Chapter Seventeen
Sonny eyed the dark haired woman standing in front of him. He honestly could not think of a better person to handle what he wanted done. Her well known hatred of Elizabeth Webber would take all suspicion off of him and point directly at her. It was no secret the two woman had no love lost between the two of them. "Can you handle this without messing it? I want absolutely no room for errors."
"Trust me, Sonny, I can handle little Miss Perfect. Even her new guard won't stop me. I don't care how much he loves that little twit."
A feeling of apprehension shot through his body. "What new guard, Sam? Why Zacchara hire her a guard that loves her?"
She rolled her eyes and flopped into the chair across from the desk. "I assumed that you would know him. He said that he guarded Liz before and he called Jason by name." She paused and bit her lip while trying to recall the information. "I think his name was Francis."
"Corelli! Francis Corelli is back and working for Johnny Zacchara! That stupid son of a bitch betrayed me!" Sonny raged.
As the dark look crossed his face and he flew into a tantrum, Sam stood and eased toward the door to the office. Seeing that he was completely lost in the pull of his dark spiral, she quickly closed the door after exiting. Looking over at a concerned Max, she shrugged. "He blew up at learning that Elizabeth has a new guard from Johnny that I guess worked for you guys at one point."
Scratching his jaw, Max thought over the past guards. "The only ones that were really close to Miss Webber were O'Brien and Corelli. O'Brien died years ago after he betrayed Sonny. Francis left for the island casino shortly afterward."
"The man introduced himself as Francis when I ran into her at the mall," she confessed innocently.
"Oh, man. the boss is not going to take this lightly." Max's head shot up as he could hear glass shattering in the office. He looked back at Sam in concern. "You should go, Mrs. Morgan. The boss isn't all that happy right now."
Sam hid her smirk as she left the office and headed toward Kelly's to meet her mother and Monica for lunch. She had managed to further anger Sonny just by mentioning the new guard that Johnny had placed on that little bitch. Destroying Elizabeth's life was going to be easier than she orginally thought. Now she had Sonny wanting her to cause Elizabeth to miscarry the newest Zacchara heir. Sam smiled and her steps became light as she thought of ways to accomplish that goal without any blame being placed on her. Anything she could do to the woman that had stolen her first child from Jason, Sam relished. Nothing gave her more pleasure than hurting little Miss Perfect Webber.
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Johnny wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close as they looked out at the city. He brought his lips down to nuzzled against her neck and smiled when she shivered and moaned at his touch. "So, any regrets in the light of a new day?"
"None at all." Elizabeth turned and placed a kiss against his lips. "I love you, Johnny."
"And I love you too, Mrs. Zacchara." He paused and chuckled. "Never thought that I would ever say that."
"Up until a couple months ago, I can honestly say that I never thought I would hear that." She smirked as she shoved him backwards and eased him onto the couch. She sat on his lap and nipped at his ear. "I guess that the terror of my past brought us together."
His eyes flared at the mention, no matter how subtle, of Baker. He cupped her face and stared into her sapphire eyes, seeing only happiness in their depths. "I just hope that the boys are okay with the changes that will have to be done."
"Cameron and Jake adore you, Johnny. You are great with them." She placed her hand on her abdomen. "Just like you will be terrific with this little one."
His expression softened at the mention of their child. "I will never let anything happen to any of you. But speaking of the kids, we need to decide where we are going to live. My penthouse is way too small as it is and your place is not secure enough. Especially now. My father's death will be seen as a opening."
Not wanting their time together to be filled with tenseness, she ran her hands down his bare chest. "Talk later. There are other things that we should be doing now."
He chuckled, agreeing with her assessment one hundred percent. "Fine with me," he growled as he swept her up and into his arms. "Jagger and Brenda will stay with the boys until tomorrow morning." He dropped her playfully on the bed and immediately followed her down to brace his hands on either side of her. "And just what exactly do you want, baby?"
"You," she breathed before his kiss took her breath away.
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Several hours later, both exhausted and starving, they sat on the couch in the hotel room waiting on their food to be delivered. He ran a hand through her curles and watched in amusement as she yawned widely. "Are you tired?"
Elbowing him playfully, Elizabeth sat up. "It's your fault. You are the one that insisted that we take that shower."
"Oh no. You aren't blaming me for that. The escapade in the shower was at your instigation." He moved quickly off the couch at the knock on the door. "Saved by the food."
"Uh huh," she muttered as she arched an eyebrow at him. "Only a small reprieve, Johnny."
Chuckling at her sassiness, he quickly tipped the boy that had brought their dinners up. After handing her the pizza slices and french fries that she had insisted on, Johnny dug into his lasagna and salad. Their dinner was filled with a comfortable silence as they both ate and relaxed.
"What exactly are you thinking about in regards to our living situation?" she asked as she found the container that held her chocolate iced brownie.
Grabbing a beer from the mini fridge, he looked over and smiled at the look of bliss on her face as she ate the sweet treat. He had never met anyone that loved chocolate like she did. "Um, I was thinking that we should buy a house. Somewhere new for everyone. A fresh start for a new life."
Her eyes widened. "Johnny! I am not letting you buy me a new house."
"Letting me buy... I think that you are forgetting that it is our money, Elizabeth. You are my wife. Therefore, it is us buying a house for our family."
Speechless, she shook her head uncomfortably and swallowed. "I didn't marry you to get a new house."
