The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 32

She opened the door to her best friend that morning and instantly
felt the force of his unease. It was like that with them. Since she
had first met and really connected with him all those years ago, she
had always been able to sense his emotions. To sense when he had
something weighing on him that he could only share with her.

So for once, Carly didn't overwhelm him with her own issues or with
stuff about the kids. With vacuous small talk or complaints about
Sonny. She just let Jason in, her eyes following his body as he
slowly loped over to the sofa in her living room. His face, she saw,
was as always set in stone. That immutable resolve, that strength
always in place there. But in his blue eyes…the eyes that could go
hard like the edge of a machete and slice into the hearts of men…in
his eyes she found his soul. And it was open to her. It showed her
the truth even when she couldn't give it back. That was who Jason was
to her. Always.

Today it showed her sorrow, a sorrow that went deep inside him. And
Carly was afraid.

Jason stretched out a muscled arm towards her and she went to him,
sitting close by on the couch. She felt his heat seep into her body,
which had suddenly become chilled with a premonition of what was
coming.

"Tell me," she whispered. "Just tell me."

He held her hands and looked into her eyes and did exactly as she
bade him to. "He loves her."

Just those three words. No embellishment. No explanations. Nothing to
soften the truth.

Jason was Sonny's best friend and knew him as well as he knew
himself. There was no doubt in her heart that he was right. And the
truth of it went straight through her like a knife through
unsuspecting flesh. Her heart was unforgivably lanced by the blow and
bled silent tears onto the carpet.

A minute passed or maybe ten—she couldn't know. Then she found her
voice.

"After—after I gave you up…after I watched him romance Alexis and
take her to my bed…after he shot me and almost cost me my child…after
he branded me a whore for my tie to Lorenzo…and then brought his own
whore, Sam, into our lives…after I put up with his rages and his
darkness and his screaming...but even more deadly, his silences…after
all that, Jason, he loves her?"

It was a question threaded with such intrinsic pain he could not
answer. And in fact, there was no reply that could suffice. So he
simply took her in his arms, and held her to him while she sat in
shocked quiet against his muscled chest.

And wondered what in the hell she was supposed to do when everything
she counted as true was suddenly made into a lie…

***

Alexis padded sleepily toward the kitchen to join Sonny and their
daughter for their daily breakfast ritual, but when she looked into
the kitchen she found it empty. Perhaps they were in Kristina's room,
she thought and headed that way.

In the hallway, she found the door ajar and peered inside to see
Sonny sitting on the toddler's bed. A soft smile curved Alexis'
mouth. It seemed Kristina was being a little sleepyhead this morning,
and her father was waiting by her side for her to wake.

The simple affectionate gesture spoke volumes about his connection
with the child. His child. Alexis swallowed. Without any sense of
when or how, they had each created a little family unit consisting of
the three of them against the world. Absently she thought of Alice
and amended the number to four. But it was true: in the midst of the
hurricane of scandal and accusation that swirled around them, their
little unit stood together in the eye of the storm. How had they ever
survived without him here? And how would they go back to living
without him when this was over?

Alexis was about to make her presence known when Sonny began to speak.

"You are so beautiful, Kristina," he murmured. "Just like your
mother."

Alexis' heart swelled within her chest as he stroked a loving finger
down the baby's cheek. "She loves you more than her life and I can
see why," he continued. "I've only known you a little while but
you're already part of my heart. Maybe…maybe because you're part of
her."

And then he said the words that pierced her soul. "I wish you were
mine. I always have, you know. Your Mama doesn't know that, but it's
true."

Alexis closed her eyes against the pain his admission wrought in her.
I wish I could tell you, she lamented in her mind. I wish I could
take the chance that your life wouldn't touch her. I wish I wasn't so
afraid. I wish I'd never begun this lie.

The emotion rose up in her chest and threatened to overwhelm her.
Tears escaped from the corners of her eyes. I'm already risking her
life by faking this marriage. I can't put her in even more danger by
telling the world she's really yours…I can't. My god, I hope that one
day you'll get out of the business and I can tell the truth and that
you'll try to understand.

Sonny's earnest whispers snapped her out of her thoughts. "I-I
wouldn't admit it to anyone else," he said, "but you're probably
better off not being my child. At least you don't have to worry about
people trying to hurt you to get to me. I hate that my kids have to
deal with that. You're lucky, Kristina, to have a mother like her.
She fought so hard to get you back and to keep you safe. And I know
she'll always do that. Cuz she knows what it is to grow up unsafe…
like I do. She'll never let you know a moment of terror. With Alexis,
you'll only know about love."

She had to press her knuckles against her mouth to stem the sobs from
escaping. And it was at that moment that Kristina began to wake,
rubbing her eyes with one hand. When she saw the man beside her, she
smiled and reached for him. "Hi, Sonny," she whispered, as he took
her into his arms with an ease that belied their new relationship.
Alexis' heart melted as her daughter snuggled into her father's
shoulder.

"Love you," Krissy murmured.

With emotion deepening his voice, Sonny replied, "I love you, too,
baby."

***

"Man, please do not get caught. You do, and it's not just my job. It'
s my life."

The federal guard was sweating as he faced Jason, his round face and
body in constant motion as nerves overtook him. Jason recognized the
signs of full-blown panic and he knew the guy was ten seconds from a
melt down, which would blow his whole plan. Jason's mind was back at
the penthouse with Carly. He hadn't wanted to leave her, but this job
had to be done. And he was annoyed as hell at this little coward for
his anxiety attack.

Resolutely, he forced himself to be patient. "Listen, Joey, chill,"
he whispered, placing a hand heavily on each of the guy's
shoulders. "All the time I've known you, I ever slip up? I ever get
you into trouble?"

Joey's eyes darted. "Nah."

"All the times you slipped us info about raids on the docks, we paid
you good, right? On time and everything. No mistakes. Nobody ever got
caught. And you were able to buy your wife that nice new car, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure Jason." Again the eyes darted.

"Then just calm the hell down. All I'm gonna do is talk to my boy,
Francis. He's in deep and I'm gonna offer him a way out, you get me?
No violence, no way to pin anything on you, okay?"

"Yeah, Jase. But make sure. The wife's brother got me into the
department and she'd kill me if I lost this job—"

"You're not gonna lose it, Joe. Long as you get Francis out here
sometime before doomsday, okay?"

The man grinned sheepishly and swiped a keycard. A door sprang open
silently.

Jason's hand on his arm forestalled the man. "What's your story?"

"I bring him out for a smoke on my watch every morning. Shouldn't
raise any eyebrows."

"Any video surveillance out here?"

"Nope. Budget cuts."

The enforcer smiled, gave a silent thanks to the politicians for more
dumb moves, and sent Joey on his way. Maybe one thing about this mess
would go smoothly.

chapter 33