This story takes place about six months after Sonny's been indicted for murder. Alexis and Sonny have been spending a lot of time together due to trial prep. Sexis has already learned Kristina's boyfriend Kiefer has been abusing her…though they haven't taken any specific action yet.
Chapter 1 - Words Unspoken
"I know you didn't kill Claudia." Alexis looked directly into his large, dark eyes.
"Mmm." Sonny shrugged, unwilling to confirm or deny what they both knew to be true. A soft smile crossed his lips as he realized it still mattered what she thought of him. "How can you be so sure, 'Lexis?" His face suddenly became serious. "Haven't you heard I'm a bad man?"
Unable to let him off the hook for his years of misdeeds, she stared at the legal pad that sat in front of her. She cleared her throat before she answered, "Not only have I heard you can be bad, I've seen it…firsthand. But honestly, I know you're not stupid." She cupped his cheek with her palm. "Did you publically humiliate Claudia and then kill her? It's highly unlikely. I know you better than that." She sighed. "Why can't you just tell me the truth? I already know it was Michael."
"Candyboy tell you?" Sometimes, he truly envied her relationship with Jax. Best friends by definition, they'd only seemed to have gotten closer over the years. Their friendship had survived her involvement with both him and his brother and Jax's marriage to Carly. The problem was Alexis wasn't supposed to be Jax's best friend, she was supposed to be his.
"Who told me isn't important; what's important is that it wasn't you." She sighed once more. "Sonny, I'm your attorney. I've spent the last several months working on this case. You should have probably told me that you're taking the fall for Michael before the eve of closing arguments. Why didn't you tell me what happened in the beginning?"
"And prove that you were right about me not belonging in my kids' lives?" For a moment, he held her gaze. Then, just as quickly as he'd caught her eye, he looked away because he suddenly felt very ashamed.
Once more, she touched his face softly. "You do know I figured out Michael was guilty before I agreed to take your case."
"Of course." Alexis was a smart woman. The truth was she knew him better than anyone else. Although, he'd been married to Carly and he'd loved other women, he'd let Alexis into places in his heart and soul that he never had and never would allow anyone else to go. Still, for the last several months, he'd been operating under the illusion that she would defend him even if she thought the worst of him…and it had been comforting.
"But…"
"But what?"
"I would have defended you anyway."
"What are you saying?"
"Despite all of the horrendous things you've done, I don't believe you belong in prison." Now, it was her turn to look away.
This time it was his hand that brought her gaze back to him. He spoke softly, "Why?"
"Because I still think you're redeemable. You try to be a good father to your children. And although you have a twisted sense of morality, I know you do try to live by a certain code."
He couldn't help smiling as he thought of how any mention of his code used to drive her crazy. The truth was he wasn't sure she was right. Because of him, Michael was headed down the same path he'd started on. Due to his absence, Kristina had been physically abused by her boyfriend. And now, the son he never knew he had was the prosecution's lead witness against him. "I want to do better."
"I know you do. And I want Dante to have the chance to get to love you the way Kristina and the boys do."
Sometimes it was uncanny the way they could read each other. For a moment, he wondered how she could have guessed his thoughts had led him to Dante; then he wondered something more important. "Why do you care?"
Alexis suddenly felt the urge to move. She walked away from him toward his desk. She stood silently for a moment and then she absentmindedly pushed a scrap of paper to the edge. "I'd like to think that we're friends, even after all that's happened between us."
"We've always been friends. Even when we thought we hated each other."
"I know. It helped cost me my second marriage." In her heart, she always knew Ric was right about how deeply she cared for Sonny.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
"Cost me my second marriage too."
"I think you're being a bit of a revisionist. Have you forgotten about Sam, Jax, Lorenzo, the feds and the three or four times you remarried your second wife?"
"Things were never the same after you."
Surprised at his words, she turned to look at him. When he no longer sat on the sofa, but instead stood only a few feet from her, she felt her pulse race. She took a step back, causing her to hit her thigh on the desk. "Ouch."
"You okay?" His voice was soft as he closed the space between them. He eyed the place where her thigh and the desk made contact. He noticed that his gaze made her shift uncomfortably. Now, it was his pulse that raced as he realized he could still affect her. As he reached to touch her back, she pushed a hand in front of her to keep him from closing any more of the distance between them.
"What do you want from me, Sonny?" She noticed that her hand still rested on his chest, only after he placed one of his own on top of it.
"I need you to help me to be better."
"That's a tall order." She couldn't help staring at him. Why could he still get to her?
"You're a capable woman." He brought her palm to his mouth and placed a tender kiss in the center.
"What exactly are you asking me to do? Because if you think I'm going to have I-might-be-forced-to-be-celibate-for-a-long-time-due-to-prison sex with you, you're out of your mind." For a moment she thought she was going to hyperventilate.
"Breathe Alexis." He couldn't help smiling. She could make him do that even with a life in prison hanging over his head. "I don't want you to have sex with me."
"You don't?" She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or offended.
"I mean, I would never turn you away, but that's not what I'm trying to ask you."
"What exactly are you saying?"
"I'm saying that when this is all over and I get a second chance, which I know will happen because my attorney is the best, I need to know you'll be here." She remained uncharacteristically silent; so, he kept talking. "I want you in my life as more than my attorney." Closing the space between them, he took another step. With his right hand he touched her hair. "I need you to—"
"Mom, are you in here? Viola told me you came to work on Sonny's case."
At the sound of Sam's voice, they both took a step back. Sam suddenly had the feeling that she'd interrupted something…possibly something important. She eyed Alexis and then Sonny.
"I should be going. Tomorrow's a big day." Alexis was the first to speak. "Sonny, I'll see you at the courthouse tomorrow. Sam, let's go."
Before he could stop her, she was gone. "We'll talk," he called out behind her. She could avoid him for now, but she couldn't avoid him forever.
