Sonny glanced out of the car window as he waited for someone to pick up the
phone in Bensonhurst. He was on his way back to the club after picking up
something special at the jewelry store. Finally the phone was answered.
"Daddy?"
Sonny frowned. "Brooke, what are you doing answering the phone? Aren't you
still grounded?"
Brooke sucked her teeth. "Yeah and it sucks. I grabbed the phone cause Mom
and Grandpa Mike are in the living room arguing and she didn't hear it."
"Mike's there again? What are they arguing about?" Sonny asked quickly.
"I don't know. Money I think." Brooke told him.
"Get your mother for me now." Sonny ordered her. Sonny waited and listened
as Brooke shouted for her mother. "Ma! Phone for you. It's Daddy!"
He cringed slightly. Where were the girl's manners? He could hear her and
Lois bickering.
"Who said you could touch the phone?" Lois said.
"I only answered the phone cause you weren't going to get it and it might
have been important. And it is. Daddy's on the phone."
"Let me speak to Michael." Mike said gruffly in the background.
But Lois must have gotten to the phone before Mike did because the next
thing Sonny heard was Lois saying hello to him.
"What does my father want?" Sonny asked.
"You know, same old, same old." Lois glared at Mike.
"Tell him to leave now." Sonny ordered. "Tell him if he wants money to come
straight to me and not to bug you."
"I've told him that time and time again." Lois snapped but her attitude had
nothing to do with Sonny and everything to do with Mike and his freeloading
ways. Just a few days ago he showed up with gifts for the kids and today
he's there begging for money. She loved her father-in-law but when it came
to money he drove her crazy.
Lois covered the receiver with her hand. She said to Brooke. "Honey, go see
if Michael is up from his nap."
Brooke glanced at her mother and then her grandfather. She knew what was up
but she didn't say anything and silently left the kitchen. Once Brooke was
gone Lois turned her attention to Mike.
"Mike, get your forever borrowing money ass out of my house. Next time you
come here you better not have your hand out looking for something. You need
money? Catch a bus to Port Charles. I am not your bank."
"I still want to talk to Michael." Mike demanded.
"Then call him on your own dime." Lois said.
"Put him on the phone." Sonny said.
"Are you sure?" Lois said doubtfully.
"It'll get rid of him quicker." Sonny assured her.
Lois passed the phone to Mike who quickly took it. "Michael, how you
doing?"
"You're in trouble, Mike. I already know that. I'll help if I can but you
gotta stop bothering my wife." Sonny told him. "Go home and I'll get in
contact with you later."
"But—"
"I'll take care of it." Sonny said. "Go home now before Lois slaps you
upside the head with a frying pan."
Watching her standing there with arms folded, glaring at him, Mike had no
doubt that she would do just that. He said slowly. "Okay, I'll talk to you
later then, son."
Not that the money issue was settled Lois smiled slightly at Mike. "Are you
coming over for Sunday dinner again?"
Mike nodded. "I'll see if I can."
"Alright. Tell Brooke and Michael goodbye before you leave." Lois said.
When Mike left the kitchen Lois sighed. "Thanks Sonny. I could have handled
it but…thanks."
"I'm going to have to have a long talk with him again." Sonny shook his
head.
"He needs to go to one of those twelve step meetings and actually pay
attention, that's what he needs." Lois quipped. She narrowed her eyes.
"What's wrong? Did Brooke call you again trying to get you to end her
punishment?"
"No, that's…" Sonny hesitated. He wasn't sure just how to jump into the
subject. "That's not why I called."
The tone of his voice suddenly made it all clear to Lois. She pulled out a
chair from the kitchen table and dropped down into it. She murmured. "Oh."
Sonny said in a rush. "We've never really talked about this but Lois we
can't ignore it anymore."
"Okay." Lois said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around it. She was torn.
On one hand she was relieved. This was a talk that they should have had a
long time ago. Their marriage was a sham. She loved him, she always would,
he was her first love, but she wasn't in love with him anymore. They'd been
going through the motions for years. Hell, they didn't even live in the
same city anymore. But on the other hand he *was* her husband. She made
vows before God and who was she to just toss them away because her marriage
wasn't perfect?
"So who is she?" She asked softly.
"Don't do this Lois." Sonny said gently.
"I know there has to be someone else. You meet someone, I understand that.
I know that there's been other women." Lois swallowed hard. "But she must
really be something, huh, for you to want out of our marriage."
"What marriage?" Sonny asked honestly. "Really, what kind of marriage do we
have with me in one city and you and the kids in another? When I come down
a few times a year and sleep in the guestroom, except for that night that
resulted in Michael?"
"Look you want to have a girlfriend? Fine but we don't need to get a
divorce for goodness sake." Lois said. She paused. "Or are you and this
woman planning on…"
Sonny took a breath. As much as he hated discussing Lois with Carly,
discussing Carly with Lois was just as bad. "We haven't gotten that far."
"So what are you doing then?" Lois cried. "Things can just continue as they
have."
"Why should they?" Sonny demanded.
"We've been perfectly happy with everything until now."
"Have we? Can you honestly tell me that you've been content with this
marriage?"
Lois ignored his question. "Is it the living apart thing? Because if you
really want us to, I'll bring the kids up to Port Charles and we'll live
with you there. I'm willing to do that."
"Just answer the question, Lois." Sonny said softly. "You're not happy. We
already tried living together and that didn't work and the last thing you
need is an absentee husband."
Lois became quiet as her conscience warred with her heart. She wanted to
stay true to her marriage vows but her heart wasn't it anymore. If she
decided to hold onto her marriage she knew that Sonny wouldn't force her to
divorce him. But in return she would be punishing him by making him stay
with her when he clearly didn't want to marriage to her anymore. And she
knew inside she didn't want to be married to him either. Why shouldn't she
let him go? If she did then maybe, finally, she would find some happiness
for herself. The same kind of happiness Sonny must have found in Port
Charles that had urged him to finally end their marriage.
"Lois?" Sonny asked gently.
"I loved you since we were five years old." She began softly. "I fell in
love with you when we were thirteen and you beat up Joey DeCarlo at the
park because he wouldn't stop picking on me."
"You punched me because you thought you didn't anyone to fight your
battles." He reminded her.
"Hey, that was my way of telling you I liked you." Lois smiled. Then she
groaned. "God, I can't believe you decided to do this over the phone."
Sonny winced. "I know, I'm sorry."
"No, this might be better. If we were face to face I'd probably hit you or
do something stupid like cry." Lois mumbled. "What are we going to tell the
kids? Well Michael's too young to know anything but Brooke…she's going to
be devastated."
"Brooke's a tough kid." Sonny theorized. "I think she'll handle this fine."
"We need to tell her this together." Lois decided.
"I can come down this weekend." Sonny suggested.
Lois nodded. "That'll be good."
"I'll take care of everything." Sonny promised. "And don't worry about
money or anything. I will always provide for my family."
"I know that, Sonny." Lois murmured as the finality of it all hit her. "I
have to…I have to go. I'm taking Michael over to my mother's."
"Lois?"
"Goodbye, Sonny." Lois hung up the phone. She stared at it for a while.
Brooke came into the kitchen carrying Michael. "Michael wants some—Ma, are
you okay?" Brooke asked when she noticed the lost look on her mother's
face.
Lois shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"What did Daddy want?" Brooke asked, curious.
"He just wanted to let me know that he's coming down this weekend."
Brooke's eyes lit up. "He is? Great! This is going to be so much fun."
~*~*~
An hour later Sonny finally got a hold of Carly. "Hey, where have you
been?" He asked when she finally answered her cell.
"I was having lunch with my father and turned off the cell so that we
couldn't be disturbed." She explained. "So does this mean…?"
"I talked to her." Sonny said gruffly.
"How did it go?" Carly couldn't help but ask.
"I'd rather not talk about that." He said.
Carly took a deep breath. "Okay. Do you still want to have dinner tonight?
We can reschedule."
"No, tonight's fine. Let me take care of the reservations and everything."
"Anything place but Caroline's." Carly said.
"You don't want to be seen with me at your restaurant?" Sonny narrowed his
eyes.
"It's not that. I'm just a little sick of the place. I want to try
something new that's all."
"Fine. I'll pick you up at eight."
~*~*~
Sonny whistled when Carly opened the door to her suite later that night.
She winked and said, "Wait, I'm not done yet. I'll just be a second and
then we can leave."
When she turned, Sonny's eyes narrowed and he grabbed a hold of the
doorjamb as he finally got a good look at her dress. "We are not going
anywhere until you change that dress."
Carly glanced over her shoulder innocently. "What's wrong with it?"
"It's, there's, there's nothing there!" Sonny gestured wildly.
"What are you talking about?" Carly frowned. She glanced down at her dress
and then back at him with a perplexed look. She knew exactly what was wrong
with the dress.
"You're determined to have every part of you just, just…falling out." Sonny
glared at the dress.
Sonny was right. Black and ankle-length, at first glance the dress appeared
normal. Sure it hugged a few curves it shouldn't. But that wasn't enough
reason to demand a change. It was only until Sonny saw how far down the
neckline scooped that he knew it had to go. He could have sworn he almost
saw nipple, and the back…well there was no back! There were only the two
thin strips that her arms went through and then nothing until just above
her butt. And when she moved a long slit up the side was visible, showing
off lots of leg.
"Change." Sonny demanded.
"No." Carly said. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. Now that she
had him, she was going to drive him crazy and have fun doing it.
