Alexis clicked off her phone after talking to Nikolas. Her mind working quickly, considering all angles of what likely awaited them. If one of the Cassadines had indeed proven to be undead once again, the surviving remnants of that family had to design an action plan.
Usually when one or more of them sprang back to life, either it was due to an ambitious agenda to regain the balance of power or family fortune or it was to carry out some type of vendetta. More often than not a combination of both, and so it had been throughout their history even before the family's exile to a Grecian Island they'd purchased as a hideaway.

She knew she had to be on top of her game with any of them the ways she'd been taught growing up. It was moments like these when she missed her half brother Stefan. At least before he'd shut out all the light inside of him and turned evil at the very end. She had no idea what had really happened to him.

The waiter refilled her coffee. She smiled at him and then looked up to see Ned walking towards her.

"Ned you got my message."

He nodded and sat down at her table.

"So you talked to Nikolas about the letter?"

"Yeah he's got one too. Like I told you, we both think it's linked to our family."

He arched his brows.

"Another Cassadine coming back from the grave?"

She sighed.

"We don't know what else to think. I always thought it was possible in the back of my mind. I think that's why I came back."

"So which one? I heard Helena got a bullet in the heart. Stavros is back to being a popsicle and Stefan...he's been dead for some years now."

She bit her lip, always thinking as she had been since receiving the invite.

"I have no idea. My father's stayed dead. There's Valentin, but Helena claimed she'd killed him and I don't think she'd lie about that. At least I hope not, from what I've heared, he's the worst of the bunch and that's saying a lot.

"
Ned looked concerned.

"Both of our families have gotten smaller but our deadlier elements were diluted somewhat by benovalent genes through the generations. But yours...Laura Spencer and your mother were the only positive contributions to the gene pool."

She couldn't argue with that. Somehow only she and Nikolas had been spared from being consumed by the evil that defined their family. Still both of them battled their demons. Alexis knew how close she'd come more than once to realizing that side of her that lay dormant.
The death of her sister Kristina had been one of those times. The temporary loss of both Kristina and Molly had been others.
She kept a tight reign on it most of the time.

"Alexis, what about any brothers or cousins of your father?"

She paused to consider that.

"Mikkos had both Tony and Victor. Tony died in the freezer with my father and Victor went to prison, where he languished for years. But he's dead or so we were told several years ago."

"Any others?"

She frowned.

"Cousins perhaps but none that contributed much to the roster of family legends. Unless it's someone new."

"That's possible. There's always contenders and pretenders to be the latest undiscovered Quartermaine. I was so relieved to find out Franco wasn't blood kin."

She could only imagine.

"Then again, it'd have to be someone who held some status in the family at least in the past."

She thought that made sense.

"I don't know what to do regardless. I need a plan. Everytime one of them surfaces or resurfaces I have to keep my family safe in case they're a target."

He leaned forward.

"They know about your daughters..."

She nodded.

"Kristina and Molly though for a while Kristina was the primary interest because they thought she was my eldest."

Ned digested that.

"They didn't know about Sam?"

Alexis knit her brow.

"No...the people who knew about her birth thought she was dead like I did. Only my father knew the truth that she was adopted out and he took it with him. Records said she'd died in a car accident at three and he was already dead by then..."

"So whoever it is might not know she's still alive let alone in town."

"Maybe not. It's not going to matter if I think my family's in danger from any one of them."

Julian and Carlos spent time going over the plans in preparation to meet with their boss when he arrived in town. He didn't give any specifics of when he'd be dropping by, which meant he wanted to have some element of surprise over them.
No matter, they'd be ready for him.

Ava still wasn't thrilled about it but she did her part in between planning his rehearsal dinner party. Carly had been harping him about arrangements for the wedding but he left that for her and Ava to take care of while he stuck to his agenda.

"So I guess this is enough for now," Carlos said, "We put some serious hours into finalizing it."

Julian smiled.

"You that eager to see Sabrina?"

His associate nodded.

"She's getting off work early today so we're going on a picnic."

"Things are going well with her then."

Carlos smiled broadly.

"Yes now that she's decided that I'm the one for her."

Julian saw the enthusiasm on Carlos' face knowing that he'd pursued the nurse for months and she'd been pushing him away. Not that it discouraged Carlos any. It seemed to fire him up even more.

"We're done here. I'll finish up the rest while you go spend time with your woman."

Carlos arched his brows up.

"What about you...you off to see your woman?"

Julian closed out some windows on his laptop.

"Carly? She's off working with Ava on floral arrangements."

His associate gave him a pointed look.

"I mean Alexis. She's back in town right?"

Julian stared back at him.

"She's made it clear nothing's changed. She came back on business."

Carlos shrugged.

"I remember Sabrina putting up all kind of defenses, excuses but it didn't stop me and it shouldn't stop you boss."

"It's not the same thing."

"I don't see why not. How hard have you tried since she returned?"

Julian paused.

"My upcoming marriage hasn't helped matters."

Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Why are you marrying the Corinthos shrew again?"

"It's complicated."

Carlos chuckled.

"I'll bet...well I'll leave you to your complicated domestic affairs and take off."

Julian said goodbye and returned to his work. After a few minutes, he sighed and decided he needed to take some time off and get some fresh air, anywhere away from this hotel.

Ned had ordered a sandwich and mentioned how much he'd missed the food at Kelly's.

"So do you have a plan for this meeting?"

She sipped her water.

"Luke's helping me. He's no more eager to see the Cassadine House rise again than I am. Nikolas, he's always hoping it'll be one of them extending an olive branch but that'll never happen."

"He's got his mother's optimism."

She shrugged.

"It's always treacherous when they return. Whoever this is...he most likely represents a threat of some sort. I'm not waiting to see what he or she's got planned."

"That's smart Alexis. I learned that whenever some long lost relative of mine comes back, it's always smart to be proactive."

She knew that about him. It was what they had in common and what had brought them together."

"That means protecting family first and preparing when whoever's coming discovers that Sam didn't die or stay missing.

"
Ned sighed.

"Whatever I can do to help..."

She reached across and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks."

He paused.

"Do they know about Sam's father?"

She frowned thinking about it.

"I don't know. I don't know what information they've discovered but there's no record of her father anywhere. I never gave him his name."

"You didn't remember..."

She nodded.

"Lucky for him. I'm not sure yet if that's lucky for me. But Julian's busy fighting his mob war with Sonny and trying to get his son to return his phone calls."

Ned shook his head.

"Sonny will win. You know that."

"I'm not so sure. Not that I care either way but he's taken some losses thanks to Morgan and Shawn."

"He still in seclusion?"

Alexis didn't know but she'd heard about it from others while in Australia.

"Maybe. It's his fault as much as Julian's. Once he made the decision to be a mobster...I'm glad I got out of his organization and left it behind."

"I can only imagine..."

She paused.

"Now I've got to figure out how to deal with my family and whatever any stragglers have planned."

Ned nodded and then glanced towards the doorway.

"He's here."

Alexis didn't turn her head to look.

"Who?"

"Julian..."

She glanced then and saw that he'd entered the diner.