Luis was a lot of things. He was resilent, mouthy, and demanding. At the same time, he was loving, nurturing, and wrecklessly spontaneous. All of that made the fact that he was late getting back to the penthouse scary as hell to Brenda. There was too much that he could get into on the streets of Port Charles. Sonny may not have attacked him with her standing there, but Luis on his own… He was too large of a target to be out there.

For a second, she thought it was funny. She was actually worried about Luis being on his own. The international arms dealer, the man who had survived a harrowing fall and stab to the chest, the man who had a heart great enough to forgive her… Yeah, he was completely needy of her concern. Not. But, all the same, she couldn't help it. He had been gone all day, and the only contact she'd had with him was one phone call telling her to stay put. One measily little call where he told her not to leave the penthouse and that he would be back later.

That had made her wish that she'd bought a television, and glad that she had access to a laptop computer. She was able to sit jittery for all of ten minutes before she jumped online and found a place that would deliver the set. Granted, same day delivery wasn't a hot commodity in Port Charles, but when an extra thousand dollars were tossed their way, someone was always willing to make an exception.

In the six hours since Luis had called, Brenda had watched enough TV to realize that there was absolutely nothing on local television. "Note to self: Call the cable company and have them send someone out here as soon as possible." There was news, however, and that's what she needed. If Luis had been arrested, killed or even just injured, someone would have been reporting it. The fact that there had been no breaking news updates should have eased her mind. Instead, it just made her all the more paranoid.

Jax wouldn't have done anything, she knew that. He had an image to uphold. He had to be the good guy at every turn. He wouldn't dare tarnish is waxed and shiny halo by trying to kill Luis Alcazar. Sonny, however, would. Sonny would have Luis rubbed out just like that. Hell, he'd stood right in front of her and told people to kill him. Why wouldn't he do it again when she wasn't around? The only thing that slightly eased her fears was that she didn't think Jason would take the order. But, Sonny could still order someone else to do the hit, and Luis would be just as dead. And on top of that, he would be dead and disappeared, because he wouldn't want Brenda going to the cops, swearing that he'd killed someone, and he didn't want Lorenzo to come after him for revenge.

"Oh, this is just wonderful." Brenda turned off the television and threw the remote control to the sofa. She was lucky that Sonny had left the furniture behind when he moved out. Her plans for the day hadn't been to rub anything in anyone's faces or sit around the penthouse, waiting for Luis to show up. This day, she was supposed to spend doing something that she did better than anyone else she knew. Shopping. She was supposed to get her own furniture, and maybe a few lamps, because she was not going to stay too long in that penthouse of darkness and shadows.

Brenda walked to the window and stared out at the harbor. Had they taken the yacht into town, she would have been able to see it from the window. It wasn't the same yacht that they'd come to town on, of course. That had long since been destroyed, blown to pieces in the middle of the harbor. However, it was similar enough that in appearance, it could have been the same way. Except with the new one, there were no memories. Sometimes that was good, but others… When she wanted to remember the scent of Luis on the pillows on the mornings that he rose before she did, the memory was gone and she just had to make new ones on the new yacht.

But, the new yacht wasn't in Port Charles. And the harbor was empty, save for a few recreational boats. Brenda couldn't see a damn thing as she looked out except for dark water and the tiny spots that represented people moving around on the docks. Everything on that side of the city was completely dark and it was irritating as hell.

Gritting her teeth, Brenda turned and stared at the door. She didn't even know why she'd stayed in when Luis told her to. Probably because she couldn't think of anywhere to go, anything to do. Lois had moved back to Bensonhurst earlier in the year, and Brook Lynn probably wouldn't remember her. Ned would yell at her, and she didn't feel like a lecture. With that being the case, her choices of who to go see were slim to none.

For a second, she had considered going across the hall. Brenda did want to get to know Sam McCall, see where she stood with Jason and if she would help keep him out of the middle of everything. But, if Sam were there, Jason might have been, too, and that meant Sonny could have been there and well… That wasn't going to do any good. Though, she had been rather surprised that Sonny hadn't shown up at the penthouse at some point in the day. Because he hadn't, Brenda could only assume that Jason hadn't told him anything yet.

