Author's Note: I know that it's been a while since I last updated but I wanted this chapter to be perfect and I promise that you'll think that this chapter was worth the wait. Happy reading!

Chapter 9 – Take Me Now

Jason Morgan was pacing the in the foyer of Sonny's house. Jason never showed any signs of panic but this was definitely a worthy time to show panic. Lulu had never arrived in Paris. The car that was supposed to pick her up from the airport waited there for two hours after the plane was supposed to have landed and still no Lulu. The driver then made a call to Jason, who instantly came over to see Sonny. Maybe Lulu had contacted him about a delayed flight.

"Jason? Is that you?"

Jason looked up and saw Carly standing in front of him in her black silk robe. She was holding her morning cup of coffee and she looked like she didn't get a lot of sleep. Probably worried about Lulu's safety, he thought. She immediately hugged him and he could tell that she was scared.

"Has Lulu called? Did she make it to Paris alright?" Carly asked.

"Um… where's Sonny? I need to talk to him… it's kind of important." Jason asked.

"I'm right here," Sonny said, walking into the foyer, "What is it?"

Jason headed into the living room, followed by both Sonny and Carly. He sighed heavily and wondered how he was going to tell them that their daughter was missing and could be anywhere in the world.

"Have you two heard from Lulu?" Jason asked.

"No… I figured that she would call when she got settled at Brenda's." Sonny said.

"She's not at Brenda's…" Jason said.

"How do you know that?" Carly asked.

"Because the driver that was hired to pick Lulu up said that she never came out of the airport." Jason said.

"Are you telling me that Lulu's missing?" Carly cried.

"Jason… this had better be a joke…" Sonny said, lowering his voice.

"Oh my god, Sonny! Lulu's gone!" Carly sobbed.

"Jason… I want you to get all of our men on finding my daughter… call up all of our contacts and have them keep their eyes and ears open…" Sonny said.

Jason nodded and exited the living room. Sonny turned to his wife and wrapped his arms around her and he let her sob on his shoulder, repeating over and over again to her that he would find their daughter.


The morning sun spilled into Lulu's bedroom through the thin white curtains of the Zacchara villa right outside of Milan. Her eyes fluttered open to the sound of pots clinking downstairs and the cool breeze gently swayed the white curtains back and forth over the windows. She sat up and realized that this was the first time in weeks that she felt at ease when she woke up. They had arrived in Italy the previous afternoon and then spent two hours driving from the airport to the villa. She was so tired the night before and she immediately passed out in bed when Johnny had shown her to her room. She slipped out of bed and grabbed a robe that was draped over a chair that was sitting in front of an antique vanity mirror. The house was quiet with the exception of the sound of water running downstairs in the kitchen area. She tiptoed downstairs and found an elaborate breakfast spread in the dining room.

"Good morning,"

Lulu looked up and saw Johnny, with a plate of scrambled eggs in his hand and a tired grin on his face.

"Good morning to you too," she said, sitting down at the table. He set the plate down in the center and she inhaled the wonderful smells of the breakfast.

"I didn't know you could cook," she said, picking up the fork that was placed in front of her.

"I don't," he said, grinning sheepishly.

"So… what's all this?" Lulu asked.

"Emilio is our cook here… wait until you try his homemade spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli… it's… well for lack of a better word… orgasmic." He said, smirking.

Lulu, who was taking a sip of orange juice, immediately snorted and Johnny laughed as she covered her mouth to prevent shooting juice out of her nose. He sat down and began piling food on his plate. He looked different… it was as if he had taken off some sort of armor and was able to breathe easy for the first time. He seemed almost… happy.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked, bringing Lulu out of her trance.

"Oh… no…" she said, blushing, and immediately reached for the coffee cake.

Johnny chuckled and took a sip of coffee, never taking his eyes off her. He couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. Her blond hair fell loose around her face and the silk robe she was wearing was hanging off her shoulder, revealing a patch of bare skin. He bit his bottom lip and tried to fight the urge to knock the plate out of her hands and kiss her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No—of course not! What could be wrong?" he asked, going back to his own plate.

Now it was Lulu's turn to laugh and she stood up to go to the kitchen to get some milk and sugar for her coffee. She couldn't understand how Johnny could take his coffee black. The kitchen was huge and she had no idea where the sugar could be. She went over to one of the cabinets but found that she was too short to reach the handle. She tried rising up on the balls of her feet but still couldn't reach. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands hold her hips. She turned around and saw Johnny standing close. He opened the cabinet and took out the bag of sugar and set it on the countertop.

"Thanks," she muttered.

He inched closer to her and he smelled like he just walked out of the shower. She closed her eyes and exhaled nervously. She could never tell what he wanted. One minute he could be kissing her and the next he was pushing her away.

"You're welcome," he whispered and he turned around and walked out of the kitchen and back into the dining area.


Claudia Zacchara was standing on the terrace, overlooking her father's prized rose garden. A part of her wanted to take a lighter out of her pocket and torch the entire thing. Her life had been stolen by her father when he sent her away to boarding school and then to live with her uncle Rudy. She had to have called the mansion a million times, crying and begging to come home to her family and to Johnny, especially after Rudy told her that Anthony had killed Johnny's mother, Maria. However, her father wouldn't hear anything of her returning home. She believed that his words were somewhere along the lines of "I have no daughter," or "I won't let you take Johnny away from me," or something like that. Her father had been crazy like that for years but it didn't make his words any less hurtful. Now all that was left of this house that was Anthony's was that damn rose garden that he loved more than either of his children. Suddenly, her phone began to ring.

"Zacchara," she said.

"The Corinthos girl never checked into her flight to Paris,"

"Well, that's not my fault… you assigned me to kill Carly… Lulu was your end of the deal." Claudia said, matter-of-factly as she admired her blood red nails.

