Chapter 14:

Dante threw his suitcase on his bed in his loft as he began to pack for the trip. He heard the elevator come up and Ronnie stepped out. "What is with the 911? I was with the wife." He noticed the suitcase on the bed. "Are you going somewhere?"

"In a matter of fact, yes I am. Sonny is sending Lulu to his island for her protection. I am going with her." Dante tossed a t-shirt into his suitcase.

"You need to switch with one of the guards. You are not going to the island with your little girlfriend. This is not a vacation!" Ronnie shouted. "The taxpayers are not paying you to frolic on the beach and bone your girlfriend."

"Lulu is not my girlfriend." Dante went to his dresser to get his boxer briefs.

"Fine you are not going to get paid to screw the girl you are already screwing on a desert island."

"Ronnie you are out of line."

"It's the truth, what is the real reason you are screwing her? Are you trying to find out about Sonny's business?" Ronnie demanded. "Let me clear it up for you, She doesn't know a thing. Sonny made it that way."

"Look Sonny trusts me well enough to guard her again. It's going to look suspicious if I suddenly decline my assignment to guard her. I am not going to risk blowing my cover that way."

"Have you even given any thought about what is going to happen when Lulu finds out whom you really are and what you are really doing?" Ronnie asked. "She is going to dump your sorry ass and she is not going to see you ever again. You really messed this up. You should have never got involved with her. What were you thinking?"

"That is obvious. I really like her. I don't want to hurt her."

"Then stop it. Let her go. Let her be with that doctor. Let her graduate from law school and become this great attorney that she is studying to be. Let them get married and start a family if it works out. Let them have the two-point-two kids with the white picket fence and a dog."

There was no way in hell that Dante was going to let that happen, there was no way in hell that he was going to let Lulu marry Matty-Boy. It would be over his dead body. He would come back from the dead and kick Matt's butt if he needed to.

"Am I getting through to you, Dante?" Ronnie asked. "I know you are going to be on an island with her, stay away from her. If you can't, you need keep little Dante in your pants, please. Sonny doesn't need to know that you are screwing his daughter."

Dante zipped up the bag, hoisting it over his shoulder. "I need to go. Sonny only gave me an hour to get my stuff together. Tell my ma that I am going to be okay and I will try to get word to her."

"Olivia is going to ask me a lot of questions. What am I going to tell her?" Ronnie asked.

"Tell her the truth that I am on the island guarding Lulu. I need to go. I will be fine."

"Go. I don't like this, but there is nothing that you can do."

Dante reached the private airstrip where Sonny's Learjet was waiting on the tarmac. He took the stair two at a time. Once he was inside, he saw Lulu propped on a bed in the back on the plane. She was reading a magazine. There were tubes in her arms that led to an IV pole. It looked like that she was getting the same kind of care she was getting at the hospital. There was a nurse taking Lulu's vitals. He stashed his bag in the overhead compartment.

"About time you arrived," Jason said as he left the cockpit. "The pilot is ready to take off."

"Sorry I didn't have much time to go home, pack, and come here."

"Dr. Hunter and Dr. Drake weren't too happy that we were signing her out against medical advise. They wanted her to stay at least two more weeks. The doctor is all set on the island," Jason said. "Since you are here, I am going to go. Just call Sonny when you get to the island, he would want to know that she made it there safely."

"I will," Dante promised.

"She is precious cargo. If anything happens to her…." Jason trailed off as he deplaned.

Dante went back to where Lulu was in the back of the plane. "Hey there, how did the doctors take you leaving against medical advice?"

"Not Good. Matt wanted to come and make sure I will get the best possible care. Sonny talked him out of it saying that he was going to hire a team of medical staff to take care of me," Lulu said.

Dante sat down on the edge of the bed. "I am glad that he is not coming. I don't want to see him fawn over you. That is my job."

Lulu smiled. "For once there is not a lewd sexual comment coming out of your mouth. For a second there I thought that I was only a roll in the hay to you."

She actually thought that? Dante wondered. Maybe that is why she was pursuing her relationship with Matt. He had to tell her that she meant the world to him and he wanted something more with her.

"This is your captain speaking, prepare for take off, buckle in."

"That is my cue." Dante kissed her on the cheek. "I will see you when it is safe to move around the cabin."

