"We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow." – Fulton Oursler
Ava watched Vince's body disappear beneath the surface. Julian remained quiet.
"You know," Ava said, "in addition to Sonny's various goons and henchmen we'll also have to eliminate his lawyer."
"His lawyer? Who is it?" Derek asked.
"Why you know perfectly well who it is. It's your old friend," she paused, gauging his reaction.
He gave her withering stare.
"Alexis Davis," Ava said with a wicked smile.
"Ava—" he warned.
"These are your rules, Julian. You're the one that said all of Sonny's associates have to be taken care of. I'm afraid that includes your one night stand, Miss Davis."
"Shut up, Ava. If you lay a finger on Alexis or any of her children—"
"Why Julian, that sounds like a threat."
"It's not a threat. It's a promise. You touch one hair on anyone in that family and what happened to Olivia will look like a broken nail. Are we clear?"
"I don't respond well to threats, brother dear."
"And I don't like you talking about killing the woman I—"
"The woman you what?" Ava asked, curiously.
"Never mind. Just stay the hell away from Alexis, Sam and the rest of their family."
"Fine," she agreed. "For now," she finished, under her breath.
xXxXxXx
"Alexis Davis," she answered her phone.
"Alexis, it's Derek."
"Hi."
"Hi. I just got your message. Is Danny alright?"
There was a long pause.
"Alexis?"
"Danny—he's showing signs of Graft versus host disease."
"That doesn't sound good."
"Silas says—he says it's a good thing in bone marrow transplants—"
"But you're still worried."
"I—I—I guess I'm cautiously optimistic."
"It will work. Danny's going to be just fine," Derek reassured her.
"Yeah," she sighed. "I, um, I actually called because-are you still at your office?"
"I'm home. Well, I mean, I'm at the MetroCourt. Why?"
"Would it be alright—could I stop by for a minute?"
"Of course. It's room 4443."
"Great."
xXxXxXx
She knocked on the door. He opened the door, smiling.
"Come in."
"Thanks."
"What is all that?" He asked gesturing to the bags she was carrying.
"It's—it's sort of a thank you. I don't know what you do for someone who saves your grandson's life, especially someone who can afford to buy anything they want," she paused. "So I made you a cake."
"A cake?" He chuckled.
"Don't laugh. I can only cook two things—this and microwave popcorn—so consider yourself lucky. You're not allergic to chocolate, are you?"
"No. In fact it's kind of a vice."
"Good. This cake is special. It's only made for birthdays and very special occasions. The cook in our house growing up, she taught me how to make it. It's called Seven Deadly Sins Cake."
"Wow. That sounds, um, ominous—explain that to me."
"Well, Eleni explained it like this—when you first taste the cake you fall head over heels, that is the lust. You will eat it quickly, that is the gluttony. After eating so much, you will become lazy, that is the sloth. It is so good you won't want to share, that is the greed. After your piece is gone you may envy those that are still eating theirs. Then comes the wrath that your piece is gone. After the cake is gone, there comes the pride, you have finished an entire cake. Or well, it was something like that. You have to understand I was 11 or 12 when she told me this."
"Wow. Looks delicious. What's that? He asked pointing to the other bag."
She shot him a look. "I think you've already got the greed thing down—"
He smiled.
"This is from Nikolas. It's a very, very rare bottle of bourbon. It was bourbon, right? That is what you said at the hospital, isn't it? Single barrel bourbon?"
"I'm flattered you remember."
She smiled. "I should get going—"
"Can I tempt you into joining me for cake and bourbon? Or coffee, if you'd prefer?"
"I can't."
"Okay. Well...thank you, Alexis. This was very nice of you."
"Well, it's not enough. Nothing will ever be enough."
"You'll keep me up to speed on Danny?"
"Of course. Goodnight, Derek."
"Goodnight, Alexis."
xXxXxXx
There was a knock on her office door. "Come in," she called.
"Are you busy?" Derek asked, peeking his head inside the door.
"Not for you. I welcome the distraction," she said smiling.
He strolled in and sat down opposite her.
"You look upset. What's wrong?" she asked.
"I have a bone to pick with you."
"Me? Why?"
"I ate a half a cake last night and had to spend three hours in the gym this morning."
She stifled a grin. "Sorry," she said, not sounding at all apologetic.
"What the hell did you put in that cake? I pride myself on excellent self control but—I—what is in it?"
"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
"I have ways of getting information out of people. I can be very persuasive."
"I don't doubt that for a minute. I'm sorry, but it's a family secret, and," she shrugged, "you're not family."
"I could torture it out of you."
"That sounds awfully medieval. Why don't I just bake you another cake?"
"It's not about the cake, Alexis. It's about the secret. I want to know what it is."
She mimed zipping her lips.
"Actually I came to talk to you about something else," he said seriously.
"Oh?"
"I'd like you to come work for me," he said, leaning back in the chair.
"I thought we'd already covered this. You already have an attorney, you know, Owen something? The one you did not knock up?"
"He's based in New York. I'd really like to have someone local. How can I persuade you to walk away from Sonny and come work for me?"
"I can't."
"Is it about the money? Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it."
"It's not about the money. I just—I can't."
He watched her body tense as she talked about Sonny.
"Alexis?"
"Hmm?"
"Is Sonny—is he forcing you to work for him?"
"What?! No! That's crazy," she cried, her voice going up several octaves.
"What is he holding over you?" Derek asked.
Alexis looked at him. His eyes had gone dark and cold. For the first time since she'd met him, she was afraid of him.
"I, uh, I think it's probably best that we don't talk about this."
"Alexis, if he is hurting you or taking advantage of you—"
"It's—it's much more complicated than that. Consider it more like indentured servitude. I owe him. I'm repaying a debt."
"Give me a number."
"What?" she shook her head, confused.
"What will it cost to, for lack of a better word, 'free' you?"
"Derek, there are plenty of great lawyers in Port Charles. Ones that come with far less baggage. Let me jot down a couple of names for you—"
"I don't want another lawyer. I want you."
"Well, as The Rolling Stones say, 'you can't always get what you want'."
"Yes, you can. I almost always do."
"Well, I'm afraid this will have to be one of those cases where you don't."
"I don't get it. You're not working for him freely, but there seems to be some kind of—misguided loyalty there."
"He's the father of my daughter. I can't—I'll never be completely free of Sonny."
"What if you could be?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," he shook his head. "Nothing."
"Look," she said, with a warm smile. "I appreciate you wanting to help me. But you've already done more for my family than I could ever ask for. You saved Danny's life. You don't have to save me, too."
"I should go," he said, standing. "Thanks again for the cake."
"You're welcome."
"I'm not giving up, you know. I will find out what's in that cake and I will convince you to come work for me."
"Well…you did say that you like a challenge."
"Especially when there's a worthy opponent." He gave her a crooked smile and shut the door.
TBC...