Jason and Keesha walked into the bank with Johnny and Francis in tow. Johnny, who was carrying a black case walked over to a man, whom Keesha assumed to be the bank director, and spoke with him briefly. When they were finished, Johnny motioned for Jason and Keesha to follow him. The foursome made their way into the vault of the bank.
"Frau Livingstone, my name is Lukas Zimmerman. I am the director of Bankhaus August Lenz & Co. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Your husband and I did business together on many occasions. News of his untimely death was very distressing to us, but it is nice to know that you would like to continue with our business relationship. Mr. O'Brien has informed me that you would like to view the deposit boxes that your husband set up"
"Yes, I would, thank you", responded Keesha.
The trio watched as Mr. Zimmerman pulled out several boxes. Within each were several envelopes and stacks of packaged 100 dollar bills. Keesha's eyes widened as Mr. Zimmerman began to pull out jewels.
'Where on earth did all of this come from?', Keesha thought to herself.
"Which would you like to view first, Frau Livingstone?" Mr. Zimmerman asked.
Keesha looked to Jason. "The envelopes and do you think that we could get some time alone?" asked Jason.
"But of course, Herr Morgan. Please let me know if I can be of further service." Mr. Zimmerman said as he took his leave.
Once the door had closed behind Zimmerman, Jason began opening the large manila envelopes that had been retrieved from the deposit boxes. Most were full of documents, these he handed over to Johnny. The last one he opened had one single item in it; a cd.
Jason turned the disk over and over but there was no writing on it; absolutely no indication was given as to what information the cd held.
"Jason, do you think that my husband died for whatever information is on that?" Keesha asked.
He cringed slightly as she referred to Daniel as her husband. The thought of the man who had put her life in danger as being her husband disgusted him. "Its possible, we need to find out what's on this. We need to get it to Stan as soon as possible."
Jason began placing the rest of the items back into the safety deposit boxes. "Keesha, do you want any of this?" he asked motioning towards the money and jewels.
She shook her head 'no'. "I don't know how my husband came to possess these items. I have a feeling that it might not exactly be of legal means. I don't want any of that in house or near my children. If either of you want anything, take it. I don't care."
Jason and Johnny both replied in the negative. Jason replaced the jewels and money but passed the envelopes to Johnny and had him put them in the brief case that he was carrying. Jason wrapped an arm, protectively, around Keesha and led her out of the vault. The trio walked through the bank and towards the front door. Once they spotted a waiting Francis, Johnny left Keesha and Jason and headed towards Mr. Zimmerman. He thanked the man for his time and then slipped him one of the packaged stacks of hundreds from Daniel's safe box.
Francis and the other guards, who had been situated around the bank, escorted Jason and Keesha to the waiting car. As Keesha slid into the safety of the back seat, her cell phone began to ring. With trepidation, she opened the phone that Mariucci had sent to her, "hello". She put the phone on speaker so that Jason would be able to hear also.
"Mrs. Livingstone, I see that you have visited the Bankhaus August Lenz. Did you find anything of interest?"
To this question, Jason shook his head no, so that Keesha would not reveal what they had found.
"Nothing too interesting, Mr. Mariucci, just some jewels and money. Is any of that what you are looking for?
"I have jewels and money to last a lifetime. What I am in search of is something that holds much more power. I have to go, but remember, I will be watching. Tell Mr. Morgan that I said hello, will you?"
Keesha closed the phone and looked to Jason. "He's watching us. He knows exactly where we are, Jason. I don't like this. Where are his people? How can they know us and yet we have no idea who they are? I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and being terrified that one of his people is following me. Jason, I can't live this lifestyle."
Jason pulled her close and thought about the unconscious meaning behind her words. 'She couldn't live this lifestyle. Did she mean having Mariucci hanging over her head or did she mean the mob lifestyle. Which couldn't she handle, or was it both?
"Keesha, don't worry about it. I'll be here to protect you and your children for a long as you will let me."
"Jason, I can't ask that of you", Keesha stated.
"You can't ask it of me, but I can ask it of you."
