Old Habits are Hard to Break

a S&E story
(contains nc-17 scenes!)

 

Prologue

Sonny sat on his couch at Greystone, deep in thought and waiting for Emily to return home. He knew their upcoming conversation would be one of the most difficult he’s ever had. Above all else, he didn’t want to hurt her anymore. She’d been through so much with him already, and had stayed strong and steadfast through it all. But Sonny felt a tremendous amount of guilt that she had to deal with any of it; his illness, and his lifestyle. How would she handle what he was about to say to her?

He snapped to attention when he heard someone come in the room. It was Emily; looking so beautiful, and so sad. His heart sank as he remembered the fight they had earlier that day. “Hey,” she said. “Hi,” he replied, standing up and facing her. “I took the meds.” “Good.” “And, I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he added. “I’m sorry I pushed,” she responded. Sonny took a deep breath before continuing. “You were just trying to take care of me. But…but it…it's not your job.” Emily’s eyes got wide; she didn’t like where the conversation appeared to be heading. Sonny went on, “I wouldn't be getting better if it wasn't for you. You’ve shown me that there's no shame in getting professional help. You've changed my life for the better, but all I've given you is heartache.” “That's not true…” Emily interrupted. Sonny continued, “I can't do it anymore. It has to stop.” Emily felt her whole world crumbling, and stated, “You're breaking up with me.”

Chapter 1

“What?” Sonny cried; “of course I’m not breaking up with you!” Emily was stunned. She’d been certain he was about to end their relationship. “Why would you think that?” Sonny asked wondering what he had said and done to make her so insecure about his feelings for her. Emily shrugged and was too relieved to want to further discuss what she’d said. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that…go on, please.” Sonny took a deep breath, realizing that she might be the one to break up with him after he finished. “I was saying that something has to change here because every time I look at you lately, you’re sad.” Emily shook her head, “no I’m not!” Sonny gave her a slight smile, “yes you are. You once told me that no one is better at keeping up appearances than you are. And that’s true. But no one is better at seeing through people’s facades to their pain than I am.” “Because you’ve been hiding your pain your whole life,” Emily commented. Sonny nodded his head, “yeah, probably. The point is…I don’t want to be someone who causes you pain, and that’s all I’ve done.” Emily didn’t agree but let him continue. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my life, and where it’s going…where I want it to go.” Emily held her breath. “There are two things I know for sure…the rest I’m still figuring out. The first is that I love you.” Emily tried not to cry from happiness at his words. “I never knew I could love like this, or be loved like this, and I don’t ever want it to stop.” Emily beamed, “well we agree on that!” Sonny nodded again, “yeah, for now. But you haven’t heard the second thing I’m sure of.” “The second thing doesn’t matter Sonny, as long as the first is true…and it is.” “I’m not so sure you’ll feel that way in a minute. In fact, I’m not so sure you won’t walk right out the door.” “Just tell me Sonny.”

Sonny reached out, took her hand, and led her to the couch where they both sat down. He kept her hand in his as he spoke. “I don’t know if I could possibly make you understand how much Jason hurt me with his betrayal,” Sonny began. “I mean, there’s the hurt of my friend…my brother…stabbing me in the back like that, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about in the eyes of my associates…in the world I do business in…what he did really hurt my reputation. In fact, my reputation has been destroyed.” Emily nodded and whispered, “I’m so sorry Sonny. He did it because of me…” Sonny cut her off. “It’s not your fault! And it wasn’t mine either. What Jason did was his decision, and it was a bad one. And I think he knows that now.” Emily agreed, “I think he does.” “The problem is it can’t be undone. He told everyone that I was incapable of being in charge, and they all believed him. All my men believed him too and turned against me.” “Except Max and Milo,” Emily corrected him. Sonny smiled, “yeah, except them.” “So what are you telling me Sonny?” Emily asked. “In other words, cut to the chase huh? OK, here it is. I can never run the business again…I can’t even be a part of it. Which means…” Emily swallowed hard and finished his sentence for him. “Which means that Jason has to run it for the rest of his life.”

Sonny studied her eyes, and in them he saw the reaction he feared; she was very upset. He let go of her hand and looked over at the liquor-less bar. His throat felt parched. “You can go now if you want,” he said sadly, not looking at her. He was certain she wouldn’t want to stay with him after he condemned her brother to a life of danger and pain; a life Jason had already determined was no place for the woman he loved. Emily reached out and touched his face, urging him to turn his head back to her. He did and she said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Chapter 2

Sonny sat silently waiting for her to speak. “I won’t lie and say I’m happy about what you just told me,” she began; “but you aren’t responsible for the situation Jason is in. After the accident, Jason’s biggest problem with our family was that they would always tell him what to do and how to live his life. And he would say that it was his choice…and that he would live with the consequences of his choices. Well when he betrayed you and stole the business that was his choice. Despite what you might think, you didn’t force him into it. You had an illness that wasn’t your fault. You fell in love…which everyone has the right to do. But Jason, thinking he was protecting me, crossed the line. And I understand now that there’s no coming back from that; not in your world.” Sonny was relieved; she did understand. “I want to concentrate on getting well,” he told her; “and figuring out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.” “Besides making love to me?” Emily joked. Sonny’s face broke into a wide smile. “Yeah, besides that…which I intend to do more often now so don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Emily feigned fear. “More often? I don’t know if I can handle it Sonny!” Sonny ran his tongue over his lower lip. “Hmmm, I think you can. Aren’t you the one who always says, ‘Sonny…just stay in bed a little longer’?” Emily blushed; “yeah, that’s me. But can you blame me? You’re just so good.” Sonny laughed, “and don’t you forget it baby.” He pulled her close and kissed her. Emily moaned against his mouth. Then, she pulled back, “wait, don’t!” “You’re joking, right?” Emily shook her head, “no, I have to get to the hospital! Believe me I’m as disappointed as you are. We haven’t made love in a while.” “I know, I’m sorry about that,” Sonny replied. “No, I just meant, with the therapy and getting adjusted to the meds and all…it’s not your fault Sonny.” Sonny nodded, “yeah well, I’m still going to make it up to you.” Emily smiled, “I can’t wait! But, I have to…” She got up to leave; then turned back and asked, “what are you doing the rest of the day?” Sonny stood as well and answered, “I’m going to see Jason.”

In his penthouse, Jason was barely listening as Bernie droned on about business. All he could think about was Sam, and how he was going to make it up to her for throwing her out of his life. “As soon as Sonny is well enough to take charge again,” he told himself, “I’ll find a way to make this right with her.” One of the guards opened the front door and Bernie got up and walked over to see what was up. “Sonny’s here,” the guard told him. Sonny pushed his way past. “That’s Mr. Corinthos to you,” he growled. He looked at Bernie and added, “both of you!” Bernie swallowed hard. He had no illusions about Sonny’s feelings towards him. Jason had used him as the front man in the takeover, and he was certain Sonny would just as soon see him dead as look at him. Bernie took a respectful step to the side, and let Sonny pass. “We’ll continue later,” Jason told Bernie. Bernie nodded and walked out with the guard. “He hates all of us,” the guard commented. “Do you blame him?” Bernie replied as he headed for the elevator. Back inside, Sonny joined Jason on the sofa. “How are you?” Jason asked. Sonny studied his face. It was only history and family connections that kept Sonny from hating Jason for what he did. But he knew he’d never trust Jason the same way as before either. “I’m dealing,” Sonny responded. Jason waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “You have something to tell me,” Jason stated. “That’s right,” Sonny stated back. “And you’re not going to like it at all.”

Chapter 3

Jason stared at Sonny, and Sonny couldn’t tell if it was Jason’s normal stare, or an “oh shit I’m screwed” stare. After a few moments of silence Jason asked, “you don’t want to be in charge again?” Sonny erupted in anger and stood up. “Jason use your brains! You know that’s impossible…you made certain that was impossible!” Jason looked down at the ground. He knew Sonny was right; he had made a colossal mistake. “I did this,” he said quietly. “Yeah, you did!” Sonny replied, still yelling. He was glad Lainey wasn’t around to see the outburst; she’d up his dosage for sure. Jason sank to his knees on the floor in front of the couch and looked up at Sonny. “I have no right to ask you for anything, I know that. But I’m begging you Sonny…don’t do this.” Sonny looked down at him and felt pity…but not enough to change his mind. “Jason…” Jason interrupted him. “I’ll make sure everyone falls in line! I don’t care how many heads I have to beat in!” Sonny shook his head, “are you going to beat in Bernie’s head? Or all the guards? All our guys at the warehouse? Are you going to go to the Carribbean and beat on all of them? None of them respect me anymore Jason…and it’s because of you! Now, you have to live with what you’ve done!” Jason put his head in his hands. He knew Sonny was right. One of the first life lessons Sonny had taught him was that you carry what you do, for life. “Besides,” Sonny added in a quieter voice, “I don’t want Emily to have to deal with that life. Isn’t that what you want too?” Jason slowly got to his feet, and looked Sonny in the eyes. “Yes. Yes Sonny; you’re right…about all of it.”

At General Hospital, Emily practically hummed to herself as she worked. Knowing Jason would have to be in the mob for life upset her, but knowing that she and Sonny were in love and solid made her so happy the bad feelings were offset. “Well, don’t you look happy,” a sneering voice interrupted her bliss. Without even looking up, she knew it was Carly. “What do you want Carly?” “That was a bad scene I walked in on earlier today. You’re probably thinking this is all more than you bargained for, right?” Emily looked at her and smiled, “not even close!” Carly narrowed her eyes. “What are you smiling about?” Emily pretended she didn’t want to tell her, and then answered, “well if you must know. When Sonny was getting diagnosed and starting on the meds, we didn’t have a lot of time to…you know, make love. But Sonny promised me that’s all going to change as soon as I get home tonight! As you can imagine, I’m having a hard time thinking of anything but all the delicious things he’s going to do to me later.” Carly’s jaw fell open and Emily tried not to laugh. “Of course, you know all about what a great lover Sonny is,” Emily continued. “Although…” she teased, “he did tell me once that he’d never done certain things before…not even with you. And I remember wondering why he wouldn’t have done those things that were so incredibly naughty and hot. But of course, I loved that I was the first.” Emily finally stopped talking and realized that Carly had slinked off somewhere in the middle of her monologue. Emily burst out laughing, and made a mental note to ask Sonny to do those incredibly naughty and hot things to her later that night.

Chapter 4

Emily returned home that night to find Sonny sitting in the same place on the couch as he was earlier in the day…looking just as upset. “I thought you were going out?” she asked as she approached him. He looked up. “I did.” “Oh,” she said, sitting down next to him and putting her hand on his leg; “you saw Jason then.” Sonny nodded. “Was it really bad?” “Is watching Jason beg me for something bad? You tell me.” “Well, that’s not good. What did he say?” “I told him what I told you; that he’d have to stay in charge forever. And then he got on his knees and begged me not to do that to him.” “But you didn’t do it to him Sonny; he did it to himself.” Sonny nodded, “yeah, I know. And he knows that too. In the end he realized this was the bed he’d made with his betrayal.” “So it’s settled,” Emily stated, hoping to get Sonny’s mind, and hers as well, off Jason. “I had an interesting day myself,” she continued. Sonny looked at her and reached a hand up to push her hair back. He wanted to look at her beautiful face with no impediments; to remind himself of what was most important to him. Emily smiled at his gesture, and then continued. “I had an encounter with Carly.” Sonny rolled his eyes, “great. Lay it on me.” “Well, first let me apologize, because I was downright cruel to her.” Sonny’s eyebrows went up. “You? Impossible. You don’t have a cruel bone in your body.” “I’m not as perfect as you think I am Sonny,” Emily retorted. Sonny grinned, “yes you are.” He leaned forward and started nuzzling her neck. “Wait, let me tell you!” Emily cried. She didn’t want him distracting her too much, since she planned on teasing him with her tale. Sonny pulled back, “ok, ok. Just make it quick woman!”

