The worry that plagued Kristina's mind wasn't for herself, but for the man lying next to her.

Dex's face was half-buried in the pillow, his breathing slow and deep. His hair was disheveled, spread out in different directions. She could only imagine how heavy the hangover would be when he woke up. She looked between her phone and his sleeping form, dread filling her up the more texts she read.

Her thumb hovered over the phone icon for Sonny's contact. She knew that one call to her father would assuage his anger, but another part of her knew it wasn't his business what happened with her and his newer employee. She remained still as she sat against the headboard, Dex's head inches away from her thigh.

From: Molly (7:01 AM)
Uncle Sonny's blowing up my phone.
Did you stay the night with Dex?
Call me ASAP!

"Not now…" Kristina growled, rubbing her eyes. She stretched her arms, stiffening her back, before getting to her feet. She looked around the room, noting all the trinkets on the shelves and drawer tops before making her way out of the bedroom. She turned the corner into the small hallway, her eyebrows shooting up as she noted the large world map hanging to her left.

Afghanistan, Germany, Greece, Australia… Kristina counted the countries that she noticed a red tack in, Places he's been or places he wants to go to?

A loud thump knocked her back into reality. She rushed back into the bedroom, Dex's position on the bed unchanged. A faint, muffled voice spilled into the space. She turned away and slowly walked towards the front door to the apartment, the dread of what was to come swallowing her whole.

"Kristina! Dex!" Sonny's voice came through the light wood, "Open up! Now!"

Oh come on… she thought, standing in the doorway between the hall and living room. She considered her next steps carefully, approaching the front, "Dad?"

"Kristina?" he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, "Why are you here?"

"You…you didn't answer my calls or texts. Did you…did you stay the night?"

Kristina bit her bottom lip, looking between the door and the gray couch. The blanket she wrapped herself in was still in a ball on the nearest cushion.

"Kristina?" Sonny called out, "don't make me kick the door in."

"One sec," she responded, walking away. She closed the hall door with a soft click before going back and opening the front. Sonny, Frank, and Tony rushed past her, looking around the area.

"Where is he?" Sonny's voice was sharp.

"Asleep in his bedroom," Kristina scowled at her father, "and he's going to stay there."

"No, he won't," Sonny nodded at Tony and Frank, who walked towards the hallway door, "I want to make sure nothing happened."

"Oh my God, Dad," the young woman rolled her eyes, "We didn't do anything. I slept on the couch, see?"

"I want to hear it from him."

"Ow…ow!"

The bodyguards dragged Dex into the living room, his blonde hair a messy pile on his head. He rubbed his eyes with his palm, his upper arms in death grips. His eyes shut tights as he adjusted to the light.

"Good mornin'," Sonny quipped as he stepped closer to Dex, "Did you sleep well?"

"S-Sort of…" Dex's voice was low, "Boss, w-what are you doing here?"

"I'll ask the questions: what are you doing with my daughter?"

"I…what? N-Nothing!"

"Dad, let him go," Kristina said firmly.

"Did you make her stay here?"

"N-No-"

"Did you force her to take care of you, t-taking advantage of her good nature-"

"No, n-not at all! Boss, I-" the two men squeezed his arms harder, "I swear I didn't hurt her!"

"I don't believe that-"

"Well, believe it," Kristina snapped. Sonny looked her way, his eyebrows raised, "Nothing happened."

"Kristina-"

"No, Dad, stop. Dex and I didn't do anything. I drove him home because I thought it would be safer than him calling and waiting for a rideshare. He was way too drunk to be alone, so I stuck around to make sure he didn't hurt himself."

Dex looked her over with concern; Kristina avoided his eyes in response. She didn't like lying to her father, she certainly didn't want to, but she knew she had to mitigate the chance of her father putting a bullet in the young man's body any way she knew how.

"Is that the truth?" Sonny questioned.

Kristina looked him dead in the eye, "Yes."

"Is that the truth?" Sonny looked down at Dex, sighing when he watched his employee nod in agreement.

"He's got a nasty hangover, Dad. Let him sleep it off today. Leave him alone," Kristina's voice softened, "Do that for me, please?"

