All
morning, Justus had been arguing his heart out on Sonny’s behalf.
Sonny had watched him in awe, feeling almost as confident as he
had when Alexis was leading the charge for him in court.
Alexis. He turned his head and saw her seated behind him, her lovely
face serene and composed when he knew that inside she was scared
as hell. He smiled an encouraging smile her way, all the while thankful
to God that she was here. He could breathe.
A white-hot heat was suddenly directed at him from the back of the
room. Carly sat there, rolling her eyes when she saw the look he’d
exchanged with Alexis. The woman’s hatred was palpable even
from a distance. He glared at her wishing she would just get up
and leave.
Just then, the door opened quietly; in walked his enforcer and best
friend, Jason Morgan. Jason stopped in the doorway and nodded at
him, then folded himself into a seat beside Carly to watch the proceedings.
Sonny noted wryly that Carly withdrew her feline claws and the look
of hatred she’d worn on her face for him and replaced them
with a warm welcoming smile for Jason.
Something twisted within him. Had he and Carly ever been real? Had
they ever truly belonged to each other? Or had she just been on
loan from Jason? And had he—Sonny--been hiding in her skirts
like the emotional coward he was afraid of what he felt for Alexis?
He shook his head, turning away, but in so doing caught sight of
the other end of the courtroom, which was no better. It was literally
filled with Quartermaines, though this was only a hearing. Emily
looking as if she didn’t know what to think. Allan and Monica
sending invisible and deadly scalpels flying his way every five
minutes. Edward with his perpetual grimace. And Ned, well Ned couldn’t
pry the exultant grin off his face with a crowbar.
Ric sat alone not far from Grayson's table.
Sighing, Sonny turned back to the proceedings. All the vultures
were circling. This was a circus and would only get worse.
“Your Honor, the federal agents in charge of this case have
not even allowed me to speak to my client until right before this
hearing,” Justus was arguing, his tone indignant. “In
addition, they twice gave me the incorrect location to meet my client
last night. Meanwhile, they shoved him into a holding cell and left
him there all night without allowing him to make a phone call. I'm
inclined to think they're deliberately trying to sabotage my ability
to represent my client.”
The judge, a Marion Long, turned a terse gaze to Jack Grayson and
asked, “Is that true?”
“Of course, not, Your Honor,” Jack parried easily. “We
were short staffed last night so Mr. Corinthos was not able to be
supervised appropriately outside of his cell. Thus, no phone call.
And Mr. Ward was simply the victim of unintended misinformation
and we have apologized to him profusely about that.”
“I’m sure you have,” Judge Long’s voice was
dry. “Mr. Grayson, your explanation does not ring true with
me. It’s by the books from here on out, or you’ll find
yourself in the same holding cell Mr. Corinthos made use of last
night. You hear me?”
Sonny smirked.
Grayson nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Now about bond,” the judge stated.
“The government recommends no bond at all, Your Honor. Mr.
Corinthos is a flight risk who has safe houses all over the region
and can gain access to nations which do not observe extradition
laws.”
Justus exploded. “Your Honor, federal agents have already impounded
Mr. Corinthos’ plane and he is quite willing to surrender his
passport to this court! Besides, he runs a successful coffee importing
business here in this city. In addition, he has extensive family
ties: his two small children, his father, and his sister all live
here in Port Charles. And most importantly, he has only recently
gotten married to his wife, Alexis.”
The whole courtroom could not miss the snort from Caroline Corinthos.
“With all these ties to the community, I am certain that Mr.
Corinthos will remain and face his accusers,” Justus concluded.
“Oh really?” Judge Long replied. “I’m not so
certain. We’ll agree to the passport surrender in addition
to a hefty bail amount, but he’ll also have to wear an ankle
monitor if he wants out, Mr. Ward. Agreed?”
Justus looked at his client who nodded. “Yes, Your Honor.”
“Where will Mr. Corinthos be residing, for the record?”
“At the apartment of his wife, Alexis Davis-Corinthos.”
“Then that is where he shall be confined until trial begins
and thereafter during the days we are not in session. His children
will have to be brought there to visit at their mother’s convenience.”
The bail amount was discussed briefly and agreed upon. Judge Long
then stood. “Court is now dismissed. Counsel, meet me in chambers
with the clerk in about fifteen minutes to discuss a trial date.
Mr. Corinthos?”
Sonny stood and faced the judge.
“No funny stuff,” she said. “Stay in that apartment
and make no attempt to flee this jurisdiction.”
He directed a full-dimpled smile her way. “Wouldn’t dream
of it, Your Honor.”
