Alexis opened the door and was very glad that she had made sure that everything was in its proper place. Were it Lorenzo or Luis, either man would probably have smirked at her and gone about their business. Though, she was almost positive that Luis would have said a lot more about the situation than Lorenzo. Most likely, he would have tried to condemn her for the company that she kept. In the end, though, she would have slammed the door and most would have been forgotten the next day. The man who stood at her door, however, was neither Alcazar, and would have behaved in a much more damaging fashion.

Stefan Cassadine stood with his arms folded, and it was very clear to Alexis that the minutes he'd been left waiting were not appreciated. His deep brown suit creased at his bent elbows. The hard white cuffs of his shirt brushed against the back of his hands. His fingers drummed against his arm as he stared forward with a look of impatience. He obviously had better things to do with his time than to wait for her at the door.

"Natasha," he said, "there are things we must discuss."

"Stefan…" Alexis paused. She couldn't very well tell him that she was entertaining. He would ask about her guest and then there would be nothing but disappointment, and that would certainly ruin the mood. "…can't this wait? I'm working on something right now."

The disappointment in his eyes was nothing compared to what would have been there had he seen her guest. This was a look of shame, telling her that she should know that nothing is more important than her family. Especially when that family was the one that had kept her alive when Helena wanted her dead. However, the disappointment over her tryst, considering that her tryst was supposed to be her enemy, would have made this shame pale in comparison. He would go into a rant of how he expected better of her, that she should be above such things. In the end, Alexis would have found herself sharing a bottle of wine with no one and passing out on the sofa.

"That is precisely what we need to talk about." He tried to move forward, but she stopped him. "What is the meaning of this, Natasha? There are things we must discuss concerning the safety of your position, and I would prefer not to do it standing out in the cold."

"Thinking of cold, where's your coat?" She hoped to turn the situation around to his own well-being, but Stefan would have nothing of the sort. He merely stared at her with intense eyes. Alexis sighed. The coat was probably in the car because a) he hated to be confined and b) he expected to get inside. "Can this wait, Stefan? We both know that this will become nothing more than you talking and me ignoring. I work for the Alcazars and nothing is going to change that."

Stefan argued, and it was expected. Luckily for Alexis, she was every bit as Cassadine as her brother, and she was more than capable of standing up to him. Add in the fact that she had devoted her life to arguing in front of jury, and Alexis Davis came out on top. She knew that the war wasn't over, and more than likely, she would be having this conversation with Stefan very soon, but at least he was gone for the time being.

Alexis waited at the door until Stefan's car pulled away. Once he was gone, she closed the door, turning around and let her body slouch against the hard white wood. She let out a heavy sigh and slouched more. Her eyes closed, and didn't reopen until there was a body standing over her. His arm was close enough to the side of her head to brush her face as he braced himself against the door. Alexis opened her eyes and groaned.

She wasn't entirely sure that this was the place she should have been. A part of her told her that she should have taken the out given her by Stefan. She could have gestured until the point was gotten to leave the room and escape any way possible. Too bad she ignored that little voice and went for the larger one that she liked to call her Lascivity.

District Attorney Ric Lansing looked down at her with amused eyes. She only saw them for a second, though, because her eyes were pulled instantly to his chest. While she had taken great care to fix every button and close every snap, Ric hadn't bothered to alter his appearance. His white shirt still gaped open, hanging loose at his sides. His belt was still missing, probably on the floor beside the sofa, and his pants were unzipped. Alexis resisted the urge to surge one hand up his chest and the other into his pants. She was rather proud of her restraint, though not so proud that the scene still played out in full within her head.

Alexis shook her head and blinked. This was not the time to turn into a teenager with raging hormones. In fact, there was no good reason for Lansing to even be in her house. Were she truly as smart as she claimed to be, she would have slammed the door in his face, leaving him and his bottle of Merlot to chill in the cool winter air. But of course, that would have been too much like right, and no one ever said that Alexis Davis did what was right.

Oh, in the courtroom, she always knew exactly what to do and when to do it. She knew how to push people's buttons. She could cause a usually calm and sane person to become irrational on the stand. She could twist the opposing attorney's own words to suit her cause. More than once, she had painted one of the Alcazars, Jason Morgan, or someone of their organization to be the perfect, model citizen. She was an absolute pro when it came to the courtroom.