"I'll do this for you," Sonny crouched down, his eyes level with Dex's, "Listen to me, Dex. You are my employee and you will do exactly as I say, got it?"

There was a palpable brightness, a fear in Dex's eyes that masked the massive headache he felt.

"You are to leave my daughter alone. Charlie's Pub is off-limits, and if you see her in public, you look the other way. I told you to leave my daughter out of your life, and I meant it. If you defy my orders, you will pay the consequences, however deadly they may be. Do I make myself clear?"

Dex blinked at him, a fogginess in his mind.

"Do I make myself clear?!" Sonny snarled, his face red with rage. The young man nodded rapidly in response.

"That's so unfair!" Kristina complained.

"Save me the speech, Kristina," Sonny got to his feet, "You're not going to do anything with Dex."

"I'm an adult-"

"You're an adult, you can make your own decisions," Sonny waved her off, "I've heard it all before. Let me tell you what happened here, okay? You two had your fun with trivia, and he drank too much with the hope you'd go back to his place and get things going-"

"Nothing like that happened-"

"Really. You mean to tell me he didn't try anything with you?"

No…at least, not like this.

Her cheeks flushed as she remembered, her nose tingling as she recalled his closeness. She blinked once, her eyes shut tight before looking at her father: "Yes. He didn't try anything with me."

"Hmph," Sonny stuffed his hands in his pockets, "well, that doesn't change anything. Don't go near Dex again," he looked to Frank and Tony, "Let's go."

"Dad-"

"You too, Kristina."

Sonny and his men walked out of the apartment. Kristina sighed to herself, disappointment in her eyes as she looked at Dex before walking out herself, gently shutting the door behind her. The young man stared at the door, unsure of what to do next. He then stared up at the ceiling, trying to relax himself as the headache beat against his skull. His eyes began to flutter before a buzzing noise stopped them. He groaned at the noise, lying still as he tried to drift off.

From: Michael (7:13 AM)
Call me. Right now.


"People are really enjoying our work."

Alexis sat across from Gregory in the bar, the pair looking around at the current patrons. Some read the newspaper while others sat on a tablet, but all eyes were on the newest article from The Invader.

"Seems like it," she responded, crossing her arms.

"You seem disappointed," he cocked his head to the side, "Your piece on Ava's attacker is going to raise awareness and put them on edge."

"Right, but it just…it feels incomplete. No DNA, no surveillance, one technical eyewitness since the victim was attacked from behind. There's very little evidence to go off of."

"Well, sure, but it's been a few days, almost a week. The police won't have everything immediately; you know that."

"Doesn't mean I can't be frustrated over it."

"That's fair," Gregory cleared his throat, "and it could be worse. If not for Dex, there'd be practically nothing."

"Yeah," Alexis brushed her bangs to the sides of her head, "I'm glad he was okay with being named. I mean, we could've given him anonymity-"

"Why didn't he want the security?"

"When I spoke with him, he said he could protect himself. He works for Sonny; I took his word for it."

"I see. I hope that's true."

"I concur," Alexis smiled as the door to the bar opened. Kristina marched by, still in the clothes from the night before and her hair a slightly disheveled mess. Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she watched her daughter disappear into the back.

"I was thinking," Gregory chimed in, sipping his coffee, "it wouldn't be incorrect to say that Ava has her enemies, right?"

"...Right," Alexis snapped back into the conversation, "She has her adversaries."

"The question is: who?"

"Um, well, her brother was very much a mobster."

"Brother?"

"Julian."

"Ah. How do you know this?"

"We have, or had, history. It's a story for another time."

"Alright, so she could have mob enemies. What about her other family? Your family?"

"My family?" Alexis leaned back slightly, "I know she and Nikolas are stuck in a turbulent marriage, and Spencer isn't a big fan of hers. They have their issues, but I don't see either man hiring a woman to steal a hook from the Quartermaine boathouse and stab Ava from behind."

"Did she have any female enemies?"

"I know she and Carly aren't friendly, but Carly wouldn't do something like this."

