The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 52

The limo moved smoothly through the streets of Port Charles carrying
its two silent occupants on the short journey home. It had taken
Sonny and Alexis quite some time to carve a path through the rabid
crowd of journalists at the front of the courthouse building. Justus
had given them the requisite statement about how the court system had
prevailed and an innocent man had been set free. But they had
clamored for a quote from the infamous couple and followed them all
the way to the limo in order to get it.

They got nothing but a smile, a wave, and limo exhaust in their faces.

And now Alexis was glad for the back streets and side alleys Max was
negotiating with expertise in the big, sleek car. Not one journalist
had been able to catch them, an amazing feat in itself. Thus she was
convinced Max had been a CIA operative in a past life; but she was
deeply grateful for his skill. She was tired of prying eyes…of
judgmental glares…of whispers and pointing. She just wanted to be
alone in the quiet of her old life.

Well, not quite alone, she mused, as she looked over at Sonny. She
wanted someone else to share her world. For the first time in a long
time.

His face was turned toward the window as he watched the passing
scenery. His shoulders were tensed; he still looked pensive.
Automatically, she found herself reaching for his hand, which lay on
the soft leather between them, her fingers tracing the bruises on his
knuckles with acute tenderness.

"It's over," she whispered. "We made it."

He turned his black gaze to her, and she found his eyes clouded with
emotion. "Yeah, we did," he replied. "But I…I'm sorry…I…uh…I messed
up back there."

Alexis frowned. "What?"

"I let him get to me," he said and she knew he meant Ned. "I lost it
and I shouldn't have. I-I know you…you don't like the violence…that
part of who I am. And I tried not to let it take over, but I just—"

She silenced him with gentle fingertips pressed against his warm lips
and shook her head. "Why are you apologizing, Sonny?" she asked
him. "I mean, yes, I'm no fan of violence, but if ever a man deserved
to be knocked out it was Ned just now. I only wish I could have been
the one to do it."

Sonny stared. "I just …I couldn't stand there and do nothing after
the things he said about you. But I gotta admit, I actually thought
you'd be mad at me…"

"Are you kidding?" she asked him, a radiant grin overtaking her
face. "No one---no one since Stefan---has defended my honor so well.
Ned said things today that I never imagined he would ever say. And he
hurt me. But you took the hurt away when you stood up for me. I love
you for that."

She took his injured hand in her own, lifted it to her mouth, and
kissed it lovingly. "You did me proud," she whispered.

He grinned back, but she could see that his eyes were not quite dry.
As masculine a man as he was, he was also emotional with the people
he trusted. She could see that the tension of this situation had
taken its toll. And she was gratified that he felt safe enough with
her to let her help him bear it.

"You stood up for me, too," he whispered now. "This whole time. To
everyone who came against me. Just like you used to back when we were
first friends. And when the Quartermaines tried to pull their usual
bull just now, you fought them down like the tigress I know you are.
If I didn't know you were an ethical woman, I'd have made you part of
my organization."

Alexis' grin turned lopsided as she looked at him warningly. "Don't
even joke about that, Mr. Corinthos," she told him.

"Sorry," he said on a chuckle and dropped a small tender kiss on the
side of her neck. Reflexively, he drew her by her waist across the
seat and into his body until she inhaled the unique dark and spicy
cologne he wore and the inimitable all male scent of his skin. It
went straight to her head as it always did overloading her senses
with wanting. And once again she found herself wondering if it would
always be this way. And acknowledging within herself that she'd never
known anything like this pull with anyone else.

She breathed in deeply, a slight tremor running through her. He was
free. She'd helped keep him free. That in itself was a blessing. Dare
she ask God for anything more than that? For a commitment from him…
for a future?

He leaned back from her slightly and took her lips in a series of
brief deep kisses that stole her breath in their intensity. Then he
looked at her, his dark eyes glittering into hers. "I wanna ask you
something."

Her pulse jumped. "What—what is it?"

"You wanna go on a honeymoon with me?"

Her heart almost stopped she was so stunned at his words. Her mouth
parted on a slight gasp.

"Cuz…cuz I was thinkin' maybe Paris," he said. "You like Europe. Or
maybe I could take you to Greece; you could show me where you grew up
if you want. Or we could just keep it simple and go back to Puerto
Rico. I could watch you lose at roulette again. We could swim in the
ocean all night. Lay in bed talking. Not talking. Whatever."

His eyes shadowed and he fidgeted with a tendril of her hair, curling
it round his finger, then pushing it behind the pink shell of her
ear.

"This… the way we are now …is so new, Lex," he said softly. "I just
think we should have some time alone to enjoy it…to figure it out.
But only if that…if that's what you want, too."

He stared at her and she saw the question lingering in his eyes, the
uncertainty. She couldn't believe it: Sonny didn't know whether she
wanted this either! She was amazed that a man who seemed so self-
assured, who was so sexy and dynamic, who could have practically any
woman he wanted, would get so nervous asking her to commit to him.

Because that's what he was asking, in essence, she reasoned inside
her rather methodical mind. There would be no need to honeymoon if he
weren't considering this a marriage that would last beyond today.
That thought more than anything else painted a beatific smile on her
face.

"I think we should keep it simple," she answered him softly. "Puerto
Rico has worked for us before. And there are so many more confessions
in the moonlight we need to indulge in…plus I could stand another dip
in your lovely fountain."

He traced her jaw line and then her lips with his fingertips. "I
wanted to make love to you so badly that night," he told her, and her
heart jumped again. Because she had wanted exactly the same thing,
with all her heart. But Carly…

She shook her head of the memory. "No regrets," she said. "Everything
happens for a reason. And we'll do it right this time."

