Written in 57 minutes.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, watching as Jason processed the news. “I think I should get another attorney,” she began, and Jason focused on her. “If this is going to come back to criminal charges, you’re the one with more exposure and you need Diane to be concentrating on you—”

“He’s threatening you, too,” Jason pointed out. “And Diane just said we can do a waiver of conflict—”

Elizabeth just shook her head. “I don’t think this—” Her voice faltered, and she took a deep, bracing breath. “It’s almost time for Cam to take a nap. I’ll put him down and you can talk about it with Diane—”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jason began, but stopped as she lifted Cameron into his arms. He’d argue with her later. First he wanted to know exactly what was going on. He waited for Elizabeth to disappear around the corner before looking back at Diane. “Talk.”

Diane pursed her lips, set her briefcase on the desk, and opened it. She removed a legal document, handed it to him. “A preview of the response to the paternity suit—”

“We didn’t file that yet—”

“No, but our claims were going to be pretty standard. Lincoln Frazier was very careful today to make this sound like a preview of his case rather than the threat it was. The only want to avoid this being filed in family court is to not challenge Lucky’s petition for joint custody of both boys.”

Jason grimaced as he flipped through it. “Lucky can’t think this is going to work?”

“If we pull a judge who takes this seriously, he’s honor bound to report evidence of a crime to the criminal court.” Diane studied Jason carefully. “Right now, I represent both of you, so anything you say to me is confidential. Is there any truth to what Lucky is saying?”

“He’s making it sound—” Jason set the paperwork on the desk. “It all happened fast. Manny shot me, and we were fighting on the roof. Lucky took a shot, and Manny went over the edge. When I got downstairs, Manny was dead. But there was no gunshot.”

“How was that missed?” Diane wanted to know. “There was a medal ceremony—”

“I was in surgery for most of the aftermath,” Jason reminded Diane. “I barely survived. There was no cover-up, Diane. Elizabeth wasn’t even involved other than being at the hospital and being on my case. By the time I woke up, Lucky was already being celebrated. Later, I knew the autopsy report didn’t agree with the press, but I figured Alexis didn’t care. Manny was dead.”

“Okay.” Diane touched her throat. “Here’s the part where I give you legal advice. I should tell you to drop the paternity suit. Let this go. Let Elizabeth get her divorce, and settle joint custody—”

“Diane—”

“Later, down the road, you two can get married, and you’ll have your son part of the time—”

Jason just shook his head. “That’s not—”

“I should tell you that,” Diane continued, “but—” She bit her lip. “I’m not going to. I need to talk to Alexis. Find out what the hell is going on. And if there’s still an autopsy report that backs up Lucky Spencer.”

“Diane—”

“Elizabeth has a point. Right now, when it’s just about custody, you two have united interests—” Diane closed her briefcase. “But in a criminal case, if you end up on trial again for this, Elizabeth will be offered a deal to testify against you—”

“There’s nothing to testify—”

“I can’t represent the both of you because it would be in her best interest to take that deal—”

“Which I would never do.”

They turned to look at Elizabeth as she stood on the landing. “We still have a common interest,” she continued. “I would never take a deal to testify against Jason. Even if I knew something—which I don’t. Nothing I could testify to. Lucky knew last year he hadn’t made the shot. It made him crazy and upset. He’s the one that told me. Not Jason. Spousal privilege would protect that in criminal court. I could never testify to it.”

“You two never spoke about this?” Diane asked. “I’m supposed to believe that?”

“It doesn’t matter if we talked about it later. My knowledge doesn’t come from Jason. And Jason wasn’t conscious for most of it. God, Diane, they were planning the medal ceremony almost before he woke up! He almost died! And even if he did shove Manny over the roof, it was self-defense—Manny just kept coming after him—he was never going to stop—”

Diane held up a hand. “All right. All right. If you’re determined, then we’ll sign another waiver. I just wanted you both to think through the possibilities.” She nodded at the paperwork Jason had left on the desk. “As to the paternity suit, do we go forward?”

“What do you want to do?” Jason asked Elizabeth.

“Me? I’m not the one risking everything. You’re the one who the PCPD would go after—”

“They’d go after you, too,” he said roughly, already hating the idea of her being dragged in for questioning, charged as an accomplice.

“I don’t—I don’t care about that. I’m the one who did this, okay? If anyone deserves what’s happening, it’s me—”

“No—”

“I didn’t tell the truth. I deserve it—”

“It sounds like neither one of you want to back down,” Diane broke in, drawing their attention back to her. “You can argue about guilt and blame later. All I want to know is do I tell Lincoln Frazier and his client to go to hell and file the paternity suit?”

“Yes,” Jason said. “File it. If Lucky wants to bring up Manny Ruiz to make us look like unfit parents, I’ve got some stories I can tell, too. He nearly shot her last fall, high on drugs, while trying to kill me.”

Diane blinked. “Well, that does give me something to work with.” She lifted the briefcase. “I’ll be in touch.”

Jason opened the door to let her out, then turned back to Elizabeth. “It’s going to be okay.”

“It just never stops,” she murmured. “There never seems to be a moment where I can just breathe. I’m going to be paying for this lie for the rest of my life. Lucky will make sure of it.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “This is my fault, and I hate that you’re putting your freedom on the line—you just got it back—”

Jason went to her, put his hands on her shoulders to turn her towards him. “If the PCPD wanted me for Manny, they’d have done it. Alexis buried that report because I’d saved Sam’s life and Manny was a threat. You’ll have the official report against the word of an admitted drug addict—”

“I’d give anything to take it back.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. “I’d give anything to just live that moment one more time and not be scared. Not be weak. This never would have happened if I hadn’t lied. If I hadn’t asked you to keep lying.”

“We can’t keep going over this,” Jason said. “Yeah, you asked, but I said yes. This is on me—”

“No, no. Don’t pretend that I didn’t hurt you, okay? I can’t stand when you let me off the hook. You always do.” Elizabeth shrugged, his hands falling away. “I say and do terrible things. I hurt you, I know I did. A thousand times, and you just keep forgiving me. Why don’t you ever get mad at me?” she demanded.

Jason exhaled slowly. “Because I could never hate you. And you’re angry enough for the both of us.” But he could tell that answer hadn’t made her happy. He never knew how to make her happy. “What do you want me to do? Yell at you? Scream? Blame you? I’m not Lucky.”

“No, you’re not.” Elizabeth leaned against the arm of the sofa. “I don’t know. I just—I don’t understand why you’re not more angry. You shouldn’t have to fight this hard for your own son, and I’m the reason you have to—and I hate it—I hate myself—”

“You’re not the one threatening to accuse me of murder. That’s Lucky. He had a choice, Elizabeth. He could have accepted the truth and walked away. He’s the one making this hard for everyone, including himself. Even if I got investigated for Manny’s death, it doesn’t have anything to do with me being a parent. He wants to scare us into backing down. I’m not going to. So be mad at him. Not me.”

