"You have to decide. This association with Jax or our marriage." His voice was quiet; his eyes as intense as when they made love, as when he had spoken his vows in Martinique ... as when he called her a whore, as when he threw her out of his life time and time again.

Carly closed her eyes tightly, fighting the tears that threatened to spill. She loved him so much -- God, it hurt. This love, it was painful, it was deadly, killing her inside. He made her feel alive and passionate, spinning her to dizzying heights of joy and then just as suddenly sent her spiraling to the ground in anguish, disgusted with herself for loving him, disappointed in the very person she was.

But the club, her club ... it was her dream. Her one real shot to make something of herself without Sonny or Jason or the Quartermaines or even Bobbie interfering, making demands, bringing her up short just when she thought she was almost at the finish line. And all that Jax asked of her was that she succeed (and not let Sonny use it as an illegal front ... but Sonny would never do that. Would he? Would he? She asked of herself silently as she continued to avoid his ultimatum.). Success was all that Jax required and all that she wanted as well.

Since Christmas, things between her and Sonny had been going so well. So beautifully. The perfect family that she had always dreamed of -- that she had experienced only in small measures of time, first with Jason and then Sonny -- seemed to finally, finally, be within her grasp. And now this.

Damn Alexis Davis! That conceited, neurotic little bitch just wanted Sonny for herself. If she hadn't opened her mouth about what happened --

"Carly!" Sonny's bark broke into the silent damning of her husband's 'attorney.' She jumped and opened her eyes. "Jax or me."

And she looked away, a pain that had nothing to do with this sudden choice he was forcing upon her filling her. His anger wasn't about her; it wasn't about her at all. This macho show of possessiveness was about Sonny and Jax and their never-ending feud over Brenda. Carly took a deep breath and counted to ten slowly in her mind, feeling that intense gaze boring into her the whole time.

"Sonny, don't do --" she began softly, but he cut her off.

"Jax or me," and his voice was deadly quiet.

"Sonny, this isn't about Jax or, even you!" He turned away, and that hysteria began to build within her. He wasn't listening; he was going to shut her out. "Sonny! Sonny, listen to me. Please!" And the tears were slipping down her face now. "Sonny, this is about me, my dream ... my dream and --" She paused, avoiding the name of the Australian, "he is giving me that opportunity, that is all."

Sonny faced her again. "Fine, I'll buy Jax out, simple as --"

"NO!" And it was her turn to angrily interrupt him. "You'll be my partner, help me out like you did with 'Deceptions?' Is that what you'll do, Sonny?" Her hands fell to her hips as she unconsciously chose a defensive pose, her voice bitter. "Put terms and conditions on how I behave, how I please you. I don't think so. Jax," and this time she took a spiteful glee in pronouncing his name, "believes in me. He believes that I can do this and without insulting stipulations."

Her husband let out a bark of laughter. "You think that Jasper Jax believes in you. Believes that you can succeed?" And there was such contempt in his voice that she began to wilt just the slightest inside. "Jax is using you to get me. He doesn't think you can do it; he doesn't care if he loses his money as long as he gets to me."

"You're wrong." And she so wanted to believe that he was. She so wanted to believe that someone, anyone actually and truly believed in her. "You're wrong." She repeated softly.

Sonny threw his hand in the air, and turned away, effectively shutting her out. His voice was almost bored with just that steely hint of resolve. "Enough of this. It's your decision. I'm not playing Jax's game. You break off your association with him or we end this once and for all."

Unlike the usual banging she gave Jax's door -- if only because it always caused a reaction that couldn't help but amuse her, she knocked softly, hesitantly. And as if he knew that she needed him, he opened the door almost seconds after the knock came despite the lateness of the hour. He opened the door, wearing snug sweat pants and nothing more and for a moment, she forgot why she was there. She forgot about Sonny and his ultimatum; forgot about the question that she had to ask of Jax one more time. All thought fled as she took in his bare feet, naked, muscular chest, tousled hair and all-together arousing form.