Jason returned to Sonny's restaurant. Sonny was already there with Spinelli as the Jackal looked at something on his laptop. "Did the Blond One get off okay?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, they are both on their way to the island as we speak. Has anyone claimed responsibility for this yet Sonny?"

Sonny shook his head. "Not yet. I think it is the Lopez brothers. They are trying to make a name for themselves."

"They would be blowing up warehouses not taking a shot at your daughter," Jason pointed out. "They don't want to start a war; they don't have the manpower yet."

"Then who?" Sonny asked. "Another rival on the East Coast?"

"I don't know. I wish I did," Jason said. "Is there any chatter?"

"That is what I am trying to determine," Spinelli said. "I ran a check on everyone in Lulu's new building. I even checked their computers. A few of them have some liking of Internet Porn, really bad techno music, and one had a few parking tickets. Other than that everyone was clean. I am now looking through the people she is going to Law School with. It might take awhile but I am going to find the no good SOB that shout the beloved Blond One."

"I don't like this Sonny. Someone shot Lesley Lu Spencer and gotten away with it," Jason stated.

"Lulu's father had a lot of enemies," Sonny said. "It could be one of them. One of them could have gotten out of prison…"

"Frank and Damian Smith are dead. I took over their organization," Sonny muttered.

"Could have Damian had a kid that no one knew about? Wouldn't the kid be Lulu's age by now if he did have a kid? Think about it Sonny, Lulu would be the perfect target, not only that Lulu is Luke Spencer's flesh and blood you are also her guardian," Jason said.

"I don't know the Smiths has been gone for so many years. I sincerely doubt that they would have any people still loyal to them after all these years," Sonny stated. "Keep looking someone will say something soon."

Ronnie went to Olivia's apartment to tell her the news about Dante. "Hey Ronnie, have you heard from Dante?"

"Yeah. That is why I am here. Sonny sent him to his island to protect Lulu," Ronnie said as he came in Olivia's apartment.

"Oh," Olivia said. "Is that a good idea? I saw him at the hospital the night she was shot. He wasn't doing so good."

"That is because he had been sleeping with her as well. I told him that he needed to keep it in his pants while they are on the island."

Olivia looked stricken. "She is Sonny's daughter?" She sat down on her sofa.

"Only on paper. Sonny has been her legal guardian since she was six years old. There is no blood relation at all. Why do you look like you are going to be sick?"

"I need to tell Dante first," Olivia stammered. "But you are sure that Lulu isn't blood related to Sonny?"

"Her older brother Lucky is on the force, Detective Lucky Spencer. Their parents were killed when she was six. Lucky was eighteen, I don't know the whole story but something must have gone down since Sonny ended being her legal guardian after a brief stay with her older brother Nikolas."

"Poor thing," Olivia muttered. "She had been through a lot already, hasn't she?"

"Dante told me don't be alarmed if he doesn't contact you. He is going to be okay."

"He has it bad for Lulu doesn't he?" Olivia asked.

"I think he does. I told him to let her go before it gets too messy."

"I think that it is too late for that." Olivia stated. "I think that he is going to have a hard time giving her up. He is going to give her up anytime soon. He is not going to give her up without a fight."

Dante carefully carried a sleeping Lulu down the stairs of the jet. It was dark by the time they arrived on the island. A gurney was waiting for her on the tarmac. He smelt the salt air. They must be near the ocean. He carefully set her down on it.

The doctor immediately hooked to her to an IV. "How was she during the flight? She didn't complain about being in pain?"

Dante shook his head. "No. She did not."

"That is good. When you contact Mr. Corinthos, tell him that his daughter is in the best possible car. I remember when she first came to this island. She was no more than seven years old. Coming here really brought her out of the shell. Her coing to live with Sonny was the best thing for her."

A medical assistant began to push the gurney to the waiting medical van. "We should be at the compound in about ten minutes."

Dante got in the van. He sat next to Lulu. He squeezed her hand. "We are almost there, Lulu."

Dante was unpacking in his room that was linked to Lulu's with a bathroom like it was back at Sonny's. The medical team was doing a once over with Lulu. Then he would be able to see her.

He couldn't wait for her to get better so they could go for a walk on the beach during sunset. He needed to show her that she meant a lot more to him than a roll in the hay. He didn't want to lose her once the truth came out. He hoped that he wasn't going to.

He had already spoken to Sonny telling him that they made it to the island in one piece. Sonny told him that they needed to stay on the island until Lulu had to go back to school.

