Chapter 5

Alexis sat at her desk the next morning making notes on her legal pad. She wrote quickly and decisively. A plan was formulating in her mind and if it was going to work, she needed to put into motion documents that would support Sonny's wish to be the sole custodial parent of Michael. She knew what Sonny told her about Carly, but she also needed to put her own detective in place to continue to cover the woman's activities. Alexis knew how to play dirty when she needed to. With the sort of clientele she chose to represent, she would do almost anything within the confines of the law to protect them.

She had been at it for a couple of hours and needed to sit back and rest her eyes a moment. As she leaned back in her chair she couldn't help but remember the events of the night before. The child that Sonny was so touched her heart that she had decided before he finished his story that she would do whatever she could to see that he did in fact gain custody of Michael. Any man who held that much passion, who could love as deeply as he loved his mother deserved the chance to protect his own child.

She saw more in him than he intended her to see. Alexis saw the pain that still lived in his eyes. Her heart broke for the child he once was and now understood the man he became a little better. They had stayed in her office until 9:00 that night discussing his reasons behind his wanting custody and why he needed to get Michael away from Carly. When they finished Alexis was wiped out and Sonny hadn't looked much better. They were at it for six straight hours. She hadn't even noticed when Ann closed the office for the day. She was surprised when Sonny asked to let him take her out to dinner, but she declined.

"Look," Sonny whined with dimples in place looking quite dashing, "you haven't even told me for sure if you are going to take my case. You gotta let me feed you at least."

And Alexis with a hint of a smile simply replied that she didn't dine socially with her clients and she would call him when she needed him to come in and sign the documents she would prepare for him.

They parted ways at the elevator each going their own way. Alexis back to her Manhattan apartment and Sonny back to his jet to prepare for the flight back to Port Charles.

Man he was tired. When Sonny reached the jet, he fell onto the sofa without even taking off his coat. He couldn't remember a time when he had been so emotionally drained. But, he also recognized that he was somewhat more at peace about having to discuss his fiercely protected past with a virtual stranger. But, this was different. Even though he had only met her a short few hours before, Alexis didn't feel like a stranger. It felt as if he had known her all his life and he had just placed into her care the fight of his life; the fight to keep his son.

Even as the thought crossed his mind he felt a twinge of guilt at not having told her the whole truth. He just didn't want the fight to be harder than it already was. The more he thought though, the more he knew he would not be able to keep the truth from Alexis. She was good. She would find out. And he knew, without knowing how he knew ... Alexis would probably take anything from anyone as long as they didn't lie to her or withhold the truth. And because she had been able to accept him today without any preconceived notions, he knew he would not be leaving New York until he had told her the truth.

Ann knocked on Alexis' office door and stuck her head inside with a quizzical look on her face.

"What is it, Ann?" questioned Alexis.

"He's back. Are you expecting him back?

"Who is back?"

"Mr. Corinthos!"

"Sonny Corinthos?"

"Yea, you know, the doll that walked in here yesterday that had you stuttering like a school girl."

"Ann, do you enjoy your job here?"

"Why yes, Miss Davis, I do. Why?"

"If you do indeed value your job here, then I would suggest that you hold your personal comments to yourself. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, Miss Davis. I'm sorry. What do you wish me to tell Mr. Corinthos?"

"Give me a minute and then show him in? What time is my next appointment?

"In 30 minutes."

"Please call and reschedule for tomorrow."

Alexis did not know why Sonny was back so soon. But, she wanted to make sure she allowed herself enough time to deal with any problem that may have come up since last night. Besides, she really did want to get another look at those incredible dimples.

When Sonny walked in Alexis could tell something was on his mind and it didn't look good. And she really didn't like looks like the one he was giving her. It always meant trouble.

"Mr. Corinthos? Did we miss something last night? Did you remember something else that would be beneficial to the case?"

Sonny knew he was fixing to see a fireball erupt and there was no way around it. The best way to handle this was to just say what he had to say and handle the fallout as best he could. He knew from his time with her yesterday that Alexis was a reasonable person. She would calm down and simply handle the news in a professional manner. He hoped.

"Miss Davis, I neglected to give you a vital piece of information yesterday that is going to have a dramatic effect on the way you handle this case. And after I got back to the plane, the more I thought about it the more I realized that you need to hear it from me and not from someone else."

"Alright, Mr. Corinthos, you have my undivided attention."

"Michael is not my biological son."

"WHAT?"

"He is the son of my wife, Carly and Jason Morgan."

Alexis started to pace as she usually did when her mind was given an overload of information that she needed to process quickly. As she turned to walk back toward her desk she ran right into Sonny. "Excuse me, can you give me a little room, please?"

"Just how mad are you, Alexis?" asked Sonny as he gingerly stepped back out of her way.

"Enough to tell you that at this moment you are not free to use my first name. I'll let you know when you can. Sit down!"

Sonny knew that it would be ok. He could tell by her voice that she was irritated. It had an edge to it, but it was her eyes he was looking at. Upon hearing his news, he saw the sudden anger, but she immediately began processing the information to see how it could be dealt with. So Sonny just sat back and waited until she was ready to talk. This woman not only had a quick wit, but she was smart. No, that wasn't quite right. She was more than just smart; the word he was looking for was intelligent. Yes, Sonny knew without a doubt that Alexis would work this out and it would be done quickly and neatly, without holes.

Alexis paced until she calmed down and could once again reason with the additional news Sonny brought her. But what Sonny was unaware of, was that during all of the pacing that Alexis just put herself through, it had only taken a few moments to process his bombshell. The rest of the time her thoughts were not on Michael, Jason or Carly; that would come later. Her thoughts had been on Sonny. Why didn't he tell her last night? Why didn't he just pick up a phone and call her with the additional information? Was he able to figure out on his own that lies were not something she would tolerate? Who was this man who was sitting in her office?

Alexis knew that Sonny did not offer information readily. And although he knew this information was critical to her case and had the potential to shut him down completely he had also knew it was important for her to hear it from him. What this information clearly meant to him and why he felt the need to hide it from her yesterday was at this moment more important to her. She correctly came to the conclusion that Sonny had decided to trust her completely. He had just placed into her hands the love he held for Michael. He trusted her to make things right and she would. Not just for Michael, but for Sonny as well. She turned and went back to stand behind her desk and waited until Sonny brought his gaze up to her face and as she locked her gaze on his beautiful dark eyes she quietly and emphatically stated her rules.

"Ok. Number one: If it has to do with this case, it had better be on the table before you leave this office today. Number two: If there is anything that you feel you cannot trust me with that has a direct bearing on this case then go find yourself another lawyer. And Number three: If you ever lie to me again or deceive me again, I repeat find yourself another lawyer. Do we understand each other, Mr. Corinthos?

"Yes, Miss Davis, we do?

Alexis looked back down at her desk so Sonny would not see her smile. "Fine then, you may now use my first name when you address me."

Sonny was beside himself. He was relieved that he had gauged her reaction to his news correctly, but did not miss her tiny smile as she lowered her gaze to her desk. He was trying hard not to laugh, but in his effort not to do so he made a noise in his throat that caused Alexis to look up. With one look at those gorgeous dimples and his obvious attempt to keep his laughter in check, she folded and they both enjoyed a good laugh together. They were finding common ground and it felt good. As they looked at each other across her desk, they both knew that they had begun a journey together and regardless of the obstacles they knew would come during their journey, they were eager to see where it would lead them.