Emily laughed, and picked up the story where she’d left off. “So I was at the nurses’ station, looking through some patient files, and I was thinking about you.” “I like it already,” Sonny said, grinning. “I was thinking about how you said you were going to make it up to me…you know, that we hadn’t made love in a while.” “Well let’s not wait any longer!” Sonny declared, standing up and putting out his hand to her. Emily folded her arms and stared at him. Sonny sat back down. “Ok! I’ll sit here and I won’t say another word!” he promised. Emily knew he’d have a hard time doing that soon. “So…as I was saying…I was thinking about you, and then Carly was there. And she asked me why I was smiling so much. So I told her.” Sonny raised his eyebrows again, but didn’t speak. “I told her that you were going to show me what I’ve been missing when I got home, and that I couldn’t wait.” Sonny licked his lips, but didn’t respond verbally. However, a certain part of his anatomy was making itself known, and Emily’s eye was distracted by the motion of it straining against Sonny’s pants. “And then, I decided to be mean. I said even though she knows what a great lover you are, there were things you did with me that you never did with her. She got so upset, she slinked off.” She studied Sonny’s face; his eyes were hard and black. She got nervous and stated, “you’re angry with me.” Sonny waited a moment, and then replied, “may I speak now?” Emily nodded her head, holding her breath for his reaction. “I’m not angry. What I am is turned on. And you’re coming with me…upstairs…and I’m going to do those things to you…right now.” Emily practically jumped off the couch and ran up the stairs. Sonny was right behind her.

Once inside their bedroom, Sonny pressed her up against the door, grinding his erection against her. “You see what you do to me?” he groaned against her neck. “Put your hand in my pants, and you’ll see what you do to me,” Emily breathlessly replied. Sonny stripped her of all her clothes, and then took off his own. “We’ll take our time…later,” he growled. After testing her readiness with his fingers, Sonny held Emily up against the door with his strong arms, and entered her with one thrust. “Oh Sonny….God I’ve missed you!” she cried. Sonny replied with actions, not words. While Emily wrapped her long legs around his waist, he cupped her ass in his hands, holding her firmly while he stroked in and out of her. Emily’s head lolled to the side as he moved faster and faster; went deeper and deeper; thrust harder and harder. The door was rocking in its frame, and Emily moaned in time with it.

“Sonny…yes…more…oooh…oh…yes…harder…I’m…cumming…” Sonny buried his face in her breasts as he felt the wave rolling through him. “Unh Em…I can’t hold…Unh!!” He exploded inside of her, his hips still keeping the rhythm…the door was still rocking. Emily crashed over the edge at the same time, and involuntarily dug her nails into his biceps. Sonny kept the amazing spasms going for her by continuing his motions. “Ooh…ooh…ooh…” Emily cooed in his ear. Finally, Sonny slowed down, and came to a stop. He moved his head up, and captured her mouth in a deep kiss. “Mmmmm…” she moaned against it. Sonny, still holding her up, caressed her ass with his hands. When he stopped kissing her he declared, “damn we’re good!” Emily smiled, “we sure are.” Sonny moved away from the door, and walked to the bed with Emily still wrapped around him…his cock still buried inside of her. He collapsed down with her underneath him. “Round two?” Emily asked hopefully. Sonny smiled, “you know it baby. Besides…there were some things you wanted me to do to you…”

Chapter 5

Bernie sat quietly as Jason filled him in on the meeting with Sonny. Like Jason, Bernie thought Sonny would have given up Emily months ago to get back the business. Both men were shell-shocked that they now had to run everything on their own. “Is there anything we can do to sweeten the deal for him?” Bernie asked. Jason shook his head, “no, he means it. He doesn’t want anything to do with it.” “Ok,” Bernie tried to put a positive spin on things. “We’ll just go on like we have been. Everyone seems to be respecting you. They seem happy doing business with you.” Jason stared at him. “Everyone? You know that’s not true. Anyone associated with the Escobars wants me dead.” Bernie nodded, “well yeah, you did take a lot of them out.” “And the friends of the Ruiz’s,” Jason added; “and then there’s Alcazar. You know he’s been making inroads with the South Americans. For all we know, they’re already planning to move against me.” “And you think Sonny could stop them?” Bernie asked. “Yes,” Jason replied. “Because Sonny made a truce with Alcazar…something I jumped all over him for. But because I refused to do the same, Alcazar is lining up reinforcements. He wants me out of the way.” Jason paused and then said, “you know, all those times I thought Sonny was distracted, or weakened by his illness, and he refused to take care of certain things the way I wanted…he was really doing the right thing. I’ve just made everything worse, haven’t I?” Bernie was reluctant to tell Jason the truth, which was that all the men thought he’d made everything worse. Instead, he sat there in silence, which Jason knew meant he agreed. After another moment, Jason declared, “well the only way to fix things now, is to take care of Alcazar…for good.”

The next morning, Sonny woke with the sun. He felt Emily’s warm body beside him and turned to spoon in behind her. Lying there, she looked like the angel she was to him, with a smile of total serenity on her face. Sonny was filled with love for her, and knew all the sacrifices he was making were well worth it. “Are you just going to stare at me?” Emily quietly asked. Sonny smiled and leaned over to kiss the side of her face. “I didn’t want to bother you. I mean…you know…we were going at it pretty late last night.” Emily opened her eyes and stretched out her limbs. “Mmmm yeah, I remember.” “How are you feeling?” Sonny asked. Emily turned her head slightly to look back at him as Sonny wrapped an arm around her waist. “Uh, I feel great…why wouldn’t I?” Sonny laughed, “well, you know when I…” he whispered something in her ear, and then continued in his normal voice… “sometimes that hurts the next day.” Emily smiled. “My muscles are a little sore from all the positions you were putting me in, but otherwise nothing hurts.” “Glad to hear it,” Sonny said and took her statement as an invitation to get busy. With his arm still draped over her body, he moved his hand down to touch her pussy. “I love when you sleep naked,” he growled; “there’s nothing in my way…” “I was practically in a coma after you finished with me,” Emily replied. “I didn’t have the energy to get up and put anything on!” “Good.” Sonny gently rubbed her and her wetness began to flow right away. “Hmmm, yeah,” he groaned; “nice and wet for me.” “I’m always wet for you Sonny,” Emily moaned in reply; opening her legs up to give him better access. He slipped two fingers into her with ease. “Do you want these…or something else?” he asked. “Something bigger,” she gasped; “something harder.” Sonny gladly obliged. He removed his fingers, and used his arm to lift up her top leg. Emily reached back and guided his throbbing cock into her. Sonny started thrusting hard and fast immediately. Sometimes, he took her on a slow ride in the morning. But today, he was in no mood to take things easy. He knew Emily didn’t mind. She seemed to enjoy all the different ways he made love to her. “Oooooh!” she wailed; “give it to me Sonny!” Sonny slammed into her, holding her leg with his arm, his hand rubbing her clit. After a while he asked, “are you cumming for me baby?” he asked. “Yesssssssss!” Emily cried. Sonny rubbed her clit a bit harder, and Emily released crying, “Sonny!” As she came, he took the opportunity to thrust even a bit harder to find his own release, which happened seconds later. “Damn…yeah…unh!” Sonny slumped forward, lowering her leg and covering her body with his. Emily reached back and rubbed his thigh. “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you too…always,” he replied.

Chapter 6

Sonny cooked Emily a big breakfast, which they both ate with gusto. Sonny noticed Max kept walking in and out of the room. Finally, he slammed his fork onto the table and snapped, “what the hell are you doing Max?!” Max froze near the door. “Uh…uh…nothing boss. Just checking to make sure you didn’t need anything.” Sonny glared at him. “Yeah? And that’s why you haven’t asked me once if I needed anything? Try again.” Max just stared at him. Emily watched Sonny closely; worried he was going to erupt. Max didn’t reply. Sonny gritted his teeth. “Are you hearing impaired now Max?” Max knew he had no choice but to fess up. “Uh no boss. OK, I have something to tell you…and you’re not going to like it. But…Emily probably shouldn’t hear this though.” Sonny was getting madder by the moment. “Oh now you’re going to decide what Emily can and can’t hear? Who the hell do you think you are?!” Emily stood up. “It’s OK! I need to get to GH anyways Sonny.” Sonny stood to hug and kiss her goodbye. “I’ll see you later,” he mumbled still shooting bullets in Max’s direction with his eyes. Emily walked passed Max to leave, and he whispered “sorry” as she went by. Then he looked at Sonny again, and was grateful that looks couldn’t kill. “This better be good,” Sonny warned. Max cleared his throat. “Uh, good? No, not good. It’s bad…really bad.” Sonny stayed silent waiting for him to continue. “Jason tried to kill Alcazar last night. He failed and…he got arrested.” Sonny sank back down into his chair. “You’re right,” he told Max. “This is bad…really bad.”

Sonny wanted a scotch something fierce, but Emily had ordered all the booze removed from the house a while ago. Max wanted a drink himself. He knew what this all meant. The organization was without a leader and in total disarray. Alcazar would no doubt retaliate, and he’d focus on getting rid of all the top men…especially Jason. And then he’d take over Port Charles and have control of whole Eastern Seaboard. And the only person who could stop him, was the ex-boss with Bipolar Disorder who wanted nothing to do with the business anymore. Sonny looked up at Max. “I know what you’re thinking Max, but I can’t do it. I made a decision. I made a promise to Emily that I was done with the life. We’re happy now.” Max was nodding his head as Sonny spoke and added, “and you need to focus on your recovery.” “Right,” Sonny replied. “Jason will find a way to handle it,” Max said unconvincingly. “Do you think he’s been doing a good job handling things?” Sonny asked. “Well let’s see,” Max responded; “Sam got shot; Manny eluded him for months after that and killed Durant and Justus; Alcazar has been making moves against him; and now this…uh, no, I don’t think he’s handling things well at all.” Sonny couldn’t help but smile. “I appreciate your loyalty to me Max, even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.” “I know,” Max said; “but this isn’t about loyalty, it’s about the truth. And the truth is that Jason can never run the organization like you can.” Sonny nodded his head, “yeah. Well, he’s going to have to, because I’m out.” Another voice joined their conversation, exclaiming, “no, you can’t be!”

