(So, basically, I'm a liar. I said I would get this chapter up faster and I didn't. I said it would be about Robin and it isn't.

Sonny, Ric, Carly and Jason make it into this chapter! Plus, a little bit of Pre-Couple JaSam fluff!

Read and Review! Tell me what ya think, homies.

Chill.)

Chapter 4: At First Sight
She lingered in his mind for a long time after she was gone, the shadow of her touch still exciting the hairs on his arm to stand on edge. He stood watching the door, willing it to open and reveal her waiting for him on the other side, a playful grin on her face. The sensible part of his nature told him that she had left, gone off to work or back to her apartment, yet he couldn't help himself.

He wanted her more than anyone, anything he had ever experienced. She captivated him with her every move, stealing from him all rational thought. His only desire was to have her in his arms, the smell of her skin intoxicating, her hair falling over his body in soft waves as they breathed each other in.

He leaned forward on the sofa, sitting on the very edge with his elbows on his knees, arms dangling listlessly floorwards and his head hanging in a similar way. He loved her. There was no other reason for the immortal butterflies fluttering spitefully in his stomach every instant of every moment he couldn't see her face or hear her voice. He loved her more than he thought his battered and broken consciousness could allow. With his ex-wife things had been tumultuous: not a bond of holy matrimony but a knot of deceit and chaos, each lie spinning them inexorably deeper into their own hatred and misery. Four years of unwavering cheating hardened his heart to all things romantic, creating part of the successful mobster the underworld knew now.

The irony of a private investigator from the local police department shattering this defense with no more effort than a smile in his direction was scathing.

Unable to stifle himself, Sonny stood and crossed the room to the mini bar. He poured himself a drink but hesitated as the glass touched his lips. Sighing, he put it down and rubbed his temples with one hand; forefinger and thumb. Anticipating her return made his yearning a thousand times more potent. He couldn't ask for a more sublime torture.

The sliding door that escaped into the back garden opened and a blur of red hair and freckles rushed in, leaving small puddles of water and mud in his wake. He was half way up the stairs before his father's voice caught him.

"Hey, hey! You're soaked. Get down here as soon as you're out of those wet clothes to clean this mess up."

"Aww!" The young boy stomped up the rest of the stairs, stomped into his room, shut the door to his room with not-quite-enough force to be called a slam, and then stomped around some more to drive his point home. Sonny grinned and listened, knowing full well the boy's protests would go no further than this. As the thuds dulled down Max entered, Morgan at his side. Max closed the door behind them before ushering the toddler up the stairs to his room.

"You're looking a little damp, there, Max."

The water strangled body guard snorted a laugh and did his best to smooth his bedraggled clothes, succeeding only to wring a small flood of water from his sleeves. With Sonny's warning against getting his younger brother wet, Michael turned all of his aqueous aggression on Max: including the implementation of the garden hose as a final line of defense. Sonny looked disapprovingly at the growing lagoon expanding at Max's feet.

Raising one foot in a reactionary effort to alleviate the problem, Max winced an apology, "Sir- I'll clean this up right away."

"Nah," Sonny said impassively, inclining his head towards the door on the other side of the room, "Leave it for Michael to clean up. He's got to learn not to get himself messy like that. Go dry off."

Nodding, shamefaced but appreciative, Max hurried across the room and out the door into the main foyer. From there he took the stairs across the hall to the guest room he called home.

Sonny felt comfortable, the soothing affects of paternal pride calming his nerves. As if on cue, Morgan tottered down the stairs and climbed onto the sofa, a book in his hand and a loving, imploring look on his face. Smiling, Sonny joined his youngest son on the sofa, accepting the book as it was offered.

"What's this?"

"Can you read it?" Morgan asked politely, his reserved nature epitomized by his downcast eyes and the way he hugged his knees. Sonny opened to the first page of the short picture book and Morgan scooted closer. The two bonded through the first seven pages before Michael interrupted, poking his head over the back of the sofa between those of his father and brother.

"How am I supposed to clean this up?"

"Go into the kitchen and find a towel. Latisha can help you with the soap. But don't let me catch her doing the work, got it?"

"Got it. Come on, Morgan: you can help me!" Morgan spelunked obediently from the sofa and joined his brother as he started off towards the kitchen. Sonny closed the book and looked over his shoulder at his sons.

"And don't make Morgan do it," he called casually. Three stomps were his response. The door from the foyer opened and Milo, Max's younger, less professional brother, poked his head in.

