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Chapter 1

"Um, just let me know if you need anything." He said to her as she walked out the front door. She was going home but right now all he wanted was to pull her back inside with him. "Even if you just need somebody to listen to you." He would be there for her in whatever capacity she would let him. He knew that she liked to handle her problems on her own, that the fiercely independent streak she had as a teenager was still intact, but he wanted her to know that she didn't have to. That he was right here.

"Hey Jason, thanks for being so good to me." Elizabeth leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss before turning for the elevator. He stood in the hallway outside of his penthouse watching until the doors closed and he could no longer see the woman inside. It was only then that he moved.

Going back into his home he shut the heavy door before leaning against the cool wood. Closing his eyes he thought about what had transpired over the last ten hours. How his world had simply been turned on its axis. Now nothing would be the same. To be honest, he didn't want it to be the same. That life no longer worked for him.

He had been in pain after taking a ride out to Alexis's lakefront home to talk to his ex Sam. He never even got a chance to knock. Walking up to the door he had seen his former girlfriend on the floor in the living room having sex with her stepfather. A man who happened to be someone Jason hated. The sight had left him sick. Literally. For months she had been telling him that they needed to be together, telling him that the danger of being in his life wasn't anything they couldn't handle. He guessed she had changed her mind. He had been willing to try again. After last night he didn't even think he could stand being in the same room with her.

Pushing off the door he looked at the place he called home. It wasn't the same. After last night it never would be. Now every time he looked around he saw her and the things they had done together. Last night he had lived a wish that he thought would never come true. Had in fact assumed was dead. Last night he had given himself to the woman who had been in his heart for years. A woman he thought would only ever be his friend.

Last night he had had her and this morning he let her walk away. Again.

That was what they did. They came close to having it all before turning away. Only this time they had gone further than before. This time they had gone to a place he had never expected them to. She told him it was her instinct to find him when her world fell apart. But the truth was that when she had showed up unexpectedly last night he hadn't saved her nor had she had saved him. They had for the first time in the decade that they'd known one another saved each other.

Whenever he was going under she always showed up. For years like her he'd chalked the near misses up to bad timing. She'd even said that last night the timing was off, that it was all they could ever have. He had agreed at the time, but now standing here finally listening to what his heart was saying he knew that he wanted more.

Sighing Jason rubbed the side of his face before heading into the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. According to Elizabeth her marriage was over. For very selfish reasons he hoped that was true. Because if she was leaving Lucky Spencer he was going to do everything he could to see that she and her son ended up with him. He would check in with her later, if he got the answer he wanted to hear then he was going to go for it. This time they would get it right. He simply refused to allow any other outcome.

Several hours later he was going through invoices when there was a knock on the door. Praying it wasn't Sam, because he wasn't ready to deal with her right now, he opened the door. With a rare wide smile he greeted the woman in front of him. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Hey yourself." Emily said smiling up at her big brother. "I just figured I'd stop by and make sure that you weathered the blackout okay." She had been stuck on Spoon Island with her boyfriend. They couldn't use the launch due to the power outage at the docks.

Jason stepped back so that she could come in. "I'm fine. You have any trouble?"

"No, the island has its own power so we were good." Emily said sitting on the couch. She gave him a good look over. Recently he'd been bummed after breaking up with Sam. Today he looked good, dare she even say it, he looked happy. "What's up with you?" If she was talking to one of her friends she'd ask them if they got laid. With her brother that would just be gross.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked wondering what she meant.

"I don't know you seem kind of charged up. Not that it's a bad thing because lately you've been kind of down, it's great in fact. I'm just wondering what changed." Emily said still eyeing him closely.

"I've made some decisions." Jason told her. He and his sister were very close. She was one of the few people he felt comfortable talking about his personal life with. Emily was younger than him but she was pretty wise as well. In her short life she'd dealt with some major issues and despite that she was still the same sweet girl Monica had brought home from Arizona.

Emily got more comfy on the couch. "Tell me what is finally making you seem alive."

"Sam and I are over." He told her knowing it would her happy. Emily hated Sam.

"Hadn't that already been established? Or did I miss something?" She had been concerned that he would take Sam back. Something must have happened to rule that out entirely. "Why are you saying it again?"