Chapter 7

Both Max and Sonny stood silently staring at Bernie who had entered the house and the room without permission. Max then looked at Sonny and waited for him to speak. Sonny took his time, and Bernie stood there nervously watching him. Finally, Sonny spoke. “This is the third time you’ve walked, uninvited, into my home and told me what to do. I’m tired of your disrespect.” Bernie shook his head, “no sir…I don’t mean any disrespect…” “Seeing your betraying face in my home is disrespectful,” Sonny told him in a deceptively quiet voice. Max reached inside his own suit jacket, checking for his gun. He didn’t know if he would need it. It all depended upon how tired Sonny was of Bernie’s disrespect. “Please…Mr. Corinthos, just hear me out,” Bernie pleaded. Sonny reluctantly agreed; “make it quick.” “I’m sure you’ve heard about Jason…” Bernie began. “Yeah,” Sonny replied. “Max, my loyal employee, told me.” “We’re in serious trouble sir,” Bernie went on. “Alcazar is making plans as we speak to retaliate. He will kill Jason in jail. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill Stan. He might even come after Max…and you.” Sonny shook his head, “not me. He and I had a truce…a truce that Jason & you broke. And he knows Max is loyal to me, so we’re going to be fine.” Bernie swallowed hard. Sonny wasn’t going to make this easy on him. “Could…could you speak to him?” Bernie asked. “Maybe you can get him to back off?” Sonny looked incredulously at Max, and then back to Bernie. “Why would he listen to me?” Sonny asked, enraged. “You and Jason made sure Alcazar, and everyone else, thinks I’m insane and incompetent!” “I’m sorry…” Bernie stammered; “I was just following Jason’s orders.” Sonny looked at Max again. “And now he’s throwing Jason under the bus to save his own skin. Can you believe this guy?” Max shook his head.

Sonny looked back to Bernie and said, “you know, when Jason asked me to help yesterday, he had the respect to get on his knees and beg me. It was the least he could do after how he betrayed me.” Bernie got the message, and sank down to his knees. He clasped his hands together, and begged. “Mr. Corinthos…I’m begging you for your mercy and your help.” “I didn’t finish,” Sonny said. “If Jason got on his knees…you need to do better than that. Because I gotta tell you, I have no reason to help you out with anything.” Bernie felt humiliated, but knew he had to play along. He put his hands on the floor and started crawling towards Sonny. “Please…sir…take pity on me, on all of us.” When Bernie reached Sonny’s feet, Sonny reached down and grabbed him by the tie. He pulled Bernie to his feet. “Just as I suspected,” Sonny sneered in his face; “you’re no kind of man.” He pulled his hand back and slapped Bernie upside the head…and then backhanded him across the face from the other side. Bernie started crying and begging for mercy again. Sonny smacked him several more times and then pushed him towards Max. “Get this piece of garbage out of here!” he roared. Max didn’t have to do much…Bernie was running for the door.

Chapter 8

Emily was once again distracted at work. She was thinking about the previous night’s, and current morning’s, lovemaking with Sonny. “Snap out of it!” she scolded herself. “Em, I’m surprised you’re still here!” Elizabeth declared, approaching the desk. Emily looked up at her. “Why?” “I thought you’d be at the PCPD with Jason.” Emily’s heart raced as she asked, “what happened with Jason?” “Oh, you didn’t hear? He was arrested for attempted murder.” For a moment, Emily thought it was Sonny that Jason had tried to kill, and her heart almost stopped. Elizabeth must have read her mind, and quickly replied, “it was Alcazar.” Emily let out a sigh of relief. “I guess I should go see him,” she said. “I was just there,” Elizabeth informed her. “Jason looked really upset.” Emily stepped around the Nurses’ station and headed for the elevator. She got on without saying another word to Elizabeth; her brain racing with the ramifications of Jason’s arrest.

At the PCPD, Bernie was the next in Jason’s seemingly endless string of visitors. First there was Elizabeth…then Sam, who despite having been dumped by Jason, still cared greatly about what happened to him…then Jason’s new attorney…and now Bernie. “I really blew it,” Bernie told him. “What did you do?” Jason asked, alarmed. “I went to Sonny for help.” “And he refused?” Jason was surprised. Now that he was facing the prospect of major prison time, he thought Sonny would make an exception to his decision to stay out of things. “He probably would have helped if it was someone else who asked,” Bernie continued. “He hates me Jason.” He put a hand up to his face, which was still smarting. “He hurt you?” Jason asked. “Yeah…but that’s not important now. We have to figure out a way to keep you alive Jason. Alcazar’s making plans to take you out in lock up.” “You know that for sure?” “Yeah,” Bernie said. “It could happen within a couple of days.” Standing outside the door which Bernie had carelessly left open a crack, Emily covered her mouth, trying to keep her gasp of horror silent. “You tell everyone else to go underground,” Jason ordered. “I’ll take care of myself in here.” Bernie nodded, got up, and left. Emily scurried away from the door just in time. Bernie barely acknowledged her as he hurried past. Emily walked into the interrogation room where Jason was sitting handcuffed to the table, his head hanging down. “What have you done to yourself Jason?” Emily asked sadly. Jason looked up at her. “I messed up Em…big time. Starting with trying to keep you and Sonny apart. Can you forgive me?”

Back at Greystone, Max was keeping a close eye on Sonny, who was pacing around the living room and deep in thought. When he finally stopped pacing, he looked at Max. “I don’t need a babysitter Max!” “I…I just wanted to make sure you were…” “Not having another breakdown?” Sonny growled. Max nodded his head. “You and everyone else, including my damn shrink, are going to have to get used to the concept that I’m not going to change. I am who I am, Max. And who I am is an angry man, who cannot tolerate betrayals and disrespect. Even fully medicated…which I am now, by the way…that’s not going to change. Can you deal with it, or not?” Max looked him in the eyes. “I can deal with it boss…gladly.”

Chapter 9

“I can forgive you for overreacting to me and Sonny, because I know it came from a place of love and concern for me,” Emily began. Jason smiled; finally, some good news. “But,” Emily continued, “I can’t forgive what you did to Sonny because of that concern. It was totally over the top Jason, and you hurt him really badly.” Jason nodded his head; “I know. And I’ve told him how sorry I am…but I guess it doesn’t matter now. He’s not going to get back in business, even if my life’s on the line. That’s the price I have to pay for my betrayal I guess.” “I can’t believe he’d let Alcazar kill you Jason,” Emily said. “There must be more to it than him not wanting to help you.” “Well sure, of course there is,” Jason replied. “He’s protecting you. He wants to give you a good life, and he’s not willing to risk your safety even to help me and save the business he built with his own blood. I never realized how much he really loves you until now.” Emily felt happy and guilty all at the same time. Knowing how much Sonny wanted to keep his word to her and have a new, safe life warmed her heart. But she also knew that if Jason died, Sonny would never forgive himself…and she’d never forgive herself. “I can’t make any promises Jason…but I’ll talk to him” Jason gave his sister a grateful smile.

“Ric’s here to see you boss,” Max announced, not sure if the boss wanted to see Ric. Sonny rolled his eyes. “Let him in…and stay in the room.” Max did as ordered. “What Ric?” Sonny barked. “Well, you’re in a good mood today,” Ric retorted. “Let me guess…upset over Jason being arrested?” Sonny shrugged, “not particularly.” Ric raised his eyebrows and then said, “ah, if only that were true.” “It’s not my concern anymore,” Sonny said. Ric didn’t believe him and asked, “even if you knew that Alcazar is going to try to kill him?” Looking at Max, Sonny joked, “this is some plan Alcazar’s got…everyone in this damn town knows what he’s going to do!” Max nervously laughed. Ric was incredulous. “You’re really not going to do anything?” “Like what Ric? Kill Alcazar myself and take my business back as well as his?” Ric studied his brother’s face. “That’s what you want to do, isn’t it Sonny? So what’s stopping you?”

“I think I am.” All the men turned as Emily walked in the room. Her next words were an order; “Ric, Max…leave.” Max grabbed Ric’s arm and pulled him towards the door. He went reluctantly, dying to hear the ensuing conversation play out. Sonny called out before he reached the door. “Hey Ric…if I was thinking of doing what you said, it wouldn’t involve you anyway. Remember that.” Ric nodded. “I know that Sonny. I’m not that delusional to think you’d trust me enough to work with me again. But knowing that you’re taking back what’s yours, and that Jason needs you to save his butt…that’s enough for me.” And then he left. Sonny looked at Emily who said, “Jason does need you to save his butt. And I’m asking you to do it…for me.”

Chapter 10

“Emily, I don’t think you really understand what you’re asking,” Sonny stated. “Yes, I do. I’m asking you to do whatever is necessarily to save Jason from being killed…or being in prison for the rest of his life.” “Even if it means killing a man? Several men?” Emily took a deep breath and let it out. She never thought she’d condone killing anyone; she was going to be a doctor after all, and was supposed to preserve life, not end it. And asking Sonny to commit murder was as if she was committing it herself. But her brother’s life was at stake, so she replied, “yes, even if it means that Sonny.” Sonny studied her eyes. “By just thinking about that, your eyes have changed already,” he sullenly told her. “They shine less.” Emily shook her head. “You have to stop seeing me as some sort of pure innocent. I’ve been through two marriages, betrayal, cancer, rape…my eyes have seen a lot already.” “Yeah, but none of that is the same as making a conscious choice to commit murder. It changes a person Emily. Trust me, I know. And you carry it for the rest of your life.” “I understand, and if there was another way I’d take it,” Emily replied. “But if Jason dies, I’ll carry that for the rest of my life too.” Sonny narrowed his eyes. “Why? It has nothing to do with you.” “Yes it does. This all started because Jason was trying to protect me. He was wrong…everything he did was wrong…but it was because of me. And now you are changing your life because of me, and that means you can’t help him like you would if I wasn’t around.” Sonny got sad and angry; “don’t even think about leaving me Emily.” “I’m not! I promise Sonny, I won’t leave you. I’m just asking you…begging you…to do what you have to and help Jason.” Sonny shook his head, “no begging…not you. I’ll do anything you want, you know that. But once I do this, I’m back in. I’ll be the boss again of even more than I was before. I’ll be more powerful and in that much more deeply. And that’s the way it’ll be for the rest of my life. Can you honestly tell me you can live with that?” Emily started to nod her head, but Sonny put his hand up to stop her. “Take a moment and think about it Emily; because this is the point of no return…for both of us.” “I have thought about it Sonny,” Emily replied. “And I’m prepared to face whatever comes, with you.”

Sonny put his hands on her face and guided her towards him. They kissed deeply, and Sonny groaned against her mouth. When he pulled back he said, “I wish I could make love to you right now, but…I have work to do.” Emily smiled, “yes you do. I’ll get out of your way.” She headed for the kitchen, and then turned back and asked, “you don’t mind if I make myself something to eat do you?” Sonny laughed, “you’re the only person I’d let destroy my kitchen baby.” Emily laughed as well and then left the room. Sonny stood smiling for a moment, and then turned around and yelled “Max!” Max ran in. “Yeah boss?” “Sit down,” Sonny ordered; “we have a lot of work to do.”

The next day…

Jason sat in his jail cell on full alert. If someone was going to try to kill him, they’d have a hell of a fight on their hands. He still couldn’t grasp that Sonny wasn’t going to help him, but in a way he was proud of Sonny for sacrificing so much to keep Emily safe. “Like I did with Sam,” he mused. Then, a figure appeared outside his cell. It was one of the guards. “Be ready,” the man whispered. Jason glared at him. “I am ready. If you’re the one Alcazar sent, you be ready to die yourself.” The man smiled. “Someone did send me…but it wasn’t Alcazar. And I’m not here to kill you.” And then, he walked off. Jason couldn’t help but smile, and think, “Sonny.”

