Julian stared at Anna expectedly long tired of her relentless campaign against him from events that took place decades ago. Events that had been misconstrued and rewritten in ways that weren't true.

After all, he hadn't been responsible for Duke and Anna losing their unborn child that had been all on his late sister Olivia who'd engineered that tragedy. Anna seemed to have forgotten that factoid and still harassed him relentlessly.

He tried to will patience into himself.

"What is it now Anna?"

She pressed her lips together.

"The DEA is still investigating the corridors that you and your unnamed boss have been trafficking cocaine through…and they will be serving warrants soon on you and all your holdings as well as those of your sister, Ava."

He sighed, expecting something much more newsworthy than this. He pursed his lips.

"That's not surprising. The DEA needs a scapegoat to go after because of the emerging scandal that a major drug pin is operating and hiding in plain sight in their midst."

Her lip trembled slightly.

"You mean the Cobra. Yes it's true that there's some suspicion that there might be a rogue agent in their midst…but that has nothing to do with the PCPD side of the investigation against you."

He smiled in amusement.

"I'm sure it hasn't Anna but if you play nice, I could give the DEA the name of that dealer, the agent who's betrayed them by using his or her position within the agency to build themselves quite a little empire.

Anna folded her arms.

"Is that so? Humor me then. If you know the identity of the Cobra, then why don't you share it or at least offer up some hints?"

Julian stared at her a long moment. She was getting on his nerves and he'd wished she'd go away so he could focus on what was really important, his family.

"Okay I'll give you more than a hint. The person who works for the DEA who's really a notorious drug smuggler known as the Cobra…that's Jordan Ashford, you know TJ's mother who's been holding clandestine meetings in the park with you while she was informing on my operation."

Anna's mouth fell open and she shook her head. He couldn't stop himself from enjoying that just a little.

"Yes it's true. As much as you thought you and her were playing me and my operation, that's how much she was playing you and the DEA,. She's responsible for the flow of cocaine coming in from the cartels in Colombia and Peru. She and another Agent named Kyle Sloane, you haven't run him into yet."

Anna's brows shot up which told him that she did have some knowledge or experience with Sloane.

"You can't be serious…you're making this all up trying to stir up trouble like you always do."

Julian sighed, not understanding her attitude as he was trying to help her this time. The Cobra's actions had led to the freeze on the shipment of cocaine that his boss was trying to bring to PC. He had no choice in the matter because he was working for his boss to protect his family who'd already been penalized by his defiance.

"I am telling you the truth Anna. Don't trust DEA agent Ashford at all. If you continue to use her to come after my organization, the person who'll be paying the price is you."

She couldn't respond to that and he knew he had her. He didn't know why mentioning Sloane's involvement had upset Anna. He didn't know every chapter of her life that didn't involve him or her and Duke's vendetta against his family. '

He wasn't about to bring up the fact that Coleman and Carlos were both WSB operatives working on assignment. He was still trying to process that himself. As long as they didn't bring harm to Alexis, Sam, Lucas or Danny he could live with that.

"Anna I gave you that information to help you and because I know that Agent Ashford was betraying my organization which put the people I care about in danger…"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why Julian? Why would that happen?"

He grimaced.

"Because my boss used my family to keep me in line and I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family…"


Alexis felt unnerved after Addie had left her just standing alone in the gazebo. She didn't know how to begin to process what the woman had told her about what had happened the day she'd given birth to Sam in the clinic in Maine in 1980.

So many years ago and yet when she'd been talking with Addie she felt as if they had just happened yesterday.

The anticipation of her baby's birth, the baby she'd hold in her arms, the baby she'd name, the one that her uncle would help her raise as her mother. Only nothing had happened the way she thought it would. She'd been in a lot of pain once her labor had started, so much of the hours she'd spent trying to birth her child lost to her and yet, she'd remembered holding her daughter in her arms, not imaging that brief experience would have to last her a lifetime.

Yet she felt confusion. Shellie, her midwife who'd been so loyal to her during those months on the ranch for unwed mothers, the one who'd helped keep her going even during the times she felt utterly alone, she herself had been murdered. She didn't understand how that could be. Yet she didn't doubt Addie's story. She didn't doubt what her own family was capable of doing when it felt pushed into a corner. Maybe that's how her uncle, the one who'd actually been her father had felt when she'd been knocked up during a one night stand with a child that didn't fit into his world.

