Chapter Ten

Monica glared at her son. She could not understand how he could be so harsh about the situation. "Jason, don't you think that divorcing Sam while she is pregnant with your child is a tad bit extreme? I know that you are upset, but you love her. You married her."

He tossed the file in front of her on the table. "She is sleeping with Ric Lansing. I am divorcing her. A paternity test will be done. If the baby is mine, I will raise him or her, however, Sam and I are over."

"Maybe this is a setup, just like the evidence that she ran over Jake."

"She admitted that she had the affair when I went and saw her. She also confessed to hitting Jake on purpose. There will be no second chances," he said harshly. "I want you to stop supporting her. If you don't, I will cut off what contact we do have."

Looking through the file, Monica felt her stomach roll at all that it contained. Realizing that she had made a huge mistake, she was beside herself. "I am just sick at what all she has done."

"Imagine how I feel. I took her back after everything."

"Jason, I will stop my lawyer from taking care of her defense. To cheat on you is unforgivable."

Pinching his nose, he tried to hold back the familiar headache that always occurred when Monica was near. "That is your main concern. She killed Jake!"

Refusing to forgive the tramp that had taken away her chance to know Jason's son, Monica snapped, "Well, Elizabeth is at fault too!"

"Unbelievable! If that is the case, I am at fault too because I had no guards on them. If there was a guard on her house, they would have snatched Jake up before Sam killed him. What is your problem? You act as though Elizabeth is to blame for everything. She wasn't! I am the one that did not tell you about my son!"

"Stop protecting her! She is not the perfect innocent victim in all this, Jason!"

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Jason grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. "Grow up, Monica! You are acting just like Sam. She blames everything on the wrong people too!" he snarled before leaving the mansion.

Back at the penthouse he grabbed a beer and sat on the couch, staring off into space. Looking back at all the mistakes he had made, he felt like he was lost. He had given up his child and Elizabeth to protect them. He had went back to Sam because he thought that she understood him and really loved him. Sonny had been maneuvering his actions for years, subtly controlling him. It made him sick to realize that everything had been for nothing. He had lost Jake and Elizabeth because he had refused to take a chance. Sam had to be the worst of it though. Jason had actually loved and protected a woman that purposely destroyed his life.

The knock on the door startled him out of his dark thoughts and he looked up as Cody entered, his expression grim. "What?"

"Our shipment was hit. It is currently on fire in the harbor. Another warehouse was also burned tonight. The police are heading to the docks now."

Slamming his bottle of beer on the table, he stood and headed for the door. "After we deal with this, call a meeting with Francis and Johnny. This shit needs to stop! Tell them I get it! I understand their point!"

Cody nodded. "I will set it up. Do you still want us to make a grab for Miss Webber if we can?"

Knowing all chances of her forgiving him were gone, he shook his head. "Call it off. It will only anger her more. It's useless to try and force her to listen."

Cody remained silent as they got on the elevator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexis was working on some paperwork when she felt that she no longer alone. Looking up she was startled to see Jerry leaning against the door frame in her home office. "Jerry! What are you doing here? You scared me to death!"

Chuckling, he waltzed into the room and threw a file on her desk. "I came to see you, darling. I must admit that I have missed your beautiful face."

Aggravated at his interrupting her working on Sam's defense, she only huffed at him.

"Now, now. Don't you think that you should at least look at the present that I brought you over. I can promise that it will be enthralling reading for you."

"I don't have time for your nonsense, Jerry!" she fired back.

"Oh, but I think that you should make time. After all, I brought you proof that you are ruining your life over Sam for nothing. Her real birth certificate is in that folder, along with the name of your real child." Seeing that he had her complete attention, Jerry smirked at her. "Francis told you the other day that you should have had a DNA test ran. I really thought that you had more intelligence than this."

Snatching the file off the desk, Alexis flipped it open and gasped at the first page. The birth certificate was listed for Samantha Ruiz. Underneath was a family picture of the Ruiz family that contained a young Sam posing with them around a Christmas tree. "What? How?"

"I think that it easy to figure out. She was sent to Port Charles to get close to Corinthos. They were going to use her to take Corinthos-Morgan down. At some time, she went and decided that she wanted the lifestyle that Morgan was providing her with. That is why they shot her. She changed her objective and left her family floundering. Why she chose you to play mommy dearest, well, I haven't really figured that out. She might have heard of your past child and used it to her advantage." Jerry nodded back at the folder. "There is more."

Alexis almost passed out at the paper containing the information about her real child. "This is a lie!"

"Why? You felt a connection to the young man, did you not. You helped him out of trouble a couple different times."

"But his father was not the father of my baby."

Jerry snorted. "He adopted him, Alexis."

"Zander, Zander Smith is my son?"

"He is. Zander already knows too. By the way, he is a tad bit disappointed with you right now," he added smugly.

"I heard that he was back from the dead. Where is he now? I need to see him, Jerry!" she demanded.

"That is not possible right now. He wants nothing to do with you while you are helping Samantha. Zander was also extremely upset to learn how you have been treating one of his friends. Elizabeth, remember her?"

