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Chapter 28
"If you don't need to go in there I wouldn't." Angie said from her desk when Johnny went to knock on Jason's closed office door.
"Is he in a meeting?" Francis wanted to know.
"No." Angie told them. "He's in a bad mood." Which for Jason was rare. If you didn't know him well you might not know he was off. He wasn't like Sonny who tended to take those moods out on the people around him. Jason hadn't yelled at her this morning, or ever. She knew he was upset because she had worked for him for several years and it was part of her job to know how her boss was feeling so that she could keep stupid people from irritating him.
"We have a briefing." Johnny pointed out. It was Monday morning and they met at the beginning of the week to go over things.
"Good luck." Angie said with a cheeky grin. She had done her job by warning them.
Johnny knocked and when Jason yelled opened the door. He and Francis got coffee and sat in front of their friend's desk. They weren't particularly formal about the meetings they had. They only used the conference room if all the guys needed to be briefed on a matter.
"What's up? Angie said you were in a bad mood." Francis saw no reason to skirt the issue. Business would still be there when they finished this conversation.
Jason just looked at his two friends for a moment before speaking. "Were either one of you aware of how bad things between Liz and Lucky got at the end of their marriage?" Jason was having a hard time letting this go. He needed to, and his friends could more than likely help him with that.
"No." Johnny said shaking his head.
"Lucky was still using at that point so it couldn't have been an easy time." Francis said stating what they all knew. "Whenever I asked Liz how things were she just said fine. I never saw bruises on her or Cameron. Nor did I ever get any indication that she was in pain." He had looked her over every time they saw each other. Body language could speak for itself.
"Clothes can hide a lot." Johnny said starting to frown. "Was he hitting her?" Although he was positive Liz would have said something if that was the case.
"No." Jason said shaking his head. "The day she left him he pointed his gun at her while they were arguing and it went off." Jason shared.
"Are you fucking serious?" Johnny asked wide eyed. "He fucking shot at her!"
"Elizabeth said it was an accident. That he was high and lost control of the weapon." Jason passed along what he had been told.
"He still could have killed her, accident or not." Francis said shaking his head. "Why didn't she say anything?"
"Murder with special circumstances." Was Jason's reply.
"Ric was the DA." Was Johnny's addition to Jason's reply. "Lansing would have come for all of us. I'm convinced that when Lucky died this summer if Ric was still here he would have tried to prove Jason did it. She didn't want you in prison."
"Why did she tell you now?" Francis was confused about that. There wasn't an obvious need for the confession. "Is she worried about guns in the house?"
Jason explained about the blackmail and Cody overhearing Elizabeth's conversation with Maxie.
"Your girl is getting the best Christmas gift I can manage." Johnny said grinning. "I was thrilled when Georgie told me that Maxie was going to California." Kate had stopped by the hospital shortly after Liz went to see her. He was guessing the editor figured do it and get it over with.
Francis was grinning as well. "That's our Lizbits. It's good to see that she still has that inside her. She saved Johnny from a prison sentence for making Maxie disappear."
"Yeah." Johnny said laughing before turning his attention back to Jason. "You and Liz fight about the blackmail?"
"No." Jason said shaking his head. "I had no problem letting that go. I know why Elizabeth did what she did. I also don't have a problem with it. Lucky on the other hand." Jason said shaking his head. "She knows I'm upset, but it's not completely what she thinks." He said leaning back in his chair. "I'm pissed at what Lucky did, but I'm angrier with myself."
"Why?" Francis asked confused. He could see Johnny was as well.
"Because she shouldn't have been with Lucky in the first place." Jason said exhaling forcefully. "I caused our last break up by running after Courtney when I was in love with Elizabeth. If I had been up front then when Lucky came back she would have already been with me. She never would have been in a place where he could have shot her."
"Guilt isn't going to do anything but eat you up inside." Johnny told his friend. What Jason had said wasn't that surprising. "There is enough to go around. We all knew he was using. None of us offered her protection. None us sat her down and said you need to get out. Hell you own an island, we could have kidnapped her until she came to her senses. We didn't. We trusted that she had the situation under control."
