Part 11
Sonny had fled to his island. His business had gotten out of control and fallen out from under him. He had never dreamed it could happen. But the warehouse was suddenly crawling with feds, and surrounded by legitimate businesses importing coffee and storing it at a lower price, with people who all refused to be intimidated into upping their prices. Intimidation of other people was the only way he knew how to do business.
It was he that was getting squeezed out. Kelly's, the Outback, all the dock businesses suddenly refused to pay any protection money. Naturally, Sonny's goons had gone to burn these establishments down, but they were surrounded by security guards and the fire department appeared to have take up residence there, they came so quickly.
He had to sell off his legitimate holdings and get out for now.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors of ELQ infuriated Edward Quartermaine and his grandson Ned Ashton, annoyed his son and daughter-in-law, and amused his grandson AJ.
Edward, Alan, Monica, Ned, AJ and Jason went to the meeting as always, and waited for Jasper Jacks and Sonny or his representative. Jasper Jacks came in, and the usual insults began and continued as they waited for Sonny.
But Sonny did not come. Instead, Alexis Davis came in, with Sergei Kanishchev.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the elderly CEO.
"I'm the representative," Alexis said. "Sergei owns 20 of ELQ, as a result of purchase of shares from Sonny Corinthos."
"That criminal cannot sell his shares to someone outside the company," Edward proclaimed.
"Take it to court," Alexis said.
After the meeting, and after Alexis, Sergei and Jax had left, Edward was in a tizzy. "That criminal had to sell out and he wanted to stick it to us one last time!"
"He certainly did pick the best way to do it," AJ mused. But he just wasn't feeling the "stick." Somehow it was all too ridiculous. "See if you'd kept quiet, Grandfather, you wouldn't be in this mess, but you made enough noise so that Sonny knows you don't want to deal with that Russian pirate."
"AJ has a point," Ned said, and it was a big deal for Ned to grant AJ anything. "The Russian probably didn't even have to pay Sonny an extra premium. The satisfaction Sonny must have gotten out of that transfer!"
AJ laughed.
"Stop laughing!" Edward ordered. "That deviant's father now owns part of our business!"
"We're over the deviant, aren't we?" AJ asked, "What do we have to care about his father?"
"Why, the father may undermine this company wherever he can for his revenge!"
"Oh, baloney, Grandfather," said AJ. "Zander is perfectly happy with Quinn, one of the nurses at GH, who he's been dating for a long time now. He has no beefs over the thing with Emily. Get over yourself."
"How naïve you are today, AJ," Edward said.
"Quiet, father!" Alan finally had heard enough. "AJ is right. We're better off, this Russ-Sergei is not organized crime, so we don't have to deal with that anymore."
"But he's undermining us," Ned pointed out.
"Well, he can't now, can he?" Monica said. "Wouldn't it make a conflict of interest for him?"
"Yeah, it would," Ned agreed, sounding tentative.
"We're going to have to do something to get rid of him," Edward declared. "Find somebody to buy him out. If he won't sell, then we'll know he has sinister motives."
Zander was studying in the room below the bedroom when Quinn came out of the shower, ready to leave for work.
She'd have a nice evening with him, listening to music and making love and watching TV from bed. She was on the midnight shift, so now she was on her way out.
"Don't stay up too late," she said.
"I feel good," he said.
"Me too, Sandy," she was standing behind him. She put her arms around him and leaned her head against his, looking down at his work.
"That's Russian?" she asked. "How do you come to be studying it?"
"I have to review the grammar, to pass the test," he answered, caressing her arm, "the test that I can take to get credit for the class without taking the class."
"That's a good idea."
"It could save me some time. Between these tests and going in the summers, I could graduate in three years or even two and a half."
"I'm fascinated that those hieroglyphics mean something," she said.
He laughed. "It's not as hard as Tim makes it out to be."
"Tim says the alphabet is OK, actually, he says it's the rest that's tough, but you and Pete've helped him a whole lot."
"I can actually hold a conversation with Tim, now. It's basic. But it's a conversation."
"I like that," Quinn said. She kissed him on the top of the head. "I hate going," she said, massaging his neck a little bit.
"I hate to see you go, nurse." He got one more kiss before she took off.