"Carly?" His voice was slightly husky from sleep and did no good to draw her out of her unexpected state. "Carly, it's after midnight, what are you doing here?" And then his voice changed and concern threaded through his words. "Are you okay? Did Sonny do something?" And that was it, the word that broke the spell. Sonny.

Pushing past him, she ignored the flash of heat that consumed her for an instant as she brushed against his hard body. She turned to face him. "Yes," looking down, she bit her lip and let out a long, shaky breath. "Yes. Sonny did something. A big something and I --" she broke off, furious at the sudden tears that sprang to her eyes. She turned her back and quickly wiped at the moisture. Taking a few deep breaths, she shook her head slightly and began speaking again, not willing to face him yet. "Alexis told him about seeing us in the park with Michael ..."

"Mr. Man, whatcha doing? Huh, whatcha doing?" Carly cried out as she playfully stalked Michael who was very busy building a sculpture of ... something in the sandbox. "I'm gonna get you. Oh yeah," and with that she reached out and grabbed him, her fingers unerringly finding the most ticklish spot on her little boy. "I got you! Yes, yes, I got you!" Carly fell back as Michael squirmed and tried to wiggle out of her arms, giggling uproariously the whole time.

Once she landed, Michael turned and began administering his own tickle torture, "no, I got you. I got you." Carly laughed, pushing at his hand, completely oblivious to anything else about them until a laughing voice, accented with the origins of his birth country, spoke.

"Could I be of assistance?" Pushing Michael's head out of the way, she gazed up at the twinkling eyes of her partner.

"Jax! As you can see, I'm being, oomph!" she cried out as her son bounced on top of her to get her attention, which he received. "Yes?" She raised an eyebrow at the small redhead.

"I'm gonna get you." He proclaimed as he proceeded to once again ply his little fingers to the task of eliciting laughter from her. Rolling him off of her, Carly held his hands together and glanced over her shoulder.

"He has me ambushed ... don't know how I'm gonna keep him down for long." And with that, Michael broke free from her loose grip and stood up, wrapping his arms tightly about her neck.

"Got you! I got momma." He giggled and looked up at the tall Australian. "Hi, Mr. Jax. I got momma."

Laughter clear in his own voice, Jax responded promptly, "I can see that." And then hunkering down on his haunches before the sandbox, he added, "maybe I should help your momma."

"Oh, oh," Carly pulled away from Michael, meeting his gaze. "You hear that? He's gonna get you now."

The boy let out a squeal of laughter as he released his stranglehold on his mother and backed away. He stepped out of the sandbox and began to run around the play area, his eyes darting back to Jax playfully as he rose to his feet. He stood still, watching the small boy move about and then Michael stopped, staring at Jax. He ran a few feet to the left, stopped, his eyes still on him. And then he ran a bit in the opposite direction, his gaze never leaving the man who still watched him with a smile. Michael stopped. Suddenly, Jax took off and with an uproarious round of giggles, the redhead began running.

Carly stood up and began wiping at the sand on her clothes and in her hair, a smile on her face as she watched Jax obviously avoid catching her son, who was having an absolute ball. Sighing, she stretched lightly and stepped out just as Jax grabbed the boy and held him high up in the air. As she moved closer, Jax pulled Michael close to him and turned to face her, the child at ease within his arms and she suddenly thought about what a wonderful father he would make. "You're really good with kids."

Smiling, Jax tousled the little boy's hair, "really? I wouldn't know, don't have much experience with 'em. Actually, this one," and he juggled Michael slightly causing the child to laugh again, "is the most I've ever spent time with."

Taking a step even closer, she brushed back Michael's hair, her body brushing lightly against Jax's arm. "Well, you do good with my boy and that works for me." She leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her son's cheek and then turned her gaze up to Jax. He was smiling down at her, his eyes twinkling and she savored the moment, recognizing it as one of those ones of perfection that came upon in life so infrequently, and was welcomed all the more for that very reason.