Chapter 11

Sam McCall was surprised when Sonny called and asked her to come see him at Greystone that evening. Now that she and Jason had broken up, and Jason was in jail, she didn’t know what was left to talk about. “Thanks for coming,” Sonny said. “Sure,” she replied. “I’m not sure why I’m here, but you and I have history. I hope we can stay friends, even with Jason…” “That’s why you’re here,” Sonny stated. “And if we’re going to remain friends, it’ll be a long-distance friendship. That is…if I know you like I think I do.” Sam looked at him, very confused. “Sit down, and I’ll explain it all to you,” Sonny said.

Bernie was sweating bullets. When Max picked him up in a dark sedan he was certain it was “the ride;” the ride that ended with him swimming with the fishes. Max drove to a dark, secluded area on the outskirts of Port Charles, and then parked the car. Bernie waited for Max to speak. “Mr. Corinthos is very unhappy with you,” he began. Bernie nodded his head; “I know. I’ve screwed it all up.” “Yeah,” Max replied; “but there’s a chance you can redeem yourself…and stay alive.” Bernie looked at him, his heart racing. “I’ll do anything…anything Max; whatever Mr. Corinthos needs.” Max reached down under the car seat and retrieved a gun. Bernie got nervous again. Max held the gun out to him. “You’re going to kill Lorenzo Alcazar, and then…you’re going to disappear.” Bernie gulped, “but I’ve never…” “You’ve never killed anyone before. I know. And I don’t care Bernie. We’ve got Alcazar already. All you have to do is walk up to him, put the gun to his head, and pull the trigger. And then the boss will consider you even, and let you go back to Florida.” Bernie was confused, “Jason?” Max resisted the urge to hit him with the gun. “That’s your problem Bernie; you can never remember who the boss is. Sonny Corinthos…say it with me now.” Bernie did just that, and the two men chanted Sonny’s name over and over again. “Got it?” Max asked. “Yeah, I got it,” Bernie replied. Max handed him the gun, and then started the car up again. “Let’s go.”

After Sam left, Sonny found Emily upstairs in their bedroom reading a medical book. “Now that looks like fun,” he joked. Emily smiled, “hardly. But if you join me over here, it’ll be a lot of fun.” Sonny shifted his stance and replied, “I’d like nothing better, but you and I have to go out.” “Out?” “Yup on a date…to the Metrocourt.” Emily looked at him quizzically; Sonny hated going “out.” His idea of a fun night was staying in and “getting busy,” as he put it; Emily had come to agree with him. Then, she realized what he was saying. “Oh, I get it. You need to be seen in public tonight, right?” Sonny just smiled and replied, “get dressed woman.”

Chapter 12

“I’m feeling a bit guilty,” Emily stated as Milo drove them to the Metrocourt hotel. “Emily…there’s no point to second thoughts now,” Sonny replied. Emily shook her head, “no I don’t mean about that. Elizabeth called me earlier and wanted me to go out with her and the girls, and I told her I had to study. In reality, I wanted to be home in case you needed me.” Sonny kissed her on the forehead, “I always need you. I think the ladies can handle getting smashed at Jake’s without you. Besides, you can’t go there anymore.” “I can’t?” “No. Not after tonight. You’re Sonny Corinthos’ woman; you need to be careful. And you’ll need to be guarded, at all times.” Emily understood; “OK. But why is Jake’s off limits?” “Because there’s nothing but a bunch of lowlifes in there,” Sonny growled; “and if they look at you twice, I’ll have to kill them. And I have a lot of other things to deal with now, and don’t have the time to be taking out Coleman’s customers one by one.” Emily knew he was only half-joking, and shuddered slightly. “I think you’re exaggerating Sonny,” she replied. “Not that many men look at me.” Sonny laughed, “oh baby, you are still so naive. What do you think Patrick Drake would have done if I didn’t threaten to break his hand?” Emily feigned shock. “So you did threaten him? You said you didn’t!” “And you didn’t believe me, so don’t pretend you’re surprised now,” Sonny retorted. “Ok, well that’s just Patrick…one guy. Besides, he’ll sleep with anyone.” “Not just one guy,” Sonny snapped; “Patrick, your ex, Coleman, Lucky…every guy you walk past on the street…” “Oh come on!” “You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” Sonny asked staring into her eyes. “I feel beautiful when I’m with you Sonny,” she replied. “The way you look at me…the way you make love to me…” “You’d better stop that or I’ll make love to you right here in the limo,” Sonny stated in a voice strained with desire. Neither of them realized the dividing window was partially open, and Milo could hear every word. He squirmed in the driver’s seat and prayed really hard that the boss wouldn’t decide to make love to her right there. “But,” Sonny added, “we need to go see and be seen.” Milo had pulled up to the front of the hotel. “We’re here boss!” he said from the front seat. Sonny looked at the back of his head and asked, “Milo, why is your voice so high?”

Meanwhile, Max and Bernie sat in their car in front of a broken down house. “What…what are we waiting for?” Bernie nervously asked; not that he was in any hurry to blow Alcazar’s brains out. “A call,” Max replied; “from the boss.” “Right, the boss. Sonny Corinthos,” Bernie stated automatically. “Now you’re a quick learner?” Max asked and then broke out laughing. Then, his phone rang. “Hello?” “Yes sir.” “Yes, we’re all set.” “Yes, he understands.” “Oh don’t worry, he knows the alternative.” Then Max hung up and looked at Bernie, “check the gun.” Bernie did and wondered why it looked so familiar to him. Max told him; “let’s go.”

After Sonny made his phone call, he and Emily got out of the limo. Milo escorted them into the hotel never having answered Sonny’s question about his voice. Sonny didn’t care; he knew the answer. Milo had been turned on by listening to him and Emily in the back seat. Medication for Bipolar Disorder aside, Sonny was still paranoid about other men wanting Emily. He knew that would never change. He simply would never believe he was good enough for her, and figured she’d wise up at any moment and leave him. Milo held the door open, and Sonny let Emily walk in ahead. Sonny paused to whisper to Milo; “maybe you shouldn’t listen in on me and my woman.” Milo gulped. “Could be dangerous to your health,” Sonny added. Milo felt like throwing up, but replied, “no sir…I mean yes sir…I mean…it won’t happen again!”

Chapter 13

Sonny & Emily strutted into the restaurant acting as if they didn’t have a care in the world; which didn’t go un-noticed by Carly who was working that night for a change. She walked over to them. “Well isn’t this special? Your brother,” she looked at Emily; “and your best friend,” she looked at Sonny; “is rotting away in a jail cell, and you two are out on the town? I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. You’re a selfish pig…always have been.” Emily fought the urge to slap Carly silly. Instead she said, “shut up Carly. Shut up and think for a moment before opening your filthy mouth. Or is that too difficult for you?” Sonny didn’t say anything. He just glared at Carly and wondered how he could have ever been with a woman who never believes in him; never gives him the benefit of the doubt. Carly was taken aback. And after thinking for a minute, she realized what Emily was telling her…that Sonny was taking care of business and needed to be seen in public. “Oh Sonny, I’m sorry I didn’t realize why you’re here. It makes perfect sense…” “Just give us a table Carly,” Sonny snapped. Carly knew he wasn’t going to forgive her latest nasty tirade, so she just led them to a table. “I’ll send your waiter over,” she said quietly, and then walked off.

“I’m sorry, but I hate her,” Emily told him. “Yeah, I understand,” he sadly replied. “But enough about her; I want to focus on you.” But that would have to wait as Sonny realized someone was standing next to their table. “Hi Sonny…Emily,” Lainey interrupted them. “What are you doing here?” Emily asked. “Well, Jake’s had to close down because of some huge brawl or something, so we came here.” She gestured to the bar and at Elizabeth, Robin & Kelly. “I thought you had to study,” she teased Emily. “I was…but then Sonny needed me,” Emily replied. “I can see that,” Lainey said smiling at Sonny. “So Sonny, how are you feeling? Are you taking the meds?” Sonny’s eyes got dark and hard and Lainey felt nervous. “Listen to me very carefully Dr. Winters,” Sonny said in an angry but quiet voice. “Don’t ever ask me how I am or anything about my treatment in public again. Do you understand?” “Not really, but…” “But nothing. Just do it. Or I’ll find myself another shrink.” Emily interjected; “Lainey, it’s really important.” Lainey looked at her, and then back to Sonny. “Fine I understand. Have a good evening.” And then she walked back to the bar. Sonny took a moment to compose himself; Emily knew why he was so upset. He was taking back his position as boss; the last thing he needed was his shrink talking to him in public about being on medication, or anything else. He couldn’t afford to look weakened ever again. Emily reached out and put her hand on his on the table. “It’s going to be OK Sonny.” Sonny looked at his watch. “Not yet. But in a couple of hours, it should be.”

Lainey re-joined her friends at the bar. “I thought Emily couldn’t go out tonight?” Elizabeth questioned. “She made an exception for Sonny,” Lainey replied. “Do you blame her?” Kelly piped up. “I’d make an exception for that hotty gangsta anytime! I bet he’s majorly hot in bed!” Robin crinkled her face; “ewwww stop it! He’s practically my brother. And besides, he’s not a gangster.” Elizabeth laughed, “come on…you don’t really believe that one do you?” Robin smiled and looked back at Sonny. “What can I say,” she stated; “when it comes to Sonny Corinthos, old habits are hard to break!”

Chapter 14

Jason warily eyed the prison guard who was now driving his getaway car. They had easily slipped out of the PCPD jail and were well on their way to Canada. But Jason still wasn’t certain the guard didn’t work for Alcazar, not Sonny, and that his life wasn’t still in danger. “How come I don’t know you?” Jason questioned. “Mr. Corinthos got me transferred to the PCPD this morning,” the man replied. “How’d he manage that?” Jason asked impressed. “He’s very resourceful.” “Yeah, he is,” Jason commented. “Oh, and he asked me to give you this,” the man said reaching into the back seat and retrieving a large manila envelope. He handed it to Jason. Jason opened it up and amongst everything it contained, saw a letter in Sonny’s handwriting. He took it out and read it silently.

Jason felt like crying but held back the tears. Because of decisions he made months ago, he was now leaving everyone he loved behind. He glanced at the letter again and realized Sonny hadn’t mentioned Sam at all. “She really hates me now,” Jason surmised. He didn’t bother to look at the rest of the documents in the envelope, figuring they were papers with his new identity, etc. And he didn’t even notice there were two passports.

Bernie stood in front of Lorenzo Alcazar, gun in hand. Alcazar, despite already being beaten half to death, laughed at him. “An accountant? Morgan sent his accountant to kill me?” Max cut Bernie off before he could correct Alcazar about who sent them. “An accountant who’s going to end your miserable life,” he stated. Then he looked at Bernie who was shaking. “Do it.” Bernie didn’t move. Max cocked his own gun and put it to Bernie’s head. “Do it…or die.” Bernie lifted his arms. Steadying the gun with his free hand he pulled the trigger. Max uncocked his own gun and put it away. He dismissed all the other men from the room, and then he spoke to Bernie again. “Good decision. Now give me the gun.” Bernie did. Max wiped it clean and then dropped it at Alcazar’s feet. “But, shouldn’t we get rid of it?” Bernie asked. “Nope.” Bernie looked at the gun on the floor and finally realized why it looked familiar. “That’s Jason’s gun!” Max smiled, “that’s right Einstein. And Jason will be fingered for killing Alcazar. They’ll assume he did it right after breaking out of jail.” Bernie put his hand on his forehead…everything made sense to him now. “And by the time the cops go looking for him, he’ll be long gone. And there’ll be nothing to tie Sonny to the escape, or Alcazar’s death. Boy, Mr. Corinthos is a smart one.” “That’s right,” Max replied. “So don’t ever think of coming back here, or going up against him in any way. We’ve got plenty of evidence showing that you broke Jason out and helped him get away.” “Me? But I didn’t…” “It doesn’t matter what you did. It only matters what it looks like you did. Now take this undeserved second chance, and get the hell out of Sonny’s town.”