Arrogantly Sonny closed the door, walked over to the couch, sat down,
crossed his legs and said. "Change. I'll wait."
Carly propped her hands on her hips. "For a man who was so desperate to get
back together this morning, you're being very bossy and annoying."
"You don't change, we're not going anywhere. I don't mind spending the
evening here." Sonny smiled charmingly.
"Then you'll be spending it alone. I'll go out by myself and find someone
who likes this dress. I wonder what Jax is up to." Carly lifted an eyebrow
knowing what his reaction would be.
"Don't ever try to make me jealous by using him." Sonny growled
immediately. "It won't work."
Carly held back a smile because she knew he was jealous after all. And all
at just the mention of Jax's name. "Staying here or coming with me? Which
is it?"
"Changing that dress?" Sonny challenged her right back.
"Our first night out and you want to pick on my taste in clothes?" Carly
walked over to the couch. She knelt down on the couch beside him.
Sonny sighed and closed his eyes. "Tell me that you are at least wearing
underwear. Tell me that much."
"Wouldn't you like to know." Carly purred. Carly knew she'd won.
"You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Sonny murmured.
"You know this wasn't the dress I originally planned on wearing but my
secretary didn't pick that one up from the cleaners today. And it was much,
much worse than this one." Carly whispered as she toyed with the hair at
the back of his neck.
"Thank God for forgetful secretaries." Sonny mumbled. "And that's not
really what your secretary's supposed to do."
"It's what *my* secretary does." Carly bragged. "Now I have to finish up or
we'll never get out of here." She straightened up just as Sonny reached for
her and disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Sonny to wonder if she was
really wearing any underwear.
When she came back wearing more makeup, high-heeled sandals, and smelling
like expensive perfume Sonny immediately asked. "Seriously, are you wearing
any underwear?"
"Oh for goodness sake!" Carly rolled her eyes. She leaned down, grabbed the
hem of the dress and pulled it up revealing the small pair of nude bikini
panties she wore. Once she was sure he got a good look, she dropped the
dress.
"And you're sure you want to go *out*?" Sonny asked as he reached for her.
Suddenly he liked the idea of them staying in more and more.
"Uh-uh!" Carly wagged her finger at him as she let him pull her close.
"Next time we can stay in."
"Too bad." Sonny shook his head. He reached into his pants pocket. "I got
something for you."
Carly grinned and pressed herself closer to him. "I know that, Sonny, but
you'll have to give it to me later. We're going *out*."
Sonny laughed. "No, not that. Though it is—never mind. I meant I have a
gift for you."
"A gift?" Carly repeated. "You've never given me anything before."
"I know."
"Why now?"
"Why not?" Sonny shrugged. "What's with all the questions? I can't buy you
a gift?"
"I don't need a man to buy me anything—"
"Oh, here we with go with the independent stuff." Sonny rolled his eyes.
"I'm being serious."
"And I just wanted to get you something. I wanted you to have something
from *me*, that's all. If you don't want it, I'll return it or see if one
of my girls wants it."
"Your girls? Oh, I don't think so." Carly held her hand out. "Let me have
it."
"Caroline, I swear, you just sucked all the romance of this." Sonny
grumbled.
Carly immediately felt bad. Here he was trying to be sweet and she just
ruined the moment. She cuddled up to him, running her hands inside his suit
jacket and around his waist. "I'm sorry, can I please have my gift? Or
should I grovel?"
Sonny shook his head. "No groveling necessary."
Carly slid her hand into his pants pocket and felt around. Sonny cleared
his throat. "Wrong pocket."
"Oops." She tried to laugh innocently but it came out differently. She slid
her hand into the other pocket and pulled a long black box. She raised an
eyebrow as she turned it around in her hands.
"Maybe it'll cover some of that…that." Sonny waved his hand to indicate her
exposed chest.
Carly looked down then back at him with a smirk. "I thought you liked all
of that?"
"Now when it's on show for everyone." Sonny said.
Carly snapped open the box and stared at the white gold necklace with a
large pendant covered with small white diamonds dangling from the center.
"It's beautiful."
"Let me help you put it on." Sonny took it from her. She turned around and
pulled her hair up and out of the way. He draped the necklace around her
neck and fastened it for her.
Carly dropped her hair then went to look at her reflection in the mirror by
the door. She studied the way it looked on her from several angles.
Sonny watched with a small smile on his face. "Will it do?"
"I have to change my earrings but yes, I love it." Carly kissed him
quickly. "Thank you."
"Hey!" He said bereft. "That's it?"
"If I thank you the right way, we'll never get out of here." Carly
promised.
"Nothing wrong with that." Sonny chuckled as she dashed back into the
bedroom to change her earrings.
She called out to him, laughing, "No, there's nothing wrong with that but
you said you wanted to show me off and that's what we're going to do. Show
me and this gorgeous necklace off."
She came out wearing diamond earrings and a big smile. "See? Much better
now. We should hurry. I don't want to be late for our reservations. Where
are we going to eat anyway?"
"Someplace special," Sonny said with a smile. "And I wouldn't worry too
much about the reservation."
~*~*~
Several minutes later, Carly frowned as she looked out the window of the
limo. "Where are we?"
Sonny glanced out of the window then sat back. "The restaurant."
Carly pushed away his hand that had been creeping up her thigh through the
slit. "That can't be the restaurant. I don't even recognize this
neighborhood."
"I doubt you ever been here before." Sonny ignored her pushing and slid his
hand back where it'd been. His fingers toyed with the elastic band of her
underwear.
"This isn't a restaurant, is it? You've brought me out in the middle of
nowhere to have dinner in an old warehouse." Carly accused.
Sonny cupped her face with his other hand and kissed her quickly. "Shut
up."
"Excuse me?"
"This restaurant is well-known, by certain people. It has a reputation for
being discreet. You didn't want to go to Caroline's so I thought this was a
better choice."
"You bought me to a mob restaurant?" Carly got straight to the point.
Sonny tapped his finger against her nose. "You're too smart for your own
good."
Sonny's man opened the door before Carly could reply. Sonny got out first
then helped Carly get out. He stood in front of her so that no one could
see down the front of her dress.
"I hate that dress." He mumbled.
Carly glanced up at him. "What did you say?"
"You look great." Sonny smiled at her.
Carly looked at him suspiciously before smoothing down her dress, taking
the arm he offered her and smiling up at him. "This place better be good."
Sonny pressed a quick kiss to her temple. "Quit your complaining, you'll
like it."
Carly looked at him doubtfully but allowed him to escort her to the plain
building with the nondescript door. Sonny grabbed the doorknob and opened
the door letting Carly go in first.
Looking around the restaurant with its small intimate tables lit with
candles in the dark corners and larger tables that surrounded a small dance
floor, Carly realized that she was going to have to tell Sonny that he was
right. When she looked over her shoulder at him, he was smirking at her.
She rolled her eyes. "So what's the name of this place again?"
Sonny wrapped his arm around her waist. "The No Name."
Carly nodded. "Of course, very imaginative."
Sonny steered her towards the maitre 'd who was talking to another couple.
Seeing Sonny he immediately spread a wide smile across his face. "Mr.
Corinthos! It is a pleasure to see you. Your table is almost ready. I will
go and check on it right now."
The man quickly left, leaving Sonny and Carly with the other couple. Sonny
nodded at the man. "Zander."
Zander nodded back. "Sonny, hey. I was just thinking about giving you a
call and setting up another meeting."
Sony waved his hand. "Let's not discuss this right now. Call me tomorrow."
Zander nodded. His companion cleared her throat to remind him that she was
there. "Sonny, this is my girlfriend Gia Campbell."
Gia smiled politely at him and extended her hand, which Sonny took and
kissed the back of. "Mr. Corinthos."
"Call me Sonny. And this is Carly." Sonny introduced them. "Carly, this is
Zander Smith."
Carly shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. She extended her hand
first to Zander and then Gia. "Cassadine. I'm Carly Cassadine."
Though they were in Sonny's world now she was still a Cassadine. She eyed
Gia. "And I can't believe my luck because I was hoping to get together with
you, Miss Campbell."
"Really?" Gia said surprised.
"Yes, as you might know Cassadine Inc. recently acquired Deception and I
wanted to get to know the face of Deception." Carly told her.
Sonny ran his hand down her arm and kissed her shoulder. He murmured into
her ear, "Baby, you're not about to stand here and conduct business are
you?"
Carly bent her head guiltily and murmured back. "Of course not." She then
said to Gia, "We'll get together later in the week, how's that?"
"I wouldn't mind that at all." Gia smiled.
The maitre 'd returned. "Mr. Corinthos, your table is ready. Please follow
me."
"Hey, what about us? We've been waiting forever." Zander demanded harshly.
"Just a moment please." The man said before leading Carly and Sonny away.
"I wonder what Carly Cassadine wants to discuss with me?" Gia murmured.
Zander didn't hear her. He was too busy glaring at the direction that Sonny
and Carly had gone. "Did you see that? Did you see that shit?"
Gia sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. Not this again. "Whatever,
Zander."
Zander grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. "Not
'whatever.' I am Zander fucking Smith. I am Frank Smith's grandson, Anthony
Moreno's nephew." He growled. "I deserve respect when I come here. I do not
deserve to be past over so that that little asshole can go lick Sonny
Corinthos's shoes."
"Don't manhandle me in public." She growled back and pushed his hand away.
A waiter cleared his throat. Zander growled. "What?"