There was a knock at his door, it opened. A nurse appeared in the doorway. "Miss Spencer is awake. She was asking for you."

"Thank you, I will be there is a second."

Dante followed the nurse into Lulu's spacious room. She was proped up in the middle of the king-sized bed. Some tubes were in her arm, leading to an IV pole. The medical team excused themselves leaving them alone.

"Welcome back Sleeping Beauty," he said. "You slept the entire flight here."

"Did you tell Sonny that we arrived here?"

Dante nodded. "Yeah. He wants to talk to you when you are up to it."

"I will call him later. How are you doing?"

"You got the hole in your chest and you are asking me how I am doing?" Dante sat on the edge of her bed.

"You had to give up everything to come here and look out for me. I can't imagine that being easy."

"It's my job to see nothing happens to you," Dante assured her. "Again."

Lulu smiled. "It wasn't your fault that I got shot. I hope that you will stop blaming yourself, Dante someday."

"You got hurt while you were under my protection. There is not excuse for what happened. I know that they were using armor piercing rounds but it should have been me in the hospital bed not you."

"Well there is some good that came out of it."

"What good came out of it?" Dante wondered. "You were knocking at heaven's door."

"It brought my brothers back into my life. I was ready to write them off forever if they didn't show up this time."

"They came over the moment they found out that you were hurt," Dante confirmed. "They love you so much. They know that they made a mistake when it concerned you."

"Let's not talk about my two brothers, okay? It's in the past, it still hurts but who knows how I would have turned out with them raising me. Sonny taking me in was for the best. I see that now."

Dante got comfortable on the bed. "Want to go on a walk on the beach later? That is if the doctors say its okay."

"Sure. I'll show you around the island. When I was little, Sonny bought me this golf cart I drove it all around the island."

"Was anyone in the cart with you?" Dante asked.

Lulu shook her head. "Nope, but there was a golf cart that was always following me to make sure I didn't get into any trouble."

"Did you?" Dante asked. "Get into any trouble?"

Lulu nodded. "You can say that. There was this fruit stand on the side of the road… I took the corner too fast. I took out the stand. All the fruit went flying, the golf cart rolled a few times. Sonny had to buy all the fruit stand pay for the damages. I think we ate that fruit for like two weeks straight."

"Were you hurt?" Dante asked.

Lulu shook her head. "Not a scratch on me. But Sonny rushed me to a hospital on the mainland just to be sure. Needless to say I had a guard glued to my side when I took out the golf cart again."

"Is that why a guard had to teach you to drive when you were a teen? Sonny was scared to in the car with you?"

"I can't believe that you remember that story."

"I remember everything you told me," Dante said. "Is it true that the guard kissed the ground after he got out of the car?"

"Michael may have embellished the truth a little."

"How so?"

"The guard may have fallen to the ground in relief. But him kissing it was totally made up my Michael and Morgan," Lulu explained.

"Max said you made a grown mad cry, a man that was a Green Beret. You must have been a handful growing up."

"I had my moments." Lulu admitted. "I bet you were no picnic either."

"Ma had her hands full with me, too," Dante said. "You look beat, get some rest. I will see you in the morning, baby."

He kissed her lightly on her lips. "Good night."

"See you in the morning." Lulu shifted in the bed.

"Are you in any pain?" Dante asked, concerned. "I could get the doctor."

"I am just shifting. I am okay." Lulu reassured him. "Go to sleep. You need some rest too."

Dante woke up; sunlight was streaming into his room. He threw back his sheets and went to check on Lulu in her room. As he entered the doctor was there taking her vitals.

"How is she, doc?" Dante asked. "Can she go for a short walk on the beach?"

"Keep her from driving any golf carts and she will be fine," the doctor kidded. "In all seriousness, she will be fine if she doesn't over do it."

"Good, let's get some good in us then we will go for a walk," Dante said.

Lulu had some oatmeal for breakfast while Dante a heaping stack of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. They ate from trays on her large bed.

Lulu looked on in jealously. "You will be to eat some of this when you are healed."

"I better because I might be stealing some of yours," Lulu promised.

Dante picked up a piece of bacon, stuffing it in his mouth as Lulu watched. "This is so good. You don't know what you are missing!"

"No fair!" Lulu pouted.

"I am going to go change, you can do the same. I will see you in a few minutes."