“I’m not mad—” Elizabeth frowned at him. “I’m not mad at you.”

“You sure about that? Are you mad that I said yes? Because that’s what it sounds like. You wanted me to fight you, to refuse to let Lucky raise Jake. Maybe a part of you is angry with because I said yes. Maybe you think I don’t love Jake enough—”

“No—No—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I didn’t—” She dug her fingers into her scalp, took a deep breath. “No. That’s not what I wanted,” she said softly. “I knew you loved him. I knew you wanted him. I never doubted that.”

“Then what? What should I have done differently? I gave you what you wanted—”

“I never wanted it,” Elizabeth said, then closed her mouth, her eyes widened as if she hadn’t meant to say it. But then she took a deep breath. “I never wanted it,” she repeated. “But I was scared.”

“Scared of what? My job? You keep telling me that it doesn’t bother you—”

“Scared that you’d give my dream to her,” Elizabeth said, her voice so soft that he almost didn’t hear it. She swallowed hard. “I wanted it, and I knew I couldn’t have it.”

Jason tipped his head, stepped closer to her. “Wanted what?”

“The dream.” She closed her eyes. “New Year’s, when I had the accident. I had these dreams. Dreams of telling you and you were so angry at me. And then these other—I dreamed that you knew. That we were sitting here.” She turned, looked at the sofa, with a nearly blank expression on her face. “I was pregnant. And we were a family. You were reading to Cameron. And I wanted that so much.”

Jason’s voice tightened. “I asked you to marry me.”

“I wanted to say yes,” she said, still not looking at him. Still looking at the sofa as if the ghosts of the dream she’d described could still be seen. “I had to bite my tongue to stop.”

“Why?” he demanded roughly. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because you didn’t love me.” Elizabeth finally turned, met his eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. “That’s it. That’s my confession. I asked you to give up Jake because I knew if I told the truth, I’d be alone, and you’d give my dream to Sam. She’d get to have that family, and I would have nothing.” She sucked in a deep breath. “That’s the truth, Jason. I’m not mad at you for letting me keep lying. I’m mad because you didn’t love me. And because of that, I’ve ruined all our lives.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Spinelli checked his watch, wondering if he should head back to the penthouse or give Stone Cold and the Fair Elizabeth more time alone. He didn’t fancy himself a matchmaker, per se, but he figured if they were alone together with the boys, then surely they’d work things out.

“Got a hot date later?” Georgie wanted to know, setting down his burger and fries. “You keep checking your watch.”

“Oh.” He flushed. “No, no. The Jackal just wonders how long he should stay away from home.”

“You know, I think you’ve already done a lot to help Jason with the kids.” Georgie sat down to take her break. “It’s really up to him and Elizabeth now.” She tugged her phone out, frowning at the missed calls that had racked up while she was working. “Someone keeps calling me on a blocked number,” she said with a frown. “And no voicemail.”

Spinelli narrowed his eyes, and she sighed. “Don’t start. It’s not like the flowers—”

“No, it’s worse,” he muttered. “Georgie—”

When he slid past nicknames and used government ones, Georgie knew his concern was real. “Fine. I promise, I’ll tell Mac about the calls.”

“And the flowers.”

“And the flowers.” She patted his arm. “Eat your dinner, then take another ten minutes and head home. That should be enough time.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

She wanted to disappear, to melt into the floor—anything to make this moment over and never speak of it again. But of course this was reality, and Jason was just staring at her like she’d sprouted an extra head—

She might as well have — what made her think this was a good time to drag all of that up? Elizabeth folded her arms nervously. “I should check on the boys.”

“Wait, wait—” Jason caught her arm as she started past him. “We need to talk about this—”

“Talk about what? What an insane person I am? The terrible things I did because I was scared and selfish?” She pulled away. “None of that is news to me—”

“I should have told you,” Jason cut in and she closed her mouth, drawing her brows together in confusion. “A thousand times, I should have told you. I wanted to. But it all got complicated, and I didn’t know if it was even fair—”

“Wait. Told me what?” Elizabeth stepped closer to him, her heart pounding wildly because surely he wasn’t—

“I love you.”

His words hung between them for a long moment — he had nothing else to offer, and she couldn’t force any words over the lump in her throat. Because she wanted so desperately to believe him, but it was too good to be true—she didn’t deserve to hear those words, for them to be true, not after everything she had done—after all the hurt and pain, she wasn’t supposed to get what she wanted—

“Elizabeth—”

“I—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t just say that if you didn’t mean it,” she said softly, more to herself than to him, wanting to reassure herself.

Jason grasped her elbow, drew her closer. “No, I wouldn’t. I didn’t know how to tell you before. It didn’t seem fair,” he admitted. “And I was engaged to another woman. Someone I didn’t want to hurt. And I thought you wanted Lucky. So I tried to give you what you wanted.”

“You—back then—you’re—” She couldn’t make sense of any of this. Couldn’t make the world stop spinning for just a moment— “I—”

“For years,” Jason continued, framing her face with his hands, his thumbs brushing tears from her cheeks, “I put what I felt for you in a box, and I buried it. Because I couldn’t have what I wanted. But last year, that night, I let it all out, and I didn’t know how to put it back. I didn’t want to.”

Her lip trembled. “I told myself so many times that it was just comfort, just friendship, but I put you away, too. Then you looked at me, and it was like none of that had happened. Like we were just starting all over again. I messed it  up—”

“No,” he murmured. “We’re not doing that anymore. Okay? It happened. It’s over. And now we’re standing here. Tell me,” his breath warm against her mouth. “Give me the words so I can give them back.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” And then he kissed her, and the world went away.

+50

Written in 62 minutes.

Miller & Associates: Conference Room

For the last week, Elizabeth had met with Diane every daily, going over her marriage in painstaking—and even humiliating—detail. Diane wanted no surprises in this meeting, and Elizabeth knew that everything she said would remain confidential, even from Jason. But it didn’t make it any easier to answer questions like, “Why did you continue the lie after Jason wanted to be a father?” and “Why did you keep involving Jason in your child’s life?”

Questions that reminded Elizabeth how much damage she’d caused, how much hurt and pain she’d inflicted on Jason who had never done anything except say one wrong thing the day he’d learned about the test the results. Sure, Jason could have refused — but she’d known he wouldn’t. Had she taken advantage of that? Diane had asked. Used her history with Jason, his role in Michael’s paternity and belief that Carly had the right to choose for her son?