"Jax?" Carly and Jax, as well as Michael, turned towards the voice. Jax's smile remained, but Carly's faded into a slightly sour grimace. "You all look cozy," Alexis commented, an odd note in her voice as her gaze clearly questioned her friend about what he was doing with her client's family. Rolling her eyes, Carly turned back to Jax and reached for Michael, pulling him into her arms.

"We have to go. Say goodbye to Mr. Jax," she instructed her son. And then as a grudging afterthought, with a nod towards Alexis, "and Miss Davis."

His little hand waved awkwardly, "bye, Miss Davis." And then he turned to Jax, the smile brightening his whole face. "Bye bye, Mr. Jax."

Ruffling the small boy's hair, Jax returned the smile, "Bye, Michael," and his voice softened just a bit, "goodbye, Carly. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Jax," without looking at the attorney, she added without inflection, "Alexis." Carly stepped back and set Michael down, capturing his hand. "You're getting so big. Too heavy for momma to carry." She didn't look back, but she could feel two sets of eyes on her, one warm with affection, the other hard with resentment.

"What about it?" Jax asked, his voice close as he moved up behind her. "What happened at the park?"

Sighing, she turned to face him. "The whole little scene Alexis walked up on, us playing, you holding Michael. Who knows exactly what she told him, but it amounted to it looked like you were moving in on Sonny's family and --"

"What?" Jax interrupted. "It was a game of tag in the park."

"I know, but Alexis painted it as something more and Sonny's furious. He doesn't want me to have anything more to do with you. Including the club." And her voice broke slightly.

Jax went still and was quiet for a moment before speaking, his voice controlled. "What do you mean?"

"He wants me to end the partnership with you, walk away. He said that he would buy you out ..."

"Buy me out? What if I don't want to sell. What is he gonna do? Strong-arm me? Send some of his goons?" His voice was rising and she caught his eye, her gaze beseeching and he stopped speaking, carefully getting his anger under control.

"I have to ask you something. I know ... I know that I've asked before, but I need to know for sure. I need you to look me in the eye and I need you to make me believe you with everything inside of me. I need this, Jax. If I am not one hundred percent, absolutely sure ... Jax, I have to know." And the tears were running silently down her face, but she took no notice of them. Jax nodded, his action gesturing for her to go on. "Are you doing this ... the club, helping me ... does it have anything and I mean anything to do with Sonny? Is this about getting him back by using me? Do you believe in me? Really and truly believe that I can do this? Or is it because of Brenda? I want -- I need the truth."

He reached out and wiped at a tear, a sad smile on his face. "The truth? Okay." He stepped back and fell heavily onto the couch. "In the beginning, part of it was to annoy the hell out of Sonny. But I never once thought that you couldn't do it. No matter how much I enjoy getting under his skin, I wouldn't risk money on a venture I had no faith in. I have faith in you." He stood up again, his hands moving out to rest lightly, but firmly on her shoulders. "I believe in you, Carly. And now, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Sonny. Every second I spend with you is all about you. Only you." He bent at his knees slightly and brought himself to her eye level. "It is not about Sonny. It is not about Brenda. It is about you. You. Carly."

Looking deep into his eyes, she searched them for a long moment, searching for any sign that he was being less than one hundred percent honest with her. A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth and he straightened up, his gaze never leaving her own.

And she believed him.

As if realizing this, he dropped his hands and stepped away, a breath of relief leaving him and she wondered at how important this was to him. Wondered and marveled at what it meant. Shaking her head, she took her own step back, her thoughts returning to the matter at hand. "Okay. Okay, thank you. I'll tell Sonny -- " and she couldn't control it -- God help her, she still loved the man -- the tears choked her voice and she had to swallow heavily to continue. Yet, when she did, her shoulders were ramrod straight, her gaze clear and her voice steely. "I'll tell Sonny that our partnership will remain as is."