Chapter 11

Skye's Townhouse

Skye breezed through the front door, perusing her mail. She paused over by the couch when she saw that she had received a package from her film developer, the only one she trusted with her precious photographs. Because she was their favorite customer, they often put a rush order on her film. Skye sighed and set her briefcase and purse down. She sat on the couch and opened the package. Taking a deep breath, she began to sort through the photographs she had taken in Italy. She was happy to see that she had gotten some very good shots. She paused when she came to a picture of Sonny in front of the Coliseum. As she flipped through more and more photos, she saw that she had taken rather a lot of Sonny. Her hand trembled when she came to the photos of her and Sonny that the other tourist had taken. There were three of them, in various poses by the fountain. She quickly went on through more of the stack.

The telephone rang, and Skye set the pictures on the coffee table. "Hello?" "Skye? Its Jax! I'm back from my honeymoon." "Welcome back. I hope you had fun." "It was awesome. We went to a variety of places, but I won't bore you with the details. How did it go in Rome?" Skye closed her eyes. "I was able to get to the bottom of things, and I think it will be resolved to your satisfaction. But if you want details, its better if we meet in person." "How about dinner? Carly has to do a lot of catching up at the club, so I'm on my own tonight." "Sounds good. How about we meet at the Grille at seven?" Jax agreed and hung up. No sooner had Skye replaced the phone in the cradle, than the doorbell rang. Skye walked over to the front door and saw through the glass that AJ was standing there. She opened the door with a welcoming smile. "AJ! I'm so glad to see you. I havent seen you since I got back from Rome." AJ smiled and strolled into the living room. "I hope you don't mind my coming over unannounced. I have some news I wanted to share, and I also want to hear how your trip went." They sat down on the couch, and AJ noticed the photos sitting there. "Oh, are these the pics you took in Rome?" Before Skye could stop him, he was flipping through the photos. "These are very good. Wow, this place is gorgeous. Y'know, I'd love to visit there some day. I…" His voice trailed off when he came to a picture of Sonny. He continued to flip through the photos, seeing more and more of Sonny, and finally coming to the ones of he and Skye together. "You want to tell me what the hell this is about?" Skye snatched the photos out of AJ's hand, so he wouldn't do them any damage. She held them close to her heart. "It's a long story, AJ." "Oh, I'm sure it will be well worth the time spent listening to it." Skye explained to him about her purpose for the trip, encountering Dawson, and how she and Sonny had saved each other's lives. "Since we were both planning to stay in Rome for a vacation, we decided to spend it…together." Skye shrugged lamely. "Together? Two people who, as far as I knew, hated each other's guts?" Skye took a deep breath. "Its all really complicated. I guess we figured that since we helped each other out, we sort of looked at the time spent in Rome as a get-out-of-jail-free card." AJ looked incredulous. "Okay, I'm still not getting this, so lets move on. Does this mean that you two are buddies now?"

Skye fought to keep the tears from welling in her eyes. "Not exactly. We had a big fight the night before I came home. I havent seen or heard from him since." AJ smiled cynically. "Typical. Ole love em and leave em Sonny." Skye shook her head. "He didn't love me…in any sense of the word. Our time together was…strictly platonic." AJ shook his head. "Well that's a relief. Sonny tends to have this mesmerizing effect on the women he sleeps with. I should have known he would pull a stunt like this." Skye frowned. "What are you talking about?" AJ stood up and paced. "Well isnt it obvious? I start dating his sister, and he couldn't do anything about it. So he decided to get back at me by attempting to seduce my sister." Skye rolled her eyes. "Give me a break. Sonny underestimates me in a lot of ways, but he knows I'm not stupid. Our temporary friendship was just one of those freak things that happen to people when they are on vacation. Rome is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world. It's a bit hard to hold on to hate when you're in a place like that." AJ shrugged, clearly not convinced. He knew Skye well enough by now that to argue with her or warn her off was not going to do a bit of good.

