Alexis listened carefully as Sonny told her about his half-sister Courtney. When he finished, she quietly commented, "you must not know what to feel right now." Sonny smiled, a sad smile, "see. You're the only one who could get this. The thought that I have a sister out there is just blowing me away, and I want to be happy. But, knowing that Mike did to her what he had done to me...well, it makes me so angry I just want to hurt someone." Alexis nodded her head. "I understand Sonny. You've worked so hard to get to someplace good with him, and now it's all being torn down again." "Yeah, plus, he's still trying to keep it a secret from me, even though he knows that I have Janine." "How do you know he knows?" "Because Zander told me that Mike was trying to get help finding out where I was holding her. How he got that information, I don't know." "He asked Zander for help?" "No, he asked...her, and she asked...Zander." Alexis thought Sonny sounded equally disgusted speaking Zander's name as he did Carly's earlier. "And Zander's helping them, so you're mad at him?" "Who said I was mad?" "Sonny, I can tell. What did he do?" Sonny shook his head, stated, "you don't want to know, trust me," then got up from the couch. Alexis reached out and grabbed his hand. "I really do; tell me." Sonny sighed and sat back down. He looked at his hands and answered, "he and my...ex-wife decided to console each other." Alexis studied the side of his face, but couldn't quite figure out what he meant. "Look at me please," she said. Sonny turned his head, and looked her in the eyes. In them, she saw enormous pools of pain. "What are you telling me?" she quietly inquired. "They slept together," Sonny stated, even more quietly. Alexis sat up straighter; "Zander and Carly? Zander and Carly slept together? Are you sure?" Sonny nodded his head, "yeah." Alexis covered her gaping mouth with her hands and sat for a moment without speaking. Then she said, "oh Sonny. I'm so sorry, you must feel..." "Betrayed? Yet again? That about covers it," Sonny finished her sentence. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "We're friends, right?" Alexis nodded her head, "till the end, remember?" Sonny smiled, "right. So can you give me an honest answer?" "I'll do my best." "Why do people always lie to me? Why do they betray me so easily? Am I that difficult to be honest with?" Alexis reached out and lightly touched his cheek with her hand. "You're not difficult to me. I find it easier to tell you the truth than anyone I've ever known." "Why?" Sonny asked. "I don't know, I guess it's because you don't judge me. You accept me as I am."

"That's what she says I can't do," Sonny mused, referring to Carly. "Well frankly Sonny, Carly doesn't try to be someone you could accept. I hope I'm not out of line to say that." "You're not; I asked. Besides, you're my friend and I value your opinion." "OK," Alexis continued, "wanting to be accepted is normal. But wanting to be accepted even when you continually do things to hurt the person you seek acceptance from, well, that's just not normal." Sonny nodded his head, "thanks." "So, what are you going to do?" "Go ahead with the divorce; figure out what to do about supporting Michael, and try to move on." Alexis wanted to shout for joy, but managed to contain herself. There was no guarantee that he'd want to move on with her. "And Courtney?" Sonny smiled, "I'll meet her soon; she's coming to join Janine. Hopefully we can have some sort of a relationship." "And Mike?" "I'll never forgive him," Sonny sullenly replied; "never." Alexis took a deep breath and let it out. "Sonny, what about Zander?" Sonny looked into her eyes, and his got black and cold. "Well, Zander's going to be looking for a new job." The way he said it, Alexis knew that was far from all he had planned for Zander. "Sonny, please don't hurt him," Alexis pleaded. "Don't," Sonny whispered, finally standing up. "Sonny!" "It's not your concern Alexis!" Sonny firmly stated. "Yes it is, he's my client, and my friend." "Yeah, and I thought he was my friend and my employee. But now, now he's just another enemy...and will be dealt with accordingly."

After another quickie with Zander, Carly finally left his room thinking how it could be really fun to have a young guy as a lover who was good to go at a moment's notice. Of course, Sonny was always ready for love himself, and once he got started, it could last for hours. Carly shuddered at the memory of how incredible it was with Sonny. Then, the tears welled up in her eyes as she realized she'd never make love to him again. Back in the room, Zander was finishing picking up the debris and scolding himself for his actions. "You never could control yourself," he muttered. "Oh well," he thought, "it's only a matter of time before Sonny finds out, so there's no reason to obsess over it." Zander knew Sonny found out everything he needed to know in Port Charles, one way or another. He was very resourceful, not to mention determined. But how would he react, that was the question. Despite his mob boss status, Zander always saw Sonny as a generous and reasonable man. And, Carly was his almost ex-wife, right? A chill ran up Zander's spine; a sense of foreboding. He tried to shake it off, grabbed his leather jacket, and headed out to go to Kelly's for something to eat. He never made it there.