An hour later…

Sonny & Emily had just finished their meal when Emily noticed Sonny looking at the entrance to the restaurant. She turned in her chair and saw a stunning, voluptuous blonde woman who was staring at Sonny, looking like she wanted to eat him up. Emily turned back to Sonny. He was still watching the woman. “I don’t want to sound like Carly,” Emily snapped, “but who the hell is that woman, and why are you staring at her?!”

Chapter 15

Sonny smiled at Emily. Then he got up and put out his hand to her. “Dance with me,” he said. “Dance? I asked you a question Sonny,” Emily replied, frustrated with him. There was no getting around it, she was downright jealous. Another woman looking at Sonny like that, and him just looking back, made her want to throw something across the room. “Dance with me, and I’ll answer it,” Sonny stated. Emily wasn’t sure what he was up to; maybe he was going to charm his way out of answering her question. But she put her hand in his and stood up. He led her to the dance floor, and the blonde woman made her way past them and over to the bar. Emily shot daggers at her back as she passed. Sonny pulled Emily tightly against him and started swaying to the music. She couldn’t help but feel his hardness, and that only made her feel worse. “Oh I see; she excites you,” she said in a sad voice. Sonny put his mouth against her ear. “You excite me. That’s all for you baby, and when we get home I’ll prove it.” Emily replied, “don’t think you can charm your way out of this one Sonny. I want to know who that woman is and I want to know now!” Sonny smiled, “aw, you mean I can’t charm you? I’m going to have to work on that. But seriously…to answer your question, that woman is a message.” “A what?” Sonny nibbled Emily’s earlobe. “A message baby; think about it for a minute.” Emily did, but couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. Of course his tongue in her ear didn’t help her concentration. “Sonny…stop that…I don’t know what you mean.” “She’s a sign that everything went as planned tonight,” Sonny whispered. Then Emily understood. “Oh,” she whispered back. “But why didn’t Max come and tell you?” “Because I can’t be seen getting visits from any of my men…or phone calls. This way no one can say I spoke to someone tonight…because I didn’t.” Emily felt badly for overreacting. “You are such a smart man, do you know that?” she told him. “Well sure,” Sonny replied; “I fell in love with you didn’t I?”

He spun Emily around on the dance floor and they both laughed. “So can you tell me what happened?” Emily asked once Sonny stopped the dance. Sonny looked at the man who was approaching them and replied, “I think Mac will answer all your questions now.” Mac reached them and said to Sonny, “I know this is a total waste of my time, but I have to ask you anyway. Jason Morgan escaped from jail tonight, killed Lorenzo Alcazar, and then disappeared. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Sonny just looked at Emily, and smiled.

“Mr. Corinthos made sure you’d be comfortable on the flight,” the pilot told Jason. “I’m sure he did, but it doesn’t matter,” Jason replied. The last thing he cared about at the moment was his comfort. He was too sad about all the people he was leaving behind, especially Sonny, Emily, and Sam. He walked onto the plane, his head hanging down. “Aren’t you at least glad to see me?” Jason’s head shot up at the sound of a woman’s voice. “It can’t be,” he thought. He stared at Sam who was sitting on the plane drinking a glass of champagne. “Sonny stocked the plane with all the best stuff,” she continued. “Of course you don’t care, but I don’t mind having some good food and drink for the long flight.” Jason blinked. “I must be dead…or asleep…are you really here?” Sam smiled at him, “you think I would let you spend eternity in a country with no extradition by yourself? Did you think Sonny would?” “God…Sam,” Jason said and hurried over to her. Sam put down her glass, got up, and threw herself into his arms.

Chapter 16

Sonny & Emily returned home to Greystone to find Max waiting to report in. “Everything OK boss?” he anxiously asked Sonny. Sonny was confused; “didn’t you send me that little message at the Metrocourt telling me everything was OK?” Max nodded his head…and then shook it saying, “yeah I did. And all that is OK. I meant…Jasmine called me and said Scorpio was hassling you.” Emily raised her eyebrows; “Jasmine? Her name is Jasmine?” Sonny smiled at her. “Baby…would you mind waiting for me upstairs while I finish up with Max here?” Emily rolled her eyes; “yeah, sure no problem. Just don’t wear yourself out talking about Jasmine!” The men watched as she went up the stairs. “Did you have to go there in front of her Max?” Sonny admonished. “Sorry! I was just worried.” “It’s fine,” Sonny told him. “Mac did his usual Q&A routine…all Qs and no As from me. But from what he said, they definitely think Jason orchestrated the whole breakout and killing of Alcazar, with help from Bernie and some of the other guys.” Max let out a breath; “great.” “What about the other guys?” Sonny asked. Max answered, “some of Alcazar’s men have run back to South America. The others…we got.” “And Jason’s men?” “They’re your men boss. Well, other than Bernie who should be landing in Florida at any moment, the rest of the men have all pledged their loyalty to you.” Sonny wasn’t convinced. “Why should I trust any of them?” “You shouldn’t…and I told them that. I told them they have a chance to prove that they deserve your trust, and if they can’t…they’re done.” Sonny nodded his head; “OK. Anything else important cause I’ve had enough of this shit for one night.” “No sir; you have a good night.” Sonny started to walk to the stairs, and then stopped and turned back. “You did a fantastic job Max. I’m proud of you…and I’m grateful.” Max beamed with pride. “Thank you Mr. C.” “Oh…there is one more thing,” Sonny said. “Yeah boss?” “You need to find someone else to guard the door because from now on you’re my #1 Max.” And with that, Sonny went up the stairs. Max stood silently enjoying the moment. Finally he would be in a position to really help Sonny; to live up to his potential. Milo walked up to him. “You look happy,” he commented. Max turned to him with a triumphant smile on his face. “I should be…you work for me now bro.”

Sonny entered the bedroom hoping Emily was still awake. She was, and was still fuming over Jasmine. Sonny knew instantly she was mad. “Oh come on!” he exclaimed. “You’re not seriously jealous over Jasmine, are you?” “Message or not she obviously wanted you,” Emily replied. “I have to know…did you sleep with her?” Sonny started taking off his clothes. “No, I didn’t. And in the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that she did want me…probably still does. But contrary to popular belief, I don’t sleep with just anyone.” Emily softened; “I know that Sonny.” Sonny sat next to her on the bed, shirtless. “Do you? Do you really know that you’re not just some woman I’m banging? Do you really know how much I love you?” Emily swooned. “Yes honey, I know. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time about Jasmine.” Sonny smiled, kissed her and then said, “that’s OK. I know you’re dealing with a lot…me taking my power back; Jason leaving.” “So he’s really gone?” Emily asked. Sonny nodded, “yeah. I arranged for him to go to a country with no extradition. As long as he stays there he’ll be safe and free.” “And alone,” Emily sadly stated. Sonny smiled again; “I never said he was alone.” Emily’s eyes got wide; “what…what do you mean?” “Sam’s with him.” Emily squealed with glee and threw her arms around Sonny. “You did that? I love you so much!!!”

Chapter 17

“Oh yeah?” Sonny jokingly asked. “Then show me how much.” Emily laughed, “I’ll show you. Get naked please.” Sonny laughed as well, and stood up to finish undressing. Emily told him to stand next to the bed. He did, and his fully engorged cock was saluting her. She wasted no time getting on her knees and taking him in her mouth. “Unh Em,” Sonny groaned. She slowly took him all the way in, opening her throat to accommodate his length…her mouth stretching to accommodate his girth. “Yeah…take it all…” Emily moved her head slowly back and forth. Sonny loved how it felt, but knew she’d soon get tired doing it like that. “Wait,” he whispered; “lie down.” Emily did as he asked. Sonny propped her head up with pillows, and then straddled her. She took him back in her mouth. “Hold still,” he ordered her. She relaxed against the pillows, and let Sonny take over. He moved his hips, his cock gliding smoothly back and forth in her mouth. “Yeah…that’s it…you won’t strain yourself this way.” Emily loved that he was always thinking of her and her comfort; just as she was always thinking of him and his. “Shit baby,” Sonny moaned, picking up the pace a bit. Emily wrapped one hand around the base of his cock, so she would be stroking him every time he moved. “Unh…good…I’m not gonna last much longer…” She put her free hand on his ass, pushing at it and urging him to find his release. “Em…I love you…here it comes!” Sonny warned in a gruff voice. And then, he exploded against the back of her throat. “Yeah…yeah…yeah…yeah…yeah.” She concentrated on swallowing as each spurt came out, hoping she wouldn’t gag. Finally, Sonny stopped cumming, pulled out of her mouth, and collapsed onto the bed next to her. He looked at her with glassy eyes; “you OK?” Emily smiled. “I’m great. I love making you cum like that.” “I love it more,” Sonny joked. “Just give me a minute baby…”

“He’s dead? My father’s dead?!” Diego Alcazar couldn’t help breaking down and crying in front of Mac Scorpio and the whole PCPD. “Yes,” Mac replied. That was all he said; saying he was sorry would be a lie. He was glad Lorenzo Alcazar was finally out of his hair and out of his town. “Who killed him?” Diego asked through his tears. “Jason Morgan,” Mac replied. “But before you even think about retaliating you should know that Jason has left the country. And so has Sam McCall.” “But not Sonny Corinthos,” Diego thought to himself. “Well, he’s going to pay for this, that’s for sure.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for me?” Sonny asked Emily. He’d only been stroking her pussy for a few moments…after a long make-out session designed to kill time until he got hard again. “Don’t I feel ready?” she asked coyly. “Hell yeah,” Sonny said climbing on top of her. He lifted her legs up, pushed them back towards her chest, and then guided himself into her with no assistance. He spread her legs apart with his hands and sank down. “Ooh,” Emily cooed. “Feel good baby?” Sonny growled. “Yeah…and I love when you hold my legs like that.” “You do? But you can’t move this way…I’m totally in control. You like that?” “You know I like it Sonny,” Emily retorted; “that’s why you do it all the time.” She knew Sonny always considered himself the most selfish man around, but the truth was he never did anything in bed that he didn’t know for sure that she liked. Sonny held her by the ankles, and started fucking her hard. “You like that too?” Emily could barely reply, “yes!” The orgasm was already starting to build, and she tried to relax and let Sonny take her on a hot and sexy ride. She reached her arms out over her head and grabbed at the pillows for support. “I can’t…get…enough…of you!” Sonny practically yelled as the sweat started dripping down his forehead. “Mmmmm!” was all Emily could reply. She was on the edge now, and Sonny could feel her tightening all around him. “That’s it…let it go…let me hear ya…” The sound started deep down and rose up into Emily’s throat. She released with a cry; her body shuddering and shaking. Sonny released her legs; lowered himself down against her chest; and took her mouth in a deep kiss as he powered on to his own release. Emily was barely aware of what he was doing; she was lost in a haze of pleasure. “Cumming…cumming,” Sonny groaned against her mouth. And then, he exploded inside of her.

