I don't own General Hospital or ABC or the character's therein.
Thank you all for your support. I'm sorry for the delay. I intended to write much sooner, but life got in the way.
19.) Safe Haven
They sat together quietly and finished their meal before Sonny looked at Elizabeth and broke the silence.
"Elizabeth, we need to talk about your safety," causing Elizabeth to look up from her plate to stare at him.
Jason chose to keep quiet. He knew this would be a difficult topic to broach. He looked at the woman across from him.
Elizabeth took a breath and asked, "What do you think I need to do? I don't mean this to sound unkind but it's because of you and men like you that I find myself in these circumstances. If I accept protection from you, what would that even look like?"
"Well obviously, we would provide you protection by way of guards, and you would live here and of course," Sonny replied.
Elizabeth shook her head 'no,' "That's not going to happen. I will accept that I need guards, but I will not live here."
"Elizabeth, you need protection," Sonny replied as he leaned forward in his chair ready for an argument if needed.
"I'm not denying that I need protection. I'm just denying that I need to live here in order to keep me safe," Elizabeth said.
"But there's plenty of room here," Sonny said.
"Is there? This castle that you've built could expand to the size of the planet and it still wouldn't be big enough to keep Carly and myself from verbally eviscerating each other, possibly even physically. Try again."
"I have a guest house. You could take up residence there," Sonny pointed out.
"Sonny, I appreciate that but I'm not staying here," Elizabeth said declining.
"I haven't changed anything in your old room at the penthouse. You can move back there if you would like," Jason offered, not realizing the wrath he was about to incur.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and fixed her gaze on Jason, "You mean the same penthouse where you cheated on me with my Aunt Courtney at Carly and Sonny's encouragement. The same penthouse where you live with Sam now? The same woman who framed me and later tried to kidnap our son? I really don't think I could live there without resenting you and I'm trying desperately trying to keep in mind that until a few days ago you didn't know about any this. I can't live there again. I'm sorry, but no."
Jason raised both hands in surrender and swallowed hard, "It was only a suggestion."
Elizabeth took a brief breath, "Look, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. I appreciate both of your offers, I do, but you have to understand that I really don't think it would be a good thing to take up residence with either of you. I think right now it would confuse the situation."
Sonny needed to walk away before he did something crazy like lock her in and hold her captive until she saw reason. He decided to clear the table and then check on Carly and see if it wasn't possible to smooth things over. In her condition, she didn't need to be upset.
"What do you mean by confusing the situation? How would staying with either one of us confuse the situation?" Jason knew what Elizabeth meant, but for some reason he wanted to hear her thoughts on the matter of living with him. He knew she had feelings for him and for some reason that he couldn't name, he wanted to hear her say how she felt.
"Jason, you're a smart man. You know that living with you would complicate the situation and let's face it my feelings are one-sided. You don't care about me, and I obviously care way too much about you."
"Th..That's not true," Jason said.
"What's not true?" Elizabeth asked.
"I do, care about you," Jason said.
Elizabeth lifted a speculative brow, and Jason continued, "I care about you now that I know everything. How could I not?"
"I think you're confusing caring with guilt. I don't doubt you have the capacity to care about people around you, but I do doubt the sincerity of you caring about me. I think you feel both betrayed, resentful, and guilty. I'm sorry that everything has played out this way. I don't think you care about me though, and if you do it's because I'm Sonny's daughter and Cameron's mom, but not because I'm Elizabeth and have any value beyond that."
"Maybe that's fair. I'll be honest, I don't really know you Elizabeth. That doesn't mean that I don't respect you and want to get to know you better. We do have Cameron in common, and I think we should be on good terms. I'm not going to abandon you. I can say that I do feel guilt, but I also care about you. I wish you would consider living with me for your safety."
Elizabeth shook her head. "What happens when Cameron comes back? Don't you think us living in the same residence will be confusing for him? It's confusing for me and I'm an adult. Also, there is the fact your Penthouse feels like a harem. I just don't know if I feel comfortable living there. You don't know what it was like living there for me," by time Elizabeth finished her statement she had a tear streaming down her cheek.
