Jason had come to a decision on how to best deal with the issue of Carly slipping away from her guards again. It would be an unpleasant thing for him to do so it seemed best to him to go ahead and get it over with. Reluctantly, Jason turned away from the water and headed back to his bike. He normally enjoyed the drive toward the edge of town and Carly and Jax's new house but today his thoughts were filled with the unpleasant task at hand.
Jason walked in the door of Carly's without knocking. He made a point of slamming the door loudly. This was going to be a case of tough love, very tough love. He was used to her trying to manipulate him but she would not be expecting him to turn the tables on her. It was his fervent hope that they would only have to do this once.
"Carly, get down here!" Jason yelled as loud as he could. A moment later she appeared at the top of the stairs, a worried look crossing her face.
"Jason, are you alright? What happened?"
"You know exactly what happened. You are slipping away from your guards again and this time you did it while you had Morgan with you."
Carly hurried down the stairs and rushed to Jason. She put her hands on his arms and gave him her award winning smile. "There was a really good reason. Just let me explain to you…"
"Shut up!" Jason yelled at her. She took a step back in absolute shock that he was yelling at her and that he actually told her to shut up. She could not have been more stunned if he had actually hit her. Jason took that moment of shock to make sure he maintained control of this situation. "I have risked my life, my freedom, and given up women in my life for YOU! You and your boys have meant more to me than my own happiness. I do not care if you want to argue with Sonny or disobey him or totally disrespect him, Carly. That is between the two of you. But you have disrespected me for the last time!"
"Jason, please," Carly gasped. "I love you and I do respect you!"
"A couple of hours ago I was at my cabin and had my arms wrapped tightly around a beautiful woman and I come back here and find that you are up to your games again. When you risk yourself and those precious boys you are telling me that everything I have sacrificed to keep you safe meant nothing to you!" Jason shook free of Carly's grip on his arms and stormed toward the front door. "I am done. I quit you and I quit Sonny! You go tell him that I quit and that it was because of you and your stupid antics. I'm going to go by the penthouse and pick up a few things and then find that beautiful woman again and ask her to go back to the cabin with me!"
His tirade finished, Jason simply turned and walked out the front door of Carly's house and got on his bike. He didn't even bother to shut the door on his way out so she watched him drive off with tears running down her face.
Once Jason was certain that he was out Carly's line-of-sight, even if she ran down the driveway to watch him leave, he pulled over. He hated the confrontation with Carly and he felt awful about yelling at her. What he wanted to do was rush back to her and make her feel better and apologize for yelling at her but that would undo everything that was trying to do. It was extremely important that she remember that the guards were not there to restrict her movements. The whole purpose of him and Sonny keeping her guarded was to keep her and the kids safe. If yelling at her and threatening to quit serve to help her keep that in sight than it was worth any sacrifice.
Jason pulled out his phone and called Sam and Johnny and told them to pick up some boxes and head to his apartment. It was important to the last part of his plan. Sonny and Carly were fairly predictable in their actions and he was confident that they would remain true to form and show up at his penthouse together.
The moment Jason got off the elevator he saw Sam and Johnny leaning against the wall near his penthouse door. They had brought a lot of boxes with them.
"What's up?" Sam asked as Jason approached his door. It was good that he could count on both of them to do what they were asked to. Sometimes Sam would question things and that bothered Sonny. It didn't bother Jason most of the time. Today, however, he was hoping they would simply do what they were told.
"You guys are going to help me pack up some stuff and load the SUV so I can go back to the cabin." Jason announced as he tossed his keys on the desk.
Jason grabbed a box and handed it to Johnny and pointed toward the kitchen. "I need non-perishable food for my cabin. Stack the boxes next to the front door and when we have a bunch of them done we will load them in my SUV."
"Why?" John asked suddenly.
Jason was in a bad mood after having yelled at Carly like he had and he took a menacing step toward Johnny. Johnny watched the enforcer approach him with his fist clenched. To be perfectly honest he was afraid but he refused to show it. He stood his ground having resolved not to back up or flinch as Jason approached him.
"Because I am still your boss and you will do what the hell you are told to do!" Jason told him angrily.
