It was amazing how fast ones life could change. One minute he had a loving family, who's biggest joy was just to sit around the dinner table talking to one another about the days events. The next that same family, minus him, were six feet under in some cemetery outside of town. It was a slap in the face, one that Zander Smith hadn't been ready for. At one time in his life he had dreams of following in his father's shoes of owning and running the once thriving bakery in the heart of Port Charles.
At one time he had loved the smell of freshly baked bread early in the morning. Watching his Father beam at the neatly made loafs as they were pulled out of the oven. Now his life smelled of the back alleys that he was sent on errands to, or of the smoke and alcohol of the Speakeasy Sonny Corinthos owned. He'd learned to trade in his childhood dreams for more realistic ideals. Ones that would feed him in the coming winter.
But this last job he'd been sent on had been a real treat. He wasn't meeting some nameless Joe in a dark and putrid alley just to get the latest information on the next liquor raid the PCPD had set up. This time Jason Morgan had sent him to hand deliver a birthday present for his Grandmother. Well it had been a treat until he saw AJ Quartermaine attack Lizzie Webber.
He'd been waiting impatiently for Emily to meet him just inside the trees that surrounded the estate. But as usual Morgan's little sister was late. Not that he had expected anything different, this wasn't the first time the little scatterbrain had ran late. She was probably all cozied up to that Nikolas Cassadine creep. Laughing at all his smooth talk, clinging to every word as though he were some freaking intellect. What did one expect from AJ Quartermaine's best friend? No he wasn't bitter, not in the least.
But that's when Lizzie came out of the house alone, making Zander smile slightly at the look of freedom that came over her face the moment she stepped out into the fresh night air. There was a time, before his family's death, that he Emily and Lizzie had been inseparable. They had tried to get Sarah to come along on their little adventures. But always one to be the perfect young socialite she'd turn her nose at such thoughts.
But what fun and trouble the three of them had. From sneaking to the swimming hole at dusk, to having the girls dress in boys clothing so they could join in the neighborhood ball games in town. Who knew that girls could be so good at baseball?
No matter how strong their friendship was, it came to a screeching halt the day the Smith family had been found brutally murdered. The gossip in town had been that he had been responsible for their deaths. It didn't matter that he had been at the shop closing up for the day, and that many of Port Charles wealthy had seen him there. All it took was gossip to make him the town's pariah. Soon after that Emily had been packed off for boarding school and Lizzie practically put under house arrest by her Grandmother.
So the second AJ had forced himself onto Lizzie, Zander felt anger and rage pump through his veins. No matter how much time had passed, Lizzie was still his friend, and no one treated her like that. Springing from his spot behind a tree he watched helplessly as Lizzie brought the croquette mallet down on AJ's head not once but twice.
Stopping just feet away, he couldn't make himself move when Lizzie dropped to her knees and give AJ a shake. Even in shock Lizzie somehow managed to find concern for that piece of trash who had just tried to attack her. Pulling her hands away, Zander could see the blood covering her hands as she stared down in puzzled disbelief.
"Lizzie?" Not wanting to startle her anymore than she already was, Zander inched his way forward. His hand extended, he made his way cautiously to her side. There was no response from the tiny half woman as she just sat there staring down at her hands.
The opening lines of Happy Birthday floated down from the mansion, reminding Zander that they defiantly weren't alone. "Lizzie you need to listen to me." Touching her shoulder softly he tried giving her a little shake to break her out of her stupor.
"Grandmother said not to drink the punch. That I'd mess up my new dress." Her pitiful words made him tense as he looked over his shoulder. Looking down at her torn and stained dress, his left hand balled into a fist. If AJ wasn't already limp on the lawn he would've taken great pleasure in pounding some manners in the bastard.
"I need you to listen to me okay." Turning her so that they were face to face, he searched her eyes for any recognition. "We're going to stand up and move towards the trees before anyone comes looking for you."
"I can't leave, Sarah and AJ are announcing their engagement tonight." Once again her voice was dazed. Her usually impish eyes were dull, her voice weak.
"Come on you need to work with me here Lizzie. I know you're in shock, but we have to go...now." Hearing voices coming from behind, Zander put an arm under Lizzie's knees and the other slid behind her back as her cradled her to his chest. Standing swiftly to his feet, he hurried to the edge of the lawn before they could be seen.
