Written in 59 minutes.

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Emily sprang up from the sofa as soon as Elizabeth walked through the door, raking her eyes over her roommate. Then narrowed them. “Where are your shoes?”

“Probably somewhere in Luke’s parking lot.” Elizabeth peeled the borrowed socks from her feet, balled them up. “Sonny didn’t have shoes I could wear, so he did the best he could. Oh, and your car is probably still in the parking lot.”

Emily opened her eyes, then went to the window, peered outside. “There’s still an SUV parked outside.” She turned, found that Elizabeth had moved on to the kitchen and had pulled out a can of soda. “Are you, like, in danger?”

“Um—” Elizabeth toyed with the tab on the can, made a face. “Maybe. I’m not sure what I can tell you beyond what I already said on the phone.” She leaned on the counter.

“Liz. Come on. I’m not going to tell anyone, you know that. Even if they torture me. Were you hurt? You’ve got scrapes—”

Elizabeth touched the skin above the pink tube top she’d put back on. She’d forgotten about that. “Oh. No. I mean, sort of. Jason pushed me down when the shooting started, and, there’s gravel.”

“So you were both still there when the shooting happened. The news didn’t seem to know for sure.” Emily perched on a stool on the other side of the counter. “Is my brother okay?”

“Em—”

“Liz.”

“He’s okay,” Elizabeth said finally. “I’ll ask him what I can tell you on that score. But I guess—I mean, I have to tell you something since I’m here to pack some things and then leave for the airport. And I could ask you if maybe you could just not ask questions, but—no, I’m looking at your face. That’s not going to happen, is it?”

“Listen. Listen.” Emily folded her arms. “I accept that part of rooting for you and my brother to be together means that there’s going to be things you know that I don’t. Because I’m me, and Jason told me once I get certain protection. Everyone knows Grandfather could pick up a phone and have a senator on the phone, but I also don’t want you to feel like you have to lie to me. If you tell me you can’t say anything, okay, I’ll have to swallow it. I don’t have to like it, though, do I?”

“No. No, you don’t. Um, I mean, it’s just…” Elizabeth paused. “The thing is, the guy last night—he didn’t get what he wanted. And Sonny’s worried if Jason, like, goes into hiding, they might think—”

“They might think you’re someone who could bring him back out. And you’re much easier to go after than I am.”

“Yeah, Gram’s not getting Senator D’Amato on the phone, I don’t think.”

“Okay, so you’re both going off the radar. I can live with that. Are you going to tell your grandmother anything?”

“Uh, I’m going to tell her I’m going to be super busy working on my art for a couple of weeks and I’ll call her when I can.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “You think I’ll get away with it?”

“Liz, you just got shot at last night. Your grandmother has already called here eight times. No, you’re not getting away with that. She’ll insist you come by and talk to her. Or stop by for diner or something. Let me think about it. We’ll come up with a good cover story. It’s good thing you moved out before this happened.” Emily paused. “Are you and Jason going wherever together?”

“Yes. And before you ask for further information, I will say that that status of the situation has…shifted more to your side of the aisle,” Elizabeth said. Emily  grinned. “Don’t get too excited. I told him that maybe we needed to spend more time together before he started getting all gloomy about our inevitable breakup. Because, hey, I know how to annoy people, so maybe he’ll be happy to see me go in a few weeks.”

“You did not. Oh my god, Liz—you are not annoying.”

“You haven’t dated me—and Jason had a point because maybe he’ll annoy me—”

“Nope. You’re going to fall in love and get married and happy cute babies, and I will be the best aunt ever.” Emily clapped her hands together. “And we’ll be sisters.”

“Wow. Okay, dial it way back!” Elizabeth held up her hands. “All I said is we agreed to spend time together. Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe I’ll just use him for his body.”

“Oh—” Emily wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Why do you have to do that?”

“Because nothing else shuts you up. Stop planning my wedding and come help me pack. I only have, like, a half hour, maybe forty-five minutes tops before I have to be back at Sonny’s.”

——

“Yeah, just put them over there—” Sonny gestured at Max who came in with a suitcase, placed it by the sofa, then returned to the phone. “Yeah, Frankie, I need you to bury the flight plan, but it’s a one-way to the island. Yeah. As soon as possible. No, no, no return flight yet. I want the plane down there in case we need a quick return.” There was movement out of the corner of his eye, and he grimaced when he saw Jason gingerly making his way down the steps. “Yeah, we’ll arrange for the pilot to get to Miami and he can do what he needs to. Thanks, Frankie.”