"Hmm," Gregory rubbed his chin, "maybe it's someone who is an enemy of Ava's family or friends?"

"Well, the most obvious person would be Sonny, but that just feels unlikely."

"What about Dad?"

Kristina approached the table, her messy hair now in a ponytail.

"Gregory and I were just discussing the article and some theories about the attack."

"And what does Dad have to do with it?"

"It could be that the culprit could be connected to him."

"What, like an enemy? Didn't Dex identify the attacker as a woman?"

"He did, which is why I think it's unlikely the attacker is tied to Sonny. Last I heard, he and Selina Wu are on good terms."

"Why are you guys even thinking about it anyway? There isn't a lot of evidence besides what Dex told you."

"We're just trying to be proactive," Gregory responded.

"Whatever," Kristina rolled her eyes, walking back to the bar. Alexis held up her hand towards Gregory before following her daughter.

"Is everything alright?" she asked gently, "You seem a bit more…blunt than usual."

"It's just…Dad sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."

"What happened?"

"Dex got really drunk, so I took him home. I ended up staying the night because I thought he was too drunk to take care of himself. Dad took it the wrong way and barged into the place."

"And you're sure nothing happened?"

"Yes! Oh my God, Mom!" Kristina put her face in her hands, "All I did was look over an impaired patron."

"Okay, okay," Alexis put her hands up, "I believe you."

"Thank you."

"Though I don't like that it was Dex-"

"Stop, please," Kristina shot her mother a look, "Your opinion isn't wanted; neither is Dad's."

"Kristina-"

"Dex and I are just friendly, okay? I was helping him. You two just assume the worst, and now, we can't even see each other-"

"Is that what your dad said?"

"Unfortunately. He threatened to hurt Dex if he steps foot in here or even thinks about talking to me. When will he learn that he doesn't get to make decisions for me?"

"So you're going to continue seeing Dex anyway?"

Kristina bit her bottom lip, stopping to think. Alexis raised her eyebrows, a small smile on her face.

"I think we both know what I'm going to do," Kristina responded.

"Indeed, and for what it's worth," Alexis said, grabbing a nearby newspaper. She handed it to her daughter, "I'm starting to warm up to him."

Kristina softened at her mother's words, watching the older woman return to her table. She looked between Alexis and the newspaper, grabbing the latter.

Captain Hook: What We Know So Far
By Alexis Davis, editor-in-chief

The Quartermaine charity picnic was meant to be an idyllic spot. It was a gathering intended for a good cause: money going back to the local hospital. People of all ages and statuses dropped by for the barbecue and cornhole games. The party continued on into the night, the revelry simply a snapshot of something bigger.

It's during this night that the owner of the Jerome Gallery, Ava Cassadine, was attacked from behind, savagely hooked from behind.

She was alone by the boathouse, taking everything in. There were no noises or disturbances to note, that is, until the attack. The alleged weapon, a hook stolen from the aforementioned boathouse, pierced her torso. The assailant left the woman to die on the wooden platform, likely thinking they got away. That wasn't the case.

"The person just…ran into me," the lone eyewitness, Corinthos Coffee employee Dex Heller, recalled, "I was trying to make my way to the mansion to pick someone up, and we ended up colliding."

That wasn't the only thing Mr. Heller noted about the incident: "The person was short and thin, wore all black, and the voice was feminine. After we collided, she swore and told me to move before running off. I continued up the road when I arrived at the boathouse and saw Mrs. Cassadine."

Mr. Heller immediately sprung into action, swiping a few towels from the boathouse to use as a tourniquet. He helped Mrs. Cassadine to his car and rushed her to the hospital, making sure she didn't suffer any further.

"I don't know who would do this," he went on to say, "I just hope Mrs. Cassadine makes a full recovery. She has family and friends, a young daughter and a good business. She deserves to live her life. What I did wasn't much, but I hope it helps."

It's a question we've asked ourselves: who could have done this to Ava Cassadine? What person would be heartless and cruel enough to gut her with a handheld fishing hook? What enemies does she have that would be willing to go to such lengths?

And worst of all, could there be more to come?