Part 12

Jason stared at his image in the mirror and shook his head slowly. "I always hated dressing up like this. Always tried to get out of it when I could."

Johnny looked over at him and gave him a shrug. "It took a miracle to find the right size for you, so I can see how you'd hate them. "Do you realize that muscles and tuxedos don't usually work together?" I'm sure the tailor is taking a few valium and heading to bed as soon as he gets home."

Stan leaned against the wall and chuckled softly. "Yeah, but it was the shoulder holster that Jason's got on that had the man almost fainting to the floor."

Jason silenced Spinelli's laughter with a look. A quick look at the clock and he nodded. "We have to get going if we're going to make it on time."

Spinelli picked up his laptop and tucked it under his arm. Stan adjusted the headset and speaker he had on and picked up his computer as well. They preceded Johnny and Jason outside to the car.

Johnny grabbed Jason's arm. "I know this goes without saying, but… my father is bat-shit crazy… don't turn your back on him, don't give him the benefit of the doubt, if he gives you any reason to shoot-"

"I'll kill him. Don't worry. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."

Elizabeth moved from one pot to another. Checking bread and sauces so that nothing burned or boiled over. She knew enough Italian to offer comments and instructions as she went along. She knew her voice was tight and her expression tighter. There were a ton of things on her mind. Her meeting with the attorney had been an eye-opener to say the least.

She thought she knew how things worked, but after the first ten minutes she was glad that she'd had experience at the hospital remember long lists of facts to use later. There were so many interesting caveats to the rules within the mob. No, none of them were written down, that would be very very dangerous, but the families all knew them… and better yet, SHE knew them.

Elizabeth sniffed at the tomato sauce for one of the dishes and as she lowered the spoon back down to the cutting board and giggled. Back in the day, when she'd been living with Jason and Zander… imagine…. if she'd known all the things she knew now… how different things would have been.

Sonny took one last look at himself in the mirror. The tailor made tux was impeccable and the starched white shirt glowed against his dark skin. He had given up looking for his pills. Someone had moved the bottle and was trying to try to his patience and he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

As he lifted his arm to tug at his cuff and saw the anxious look on his guard's face. "Max?"

"Yeah, Sonny?"

"You got something you want to say?"

Max swallowed hard and took a deep breath in and let it out before he said a word. "I can't help but think you really need to talk to Jason. He's like your family, Sonny. He's always stood by you." Sonny implacable expression should have been enough to keep him quiet, but he continued on. "I heard you mention Elizabeth when you were on the phone with Mr. Zacchara. Given her past with Jason, don't you think-"

"Past is past, Max. And if you want to have a job in the future," he stared down at his hands, the fingers clenching and unclenching, "you'll stop talking right now." The boss's look in the mirror was dark and foreboding. "Go and bring the car around. I'm ready to go."

Hanging his head, Max left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Sonny snarled in the mirror. "Business is business and Jason should have learned a long time ago that when it comes down to it… I'm the boss." Taking one last look at himself, Sonny headed for the door.

Elizabeth stared at herself in the floor-length mirror and couldn't help the blur of tears in her eyes. Her makeup had been expertly applied and no one could see the dark shadows beneath her eyes… and the blush only served to accentuate the high cheekbones that had been caused by her weight loss over the last few days.

The dressmaker had done an amazing job and Elizabeth only wished that she would have had an opportunity to wear something like it to a happy occasion. Xaviera was watching her even more closely now than she had on any of the other days. She knew it was only Anthony's orders, but she couldn't seem to find any affection for the woman. She was like a carrion crow following behind the dying animal. Elizabeth wondered if she fell to the floor from fear and weakness if the woman would pick at her bones.

The clock was ticking down. Anthony, her father… she would never be comfortable calling him that, had told her when she was expected down in the hall to welcome their guests and she wasn't going to be late. She wasn't going to give him a chance to find something wrong with her tonight. No, she wanted everything to go well so he wouldn't focus his attention on her. Her plan needed a little bit of privacy.

She turned and headed for the door only to stop short when Xaviera was suddenly blocking the door. Elizabeth had to reach to the back of her mind to pull out what she hoped were the right words. "Il bagno?"

The older woman narrowed her eyes at Elizabeth and then wrenched open the door. She walked with Elizabeth all the way to the door and even when Elizabeth shut the door behind her she knew Xaviera would stand outside as long as it took for her to come out.

With fear guiding her hands she lifted the lid off of the back of the toilet and looked into the reservoir. With a grimace she reached her hand in and took out the plastic wrapped package Johnny had left for her. Using a hand towel she wiped off the outside of the package and turned on the sink as she ripped open the tape and removed her present. She reached under her skirt and took care of hiding her contraband before rolling the plastic back up and dropping it back into the water. The sink covered the soft clatter as the cover set back on.

