Without a price
Chapter 20
As the door behind them closed, Lucky and Emily sighed with relief. To say the least, the governor had been surprised but had assured them he'd keep a watch over Maria. He knew the affair would become public news now, his reputation trashed but he was thinking it was for the best. If it meant saving his marriage, it might be worth the sacrifice. Maria needed attention, far more than he realized before, his attention. It was true that he had threw himself into his work and was now realizing the error of his ways but there was fortunately still room to make up for it.
Neither of them said a word as they walked toward the curb where Lucky had parked his car. They were tired, irritable, and sick of surprises for the moment.
As they climbed in the car and got settled, Lucky turned to Emily. "I need to go to the station and see what's up but I can drop you off at my apartment where you can get your SUV first."
Emily nodded, and responded "that would be best. I should get back to my apartment. I haven't exactly been there for the last week. Who knows how many bills arrived since then." Lucky agreed inwardly, remembering he had a couple to pay as well.
When they arrived at the apartment building, they separated but as Emily were walking toward her vehicle, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. It was Jason, who Emily hadn't talked to since their last conversation. Time to face yet another problem, Emily thought and answered it. "Hello?"
"You're not the easiest person to get into contact with," Jason commented on the other end.
"Neither are you at times." Emily remarked, reaching for her keys as she reached her vehicle.
Jason silently agreed with that assessment, continuing. "Do you have time to stop by?" He asked, meaning his penthouse.
Emily took a second to consider how to respond. Yes, she really should get home and take care of business, eat, and maybe get some sleep but…."Yeah, but why do you want me to?"
"I need advice," Jason admitted, which was saying a lot. Emily, however, doubted she was one to be giving advice at the given moment. She hadn't made the best decisions either recently.
"And you're asking me?" Emily said skeptically. "I mean, isn't Sonny good for that?"
"He's not here, besides he couldn't help. I need a girl's opinion" Jason explained.
"The last time I gave you advice on the female gender you completely denied what I was saying." Emily remarked.
Jason saw that one coming. "What do you want me to say? That I was wrong and you were right?" He seemed a bit annoyed at this but Emily was quite annoyed herself so it was probably contagious. He also just admitted the error of his ways which made Emily feel inclined to meet him half way.
"I can stop by before I head back to my apartment." Emily gave in, stifling a sigh, telling herself it wouldn't be a good idea to plead an excuse. She really did need to go to her apartment and take care of business but to do so she also need to focus and doing so would be hard if curiosity took over her.
Jason agreed to her response and let each other off the line. Unlocking her car, Emily climbed in and drove to the apartment building parking lot and then took the elevator up to Jason's penthouse. The bodyguard nodded and opened the door for her, obviously being told that she was coming over.
When she entered, Jason was coming from the back of the penthouse. They quickly overlooked each other, not quite sure what to say or do although the argument was minor and easily let go. Figuring that silence wouldn't help, Emily spoke first. "So…what do you need my advice on?"
"Relationships but maybe I should ask to your well being first." Jason checked his watch. "It's barely two and it looks like the day was heavy on you already."
"It's been a long, tiring week," Emily explained shortly which Jason accepted with a nod. "What kind of relationship are we talking about anyway?"
"Romantic. Sam wants to give our relationship a second chance." Jason conceded.
Emily flinched inwardly. She has done the dating thing on and off but had yet to succeed in holding one beyond a year. Still, if it helped to hear the situation from a girl, maybe she might be of help. "And you're not sure if you want to as well?" Emily asked rhetorically. "Jason, you tracked down Eleanor's adoption records just to know she won't get burned this time. You obviously still want her."
"Your right, I do want her back and I gave up my search when I did find the adoption agency was getting crowded but I continued it for another person's sake, not mine or Sam's." Jason justified his later actions.
"I never asked for your help in that area. You know as much as me that Eleanor's biological mother's claim is ridiculous." Emily argued, letting Jason know he was treading on thin ice here.
"So you did know." Jason suspected as much, albeit she had a point about Eleanor's claimed father.
"Yes, I did and I'll have you know I took care of it the minute such an accusation was made and do not appreciate it be putting back into any conversation, much less this one." Emily, irritated, said in order to let the issue be gone.
"So what was her goal then?" Jason asked.
"Why would anyone make something like that up? Money, she had no idea how much infants would cost to take care of although that probably should have seemed obvious in the beginning." To say that Eleanor's mother was the sharpest crayon in the box would have been a lie but anyone could have figured out the expense of having children was high when one looked at the price of diapers, food, and furniture needed.
"So your uncle did have a trust fund." Jason realized.
"Yeah, he did but because of his new ex-convict status I was put into control of it until he could be responsible in the state's eye again." Emily explained.
Jason rubbed his temples, thoroughly confused but there was time for this later. "You'll have to explain the whole situation to me later but I have pressing matters now. I need to know what to do about Sam."
"Well, what reason do you have to not get back with her? I mean she realized her mistake and is willing to make up for it and if anything she's being honest." Emily responded.
Jason, however, pretty much knew everything Emily noted. "It's just a risk, that's all." Jason replied weakly.
"You're scared of a risk?" Emily asked incredulously. "You're a hitman for a mob boss, have police watching you all the time just waiting for you to get caught, and risk your life in the process but you can't seem to okay the risk of a relationship? Besides this isn't the first relationship you've been in."
"This is different, this is…Sam." Jason argued.
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure she is aware of the risk she is taking as well. Come on, it's not like she asked you to marry her. I may not have the best dating record myself but I know dating is a courtship; you get to know each other and see if you blend and if you do, and then make it permanent." Emily pointed out as if all that should have been obvious but to a man, this might not be true.
"I know that much Emily." Jason told her, annoyed at her consistent but true points. "I just don't know if I want to take the chance of it slipping away again." There, he said it. His worst fear.
Emily suspected Jason took the break up harder than he showed but now that it was out in the open, admitted, she was astonished. Jason was acting out of character although she seemed to bring out the worst in people these days. It was a talent she could live without though.
"Then I can't help you Jason. I could sit here and tell you its worth the risk if you feel so strongly and that you may live to regret it if you don't take the chance. Oppositely, I could tell you are right, that it probably won't work out, and you are best not taking the risk but I'm just your sister. I wasn't the one in the relationship, I was at the side lines and you seemed generally happy with Sam and Sam…I don't have anything bad to say about her. You two…just fit, so much that while I was happy for you I was also jealous of what you had." Emily paused for a second before considering what to say next.
"Personally, I say go for it but in the end, I'm not going to be the one in the relationship and have to deal with all the issues. If you aren't going to be happy and second guessing sam and you though, it just may not be worth it. But the decision is up to you, considering its not my life."
With that said, Emily left and Jason barely noticed, too deep in thought. He had a lot to consider but despite what Emily thought, having an outsiders opinion helped, made him see things in a different light.
Author's note: Confused about Eleanor's mysterious genes? You should be. All will be explained next chapter though and much thanks to the reviewer who requested an update-I did need a nudge to not do homework for once. It takes over your life which just makes it plain evil. And for the record, I'm quite aware that my characterization is off and that Emily doesn't have a personality. Sorry about that, unfortunately not much I can do at this given point of time.