CHAPTER THREE


"No, Benny, I didn't have a meeting scheduled with either one of them, but I still want to know where the two of them are, so get someone on it. Now." Sonny said shortly into the phone before he hung up. He sat down on the leather couch for a minute, the next, he was on his feet again, pacing like a caged animal. His intuition, which had always served him so well on other occasions, was working overtime tonight. He couldn't raise either Alexis or Eliana. All inquiries placed them last being seen earlier this evening in the lobby of the Port Charles hotel. Then they seemed to have just disappeared. He didn't like it one bit. Something was wrong. Somehow, he just knew it. He sat down again.

There was a knock on the door. Sonny called out permission, and then Johnny, his bodyguard, was opening the door. "It's Ms. Davis." He announced.

Sonny came up out of his chair at the sight of her. Even before he took in the wrinkled and mussed state of her clothes, her expression told him that something was very, very wrong. Sonny motioned for Johnny to stay.

"What happened?" he asked. "Are you alright?" He helped her to a chair then poured her a glass of wine. Alexis took it gratefully. She drained half of it before she lowered the glass.

"It's not good, Sonny."

"Sorel." He said. It was a statement, not a question.

She nodded. "I was at the Port Charles hotel earlier this evening. I ran into Eliana Salazar there and we had a few drinks. When we leaving, there were large men. With guns. And a car. He had us taken to him when we left the hotel."

"Us?"

"They took us both, Sonny. But I think that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was Eliana he wanted."

Sonny nodded to Johnny. "Get Jason over here- now." His bodyguard nodded once and left the room. Sonny paused by the bar to pour himself a drink.

"That idiot! Doesn't he know that couriers are untouchable? Especially once they've retired." He eyed Alexis guardedly. "Are you sure you want to hear this? You don't need to be in this any further then you already are."

"I'm already in it. And consider this under client-lawyer confidentiality - either yours or Eliana's." Alexis replied. "Even if it didn't, I'd help you any way I can in this one. Eliana said the same thing to Sorel. When she saw he was not going to honor that; she concentrated on getting me out of there, with no thought of her own safety."

Sonny nodded. "I need for you to remember everything you saw, everything you did." Sonny prowled the length of the room and back again, his anger still held in check, but Alexis could see it burning, even through the icy control he was exerting over himself while she told him what had happened.

"What does he want from her? Information?"

"First of all, I have a message from him. This is to let you know how serious he is about the breach between you and him. He wants to re-negotiate terms." Alexis drained the last of her wine and shook her head. "And as far as what he wants from Eliana…He's after revenge, Sonny. Sorel thinks that Eliana, whatever other role she may have had, has been working solely for you since for forever. And…." her voice faltered.

"And?"

"It gets worse." Alexis took a deep breath. "There's a reason why he thinks what he does. Sorel showed Eliana some papers. Papers he claimed came from her apartment."

"What did these papers say, Alexis?" His voice was deadly cold now.

"I didn't get a chance to see them. But he claimed that they proved that Eliana is your sister."

Sonny spun around. "What did you say?"

"Your half-sister, at least. I think it's true. Eliana didn't deny it. She was as surprised as you were to hear about it. She did acknowledge the papers Sorel showed her. But she said that she hadn't had time to got through them, so she hadn't known what they said until the moment Sorel showed them to her.

"Then Eliana's brother, Eduardo, came in. Actually, he was brought in, by more of Sorel's thugs. Somehow he had gotten his hands on those papers and was the one that had delivered the information to Sorel. He boasted about it. He went on and on against Eliana, it was obvious that he blamed you -- and her. And now he was getting his revenge."

Now Alexis' words came out all in a rush, spilling over one another in a torrent. "Eliana said she didn't know what Sorel was talking about. He thought she was lying, that you and she had known all along, and had everything before this was a setup. That the two of you must have been laughing at him behind his back all this time. Eliana kept denying it, kept trying to defend you. He didn't like it…he called her a liar…and then---" Alexis hesitated.

"What?" Sonny asked.

"He…he hit her -- slapped her -- hard enough to knock her out of her chair."

