After a long, drawn out goodbye in the doorway, Carly had finally sent Jason on his way to see Elizabeth. It had been difficult as she knew that it was possible that he could never return to her in the same state. It had happened to her once, and ten years later, she wasn't naïve enough to believe that it couldn't happen again. However, with her age had come wisdom, and Carly trusted Jason to say what he needed to say and return to her. Extenuating circumstances had won out over their love once, but this time, she was determined to make it happen.

When her best friend had headed for his motorcycle, a pair of bodyguards posted outside her front door looked at her knowingly. They might have worked for Sonny Corinthos, but everyone in the organization knew who truly ran things. They all respected Jason more than the man that paid them, probably because he had made the moves that ensured they still had jobs. He was the one that was on the front lines with them day in and day out, fighting just as hard to save his own life as well as the ones around him. Everyone on Sonny's payroll knew that Carly and the boys were Jason's first priority. And while he always made sure that Alexis Davis and her daughters were safe, there was a definite favoritism toward the boss' ex-wife.

Most of the guards had always liked Carly because watching over her and her sons was never boring. Whether she was concocting some crazy scheme that would put her in the line of fire or she was dodging past security to storm into Sonny's office, she had a way of keeping the team on their toes. Jason always assigned the newest guards to a week of rotations on Carly just to show them what she was like, knowing how important that it was that they understand the risks. While Max, their most trusted guard and the third in command, was always with them during that first week, the newbies understood what it would mean if they messed up. Although rarely dangerous, watching over Carly Corinthos-Jacks was a matter of life and death.

Now, it looked like things in the organization would once again be changing. In the mob world, things rarely stayed quiet or the same for very long. More often than not, it was the threat from an opposing family that shook a seemingly strong organization to its core. However, the truly deathly blows came from a shakeup from within. Watching Jason leave Carly's house at the early morning hour, the guards knew that something big was about to come down the pipeline. The security of the Corinthos family now rested on how well Sonny took the inevitable change that was about to happen. Between the bold, lingering embrace that Carly made no qualms about showing the world to the long, confident strides Jason had made upon his departure, it was certain that the two of them had finally recognized what the world had long known. Sonny could deny it all he wanted to but sides were about to be chosen. It was likely that he wouldn't like who would come out on top.

Those thoughts were not only on the minds of the guards that rainy morning, they consumed Carly as well. As she stood in front of the mirror in her lavish bathroom, fresh from a long shower, she tried to figure out how she had become the woman looking back at her. Six marriages and two children later, Carly was back in the past she had been nearly ten years ago. Completely lost and hopelessly in love with Jason Morgan, she was determined not to repeat her past mistakes. She could drag this out and wait until Jax returned from chasing his brother in parts unknown, or she could pick up the phone and end it now. Either way, her marriage was over. It should have made her sad, but her emotions betrayed her. A wide smile spread across her radiant face as she pulled the phone of its cradle and dialed a cell phone number from memory.

Half expecting to hear his voicemail, Carly tried to compose a proper message in his head. She was so wrapped up in her task that she didn't even hear when Jax actually did pick up on the other end. "Carly? Carly, are you there?" he repeated exasperatedly. After a few times, she was finally snapped back to reality. "Carly, why did you call me if you're not going to speak?"

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "With the roaming fees, I'm sure that this call is going to cost you a lot." Probably more than you know. "We need to talk."

"I'm sorry that I've been gone so long," he retorted, trying to ignore the shift in his wife's tone. "I think I've tracked Jerry to a remote village in the Outback. It should only be a few more days before I'm back home to you. It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would. How is the hotel? How are the boys? How are you?"

Carly listened to the order of his questions. He had asked about the hotel before her children. He had asked about her children and the hotel before her. If that didn't tell her something, nothing would. "Your precious hotel is fine," she assured him. "Michael and Morgan spent the night with Sonny. He had Kristina, so they were going to have a big slumber party with Max and Milo."

"And you? How is my beautiful wife this morning? Something must be up for you to call me," he half-accused. "I know that I haven't been in contact much, but I can still read you. What have you gotten yourself into this time? Just let me know and I'm sure that I can help you clean up your mess."

A pointed huff soon filled his ear. "First of all, you're not the man I go to when I need someone to clean up my mess. To be that person, you would have to be here. Considering that you've spent a majority of our marriage chasing after your damn brother, I'd say that you hardly qualify," she spat. "Now then, I'm glad you think that you know me so well as to assume that my tone means that I'm in trouble. The thing is, you've read me all wrong. My reluctance to talk to you has nothing to do with my inferiority and everything to do with yours."

"Carly, what are you talking about?" he questioned slowly.

"I'm leaving you," she stated plainly. She didn't let a note of question creep into her voice. It only exuded confidence. "You've left me more times than you've saved me. That's not what love is, Jax. Love is showing up for someone when they need you the most. The only person you seem to love that much is your precious brother. I can't build my life around someone who could leave me on a moment's notice to chase someone halfway around the world. I need someone who is going to be there by my side, day in and day out, to fight my battles with me."

