Elizabeth groaned as she tried to sit up in bed, only to be driven back down by the splitting headache that was pounding through her brain. She reached up to massage her temples and came in contact with the cloth that was wrapped around her head. It was then that she remembered it.

Jason had asked her to move in with him, they were going home together, she was laughing as he handed her his helmet and then the shot rang out. Jason was on top of her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, "Jason."

Fighting against the nausea that assaulted her Elizabeth climbed to her feet, her eyes taking in her dark surroundings. She was in Jason's penthouse; in the bedroom that was suppose to be theirs, so she could only assume that he was safe, that he was okay and that he had brought her back here.

Little did he know that he was not safe, things were not going to be okay.

She stood up and turned on the small lamp that rested on the night stand beside the bed. Even the dull glow that filtered from it was bothering her eyes. She was looking for her bag, hoping that Jason had brought it up with him and noticed it by the edge of one of his dressers.

It was empty. He had her already unpacked.

She walked towards it gingerly; a tense discussion that was taking place out in the hallway was starting to seep through the door. She wondered if they already knew, wondered if Jason and Sonny put the pieces together and figured out where she was really from.

Knowing that she couldn't stay, that she wouldn't put Jason in danger she started opening up the drawers looking for her things. Her heart broke when she realized they were placed right next to his. Her color panties next to his black boxers, her socks with crazy characters next to his plain white ones, her washed out denims next to his blue ones.

She hated it, all of it, the people who did this to her, her for doing this to Jason, Jason for being so damn wonderful and Sonny and Lily and the guards. Everything was in shambles because she was a selfish bitch who wanted one chance at happiness, one moment in time to make up for the past few years of hell that men put her through.

She didn't even bother to bat away the tears as she yanked her things out of the drawer and started stuffing them into the bag. As she dug around for her combs and brushes she realized that her entire life savings was in that side pocket of that bag and she made a quick turn to check on it, too quick, as her brain was still focused in another direction.

She tried to grasp the wooden headboard but was unable to and wound up falling to the floor, her backside taking the brunt of it. The commotion caused the bedroom door to fling open and three worried people stepped inside.

"Elizabeth, what's going on?" Jason asked as he slid his hands under her arms and hoisted her up into a standing position.

She wobbled slightly but managed to keep her composure, "Nothing, I'm okay."

"What are you doing?" Sonny asked as his eyes locked on the black bag that was settled in the middle of the bed.

"I need to leave, I can't stay here," she said walking back towards the bed. She felt herself stumble, felt her body wanting to fall again but she wouldn't let it, she was walking out of this penthouse with her back straight and her head held high, even if it killed her.

"Your leaving?" Jason asked quietly.

"I'm leaving," she said, "I never promised to stay and after tonight, I think that's its best that I go."

The silence that surrounded her was deafening. She could hear nothing but the throbbing of her brain against her skull. It was all too painful and she could do nothing more than to zip up her bag and fiddle with the shoulder strap.

It was so easy, saying that she was going to leave, what was difficult was walking out on the first three people in her life to actually give a damn about her.

"Good luck," Jason said and then left, turned around and walked out of his own bedroom leaving a stunned Sonny to stare after him.

"Elizabeth…" Sonny said turning back to her.

"Can you give us a minute, mi amour?" Lily asked as she placed s oft kiss on his cheek, "I need to speak with Elizabeth for a moment."

Sonny nodded and placed a tender kiss on Lily's lips. He felt the need to after seeing two people who he thought were perfect for each other, two people who he thought cared deeply about each other just simply give up without a fight. It nearly tore his heart out.

"Elizabeth," Lily said softly as she came to stand behind the young woman, "I know that you were probably promised that this wouldn't touch the club."

"I wasn't promised anything," Elizabeth said quietly as she squeezed the straps between her hands. She felt her body start to quiver, felt her insides crying. She knew that she had to let go of Jason, she just wished that it was as hard for him as it was for her.

Lily sighed as she placed her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, "I'm sure that Jason never wanted his other life to affect you but it…"

The other life.

