Note: Though there will be an eventual Reese/Sonny coupling in this story, I'm working with Reese never having been moved into the penthouse. Also, I'm not using any of that garbage about Reese being the real Carly because I just find it to be a stupid storyline.

Brenda stood in the middle of the bedroom and felt a little bit uncomfortable. No, the hell with that. She was extremely uncomfortable, and she had every right to be. The last time she had been in that room, she'd collapsed beside a dead body and had to be carried to a chair. She had watched an extinguished life in that room, and she shouldn't have been in there. And yet, pathetically, it was the only room in the entire place that she would probably have been able to sleep in.

"Did you know," she said softly, "that when Sonny moved out of this place, he gave it to Robin?" She turned and walked back to the doorway. Luis was sitting on that bed and, even though it wasn't the same bed that Stone had died on, it was in the same spot. It just felt… wrong. Though, somehow, sleeping on the same bed, in the same room, where Sonny had slept with both of his wives and numerous other women seemed even worse. "Robin gave me the keys when I told her I was coming back."

"Staying here was your idea, Brenda." Luis groaned and laid back on the bed. Brenda turned as she heard the slight sound of the springs squeaking, and she wanted to tell him to get up. She let him lay there, though, and sighed as he went on. "We could've stayed at the Metro Court, or moved in with Lorenzo."

"Yeah, like that was gonna happen." She laughed a short burst, bitter and full of ridicule. "Like Carly was going to let me stay there. You maybe, but not me. Besides…" She sighed and looked around the room again. "It's only temporary. It's all to serve a purpose."

Penthouse Four at Harborview Towers meant quite a bit to a lot of people. When Robin first told her that it had been handed over to her, Brenda could barely believe it. She didn't think that Sonny would ever give this place up. Then again, she hadn't thought Robin would just hand it over to her, either. Especially once Brenda told her what her plans were in Port Charles.

"Ya know, Luis, I was shocked," Brenda said. She turned back around and forced her feet to go forward, forced herself to approach the bed. "I mean… I didn't think Robin would go for this, but she told me… She said that it was time that I stood up to people. I guess she's as pissed at Sonny and Jax as I am. She was always more of a sister to me than my own, ya know." Brenda shrugged.

Luis looked at her as though he really didn't care to hear the story, but he didn't stop her, either. He was going to lay there and listen, probably hoping that she would let the memories go once she'd spoken them aloud. Hoping that she would get it all off her chest and just be able to go on with the plan without the haunted look, without the moments where she thought she couldn't do this, shouldn't do this, and that Luis was wrong. If only he knew how less frequent those times were coming.

But, he didn't say anything, so she went on. "Robin's not one to hold a grudge, but… between the way Sonny treats Jason and the fact that he's managed to forget about her and Stone in all of this…" She shrugged again. "I don't know. I think it upsets her, ya know? Granted she doesn't like you very much…"

Luis grunted. "Who does like me besides you and my brother?" He snickered and smirked, and she thought there was a bit of bitterness in his expression. "But, I really could give less than a damn. She doesn't even know me."

"No, she doesn't," Brenda said quickly, "but I do. And I told her. I said, 'Robin, he's done more for me than anyone has ever done.'" Brenda sighed as she finally reached the bed and looked down at Luis. "Jax humiliated me in front of the closest thing to family that I had in Port Charles. Sonny just… over and over again, he made me believe that he loved me, but he never did. He just wanted to own me. He didn't want me. He just didn't want me with you."

"What's the point in all of this, huh?"

"I don't know, really?" Her body sagged and she carefully climbed on his lap, one leg on either side. "I just… I feel like I have to say it. Like I have to convince myself that living in this place is right. I know Sonny can't come and kick us out. We gave Alexis all the paperwork that the last lawyer drew up giving us the right to live here. We've changed the locks, so he can't even bust in, but… I don't know. Maybe with Jason living right across the hall, it's just… it's weird, Luis. And I'm worried that he'll get hurt in all of this."

"Morgan will get whatever he deserves." Luis put his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer to him. Brenda groaned as her legs stretched. Her back bent and Luis kissed her collarbone. "If he chooses Corinthos over you, then he'll just have to feel the same revenge that Corinthos does."