"Your table's ready, sir." The waiter said politely. He waited a beat
before turning around and leading them over.
Zander grabbed Gia's arm. She closed her eyes briefly. She was very tired
of him lately. She knew he was screwing around on her again. And this thing
with Sonny Corinthos was getting out of hand. She wondered if she should
remind him that he was working with Sonny to bring his uncle down but of
course that would just piss him off because she wasn't supposed to know
anything about his business.
Across the room Sonny and Carly were seated at their table. Sonny held
Carly's hand. They ignored the menus on the table and stared into each
other's eyes. He asked with a slight smile on his face. "Well?"
Carly ran her tongue across her lips. "It's nice…how's the food?"
"Pretty good actually." Sonny drew back when their waiter appeared. He
placed a basket of bread rolls and a small dish of whipped butter on the
table. He stepped back.
"Are you ready to order?" He asked.
Sonny glanced at Carly before saying. "Bring us the special and a bottle of
whatever best compliments it."
He nodded. "Yes, sir." He left to put in their order. Carly split a roll,
picked up the butter knife, dipped it in the butter then began to lavishly
spread it across the bread. She took a bite and chewed.
"The bread's good."
Sonny raised an eyebrow. "You're making small talk about the bread?"
Carly licked the crumbs from her lips then dipped her finger in the butter.
"This butter's delicious. Taste."
She leaned across the table and held her finger up to Sonny's mouth. He
hesitated before allowing her to slip her finger into his mouth. He watched
the desire dance in her eyes as he gently licked the butter off her finger.
He released her finger then took her hand in his and kissed her palm. Carly
leaned further across the table and Sonny's eyes were instantly drawn to
the cleavage that was threatening to spill out over the low neckline.
Sonny abruptly cleared his throat and nodded towards the dance floor.
"Let's dance."
Carly blinked. "What?"
"That damn dress is driving me insane. Unless you want me to bend you over
this table right here, right now, you'll get up and dance with me." Sonny
said in a low voice even as he stood.
Carly laughed lightly. "But I thought this place was very discreet."
Sonny came around the table and helped her stand. He murmured into her ear.
"Not discreet enough."
They walked out to the dance floor. Sonny pulled her arms around his neck
and buried his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled her perfume and
she sighed and closed her eyes. Whatever they were doing on the dance floor
could barely pass for dancing. They weren't swaying in time to the music or
even bothering to move their feet. They brushed their body parts against
each other. Sonny's hands gripped her hips and pressed them against his.
Carly shivered when he blew air against her neck.
Sonny ran his hand down her hip and across her backside. He moaned into her
ear when she rubbed herself against him. Carly pulled back and asked. "Are
you going to continue groping me in front of your 'associates'?"
"I'm just doing an underwear check. I know it's there but God, I can always
use a little reminding."
Carly giggled. "You're too fixated on my underwear."
"You shouldn't have flashed me." Sonny grumbled.
Carly thought for a moment. "If you want to keep an eye on my underwear so
bad, then I'm going to have to do something about that."
Sonny grabbed her by the arm when she started to step away. "Where are you
going?"
She stroked the side of his face and said. "The bathroom, I'll be right
back. Which way is it?"
Sonny pointed across the room. He asked suspiciously, "What are you about
to do?"
Carly grinned wickedly. "Don't worry, you'll like it."
She framed his face with her hands and brushed her lips across his. He
wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back for a longer kiss.
Once it was finished, Carly pulled back. "Mmm, that was nice."
She took a step away from him, changed her mind, came back and kissed him
again. She winked at him, made a quick stop at their table for her purse
then finally made her way to the bathroom.
Across the room, Gia viciously stabbed at her salad as Zander vented about
Sonny Corinthos. Why did she stay with this man, day after day? He
certainly wasn't good for her image, she knew that much. Her handlers
reminded her of that nearly every day. He cheated on her left and right. He
didn't appreciate her. He put her down. Their relationship basically
consisted of the two of them sniping at each other. If she were smart she
would just stand up and walk right out this restaurant and never see this
man again.
Gia sighed. That much, she knew, was just a fantasy. She'd never leave
Zander until he was ready for her to go. It wasn't love that tied her to
him nor him to her.
She dropped her fork on the table and glared at him. "Why don't you just go
over there and tell him off?"
Zander stared at her coldly. "You know absolutely nothing, do you? I'm
surprised you're able to function in the real world every day."
Gia rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, whisper those sweet nothings, darling."
Zander ignored her sarcasm. He pointed at her with his fork. "I still need
Corinthos and until I no longer do I'm forced to play nice with him."
"And complain to me until my ears bleed." Gia muttered.
"I'll buy ya some earplugs." Zander snapped.
"Don't do me any favors." Gia snapped back.
"What is your problem?" Zander finally recognized that she was in a mood.
"You want to know what my problem is?" Gia repeated as she stalled for
time.
She wanted to tell him point blank that she now hated him, everything that
he stood for, and herself for staying with him. But she knew that now was
neither the time nor the place so she latched onto an easier excuse. She
pulled her napkin off her lap and threw it on the table.
She hissed, "My problem is you'd rather rant all night about Sonny
Corinthos than pay any attention to me. I don't know why you even brought
me out tonight. You could have had dinner with yourself and your hate."
She stormed away from the table and headed straight for the bathrooms.
Carly was exiting a stall, stuffing something into her purse when Gia flew
in. Gia went straight to the sinks. She ran cold water over her wrists then
bent her head as she breathed in and out slowly.
"Hello." Carly said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
Gia glanced over her shoulder. "Hi. Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a little,
you know, fight with the boyfriend."
Carly smiled sympathetically and joined her at the sink. She started to
wash her hands. "Sorry to hear about that."
"It happens." Gia shrugged and nodded. She quickly switched topics. "That's
a pretty necklace."
Carly smiled as she touched the gift with a wet finger. "Thank you. It was
a recent gift from Sonny."
Gia passed her a handful of paper towels. "He has great taste in jewelry."
Carly laughed. "Him or his jeweler."
Gia laughed also. "I know what you mean. Zander can't tell the difference
between a diamond and cubic zirconia, I learned *that* the hard way. I made
sure after that little mishap he went straight to a professional."
Gia leaned against the sink as Carly started to repair her lipstick. "I
hope you don't mind me saying this but you and Sonny Corinthos…that's an
interesting mix."
"Like you and Zander Smith?" Carly looked at her through the mirror and
raised her eyebrow.
Gia shrugged. "No, that's just a big mess." She sighed.
Carly frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Gia nodded. "Yeah, Zander's…well, he's Zander. It's kinda hard to explain
and…Just forget it."
Carly sensed that this was something Gia was reluctant to talk about.
"Consider it dropped."
"Let's talk about something else. Let me official welcome you to the
girlfriends clique."
"Clique?"
"Yeah, It's all unofficial of course. You have the girlfriends and you have
the wives." Gia explained. "The wives tend to stick together. They figure
they have the ring on their finger, they're not going anywhere. They
believe in that 'till death do us part' stuff. Girlfriends on the other
hand come and go. In my opinion there's no real difference between the two,
if he wants to get rid of you, he'll get rid of you, but whatever."
Carly slipped her lipstick back in her purse. "So the mob wives don't like
the mob girlfriends? Now I've heard everything." She laughed.
"Wait, it's never the 'mob'. It's always the 'business.'" Gia coached with
a smile. "Another hard learned lesson."
Carly shook her head. "This is all nuts."
"I hope you thought about this a lot before you decided to get involved
with Sonny Corinthos." Gia cautioned. "This is a dangerous business and it
effects everyone, not just the men but the women and the children…"
"I appreciate the warning." Carly said sincerely. "But I'm a Cassadine. I'm
used to danger. You should see us at family reunions."
"I'm just saying. I wish I had someone to warn me about all this when I
first hooked up with Zander."
An older woman in a deep purple pantsuit and garish jewelry entered the
bathroom. Carly had started to say something but stopped when the woman
entered. She walked over to the sinks eyeing Carly and Gia.
Gia murmured a hello. The woman nodded at her. She quickly washed and dried
her hands before exiting the room without saying a word. Carly glanced over
at Gia.
Gia said simply. "Wife."
Carly shook her head and chuckled. The rules that these people lived by.
"Okay. Oh, I just remembered that I didn't give you my card." She opened
her purse and pulled out a business card.
Gia took it. "You brought business cards with you?"
Carly shrugged. "I always have two or three tossed into all my purses.
Never know when you need one. Give me a call tomorrow and I'll have my
secretary set up something."
"I can't wait." Gia told her honestly. When it came to her professional
career she was always eager to do more.
Carly ran her fingers through her hair, disheveling it. "I better get back
to Sonny before he comes in here looking for me."
"And I better get back to Zander." Gia muttered.
The two women exited the bathroom together. While Carly hurried over to
Sonny Gia slowly made her way back to her table. When Gia got back to her
table, Zander didn't look up from his plate of baked ziti.
"Are you in a better mood now or what?" He asked as he continued to eat.
Gia pressed her lips together. "You know, I treasure these moments we have
together. When you stare at your food and I stare at the top of your head."
Zander sighed. "What the fuck do you want from, Gia? Huh? I give you
fucking everything you could ever want. And all you do is pick, pick, pick.
I wonder why I even bother with you sometimes."
"I wonder about that sometimes myself." Gia shot back.
Zander chewed slowly and narrowed his eyes as he studied her face. His gaze
swept over her lingering at her chest. He grinned nastily. "Yeah, now I
remember why."
