Jason watched as his wife mingled with the guests at her new club. Courtney had named it The Loft. When she had told him the name that she had finally decided on, he had felt such a strong surge of affection for her. It meant a lot to him to know that Courtney loved their loft as much as he did. Jason knew that she missed living there, but she had understood and accepted the obvious reason as to why they couldn't. Courtney then told him that marriage is about compromise, a concept that they couldn't seem to grasp the first time around. She said that it's about doing things for the other, even if you don't want to. And Jason was proud of her, as she caught his eye and waved to him, flashing her dazzling smile. He lifted his right hand and gave her a smile in return. Courtney was in her element. She was surrounded by people, making sure everything was perfect. But Jason was uneasy. She was a target. And this was The Loft's opening night, he knew that there could be trouble. They had fought over it earlier that day. . .

Flashback

"Max, I want security surrounding the building. Yeah. On the inside too. Disguise them as guests if you have to. Just make sure that it gets done. I don't want any trouble with the Sandovals. No, she doesn't know. Just please make sure that Courtney's opening night goes off without any complications. I want this to be perfect for her. Great thanks. Yeah, I'll tell her," Jason said as he hung up the phone, and with a sigh, he ran both hands through his hair and turned away from his desk to find his wife staring at him, and Jason had known this was coming.

"What don't I know?" Courtney asked as she folded her arms defiantly across her chest.

"Come sit down," Jason said as he took her elbow and led her to the couch, where she sat down next to him, immediately turning to face him.

"Is it the business?" Courtney asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Yes," her husband replied as he rubbed the side of his face, vaguely becoming aware that stubble was starting to form.

"Sandoval, that's a name I haven't heard before," Courtney said, trying to get the conversation started.

"They want Sonny's territory. And they're willing to fight to get it. Which is why that we need guards at the Loft's opening. I need to know that you're safe," Jason said as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind his wife's ear.

"Okay," Courtney said as she finally unfolded her arms and slapped her legs with them as she got up from the couch. In confusion, Jason stood up with her.

"That's it? No more questions? Just okay?" he asked. He had been expecting the Spanish Inquisition. It was what he normally got.

"You love me. You want me to be safe. As much as I don't like being watched and followed, it's one of the only things that I can help you with. And since I'm your wife, I want to help you any way that I can," Courtney explained as she got up on her tippy-toes to kiss his cheek. She too noticed the stubble. "You do need to shave though honey," she said as she ran her hand up and down his cheek. "You know how I don't like the beard. It tickles me." She giggled and began to walk into the kitchen.

"Courtney?" Jason stopped her as she was halfway across the room.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Thank you," Jason said, and truly meaning it.

"You're welcome," Courtney said as she smiled and continued on her trek to the kitchen.

It somewhat startled Jason when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Sonny.

"The Sandovals are here. I told Max to get all the guards together. We need to get Courtney and Carly out of here," Sonny explained as shock registered on Jason's face.

Ever since he had met Courtney, he had had an unexpected need to protect her. Not just from his job, from every thing. From fires, from stalkers, from loan sharks, from herself. And whenever he felt like she was in danger, his focus was always on her, solely, wondering what he could do and what he needed to do to get her out of it.

"What about the rest of the guests? What do we do with them?" Jason asked as his eyes frantically scanned the club for the sight of his wife.

"I told Marco to tell Sandoval that he and his brother are to wait until the club is cleared before they approach us. I can't guarantee that they'll listen but…" Sonny stopped because he realized he was talking to himself. Jason was halfway across the room, where Sandoval was talking to Courtney.

"Your club is beautiful Mrs. Morgan. No wonder there are so many people here, and the press coverage is absolutely spectacular…" Armando Sandoval was cut off by Jason.

"Stay the hell away from my wife," Jason ordered as he came up behind Courtney, who turned around and looked at her husband in confusion.

"Ah, Mr. Morgan. Just the man I was hoping to see. Is your boss around? My brother and I thought that maybe we could show the two of you a little something. If you'll excuse us Mrs. Morgan, your husband and I have something to discuss," Sandoval said as her lifted her right hand and kissed it while Jason was staring him down. Courtney looked to Jason, and he pulled her aside, out of Sandoval's earshot.

"Is… is that?" Courtney looked terrified.

"Yeah, Sandoval. Look, I want you to take Max, and I want you and Carly to go home. Stay with her until I come and get you," Jason told her as he put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Jason, this is The Loft's premiere! What will it look like if the owner leaves?" Courtney argued as tears began to fill his eyes.

Jason was at a cross roads. He didn't know which way to go. He could pray that Sandoval would leave her out of it, or he could refuse to risk her and have Max take her home. He was weighing the options in his head when he saw Sandoval tap his finger on his watch and signal to his guards to stand by the entrances and exits. And then his mind was made up.

"Listen to me. You need to go right now. Please don't argue with me. Find Carly, and tell Max that I said that he's to take you straight to the penthouse. Please Courtney. Just do this for me," Jason practically begged her as he saw tears fill her eyes.

"Is it that bad?" Courtney whispered as she held onto Jason's wrists because his hands were still on her shoulders.

"I'm not sure, but they have backup. You have to go Courtney, right now," Jason said as he held her face in his hands and kissed her lips firmly, almost in a commanding way. Courtney recognized this, he was scared. Which made her scared.

"Okay, but what about all the people here?" Courtney asked as she began to look around, worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry. If the Sandovals were planning to go after the guests, they would have hired someone else, or they'd have done it already," Jason explained to his clearly nervous wife. He kissed her again as he released her. "Go get Carly."

"Okay. Be careful. I love you," Courtney said as she began to back away from her husband.

"I love you too," Jason said as he waited for Courtney to speak to Carly, and then to Max. He watched them walk out the door, comforted by the fact that they were going home.

"Mr. Morgan, your wife is very lovely. She was telling me how she named the club after a home that the two of you shared together. Very romantic how you traded in the loft for bulletproof windows," Armando Sandoval said as Jason walked back over to him.

"Don't speak about my wife. Leave her out of this. If you have something to say, you say it to me or Sonny. That is non-negotiable," Jason said coldly.

"Speaking of Mr. Corinthos, where is he?" Sandoval asked as he told his guards to go home. This made Jason curious.

"Why'd you send them off?" Jason asked. Sandoval couldn't be that stupid.

"You won't strike against me. This is your wife's club's opening night! And I know you don't want her to have a bad reputation. You wont fire any bullets in here," Sandoval said matter of factly.
"Neither will you," Jason said. "What do you want?"

"I thought that was made fairly clear," Sandoval said.

"You want to us to run your drugs through Pier 52. You want to take over, it's not going to happen," Jason explained as he searched the crowd for Sonny. He finally spotted him talking to Sandoval's brother.

"I wouldn't be so sure Mr. Morgan," Armando Sandoval said as he walked away. Jason saw him tell his brother something, and the two of them left. Sonny was walking over.

"What did he say to you?" Sonny demanded as he signaled the bartender.

"He said what we already knew," Jason explained. "I don't know why they came here."

"The Sandovals want us to know that they have power over us," Sonny told his partner as the bartender came over. "Scotch. Make it a double."

"You aren't saying that you think they'll go after Courtney or Carly…?" Jason inquired.

"They'll do whatever it takes. But I have a plan. You're not going to like it but just give it a chance," Sonny said as he downed his drink.

"What?"

"Lorenzo Alcazar." Sonny replied.

"Bartender? Give me what he had." Jason said desperately.