"Thing is, me and Jason Quartermaine were great. Me and Jason Morgan… We hated each other for so long, because of Sonny, of course." She snorted, then grunted. "But, in the end… Jason deserves his happiness. He helped me, even when I thought I was going crazy. He helped me because he wanted to, not because he had to."

"If you think this is going to make me feel sorry for Jason Morgan, you're sadly mistaken, mi amor. If he gets in our way, he'll be put to the side, plain and simple."

"I know," she said with a sigh, "but I'm just letting you know to leave him out of it as best we can, alright? I just… I don't want him to get hurt when he's finally happy. But the rest of them… The rest of them can all go to hell and I'll gladly lead them there. They tried to destroy me. They tried to hurt me, and they did, but they didn't completely break me. Living here, living in this penthouse… it's just proof of how strong I am, because if I can live here, then I really can go through with everything else."

Luis looked up at her with deep, soulful eyes. His stare reminded her of the look he'd given her when he walked up to her at the small Parisian café. There was always a laugh, a twinkle in Luis's eye, but only rarely did he show what he was truly feeling. She didn't know why and she didn't ask, but it was something so rare that when Brenda saw it, she appreciated it. The way he looked at her now… There was so much love there, and it felt deeper than anything she'd ever known. She thought that maybe he should have hated her for the contribution she had in his "death" but she was glad that he forgave her. She was glad that he still loved her. She needed him. She needed his love. She needed his heart.

They started to move as Luis slowly rose from the bed, then quickly spun around. He dropped Brenda down on her back and the bed bounced. She couldn't help the squeal of excitement that came from her mouth as she touched down. She hooked her arms behind his head and laughed. "What are you doing, Luis!"

"What do you think?" He winked at her, then kissed her hard. Brenda held onto him tightly as their lips parted. His tongue explored the inner crevices of her mouth, the ridges in the roof of her mouth. Luis reached up and pulled her arms from around his neck. Then, suddenly, he was pinning her to the bed, both of her wrists held in one. He looked down at her with an impish grin.

"Luis!" She jerked against his hold and looked up into his eyes. Though, there was no fear, only the hint of excitement. He thrilled her, twisted her mind, body and soul. It was a feeling like none she'd ever had before, like nothing she would be able to experience with anyone other than Luis Alcazar. "Luis, what are you doing!"

His grin widened as he reached with one hand to the inside of his jacket. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and Brenda's eyes went wide. Her lips parted and he looked down from her face to watch her chest rise and fall. "I'm gonna make sure you that you realize how much you like living in this penthouse." He climbed on the bed, straddling her waist, and hooked one cuff around her left wrist. "Living her with me."

Brenda waited with impatience and desire as he slid to the side, then dragged her across the bed to the nearest mahogany post. Luis pulled up one arm, then the other, and looped her around the bedpost. She would have to stand, then probably jump, to get herself free and neither had any intention on letting her get into the position to do that any time soon. Though, the ideas of what positions she could end up in with the handcuffs so loosely draped…

"Come here," she said with a grin. Her mouth opened and she ran her tongue over the edge of her upper teeth. "Come here and show me just how much you love me, Luis."

"I thought I'd already shown you that." He hooked a finger in his tie to loosen it, then snatched it over his head. He ripped open his shirt, then bent over her. He scraped his teeth along her collarbone, slid his fingers inside the buttons of her tight black blouse, then ripped it open. Buttons flew and one popped him in the face. He growled. "I told you to give the buttons a rest."

"But then, you'd have to uncuff me to get my shirt off."

He snickered. "True." He bent down and ran his tongue over her skin. "Now, back to what we were doing."

"Showing me how much you love me."

"And again, I already did that."

"Then, show me how much you want me." Her body writhed on the bed, moving as much as she could as she lay trapped beneath him. "Please, Luis," she begged. "Show me."

Luis looked down at her with a smirk. Brenda loved that smirk, that tiny twist of his mouth that said that he would give her anything she wanted, do anything she wanted him to do, and quite a bit that she didn't even know she wanted. He ran the pad of his index finger along her collarbone and laughed. "Now, that," he said, "I can definitely do."