Chapter Fifteen

"Elizabeth!"

She grimaced before turning and looking at Jason expectantly. "Hi, Jason."

He looked her over quickly before resting his eyes on hers. "Sam mentioned that you had a new guard. One that knew me. She said Francis was here."

Smiling, she nodded her head toward the left where Francis was standing. "He is back."

Jason turned and eyed the older man. The last words that they had spoken had not been pleasant, but he had never expected Francis to go to another organization. In their business, it was a death wish to turn your back. "Why would you go to Zacchara?" he demanded harshly, forgetting Elizabeth standing at his side. "You do understand how this will look. It's not good, Francis."

"It's no worse than killing innocent an man because of the word of two crazy, backstabbing bitches, Jason. I took a lucrative offer when I was approached. I have been with John several years now. I came home when he said Liz here needed someone that she was comfortable with, could trust, to guard her." He eyed his former boss coldly. "But let's face it, Jason. Guards should have already been assigned to Lizbits and the kids, way before John entered the picture. It's a shame that you have allowed yourself to become so cold that you don't even care if your son is targeted, as long as the new wife is happy."

"Francis!" Elizabeth snapped, quickly stepping in between the two. "You need to stop." She turned and looked at Jason, clearly seeing that his anger was boiling just below the surface. "You need to go. I won't have this confrontation in my front yard. The boys are in the inside and they don't need to see this. Just leave, please."

"Wait!" He caught her wrist as she started to turn away. "Is that how you feel too? That I didn't care enough? That I just wanted Sam happy?"

Blinking, she shrugged. "What else was I suppose to think, Jason. You can't claim Jake because of the danger, but wow, Sam is pregnant. Everyone knows who the father of her baby is. Jake didn't even rate a damn guard. And lets not forget after the last kidnapping the conversation at the courthouse. NO CONTACT! Do you remember that, Jason?" She lowered her voice when Johnny walked out of the house and touched her arm. Sliding her hand into his, she sneered at the man looking dumbfounded in front of her. "Do those actions show that we mattered in the least little bit, Jason? Because they sure don't to me. You can have Sam and the new, meaningful baby. I'm perfectly happy with my kids and Johnny. I know that we matter, that we are important."

"What about Lucky? The poor addict may not survive another bad thing happening. Remember asking me to give my child up because of that bastard?" Jason demanded angrily. "You started the whole mess."

"Your right, I did. But you still chose not to be with us after I begged you to change your mind, Jason. You didn't have to give Jake up in the beginning either. I asked, but you said yes. I am fault too, I have never denied that, but you aren't the poor victim. You went back to the woman who watched our son be kidnapped and then hired men to threaten me and the boys with guns!" She cocked her head to the side and snarled slightly. "It was a real eye opener. I always thought that Sonny and Carly were the only ones that got free passes for their mistakes. Shows how wrong I was."

"You honestly believe all that you are saying? I love Jake! I loved you all. I walked away to protect you!"

"That might be a reasonable excuse if you weren't expecting a bundle of joy with Sam. Don't worry, Jason. I fully expected you to move on, and I do wish you happiness. But you asked what I thought, and I told you. Don't ask if you don't want the truth. I'm done protecting everyone else's emotions." She turned toward Johnny and kissed his cheek. "I'm going to go check on the boys."

All three men watched as she walked into the house and shut the door. Francis turned and saw the stunned expression on his former friend's face. "You had to know that she felt like they had been tossed away, Jason."

"They did matter. They always have," he said softly.

Johnny sighed and looked back at the house. "I don't know what the hell happened out here, but it needs to stop. Her blood pressure was high yesterday at the doctor's office. Kelly specifically told her to avoid stress. With everything going on, the least that you both could do is not to start a fight in front of her."

Wincing, Francis nodded. "Liz will be fine, Johnny. She is strong."

"I know that. She has to be in order to have survived her life so far. But she is pregnant and has had two previous miscarriages. Whatever you two need to deal with, leave her out of it." He turned without another a word and followed her back inside.

Jason sighed as he massaged his neck. "I hate to say it, but he is right. Elizabeth doesn't need to hear us arguing. You know that Sonny is going to see this as a betrayal, Francis."

