"I can't believe that Shawn's acting like the bereaved husband," Alexis said, "We didn't even get married."
"It's the perfect cover," Julian said, "Turn me into the wanted criminal will get focus away from the impending indictments against him and the company he keeps."
They sat inside the beach house after returning safely from their foray into town. If anyone noticed that they resembled a kidnapper and his victim, no one commented on it or even gave them strange looks. They relaxed on the sofa with some Scotch to relax their nerves, of course. Alexis needed a couple of glasses before she felt completely assured that no one was going to break the doors down to come after Julian for kidnapping or her for not going through with her wedding after the arrangements had been made and the invitations had been mailed out.
"I'd be on my honeymoon right now with a hired killer," Alexis said, "if it hadn't been for you. I guess I owe you that."
"I think you would have figured it out. You're a smart woman good at that kind of thing."
She sipped her Scotch.
"Yeah we are quite a pair," she said, "I put a whole new spin on the runaway bride this time…so I did get out and you're the rival mobster."
He looked at her a long moment.
"I think we make a good team."
Alexis broke his gaze, chuckling.
"Just don't turn your back on me," she said, "I'm a Cassadine after all."
"I'll remember that…My friend will be meeting with us soon to help us find who ordered Shawn to do that hit and that'll help send him to prison."
She looked at him pointedly.
"Which will be good for you Julian won't it? That'll weaken Sonny's control over the territory in PC which will strengthen your own position."
He went to pour some more Scotch in his own glass before returning.
"Sonny's got his plate full already without my help. The feds might indict him and maybe his son Dante if he covered for him. What comes out on Shawn's hits will only further their investigation?"
She nursed her drink thoughtfully.
"Breaking up the wedding of Sonny's number one enforcer would help your cause too wouldn't it? You wanted to be the number one Mafioso in PC, you'd planned it all those years…"
"Alexis. That's not why I did it…well not mostly."
She waved her hand.
"Whatever, but you once told me you're into playing games…"
"As I recall, I wasn't the first person in that conversation to say that."
Something flashed in her eyes oh so briefly but Julian saw it. She looked down at her glass then back at him.
"I said Sonny and I played games. I didn't say I liked it. I wanted to be something more than a prop for him to pass the time or get over one of his moods…I wanted to be different than the other women…smarter more worldly in the professional sense. Like I said, I lost and wound up with a mob baby…"
"I wouldn't call that losing."
"Agreed as far as my daughter is concerned," she said, "I can't imagine life without Kristina."
He nodded.
"Even though I've only known Sam for a short while, I can't imagine what it'd be like without her and Danny. I do care about them no matter what you might think."
She softened just a bit.
"I know…so do I and as long as you don't hurt them you don't have to worry about me…so it's not like you didn't enjoy playing the mobster."
"I did. I admit it Alexis and for the first couple of months it was great…to see all those years of planning come to fruition…playing the chess game positioning the pieces…even the hands on action."
"The killing?"
He paused a long moment.
"No…that was just business. Working for Sonny you know we can't just fire our employees and send them severance checks."
She sipped her drink.
"I suppose not…I know what my son in law Jason did. I was surprised to see Max get caught up in it with Shawn. For years I thought he was just an inept butler."
"Max should have taken the deal offered him by the feds," Julian said, "now he'll spend the rest of his life in prison."
She shook his head.
"You sure you don't belong there with them?"
He countered.
"It seems you avoided prison a time or two."
He had her there.
"Not that I'm judging you…you did what you had to do to protect your children…and Luis Alcazar had it coming. If it hadn't been you, it'd been someone else."
Her voice dropped.
"So you know about him?"
He nodded.
"News gets around the mobster underground. Alexis, the Alcazars were among the vilest of mobsters. They oversaw one of the biggest drug cartels in South America and were flirting with human trafficking."
She shook her head.
"Never liked them. I was on the hit list for taking out Luis but of course that meant going against Sonny's operation."
Julian didn't respond. By now, he'd already learned that his own family's members were so intertwined with that of Sonny's there was no point in separating the two…and it had been messy to even try.
She looked at him in that piercing way she had and probably use on many uncooperative witnesses on the stand.
"Well the feds are going to descend on Sonny and they'll probably come after you when they're done with him…so what's next for you then?"
"I don't know…if they stop with Sonny I might keep my territory…"
She sighed.
"Julian…you know they won't stop with him," she said, "after all you both have blood on your hands. That's why the feds are in PC and trying to get all the mobsters on racketeering charges and tax evasion charges…in case the more egregious crimes can't be proven."
Meaning that most of the bodies that had been dumped or kicked off of Pier 52 were likely fish food long ago.
He just sat there listening. She arched a brow at him.
"After all good looks and a great sense of humor and style can only get you so far…"
He lightened a bit at her words.
"At least I have some good traits."
She nodded.
"A few…but the rest…well that's your problem to fix or not. For now, I suppose we better focus on Shawn and what he's going to do…"
"It'll be okay," Julian said, "The feds at least knows the guy's a killer and so does most of the eastern seaboard. It's only a matter of time before he goes down and I'm glad you're spared from being in the middle of that."