"I know that. But trust me, we have enough money to buy a house anywhere that we want." He saw her pale and shook his head. "Elizabeth, the Zacchara family has always protected their money very well. We are wealthy. Don't worry of it."
"But..."
He clasped her hands in his and brushed a kiss against her soft lips. "Stop being so damned proud. Money is just something that is there. It doesn't matter. We need a house for our family, our children. It needs to be secure. I don't flaunt my wealth, Liz, but I do use it to protect what matters. You, Cam, Jake, and the new baby, you are the most important things in my life. We will have a house that has state of the art security. I won't take any chances with your safety."
She nibbled on her lip and sighed. She knew that Johnny was right, but it still made her uncomfortable to realize how much money that she now had. "Fine," she relented. "However, I am going to continue to work."
Unhappy with that, but knowing it was a battle for another day, he squeezed her hand. "For now, I don't think that will be a big concern as long as Jagger or Francis are with you."
"But everything is safe now. Why do I need the guards?"
"Baby, I am now fully in charge of the organization. I was before too, but with Anthony gone, any danger that comes will be directly against me." Johnny settled her against his chest and held her tightly. "You know how this world works. Can you deal with it all?" he asked hesitantly, hoping that she did not back out now.
Still not liking all the changes, but knowing that it had to be done, Elizabeth snuggled more firmly into his arms. "For you, anything. I just hate that we need all the precautions."
"I do too. But I refuse to take risks where you and our family are concerned. Nothing will ever be more important than your safety and happiness. Besides, I am still not certain that Corinthos, Sam, and a few others will handle this that well. Your ex is also a concern. Spencer is unstable."
"Lucky is Lucky. He will just run his mouth. Don't worry about him."
Johnny shook his head. One of the things that he loved about his new wife was her forgiving nature and compassion, but he sometimes thought that she dug her head into the sand on certainn subjects. Lucky Spencer was one of them. The detective was definitely going to need a careful eye kept on him. He was sure that Jagger had intentionally taunted the overreactive man with the news of their marriage anyway.
Deciding not waste time on talking about a man that he did not trust and never would, Johnny smiled faintly when he saw that she had drifted off to sleep in his arms. He knew that the pregnancy was zapping her strength from her, especially after all the emotional upheaval that last night had caused. His attention was caught by the ring on her left hand and he again felt the delight that she had accepted his mother's ring.
After Anthony had killed Maria, Johnny had snuck into the room where they had taken the body to wait on the clean up crew. Even at the young age, he had known that he would never have anything of his mother's after she had left the earth. She had told him several times that the ring had been made to look like her own grandmother's and that she treasured it. Johnny had removed the ring and hid it from Anthony for years, wanting a piece of his mother that the old man was unable to tarnish. Having Elizabeth now wearing the ring, his heart filled with love. He could have bought her any diamond that she desired, but she had easily accepted the ring that had been Maria's after he had asked. Knowing Elizabeth though, Johnny was certain that she would have fought him over an expensive ring that was brand new. She valued family above all things, something that he had not had since his mother's death, until she had entered his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason sat on the bench that overlooked the harbor and looked up as Carly walked toward him. "Hey. You shouldn't be down here at night. You know better."
She sighed and sat beside him. It was obvious that Jason had been deep in thought. "Jase, you have to let her be happy. You have Sam and you two are expecting a baby. She deserves to be happy too."
His icy blue eyes met hers and he released a breath. "I am just worried, Carly. Johnny Zacchara is a part of the life that I never wanted for and the boys. I wanted them safe and happy."
"I know that you did, but she wasn't happy. For years I thought that Elizabeth had walked away because she was afraid of the danger. Jax made me see that you actually pushed her away because of your own fear." She studied his face and saw the pain that was hidden under the mask of coldness. "You chose to go back to Sam. You shoved Elizabeth away when she made the attempt years ago to be with you. Let go, Jase. Be happy with Sam and the baby that you are having. Johnny and Elizabeth are starting a family together. Let them be happy too. You can't have them both."
He pinched his nose. "I love Sam. I am happy with her, Carly. I just have a hard time accepting that Johnny will be around my son."
"I know. But you were going to let Lucky raise him. He may be my cousin, but you can see that he resents Jake because he is yours. It is best that he is out of his life."
They both paused as Max walked up to Jason. The concern on his face caused them both to pause. "What is it, Max?"
"You are needed at Sonny's. Sam stopped in and told him about Francis being back and he freaked. Then he saw Brenda at Kellys' and she mentioned that Zacchara married Miss Webber last night. Milo and I got him home, but he is having a meltdown, screaming about betrayal. No one can calm him."
"Johnny and Elizabeth got married?" Carly gasped. Her eyes flew to Jason's and she could see that he was stunned too. Hoping that this finally convinced him to let go of the feelings that he carried for the younger woman, she touched his arm. "Go deal with Sonny. I will see you later, Jase. Bye, Max."
Max waited until Cary was gone before turning back to Jason, unsure how to approach the topic of what else he needed to say. "Um, there is more. You need to warn Zacchara. Mr. C. was talking about making Miss Webber pay for betraying you and him. I am worried that he will go after her."
Jason cursed and kicked the bench that he had been sitting on. "I will deal with Sonny. You try and get a hold of Johnny or Jagger, hell even Francis, and tell them I need to see him. Tell them that is important and make sure that they know that it is a friendly meeting. Fuck! What the hell is Sonny thinking?" he growled as he took off up the docks stairs.