If Franco's gone, why not let him be gone, Jason…please?
Sam, you know it's not that simple.
Yah, but it can be. At least for tonight - it is New Year's Eve.
I know, but we've never cared about the holidays.
I know but it matters to me now. I just want to have one night where we forget about everything and it's just us…together. Are you there?
Yeah, yeah I'm here.
Come home, Jason. Come home to me.
I want to start the New Year off right too, but part of that means making sure that you never have to deal with Franco again.
Okay - all I'm worried about right now is spending some time with you. I want to lay in bed with you and hold you and talk to you about today, tomorrow, and the next day…
I know, but I gotta finish this.
Can you let it go, Jason, please - just for tonight?
I can't.
Please?
I can't.
Please. I mean, in a couple of days, if you want to go after Franco then that's what you do, but I'm just - I'm asking you for tonight. That's it! One night. I want to kiss you at midnight, I want to be in your arms on New Years - please, Jason. Jason?
I'm on my way home.
When she shivered beneath his touch, Jason removed his jacket and draped her delicate shoulders, guarding her from the cold, not ready to give up their quiet time together by going indoors. Every part of him throbbed from being so near her, and he couldn't decide if the trouble he had breathing came from her closeness, or from the memory it just triggered in him. His hands lingered of their own accord and his body brushed her back, his mind racing to piece the puzzle together.
"What did Franco do to you?"
Sam heard the soft question that she'd dreaded for a long time, knowing fully well that any day that he remembered or asked, that Franco would die and he'd be imprisoned. She always knew that if he asked, she wouldn't lie…they'd promised each other years before and she would never go back on that promise. She'd give him the respect of the truth, even at the risk of hurting him…but why did he have to ask tonight?
"I was wondering why you suddenly got so quiet." She turned her head to study the tensing of his jaw and the hard line it had assumed, and she knew. "You just remembered something didn't you?"
"Did I make it home in time?" When her eyes narrowed in query he continued, "I'm guessing it must've been our last New Year's Eve together before I…" He trailed off, hating each time the subject came up to remind him of the reason for the darkness he now lived in daily. "We were married - I was wearing my ring." He moved around her so he could see her face clearly, watching for the emotions she'd be unable to hide from his scrutiny. "You pleaded with me to come home - said you just wanted to be in my arms at midnight." He watched her eyes drop to the ground to hide from him, and his head ducked to find them again. "Please tell me I wasn't idiotic enough to make a habit of leaving you…of making you have to ask for my attention?"
Shaking her head, Sam still refused to meet his gaze, needing to hide her own. "It was't like that. We loved spending time together - there was nothing else like it for either of us. We just had a lot going on at the time and you were having a really hard time dealing with…"
"So I left you alone? Why? Why would finding Franco be more important to me than being home with you?"
She turned away from him and if he didn't know better, he'd swear he saw a tear before she did.
"Happy New Year, you two!" Molly burst through the door and hugged her sister. "Sam, I need you. Kristina's had way too much champagne and she's getting ready to leave with this guy she barely knows…will you please talk some sense into her?"
"Where is she?" Sam started moving to the door then paused to hand Jason his jacket back. "I need to get my sister home, Jason - thanks for the talk."
"Do you need some help?"
"No, we can handle it. Show me where she is Molly!" She gave him one final look then left, leaving Jason to stare after her receding back. He had no doubt she could get her sisters home safely, he was alot more concerned about the memory that had unraveled before him, leaving him puzzled to the true meaning of it. Something about Franco Baldwin never sat quite right with him. There was underlying hatred from the moment he'd met the man and it had gained momentum with each passing day. Standing by himself on the dimly lit terrace, he fought hard to remember more. Every encounter he'd witnessed between Sam and Franco had screamed strained…she hated him - that much was quite clear. He felt the same way she did and without reservation. But why? And why did he share that sentiment so vigorously? What had the man done to her?
"Aren't you even going to wish me Happy New Year?"
Jason closed his eyes and sighed heavily. This was Carly's party and they weren't friends, so why was she there?
"This is not a good time."
"It's never a good time for us anymore." She grabbed his arm and held on desperately, wriggling one finger to get his attention. "Do you remember when you gave me this? I'll never forget the way you got down on one knee and asked me to share your life…what happened to that man who couldn't be more in love?"
"He was as unreal as the fairytale you painted of our past. You want to tell me something useful…tell me about Franco Baldwin."
Bristling from the slight about their relationship and lifetime love, she clung to the fact she'd at least succeeded in making him jealous. Her evening spent in Franco's arms wasn't a waste afterall…she could see it in the cold darkness in his eyes when he spoke the man's name.
"What about him? I've been lonely since you left - Franco is a friend who's had time for me and the boys." Hope sprang to her breast when Franco's name seemed to have the exact effect she'd hoped. He hated hearing it, was spitting nails to get his hands on the man. He was going to fight for her!
