“Michael
J Corinthos, JR, by the authority of the federal government, I place
you under arrest for the crimes of attempted kidnapping, attempted
murder and conspiracy to commit murder.”
His hands were pulled from hers and drawn behind his back so that
he could be cuffed, but Alexis wanted to preserve her connection
with him. To silently communicate that she was here for him, that
somehow it would all be okay. She looked deeply into his eyes, willing
him to read her thoughts. Her gaze burned into his with an intensity
she hoped would sear her face into his memory. Perhaps tonight…in
that cell…he’d see her eyes in his mind instead of Deke’s
locked closet.
“You have the right to remain silent.”
Alexis placed one hand against his jaw softly, her tapered fingers
stroking gently across his mouth. Just the barest touch to feel
the heat of him.
“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court
of law.”
Her hand dropped from his face to his chest, and crept its way slowly
until she could feel his heartbeat. She felt it fluttering with
his anguish even as outwardly he maintained the calm of Sonny Corinthos.
Inwardly, he was terrified.
“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an
attorney, one will be provided for you without charge.”
She pressed against his heart, willing strength into him. And her
eyes never left his.
“Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
“Yes.”
They made to draw him away from her, but Alexis held fast to his
shirtfront.
“Ma’am—”
“I only need a moment,” she told the officer, in a voice
that sounded more like the royal Natasha than the attorney Alexis.
The man instantly halted his action.
Sonny looked at her questioningly, and she leaned across to whisper
in his ear. “I’m with you, Sonny. We’re in this together.”
She drew her lips across his cheek to his mouth and there she kissed
him once more. Not for the cameras but for herself. When he drew
back, she saw a fire in his eyes that she alone had ignited. Hopefully,
it would keep him strong and warm through the long night that lay
ahead.
***
He’d kissed her…like a man in love.
It was one thing to imagine what they had done two years ago in
her bed upstairs…how they’d betrayed her in her own home.
It was one thing to watch him flirt with her and tease her and indulge
her neurotic behavior and hold her when she hurt and support her
when she broke and trust her with secrets his wife alone should
have shared…
But to see him married to his whore and presently kissing her on
the WLPC news like a besotted little boy in love with the homecoming
queen—that was too much. He was kissing her with a tenderness
that he seldom let his own wife see…let alone all of the tri-state
area via the evening newscast.
It was simply too much.
All at once, Carly couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t drag in
enough air. Her lungs felt as if they were in the midst of an asthma
attack. The inside of her head was filled with images tumbling noisily
about in no particular sequence or sensible order…
Alexis in her negligee in her penthouse; Sonny sleeping there overnight
to “protect” her from her boogeyman.
Alexis with him in their penthouse years ago; him consoling her
about her aborted wedding.
Alexis in that bed upstairs laying across his bare chest, his arms
about her in such a protective embrace…
A loving embrace.
He loved her.
She had prayed it wasn’t love…had actually had her own
talk with a God she only half-believed in. Had asked Him sincerely
to block whatever was growing in Sonny’s heart for that witch.
Because Carly had recognized it for what it was a long time ago
even if she hadn’t accepted it consciously. It had masqueraded
as a professional relationship then morphed into a friendship…but
the connection was always there tugging at each of them and mocking
Carly whenever she was in the room. Alexis’ presence had made
her feel like the third wheel in her own marriage.
When he’d slept with her, Carly had labeled it a mistake and
a fling just to get past it and to make her marriage work despite
it. And he had repeated those words to appease his wife. Mistake…Alexis
was a mistake. Alexis was a fling. But she’d known he was lying…to
her and to himself. This was stronger than any fling…deeper
than any recreational/revenge sex he’d indulged in with Sam.
This was entirely different.
It was what she’d dreaded for weeks, for months, and for years
on end. It was love.
Her knees gave out beneath her and she slumped down on the couch,
her arms wrapping about herself protectively. She was alone. Who
could she turn to now that Sonny had left her completely alone…once
again?
The answer came to her like a beacon of rich, pure light. There
was only one person who had always been there for her.
She dialed a number he’d left for emergencies. She knew that
this qualified. He picked up on the third ring.