Not on purpose, Elizabeth had attempted to explain. It sounded so callous. Cruel. Calculating. But it all amounted to the same thing, and was why she was taking a seat next to her lawyer, watching Lucky do the same. His lawyer unpacking his briefcase, retrieving a thick file.

Had Lucky had those same conversations with this man? Did Lincoln Frazier now know every intimate detail of their marriage, every piece of Lucky’s thought process? Between the two lawyers, they should surely know every piece of information. Maybe they could explain to Elizabeth how a marriage that begun with such happiness that day in October 2005, as she’d stood in front of Lucky, her first love, with love and kindness radiating—before plunging into the terrible fights just a year later—and now this—

She hadn’t wanted this — but it felt like every she’d taken that day after leaving Jason’s penthouse—every choice—had led them here.

“Good morning, Lincoln,” Diane said with a breezy smile. “How are you?”

“Not nearly as well as you. Are those new shoes?” the other man asked.

Diane beamed. “So nice of you to notice. You always had an eye for such things.” She picked up her pencil, the sharpened tip poised over her yellow legal pad. “We filed in superior court last week, so I’m sure you’ve had a chance to review our initial proposals.”

“Yes. Your client seeks a dissolution of the marriage with no property or financial entanglements. They both walk away with what they entered the marriage — custody to be determined later.” Lincoln’s dark brows raised. “You’re asking to bifurcate the custody arrangements?”

“With the family court docket being what it is, we anticipate some delays in getting some of our hearings on the docket,” Diane said. “I see no reason why Mr. Spencer or Miss Webber should have to wait to be declared legally single.”

Lincoln nodded. “Yes, my client did anticipate that his wife was eager to be single again for the purposes of other hearings.”

Elizabeth frowned, looked at Diane whose bland expression did not change. “Whatever the motivations, does your client have any problem with that?”

“Yes. The financial situation will take some time to deal with. There is serious credit card debt in Mrs. Spencer’s name—”

Elizabeth’s fists clenched in her lap, but Diane was ready. “Yes, there was a very large charge a year ago to a credit card belonging to my client — a card on which Mr. Spencer was an authorized user.” She picked up a copy of the bill and her reading glasses. “Ah, Promises Recovery and Rehab. Mrs. Spencer is willing to forgo fighting over that charge in order to streamline the dissolution of the marriage—”

“As I said, there are financial issues that I think bear closer study. At this time, we are not looking to join the petition for bifurcation. Mr. Spencer would rather wait for all aspects of this marriage to be litigated before final dissolution.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, looked at Lucky who just met her eyes with a sullen glare. She looked back at Diane.

“All right, we’ll let a judge handle that.” Diane set that paperwork aside. “As for the financial situation, we’ll be employing Harris & Son as financial auditors to prepare a report as to what Mrs. Spencer’s share of the marital assets and debts would be so that we can make a proper recommendation to the judge.”

“We’ll make everything available from our side, so long as our financial auditors have access to your documents.”

Auditors digging through her records. Refusing to let her just walk away — Oh, God, Lucky was really going to make this difficult, wasn’t he?

“The marital home on Charles Street belongs to the Spencer family,” Lincoln began.

“Mrs. Spencer is already waiving any claim to it. She understands that it was loaned to them for the duration of the marriage and that it remains in trust for Laura Spencer and her children.” Diane slid that waiver across the table. “It should have been in the original filing, but in case you overlooked it—”

“Of course.” Lincoln paused. “I bring up the subject because it allows for a segue into our most important concern. Custody of the minor children. Mrs. Spencer took the children from the marital home without any discussion of visitation. My client is the legal father of Jacob Martin Spencer and stepfather to Cameron Hardy Webber. He would like to arrange for joint custody, with a fifty-fifty share. One week with him, one week with their mother. That would eliminate the need for child support.”

“As it pertains to Cameron Webber,” Diane said, “my client is in support. Cameron loves his—” She paused and with the slightest sneer in her tone, “stepfather as Mr. Spencer is the only father figure he’s ever known.” She slid another set of papers across the table. “As for the younger son, Jacob, this is an unfiled copy of the paternity suit Jason Morgan will be filing in family court if we cannot mediate the issue today. He will be presenting evidence of paternity and petitioning for Mr. Spencer’s legal status to be terminated. Mr. Spencer is well aware of this fact as Miss Webber already informed him—and the world—of this fact.”

Lincoln did not pick up the papers. He looked at Lucky, who just nodded. The lawyer returned his attention to Diane. “We did anticipate that possibility, and we’ve prepared an answer for that. While Mr. Morgan’s alleged biological connection may add a wrinkle to custody negotiations, in answer to that paternity suit, Mr. Spencer will be ready to defend himself as the child’s legal father.”

“A court—” Diane began.

“Blood relatives are preferred, but not guaranteed,” Lincoln cut in, and Diane closed her mouth. “Mr. Morgan knew of this child’s paternity months ago, according to your client. He also knew it was a possibility before the baby was born. He sat for a paternity test. A fact that no one informed my client about. Mr. Morgan’s failure to provide for his son has given my client serious pause to investigate his fitness as a father.”

Elizabeth clenched her jaw. So Georgie had heard correctly. Lucky was going to attack Jason—

“Mr. Spencer and I have been reviewing his knowledge of Mr. Morgan this last week, and, well, Diane, I must admit I’m bit confused as to why Mrs. Spencer would want this man anywhere near her or the minor children. His arrest record, the recent trial—”

“All irrelevant as Mr. Morgan does not have have an actual criminal record,” Diane said coolly. “As  law enforcement officer, Mr. Spencer is well aware of that fact.”

“Yes, well—my client has a proposal to make. He does not wish to cause anyone any more undue pain or embarrassment or legal trouble. There are some facts Mr. Spencer is aware of that would put Mr. Morgan’s fitness as a father into stark contention—and Mrs. Spencer’s fitness as a mother, as well, since she is quite aware of these facts.”

Elizabeth frowned, shook her head. “What—” She closed her mouth as Diane looked at her.

“Please, enlighten us, Lincoln, as to the facts you think my client is ignoring.”

“As you know, last year, my client became addicted to the pain medication subscribed to him after an injury—an injury sustained as he attempted to rescue Mrs. Spencer from the clutches of a villain who had kidnapped her. As a result of that addition, Mr. Spencer made some mistakes I’m sure you’re going to bring up. And one of those mistakes,” Lincoln said coolly, “was allowing Mr. Morgan and Mrs. Spencer to convince him that Manny Ruiz died as a result of Mr. Spencer’s heroic actions. However, Mr. Spencer is quite aware that it was Mr. Morgan who inflicted the deadly blow, and Mrs. Spencer acted as an accessory after the fact.”

