Written in 20 minutes. No time for typos.

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you meet with him alone,” Jason snapped the second Elizabeth returned from the hallway.

When Ric had made his demand to meet her, Jason had said no—and she’d left the room to make the arrangements. She wanted her daughter back and didn’t want anyone getting in her way.

“Well, since I didn’t ask for your permission,” Elizabeth retorted, with a flash of irritation, “I guess I won’t have to worry about it. You need to call Spinelli and find Sam. If she doesn’t still have Lily, then she’ll know where she is. Find her. I’ll distract Ric—”

“Elizabeth,” Steven said with a wince as Jason glared at his sister. “That might not be the best thing to do. I think we’re better off tracking Sam as a team—”

“No one in this room gets to tell me how to do anything,” Elizabeth said, stabbing a finger at the three of them. “You—” She pointed at Jason. “Left me in the middle of the night six months ago without a word. And you—” At Steven “—have suspected my daughter was alive for how long? And Kelly—you were my friend—”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. I’m done being a victim. I’m done being protected. My daughter is alive. She’s been stolen from us, my life has been destroyed. My husband has been shot and blow up twice, my brother was nearly killed—” She squared her shoulders. “I’m not doing this anymore, do you understand?”

Jason exhaled slowly, then nodded. “You’re taking a weapon. I know you don’t like guns—”

“But you taught me how to use one,” she finished. “I’m sure you can find one I can handle in the next hour. And while you’re doing that, I want you to get Spinelli to track down Sam. Call Justus. Have him on standby. If I have to shoot Ric, I don’t intend to go to jail.”

—

Half an hour later, Damien Spinelli arrived at the safe house with a weapons box and a computer. He looked skeptical about the plan but even he knew that look in Elizabeth’s eye. He handed over the box, sat down, and started to track down Sonny’s former mistress.

Jason unlocked the box and withdrew the smaller handgun he’d bought for Elizabeth after she’d left Ric. “When was the last time you were at the range?” he asked her.

“After you left, Steven took me to recertify my license,” she told him. She took the gun from him, then took the bullets from the box he handed her and expertly loaded it. “He thought I might need to remember how to protect myself.”

“I don’t like this,” Jason told her. She glared at him, but he took a deep breath. “But you’re right. I’ve spent a lot of the last year not telling you anything. Trying not to hurt you. And that’s all that’s happened. I never—” He hesitated. “I never thought there was a chance Lily was alive. I never would have left—”

“I know that.” Their eyes met, held. “I can’t think past the next few hours, Jason. Whatever happens, after today—I don’t know. I just want my daughter back and I want to make sure Ric Lansing can’t ever hurt me or anyone I love again.”

“All right. Let’s go take a few practice shots.”

—

Elizabeth hadn’t wanted to learn how to use a gun, but Jason had insisted. If he wasn’t going to be allowed to kill Ric, he wanted to make sure she could protect herself. In fact, the first time he’d kissed her had been at the gun range, she remembered fondly as she stepped onto the elevator at Harborview Towers and pressed the button for the penthouse level.

She’d been a terrible shot at the first lesson, but the fear and worry and anxiety had somehow disappeared the moment she aimed the gun and pointed it at the target. Steven hadn’t wanted her to learn. Patrick had scoffed. All the men in her life had simply told her no — she couldn’t.

But Jason had given her that security back and taught her how to protect herself. Had bought her a gun she could handle and made sure she knew how to use it.

She would take that with her today because today —

Today was the last time Ric Lansing was ever going to call the shots.

“Mrs. Morgan—” Max blinked when she stepped off the elevator. His face was ashen as he straightened from his perch by the door. “I thought you’d gone back to Boston—”

“I’m here to see Ric. Is there any news about Sonny?” she asked quietly, knowing how devoted Max had been to Sonny and Carly, wondering how this had happened under his watch.

“No, no. No news. Ric’s inside.” Max’s mouth twisted as he said the name. Ric had wanted all the power his brother had wielded, but had never stopped to consider that power only lasted as long as you could control it.

If Elizabeth intended to let Ric live after today, she wondered how long it would be before someone finished him off.

He shoved the door open. “Miss Webber’s here,” Max said.

“Ah, Elizabeth. Close the door, Max,” Ric told the guard as Elizabeth walked in. He sauntered towards her, a tumbler of bourbon in his hand.

“You always wanted Sonny’s life,” Elizabeth murmured. She folded her arms, arched a brow. “Now I guess you have it.”

“I worked harder for it than he did,” Ric said flatly. “Now, we’re here to make a deal—”

“We’re not actually.” Elizabeth lifted her chin. “You stole my daughter from me—”

“I was trying to protect her from Sonny and Carly,” Ric cut in.

“Oh? I must have been mistaken since Carly’s dead, Sonny very nearly is, and you’ve never given a damn about me,” Elizabeth retorted. “Stop pretending, Ric. It doesn’t work with me.”

“Elizabeth, you know I’ve always wanted the best for you—”

“I know who you are,” she told him. “And I have since the night you put those drugs into my champagne, drugged me until I couldn’t consent and raped me. The only reason you’re alive is because I didn’t let Jason kill you. You owe your life to me. Now I want to paid. Give me back my daughter and I might let you live.”

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