Author's Note: I plan to post chapters on this story fairly regularly. It is my plan to post one or two chapters each week. To all to have submitted reviews: Thank you very much! They help keep me writing.

Jason intentionally kept his face expressionless. On the inside he wanted to laugh at the flash of anger that shot through Sam's face when he called her Samantha. He made note of it for future reference.

"What is it you want to know?" Sam asked. She visibly relaxed a little more when she saw him return to his chair.

"What exactly is your relationship with Lucky Spencer?" Jason asked. He figured if he could get her to come clean on this question everything else would fall into place. If she called his bluff however they were all in trouble. He sure hoped she would cooperate this time and be completely honest.

Sam didn't really want to answer that question with the whole truth. It wasn't that she was betraying Sonny or Jason because she wasn't. It was just something she would rather keep to herself. However, Jason's body language was tense and that gave Sam pause. She knew she was going to have to answer the question or things really would get worse. There was simply no other choice but to tell Jason the whole ugly truth.

"He's a mark." Sam stated simply. She didn't know any other way to put it right now.

That certainly surprised Jason and he didn't mind letting it show. He raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing. He nodded his head at her to continue.

"Where did you put my photo album?" Sam asked suddenly. Jason had to smile. She had no doubt that he had found it. It was good that she wasn't underestimating him.

Jason nodded and got up to hand her the photo album that was sitting at the far end of the couch. He held it just slightly out of her reach.

"I will completely untie your hand if you promise to continue behaving." Jason stated.

"Do I have any choice?" Sam asked him directly. They both knew the answer to that.

"No." Jason answered firmly. "It is good that you have recognized that."

"Bastard" Sam said under her breath.

"So they tell me." Jason stated with a smile. He finished untying the rope so that her right hand was completely free. He handed her the photo album which she immediately pulled against her like it was her last remaining possession.

Jason opened his mouth to say something but then his phone rang. He quickly checked the caller id and saw that it was John Zacchara. It was getting close to time to head to the docks. He and John had a ship to blow up to teach a drug dealer a lesson about transporting drugs through Port Charles. He flipped open his phone.

"What is it?" Jason asked as he stepped into Sam's bathroom. It provided him with a little more privacy, though not very much.

"I have my eyes and my gun trained on you." Jason warned Sam.

"What the hell for?" John demanded angrily into the phone.

"Not you." Jason said as he shook his head impatiently. "On my prisoner."

"Sam?" John asked suddenly

"That is correct. What can I do for you?"

"I have acquired a second set of materials for tonight. It sounds like you are a bit tied up right now. I handle this alone."

"I'm not the one tied up," Jason stated with a laugh. "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Course," John replied simply. "I've been blowing things up since I was 10."

"I hope not literally." Jason said as he continued to keep an eye on Sam from the bathroom. He was glad that John could do this alone. He wasn't done with Sam yet and he didn't really want to leave her tied up while he went to the docks to take care of this.

"Pretty much." John said confirming Jason's fear that he had been speaking literally. "You forget what a true psychopath my father really is. I was just a kid the first time he tried to kill me. He thought my mom was spending too much time with me and not enough with him so he tried to shoot me. My mom ran to cover me with her own body. He killed her with the bullet he meant for me."

"Remind me to thank Monica sometime." Jason stated in a rare mention of the Quartermaine family that didn't illicit a groan from him. "As messed up as things were, they just tried to kill each other. They never tried to kill us kids. At least that is what everybody told me."

"Damn." John said aloud. It helped explain a lot about Jason. "I wish I could forget my entire childhood."

"No you don't." Jason replied immediately. "It shapes who you are even if you don't want it to. If you don't remember your childhood you just end up wondering why you are as messed up as you are. It is better to have the insight."

"I suppose so," John agreed quietly. He was surprised at how forth right Jason was being right now. He never spoke about himself. He had learned more about Jason tonight than he had in the last couple of years since meeting him. "You take care of things there. I got our drug dealer covered."

"You sure?" Jason asked. "I don't want to have to explain to your ex-girlfriend what went wrong."

"I'm sure," John assured him immediately. "Lulu knows I chose this life and that I like living dangerously. I think she kind of figures I'll get myself killed doing something stupid someday."

"Just don't make it on my watch. Call me when you are done." Jason stated simply. He had slipped back into his enforcer mode and shut off his feelings so he could finish the work with Sam.

"No problem." John stated as he hung up.

Jason put his phone back into his pocket as he returned to the living room. He watched Sam glance lovingly at the pictures in the album. She passed quickly over the ones of her and Lucky. However, she lingered awhile on the pictures of her and the other young man. Jason suspected he was the key to a lot of this.

