“Why are you so nervous?”
Michael Corinthos immediately tried to still the nervous energy of his body. “I'm getting married.”
Sonny's best man and best friend Jason Morgan tilted his head to one side. “You've been married before. Plenty of times,” the mob hitman observed. “Why would you be nervous?”
“I wasn't marrying Dara any of those other times. And do me a favor, Jase.” Sonny began pacing the penthouse once again. “Lay off mentioning all the previous weddings I've had. At least in front of Dara.”
Jason shrugged. “If that's what you want.” His tone made it obvious that Jason did not understand the reasoning behind Sonny's request.
“No woman,” Sonny explained patiently, “wants to think that she might be just the latest in a long line of failed relationships.”
“Is she?”
Sonny did not consider the question lightly. “Dara's ‘ it ' for me, Jason. There's no way in hell I'm gonna let her go.”
Jason shook his head. “You know how Carly's going to react when she finds out you married Dara.”
“Carly isn't my problem these days,” Sonny replied. “But yeah, I know how she is. That's why Michael and Morgan aren't here for the ceremony. I couldn't trust Carly not to do something to ruin this day for Dara.”
“Boss?” Max the guard opened the door and grinned. “She's here.”
“Thanks, Max.”
“And Boss,” Max added, beaming with pride, “thanks for inviting me to the wedding.” He brushed a bit of imaginary lint from his black suit.
Jason turned to look at Sonny. The handsome Mob boss grimaced. Max was extremely loyal, but most of the time his enthusiasm and eagerness to please required quite a bit of patience. Having the burly bodyguard around was like having a big, overgrown puppy underfoot. “Dara wanted him here,” Sonny explained. “She said he deserved something… nice… for guarding me so well.” Both men shook their heads.
A burst of energy and conversation exploded into the penthouse. Sonny stared as Faith Ward Cassadine, Ellen Burgess and Sabrina DeLane swept into the room. The three women ordered his guards about with a frightening sense of entitlement.
“Michael,” Faith Ward Cassadine gestured with a single, elegantly manicured finger, “please go into the kitchen until I send for you.”
Sonny's right eyebrow rose at the imperious tone. Coolly, Faith mirrored the gesture. Sonny admitted privately that the expression seemed far more impressive on her. “Da-ra,” Faith explained in exaggerated syllables as though he were simple, “would prefer not to be seen by you before the ceremony.”
“Jase?” Sonny nodded at his right hand man.
“Yeah. Go ahead. I'll take care of things out here,” Jason reassured his friend.
“Then start by taking care of those three chairs,” Sonny heard Faith order her cousin. "Move them over there." Sonny smiled. Maybe being relegated to the kitchen wasn't such a bad fate after all.
Restlessly, Sonny paced back and forth. Five minutes passed. Then eight. He was nearly halfway to aligning the canisters in his already perfect spice cabinet when Max's voice startled him from his thoughts. “Okay, Boss. Mrs. WC sent me.”
“Mrs. WC?” Sonny asked.
Max nodded vigorously. “Yeah. Ward Cassadine. I can't really call her ‘Mrs. C', cause Dara's gonna be Mrs. C in a few minutes… So I thought that... ”
Sonny rubbed his forehead. “Max.” The guard continued to ramble. “ MAX !” Sonny took a deep breath. “What did Faith want?”
“Oh! She said to tell you everyone is waiting on you. Or were you waiting for an introduction or something?” Max grinned. "Those were her words, Boss. Not mine."