"I'm sorry," Jason said. He sat pensively. "What if we gave you a different unit? We own all the Penthouses. If you don't like my penthouse, your father's old penthouse across the hall is available, or the one next to mine."
Elizabeth thought about it for a minute. "I will concede that perhaps the idea of being next door, not at Sonny's former place, but the other one next to you isn't so bad. What would the rent be in a place like that?"
Jason shook his head with a smile, "You're Sonny's heir. It's covered."
Elizabeth shook her head, "Fine, but when all this crap is over and we find Ric and my kidnappers, and I can work properly again then I will be paying my way."
"We'll discuss that when we get there," Jason said.
"Fine," Elizabeth said, extending her hand out for him to shake.
Jason took her hand intending to shake her hand, but was shocked by how soft her small hand was and he momentarily caught himself staring into her dark blue eyes. 'So beautiful,' was all he could think.
A warehouse in Palermo
"What is a -with this cloak and dagger, Correlli? And why did you bring a- him?" Maximus asked.
"I told you that I was protecting the illegitimate daughter of Sonny Corinthos."
"Si, you did. But uh, why are you a- here," the Mafia Don asked.
"Because, there's been a development regarding your late daughter Serafina," Francis replied.
"What - a- development?" Maximus asked.
"Your daughter passed away -," Francis started.
"You called me a -here, and drag me away from my Maria to tell me my daughter died. I already knew that," Maximus replied in anger.
"You don't understand. She died a few years ago," Francis said.
"That's impossible. I saw her die in -a- da explosion." Maximus said.
"That's what they wanted you to think. Sera wasn't in the car. She was already out of the car," Francis said.
"I won't stand here and listen to this," Maximus replied, getting up to leave.
"Not even if I tell you that you have a granddaughter and great-grandson that are in grave danger from your enemies," Francis said.
Maximus turned around, "What did you just say?"
"You have a granddaughter and a great-grandson and they have been under constant threat."
"How?" Maximus asked, taken aback by this news.
"Anthony Zacchara and Trevor Lansing," Lorenzo spoke up from behind the men.
"How do you- a -know this to be a - true?" Maximus asked.
"Because, I was married to your daughter Serafina. She was 5 years old when she was placed with an Italian American family, last name Russo." Lorenzo held a photo of the Russo family and it was a picture of Sera, which . "Russo worked for Anthony. Anthony paid Mr. Russo handsomely for his silence and the girl grew up in Bensonhurst. Girl turns 16, gets close with a young Michael Corinthos and their union creates your granddaughter Elizabeth Zacchara Morgan. Anthony planned on marrying off Serafina to Tagliatti, right underneath your nose, hoping to leverage your stronghold over the peninsula and Sicily. They knew you would do anything to get Sera back. They didn't count on Sera ending up pregnant. You know how these arrangements go. As old fashioned as the rules were during that time. Though some of the marriages have been modernized and now aren't quite so stringent. She couldn't be touched for such an agreement to be legitimate."
"So what happened to my baby girl?" Maximus asked heartbroken.
"Russo brought Sera to Anthony where she was held until she gave birth. Once Elizabeth was born. They were immediately separated. Sera was taken back to the Russo's. Where she remained for two years. Elizabeth was raised as a member of the Zacchara family. Sera found Anthony when Elizabeth was two, but Anthony threatened to not only kill her, but Elizabeth as well if she didn't leave. Sera had to be dragged out. She never lost hope of being reunited with Elizabeth but she never tried to see her again out of fear that Anthony would make good on his threat, and kill her and her child."
"Why didn't Sonny help my daughter after getting her in such a way?" Maximus asked.
