A/N: Sorry about the delay...I still have no electricity from the storms that hit my area last Friday. For those reading Regrets and Mistakes, I will try to udate by morning. I am hoping to have time to get a chapter up while I am on break at work.

I appreciate all the wonderful reviews. Please keep them coming!

Chapter Eleven

Grabbing up the milkshake that Georgie had just placed in front of her, Elizabeth took a drink and sighed before glancing back up at the younger woman. "Thank you so much. So, are you stopping by later on? I know that Mac is out of town visiting Felicia. You can use the guest room if you want."

Georgie smiled at the offer. "I am stopping in after work, if only to see Brenda torture Jagger." She smirked at the frowning man in question before turning back to her friend. "I am staying at the house, but thank you for the offer."

"No problem. If you change your mind, the offer is open. How did Cooper take the news that you wanted some time and space?"

Georgie blew her bangs out of her eyes. "He was pissed, but it was ok. At least he didn't turn psycho like Lucky seems to do with you sometimes." Pausing and frowning at the person entering the diner, she rolled her eyes. "Carly alert," she warned before heading off to another customer.

Elizabeth turned and watched as the obviously upset Carly approached her. She held up a hand when Jagger went to intercept the blonde. "Hello, Carly."

"Don't you sit there like an innocent woman and Carly me! How could you do this? Is it a sick thrill or payback because he moved on?" she screached at the top of her lungs.

Arching her brow and waving Georgie back, Elizabeth smiled. "I think you have finally lost it. What is your problem now? I am nowhere near anyone that you care about."

"You are involved with Johnny freaking Zacchara! You are pregnant with his brat! Did you even stop to think about how Jason and Sonny would react to this? They were your friends, Elizabeth, and you are sleeping with their enemy! You are purposely hurting them! I always knew that you were nothing but trouble. Just a piece of trash moving from one man to the next. You have no loyalty!"

"Shut up!" Elizabeth snapped angrily. "Who I am seeing is no one's business. As for Jason and Sonny, they are not my friends. They sure don't care about their actions hurting anyone, so why should I care if they don't like who I am with? They are not a part of my life. I am happy with Johnny and it has not a damn thing to do with you or your two lap dogs. My pregnancy is none of your concern. It does not affect any of you."

"You bitch! You know why this concerns them!"

"No, Carly, I don't. Any problems that they have are not my concern. I don't answer to either one of them."

Jagger stepped in front of Carly when she went to advance on the smaller woman. "Enough! Back off."

Sneering at the man guarding Elizabeth, Carly huffed. "Of course she would need you to protect her! She is worthless! A nobody! Hopefully this will open Sonny and Jason's eyes about who you really are. Saint Elizabeth's fall from grace! You really are a piece of work."

"I doubt it will actually wake them up. After all, they never realized what a piece of shit and slut that you are," Elizabeth snarked.

Carly's eyes widened and she howled with anger. "You will regret that!"

Watching her stomp out of the nearly empty diner, Georgie turned and looked at Elizabeth and Jagger. "Are you ok, Liz?"

"I'm use to her by now. I have been dealing with Carly's delusions since I was young. I'm fine, Georgie," she reassured her.

"She needs help," Jagger muttered as he grabbed his ringing phone and stepped off to the side to answer it.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes. We were keeing it quiet because of Johnny's family. He is afraid of how they will react." Elizabeth smiled softly. "I guess between Sam and now Carly, it will be all over soon enough."

Georgie laughed. "Probably. Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks." Elizabeth looked over at Jagger when he hung up with a scowl at his face. "What's wrong?"

"I need to go. The cops just called John. Claudia was found murdered on the docks."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. She really hasn't been here long enough to cause any real problems yet."

"Georgie, I will see you later," Elizabeth said as she grabbed her jacket and pulled it on.

Waiting until they were in the SUV, Jagger looked over at her after pulling out into traffic. "The guards are taking the boys home as we speak. We aren't sure exactly what is going on, but Johnny wants you all at the house."

"Ok. Where is he?"

"Talking with Anthony at the family estate."

Glancing over and seeing Jagger's tight face, Elizabeth wrinkled her forehead. "Are you guys thinking that it was a business move?"

"Not exactly. John is leaning more toward personal. Anthony has never had much to do with Claudia and he is wary of the entire situation."

Thinking on the encounter that she had with the old man at the Ball, Elizabeth easily understood why Johnny was questioning if his father was involved, but it was also hard to think that anyone could kill their own child. Looking out of the window as they drove toward the house, she sighed and rubbed her temples. She was just thankful that Johnny had not turned out insane like his father or hard and bitter like Claudia had been.

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"Why? Why in the hell would you kill your own daughter?" Johnny demanded as he stormed into Anthony's den. "Have you lost your freaking mind?"

Anthony smirked up at his enraged son. "Who says I did? Claudia was not exactly some sweet and innocent girl wandering about, Johnny. Your sister was a real piece of work."

"Bullshit!" he snapped. "You did it. I know it and you know it. I want to know why."

Tilting his head to the side and observing his son, Anthony started to chuckle. "Did you actually love your sister, John? That is funny. Did you know that she was conspiring to kill your precious Elizabeth and the child that she is carrying?" He watched as Johnny stopped pacing and stared at him. "That's right. I know about you knocking litte Miss Perfect up. Too bad your sister heard. She wanted no part of another heir being born and taking away from her supposive spot in the organization."

"You serious?" Johnny demanded.

"Sure am. I killed her for you. She was going to come after the family that you are making." Anthony leaned back and slowly smiled without taking his gaze off of him. "Your welcome, by the way."

Unsure what to think, Johnny sat in the chair and sighed. "Why would you care that she would come after Elizabeth and our child?"

