Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Sonny had arrived at Jasmine's, and she immediately sensed something was off. "What's wrong baby?" Jasmine purred, rubbing her hands all over Sonny who was trying to pour himself a drink. "Nothing," he sullenly replied. Jasmine studied him; he definitely looked upset about something. "Is it business? You can talk to me." Sonny gave her a "what are you kidding?" look. "No I can't. And you know better than to ask about my business, don't you?" "Sure Sonny," she nervously replied, "I just meant..." "I know what you meant," he put his glass on the bar. "Look, Jasmine, this isn't gong to work." "What?" Jasmine started to panic; she saw her entire future slipping away. "This...us. It's never going to be more than a casual thing for me, and that's not fair to you," Sonny stated. Jasmine shook her head, "that's OK! I'm not asking for anything else!" "Not yet, but you will. And you should. But I'm not the man to give it to you. And I think we should just stop this now before you get hurt." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She instantly grabbed him into a tight embrace. "No Sonny please...please don't go. Don't you want me? We're so good together," she whispered fervently in his ear, hoping to persuade him to stay. Sonny was getting aroused, but stood his ground. He eased himself out of her embrace. "I've made my decision Jasmine. Look, you're a great girl...excuse me, woman. And it's been fun. I'll see you around." With that, he walked out of her apartment, leaving a totally stunned Jasmine behind.

Riding home in the back of the limo, Sonny nursed a scotch and thought it over. He was going to miss the physical intimacy with Jasmine, that was for sure. But there was something that nagged at him whenever she was around, like she was just waiting to suck the life out of him. He knew the day would come when she would start making demands on his time and his feelings. It was hard enough for him to give either of those things to a woman he loved, let alone someone he never would. His cell phone rang. 

"Corinthos."

"Boss it's Benny. Just wanted you to know DiLucca is gone."

"Gone gone, or left town gone?"

"Left town gone. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yeah Benny. Good, thanks."

"You need anything else tonight?"

"Nothing you can help me with Benny."

Sonny hung up the phone. Maybe he should have broken up with Jasmine after they'd had sex one more time, then he wouldn't be dealing with this ache in his pants. His phone rang again and he answered it angrily.

"What Benny?!"

"Uh, it's not Benny."

"Oh, sorry Alexis. What's up?"

"Have you given any more thought to the settlement issues? We really need to get those papers filed."

"No, I haven't. You know what? Maybe a trip to the Dominican Republic is in order here."

"Excuse me?"

"A quickie. You and me."

On the other end of the line Alexis turned bright red and had trouble breathing. Intuitively, she knew exactly what he was talking about, but part of her couldn't help but take his words another way. 

"Alexis?"

"I'm here, I was just thinking. You don't really need me. You need a local lawyer down there."

"Yeah, and I'll have one, but I want you to make sure everything's on the up and up. We can talk about alimony and child support on the plane ride down. Be ready to leave in the morning."

Sonny hung up. Alexis was starting to protest again when she heard him disconnect. Her first instinct was to call him back and ask him who the hell he thought he was telling her what to do. But, she knew the answer to that question already; he was Sonny Corinthos, and she would do whatever he asked. She shuddered at the thought of just the two of them, in a tropical paradise...anything could happen.

Go to Chapter 10