[I]"Why does Skye Quartermaine want you dead?"[/I]

They were the first words he'd spoken to her in private. They were, somehow, the words that had led her here, to this room, to this bed... to him.

Alexis curled on to her side, her head resting on her hand as she watched him sleep. Lorenzo's chest rose and fell in perfect, even movements, his face relaxed. She smiled as she wondered what he was dreaming about, then blushed, knowing that despite the many hours they had spent making love, it was her he saw as he slept. He had told her so.

[I]"I never seem to dream of anything but you anymore."[/I]

Sighing, her body tired but her mind awake, Alexis continued to take him in, this man who was now her lover. It was impossible that it had happened, and yet she no longer knew what she could have done to stop it. Lorenzo had become someone to her... not just Luis Alcazar's brother, not just the man she worked for. Much like Sonny, he had become real to her as they worked together and built trust. Unlike, Sonny, however, Lorenzo had made his changing feelings toward her crystal clear. No innuendo to try and analyze, no mixed signals to try and decode--Lorenzo had told her she was what he wanted, and then he had waited for her to be ready.

It was a long way from the dingy condemned building she'd been taken too forcefully months earlier, two men snatching her up on the street as she'd walked home from an ugly showdown with Ned in the General Hospital ER where her daughter was fighting off a fever. "Skye and I are taking care of her," he'd said, and Alexis had snapped. If Nikolas hadn't arrived to calm her down, Alexis was almost certain she'd have wrung her ex-fiancé's neck. His smugness over possession of her daughter was sickening. That fury had stayed with her after she left the hospital, blinding her to everything else around her, including her abductors.

She had fought, but it was useless. Blindfolded and handcuffed, she was taken to a car and laid on the backseat. The doors slammed shut and the vehicle had begun to move. Several minutes later, it stopped, and Alexis was pulled from the backseat and led into a room. The handcuffs were being removed as she'd heard the all-too-familiar voice for the first time that night.

"I told you not to use those."

"Sorry, Boss. We forgot," one of her captors had replied.

"I don't pay you to forget."

Still blindfolded, Alexis heard footsteps walk away from her. A man untied the blindfold and told her to sit down. Alexis had glanced back and found an old wooden crate behind her. With no real option other than obedience, she had taken her seat and began to rub her sore wrists. The two men walked out of the room and locked the door behind her. Alexis had remained there in the silent, bare room and thought about her daughter--her smile, the baby-fine hair that was just beginning to curl at the ends, her big eyes that seemed to take in everything.

She had just begun to cry when the door opened and Lorenzo Alcazar returned to the room. Alexis stood reflexively, trying to gain some ground beneath her. He stared at her a moment from the landing, then closed the door and came down the few stairs to the floor. There was something in his hand, and Alexis had thought for a moment to plead with him, but it hadn't worked with his brother, and she had no reason to believe this man any more merciful than his sibling. His hand had started to rise, and Alexis had braced herself for the worst.

"Why does Skye Quartermaine want you dead?"

They were not the words she'd been expecting, and Alexis had been thrown. She blinked once, twice, and then saw that his arm had risen fully and his hand was open, offering her something. Cautiously, Alexis reached out and touched the dark blue rectangle. It was freezing cold to the touch.

"Ice, for your wrists. The handcuffs."

Again, she had been surprised. Alexis remembered nodding lamely as she took the ice and sat back down on the crate, laying the soothing cold atop the areas she hoped would not bruise. She was surprised to find herself already thinking as if she wasn't going to die here, and to notice that Lorenzo wasn't acting like a man planning to kill her.

"I'm sorry, you asked me about Skye?"

Lorenzo had nodded, his arms crossing in front of him. "She came to me and told me you were faking your mental illness, that you were entirely in your right mind when you killed Luis. Seems to me, given my reputation, her only goal in doing that was to get me to come after you."

Alexis had let her eyes drift shut a moment, her revulsion at Skye Quartermaine reaching a new level. She had thought it pure evil that Skye had ambushed her with Lorenzo, especially with Kristina in the room, but in all honesty, she hadn't thought of it in the terms her captor was laying out. It sent a chill through her.

"She wants my daughter. Not that she has any right to her, but apparently Skye has decided she deserves Kristina more than I do."

"I see," had been Lorenzo's only response.

His coolness, his lack of aggression, they threw Alexis off. She couldn't read his body language. She fought to hold on to the faint hope that his actions were telling her a story opposite the one her setting and the circumstances told. Fear was speeding up her heart rate, making her begin to shake. Her hands were going numb from the cold. But Lorenzo made no move. He stood and watched her as she tried to watch him without letting her eyes remain too long on his face... that very familiar face. Finally, Alexis had asked the only question that seemed logical to ask at the time.

"Are you going to give Skye what she wants?"

She hadn't expected him to laugh. Again, he'd surprised her. Alexis hadn't been able to not look directly at him then, and she watched as Lorenzo squatted down in front of her a mere foot from where she sat.

"You mistake me for my brother, Ms. Davis. He was the one easily manipulated by beautiful women."

