Note – I want to thank everyone for all the lovely things you've told me regarding this story. I really, really appreciate it. A week or so ago, I posted a mini-promo on my Youtube channel (humatheguma) about this story. I'm working on a full-length promo which will hopefully be out sometime before this story is finished. LOL!

The Right Girl 52

At the Haunted Star…

Johnny let himself into the Haunted Star and headed toward the stairs leading up to the Spencer family's private quarters there. Neither Luke nor Lucky took advantage of the suites, but Lulu had turned one of them into her own private bachelorette pad, and it was where they usually met when they wanted to be alone.

He took the stairs up, his steps heavy and determined, and headed down the hall to her room. Johnny knocked on the door and waited three seconds before turning the knob and walking in. Lulu was getting ready for bed and was seated at her vanity table in a thin pink nightshirt, brushing her long hair.

She grinned when she saw him and hopped up, crossing the room in long strides to wrap her arms around him.

"Hey."

Lulu lifted herself up on her toes, the length of her body brushing against his, and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I didn't think I'd see you tonight. Come on in."

Johnny knew exactly what she was up to from her salacious smile and the way she fisted her hands in his shirt, preparing to drag him to the bed. He grasped her wrists gently and freed himself, despite taking a step further into her room.

"Thanks. I won't stay long."

"Sad," she pretended to pout. "I was hoping I could convince you somehow to spend the night."

"We need to talk," he stated simply, refusing to be drawn off track. He kept his voice gentle and his eyes warm, allaying her suspicions. "I'm really glad I have the chance to be alone with you."

Lulu smiled, tilting her head to the side. "That's what the Haunted Star is for, silly. We can be alone here…all over here."

He turned his head away a fraction of an inch when she leaned into him, pressing herself against him, and kissed his jaw. His hand sat reluctantly on the base of her back, and Lulu rubbed his side when she felt that he wasn't responding to her.

"What's up? You're serious tonight." She bit her lower lip. "Problems with Sonny?"

Johnny shook his head. "No, no, I worked everything out. Everyone's fine."

"I heard about what happened to Elizabeth and Jake." She sighed and pulled away, dragging a hand through her hair. "The truth is out. We tried so hard to keep it hidden, but it got out anyway. You've probably heard by now, too. My brother isn't Jake's father."

"I already knew."

Lulu whirled on him. "You knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know you knew," he replied honestly. "And I didn't want to upset you. If your brother and your family wanted to go on saying and thinking that Jake was Lucky's, I wasn't going to ruin that. You all had your reasons for doing what you did and it wasn't any of my business. Besides, you knew the truth and you didn't tell me. We're even."

"But I had a good reason not to-"

"That's not what I came to talk about," he interrupted, taking another step toward her. "God, Lulu. Forget Jake, forget Lucky, forget Elizabeth and Jason and Claudia and Logan and Nadine. Just forget everyone but me right now."

He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, then took her hands. "I know what a special woman you are, Lulu. How strong and brave and smart and quick on your feet you are. I know that you need a man that's going to love you, protect you, trust you, give you all of himself for as long as you'll have him. And I want you to know that I am that man, Lesley Lu Spencer."

Her eyes shone brilliantly as he spoke, but all the warmth and love fled with his next words.

"But not for you."

Lulu gaped at him, her mouth hanging open in a dazed maw, and Johnny lifted his chin. His voice when he spoke was harder, tighter, every word clipped and terse. "I know what you did."

She shook her head and took a small step back, but Johnny was nowhere close to being done.

"I know all of it," he informed her coldly. "And it shouldn't have surprised me because I knew exactly who you were from the start. I should have figured that if you were the kind of woman that would deceive your first boyfriend for me, then you'd deceive me for someone else."

"But I didn't-"

"And this time, that someone else was you." He worked his jaw, reminding himself to stay in control. "I know what you did, how you lied about the shooting just so I'd save you, how you played upon my worst fears and the very worst part of my life to keep me with you."

"You were pulling away, you were spending all your time with that horrible-"

"And I can't forgive you for that," Johnny cut in without losing a beat. "Because that is exactly what my father did to me all my life."

"Johnny, please-"

He wrenched his arm free and turned. "I'm done with you."


At General Hospital…

Nadine's eyes followed Elizabeth and Jason as they came down the hallway toward the hub. Max moved ahead of them and was already jabbing the elevator button as his employer followed.

The little family was more than ready to go home.