The only plan he had at the moment was to get Lizzie the hell out of here. It didn't matter that she was an innocent in this. She had clubbed AJ Quartermaine upside the head. Not once but twice. For all that the town cared AJ could have attacked her in broad daylight, in the middle of Sunday mass and still come out the victim. That's just the way things were. And after what Lizzie had gone through tonight there was no way he was going to leave her to the wraith of the good citizens of Port Charles.
~~~*~~~
Business was good. Tell a nation of moderate drinkers that they could no longer legally drink, and you create a nation of alcoholics. Sonny looked around at the club in pride. This wasn't just any backroom speakeasy that could be found in some dirty hole in the wall. But a place of elegance and grace. Very rarely were there bar brawls inside these walls, just a lot of fun to be had by all.
It helped greatly that he was able to hide the bar in the basement of the hotel he had purchased just a year ago. When prohibition had just been an ideal pushed around by a bunch of Sunday prudes. But thanks to those churchgoers he was becoming a very rich man.
The room was large, set up with intimate tables with freshly cleaned tablecloths. The stage, empty at the moment, usually boasted well-known singers from all around the country. Along the right wall sat a long well polished bar, stocked with the best-smuggled liqueur. Most brought in from Europe, but there could also be found several expensive bottles from their Russian friends. A large dance room in the center of the room, gleamed welcomingly to any that wished to dance the night away.
But the Speakeasy wasn't the only treasure hidden in the basement of the prospering hotel, a room down a long hallway in the back found the best gambling that rivaled the ones that could be found in Atlantic City.
Taking another look around the crowded room his eyes settled on his lovely bride. To some she was known as the town bitch, or by others the shrew. Her tongue was sharp, but her mind was sharper after years of having no one but herself to depend on. To him she was perfection, his other half.
She was standing behind the bar, a sassy grin on her face when their eyes locked. He thanked whoever was looking out for him the day Carly walked into his life. Sure the first months had been pure hell, and he had obtained several Carly induced injuries during their early courting. But once he broke through the wall she had built he had found his soul mate.
With a quick wink in her direction, that promised a sweet seduction later, Sonny headed down the back hallway to the gambling area. The boys were back there, around their favorite card table, relaxing for the night.
Passing one of Carly's girl's, Gia on his way, Sonny tipped his head in acknowledgment. He didn't particularly like the young lady, but she did bring in her fare share of business. He couldn't put his finger on why he disliked the young beauty, perhaps it was who she was bound and determined to get her claws into his best friend and business partner Jason Morgan.
Not that his friend was stupid enough to get snarled into a trap by such an opportunist. But how long had it been since his friend had been with a woman? It wasn't Jason's norm to take any random female to his bed, but there was only so much abstinence a man could take. The last thing Sonny wanted for Jason was for him to take Gia to his bed, no matter how short term it was. Perhaps he'd have another talk with Carly tonight about the girl.
Opening the door at the end of the hallway, Sonny located his friends through the smoky room. Ever since Jason had returned home a few months back it had become a Saturday night ritual to gather around the old table for a night of cards. Most nights they broke even, not really paying much attention to the card game, more of a time to sit down together and forget about business needs.
"Sonny glad you could finally make it." Johnny grinned with a fat cigar clenched in-between his teeth. "I'm on a roll tonight and I plan on recouping my loses from last week."
Slipping his jacket form his shoulders, Sonny gave a cocky grin as he rolled up his shirtsleeves. "Boy you couldn't recoup your loses playing a child's board game. Much less one that takes an ounce of intelligence."
The other men laughed as a new hand was dealt. Sonny stole a glance over at Jason, who was taking a deep drink of the beer they had just had delivered that day. Usually a quiet man, Sonny had known his friend long enough to gage his silences. They were all different. And the one that Jason was in now clearly shouted aggravated.
"Jase something up?" Picking his cards up from the table, Sonny gazed at his friend from over the top of them.
Blue eyes flickered up to him. "Zander's late."
Rearranging the cards by suites Sonny nodded slightly. "You sent him to your parent's house. I really don't there's much trouble to be had out there in the country."
"That's not the point I told him to come right back. There's another lead I want him to check into." Throwing in his ante, Jason picked up his beer again and checked the clock on the wall. This wasn't like Zander. The kid usually did his job and came right back to report. Over the last several months they had been testing Zander's loyalty. Sending him on several fool errands, occasionally feeding him false information to see if they could trust him with the more serious parts of the business.
Not that delivering a gift was life and death, more like a reward. After a little digging into the young man's history Jason had been slightly shocked to find that Zander had once been a friend and stand in older brother for Emily. So whenever possible he'd send Zander to meet up with his sister to pass on letters or gifts to Lilah.
