Chapter 7

Entering the Port Charles hotel, Alexis went directly to the front desk to sign in. The manager quickly approached her and told her everything was taken care of and then asked if she would please follow him to her room. Alexis was in no mood for any shenanigans. It had been a long day and the events of the last few minutes depleted not only her patience, but the remainder of her energy. She needed rest and she need to rejuvenate. What she didn't need was some over eager manager mistaking her for someone else and further deterring her from her intended goal.

"Mr. Uh, Johns is it?" She questioned sighting his name tag, "You are not expecting me, I do not have a reservation. This was a last minute trip and I did not take the time to make a reservation. So please, do you have a vacancy for the evening?"

"Oh, I am very sorry for your inconvenience, Miss Davis. But, forgive me, I was told by Mr. Corinthos to keep watch for you and to take you directly to our penthouse suite once you arrived, without allowing you to sign in. He also wished me to tell you that once he was able to finish the business you left him with in the park he would meet you there."

Even with her obvious irritation at Sonny handling her, she knew that in this situation until she could speak to him, she would allow it. This time! She followed the manager to the elevator and together they exited on the penthouse floor without further conversation. Stepping off the elevator, Alexis noticed a quite attractive medium built man standing outside the entrance of the penthouse door. Before she could question the manager the stranger stepped forward and smiled awkwardly, "Miss Davis, my name is Johnny, and Mr. Corinthos asked me to stay here with you until he returned."

Alexis was really getting angry now. She did not need a bodyguard and no one was going to start telling her what she needed, when she needed, and how she needed. She opened her mouth ready to let Johnny know where she stood on the matter and that she would not need his services this evening. However, before she could utter the first word, Johnny, reading her expression and knowing she was about to explode, quickly cut off her attempt to speak and finished Sonny's message to her.

"Mr. Corinthos, further asked me to explain why he felt the need overrule your objections in this matter. He is concerned that his wife will get wind of where you are and he doesn't want you to have to deal with her until he talks to you first." Johnny hoped that Alexis would take the explanation at face value and let him do his job without causing him any trouble.

Alexis stood quite still for a moment and then looked to the manager nodding succinctly that he was free to go. As she looked back up at Johnny, she noticed that he had the kindest eyes she had ever seen. "Thank you, Johnny. Could you get in touch with Mr. Corinthos and tell him that tonight would not be convenient for a meeting. It has been a long day and I need some time to rest and make some notes before he and I meet. Thank him for his assistance this evening and I will see him here in the morning at 10:00." Alexis turned and quietly let herself into the penthouse without giving Johnny a chance to protest.

Johnny turned from the door with a big grin on his face. This was going to get interesting. Sonny wasn't used to a woman telling him what to do. Especially a woman who looked like that! Yea, this was going to get real interesting. Johnny turned and positioned himself outside her door to begin his night's work of protecting those that Sonny needed him to protect. This was going to be an easy assignment. He could tell. Those eyes he had just fallen into were going to be the undoing of his boss. It was just a prediction on Johnny's part. But, he'd lay odds on this one. He quietly chuckled as he pulled his cellphone from his pocket to call his boss and give him Miss Davis' message.

The taxi driver was ripped out of his daydreams by the violence that his taxi door had been pulled open and slammed shut. The next thing he saw was a crisp $100 bill under his nose and Mr. Corinthos in the back seat of his taxi. Everyone in Port Charles knew Mr. Corinthos. He was either highly respected or highly feared by just about everyone in town.

"Did you just let out a very attractive woman at the park entrance?" Sonny needed to know where Alexis was headed. Over the past two weeks things had heated up between Carly and himself. He needed to warn Alexis as much as he needed to talk to her. He couldn't get over the surprise that she was here. She was in Port Charles. And just when he knew Michael was about to witness another one of his mothers famous tirades, he heard her. Relief washed over him. He knew she would see to it that Carly did not follow them until he had a chance to get Michael out of the way.

How did she know what he needed? Then he remembered what she told him in her office. He was not her client, Michael was. What she did today was not for him. She was protecting Michael. Even in acknowledging what he knew to be true, he couldn't help the twinge of jealousy he felt. He quickly dismissed it and acknowledged he now owed her. She put herself in between Michael and that bitch of a mother who claimed to love her son. Carly had no clue what love was. But, more to the point, he was now questioning whether he really knew what love was. How could he have allowed Michael to be caught up in this mess if he loved him! Sonny blamed himself every time he saw the fear in Michael's eyes when he saw his mother.

"Uh, yea Mr. Corinthos. I still have her bags in the back. I'm supposed to drop them at the Port Charles hotel. I was headed there now. She didn't want to wait in the traffic so I told her the hotel was just a quick walk through the park. She decided to walk and asked me to deliver her bags."

"That's fine. Go ahead to the hotel and I'll take care of her bags." Sonny quickly decided what he needed to do. When they arrived at the hotel he called hotel manager out to the car since he did not want to leave Michael alone in the taxi. He didn't want to take Michael in to the hotel either. He didn't want to take the chance of Carly inadvertently seeing them. When the manager came out to the car, Sonny quickly explained what he wanted the manager to do and paid him quite well for his help. He only hoped Alexis wouldn't kick up too much of a fuss. He knew she was very independent and did not like people making decisions for her.

Once he finished with the manager he called Johnny. He knew Johnny was close by. Johnny was Sonny's shadow. It had been that way for years. Johnny was more than a bodyguard; he was a trusted friend. Sonny knew Johnny would guard Alexis with the same loyal dedication that he guarded him.

When Sonny reached his penthouse with Michael, rather than turn toward his own door he walked straight ahead and pressed a well-concealed button on the wall in front of the elevator. The wall, which didn't look any different than any of the others, slid back to reveal another door. Just as Sonny knew the day would come when he would have to take Michael away from Carly, he also knew he needed to be able to provide a place where Michael would feel at home and safe. So Sonny quietly and very secretively rebuilt part of the 10th floor of the Port Charles Tower. The only way it could be gotten to was through the wall.

However, unbeknownst to all who had been allowed entrance to Sonny's penthouse, there was a door connecting his penthouse to Michael's well-hidden rooms. No one could get to Michael. Sonny wouldn't let anyone. He provided a nanny for Michael and a bodyguard. They were both called into service after he left the hotel. Just as he arrived at the penthouse he received the call from Johnny with Alexis' message.

And just as Johnny predicted, Sonny didn't care to be told she didn't intend to see him that evening. And just as he was preparing to let Johnny have it, he felt Michael's arms wrap around his leg. As he looked down into the frightened eyes of the little boy, he couldn't help but think that Alexis, without even being there, was seeing to the needs of Michael. Michael needed his father tonight more than Sonny needed to speak with Alexis. 'Ok, Alexis', He thought as reached to pick up his son. 'Tonight you get your way. But don't think this is going to become a regular practice.'