A/N – Thanks for the comments! There are pictures of Nicole's dresses on my Drawn to You tapatalk site and you can vote by leaving a comment in the feedback. I don't have time to upload them to a 2nd page and fanfiction doesn't allow me to link, so that is the best I could do. All you have to do is click on my name in the heading for this story and it will take you to my profile and I give you the link to my site. You just have to replace spaces with periods once you copy and paste it into your browser and of course, you have to have a tapatalk account to access it. I will eventually have exclusive fics there, so it's good to sign up. I'm glad you're picking the dress. It's hard to leave my personal preference out and pick what the character would like etc.

On to the drama….

Chapter 43

Ronnie growled. Everything depends on three people showing up. Two are on a plane and the other one, he's not sure of. The minute Francis changed plans, he was on the phone trying to make arrangements. If he can pull this off, it will distract the Corellis and throw them off their game and a partnership with Sonny will definitely follow. With Sonny's state of mine, the business is as good as his.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Max pulled into the driveway of Greystone. Sonny had told him earlier that he could go back to shadowing him instead of Carly, so he's in a great mood.

Carly got out and then froze. "Why are all my bags on the front lawn?"

"I don't know."

"He can't do this!" She ran to the house and tried to open the door, but it's locked and when she tries her key, it doesn't work. "Sonny!" She pounded on the door as Sonny moved towards it. "You can't do this to me! You're all I have."

"Go to your mother's, Carly. Losing Michael was the last straw."

"You fucking bastard! I hate you! Let me in so I can say it to your face."

"We're done."

She screamed his name. "I'm going to sue you and take everything."

"You can't. You signed a prenup."

She crumbled to the ground as she sobbed. "I did whatever you wanted and the minute I fall apart, you toss me aside like trash. You will pay for this, Sonny. I swear! I will take you down myself."

Sonny sighed as he turned and went back into the living room. She better hope it's the alcohol talking because if she comes against him, she's going to lose more than a place to live.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Francis gazes around the room. All the people he cares about are in one room and while that makes him happy to an extent, it also makes him wary regarding danger.

"You need to relax," Frank said.

"I'm trying."

Eva comes in on Manny's arm wearing a champagne cocktail dress that hugged her curves.

"She is beautiful and will you look at the smile on Manny's face," Frank said.

Francis grins. "It takes a good woman to put that look on your face."

"Where is yours?"

"She is running late but should be here any minute."

Johnny appears first and then pulls Nicole through the doorway.

"Wow," Francis said. She is wearing a short black dress and heels.

"I make beautiful daughters."

"She's your only one."

"You're just jealous because I didn't call you pretty."

Francis groaned.

"Wow, Jason cleans up nice," Frank said. He is wearing a dark blue suit.

"Elizabeth looks stunning," Diane said before moving to his side with Lorenzo. She has an emerald green dress strapless dress that flares out a little at the bottom which touches the floor.

The men shook hands.

"You look very pretty yourself," Francis said admiring Diane's pale pink couture gown.

Emily enters the room looking very beautiful. Eva pulled her towards Manny to talk.

He grinned. "You know, when I was in prison with your brother, we had a joke about me wearing something obnoxious and being your date for dinner.

Emily cracked up. "Seriously? I'm totally game for pulling one over on my family. Can we make this happen next week?"

Eva laughed. "Go for it."

"I'll get your number and we'll do it."

Jason comes over. "Are you hitting on my sister?"

Manny grins. "While she is very beautiful, my heart is already taken."

"Awwww," Emily said. "What Edward doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I told them about the dinner idea."

Jason perks up. "Will you do it?"

"Are your eyes blue?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"

Eva giggled.

"I know what you meant, Emily."

She shoves his arm. "Brat. Is Wednesday good for you?"

"Yes."

"You look really nice right now, so you're going to have to figure out how to look sketchy."

Jason chuckled. "He was born sketchy."

"Hey!" Eva said.

They joked around and then the door opened and Piph sauntered inside.

"She looks fabulous," Eva said.

"Francis can't take his eyes off of her," Liz added.

Nicole had joined them. "Should we avoid the house tonight?"