"Very pissed off am I," she muttered to herself, turning from the window. She stalked back to the sofa and picked up her cell phone. She stared at the buttons, her thumb poised to dial, then stopped. "Yeah, and who am I gonna call? I don't have Lorenzo's number. Hell, I don't have anybody's number in this stupid city. Well, I've got Lois, but… Yeah, that's a lecture. I could…"

She stopped as the sound of the door closing reached her ears. That thing needed to be squeaky or something because she hadn't even heard it open. Brenda whirled around and though she had a major urge to scream at Luis for leaving her there, impulse overrode that need. She ran towards him then jumped up. Luis caught her around the waist, and she enveloped him with her arms and legs.

"Well," he said with a smirk, "aren't we a little monkey?"

"You are horrible!" She kissed his neck, then leaned back. Her arms came from around his neck and she grabbed his cheeks. She dropped hard, quick kisses all around his face. "I can't believe you! Where have you been!"

"I had to do some business." Luis tightened his arms around her and bumped her up. He walked her across the room and sat down on the end of the sofa. Brenda's legs loosened and she planted her feet into the sofa. Luis stretched his legs in front of her, then looked up at Brenda with a grin. "Some business that you shouldn't be a part of."

"Luis…" She rolled her head to the side and twisted her mouth towards the right. "You know we're not here for you to get in trouble."

"And you know that I still have business to do. If Lorenzo doesn't want Carly to know that he took the businesses back, I've got to handle a few things."

"Yeah, well… You still shouldn't leave me alone. And what's this with telling me not to go anywhere, huh? You scared I'm gonna get into trouble?"

"Somethin' like that." He rose his hand to her cheek and she rolled her face in his palm. "There are too many people in this town that could get you to do things that you don't want to do. Things you don't mean to do."

Brenda bent her bottom lip and leaned into Luis. She rested her forehead against his and murmurred softly. Her hands rose behind his head and she tapped her fingers against the back of his head. "I'm not leaving you, Luis," she said softly. "I'm not going to do it again."

"I know, darling," he told her, but she wasn't too sure she believed him. He had to have been worried that she would turn again, that it would only take a few people to convince her that she'd made the wrong decision. Possibly even the same people who had done so last time. She couldn't blame him, either. Sometimes, she didn't even have the faith in herself to stay strong. Sometimes, she thought that she just might be too weak for Luis Alcazar.

"I talked to Jason today," she told him. He tried to pull back, but she held his head. "It was totally by accident. I went in the hallway looking for you, and I ran into him. I told him that I love you and that you love me. I told him I believed in you and to just stay out of our way. I warned him so if he gets hurt, it's neither of our faults, now. And I met his girlfriend." Brenda smiled softly. "She doesn't seem so bad. And, she might be able to help us, somehow. I don't know, but I want to have lunch with her tomorrow."

"Brenda…"

"I need a friend, Luis, and she's probably as close as I'll get. I don't care what I do for Carly, she and I will just never be friends." She sighed. "Besides, I want to convince her that I'm not here to hurt Jason. If I can do that, then she can talk him into staying out of it all. Then, we can focus on what we're here for."

Luis's mouth stretched in an even line. "And then?"

"And then…" She bit her lip again, then pushed. Luis toppled back onto the sofa, with Brenda straddling his waist. She leaned down and kissed him, then said, "…we go to Belize, or maybe Caracas, or… Ooh, I think I wanna go to Greece for a little while. Or maybe Ibiza."

Luis grinned, lips stretched tightly against his teeth. "I think we can do Ibiza," he said, then grabbed her head and pulled her down for a hard kiss. Breaking the kiss, he licked his lips, then said, "But keep the lunch short. We've got our own business to take care of, and the sooner we do that, the sooner we can get out of town."

She moaned softly, then laughed. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said, then kissed him again.