"Your sister is probably running late." Francis grinned at the well-known fact. The youngest Quartermaine refused to be dictated by time, and had in the past kept many of them standing in the shadows until she was ready. "Plus isn't that piece of shit announcing his engagement to the Ice Queen tonight?"
"You spend too much time with the girls." Sonny shook his head. "Your becoming a clucking hen with all the town gossip."
"Dear lord what poor lass are they sacrificing for AJ?" Johnny made a slight face as he threw a card out onto the table.
"The Webber girl." Francis answered, ignoring the glare coming from Jason's direction. He hated spending his night off talking about his estranged family.
"Isn't she kind of young for him?" Max joined into the conversation. "And pretty too."
Francis looked up in question until he started to chuckle. "Not the youngest Webber, Sarah Webber."
A roar of laughter erupted from the table. "That poor bastard." Max wiped the tears from his eyes. "That girl is from the same mold as Audrey Hardy. AJ doesn't stand a chance."
The corner of Jason's mouth curled. "That bad huh?"
"Oh Jase you don't even know the half of it. You just got back few months ago, but I'm telling you. Sarah Webber may look like the perfect young woman on the outside, but I can tell you it's all an act. She's as mean and unbending as that old biddy she lives with."
For the first time in a long time Jason felt out of the loop. True he had been gone for some time, away on business for Sonny. But not knowing the simplest facts about the family he had been raised in was weird. Not that he was homesick, or missed the majority of them. But he at least knew what to expect.
Lifting a glass in the air in a mock solute, Max cleared his throat. "Here's to AJ, may the devil be kind and allow him an eternity with his new bride."
"To AJ." Johnny and Francis picked up their glasses and clinked them upside Max's before drowning the contents in one gulp. Sonny lifted his glass and looked over to Jason as he drank from his own.
~~~*~~~
His lungs felt as though they were on fire as he tried to rearrange Lizzie in his arms. Who could've known that something so small would weigh a ton. What the heck had the girl been eating over the last year. If she would've been able to walk on her own, they'd be back in town by now. Instead of standing on the edge of the Spencer property more than three miles to town.
Needing to take a rest, Zander leaned up against a tree and slowly slid down. Keeping her safely in his arms Zander leaned his head back with groan. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to break Lizzie out of her stupor either. If it wasn't for the fact the AJ had attacked her he would have thrown her into the creek an hour ago to bring her too. "Come on Lizzie you're made of better stock than this. Remember that time you Em and I climbed that tree and you fell out. You didn't cry like most girls did. You just stood up, wiped the dirt off and climbed right back up. Or the time we were trespassing in the Taggert's orchard and that huge horse of a dog they owned tried to attack us. You picked up that branch and chased it away."
Staring at her, wishing for some other response than an occasional blink, Zander realized how pretty his friend had become over the last year. He may have even been attracted to her if he hadn't been witness to her education on how to spit like a boy. No to him Lizzie Webber would always be the girl with a free spirit and the stubborn streak wider than the Mississippi.
"Jason is going to kill me. Be a pal here, we need to get back to town." Looking back down at her face, he let out a long sigh when her facial expression didn't change.
Struggling to his feet again, he heard a noise off in the distance and paused. A Packard Roadster came into sight, and Zander held his breath as Commissioner Scorpio went speeding by. Waiting for another moment, Zander slipped out of the trees and hurried down the road toward Port Charles.
~~~*~~~
The door to the back gambling room flew open as Carly Corintho's came rushing through. The grim expression on her face made the occupants freeze, fearing that at long last the inevitable happened and Sonny Corintho's private haven was being raided.
Her mind set on the table where her husband and friends were seated around, Carly felt her insides twist. Just minutes ago one of their regulars had come from the Quartermaine's soirée, with news of the attack on AJ Quartermaine's life. Any other time she would've found the information entertaining. A riot in fact. There wasn't anyone else she could think of that deserved to get attacked than that little puke. But with just having Jason return home after such a long time away from home, he of course would be the first suspect.
Sonny stood the moment he saw her rush in, knowing that she hated coming to the back room. "What?"
Never one at a loss for words, Carly found herself frowning over how to deliver the news. "One of our regulars just told me that AJ was attacked tonight."
The smiles vanished off the handsome faces of the five males sitting around the table. Jason dropped his cards to the table with a silent oath. "How did it?"