Chapter 18

The next morning started as most of them did with Sonny & Emily making love. This time, she mounted him and slowly rode up and down. Sonny caressed her breasts and told her how much he loved her. Emily shook with every movement; he felt so huge inside of her. “Aren’t I supposed to get wider the more we do this?” she gasped. Sonny smiled, “it doesn’t work that way baby. Not that I’m complaining…I like you nice and tight.” “I like it too,” Emily said; “but ooh, you’re so big.” Sonny licked his lips, and then put his hands on her hips. “Hang on sweetheart,” he warned. Emily grabbed his shoulders and he started thrusting upwards to meet her on the way down. “Shiiiiiiiit!” she cried. As usual, Sonny was reducing her to a mass of throbbing nerve endings. Sonny moved his hands to her ass, which he grabbed tightly. “Cum with me…” he growled. Emily had no choice but to comply and they both exploded in unison. Emily fell forward onto Sonny’s chest. “I swear,” she moaned against him; “it’s a miracle I can still walk the way you fuck me.” If Sonny’d been drinking anything he would have spit it across the room at her comment. “Excuse me? What did my beautiful, sweet, angelic Emily just say?” Emily lifted her head up and looked at him. “Huh?” “Did you just say ‘fuck’?” “Did I?” “Yeah, you did. You said ‘fuck’! I’ve never heard you use that word before!” “I’ve used that word before!” Emily cried. “When? When have you ever said ‘fuck’ before?” “Uh…I’m sure I said it all the time when living with my family,” Emily replied, not sure if that was even true. “Yeah OK sure.” Sonny didn’t believe her. “What does it matter Sonny? It’s just a word!” Emily yelled. Sonny smiled. “Yeah, and it totally turned me on. Promise me you’ll use it more often…when we’re alone in bed of course.” Emily laughed, “you’re SO bad!”

Sonny left Emily in bed and went downstairs to start handling business. There was no doubt a lot to address, and Emily didn’t need to be at the hospital till later in the morning and wanted to go back to sleep. Sonny chuckled to himself; proud of how he’d worn her out. “Good morning boss,” Max said as Sonny descended. “Morning Max.” Max hurried to pour Sonny a cup of coffee which he gratefully took. “So,” Sonny asked; “who’s on the door now?” Max told him the man’s name. “And who are you going to put on Emily?” Max nervously replied, “don’t you want to make that decision yourself?” Sonny shook his head. “You’re my right hand man now Max. I have to be able to delegate to you. Just know that whomever you pick had better be capable and respectful, or I’ll kick both your asses.” “Yes sir.” Max searched his mind and tried to think of the best person for the job. “Milo!” Sonny narrowed his eyes. “You want Milo to guard Emily?” “She knows him; she’s comfortable with him,” Max explained. Sonny had to admit that was true. “Yeah, it’ll probably be easier on her if it were someone she knows.” Milo entered the room. Sonny looked at him. “Max is about to give you a very important assignment Milo. Needless to say, you screw up and you’re dead.” Milo got very pale. Sonny then looked at Max. “I’m going to make breakfast and bring some up to Emily. You handle this.” Max nodded, and once Sonny left the room he addressed Milo. “This is your big chance bro…don’t mess it up!”

Chapter 19

Later that morning, Emily headed to GH, driven by Milo. Sonny had explained to her that she was going to have a guard from now on, and that it was non-negotiable. Emily understood, and was grateful it was Milo and not some large stranger. Max told Milo to hang out on whatever floor Emily thought she’d be on the most, and to stay out of her way, so he settled into the lounge near Emergency which was her scheduled location for the day. It turned out to be a particularly busy day due to a major pile up on the interstate. Emily called Sonny to tell him she was going to put in more time and would be there well into the evening. Sonny was worried about her getting worn out, but otherwise didn’t complain. He had business to attend to himself. Max had arranged a meeting at one of the warehouses with the top level of Sonny’s organization. Underbosses from Puerto Rico, the rest of the Caribbean, and most of the East Coast of the US came, or sent representatives. Max gave a speech reminding all of them who the Capo di Capo was…the boss of all bosses…and they all nodded their heads. Everyone was very impressed at how Sonny handled getting Jason out of the country and got rid of Alcazar.

Finally, Sonny spoke. “I was going to thank you for showing up, but then I realized there was no reason to. I asked you to come…so you came; which is as it should be. In the past, there has sometimes been confusion about who is in charge of this organization. Jason, for all his good qualities, would overstep his bounds and you all would think he was calling the shots. Jason’s gone now. Max is my right hand man. But Max knows his place in this organization; he knows his job. His job is to serve and protect me. All of your jobs,” Sonny pointed a finger at the assembled group; “is to serve and protect me. If you all do your jobs, we’ll all be richer and happier than anyone can imagine.” The men all listened intently. “As you know I have removed Lorenzo Alcazar from the picture… permanently. I have made new arrangements with his South American associates. Some of them, I am still doing business with. The ones who deal in arms and drugs have been directed elsewhere and are happy with the arrangements I’ve made for them. Under no circumstances will this organization ever deal with gun or drug runners. Is that clear?” The men all nodded their heads. “In exchange for the new business I’ve sent their way, some of my US associates have paid me generous tributes; tributes which I am happy to share with you all tonight.” The men all clapped and cheered as Max and another of Sonny’s men handed out envelopes of cash to everyone. “Thank you Mr. Corinthos!” one of them yelled. “I think you should all thank him properly, don’t you?” Max stated. “And reassure him that you have understood everything he’s said.” One by one the men approached Sonny. They kissed his ring and swore their respect and loyalty. Sonny sized each man up as they did, and was satisfied he saw no uncertainty in any of their eyes.

“That went well,” Sonny stated to Max after everyone had left. “Very well,” Max replied. “You’re back sir…you’re really back.” Sonny put his hand on Max’s shoulder. “I know I said it last night, but I want to say it again. Thank you Max; for your loyalty and all your help; I couldn’t have made it back without you.” “I’ll always be here for you boss,” Max replied. Sonny took his hand off Max’s shoulder and put it out to him. Max shook it and then bent his head down and kissed Sonny’s ring himself. Sonny patted him on the head with his other hand. As Max straightened up, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. “Get down!” he yelled, pushing Sonny to the ground.

Chapter 20

“Get down!” Max yelled pushing Sonny to the ground. As he did a shot rang out, hitting him in the arm. Max covered Sonny’s body with his as the other men ran outside after the shooter; the shot had come in through a window. “Max, get off me,” Sonny said; he was being crushed. Max reluctantly did as he was told. “We’re not secure yet sir,” he explained. Sonny stood up and brushed off his clothes. Max did the same, and realized his arm was hurting. “Shit,” he mumbled. “You’re hit?” Sonny asked. “Yeah, just my arm, no big deal.” They heard shots outside. “I got him!” someone yelled. “He’s still running!” someone else yelled. Finally, someone ran into the warehouse to fill them in. “We hit him, but he got away,” the man reluctantly told the boss. “One guy?” Sonny asked. “Yeah,” the man nodded; “looks like it.” “Get the car,” Sonny told him. “And call the doc; Max has been hit.” “Yes sir,” the man replied hurrying off. Sonny looked at Max. “One of Alcazar’s men?” Max was confused. “I swear boss, they’ve all been accounted for. They’re either out of the country, or dead.” “Well someone just tried to kill me,” Sonny growled; “and you’d better figure out who it is!”

A short while later Diego Alcazar was helped into General Hospital by Georgie and Dillon Quartermaine. Dillon called out to Emily when he saw her in the ER. She hurried over. “What happened?” she asked noting that Diego was bleeding from the leg. “He was shot,” Georgie replied. Dillon gave her a “that’s obvious” look and then responded to Emily himself. “We don’t know what happened. But we were standing outside Kelly’s when Diego came running by. Well…running as best he could before he collapsed in front of us. I think he’s lost a lot of blood.” Emily nodded, “OK, let’s get him on a gurney and I’ll take a look at his leg.” Dillon helped Diego up, and then asked Emily if they could leave. Georgie started to object, but stopped herself. “He’s not exactly my favorite person,” Dillon explained; “and I don’t want Georgie mixed up in whatever trouble he’s in.” Emily understood and told them to leave. “I’ll take a look and then get a surgeon to examine you,” she told Diego. He looked at her with pain filled eyes. “I just tried to kill your boyfriend,” he whispered. “With any luck, I was successful.” Emily gasped and looked over at Milo, who was already hovering nearby. Diego grabbed her arm and added, “and if not…I’ll keep trying until I do it right.”

Back at Greystone, the mob doctor patched up Max’s arm and assured him and Sonny that the bullet had gone through. “Keep it clean, take the antibiotics, and you’ll be fine,” he told Max. “Thanks doc,” Max replied. The doctor left and Sonny said, “any thoughts on who the shooter was?” Max shook his head, “I’m stumped, really. I swear everyone left in town fell in line.” Then Max’s phone rang. He looked at the display and then spoke into it. “Milo? What’s wrong?” He then looked at Sonny, whose heart stopped beating.

Chapter 21

Sonny was paralyzed with fear. What if whoever came after him hit Emily as well? “Is Emily all right?” Max slowly asked Milo; enunciating each word so there could be no mistake what he was asking. Sonny’s heart started up again at the obvious relief on Max’s face. “She’s fine boss,” Max told him. Sonny slumped down onto the sofa and ran his hands over his face. Max continued his conversation. “Who?” “He said what?” “No, the boss wasn’t hit.” “OK, whatever you do, don’t let him leave that hospital…and don’t leave Emily’s side!” He hung up the phone. “Well I know who took a shot at you now.” Sonny looked up and Max filled him in on Diego Alcazar and what he had said to Emily. Sonny stood up and walked over to his now-empty bar. He slid the top panels aside, opened the safe and retrieved his gun. “Boss…” Max began. Sonny glared at him. “Don’t Max…don’t even think about telling me what to do right now.” Max swallowed hard. “Yes sir…I mean no sir.” “Get the damn car Max,” Sonny ordered.

Meanwhile at GH, Emily convinced Milo to take a few steps back and let her do her job…of course that was after he reassured her that Sonny was fine. But when she looked at Diego again, she was filled with hatred. She wanted him to die for trying to kill Sonny. Then her feelings turned inward; realizing that as a doctor (or someone training to be one) she had an obligation to save Diego’s life. The conflict paralyzed her, and she stood there staring at him. “I’m bleeding over here!” Diego yelled; using all his energy to do so. Patrick Drake approached them. “Emily, what’s going on?” Emily kept staring at Diego, whispering, “I can’t…I can’t…” Patrick didn’t know the reasons but could see she was deeply torn. “I’ll handle it,” he reassured her, and walked over to Diego. He cut the pant leg away, surveyed the wound and started shouting orders out to the nurses. “This man is going to die in minutes from blood loss,” he said; “let’s get moving people!”

Emily walked over to the admissions desk, leaned her elbows on it, and put her head down in her hands. Milo watched unsure what to do. He was very happy Emily didn’t help the man who tried to kill Sonny. He knew Sonny would be very happy too…which was good for all of them. But he felt badly watching Emily suffer with the decision. A few minutes later Patrick came back out. “He’s being prepped for surgery and being transfused. It’ll be an easy procedure to stop the bleeding. The bullet went through his leg.” Emily picked her head up and looked at him. “Thanks.” “I’m sure you had your reasons, but can I ask why you froze like that?” Emily looked around and then answered in a low voice. “He tried to kill Sonny tonight. He admitted it to me. How could I save his life knowing that? And how can I be a doctor knowing that I wanted him to die?” She started to cry, and Patrick took her into a hug to comfort her. “It’s OK,” he said; “I understand.” Neither of them saw Sonny come off the elevator. And when he saw Emily in Patrick’s arms, he most definitely did not understand.