Diane stared at him for a long moment. “I’m sorry. Are you attempting to argue that your client participated in the cover-up of a murder and that somehow makes my client look like an unfit mother?”

“I am previewing the case I intend to make before a judge in any paternity or custody hearing,” Lincoln said. “Mrs. Spencer convinced her husband that Jason Morgan had nothing to do with Manny Ruiz’s death. That Mr. Spencer was the hero, for which he was celebrated for in the press. She did this to cover up the murder committed by her lover — the affair that you plan to use to prove paternity also corroborates Mr. Spencer’s events. She took advantage of an officer with a tragic addiction to pain pills to keep her lover out of jail. The same lover who was recently on trial for a different murder. Who has a long arrest record for felonies and misdemeanors. That is the argument I’ll be making to a family court judge as to why Jacob Spencer should remain in the legal custody of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr., with supervised visitation from his mother—should she not be charged with any crimes relating to these incidents. Questions?’

Wyndemere: Study

“I don’t know why you’re even bothering with this conversation,” Nikolas told Emily as he went around his desk, took a seat. “Lucky isn’t going to listen to you anymore than he did me.”

“I still have to try,” Emily said with a sigh. “I understand how angry and hurt he is — I’m not making excuses for Elizabeth. I wouldn’t. She should have told me last year — I mean, I knew about the paternity test. I just didn’t know the results.” She rubbed her arms. “I can understand what she did. How things unraveled last year, and I hate to think I put any pressure on her—”

“She likes to put herself in the center,” Nikolas muttered, and Emily turned to look at him, confused.

“What?”

“All the weight for Lucky’s recovery — she puts it on herself. The baby—which she carried—got him clean. As if Lucky didn’t do the work—”

“That—” Emily shook her head. “That’s not what she means when she talks about the pressure. Lucky’s the one that linked his recovery to the pregnancy. He didn’t even check in until he found out—”

“Still. She didn’t even try to talk to either of us,” Nikolas said. “We would have been there for Lucky—”

“Maybe. But maybe it wouldn’t have helped. We were there for him before that, weren’t we? That didn’t seem to stop him from relapsing, continuing the affair with Maxie—God, Nikolas—why are we arguing about this? It happened. We can’t fix it. We can’t take it back or change anything. All we can do is try to get them through this next part—”

“And that’s what I’m doing. Lucky deserves the best representation,” Nikolas said. “I saw that Diane Miller is taking Elizabeth’s case. He needs someone to stand up for him—”

“What about what he’s asking? Is he really going to drag them all through court just to hear a judge say the same thing we’re saying now? You think it’ll be better for him if it takes six months for a judge to take Jake away?” Emily demanded. “Don’t you think that puts him a greater risk for the relapse?”

“Maybe. But he says this is what he needs—”

“He’s being selfish—”

“To hold on to his own child?” Nikolas snorted. “Blood doesn’t matter, Emily. You’re adopted, that doesn’t matter—”

“Really? If blood doesn’t matter so much, why is he threatening to walk away from Cameron?” she wanted to know. “You and I both know that the only difference between those two kids is that Lucky thought Jake was his biological son. He’s fighting to hold on to the baby he barely knows and ready to throw out the child who adores him.”

“That’s not fair—you know he loves Cameron—”

“He loves him the way you do. The way I do. As an adorable child we’ve watched grow up. He doesn’t feel any kind of sense of belonging. If he truly saw Cameron as his own, he wouldn’t be using this way. You know that. He’s using that precious child as leverage — banking that Elizabeth will push Jason away so that Cameron doesn’t get hurt.”

Nikolas exhaled slowly. “Maybe that’s true,” he said, “but—”

“No matter how much this hurts, we have to do what’s right. What’s good for everyone, including those boys. Lucky is going to lose Jake. You know that. But he’d rather put Cameron in the middle. What kind of father does that?”

“A desperate one—”

“You’re a fool if you support him in this.” Her eyes burned with tears. “You’re no better than the man I divorced two years ago. You and your brother are alike. You run from reality and find something else to fill the pain. He used pills, you used another woman—”

“That’s not fair—”

“I’m not interested in fair,” Emily bit out. “I don’t have the luxury for it. I only care about what’s right. And Lucky’s gamble is going to fail. It deserves to. He’ll lose them both, and you know what he’s not even taking into consideration?”

“What’s that?”

“Cameron is barely three years old. If he keeps pushing this, if he keeps hurting Cameron, Elizabeth has options. Does Lucky even think about that? Jason is right there, stepping up for Jake. Do you think he’d walk away from Cameron? Really? Lucky’s going to lose, but you know what? He deserves to.”

“It’s all about Jason with you. Just like it is with Elizabeth—”

“Because my brother is the better man. And you and your brother have hated him for years because of it.” Emily’s lips curved into a sick smile. “Or did you think I forgot that Christmas party when you announced to the world he was sleeping with Elizabeth? Go to hell. You and your brother.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

It was getting easier to handle both kids, Jason reflected as he descended the stairs after putting Jake down for a nap and watched Cameron loop around the pool table again on the miniature bike he’d carted down from the playroom that morning. Even if Cameron never ran out of energy.

“Zoom!” The toddler chanted as he raced past Jason again, but then the corner of the bike caught the desk and it tipped over. Cameron fell off with a thud, then sat up with a scowl.

“You okay?” Jason knelt down, righted the bike and checked Cameron for bumps. “You need to go a little slower,” he told him.

Cameron grinned at him. “Slow sad. Happy fast.” He climbed back on the bike and continued the lap as if nothing had happened. The resilience of children.

The door opened then, and Diane came in, followed by Elizabeth, and Jason’s smile faded as he got to his feet. Neither of them looked happy.

“I guess it didn’t go well,” Jason said, his heart pounding. Diane had made the mediation sound like nothing—just an annoying box to tick off as they marched towards custody and paternity hearings.

“That depends on your definition of well,” Diane said. She looked to Elizabeth. “I’ll draw up another waiver of conflict of interest. The previous one only protected us in civil court. It’s different wording in  criminal—”

“Criminal—” Jason echoed, not even feeling the pinch as Cameron’s bike rolled over his foot.  “What happened?”

Elizabeth folded her arms, smiled grimly. “Well, Georgie definitely heard correctly. Lucky’s going after both of us. He claims you—” She took a deep breath, lowered her voice so that Cameron couldn’t hear her. “He claims that you killed Manny Ruiz, and I helped you cover it up by convincing Lucky, my poor, tragic, pain addicted husband, to take the credit. If we file a paternity suit, Lucky’s going to tell everyone that it was the fall from the roof that killed Manny, not Lucky’s bullets. And—”

“And the autopsy reports Alexis buried support that,” Jason finished.