"I was thinking that Sam and I could try again." He heard Emily snort in disgust. "But last night when I went to talk to her I saw her having sex with Ric." Jason told his sister.

"Sam and Ric? She was having sex with her stepfather while her mother is in the hospital fighting lung cancer. He was having sex with his stepdaughter while his wife is fighting to stay alive. I can't say that I had a lot of respect for either one of them, but that is lower than even I imagined they could sink. Poor Alexis." The woman had enough to deal with and now she had this. In her fragile state this type of news could cause her health to deteriorate further. "Did you confront her?"

"No I just came back home and crawled into a bottle of Tequila." He'd also called himself all kinds of a fool. The woman was a con artist she was used to playing people. She'd almost played him. What he had seen was shocking but at least now his eyes were open to her true nature.

"Well, you look pretty good for someone who should have a massive hangover. After six shots I'm hammered." Emily said throwing her arm over his shoulders. "I'm sorry she hurt you. You want me to go kick her ass?"

"No. We are broken up she is free to have sex with whomever she wants. It's just who she picked makes me understand that I never truly knew her." Jason said chuckling at the image of Emily fighting. "She didn't hurt me. That was one of the things I realized last night. I wasn't hurt I was pissed. I believed her when she said she loved me. If she could do something like sleep with Ric then she never really wanted to be with me. And I didn't drink the whole bottle, I got interrupted." He confessed with a grin.

"Let me guess, Carly came over and demanded that you restore power to the city." The blonde called on Jason for everything. She called herself his best friend. Emily called her a stalker.

"No Carly's been good lately." She had in fact announced to Jason that she was going to try to be more mature. That she was going to try to think before acting and call her husband if she needed help. Recently Michael's behavior had spiraled out of control and Carly had been forced to take a long look at how she acted. How her antics influenced her eldest son's. So far she'd stuck with it. "Elizabeth stopped by."

"Really?" Emily folded her legs underneath herself and once again looked at her brother. Elizabeth was her best friend, but Emily couldn't say that she'd been as good a friend in return.

Emily had been one of the people who had pushed Elizabeth into taking Lucky back. Emily had been convinced that if the childhood sweethearts reconnected it would help him stay clean. That if they got married again he would not relapse and once more become addicted to pain pills. Emily had bought into the whole Elizabeth owed it to Lucky to be there since he had helped her after she was raped. As a doctor and a recovering addict she knew that the only person you could stay clean for was yourself.

Instead Emily had watched as her best friend slowly got crushed under the weight of everyone's expectations. Trying to be the perfect wife, mother, granddaughter and nurse was making Elizabeth miserable. Emily was trying to do better, and right now she saw an opportunity to good to pass up. Jason and Elizabeth would be perfect together. All they needed was everyone to stay out of their way while they figured that out.

"She caught Lucky in bed with Maxie." Jason only felt a tiny pang of guilt at outing Elizabeth's personal business. He knew that Emily regretted pushing the couple back together. If he could get his sister on his side it would make his campaign to win Elizabeth easier. A lot of people were going to be upset with his plans to make the nurse and her son his family. Chief among them would most likely be his two best friends. Jason wanted as much support as he could get.

"That's almost worse than Sam and Ric. Is Maxie even eighteen?" Emily asked making a face of disgust.

"Elizabeth also said Lucky is back on the pills." Jason thought the other man was an idiot. Why would you cheat on a woman like Elizabeth?

"I guess that was what Nicholas and Lucky were fighting about the other day." As an idea occurred to her Emily sat up straighter. "Is Elizabeth still here?"

"No, she left this morning to go talk to Lucky. Last night she told me that her marriage was over." That was why he made love with her. Otherwise he would have never asked her to compromise her wedding vows. Jason got up and walked over to the pool table. Pushing around some of the balls he tried to burn some nervous energy.

"She went to talk to Lucky?" Emily repeated also rising. "You sent a guard with her right." People who were high had no filters. They had no little voice in the back of their head saying 'don't do that'.

"No." Jason said in dawning horror.

"You let her go by herself to tell her drug addicted husband that their marriage is over?" Emily asked surprised that her brother would do something so boneheaded. "Jason?"

"Shit!" He exclaimed as both siblings ran for the door. She was probably fine, but god help Lucky if she wasn't.