Chapter 22

Despite his throbbing arm, Max instinctively grabbed Sonny before he could go after Patrick. “You wanna die too Max?” Sonny growled in a low voice. “Cops boss,” Max said, watching Mac Scorpio and several uniformed policemen approaching Patrick & Emily. “Come on,” he urged and pulled Sonny back into the elevator. “Emily?” Mac asked; “are you OK?” Emily moved out from Patrick’s arms and replied, “yeah, I’m fine. Why are you here?” “Georgie called me about Diego. Did he say anything to you about how he was shot?” Emily shook her head. Patrick knew she was lying since she’d told him what Diego said about trying to kill Sonny, but didn’t give her away. “Can I speak with him?” Mac asked. “He’s going into surgery,” Patrick replied; “you’ll have to come back later.”

Inside the elevator, Max watched anxiously as Sonny punched the wall several times. “I’m sure there’s a good reason…” he began. “Argh!” Sonny yelled, and punched the wall again. The doors opened and he hurried out. Max ran after him. They got in the car, and Max drove off. Sonny was reeling; had he lost her already? “Back in the business for ONE day!” he screamed; “and she’s done with me?!” Max shook his head but didn’t respond. He prayed there really was a good reason for Emily & Dr. Drake to be holding each other; a reason that Sonny could accept without killing someone.

After the police left, Emily thanked Patrick for keeping his mouth shut and everything else. “You know you could have worked on Diego,” Patrick told her, “cause I have a strong feeling he’s going to wind up dead anyway.” Emily nodded, “yeah probably. But Sonny would never forgive me for helping his enemy.” “He’s a very lucky man to have someone as loyal as you loving him,” Patrick replied. Emily smiled; “not as lucky as I am to have him loving me.”

When Emily finally arrived home hours later, she found Sonny sitting in the dark drinking a glass of scotch. “Sonny!” she exclaimed racing to him. She sat down and hugged him, grateful he was OK. He sat as stiff as a board. “Uh oh,” she commented; “you’re drinking. Where’d that come from?” Sonny took his time responding. “Max went on a liquor run for me. He knew it was necessary under the circumstances.” “I’m sorry,” Emily said. “I know you had a really rough night.” Sonny laughed; “that’s an understatement.” Emily clasped her hands in her lap and looked down. “I know this is a bad time…but I have a confession to make.” Sonny felt his world slipping away, and downed the rest of his scotch.

Chapter 23

The last thing Sonny wanted was to hear Emily confess that she wanted to be with Patrick Drake now, but he was unable to protest or move. He’d already given up hope; resigned to the fact that he was losing her. Which was something he feared would happen if he took back the business, and was the major reason he had originally decided not to. “Georgie & Dillon brought Diego Alcazar in tonight after he was shot. I…I started to help him, and then he told me he had tried to kill you and would try again if he had failed. I was horrified, and so scared of what had happened to you. Then Milo told me you were OK…thank God. But…please don’t hate me,” she whispered. Sonny remained still, staring straight ahead and tightly clutching his empty glass. Emily continued. “Despite what I knew he’d done, for a moment I considered treating him and saving his life.” She let out a deep breath; feeling glad that she told Sonny the truth. Sonny felt a glimmer of hope in his heart; a chance that he had jumped to the wrong conclusions about what he’d seen. He turned his head and looked at Emily. She looked up from her hands and at him. “I swear it was only a moment Sonny. And then I was filled with all this hate for him, and I just stood there and did nothing.” Sonny saw the pain in her eyes and forgot about his own. “That’s a natural reaction Emily; you’re human.” Emily nodded, “yeah. But I’m also supposed to be a doctor. And doctors don’t stand there and let someone bleed to death. I could have easily called someone else over…or helped him myself like I was supposed to do. But all I could think about was you. I knew you’d feel betrayed if I saved his life, and I never want you to feel that pain again.”

Tears were falling from Sonny’s eyes. He’d never had anyone put him first like Emily did. Emily finished the story. “The next thing I knew Patrick Drake had come over. He saw I was paralyzed with indecision and took care of things himself. They took Diego into surgery.” Sonny got upset again. Why was Emily lying to him about Patrick? “I was there Em,” Sonny told her quietly. “Why are you covering for him?” Emily gave him a puzzled look. “Covering for whom?” “Patrick Drake.” “I don’t know what you mean Sonny…and when were you there, I didn’t see you?” “I was coming off the elevator and saw him holding you,” Sonny said through clenched teeth. “How is that possible if he was in surgery with the Alcazar punk?” Emily thought for a moment. “Oh…because Patrick came back out when they were prepping Diego to tell me his status.” “And he just had to take you in his arms to do that?” Sonny angrily asked. “Sonny…I believe that you saw what you say you saw, but I don’t even remember him hugging me. I remember being upset and crying because I was so mixed up. And then I remember Mac and the police showing up.” “That’s when Max pulled me out of there,” Sonny told her. “Good!” Emily exclaimed; “I’m sure you were ready to kill Patrick, weren’t you?” Sonny nodded; “yeah.” Emily touched his face. “I just got through telling you that I didn’t do my job because I never want to betray you. That means with Patrick or any other man too. I need you to believe that.” Sonny stared into her eyes. “I believe you sweetheart. And I love you for what you did. But I never want you to compromise yourself or your career for me, so if this ever happens again I want your word that you won’t think about me.” Emily smiled. “I’m sorry I can’t give you my word on that. I always think about you Sonny.”

Sonny smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “Sorry boss!” Max’s voice rang out in the room. “Grrrrrrrr,” Sonny groaned in frustration. “I’ve had a long day,” Emily said. “I’m going to go take a hot bath.” She looked at Sonny an extra second, making sure he understood he was welcome to join her in the tub if he wanted. Sonny got the message. Once she’d gone upstairs, he looked at Max who said, “The Alcazar kid survived surgery. You want me to whack him now…or later?”

Chapter 24

Sonny finally put his glass down. “You want another drink boss?” Max asked. Sonny shook his head. “Just sit down Max.” Max sat in the chair next to the sofa. “First of all,” Sonny began, “you need to learn a little patience. You could have waited a few more minutes before coming in here. You knew Emily & I had things to discuss.” Max nodded his head, “yeah, sorry about that. Is…is everything OK?” “Fine.” Max was greatly relieved. With everything else that was going on, the last thing anyone needed was Sonny dealing with a broken heart. “Now about that punk,” Sonny continued. “Patience comes into play here as well. We know he acted alone…right?” Max nodded his head emphatically. “And he’s not in any shape to do anything himself right now.” Max nodded again. “And making a move on him now, at GH, would be pretty dumb considering Scorpio would know exactly who was behind it.” Max felt like smacking himself on the head and said, “I should have known that!” “You’ll get the hang of it,” Sonny replied. Max hoped that was true; he felt really stupid. “We wait,” Sonny added; “he’ll get his when the time is right.” “And we can have Emily keep us updated on his condition!” Max exclaimed, thinking that was a brilliant idea. One look in Sonny’s eyes told him he was wrong. “Emily has nothing to do with this…ever. You understand me Max?” Max gulped before replying, “yes sir boss; I understand.”

Emily tried to relax in the tub. The hot water, filled with luxurious bubbles from a high-end bath product was helping, but nothing could stop her mind from racing. She was still disturbed by what had happened that night…all of it. The fact that Sonny could have been killed bothered her the most. “You’ve got to learn how to deal with it Emily,” she told herself; “after all, you’re the reason he’s back in charge!” And then, there was the persistent fear that she wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. The Diego situation was just one more manifestation of that in her mind. The questions she had in her own abilities and judgments began with Reese Marshall’s death, and never really got resolved.

She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear Sonny come in the bathroom. “Now that’s a beautiful sight,” he said. Emily looked up at him with a start. “Oh, hi!” “Expecting someone else?” Sonny joked. “Of course not Sonny! Look I told you, there’s nothing going on with me and Patrick…if you can’t believe me…” “Whoa! What’s going on? You’re really worked up!” Emily slumped down in the tub a bit. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.” Sonny nodded his head, “yeah, I know the feeling.” Emily felt badly. “I’m such an idiot. Here you are dealing with life and death…” Sonny cut her off; “so are you Em. You deal with it every day. Don’t belittle your feelings just because I have stuff to handle too.” “I’m sorry,” Emily said again. “Can you stop apologizing?” Sonny asked. “Tell you what, let’s not talk at all. I think I know exactly what you need.” Emily couldn’t help but give him a big smile.

Chapter 25

“Oh god Sonny that feels so good,” Emily moaned. “I didn’t know you could do that so well.” “I do everything well,” Sonny retorted. Emily smiled at his cockiness; she couldn’t argue with him because it was true. “Am I getting the spot?” Sonny asked in a low, sexy voice. “Mmmmm…yeah…right there…ooh!” “Tell me if it’s too much now.” “Never too much,” Emily groaned; “please, don’t stop…don’t stop.” Sonny chuckled to himself and kept rubbing her lower back. He knew she was a ball of tension, so he helped her out of the tub, dried her off…trying to not get distracted by her beautiful body…and took her into the bedroom. Emily assumed he was going to make love to her, and when he told her to lie on her stomach she gladly did so. She was surprised when he started giving her a massage…with oil none-the-less. “I didn’t know you had that stuff,” she commented. “I bought it for you,” he said. “I figured one of these days I’d get a chance to use it. The thought of you all warm and slick really turns me on.” Emily giggled, “what doesn’t turn you on?” “About you? Everything about you baby turns me on, you know that right?” Emily sighed with contentment and replied, “yes.” That’s when Sonny’s hands found the spot where all her tension came from.

After he’d worked on it for a while there were only good bodily sensations left for Emily to focus on; especially between her legs where she was tingling and aching for his touch. “Go lower,” she commanded him. Sonny licked his lips. “That was my plan,” he replied. He put some more oil on his hands and started massaging her ass. “Ooh!” Emily liked it a lot. The more he rubbed, the warmer it felt. He ran one thumb over her anus. “Do that again!” she gasped. He did, and stayed there for a while. Emily was squirming on the bed. “Can we do it again?” she asked, referencing something they’d done the other night. “Not tonight baby,” Sonny said. “Tonight, I want you to have a relaxing time. That’s too rough.” Emily pouted but didn’t argue. Sonny always seemed to know the right thing to do in bed, and she trusted that he knew what to do now. He moved his other hand down in between her legs and started rubbing her. Emily lifted her hips up to give him better access. Sonny flipped her over, spread her legs apart, and started licking her slowly. “Mmmmmm!” Emily moaned. Sonny lavished attention on her throbbing pussy, and she gushed sweetness as his reward. “You taste so good,” he whispered in between licks. “Please use your fingers,” Emily begged. “So greedy…” Sonny retorted before complying. Emily moaned as he slipped two inside, but then soon realized she wanted even more. “Fuck me Sonny…please.” Sonny thought he’d cum right there at her language. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he said. Hearing her talk dirty made him crazy with lust. He pulled his fingers out of her, got up off the bed, undressed, and then returned to her. Holding his cock in one hand, he spread her pussy apart with the other. “Is this what you want?” he growled. Emily looked at him through eyes heavy with desire. “Yeah, that’s it. Give it to me now.” Sonny shook his head. “I think you need to learn a little patience too.” Emily didn’t know what he meant or who else needed to learn patience. All she knew was she wanted him inside her. “No…I’m patient!” she cried. Sonny rubbed the tip of his cock against her clit and Emily almost jumped out of her skin. “Sonny!” Then mercifully he sank it inside of her, lowering himself down on her. “Thank you,” Emily moaned against his mouth. “You’re welcome baby,” Sonny replied.

