When We Wake Up
Chapter 17

Sonny held onto Carly as she sobbed in his shirt. He couldn't' believe she had been through so much and he had a feeling she wasn't done. The only thing he could do was hold her but it still didn't feel like enough to him. He'd been in this position before, hell he'd even created positions like this, but hearing this come from her broke his heart.

"Shhh, its ok, I'm here now..." Sonny whispered to her.

"No its not ok, you don't understand, no one can understand what I've been through." He thought Carly would let go but she held onto him. He tried to get up to get her a drink.

"No, Sonny please don't leave me...." Carly screamed out. She couldn't believe she just begged this man to hold her, but she needed his comfort, needed his warmth.

"Hey hey, it's ok, I'm not going anywhere, I was just going to get a drink that's all, it's ok." he smoothed her hair and rubbed her back reassuring her he wasn't leaving, nothing could make him leave her at this moment.

"I'm sorry I just...." Carly started to say.

"It's ok I know." He lifted her chin up and kissed her.

"Mmmm, I could get used to this." she then realized what she said and looked down knowing it would never happen.

"You will get used to it." Sonny smiled.

"I can't he'll kill you too" Carly started to cry again.

"No he won't honey." Sonny stated so sharply that Carly looked up. "He won't touch me and he will never touch you again, that's a promise."

"Yeah right, that's what I thought too.....They said that my dad had fallen asleep at the wheel and drove off the cliff. I didn't believe that, I knew better. My dad was better than that, he would never have fallen asleep. he must have paid someone in the police department to cover it up, cause I saw the car when they pulled it out Sonny, it was dented from behind. When I asked the officer about it, he said they must have hit something on the way down. But I knew the truth. It scared me, scared me enough to run back to Mark. God how stupid I was...."

"Carly, you were scared and now alone what else could you do?"

"I don't know, anything but run back to him......I stayed away till about a week after my parents funeral, then went to the club. Mark was waiting at the door, he said he knew I would come to my senses eventually. I let him lecture me about running from him and what could happen. I knew what could happen by this point and just blocked him out. He didn't try to touch me, just told me to go to work." she stopped.

"I think I'd like that drink now Sonny." he smiled down at her kissed her forehead and got up to make her a drink.

He handed her the glass then sat back down next to her. "Things were fine for a while, I still continued to strip because that's what brought in the most money and I figured I could have him paid off sooner. Boy was I wrong."

Carly shuddered and Sonny put his arms back around her. "One night I stayed late to see how much money I had left to pay back. I cleaned up the dressing room and the bar waiting on everyone to leave so I could talk to Mark. Once everyone had left I headed back to Mark's office. I could hear voices coming from the office, but instead of leaving like any smart person would do, I walked closer. Mark and a couple of his goons had a man in there tied to a chair. They were yelling something about him owing them money. I owed them money and wanted to know what they would do. The guy said he couldn't come up with the money. Mark told him that was unacceptable. Oh god......" Carly shook her head back and forth "Sonny they shot him." Carly broke down once again from reliving what she saw.

"Son of a bitch" Sonny muttered under his breath.

"I tried to run, but I knocked something over in the hall and they heard me. I ran as fast as I could but they were faster. They grabbed me and took me back to Mark. Mark said I should have stayed away from his office. I cried and told him I didn't know, I just wanted to talk to him. He called me a liar and said I was spying on him. He asked if I knew what he did to spys."

"OH god, Carly" Sonny held on tighter.

"He asked me if I knew how to keep my mouth shut. I said yes. He said good cause if not I would end up just like that last guy." she breathed heavy then continued. "That night was the last straw. I knew they were watching me so I had to be careful. When I got home I called a friend of mine and asked if she could come over, I asked her to bring some hair dye the same color as hers and bring an extra pair of clothes. She did as I asked and when she got there I fixed myself up to look like her. I told her to wait about an hour then head home. I didn't tell her why I was running or why. She didnt' ask, she was the best friend I ever had."

"Was?"

Carly started to sob again "I found out later that she had been killed that night on her way home."

"Oh god..."