"What do you mean by that, Jason?"
"I've been thinking about this since I found out about Daniel and Mariucci, you need protection, Keesha. You and your children need to have some sort of safety. I can provide that type of safety. Sonny and I can."
"Ok, isn't that what you're already doing?" Keesha asked confused.
"Yes, in a way. But the ultimate way of protecting you is to have you completely under mine and Sonny's protection. Mariucci can't touch family. He can but it's a code of honor amongst men like us. You aren't a part of this world, so he has no qualms about going after you. But if you were a part of Sonny's family and that branches out to the Five Families. You'd have the ultimate protection. To get to you, Mariucci would have to start a war and he doesn't want to do that."
"Ok, so how do I join your family", Keesha asked still confused. Then the gravity of his words hit her. Jason wanted her to join his family. He was asking her a question. He wanted to get married. 'No freaking way!!! Jason Morgan is asking to marry
me! But its just to keep me safe. It's to keep me protected. It's not like he loves me or anything. He is trying to keep me alive so that I can raise my children. That's all, right? Jason doesn't love me. What we did at the hotel was just two people coming together after years of pent-up aggression and frustration and on his part is was probably just curiosity. I did throw myself at him after the accident. I'm sure he probably thought that I was crazy. God this is crazy. I'm rambling to myself and Jason is just sitting there staring at me. Oh goodness, what do I say?
Jason watched as Keesha's eyes opened in shock as came to the realization of what he was asking. He and Sonny had concluded that this would probably have to happen anyway. Jason couldn't help but think that it wasn't such a bad idea. Mariucci couldn't touch Keesha without an all out war, if she were married to Jason. Jason didn't think that Keesha would like the idea. And by the look on her face, he had been right. She didn't look at all thrilled about it. Maybe it was just too soon after Daniel's death and their relationship had taken on a new level recently. 'Oh my god, what the hell was I thinking?' Jason thought to himself. 'She would probably rather die than to live a life with me as her husband.'
Jason turned his head away from her to mask the disappointment marring his face.
"Yes" Keesha said quietly with her head lowered.
Jason's head snapped around and he looked at Keesha."Yes?"
"Yes, Jason. I need to keep my kids safe. I want to live long enough to see Lila become a grandmother, maybe a great grandmother. I want to be there for my children. I ... I know you're offering this because you want to protect us and I appreciate you giving of yourself in this way", Keesha said while she looked every where but at Jason.
"Keesha, I do want to protect you and your children, but I also want you to be comfortable with this arrangement. Are you? Are you comfortable? Will you be alright with this?"
"I don't know, Jason. All I know is that we can be safe if I marry you. But I don't want this arranged marriage to disrupt or even destroy the relationship that we have been building. I like where we've brought this and I don't want to rush anything. So far, we have taken our time and done almost everything right, and I don't wanna ..."
"You don't 'want to what?" Jason implored.
"I just don't want to mess it up. When you first came out of the coma, I pushed so hard that I drove you away. And I know that the circumstances are different but I feel that they are similar enough that by putting too much pressure on you, you'll snap and then I will have lost you again."
Jason took her chin in his hand and finally made her look him directly in the eye. "Look at me. I'm doing the asking here. If I didn't think that I could handle it, then I wouldn't have said anything. I know that I scarred you before. I can see it in your eyes; you think that I am about to explode the way I used to. I'm not the same person. I am but everything was so brand new then. I woke up a grown man; I had no type of readjustment period. Everything was thrown at me and I was just expected to take it all in, process it, and move on with daily life as Jason Quartermaine. I'm adjusted now. I'm stable now, I know who I am. I 'know what I want and its you", Jason said as he moved his head forward until their lips were pressed together.
"Then the answer is definitely yes", Keesha said between kisses.
"Uh boss", Francis said as he lowered the window dividing the front and back seats. "The boss is on the phone and he wants to speak with you. Sorry", Francis said as he realized that Jason was glowering at him. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"No problem, tell Sonny I'll call him back. I have to get in touch with Stan first and foremost."
"Yes sir, Mr. Morgan" Francis replied.