Elizabeth had Jake in her arms and was adjusting the little boy's blue hat. He gurgled and reached for a lock of her hair, fisting it and then trying to jam it into her mouth. Jason laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand sitting on Elizabeth's hip as they walked. Cameron, who was in Jason's arms, was so totally over his little brother's cuteness and just rested his head on the enforcer's shoulder, yawning.

Nadine could hear the whispering going on behind her, but ignored it. Her fellow nurses were such busybodies but thankfully, her outburst during the ordeal kept them from doing it too much around her. Epiphany backed her up and made it very clear that such habits would not be tolerated at the hub and should be saved for the locker room or the lounge if the nurses felt they absolutely had to dish about someone else's dirty laundry.

Elizabeth wrapped Jake's blanket around him as they stopped by the elevator, and Jason adjusted Cameron in his arms as the little boy started to nod off. The doors beeped and slid open, and Max ushered them in with Milo bringing up the rear. Elizabeth turned and looked over her shoulder and her gaze met Nadine's.

The two women shared a small smile before Milo gently waved her forward and stepped in as well, and the doors shut again.

Nadine sighed and returned to sorting her paperwork. She was so immensely relieved that things worked out for her friend. She and Elizabeth started getting pretty close, talking about more things, spending more time together, and then this happened and a Zacchara was responsible. It could have ended very badly, but the situation had been resolved and no one got hurt. They all had so much to be thankful for.

It was very sweet, actually. Elizabeth got her bad boy and her family and she was finally happy and complete, no more secrets, no more lies, no more sneaking around, no more unspoken words. And maybe it was time Nadine took a page from her book.


At Crimson Manor…

"John."

Claudia walked into the foyer just as her brother entered the house, fairly ripping off his jacket and handing it to Reivers who went to promptly hang it up.

"Listen, we have to talk." She stopped where she was and folded her arms, her expression hard. "You're not going to like this, but just hear me out before you get angry. I think…I think that Lulu was making all that up about being shot at. It's just a feeling, but I really do-"

"I know." He barely spared her a glance as he headed for the stairs, taking them three at a time. "I've handled it."

Claudia gaped at him as he reached the second floor and marched down the hall, absolutely stunned. Then, when her mind kicked her in gear again, she trotted toward the stairs and ran all the way up. His door was closed so she threw it open and barged right in, only to find him opening the drawers of the dresser in his changing room and throwing his jeans and sweaters into a black duffel bag.

"What…" She looked around, watching him pack. "What are you doing? Why are you packing?"

"I'm leaving town for a bit," he replied lightly. "Can't go without clothes."

Claudia marched forward, standing in front of his suitcase as he returned with his shaving kit. "You can't leave. There's too much up in the air right now! Our issues with Sonny and Jason, their issues with you, Jason Morgan's secret kid being not so much of a secret anymore – plus, the business in general. John, there's so much to do right now. We should tackle it together."

He leaned around her and tossed the shaving kit into his suitcase, then brought his palms together. "Okay, let me bring you up to speed on everything that's changed in the past twelve hours. Lulu lied about being shot. Michael, Sonny's son, was playing with a gun and shot Kate, and Lulu told him that she wouldn't tell if he wouldn't, then she pretended that someone was taking shots at her just so I wouldn't leave her."

Claudia's jaw dropped. "That – That heinous little slag! You leave her to me, John, you just leave that little bitch to me-"

"Claudie." He gave her a look. "It's been handled. I've made it very clear that she is not a part of my life, and she'd be stupid to even come near me, knowing that I know all of what she did. She has no place in my life anymore."

His sister was still seething. "Heinous little…"

"Michael Corinthos obviously wasn't kidnapped," he continued. "And Sonny and Jason know it now. Sonny's been humiliated enough – his kid's a fuck-up and he's a mental case. He's not going to cause any more problems for us right now. Or, he might, but Jason's just about had it with him, so he'll keep a close eye on him. And Jason won't come after us because of what I did for Jake and Elizabeth. It's up to them to find that little asshole kid, Michael, now. It's not our problem.

"And anyway…" He turned and headed back to his changing room. "I have something in place with Jason that will keep all of us safe for the foreseeable future."

His sister leaned against the post of his bed. "What about those attempts on your life? What makes you think you'll be safe if you're alone and unprotected, wherever it is that you're going?"

She couldn't see him, but his voice carried. "What about those attempts on my life?"