Emily soon realized her thanks were premature, as Sonny proceeded to tease her by pulling all the way out of her, and then hesitating before going back in. “You are SO cruel,” she told him. Sonny smiled. “I’m having fun, aren’t you?” “You’re being a big tease,” she replied; “and you need to cut it out.” “I’m sorry baby, what would you rather I do?” Emily knew he wanted her to talk dirty to him again, so she did. “I want you to ram that huge cock of yours into me and don’t stop until I cum all over it!” And so he did.

Chapter 26

Patrick Drake checked in on Diego Alcazar during his morning rounds. He had an elevated temperature. Patrick looked at the surgical wounds on his leg, and found one to be inflamed. He instructed the nurse to start a course of antibiotics. He then went on to see the rest of his patients, after which he checked the OR schedule and realized he had a few hours off. “I’m going to the doctor’s lounge to catch some shut eye,” he told Epiphany at the desk. Meanwhile Emily woke up to find herself alone in bed, which was strange since Sonny never missed an opportunity for them to make love in the morning if he could help it. She got worried. After showering and dressing she hurried downstairs. Milo was sitting on the couch and got up when he heard her. “Ready to go?” he asked. Emily shook her head, “no, I don’t have to go to GH today.” Milo sat back down. “Is everything all right,” she asked walking to stand in front of him. Milo stood up again and shrugged, “what do you mean?” “I mean, where’s Sonny? Is he OK?” “He’s fine Miss,” Milo respectfully replied, not answering the first question she’d asked. He knew full well where Sonny had gone. Earlier when Sonny came down the stairs, he found both Giambetti brothers drinking their morning coffee. “Get on the phone,” Sonny barked at them. Max jumped up and pulled out his cell. “Call GH,” Sonny continued, “and find out if Patrick Drake is there.” Max did as told while Milo poured the boss a cup of coffee. Sonny noticed that Milo’s hands were shaking…and then noted that his own weren’t. He took that as a good sign; a sign they’d found the correct medication level for him. Of course he still felt a lot of anger; a lot of rage. But he felt in control of it now. “Maybe you should cut back on the caffeine there Milo,” Sonny joked. Milo replied seriously; “yes sir.” “Relax, I’m just giving you a hard time,” Sonny said. Milo wondered how he was supposed to know that when Sonny was yelling at them a second ago…but he wasn’t about to ask. Max got off the phone and reported that Dr. Drake was making his rounds as they spoke. “Let’s go,” Sonny said, handing his cup back to Milo and heading for the door. Max hurried after him. Milo tried to stop shaking.

Now Milo waited for Emily to react to his non-answer. She seemed satisfied that everything was OK and headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast. Milo wondered what the boss was doing to Patrick Drake, and was grateful he wasn’t in the doc’s shoes. Once at GH, Max had tracked down where Patrick was, and he & Sonny went to the lounge. Max opened the door slightly, took note that Patrick was alone inside, and then held the door for Sonny. After he went in, Max stood guard outside. “Whoever’s there, don’t talk to me,” Patrick said with his eyes closed. He was lying on a couch trying to fall asleep. “Oh I’m gonna talk,” Sonny said pulling up a chair; “but you can just lie there and listen.” Patrick opened his eyes. He thought he recognized the mob bosses’ voice, but wasn’t certain. He then closed his eyes again. “I’m not killing Diego Alcazar for you,” he stated. “I didn’t ask you to,” Sonny replied. “This has nothing to do with him.” Patrick opened his eyes again and sat up. “OK, then what’s this about?” “I wanted to thank you for stepping in last night when Emily was having problems.” Patrick shrugged, “you’re welcome. She’s going to need to figure things out for herself at some point.” Sonny nodded, “yeah she knows that.” “If it was anyone else lying there,” Patrick added, “I don’t think she would have hesitated.” Sonny nodded again, “probably not. She knows how I feel about it now.” Patrick was curious; “and how’s that?” “That I don’t want her compromising herself or her job as a doctor because of me. I shouldn’t be a factor in stuff like that.” Patrick was impressed and said, “no offense, but I didn’t peg you for being that reasonable.” Sonny smiled. “I can be very reasonable, about most things actually. But where I draw the line is another man putting his hands on my woman.” Patrick swallowed hard; he knew this was coming. “I wasn’t putting my hands on her,” he explained. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sonny replied; “you were just helping her.” “That’s right.” Sonny stared at him with black eyes. “Well next time, help her without putting your hands on her. Do you understand…or do I need to say it again?” Patrick shook his head. “You don’t need to say it again…I got it the first time.”

Chapter 27

For the next few days, Sonny & Emily’s lives went on as normal…as normal as was possible for them. Sonny was satisfied that business was going smoothly; there hadn’t been any signs of dissent in the organization. In fact, Max had informed him that some of the men were very happy that Jason was gone. “They like that there’s no confusion about who they take orders from.” “But they take orders from you now Max,” Sonny replied. Max shook his head vehemently; “oh no sir. They know that when I speak it’s as your representative and nothing more. No confusion there; and there will never be. I swear it.” Sonny smiled and thanked him again for his loyalty. “So what’s the status on Alcazar?” Sonny asked referring to Diego. “He’s still in GH. They can’t get the infection under control.” Sonny raised his eyebrows; “well that’s convenient for us.” Max smiled, “yes sir it sure is.” “Hopefully Dr. Wonderkid can’t pull it off this time,” Sonny added, referring to Patrick Drake. “He had himself removed from the case; conflict of interest or something,” Max was happy to inform him. Sonny laughed; “conflict of not wanting his hands broken.” “Did you tell him to drop the case?” Max wondered. “Nope, he did that on his own. All I told him was to stay the hell away from Emily.”

At GH, Emily went about her work smiling to herself as usual. She was blissfully happy with her life, and couldn’t imagine it getting any better. Despite knowing Sonny wouldn’t want her involved she took it upon herself to check on Diego’s status, and didn’t feel badly at all when she found out he might not survive. She saw Patrick at the nurses’ station and figured she’d ask his opinion. “Patrick, can I ask you…” Patrick quickly stepped away from her. “Sorry, I have a patient waiting…” Emily was momentarily puzzled, and then realized why Patrick was avoiding her. “Sonny,” she mused. She had to smile at Sonny’s not so subtle tactics. There was no doubt he was madly in love with her; as she was with him. An alarm sounded at the station, and Emily looked down to see what room it came from. Doctor’s and nurses started rushing around, and Emily followed them. She stood in the hall outside Diego Alcazar’s room as the staff tried feverishly to save him. One look at the doctor’s face as she emerged told Emily they were unsuccessful. After most of the people cleared out, Emily walked into the room. She wanted to take one last look at the young man who almost killed Sonny, and who caused her to once again doubt her own abilities. She couldn’t deny that she was grateful he was dead…and even more grateful that Sonny didn’t have to kill him. It couldn’t have worked out better for them.

It was only moments later when Sonny got the news. He was thrilled. The last reminder of the long-standing conflict between him and Lorenzo Alcazar was gone. The organization could now thrive, and Emily would be as safe as he could ever make her. Now, it was time to focus on the future…their future.

Chapter 28

Emily returned home that evening and was greeted by a familiar and unwelcome sight. The living room was filled with dozens and dozens of pink roses. She immediately jumped to the conclusion that Sonny was having another manic episode. “But he said he was taking his meds,” she mused. Instinctively, she reached for her cell phone. “You don’t have to call my shrink,” Sonny said as he came in through the terrace doors. “Maybe you need to see her?” Emily replied quietly not wanting to set him off. Sonny smiled, “relax sweetheart. I’m not having another breakdown, and yes I’m taking my meds.” Emily let out a big sigh of relief. “So,” she said returning her phone to her purse, “what’s all this?” “This,” Sonny pointed around, “is a small gesture to show how much I love you.” “Small?” Emily retorted; “only you would think this is small! These must have cost you a small fortune!” Sonny shrugged. “Now that I have the business back, that’s not really an issue.” Emily didn’t pursue that subject any further. Sonny put his hand out to her. “Come with me.” Emily smiled, “I’d love to, but I’m absolutely starving. So if you feed me first…” Sonny laughed, “and you say I’m the ‘bad’ one? You have a one track mind!” Emily looked at him with narrowed eyes. “OK, so you don’t want to make love, what do you want?” Sonny just looked at her with his hand outstretched, and she knew she’d have to take it to get her answer. So she did.

Sonny led her out to the terrace, and there not surprisingly was a romantic table complete with candles and more pink roses. “OK, I’m getting bad déjà vu again,” Emily quipped. “No burnt sauce, and I won’t trash the table…I promise,” Sonny assured her. Emily believed him and took her seat. “This is very nice,” she told him with a smile. “Only the best for you baby,” he replied. And then instead of sitting down himself, he got down on one knee next to her. Emily’s heart starting pounding so hard it was tough for her to hear him when he began to speak. “I’m usually a man of few words,” he began. “And saying things like, ‘I love you,’ has never been easy for me either. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that; trying to figure out why. I think it’s because the two people who were supposed to love me the most, hurt me the worst.” Emily assumed one of those people was Carly but was happy to realize she was wrong as Sonny continued. “My father cared more about having a good time and feeding his gambling addiction than his own family. And my mother…she should have protected me, not the other way around. Deep down I’ve hated her for not doing that…and I’ve hated myself for feeling that way about her.” Emily listened intently with tears in her eyes. He’d been through so much pain; she just wanted to make it all go away.

“So as a result,” Sonny went on; “I have a lot of trouble trusting people…especially people who say they love me.” “You’ve been hurt by a lot of people,” Emily said. Sonny nodded his head. “And I understand if you can’t fully trust me,” she sadly added. Sonny smiled, “you don’t understand. That’s what I’m saying, or trying to say. What I never thought would happen, has happened. I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever known. I trust you with my secrets, with my children, and with my heart.” A few tears dropped from Emily’s eyes and Sonny reached up to wipe them away. “I want to dedicate my life to making you as happy as you have made me. I hope I’m capable of that.” “You are Sonny!” Emily exclaimed. Sonny reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a box. “My life will be meaningless…except for my children of course…if you don’t say you’ll marry me Emily.” He opened the box and a huge, square-cut pink diamond ring was revealed. “Marry me Emily.” Emily could hardly get out the word “yes” she was crying and shaking so hard. Sonny put the ring on her finger and kissed her. “I have one more surprise for you,” Sonny said getting up off the ground. Emily wiped her face and blew her nose into her napkin. “I don’t think I can take anymore,” she joked as she stood up to join him. “I think you can,” Sonny replied handing her an envelope. She looked inside and beamed.

Chapter 29

“Don’t you always fly on a private jet?”