Lulu changed into a pair of jeans shorts and a white t-shirt. She was wearing a one piece black swim suit under her clothing in case she wanted to wade in the ocean. She was waiting down in the massive kitchen. Dante was wearing a pair of black swim trunks with a green t-shirt. "You look great," Dante said to Lulu.

The Cook handed him a wicker picnic basket. "Here you go, Mr. Perelli. I hope you enjoy your time on the beach with Miss Spencer."

"What's in the basket?" Lulu asked.

"It's a surprise. Come on, you need to show me around the island. Just not in a golf cart, okay?"

They walked along the beach together. They maintained a respectable distance from each other so it wouldn't tip off people of the extent of their relationship. "This is nice," Dante muttered as he and Lulu walked barefoot on the sand. "I love the ocean. I like the feel of the sand between my toes."

"I forgot how beautiful this place was." Lulu stopped to stare out to see. "When I was little, Michael, Morgan, and I had sleepovers on the beach. We watched the stars. That was so much fun."

"Sounds like it. Where do you want to go next? Do you want to keep walking on the beach?"

Lulu brightened. "Follow me. I know a place."

Dante followed Lulu down the beach and then it to a wooded area. "Ah, Lulu this is the part of the movie where the ax-wielding killer comes out of the woods and kills the couple that is walking through the woods. The audience is screaming, don't go in there! "

"You have to trust me, Dante." Lulu said. "There are no ax-wielding killers on this island. Sony would have taken him out a long time ago."

Dante laughed, knowing very well that her statement was true.

They walked up a path in the woods for a few minutes until they reached a small clearing secluded lagoon with a small waterfall that fell into some of the bluest water that Dante had ever seen, and some cliffs that looked to be about twenty feet high loomed above it.

"Wow, this place is breathtaking," Dante said as he looked around. This was paradise in every sense of the word.

"Yeah, when I was little, I used to jump off those cliffs. You should have seen the look on Sonny's face the first time I did that. I thought he was going to have a stroke. He jumped in after me to make sure I didn't break my neck." Lulu pointed to the cliffs. "I had to promise him that I wouldn't do that ever again. I was like seven at the time."

"You shouldn't have risked your life like that, Lulu. What if you had gotten hurt? Just don't do it now, please."

"Why do you care about what I do?" Lulu asked. "Or are you afraid of what Sonny is going to do to you if I got hurt?"

She tried to brush by him; he caught her by her elbow.

"I don't care what Sonny is going to do to me. I care about what happens to you. I don't want to get hurt again," Dante said, as he tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"I don't be jumping off any cliff anytime soon," Lulu promised. "I just like it here. It's so peaceful."

"Jumping off cliffs, taking out a fruit stand with a golf cart, making a grown man cry when he was teaching you to drive, and you wonder why Sonny is so over protective of you."

"Michael and Morgan weren't as much trouble as I was," Lulu confirmed.

"Somehow I believe that." Dante smiled. "I am starving. Let's see what the cook put in the basket."

Dante set the basket on the ground. He opened it, finding a blanket. He spread it on the ground.

"As long as it's not any oatmeal," Lulu muttered as Dante helped her down on the blanket.

"No oatmeal but there is rice pudding, chocolate pudding; I think I am seeing a trend here."

"Where is the real food?" Lulu asked. "I am in the mood for a double cheese burger."

"When you are able to eat a double cheeseburger I will get you all the cheeseburgers that you can stomach." Dante handed her a container of rice pudding and a spoon.

"You promise?"

"I promise." Dante leaned back taking in the scene. "This place is gorgeous. Why don't you spend more time here?"

"I did when I was younger. I actually spent two months here after I broke my arm and I came to live with Sonny. I think he was trying to win me over or something." She took a bite of the rice pudding. "This is good."

"See you were complaining about nothing," Dante laughed. "I am glad that you brought me here. This place is so beautiful… not as beautiful as you, Lulu."

"Again with the cheesy lines?"

"They stopped making sugar when I met you because you are so sweet."

Lulu laughed. "Ow." She clutched her chest. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts when I laugh."

"I am serious. You are beautiful. I can't believe that you don't see it." Dante said. "You are the most beautiful woman that I had ever laid eyes on."

"Stop you are making me blush."

"It's the truth, Lulu. It's more than just sex for me. I am sorry if I ever gave you that idea and pushed you into the arms of Matty-Boy. I will be taking you out anywhere you want, anytime you want. You just need to stop seeing the good doctor when you get back to town."

