Carly was hesitant as she stepped onto the yacht. This was where her life had been forever changed, and at one time, she'd sworn to herself that she would never step foot aboard the luxury ship, again. However, in her life, things didn't always go according to plan. Actually, they never went according to plan, so it really wasn't anything new.
The guards that had once been posted to keep her confined now parted like butter on the sides of a warm knife that sliced it down the middle. She moved carefully past them, still slightly unnerved by the eyes that watched her. On the way out to the yacht, floating just outside of the jurisdiction of the PCPD, Carly's head had been covered. As she walked further onto the yacht, moving to the stairs that led to the lower decks, she slid the dark shawl from her head and wrapped it tighter around her body. If the air on shore had been chilly, the air on the yacht was absolutely freezing. She was grateful to finally be within the heated interior of the ship's walls, her body starting to warm.
There were more guards, men she didn't recognize, and something hit Carly like a slap to the side of the head. The kind that said, "How could you be so stupid?" Lorenzo had told her that he was giving up his illegal operations within the United States during her custody battle with Sonny. At the time, she'd heard what she wanted to hear. In the present, though, surrounded by men she'd never seen before, men with expensive suits trying to hide the bulges at their sides and backs, she knew that he'd still held onto his interests elsewhere. In fact, it was entirely possible that he had long since taken back his territory in the States and she hadn't even known.
She also realized, as she stopped outside the door, that she didn't really care all that much. In the end, Lorenzo relinquishing his businesses hadn't swayed any jury. The only thing that had accomplished was to put him at risk. Besides, had he truly given it all up, he might not have had the resources that were suddenly so valuable. Oh, he'd have still held the yacht. Part of her thought that it meant too much to him to ever give up. It was too much like his brother's, or so he had once mentioned. No, the transportation would be available, but the destination may not have been. If he cut all of his ties, he might not have had a welcoming port to dock them in. He might not have had anywhere to take them.
Carly reached her immediate destination and again, guards parted the way for her. She pushed the door open slightly and peered inside. Jason was lying on the bed, and over the distance, he didn't seem to be conscious. He had been lying on this yacht for two days, resting as Lorenzo's medical personnel prepared him for their journey. Though the harbor and the Atlantic weren't frozen over, the air was cold enough that the trip would be choppy. The patch-up job on Jason was just meant to sustain a trip down the Eastern seaboard to a state where Lorenzo had "friends." From there, once Jason was more securely patched, they would fly down to Venezuela.
Sam stood on the other side of the room, her arms folded tightly and tucked beneath her breasts. She looked like a thief in the night, clothed in black jeans and shirt. Her jacket was on the foot of Jason's bed. She stood across from Lorenzo, equally dressed in what had become his usual black attire. Part of Carly wanted to be jealous. Logically, she knew that there was nothing there. Lorenzo and Sam didn't even really like one another. But, then again, when had Carly Benson Quartermaine Corinthos ever relied on logic? To her inner bitch, she just saw another woman talking to her man, and that wasn't good.
Then, logic and reason hit her again. Even if she still thought of the Sam as the little tramp that had wrecked a marriage that was already wrecked beyond belief, she wouldn't have been flirting with Lorenzo with Jason right there. She wasn't a Sam supporter, nor was she a believer in the intentions of other women, but she knew that Sam was in love with Jason. She knew that Sam wouldn't break his heart. She would stand beside him just as he stood beside her, now. Or laid beside her, as the case may be.
Carly sighed and shook her head. She couldn't stand there forever. There were still things that she had to do. Something that she'd intended to do in the first place, but was sidetracked by fear. "We can't cast off, yet," she said, pushing herself through the door. She looked at Lorenzo with wide, almost vacant eyes. "We can't leave, yet."
"Carly?" His brow furrowed and he crossed to her. She was visibly upset, practically on the verge of shock. Lorenzo reached out to her, his hands landing on each of her arms. He rubbed her arms for a few seconds just above the elbow, then ran his hands up her arms. He passed over her shoulders, then finally stopped at her face. His hands pressed her hair against her neck. "What happened? Didn't you get the boys?"
"I…" She swallowed and tried to pull herself together. "I went there, but Sonny… He knows, and I don't know how he knows, but he knows that we helped Jason and Sam get away from his house. He, um…" She looked down and then, with Lorenzo touching her, she suddenly felt the dull ache in her forearms. She didn't know if it were the heat seeping in that did it, or Lorenzo's gentle touch, so different from Sonny's. "He got real mad."
"What did he do?" Sam rushed forward, but she stopped just short of Carly. Jason was echoing her sentiment and trying to rise from the bed. He'd apparently been more aware than Carly first thought. Sam tried her best to push Jason back to the bed, and only his physical weakness allowed her to succeed. As she held Jason to the bed, she looked at Carly. "What did he do to you?" Sam was visibly upset, seething and speaking through clenched teeth. "Did he hit you?"
Carly didn't know whether to be offended or proud, and it was the latter that struck her as strange. The part of her that still wanted to claim loyalty to her ex-husband was angry that Sam would automatically assume he'd done something. And yet, the greater part was glad that this whole thing had opened Sam's eyes to Sonny as much as it had opened her own. She had felt sympathy and somewhat of a kinship with Sam over the loss of her baby, but now, she felt… pride. As though they were comrades in the same situation who saw the truth as it was meant to be seen.