"As much as I'm loath to admit this, it wasn't his fault. He didn't know. Sera tried to find him, but he no longer went by Michael. He started going by Sonny. He became more heavily involved in the organization and then moved. Sera didn't have access to resources that would have helped her. She also didn't know that she was your child until just before she passed away. I entered into an arrangement with Trevor Lansing. He got drunk one evening and revealed too much. Let's just say, the puzzle started to come together and I realized a little too late that he was the man who helped steal away Elizabeth," Lorenzo admitted.
Maximus did his best to compose himself, and then asked, "He said that Serafina died a few years ago. How? Was it a -Zacchara?"
"No, he didn't kill her. She passed away due to leukemia. I paid for the best hospitals and doctors, but in the end it didn't matter. We lost her anyway."
Maximus shook his head and paced at this, "Why didn't you tell us before she -a- died once you knew? We could've visited and said -a- goodbye. You don't know how a-losing our baby-a-girl has affected me and my Maria."
"I can't imagine what you both have been through. We found out her true identity only days before she passed away, and at the time we had no way of confirming the veracity of the claims made. Also, there was Elizabeth's safety to consider. We didn't know where she was. Sera had given birth to our son only a year earlier. It was a fluid and awful situation with many variables."
"We have a grandson-a-too?"
"You did, but our son Diego passed away. He had Leukemia just like Sera. It will be 3 years this coming November. Diego's illness is how I became acquainted with Elizabeth."
What has become of Elizbetta?"
"Elizabetta has had a very hard time. She was sent to a boarding school in England at the age of six and rarely made it back to the states. She has a degree from the University of Rochester, as a Nurse Practitioner. She has a talent for art, and she has been in grave danger for most of her life. Most of the threats are coming from Lansing, but Anthony has done damage too."
"Why kind of - a- threats?" Maximus asked.
"Elizabeth and her son Cameron have been stalked around the country. She's been repeatedly assaulted, kidnapped twice, threatened, chased. Short of being shot, just about everything has happened to her," Francis said.
"Why am I just-a-now finding out about this?" You've been helping Elizabetta for nearly 3 years. How long have you known that she can be a relative of -a- mine?"
"She hasn't had an easy time. She asked us not to say anything. She didn't want to take advantage of you and your wife and she knew how upset this information would be. She also didn't want to bring added danger to anyone else, and she didn't know if you would believe her, but now the danger is at an all time high. That is why she sent her little boy Cameron here. She gave permission to have you run a DNA test on him."
"The boy is a-here? Where is Elizabetta?" Maximus asked.
"She stayed behind. She's embroiled through no fault of her own in a very dangerous situation, and she wanted her son with people that she believed would be fair and hear out her story. Will you offer the boy a safe harbor under the umbrella of your protection."
"We no go after bambinis and you know- a-this. If il ragazzo is not we still offer protection because of the nature of -a- our relationship with Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan. My sons work for them after all. Do they know this -a- possibility with Elizabetta?
"No, she thought it best that you verify the information so that you have no doubts. We didn't want to disappoint your family needlessly. You've been through enough. We will get a DNA test to see if Cameron is of your line. That way you can be sure."
"I don't know what to -a-say. This is so unbelievable. I will call you and tell you which -a- lab we are going to meet for the test on il ragazzo.
"Morgan," the enforcer said as he answered his cell phone.
"Did you know Manny Ruiz has just entered our territory. I have eyes on him. You think he's here for your wife?"
"Yes. Do not engage Manny, he's dangerous. You keep watch on him. Where are you?"
"On it. I'll contact you again when he picks up a place to stay," Cody said before hanging up.
Jason looked at Elizabeth who was checking out the Penthouse next to his.
"I think this is fine. Whose furniture is this?"
"We furnished it for associates that may have need for it. Just the essentials," Jason supplied as he ran a frustrated hand across his face.
"What's wrong?" Elizabeth said, "Is it Sam?"
"Sam? No, it's...I think you need to sit down. There's something we forgot to tell you," Jason said.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.
"When you were kidnapped, a man by the name of Manny Ruiz, bid on you and won. He just got into town."
"What?" Elizabeth said, "You mean there's someone else I have to contend with? What does he want with me?"
"To possess you," Jason said.