Sonny opened the door and went stock still. Standing outside of his villa was Jason Morgan and less than a foot behind him was Johnny Zacchara. Narrowing his eyes at the two men, Sonny ground out a few choice words.

"Nice to see you too, Sonny." Johnny's smile was measured. He wasn't really trying to upset the boss. He knew how dangerous the man could be when provoked… or even when he wasn't.

"Sonny." Jason's quiet greeting fell into the deathly silence between the two men.

"I should have known you would follow me, Jason. I'm surprised it took you this long." He flicked an invisible piece of lint off of his sleeve. "I'm only surprised at the scum you brought with you."

Johnny managed to keep quiet.

"Do you," Jason ground out the words, "do you want to explain to me what you're doing here?"

"I'm the boss, Jason." Sonny leaned forward, but his words fairly roared from his lips. "I don't have to answer your questions!"

"About this you do."

"The hell you say-"

"About this," Jason was roaring back, "you do! This is about Elizabeth! Didn't you think I'd want to know? Didn't you think I'd want to be there!?"

"At this point, Jason, I don't care what you want, this is for my business." Jason's eyes went cold and his body went still. Sonny, sadly, didn't see the change in him. "If Anthony Zacchara was selling off a donkey in exchange for his business interests, then I'd be buying the damn donkey!"

Johnny's expression was tight and drawn, but he let Jason handle it… for the moment.

"She is the mother of my son," Jason's voice sent a chill over Johnny's skin, "and I love her."

"Since when," Sonny smiled, a dark grin that didn't rise anywhere near his eyes, "does love matter in cases like this? Besides, it's not like we haven't shared women before, Jason… she'll still be in the family."

Johnny's reflexes were quick. Very quick. Before Max had any idea what was going on, Johnny had Jason's hands back at his side instead of around Sonny's neck. "Back it off, Jason… not now… we can't do this now… back it off." Johnny could feel anger rolling in waves off of Jason's body. The man was out for blood. "Remember, the plan."

Somehow, Jason nodded and stepped back. "I'm going to that party for you, Sonny." Jason barely pulled in a breath. "And you are going to sit nice and quiet until I can come back and deal with you."

Sonny shook his head, unimpressed. "I control the business, Jason… I control the men. You can't hold me."

Jason regained his control second by precious second. "I've learned a few things from Johnny over the last couple of days, Sonny… including the fact that if you want to trust your men," Jason stepped to the side, "pick them yourself."

Sonny's eyes focused and just as quickly un-focused as he saw the tall man standing before him. "O'Brien?"

He looked pleased. "You remembered? I'm flattered, Sonny."

The boss turned his confusion on Jason. "But you said… you told me that you… he's supposed to be dead."

"I was supposed to be, but when Jason was having trouble chasing down one dead man he called in another. And now," Johnny O'Brien gave Jason a big grin, "I'm going to be the best baby sitter you've ever seen… and when Jason comes back to 'deal with you' I'm going to enjoy watching."

Later, when they would gather again and talk about it, they would remark on how quiet Sonny had been and how easily he had been led away. Jason believe Elizabeth would find some comfort in knowing that Sonny himself had been out of the loop in regards to John O'Brien's escape from death.

Carly was having a devil of a time getting a taxi to pick her up at the airport, she finally got a ride by stepped into traffic ahead of a moving car… The driver, once he'd gotten over the fit of nerves after nearly running the woman over, got back in the car and drove off under Carly's instructions.

Elizabeth stood at the door watching the empty driveway. Three bosses had arrived. Three. Anthony would be number four… so where were Sonny & Jason? She couldn't believe it… Were they going to leave her here alone?

No, No, she tried to reassure herself, they wouldn't do that… they couldn't…

Still, Elizabeth struggled to keep her wits about her as Anthony entered the room. "Well, it's time to get this party started." He held out a hand to Elizabeth, "come, Elizabeth, let's take our guests into dinner."

She wanted to scream that it was too early, but she saw the warning look in his eyes. She crossed the room, aware of the eyes on her and took Anthony's hand. Turning to the other men in the room and their guests she smiled brightly. "Gentlemen… if you'll follow us?"

Anthony gave her hand a pat. "Good girl." He pressed a kiss to her cheek that she managed not to cringe away from. "You'll get the hang of this life yet."

