Dealing with her past with Luis by her side had been amazingly easy. Dealing with his was odd. It was one thing that Brenda had discussed Luis's brother with him. To see Lorenzo in the flesh, and in the company of a very contented, very brunette Carly Corinthos, was quite another.

The little bit of Brenda Barrett that remained, the rest of the scared girl that she kept suppressed by the new harder, leaner, meaner version of herself… that little bit wanted nothing more than to strike out at Carly and claw the little bitch's eyes out. It was her fault that Jax humiliated her. She was the one who'd run to him, spreading the grand news of the kiss she'd seen, the kiss that meant absolutely nothing to her. The kiss that, until Luis returned to her life, Brenda had wished would cease to exist.

Brenda had been given plenty of opportunity to think about what her life would have been like had she never kissed Sonny… or if Carly had never said anything to Jax. In the simplest of terms, she would have gotten married, spent Jax's money, and… Well, she wasn't sure what else she would have done. Probably, she would have remained just the same as ever, never growing, never turning into anything more. She would have been Jax's little wife, the trophy that he got to carry around town, his prize for finally beating Sonny.

She supposed that she should have thanked Carly, after all. She'd saved her from something that neither could have possibly known. Of course, Carly wasn't exactly looking out for Brenda's best interests at the time. She was looking out for her own marriage, insecure in her supposed spot as Sonny's one and only, his one true love. Brenda could have argued that point with her, but the necessity seemed to have run out. Considering that Carly was standing with her hand on Lorenzo Alcazar's shoulder, leaning against him in a very intimate manner, Brenda thought it was quite safe to assume that they weren't going to get into any catfights over Sonny.

Brenda stepped forward, extending her hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Lorenzo. And I guess I should be thanking you." Her eyes flicked to the side and narrowed slightly as they settled on Carly. She still spoke to Lorenzo. "I'd still be crying in Paris right now if you hadn't saved Luis."

Lorenzo took her hand tentatively, looking between the diminuitive Ms. Barrett and waspish and the woman he had stolen away from Sonny Corinthos. "He's my brother," he said, as though that were enough explanation. "Though, had I known his plan was to bring you back in town, again…"

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Carly didn't exactly snatch Lorenzo's hand away from Brenda, but she moved in front of him enough to make them release the handshake. "Are you looking to get another Alcazar killed? Or were you just misinformed? Thought you'd could come and steal Sonny from me right this time? Planning to use Luis to do it?"

"Oh, don't you start with me." Brenda stood up straight. She was a few inches shorter than Carly, but her stiff and confident form took up the slack for what she missed in height. "You could have saved Luis as easily as I could have. Don't think he hasn't told me that he tried to get you to help him. But, oh no, it's Sonny's enemy." Brenda said in a mocking squeak, "I can't go against Sonny's enemy." She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Oh, how far we've fallen."

"Like you can say anything different." Carly folded her arms. Her dark, cat-like eyes lit up with mischief and the corners of her lips turned upwards. "What have you really done that's any different from what I did, huh? Aren't you the one that ran away from what Luis thought was some great love to go with Jasper Jacks of all people?" Carly laughed. "And lets not forget your little run to save Sonny, and the short marriage to Jason."

"Jason has absolutely nothing to do with this, so you leave him out of it!" Brenda growled. Of all the people connected to Sonny, Jason was the only one that she really held no animosity towards. She knew how loyal Jason was, and in the end, he'd been nicer to her than he needed to be. Jason was another in a long line of "what ifs" that Brenda had contemplated on a daily basis while she wasted away in Paris. "The person you need to be worried about is your little buddy, Courtney."

"Courtney can take her happy little life and…" Carly stopped short. She took in a deep breath and as she released it, her arms fell to her sides. She tugged slightly on the hem of her navy slacks, then ran her hands across the stomach of her thin white sleeveless blouse. "You know what? This isn't even worth my time. You're not worth my time to argue with. I get two hours a day with my kids, and I am not about to let you ruin this time for me. So, if you'll excuse me."

Carly turned and looked up at Lorenzo. From behind, Brenda couldn't see her expression, but the loose frown on Lorenzo's lips told her that Carly wasn't smiling, either. The former Mrs. Corinthos reached up, running her fingers over the side of Lorenzo's hair. He bent to kiss her, and then she was back around, looking at Brenda. "Do what you're going to do, I really don't care. Just don't get me or Lorenzo stuck in the middle of your mess. Or Jason either. We've all got enough going on without wondering if you're going to change your mind."

Brenda stepped to the side as Carly moved past her, making sure that neither of them touched one another. Carly disappeared out into the foyer and she sighed. Truly, her intention had not been to get into the middle of an argument with Carly. She had only accompanied Luis to see his brother because he had insisted. They'd both done enough on their first night in town that he didn't think it was safe for her to be left at the Metro Court alone. Brenda thought, though, that he also wasn't quite sure of what she would have done. He wasn't worried that she'd go running to Sonny or Jax, or even Jason. No, he seemed to be more concerned with what trouble she could get into on her own. He'd unleashed the caged animal within her, and he didn't want her raging on others without his expert supervision.