"I think Trevors was behind it," Claudia admitted. "I think he was the one trying to kill you."

He emerged from his dressing chambers with socks and underwear. "He was. And I've handled it."

The corner of her mouth curled up. "What'd you do, waste him?"

"Actually…" Johnny shrugged. "Yeah."

Claudia's lips parted in surprise. "You – You're serious? You killed him?"

He nodded. "He tried to kill me repeatedly in his plan to take over the family. You were next on his list. He was going to make it look like Sonny was responsible and then assume the role of the head of the family as the grieving, loyal attorney and advisor. He was also the one that sent those men to grab Nadine as leverage, again, making it look like Sonny was behind it so that I would attack Sonny and he'd kill me."

Johnny shrugged again. "So I've taken care of it. Trevor is gone now. And I'm banking on the fact that you know by now where he keeps things."

She smiled when he laughed. "We're going to need a new attorney. Got anyone in mind?"

"I actually like his son," Johnny admitted. "Ric Lansing. Yale educated, former DA, experience in this line of work. Plus, he's Sonny's brother. It's almost poetic. Try to get him, but if it doesn't work out, I trust your judgment. Go with who you think would be best."

"I'm surprised you want someone that shares Trevors's black, black blood."

He smirked. "Well, Trevor came into the possession of the Alcazar piers shortly before I asked him to meet me at the warehouse. So now we own those piers. Ric never got along with Sonny; he was badly abused and humiliated by him in this town. Add that to the fact that Sonny paid off his girlfriend, Marianna, to get him those piers while Trevor was also paying her off…Let's just say that Ric has a score to settle and something to prove, so he'll be useful to us.

"Plus…" His dark eyes flicked up to hers. "He has a family, a little girl of his own, and we can remind him of that if his loyalties ever shift."

Claudia smiled sadly. "You know, using innocent kids as bait, just like we were used when we were little, is something that I would be much more likely to do than you, John."

"It would always be my absolute last resort," he said quietly. "But I know that hardly any organization operates by the 'code' anymore. If that was true, I wouldn't have been shot at while on the docks simply because Nadine was present. That was Trevor, true, but still. If that were true, Faith Roscoe wouldn't have kidnapped Sonny's kids all those years ago. Joseph Sorel would not have placed a bomb in Elizabeth Webber's studio."

"And Elizabeth Webber and her son would not have been kidnapped," Claudia finished, rolling her eyes. "Guilty as charged."

"You're never guilty," Johnny smirked. "Not when you think what you did was right. But, Claudie, what I'm saying is, I'm not blind to the way the business is run these days. It's either put put up, or be put down. And I intend to stay in the game."

"By leaving."

He arched a brow at her and picked up his bag, throwing it over his shoulder. "Yeah. But at least I'm leaving you in charge, aren't I?"


At General Hospital…

Nadine clocked out and put away the last of her binders. The hub cleared off, she headed to the locker room to quickly change into her street clothes and get out of the hospital. It had been a long shift, a long ordeal, and she was so happy to get out. The first thing she'd do was pay Johnny a little visit. There were so many things that remained unclear between them, and she at least wanted a chance to put herself out there.

It would suck if he wasn't ready to take that leap the way she was, but what really mattered to Nadine was that she was ready to stand up and make a move for what she wanted, even if she rocked the boat.

She tossed her white sweater over her arm and hurried down the hall toward the elevators. She was just about to step into the hub again when a tall man dressed in a suit stepped in her path. Nadine gasped, but he just smiled down at her and offered her a letter.

"For you, Miss Crowell. Have a good evening."

She watched him walk away and slowly approached the nurses' station. Setting her things down on the counter, she used a pen to slit the envelope open. A silver key fell to the counter with a loud clatter.

Things are up in the air right now, and I realized that I needed to get away for a little while. I insist that you remain under the protection of one of our bodyguards, and Claudia agrees. If anything happens, I need you to get a hold of her as soon as possible; she's promised to help in any way she can. And here's a copy of the key to my place by the docks. Just because I want you to have it if you need to get away, too.

JZ.

She had to read the note three times until the meaning sank in. Johnny was gone. He probably left as soon as he gave the instructions to deliver this note.

With a disappointed sigh, Nadine shoved the key and the envelope into her pocket, not caring when she heard it wrinkle, picked up her stuff, and wearily pressed the elevator button. It looked like only one nurse got her bad boy this go around.