Elizabeth felt oddly calm as she moved about the room, engaging in small talk with the different bosses and their chosen guests. She knew with certainty that every moment someone was watching her, looking for some weakness in her smile, her intelligence, her movement. She kept her shoulders back, her smile bright and she somehow remembered everything she was supposed to do.

And it was all because Cam and Jake were at home and there was nothing… NOT A DAMN THING… that was going to stop her from getting home to them.

"Miss Zacchara, I was wondering if you'd mind speaking with me for a few moments."

Elizabeth looked at the young man speaking with her. He was young, Spinelli young, but he had power because of his family and he knew it. The invitation had only been a formality. He knew she was obligated to speak with him and he would really enjoy seeing her sweat.

"I'd be happy to, Mr.-"

"Orso," he smiled, holding out his arm for her to take, "just Orso." He gave his father a smile as he led her away from the group.

She tried to ignore the way he covered her hand with his, the heat from his skin uncomfortable on her own, but she couldn't pull away. The slight would be inexcusable in this situation. Orso was enjoying the walk, using the time to look down into the deep V of her neckline. "Your father tells us that you've had two children, boys."

"Yes," she struggled to keep her tone calm, "I do."

"Good," he smiled… a little too many teeth showing, "My father had six girls before me. It's nice to know we can start with a boy."

Her laughter was genuine and he didn't seem to take it as a slight. The way he was talking about it he had no clue about the basic factors of biology. Then again, she smiled, he had probably gone through the same inane training that she had gone through… but in his case it was years of it.

"Well," she smiled at him, "I had been hoping for a girl."

Orso was startled at her admission, the flesh between his brows creasing in confusion.

Another man stepped forward and offered his arm. "Enrico," he reminded her. "I believe we have a few minutes of time…" he gave Orso a dismissive look, "alone."

Jason Morgan was dangerously close to killing someone and he wasn't shy about it.

The two men standing ineffectually at the back of the car tried to make themselves invisible as he changed a tire along the side of the road. Johnny's offers to help were turned away with angry looks and muttered epithets.

By Spinelli's count, although he would die before letting Jason know at that moment, NASCAR crew chiefs would have offered the mob enforcer a job right then and there. When they jumped back into the car, Jason refused to put his tie back on and dared anyone to mention the smudges on the knees of his tux. As he said once, before falling into angry silence. "I don't fucking care what I look like let's go!"

He leaned against the door, his hand dragging again and again over his face.

Johnny understood his frustration. "Jason, I-"

"Not now, Johnny." Jason ground out the words. "We're going to get there and fix this… we have to."

Elizabeth groaned inwardly. Orso, Enrico, & Andrea. OR as Elizabeth wanted to call them -Manny, Moe, & Jack. Her father had just about crowed as he came to claim her from the third and most inept of the three. "Well," he asked her as he escorted her to the front of the room, "what do you think?"

"I think, there's not a lot my feelings have to do with this… do they?"

His expression went from shock to a smile. "That's my girl… good grasp on the situation." He left her standing there in the center of the dais and stepped to the side. "Gentlemen? If you'll all step up, we'll get the main part of the evening started." He waited while the three contingents gathered at the front. Elizabeth fought the rise in panic that threatened to dissolve into tears. She turned her gaze to the door and prayed.

"You all understand why we're here." He gave a nod to the families. "It's time that I retire from the business and to that end I have one child left that is under my control." He reached out and trailed the back of his hand down her arm. "A pretty one at that." The men laughed quietly, but Elizabeth could feel their eyes roaming over her. "So, to that end… I'm willing to merge my family and my business with another family."

"Just get things started, Zacchara." It was Andrea, which surprised Elizabeth. She hadn't expected him to be so eager.

"You won't get any points for jumping the gun, boy." He grabbed Elizabeth's arm and tugged her forward. "And where," begins Anthony, "do we start the bidding?"

Orso took a step forward. "One million." His father was none too happy with the opening number.

Enrico wasn't about to be undone. "Two."

Andrea looked over his shoulder at his uncle. The two argued silently back and forth and then he spit out. "Two and a half."

The negotiations seemed to sour Anthony's mood. "Disappointing Andrea… I'd like a son in law that takes matters into his own hands."

The price climbed to nearly ten million before Anthony really got interested in the proceedings. He edged closer and closer to the men, watching them start to fight like crocodiles over a piece of meat.

Elizabeth eased back, slowly waiting… waiting…

A sudden flurry of activity rushing toward the door gave Elizabeth one moment to act.

The front doors burst inward before the staff could get to them. The two men standing in the doorway brought silence over the entire gathering. Johnny and Jason took in the whole layout of the room in one hard glance.