“The only way to avoid all of this,” Diane said, “is if we drop the paternity suit and agree to Lucky’s custody demands.”

In other words, if Jason wanted avoid jail and keep Elizabeth from being charged as an accessory, or hell, even an accomplice—

He’d need to give up his son.

Again.

+39

Written in 57 minutes.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason was almost relieved to see Elizabeth on the sofa with Spinelli when he returned from Sonny’s that afternoon. He really didn’t know how she transported two children around all the time, especially since Cameron never seemed to stay still for more than ten minutes at a time.

He no sooner pushed open the door then Cameron raced for the stairs and likely the toys upstairs. Elizabeth got to her feet. “I’ll go up and close the gate behind him,” she said. “Otherwise, he’ll ride that bike right down the stairs.”

“Little Dude definitely has the need for speed,” Spinelli said, cheerfully. He set his laptop on the table. “He’s why parents leash their kids.” The smile on the younger man’s face didn’t match the tone of his voice, Jason realized as he lifted Jake from the stroller and crossed the room a playpen that had mysteriously showed up next to the television. He checked the toys and left Jake chewing on the long ear of a stuffed bunny.

“Is everything okay?” Jason wanted to know.

“Uh, yeah. I guess. Maybe. Do you still have that thumb drive I gave you last week? The Jackal requires it.”

Jason frowned, opened the desk drawer and retrieved it. “Did something happen?”

“Faithful Friend and Fair Chelsea had another delivery. Dead roses.” Spinelli’s mouth was pinched as he took the drive and shuddered. “Creepy to the maximum.”

“Did Georgie tell Mac?” Jason asked, leaning against the desk.

“No, but the Jackal will relay that suggestion—” He smiled grimly as Elizabeth descended the stairs. “I, uh, also have some information for you and Fair Elizabeth.” He tucked the thumb drive in his laptop bag. “The Insightful One overheard a troubling conversation while working last week. She didn’t want to get involved, so she said nothing. But she felt as though it should be shared.”

“Spinelli—”

“Detective Dingus and The Departed One were discussing the divorce and custody,” Spinelli mumbled.

Elizabeth drew her brows together. “Detective—”

“Lucky and Sam,” Jason bit out, then focused on the tech. “Discussing how?”

“Uh—” Spinelli rubbed the back of his neck. “Questioning the best way to ensure Detective Dingus maintains his role as the paternal—”

“Spinelli.” Jason knew that the kid was uncomfortable with confrontation, and had always used nicknames and hyperbole to cope with that, but he was running out of patience—

“Right.” Spinelli swallowed. “Georgie didn’t get all the details, but they were brainstorming how to make Fair Elizabeth and Stone Cold look like unfit parents to tank the paternity and custody.”

“They—” Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Me? Unfit? And Jason—” She exhaled in a heavy sigh. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll let Diane know.”

“Thanks,” Jason added, his fists clenched at his side. Why the hell had Sam decided to weigh in on any of this? It wasn’t her business anymore—

“I’ll, uh, head out. I need to go to PCU.” Spinelli looped the bag over his head and headed for the door. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It sucks.”

“It does,” Elizabeth murmured. She closed her eyes, dragged her hands through her hair. “What is he thinking?” she wanted to know, looking back at Jason. “I know Sam must be angry, but you’ve been broken up for a while now—”

“She knew,” Jason said quietly. “She found out after Jake was born. I didn’t know that,” he added when Elizabeth just stared at him. “Not until Jake was kidnapped. It came out then.”

“She knew Jake was your son,” Elizabeth repeated. “She knew before Maureen Harper kidnapped him.” She rubbed her chest, then laughed—though it was short, choppy, almost bitter sound devoid of humor. “Well, that explains her visit to the house the day after. When she said she wanted to help, and instead—” She sighed. “Never mind.”

“What did she do?” What had Sam said to Elizabeth, knowing where Jake was and who had him? Damn it. He’d thought he was protecting them all by not revealing the role Sam had played, but—

“I think maybe she was trying in the beginning,” Elizabeth murmured. She wandered over to the terrace doors, peering out at the view of the harbor. “Trying to tell me she understood what I was going through. Because of the baby she’d lost. But I was angry. Jake wasn’t dead—I still had Cameron,” she said. “We were the same, the two of us. We’d both lost a child. I could even have another baby. Like Jake could just  be replaced.”

“She—” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face, taking that in. With full knowledge of who had his son, Sam had tried to plant the seeds in Elizabeth’s head. She would never have told the truth. If Maureen Harper hadn’t revealed her part in it all— “I’m sorry.”

“It just—I guess it gives that conversation a different meaning now that I know she knew all along. Maybe she wanted it to be true.” Elizabeth made a face, turned back to him. “That’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t—Don’t apologize for her. She doesn’t deserve it.” And now Sam wanted to go after Elizabeth again? Pushing Lucky, trying to get them both declared unfit—

“I can’t believe Lucky really thinks he’s going to go into a court room and point to you as an unfit father,” Elizabeth said with a scowl. “He’s the one with the record of drug abuse. And his affair with Maxie—everyone knew about then when she faked the pregnancy. He did drugs around my son. He can’t win this. It’s impossible.”

“I just got acquitted for murder,” Jason reminded her. “And I’ve got an arrest record—”

“No convictions,” Elizabeth said. “And zero record of endangering kids. I just hate that he’s even considering it. The last thing you and Sonny need is more of this—”

“You let me worry about that.” Jason crossed to her, reached for her hands. “Remember what Diane said. There’s no chance I’m going to lose the paternity suit. And once I’m Jake’s legal father, Lucky’s rights go away.” He hesitated. “And if it looks like it’s going wrong—you tell me how you want this to work out, and I’ll make sure it happens.” He’d get Spinelli working on the family court roster, he decided. There was always something—

“You just got out of jail,” Elizabeth said, but her lips had curved into a smile now because she understood what he was offering. “Let’s just…let’s see what he has to say. Diane is filing today, and we should get something back from Lucky and his lawyer. I just hate that this is happening.”

“So do I. But we’ve got warning,” Jason reminded her. “Diane can prep for any attack on you or me as a parent.” He thought about what Sonny had said, and wondered if Lucky would push too far and lose Elizabeth’s support for joint custody of Cameron. Jason worried if he told her now he’d step up, she might feel guilty enough about everything else to accept the offer even if it wasn’t what she wanted.

Better to wait for Lucky to throw the first punch, because it sounded like he was stupid enough to play dirty.

And Jason had someone else who needed to be dealt with.