Janine opened the door to her suite to find Max and her daughter Courtney in the hallway. "Baby!" she exclaimed, opening her arms up. Courtney walked past Max and into her mother's arms. "You need anything Ms. Matthews?" Max asked. Janine smiled at him over her daughter's head. "No thanks Max," and he closed the door. He immediately took out his cell phone. "Boss, it's Max. Courtney's here with Janine." "OK, I'll make sure they stay here." Inside the room, Courtney pried herself from her mother's embrace. "So, who is that cute guy?" she asked with a smile. "Oh that's Max." "And who is Max? Why is he standing outside your room mom?" "It's a long story honey," Janine replied, leading her over to sit down. They sat, and Janine continued, "he works for someone who's looking out for me; for us." "Who's that?" "His name is Sonny Corinthos." Courtney shrugged, "am I supposed to know who that is?" "No; and I'm glad you don't. He's a very powerful man...a connected man." Courtney's eyes got wide, "is he in the mob? Like the Sopranos?" Janine nodded her head, "yes. He's a boss, do you know what that means?" "Sure, he's in charge. Cool. So why is he looking out for you and guarding you?" "Well, the original reason doesn't really matter now. But when I met him, we discovered we had something very important in common." "What's that?" "You baby." "Me? But I've never met him." "I know," Janine took a deep breath and let it out before going on. "Remember I told you about your father, Mike?" Courtney sneered, "yeah, that loser." "Right, well that loser lives here in Port Charles." "Is that why you came? To get money from him for my college?" Janine shook her head, "no. I didn't know he was here. But, as it turns out, you're not the only kid that Mike walked away from." Courtney stared at her, her mouth open slightly. "What are you telling me? I have a sister? A brother?" "You have a half-brother Courtney...Sonny Corinthos is your brother."

"Not again!" Zander screamed as something was put over his head and he was grabbed by multiple pairs of hands. The memories of being snatched by Sorel's men, and then by Jason, came flooding back to him. But he knew that Sorel was history and so was his organization, so there could only be one person behind this: Sonny. "How the hell did he find out so soon?" Zander wondered. "Oh shit! Someone must have walked by the room and called him!" Full-blown hysteria hit him and he struggled as hard as he could against his abductors, who were busy trying to tie his hands and feet, while carrying him to their car. They managed to get his hands restrained, and then opened up the trunk and threw him in. Zander knew instantly where he was, and felt the trunk slam down over his head. He started crying, and was having trouble breathing. Luckily for him, it was a short ride to the pier. When the trunk was opened, he gasped for air as it rushed in on him. This time, he didn't struggle as he was carried inside and roughly sat in a chair. Finally, his feet were tied, to the chair, and his already tied hands were fastened to it as well. Finally, the covering over his head was removed. His abductors left him there, without saying another word, and shut the door behind them, waiting in the entrance of the warehouse for the boss to show up. They hoped he didn't take too long; it was getting quite cold outside.

"What's he like?" Courtney asked, after digesting what her mother had told her. Janine smiled, "well, he's quite handsome. Very handsome actually." Courtney smiled back. "And he's polite. And he's rich and powerful. I didn't spend that long with him, so I don't know what he's really like, you know? But I can tell you, he was happy to hear about you, once the shock wore off that is." "Really? You think he's happy that he has a sister?" Janine nodded her head, "yes. And he said that neither one of us would ever have to want for anything again." "But he hasn't even met me," Courtney stated, "what if he hates me?" "Why would he hate you?" "I don't know; maybe because of Mike." They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Janine got up to answer it. She opened it to find Sonny standing there. "Well, news travels fast huh? I was going to call you, but then I figured Max would." Sonny nodded his head, "you figured right." "Well, come in Mr. Corinthos." Sonny put his hand up, "I think you should call me Sonny, don't you?" Janine smiled, "sure, Sonny." She stepped back to let him in the room. As he did, his eyes fell immediately on the pretty young blond standing there. He walked towards her and extended his hand. "Courtney? I'm Sonny Corinthos. I guess...I guess I'm your big brother." Courtney stared at the man before her; her mother wasn't lying about how handsome he was. She looked into his eyes and saw the pain and hope there, and immediately felt right at home with him. She reached out and put her hand into his. "It's nice to meet you, Sonny. Really nice."