She nodded and as he gazed at her, he saw a look of vulnerability on her face. She looked so pretty sitting there reflecting on what had happened in the past several months, as beautiful as she had in his dreams lately.
"That wouldn't have been right Alexis."
She didn't know how to answer that so she refilled her glass though she added more ice to water it down. If he thought he'd see her intoxicated in front of her he had another thing coming.
She had to be strong and tough on him; she had to make it clear that it wouldn't be that easy for him to explain away his own behavior. And to do that, she had to keep her mind off of how sumptuous he looked in his outfit. The shirt unbuttoned enough to expose a bit of skin on his chest and she had always loved the way any pair of pants fit him.
Why was she thinking these thoughts that she swore she'd never do again? Was it the alcohol because she noticed the level inside the Scotch bottle had dropped considerably thanks largely to her.
She sighed, thinking maybe it would help to establish some physical distance from him first. So she got up off the sofa she shared with him and sat in a nearby chair. He gave her an odd look in response.
"What are you doing," he said, "Weren't you comfortable where you were sitting?"
"I like it here better…"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Did anything I say bother you?"
She shook her head.
"No, I've just been doing a lot of thinking and I don't want to give you any ideas that things have changed between us."
"Any reason for that," he broached.
"No, not that I can think of," she said, "After all, it was all one-sided anyway between us."
His brow lifted.
"You really believe that?"
She sighed again, picking up the bottle and pouring another glass of the liquid.
"Of course…you used me to get close to my daughter and grandson first…which I can accept but then to get back at Sonny…it's not the first time that's happened. I should have been at the very least twice shy is it?"
He wished she hadn't left the couch.
"Do you really believe that," he said, "You think it was all about getting under Sonny's skin or getting back at him?"
She nodded.
"Sure it was…you wanted to seduce all of Sonny's women and I suppose if Brenda had hung around longer after Sonny's intervention..."
He shook his head.
"It wasn't all like that."
"We shouldn't even be having this discussion," she said, "All I can say and no it's not the liquor speaking is that I'm thankful that I overheard that conversation in the hallway…and why don't people ever discuss secrets in private?"
His eyes closed remembering that night. He knew she was partially right…mostly right when factoring in the other two women.
She looked up at him and he saw the emotions swimming in her eyes and boy, did they look like they'd lived there a while and why hadn't he seen them earlier? Had he really missed what he'd put there?
"I'd been used before by Sonny's other adversaries or rivals," she said, "Hell I even married another man…who did it I think to get back at his brother."
"Molly's father…"
"Of course…the one that thinks I can't keep my own daughter safe from all the crime happening in PC the past few months…he was close to being right."
She knew the Scotch if not talking for her had definitely prodded her to be more open with her thoughts than she would be otherwise. The look on his face just said it all but how she could retract her words now that they've been said.
Look at him, the man had frozen at her admission and looked at her now, wordlessly.
"Okay…I'm sorry about that," she said, trying to get herself out of her chair," I think I'll just stop drinking and go think some more by myself."
But he got up with her and grabbed her arm. She turned to face him, her eye arching, definitely feeling the physical contact.
"Really, I've embarrassed myself enough by saying words that won't change anything," she said, "Instead they could just more reason to find a way to use me to get what you want…like you use everyone."
But he didn't listen to that, and instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close to him and in that split second, she knew he was responding to her words, not with more words but through his favorite means of communication which was much more physical.
And pleasurable she discovered again as his mouth closed on her own before she could even react. His lips caressed her own in exploration and her own responded in kind, when his tongue joined in, hers touched his as well. Her heart began speeding up, elation filled her body and wow, well that didn't even begin to describe it.
Finally he broke the contact between them and cupped her stunned face in his hands.
"Does that answer any questions you have about what I'm feeling?"
"Uh….."
He smiled at her speechlessness as she swept her hair back off of her face and looked at him.
"Er…."
He smiled in return.
"You liked it that much?"
She sighed.
"No comment. I plead the Fifth on that one."
He stroked her arms all the way to her shoulders and she shivered. Damn the man had talented hands. He could have been a musician….oh wait in a way he was with the ladies. All the memories flooded back but she had to remain in control.
She had to regain control.
"We need to talk about Shawn and what we're going to do next."
Alexis…all business now, his mouth curved into a smile watching her in action.
"Yeah I know…we've got to figure out a way to resolve this situation…."
She nodded.
"And so you know, this has nothing to do with how much I enjoyed that kiss and what it promised…because there's not going to be anything else."
That made him smile. He sat down and patted the couch closer, next to him.
"Come on, sit down and we'll figure it out…I promise to keep my hands to myself."
She smiled at him and did just that.
"That's fine…because you'll see some Natasha if you don't."
He chuckled.
"I might like that…"
She just stared at him but did move a little closer.
And so they sat down to try to come up with a plan to address the situation with her former fiancé and what to do next.