Catching his stony gaze, Carly shrugged. "They didn't say. Just that his fiance had gone looking for him before the announcement and found him on the grounds with his head bashed in. Seems someone used a croquette mallet on his head."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jason let out a growl. "Zander."
At one time he had loved the smell of freshly baked bread early in the morning. Watching his Father beam at the neatly made loafs as they were pulled out of the oven. Now his life smelled of the back alleys that he was sent on errands to, or of the smoke and alcohol of the Speakeasy Sonny Corinthos owned. He'd learned to trade in his childhood dreams for more realistic ideals. Ones that would feed him in the coming winter.
But this last job he'd been sent on had been a real treat. He wasn't meeting some nameless Joe in a dark and putrid alley just to get the latest information on the next liquor raid the PCPD had set up. This time Jason Morgan had sent him to hand deliver a birthday present for his Grandmother. Well it had been a treat until he saw AJ Quartermaine attack Lizzie Webber.
He'd been waiting impatiently for Emily to meet him just inside the trees that surrounded the estate. But as usual Morgan's little sister was late. Not that he had expected anything different, this wasn't the first time the little scatterbrain had ran late. She was probably all cozied up to that Nikolas Cassadine creep. Laughing at all his smooth talk, clinging to every word as though he were some freaking intellect. What did one expect from AJ Quartermaine's best friend? No he wasn't bitter, not in the least.
But that's when Lizzie came out of the house alone, making Zander smile slightly at the look of freedom that came over her face the moment she stepped out into the fresh night air. There was a time, before his family's death, that he Emily and Lizzie had been inseparable. They had tried to get Sarah to come along on their little adventures. But always one to be the perfect young socialite she'd turn her nose at such thoughts.
But what fun and trouble the three of them had. From sneaking to the swimming hole at dusk, to having the girls dress in boys clothing so they could join in the neighborhood ball games in town. Who knew that girls could be so good at baseball?
No matter how strong their friendship was, it came to a screeching halt the day the Smith family had been found brutally murdered. The gossip in town had been that he had been responsible for their deaths. It didn't matter that he had been at the shop closing up for the day, and that many of Port Charles wealthy had seen him there. All it took was gossip to make him the town's pariah. Soon after that Emily had been packed off for boarding school and Lizzie practically put under house arrest by her Grandmother.
So the second AJ had forced himself onto Lizzie, Zander felt anger and rage pump through his veins. No matter how much time had passed, Lizzie was still his friend, and no one treated her like that. Springing from his spot behind a tree he watched helplessly as Lizzie brought the croquette mallet down on AJ's head not once but twice.
Stopping just feet away, he couldn't make himself move when Lizzie dropped to her knees and give AJ a shake. Even in shock Lizzie somehow managed to find concern for that piece of trash who had just tried to attack her. Pulling her hands away, Zander could see the blood covering her hands as she stared down in puzzled disbelief.
"Lizzie?" Not wanting to startle her anymore than she already was, Zander inched his way forward. His hand extended, he made his way cautiously to her side. There was no response from the tiny half woman as she just sat there staring down at her hands.
The opening lines of Happy Birthday floated down from the mansion, reminding Zander that they defiantly weren't alone. "Lizzie you need to listen to me." Touching her shoulder softly he tried giving her a little shake to break her out of her stupor.
"Grandmother said not to drink the punch. That I'd mess up my new dress." Her pitiful words made him tense as he looked over his shoulder. Looking down at her torn and stained dress, his left hand balled into a fist. If AJ wasn't already limp on the lawn he would've taken great pleasure in pounding some manners in the bastard.
"I need you to listen to me okay." Turning her so that they were face to face, he searched her eyes for any recognition. "We're going to stand up and move towards the trees before anyone comes looking for you."
"I can't leave, Sarah and AJ are announcing their engagement tonight." Once again her voice was dazed. Her usually impish eyes were dull, her voice weak.
"Come on you need to work with me here Lizzie. I know you're in shock, but we have to go...now." Hearing voices coming from behind, Zander put an arm under Lizzie's knees and the other slid behind her back as her cradled her to his chest. Standing swiftly to his feet, he hurried to the edge of the lawn before they could be seen.
The only plan he had at the moment was to get Lizzie the hell out of here. It didn't matter that she was an innocent in this. She had clubbed AJ Quartermaine upside the head. Not once but twice. For all that the town cared AJ could have attacked her in broad daylight, in the middle of Sunday mass and still come out the victim. That's just the way things were. And after what Lizzie had gone through tonight there was no way he was going to leave her to the wraith of the good citizens of Port Charles.
