Azalea woke up after her nap. It was bound to happen...she had a nightmare about the killing. She wished she could erase Johnny and Eddie fighting on the docks, Johnny grabbing the gun and shooting Eddie. That memory will stay with her forever. She was starving and was about to make a sandwich when she realized Johnny left her some takeout dinner. Suddenly, she felt sick thinking about how wrong it was to receive food from the very man that blackmailed her into doing his bidding. She grabbed a hoodie and her wallet before walking towards the door.
Johnny was in his apartment noticing Anthony wasn't around. He wondered where he could be and how much trouble he got into. It was futile telling the man to not stir up trouble. Anthony Zacchara was dead-set on avenging Claudia's death. Though, Johnny found it highly ironic since the man spent his days calling his sister a 'treacherous bitch' and how she was a 'traitor' to the Zacchara family. Part of the time, he wanted Sonny to suffer as much as Anthony did when he lost the one person who he came to for comfort. Walking towards the table filled with bottles of scotch, Johnny heard a knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, a smirk formed.
"Hello, Carly." he knew she probably had a fight with Sonny or she knew Michael wanted in on the crime business. "What do I owe the pleasure this evening?"
"Cut the crap, Johnny. We both know why I'm here."
"Enlighten me."
"Tell Michael no deal. I know my son has been asking to work for you since Sonny turned him down. I want you to do the same thing."
"Michael's a grown boy. He can make that decision on his own. Who am I to turn him down when he says yes?"
"You say no because I'm his mother. I will not have my son be in the middle of you and Sonny's rivalry! There are ways to make you stop."
"Are you threatening me, Carly?" Johnny quirked up an eyebrow at her.
"I don't need to threaten a person into doing what I want. I have...other means of persuasion..." she softly placed one hand on his collarbone sliding it down in a slow sensual motion. Johnny just got an idea. He knew the one thing that would make Sonny lose his mind was if he slept with Carly. Sonny held an odd possession over Carly despite the fact they are no longer together and often had many partners after.
"What kind of persuasion are we talking, here?" he brushed his fingers down the side of her arms. Carly closed the space between them and stood higher to whisper in his ear.
"In your dreams, Zacchara." she pulled her hand away from his chest stepping back with a smug grin. "Now, I really do have to be going. I trust you will make the right decision?"
"It's for Michael to decide." suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Johnny was a bit glad to save him from the bulge that was forming in his jeans. He left Carly in the middle of the living room to open the door. He was shocked to see Azalea and she had the food he bought for her.
"I came by to give you this. Jake's is really not my thing...you can have it or throw it away."
"Keep it."
"No, I was going to get something else to eat..." Azalea paused when she saw a blonde woman standing in the middle of his living room. The woman looked shocked that one, she had fuchsia-colored hair, and two, Johnny knew her. Azalea felt uncomfortable under the woman's stare. "Hi. I didn't know you had company. I should be going now."
"You know what, Johnny. I think I'm gonna go." Johnny heard Carly from over his shoulder. "Maybe we can discuss this some other time? Think about what I said." Carly slipped past Azalea and was gone.
"Why are you returning your dinner? All you ever eat is junk. Would do your body some good to eat actual food."
"Who was that woman?"
"No one you should be concerned with. Why? You jealous?" Johnny couldn't help that smirk that was forming at his lips. He saw Azalea physically grimace.
"Don't make me barf. I was just curious."
"Curious? She's no one to be curious about."
"Oh, really? Because the way she was smirked at you, she had you eating out the palm of her hand."
"You really have to stick to rule number one."
"There you go with that damn rule. Why do you have that rule anyway? Scared that someone will know find out some weird quirk about you?"
"What weird quirk?"
"I don't know...you having an extensive Barbie collection?"
"Trust me, it's not that. Besides, why do you want to know so much about me?"
"Because I want to know the man who's blackmailing me to work for him. You go on and on and on about trust. It works both ways, boss."
