Thank you to all who have commented and are liking the story. I appreciate the encouragement and feedback. Not sure I'll be able to update for the next couple of days, but hope you enjoy this one :)

Chapter 4

Dante was immune to a lot of things. A woman's tears were not one of those things. And the fact that this woman's tears in particular seemed to tear at something inside of him on a level he hadn't felt before was not something he had a desire to look at too closely. When a couple of tears dropped to Lulu's cheek, he resisted the urge to wipe them away – barely. Shit, he was in trouble.

When he glanced over at Lucky, he saw the fear in his eyes. He imagined if he had a little sister he would be feeling the same thing. As it was, he wanted to rip Lulu's stalker to shreds. Anyone who could put the kind of terror and helplessness he saw in Lulu's eyes, in anyone's eyes, didn't deserve to breathe. It seemed that when he put one psychopath away, another two jumped up in their place. He knew he wouldn't have a job if everything was sunshine and freaking roses but Christ, it wore him the hell out and had him wondering more often than not when the good guys would stay on top.

He didn't even realize he still had his hand on Lulu's knee until he looked back at her, saw her glance down towards her lap. Okay, so it looked like his hand had crept a little upwards to her thigh. He didn't think it was intentional – consciously. When she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, he felt his cock tighten painfully in his jeans. Jesus. He was essentially feeling Lulu up in front of her brother, he realized. And sporting a somewhat impressive hard-on that was pretty difficult to hide. He shot a quick glance to where Lucky sat behind his desk, mentally judged his field of vision, determined he couldn't see that close in front of his desk and breathed an internal sigh of relief. And felt like a damn creep. Lulu's eyes shot back up to his. Clearing his throat, he drew his hand away and shifted in his chair. When he watched Lulu start to stand, he shook his head.

"Whoa. Where do you think you're going?"

She glared at him. "I'm tired. I want to head back to my apartment and get some rest."

"You're not going to your apartment," Lucky stated.

"And I'm not finished yet," Dante added.

Lulu sighed and sat back down in her seat looking defeated. Don't get sucked in, Dante told himself.

"We're going to want to see all the letters you have."

"The police have all the originals, but I have copies. I'll give them to Lucky later."

"I'm also going to want the names and numbers of all the officers who have investigated so far."

Before Lulu could respond, he continued. "And I can understand why you think the perp is a male, I'm inclined to agree, but you can't rule anyone out."

Lulu just stared at him briefly before turning back to Lucky and addressing his earlier statement. "Why can't I go to my apartment?"

"Your name is attached to that apartment. Until we know who and what we're dealing with, I don't think it's safe."

"But what about Maxie? If it's not safe for me, I don't want her there either."

"Maxie's out of the country on a business trip. She'll be gone for the next three weeks at least."

Dante watched as Lulu narrowed her eyes at her brother. "How do you know?"

"Maxie and I aren't exactly strangers, Lulu."

"When I left you weren't exactly buddies, either."

Amused, Dante flicked his gaze between Lulu and Lucky. Judging by the look on Lulu's face, Dante suspected she would be less than pleased to find out that they were indeed buddies…bed buddies anyway. "Maxie's your roommate?"

Lulu turned her head and glared. "You know Maxie?"

"I've seen her around here," he hedged and pretended he didn't see the death glares Lucky threw his way. Dante saw the moment understanding dawned. Lulu's eyes widened a little bit as she looked accusingly at Lucky.

"No."

"Lulu-" Lucky started.

"No, no, no. Are you insane?"

Dante leaned back in his chair and grinned.

Lucky seemed to squirm a little. "It's nothing serious. And I'm not discussing this with you. Besides, she's your best friend."

"Exactly! And I love her. But she has more issues than a psychiatrist deals with in a month."

Dante laughed. And then held up his hands in surrender when Lulu looked ready to unload on him. "Alright, as much as I hate to break up this entertainment, we need to get back on track. Who knows you're here?"

He could see she wasn't happy with the change in subject. There was a long pause before she continued. "Michael, -"

"Who's Michael?" Dante asked quickly.

"My agent."

Dante exchanged a look with Lucky. "We're going to want to talk to him."

Lulu stared at him, then at Lucky. "He is not the one doing this."

"Like I said, we'll want to talk to him."

"For God's sake, he's twice my age and very happily married. I've been to dinner with his family on more than one occasion. He wouldn't do this."

"Who else?" Lucky asked.

With a sigh, Lulu brushed some stray hair away from her face. Dante felt his groin tighten again and nearly groaned out loud. There was something seriously wrong with him if that small action turned him on.

"Rebecca. She's my editor. I'm sure several people at the publishing company know. A couple of other authors who were touring with me. I guess anyone who reads the back jackets of my books may suspect I'm here. Port Charles is listed as my hometown." She suddenly looked uneasy. "Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea."

"I'll feel better with you here than anywhere else. We'll find this bastard," Lucky assured her. He stood up and walked around his desk, pulling his sister up and wrapping her in a hug.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she pulled away. And then looked at Dante. "Both of you."

To cover the discomfort he felt from her gratitude, he just shot her a grin. "You can make it up to me later."

"Oh, wow, I can't wait," she smiled with exaggerated enthusiasm and then just shook her head.

Oh yeah, he liked Lulu Spencer a whole hell of a lot. Way more than he wanted to.

"You'll stay with me," Lucky told her. "I just bought a house last month not too far from here. It's small, but you'll be comfortable. I've been keeping your car there too. Let's go get you settled."

Dante stood up. "I know you're tired of all the questions but there are still things we need to go over."

Before Lulu could respond, Commissioner Scorpio stuck his head out his office door. "Detectives. I need that report from last night in the next hour. I've got the mayor breathing down my neck." He noticed Lulu and threw her a quick smile. "Nice to see you home, Lulu." And then he was gone, his door closing behind him.

Fatigue beat at Dante. He looked down at his watch, realized he'd been up for well over 24 hours now. He wanted nothing more than to crash on the closest flat surface and get some sleep. But he turned to Lucky. "You go ahead and take her home. I'll finish up the report. I'll come by with some takeout later and we can come up with a game plan."

Lucky hesitated. "Are you sure? I can come back –"

Shaking his head, Dante waved him off with his hand. "Get out of here."

Nodding, Lucky grabbed his keys from his desk. "Let's go," he said to Lulu.

Dante watched as Lucky grabbed her bags and they headed towards the exit. He saw Lulu stop, and then turn back around. "See you later, Detective." Moments later they were both out the door.

Smiling, Dante headed to his desk and got to work.