Luke Spencer formed a partnership with Sonny Corinthos in a blues club, and they named it Luke's Club. At this same time, Sonny was re-introduced to his estranged father Mike Corbin. Mike had abandoned Sonny and his mother when Sonny was a young boy and Sonny had never forgiven him. Sonny's decision to take over Frank Smith's gang brought him into another partnership -- with Luke's enemy, Damian Smith. From his inheritance, Damian provided Sonny with money to run Frank's crime empire.

Luke readied the club for its grand opening and he proudly gave his wife Laura and son Lucky the grand tour of the place. As they were leaving, Luke's Club was firebombed! Nobody was injured, but Laura feared that the mob violence that always seemed to haunt them had returned. Luke didn't know whether or not he was the target of the bomb, but Sonny had ideas of his own. Sonny quickly found out that Frank Smith's lawyer, Phil Cusack, had tried to muscle in on Sonny's action. Soon after, Phil was found dead. Sonny's right-hand man, Harry, told Sonny that mobster Joe Scully had ordered Phil killed. Scully had been like a father to Sonny, and Sonny felt that he owed him. As loyal as Sonny was, however, he didn't agree that he owed Scully as much as Scully thought he did. Scully wanted control of Frank Smith's gang and a piece of Luke's Club. Sonny and Luke stalled Scully and Luke sent Laura and their new baby daughter Leslie Lu to Beechers Corners for their own protection. Mac Scorpio learned about Sonny's connection to Scully and told Police Commissioner Sean Donely. Meanwhile, Damian asked Scully to help him in his latest effort to exact revenge on Lucy Coe. Damian wanted Scully to steal incoming supplies and outgoing products from Lucy's successful business, Deception.

For weeks, Lucy's essences for Deception perfume and her store deliveries kept getting stolen. Frantic, Lucy turned to Luke for help. Luke asked Sonny to find out what was going on and Sonny learned that Scully was behind Deception's sabotage. Luke couldn't wait to get Scully and Lucy agreed to help him and Sonny nail the creep. Scully had grown weary with Luke and Sean's threats to his plans and he made arrangements to take care of both of them simultaneously. Scully invited Luke to gangland's infamous No Name Club to clear the air. Luke accepted the invitation, but also packed a gun for his own protection. Scully then arranged for Sean to follow Luke to the No Name. Luke met with Scully inside the club and then left for his car. Once outside, a shot rang out and in the ensuing frenzy, Luke accidentally shot Sean. Sean's injury was serious but not fatal. Sean would require intensive therapy to make a full recovery, however, and he and his wife, Tiffany Hill, moved to Boston in order for Sean to receive the best care possible.

Luke and Sonny then began their sting operation against Scully with Lucy as the bait. Lucy vamped Scully, dropping hints about her Deception shipments so that he could steal them. It was a setup through and through. With Mike's help, Luke planted drugs stolen from Scully himself on Lucy's truck and tipped off the police. The authorities then busted Scully with the truckload of drugs!

Out of jail on bail, Scully wanted answers about the setup from Lucy and he kidnapped her. Damian wanted to hurt Lucy, not kill her, and he informed Luke and Sonny of Lucy's whereabouts. Luke rescued Lucy and Sonny faced off with Scully. Scully shot at Sonny, but Mike jumped in front of the bullet and saved Sonny's life. Sonny then shot and killed Scully. Mike was taken to General Hospital and he made a complete recovery.

Scully's threat seemed to be over so Laura and Leslie Lu returned to Port Charles. The calm that Luke and Laura were enjoying, however, was soon to end. Thinking that Sonny's interests in Port Charles were vulnerable, and wanting revenge for Scully's murder, a rival organization made a violent attack and simultaneously machine gunned Luke's Club, Sonny's penthouse (with Brenda in the shower!) and the Spencer home. When the bullets stopped flying, Laura saw a hitman aiming at Luke and Laura shot the man dead inside her own home.

Laura had reached her breaking point. Although she loved Luke with all her heart, Laura couldn't raise her children amongst the violence that always seemed to follow Luke. Laura then made a painful decision and asked Luke to leave. Luke and Laura remained estranged for months as Luke couldn't guarantee that no more violence would befall them. Eventually, however, Luke and Laura found their way back to each other and the mob's threat to their happiness abated.

Brenda Barrett was head over heels in love with Sonny and she never suspected that he was keeping so many secrets from her. After her near death in the shower during the machine gun attack, however, Brenda could no longer ignore her suspicions about Sonny. Brenda told her friend Lois that Sonny might be a mobster. Lois told Ned, and Ned told Mac. Mac, Ned and Lois all persuaded Brenda to wear a wire to get the goods on Sonny. Brenda felt disloyal, but was desperate to find out about the man she loved. Brenda made it clear, however, that whatever was uncovered would not be taken to the authorities. Lily Rivera found out what Brenda was planning and she warned Sonny. Sonny found the wire on Brenda and he was devastated by her betrayal. Brenda tried to explain her actions but Sonny wouldn't hear it. Their relationship was completely over. In his pain, Sonny then turned to Lily for comfort.