"But you... you brought me here."

"To talk, Ms. Davis," he assured her. "I have questions that need answers. I assure you, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead, and it would have happened long before I ever stepped foot in Port Charles and could be considered a suspect."

His clearly calculating mind both impressed and terrified her. This man was unlike any potential enemy Alexis had ever faced. Helena and Stavros, though evil to the core, acted from hate and greed. Luis Alcazar had acted from pure malice and vengeance. Lorenzo Alcazar appeared to be a man who took deliberate, well thought out action, and somehow that seemed ever more intimidating to her.

"I allowed Ms. Quartermaine to orchestrate her little plan because I was curious about you, and it allowed me an opportunity to catch you unaware," Lorenzo explained. "I wanted to gauge you for myself."

She hadn't responded. She didn't know what to say. Alexis kept trying to find her voice, trying to look at him to show him she wasn't afraid, but she was, and every time she allowed her eyes to rest on him too long, she saw the menacing scowl of the man she had fought with at the Port Charles Hotel.

"I could kill you, of course, but I'm not sure that would accomplish anything," he'd said. "You did kill my brother, but he killed your sister first. I kill you, what happens next? Your brother comes after me?"

Despite her fear, Alexis scoffed. "I'm not sure he'd care."

Lorenzo stood then and moved even closer to the crate where Alexis sat. He loomed over her a moment before stepping to the side. "He'd care."

There were long moments of silence as Alexis wondered why he was so certain, why he seemed so damned rational when Alexis was shaking so badly inside she wondered that she wasn't shaking the room with her. Realizing how numb her hands had grown, Alexis tossed the ice pack aside and began to rub at her wrists gently.

"Do they hurt?" he asked, his voice sounding genuinely concerned.

"No, they're better, thank you."

Alexis had watched as he circled the room, not pacing, but striding slowly, purposefully. Why couldn't she get any kind of read on this man?

"She claimed that you set her up for my brother's murder."

"That is not true." Alexis voice had regained some of the power she remembered from before her life fell apart. "I never intentionally allowed anyone to take the blame for what I did."

"I know," Lorenzo said. "I did my own research into the case since Mr. Baldwin seems quite determined to only deliver the facts he deems pertinent. It seems you went to great pains to keep others from paying for your actions."

More silence. More waiting. His calm was getting to her. Alexis could feel her hands beginning to tremble in her lap, and she went back to rubbing her wrists to try and hide it.

"W-what is it that you want from me?" she asked finally. Lorenzo stopped in his tracks where he stood, his back to her. Slowly he turned around, his eyes searching her face, and even though it was torturing her, causing horrible flashback after horrible flashback, Alexis had not taken her eyes away from his.

"I'm not entirely certain, Ms. Davis. Tonight, I wanted information. You've given me that, and I appreciate it. Past that, I'm undecided."

Her eyes dropped then, her voice growing small as a wave of tears overran her. A sudden, deep fear had stabbed Alexis in her heart, and she had been unable to stop herself from speaking it aloud.

"Please, please don't hurt my baby."

His footsteps were quick, and Alexis half expected to be grabbed or struck. Instead, she felt his hand beneath her chin, lifting it, forcing her to look at him once again.

"She's why you did it, really, isn't she?"

She nodded, warm, salty moisture continuing to run down her cheeks.

"She's beautiful," Lorenzo said. "Kristina, right?"

"Please..." she whispered, her eyes closing again.

"I don't harm children, Ms. Davis."

Alexis' eyes had opened quickly, hers searching his, hoping she felt he was telling her the truth. Though she had no reason to believe him, she did.

He'd let her go then, no wiser at that point of what his intentions might be toward her except that Alexis knew he wasn't going to physically harm her or her daughter. It was more than she'd even dared hope when the two thugs had grabbed her earlier that night.

"What are you thinking about?"

Alexis was still laying in bed, her eyes focused on him even if her thoughts had drifted far into the past. Lorenzo was awake now, turned to his side, his face even with hers.

"I was thinking about us," she admitted, smiling. "About how we got here."

She reached out her hand, touching it lightly on his bearded cheek. His hand rose, trapping hers there.

"It's been quite a journey," he said. Lorenzo then pulled her palm from his face and brought it to his lips. He kissed the skin there softly, lovingly. Then he pulled her closer to him, moving to his back as her body came to rest on his. He weaved his fingers with hers, both hands now captured, and kissed her as gently on the lips as he had moments earlier against her soft skin.

"I know you're still scared, Alexis. You'd be crazy not to be. But I love you. I love Kristina."

Alexis laid her head down on his chest, the passion of last night only just beginning to stir inside of her again. She listened to his heart beating, felt the heat of his skin burning against her face. They'd never be able to forget how they started, and no one knew how it would end. But right now, Alexis didn't want to think about either anymore.

"We love you, too," she whispered.

*****

[i]"I believe you know my new CEO."[/i]

That's how it had begun, how Sonny had come to realize that Alexis was now part of Lorenzo Alcazar's life.

