Hi everyone, I'm doing my best to finish all of my stories. For anyone reading Stronger Than Pride, there should be an update within the next couple of days. If you're reading this, please let me express my gratitude for your patience. Thanks for reading and replying. Blessed and Happy New Year to everyone.

SUN N.Y. – Chapter 26

Alexis was going to put an end to this engagement nonsense whether Todd liked it or not. She had a whole new game plan. First, she was going to be with Sonny if that was what he still wanted when he learned the baby was his. Second, she planned to reassure Todd that she would help him get joint custody in any honest, legal way she could. But before she could do any of this she had to find Todd.

Todd stood alone near the kitchen entrance of Te Amo. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. He was going to be unselfish. Him, unselfish, the thought caused a cold chill to run up his spine. Still Alexis was his friend, even in spite of the fact that he was blackmailing her. Kevin's words echoed in his mind, You have to do right by the people who care about you. "Aw shut up , will you doc?" Todd mumbled out loud.

"Are you speaking to an apparition, Mr Manning?" came Stefan's voice. "Or is it a figment of you imagination?"

Todd rolled his eyes. He walked up to Stefan, his arms swaying and his back arched in quintessential Manning form. "Hey, look Stef. This thing with Alex and me is over."

Stefan laughed a sinister laugh. He moved to stand toe to toe with Todd. "Are you getting cold feet Mr. Manning?"

Alexis was exhausted. She was going to check the kitchen, a safe bet for Todd, and if he wasn't there, she'd head back to the central part of the club. As she headed to the kitchen's entrance, she saw Todd...talking to Stefan. She slipped behind a nearby pillar to eavesdrop because their early conversation had made her curious. The two men were so immersed in testosterone that they failed to notice that they weren't alone.

"Look, Stef. I'm not getting cold feet. I...I...I...I'm just trying to do the right thing here, OK?" Todd's pacing began again. "You're sister's obviously got it bad for Corinthos. If I try to make her stay with me. She's gonna hate me. And the last thing I want is for Alex to hate me."

Stefan smiled broadly. "Touching sentiment Mr. Manning. I can see that I made the right choice in picking you as Alexis' husband. Speaking of choices, you don't have one. " Stefan paused for dramatic effect. He rubbed his hand against his slight goatee. "It would cause me great displeasure to have to inform the Llanview police about a yacht explosion that caused the death of Mr. Guy Armitage. Curiously, they were never able to solve that case. Perhaps it was because a certain publisher dressed as his romantic rival before he planted a bomb aboard the yacht."

Alexis gasped to herself.

"Hey, hey, look. It was a stupid accident. He wasn't supposed to be there."

"So you say. But are you really willing to risk spending your life in a correctional facility, away from your children, away from your publishing empire? Your daughter may remember you, should you get paroled, but your son and the child that Alexis is carrying, certainly won't." Stefan smiled as he watched Todd squirm.

"That happened years ago. You can't prove anything."

" There is no statute of limitations concerning murder. Mr. Manning, is that a chance you're willing to take?"

Before Todd could answer, Alexis stepped out from the shadows. Stefan and Todd looked like deer in headlights. "It's a chance he doesn't have to take."

Back on the terrace, Sonny paced as he waited for Alexis' return. He wondered what she had meant or where she had gone. The sound of his cell phone startled him. "Alexis?" He answered hoping to hear her voice on the other end.

"Michael, it's me." Mike's voice was a bit shaky.

Things had been good between he and Mike ever since Mike revealed that he had done the right thing and stood by Courtney, even though she wasn't his daughter. Sonny continued to feel as though Mike was holding something back, but he chalked it up to his own suspicious nature. "What is Pop? Why aren't you here? This is my big night."

"I know, Michael. I wanted to be there. It's just, I'm at the hospital."

Sonny ran his hand across his wrinkled brow. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"It's no me. It's your...brother. He's been shot."

The weight of Mike's words knocked Sonny against a nearby wall. "My what? I don't have a brother, Mike. In fact, I just found out that I don't have a sister either, remember?"

"Just come to the hospital Michael, before it's too late." With that Mike hung up the phone, leaving Sonny in a total daze. As soon as he was able to focus, he picked up a glass and reached back and readied himself to throw it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, partner." Jax's Aussie accent called out. "If you start destroying property, I'm going to sue you for the cost of replacing it."

"Now's not a good time, Candyboy."

"What is it, Corinthos? Is it Alexis? Is she OK?"

Sonny pulled out a chair that was neatly tucked under a small table and sank in. He was not in a mood to share, but he knew Jax would bug him until he was assured that Alexis was fine. "It's Mike, he's screwed up again."

"Is that all?"

Sonny smiled and shook his head in disgust as he looked at Jax. The golden boy had lived a perfect life with two parents that worshipped the ground he walked on. There was no way he could understand. "Mike's screw-ups usually cost me."

Jax pulled out the chair that sat opposite Sonny. "Since you're the man that resurrected Miranda, my first wife, before my wedding to Brenda, I assume you realize that the only reason I believed her to be dead was because my family lied to me. "

Sonny closed his eyes and leaned back. "I get sick of bailing Mike out of his messes."

"Corinthos, there are two of us sitting at this table. But the ironic thing is that even with all the stuff you've done, I'm the convicted felon. Why? Because I took a plea to keep my father and brother out of prison. And how did my brother repay me? By getting into trouble again. But if he needed me to bail him out; I do it again and gladly."

"You and I are two different people, Jax." Sonny stood and began to walk toward the terrace entrance.

"You're right, Corinthos. You see, I understand that you don't love your family based on who you want them to be, but based on who they really are. Because when it comes down to it they're all you've got. The truth is we all screw up. It's unfair for we imperfect people to demand perfection from everyone else."

Sonny dropped his head and nodded. "If you see Alexis, tell her I'm looking for her." He then turned and walked through the doorway.