"You don't want to know anything about me. It's best that you don't."
"What? I already know what you're capable of. I saw that with my own damn eyes!"
"I'm only saying this once...back off."
"Or what, you're gonna kill me like Eddie?"
"Shut up!" Azalea was stunned at Johnny's sudden outburst of anger. She knew then to just drop the subject for now. Johnny didn't know how all that rage was unleashed on innocent Azalea. All he could see was her scared little eyes. "Don't you have to grab something to eat?"
"Yeah...I should go." Azalea was still shocked and at a lost for words. She turned to walk away, when Johnny reached out for her arm.
"Azalea, I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. It's been a tough day..."
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said...you know what, I'm gonna go and grab dinner. It was thoughtful of you for bringing me something from Jake's. Sorry about...okay, going now."
"I'm really am sorry..." Azalea just nodded and gave a half-smile as she left.
Johnny closed the door running a hand over his face. He even surprised himself at how angry he got. The guilt of killing Sanchez and blackmailing Azalea was wearing him down. Maybe he was like the old man more than he thought. He could see himself hitting Azalea, making her cry...all the things Anthony inflicted on his mother, on Claudia, on him. He groaned as he made his way back to the scotch, grabbed a tumbler and drowned his sorrows. Azalea knew she shouldn't have pushed him that far. She has told him every little detail about her. Hell, he even did a background check, but to her Johnny Zacchara was still a mystery. He was a ticking time-bomb and one wrong move could end her. Plus, the guilt of knowing what happened to Sanchez corrupted her whole moral being. She decided to stop focusing on her boss and all his problems and get something to eat. She walked down hallway making up her mind to order in Chinese take-out. She was unaware that Max and Milo had tailed her ever since they heard her say Sanchez's name. Max dialed Sonny's number to tell him what he's heard.
"Yeah."
"Boss, we got something that I think you are gonna love."
"What's that?"
"Johnny was the man who shot Sanchez."
"I know that, you idiot! You have proof?"
"We got a witness. It's some girl with strange looking hair. She knows Johnny somehow. Uh, someone else was there in Johnny's apartment. Carly was over, but I wasn't sure why."
"What the hell was Carly doing at that slime-ball's place?" Sonny was not pleased. He would have to confront Carly later, but the more important matters. Like, who was the mysterious girl at Johnny's. "Okay, more about the girl. What did she say that makes you think she knows about the shooting?"
"They were arguing...don't know what, but she said 'kill me like Eddie' or something like that."
"Does she live in the apartment?"
"Yes, we are tailing her now. What do you want us to do, boss?"
"We need to get her. Something isn't adding up. She saw him commit a crime and she shows up at his door knowing he could bump her off. There's more to her we don't know. Grab her and take her to the warehouse. I'll meet you there."
"But, boss. How are you going to do it without being seen? This is a busy apartment."
"I don't care how you do it. Make her know what will happen if she doesn't comply!"
"Okay, boss."
Azalea had just made it to her apartment tired of her hearing her stomach growl. She decided to order shrimp lo-mein with a side of egg rolls and won-tons. She tried to think of something else, but all she could think about was Johnny. Why was he such an angry man? She knew why...she wasn't that stupid. Anthony was source of Johnny's anger. She just wanted to know what he did that shaped Johnny into the man he was today. Was Anthony always the manipulative jerk Johnny warns her about? Did Johnny rebel at one point. Did he wanted to be something else than a career criminal. She had to know...needed to know. She heard a knock on the door and knew her take-out had arrived. Once she paid the deliveryman, she dug into her shrimp lo-mein. After a few bites, Azalea heard another knock. It couldn't be the man, she already paid him. She figured it would be Johnny. He was the only one who knew where she lived. Make that him and Steve. She was holding her box of noddles while opening the door. She saw two scary men at her door. She recognized one man who was on one of the security cams she hacked into. It was Sonny's men. The other, slimmer male pointed a gun on Azalea.
"Not again..."