Dinner at the No Name. He and Carly had gone when she was finally feeling up to it after their son's birth. They'd been looking forward to a night out away from the kids, away from the tension that seemed to be suffocating everyone in their home since Carly's ordeal at Ric's hands had ended. At the center of that knot was Jason, who was furious that Sonny hadn't listened to him all along and who Carly seemed to lean on more and more. Several times, Sonny had caught his wife looking at him like she was analyzing him, trying to figure something out, and each time, he'd responded with a "what?" She never answered, just shook her head and said, "nothing."

The baby had come, Jason and Courtney picked up their relationship, Sonny and Carly tried to restore their marriage... but something was off, something no one could seem to find the courage to address.

He hadn't seen Alcazar in weeks by that point. Somehow, just as his brother had for all his crimes, Lorenzo had escaped any prosecution for his part in withholding Carly's whereabouts from the police. He hadn't even spent a night in custody.

That night at the No Name, staring at his adversary and his former best friend and lawyer and lover, Sonny felt two conflicting emotions--fury and shame. He hated that this man was just out walking around, free to do more damage anywhere he saw fit. He was also stunned to realize that never, not once since he'd learned of Lorenzo Alcazar's existence, had he thought about what his presence might mean for Alexis.

Sonny fought the urge to hang his head as he seated Carly at their table, then walked to the one these two strange dinner companions were sharing. Lorenzo had lifted his glass of champagne toward Sonny, a satisfied smile on his face as he'd motioned with his other hand toward Alexis.

"I believe you know my new CEO."

Sonny's eyes shot toward Alexis. He recognized her nerves--her fingers moving aimlessly against the glass that sat before her, her eyes darting around, other hand flipping her hair back off her shoulder.

"Alexis, can I speak to you for a minute?"

It was the calmest, most polite voice he'd used to address her since the day of Kristina's funeral. He had tried to lie to himself the moment that realization hit, but it was too late. Alexis cleared her throat, then looked toward Lorenzo.

"Let me take care of this. I'll be right back."

He had purposely led her the opposite direction of his table, knowing that Carly would cause a scene should he head toward her. Instead, Sonny had steered Alexis back toward the manager's office, stopping her just outside the door.

"What are you thinking, working for that man?"

"Someday, I hope to again have an employer that doesn't prompt that question from everyone."

"I never did anything like he and his brother..."

Sonny wasn't sure what he'd expected, but the look of cold fury that washed over Alexis the moment he mentioned Luis Alcazar was not it. She had pushed him physically away from her as she spoke in a low, controlled tone.

"Don't. I know who he is and what he is, but I need a job, Sonny, and the offers aren't exactly pouring in. Not much of a market for possibly insane murderous desperate mothers right now."

Until that moment, Sonny'd had no real idea the toll the last year had taken on Alexis. Now he saw the circles under her eyes artfully hidden, almost completely, by makeup. He saw that she was too thin. He saw that she was working constantly to look like she still had fight in her.

"In case you hadn't heard, Sonny, Ned is trying to get full custody of my little girl. I need money to fight him, and this job pays very well. So unless you have some magic wand to wave that can fix my life, please, stay the hell out of it."

He had stood there and watched her leave, his arms hanging limply at his sides, powerless. He stared down the hall long after she was gone, wondering if there was something he could say, something she would believe, to change this, to get her away from Lorenzo and back where...

The thought made him shake even before it was complete... back where she belonged.

Walking out into the dining room again, he saw Alexis return to her seat, Lorenzo standing to ease back her chair. Then Sonny turned his eyes to his own table. It was empty. Carly had, the maitre d' informed him, stormed out. Feeling as if he had no choice, he'd walked out to find his wife, leaving Alexis in the hands of his enemy.

[I]"Enzo!"[/I]

Sitting in his living room, still wearing the clothes he'd gone out in last night after yet another fight with Carly, Sonny heard Alexis' voice again as she cried out, expressing the pleasure Lorenzo Alcazar had given to her. It was wrong... God, this was so wrong. Not him... not with Alexis. "Enzo," she'd called him. Not Lorenzo, not Alcazar... Enzo... a term of endearment. But it was wrong, he told himself, still wrong. It didn't sound the way "Sonny" had tearing from her lips. It had not sounded the same.

"Did you sit down here all night?"

Carly's harsh voice was for once welcome as it pulled Sonny from an onslaught of memories of the way he'd seen Alexis moving her body with Lorenzo on the balcony the night before. Shaking his head, he walked to the bar and poured himself a glass of water.

"I took a walk, then, yeah, I stayed down here."

Sonny kept his back to her, not ready to go another round about why things were the way they were. He was less than surprised when he heard the door open and slam shut, followed by the sound of a knock on Jason's door across the hall a moment later. It was something Sonny might have done a few years earlier after one of their fights... slammed the door shut and walked over to talk to Alexis.

The thought of her sent the soul-crushing images from last night into play mode in his mind once again, and Sonny pushed his hands into his eyes trying to stop the visions, then against his ears trying to stop the sounds. But nothing worked. It was real... it was horribly, regretfully and painfully real.

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