Lewis Hall: Georgie & Chelsea’s Dorm

Georgie flopped back on her bed. “You can’t see anything!”

“Well, we can,” Chelsea said, trying to be helpful. “We know he’s not very tall. And he—” She squinted at the figure in the grainy black and white footage. “He likes hats.”

“And long jackets in the summer,” Spinelli said. The same figure had delivered both the fresh roses as the dead ones — but all that meant is that it was some of average height who kept his back to the camera. No face shots.

“You should call your stepdad,” Chelsea told Georgie. “Isn’t it a little weird that he didn’t look at the camera?”

“It could just be a florist delivery. They let delivery guys up to the rooms all the time,” Georgie said. “Maybe this isn’t even the guy.”

“Maybe—”

“It’s probably just some dumb joke.” Georgie studied the vase of the dead flowers on the dress. “The frats are starting early—”

“But—”

“And it’s not like it was addressed to either of us,” Georgie reminded her. “If someone wanted to scare us, why not write notes?”

“I guess.” Chelsea chewed on her lip, looked at Spinelli. “What do you think?”

“I think,” Spinelli said slowly, “that better safe than sorry. Give the Commissioner everything—”

“He’s going to think we’re silly.” Georgie got to her feet and crossed to the dresser. “Maxie is already driving him nuts with Cooper and all that crap she pulled last week. She picked the vase up and dumped it in the trash. “We’re not probably not even the only people that are getting pranked.”

Sam’s Apartment

Jason heard the footsteps behind the door and waited — knowing that she was peering through the peephole. If she didn’t answer the door —

Finally, the tumblers shifted and he heard the locks clicking. Sam opened the door, draping one arm along the edge, the other braced against the frame to block him from coming in. She arched a brow and smirked. “Lonely after all those weeks away?”

“Not for you,” he bit out, and her eyes widened. She fell back a step. Good, he thought. He’d been too kind to her, felt too guilty about the fact she couldn’t have children, that he’d kept the truth about Jake from her — but he wasn’t going to let her push him around for the rest of his life in return.

While he knew her medical issues were ultimately because of her connection to him, he reminded himself that Sam had known the risks of being around him. She’d chosen them. And she’d chosen to watch as his newborn son was kidnapped. Chosen to keep that knowledge to herself. Chosen to torment Elizabeth with thoughts of Jake’s death—

He was done with the guilt.

“What do you want?” Sam demanded.

“If you want to talk about this in the hallway,” Jason said, “we can do that. I’m thisclose to calling Diane to tip off the police that someone else was part of Jake’s kidnapping—”

She hissed, let her hand fall away from the door, and stepped back so he could enter. “You have a lot of nerve—”

“No, you do.” Jason stalked into the apartment, then turned to face her. “You knew where my son was and said nothing—”

“I told you—”

“Yeah, and I swallowed that bullshit  about you being paralyzed and scared. I let myself believe you. But you didn’t stay scared, did you?” Jason asked, stepping close to her — Sam was forced to tilt her head up to maintain eye contact. “You went to Elizabeth to make her think Jake was dead.”

“That’s—” Sam swallowed hard. “You’re making it sound deliberate—”

“Because it was. You wanted Jake gone. You wanted me to lose my son when I was already facing a lifetime in prison—and you did it, you said, because you were scared. You weren’t scared. Or paralyzed. You were happy for Jake to disappear, weren’t you?’

“Why are you here?”

“There was a time I loved you,” he said, and she frowned, likely confused at the change in topic. “A time when I wanted my future to be with you.”

“You—”

“I felt guilty because I stopped wanting that at some point and I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know how to end things without hurting you. And I’ve continued to feel that guilt. Do you think you’d be protected from prosecution if Elizabeth knew what you did?”

Sam licked her lips. “You never—”

“I never told anyone. Because I felt responsible. But today? I see who you really are. Spiteful. Vindictive.”

“How dare you—”

“You have nothing to do with my life anymore. Nothing to do with Elizabeth or her boys. You’re going to stop filling Lucky Spencer’s ears with your bullshit. If I find out you’re still trying to hurt Elizabeth or the kids—”

“What? You’ll have me arrested?” Sam sneered.

“You decided to make yourself a threat to my son the minute you kept your mouth shut about his kidnapping. Maureen would have given him back within hours, but you enjoyed hurting me, hurting Elizabeth—”

“No!”

“Stay away from me. From my life. From my son. Or you’ll see exactly who I am.”

Sam’s cheeks paled and she stepped back. “Are you threatening to kill me?” she asked, her voice trembling. “How could you—”

“Do you want to find out?” He took a step towards her, and she backed up hastily, against the door. She reached for the knob, twisted it. “I didn’t think so.”

“Get out.” But the sneer, the arrogance was gone, and there was fear in her eyes. Good.

He left, hearing the door slam behind him. He didn’t know if she truly believed him, and Jason didn’t even know if he believed himself —  but if Sam caused Elizabeth one more moment of pain —

They’d both find out what he was capable of.

+46

PCU: Lewis Hall Dorm

Georgie adjusted the strap of her backpag slung over her right shoulder, wincing at the weight of her books. It had been her choice to enroll in summer classes so she could graduate early, she reminded herself, even if it meant she didn’t have much of a social life.

She turned down the hallway to her dorm room, her steps slowing as she saw the vase sitting outside her room. Just as it had a few weeks earlier — only instead of a cluster of fresh red roses—

These were dead.

Georgie stared at it for a long moment, then twisted the knob on her door and pushed it open. Inside the compact room, Chelsea was laying on her side in the bed, a textbook next to her, the stereo on the dresser blasting Carrie Underwood carving her name into leather seats.

She looked up at Georgie’s entrance, shifting into a cross-legged sitting position. “Hey. You’re back already?”

“Library closes at five on Thursdays,” Georgie reminded her. She tossed her bag on the bed, then dug in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

“What are you looking for?”

“These—” Georgie plucked out a pair of gloves. “I always keep a set of winter stuff because the weather is so weird in the fall.” She slid them on, then picked up the vase. “How long have you been home?”

“Uh—” Chelsea squinted at the watch on her wrist. “Got back from the dining hall at like one. No one knocked or anything. Not that I heard—” She stared at them. “Those are dead.”

“Yeah.” Georgie set the vase on the top of the dresser. “Which is weirder than someone sending fresh ones.” She closed the door and Chelsea switched off the music. They stared at the vase for a long moment in silence.

“Maybe Spinelli should get today’s footage,” Chelsea suggested. “And we, um, should look at the other one. He got it, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He pulled it the day after we talked. ” Georgie sat on her bed, kicked off her sandals, then slid back on her bed. “I’m sure there’s no problem. Frat brothers pulling their usual pranks.”