"This is weird, huh?" Courtney commented after she, Sonny and Janine had been conversing for a while. "Yeah, it is," Sonny replied. "But, I'm glad you're here." Courtney and Janine both smiled, and Courtney replied "me too. You're really nice Sonny." Sonny laughed, "that's what your mother said. I guess there's two people who think so now." Courtney narrowed her eyes a bit, "what, most people don't?" Sonny got serious, "I live a complicated life, and there are a lot of people who don't understand it, and are afraid of it." Janine swallowed nervously as Sonny continued, "when you come home with me, you're going to meet a lot of people who will say a lot of not so nice things about me. I just hope you come to your own conclusions about them, and me." "Home with you?" Janine interjected; "I wasn't planning on us staying that long you know." "You can stay as long as you like Janine, I have a house near Port Charles you can live in. But Courtney is living with me." Janine thought over the best way to argue with a mobster. While she was thinking, Courtney responded, "why?" "I want to take care of you, and I want to protect you from Mike." "I'm not afraid of him," she said defiantly. "Well, you should be. He's going to try to wear you down and worm his way into your life. Is that what you want?" He looked at Janine, who was shaking her head. She didn't want Mike anywhere near her daughter. Then he looked at his sister, who answered, "I guess not. I don't really want to see him." "Then you won't," Sonny said confidently.

Skye Chandler Quartermaine was putting this final touches on her master plan. She had obtained her father's stock, her Aunt Tracey's, whom she'd never met, proxy, and she had Edward by the short hairs. If he didn't vote to have ELQ go public, she'd tell Lila about his affair with Janine. Of course, there hadn't been an affair, but that was irrelevant. There were only two more things to deal with before the board meeting. The first was to get Jasper Jax on board with buying up the majority of stock once the company went public. The second, was to find out where Sonny Corinthos was hiding Janine Matthews. Skye felt angry every time she thought of that man. She'd get back at him for not wanting her; for calling her a whore; for making her feel worthless. She'd get back at him if it was the last thing she did. Snapping out of her thoughts, Skye looked up to see Jax entering the Grille bar. She put on her best fake smile and stood to greet him. Neither of them noticed the man sitting at the next table, and as they discussed their plans for ELQ, they had no idea he was taking note of every word.

An hour later, Sonny answered his cell phone. The man on the other end told him all about Skye and Jax's plan to have ELQ go public and buy up the shares. Sonny had to laugh; he'd never heard of such a lame plan. Well, other than Carly's plans that is. So what if ELQ went public? He'd make a killing, for one thing. He supposed Skye and Jax were so self-absorbed they assumed he had a lot of influence on the ELQ board. The reality was that the Quartermaine's hated Sonny, and never voted with him. Granted, Edward had agreed to vote with him in exchange for help with Janine, but the others would always vote against whatever Sonny wanted anyway. There was a time when ELQ was Sonny's only legitimate source of income, but that wasn't the case anymore. He had the coffee business, several legal casinos, and a lot of property. Sonny hung up with his man and put in a call to Benny, who braced himself for Sonny's next tirade. He was pleasantly surprised. "Call my broker Benny. After the next ELQ board meeting, ELQ is going to launch an IPO." "ELQ's going public?" "That's right. I want to be the majority stockholder when all is said and done. Tell him to do whatever it takes." "OK boss. Uh, your friend is where you requested he be." Sonny's good mood soured quickly, "he's no friend Benny, remember that." "Yes sir. So what would you like done?" Sonny turned and looked at Courtney, who had just come downstairs after getting settled in her room. "Let him enjoy his surroundings for a while, Benny. I'll deal with him at a later date."

The next morning, Carly Corinthos was greeted with an inspector from the planning board when she walked into her alleged club. "Who the hell are you?" she snapped. The man smiled, knowing he had permission from Port Charles' most wanted to not kiss the woman's butt. "I'm Ralph Benning from the planning board, Mrs. Corinthos. We've received your application for a construction permit, and I have to tell you...there's no way in hell you're getting approved."