The girls laughed.

Francis tracked his girl who is wearing a burgundy wrap dress and heel as she closes the distance between them. "Hey, gorgeous."

She is grinning from ear to ear. "You like?"

"I love."

"You look very handsome."

He kissed her. "It's all for you."

"If you play your cards right, you might break a bed tonight."

He grinned. "Don't tease me, woman."

"But I love it."

They are all mingling when Francis grabs a knife and taps his glass. The conversations soon stop and the doors are held open for several minutes to allow waiters to enter and exit with food.

"I'm so glad you could all come tonight. We're here to celebrate Jason joining the fold."

Everyone clapped and a few of the guys patted him on the back.

"My sister is engaged to that lug over there that just got a rather big promotion."

Nicole shook her head and Johnny pretended to be mad.

"Manny has a girlfriend."

Piph cracked up as Manny turned red.

"So do you," he yelled back.

"Very true, I do." He gave Piph a sexy look. "Things are changing around here pretty soon. Our family is getting bigger."

He is interrupted when Jeff Webber rushes into the room as a waiter exits.

"Where are the guards?" Frank asked.

"Elizabeth! Come with me right now!"

Jason stepped in between them.

"Get out of my way you thug!"

Liz moved around him. "Seriously? You haven't been in my life for years and you think you can walk in here and attack my boyfriend?"

"He isn't your boyfriend and you're coming back to Europe with me and your mother before you get hurt." The letter he had gotten painted a very dismal picture of mob life in Port Charles and his daughter is at the center of it.

Liz's hand goes to her chest. "Mom is here?"

"She's right behind me."

After hearing her arguing with someone outside, Frank nodded to the guard to open the door.

Carolyn hurried towards her husband and then stopped in her tracks.

Nicole gasped. "Mom?"

Elizabeth's head jerks to her friend and then hones in on her mother. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"It can't be," Frank said.

When Carolyn spots Frank, she dramatically passes out and Jeff lowers her to the ground as Piph moves towards them.

"Someone get me a glass of water."

A waiter quickly retrieved one and sat it on the table near her.

Johnny puts his arm around a trembling Nicole.

"I can't believe she's here after all of these years."

"You and Elizabeth have the same mother?" Johnny asked.

Nicole doesn't understand any of it. "I guess."

Jason pulls Elizabeth against his body. "Are you okay?"

"This is crazy," she blurts.

There is a commotion outside the other door and they hear a few thuds and then it starts to open, causing the Corelli men to draw their guns.

A man moved inside. "Tough room…" he quipped.

Emily almost bit her tongue. He's very handsome and she wonders who he is and why he thinks he can crash the party.

Carolyn starts to stir while a couple of guards frisk the newcomer.

"Are you okay?" Jeff asked.

She bursts into tears as Frank moves closer and then almost swallows her tongue when the stranger says, "Hello, mother."

"No! It can't be."

"Is he mine?" Frank asked, noting his age and resemblance to his mother's side of the family.

"Yes."

"So you were pregnant when you left?"

"Yes. I found out two months after I was gone."

"And you didn't tell me?"

She jumped at the accusatory tone of his voice. "I was scared to come back. I knew I had hurt you and you'd drag me back. I was losing my mind and just couldn't do it anymore." She had been miserable and just couldn't handle the violence.

"That is no excuse. You left us and God—do you even understand what you did to our family? Nicole was devastated."

Her eyes went to her daughter. "I did what I thought was best."

"Maybe for you it was, but not for the rest of us," Francis said.

"Stop it!" Jeff yelled. "When I found her, she was a mess. I have never seen someone so broken and beating up on themselves before. She was scared and ran. I helped her put her life back together and tried to help her live with walking away from the kids and you. When we found out you had obtained a divorce, we married in Colorado and had Sarah and then Elizabeth."

Frank growled. "You piece of shit! You stole my wife and my child and helped her pawn off my son to someone else and then have the nerve to yell at me for being upset? She completely tore our family apart. We loved her." God, he can barely look at her.

"If I had stayed, I would have killed myself." Her voice is barely a whisper and no one moved for a long moment before Nicole stepped forward.

