Chapter 12

They left for home early the next morning, both had business to attend to. Alexis had gotten a surprise phone call late the previous night, from Jasper Jax of all people. He was back in town, and told her he had something important to discuss with her. She immediately asked him if he had found Brenda Barrett, since that was the reason he'd abandoned Chloe in Paris. When he responded that he hadn't, but had found someone else, Alexis was intrigued. For his part, Sonny had checked his machine at home and found a message from Edward Quartermaine's secretary about a board meeting to be held the next afternoon. Sonny was perturbed at the short notice, but wanted to be there none-the-less. He knocked on Alexis' door early, and was surprised to find her up and dressed already. "Oh, good you're dressed. I need to get back to Port Charles right away." "I know, I do too," she replied. "Why? Is something wrong?" Sonny wondered. Alexis figured she'd better clue him in. "Jax is back." Sonny stared at her, "so? Why do you have to run back for him?" "He said he's got something important to talk to me about." Sonny didn't react. He already knew that it wasn't about Brenda. The minute he'd heard that Jax thought he'd seen her in Paris, Sonny got his own people on the case. They informed him that the woman Jax had seen looked a lot like Brenda, but was not her. They'd retrieved some of her DNA, through a strand of her hair left on a brush, to be sure. "Oh, OK," he finally replied. "Why do you have to get back?" Alexis asked. "ELQ. Board meeting this afternoon." "Oh." And so, they left.

They arrived shortly before the board meeting was to start, so Sonny hurried over to the ELQ boardroom. There, he found most of the family in the ante-room. "I'm here," Sonny announced, "let's get started." "Oh brother!" Edward exclaimed; "like we were all just waiting for you, you...hooligan." Sonny grinned, "nice to see you too Edward." Then, he noticed an attractive redhead standing next to Edward, whom he'd never seen before. He walked over to introduce himself. "Hi. We haven't met, I'm Sonny Corinthos." She shook his hand, responding, "nice to meet you. I'm Skye Quartermaine." "She's my daughter," Alan piped up, "you stay away from her." Sonny chuckled and informed Skye, "they like to think they can tell me what to do." Skye smiled at him. "Sonny is our local gang lord Skye," Alan continued. Skye was impressed, "I was married to the mob for all of about five minutes once." Sonny looked her in the eyes, "did you enjoy it?" "I try to enjoy everything I do, Mr. Corinthos," Skye replied, fully enthralled by the handsome gangster. "Or everyone," Sonny thought. She wasn't hard to read; she actually reminded him a lot of Carly when he first met her. The kind of woman you wanted to take on the nearest table, but that you should never turn your back on. "Well, she'd be a spitfire in bed I'm sure," he mused, "but I've learned my lesson." "Well, let's get started," Edward stated, and led the pack into the board room. Once seated, Edward quickly called the meeting to order and brought up the first item...Skye. "Now that Skye is with us, I think it's important that she be made to feel like a real member of the family," Edward said. "Oh we can do that Grandfather," AJ interrupted, "we can insult her, blackmail her, and just be all-around nasty to her, all you want." Sonny couldn't help but glare down the table at AJ. What he wouldn't give to be able to beat that little jerk senseless, just once. Maybe he would one day, just for the hell of it. Edward ignored his grandson, "to that end, I want to offer Skye a position here at ELQ, that of Vice President of Public Relations." The table erupted into loud discussion, with most of the family against the idea. Sonny looked at Skye across the table, "are you qualified?" "As a matter of fact I am. I have extensive PR experience. Would you like to see my resume?" "You can show it to me later," he replied, "I'll take your word for now." Skye smiled and thought, "this guy's going to be easy pickings." Sonny smiled back and thought, "she thinks she's got me pegged. This should be interesting."

It didn't take long for Skye to make her move. After the board meeting, Sonny, Johnny, and Adam went to the Grille for dinner. When the vote had finally happened for Skye's new position, Sonny tipped the scales in her favor. He only voted for her because he saw how much it upset AJ. What he didn't know, was that Edward took his vote, as well as the obvious sexual sparks that were flying between them, as a sign that Sonny was attracted to Skye. After everyone else had left the room, he approached his granddaughter about helping to get Sonny off the ELQ board. Skye, rightfully so, assumed she was being pimped out. Not that the thought of getting Sonny Corinthos into bed was unappealing, but her grandfather treating her like a hooker was. So, she resolved then and there to try to get Sonny to help her get rid of her grandfather instead. Now, upon entering the Grille, she was happy to see that Sonny was dining there. Edward assumed Sonny was eating out, since he was now a bachelor and Edward was unaware that Sonny was a gourmet cook, and called the Grille to see if there was reservation for Corinthos. He was lucky Sonny hadn't decided to go to the No Name because he didn't want to see Jasmine. Skye approached the table. "Well, Mr. Corinthos, we meet again." Sonny looked up at her and smiled. He stood up, "hello Ms. Quartermaine. Dining alone?" "Please, it's Skye, and well, yes I am." Sonny shook his head, "I won't hear of it. Johnny, give Ms. Quartermaine your seat." Johnny got up and held the chair out for her. Then, he went and retrieved a chair from another table and pulled it over. "This is nice of you," Skye said. "I'm new in town, so I don't really know anyone except the Quartermaines, and, I see them all day long." "Well then I'm sure you need the break," Sonny replied. "If you'd like, I can give you a tour of the city," he added. "That would be wonderful. You know it well I assume?" "You could say that," Sonny said; "I have a lot of interests here. Why don't we start out on the balcony, I can point out some things." He stood up, and Skye happily followed him outside. Adam and Johnny stayed in their seats, assuming the boss wanted privacy. "Man, he's been getting it everywhere lately," Adam commented. Johnny just nodded his head in reply. Out on the patio, Sonny had just finished pointing out the docks, the Quartermaine sea crane, Kelly's diner, and a few other waterfront highlights, when Skye turned to him. "Listen, Sonny...may I call you that?" "Sure." "Sonny, I need to speak with you. My grandfather has sent me after your ELQ shares. He seems to think I can seduce them out of you." "Ouch," Sonny replied; "that's pretty low, even for Edward." "I know. Of course, I knew you were way too smart for a transparent move like that." "Oh really? How'd you know that, we just met?" "Well, you must be, a man in your position." "What do you want Skye?" Sonny asked, suddenly tiring of the conversation. "I want you to help me get the Quartermaines, every last one of them."

Although he didn't like how Edward wanted to use her, Sonny was more disgusted by Skye's words. Her vindictiveness was as clear as a bell, and he'd had it with conniving females and their "plans." "I'm not going to help you betray your family Skye. Find someone else." Skye became enraged, "what? You're too good to help me? Don't make me laugh!" Sonny glared at her, "you bet I am. I understand the meaning of loyalty, something you obviously don't. I bet Lila welcomed you with open arms, not to mention Alan. But you don't care, you'd hurt them all to get back at Edward. You have no honor. You're nothing but a faithless whore." If he were capable of realizing it, he would have known it was Carly he was speaking of at that moment, not Skye. But it was Skye's hand that came flying at his face. He caught it right before it landed, "don't even think about! You won't like what comes next!" Skye pulled away from his grasp and walked away as fast as she could. "Great!" she thought to herself; "not only won't he help you, now he probably hates your guts!" As she left the restaurant she couldn't help but wonder if life with Rae Cummings in Llanview wasn't looking better and better. Sonny returned to the table in an obviously agitated state. "You OK?" Johnny asked. "Fine," Sonny retorted. They ate their dinner in silence, with both guards wondering what transpired on the balcony.

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