"So, Lucky is a mark" Jason said as a prompt for Sam to continue.

"Yes. I am using him to gain access to someone else who can help me."

"Explain the plan to me." Jason instructed her.

"It is a work in progress so it isn't complete yet. Basically I am dating Lucky to have frequent access to Nikolas and his aunt Alexis Davis."

"You want access to the District Attorney?"

"Yes because of my brother Danny." Sam pointed to a picture of her and the other young man Jason had seen in the photo album. "He is slightly challenged and needs an expensive private school to help him. That is why I came to work for you and Sonny. You pay well and there are opportunities to make a lot of money."

"So where does Alexis fit in?"

"Danny was convicted of a crime he did not commit. He is locked up in a mental hospital. I don't understand all the legal parts of it but basically I can't get another hearing into Danny's case unless a law enforcement officer or the District Attorney decide to reopen the case. There are some sort of special rules because of Danny's status. He is slightly mentally challenged."

Jason watched Sam as she explained this to him. All indications were she was telling the truth. He believed her. 'Trust but verify' being his guiding principal in a case like this, Jason decided he would call Diane in the morning and ask her about it.

"Alexis hates everything mob related. Once she finds out you work for us she will refuse to help." Jason stated thoughtfully.

"I explained that I am a harbor pilot for Corinthos/Morgan Coffee and that I took the job because it pays well and lets me have flexible hours. She asked me about my shipments and said I might be hauling illegal things. I told her I didn't ask many questions but everything seemed on the up and up on my shifts. That was when I started making a log of the legitimate shipments I piloted. Lucky checked them out and told her that everything was legit. She said she would look into it a little but no promises."

"So why not just tell me or Sonny about this and see if we could help?"

"The same reason you visited Robin in the hospital at night or see her in private places. You don't want anyone realizing she is a good way to get to you."

Jason nodded. He completely understood that. He felt much better now. The idea of Sam being a traitor was hard to take. So was the idea of prison if she had been working with the cops. Her story made sense and he believed she was being completely honest with him.

"Jason," Sam spoke cautiously, like she was walking on egg shells with what she had to say. "Assuming you decide to believe me and realize that I am not a traitor, can we not tell Sonny about my brother?"

"I believe you, Sam." Jason began in his calming tone. At least that was what Robin always called it. She said he could soften the blow of whatever he was saying when he used that tone. Being a mob enforcer, he didn't use it very often. "I don't withhold information or lie to Sonny, ever. I will tell him everything. You can talk to him about it later but I am sure he will keep it strictly between the three of us."

"Danny doesn't understand what is happening right now. He didn't do anything wrong and he doesn't like the mental hospital. I have to get him out of there soon, Jason. I like Lucky and I can tolerate Alexis. I will use anyone I have to get him freed!"

"Sam, I am willing to help any way I can."

"I sense a but coming."

"Yes," Jason nodded. "I am concerned that my involvement could make it worse for you and him."

"I understand. I think Alexis is really trying and she may be able to accomplish something. I need you and Sonny to let me continue working this my way right now."

Jason nodded his approval. This time he smiled when he picked up the knife. He watched to see if she would stiffen again. She didn't. Jason cut her restraints and offered her his hand to help her stand while the feeling returned in her limbs.

The moment Sam got her footing she let go of Jason's hand. In the next instant she slammed her fist full force into his face. It barely rocked him and that really infuriated her and she set herself to try again. He reached up and grabbed her wrist and applied enough force to stop her without hurting her.

"You are telegraphing your moves, Sam. You have a lot of power in your punch and if you weren't letting me know in advance, that one would have really rocked me."

"Then why?"

"I figured I deserved it." Jason told her honestly. "The first one is free. If you want me to, sometime I can show you what you are doing to telegraph your moves. It is slight and it wouldn't take much to correct it."

"You were expecting me to try something like that so you were watching for it?" Sam asked.

Jason nodded. "You are strong and you are tough and I knew you wouldn't let this go without some sort of a response. It is what I would have done."

Jason helped Sam straighten up her apartment. Then he grabbed his coat and his bag and headed for the door.

"Sonny will understand if you don't want to work with me anymore." Jason told her quietly.

Sam looked at him intently for a moment before answering. "I trust you Jason. You warned me when I signed on exactly what I was getting into. You made it clear that you would protect Sonny and his family at all costs. I understand and respect that. I have no problem working with you."

Jason simply nodded and closed the door quietly on his way out. He was really glad this was over and that it had turned out well.

Author's Note: Thanks for continued reading. I do hope that you are enjoying this story. There is still much to come. Please be sure to review for me. THANKS!