~~~*~~~
Business was good. Tell a nation of moderate drinkers that they could no longer legally drink, and you create a nation of alcoholics. Sonny looked around at the club in pride. This wasn't just any backroom speakeasy that could be found in some dirty hole in the wall. But a place of elegance and grace. Very rarely were there bar brawls inside these walls, just a lot of fun to be had by all.
It helped greatly that he was able to hide the bar in the basement of the hotel he had purchased just a year ago. When prohibition had just been an ideal pushed around by a bunch of Sunday prudes. But thanks to those churchgoers he was becoming a very rich man.
The room was large, set up with intimate tables with freshly cleaned tablecloths. The stage, empty at the moment, usually boasted well-known singers from all around the country. Along the right wall sat a long well polished bar, stocked with the best-smuggled liqueur. Most brought in from Europe, but there could also be found several expensive bottles from their Russian friends. A large dance room in the center of the room, gleamed welcomingly to any that wished to dance the night away.
But the Speakeasy wasn't the only treasure hidden in the basement of the prospering hotel, a room down a long hallway in the back found the best gambling that rivaled the ones that could be found in Atlantic City.
Taking another look around the crowded room his eyes settled on his lovely bride. To some she was known as the town bitch, or by others the shrew. Her tongue was sharp, but her mind was sharper after years of having no one but herself to depend on. To him she was perfection, his other half.
She was standing behind the bar, a sassy grin on her face when their eyes locked. He thanked whoever was looking out for him the day Carly walked into his life. Sure the first months had been pure hell, and he had obtained several Carly induced injuries during their early courting. But once he broke through the wall she had built he had found his soul mate.
With a quick wink in her direction, that promised a sweet seduction later, Sonny headed down the back hallway to the gambling area. The boys were back there, around their favorite card table, relaxing for the night.
Passing one of Carly's girl's, Gia on his way, Sonny tipped his head in acknowledgment. He didn't particularly like the young lady, but she did bring in her fare share of business. He couldn't put his finger on why he disliked the young beauty, perhaps it was who she was bound and determined to get her claws into his best friend and business partner Jason Morgan.
Not that his friend was stupid enough to get snarled into a trap by such an opportunist. But how long had it been since his friend had been with a woman? It wasn't Jason's norm to take any random female to his bed, but there was only so much abstinence a man could take. The last thing Sonny wanted for Jason was for him to take Gia to his bed, no matter how short term it was. Perhaps he'd have another talk with Carly tonight about the girl.
Opening the door at the end of the hallway, Sonny located his friends through the smoky room. Ever since Jason had returned home a few months back it had become a Saturday night ritual to gather around the old table for a night of cards. Most nights they broke even, not really paying much attention to the card game, more of a time to sit down together and forget about business needs.
"Sonny glad you could finally make it." Johnny grinned with a fat cigar clenched in-between his teeth. "I'm on a roll tonight and I plan on recouping my loses from last week."
Slipping his jacket form his shoulders, Sonny gave a cocky grin as he rolled up his shirtsleeves. "Boy you couldn't recoup your loses playing a child's board game. Much less one that takes an ounce of intelligence."
The other men laughed as a new hand was dealt. Sonny stole a glance over at Jason, who was taking a deep drink of the beer they had just had delivered that day. Usually a quiet man, Sonny had known his friend long enough to gage his silences. They were all different. And the one that Jason was in now clearly shouted aggravated.
"Jase something up?" Picking his cards up from the table, Sonny gazed at his friend from over the top of them.
Blue eyes flickered up to him. "Zander's late."
Rearranging the cards by suites Sonny nodded slightly. "You sent him to your parent's house. I really don't there's much trouble to be had out there in the country."
"That's not the point I told him to come right back. There's another lead I want him to check into." Throwing in his ante, Jason picked up his beer again and checked the clock on the wall. This wasn't like Zander. The kid usually did his job and came right back to report. Over the last several months they had been testing Zander's loyalty. Sending him on several fool errands, occasionally feeding him false information to see if they could trust him with the more serious parts of the business.
Not that delivering a gift was life and death, more like a reward. After a little digging into the young man's history Jason had been slightly shocked to find that Zander had once been a friend and stand in older brother for Emily. So whenever possible he'd send Zander to meet up with his sister to pass on letters or gifts to Lilah.