"Not for you, Johnny boy, that is for sure. That baby could be the best thing for us. It will give us someone to train to take over, to run everything. Maybe I will get lucky and it will be strong and smart, unlike you."

Johnny sneered. "You will not have anything to do with this child. You are crazy!" He stood and moved toward the door. "You didn't have to kill Claudia. I could have handled the threat. I will protect them with everything that I have, you should remember that small fact."

"Don't you want to know who she was working with? She had a plan and a partner," He taunted.

"It was you. You turned and killed her to try and get close with me," Johnny growled. "Too bad you didn't remember how much that I hate you. If you make the mistake of coming after anyone that I care about, you will die, and by my hand. I have no problem with taking you out." He curled his lips and sneered. "For my mother. You do remember killing her, don't you? Because I sure remember watching you do it. This is your only chance. Stay away or die. It doesn't matter to me."

Anthony watched, amused, as Johnny disappeared out the door. Too bad that he had no idea where the true threat was coming from. Before the week was up, Johnny would be dead and Anthony would end up with the child to raise. He glanced up as Ric entered the room and cackled. "Are we all set?"

"Yes. The safe house is all set and I have found men to guard it. All that is left is to take Elizabeth. I am trying to find a weak spot in her security, but Johnny is being very protective of her." Ric eyed the older man, unsettled by the glee in his eyes.

"Good. Just remember to take John out. You don't want him coming after you, Ric. He would be absolutely ruthless."

"I know that. He will be killed along with his main man. Jagger Cates has connections that I am not willing to chance." Ric smiled. "Then you get what you want and I get what I want. Elizabeth will be mine."

"What is it about this woman that makes all you men lose all reason? You, Morgan, that worthless detective, and John all think that the sun sets ans rises in her ass. Women are faithess, Ric. You would do well to remember that small fact."

"She is different, Anthony. She is special." Ric sat back and smiled smugly. "There is just something about her that is unexplainable."

Disgusted, Anthony laughed. "As long as you get that bitch and the baby is healthy, you can keep her as your pet for all I care. Just make sure that nothing goes wrong or you will never be in the same air space as Miss Webber again."

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

Jagger groaned. "He is planning something, John."

Running a hand through his dark hair, Johnny nodded. "I know. We just need to figure out who he is working with. If he killed Claudia, it is because she was going to do something that he was upset over, and I guarantee that it wasn't to warn me," he scoffed. He looked up at the house where Elizabeth was putting the boys to bed. "It has to do with Elizabeth and the pregnancy."

"I know, that is what I figured too. Are you telling Liz what we suspect?"

Sighing, he nodded sightly. "I have too. She needs to be aware that something is happening so that she can be extra careful." He blew out a breath and eyed his friend. "If anyone approaches her that you get the least litte vibe from, have them grabbed. Anthony has completely lost it if he thinks that he will get near her or her boys."

"Um, Carly and her had an altercation today at Kelly's. She was throwing around the guilt about hurting Jason."

Johnny laughed. "Yeah, I am sure that worked really well since Elizabeth completely understands him leaving his first born son for one with that whore that wants Jake dead. He is the one that has no loyalty to his real family. And Carly, well she has no concept of trust and being faithful. She is the biggest hypocrit I have ever met."

"Let's just say that Liz held her own against the hurricane of Carly." Jagger glanced back up at the house before looking back down at his watch. "I will call in extra guards from Rome. Do you think that bringing Francis back will freak her out since he is working for you now?"

"I think that it would help her. She has always trusted him and he loves her like a sister."

"Ok, I will get him on the first plane. But you know that he will not be very happy with you," Jagger warned with a smirk.

Johnny rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yeah, well, I told him last year that I wouldn't walk away from her anymore. He will get over it. As long as Elizabeth needs him, he will be here."

"You are certainly right about that. I have to go. Brenda and I are going out to dinner," Jagger added with a wink. "I will call Francis on my way."

After watching him leave, Johnny sighed before heading into the house. Entering the kitchen he smiled when he saw Elizabeth was just putting a batch of cookies in the oven. Walking over, he slid his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "Yum, peanutbutter. My favorite."

Turning and placing her arms around his neck, Elizabeth smiled before pulling him down for a kiss. "I'm sorry about Claudia, Johnny."

"I'm not." When she gasped and looked up, he shrugged. "She was going to try and kill you. My father killed her to stop it, but now I am concerned about what he is exactly plotting."

Eyes wide, Elizabeth pulled away and leaned against the counter. "Damn! You were right about how they would freak about the pregnancy."

"Yep. I usually am," he cheekily replied, making her laugh in spite of the topic of conversation. "Um, I am calling in a couple more people from my business projects in Rome. I just need you to promise to stick close to the guards until we figure out what the my father is up to."

"I will, I promise."

Johnny pulled her back into his arms and held her close while resting his head on top of hers. "I heard that you had a run in with Carly. Too bad that I missed it. I love it when you get all feisty." He slid his hands down to her waist and lifted her up so that she was sitting on the table.

Shaking her head at him, she brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, pulling him to her. "Well, you can always see my feisty side anytime that you want, you know that."

Unleashing a sexy smile, Johnny caught her face with his hands. "I love you, Elizabeth. You are the best thing that every happened to me." He buried his hands in her hair and brought his face to hers. Crushing his lips against hers, Johnny slowly pushed her on to her back. Johnny was easing her shirt up over her head when his phone rang. Groaning against her mouth, he raised up on his forearms. "Dammit!"

Untanging herself from him, Elizabeth frowned at his phone. "We can finish later," she promised.

"You can bet on that," he said as he looked at the screen on his phone. Seeing that it was a call that he had been waiting for, Johnny answered it as she pulled the cookies from the oven. "Hey, Alex. What do you have for me?" He listened to the response and his eyes went dark and flat as anger coursed through him.