"I think I have the situation under control Carly," Hannah told her with as much restraint as she could muster.

"Oh, I'm sure you do, Hannah. The FBI is good in situations like this, I bet," she sneered in response.

Hannah moved from her position between the two men, walking towards Carly.

"I think you should stop right there, Hannah." A muscle in Sonny's cheek twitched, signaling him of the near catastrophic situation standing before him.

Hannah stopped. She didn't want to do anything to upset Sonny and the thoughts running through her head right now would probably make him more than upset, though she couldn't see what he could possibly see in the lying tramp standing in front of her. Raising her hands, Hannah took a few steps back until she bumped into Sonny.

Turning around, she looked at him. "See. I didn't even pick a fight."

Carly rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Hannah? A cookie?"

"Caroline..." Darin began.

"Caroline? Was is that, another alias you go by Carly," Hannah asked as she turned to look at the one woman in the world who now had everything that belonged to her. But not for long.

"That's none of your god..."

"Carly, that's enough," Sonny barked. "I think you should just leave, Hannah."

"No, Sonny. I was here first, having a delightful conversation with my new friend, Darin. If you have a problem with that, you should leave."

Carly could only stand there and look between Hannah and Darin. They were friends? When in the hell had that happened, she wondered to herself. Her gaze landed on Darin, who could only take in the whole scene before him. As always, he looked boyishly handsome. She'd be a liar if she said that hadn't been one of his attracting points. But even more than the physical, Darin had always been there for her on a personal, emotional level.

Memories of times when she'd had fights with Virginia, or even with his sister Carly, and he had helped her to clear her mind of conflicting thoughts that fought for control. Darin had been the one person she could count on to be there for her until he had left. Now, he was standing in front of her, breathing the same air as her, and she couldn't even bring herself to say hello.

Shaking her head, Carly looked to Sonny. "I'm ready whenever you are," she told him before turning to exit through the door she had just entered only minutes before, Francis following not far behind.

Darin almost went after her, but thought better of it. Giving Sonny one last look of warning, he returned to his seat.

"I think you should stay away from Carly," Sonny spoke to no one in particular before he turned to leave. As far as he was concerned, his words applied to the both of them.

Hannah watched him walk out, not knowing what she could do to make him stay.  Turning, she looked over at Darin who was looking into his plate as if it held the secret of life.

"How do you know him," he asked her when she had taken her seat.

"Who, Sonny," Hannah asked, only to receive a look as if to say 'Who Else?" from  Darin. "We used to go out. Not that long ago, really."

Darin nodded, processing the information. "So, what did he do?"

"I'm not sure I follow," Hannah replied.

"You're not going out with him anymore, right? It must be for some reason."

"I thought we weren't going to get personal," Hannah asked him. "Why are you so interested in Sonny Corinthos?"

"You know what, forget I even asked," Darin told her, levering himself out of the seat.

"Hey, wait," Hannah spoke now, reaching out to grab him only to have Darin shrug out of her grasp. "This has something to do with Carly, doesn't it," Hannah asked.

"Her name's not Carly, its Caroline. And yes, it has everything to do with her." Tossing a few bills on the countertop, Darin turned to look at Hannah. "And I really wish you wouldn't speak about her as if she's some disease, Hannah."

"You have no idea what Carl...Caroline has done to me or anyone else in Port Charles for that matter. I don't know what you think you know about her, but obviously you've been out of contact with each other for a long time. She's not the model of perfection all you men seem to view her as. Carly's a user, plain and simple. I honestly don't know what it takes for that fact to become solid in your minds."

"You're entitled to your opinions," Darin said softly. "But if that's the way you see her, then its probably best if we end our acquaintence."

Hannah only blinked, watching his back as he left the restaurant. How could her morning have gone any more wrong? One minute she'd been having a great conversation with someone she'd thought she was her friend and now, she was sitting alone. And it was all thanks to Carly. As Hannah gathered her things to exit, she only hoped one day Carly would get what she trully deserved.

---

Sonny sat on one side, she on the other. They'd been in the car for fifteen minutes now, and not one word had been said. Sighing to herself, Carly turned her gaze out the tinted window.

The scene from Kelly's ran through her mind over and over, but ended the each time with Darin's face. Maybe it was time that she spoke with him. It irked her that seeing him with Hannah had pushed her to come to that decision.

If there was one person she could always count on, it was Darin. Even with his abandonment years ago, she couldn't erase all he had meant to her growing up. Yet, the second she had seen him, she'd made a big production out of it and ended up in the hospital. Biting down on her lip, she resolved herself to finding him and having that talk.

Turning her gaze, she found herself being watched by the man sharing the back of the limo with her. She averted her gaze without a word, but could feel his eyes staring holes through her.

