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Chapter 7

Johnny O'Brien was a man who knew how to get information. He knew what questions to ask and when to ask them. He was also a man who didn't stop until he had the information he needed. So from the Morgan house he went right to the Crimson offices. His lovely girlfriend wasn't expecting him which meant it was the ideal time for a visit.

He wasn't looking for a relationship when he hooked up with Gia. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. He was in New York on business, and so was she. In one of those chance occurrences Gia's hotel room was on the same floor as his. They bumped into one another at the elevator. He was heading out into the city to grab dinner, because room service didn't appeal to him. She was doing the same. By the time elevator reached the lobby they had decided to eat together. When they returned to the hotel they went back to his room.

He said it had to be one night because he wasn't in a place where a steady girl was on his agenda. Olivia had walked away from him two weeks before. She simply didn't want to live in New York, and certainly not anywhere near Port Charles. They parted on good terms, but it still hurt.

Gia said it had to be one night because her brother simply wouldn't understand her dating a mobster. Although Gia admitted that all those years ago in Port Charles she had thought Johnny was hot. If she could have gotten away with it she would have let him know. But with Marcus trying to arrest them every other day that wouldn't have worked. Even she knew he wouldn't understand, so this was all they could have.

The next morning they parted ways.

One month later Johnny was back in town for business, and this time they ran into one another in the lobby of the hotel. She was there for a business function, dressed in a stunning red cocktail dress. He was coming back from a business dinner. Gia had walked an associate to the main entrance, upon spotting one another she never made it back to the ballroom.

That was when he learned that Gia was living in New York City working in the Jacks publishing offices. After becoming a model she had gone to law school and worked for a while in that profession. It just didn't make her happy, but being in front of the camera wasn't fulfilling anymore either. A chance meeting with Kate Howard got her a job as a contributing editor to one of the London publications. Then came the transfer to her current position.

Johnny shared what he could about his life between leaving Port Charles to his eventual return at the same time Jason came back. That was the night Gia told him about her history with Emily Quartermaine, she also admitted that Elizabeth and she weren't friends either. At the time he thought she had come completely clean, now he was thinking that Gia had left something out.

"Hey." Johnny said standing in the doorway to Gia's office.

"Well, well, well. What brings you to my neck of the woods? I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow night." Gia said standing up and walking over to where Johnny was waiting. "Hold my calls." She said pulling Johnny in and closing the door. "We have to behave today because my assistant is out front."

"That wouldn't be a problem if you weren't a screamer." Johnny said with a wicked grin.

"I only scream because you are so amazing at making me feel good." Gia purred. "I guess we know what the O in your name is short for."

"I was in the area, and I thought I'd come see you." Johnny said sitting on the sofa.

"Business?" Gia said sitting on the edge of her desk. She crossed her legs to better show them off.

"Personal. I needed to see Liz." Johnny carefully watched his girlfriend.

"How is she?" Gia tried to sound casual. She could only imagine what the other woman had told him.

"Good." Johnny smiled. "She and Jason are hosting a Christmas day brunch at their place."

"Oh, so I won't see you that day?" Gia figured there was no way she would be invited.

"I wasn't invited." Johnny didn't say that they were invited out to dinner at a later date. He wanted to see how Gia would handle this information.

"Because of me." It wasn't a question. Gia felt a sense of relief. If Elizabeth was going to take that stance, then Johnny would probably start putting space between them. He didn't like to be told what to do. The less time he spent with Elizabeth, the less Gia needed to worry about his learning what she had done. It was clear that he still didn't know, otherwise he would be telling her they were done.

Johnny just shrugged.

"If she's going to be that petty, then she isn't really your friend." Gia said hopping down off the desk. "I'll be home you are welcome to spend the day with me. I can cook use something nice and then we can spend some time together."

"Why doesn't she like you?" Johnny asked his girlfriend.

"Face of Deception." Gia replied sorting papers on her desk. "I told you about that. She was upset that Lucky was photographing me, it was his pictures that made it so I won." She looked up at him. "She's also Emily's best friend."

Johnny just watched her. In New York when Gia told him about her history with Emily she looked him in the eye. When she talked about Liz, saying the same thing she did just now, she had gotten off the bed to poor herself a drink. She told him the whole story without ever once looking at him. While Liz wasn't lying, Gia was. "She'll get over it."