The silence on the other end of the line indicated that Jax was as surprised as she had predicted. "If that's what you need, I can come home, Carly. I had no idea that you felt that way. You should have told me. We could have figured this out together. Instead, you've gone and made a string of choices without me. Shouldn't I get a say in what happens to our marriage? You're still my wife, and I still love you."

The next words that Carly was about to speak were harsh, she knew that; however, she was afraid that they were the only ones blunt enough to make him really see how she felt. "Well, I don't love you." Giving him a few moments for them to sink in, she peered at her reflection in the mirror. A devoted wife would at least shed a few tears, but Carly was stoic and reserved. "Jax, try as you may, you're never going to be the man that I need you to be. We could both pretend for a few months or years, but it's always going to come back to him. Somewhere in your heart, you knew that our marriage had to be short-term. You had to know that eventually I'd wake up and see what was standing right there – not in front of me but by my side."

Jax thought back to his wedding day when Carly had been so late to the ceremony. When she hadn't shown up, he had feared that she had left Port Charles with Jason. He had always known that it would only take one look, one word, and she would take her boys and run back to him. In his absence, it appeared that Jason had finally found his way back to her. "When you left Sonny, you told me that you were tired of the danger. You told me how you wanted to have a life separate from the mob. I can give you that, Carly. Jason can't."

"Maybe not," she agreed, "but Jason can give me something that you never will. He can give me all of his heart. He can give me a lifetime of love. You and I – we would never have that. You once all of your heart a long time ago to a certain brunette that now resides in Paris. That's the same part of my heart that Jason has always carried around in his shirt pocket. Try as we might, there is no changing that."

"Well, I would have tried, and I guess that's more than you can say," he remarked sadly. He had moved on from Brenda and would never go back to her. Still, he could understand what she meant, and there was no way their relationship could come back from that. "I'm guess that you've already started the divorce process. I'll call Alexis after we hang up and have her draw up my papers. Just let her know what you want to do and she'll negotiate on my by behalf."

"I'd like you to buy my half of the hotel," she told him. "The only thing I want is my house. You can have everything else that we've purchased together. It was never really my passion, but it is yours. If you insist on paying me for it, you can donate the money to Courtney's foundation in the boys' name. I don't want any of the money. It's never been what this was about."

He started to ask what their marriage had been about, but he knew. It had been about loneliness and a need for someone to love. "I will have someone draw up the check and get everything pushed through as quickly as possible. I know that you don't want any of the money, but I don't feel right about just taking it from you. I will make a sizable donation to the foundation in the boys' name. What would you like me to do with the proceeds from the Metrocourt?"

Carly thought for a moment. "I'd like you to split it four ways and put it into the trusts for Michael, Morgan, Kristina and Molly. That way, all the children in our lives will benefit from something that we built. Alexis can take care of the legalities. She just went through the process with Emily's estate."

"Fine," he agreed. "I guess that there isn't really anything else to say. I'll trust you to pack up my things and send them over to the hotel. If you could just look after it until I return, I would appreciate it. I'm sure that there are some loose ends there that you need to tie up. If there should be anything else, you can get in touch with me through Alexis."

A small tear escaped from Carly's eyes as she realized that her marriage to Jax was almost done. It had been easier than she had thought that it would be. A part of her had wanted him to fight pack, to tell her that she was worth fighting for. Another part was grateful that he was letting her walk away unscathed. That part of her suspected that he knew that this day would come and that he had an escape route planned in his head. As she wiped the wetness from her cheek, she wondered if that escape included his so-called best friend, Alexis. Maybe he would finally open his eyes enough to realize what they could mean to each other.

"I know you won't believe me when I say this, but I really did want this to work. I tried to make myself believe that you would be all that I ever needed, but I couldn't. None of this is your fault," she promised. "I had to go back to him because that's where I belong. You think that I don't belong in that life, but I do. I belong smack in the middle of it, keeping it alive like a beating heart. Even if we stayed married, I'd never escape from the life I chose ten years ago. Some women are built for the PTA, but I was built for the mob."

"You were built for so much more. I'm only now just beginning to see that, and maybe that was part of the problem," he declared. "You always told me that Jason could see things in you that no one else could. I'm sorry that it took me so long to see what he has known all along."

"No apologies necessary. It's time for me to get the boys, so I have to go. Have a safe trip home, I hope you find what you are looking for," Carly said before hanging up the phone. As she turned back to the reflection that she had scrutinized earlier, she felt a definite sense of accomplishment.

Jax would never understand how she could pass up safety and security for the fear of the unknown. However, given the chance, Carly would make the same choice over and over again. She had built her life around an organization that few understood but that she knew all too much about. Her only regret would be the risk that it would put her boys at, but even that, she couldn't regret too much. Although their childhoods weren't exactly picturesque or even normal, they were filled with love and adventure. Bad things could happen to anyone, but if they happened to her sons, at least they were surrounded with guards who would die to save their lives. It wasn't ideal, but it was their lives. It was their family.