He hung up the phone, looked at his partner. “You look like death warmed over. How many times do I gotta tell you to rest?”

“I’m fine—” Jason winced when he took a seat at the table, stretching his feet out and leaning back slightly to take pressure from his side. “There’s things we need to do and talk about before Elizabeth comes back.”

“Not much. I’m handling things. Max packed a bag—and I’m arranging for art supplies to be flown in from Miami. They should be there tomorrow.” Sonny studied the list. “She wrote brand names down. What are the chances she gave me the cheap stuff?” At Jason’s bewildered gaze, Sonny just shrugged. “I’ll just make some calls. Make sure. Look, I told you, you don’t worry about anything about getting better.”

“I know you said you’re sure this guy was working for Moreno, but I was thinking that all you know is he got the contract from David Reece.”

“And David Reece has a connection to Moreno. We know that,” Sonny reminded him. “Moreno set up that meeting three years ago when Reece delivered the message from the cartels.”

Jason squinted. “That’s true, but—”

“I know you’re not exactly Mary Poppins or Pollyanna, but you’ve kept to yourself. The only enemy you’ve made recently other than Moreno is Lucky Spencer, and that little twerp can barely tie his shoes.” Sonny lifted his brows. “Unless you think the kid used his father’s contacts to put a hit out on you and Elizabeth.”

“No, that’s—no.”

“Right? Just saying it out loud made me want to laugh.” Sonny looked back to Jason. “You focus on getting better. I’ll check in daily, let you know the status here. If the contract was on you the person, then whoever this is will get cranky with you gone. Maybe he does something. If it was business and just getting you out of the way, well, we’ll give them that. But you’re not coming back until you’re recovered—”

“How recovered?”

“Until you can stand up without wincing and run a mile,” Sonny said, and Jason scowled. “What good can you do me here unless you’re at least eighty percent? You’ve been shot before. You know it’s no joke to recover from these things—”

“This one wasn’t so serious—”

“And that’s why you didn’t wake up in the hospital. No, go down to the island. Rest. Get some sun.” He paused. “You and Elizabeth okay with all of this? She, uh, said some things that made me think maybe you two have talked about her being around more, and that you’d put a stop to it. I know I pushed this plan on you—”

“If I didn’t want to do it this way, I wouldn’t do it. You’re right. This guy wanted me out of the way. Let’s find out if he meant personally or professionally. Best way to do that is take me off the board. And Elizabeth—she could be a target, so she’ll go with me.” Jason looked away, looked towards the window, and the gray skies beyond. Rain drizzled against the glass, though it was lighter than it’d been earlier. “I tried to stop it. Letting her in. But it was—” he shook his head. “It was too late.”

Sonny came to the table, took a seat. “Look, for what it’s worth, if I get a vote, I like her.” Jason looked at him. “I like that she didn’t start to ask questions or think about the consequences of helping you until she’d done it. You were shot, and she didn’t hesitate. And then once I told her she had to stay until I had some answers, she didn’t blink. Maybe she’s not sure she wants this to be her life forever, but she’s going into it whatever it is with her eyes wide open.”

He hesitated. “I know what happened with Robin wasn’t easy.” Jason’s eyes shuttered and he looked away again. “But she was with you when you started to slide into this life. And Robin had the choice to hold on and take the ride or walk away. And I think, Jason, maybe you don’t want to admit it, but she was holding on just fine until Carly came into the picture.”

Jason exhaled slowly, dragged a hand down his face. “We were together, but it wasn’t the same,” he said. He looked back to Sonny. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it wasn’t all of this. Maybe it was Carly, and the secrets I asked her to keep. But either way—”

“Either way, now you know the best and worst parts about sharing your life with someone. And I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back into it. But like you said, you tried to stop it from happening, but it happened all the same. And now you got a choice to hold on or walk away. And so does Elizabeth. Do yourself a favor. Go down to the island, rest. Spend some time together. Think about what you’d be giving up. And I mean, really giving up.”