“Of course not.” Marion Long rolled her eyes and left
the bench. Spectators and reporters began to file noisily out of
the room.
“I’m gonna go meet the judge about the court date,”
Justus told him. “Somebody will come and take you down to post
bail.”
Sonny nodded, exhaling noisily as reality hit him. He was free…at
least for a little while. He felt Alexis’ hand lay softly on
his shoulder. He turned around to her, thinking that nothing was
lovelier than the support that shone in those deep brown eyes. He
grabbed her to him, sighing heavily into her shoulder.
He was free.
***
Carly tried valiantly to get through the crowd to him, and had almost
made it when she saw him drag Alexis against his body. The sight
stopped her in her tracks, and Jason—who’d been following
close behind—bumped into her.
“I’m so glad you won’t have to spend another night
in that cell,” she heard Alexis say to him.
“Me, too cuz I don’t think Mac woulda let you sneak in
again.”
Alexis smiled in reply. “That was really nice of him. At least
we had a few hours together.”
His eyes darkened and fell to her mouth. “Yeah, well, what
are you gonna do now? I have to be confined to your apartment, Lex,
for days on end. I can’t leave. How ever will you amuse me?”
Carly saw Alexis blush and tuck the corner of her lip between her
teeth; the woman’s eyes fairly danced with excitement. And
then Sonny drew her flush against his chest and kissed her. Carly,
like a motorist passing an accident, could not look away. Her stomach
lurched, and she feared she might be sick here in front of everyone.
But she could not look away.
It’s love, the voice in her head whispered. You can’t
fight this one. It’s not sex. It’s not flirtation. It’s
connection.
That’s when a burning anger flew through her being and she
shot forward at the two of them. Only Jason’s restraining hand
like a manacle on her flesh stopped her from a head-on collision.
Carly whirled around, furious.
“Let me go, Jase,” she hissed. “They don’t just
get to stand there and embarrass me like this. Make eyes at each
other like puppy dogs. They are so sickening.”
“Carly, I know this hurts you,” he told her, his deep
voice low and calm in an effort—she knew from experience—to
deescalate her anger. “But let it go for now; he’s married
to her.”
“It’s phony, Jason. They married to save her ass. It’s
all an act.”
She saw Jason’s frown as he gazed at his best friend with Alexis.
“It doesn’t look like just an act to me.”
Carly turned her head and saw Sonny’s mouth descend to his
wife’s where he kissed her deeply and tenderly for long moments.
Neither of them seemed aware of anyone around them as they held
each other.
This couldn’t be happening. They had had a connection, but
Carly had destroyed it when she had “come back from the dead”,
hadn’t she? She had flaunted her reunion with Sonny until she’d
finally forced the woman out of PH2 and across town somewhere far
away from Sonny. She had successfully kept the secret of Kristina’s
paternity under wraps. She had done too much…risked too much…for
this to be happening now…
“Don’t tell me you believe in this,” Carly said,
her voice sounding raw and desperate even to her own ears. “They
HAD to get married. She engineered it. Maybe for herself. Maybe
for Ric. But I don’t trust her for one second. You can’t
be sure whose side she’s really on.”
She saw something flicker in Jason’s eyes and knew that he’d
considered her words. “I don’t completely trust her, no,”
he said. “There’s been so much bad blood between her and
Sonny. But I talked to Justus this morning and he says that so far,
what she’s done has only helped the defense. And it does seem
like…the feelings she once had for him…are still there.”
Carly’s eyes widened with disbelief. “So you’re gonna
just get taken in by her like he is, aren’t you? You’re
sayin’ you believe that lying witch!”
“No, Carly. I’m sayin’ that she hasn’t made
a wrong move as yet. Unlike you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I heard you went on television and told the world the marriage
is a fake. You endangered both of them with a claim like that.”
She shrugged dismissively. “I was angry. I didn’t know
what I was saying. He shouldn’t have done this to me, and I
wouldn’t have had to fight back like that.”
“What was he supposed to do, Carly?”
“He could have run. We could have packed up the kids and—”
“That’s not the life that those kids deserve, and you
know that. He knows that, too.”
“So what’s the alternative: let Alexis step into my place
and have my life?”
“I’m not saying that either. I’m just—look,
you know I want you and Sonny to have a solid family for Michael
and Morgan. But things are the way they have to be at the moment.
So just take a step back. Let’s just watch and wait for now.”
Carly snatched her arm from his grasp. “I’m not that patient
or that blind. You wanna wait and watch, go ahead. I’ll deal
with them myself.”