Gia made a disgusted noise in her throat and pushed her plate away from
her. "There goes my appetite."
Across the room Sonny pulled out Carly's chair for her. After she was
sitting down, he kissed her neck and asked. "What were you doing in there
for so long?"
"Taking care of a few things." Carly said with a smile. "Sit down. I have
something for you."
Sonny took his seat. Carly placed her purse on the table then pulled out a
scrap of material. She dropped it on the table and waited.
"What is this?" Sonny said curiously. He picked it up and realized that
they were her panties. He looked from them to Carly, who was smiling
seductively at him. "We're leaving. Right now."
"Right now?" Carly asked. "But we haven't had dinner yet and I was hoping
to dance again."
"If you think we're stay here while you're not wearing any underwear…"
"Sonny," She said in pretend shock, "are you a prude?"
Sonny grinned at her. "You know exactly what I am." He tucked her panties
in his pocket. "I'm keeping these and we're going back to my place or your
place or just the damn limo."
"Settle the check." Carly murmured, suddenly just as eager as he was to
leave. "I'll meet you in the car." She pushed back her chair and grabbed
her purse.
Sonny remembered the last time she waited for him in the car. He gestured
towards their waiter.
"I'll send Max back with the money." Sonny said as he got up. He grabbed
Carly around the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her hungrily,
ignoring the fact that he was making a spectacle of himself in the
restaurant.
Carly pulled at his tie. "Save some of that for later."
"You drive me crazy, woman." He growled into her ear. She just laughed.
"Come, I have to thank you properly and thoroughly for my new necklace."
Carly grabbed his hand and led him towards the restaurant entrance. Carly
wasn't surprised to see the limo already waiting for them when they got
outside. Carly slipped inside while Sonny handed Max a handful of bills to
take inside the restaurant. Sonny spoke quietly with him for a moment.
Sonny then joined Carly and pulled her to him. Neither one noticed when Max
got back into the limo, started it up, and started to drive them back to
the hotel.
~*~*~
In the back of the limo Carly was straddling Sonny who was busy pulling
down the straps of her dress. She readily pulled her arms through the
straps so he could push the top down to her waist. She let out a soft moan
when he began to nibble on her ear. His hands caressed and fondled her
breasts as his hungry mouth sought out hers. They exchanged deep eating
kisses. Their short break up ended up making them want each other more.
Carly pulled off his tie then tugged at his shirt; her fingers snagging the
buttons as she tried to get the shirt off also. She growled her frustration
when they wouldn't come undone as quickly as she wanted.
Sonny stopped kissing his way down her neck. He placed his hands over hers.
He murmured. "Have some patience."
"No." She murmured back. "Hurry up."
She punctuated that by grinding herself against his crotch. Sonny's eyes
lit up and he quickly undid the buttons for her.
The sudden stop of the car almost threw Carly off of Sonny. He quickly
wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to him so that she didn't
fall. She stared at him in shock.
"What just happened?"
"I'll find out." Sonny reached behind him and picked up the phone that
connected him to the driver. "Max? What's going on? Where are we?"
Max answered back. "We're about a block away from the hotel, boss. Someone
just drove up in front of us and cut us off. They stopped just a few feet a
way. I'll go check it out."
Sonny's eyes narrowed. Something was up. Was it Moreno? Did he find out
about Luke and Sonny's plan? Did Zander double cross them?
"Shit." He muttered as he hung up. He buttoned up his shirt.
Carly slid off of him and pulled her dress back up. "What's wrong?"
"I think we're being set up. Someone just cut us off. Max is going to check
it out." Sonny told her as he felt around under the seat.
Carly frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I have a gun somewhere under here." Sonny explained. He finally found it
and pulled it out. He checked to make sure it was fully loaded.
"Always prepared." Carly murmured. She was proud of the fact that she
managed to stay so calm on the outside but on the inside she was freaking
out. Sonny had just pulled a gun out of nowhere because some one had cut
them off. It could turn out to be nothing but Sonny wasn't taking any
chances.
"Have to be." Sonny flashed her a smile but Carly could tell he was trying
to keep her at ease.
"Well, I hope you have another one cause I'm not sitting here unarmed."
"No."
"I know how to shoot." She insisted.
"If something's going down, it'll be a whole lot different than a shooting
gallery. The targets shoot back." Sonny explained.
"I can handle it." Carly said in a serious voice.
The sudden sounds of gunfire outside of the car sent Carly into her own
search for a gun. She found another one taped under the seat. She checked
it as Sonny cursed again.
"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean for our first public date to turn into
this." He said apologetically as the shots continued.
"First date, mob war. It's all the same." Carly tried to joke. "Just get us
out of this safely."
When the gunfire died down Sonny said, "Stay back. I'm going outside."
Sonny started to open the door.
"Be careful. Please." Carly pleaded. As many wisecracks and jokes she made,
she was still terrified that something was going to happen to him and her.
Sonny glanced back at her. He kissed her quick and hard. "I'm just going to
peek out to see what's going on."
He held the gun in front of him with one hand as he slowly opened the door
all the way. He stuck his head out of the limo and over the bulletproof
door. He could see the car that Max told him about. It was a few feet away.
Max was laying facedown on the ground not far from it. Two people dressed
in black stood over him with guns in their hands. A tall heavyset man and a
slender shorter woman.
The woman chose that moment to look up and in the direction of the limo.
Sonny's eyes widened as he recognized the woman. He dropped down behind the
door.
"What is it?" Carly hissed from the limo.
"Two people. A man and a woman. The woman's your secretary." Sonny
whispered back.
"What?" Carly said. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Sonny said.
"Oh, she is so fired." Carly growled. "First she doesn't pick up my dry
cleaning and now this?"
"Carly, this is not the time." Sonny growled back.
"Come on out, Ms. Cassadine." Elizabeth suddenly called out. "I know you're
in there. Come out and let me finish my job. I take out you and I get a
hefty paycheck."
"Like I don't pay her enough?" Carly muttered.
Elizabeth murmured something to her companion then began to walk slowly and
cockily towards the limo. "Don't make me wait, Ms. Cassadine or is this one
of those situations where I can call you 'Carly'? Come out now and I
promise I won't do anything to your gangster boyfriend. He's not even worth
wasting my time."
"Bitch." Carly muttered.
"But if you waste my time, Carly, I'll make sure you watch him die very,
very slowly." Elizabeth's tone told Carly she was being dead serious.
"If you don't shoot her, *I* will." Carly hissed.
"Let her come closer." Sonny said. "Talk to her some more."
Carly called out to her. "So what drove you to this, Elizabeth? Not enough
vacation time? I didn't compliment your hair one day? What? I was a fair
employer."
Elizabeth paused in her step before smiling arrogantly. She continued
walking towards them. "She finally speaks. I think we both know who my real
employer is. She felt it was good to have someone keeping an eye on you and
now she wants to be rid of you. Can't say that I blame her."
"Close enough." Sonny said before leaning around the door and firing at
her.
Caught unaware, Elizabeth was hit in the leg. She dropped down to the
ground as he partner came running over shooting at Sonny. Sonny ducked
behind the door quickly. He waited as the man continued to fire at him then
when he felt the time was right, Sonny stood up and fired at him several
times. A couple of the bullets hit the man and he dropped to the ground.
Sonny came from around the protective door still firing at the man on the
ground. He was going to make sure he stayed down.
Just then Elizabeth rolled on to her stomach and fired several times at
Sonny. Carly watched in horror as the bullets slammed into him, jerking him
backwards before he finally fell back on the ground. The sight of him being
pumped full of holes snapped her calm and sent her over the edge.
Thinking only of Sonny, Carly slid off the seat and started to crawl
towards him. She heard Elizabeth's gun fire again but didn't really
register it. She whispered. "Sonny?"
This time when a bullet whizzed by her ear, Carly finally realize that
Elizabeth was shooting at her. It took her a moment to remember that she
was still holding the extra gun. Carly turned and aimed at Elizabeth, who
was pulling herself up on her shot leg. Carly let off several shots and
watched with grim satisfaction as they hit their target and Elizabeth fell
back to the ground.
Carly waited for Elizabeth and her partner to get up but when neither did,
she turned to Sonny. She gasped at the amount of blood covering him. She
couldn't tell where he was shot at; there was so much blood. She ran her
hands across his chest searching for the wounds. In the back of her mind
she wasn't supposed to move him but that stop her from sitting down on the
ground and pulling him into her lap.
"Sonny, help me, where were you hit?" When he didn't answer she cried out,
"How can I help you if I don't know where you hit. Sonny! Stop messing
around and open your eyes, baby."
She glanced around her wildly looking for something to help her. She
started to babble as fear took over. "A phone. I need a phone. I have a
phone in my purse, I think. I should. Yes, I'll get the phone and call the
hospital and they'll send someone to help you Sonny. Okay? I'll be right
back. I'll call and they'll come for you. And you'll be okay."
She gently laid him back down and stood up on wobbly legs. She bent over as
she suddenly felt a pain in her side. She looked down and saw the blood on
her dress. She thought it was Sonny's blood until she touched her side and
felt the hole in her dress. She pulled her hand back and stared at the
blood.
I was shot, she thought dimly, I think I'm going to throw up. No, I have to
get Sonny help first. She took a step towards to the limo and had to close
her eyes as a feeling of weakness washed over her. In the distance she
heard sirens going off. Before she could think about them her legs gave out
and she collapsed onto the ground. She murmured, "Sonny" before blacking
out.
phone in Bensonhurst. He was on his way back to the club after picking up
something special at the jewelry store. Finally the phone was answered.
