image courtesy of Maurice Benard Connection

a Sonny & Brenda Story
by scullysboy

Chapter 14

Jason spent the night on Sonny's couch, with Johnny guarding the door. Sonny went upstairs to bed, but didn't get any sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Brenda; about how much he wanted her, and how he felt he had no right to have her. "It's for the best," he told himself, and vowed to stay away from her. Brenda had cried herself to sleep after Robin left. As she slept, she dreamt of Sonny. They were making love, and she could feel the passion like it was really happening. Then, the bedroom door burst open, and a man came in. It was the same man that had grabbed her at the restaurant, and he had a gun. Sonny turned over in bed to see who it was, and the man took the opportunity to fire at him. Brenda screamed, as Sonny was shot in the chest. The man smiled at her, then left, leaving Sonny bleeding in her arms. Brenda awoke with a start, breathing heavily. She put her head in her hands, "oh God Sonny!" She knew it was just a nightmare, but it was far too real. As much as she wanted to be with him, it was better if she stayed away. She couldn't handle it if something happened to him.

The next morning, Sonny got out of bed, showered and got dressed. Then he went downstairs to see if Jason was still there. He was, and was sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee. "Good morning," Sonny said as he took the final step down to the first floor. Jason stood up, said, "good morning Sonny," and went to get him some coffee. When he came out, Sonny gratefully took the cup and sipped the steaming hot liquid. His head was hurting from all the scotch he had the night before, as well as everything else. Both men sat down at the table, and Sonny started in on business. "So, what do we know about Sorel's men?" "Benny's on it. Word on the street is that he only had two or three guys with him. We're tracking them down now, that is if they're still in town. They probably knew that Sorel was meeting with you, and that he never came back." Sonny nodded his head, and then the phone rang. "I'll get it," Jason said, and hurried over. "Yeah?" "Hey Benny." "Is that all of them?" "Hold on, I'll ask Sonny." Jason put the phone down and turned back to Sonny. "Benny got a call from Sorel's guys. They want a meeting; they want to know if they can work for you now." "How many?" "Three guys; they swear there's no one else associated with Sorel in Port Charles...or anywhere else." "Set it up at the warehouse, for tonight," Sonny said. Jason nodded his head and got back on the phone. "He'll meet with them tonight at the warehouse. I want to meet with our guys beforehand, to discuss security. I'm not taking any chances." Benny agreed, and they hung up. "Are you going into the restaurant today?" Jason then asked Sonny. "Yeah. Looks like I need to start looking for a new hostess. I need to get someone to cover tonight." Jason re-joined Sonny at the table; "maybe Brenda will change her mind once she calms down." Sonny shook his head, "I doubt it, and it's better this way Jason, believe me." Jason didn't argue, and instead said, "come on, I'll ride with you to the restaurant." Sonny agreed, and they left the penthouse together.

Brenda's phone rang and she nervously answered it.

"Hello?"

"Brenda! Where are you?"

"Lucy?" She recognized Lucy Coe's voice.

"Yes it's Lucy, who else? We're all waiting for you!"

"Oh no, I totally forgot. We have a shoot this morning, don't we?"

"Yes we do, and everyone's here but the Face of Deception."

"Lucy, I'm so sorry. I had a really rough day yesterday. I'll be there in a half hour."

She hung up and ran into the bathroom to shower. Luckily, she didn't have to do anything to her hair, the stylists would take care of that. Brenda couldn't imagine how she was going to get through a photo shoot, when all she could think of was Sonny.

Two hours later, Robin entered Il Paradiso, where she found Sonny in his office. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Don't I look all right?" Sonny retorted. "Looks can be deceiving Sonny, especially with you." "What's that supposed to mean?" Sonny questioned, feeling hurt. "It means that you come off like Mr. Tough Guy, but I know you're hurting. You can't be OK with what happened, with losing Brenda." Her words felt like a stab to his heart; had he really lost Brenda? A small part of him was holding out hope that she'd come back to him. "That's the way it is Robin," he said quietly, fighting back the tears. "It doesn't have to be Sonny. OK, she was scared and you were too. I know you blame yourself and this is the way you deal with it. You think you're protecting her by staying away...right?" Sonny didn't respond, and looked at his desk. Robin continued, "and she thinks you don't really care for her, because you're not putting up a fight." Sonny's head shot up, "she said that?" "Pretty much. Look, I'm not saying you guys won't have any problems, but she loves you Sonny I know she does. And I think you love her too." Sonny sighed, "what if I do Robin? It'll never work. She can't handle my world and I don't want her to have to." "Oh I see," Robin replied, "so I guess Jason and I should just split up then, since your world is his world." "I didn't say that!" Sonny protested. "So how come we should have love but you shouldn't? Sonny, you need it in your life, and you deserve it. I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet you've never really had it." Sonny winced, thinking of his mother and how she failed him. He stood up, "I can't deal with this right now Robin, I have to focus on business." That night's scheduled meeting was looming large; Sonny had to decide what to do with Sorel's men. He could just kill them outright, but despite being a gangster, he wasn't really keen on having blood on his hands. He could take them into his crew, but how could he be sure they could be trusted? He could tell them to leave town, but then they could come back at him again at a later date. He had to make the right decision, which would be hard to do with his head full of Brenda. "Why don't you just talk to her?" Robin asked. "Tell her what you told me, she'll understand." "I don't know." "Just do it Sonny. Look, she's doing a photo shoot today. Why don't you stop by there?" Brenda had called Robin before running out the door to the shoot. She didn't want her friend to worry if she was missing in action the whole day. Sonny thought it over; despite the danger inherent in his life he had to admit he wanted Brenda back. "Give me the address," he told Robin, whose face broke into a wide smile.

"Great Brenda, that's it...keep it up...you're doing great!" The photographer encouraged Brenda as she posed. She was wearing a gauzy white outfit: A long skirt and a top that was nothing more than a scarf wrapped around her neck and criss-crossed over her breasts. She turned her head from the camera, then flipped it back. Someone behind the photographer caught her eye. She gasped as she realized it was Sonny, and she stared at him. Sonny stood quietly, drinking in the site of her; she looked like a goddess. He knew then that he had to get her back...no matter what it took.

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