Chapter Eight

Jake was running through the house giggling as he tried to escape getting into his pajamas after his bath. Laughing, Johnny swooped the blonde haired little boy into his arms and tickled his belly. "Just where is your mommy, Jake? You need some pj's," he teased the little boy as he headed for the stairs where Elizabeth had disappeared up to to get the boys ready for bed.

"No clothes!" Jake pouted, clingy to Johnny.

Elizabeth giggled as she started down the stairs to find her missing child. "Yes, baby boy, clothes. It is bed time."

Glancing up and seeing her standing there half drenched with water from bathing the boys, Johnny immediately felt his desire flare. Clearing his throat, he handed the little imp over when she held out her arms. "I think your escapee likes being mostly naked."

Kissing Jake's hair, she nodded. "Tell me about it. Getting him dressed is a nightmare."

"Do you want me to read to Cam while you settle Jake in for the night?"

Smiling at the offer, she shook her head. "He is already out, but thank you for offering. You wore him out playing football. Just relax and make yourself comfortable. I will be down after I get Jake in bed and change my shirt."

His eyes narrowed as he looked over her appearance. "If you insist. Good night, buddy." He laughed again when Jake pouted as Elizabeth carried him the rest of the way back up the stairs.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pulled it out and hit talk. "Zacchara."

"Hey, Johnny boy. Are you with your little woman?" Anthony sneered with disdain.

"What do you want?"

"Can't a father call and talk to his son every once in awhile without being interrogated?"

"Not when the father in question is bat ass crazy. What do you want?"

Anthony cackled. "Yep. You must be at Miss Webber's house. The boys must still be awake with how cranky you are. Maybe you should put the little monsters to bed and get in a better mood."

Sick of his father's crap, Johnny sighed. "Is there a point to your wonderful call?"

"Of course there is, Johnny boy. I am letting Claudia come home. She will be arriving in three days. I thought that you might want to invite your woman to meet her. We could have a family dinner."

Cursing that his sister would soon be back, he grimaced. "I am sure that Elizabeth would rather pass. What are you up to?"

"Oh, you know, making nice. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"No. What I want is for you to stay away from her and the boys. There is no way that I am letting you or my darling sister anywhere near her. You both are insane and evil."

"It runs in the family, you know. Maybe you should think about that when you take her to bed tonight. She must be a wild cat to get you to play house," Anthony taunted, trying to rile his son up.

Johnny closed his eyes and counted to ten, wanting to avoid shouting at his father. It only seemed to encourage his behavior. "Tell you what I will do. I am hanging up now, but tomorrow we will have another conversation about you staying clear of Elizabeth."

"Sure. Although I seriously doubt if it helps," Anthony replied in an amused tone before hanging up.

Staring at the phone in frustration, he shook his head. They needed to find out what Anthony was planning. Johnny knew that he plotting something, he could feel it in his bones. Add in Claudia and that meant double trouble.

Hearing the light footsteps on the stairs, he smiled over at Elizabeth as she walked over and sat beside him. "Jake finally go out?"

"Yep. I wish I knew where he got all the energy from." Glancing over at him, she saw the teasing look. "What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that you can be pretty energetic when you want to be."

Flushing, Elizabeth slapped his arm. "And like you aren't?"

Johnny smirked and pulled her close for a brief kiss. "Only when provoked."

When the door bell rang they both jumped slightly. Johnny stood and glanced out the window. Unhappy to see who was there, he hid his distaste and pulled open the door. "Hello, Dante."

Surprised to see the mobster in Elizabeth's living room and answering the door, Dante's eyes moved past him to see Elizabeth stand. "Hello, Elizabeth, Johnny. I am sorry to just drop in, but Mac and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I am hanging in there. Have you heard anything?" she questioned while knowing that they hadn't.

Amused at the way she was handling the detective and not letting on that she knew Baker was dead, Johnny stepped back and closed the door as Dante fully entered the house.

"Unfortunately, no. After the breaking and entering here, it has been quiet. His fingerprints were found on the surfaces, so we know it was him."

Shuddering at the idea of the animal in her house, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around herself. Noticing her reaction, Johnny stepped up behind her and protectively wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her back so that she was leaning against him. "Maybe he saw that I assigned her a guard and knew that he would not get close. Elizabeth is not left alone and she won't be until you catch him." Seeing Dante's eyes narrow at him, Johnny mentally shook his head. He did not understand while everyone found the idea of him and Elizabeth so odd.

"Well, I should get out here. I just wanted to make sure you were alright, Elizabeth. I promised Lucky I would check in on you too."

Rolling her eyes, she replied sweetly, "Yes, I know he was worried. After all, he knew that the man who raped me was on the lose and he jumped on a plane to go to Ireland, leaving me with the boys. I don't know what I would do if he cared anymore, it might smother me."

Johnny burst out laughing while Dante looked at her in surprise. Ignoring both of them, Elizabeth smiled at Dante. "I appreciate your concern, Dante. Tell Mac that I am ok. Better run on home to Lulu now. Bye." Shutting the door in his face she met Johnny's amused eyes that were brightly lit with his laughter. "What?" she asked innocently.