"Why wouldn't he? Supposively Johnny O'Brien was a traitor too. You can just tell Sonny that I am staying loyal to Liz. She is the only one of us that ever deserved loyalty. I am just making sure that her and the boys are safe."

Flinching at the little dig, Jason nodded. "I know that you always cared about her."

"I did and still do. I don't care who she is with as long as they treat her right. She seems happy, Jason. That's all that she wants, happiness. I don't care if it with John Zacchara or another man. She deserves to be happy. And John will protect her with his life." Francis started toward the porch before turning back and smiling. "Tell Sonny that I said hello and I will be seeing him soon."

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

Jagger looked around the park uneasily. When Elizabeth had insisted on taking a walk to get some fresh air, he had volunteered to take her since Francis was engaged in a video game battle with the boys and Johnny was at a meeting. Now he was wishing that he had insisted that she stay home. Something was wrong. His instincts were screaming at him to get her back to the house.

"Liz, I think that we should go back."

"Jagger, calm down. I need some fresh air and exercise. Being out here is just what I needed to help me calm down."

Shaking his head as he studied the stubborn set of her jaw, he laughed. "I though Brenda was bad, but you are way more stubborn."

Elizabeth smacked his arm and giggled. "I'm not use to being cooped up all the time, Jagger. I bring the boys to the park a lot, and with all the trouble lately, it hasn't really happened. I can't stand being indoors all the time."

"Fine, but just so you know, Johnny is not going to be happy."

"I can get around that," she informed him with a wink and laugh.

Knowing that she was not going to be persuaded to go back until she was ready, Jagger nodded. "That is probably how you ended up pregnant, huh."

Choking, her eyes widened before she blushed and started down one of the paths. "You are perfect for Brenda, you know. She never thinks before she blurts things out either."

Jagger snorted. "You started it, brat, not me. One of Brenda's guards mentioned a younger guy watching Georgie at the mall. Did you happen to see who it was?"

Elizabeth paused and looked over at him. "No, but she did seem nervous after we had lunch. She was jumpy. I know that since her and Cooper broke up, he has been a pain to deal with, but I didn't see him there."

"It wasn't Cooper. Our guys are familiar with him. I am glad that she stopped seeing him when she did though. He took a side job as Corinthos' informant."

"Really?" She started walking as she thought that over. "She said that he started pushing her to move in about the time that Johnny and I got involved. Georgie would have never told Coop anything anyway because he was a cop. She knows that there are somethings that are better left unspoken."

"She is a wonderful girl. I wasn't implying that she would, but Cooper was going to try and use her to get information on John. She is your babysitter and a close friend, so she would be a good source of information about John and you." Jagger took a drink of his coffee. "I think that she deserves better anyway. I was just concerned that the guards noticed that someone was watching her. With her connections to you and the boys, I want to check it out."

"Of course," she nodded in agreement. "Georgie is a sweet person. I don't want her hurt or in danger because of me."

They walked in silence as Elizabeth's mind wandered. Her house was loud tonight and she had needed the time to decompress after dealing with the boys, Johnny, Francis, Jagger, Brenda, Patrick, Robin, and Emma for most of the evening. While she loved company, all she had really wanted was some quiet. After Johnny had left for a meeting, she had practically threatened to disappear if Jagger didn't take her for a walk. She had been craving the peace after all the chaos earlier.

She stumbled as Jagger grabbed her arm and shoved her behind him without warning. She tensed and went perfectly still as she heard him removing the safety from his gun.

"What do you want?" he demanded in a deadly voice.

"Just to speak with the little mother to be. After all, don't I deserve to know the tramp that has tricked my Johnny into turning his back on me?" Anthony asked with a cackle.

Jagger kept the gun pointed at the old man's head. "You can't honestly think that I will let you anywhere near Elizabeth. What do you really want, Anthony?"

His eyes narrowed as he studied the man in front of him. "I want to speak to that little bitch. That's all."

"I don't think so. After all, weren't you and Ric in cahoots to grab Liz? Why would I trust anything that you have to say. You need to leave, Anthony. Otherwise, you will be leaving by a method that I am sure that you don't really want to explore," Jagger informed him in a flat voice.

When the sound of gunfire broke into the quiet night, Elizabeth swallowed a scream and prayed.