"Daddy?"
Sonny frowned. "Brooke, what are you doing answering the phone? Aren't you
still grounded?"
Brooke sucked her teeth. "Yeah and it sucks. I grabbed the phone cause Mom
and Grandpa Mike are in the living room arguing and she didn't hear it."
"Mike's there again? What are they arguing about?" Sonny asked quickly.
"I don't know. Money I think." Brooke told him.
"Get your mother for me now." Sonny ordered her. Sonny waited and listened
as Brooke shouted for her mother. "Ma! Phone for you. It's Daddy!"
He cringed slightly. Where were the girl's manners? He could hear her and
Lois bickering.
"Who said you could touch the phone?" Lois said.
"I only answered the phone cause you weren't going to get it and it might
have been important. And it is. Daddy's on the phone."
"Let me speak to Michael." Mike said gruffly in the background.
But Lois must have gotten to the phone before Mike did because the next
thing Sonny heard was Lois saying hello to him.
"What does my father want?" Sonny asked.
"You know, same old, same old." Lois glared at Mike.
"Tell him to leave now." Sonny ordered. "Tell him if he wants money to come
straight to me and not to bug you."
"I've told him that time and time again." Lois snapped but her attitude had
nothing to do with Sonny and everything to do with Mike and his freeloading
ways. Just a few days ago he showed up with gifts for the kids and today
he's there begging for money. She loved her father-in-law but when it came
to money he drove her crazy.
Lois covered the receiver with her hand. She said to Brooke. "Honey, go see
if Michael is up from his nap."
Brooke glanced at her mother and then her grandfather. She knew what was up
but she didn't say anything and silently left the kitchen. Once Brooke was
gone Lois turned her attention to Mike.
"Mike, get your forever borrowing money ass out of my house. Next time you
come here you better not have your hand out looking for something. You need
money? Catch a bus to Port Charles. I am not your bank."
"I still want to talk to Michael." Mike demanded.
"Then call him on your own dime." Lois said.
"Put him on the phone." Sonny said.
"Are you sure?" Lois said doubtfully.
"It'll get rid of him quicker." Sonny assured her.
Lois passed the phone to Mike who quickly took it. "Michael, how you
doing?"
"You're in trouble, Mike. I already know that. I'll help if I can but you
gotta stop bothering my wife." Sonny told him. "Go home and I'll get in
contact with you later."
"But—"
"I'll take care of it." Sonny said. "Go home now before Lois slaps you
upside the head with a frying pan."
Watching her standing there with arms folded, glaring at him, Mike had no
doubt that she would do just that. He said slowly. "Okay, I'll talk to you
later then, son."
Not that the money issue was settled Lois smiled slightly at Mike. "Are you
coming over for Sunday dinner again?"
Mike nodded. "I'll see if I can."
"Alright. Tell Brooke and Michael goodbye before you leave." Lois said.
When Mike left the kitchen Lois sighed. "Thanks Sonny. I could have handled
it but…thanks."
"I'm going to have to have a long talk with him again." Sonny shook his
head.
"He needs to go to one of those twelve step meetings and actually pay
attention, that's what he needs." Lois quipped. She narrowed her eyes.
"What's wrong? Did Brooke call you again trying to get you to end her
punishment?"
"No, that's…" Sonny hesitated. He wasn't sure just how to jump into the
subject. "That's not why I called."
The tone of his voice suddenly made it all clear to Lois. She pulled out a
chair from the kitchen table and dropped down into it. She murmured. "Oh."
Sonny said in a rush. "We've never really talked about this but Lois we
can't ignore it anymore."
"Okay." Lois said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around it. She was torn.
On one hand she was relieved. This was a talk that they should have had a
long time ago. Their marriage was a sham. She loved him, she always would,
he was her first love, but she wasn't in love with him anymore. They'd been
going through the motions for years. Hell, they didn't even live in the
same city anymore. But on the other hand he *was* her husband. She made
vows before God and who was she to just toss them away because her marriage
wasn't perfect?
"So who is she?" She asked softly.
"Don't do this Lois." Sonny said gently.
"I know there has to be someone else. You meet someone, I understand that.
I know that there's been other women." Lois swallowed hard. "But she must
really be something, huh, for you to want out of our marriage."
"What marriage?" Sonny asked honestly. "Really, what kind of marriage do we
have with me in one city and you and the kids in another? When I come down
a few times a year and sleep in the guestroom, except for that night that
resulted in Michael?"
"Look you want to have a girlfriend? Fine but we don't need to get a
divorce for goodness sake." Lois said. She paused. "Or are you and this
woman planning on…"
Sonny took a breath. As much as he hated discussing Lois with Carly,
discussing Carly with Lois was just as bad. "We haven't gotten that far."
"So what are you doing then?" Lois cried. "Things can just continue as they
have."
"Why should they?" Sonny demanded.
"We've been perfectly happy with everything until now."
"Have we? Can you honestly tell me that you've been content with this
marriage?"
Lois ignored his question. "Is it the living apart thing? Because if you
really want us to, I'll bring the kids up to Port Charles and we'll live
with you there. I'm willing to do that."
"Just answer the question, Lois." Sonny said softly. "You're not happy. We
already tried living together and that didn't work and the last thing you
need is an absentee husband."
Lois became quiet as her conscience warred with her heart. She wanted to
stay true to her marriage vows but her heart wasn't it anymore. If she
decided to hold onto her marriage she knew that Sonny wouldn't force her to
divorce him. But in return she would be punishing him by making him stay
with her when he clearly didn't want to marriage to her anymore. And she
knew inside she didn't want to be married to him either. Why shouldn't she
let him go? If she did then maybe, finally, she would find some happiness
for herself. The same kind of happiness Sonny must have found in Port
Charles that had urged him to finally end their marriage.
"Lois?" Sonny asked gently.
"I loved you since we were five years old." She began softly. "I fell in
love with you when we were thirteen and you beat up Joey DeCarlo at the
park because he wouldn't stop picking on me."
"You punched me because you thought you didn't anyone to fight your
battles." He reminded her.
"Hey, that was my way of telling you I liked you." Lois smiled. Then she
groaned. "God, I can't believe you decided to do this over the phone."
Sonny winced. "I know, I'm sorry."
"No, this might be better. If we were face to face I'd probably hit you or
do something stupid like cry." Lois mumbled. "What are we going to tell the
kids? Well Michael's too young to know anything but Brooke…she's going to
be devastated."
"Brooke's a tough kid." Sonny theorized. "I think she'll handle this fine."
"We need to tell her this together." Lois decided.
"I can come down this weekend." Sonny suggested.
Lois nodded. "That'll be good."
"I'll take care of everything." Sonny promised. "And don't worry about
money or anything. I will always provide for my family."
"I know that, Sonny." Lois murmured as the finality of it all hit her. "I
have to…I have to go. I'm taking Michael over to my mother's."
"Lois?"
"Goodbye, Sonny." Lois hung up the phone. She stared at it for a while.
Brooke came into the kitchen carrying Michael. "Michael wants some—Ma, are
you okay?" Brooke asked when she noticed the lost look on her mother's
face.
Lois shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"What did Daddy want?" Brooke asked, curious.
"He just wanted to let me know that he's coming down this weekend."
Brooke's eyes lit up. "He is? Great! This is going to be so much fun."
~*~*~
An hour later Sonny finally got a hold of Carly. "Hey, where have you
been?" He asked when she finally answered her cell.
"I was having lunch with my father and turned off the cell so that we
couldn't be disturbed." She explained. "So does this mean…?"
"I talked to her." Sonny said gruffly.
"How did it go?" Carly couldn't help but ask.
"I'd rather not talk about that." He said.
Carly took a deep breath. "Okay. Do you still want to have dinner tonight?
We can reschedule."
"No, tonight's fine. Let me take care of the reservations and everything."
"Anything place but Caroline's." Carly said.
"You don't want to be seen with me at your restaurant?" Sonny narrowed his
eyes.
"It's not that. I'm just a little sick of the place. I want to try
something new that's all."
"Fine. I'll pick you up at eight."
~*~*~
Sonny whistled when Carly opened the door to her suite later that night.
She winked and said, "Wait, I'm not done yet. I'll just be a second and
then we can leave."
When she turned, Sonny's eyes narrowed and he grabbed a hold of the
doorjamb as he finally got a good look at her dress. "We are not going
anywhere until you change that dress."
Carly glanced over her shoulder innocently. "What's wrong with it?"
"It's, there's, there's nothing there!" Sonny gestured wildly.
"What are you talking about?" Carly frowned. She glanced down at her dress
and then back at him with a perplexed look. She knew exactly what was wrong
with the dress.
"You're determined to have every part of you just, just…falling out." Sonny
glared at the dress.
Sonny was right. Black and ankle-length, at first glance the dress appeared
normal. Sure it hugged a few curves it shouldn't. But that wasn't enough
reason to demand a change. It was only until Sonny saw how far down the
neckline scooped that he knew it had to go. He could have sworn he almost
saw nipple, and the back…well there was no back! There were only the two
thin strips that her arms went through and then nothing until just above
her butt. And when she moved a long slit up the side was visible, showing
off lots of leg.
"Change." Sonny demanded.
"No." Carly said. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. Now that she
had him, she was going to drive him crazy and have fun doing it.
