The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 31

The men were staring at her with an intensity that made her nervous,
so she licked her lips that suddenly felt dry. She blushed a little,
self-conscious about the nightshirt she wore and Jason's oppressive
presence in the room.

"Sonny, he has a right to be wary of me," she said quietly. "You both
know that I hate your business and the…things…you have to do to stay
on top of it. It's only natural for Jason to wonder how far I'd be
willing to go to get us out of this mess."

The younger man stared at her, seeming to admire her directness.

"You're right," she told him. "I have gone head to head with both of
you on the way you operate. Sometimes it has sickened me."

Jason shook his head and made to interrupt her, but she spoke to
forestall him. "No, I'm not trying to accuse you all over again. I'm
just telling you that I realize that life is not all black and white,
good and evil. I, myself, have had to do some devastating things to
keep my family safe from Helena over the years. Sometimes I've hurt
others in the process. Besides that, I actually took a life to defend
my child and let you stand trial for it. And I-I could have faced
what Sonny is up against right now. So I'm no better than either of
you."

She swallowed deeply. "Sometimes, one has to compromise one's
principles when something precious is involved."

Alexis touched her daughter's curls and then looked up into Sonny's
eyes. "A child. A friend. My freedom. This is a very serious fight.
It'll take serious methods to win it."

Jason's gaze pierced her and rooted her to the spot she stood
upon. "Are you trying to tell me that if I have to take a life to
save him, you'll stand by and let that happen?"

Some of the light in Alexis' eyes dimmed. She was conscious of Sonny
standing there his eyes glued to her face. "I'm hoping that with all
the trouble Sonny's already in you won't make it worse by going to
that extreme," she whispered.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"She doesn't have to answer the question," Sonny erupted.

"No, I need to, Sonny." Alexis sighed and found Jason's blue
gaze. "Despite things that I've done in the past to defend myself and
my family, I don't believe in wantonly taking a life. Unless it's
self-defense, it's wrong and I won't be party to it. I'm not Carly.
I'm not turning a blind eye to the violence when I have a child to
protect. That's my line in the sand."

Jason shook his head and cast a wary look at Sonny. But Alexis spoke
again. "However, Grayson and Ric are not going to play fair with
Sonny. They're going to pull out all the stops so they can destroy
him. So Jason if you have to…meet…with Francis or any other witness
and… convince…them to see things your way, I could understand that. I
wouldn't like it, but I'd understand it."

And then they all stood there in silence, caught at a crossroads.
Jason was baffled at the fact that Sonny was allowing Alexis to hem
him in like this. He watched, mystified, as the man lifted a hand to
Alexis' cheek and stroked it with a tenderness he had rarely seen
from his boss.

"You know I wouldn't put you in that position, right?" he asked her
quietly.

She nodded, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "I know. I hope
you won't put yourself in that position either. If someone dies or
disappears, they're gonna come straight for you, Sonny. And they're
gonna nail you."

A knock at the door spun them all around, and it was Sonny who
answered it. A young man, unknown to them stood there with a wide but
nervous smile on his face. "Sonny Corinthos?"

"Yeah."

The youth handed him a packet of papers. "You've been served."

And as quickly as he'd come, he retreated. Sonny sighed noisily, and
unfolded the paper. "Seems we gotta appear in court Thursday to prove
our marriage is real, Lex."

Jason clapped him on the shoulder on his way out the door. "Well, I
don't think you'll have much trouble doing that," he said, sarcasm
coating his tone. "Not judging by what I've seen today."

And with that Jason walked out.

***

Three days later, Alexis stretched and yawned in bed relishing the
delicious ache that settled in secret parts of her body. She and
Sonny had made love late into the night again, neither one seeming to
be sated until sheer exhaustion claimed them near dawn. It was as if
they were making up for the lost time that had stretched between the
first night they had lain together and these precious moments now.
She felt like some giddy teenager with him savoring the magic of
their desire.

Amazingly, their lives had fallen into a strange sort of routine.
Sonny would rise first and feed Krissy and then he'd make Alexis her
breakfast afterward. The two of them would linger over coffee and
then talk strategy with Justus, either in person or by phone. When
Krissy was asleep or out with Alice for the day, they would each make
a pretense of working or making business calls or watching news
coverage. But more often than not, they would give in to the
invisible pull that lay between them and race to the bedroom for a
few more stolen hours in each other's arms.

They didn't speak of the tension with Jason or of the fact that Sonny
missed his boys desperately; there was nothing they could do about
either situation at present.

Alexis would sometimes go out of the apartment on errands, to tie up
outstanding court cases or to meet with clients. But that was almost
always tiresome if not disastrous for several reasons. One, Sonny
insisted that she go in the limo with Max shadowing her every move.
Two, the reporters also shadowed her making for something of an
entourage the size of which rivaled that of the musician, Prince. And
three, she just plain hated leaving Sonny alone at home. She much
more enjoyed staying there with him creating this fantasy of married
life that she desperately wished were real.

She missed him when she was gone.

Rolling over, she gazed at the sky as it brightened and was bathed
with golden light. How could she feel this blissful? She knew what
had happened last time. She knew that his unnatural attachment to
Carly had blown their connection to hell the very next day after
their lovemaking two years ago. The situation they were presently in
was no less precarious. Yet she had started pretending it was real,
wishing for it to be forever, and knowing all the while that it could
not be. Why was she risking the pain of losing Sonny all over again?

She inhaled and caught his scent, spicy and exotic, on the pillow
next to hers. And instantly, she knew the answer to her question
though she didn't want to say it aloud.

He was a part of her and would always be. It was as simple and as
complicated as that.

chapter 32