Anthony Zacchara straightened up and smiled at the two new additions. "You know, Jason… I was wondering what happened to Sonny. He was sooo eager to come to the party. I'm happy to see you again under these happy circumstances!" He held out a hand toward the other families. "These men are vying to become a part of my family… I know you would like to be with Elizabeth, wouldn't you, Jason?" He smiled and continued on. "Ever since the night of the Black and White Ball I've known how dear dear Elizabeth is to you… but now-"

CLICK

Anthony stopped short, his words dying on his lips as he turned toward his daughter. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Papa?" Holding a lovely pearl-handled gun, Elizabeth moved forward until she was close enough to be sure of her shot.

He held out his hand to her. "Why don't you hand that over before you get hurt."

She smiled and straightened her posture. "I don't think so."

His stern expression narrowed on her. "Give. It. Here."

She raised the gun, pointing it right between his eyes. "Jason?"

The enforcer looked up at her and saw the steely resolve in her eyes. "Elizabeth."

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "Took your damn time getting here, didn't you?"

He shrugged, easing his stance. "We had a flat tire."

Johnny grinned at his sister. "Jason changed to the spare."

"Oh," she laughed a little, "then you didn't miss all the fun." She kept her gaze on Anthony. "I've been learning to cook and speak Italian."

Johnny nodded. "Time well spent, sis."

"And you know what else I learned thanks to dear papa?"

Johnny cocked his head to one side. "No, what?"

BANG!

The room went horribly silent as Anthony fell back to the floor with a thud. Before anyone could really move she ejected the spent shell and turned, holding the gun on the assembled families. "My father's attorney gave me quite the lesson this morning." She took in a steadying breath when Johnny and Jason produced their guns as backup. "As Anthony's rightful heir I had every right to take the power from him if I intend to take control of the family." She looked at each of the men standing before her. "Anthony Zacchara made the last mistake of his life when he threatened my children and so I'm standing here before all of you to make one demand and one demand only. Leave my children alone. Am I understood?"

Orso was the first one to speak. "I think your father underestimated you." He looked at his father and saw the almost imperceptible nod. "I speak for my family. Children and family are off limits."

The other two families agreed.

Jason and Johnny approached the dais from both sides of the room. Johnny took a place beside Elizabeth. "I think the party's over, you're all welcome to go home and-"

"Wait!" It was Elizabeth who again commanded attention. "There's still a ton of food left and I have something I'd like to discuss with all of you."

Orso's father folded his arms over his chest and smiled. "I have to say this is one of the most entertaining parties that I've been invited to in a long time."

"I'd still like to discuss," Orso gave Elizabeth a wide smile, "merging our families."

Jason turned to watch her, the calm way she held their attention, the silvery chill of her voice as she addressed hardened criminals with a smile.

"I will marry," she answered, "when and if I choose to marry, it will be to the man I choose… in or out of the business."

"Elizabeth," Jason's voice turned her head, "I-"

The double doors swung open and Carly stood in the entry, her eyes blazing with anger and her clothes mused from the long trip. "I want an explanation!" She caught sight of Elizabeth standing between Johnny Zacchara and Jason and she knew, felt it bubbled up inside of her like the rush of a flooding river over a tiny little dam. "Elizabeth, I just bet this is all about you, isn't it."

Jason took a step forward but Elizabeth stopped him with a hand on his arm. With a soft smile she turned to Carly. "The best thing you can right now, Carly, is turn around and leave the way you came. If you don't-"

Carly took the opportunity to launch into a rant that would have burned ears less sensitive than organized crime and to her credit, Elizabeth let it go for a minute.

And then…

Elizabeth shocked Jason and Johnny by ordering the Zacchara guards to remove her from the room in Italian.

Carly turned to Jason the instant the men touched her. "Jase, come on, help me!" She felt air beneath her feet and she called out louder. "Jason! This isn't funny, help – me – out!"

Jason gave Elizabeth a smile before turning back to Carly to explain, "She's the boss."

The men marched Carly out the way she came swearing a blue streak as they closed the doors behind her.

Johnny gave Elizabeth a quizzical look and she smiled in return. "What can I say? I picked up a few more things while I was in Italy."

"Elizabeth."

She turned to Jason and smiled. "Jason, I-"

"Miss Zacchara," The other bosses surrounded her, all of them trying to express their happiness for her as she led them back into the dining room. Jason and Johnny withdrew slightly, allowing her space and time to talk to the other bosses.

"I have to admit," Johnny folded his arms and watched her work the crowd, "she's a natural."

Jason saw her turn in the doorway to look back at him with a bright smile with light dancing in her eyes.

"She's Elizabeth."