"Yes sir, Mr. Morgan" Keesha said mimicking Francis' formal terminology with a giggle.
Jason eyed her curiously. "What is so funny?"
"I was just thinking about it all. Yes sir, Mrs. Morgan, sure is gonna sound funny."
Keesha said as she continued laughing.
'Mrs. Morgan. Wow, there hadn't been one of those in a while. First was...eww Brenda. Then there was Courtney. Sam and Elizabeth were both almost Mrs. Morgan, but those had never come through. Now Keesha, Jason Quartermaine's girlfriend was about to be Mrs.
Jason Morgan. HA!! Take that Golden Child, wherever you are.' Jason thought to himself. Jason smiled and then as he looked at Keesha his mood turned serious. "So, what, you don't want to be Mrs. Jason Morgan?" he asked teasingly.
"I...uh... I... I didn't mean it that way. I just ..." Keesha's mouth snapped shut as she became more and more flustered.
Jason moved closer to her. "What didn't you mean? You do want to be Mrs. Jason Morgan?"
"Of course... of ... yeah... yes...yes, I want to be Mrs. Jason Morgan", Keesha finally got out.
"Are you sure about that", Jason asked as he got closer still. Keesha had begun to back up once she saw the intense look in his eyes. "Being Mrs. Jason Morgan means that you'll have to adjust to some things"; Jason said moving closer once again.
"Oh... oh real ... really like w-w-what?" Keesha began, trying not to be obvious as she moved further back in the seat.
Jason inched closer. "Like this", he said as he grabbed her around the waist and pinned her to the door of the limo and pressing his lips and his body firmly against Keesha's.
Keesha felt Jason's full lips against hers and then his chest pressed firm against her breasts. She was cornered and she didn't mind it one bit. She felt his tongue press between her lips, requesting access to her mouth. She felt one hand come up to cup her face. While Jason's other hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer still.
'God, I could get lost in one of this man's kisses. I believe he has to be as close to perfect as a human being can be.' Keesha thought while her tongue was teased by Jason's.
Jason felt his will slipping away quickly. He wanted Keesha, and he would have her again, but not right now and not in the back seat of a limo with Mariucci's men potentially watching them. He pulled away from the kiss and put a foot of distance between them. "I'm sorry; we shouldn't be doing this in here. We aren't horny little teenagers anymore", Jason said.
Keesha looked at him with wide eyes. "How... how did you know that we made love in the back of one of your grandfather's limos?"
Jason laughed at the look on her face. "I didn't. I was just making a comparison between us and horny teenagers. You just told on yourself. I had no idea that you were so freaky Keesha Ward".
"Well, only when it came to one man", Keesha said. Then glancing sideways at Jason she added, "Well maybe when it comes to two men."
Jason smiled at her insinuation and the fact that she was still distinguishing between him and Jason Quartermaine made him happy. "I need to call Stan. We need to get that cd to him so that we can find out what is on it. I'm going to have to call from the most secure place. And then there's the problem of how we're going to get it to him. It's not as if we can send it or even ship it. There's no guarantee that Mariucci can't intercept it"
"Well, darling, you could always download it to a computer and then send it to Stan", Keesha said.
Jason looked at her, "When did you become so technologically inclined?"
"Well, Jason, I had to do something in the 10 years that I've been gone. I learned a little about computers; enough to know that whatever is on that cd can be downloaded to your laptop and sent to Stan via a secured internet connection".
"Well look at you, Ms. Livingstone or soon-to-be Mrs. Morgan", Jason said with pride.
"That's right, baby" Keesha said as she snuggled into Jason's side, "you've got a Renaissance Woman on your hands"
"I think I like that... actually I know I like that", said Jason as the limo pulled into the driveway of the hotel. The limo stopped, Jason and Keesha exited and walked hand in hand to the elevators and got on. The whole time their every move was being recorded. Live video feed of the couple was being sent directly to Christopher Mariucci's computer in his home.
"The lovely Mrs. Livingstone, I'm coming for you. And your little enforcer too", Mariucci said with a slight laugh.