Skye stood up and offered AJ some ginger ale. He accepted and they moved into the kitchen. She poured them both a glass, and they leaned on the counter. "You told me you have some news?" AJ nodded, sipping his beverage thoughtfully. "Well, you've probably figured out by now that I've fallen in love with Courtney." Skye looked down at the counter. She nodded. "I suspected as much. Oh, AJ how could you let yourself get into such a position?" AJ frowned. "What position?" "Sonny already has your only child. Now you've given him the power to take away the woman you love." AJ stepped back from the counter and paced around the kitchen. "He doesn't have that power. If he did, he would have used it already." Skye shook her head. "Well, he could be biding his time until he can come up with something effective enough." AJ smiled secretively. "Well his time has almost run out, sis. Courtney and I are getting married."

Skye almost choked on her ginger ale. "Are you crazy? Courtney's just a child!" AJ shook his head. "Courtney's going to be 21 in two weeks. When that happens, we plan to elope." Skye rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because 21 is so much more mature than 20. You know, AJ, sometimes when I look at you, its like looking in a mirror." AJ looked puzzled. "Because we both have that drive to take whatever it is we want?" Skye shook her head. "No, because we both seem driven to self-destruction."

Port Charles Grille

Skye had just been seated when Jax walked into the room. He smiled when he saw her and came over. He kissed her on the cheek and then sat down. "You're looking well, Skye." She smiled. "And you're looking tan. Honeymooning agrees with you." He grinned. "Yes it does. I plan to convince Carly to do it more often." Skye's smile faltered slightly, and she cleared her throat. "Well, I don't think I would like to repeat my experiences in Rome more often." Once they had ordered their meal, she told him about her day at Espressive, and the encounter with Dawson and Sonny. Jax looked very distressed. "Hell, Skye, if I had known I wouldn't have put you in so much danger!" Skye shook her head. "But you didn't know." Jax looked grim. "I should have. Now that you've explained the situation, I should have seen that the problems at Espressive had organized crime written all over it." Skye shrugged. "You were probably distracted by the fact that one mobster was already involved. It wouldn't occur to you that there would be more than one." Jax shook his head. "Wouldn't it? The whole thing reeked of a turf battle. Damn Sonny!"

Skye was startled. "Jax, Sonny had no idea what was going on either. He was just as much in the dark as you. Your first instinct was right – Sonny's involvement was entirely benign. It was only because he happened to be a mobster that Dawson got nervous." Jax raised one eyebrow. "Suddenly you're Sonny's defender?" Skye lifted her chin. "I'm just trying to be objective. If Sonny was at fault, you know I would be the first to call it." They're meals arrived, and they dug in. Jax swallowed a bite, and asked, "So I guess you decided to stay a bit longer in Rome? I saw on your expense report that you switched hotels and didn't leave till Saturday." Skye turned red. "I told my assistant to leave off the second hotel bill, since my business had concluded by then. The rest of the week was a personal vacation." Jax waved his hand. "No, I wasn't complaining. I'd be happy to finance the whole trip. You saved me a world of trouble, and risked your life in the bargain." Skye shook her head. "I would feel uncomfortable letting you do that. Besides, it would get sticky during tax time." Jax shrugged. "So did you have a good time in Rome?" Skye was chewing on some food, so she didn't answer right away. She almost choked on the food when she heard a second voice say, "You know, I'm curious to hear the answer to that question myself." Eyes widening, she looked up to see Sonny standing next to their table, his expression inscrutable.

Skye closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Sonny. The last time she had seen him was in her hotel room in Rome. When she opened them again, Jax had stood up, a grave expression on his face. "Skye tells me that you saved her life in Rome. I want to thank you for that." Jax held out his hand. Sonny glanced down at it, not offering his own. "She saved my life also. We're even." He looked at her as he said those last words. Jax cleared his throat, then sat back down. "Skye, you didn't answer Jax's question." She gave Sonny a murderous glance, but his look remained cooly polite. She smiled at Jax. "The city was beautiful. The whole experience was almost…surreal." Jax raised his eyebrows. "Would you care to elaborate?" She shook her head and looked down at her food. "No, not really." Jax looked up at Sonny, questioningly. Sonny shrugged. "She's obviously not the kiss-and-tell type." Jax's eyebrows went even higher. "Kiss-and-tell?" He looked at Skye. "You met someone while you were in Rome?" Skye looked away, fighting for control. "I got to know someone while I was there. Turns out he's the same as all the other jerks I've known." Sonny laughed. "I guess that's what happens when you live in an ivory tower." He turned and walked away, leaving Skye to fume in silence.