Nine

Once Dante saw that look of determination on Lulu's face, he knew it was over. There was no way he'd convince her to go back, but he had to do something. It was too dangerous to take her along, for both of them. Deciding to placate her for now and call her brother Lucky at the next opportunity, Dante instructed her to drive to the park by Kelly's to leave her car.

Lulu was skeptical, afraid he was going to ditch her as soon as she got back in the car, but he insisted he would follow her the whole way. She could keep an eye on her rearview mirror and at the first sign of funny business she would turn around. Lulu pulled out and made a u-turn, heading back into town. Dante stayed close behind.

As soon as they were heading back towards Port Charles, Dante pulled one of the cell phones Ronnie had packed for him out of the duffel bag. He dialed the PCPD and keyed in Lucky's extension. His line rang and finally went to voicemail. Dante could only assume he was out on a job. He looked at his own phone and scrolled through the contacts until he saw Lucky's cell number. It wasn't safe to use his own phone to place any calls in case it was being tracked so he dialed the number onto the new phone.

"Detective Spencer," a voice stated after the second ring.

"Lucky, it's Falconeri. We have a situation." Dante explained to Lucky what had happened and how his sister had followed him.

Lucky had been filled in on Dante's undercover mission about a week before when he stumbled upon his sister and her new boyfriend breaking into the PCPD's records. He wasn't thrilled about Lulu being involved, but had to admit he was relieved she wasn't dating another mobster. He instantly understood why it was too dangerous for her to be with him and promised to meet them at the park.

Lulu pulled her car into the lot across the street from the playground, Dante close behind. He parked next to her and scanned the area to make sure they weren't being watched. He had chosen this spot because he knew it was blind to security cameras, something which Spinelli would have no trouble hacking into once Jason and Sonny found out who Dominic Perelli really was. That could be any minute now, Dante realized.

He opened his door and stepped out cautiously. Lulu was grabbing whatever she could from her backseat and shoving it into her large purse. "What about my car? Won't someone notice it just sitting here? Maybe we should take it to the airport to make it look like I went on a trip somewhere."

"That wouldn't work. There are security cameras all over the airport. Spinelli would see us both and know we didn't get on a plane." Lulu nodded her head at his line of reasoning. She shrugged and started for the passenger door to the dark sedan.

"Lulu!" She spun around and squinted in the near darkness to see her brother jogging towards her.

"Lucky, what are you doing here?" she demanded, looking first at her brother and then back at Dante, understanding dawning on her face. "I can't believe you called him! Why?!"

"Lulu, I had to. It isn't safe for you to go with me. Your brother understands the situation. He's here to take you home." He looked sad telling her this, but remained firm in his resolve.

Her face became contorted as anger washed over her, her hands shaking so badly she dropped her purse to the ground. "I'm not going home Lucky, so just back off." She didn't even look at her brother. Her gaze was fixed on Dante. "It's too dangerous. You shouldn't be alone. I can help; you know I can help." She was pleading with him now, her features softening.

"I can't take that risk. Not for either of us." He stepped around the front of the car and took her hands in his and her eyes fell to the ground. "I won't be gone forever. Just long enough for the dust to clear. Once it does, I'll be back." She raised her eyes to stare into his.

"Promise?"

"Hey, you aren't getting rid of me that easily." He grinned at her, but her expression didn't soften. "Promise," he finally said, grin disappearing.

"Dante, Lulu. It isn't safe for the three of us to be out here. Someone will notice." Lucky broke the moment and Dante regained his composure.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." Dante shook Lucky's hand and looked back at Lulu. She was pale, but not crying. "Be back before you even get a chance to miss me." He kissed her quickly on the lips and walked to the driver's side of the car.

"Wait!" Lulu ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with more passion than he had felt in all of their nights at her apartment or his room at Kelly's. He enclosed her body in his arms and returned her ardor with his own, heart beating clear out of his chest. He wanted to whisper something amazing to her just then, but couldn't come up with anything other than, "you rock my world."

She smiled against his lips and whispered, "you roll mine."

He stepped back out of her arms and lifted her hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her fingers. She smiled sadly at him and walked back to her brother. Dante closed the car door and drove off into the now pitch black.