Alexis hung her head. "She had a baby with him. Cam."

"Wrong," he informed her. "Zander and Elizabeth lied about the paternity to protect her and the baby. Cameron's father is John Zacchara, who is also back from the dead. However, you will have to wait to see your son until he comes to you. He is staying with Elizabeth, guarding her family. You are one of the people that will NEVER be welcome on that property."

Jerry stood and looked at the devastated woman sitting at the desk. "This is your only chance, darling. You have to cut all support of Sam, or you will be considered an enemy of several powerful men. Johnny O'Brien is running the Zacchara Organization now, and he will not tolerate any threats against Miss Webber. He will go after ANYONE that hurts her, including you." Without another word, he slipped out of the house.

Crying in despair at what she had learned, knowing that she had been played, Alexis sobbed into her hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth sat on her bed, brushing her hair when Johnny knocked on the door. She looked up and motioned him forward when she noticed his pensive expression. "Hey. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. I just got in from a meeting. How did your talk with John go?"

"It was hard," she admitted quietly. "I know why he did what he did, and I can even understand to a degree."

"Are you going to tell Cam?"

Exhaling, she nodded. "Yes. They have the right to know each other. I am worried about how my baby will react though. We are going to sit him down and explain what we can once everything is settled."

Johnny tipped her head up so that he could see her eyes. The confusion swirling in their depths made him catch his breath. "What about you and John?"

She closed her eyes and then opened them. "I can't go back, Johnny. Seeing him makes me wonder about what if, but I learned a long time ago that you can't undo the past. He wants more, another chance, but I can't do it. I will always care about him, but I'm not in love with him anymore."

"Are you sure?"

Elizabeth brushed her hand over his face. "I wouldn't be with you, Johnny, if I wasn't sure. I would never hurt you that way. I have let what others want control me for too long. I need to do what will make me happy for a change."

Pulling her into his arms, he rested his head on top of hers. "I was worried," he admitted. "But I wanted you to be happy. I would have accepted you trying with him, but it would have killed me."

Leaning back so that she could kiss him, she smiled timidly. "It wasn't even a possibility after you came back. I only want to be with you, Johnny. I think that we already passed the friendship stage."

Francis knocked on the door and pushed it open and lifted his eyebrows as Elizabeth scooted off Johnny's lap. "Sorry to interrupt, but I just got a call from our lawyer. Monica's hearing will be tomorrow. Are you going to go, Liz?"

"I don't know. Should I?"

"It's your choice, Lizbits, but the woman has made your life a living hell for months. I think that it might do you some good to go." Francis flashed a mischievous grin. "I can promise that it might be worth it to see the look on her face when she hears that she no longer has a license to practice medicine."

"Francis! Tell me you didn't pay of the committee!" Catching him sliding his gaze to Johnny, she turned to him. "No, Johnny, I wanted it to be fair."

"It wasn't fair what she has done to you, so why should we be fair, Elizabeth. However, I did not bribe anyone, I promise."

"Then how can you two promise an outcome?" she demanded.

Neither man was about to tell her that Lorenzo had made sure that Dr. Quartermaine could no longer use the doctor part of her identity. Francis shrugged uneasily. "I am just sure that with all the testimony of your co-workers that witnessed her actions, that's all."

Still not sure that they weren't hiding something from her, Elizabeth watched them both carefully. "Fine, I will go."

"Francis and myself are going with you. Who else do you want there? I know that Emily and A.J. are planning on attending."

"I'd like to go," Jerry offered as he walked up beside Francis in the doorway.

Johnny nodded. "Good. What time is it?"

"Nine-thirty."

"I have to go out and meet the men that arriving at Nik's. Zander and Emily are out picking up a couple pizzas. Goodnight," Jerry drawled before leaving as fast as he had came.

Elizabeth stared in confusion at where he had just stood. "I still don't understand why he is here. We were never close friends. The only time I have ever even been near him is during his less than normal activities, like armed robbery."

Deciding he was not touching that topic, Francis escaped down the stairs.

Johnny scowled at the door, thinking that his friend was a traitor. "I know that he is a bit unpredictable, but Jerry is on your side."

"I guess," she muttered, still unconvinced, wondering what she was missing. Jerry Jacks did not do anything unless there was something in it for him, that much she was sure about.

"I do need to talk about something else with you. Jason has been trying to get messages through to you. I need for you understand that it really isn't the best time to talk to him. You need to wait for awhile."

"There is nothing left to say between us, really. Our son is dead and he married that bitch. I don't want to talk to him, Johnny," she assured him.

"He filed for a divorce and pulled Diane from her case. While I know that it does not change anything, you should know."

"You are right, it doesn't change anything. He made his choices, just like I am choosing to move on with my life. Besides, he always forgives her. This time will be no different."

Johnny doubted that. He thought that Jason might actually be opening his eyes to the users that he had surrounded himself with. If he had not had hurt Elizabeth so much in the past, he could almost feel sorry for the man. That did not mean that he would plead his case for forgiveness. Jason had made huge errors in the past, and Johnny could understand Elizabeth's pain.