"You really do have a wicked streak."

"All of us so-called good girls do, Johnny. He pissed me off. He only brought Lucky up because you were here."

"It's nice to know that I don't have to worry about you letting someone getting the better of you in a verbal smack down match," he teased. "Do you want a beer? I am going to grab one."

"Nope. I think that I am going to drink a glass of wine instead. I'm not much of beer girl unless I am chasing something." Heading into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass, she looked over at him. "I do want to again for taking off today. I feel bad that you were worried."

"I wasn't mad, just concerned. You need to stick close to Jagger when I am not here. Anthony called tonight and while nothing was threatening in an overt way, I know he up to something. Plus my sister is coming back. She is as looney as he is."

"Trust me, I have no desire to tangle with either one of them. I just wanted to get to my doctors appointment and forgot."

Johnny caught her eyes with his. "I noticed that you were uncomfortable earlier when I asked, but is everything ok?"

Embarrassed, she ducked her head. "Yeah. I just wanted to see about some birth control options, but there aren't any I can take that I am comfortable with. It was no big deal, more like an informative discussion instead of an actual appointment."

Stopping and thinking on what she had just revealed, Johnny grabbed her wrist and gently tugged her over to him. "Just for clarification, you aren't already on anything?"

Swallowing, she shook her head. "No, there was no reason to be. I can't take anything hormonal after Ric almost killed me with birth control pills."

"And I never used anything the other night," he said softly.

"Um, well, we will from now on. We just got caught in the moment. I'm sure it will be fine."

Capturing her with a surprise kiss, he smirked against her lips. "Swept away doesn't even begin to do it justice. Is there a chance?"

Elizabeth sighed. "There is always a chance, Johnny, even with protection. Nothing is perfect. I'm sorry."

Tightening his hold when she tried to move out of his arms, he kept her where she was. "Uh uh, you aren't going anywhere. You don't get to say you are sorry. If it happens, it happens. I'm not going to stress over it." Before she question him, he swung her up in his arms, lightly nipping at her ear. "When I saw you earlier in that wet shirt, I wanted to take you right then. Now that the boys are in bed, I say that I get to do exactly what I wanted to do then. Trust me, you will definitely enjoy yourself."

Reaching up and nibbling on his neck, Elizabeth innocently widened her eyes. "Really? How can you be so sure?"

Dropping her swiftly on couch and stunning her, Johnny growled as he caught her wrists in one hand and held them above her head as he ripped her shirt open, scattering the buttons. Shoving her skirt up above her waist, his eyes flashed as he trailed kisses down her neck to her chest. "Because you are going to be begging before I give you what you want," he warned as she moaned and arched beneath him. When she whimpered and tried to get her hands loose to touch him, Johnny met her eyes and saw the desire swirling in their depths. "Uh uh, not yet," he whispered roughly as his free hand drifted down to remove her lacy black panties. Brushing his palm against her lightly and causing her to shiver in anticipation, he crushed his lips to hers when she gasped in delight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't wanna go to school! How come I have to and Jake doesn't? It's not fair!" Cam pouted as he stomped his foot.

"Cameron Steven Webber, stop that this instant! Jake isn't old enough to go to school yet, you know that," Elizabeth scolded. "Now put on your shoes right now, young man."

Jagger stood at the doorway and tried to hide his smile at the scene before him. Normally Cam never gave Elizabeth any trouble but this morning they were butting heads every couple of minutes.

Glancing at the clock, Elizabeth grabbed her purse and the Chugging Charlie backpack. "Come on. We are running late." Lifting up Jake, she grabbed his bag for daycare and looked expectantly at Cam who scowled but headed out to Jagger's SUV. "Sorry," she muttered. "I don't know what has gotten into him this morning."

"It's not a big problem, Liz. He is just being a normal seven year old."

Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "Lord, help me if this is how it will be every morning."

After they had dropped Cam and his guard off at the school, Jagger headed to GH. "Are you on a short shift today? I didn't think you worked until you called me last night."

"I wasn't suppose to. I am sorry if it messed up your day. There is a staff meeting for all surgical staff that I couldn't get out of."

"You didn't mess my day up. I just thought that I might have messed up when I wrote your schedule down." After parking he lifted Jake out of his car seat while she grabbed the bags. Tony was already waiting to walk with them to the daycare and go on duty.

Dropping the toddler and guard off, she headed toward the staff meeting room while Jagger took a spot outside of the door. As she sat down beside Robin, Elizabeth sighed. Her morning had been hectic and she was almost happy to be at the hospital to escape the craziness.

"You look exhausted, Liz. Are you sick?" Robin asked with concern.

"No. I had problems with Cam this morning and before that Jake fought getting dressed. I am just wondering where my sweet children went."

Patrick chuckled. "They are boys, Elizabeth. Sounds completely normal to me."

Debating on smacking him, she was amused when Epiphany did it for her. "Just wait until Emma is older, Patrick. I want to be there when she brings the first guy home."

Scowling at the thought, he glared at her. "Uh uh, no dating for Emma until she twenty."

Robin snickered. "Sure. I just hope that she doesn't inherit your earlier dating attitude."