“Right. Right.” Chelsea smiled weakly, tore her eyes from the dead flowers. “Um, speaking of Spinelli, did you tell him about last week at Kelly’s? What you heard? You said you didn’t know if you were gonna, but—”

“No. I don’t want to be involved.” Georgie unzipped her bag to pull out her notebook and laptop. “What if I have to tell other people what I heard? Lucky and Liz are going to family court, my dad says. He’s been asked to testify as a character witness.”

“Oh. That would mean you’d testify on the other side if it came to it.” Chelsea twirled a piece of her springy brown hair around her finger. “But, like, it’s kind of terrible what you heard. I don’t know any of these people outside of the papers or whatever. I know you do—”

“I’ve known Liz most of my life,” Georgie admitted. “And my sister—” She exhaled slowly. “You know about Lucky and Maxie. Maxie was really mean to Liz for no reason. Lucky was on drugs last year, and he didn’t get clean until he found out Liz was pregnant. After all of that, he’s talking about making her an unfit mother? It just…I don’t want to be involved. It’s not my business. But it sucks.”

“Yeah. And you said Spinelli, like, worships Jason. You helped him get the penthouse ready for Jason to hang out with his kid.” Chelsea tilted her head. “Georgie—”

“I know,” she muttered. She let her head fall back against the wall. “I need to tell Spinelli so he can tell Jason. I’m not having that conversation with Jason unless I have to. Spinelli says Jason’s been with both boys, like, every day. He’s so happy, and Spinelli is, too. And I feel bad knowing this thing that could mess that up.” She plucked her phone out of a pocket in the backpack. “I’ll text him. I need to ask him about the security footage anyway.”

Miller & Associates: Diane’s Office

“And sign here—” Diane slid yet another piece of paperwork across the conference table to Elizabeth.

“Which one is this?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes crossed from all of the legal print she’d already absorbed.

“The petition to have the divorce bifurcated into two parts. One, the legal dissolution of the marital relationship and, two, the custody situation. This would allow your divorce to move forward uncontested and declare you legally single without tying the custody situation into it.” Diane adjusted her glasses. “The custody battle could drag on for months, Elizabeth. You’re not asking for any property or spousal support so there’s no real issue ending the marriage.”

“I didn’t know—” Elizabeth sighed. “This is all so much more complicated than last year. Lucky didn’t fight anything. Jake wasn’t  born yet, so my lawyer told me Lucky could come  back at me when that happened—”

“Lucky didn’t fight for custody of Cameron,” Diane said, with a nod. “Yes, that’s been noted in our custody petition.” She sighed. “I know it’s difficult, but there’s a chance a judge will review all of this paperwork, and you’ll walk away with both boys. Are you prepared for that possibility? If Lucky doesn’t get visitation, a judge isn’t going to order child support for Cameron.”

“That’s fine. I can take care of Cam on my own.” Elizabeth tapped her pen. “And whenever Jason and I settle child support for Jake, anything extra is going into his college fund. I can support them both on my salary.” It would be tight for a while, she acknowledged, but she could do it. She signed the petition, returned it to Diane who had more papers ready.

“This is the last set. It’s Jason’s paternity suit,” Diane explained as Elizabeth flipped through it. “You’re filing in support along with authorization to use the paternity test performed last year. The judge might order a new one if Lucky and his lawyer insists which would drag the whole thing out another six weeks, maybe longer. For the results to come back and set a new date,” Diane added.

“What happens while the paternity suit is pending?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “Does Lucky get to ask for visitation?”

“He can.” Diane paused. “How long since you separated?”

“Hard to say. Um, I testified on August 8. Lucky didn’t come home that day, and I didn’t hear from him until after Jason was acquitted. That was almost a week,” Elizabeth said. “I mean you know that, but—um, I knew where he was staying, but I figured since he didn’t come home, he should be the one to contact me. I didn’t know if he even wanted to talk to me.”

“Fair enough. So you spoke for the first time about two weeks ago. Lucky didn’t ask to see the boys? Even through someone else? Emily or Nikolas?”

“No. And we only spoke once. I waited to move out until after the acquittal to avoid the press. Lucky came over while I was packing. We argued, and he told me to be out by the end of the day.”

“So for the last three weeks, Lucky hasn’t asked to see the boys once.”

“No. That’s—I mean, that’s going to hurt him, isn’t it?”

“It might.” Diane paused. “And Jason? Is he spending a lot of time with Jake?”

“Since he’s been released, as often as I can manage it. Nearly every day. I take the boys over to him, and today—he has them while I’m here.”

“So you and Jason already have an informal custody arrangement—”  Diane made some notes. “He has Cameron as well?”

“It’s just…I guess it’s easier right now. Why should I get another baby-sitter when Jason offers to look after Cameron? Is that going to hurt me? Letting Cam spend so much time with Jake’s biological father?”

“It can be spun either way. Lucky’s lawyer likely will point to you hedging your bets with Jason until he was single and legally exonerated. He’s wealthier than Lucky, of course, which he can point to. You’re giving Lucky’s children to him.”

“I’m not—” Elizabeth huffed. “It’s not that. Cameron loves his little brother. He likes to help me rock Jake to sleep for a nap. And he likes to feed him—he shouldn’t lose any of that because of what’s going on. And he’s always liked Jason—” She stumbled to a stop when she saw Diane smile. “What?”

“In my experience, in cases like these,” Diane said, “the opposing party centers themselves in the narrative. If Lucky means what he said to you, what you’ve heard from others, he’s only talking about he’ll feel if he loses custody of Jake. He isn’t thinking about Cameron. You are. You’re absolutely right. Cameron’s relationship with Jake should be preserved as best as possible. If Jake is going to spend time with his father, and Jason is all right with including Cameron, it’s beneficial. Particularly when the only other father Cam knows isn’t reaching out.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “Jason was right. You really are good at this. I’m glad you’re on my side.”

“I do like to earn that hefty retainer. Let’s finish this paperwork so I can file it. I’m very interested to see how Lucky and his lawyer will react.”

Wyndemere: Study

The lawyer Alexis had recommended hadn’t sounded much more positive than she had, but at least Lincoln Frazier painted a slightly optimistic picture.

“There’s been nothing filed since Diane Miller filed her notice to appear,” Lincoln said briskly, as he opened his case and removed a folder. “I filed my own notice this morning, and I think, as long as we’re agreed, we should do our best to file first.”

“I don’t understand how Diane can represent Elizabeth,” Lucky said, leaning against Nikolas’s desk, his jaw clenched. “Isn’t she Jason’s lawyer? Didn’t you tell me Jason had to file his own thing?”

