while but she went back to him. Obviously, there's some hard feelings," he said lightly.
"Okay, I understand that but I don't get why I can't tell him," she said.
"Okay, look at me," when she leaned back to continued, "I think you should let him get used to you working for him first. Get used to you being my wife and working for him, being around him," he said.
That wasn't the whole reason for it. He wanted Carly to get use to his wife being Sonny's daughter.
"I guess your right," Brianna said oblivious to the fact that Lorenzo wasn't just thinking of her but of his old love.