Ninety-Six
“She's a cutie.” Marcus watched his newly discovered niece skip from the room in the company of the Cassadine housekeeper Mrs. Landsbury. Kristina's curls bounced wildly with each energetic step.
Alexis grinned proudly. She sat up straight and beamed. “You are just the latest in a very long line of people to notice that.”
The lawyer's lack of modesty regarding her daughter amused Marcus. He just shook his head and returned Alexis' smile. “You're going to have your hands full when she gets older. She's gonna break some hearts.”
“Oh, I think that between her Uncle Stefan and her Uncle Marcus, Kristina will be pretty well covered.”
The pair sat in comfortable silence. Neither wanted to address the subject of their common bond. Marcus wasn't surprised when, after a few moments, Alexis began to nervously finger the rim of her juice glass. “Would you like some more juice?” she jumped to her feet.
“No, this is fine.” Marcus snagged Alexis' arm as she passed his chair. “Lex, come and sit down. Look, I know that you want to hear about Sonny's transfer to Pentonville. But there is really nothing for me to tell you. It went off without a hitch.” Marcus shrugged, “No escape attempts on his part, no contract hits on anyone else's.”
There was a moment, Marcus could have added, when Sonny realized that his transfer to federal prison would go off without incident. The mobster's gaze swiveled to meet that of his half-brother. There was a depth of despair and desperation in Sonny's dark eyes that almost made Marcus feel sorry for him.
Almost.
“Alexis, listen to me.” Marcus held the lawyer's hands in his own. “You and your daughter have the chance for a safer future now that Sonny is in federal prison. Don't-”
Taggert's cell phone rang. A series of simple tones alerted Marcus that the caller was his friend and employer Mac Scorpio. “Mac,” he moved nearer to the window, “what's up? … How? … When?”
The light pressure of Alexis' fingers on his arm reminded Marcus of her presence in the room. “That was Mac,” he informed Alexis needlessly. “Sonny is dead.”