Two days passed, and Zander had been in a perpetual state of terror. He thought Sonny would have shown up by now, but he hadn't. The men guarding him wouldn't even admit they worked for Sonny, and Zander didn't recognize them. They came in three times a day and untied him so he could use the bathroom and eat. When he was done, they tied him back up. After almost three days of sitting and sleeping in the uncomfortable chair, Zander doubted he'd ever walk right again. Finally, on day three, Sonny strode into the warehouse. He walked over and stood in front of Zander with his arms crossed, dressed all in black and looking extremely intimidating. "Sonny, please let me explain," Zander began. Sonny shook his head, "you're unbelievable Zander. Three days tied to a chair and you still haven't learned any manners." Zander didn't say anything more. Sonny began pacing in front of him, "I have done nothing but show you kindness and consideration, even when you didn't deserve it. Even after you lied to me, stole from me, disobeyed me...I still was your friend. After you got out of the hospital, you told me you wanted to work for me. 'I'll give you 100%' you said." He stopped pacing and stood in front of Zander again. The young man was trying to prepare himself for whatever punishment Sonny was about to rain down on him. "And this is how you repay me; how you show me loyalty. You have sex with my wife...MY WIFE!!!" Zander cringed as Sonny screamed at him. Sonny took a breath and released it before continuing; "well, actually she's my ex-wife, but that doesn't really matter." He thought about it, and then said, "actually, it does matter. If she were still my wife, you'd have a bullet in your head. But since she's my ex..." Zander tried not to cry and plead for mercy, though he wanted to with every fiber of his being. "You know what I'd like to do?" Sonny added, staring at him and fingering his belt buckle. "I'd like to teach you a serious lesson." He paused, then moved his hand away from it. "But I'm not going to do that either. I swore I'd never hurt a kid, and that's what you are. Just a punk kid." Zander broke his silence and whispered, "thank you." Sonny stared at him. "My men will untie you, then take you to the airport. They'll buy you a one-way ticket anywhere you want to go. Go, and stay gone. Don't ever come back here Zander, or I will kill you. Do you understand?" Zander nodded his head; "yes. I want you to know Sonny, I've never respected anyone more than I do you. I know my actions haven't shown that, and I don't blame you for hating me. But I want to thank you for everything you've done for me. Can I ask you one thing?" "What?" "Will you say goodbye to Alexis for me, and tell her thanks?" Sonny nodded his head, and then turned and walked out of the warehouse. Zander hung his head down, and cried.

Sonny headed to the Quartermaine mansion straight from the warehouse. He was feeling extremely aggressive after confronting Zander, and hoped he wouldn't lose it with Skye, Jax and AJ. Before he exited the limo, he checked the microphone he had fastened to the inside of his suit coat. "Benny, do you read me?" Benny replied through the tiny device Sonny had in his ear. "Yeah boss." "OK, as soon as the vote concludes you get the wheels in motion." Sonny wanted to be in a position to buy up all the stock the minute the IPO was launched, which he assumed would be immediately after the meeting. He was going to beat Jax to the punch. Then, Sonny Corinthos would control ELQ, and dispatch with Skye, AJ and Jax. He entered the mansion and walked into the living room where everyone had gathered. Skye saw him and immediately spoke up, "good we're all here. Today is a very important day. Today is the day you all have to decide who you hate more; me, or Sonny Corinthos." Sonny couldn't help but smile; a deep, dimpled smile that sent shivers down Skye's spine. But they weren't shivers of attraction, they were shivers of dread. The man looked far too smug and she didn't like it; she didn't like it at all.

Back at Harborview Towers, Mike Corbin approached Penthouse 4. "Hey Max, is Sonny in?" Mike tried to sound casual. He was going to try to get some information out of Sonny about where Janine was, without raising suspicion about himself. "No he's not," Max replied. "Oh," Mike said, dejected. He turned to leave, when the penthouse door opened, "hey Max, can you give me a ride to the drugstore?" Courtney had bounded out, needing to go pick up some toiletries. Mike turned at the sound of her voice, and Courtney stopped dead in her tracks. "Daddy?"

"It is you!" Courtney exclaimed. Max stepped in between Courtney and her father. "Mr. Corbin, you're going to have to leave." Sonny had given him explicit instructions to not let Mike anywhere near his sister. "I'm not going anywhere!" Mike yelled. Max shook his head, and spoke to him in a low voice, "do you really want this to get ugly in front of her? Cause it will." Mike wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not, but figured it was probably wise not to push it. "Courtney, we need to talk. Find a way to come see me, OK?" He rummaged in his pockets for a piece of paper and a pencil, which he always carried in case a hot track tip came his way. He scribbled down his phone number and handed it to Courtney. Max didn't stop him, but planned to tell the boss about it later. Courtney took the paper, but kept staring at him. "I'll think about it," she said. Mike gave her a sad smile, "you turned out so pretty." He then turned and headed to the elevator. Courtney looked at Max, "I still need to go to the drugstore."