Carly shook her head. "He just… he grabbed me." She stepped back and took off her long, brown coat. It fell to the floor. Slowly, staring at her arms, she pulled up the sleeves of a tight, burgundy sweater. A few inches above her wrists, the skin was mottled with purple bruising. "He grabbed me and…"
She was cut off as Lorenzo started to speak in Spanish, his words rapid and his voice low and menacing. And yet, she wasn't afraid as she had been with Sonny. Somewhere deep inside, she'd always been waiting for the day that Sonny struck out at her, or any other woman for that matter. He'd come close so many times, but she had always thought that there would be a point where he lost control and "turned into Deke" as he was so quick to say. Tonight, he'd come very close. He might have made the full transformation had she not gotten away.
But, Lorenzo… There was no inner voice, no soft but urgent warnings that she needed to get away. His anger wasn't directed at her, and she wasn't in any danger. With Sonny, he could strike out no matter where his rage was pointed, but Lorenzo wouldn't do that. He would hold his temper until he could exact revenge where it was truly deserved.
"Carly…" Jason's voice was strained. He still tried to fight Sam, but she held him too tightly. "Show me," he said.
"Jase…"
"Show me!" Though his voice was weak, he still managed to be commanding. She walked to him slowly and, with shame, pushed her arms out towards him. Sam released his shoulders and slowly Jason rose his arm. He touched her bruises tentatively then, surprisingly, tears began to leak silently out of his eyes. "This is my fault," he whispered.
"No, Jase. It's not…"
"It is," he said firmly. "I left you with him. He was supposed to take care of you and now…" He shook his head and slumped into the bed. The pillows rose on either side of his head, a fluffy and light backdrop for such a pained and sorrowful portrait. "He'll pay for this, Carly, I swear. Sonny… I never thought he'd go too far, but he has. He came close, but now, he's crossed a line."
"Jason, you should rest," Sam said softly. She turned to Carly, and it was plain that she was in no shape to discuss the matter anymore than Jason. "Please, okay?" Her own tears were falling, some for Jason, many for the kidnapped little girl that her own dead child had saved, but a few left over for Carly. Sam had been beaten before. Hell, the punch to the eye she'd gotten from Nico was nothing compared to what she'd gotten in the past. She could handle it. But, she got the idea that Carly wasn't used to this kind of thing and she didn't know how to handle it.
Sighing, she turned back to Jason. "Go to sleep, okay? We'll get the boys, and then we'll leave."
"I have to look for Kristina… to clear your name."
"Right now, all you've got to do is get strong." Sam bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips. She brushed her fingertips along his cheek and sighed. "Just rest, alright?"
As Sam urged Jason to sleep, Carly turned towards Lorenzo. He was speaking low to one of the guards, and even though she couldn't decipher every Spanish word that leaked to her ears, she knew enough from the minimal amount she had learned and his demeanor that he was plotting something. More than likely, he was plotting the same thing that Jason wanted.
"Lorenzo…" He didn't answer her and she went to him, her eyes leaking. She grabbed his arm and jerked. Catching him by surprise, she was able to spin him around. His burning glare was almost enough to make her back up, but she held her ground. "Don't do this, Lorenzo. Not… This isn't the time. We have to think about Jason. We have to get him and Sam out of the country and… I've got to get the boys."
"He deserves to die for what he's done to you."
"He didn't do anything, Lorenzo. He just grabbed me. And I'm not going to make excuses for him, I swear. But right now, I can't care about Sonny. I've got to get my boys."
"Carly…"
"Please, Lorenzo."
He looked at her steadily for a few beats then sighed. "For now," he told her. At some point, Sonny Corinthos would pay for what he had done. Angry over the loss of his daughter or not, he had no right to lay his hands on Carly, or anyone else for that matter. "I'll send two guards with you to get the boys."
"That's just going to make things worse. Maybe I can get Courtney…" She stopped and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right. Her own neice is missing and where is she? Off using it as an excuse not to get married. Not like I want her to marry Jax, but the way she's been acting, I really think they deserve each other sometimes." She sighed. "But, Courtney's not the point. Michael and Morgan are. If this is some kind of thing against Sonny, then my boys are in danger. I can't let them stay with Sonny. He said they would be safer there. He beefed up the guards and got the system rushed, but… I just can't leave them there."
"I'll go with you." Sam stepped up. "And don't tell me that it defeats the purpose of running, or any of that. You and Jason put yourselves on the line for me and I can't just let that go." She sighed and her shoulders dropped. "I can sneak you in." Carly looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Sam said, "What? I got in to get the money, didn't I? Sonny doesn't know how I got on the property, so he won't have fixed it."
"Sam…" Carly was hesitant. It wasn't that she didn't trust her. She was ready to return the favor they'd given her, ready to risk being caught to help her get her children. But, she didn't want Jason's shooting to be for nothing. She didn't want this all to be for nothing. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Just…" She looked past Lorenzo and sighed. "I know you barely like me and you don't like Jason at all. You two have this history, I know, and there's all of this stuff there…" She shook her head. "But, can you please make sure he's okay?" Lorenzo didn't speak, but he nodded, his eyes floating from Sam to Carly and finally resting on Jason. He nodded once more, firmly, and Sam turned to Carly. "So, that's taken care of. Now, let's go get your boys."
