Chapter 3

Lulu had herself a good cry and then decided she had to drag herself out of Dante's bed and face the day. She needed to head over to the Haunted Star to figure out what she was going to do with the place. If she was going to sell it then she had to clean it up and make it presentable to show potential buyers. At least that would hopefully distract her from worrying about Dante going back to work so soon. She showered and got dressed in jeans and a tank top since she would be spending most of the day cleaning.

When she arrived at the Haunted Star she found it even messier than she remembered from her last visit. "What the hell has Ethan been doing here?" she wondered. She decided to just dive right in and starting turning the tables and chairs right side up and picking up the poker chips from all over the floor. "I'm going to have to have a talk with him about cleaning up after his private card games". She heard a noise coming from the office in the back. "Ethan?" she called out. When she got no answer she decided to go investigate hoping it was Ethan or Tracy and not some intruder trying to steal the non-existent casino profits. As she peeked into the office she was shocked at who she found there. "Dad?"

Down at the PCPD, Dante had been going over the evidence from his shooting for hours with Ronnie. They didn't have much but they did manage to come up with a surveillance tape of the entrance that showed one unidentified person going in before Dante and one going in after. Either one of those people could be the shooter but it was too dark to tell who they were. He had been watching the footage over and over again to try and get some clue to find out who either person was. His mind wandered to Lulu, hoping she wasn't going to be too mad when he got home. He was sure she would come to understand why he had to solve the case so badly. He needed to bring to justice not only the person who shot him but the person who ruined what was going to be a beautiful night for the two of them and put their future in jeopardy. "Earth to Dante" Ronnie called out "where did you go pal?"

"I was just thinking about Lulu and that night she was going to answer my proposal" Dante answered. "I'm pretty sure she is having second thoughts about marrying me now".

"Why would you think that man? She clearly loves you. Nobody else would go after Corinthos like that on your behalf" Ronnie chuckled.

"Ever since the shooting, she has been distant" Dante admitted. "She is there but she isn't. She just hasn't been herself and I feel like I can't get through to her."

"She'll come around buddy. Maybe she just needs a little time to process everything." Ronnie advised.

Dante sighed "Maybe you are right man. I just keep hoping she will confide in me or snap out of it and be herself again. Sometimes it seems like she is coming out of it and then something will happen and she shuts off again."

"Hang in there pal, just give her some time" Ronnie said.

Back at the Haunted Star, Lulu was stunned and speechless to have come face to face with her father. They were standing there in silence, staring at each other.

"Hello cupcake" Luke finally spoke. "Did you miss your dear old dad?"

"Is that how you think this is going to go?" Lulu demanded. "You think you can just come in here and call me cupcake like nothing happened? Like you didn't run out on us and decide you were resigning as a father? Like you didn't break Lucky's heart, not once but TWICE? First when you ran over his child and then when you told him you never wanted this family! Like you didn't pretend to be going to rehab only to stay ten minutes and leave? Sorry dad, it isn't going to work like that this time. This wasn't some run of the mill con you went off to run. You told us you didn't want to be a family anymore so we moved on. You weren't here for any of us while we were going through hell these last few months. Lucky burned down the house and his wife died. I tried to follow you and make you come back and ended up almost getting raped at that seedy Bordello where you grew up. If Dante hadn't come after me, who knows what would have happened? Tracy has just been trying to move on with her life and Ethan has been left adrift with no direction. We don't need you waltzing back into our lives to cause even more chaos. I also have news for you – I own this place now and I don't want you here. Get out before I call the police to have you arrested for trespassing"

Luke was stunned by Lulu's tirade against him. Out of all of the members of his family, he expected her to be the easiest to win over again. Without a word, he grabbed his bag and walked out.

Lulu immediately sank down in a chair, shaking from anger. She was shocked at herself for speaking to her father like that and immediately felt guilty for behaving that way towards him. No matter what he did, he was still her father and she loved him. It was just so shocking to see him after all of these months. She had come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be coming back after all of those things he said to Lucky.

She decided to leave the cleaning for another day. After the day she had, she needed to let loose and she knew just where she was going to go to do that.