"A Ric Lansing is here to see you… I didn't know if you wanted to be disturbed, since you didn't let me know…" Milo was new to the business and still learning the names and faces of his new extended family. The only two people he could recognize on sight, besides his brother, were Sonny, the big boss, and his second in command Jason. Knowing this, Sonny rolled his shoulders and said,

"That's my brother, Milo: unless I say I don't want interruptions you don't have to clear his visits."

Cursing silently, Milo backed out of the room, "Sorry, sir." Ric slipped into the room as Milo closed the door.

"Cute kid," Ric said with a sarcastic smirk, "He yours?"

"Max's brother. Just giving him a chance, out of respect for the work Max does." Sonny drained the drink he poured earlier and motioned to the bar, silently asking Ric his preference. Ric declined with a wave of his hand and Sonny poured himself another glass, "What brings you here, Counselor?"

Ric tilted his head and grinned. He hadn't stopped smiling since he entered, which put Sonny slightly on edge. His younger brother was born and raised in another world. One that wasn't half as dark as the one Sonny knew. He wasn't used to people acting mischievous without danger, to smiling without an ulterior motive. Every face was a mask: he could not recognize genuine good intentions.

"Actually, it's not business, really. Some fun, actually. Sort of a guys night out, courtesy of my first anniversary."

"Well, congratulations. What do you have in mind?"

"I've heard some interesting things about the House-"

"Whoa, whoa. I'm not sure you've heard enough about that place, Little Brother." Sonny couldn't help but be amused at what he took for naivety, "I wonder what Mrs. District Attorney Lansing would say?"

" 'Have fun, but don't go crazy or I'll ruin your career and home life' and something about trusting me, but onlu the scary part stuck." At his brother's disbelieving expression he added, "Really. When Alexis and I were married I didn't have a bachelor party. This year I got her a necklace and she gave me a night off… with provisions, of course."

"Of course," Sonny scoffed. A proposal like that during his marriage with Carly would have resulted in one more notch in their respective bedposts. He suddenly found himself thinking of Reese and how he never wanted to betray her like that, "Well, don't think of asking me to go with you."

"I-I was, actually. Come on: it's not you're the one that's married!"

"I am seeing someone."

"Oh. That thing with Reese? I didn't think that was serious."

"Well…" He floundered, caught between protecting their reputations an professing his love, "it's not…"

"Then what's the problem? Look, I invited Jax. I know you don't like him, but you want to talk to him about the moves he's making against AJ, right? So-"

"You're turning a night at a strip club into a business meeting just to get me there?"

"If that's what it takes, yes."

The phone on the table near the sofa began to ring. Sonny moved to it without looking at Ric, afraid that if he would be convinced to go where his better judgment told him not to. Glass in hand, he picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Yeah?"

The voice on the other end was steady and level: his working tone, "I've been following Carly. She's with Alcazar now, but I think she's up to something."

"Tell me."

Caroline Benson was a woman of inexhaustible tenacity, beauty, vigor and cunning. Her wiles fascinated and ensnared the glances of every man she passed, single or otherwise. The magnetic aura radiating from her sleek, dangerously subtle frame created an adverse reaction from women in the same scenario, bringing forward in them the most jealous parts of their nature.

She was strong, proud, and unbroken. Her past was dead and gone, her future bright and being decided as she lived every moment. She let nothing bind her, nothing slow her. She loved and learned, moved on when things went wrong and clung to all that was good. She was used to things withering, and did not fear change.

The only things she took as permanent in her life were her boys. Morgan and Michael were the enduring staples of her day, her every waking thought always managing to get back to them as she worked her way through the stress of each hour apart from them. When they were with their father she feared for them, when they were at school she missed them terribly. She loved them unconditionally, her maternal instincts as fierce and vicious as a lioness.

She had a small problem with using her words. It was an inherent part of her nature to get mad first, yell next and forget to ask questions completely. She found herself wrong more often than she liked to admit. She didn't like to apologize, and never backed down from a verbal challenge. The word stubborn didn't do her personality justice: she was bold and straight forward. Mincing words, saving feelings and sugar coating were fine in moderation, but she preferred to opposite more than not. There were few people who could survive through a conversation with her without feeling physically beaten afterwards.

Sonny Corinthos was once the love of Carly's life. She knew he thought the same way about her. They wouldn't have started a family together, much less add to it, if that had not been the case. Unfortunately, their love never seemed strong enough. He said it was half her fault that their marriage disintegrated, but to her his indiscretions amounted to far more damage than her own.

Even thinking about Sonny got her blood to boiling. She hated the way he made her feel. If he was allowed to move on with that tramp he was so surreptitiously bedding than why shouldn't she do the same? Sonny had no right to be angry with her over her choice, and she certainly wouldn't stand having him use her best friend to spy on her.