A world she barely fit into herself. She had to live a life just to survive it. Yet that world had killed Shelly, simply for being a supporting player in her drama, her mistake.

She hadn't known that another child had been born that same day, in early May. Mother's Day, 1980 until Addie had told her.

A woman had given birth to a son the same day and in the same place she'd given birth to the daughter who'd been taken away from her. She didn't remember seeing any other pregnant women at the clinic let alone any in labor but it's possible like a lot of things she could have blanked it out.

She knew she had to figure all this out but she wanted to leave the gazebo and head back to the office where she knew Maxie would be trying to talk Simone and the other waterfront couples through the latest injunction against ELQ trying to take their land.

If not then then Seneca Shipping might try to swoop in for the kill. She didn't know anything about that company other that one of her relatives Dimitre Cassadine might be involved. As she left the gazebo, she ran into Ned who seemed irate at her.

"Alexis I can't believe you're defending those property owners on the water front. ELQ is just trying to do what's best to clean up the crime on the waterfront, bring back the marina and make it a better place."

She rolled her eyes.

"You know my position on what ELQ is trying to do. You are trying to use Felicia's position at City Hall to force these families out through Eminent Domain."

'He shook his head.

"Not at all. Michael and I…we're trying to improve the conditions on the waterfront. We both know that Sonny and the Jeromes have sullied the reputation of that real estate with their criminal activities."

She pursed her lips, not patient with him.

"Julian's not involved at all. His sister Ava's trying to build an alliance with Kostas to buy up some slips in the shipping lane."

Ned sighed.

"I know that…and I know that a shadow company is trying to seize the choicest parcels yet it won't identify itself."

Alexis tilted her head.

"I know,,, Seneca Shipping wants a piece of the action."

Ned threw up his arms.

"Yet no one seems to know who's in charge of that company or even if they have a board of directors. It's all secretive. I don't trust them."

Alexis shrugged.

"Then don't trust them. I'm not involved in this battle over who controls the waterfront parcels. I'm simply representing the interests of my clients, the families who've lived there for years and are being forced out of their homes."

Ned squinted his eyes.

"Okay then what do you know of this Kostas character. He seems to have shown up out of nowhere wanting a piece of the action."

She paused, not sure how to answer.

"Ned, All I know about Kostas is that he was once a business partner with my late brother Stavros. Clearly that's not the case now because Stavros is dead…and this time it might just stick."

Ned chuckled ruefully.

"Stavros has never been good at dying. He always comes back. How do you know he's not among the living and driving Stavros' behavior?"

Alexis paused and shook her head.

"I don't think Stavros has been resurrected once again. If Kostas is truly interested in investing in the waterfront, he's got other partners."

Ned pressed his lips together.

""ELQ is going to get controlling interest in the waterfront parcels. That's a fact. We're going to keep out any sleazy characters whether they be mobsters or the likes of anyone connected to any Cassadines."

Alexis expected as much from Ned. He'd never approved of her or her lineage even if it had been illegitimate. After all, she'd done most of her processing over being a bastard child of Mikkos Cassadine with her favorite husband, Jax and her closest friend Luke. Even Julian had struggled with her ties to the Cassadines mainly because they had kept the two of them apart decades earlier. But at least he listened to her and didn't judge her.

She rubbed her palms together.

"Okay Ned, you and ELQ will do what you have to do but I'll do what I need to do to protect the interest of my clients even if that counters your interests…"

He looked at her nonplussed like he did whenever she challenged him almost as if he couldn't believe it was happening.

He became flippant.

"Whatever but I and ElQ will still prevail as we've always done and this town will be the better for it. Michael, he's young and a novice as CEO but he's got great plans for the future of the waterfront."

Alexis imagined that Michael in the midst of rebelling from Sonny and Carly had kept himself busy burying himself in his role as ELQ's latest CEO but he'd be slammed against the real world soon enough.

"I have to go Ned but try your best. My clients aren't your enemies. They just want to hold onto what little they have left. You'll see soon enough who your enemas really are."

Ned straightened his posture.

"Is that a threat?"

She shook her head.

"No that's a promise because when the likes of Cassadines and Kostas Ivanov get involved, you'll see that my clients are the least of your worries."

She walked away from him without looking back.