Jason couldn't decide if he should leave her to her delusions or try to get her to tell him what he needed to know. He could see quite clearly what she was doing and if he had the time he'd probably be irritated she thought him so easily manipulated…then again, it was apparently not the first time. But right now he had bigger questions that required more important answers.
"What did he do to Sam?"
Elizabeth's heart sank lower than it had all evening and when a voice sounded behind them she was already spiraling to the lowest depths.
"He raped her!"
Two sets of eyes looked to the new entrant, Michael stepping out to the terrace with both hands in his pockets as he eyed the duo. "Sorry, Uncle - it's not something Sam would like to have discussed between us like this, but I know she would never tell you. We saw the blind rage it sent you into and she would never want you to go back there again."
Jason was frozen to the spot, his voice trying to sound to ask Michael to repeat himself, to make certain he'd heard him correctly…but nothing came. Sam had been raped? Somebody had done the vile things to her that no man had the right to force upon anyone?
"He didn't rape her, Michael - you know that! We were all there when he showed us the tape of what really happened…she was drugged - she knows he didn't do anything to her!"
"Didn't do anything to her? With all respect, Elizabeth - he drugged and assaulted her - how can you brush that off like it was nothing? You know as painfully as I do, that rape is not just about physical brutality, painful as that is! It's also psychological and very emotional - it's about power and control, and that sick freak gets off on sticking himself in her face every chance he gets. How can you excuse any of that?"
"That's not what I'm doing Michael. I'm sorry you got hurt…"
"Don't do that! Don't buffer me with meaningless platitudes when you know firsthand what Sam went through, what I went through!"
Jason was stone still…the more his nephew raged, the more his mind saw. She was happy…he'd finally succeeded in keeping that gorgeous smile on her face for days on end. She even liked the silly little necklace he made her with the shell he wanted her to wear close to her heart, the one that would give them a little extra luck to make them a family of three very soon. But it didn't last long. As he stood there, Jason could feel the pain that tore through him at the whimpering wails coming from their shower. His beautiful, magnetic, incredible wife had been reduced from the bubbling new bride he'd marveled at for two glorious weeks, to a crumbling, weeping mess on the floor of their bath. On her honeymoon! He had not only found them, but had done the most despicable, unforgivable, unthinkable thing one could do to another…he had violated her…robbed her of her sense of security and the blissful euphoria he hadn't been able to see enough on her. His wife, the love of his life, his source of peace and tranquility, had been viciously relieved of her own. Franco Baldwin had taken her smile, and with it, her happy sanctuary.
"Michael, it's not the same. What happened to you and me was appalling and unforgivable, but what Franco did…he didn't really rape her. And besides, he had a brain tumor, a medical condition that made him not responsible for what happened. He had no control over his actions so he cannot be held accountable for them."
"Michael…" Jason touched his nephew's arm to get his attention. "…Did she leave with Kristina?"
"No…Sam went down with them but Lucas was going to drive Kristina and Molly home. Sam went home by herself."
With a pat to his shoulder, Jason walked past Michael and around Elizabeth. "Thanks, I'll see you soon."
"Jason! Jason, wait!"
But he wasn't waiting. There was nothing for him to wait for…he needed to find her and make sure she was alright. He looked with annoyance when Elizabeth jumped on the elevator with him.
"I don't have time for whatever it is you want."
"I don't accept that! Just like I don't accept that you no longer care about us, about this!" She held her left hand out with the ring that still glistened in place. "You can't possibly have forgotten us so quickly."
"Why not? You've forgotten the devastation, the torment and degradation you felt when somebody brutalized you and left you battered and broken, so why not? You're the only one who gets what you want, is that it?"
When she looked at him with shock, Jason added, "You told me what you went through with that experience and how it almost killed you! So, how exactly can you so callously brush off what happened to Sam and demand she forgive that filthy son of a bitch?"
"She didn't go through what I went through, Jason. It's not the same!"
"It isn't? Did Sam invite that pig into our cottage? Did she invite him to touch her, to invade her privacy and our bathroom, our bed? My wife was happy…I'd finally, finally made her as happy as she made me for the longest time…and he strode in and took it from her in one ugly swoop…and you think Sam should just push that aside because he found a medical excuse in his head to justify the devil that lives in his soul? The pain she went through after what he did to her, what he did to our marriage is any less than what you felt at that brute's hand?"
"Stop it! I can't listen to this anymore…Sam, Sam, Sam! It's always goddamn Sam! What about me? What about my needs and what I want for a change? Why can't I matter to you too?"
"You care enough about yourself for all of us!"
With her brother's help, Sam got her inebriated sister in the car and waved them off when they pulled away from the valet. Lucas would see them safely home and she'd soon join her son in slumber. She was going through her purse to find her own ticket when the voice she loathed to hear sounded mockingly behind her.