He leaned back. “I think about it all the time,” he told Jason. “About walking away from Brenda the way I did, breaking her heart. I thought I knew better, I thought I was saving her life. But she’s dead anyway, and it had nothing to do with me. I forced her out of love with me, and she ended up on a road that took her over the cliff.” His throat tightened. “And now she’s laying dead at the bottom of the lake. I’d give anything to go back to that day here with you, to show up at the church and do it right. I can’t ever fix that, Jase. I don’t get to have that day again.”

—

Elizabeth sorted through the top drawer of her bras and panties, irritated with herself for not buying anything better. Not that she was planning to show any of it off, she thought, but it would have been nice to have the option.

She dumped the nicest stuff she owned into the bag, then sat next to the bed, watching as Emily sorted through her closet, picking her own choices from Elizabeth’s wardrobe. “Do you remember when we were on the island, and I told you I felt like something was missing with Lucky?”

“Before the bar fight?” Emily asked. She folded a sun dress and set it in the bag. “Yeah. Why?”

“Pretend what I’m about to say isn’t about your brother, okay? Because I really wanna talk about this and I only have like fifteen more minutes before that guard knocks on the door.” Elizabeth curled a leg underneath her body.

“Okay.” Emily flopped down next to her.

“I think maybe I loved Lucky, but I wasn’t really in love with him. You know? Like—I liked him before all this happened, and I loved how sweet and supportive he was. And I thought he was cute. I always did. But I never thought about ripping off his clothes. Even before. When it was just a crush.”

“Well, you were—” Emily bit her lip. “I was gonna say you were still in high school, but I definitely had complicated and embarrassing dreams about Nikolas, and there were definitely some shirt tearing. On both sides.” She squinted. “Why is that important?”

“I don’t know. I guess because I mean, I’ve been worried about that part of whatever relationship Jason and I might have in the future. Like, the physical side. I was scared, maybe, that if I couldn’t do it—that it would be like Lucky. Like he’d start to resent it, and I’d never know it. And I know—I know, he wouldn’t,” she said quickly when Emily opened her mouth, “but I also knew Lucky wouldn’t throw it in my face either, and he did.”

“I hate that you have a point. Are you not scared about that now?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. With Lucky, I just…I don’t know. It never came up. And that seems insane to me.” Elizabeth went over to her jewelry box, picking through her small collection of necklaces and bracelets. “We were together over a year, and we kissed. But I never wanted to do anything else. I just thought that part of me was coming back really slowly.”

Elizabeth looked at Emily. “I would have said I felt that way on Valentine’s Day when I told you I was gonna, you know, make a move. Because I felt like I had to. Like it was time. But I didn’t really have the interest. I thought maybe it would come when I started things. But a month later, I was sitting on a sofa with Jason and he was looking at the cut on my lip, and his thumb just—” She pressed her thumb against her bottom lip. “It was, like, this electric jolt to my entire body, and everything just went on fire. And I thought, oh, this is what it feels like to want.”

She exhaled slowly, looked back at Emily. “I don’t know. I’m just rambling. I just had this weird thought that I wished I had, like, sexier things to wear—not that Jason cares about any of that, but that I’m already thinking about him in that way. None of it makes sense, does it?”

“I—” Emily furrowed her brow. “Okay, no, I’m following you. I think maybe you’re trying to downplay the way you felt about Lucky because it makes it a little easy for you to accept how badly it ended. If you didn’t love him, really love him, he couldn’t have hurt you that way, Liz. But I also think you’re just moving on. Maybe you’re right. Maybe there wasn’t that physical spark with Lucky the way there is now with—” She made a face. “With Jason. But does it really matter?”

“No, I guess not. I’m just…I guess I’m just nervous. We’ll be down there alone this time, and I’m scared.” She looked down at her her hands. “Because my brain turns off when we’re together, but what if comes on again, and I get, like, put back into that moment? Into that night?”

“Then you tell Jason to stop, and he will. Hey.” Emily reached over, squeezed her hand. “It’s okay to be nervous. But remember what you told me. You and Jason are just going to spend time together. Have fun. Walk on the beach. Kiss him on the terrace now that his annoying little sister won’t be there to interrupt.”

“Em—”

“Whatever happens, it happens. But you know yourself better than anyone else. You know what you’re ready for, and what you’re not. Listen to yourself, and trust that you’re spending time with someone who cares about you. Because that’s all that matters.”

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heading to the island on july 15. 😛

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