"There is also no guarantee she wouldn't have walked away from you to go back to Lucky." Francis said being brutally honest. "Back then everyone around her was all about Lucky, and she was all about pleasing them. There is also no guarantee that you wouldn't have walked away from her at some point because Sonny and Carly wore you down. Because like Liz you were living your life for everyone else but you. She still might have ended up in that room with him. Want me to keep going?" There were dozens of scenarios Francis could play out.
"It was too close." Jason said quietly.
"It certainly was. Johnny has a point though. You aren't the only one who could have intervened. She said she didn't need us to." Francis pointed out. "After it happened she walked away and didn't go back. That's what you need to remember."
"She's okay. Liz is okay, and with you." Johnny told his friend. "You guys are getting married. He didn't hurt her, and he won't get the chance to ever again. You have to let it go."
"He's right. It's pointless to torture yourself with what might have happened." Francis wasn't as calm as he seemed, and he knew Johnny wasn't either. They had been careless with Liz, but now they were all doing better.
Jason listened to the advice that his friends were giving him. Lucky was dead there was no point in letting him into their relationship now. He had wasted his second chance with Elizabeth, and that was not a mistake Jason was going to make. "Thanks."
"You have any drama to share?" Johnny looked at Francis. "Jason and I are done so it's a good time for you and Diane to need us to advise you on how to fix a problem."
"Nope." Francis said grinning. "We're boring."
"Yet fashionable." Jason said laughing. He was feeling better. Sometimes a guy just needed to talk to his friends.
"Diane wouldn't settle for anything less." Francis said smiling. "Ready to get to work? I have things to do. I need to leave on time to take my fashionable wife out to dinner."
"What do I need to know?" Jason asked they got down to business.
"You heading home?" Johnny asked Jason as they walked to their cars. "Or is Liz making you stop off at the store first?"
"Store?" Jason gave his friend a look.
"You do know that now that you are settled into domestic bliss you need to call home before leaving. In case milk, or whatever is needed from the store. Otherwise you just end up having to put on your trainers and go back out." Johnny passed along his husbandly knowledge. "They teach that the first day of class. Weren't you paying attention when they covered that and the honey do list?"
Jason just laughed at his friend. "Your wife has the patience of a saint."
"Yeah she does." Johnny totally agreed.
"I know enough to check in before leaving. I told Elizabeth I needed to make a stop first and asked if she wanted me to pick anything up before I left the office." Jason told Johnny.
"Where you going? I mean if you are heading off to make trouble I want in." Johnny told Jason.
"Marco is following me so I don't think I will get into too much trouble. I'm picking up Elizabeth's Christmas present." Jason let his friend know.
"What did you get her?" Johnny wasn't hiding his curiosity, buying gifts wasn't something his friend normally did for adults. The guys didn't exchange gifts because they didn't need anything, and Jason always gave his girlfriends' cash.
"I'm not telling you." Jason said just to be difficult.
"I can let you know if your gift sucks or not." Johnny knew that whatever Elizabeth got from Jason she would love. He just liked messing with his friend.
"It doesn't." Jason said grinning. "I need to leave now."
"I can just follow you." Johnny would do no such thing.
Jason turned around and walked backwards to his car as he flipped Johnny off while laughing. Then he turned around and got in the vehicle.
In the parking lot Johnny was laughing as he headed to his own car. Jason was in a much better space than he was this morning, which was good to see. Now Johnny didn't have to worry about him, so he could focus on his sexy wife who should be at home waiting for him.
"Hi Daddy!" Cameron was standing in the hallway with Jake next to him. This was their normal spot to stand when daddy came home.
"Hey guys." Jason said smiling, this was the absolute best part of his day. His boys waiting to greet him always made him smile as well. He took off his jacket and walked over to where they were waiting. He took a small hand in each of his. "Where is mommy?"