Arrogantly Sonny closed the door, walked over to the couch, sat down,
crossed his legs and said. "Change. I'll wait."
Carly propped her hands on her hips. "For a man who was so desperate to get
back together this morning, you're being very bossy and annoying."
"You don't change, we're not going anywhere. I don't mind spending the
evening here." Sonny smiled charmingly.
"Then you'll be spending it alone. I'll go out by myself and find someone
who likes this dress. I wonder what Jax is up to." Carly lifted an eyebrow
knowing what his reaction would be.
"Don't ever try to make me jealous by using him." Sonny growled
immediately. "It won't work."
Carly held back a smile because she knew he was jealous after all. And all
at just the mention of Jax's name. "Staying here or coming with me? Which
is it?"
"Changing that dress?" Sonny challenged her right back.
"Our first night out and you want to pick on my taste in clothes?" Carly
walked over to the couch. She knelt down on the couch beside him.
Sonny sighed and closed his eyes. "Tell me that you are at least wearing
underwear. Tell me that much."
"Wouldn't you like to know." Carly purred. Carly knew she'd won.
"You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Sonny murmured.
"You know this wasn't the dress I originally planned on wearing but my
secretary didn't pick that one up from the cleaners today. And it was much,
much worse than this one." Carly whispered as she toyed with the hair at
the back of his neck.
"Thank God for forgetful secretaries." Sonny mumbled. "And that's not
really what your secretary's supposed to do."
"It's what *my* secretary does." Carly bragged. "Now I have to finish up or
we'll never get out of here." She straightened up just as Sonny reached for
her and disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Sonny to wonder if she was
really wearing any underwear.
When she came back wearing more makeup, high-heeled sandals, and smelling
like expensive perfume Sonny immediately asked. "Seriously, are you wearing
any underwear?"
"Oh for goodness sake!" Carly rolled her eyes. She leaned down, grabbed the
hem of the dress and pulled it up revealing the small pair of nude bikini
panties she wore. Once she was sure he got a good look, she dropped the
dress.
"And you're sure you want to go *out*?" Sonny asked as he reached for her.
Suddenly he liked the idea of them staying in more and more.
"Uh-uh!" Carly wagged her finger at him as she let him pull her close.
"Next time we can stay in."
"Too bad." Sonny shook his head. He reached into his pants pocket. "I got
something for you."
Carly grinned and pressed herself closer to him. "I know that, Sonny, but
you'll have to give it to me later. We're going *out*."
Sonny laughed. "No, not that. Though it is—never mind. I meant I have a
gift for you."
"A gift?" Carly repeated. "You've never given me anything before."
"I know."
"Why now?"
"Why not?" Sonny shrugged. "What's with all the questions? I can't buy you
a gift?"
"I don't need a man to buy me anything—"
"Oh, here we with go with the independent stuff." Sonny rolled his eyes.
"I'm being serious."
"And I just wanted to get you something. I wanted you to have something
from *me*, that's all. If you don't want it, I'll return it or see if one
of my girls wants it."
"Your girls? Oh, I don't think so." Carly held her hand out. "Let me have
it."
"Caroline, I swear, you just sucked all the romance of this." Sonny
grumbled.
Carly immediately felt bad. Here he was trying to be sweet and she just
ruined the moment. She cuddled up to him, running her hands inside his suit
jacket and around his waist. "I'm sorry, can I please have my gift? Or
should I grovel?"
Sonny shook his head. "No groveling necessary."
Carly slid her hand into his pants pocket and felt around. Sonny cleared
his throat. "Wrong pocket."
"Oops." She tried to laugh innocently but it came out differently. She slid
her hand into the other pocket and pulled a long black box. She raised an
eyebrow as she turned it around in her hands.
"Maybe it'll cover some of that…that." Sonny waved his hand to indicate her
exposed chest.
Carly looked down then back at him with a smirk. "I thought you liked all
of that?"
"Now when it's on show for everyone." Sonny said.
Carly snapped open the box and stared at the white gold necklace with a
large pendant covered with small white diamonds dangling from the center.
"It's beautiful."
"Let me help you put it on." Sonny took it from her. She turned around and
pulled her hair up and out of the way. He draped the necklace around her
neck and fastened it for her.
Carly dropped her hair then went to look at her reflection in the mirror by
the door. She studied the way it looked on her from several angles.
Sonny watched with a small smile on his face. "Will it do?"
"I have to change my earrings but yes, I love it." Carly kissed him
quickly. "Thank you."
"Hey!" He said bereft. "That's it?"
"If I thank you the right way, we'll never get out of here." Carly
promised.
"Nothing wrong with that." Sonny chuckled as she dashed back into the
bedroom to change her earrings.
She called out to him, laughing, "No, there's nothing wrong with that but
you said you wanted to show me off and that's what we're going to do. Show
me and this gorgeous necklace off."
She came out wearing diamond earrings and a big smile. "See? Much better
now. We should hurry. I don't want to be late for our reservations. Where
are we going to eat anyway?"
"Someplace special," Sonny said with a smile. "And I wouldn't worry too
much about the reservation."
~*~*~
Several minutes later, Carly frowned as she looked out the window of the
limo. "Where are we?"
Sonny glanced out of the window then sat back. "The restaurant."
Carly pushed away his hand that had been creeping up her thigh through the
slit. "That can't be the restaurant. I don't even recognize this
neighborhood."
"I doubt you ever been here before." Sonny ignored her pushing and slid his
hand back where it'd been. His fingers toyed with the elastic band of her
underwear.
"This isn't a restaurant, is it? You've brought me out in the middle of
nowhere to have dinner in an old warehouse." Carly accused.
Sonny cupped her face with his other hand and kissed her quickly. "Shut
up."
"Excuse me?"
"This restaurant is well-known, by certain people. It has a reputation for
being discreet. You didn't want to go to Caroline's so I thought this was a
better choice."
"You bought me to a mob restaurant?" Carly got straight to the point.
Sonny tapped his finger against her nose. "You're too smart for your own
good."
Sonny's man opened the door before Carly could reply. Sonny got out first
then helped Carly get out. He stood in front of her so that no one could
see down the front of her dress.
"I hate that dress." He mumbled.
Carly glanced up at him. "What did you say?"
"You look great." Sonny smiled at her.
Carly looked at him suspiciously before smoothing down her dress, taking
the arm he offered her and smiling up at him. "This place better be good."
Sonny pressed a quick kiss to her temple. "Quit your complaining, you'll
like it."
Carly looked at him doubtfully but allowed him to escort her to the plain
building with the nondescript door. Sonny grabbed the doorknob and opened
the door letting Carly go in first.
Looking around the restaurant with its small intimate tables lit with
candles in the dark corners and larger tables that surrounded a small dance
floor, Carly realized that she was going to have to tell Sonny that he was
right. When she looked over her shoulder at him, he was smirking at her.
She rolled her eyes. "So what's the name of this place again?"
Sonny wrapped his arm around her waist. "The No Name."
Carly nodded. "Of course, very imaginative."
Sonny steered her towards the maitre 'd who was talking to another couple.
Seeing Sonny he immediately spread a wide smile across his face. "Mr.
Corinthos! It is a pleasure to see you. Your table is almost ready. I will
go and check on it right now."
The man quickly left, leaving Sonny and Carly with the other couple. Sonny
nodded at the man. "Zander."
Zander nodded back. "Sonny, hey. I was just thinking about giving you a
call and setting up another meeting."
Sony waved his hand. "Let's not discuss this right now. Call me tomorrow."
Zander nodded. His companion cleared her throat to remind him that she was
there. "Sonny, this is my girlfriend Gia Campbell."
Gia smiled politely at him and extended her hand, which Sonny took and
kissed the back of. "Mr. Corinthos."
"Call me Sonny. And this is Carly." Sonny introduced them. "Carly, this is
Zander Smith."
Carly shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. She extended her hand
first to Zander and then Gia. "Cassadine. I'm Carly Cassadine."
Though they were in Sonny's world now she was still a Cassadine. She eyed
Gia. "And I can't believe my luck because I was hoping to get together with
you, Miss Campbell."
"Really?" Gia said surprised.
"Yes, as you might know Cassadine Inc. recently acquired Deception and I
wanted to get to know the face of Deception." Carly told her.
Sonny ran his hand down her arm and kissed her shoulder. He murmured into
her ear, "Baby, you're not about to stand here and conduct business are
you?"
Carly bent her head guiltily and murmured back. "Of course not." She then
said to Gia, "We'll get together later in the week, how's that?"
"I wouldn't mind that at all." Gia smiled.
The maitre 'd returned. "Mr. Corinthos, your table is ready. Please follow
me."
"Hey, what about us? We've been waiting forever." Zander demanded harshly.
"Just a moment please." The man said before leading Carly and Sonny away.
"I wonder what Carly Cassadine wants to discuss with me?" Gia murmured.
Zander didn't hear her. He was too busy glaring at the direction that Sonny
and Carly had gone. "Did you see that? Did you see that shit?"
Gia sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. Not this again. "Whatever,
Zander."
Zander grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. "Not
'whatever.' I am Zander fucking Smith. I am Frank Smith's grandson, Anthony
Moreno's nephew." He growled. "I deserve respect when I come here. I do not
deserve to be past over so that that little asshole can go lick Sonny
Corinthos's shoes."
"Don't manhandle me in public." She growled back and pushed his hand away.
A waiter cleared his throat. Zander growled. "What?"
"Your table's ready, sir." The waiter said politely. He waited a beat
before turning around and leading them over.