"And if she doesn't?" Gia wanted to know. "Is that going to be a problem for us?"

"I don't let anyone dictate to me what to do in my private life." Johnny said meaning every word. Just because Liz disliked Gia wasn't enough to make him end the relationship, but he suspected that whatever the lie was would be. "Christmas Day sounds great." That was a next week. Johnny intended to have the information he needed before then.

"Are you sure you feel up to this?" Jason would have been happy to pick the boys up and bring them home.

"I'm fine. The juice did the trick." Elizabeth assured her husband. Jason had no problem hovering if he felt the situation warranted it. When she had first come home after delivering Jake, it took a phone call from Kelly before he would let her out of bed. "Let's go in."

Jason got out of the car and opened his wife's door. As they were walking up the drive he noticed that Howie's car was here. Jason wasn't sure how he felt about that, still this would be a good time to watch the older man's interaction with his mother. Pulling out his phone he sent a text message to AJ. Maybe he should come to dinner too.

"Jason, are you coming?" Elizabeth asked from the top of the front stairs.

"Yeah." Jason jogged to catch up and opened the door. "Go in I don't want you getting cold."

They were hanging up their coats when Alice appeared. "Hello, Mr. Jason, Mrs. Elizabeth. Everyone is in the front room. Would you like coffee?"

"That would be great." Jason said smiling.

"Alice?" Elizabeth stopped the maid before she could go into the kitchen.

"Yes ma'am?" Alice liked Ms. Elizabeth. She was always really nice.

"I am having a brunch on Christmas Day at the house. You are welcome to come over." Elizabeth knew the mansion would be empty with the entire family away. Cook was traveling as well.

Alice had to smile at that. Ms. Elizabeth was going to become the heart of Q's like Mrs. Lila had been. "Thank you. I'm actually going to be visiting with my sister in Chicago."

"Well, then travel safely." Elizabeth said smiling.

"I will, thank you." Alice was still smiling as she went to get the drinks.

Jason just looked over at his wife. That small act of kindness summed up who she was. It hadn't occurred to him that Alice would potentially be here alone. It had however occurred to his wife. He gave her a quick kiss on her temple. "We are lucky to have you."

Elizabeth blushed a bit at the unexpected compliment. "Thanks. We should go see what everyone is up to." She said taking Jason's hand and leading him into the front room.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Cameron jumped down off his Pop-pop's lap and ran over to his parents. "Nana is going away for Christmas and Pop-pop is coming to stay at our house."

"We know, buddy." Jason said laughing at how excited his son was. "Pop-pop is staying for a whole week, which means he'll be at our house on Christmas morning."

"Will Santa know how to find him?" Cameron didn't want his Pop-pop missing out on his gifts.

"You can make sure when we go to have your picture taken with his helper tomorrow." Elizabeth said setting her son's mind at ease.

"Okay." That sounded good to the little boy.

"Actually I'm glad that Cameron brought that up." Monica came over with Jake. Cameron squirmed to get down so Jason took his youngest son. "My surgery on the twenty-second got canceled so Howie and I are leaving a day earlier than expected." She watched her youngest son frown a bit at that.

Elizabeth elbowed her husband. "Edward you are welcome to come over that day if you like. I'm off so that will not be a problem. You can get into trouble with Cameron while I finish up the baking."

"I'm very good at quality control if you need my assistance." Edward said giving her a grin. "I will sample as many cookies as you need me to."

Jason rolled his eyes at the flirting. "Stop hitting on my girl."

Edward just gave his grandson a cheeky grin.

Elizabeth just shook her head. Even though they got along well now, Edward still liked pushing some of Jason's buttons. The older man was the same way with AJ. She would also have to make sure Cameron didn't sneak too many cookies to his Grampa. "I'm sure the batches will be fine. I use the same recipe every year."

"Just in case, I'll be around." Edward said smiling wide. He was looking forward to being fussed over for a week.

The adults were talking when AJ walked in. "Hello everyone." He said smiling. He kissed his mother's cheek, and then Elizabeth's.