"Speaking of that, doing things right, I been…I been thinking of the
future a lot. While the whole trial was going on, it kinda helped me
to think about you and me and what we'd do if I beat the charges."

"You did?" she asked giddily as the thought tickled her. "What did
you think about?"

"Well, you know I like your apartment…just as much as I liked my
penthouse. But they're both in the city. And they're kinda cramped. I
thought it would be nice if--if we got a place in the suburbs. You
know, a big house where Kristina could have a yard and a swing set
and a place to feel free. Stuff I didn't have growing up in the city.
And Michael and Morgan…they'd have a room to use when they stayed
over with us."

Alexis melted. She loved him for his beautiful dreams, especially the
ones he had for his children. She thought he was being a little
optimistic, believing that the harpy would let her children spend the
night at their house, but stranger things had happened.

"I…I always felt trapped in the city," he told her, his eyes taking
on a faraway look. "In New York and in Port Charles. Trapped in this
image I made….this tough guy people have to believe I am. I can't
really be myself there. I don't want that for Krissy. I don't want
one moment of that in her life."

Her heart squeezed and she nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "I
didn't grow up in the city like you, but I think the Island had the
same horrific effect. Living in a cold fortress surrounded on all
sides by water. It was very much like being trapped, the despised
stepdaughter of the woman who murdered my mother. I felt so weak each
and every day of my life. Until I escaped it and made myself a new
existence and a new home. I don't ever want Krissy to experience any
of that struggle either. I want her always to feel free."

He nodded, then looked away, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. His eyes
grew troubled like the sea suddenly disturbed by the winds of a
storm.

"There is something else we have to deal with though. You--you know
my life…and you know my business. It's not gonna miraculously
disappear. The reality of getting out of it is difficult even at the
best of times. With this investigation, getting out now would be just
about impossible.

"At the same time, people know now that Krissy's my daughter. She has
to have guards. 24 hours, Lex. A country house will make it easier
for her to feel free though she has to have that protection."

It was something Alexis had forced herself NOT to think about since
this mess started; that part of Sonny's life was so detestable to her
hat she had hid her daughter from him for two years. But now…now they
had to deal with it. Calmly and rationally if they were to have a
safe and happy life. She knew she was ready to do that. Because what
she had with Sonny and her daughter was worth the challenge.

She swallowed hard and met his eyes steadily, saw the insecurity
there again as he waited for what she would decide. She chose her
words carefully, measured their effect before she said them.

"I won't lie to you and say that doesn't scare me," she said.

She saw him swallow convulsively. "But you know, even if she hadn't
been your daughter," she whispered, "there would have eventually been
a need for security. My stepmother…for some ungodly reason…feels
drawn to this town. And like a homing pigeon she always returns to
wreak havoc on our lives. She would have targeted Kristina; I'm
almost certain. In the same way she targets me. So…protection to some
degree was always going to have to be a part of her life. Just like
it was a part of mine."

His eyes cleared and she felt the tension ebb out of him in
increments. Almost absently, he caressed her collarbone, toyed with
the skin at her pulse points sending little shivers fissuring through
her.

"You don't know how glad I am that you said that," he sighed. "God, I
wasn't sure you'd even want to stay married to me. I took a shot in
the dark. I mean, there's really nothing tying you to me anymore."

She shook her head at him. "Silly man, there's this," she said taking
his hand and placing it over her heart. "And there's this, too."

With slow, deliberate movements, she leaned across to take his face
in her hands and placed her mouth, open and hot, on his. She took her
time tasting his sweetness…savoring the taste that was uniquely Sonny…
drawing his tongue into her mouth…dueling with him for long moments
that stoked the fire inside each of them. The familiar ache settled
low in her body as she slanted her mouth and took the kiss even
deeper.

She felt him shudder, felt the rush of heat as he breathed a moan
into her. Her fingers shifted through his hair even as he anchored
her closer to his body…as close as their positions would allow. She
heard the privacy screen slide up between the front and back seats.
In the back of her mind, she thought she heard Max chuckle but
couldn't make herself care.

She was a millisecond from implosion when he drew back, heaving air
into his lungs.
He was shaking in her arms with the desire to have her; she felt it
and it sent a jolt of pride in her feminine power over him surging
through her body.

"Things are about to get far too interesting for a moving limousine,"
he whispered huskily. "A car is fine for a quick passionate
interlude. We'll save that for another time. Cuz the need in me right
now is much too great for a car. I'm gonna get you home and take you
to bed and make love to you so long we'll forget what day it is."

A huge Cheshire cat grin spread over her lovely mouth as she burrowed
into the warm hollow of his neck. "You promise?"

With intensity she couldn't miss he met her eyes. "Yeah," he
whispered. "And from here on out, I keep all my promises."

Just then she felt a vibrating against her chest. It was quite nice
actually, she thought, and pressed closer to him before she realized
what it was. His cell phone in his breast pocket. Of course, her mind
railed. How surprising. What else would happen during this perfectly
passionate moment between them?

"I am not answering that," he said his teeth clenched.

Though she knew she'd regret it, she pulled from him with a
sigh. "You have to," she said. "It might be Alice, or it might be
about the boys."

He grimaced ruefully as he opened the offensive piece of
technology. "These things are the tool of the devil," he muttered and
she laughed.

"It's okay," she murmured, meeting his gaze with her heart in her
eyes. "There's no hurry. We have forever."

But as he listened to his message, she watched the happiness and
desire fade; saw his whole face change and his smile disappear. And
she knew a fear that forever could be cut short.

chapter 53