"You really feel that way?" Lulu asked.

"I have felt… Lulu truthfully the feelings I have for you scare me. I had never felt like this with anyone else. That is why I was acting like a jerk. I am sorry."

"Are you just telling me this to be truthful? Or are you…"

"We are on an island together. I have no where to run, Lulu. Why would I lie to you?"

Lulu shrugged. "You are a guy and only interested in one thing."

"As member of the male species I have to admit t hat maybe true but Lulu…you have changed me for the better. I am a better person because of you."

"Careful, Sonny might not like the idea of one of his men dating his daughter," Lulu warned.

"Didn't Milo take you to the prom?" Dante asked. "Sonny let him do that. What you took pictures with him, danced with him, and he did get you a corsage, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lulu asked.

"Lu, Sonny had said it himself that he made your love life a living hell. Come on the last time you brought a date home, he was cleaning his shotgun! He would be happy that the guy is someone that he knows and trusts."

"If you say so."

"So tell me about the other guys in your life." Dante opened a container of homemade chocolate pudding. "There has to be a guy."

"Are you going to tell me about the other girls you were with?" Lulu challenged.

"Ah… what would you like to know, Lulu?" he asked. "There was this girl from my block Allison she was my first kiss. I was five. What about you?"

"I was five as well. He was a kid on my street Danny something; it was before my parents died. Nice boy, he moved away a few weeks later."

"What about after that? I know about the shotgun. There had to be when you went to college."

"I went to PCU and still lived at Sonny's place. I hardly had a social life with all the guards he had watching me."

"What about at Harvard? There has to be a guy you saw there."

Lulu nodded as she took a bottle of water of the basket. "There was a guy. His name was Brady. He was a few years ahead of me in school. He was the TA in one of my classes. We dated for six months. I never brought him home to see Sonny, I was afraid that he was going to be cleaning another shotgun or worse."

"What happened? Why did you two break up?" Dante asked.

"One day Sonny, Michael, Morgan, Max, and Milo showed up at his door early one morning. They had a conversation with Brady about his intentions were regarding me."

"Yikes, I take it that you neglected to tell Brady about Sonny?"

"You guess right. Imagine his surprise that Sonny showed up on his doorstep with his two sons and two burly bodyguards. Brady wanted to be a Federal Prosecutor so having Sonny at his place didn't look good to him," Lulu explained. "Even if he was still a law school TA at the time, he didn't want anything to do with Sonny. "

"How did he break up with you?"

"Invited me out for coffee and then he told that Sonny dropped by. Needless to say he was upset when he realized he was dating Sonny's daughter. He broke up with me saying that it wasn't good for his career."

"Coward," Dante hissed. "He wasn't good enough for you. I could have his kneecaps broken if you want me to."

"No need, I am over him. He was pretty boring come to think of it and he snored away."

"I don't snore," Dante said proudly. "Come on." He got to his feet and held out his hands. "Dance with me."

"There is no music!" Lulu protested as Dante pulled her to her feet.

"There is always music in my head when I am with you," Dante muttered as he drew her in his arms. His hands settled on her hips as they swayed to the music in his head.

"You smell good," he muttered. "I have never noticed how beautiful your eyes are. I had never seen that color eyes on anyone a yellowish green. The color is as unique as you are."

Lulu felt like he was staring into her core.

"What have you been looking at all this time, if you are just noticing my eyes now?"

"I was too busy paying attention to the rest of your hot body. The way it tormented me from the moment I met you."

"There is a lot more to me than my body, Dante," Lulu chided. "I have a mind, too."

Dante kept his hands on her hips. "I know that, baby…."

Lulu tried unsuccessfully to conceal a yawn. "Sorry."

"Don't be, baby." Dante released her hips only to pick her up. "You must have over-done it. Let's get you back into the house. I'll get the stuff later. I want to make sure that you are okay."

Dante carried her easily all the way back to the house. She had fallen asleep in his arms. He waved off the nurses attempts to take Lulu from him. "She is just a little tired. She over did it with the beach."

Dante placed her down on the bed. He brushed back a strand of hair that feel across her face. "Thanks for sharing one of your favorite place with me today, baby," he said softly. "It meant a lot to me."

He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Get some sleep, baby. I will see you in the morning."