"TELL ME WHAT!?" Kate asked raising her voice again.
Claudia stood across from them with her arms crossed, "I have nothing to say."
"Fine." Olivia said raising her eyebrows and cocking her head to the side, "Connie you might want to sit."
"Olivia. I'm not doing anything until someone tells me what is going on." Kate insisted.
Olivia walked over to Kate and took a deep breath before starting, "Andre Karpov was not the one that shot you at your wedding."
"Please Olivia," Kate pleaded leaning against the chair in front of her, "I never want to talk about that night."
"I know, but you need to know the truth this time." Olivia insisted looking over at Claudia.
"It was you?" Kate hissed looking at Claudia and putting her hand over her stomach where she had been shot. "You shot me! At my own wedding? You ruined my life." Kate's face turned white and her legs began to shake.
"I'm not the one that shot you." Claudia insisted with a look of disgust on her face.
"Then who…" Kate asked as a tear rolled down her face
"Hello pretty lady." Anthony said to Kate with a sinister look on his face.
"No, no, no… Oh my God." Kate cried as she almost fainted into Olivia's arms. Regaining some of her composer Kate mustered enough courage to say what she suspected for a while, "I bet you're the reason Michael is in a coma!"
Anthony leaned back in his chair and let out a little chuckle, "Maybe…"
Practically cradling Kate in her arms now, Olivia leaned towards Anthony just close enough so he could see the fiery rage that filled her eyes, "You better get out of here before I get security, or Sonny."
"Daddy, we better go." Claudia said with a look a fear in her eyes.
Sitting Kate on the arm of a chair, Olivia lifted up her cousin's chin and looked into her glazed over eyes, "It's going to be OK."
Kate began to cry even harder and she rested her head on Olivia's shoulder.
"Come on." Olivia said lifting Kate up from the chair and helping her to the elevator, "You need to lay down."
"I can't, I can't." Kate insisted wiping her tears away.
Olivia held her cousin close while the elevator made it's way to the office. She knew she had to do something. Sonny had to know, but she also knew he'd kill Anthony as soon as he found out.
The elevator opened and Maxie immediately began to ramble off a list of calls, but stopped when she saw her, usually immaculate, boss draped over Olivia neck.
"Maxie, right? Get Ms. Howard some fresh water and a towel." Olivia ordered the blonde.
"Olivia! I'm OK." Kate said blowing her nose.
"No you're not Con. You're white as a ghost." Olivia insisted staring down at Kate sitting at her desk with her head in her hands.
"I just don't, I can't, I can't deal with this." Kate said wiping another tear away, "It's too painful."
"Come on Con, come sit on the sofa." Olivia said lifting Kate out from behind her desk.
"Olivia… Here's the water you asked for." Maxie said coming into the office with a pitcher of ice-cold water in one hand and a washcloth in the other, "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Just make sure no one comes in here and hold all her calls." Olivia said dipping the washcloth in the water, "OK lean back Con." Placing the cloth on Kate's forehead Olivia told Kate not to move and left the office.
"Hey Maxie, is there a room I could make a call in?" She asked pulling her cell phone out of her purse.
"Ummm, yeah. Down the hallway." Maxie replied nodding in the direction of the room
Stepping into a small conference room Olivia looked down at her phone and knew what she had to do. Calling Sonny may lead to a pile of dead bodies by the next day, but he was the only person that could help her. Scrolling through her contacts Olivia highlighted "Sonny C." and pressed, "send".
Her heart skipped a beat when Sonny answered, "Olivia, why are you calling me? I'm in the middle of something."
"Oh I'm sure you are, but this more important than any mob deal you are making." Olivia shouted into the phone.
Sonny's tone changed from annoyed to worried, "What's going on?"
"I'm not going to tell you over the phone, but you NEED to get to the Crimson office because Kate needs you now, more than ever." Olivia told Sonny.
A knot quickly formed in Sonny's throat when he heard the fear in Olivia's voice, "I'll be there in 10 minutes."
Olivia flipped her phone closed and took a deep breath wondering if she did the right thing.
10 minutes later…
Olivia was sitting on the couch next to Kate, who kept insisting she was fine, when Sonny came into the office with a concerned look on his face, "What's wrong? What's going on?" Taking a closer look at Kate he noticed her face was pale and her eyes were blood shot from crying. Sitting down on the couch next to the woman he never stopped loving, Sonny looked into Kate's eyes and saw them glazed over with sadness and despair. "Kate, what happened?"
Unable to recount the afternoon's events, Kate looked over to Olivia asking for help.
"The Zaccharas happened." Olivia said looking nervous.
Shifting his gaze from Kate to Olivia, Sonny was over come with a sense of confusion, "I don't understand."
Biting her lip, Olivia looked down at the floor before telling Sonny what happened, "This afternoon I went into bar to get a glass of water and as I walked in I over heard Claudia and Anthony talking a few tables away."
"Well what did they say?" Sonny asked looking up at Olivia but tenderly caressing Kate's cheek.
"I heard…" Olivia had to gain her composer again before getting to the point, "I heard Claudia tell Anthony she knew he was the one that shot Kate at the alter." Her eyes began to water, "While he insisted Claudia had a very vivid imagination, he definitely didn't deny it."
Unable to think, Sonny ran his fingers through his hair.
"I didn't know what to do so I got out of there before they recognized me, but unfortunately, Claudia followed me into the lobby." Olivia continued, "I confronted her and said if she didn't fess up I would tell Connie the truth. Connie saw us going at it and when she didn't confess, I said what I had heard. Connie practically fainted. So I brought her up here and I've been trying to calm her down ever since then."
"Now I really have a reason to murder that bastard!" Sonny said as he got up and headed for the door.
"Sonny, come back." Kate cried out.
Following him out into the lobby Olivia grabbed him by the shoulder, "Stop Sonny! I know that look. You want to kill the guy…"
"Damn right!" Sonny responded
"Trust me, so do I. I want him to rot in hell, but you can't do it like this!" Olivia argued, "Do you love my cousin?"
"Of course!" Sonny responded.
"Well then get back in that office and just be with her." She said, "She doesn't want you to go out there and kill someone, even if they deserve it. Please, just take a deep breath, go back in there and show how much you love Connie by staying by her side."
The vengeful fire in Sonny's eye's started to die down and he relaxed his shoulders, "You're right. I have to do it different this time. I can't loose her again."
"Thank you Sonny." Olivia said.
Kate looked-up and saw Sonny come back into the office looking like a different man. She got up and threw her arms around his shoulders, "You came back." She said burying her face in his chest.
Olivia sat on the edge of the desk and watched as Kate wiped a tear away. She had never seen her cousin like this. She cracked a small grin because she now saw the connection between the two completely different people.
Pulling back from Sonny, Kate's face turned serious again, "Sonny, there's something else that Olivia left out."
"What's that?" He asked with a confused look on his face.
"It has to do with Michael"