“I could argue a conflict of interest,” Lincoln said slowly, “but she would argue their interests are united. Elizabeth has indicated that she supports terminating your rights and declaring Jason as the legal father. Even with your suggestion that you would surrender rights to Cameron, she’s held firm.”

Lucky made a face. He’d really thought Elizabeth would back down if he threatened his role in Cameron’s life. He loved Cameron, but it would be too much to lose Jake and still have to watch him grow up.

“So we just let it go?”

“For now.” Lincoln slid on his reading glasses. “Now, for the divorce, you’ve indicated you want to file on grounds of adultery. She admitted in court that she had an affair, and you think that affair has continued.”

“Yes,” Lucky said tightly. “And it’s still going on. I have a friend who’s told me she’s over there almost every day. With the boys. They were just waiting for him to get acquitted.”

“All right. As for custody, we’re asking for joint custody of both boys.” Lincoln hesitated. “You understand that you have no legal right to Cameron as his stepfather. You never had yourself declared his father through adoption.”

“Didn’t see the point.”

“It just means you have a little bit less of a legal standing to use him as leverage,” his lawyer told him. “Fortunately, there’s not another legal father out there—” He made a note. “As for the paternity suit, the only way to prevent a judge from declaring Jason the boy’s legal father is to have him declared an unfit parent. I know you had hoped to do the same with Elizabeth, but it’s not going to work.”

Lucky exhaled, taking that in. He hadn’t really been enthusiastic about throwing Elizabeth under the bus as a terrible mother. She hadn’t been a good wife—not this time around, he allowed himself. “All right. I guess.”

“You made some good points about her not volunteering information for Jake’s paternity during the kidnapping,” Lincoln said. “But I think that would only work if Jake had been missing longer. It might have felt like a lifetime, but it was a matter of days. Other than that, a judge isn’t going see lying about paternity as evidence she’s unfit.”

“Okay. But Jason?”

“We have a little more to work with, but not much. He’s clean legally. We can introduce his lengthy arrest record, but without a conviction—” Lincoln shook his head. “There’s not much.”

“What if…” Lucky pressed his lips together. “What if he never files? If I can keep him from filing a paternity suit, I’ve got a stronger case in family court, don’t I?”

“Yes. As the boy’s legal father—” Lincoln peered at him over the glasses. “Do you have reason to think he won’t?”

“I don’t know if I can keep him from filing, but he can always drop it before it goes to court. You said Elizabeth and I would be required to do mediation before the hearing. At that hearing, we give options right?”

His lawyer frowned. “What kind of options?”

“If Jason doesn’t go after custody of Jake,” Lucky said slowly, “then I won’t make a police report detailing what I know about Manny Ruiz’s death last summer. The official record says I killed him in the line of duty. But the autopsy report doesn’t support it. Jason killed him. If he drops his paternity suit, I won’t push for an investigation.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Spinelli scowled. “What do you mean, the flowers were dead this time?” He launched himself off the sofa. “I told you—”

“Hey, we agreed it was weird, right?” Georgie put her hands up in mock surrender. “I told you to get the security footage. And now, here I am, a week later, saying that we need to get more and look at it.”

Spinelli made another face, but sat down, yanking his laptop into lap. “I’ll get the thumb drive from Stone Cold.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Georgie sat next to him. “Really, Spinelli. But thank you for being worried.”

“The Jackal looks after the people who matter.” He tapped some keys. “And Faithful Friend matters.”

Her smile dipped a bit at the nickname of Faithful Friend, but it wasn’t his fault she liked him and he didn’t share those feelings. Just like Dillon, Spinelli only seemed to have eyes for blondes who talked too much. “Oh. Um, there was one other thing I needed to tell you. About something I overheard at Kelly’s.”

Greystone: Living Room

Sonny raised his brows when Max announced Jason, and his partner came in carrying Jake with Cameron racing in behind him. “Uh, you could have told me you had the kids today.” He moved out of the way as Cameron started a lap around the sofa.

“It’s fine. I, uh, didn’t think it’d be that much work with both of them,” Jason admitted. “Cam—”

“Zoom—”

“Hey, Cam, you know I got a kid your age,” Sonny told him, grabbing the three-year-old on his next lap and lifting Cam into his arms. “He’s got a huge play room upstairs. He’s not home, but you can play up there if you want.”

Cameron pursed his lips. “How big?”

“Gigantic.” Sonny grinned at Jason. “I’ll take him up and grab the monitor in case he needs anything. Next time, let me know. We can hook him up with Morgan. They’re the right age to be friends.”

“Uh, okay—” Jason exhaled with a bit of relief as Sonny disappeared upstairs. He checked his cell phone, but Elizabeth was still with Diane.

“Kid’s got more energy in his pinky than I had all of last week,” Sonny said, returning a few minutes later with a white monitor in his hands. I got lucky, I guess. Michael was older than Morgan and basically self-sufficient.”

And Sonny had always had a nanny, but Jason didn’t offer that. “Elizabeth makes this look easy,” he admitted. “She’s always bringing both of them to see me, and I didn’t think—”

“It’s good, though, that you’re getting Jake on your own,” Sonny said. “I know it’s good you and Liz to do this parenting thing together, but you won’t always have her in the room.” He hesitated. “Both boys, you said. I didn’t realize—”

“I told you what Lucky’s pulling with custody. And there’s no reason Cameron can’t come over. Why should he have to sit at home with someone else when Elizabeth could have both of them together? Cam likes to feed Jake sometimes—”

“You don’t have to justify it to me.” Sonny squinted. “It’s just—you know—if Lucky loses the way he should, you got a kid without a father who’s watching you be a dad to his brother. You’re not worried he won’t start to see you that way?”

Jason looked at him, then went over to the desk to set down the diaper bag and retrieve a blanket to set down on the floor for Jake. He set the infant on his belly, put a few soft toys within reach.

“Oh, I get it.” Sonny smirked, folded his arms. “That’s the plan, isn’t it? How long after the divorce is finalized before I get an invitation?”

“It’s not—” Sonny made it sound calculating. And it wasn’t. “It’s not like that. Elizabeth and I are figuring things out. I don’t—” Jason stopped. “Diane said something about there not being anyone out there to step up for Cameron, so Lucky could get visitation by default. And I guess—I know it’s what Elizabeth wants. I just—” He shook his head. “He’s willing to walk away from Cameron after all this time. Just to hurt Elizabeth.”

“I’m not arguing with you,” Sonny said. “Idiot doesn’t deserve the kid. I’m just saying, if you’re hoping to back your way into being something more permanent, you might want to run that past Elizabeth. You don’t want her feeling like she has to settle for Lucky just so Cameron has someone in his life. Make sure she knows you’re an option.”

+41