"Happy New Year, Sam! I see Jason dumped you tonight too. Well, don't feel bad - he did the same to Elizabeth, and no sweeter angel walks this earth."
Whirling to face the despised man and everything he stood for, Sam maintained her cool. "Why are you always creeping up on people like the bottom feeding eel that you are?"
"Touchy, touchy! I'm just making conversation while I wait for my car and it's a free lobby. Besides, that's really no way to talk to the man who almost fathered your son!"
She couldn't help it. Between the snotty, mocking tone of his condescension and his callous jab at the pain he'd carelessly unleashed on their lives, Sam's arm shot out to connect a fist with his face as if of it's on volition, stunning the brute into momentary, shocked silence.
"Don't ever talk about my son! Don't ever speak another word to me, or I swear I won't be responsible for what I do to you."
Fuming anger burned within her and threatened to consume, so, not wanting to spend another minute in his presence for fear she really would kill him in front of the MetroCourt in the middle of town, Sam stormed back inside the hotel to find Maxie and Nathan had just gotten off the elevator and were having a quiet conversation with Lulu and Dante Falconeri. She was about to join them when the elevator opened to reveal Jason trying to flee his chains, but having no luck when she clanged closely behind. Finding it almost comically amusing, Sam watched from the side of the lobby as the duo exited the front door, and something about the way Jason stood still and just watched Franco Baldwin get into his car, the cold, cold way in which he flashed off Elizabeth Webber, who's answering move was to rush to Franco's car and hop in the front just before he pulled away. Just something in the way he held his head and how the fingers on each hand seemed to dance at his side, told Sam the full story. Franco had been marked.
"Hey, Sam! I thought you left?" Maxie approached her friend smilingly on the arms of her new beau after saying goodnight to Lulu and Dante.
"Hey, Maxie. I'm about to - I just needed…" her voice trailed when she glanced from them back to the front of the building only to see Jason's SUV had arrived and he was pulling away from the curb. "I'll see you guys tomorrow - Happy New Year!" She ran to the valet and shoved the ticket in his hand, "Hurry, please!" The taillights of the SUV were all that she caught as he sped away from the hotel. Pulling out her phone, Sam dialed his number but he would not pickup. Oh, God, she was right! He was on his way to kill Franco!
Franco turned on the street that would take him to Elizabeth's house, then looked over at her jittery form next to him. "What's the matter with you - why do you keep looking behind us? You really think he's coming after you, don't you?"
She turned back into the seat and blushed, the tiniest bit ashamed that she'd been so obvious. "I don't know what you're talking about - I'm not looking for anybody!"
"Yes, you are. You thought he was going to get jealous you got in my car and come after you - that's the only reason you're here…despite the wonderful time we had together tonight."
"What? That wasn't real - don't get any ideas, Franco…there's nothing happening between you and me. I want my fiancé back - that's it!"
"Sure it is."
As tight as she'd held to him all night he knew there was more to it than that. She might've been putting on an act for Morgan's benefit, but her body responded to his touch. He leered at that body now…it's alabaster complexion calling not only for his touch but for the permanence of canvas. What would it look like, lifelessly still, drained of spirit and unmoving, posed like the one in New Orleans - that one was his favorite! She was never discovered - he'd had her for days in that secluded little house to himself and he must've done six renderings of her in different positions and settings. That set now hung on the walls of a private collector who shared the same keen eye. There were so few. He veered a sharp left and sped up.
"What are you doing - my house was just down that street!"
"Relax - I want to show you something!"
"What? No, take me home - it's late and I'm tired." When he sped up further, still going in the wrong direction, she panicked at something new she saw on his face. "Franco, I'm not kidding - take me home right now!"
She'd been good company all evening but she was starting to work his nerves. It wouldn't be long now though…he would shut that worthless mouth forever and make her into the timeless form she was best suited for. She'd thank him if she knew the immortalizing perfection that was upon her.
Elizabeth started to panic. Something strange had come over him - he was like a completely different person. Gone was the charming man who'd let her use him all night to further her agenda, and in his place stood a hard, cold stranger who chilled her blood.
"Franco, I need to go home to my boys - please, where are you taking me?" She hadn't meant to sound shaky and afraid but he was making her so.
"Someplace an artist like you can appreciate. We're almost there…relax."
The sudden appearance of the black SUV that cut them off caused him to slam hard on the brakes, sending Elizabeth, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, to fly straight into the dash where her face smashed hard into the surface. His own belt secure, he braced himself as he crashed the brakes to the floor, screeching to a halt, just an inch from the side of the black SUV.
"What the?" Before the question had barely escaped, his door yanked open and strong, muscular arms were pulling him from the car, but the seatbelt held him in place. His heart racing, he suddenly found the power to move his arms to try and defend himself, but the appearance of a knife gave him pause.