"AJ, what are you doing here?" Monica said smiling. She noticed her daughter glare at both her sons before pulling out her phone.

"Keesha is entertaining Maya and Zoe, so I thought I'd give them some space." AJ said sitting down. "So Howie, I hear you are taking my mother away for Christmas." AJ saw no reason to wait.

"I am. Which makes me a very lucky man." Howie said smiling and Monica while taking her hand is his. "We are going to Jason's resort. Have you been?"

"I have. It's very nice. The staff is very attentive." AJ said smiling wide.

Howie got the message, but he already knew they would be keeping an eye on him. He very much liked that Monica's sons were protective of their mother. Since he had only the best intentions where she was concerned Howie wasn't worried. Besides he had some backup of his own, the women of the family were on his side. "I'm looking forward to finding out first hand."

Edward just sat back and watched the play by play. He very much liked Howie, and thought him worthy of Monica. Jason and AJ were probably going to try to intimidate Howie, but the two of them were about to learn that Quartermaine women were a formidable bunch. He was guessing Elizabeth had sent for reinforcements. Dinner should be fun.

When Alice called everyone to dinner the adults, plus Jake and Cameron walked out of the parlor and Edward saw that his prediction was correct. Keesha was removing her coat, along with another young woman. Emily had arrived without Matt, and Carly was here with Joss.

"Well hello!" Monica was always happy when family stopped by. "Edward I'd like to introduce you to Maya." She knew that he hadn't yet met his great-granddaughter.

"Hi." Maya hadn't been expecting such a large group. "Zoe is out with her boyfriend." She said explaining her sister's absence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Edward said smiling. He knew Maya and Zoe were coming and was looking forward to meeting them. He'd lost time with her grandfather, his son, Bradley. "You can sit next to me at dinner."

"I'm sure Maya and Zoe will be a frequent visitors." Monica certainly hoped so. She wanted to know her nieces better. "I need to tell Alice to set more places at the table."

"It's already done Dr. Monica." The maid announced. "Mrs. Elizabeth told me we were expecting more people. I told Cook."

Monica just smiled at her daughter.

Jason looked at his wife who gave him a wide smile.

"Everyone to the table." Monica said getting them moving again.

Elizabeth hung back and the other ladies did as well. "Jason and AJ cannot be allowed to scare Howie off." She said in the quick huddle. "Although from what I've seen he has no intention of letting that happen."

Carly nodded. "Back up won't hurt though. Jason and AJ together are no joke."

Keesha agreed. "AJ stopped by my office after talking with Jason. My husband wanted to know if I was aware of what was happening. He frowned when I said yes, and that I approved of the relationship." She couldn't help but chuckle. "He seems to not be handling the reminder that his mother is a woman well."

"Mom needs a social life." Emily added. "Matt is fully on team Mowie."

"Is that what we are calling them?" Carly said laughing.

"Yeah." Emily grinned. "My brothers need to be blocked at every chance." She declared.

"Maya, you should sit this skirmish out." Elizabeth didn't want to throw the newest family member in at the deep end of the pool.

"But take notes." Keesha suggested. "Stuff like this happens a lot. Where is Tracy? She would be an asset tonight."

"Business meeting." Carly told them. "I saw her arriving at the Metro Court as I was leaving. She said to get in a few good jabs for her."

"Jax is with the boys?" Elizabeth guessed as they moved to the dining room.

"Getting my Christmas gift, and then having a guy's dinner." The boys were hanging out since Michael wouldn't be with them for Christmas. Carly was having trouble with that, but understood that she had to share the teen. She put Joss in her highchair, which was next to Meg's. Jake and Cameron were across the table next to their mother. Jason would sit on the other side when he arrived.

"They are going to try something." AJ told his brother. All the ladies arriving at once was not a coincidence.

"Howie needs to know that we will be watching." Jason was firm in his stance. "He shouldn't mind answering a few questions over dinner."

"We have right to know what he is planning with our mother." AJ was in total agreement with his brother. He still didn't fully trust Howie's motives. It was too soon for their mother to be taking trips with her boyfriend.

"Yes we do." Jason nodded. "Let's get in there and find out what will be happening on this trip." And if he didn't get answers he liked his mother would not be going.

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