It didn't register until Lily had said it. Elizabeth didn't think about Jason's other life, his Mafia life, affecting her. She just assumed that they had found her, that they had shot at her and were planning on kidnapping her, bringing her back kicking and screaming if they must. She never imagined that someone would be shooting at Jason and not her.

"His life," she said quietly.

"Yes," Lily said, "And I know that I'm asking a lot of you to stand by Jason, to hold yourself susceptible to this kind of violence, but please, you have to give him a chance, at least to explain himself. He would never want you intentionally hurt."

"I know that," Elizabeth said turning towards her, "I know that Jason would never put me in the line of fire. He must not have been expecting this."

"Neither of them were," Lily said and forced a smile, "But it was handled, Sonny's efficient that way."

"You sound like you've been a part of this for a very long time," Elizabeth said.

"My entire life," Lily said, "My father use to do what Sonny does. I was raised in this world so it's easy for me to adjust," she smiled, "I'm not saying I still don't wait up at night or that I don't yell sometimes when I think it's just all too much but I trust Sonny to take the best care of me and our children. I know that Jason won't do any less for you."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed. She was a fool. She let that man walk out of the room thinking that he was the cause of all of this. Opening her eyes back up she was smiling at Lily.

"Is it possible for me and Jason to be alone?" she asked, "I know that tonight has been crazy and," she touched her head, "I know that you did this and I thank you but…"

Lily hugged Elizabeth tightly to her, "You need some privacy to talk to him, I understand. Are you coming down with me?"

Elizabeth started to shake her head but then thought better of it, "No, I'm going to unpack."

Jason sat there, with his head in his hands and hadn't moved since he had gotten down there twenty minutes ago. Elizabeth wanted to leave him because of the crazy life that he led.

Déjà vu.

It hurt, it was a bitch and he hated that he was reliving it all over again. Robin had left him all those years ago for the same reason. She couldn't handle his life; she couldn't understand why the garage just wasn't enough for him. She wanted to change him and when she realized that she couldn't she walked away, leaving him broken hearted and trying to figure out how to move on.

He never did until a tiny little woman blew in the door with the frigid snow.

Elizabeth Webber, a beautiful woman who couldn't do anything else but break his heart.

He heard her moving around upstairs, after Lily and Sonny excused themselves but that had stopped ten minutes ago and he wondered what she was doing. Lily didn't give any other explanation besides the fact that they needed to talk. He wasn't sure if she was preparing for a grand exit or just enjoying how he was torturing himself down here, wondering what business he had trying to fix her problems and allowing her into this world.

He hated himself. He let her get shot. He should've warned her, should've let her know. The rumors in the back weren't enough, a girl who had struggled to get out of the world she was in was surely too naïve to understand what the full meaning of 'enforcer' was. He was a murderer, he killed for a living and he put her at risk by being with her.

It would have been different if he told her, it would've been okay if he gave her the knowledge upfront and she still walked. That would've been on her, she would've made the decision but he didn't say a word, he didn't expect it to touch her and so he didn't blame her for walking.

And yet knowing he was causing her pain, knowing that he was the reason she had a bullet graze the side of her head, knowing that being with him would cause her danger every day for the rest of her life, Jason still didn't want her to leave. He wanted to be cuddle up with her on the couch, watch a corny movie and eat burnt popcorn straight from the bag.

God he was a bastard.

"Jason."

He looked up, his eyes anguished, his face damp from tears he didn't know he had shed. She was there, standing before him, looking like an angel that was sent from the heavens to rescue his damaged soul.

In one breath he thanked God for sending her to him and in the next cursed him for taking her away.

Elizabeth felt her body slowly sitting down next to his. She reached out and touched his hair, her fingers brushing up against the spikes she loved so much. He was perfect, not a scratch on him and that made her sigh with relief, but his eyes, they were full of pain and that made her heart ache.

"I'm so glad that you're alright," she whispered, "And I'm so sorry that I was going to leave," she licked her lips, "If you still want me, I unpacked my bags, but if not…"

He pulled her face towards him and kissed her, pressing his warm lips up against her full pink ones. He could feel her sliding her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp lightly before he pulled back panting.