"What," she asked quietly. She supposed this was about her near-confrontation with Hannah. Not really thinking he still had feelings for the FBI tramp, Carly had been ready to knock her on her butt. Obviously, she had been mistaken in thinking that. Looking up, she saw his eyes still on her. "Well, what," she asked louder, her hand in the air waiting for an answer. Of course, Mr. Mafioso simply looked at her, sniffed, then looked away.

"Okay, fine. Johnny," Carly called out, turning to rap on the the connecting window to the front. The glass slid down, Francis turning in the passenger seat to look at Sonny, then to Carly.

"Stop the car, please," Carly asked as politely as she could.

"Don't listen to her."

"Excuse me," she asked, whipping her head back around to look at Sonny. "I want out."

"I know. Seems to be your way of operation." Sonny nodded his head to Francis. The glass partition began its ascent as Carly stared, mouth open. "That's fine too. I'll just jump out of a moving vehicle. Its been days since the ER doctors at GH have seen me. I should be making another visit."

Carly watched him watch her. His silence was the only prodding she needed. Scooting over, she unlocked the door and began to open it. Stuck. "What did you do," she asked as she slid over leather seating to the other door, finding that it too would not open.

He quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything."

"You can't keep me here as a prisoner. I have rights, damn it," she yelled, all while trying unsuccessfully to open the door.

Sonny smiled. "Stop it Carly. You might hurt the baby."

That remark instantly stilled her actions. Turning, she looked him in the eye. "Well, we wouldn't want that, now, would we?" Sitting back in the seat, she looked him dead in the eye. "I guess you have every right to be cautious. What, with your history and all. Tell me, again, how your first child died unneccesarily?"

The flash of white-hot anger came so quick. His first inclination was to raise his hand, to actually strike her. His knuckles flushed pale as he gripped them tight, sure that his fingernails would draw blood as the bit into the skin of his palm. Releasing one palm, he picked up the phone connecting to the front of the vehicle. "Stop the car."

Carly shifted in her seat. Moments later, the door closest to her opened. She struggled to get out, batting away Francis' offered hand.

Sonny was right behind her. "Drive up about a mile or two, then come back."

Francis looked to Carly, then back to Sonny. He opened his mouth to refute his employer's words, but thought better of it. Nodding, he closed the door before getting back into the front. Carly watched as the limo drove away, willing the tears that stung her eyes to not fall. She looked at Sonny, who stood staring back at her. His jaw ticked, showing his distress.

"I'm..." Sorry. She was sorry, but she couldn't say it. She didn't know why. She had been saying it constantly for the past month or so, but now the word escaped her.

"I never want to hear you mention Lily or her child again. Never. I don't care how you insult me, but don't ever let me hear you talk about her or any other woman I've been with."

Carly shuffled her feet on the sidewalk, looking everywhere but at him. "Whatever."

"No! Not, 'whatever'. Do you hear me Carly," he asked in raised voice, stepping so close that she couldn't help but look at him. "I swear to you, if you ever..."

"What the hell are you going to do? Kill me. I dare you to try."

"You don't want that, little girl."

"Little girl," she asked him, incredulous. Stepping closer, she lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "I wasn't so little when I had my legs wrapped around your waist, was I?"

Sonny stepped back. With her words had come the image of that night and with that image, his heartbeat had increased.

Having startled herself as well, she stepped back further and cursed herself for acting so brave when inside she wasn't at all sure of anything. "This isn't about you," she told him quietly, staring down at her shoes.

Sonny tilted his head, forgetting momentarily the reason they were standing out on the sidewalk. "Darin Roberts."

Carly shifted her feet, not lifting her eyes. She shrugged noncomittally.

Sonny thought it over. "Darin Roberts and Hannah."

"There is no Darin and Hannah," the words flew out of her mouth, her eyes blazing. "Darin is too smart to pick up some lying tramp like her."

Raising an eyebrow, Sonny asked, "And I'm not?"

"Obviously," Carly snickered her response. "But I guess you fall for the bruenettes pretty easily. Or maybe it was her charm that caught your eye. It sure as hell wasn't the gun and badge she was going to screw you over with."

As much as he would have liked to refute her words, he knew he couldn't. She was right. Hannah would have eventually put him away if it hadn't been for... Shaking his head, he looked over her shoulder to spot the limo returning.

"They're coming," he told her, nodding over her shoulder.

Carly started to turn around but stopped when Sonny's hand caught her arm. Looking down at their physical connection, she wished she could be blind to the feelings they stirred within her. She could almost feel her blush as the memories from that night started bombarding her mind. Pulling out of his grasp, she set angry eyes on him.  "I won't ever mention your precious wife and child again." Turning, she walked to the edge of the sidewalk to wait for the limo to circle and come back for them.

Sonny only stared into the back of her head, burrowing his gloved hands deep into the pockets of his coat. It was amazing how many emotions she could put him through in such a short span of time. What gave him worry was the one emotion that always seemed to rank supreme when dealing with Carly. If he couldn't control that emotion, it would cause him a lot more trouble than it had already brought to his life.