A/N: Sorry for the long delay, I've been dealing with massive migraines for the past month and the muse has been hiding in the corner – not that I blame her, I wanted as far away from me as I could get, too! The wonderful doc at the ER was finally able to give me something to make them go away (well, at least for the last 2 days). So, I'm hoping to coax the muse out of hiding and jump back into the story…..

Hoping and praying for a Liason reunion before Steve's now inevitable exit. Soooooooo sad to see him go, but wish him the best of luck. I will miss you, Steve!

Chapter Thirty

Knocking on the door to the living room/study, Max waits for permission from Sonny to enter. Hearing Sonny's okay, the senior bodyguard prepares to give his boss the update he just got from one of the tails.

"Max, what have you got for me?"

"Well boss, Paulie just called and told me that Sam has been chatting Lucky up at the River Rat Bar, just outside of town. He said they drank and talked for a few hours before getting up and leaving together. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close enough to hear what they were saying. He's still following them and will report back whenever they get where they're going."

"Good work. Tell Paulie to keep an eye on them. Simon will meet him wherever they are in a couple of hours. Make sure Paulie calls in and gives you any other updates, then tell him to head home and get some sleep. He'll have to relieve Simon in 10 hours."

"Got it boss."

"Oh, and Max, call the new guy, Carter, to relieve Mick of watching Carly. We have to make sure that we only use guys that neither Carly nor Sam have seen before. Bring it to me, and I'll sign off on it. I know that Jason usually handles the guard rotations, but I don't want him in on this just yet. Let me know if any conflicts come up in the rotations that Jason set up, so I can talk to him about it. I'll try to figure out what to tell him if that happens."

"Sure. Anything else, boss?"

"No, that's it for now. Go ahead and get to work on that."

Max nods and heads out to start on his assignments. Sitting down behind his desk, Sonny gazes around the room thinking about his conversation with Carly. Wondering what she meant by the fact that she had gotten Elizabeth out of Jason's life before, he tries to recall the last time the two of them were close. Being a selfish man by nature, he finds it difficult to recall the events of the younger man's life. Not used to thinking much on the things going on in other peoples' lives, he wonders just how good of a friend he's actually been to his enforcer. Glancing at the clock and realizing that two hours have passed, he is slightly ashamed to admit just how self-involved he truly is since he cannot remember the details of Jason's life.

Setting aside his thoughts on what the couple has been to each other, he vows to find out more about what happened the last time they were together and how they broke up. Returning to the paperwork that needed his attention, Sonny gets back to work on the business.