Alexis folded her arms at the man in front of her. The one who'd peppered her with all these questions about her life in the guise of an interview.
"Come on now Alexis, what else are we going to do while stuck in here?"
She rolled her eyes at Derek, who seemed fully in journalist mode, thinking he was doing his job to dig up more information on those who received awards tonight until all hell broke loose.
"I was born in Athens Greece," she said, "though I didn't know the circumstances until recently. My mother was a talented opera singer and my father was…distant."
Derek frowned.
"Distant? Your father was a very powerful and wealthy man," he said, "The patriarch of the Cassadine family."
She shrugged.
"I wasn't one of his legitimate heirs so I hardly count," she said, "Besides only a couple are still left."
He knit his brow.
"Stefan Cassadine, Mikkos' younger son. He's still a successful businessman," he said, "and isn't his nephew Nikolas running the family business?"
Alexis stared at him a long moment.
"Why do you care? Why do they interest you? I'm sure you encounter quite a few powerful business dynasties in your line of work."
Derek nodded.
"I do but this is your family and you're the person I'm interviewing right now."
She arched her brows.
"So this is an interview? I thought we were just two people stuck together by circumstances beyond our control in an elevator."
He folded his arms looking at her with an intensity almost unnerving.
"We've got time to kill until we're rescued," he said, "It could be hours. We don't know what happened out there."
She sighed.
"No we don't. It could be just a minor malfunction or something worse…"
He smiled.
"So it could be hours then…"
She gave him an exasperated look. She had no intention of remaining captive in this cage longer than she had to…not if there was another way out. He seemed to read her mind.
"Alexis…I told you that trying to escape through the ceiling hash was dangerous."
She bit her lip looking at him.
"I don't like confined spaces," she said, "I was locked in a closet as a child."
His brows arched.
"Really…when you were living on the Island?"
She just watched him not intending that little facet of her history to slip out. She shook her head.
"It's really not anything. Let's just say I don't plan on spending the night in here waiting to be rescued."
He rubbed his jaw with his thumb.
"Look if we're stuck in between floors in this hotel, we're stuck," he said, "I somehow get the doors open, we'll be looking at a concrete wall with nothing to blast through it."
She shrugged.
"There might be an opening instead. So why don't we give it a try?"
He sighed.
"Okay…."
Jax frowned at Sonny.
"What just happened?"
The shorter mobster looked flustered or upset, Jax couldn't tell which. He gestured for two burly bodyguards to join him. Jax flashed his eyes impatiently.
"I'm looking for my date Alexis have you seen her?"
Sonny glowered.
"I haven't seen her and I don't know what happened. The power's out in this building and maybe elsewhere."
Jax felt uneasiness fill him.
"How'd that happen?"
Sonny threw up his arms.
"I don't know. I was too busy dealing with Carly and Brenda and keeping the two of them apart."
"What about the police?"
Sonny shook his head.
"I don't want them involved," he said, "If it's one of my enemies striking at me I'll find out and get back at them. The police will just get in the way especially if that Mac Scorpio's in charge."
Jax smirked.
"Come on Sonny, if there's innocent people involved because of your illegal dealings…"
Suddenly Sam walked up to both of them, flipping her hair back with one deft hand. She appraised both men.
"Either of you see Jason?"
Both just stared at her and she arched a brow.
"A yes or no answer will work. I need to find him so we can figure out what just happened here."
Jax shrugged.
"Better ask Sonny here. He seems to think this is all about him…and his business."
Sam narrowed her eyes.
"Okay Sonny have you seen Jason?"
He just looked at her nonplussed.
"I haven't seen him. I'm probably under attack by one of my enemies."
Sam frowned.
"You think that's why the power is out? Someone's after you?"
Sonny nodded grimly.
"It has to be…why else would this have happened?"
Sam shrugged.
"It might be city wide…"
He waved his hand.
"This has to be someone after my territory…or my enterprise."
Sam hardened.
"You trade in women Sonny. If one of your rivals is coming after you, I don't care. I'm worried about Jason."
Jax interjected.
"I'm worried about Alexis. I haven't seen her."
Sam glanced at him.
"I saw her earlier at one of Sonny's so called 'parties'. What a joke. I think she left after being hit on my one of the johns…I mean guests."
Sonny scoffed.
"It's just a party for some of my clients. Nothing illegal at all."
Sam rolled her eyes at him and looked at Jax again.
"I'm sure Alexis is fine. She knows how to handle herself. I just need to find Jason."
Sonny and Jax looked at each other. Jax cleared his throat.
"I'll find Alexis."
Sam nodded then looked at Sonny.
"I'll find Jason but if you caused this, you need to deal with it."
Sonny just glowered.
"It's not my fault. I'm just a coffee importer."
Sam snorted.
"Yeah right…just don't get anyone killed because of your…coffee business."
Sonny gritted his teeth.
"No one I mean no one is going to stop me and my business…"
Sam wandered off after his pronouncement. Jax just stared at him.
"I can't believe it Sonny. Thinking about yourself as usual when other people might be in danger…"
Alexis crossed her arms looking at Derek.
"Okay what now? Are we going to get out of here?"
He glanced at her.
"We might have a chance if the elevator is between floors but it might be a tight squeeze."
Alexis was unfazed.
"I don't care. I just want to get out of here. I don't like confined spaces."
"I can see that…"
She watched him sitting so calmly while she felt like jumping out of her skin.
"So are you going to do it?
He just stared at her absolutely calm.
"It's not safe like I told you…"
"I don't care…I want out of here now."
She knew she'd start pacing again even as she tried to stop herself. He just watched her almost bemused. That irritated her.
"Mr. Wells, don't just stand there. We can't be stuck in here forever."
He sighed with a smile.
"It won't be that long. The power should be on soon."
She shrugged.
"Fine…but it better be soon. This isn't where I want to be."
He grinned.
"I can tell…so you grew up on an island off the coast of Greece?"
She just looked at him and nodded.
."I did…until I went away to high school in the United States. My father put me on a ship with a guardian and when I reached America, I felt elated…I really wanted to be away from the island and be someplace new…much different."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Nothing wrong with that…at that age," he said, "I wanted to be independent of my father too. I went to boarding school and then to college."
She pressed her lips together.
"I went to boarding school…in the States…"
His brows arched.
"Where?"
She paused a moment before breathing again.
"New Hampshire…"
She saw something in his eyes and suddenly realized everything had changed.