What he saw in her eyes amazed him; it looked like admiration.

"You saved my life."

"I risked your life," he said quietly, his palm still resting against her cheek, "I never told you that I…"

"Who would ever thought we would wind up together?" she said with a small laugh, "I wanted nothing more to do with you than fuck you for your money and then get out of town before you realized my game," she slid her finger along his jaw, "I didn't want you asking questions Jason, I didn't want you to become a part of my life and I don't want you to think that it would be easy for me to walk away because it wasn't, it wouldn't be. I can't let you go, not when I just found you, not when you are the only man that has ever been able too…" she bit her lip as tears fell from her eyes onto his hand and wrist, "I'm sorry."

"Do you know what I do?" he whispered, "I need you to be fully aware that what I do could…"

"I am, I am," she whispered, "And I'm sorry that I got frightened but I'm not frightened of you and I know that you would do anything to protect me. I saw that tonight, I have a bruise on my side."

His face looked pained, "Elizabeth…"

"Rather on my side than be shot in the heart," she said as she brought her other hand up to his face, "You are not going to believe me when I say that I don't care what you do, I see it in your eyes, but I know what your lifestyle is Jason and I'm not going to leave because of it."

"Elizabeth…"

"You're an enforcer," she whispered as she held his face in her hands, "I can deal with that."

"Elizabeth, that's not…"

"Do you want me to say it, Jason?" she asked quietly, "I know that you kill people for a living," she waited and watched his eyes, watched them narrow, watched them darken, watched them try and shut her out, "Look at me, I'm still here, I'm still right beside you and I'm not going anywhere. Granted I'd love to know what you put on your taxes as occupation."

"Warehouse owner," he whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers, "This happened before, one woman said it was okay, she said she could handle it and then she woke up one morning, her eyes had changed…"

"I believe there is someone worse than a murderer," she said quietly as she closed her eyes and reveled in this closeness, "I believe that when you tell someone that you are going to take care of them and then ask them," she laughed bitterly, "Require them to sleep with your business associates to garner some business deals and pay off some debt, that to me Jason is someone who is worse than a killer."

She felt his fingers tangle in her hair, twist tightly as he closed his eyes and just imagined what it was like to be there, to have to do that. She sighed when she felt his fingers relax and then run down her cheek.

"Have you ever killed someone for no reason, simply because you were bored and had nothing better to do?"

Jason's eyes blinked open, "No, never."

"Than unless you wake up being the man that I just described, nothing is going to change between us Jason, my eyes are never going to change when I look at you," she smiled, "That is unless you have me in a compromising position and I get all hot and bothered."

"Well," he said as his hand slipped from her face down to her waist, "I'm not opposed to that."

She laughed as she felt herself being lowered to the back of the couch, "I didn't think you would be."

"Yeah," Jason said into his cell phone as he continued to open the closet doors in his office at the Coffee Warehouse.

"It's me, I just wanted to see how things were going," Sonny said as he adjusted himself on the couch, his one arm around his wife and daughter, the other around his son.

"Fine, paperwork is all in order, found out that guy, Dumal, was working alone," Jason said, "No one is going to miss him."

"Good," Sonny said, "I've been instructed by my wife that you are to go home, now. Apparently I've been working you too hard."

"Sonny that isn't…Lily told you that?" he sighed into the phone as he gave up his futile search, "The penthouse isn't on fire is it?"

"I heard that! And I'm telling Elizabeth that you said that!" Lily shouted.

Jason laughed, "I'm leaving now. Hey, I didn't leave my leather jacket there this morning by any chance did I? I can't seem to find it."

"Nope," Sonny smiled into the phone, "I'll hear from you sometime late tomorrow morning."

"Sonny, I'll be…" Jason pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it when he heard the dial tone. He wondered what Elizabeth was up to now.

Deciding to ignore his search for his coat he headed out of the warehouse and towards home, to the woman that he loved.

Damn shame he didn't tell her that yet.