Lorenzo sighed and Brenda turned around. He wasn't happy at all, but she was sure he'd be much more excited later on. Looking at him, she wondered if she'd have been confused if she'd been in Port Charles when he first came to town. She didn't know what he had looked like two years ago, but at that moment, he looked exactly like Luis. The hair was the same, the posture… but whereas Luis always seemed to wear a smirk or a mischievous grin, Lorenzo Alcazar seemed to be more serious. His lips were pursed in a way that Brenda had seen Luis plenty of times, but for some reason, he just wasn't Luis. He was… He was Lorenzo, and she thought that she would have definitely been able to tell them apart.

"That could have gone better," Lorenzo said. His arms were folded, but he let them drop to his side as he turned and walked farther into the expansive living room. The house they stood in was much larger than the cottage Jax had kept her in, and lighter than any home Sonny would ever own. The fact that an Alcazar would be the large, light one made Brenda want to laugh, but she held it back as Lorenzo spoke again. "You should have told me that you were bringing her with you, Luis." He looked to Brenda and the marginal distaste was palpable. "Between the kidnapping and Sonny buying custody, the last thing Carly needs is World War III in her own home. In fact, it would be the last thing I need if there weren't one more very important thing."

"Lorenzo…"

"Stop." Luis looked to his brother with stern eyes. The brothers stared at one another and Brenda was very sure that this wasn't anything new for them. She'd never seen Luis actually listen to anyone or do anything remotely similar to taking orders, but this wasn't just anyone. This was his brother, and for whatever reasons Luis had dained not to share, he would listen now, even if he didn't necessarily do so out of his presence. "You should have told me you were coming to town. You should have given me a chance to prepare."

"To prepare for what? What would you have done, Lorenzo?" Luis groaned and sat down hard beside his brother. "You'd have told me not to come, to sit in Caracas and be useful. I'm tired of business and I missed Port Charles." He turned to Lorenzo and smirked. "And of course I missed my wonderful, loving, life-saving brother."

Lorenzo looked like he wanted to shake his brother, and Brenda couldn't blame him. There were times even now, though she loved him dearly, that she wanted to grab him by the lapels and shake him until he stopped laughing, stopped teasing. On more than one occasion, she'd actually started the motion. Unfortunately, she never ended up shaking him when she held him by the lapels and always wound up kissing him, instead. She was positive that if Lorenzo grabbed him, however, he would actually get shaken.

Lorenzo didn't grab him, but he moved away from him, sliding until he hit the arm of the sofa. "Do not come here and kill anyone, Luis. I'm serious. Carly doesn't even know that I took our businesses back in the States from Faith Roscoe. I don't need her finding out because of you."

"Have some faith in me, hermano." Luis extended his arm and Brenda took his hand. He pulled her down over the rear of the sofa and let her land with a thump on his lap. She laughed as he pulled her around so that she was seated as properly as possible, facing Lorenzo. "I do my killing in countries that don't care if a criminal or two ends up floating en el río. I'm a ruthless bastard, Lorenzo, but I'm not stupid. I've learned my lesson where Corinthos and the Austrailian playboy are concerned."

"Oh, have you now." Lorenzo's eyes floated from Luis to Brenda and he quietly said, "For some reason, I reall don't believe you."

Brenda sighed and leaned into Luis. Her black tank top was low cut and when Luis bent forward, his hair scratched against the bare areas of her chest. When Luis had told her that his brother didn't think he could change that much, he had been right. She couldn't really blame him, considering that she, herself, wasn't that sure in the beginning just how much Luis could change. However, she'd seen it, and Lorenzo would, too. If nothing else, he would realize that the last thing either of them wanted to do was hurt him or break up whatever little happy life he had going on in Port Charles. They just wanted to share in it… and make it a little better and a lot more exciting.

"Don't worry, Lorenzo," she said with a gentle smile. "I've already told Luis that he's not here to kill anyone. There's more than one way to get revenge on people, and since it's mostly my revenge, we're going to do it my way." She giggled. "Well, my way with a dash of Luis." She grinned widely and let her tongue float over her teeth. Her index finger ran up and down Luis's cheek as she said, "And as far as Carly's concerned, well… I think she'll get over her little attitude soon enough."

"And why, exactly is that?"

"Because…" She sat up, then leaned forward. Her hair fell in heavy waves into her face and she peered through the curtains that closed in on her visage. Her grin was bright and just as dark as Luis's. "She doesn't know it yet, but our goals intersect, and once I've accomplished mine… she'll have reached hers."