Once Steven entered and started the meeting, Elizabeth steamed as she listened to him talk about cutting back on hours. With the economy the way that it was, she wasn't shocked, but it would still hurt her financially. Even working full time, she was barely making, but when they cut her shifts by two a week, it would kill her.

Dejected, she left the meeting and headed back to the garage with Jagger silently. Jake was staying in daycare for the day to have some interaction with the other kids and she just wanted to go home and relax. Hopefully she could throw the funk off that she was in before the boys got home.

Watching her brood, Jagger knew that she upset. He had heard what the meeting was about and understood that she was concerned. However, he also knew that she had five million that she had not touched yet. He was sure that Johnny would never let her struggle without helping.

"Did you need to go anywhere else, Liz?"

She was just starting to shake her head when Jagger grabbed her arm and pushed her slightly behind him. Peeking out from behind him, she was uneasy when she saw Ric heading toward her with an arrogant expression.

"Elizabeth, what are you thinking? I thought Anthony was joking when he told me that you are dating Johnny. Have you lost your mind? First Morgan and now Zacchara?" he snapped angrily.

Eying her ex husband, she slowly smiled at him. "You are right, Ric." Seeing his eyes widen with surprise, she smirked. "Yes, I lost my mind when I was married to you! I regained it when I divorced your ass! Who I date is none of your concern. You are not a part of my life anymore and I would like to keep it that way."

"I was never as dangerous as Johnny and Jason!" he protested hotly.

Arching her eyebrow, she looked at him in disbelief. "I disagree. No one else has ever secretly fed me birth control pills to the point that I overdosed and had a pulmonary embolism. No one else kidnapped a pregnant woman and chained her up in my house. Give me a break, Ric. You have no room to talk about anyone being dangerous."

When he took a threatening step toward her to grab her arm, Jagger blocked him and sneered. "I think that Elizabeth has made it clear that she doesn't want to talk to you. I would listen to that and leave."

"I have every right to talk to her! I don't know who you think you are!"

"And I have every right to tell you to go to hell," she snarked at him. "We have nothing to say to one another, Ric. Leave me alone."

"Fine, but this isn't over. I am not letting you waste your life with a mobster, Elizabeth," he vowed. "I will get you away from Johnny if it's the last thing I do!"

Shaking her head at his skewered views, she turned to Jagger. "Do I have stupid written on my face? Because people sure like to act like I do."

Amused at her, he helped her into the vehicle before releasing his laughter. Elizabeth was certainly starting to get her feisty side back. She was reminding him of the teenager that had told off the world when they tried to interfere and tell her how to live her life.

Catching movement out the corner of his eye as started the vehicle, he frowned when he saw Sam watching them closely while trying to conceal herself behind a truck. Wondering what she was up to, Jagger made a mental note to contact the man that they had watching her. Others might think that she had changed and regretted her past actions, but he had no such beliefs. She was just as dangerous as Anthony was on a bad day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny watched as Claudia sauntered down the stairs and joined them in the den. The past six years had hardened his sister and she was looking older than her actual age. "Claudia, what made you decide to come home? I thought that you hated it here."

"I do, John, but I got bored. Besides, I heard you were making peace instead of branching out and taking what we need from Corinthos-Morgan to expand."

"We don't need anything. The organization is doing fine."

"You went to the enemy to get a truce. That is not how you should be operating," she protested.

"I doubt if Morgan will be inclined to work with John now. I think your brother might have really hurt his alliance," Anthony stated with a gleeful look at Johnny. "He is involved with the woman that Morgan felt deserved better than him. I heard from some of the men that you had an interesting meeting with him at that run down bar."

Johnny shrugged. "He walked away. I am not. I don't care if he gets over it or not. His feelings are not my problem."

"Are you talking about that skank McCall, John? Please tell me that you are not touching that." Claudia was sick at the idea of her brother being conned by that type of woman.

With a devilish snicker, Anthony shook his head. "No. He is seeing the young Miss Webber."

Claudia's eyes narrowed at that. She always did research on people that she might have contact with and that woman's named had been mentioned several times throughout the years, and always linked to Morgans. "John, what are you thinking? She doesn't belong in this life. She is too weak."

Shaking his head, he held up his hand to stop her protest. "Don't even go there, Claudia. Who I am involved with is no one's concern but my own." Turning to glare at his father, he snarled, "I caught your man near her house the other night. I told you to stay away from her. I meant what I said. She and her kids are off limits!"

"No one is off limits in our world, John. Do you think that you can actually protect the little nurse?" Anthony taunted with twinkling eyes. "I never dreamed that she would be of more use against you instead of that brain damaged moron that Sonny depends on. I guess only time will tell if you can protect her."

Watching the byplay of her father and brother, Claudia knew exactly what the old man was up to. He was intending to use the woman to control John, something he had not been able to do for years. Interesting, she thought. Filing that bit of information away in case it was needed, she knew that she had to meet this woman face to face. It was something that she needed to do to see if she was as good of leverage that their father believed. Before it was over, Claudia planned on heading the Zacchara Organization and she did not care who she destroyed in the process.