Jason slashed the restricting belt and grabbed the son of a bitch by the front of his shirt with both hands, yanking him from the car and tossing him unceremoniously to the ground, where an urgent need sent his shoe crashing into the side of his face and then his gut. Grabbing him again, Jason yanked him up off the ground and slammed him into the side of the SUV, then spun him around to smash his head against a window, simultaneously pulling his tie from around his disgusting neck to bind his hands behind him.
"Jason. Jason, it's okay - he didn't hurt me. You don't have to hurt him, I'm fine!"
Elizabeth had stumbled from the car holding her aching head as she leaned weakly against the front. Just like always, her knight in shining armor rode to her rescue, slaying dragons that would've devoured her whole. She knew he still loved her! Where had he just appeared from?
Her weak voice barely registered for him as Jason finished securing the tie and dragging the creature to the back of the SUV. He was just about to shove him inside when headlights hit them and garnered his attention. He heard the screeching of stopping tires then the door open and slam shut, rapid footsteps running in his direction.
"Jason! Stop!"
"Sam!"
It was her. Beautiful, incredible Sam, who had done nothing to the pig to warrant his hands all over her, who had dropped into his sights simply because of how much she was loved!
"Go home to Danny, Sam…I'll take care of this. He's finally going to pay for what he did to you!"
"No, Jason - not like this! Not tonight."
Sam placed a hand on his arm and pleaded with her eyes that locked his. "He's filth that deserves to be taken out like the trash but we can't do it like this." Sam's heart was beating fast out of her chest at the sight of him, every bit the Jason she knew, in protective mode and caring not for himself but about the hurt caused to someone else. She knew this Jason. She knew the man who cared so much that it boiled into an uncontrollable anger when words failed him to express it any other way. He was hurt and angry and she had to save him. "You can't do it like this. Please…let him go."
Elizabeth wanted to vomit. He had barely noticed her presence but the instant the harlot showed up, he was all ears? She watched disbelievingly as he pulled Franco from where he was half trussed into the back of the SUV to toss him harshly to the ground, then vomited in her mouth when he pulled the harlot into his arms and…was he sobbing?
"I's sorry, Sam! I'm so sorry!"
Jason felt his shoulders heave and shudder, and the urge to hold her close washed him completely. Thanking his lucky stars that she didn't pull away, he pulled her tighter into the hug she was allowing, which somehow sent his sorrow soaring. She'd been violated because of him - the pain he remembered from her weeping on the shower floor crashed through his heart with a force of its own, and Jason found himself on his knees before her, his arms crushing her tightly to him as the tears spilled openly into her black and silver dress. She'd been hurt because of him, targeted because he loved her, and he continued to hurt her now. "Please forgive me, Sam! Please!"
Elizabeth couldn't believe her eyes! She had never seen him like that before. This was about what happened to the woman, that she caused on herself? Hadn't she sunk herself into the mob life and behaved like one of them, accepting everything that went with their sorry ride or die lifestyle? So why did she get to cry when that very life came calling?
"Jason, please take me home." But they weren't even listening to her.
Sam clasped his head to where it rested against her belly, lending her body as a shield to encase him as he clung to her. He very rarely ever got like this, and never in front of anyone but her. He was hurting, feeling the pain of what they'd worked through and forgiven, but that he had no recollection of. She just had to let him feel it and work through it again…but she would help him. She would help him see again it hadn't been his fault. The blame he'd taken on wasn't his to carry - she'd help him place it squarely at the feet it belonged. He was the father of her child and the love of her life…she'd never callously ignore his pain…especially when it was pain he didn't deserve.
"Jason - I want to go home. I need to go home to our boys!" Elizabeth added the edge to her voice to break through whatever it was that was unfolding in front of her. She couldn't stand the way he was baring himself to the woman…is that how it was between them? When Emily and his father died she was the one he shared his pain with. When they thought Jake dead, they'd held each other up with their shared grief only a parent could feel, and she thought they were as close as two people could ever get…but none of those times had he ever bared himself like this! After what felt like hours, he finally rose to his feet and they shared a long, lingering look as they appeared to speak privately with their eyes.
Sam felt the energy that pulled at her through his eyes and she knew everything was far from over. She may have saved Franco from him tonight, but she knew he really wasn't saved, because there would be other nights, nights when she wouldn't be anywhere near. She looked to where he still laid trussed up on the ground, bleeding from his nose, over to where the pathetic little lamb leant against the car, saved from the slaughter she'd blindingly laid for herself, and Sam shook her head.
"You should take her home. She looks like she's about to pass out from shock."
Jason shook his head in return, reaching into the pocket of his dress pants to toss the SUV keys to the hood of the car near her, never breaking eye contact with the woman who saved him.
"Get yourself home."