"Sonny!" Alexis cried out as the glass in Sonny's hand splintered into a million pieces.

Sonny didn't react to the large cut in his palm. The blood began to drip, unnoticed, down his wrist. "Omigod, Sonny, where's a first aid kit?"

"The kitchen cabinet under the sink." Sonny said shortly. Alexis hurried into the next room. When she came back, she pulled him down onto the sofa. Alexis began cleaning the wound in his hand.

"What did he want?" Sonny asked.

Alexis glanced up at him. He hadn't reacted at all to the pain; his voice and eyes both had gone flat and cold. Before she could answer, the phone rang. Sonny resisted the impulse to snatch it up, but let it ring twice before he answered. He knew who it would be.

"Hello, Sonny," Sorel's familiar voice was gloating, even though he tried to hide it. "I have someone here waiting to speak to you." Sonny heard a gasp of pain in the background. It was silent for a moment, then Sorel's muffled words and another gasp. Then Eliana.
"Sonny?"

"Eliana, are you all right?" Sonny said evenly. He ignored the pain in his hand as Alexis finished binding it up.

"Yes--yes, I'm fine."

"I'll handle it, don't worry. Everything is going to be just fine."

"I know..." There was a brief pause. "Sonny, I'm sorry, I didn't know..." she began. Then there was another soft sound and she was gone. Sorel came back on the line. "Don't you just love family reunions? So touching."

"Cut to the chase."

"Are you going to tell me that you haven't spoken with your Ms. Davis?" Sorel said.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again, Sorel."

"I think you need to rethink that attitude, Corinthos. That sort of thing can be harmful to your health. Or someone close to you."

Sonny didn't answer. The silence stretched out for a little while. Sorel was the one to break it.

"Here's the deal. We meet, tonight, discuss my terms. Did you hear that, Corinthos? My terms. If we don't come to an agreement, tonight, someone is going to pay for all of your arrogance. I'll get back to you with the when and the where."

The line went dead.

Sonny replaced the phone on its base. Carefully. He stared off into space for a moment, thinking. Then he turned to Alexis. She had to repress a shudder as she looked into his eyes. Then he blinked, and that cold ice was gone, for a time. "Are you going back to your apartment?" She nodded yes.

"I need you to stay there until you hear from me. Can you do that? I'm going to assign some people to keep an eye out for you. If you're expecting anyone, let Johnny and the doorman know. I don't have to tell you not to speak of this to anyone and to be careful of who you talk to over the phone and what you say, do I?"

Alexis told him that she understood.

After the door closes behind Alexis, Sonny returns to pacing the floor. His entire adult life, he has resigned himself to being alone. Accepted it. Told himself that he needed no one. Brenda, Lily, Juan, they had showed him the danger of letting people close to him. People got hurt -- they died. That was before he let Carly into his life. He tried to keep her away, but she wouldn't listen. Now she was front and center in his life; and that had taken some getting used to. Now, he has a sister -- a little sister -- and his chief enemy had her.

Sorel snapped his cell phone shut. "Well, now that brother dearest has been apprised of the situation, all we have to do is wait until he and I have our meeting. Midnight is such a suitable time, don't you think?

"What do you suggest we do to pass the time until then?" he said. Before Eliana could react, he stepped close to her and tangled one hand cruelly in her hair. Sorel dragged her up out of her chair until they were face to face. "I can think of several things, how about you?"

Eliana tried to twist away, but his hand in her hair held her still. "Don't..." she said softly. Overhead, the bare bulb began to flicker on and off.

"Leave us, and see that we're not disturbed." Sorel said to the guard by the door. After the door closed behind him, he turned back to Eliana.

"Don't? Oh, but I intend to. I definitely intend to.... this is one thing Sonny can't have, seeing the family connection, but I can..." Sorel said gloatingly as he began to force her backwards towards the couch. He lowered his mouth to hers, forcing her body against his, despite her struggles. With a sudden, brutal motion, he flung her backwards onto the couch. Sorel smiled down at her. "Go ahead, fight me. That makes it all the better."