Her personal life, however, was a different matter altogether. From Ned Ashton on down the line, Alexis had done nothing but screw up her personal life. She just couldn't push away the ones that were no good for her, and the ones that were perfect for her didn't seem to even exist. She could only stare at these men like a deer blinded by headlights, as though she'd never seen an attractive man before. It was pathetic, she knew that, but she couldn't help herself.

Ric Lansing was no different than the others. Deep down, she knew that he only wanted to get her to join the dark side… Or would that be the bright side in her case? By Lansing's standards, she was already working for the dark side. By her own, there was no light or dark. There was just money, loyalty and the Cassadine desire to win at all costs. Her blood told her that the side she was on was where she would gain victory. Having personally defeated the prosecution on so many occasions, she knew that there would be nothing but loss if she crossed over.

And yet… there was something about Ric. He wasn't nearly as clean as he would like others to believe. She thought that somewhere down the line, he'd taken a bribe or two. A burnt out, big city, Manhattan attorney couldn't possibly be courted into Port Charles with just the promise of a bustling career. Maybe it was the bribes or something more sinister that made him leave Manhattan. She didn't know, but she Alexis thought that if her brother found out about their little courtship, he would make it a point to find out. Stefan would uncover every dirty little thing that Ric had done. It might not have made her end whatever was going on between them, but it would definitely give her leverage when he tried to be high and mighty. She made a mental note to dig a little deeper into the District Attorney's past and see what she could find.

"You're thinking and that's never a good thing." Alexis looked up, startled, in time to see Ric's wink and grin. "We were having so much more fun before thought became part of the deal."

"Thought should always be part of the deal." She ducked his arm and walked quickly towards the sofa. She passed the sofa and stood in front of the fireplace. Her foot tapped anxiously on the floor, and then she began to pace back and forth. "You shouldn't be here. This is the biggest case of conflict of interest that I have ever been apart of. Not that I've seen, mind you, because I've seen some whammies and exploited them to the full advantage." She stopped pacing, took a deep breath, then looked at Ric. "I should exploit this one all to hell. You realize I could go to the judge tomorrow and tell them that you can't handle any Alcazar related cases because you're way too close to their attorney."

"You could." Ric nodded and walked slowly towards her. Alexis's head tilted to the side and her eyes focused on his body, every sinew moving slowly, twisting, as though to music. She shook her head and looked up as he stopped in front of her. "But, you won't."

"Oh, really?" There was nothing like a challenge to make Alexis shake off her girlish demeanor. In a second, she could go from crushing schoolgirl to devastating attorney. "And exactly why wouldn't I do that?"

"Well, for one…" He leaned into her, though didn't touch. His head came in beside her head and his breath was warm against her ear. "It would make you look bad, corrupted by the D.A." He moved to the other side and his nose brushed her hair. "And for two, you're enjoying it." He leaned in closer until his lips touched the smooth skin just below her earlobe. "Too much, I think."

And just as quickly, the firm attorney vanished. Alexis shivered and felt her body start to weaken. Her knees began to buckle, but she pushed herself back up straight. She couldn't stop her heart from beating faster or her lungs from burning, but she could keep herself from falling all over him.

Her arms remained at her sides as Ric reached out. He touched her hips lightly. Ric pulled her towards him and Alexis cursed herself for actually going. She should have dug her heels in and told him to go away. She should have told him that this was not going to happen because, while it would have been great strategy to compromise the District Attorney, it was not in her best interest to compromise herself, as well. She didn't, though. She let him pull her forward until their bodies bumped, then his arms circled her waist.

"So, forget the interruptions, and forget the battles of tomorrow." Ric pressed his lips against her neck, then kissed his way down until he hit her shirt. "Just enjoy it, Alexis. You know you want to."

She groaned… then moaned as he moved back up her neck. Alexis's head fell back and she sighed. "I really despise you, Ric. You know that?"

"And your point?"

He kissed her again and she rolled her eyes. "Why do I even bother?" Alexis shook her head, stood straight, grabbed Ric by the head and kissed him hard.