Back at the Qs, Skye finished her tirade on the evils of Sonny Corinthos, and Edward finished his on the evils of Skye, praying all the while that Sonny had done his job and Janine wasn't going to show up. "It's time to vote on my proposal," Skye said. Sonny snickered, "what proposal? You haven't said anything that wasn't just juvenile whining about how I was mean to you." He said it in a mocking voice, and Skye's face fell. She quickly re-grouped, "I was about to make the proposal Mr. Corinthos." She spit out his name with contempt, and Sonny smiled again. "Stop smiling!" she screamed at him. Jax quickly moved to her side and tried to calm her down. He whispered in her ear, "don't blow it Skye. Ignore him and move on." Skye nodded her head and took a deep breath. "Fine, here it is. I propose that we take ELQ public. I have an IPO waiting to drop if the motion is passed." "What?!" Edward exploded. "So that's what this is all about? You want to steal my life's work from me?" Sonny almost felt sorry for the old coot. Skye smiled at her grandfather, "sufficient payback don't you think for you selling me at birth?" Edward was in shock; he turned to Sonny. "Do something!" "Why are you looking at me?" Sonny replied; "they're your family." "The motion's on the table folks," Jax said. Sonny couldn't help but glare at him; just the sight of the pasty-white candyboy made him ill. "Well, I'm with you sis," AJ confidently stated. "Thank you AJ." "Well, you have my stock, so I don't get a vote," Alan said. He looked at Monica; "are you going to support your son and my daughter, or that hoodlum?" Monica glanced at Sonny who had rolled his eyes to the ceiling. She looked back at Skye, "I'm doing this for Alan and AJ, not you!" Skye thanked her. "Well, that's me, AJ, Jax, Alan, Monica...against you two." She looked at Edward and Sonny with defiance.

"Not so fast young lady, I have Lila's proxy," Edward began. Sonny interrupted him, "and I have Tracey's." "Not anymore you don't," Skye replied, pulling a document from her briefcase. "Let me see that!" Edward exclaimed, grabbing it from her. He read it and looked at Sonny, "how did this happen?" Sonny shrugged, "she changed her mind I guess, it's a free country." Skye was becoming more and more agitated over Sonny's calmness with the situation. "Sorry grandfather," she said to Edward, "you lose and I win. Well, Jax and I win. The motion is passed." Skye took out a cell phone and placed a call. "Launch the IPO." When she hung up, AJ and Alan congratulated her, and then left the room with Monica. Edward slumped down onto the sofa in total shock. "My life's work...gone!" Sonny looked at him and felt sorry again. He'd work something out with the old man so he could get control of his company back, as long as he did exactly what Sonny wanted. Then Sonny looked at Skye and Jax; trying to delay them enough for Benny to activate their plan. "Well congratulations you two; that's some coup you pulled off." "It's just business mate," Jax replied. Sonny's eyes grew black, "hardly. But since you took care of your business so well, remember this, I take care of mine too." He looked at Skye, "and people lose a lot more than a company when I get through with them." Skye shivered under his stare and his threat. "Are you threatening her?" Jax said, stepping closer. Sonny smiled, "I don't threaten, I promise." He turned to look at Edward who was sitting pale and quiet on the couch. "Edward, the fat lady hasn't even warmed up yet." Edward looked up at him with pleading eyes and saw the confidence in Sonny's face. Sonny gave him a slight nod, then left the room. "What did he mean?" Skye asked Jax, thoroughly unnerved. "Ignore him," Jax replied taking out his phone, "I have to make that call." He called his stateside broker. "ELQ's IPO just launched, start buying shares." "What? What are you talking about? No one else knew about this!" He threw the phone down and looked up at the ceiling. "What Jax?" "Someone beat me to it. They bought up all the available stock." Edward tried not to laugh as he realized what had happened. Somehow Corinthos got the jump on Jax. And his statement to Edward seemed to suggest they could make a deal at a later date. "Well you win some you lose some," he told Skye as he stood up and left the room. Skye looked at Jax, "do you think it was grandfather?" "I'm not sure," Jax replied, "but I'm going to find out."

Carly Corinthos was furious; her plans for reconstruction on the club had hit a brick wall. The planning board wouldn't budge. She was going to have to track down her partner and see if his billions of dollars would have any influence. She was too dim to realize that no one would be swayed by Jax's money; not when they were in the pocket of Sonny Corinthos.