Zander grabbed Gia's arm. She closed her eyes briefly. She was very tired
of him lately. She knew he was screwing around on her again. And this thing
with Sonny Corinthos was getting out of hand. She wondered if she should
remind him that he was working with Sonny to bring his uncle down but of
course that would just piss him off because she wasn't supposed to know
anything about his business.
Across the room Sonny and Carly were seated at their table. Sonny held
Carly's hand. They ignored the menus on the table and stared into each
other's eyes. He asked with a slight smile on his face. "Well?"
Carly ran her tongue across her lips. "It's nice…how's the food?"
"Pretty good actually." Sonny drew back when their waiter appeared. He
placed a basket of bread rolls and a small dish of whipped butter on the
table. He stepped back.
"Are you ready to order?" He asked.
Sonny glanced at Carly before saying. "Bring us the special and a bottle of
whatever best compliments it."
He nodded. "Yes, sir." He left to put in their order. Carly split a roll,
picked up the butter knife, dipped it in the butter then began to lavishly
spread it across the bread. She took a bite and chewed.
"The bread's good."
Sonny raised an eyebrow. "You're making small talk about the bread?"
Carly licked the crumbs from her lips then dipped her finger in the butter.
"This butter's delicious. Taste."
She leaned across the table and held her finger up to Sonny's mouth. He
hesitated before allowing her to slip her finger into his mouth. He watched
the desire dance in her eyes as he gently licked the butter off her finger.
He released her finger then took her hand in his and kissed her palm. Carly
leaned further across the table and Sonny's eyes were instantly drawn to
the cleavage that was threatening to spill out over the low neckline.
Sonny abruptly cleared his throat and nodded towards the dance floor.
"Let's dance."
Carly blinked. "What?"
"That damn dress is driving me insane. Unless you want me to bend you over
this table right here, right now, you'll get up and dance with me." Sonny
said in a low voice even as he stood.
Carly laughed lightly. "But I thought this place was very discreet."
Sonny came around the table and helped her stand. He murmured into her ear.
"Not discreet enough."
They walked out to the dance floor. Sonny pulled her arms around his neck
and buried his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled her perfume and
she sighed and closed her eyes. Whatever they were doing on the dance floor
could barely pass for dancing. They weren't swaying in time to the music or
even bothering to move their feet. They brushed their body parts against
each other. Sonny's hands gripped her hips and pressed them against his.
Carly shivered when he blew air against her neck.
Sonny ran his hand down her hip and across her backside. He moaned into her
ear when she rubbed herself against him. Carly pulled back and asked. "Are
you going to continue groping me in front of your 'associates'?"
"I'm just doing an underwear check. I know it's there but God, I can always
use a little reminding."
Carly giggled. "You're too fixated on my underwear."
"You shouldn't have flashed me." Sonny grumbled.
Carly thought for a moment. "If you want to keep an eye on my underwear so
bad, then I'm going to have to do something about that."
Sonny grabbed her by the arm when she started to step away. "Where are you
going?"
She stroked the side of his face and said. "The bathroom, I'll be right
back. Which way is it?"
Sonny pointed across the room. He asked suspiciously, "What are you about
to do?"
Carly grinned wickedly. "Don't worry, you'll like it."
She framed his face with her hands and brushed her lips across his. He
wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back for a longer kiss.
Once it was finished, Carly pulled back. "Mmm, that was nice."
She took a step away from him, changed her mind, came back and kissed him
again. She winked at him, made a quick stop at their table for her purse
then finally made her way to the bathroom.
Across the room, Gia viciously stabbed at her salad as Zander vented about
Sonny Corinthos. Why did she stay with this man, day after day? He
certainly wasn't good for her image, she knew that much. Her handlers
reminded her of that nearly every day. He cheated on her left and right. He
didn't appreciate her. He put her down. Their relationship basically
consisted of the two of them sniping at each other. If she were smart she
would just stand up and walk right out this restaurant and never see this
man again.
Gia sighed. That much, she knew, was just a fantasy. She'd never leave
Zander until he was ready for her to go. It wasn't love that tied her to
him nor him to her.
She dropped her fork on the table and glared at him. "Why don't you just go
over there and tell him off?"
Zander stared at her coldly. "You know absolutely nothing, do you? I'm
surprised you're able to function in the real world every day."
Gia rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, whisper those sweet nothings, darling."
Zander ignored her sarcasm. He pointed at her with his fork. "I still need
Corinthos and until I no longer do I'm forced to play nice with him."
"And complain to me until my ears bleed." Gia muttered.
"I'll buy ya some earplugs." Zander snapped.
"Don't do me any favors." Gia snapped back.
"What is your problem?" Zander finally recognized that she was in a mood.
"You want to know what my problem is?" Gia repeated as she stalled for
time.
She wanted to tell him point blank that she now hated him, everything that
he stood for, and herself for staying with him. But she knew that now was
neither the time nor the place so she latched onto an easier excuse. She
pulled her napkin off her lap and threw it on the table.
She hissed, "My problem is you'd rather rant all night about Sonny
Corinthos than pay any attention to me. I don't know why you even brought
me out tonight. You could have had dinner with yourself and your hate."
She stormed away from the table and headed straight for the bathrooms.
Carly was exiting a stall, stuffing something into her purse when Gia flew
in. Gia went straight to the sinks. She ran cold water over her wrists then
bent her head as she breathed in and out slowly.
"Hello." Carly said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
Gia glanced over her shoulder. "Hi. Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a little,
you know, fight with the boyfriend."
Carly smiled sympathetically and joined her at the sink. She started to
wash her hands. "Sorry to hear about that."
"It happens." Gia shrugged and nodded. She quickly switched topics. "That's
a pretty necklace."
Carly smiled as she touched the gift with a wet finger. "Thank you. It was
a recent gift from Sonny."
Gia passed her a handful of paper towels. "He has great taste in jewelry."
Carly laughed. "Him or his jeweler."
Gia laughed also. "I know what you mean. Zander can't tell the difference
between a diamond and cubic zirconia, I learned *that* the hard way. I made
sure after that little mishap he went straight to a professional."
Gia leaned against the sink as Carly started to repair her lipstick. "I
hope you don't mind me saying this but you and Sonny Corinthos…that's an
interesting mix."
"Like you and Zander Smith?" Carly looked at her through the mirror and
raised her eyebrow.
Gia shrugged. "No, that's just a big mess." She sighed.
Carly frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Gia nodded. "Yeah, Zander's…well, he's Zander. It's kinda hard to explain
and…Just forget it."
Carly sensed that this was something Gia was reluctant to talk about.
"Consider it dropped."
"Let's talk about something else. Let me official welcome you to the
girlfriends clique."
"Clique?"
"Yeah, It's all unofficial of course. You have the girlfriends and you have
the wives." Gia explained. "The wives tend to stick together. They figure
they have the ring on their finger, they're not going anywhere. They
believe in that 'till death do us part' stuff. Girlfriends on the other
hand come and go. In my opinion there's no real difference between the two,
if he wants to get rid of you, he'll get rid of you, but whatever."
Carly slipped her lipstick back in her purse. "So the mob wives don't like
the mob girlfriends? Now I've heard everything." She laughed.
"Wait, it's never the 'mob'. It's always the 'business.'" Gia coached with
a smile. "Another hard learned lesson."
Carly shook her head. "This is all nuts."
"I hope you thought about this a lot before you decided to get involved
with Sonny Corinthos." Gia cautioned. "This is a dangerous business and it
effects everyone, not just the men but the women and the children…"
"I appreciate the warning." Carly said sincerely. "But I'm a Cassadine. I'm
used to danger. You should see us at family reunions."
"I'm just saying. I wish I had someone to warn me about all this when I
first hooked up with Zander."
An older woman in a deep purple pantsuit and garish jewelry entered the
bathroom. Carly had started to say something but stopped when the woman
entered. She walked over to the sinks eyeing Carly and Gia.
Gia murmured a hello. The woman nodded at her. She quickly washed and dried
her hands before exiting the room without saying a word. Carly glanced over
at Gia.
Gia said simply. "Wife."
Carly shook her head and chuckled. The rules that these people lived by.
"Okay. Oh, I just remembered that I didn't give you my card." She opened
her purse and pulled out a business card.
Gia took it. "You brought business cards with you?"
Carly shrugged. "I always have two or three tossed into all my purses.
Never know when you need one. Give me a call tomorrow and I'll have my
secretary set up something."
"I can't wait." Gia told her honestly. When it came to her professional
career she was always eager to do more.
Carly ran her fingers through her hair, disheveling it. "I better get back
to Sonny before he comes in here looking for me."
"And I better get back to Zander." Gia muttered.
The two women exited the bathroom together. While Carly hurried over to
Sonny Gia slowly made her way back to her table. When Gia got back to her
table, Zander didn't look up from his plate of baked ziti.
"Are you in a better mood now or what?" He asked as he continued to eat.
Gia pressed her lips together. "You know, I treasure these moments we have
together. When you stare at your food and I stare at the top of your head."
Zander sighed. "What the fuck do you want from, Gia? Huh? I give you
fucking everything you could ever want. And all you do is pick, pick, pick.
I wonder why I even bother with you sometimes."
"I wonder about that sometimes myself." Gia shot back.
Zander chewed slowly and narrowed his eyes as he studied her face. His gaze
swept over her lingering at her chest. He grinned nastily. "Yeah, now I
remember why."