Flexing her shoulders in an irritated, tight motion of subdued rage, she fixed her stinging cerulean eyes on the attractive man across the table.

"I don't owe Sonny any explanations," she said resolutely, unblinking. She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in the seat, looking at him with a grimace that just dared him to push her.

Jason shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he breathed a sigh through his nose. He had been Carly's friend for as long as she had been with Sonny, and he had a feeling they would remain close despite the current feud between the ex-lovers. Carly, while never a lover, was the one woman Jason could always talk to without feeling awkward with or like he was faking. Something, he didn't know what, just clicked with her. She was intelligent, crafty and strong. He liked her because she knew how to survive.

"Yeah, well, you do." He shrugged and looked over his shoulder absently. He knew this conversation was over no matter what he tried, and he didn't want her harping at him for something he was doing as a favor to his boss. Kelly's was almost empty, the regular crowd inexplicably absent from the cozy diner. Mike, the owner, was at the counter laughing brightly with a short woman with black hair at the counter.

Jason's eyes lingered on the woman's small frame, looking her over more to identify rather than check her out. He didn't know her from anywhere, yet he recognized the way her hips moved when she spoke. Carly tilted her head at him, surprised and amused by his sudden distraction.

"I hear pictures last longer," she quipped, reaching over and stealing his coffee mug after draining the last of hers.

"What?" Carly was amazed that he didn't hurt his neck when he turned back to her sharply. He fixed her with a stoic, yet strangely disapproving stare. She smiled coyly at him, running her finger around the lip of the mug and batting her eyes with faux sweetness, "I just wanted to see who Mike was talking to."

"Mhm. She's pretty. A bit young for him, don't you think?" She looked past him, over his shoulder at the woman who provided an excellent diversion from Sonny and his attempted strangle-hold on her life. Smiling, she began to rise, pushing the seat back. The woman at the counter instinctively swiveled at the sound and, still beaming from whatever joke Mike was teasing her with, looked at Carly without interest. She turned back a moment later, not even noticing Jason.

Jason, however, noticed her. He took in everything he could about her face and movements, as he normally did when seeing someone for the first time. Total recall was an important skill in his line of work, and he used moments like this to practice. The moment his eyes fell over her face her knew he was just making excuses to cop out to when Carly pestered him later. This woman was beautiful, the likes that he had never seen before. He couldn't help himself.

Carly continued to stand pointlessly for a few moments, then plopped back in her seat, scooting back in with a high pitched scrape that, this time, the woman did not respond to.

"I wonder how she knows Mike," Carly said wistfully, placing her chin in her hands and tilting her head at Jason, who had his back to the counter but was desperately trying not to make eye contact with his friend, "they seem close, but I've never seen her before. Maybe Sonny knows her."

"I don't know. Come on, Carly, stop playing games. All Sonny is trying to do is protect you. Alcazar is a dangerous man-"

"So is Sonny! They do the same thing. Seriously, you can't expect me to stop seeing Lorenzo because he's a mobster: I was married to one for four years!"

"Sonny and Alcazar are not the same kind of man."

"Look," Carly stood abruptly, slamming the palms of her hands against the table top. This time all heads turned towards her, eyebrows raised in almost comical unison at her display, "I don't need you to explain to me how good a man Sonny is compared to Lorenzo. I know you're completely loyal to Sonny: but I'm not. Hell, that should have been clear during the last years of our marriage. I don't need this: I didn't ask for this. I'm going to see him and you can't stop me, so don't try."

Jason watched her, trying to look cool. He couldn't mask his surprise.

"I mean… keep seeing him. I'm going to –keep- seeing him. Ugh, look, I have to go." She grabbed her bag and coat as she rushed out the door, stopping only to call, "and don't follow me!" before rushing off, the bell on the door ringing as she went.

A few chuckles and mumbles followed her exit, but no one seemed too disturbed. The few occupants returned to their meals and conversations and left Jason to mull things over in peace. In knew what she had meant. She was going to see Alcazar right now. He wouldn't have had to follow her if not for one crucial detail.

According to his sources, Lorenzo Alcazar was away dealing with a family matter out of state, and had asked for a momentary truth between the families in his absence. If he was here that meant he was planning something while the rest of the underworld was unsuspecting. Jason had to be sure.

He rose calmly, walking to the counter and paying for the coffees up front. Mike and Jason had a short, but complicated history, and neither felt the need to exchange a word. The woman, however, was far too tickled to contain herself.