"Watch that tone with me, Zacchara… you need me for your takeover of the Corinthos-Morgan organization."

"What do you want me to do?" Claudia growled.

"I'm altering the deal… I don't have the means to start a search for Lulu… I'm supposed to be dead, remember? But you have all of that money at your disposal and can locate her and then take her out… I'll take care of Carly..."

"Fine… I'll get my people on it." Claudia said, snapping her phone shut.

Claudia walked back into the study and went for a glass of scotch when Trevor walked into the study. She looked to him and rolled her eyes and went back to her drink.

"We have a situation…" Trevor said.

"What is it now, Trevor?" she asked.

"John's missing…" he said.

Claudia dropped her glass and it shattered against the dark wooden floor. She looked sharply to her attorney, anger seething in her eyes.

"He's missing?" she growled.

"None of the guards know where he is… but I checked his room and he did pack up his stuff… did he tell you if he was taking a trip?" Trevor asked.

"Because John and I are so close now?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So I'm guessing that's a no." he said.

"Find my brother… I don't care what you have to do… just find him." she barked.


Lulu was standing on the balcony of her bedroom. Night had fallen and the air was cool and fresh. The gentle breeze brushed the skirt of her dress, making it dance in the wind. It was completely dark and quiet outside but it was refreshing to be away from the bustle of Port Charles, the cars whizzing by, the sounds of the waterfront, the lights of the skyline, and the other things that came with living there. A soft knock rapped on the door and she turned around.

"Come in," she said.

The door inched open and Johnny poked his head into her room. She smiled warmly at him and ushered him into her bedroom. He sat down on the bed and looked at her, grinning.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"You," he said.

She felt herself blush and walked back over towards the balcony. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him walk over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She exhaled and put her hand on his.

"Lulu," he whispered.

There was so much need in his voice… so much passion that was laced in the way he said her name that it almost made her collapse into his arms. He turned her around slowly and gently fingered her lips. She felt like she could explode. She couldn't stand this anymore. He tilted her chin up to him and kissed her softly. Her hand came to his face and she felt his arm wrap around her lower back and pull her into him. He pulled away and exhaled softly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"You're a terrible liar…" she whispered and he chuckled slightly.

"You always have to be right, don't you?" he said.

"Don't do that…" she said.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Play games with me…" she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That thing at breakfast… the kissing one minute and then pushing me away the next… I can't—" she started.

He quickly silenced her by gently running his fingertips across her lips again and he bent over and rested his forehead on hers. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them affectionately. This was killing her. She couldn't take this hot and cold game that he was playing for much longer. She needed him and she needed him to need her too.

"I'm in love with you… and I can't make it stop." He whispered, turning away from her and walking back towards her bed. His response caught her completely off-guard. He loved her. She could feel her mouth spread into a smile

"Who says you have to?" she asked, following him.

"My common sense," he muttered.

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face in his shirt, inhaling his intoxicating cologne. She could feel him breathing and knew that his resolve was crumbling. She rose on her toes and began kissing the back of his neck.

"But I love you too, Johnny…" she murmured.

He exhaled shakily and whirled around and kissed her passionately. That wall that Johnny had built up around him had finally been knocked down and a flood of desire for Lulu took over. He felt her hands slide underneath his shirt and up his chest. Her hands wandered to his back and then pulled his thin white cotton t-shirt upwards. She pushed him backwards, breaking the kiss, and peeled the shirt off of him. He cupped her face into his hands and kissed her sweetly. Moving his lips from hers to her neck, his hands found the zipper of her dress. He carefully pulled the zipper down and watched the dress slide gracefully down her body and into a useless pile of fabric at her feet. She smiled as she saw his cheeks turn red and pulled him towards her by the waistband of his black athletic pants. She pulled the drawstrings gently so that they slowly came loose in her fingers. Their lips met with the same fever that

they had before and Johnny bent down, swept Lulu into his arms and carried her to the bed. He placed her gently beneath him on the bed, never taking his eyes off her. Her hand came to his face and he closed his eyes and exhaled softly at her touch. He took her hand in his and gently kissed her fingertips. He bent over and kissed her again, reigniting the passion that had taken over them before. They stripped each other of their remaining articles of clothing so that all they could feel was each other's bare skin. He broke from her lips and moved down to her neck, making her wrap her arms around him and sigh dreamily. She felt him shift over her and gasped sharply as she took him into her. They started slow, savoring every moment together, admiring every inch of each other's bodies with their lips and their hands. After dancing around this possibility for all of this time, the feeling of their bodies moving together was almost too much to bear.

"Johnny," she whispered.

He could feel her ragged breath on his face and knew that she was close. He buried her mouth in a kiss as to keep their cries of passion to a minimum. Her hands came to his face and she kissed him deeply, making his head spin. He never knew that he could feel like this for someone. Johnny Zacchara… destined to be alone… that's what he always thought. He opened his eyes and gazed at this beautiful blonde lying beneath him and wondered how he could've been so wrong. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her lips were right next to his ear, panting and repeating his name softly. She bore her nails into his back and cried out sharply. Her breath was labored from her release and he soon collapsed into her arms, trembling from his own. He felt her hands come up to his face and her lips softly kissing his forehead.

"I love you, Johnny Zacchara…" she whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. Her fingers were so gentle, touching him as if he were about to break. He smiled wearily and kissed her.

"I love you too, Lulu Spencer-Corinthos…" he said.

She brought him back down onto the bed and he brought her into him, nuzzling his face into her neck. She giggled softly and ran her fingers through his dark brown hair. He sighed contently and closed his eyes. After living alone for so long, Johnny wanted nothing more than to hold Lulu forever… because now that he had her, there was no way that he could live without her.