"She's in the kitchen. Jake and I were keeping her company while she made dinner. I saw on the clock that you were coming home." Cameron had worked hard to learn to tell time. He would sit on daddy's lap and look at his watch because it was the kind with numbers in a circle. Maybe he would be able to get a watch like that one when he got bigger.
"How was school today?" Jason asked as they headed deeper into the house.
"It was fun." Cameron liked his new school and had already made some new friends. "I got to feed Pepper."
"You did, good job buddy." Jason said smiling at his son. Pepper was the class guinea pig and you had to be good to be able to feed her.
"She nibbled my fingers and it felt funny." Cameron said laughing. "Her fur is really soft."
Jason just grinned as he put Jake into his booster seat. At some point he was expecting his oldest son to ask if he could get a guinea pig. Right now he was too young, but a dog might be a good fit. Maybe in the spring. "What are you working on?" Cameron had his crayons out.
"I was coloring when mommy came to get me." He said showing his dad the picture. "Mommy said I can hang it up when I'm done."
"Good job staying in the lines." Jason said running his hands over his son's curls. "Good job with the colors." He said to Jake who had a piece of construction paper in front of him. With the boys occupied Jason walked over to where his girl was standing. "Hi."
"Hi." She said giving him a smile. This morning when he left for the office he'd been off. She knew that what she told him about Lucky was weighing on him, now he seemed lighter. Talking about it with Johnny and Francis had probably helped. He knew that he could talk to her, but the guys would get it in a way that she wouldn't.
Leaning forward he gave her a soft kiss enjoying the fact that he could. "What did you do today?"
"Jake had a swimming lesson so we went to the Y. He's doing well, like his dad and his big brother he enjoys the water." Liz said smiling. "After that we went to the hospital and had lunch with your mom. Then it was nap time and after that we went to the children's museum so that Jake could play." She was loving this time with her son.
"Busy day." Jason said urging her closer and wrapping his arms around her.
"Busy, but fun. Cameron is off on Wednesday because of an in service day at school. I'm going to invite some of his friends over for a playdate." She let him know. Liz made sure that her son still saw his friends from the hospital daycare on a regular basis. "Cody said that it would be better for me to invite people over here than to go into a strange house. I gave him the list of who I'm going to call after dinner."
"We will sit down and figure something out." Jason let her know. Constantly having people over meant more work for his girl. Plus at some point Cameron would want to have a sleepover with his friends at one of their houses. He wanted his boys to have as many normal experiences as possible. He knew that as they grew up their security would be need to be adapted several times. "Saturday Cameron and I are going out to the movies and then sledding if we get snow on Friday like they are predicting."
"He will love that." Liz said enjoying being so close to her guy. "He always has fun when it's just the two of you, and he's never been sledding." She knew that both Jason and Cameron loved their solo outings. Just like Jake enjoyed the one on one time he got with his dad.
"Me either. Marco said he would show me how it's done." Jason was looking forward to it. "He said we need to bring our bike helmets." That had been surprising. Sledding was not something he thought of as dangerous.
"I'll pick some up tomorrow. Cam needs a new one, and I'm guessing you don't have one." Liz looked up at him and smiled. She couldn't even picture him on a regular bike. "Can you ride a bike, other than your Harley?" She wanted to know.
"I have no idea. It's not something that ever came up." Jason answered laughing. "I guess we will find out when the weather warms up."
"Guess so." Liz said forcing herself to move. "Dinner is ready."
"It smells good." Jason would go wash up with the boys.
"Pot roast." Liz put the pan on the stove top. It was one of Jason's favorite meals. "With mixed roasted vegetables and potatoes. It needs to rest and then we can eat."
"Sounds good." Jason leaned in and kissed her again. She was safe and his, that was all the mattered. "Come on guys we need to go wash up."
"Okay daddy." Cameron said putting away the crayons he and Jake were using.
From her spot in the kitchen Liz smiled and watched her guys walk up the hall. Things were back on an even keel, they wouldn't need to discuss Lucky Spencer again.
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