"I am not disputing that, Jason." Johnny said calmly. "I was just trying to get a little more information so I can give you exactly what you want. If you were taking Robin to the cabin while you figured out a way to get her out of town I would make sure to pack food that is quick and easy to make. If this was a pleasure trip than I can pack a variety of ingredients and coordinated spices so you can come up with your own meal ideas."
Sam remained silent and continued to watch the two men talking. Now, however, Jason had a very strange expression on his face as he looked at Johnny. If she absolutely had to describe Jason's expression right then she would have said that he was looking at Johnny Zacchara like he had just announced he was coming out of the closet.
"Um, yeah. Well it is business and pleasure trip so pack a lot of both types of food." Jason shrugged as he continued to stare at Johnny like he was just laying eyes on him for the first time.
"I think I'm spending too much time in the kitchen with Olivia," Johnny mumbled as he headed to the kitchen to pack the food as requested.
Jason directed Sam upstairs to the hallway closet to get essentials such as toilet paper, blankets, and whatever else she could find. With the other two working hard Jason took a moment to take stock. He was putting on a convincing show and that would be essential. If all was going according to plan than Carly would already have arrived at Sonny's in tears saying that Jason had left her and was leaving Sonny as well. Then they would decide to double team him as it were and head over to his penthouse together. The scene had to appear very authentic and exactly like he really was leaving as he had told Carly. Sonny was good at analyzing a scene and immediately deciding if it was real or a set up. Jason wasn't used to trying to fool Sonny but this time he really needed to. He needed to shake both of them to their core and get them focused on other their responsibilities to each other and their kids.
It was getting close to time for the show. He had left Carly's over an hour ago. She could have made it to Sonny's house in less than 15 minutes. It would have taken her a few minutes to stop crying and tell Sonny what the problem was. A few minutes later Sonny would have had his bodyguard get the limo so they could begin the 20 minute drive to his penthouse.
"You know," Johnny commented as he exited the kitchen with another fully loaded box and set by the door with the others. "I signed on to the organization to be a guy of action. I am not interested in being your butler or something. I want more responsibility."
Jason's back was to the partially opened penthouse door but he still heard the elevator stop. It was time. He listened as Carly and Sonny walked in the door but pretended like he had not heard them enter.
"You can always go by and talk to Sonny later. My job just opened up."
"What?" Sam and Johnny both asked at the same time.
Jason shrugged at them. "I decided I was done and so I quit today."
"Jason," Sonny said as he cleared his throat. Jason turned to look at Sonny and Carly. Those two people had been the main focus of his life for over 15 years now. There was so much history between the three of them.
Sonny was his boss but he was so much more than that. When he first started working for Sonny he had so much to learn and Sonny had taught him the business. Back then he was like a father to him. Now they were on nearly equal footing. They were like brothers now. On paper, Jason and Sonny were business partners. Anyone who knew the mob understood that Sonny Corinthos was in charge and Jason Morgan was his extremely loyal enforcer. They worked so well together.
Carly was… How could he begin to explain Carly? She was his friend and so much more. He loved her and her kids and they had been through so much together. Jason tended to be Carly's rescuer. Whenever she would put one of her crazy plans into motion and it went horribly wrong he would be there to get her out. She loved him and counted on him and was fiercely protective of him. He had risked his life, his freedom, his happiness for Sonny, Carly, and their kids on many occasions. He loved them and he knew they loved him. That wasn't the problem. The problem was they wanted him to take care of things that they as parents should be working on together.
"Jason," Sonny began again. His voice thick with emotion that he wished he could cover up. "We should talk privately."
Jason nodded and turned toward Sam and Johnny. "You two go get something to eat. Be back in an hour."
While they were grabbing their coats and heading out the door, Sam turned to Johnny. "I'll buy dinner if you'll explain about coordinating spices."
Johnny gave her a mock glare and then shrugged. "I am dating a full blooded Italian woman. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and I have learned more about spices than I ever wanted to know."
Laughing, the duo departed the penthouse and closed the door behind them. It is a big contrast to the group they left behind. Inside the penthouse was the very somber trio of Jason, Sonny, and Carly.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I sure hope you are continuing to enjoy the story. The action will be picking up soon as there is lots more to this. Please be sure to review!