Claudia was exhausted after her long night. When she arrived home she couldn't even manage to make it up the stairs to her bedroom, so instead she flopped down on the sofa and fell asleep.
Jason peered through the glass doors on the deck as he brushed the dirt away from his body. He had no problem climbing the wall that surrounded the Zacchara property, but once inside it was a bit more difficult than it was before to get to the house unnoticed. He could see all the security improvements Claudia had made. Security cameras adorned the trees and there were extra guards walking the property. At times he had to slide on the ground in order to avoid some of the cameras. Hence the dirt that was now all over him. It had taken twenty minutes to make the journey to the house.
Jason ran his hands along the edges of the door frame and found no wires. He was surprised that Claudia had missed doing that. He looked inside again and saw Claudia asleep on the couch.
She lay on her side. Her tantalizing curves were the first thing that caught his eye. The second was her dark hair splayed across her face. He silently reached for the door handle and turned and to his surprise it opened.
He slowly made his way into the living room. The door creaked a little as he made his way in and he froze in place waiting for Claudia to react, but she didn't move. The mighty huntress must be exhausted. He stepped closer to the couch and just as his eyes locked on her, Claudia withdrew her hand from under the pillow and aimed her weapon at him. She crooked her head to the side. "Don't move." She ordered as she sat up on the couch.
Jason stood motionless. He didn't believe she would actually shoot him, but he also knew better than tempting her. "I just came to talk." He told her.
"People who come to talk don't normally climb the wall and slide on their bellies on the ground. They usually just ring the doorbell."
Jason looked confused. She had known he was on the grounds the entire time.
Claudia answered his unspoken question. "You tripped the infrared on the wall when you came over it and not all the cameras are in the trees. I would have gone out and invited you in, but I was mesmerized by your snake impression." She actually was enthralled with the motion his hips made as he slid on the ground side to side, but she was definitely not telling him that.
"Throw your gun over here." She told him. Jason reached back and she stiffened. "Not with that hand. Use the other one."
Jason switched hands, reached back and retrieved the weapon and then held it out in front of him. He placed it on the ground and then pushed it over towards Claudia.
Claudia stood cautiously. Jason had pushed the weapon away from the couch so she walked over to it and then turned sideways so she could keep one eye on Jason as she bent over to pick up the gun. She placed the weapon along with her own on the table and then stepped toward Jason.
"Talk" she ordered.
Jason's eye brows furrowed. He was not use to a woman ordering him around. Hell, now that he thought about no one ever ordered him around except for Sonny, but Sonny knew that Jason would only do what Jason wanted to do. Jason remained quiet and Claudia continued to talk.
"I guess you're here because Sonny sent you. I take it he didn't respond well to the destruction of his secret island."
"People could have been hurt." Jason told her.
"I was careful." She retorted. "Besides, Sonny didn't give a rat's ass about the crew that was aboard the ship he took out."
"So are you even now? Do I have to worry about you coming after Sonny or his family?" Jason asked.
"Like I told Sonny as long as he keeps his nose out of Johnny's business then I'll let him keep his. But if another shipment is lost. The island will only be the start. I will desolate his entire business till he's only left with coffee grinds."
So Sonny had provoked her. He thought to himself. He would deal with Sonny later. "I need your assurance that you will not go after Sonny's family." He said.
Claudia came closed and circled him. "Sonny's family or just Carly and her sons?" She asked. "It's a well known fact that the only vulnerable point you have is Sonny's ex-wife." She stopped circling him and stood face to face with him. So close he could feel her breath on him. "So tell me did Sonny have her first and then got tired and passed her on to you? You don't look like the type to take sloppy seconds."
Jason grabbed Claudia by the shoulders. Claudia did not resist. Jason gripped her tight. "Oh." She said in mock surprise. "Was that a yes?" She asked.
Jason turned her and pushed her up against the wall. He repeated himself. This time his voice was deeper and filled with menace. "I need your assurance that you will not go after Sonny's family."
Claudia smiled. She liked his aggressiveness. It felt like foreplay. She could keep taunting him, but she was pretty sure he was no longer playing and she didn't want to have to kill him. "I won't come after his family as long as he doesn't come after mine." She said and then twisted her body as she brought her knee up. Jason released her just before her knee caught him in the groin.
Claudia rubbed her shoulders. He had one hell of a grip. Then she imagined him gripping her wrist as he lay on top of her. She blinked a few times to erase the image. "Concentrate." she told herself. "This is not the time for your mind to go into one of its Jason Morgan fantasies." Her mind was already spending far too much time thinking about the man. The last thing she needed was to add fuel to fire.
Claudia snapped her thoughts back to business and put back on her enforcer face. "But if one little hair gets harmed on John's head all bets are off. I will annihilate Sonny's entire family in front of his eyes and then when the misery is more than he can bear that's when I'll be merciful and kill him."
Jason took a menacing step towards her. "You can threaten all you want, but if anything happens to Carly or her boys." He paused and stepped closer. "You won't see me coming." He said in a dark, cold voice.
Claudia laughed. "Now whose using clichés. And the voice." Claudia voice dropped in pitch imitating Jason's. "Come on does that usually work for you?"
Jason shook his head side to side and then ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, usually it does." He told her.
Claudia was about to speak again, but there was a sound in the hall. "You better get out of here." She whispered to Jason. "If John catches you in here he'll flip out."
Jason rolled his eyes as if to say he didn't give a damn about what Johnny did, but he still made his way towards the patio doors. "We're not done with this conversation." Jason told her.
"Fine we'll finish it tonight at Jake's." She whispered. "Oh my god, did I just ask him on a date?" Claudia thought seconds after the words left her mouth.
"Fine ten o'clock." Jason said and then slipped out the door before Claudia could take back her suggestion.
Johnny entered into the room his face red with anger. He went right into rant. "I just found out Corinthos destroyed the last night's shipment."
"I know" Claudia said in a soothing tone. "Don't worry. I took care of it. He wouldn't dare touch another shipment."
"You took care of it? How did you take care of it?" Johnny question.
"I kinda blew up his island." She said as she played with her fingers.
"You did what?"
Claudia tried to look innocent, but she could tell Johnny was upset. That was one of the reasons why she didn't tell him what she was planning. He would have objected. He still had too much of a soul to do what was necessary to protect himself and the business, but that was why he had her, the soulless she-devil.
"This is my business. Things don't happen unless I say so." Johnny told her.
"You're right. You're right. I should have spoken to you before I retaliated. It was just that I knew he was testing me. Not you. Sonny wanted to see if I could back up my threats. I had to prove to him that I meant every word."
Johnny could see in Claudia's eyes that Sonny was not the first man to test her and she resented it. He took on a playful tone as he approached his sister. "So you blew up an entire island?"
"Only certain parts of the island. I mostly blew up his casino and hotel."
Johnny gave her a chastising look. "A hotel?"
"I made sure the people got out first." She told him.
Johnny hugged his big sister. "You are amazing, but right now you look like crap."
"I'd like to how you would look after the night I had." She said and then yawned.
Claudia looked down at her watch. It was eight a.m. and she hadn't got more than an hour sleep. "I'm going to get some sleep. Do me a favor and stay on the grounds?" Johnny gave her a questioning look. "I don't like leaving your safety in the hands of others and with Sonny's cage rattled there's no telling what he'll do."
"I'll try to stay on the grounds, but I'm not promising anything. Besides the guards you hired will do fine. After the others went missing, everyone is terrified of what you will do if they disappoint you."
Claudia smiled. "Good. That was the point." She stretched like a cat and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. "Stay close to home." She reminded him and then went off to bed.