This story begins right after Carly betrays Sonny, and he gets released from jail.
Realizing her treachery, Sonny throws her out of his life.
On his own now, he concentrates on taking care of business, 
and reclaiming some important parts of his life that had been lost.

Chapter 1

He could pinpoint the moment when he felt something shift inside himself. It was when he realized his wife, his heart and soul, had betrayed him. She'd turned him over to the Feds and into the stifling confines of a 6 x 6 cell. And for what? Because, according to her, she was afraid. Sonny had to laugh; so what? He'd been afraid most of his life. Afraid that he'd never see his father again; afraid that his stepfather would break him completely; afraid he'd disappoint his mentor Joe Scully. But mostly, he'd always been afraid that everything precious to him would be taken away. History supported that fear: First his father left, then his mother died young. Karen used him and betrayed him with Jagger. Brenda made him fall in love, ripped his heart out, and then died. He'd lost almost all his friends: Stone, his brother; Luke, who he thought was a friend for life; Joe, who turned out to be a fraud of a friend; Harry Silver, who helped kill his wife and child; Jason who left to find a life that didn't include him. Then of course there was the death of Lily and his unborn child; Hannah, who betrayed him…the list was endless, Sonny mused. And he couldn't forget about Alexis, his ex-attorney and friend. She'd dumped him as a client after finding out that he had kidnapped Zander to keep him safe until Sorel's trial. Sonny wasn't sure if that relationship could be repaired, but he hoped so. And then, then there was Carly. The woman he had given the most of himself to; practically laid himself bare to her. And she trashed his love; their life; their family.

When he had hit redial on her cell phone and Roy DiLucca picked up, his heart shut down. "That's it," he told himself; "never again." From now on, he was going to concentrate on business and himself; something he'd neglected too often because of Carly. Then, she came down the stairs, wearing only a short robe and smiling at him. Desire, fueled by hate, surged through his body. She was beckoning him to come to bed, so she could "take care" of him. "That's fine," he thought to himself; "she can take care of me. And then I'll take care of her."

Their "lovemaking" had been particularly rough; but Carly didn't seem to notice. She was writhing and moaning beneath him as she always did, not noticing the rage in his eyes. He grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head, to let her know he knew what was going on. She didn't catch on. She figured he was being aggressive as a result of being locked up. The truth was, Carly liked it when he got that way. She loved feeling his power. She had no idea that what she had done would have taken all that power away; that his power came from his position as mob boss, since life hadn't afforded him any opportunity to obtain it in another way. She wanted him away from that life, just concentrating on her. But that would have made him a shell of who he was. One of the things that wounded Sonny the most was the thought that she either didn't know him at all, to think he would have accepted the FBI's deal, or that she didn't care what it would do to him. All he had left in this world was his power, and his honor. And he was now determined that Carly wouldn't take either of those from him.

Later that night…

"Sonny! Please let me explain!" Carly wailed after Sonny laid down the law to her. He told her he knew she had betrayed him, and if she wasn't out of his house in ten minutes, he wouldn't be responsible for his actions. He was truly mad enough to snap her neck, but was restraining himself, somehow. "You don't get to explain," he told her calmly. "You gave up that right, along with all your others." Unable to stomach the sight of her anymore, he yelled for Johnny. Johnny opened the door and hurried in, "yes Mr. Corinthos?" He'd heard the yelling from his post outside the door, and figured out that it was Carly that had turned the boss into the Feds. He could hardly fathom it. He knew Carly was high-strung and volatile, but he really thought she loved Sonny more than anything. "Get her out of here, now!" Sonny ordered him. Johnny hesitated a second before grabbing Carly by the arm. "Wait! Wait!" Carly yelled. "What about Michael? Sonny, I'm not even dressed!" Sonny glared at her, "fine. Stay until morning. Then pack, take Michael, and go. Don't be here when I get back." Sonny had gotten dressed himself after he'd had his fill of her upstairs. He grabbed his car keys, told Johnny to stay put, and headed out the door. "Sonny no!" Carly threw herself at him, but her brushed her off, sending her crashing to the floor. Johnny felt horrible not helping her, but knew this wasn't a situation where his loyalty to Sonny could be questioned without severe repercussions. He went back out into the hall, closing the door behind him. "Where are you going?" he asked Sonny. "To take care of business," Sonny replied. He was fully prepared to channel his murderous rage in the right direction…right at Joseph Sorel, who was a sitting duck in the PC jail. Or so he thought.

Sonny drove alone to the warehouse, where he expected Benny to be waiting. He'd called Benny on his cell phone and told him they had to meet. On his way to the meeting, Benny got the call that Sorel had escaped from jail. "Shit!" he exclaimed after hanging up. He could tell from his brief conversation with Sonny that he was in one heck of a mood; this news would send him over the edge. He arrived first, and waited nervously in the office. As soon as he heard Sonny come in, he poured the boss a scotch. Sonny entered the office, took one look at the drink that Benny was holding out to him, and groaned. "Damn it, what happened now Benny?" "Sorel escaped," Benny told him, matter-of-factly. Sonny took the glass from his hand and threw the scotch down his throat in one motion. As it burned through him, he silently prayed it would take all the pain away. But no such luck. He handed the empty glass back to Benny, who took it; grateful it wasn't being smashed against a wall. "We need to find him Benny," Sonny told him after collecting himself; "we need to find him now!" Benny nodded his head, "yes sir. I've already made some calls. So…what do we do when we find him? Turn him back over to the cops?" Sonny shook his head, "no way. We finish this, for good." Benny smiled, "that's what I was hoping to hear. With all due respect, I never understood your decision to turn him in." Sonny glared at him, "all you need to 'understand' Benny is that I'm the boss here." Benny gulped, "sorry sir." "Let me know when he's been found," Sonny ordered, and turned and left the office and the warehouse. Benny watched him go, wondering what else had happened to get him in such a foul mood. He took out his cell phone and called Johnny, who was conspicuously absent from the meeting.

"Yeah?"

"It's Benny. Why didn't you come to the warehouse with Sonny?"

"He told me to stay here."

"Oh, with Carly?"

"Yeah."

"So why didn't he take someone else? This isn't the time for him to be going it alone. Sorel escaped from lock up."

"Oh shit! Benny, he's not doing so good right now."

"Why? What happened?"

"Um…"

"Just tell me Johnny. I can't look out for him if you don't."

"It was Carly."

"Carly what?"

"Who ratted him out to the Feds. It was Carly, and Roy DiLucca."

"Oh no. No wonder he looked so rattled. So what's the story there?"

"He told her to be gone by the morning. I thought he was going to kill her Benny, I really did."

"Yeah? Well he still might. But she'll have to wait until Sorel is taken care of. Oh, and I guess I'd better add DiLucca to that list."

"Is he on his way back here?"

"He didn't say, and I wasn't going to ask."

"Keep me posted Benny, OK?"

"Yeah. And you do the same."

Meanwhile, at the Port Charles Cemetery…

Sonny stood before Lily's grave. "Hey Lily. Here I am again, crying to you about my messed up life. I don't know why I bother you like this. I deserve it all, I know that, because of what I did to you. But I know you've forgiven me, and that means a lot. I just don't know what I'm going to do now…"

He didn't hear the crunching of leaves and twigs as someone walked up behind him. When the steel shank of the knife penetrated his back, it felt like it was happening to someone else. It was only when he hit the ground that he felt the pain, and blacked out.

Go to Chapter 2