“Absolutely,” Ellen agreed in a breathless response.
Kevin leaned in and was on the verge of claiming
Ellen’s lips again when he heard her murmur, “It’s
finally gone.”
Puzzled and slightly amused with her unexpected
comment, he drew back his face to look at her again.
“What’s gone?”
“The faint apprehensive look sometimes I’d see you
give me, or at least you used to give me. I think
it’s gone now.”
Slowly Kevin raised himself off of Ellen and twisted
his body to lie on his back next to her, taking in the
words that came so lightly from her. As a very good
psychiatrist Kevin prided himself on his ability to
keep his thoughts to himself and only himself, and it
stunned him that despite his best efforts Ellen was
able to discern his fears about their relationship.
He knew Ellen was not the type of woman who loved
lightly or often. Sam Burgess had been her first love
and probably would have been the love of her life
barring his untimely early death. And Matt…Kevin’s
conscious mind often refused to focus on Ellen’s
feelings for Matt because those thoughts actually
scared him. It seemed childish in a way for Kevin to
hope that eventually Ellen could love him more than
she loved Matt, but that was exactly what Kevin wanted
and needed. Ellen was with him now because she
couldn’t marry Matt knowing she had these strong
feelings for Kevin, and she was still in the process
of sorting out these feelings.
Ellen turned towards Kevin and used her small hand to
cup his chin and gently stroke his cheek as they gazed
at each other. “When you told me at GH several month
ago that your feelings for me when beyond friendship,
well, I don’t think I’ve ever been more shocked in my
life. I hadn’t seen it at all and I realized I had no
clue to what you thought or felt until then. So I
began to really see you Kevin, and tried to understand
what you felt, even as you would try to keep things to
yourself. This I know and understand, because we’re
alike in that way. We’re very private people who are
selective when it comes to letting people in. You’re
like this beautiful house with many rooms but there
are a few rooms with locked doors, and through those
doors you let virtually no one enter."
After pausing a few seconds and biting her bottom lip,
Ellen continued, “I know you have apprehensions about
Matt and my feelings for him. But I have
apprehensions too, about those locked rooms. It’s
going to take some time for both of us to work through
these things together. I’m ready to start, not just
here in Italy but back home in Port Charles also.”
With one smooth movement Kevin placed his hand under
Ellen’s hip and used both hand to guide her to a
sitting position on top of him. Gliding his hand from
her hip and up her smooth back, it finally settled
with his fingers threaded in her hair as he pulled her
face within inches of his. Kevin literally swallowed
his fear in anticipation of sharing more and more of
his life with the woman in his arms.
“I thought you had to catch up with me in our feelings
for each other, but I was wrong,” he softly stated.
“We’re at the same place and yes, I couldn’t be more
ready to make this journey with you...” Whatever else
Kevin was going to say was postponed when Ellen
effectively silenced him with a deep, sensuous kiss.
*************************************
Shocked to find a cold, empty spot on the bed next to
her, Carly turned on the nightstand lamp and looked
around. It was 1 a.m. she thought, “Where the hell is
Sonny?” Over the years Sonny had bouts of insomnia
but usually it was brought on by some stress in his
life. Jumping out of bed, her bare feet padded across
the bedroom floor and she headed downstairs. At the
top of the stairs she heard voices from the den
downstairs and deliberately slowed her pace. Sonny’s
voice was immediately recognizable to her but the
second male voice was unknown, which slightly troubled
Carly since she made it her business to know everyone
Sonny knew, and especially associates he brought to
the penthouse. In Carly’s mind it must be pressing
business for Sonny to have the man come to the
penthouse at this time of night and she strained to
hear the conversation.
Sonny commented, “You have a reputation for being good
in seeing a job through.”
“It’s well earned.” Modesty was not one of Rafael
Sabatini’s attributes but fortunately in his case his
actions usually lived up to the hype.
“Well don’t break your record with this job,
understand? I want to make sure that Moreno makes it
back to federal prison. No detours, no delays.”
Sonny handed him a briefcase containing an obscene
number of small denomination bills. “You’ll get the
rest when Moreno is back home – in prison.”
“No problem.” This was a crazy job in Sabatini’s
opinion. The feds and local police will be all over
Moreno like white on rice. Why the hell was Corinthos
willing to pay him a small fortune just to watch the
cops do their job?
The smug smirk on Sabatini’s face gave his thoughts
away and Sonny leaned closer so that their faces were
almost touching and cautioned, “You WILL earn this
money. If Moreno slips through the fingers of the
cops, it had better be a short-lived escape because I
don’t want this deposit back if he gets away. Either
you come back to get the rest of the money or I will
find you right after I find Moreno. Once again, do
you understand?”