"That's quite a woman you have there, handsome." He cast her a sidelong glance, meeting her brilliant hazel eyes with his own piercing, nearly clear blue eyes. She uttered an audible gasp and quickly looked away, deep red rushing across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. Jason grinned despite himself, and then moved away from the counter, crossing the diner to get his coat from the rack near the door. He exited without looking back at the woman, unaware that she was watching him as keenly now as he was her before. Pulling his leather jacket over his shoulders, he followed Carly's at a distance.

He had been right. She reached the Alcazar mansion and opened the door with her own key. There were no men stationed at the doors. Jason assumed that this was just a front to keep up the appearance that he was away. Cameras and men watching from windows were probably acting as the defense system inside.

Carly was not living at the mansion with her new beau. While causing mischief was her forte, she was not about to put her children in the middle of a dangerous situation. Sonny and Alcazar were enemies. Carly strived to keep her sons sheltered from the world Sonny lived in. Moving them in with Alcazar spelled all kinds of trouble, most of which the boys would witness. There was no way Sonny would allow it to happen, anyway. So Carly kept this aspect of her life relatively simple by keeping her own house where she lived with the boys, visiting Lorenzo when she had a babysitter or when the kids were visiting their father. It was the best compromise for everyone involved.

After all, Lorenzo wasn't much of a 'father' kind of guy.

Jason moved stealthily around the hedges, keeping low and out of sight, keeping a wide berth from the house. All he needed was a glimpse of Lorenzo in person, and then he could leave Carly to her affair and report back to his employer. This could be just the opportunity Sonny was looking for to push Alcazar out of his territory.

Imaging the layout of the house in his mind, Jason followed what he guessed was Carly's path. He watched the windows keenly. It was dark inside the house, but movement was always easy to follow. He caught sight of a waving curtain and, though the shroud of material covering the window, recognized the form of a person inside the first level room. A living room or meeting room, he thought absently. The decision to risk moving closer came quickly, and he stalked carefully towards the house until he was below the window, robed in the shadows spilling from the roof as the sun set on the other side. He peered, squinting, into the room, a slight fold in the curtain the only peep-hole he was allowed.

It was enough.

Carly and Lorenzo stood near the center of the room in each others arms, exchanging soft words and tender looks. Jason winced and pulled himself away, eager to get as far away from the scene as soon as possible. He felt a stab of betrayal, and Carly had never even been his. She could have had any other man in the world, but she had to pick Sonny's greatest rival. No matter how hard she denied it, the spite in this action was impossible to miss.

Jason found himself wandering back towards Kelly's. He took out his cellphone and hit the first number on the speed dial. Holding the phone to his ear, he tilted his head and stared into the diner, noticing with slight disappointment that Mike was cleaning a cup in standard diner-owner form, but the woman that had infatuated him was no longer at the counter. He moved away from the diner as the phone started to ring, walking in the direction of the docks.

Sonny's gruff, distracted voice came on the other line, "Yeah?"

"I've been following Carly. She's with Alcazar now, but I think she's up to something."

"Tell me."

Jason did so with a collected, professional precision. He neglected to bring up the woman in the diner. He didn't notice her standing at the other end of the docks, watching him with a quizzical, harmless expression.

"You're sure he was there?"

"Positive. She was with him in his mansion."

Sonny sighed and leaned back in the sofa, his head threatening to explode as tension mounted where the base of his skull met his neck, crawling agonizingly through his shoulders and up into his temples. Alcazar was planning something, and Carly knew about it. She was in Sonny's house hours earlier, dropping the boys off for their weekend with their father, and yet she hadn't said anything. She even went out of her way to imply that she was missing Alcazar while he was away.

She was playing with not only Sonny's life, but the lives of her children. He wasn't going to stand for that.

"Get over here, Jason. And change into something comfortable on the way. Ric's taking us out tonight." Sonny hung up, grinning at the look he knew Jason had on his face at that cryptic message. Ric arched an eyebrow, leaning against the arm of the sofa on the opposite side.

"What changed your mind?"

"Nothing. This isn't for fun: I'm taking you up on the business part of your offer."

Ric smirked, "Of course. Well, I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it. I'm glad you're coming. It means a lot to me, bro."

"Yeah, yeah," Sonny looked the phone, dreading the number waiting at the tips of his fingers to be dialed. He hated the idea of canceling on her.

It felt like he was reliving the start of the destruction of his life with Carly all over again. The déjà vu was unbearable. How many times had he forsaken a date with his wife to go to a bar, a strip club, or a more sinister locale? More than he could recall, faces and places blurring into each other as he tried to force them from his memory.

Right now the last thing he wanted for Reese was to treat her like they were married.