Gia made a disgusted noise in her throat and pushed her plate away from
her. "There goes my appetite."
Across the room Sonny pulled out Carly's chair for her. After she was
sitting down, he kissed her neck and asked. "What were you doing in there
for so long?"
"Taking care of a few things." Carly said with a smile. "Sit down. I have
something for you."
Sonny took his seat. Carly placed her purse on the table then pulled out a
scrap of material. She dropped it on the table and waited.
"What is this?" Sonny said curiously. He picked it up and realized that
they were her panties. He looked from them to Carly, who was smiling
seductively at him. "We're leaving. Right now."
"Right now?" Carly asked. "But we haven't had dinner yet and I was hoping
to dance again."
"If you think we're stay here while you're not wearing any underwear…"
"Sonny," She said in pretend shock, "are you a prude?"
Sonny grinned at her. "You know exactly what I am." He tucked her panties
in his pocket. "I'm keeping these and we're going back to my place or your
place or just the damn limo."
"Settle the check." Carly murmured, suddenly just as eager as he was to
leave. "I'll meet you in the car." She pushed back her chair and grabbed
her purse.
Sonny remembered the last time she waited for him in the car. He gestured
towards their waiter.
"I'll send Max back with the money." Sonny said as he got up. He grabbed
Carly around the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her hungrily,
ignoring the fact that he was making a spectacle of himself in the
restaurant.
Carly pulled at his tie. "Save some of that for later."
"You drive me crazy, woman." He growled into her ear. She just laughed.
"Come, I have to thank you properly and thoroughly for my new necklace."
Carly grabbed his hand and led him towards the restaurant entrance. Carly
wasn't surprised to see the limo already waiting for them when they got
outside. Carly slipped inside while Sonny handed Max a handful of bills to
take inside the restaurant. Sonny spoke quietly with him for a moment.
Sonny then joined Carly and pulled her to him. Neither one noticed when Max
got back into the limo, started it up, and started to drive them back to
the hotel.
~*~*~
In the back of the limo Carly was straddling Sonny who was busy pulling
down the straps of her dress. She readily pulled her arms through the
straps so he could push the top down to her waist. She let out a soft moan
when he began to nibble on her ear. His hands caressed and fondled her
breasts as his hungry mouth sought out hers. They exchanged deep eating
kisses. Their short break up ended up making them want each other more.
Carly pulled off his tie then tugged at his shirt; her fingers snagging the
buttons as she tried to get the shirt off also. She growled her frustration
when they wouldn't come undone as quickly as she wanted.
Sonny stopped kissing his way down her neck. He placed his hands over hers.
He murmured. "Have some patience."
"No." She murmured back. "Hurry up."
She punctuated that by grinding herself against his crotch. Sonny's eyes
lit up and he quickly undid the buttons for her.
The sudden stop of the car almost threw Carly off of Sonny. He quickly
wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to him so that she didn't
fall. She stared at him in shock.
"What just happened?"
"I'll find out." Sonny reached behind him and picked up the phone that
connected him to the driver. "Max? What's going on? Where are we?"
Max answered back. "We're about a block away from the hotel, boss. Someone
just drove up in front of us and cut us off. They stopped just a few feet a
way. I'll go check it out."
Sonny's eyes narrowed. Something was up. Was it Moreno? Did he find out
about Luke and Sonny's plan? Did Zander double cross them?
"Shit." He muttered as he hung up. He buttoned up his shirt.
Carly slid off of him and pulled her dress back up. "What's wrong?"
"I think we're being set up. Someone just cut us off. Max is going to check
it out." Sonny told her as he felt around under the seat.
Carly frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I have a gun somewhere under here." Sonny explained. He finally found it
and pulled it out. He checked to make sure it was fully loaded.
"Always prepared." Carly murmured. She was proud of the fact that she
managed to stay so calm on the outside but on the inside she was freaking
out. Sonny had just pulled a gun out of nowhere because some one had cut
them off. It could turn out to be nothing but Sonny wasn't taking any
chances.
"Have to be." Sonny flashed her a smile but Carly could tell he was trying
to keep her at ease.
"Well, I hope you have another one cause I'm not sitting here unarmed."
"No."
"I know how to shoot." She insisted.
"If something's going down, it'll be a whole lot different than a shooting
gallery. The targets shoot back." Sonny explained.
"I can handle it." Carly said in a serious voice.
The sudden sounds of gunfire outside of the car sent Carly into her own
search for a gun. She found another one taped under the seat. She checked
it as Sonny cursed again.
"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean for our first public date to turn into
this." He said apologetically as the shots continued.
"First date, mob war. It's all the same." Carly tried to joke. "Just get us
out of this safely."
When the gunfire died down Sonny said, "Stay back. I'm going outside."
Sonny started to open the door.
"Be careful. Please." Carly pleaded. As many wisecracks and jokes she made,
she was still terrified that something was going to happen to him and her.
Sonny glanced back at her. He kissed her quick and hard. "I'm just going to
peek out to see what's going on."
He held the gun in front of him with one hand as he slowly opened the door
all the way. He stuck his head out of the limo and over the bulletproof
door. He could see the car that Max told him about. It was a few feet away.
Max was laying facedown on the ground not far from it. Two people dressed
in black stood over him with guns in their hands. A tall heavyset man and a
slender shorter woman.
The woman chose that moment to look up and in the direction of the limo.
Sonny's eyes widened as he recognized the woman. He dropped down behind the
door.
"What is it?" Carly hissed from the limo.
"Two people. A man and a woman. The woman's your secretary." Sonny
whispered back.
"What?" Carly said. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Sonny said.
"Oh, she is so fired." Carly growled. "First she doesn't pick up my dry
cleaning and now this?"
"Carly, this is not the time." Sonny growled back.
"Come on out, Ms. Cassadine." Elizabeth suddenly called out. "I know you're
in there. Come out and let me finish my job. I take out you and I get a
hefty paycheck."
"Like I don't pay her enough?" Carly muttered.
Elizabeth murmured something to her companion then began to walk slowly and
cockily towards the limo. "Don't make me wait, Ms. Cassadine or is this one
of those situations where I can call you 'Carly'? Come out now and I
promise I won't do anything to your gangster boyfriend. He's not even worth
wasting my time."
"Bitch." Carly muttered.
"But if you waste my time, Carly, I'll make sure you watch him die very,
very slowly." Elizabeth's tone told Carly she was being dead serious.
"If you don't shoot her, *I* will." Carly hissed.
"Let her come closer." Sonny said. "Talk to her some more."
Carly called out to her. "So what drove you to this, Elizabeth? Not enough
vacation time? I didn't compliment your hair one day? What? I was a fair
employer."
Elizabeth paused in her step before smiling arrogantly. She continued
walking towards them. "She finally speaks. I think we both know who my real
employer is. She felt it was good to have someone keeping an eye on you and
now she wants to be rid of you. Can't say that I blame her."
"Close enough." Sonny said before leaning around the door and firing at
her.
Caught unaware, Elizabeth was hit in the leg. She dropped down to the
ground as he partner came running over shooting at Sonny. Sonny ducked
behind the door quickly. He waited as the man continued to fire at him then
when he felt the time was right, Sonny stood up and fired at him several
times. A couple of the bullets hit the man and he dropped to the ground.
Sonny came from around the protective door still firing at the man on the
ground. He was going to make sure he stayed down.
Just then Elizabeth rolled on to her stomach and fired several times at
Sonny. Carly watched in horror as the bullets slammed into him, jerking him
backwards before he finally fell back on the ground. The sight of him being
pumped full of holes snapped her calm and sent her over the edge.
Thinking only of Sonny, Carly slid off the seat and started to crawl
towards him. She heard Elizabeth's gun fire again but didn't really
register it. She whispered. "Sonny?"
This time when a bullet whizzed by her ear, Carly finally realize that
Elizabeth was shooting at her. It took her a moment to remember that she
was still holding the extra gun. Carly turned and aimed at Elizabeth, who
was pulling herself up on her shot leg. Carly let off several shots and
watched with grim satisfaction as they hit their target and Elizabeth fell
back to the ground.
Carly waited for Elizabeth and her partner to get up but when neither did,
she turned to Sonny. She gasped at the amount of blood covering him. She
couldn't tell where he was shot at; there was so much blood. She ran her
hands across his chest searching for the wounds. In the back of her mind
she wasn't supposed to move him but that stop her from sitting down on the
ground and pulling him into her lap.
"Sonny, help me, where were you hit?" When he didn't answer she cried out,
"How can I help you if I don't know where you hit. Sonny! Stop messing
around and open your eyes, baby."
She glanced around her wildly looking for something to help her. She
started to babble as fear took over. "A phone. I need a phone. I have a
phone in my purse, I think. I should. Yes, I'll get the phone and call the
hospital and they'll send someone to help you Sonny. Okay? I'll be right
back. I'll call and they'll come for you. And you'll be okay."
She gently laid him back down and stood up on wobbly legs. She bent over as
she suddenly felt a pain in her side. She looked down and saw the blood on
her dress. She thought it was Sonny's blood until she touched her side and
felt the hole in her dress. She pulled her hand back and stared at the
blood.
I was shot, she thought dimly, I think I'm going to throw up. No, I have to
get Sonny help first. She took a step towards to the limo and had to close
her eyes as a feeling of weakness washed over her. In the distance she
heard sirens going off. Before she could think about them her legs gave out
and she collapsed onto the ground. She murmured, "Sonny" before blacking
out.