"Your sister is probably running late." Francis grinned at the well-known fact. The youngest Quartermaine refused to be dictated by time, and had in the past kept many of them standing in the shadows until she was ready. "Plus isn't that piece of shit announcing his engagement to the Ice Queen tonight?"
"You spend too much time with the girls." Sonny shook his head. "Your becoming a clucking hen with all the town gossip."
"Dear lord what poor lass are they sacrificing for AJ?" Johnny made a slight face as he threw a card out onto the table.
"The Webber girl." Francis answered, ignoring the glare coming from Jason's direction. He hated spending his night off talking about his estranged family.
"Isn't she kind of young for him?" Max joined into the conversation. "And pretty too."
Francis looked up in question until he started to chuckle. "Not the youngest Webber, Sarah Webber."
A roar of laughter erupted from the table. "That poor bastard." Max wiped the tears from his eyes. "That girl is from the same mold as Audrey Hardy. AJ doesn't stand a chance."
The corner of Jason's mouth curled. "That bad huh?"
"Oh Jase you don't even know the half of it. You just got back few months ago, but I'm telling you. Sarah Webber may look like the perfect young woman on the outside, but I can tell you it's all an act. She's as mean and unbending as that old biddy she lives with."
For the first time in a long time Jason felt out of the loop. True he had been gone for some time, away on business for Sonny. But not knowing the simplest facts about the family he had been raised in was weird. Not that he was homesick, or missed the majority of them. But he at least knew what to expect.
Lifting a glass in the air in a mock solute, Max cleared his throat. "Here's to AJ, may the devil be kind and allow him an eternity with his new bride."
"To AJ." Johnny and Francis picked up their glasses and clinked them upside Max's before drowning the contents in one gulp. Sonny lifted his glass and looked over to Jason as he drank from his own.
~~~*~~~
His lungs felt as though they were on fire as he tried to rearrange Lizzie in his arms. Who could've known that something so small would weigh a ton. What the heck had the girl been eating over the last year. If she would've been able to walk on her own, they'd be back in town by now. Instead of standing on the edge of the Spencer property more than three miles to town.
Needing to take a rest, Zander leaned up against a tree and slowly slid down. Keeping her safely in his arms Zander leaned his head back with groan. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to break Lizzie out of her stupor either. If it wasn't for the fact the AJ had attacked her he would have thrown her into the creek an hour ago to bring her too. "Come on Lizzie you're made of better stock than this. Remember that time you Em and I climbed that tree and you fell out. You didn't cry like most girls did. You just stood up, wiped the dirt off and climbed right back up. Or the time we were trespassing in the Taggert's orchard and that huge horse of a dog they owned tried to attack us. You picked up that branch and chased it away."
Staring at her, wishing for some other response than an occasional blink, Zander realized how pretty his friend had become over the last year. He may have even been attracted to her if he hadn't been witness to her education on how to spit like a boy. No to him Lizzie Webber would always be the girl with a free spirit and the stubborn streak wider than the Mississippi.
"Jason is going to kill me. Be a pal here, we need to get back to town." Looking back down at her face, he let out a long sigh when her facial expression didn't change.
Struggling to his feet again, he heard a noise off in the distance and paused. A Packard Roadster came into sight, and Zander held his breath as Commissioner Scorpio went speeding by. Waiting for another moment, Zander slipped out of the trees and hurried down the road toward Port Charles.
~~~*~~~
The door to the back gambling room flew open as Carly Corintho's came rushing through. The grim expression on her face made the occupants freeze, fearing that at long last the inevitable happened and Sonny Corintho's private haven was being raided.
Her mind set on the table where her husband and friends were seated around, Carly felt her insides twist. Just minutes ago one of their regulars had come from the Quartermaine's soirée, with news of the attack on AJ Quartermaine's life. Any other time she would've found the information entertaining. A riot in fact. There wasn't anyone else she could think of that deserved to get attacked than that little puke. But with just having Jason return home after such a long time away from home, he of course would be the first suspect.
Sonny stood the moment he saw her rush in, knowing that she hated coming to the back room. "What?"
Never one at a loss for words, Carly found herself frowning over how to deliver the news. "One of our regulars just told me that AJ was attacked tonight."
The smiles vanished off the handsome faces of the five males sitting around the table. Jason dropped his cards to the table with a silent oath. "How did it?"
Catching his stony gaze, Carly shrugged. "They didn't say. Just that his fiance had gone looking for him before the announcement and found him on the grounds with his head bashed in. Seems someone used a croquette mallet on his head."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jason let out a growl. "Zander."