“As I said, no problem. Well, I have to go now to
make it in time to *accompany* Moreno and the feds as
they do the transfer to the Albany hospital.”
“Call me once you’re in Albany.” Sonny’s final
instruction was met with a raised eyebrow by Sabatini
as he departed from the penthouse. Being a top
professional, Sabatini was accustomed to giving
updates only once the job had been completed.
Corinthos was not known as someone who watched every
move of competent underlings, and Sabatini considered
himself much more than competent. Once Moreno was
back in prison, Rafael Sabatini planned to use his own
initiative and find out what triggered the latest
battle between Corinthos and Moreno, because nothing
obvious came to mind and it might be worthwhile to him
to find out.
Upon crossing the living room on his way to the bar,
Sonny gave a brief side glance to the staircase and
murmured, “Come on down Carly.”
Not surprised Sonny was aware of her presence, Carly
sauntered down the stairs and plopped herself
comfortably on the leather couch. “O.K. I’ll ask
what that goon was too smart and scared to ask.”
In frustration Sonny pinched the bridge of his nose.
Because Moreno was due to be transferred from prison
within a few hours it was unavoidable bringing
Sabatini to the penthouse tonight to give him last
instructions, but he was not in a mood for a
cat-and-mouse verbal exchange with Carly. Giving her
a warning stare he shot back, “And obviously you are
not too smart or scared to ask it, right?”
Carly didn’t get to be Carly Corinthos by heeding
warnings and minding her own business, so she
continued with her interrogation. “Why are you paying
good money to keep Moreno in jail? You two have been
on each other’s list for years and if he get out, so
what? He’s still running his operation from prison
with his sons in charge of most things. Why are you
so intent on keeping him in jail…or to have him dead?”
Carly watched as Sonny stood at the bar and poured
himself a scotch. From his demeanor she knew he would
not tell her the truth but she watched closely just in
case he inadvertently gave himself away.
“Go on upstairs Carly. I’ll be up in a minute.”
Sonny downed the glass of hard liquor in single gulp
and stared at the Waterford glass until he could no
longer hear Carly’s footsteps after she went upstairs
and back to the bedroom. Leaning heavily on the bar,
he ran his fingers through his head while Carly’s
queries weighed on him. For a few minutes he allowed
his mind to drift back to a scene several months
earlier at Moreno’s sentencing hearing. Life without
parole was the expected sentence and that is exactly
the sentence Moreno received. Sonny had watched from
the back of the courtroom when Moreno heard the
sentence. From that moment until when he left the
courtroom a few minutes later, Moreno’s eyes were
locked on the A.D.A. who was instrumental in taking
away his freedom. Dara refused to be intimidated by
Moreno and focused her attention on accepting the
well-deserved congratulations from many in the
courtroom, including Mac Scorpio and Marcus Taggert.
It was an interesting scenario if there was someone in
the courtroom observant enough to see it – Sonny
Corinthos intensely watching Moreno who glared at Dara
as he was taken from the courtroom. Sonny had no
doubt that Dara was safe as long as Moreno was behind
bars. The hired help had failed to eliminate Dara
during the trial, and from the look on Moreno’s face
it was crystal clear that he had plans to meet Dara
Jensen in the future.
Sonny bought his mind back to the present day and to a
question Carly hadn’t asked but most certainly would
have if she had had a clue – why did Sonny care about
what Moreno might do to Dara Jensen, a woman who most
likely would put him away just as she did Moreno if
she was able to get the evidence? Another drink would
do nothing to answer that succinct question or bring
him out of his brooding melancholy mood. So Sonny set
aside the bottle of scotch and the empty glass on the
bar and headed upstairs. He knew he wouldn’t answer
the question unless he absolutely had to – too many
lives could be affected by it.
******************
Mac placed his cellphone in his jacket pocket. He had
just finished saying goodnight to Dara as he and
Taggert drove the last 80 miles to Albany. The smile
he had on his face after speaking to her and hearing
her voice slowly disappeared as he remembered the fury
he felt for the federal agents he would soon meet.
Even though Moreno was in prison due to state murder
charges, the FBI pulled rank because of pending
federal charges against the mobster and insisted on
having only federal agents escort Moreno from the
prison to the hospital in Albany. Normally only
bruised egos were the outcome of these occasional
pissing contests between local and federal law
enforcement officials, but with Moreno’s previous
threats and the attempt on Dara’s life, Mac was not
about to let the feds handle this alone. He and
Taggert would virtually live at the hospital as long
as Moreno was there, and the feds would have no
authority to remove them. Moreno and the feds weren’t
due at the hospital for several hours, yet Mac told
Taggert to accelerate the car’s speed and get them
there as soon as possible. Marcus Taggert nodded
silently in response since he had the same nagging,
uneasy feeling that all may not go well with this
routine hospital visit.