"There might have been more honor in that then what you did," she spat.

Carolyn starts to sob. The day she had always dreaded has finally come and she is blindsided and afraid of what will happen.

"You couldn't hate her more than she has hated herself," Jeff said.

Elizabeth shakes off her shock. "You left me and Sarah too. Why?"

"We went to New York and almost ran into Frank in the airport. Your mother panicked that she had been spotted and we ran and hid for a few days before making arrangements to go to a remote village in Africa for Doctors without Borders. We figured he wouldn't find us, so Gram agreed to take you for the summer and then we just stayed away. Mentally, your mother didn't handle the situation that well."

"Did you know I was raped?"

Jeff averted his gaze and looked away. "Audrey got word to us."

"And yet you still stayed away."

"Yes. Your mother was scared to come back to New York again and started to have a meltdown, so I had to send her away to get help."

Blackie takes it all in as he studies his new family. While his mother is a hot mess, he thinks his father is the epitome of cool.

"What's your story?" Nicole asked him.

"I'm Blackie Parrish. I'm adopted and grew up in the streets. My parents didn't have much money after my dad lost his job and became an alcoholic. About six months ago, I did a DNA test on one of those genealogy sites and I had a very close match with someone named Sarah. She never returned my emails and I tried to find anything I could, but it was hard.

"The last time I spoke to her, she said she was doing a DNA project for a class in college. She was probably scared to rock the boat and let it go."

Frank's eyes are locked on Blackie. "You look like my mother."

Francis moved towards him. "I'm Francis, your half-brother."

Blackie shook his hand.

"This is a lot to take in. How did you find out?"

"Some guy approached me and handed me an envelope. I knew it was true because of Sarah and the genealogy site. He then called me a few days ago and gave me this address and told me to be here if I want to meet my family."

Frank moved to his side.

"So I look like my grandmother?"

Frank nodded and got out his phone and went into a folder and then handed it over.

"She's beautiful."

"Yes, she was and also had a great sense of humor, unlike me."

Blackie smirked.

"Where are you staying?" Francis asked. They would thoroughly research him and get a DNA test done.

"Here."

"Do you know about the family business?"

"Yes. It was all in the envelope."

"And?"

Blackie shrugged. "I grew up running the streets and scamming. They never got me, but I would have done time if they did. I'm not scared of the business." Life had been pretty shitty to him, but he adapted and survived.

Frank can barely stop himself from wringing Carolyn's neck.

"This is Elizabeth and Nicole," Francis said as he motioned for the women to come over while Jeff tried to comfort his wife.

"I'm Blackie."

"It's nice to meet you," Liz said.

Nicole shook his hand. "That's a different name."

"It was my adoptive mother's family name. I don't have siblings, so it will be weird, but nice."

"Where do you live?" It's hard to believe that she has a little brother. He definitely takes after their father's side of the family while she is a mixture between both. Given the time period, she guesses he is twenty-one.

"Jersey…" He notices Emily. "Who's that?"

Liz followed his gaze and smirked. "That's my friend, Emily."

"She's smoking hot."

Nicole grins. "We'll introduce you later." She turns her focus to Liz. "I can't believe we are related."

Liz hugs her. "I'm glad you're my sister."

"Me too…"

Johnny moves next to Jason. "I'm definitely checking him out."

Jason smirked. "Just don't let anyone find out."

"He looks like a complete smartass."

"Takes one to know one…" Finally, karma has found Johnny.

Manny chuckled.

"On a more serious note, this isn't sitting well with me. Someone knew we'd be here and arranged for this which means we could be sitting ducks," Johnny said.

"True. You think it was Sonny?" Jason asked.

"I'd go with Ronnie," Manny said. He found a picture of Ronnie and then showed Blackie and he confirmed that it was him.

"I don't think we should stay here. My Spidey senses are on overload," Johnny said as he scanned the room looking for escape routes.

"Let's round everyone up," Jason said.

As soon as the words left his mouth, they heard gunshots and people screaming as they ran.

"Shit," Johnny said moving forward. "Everyone get down. Now!"

One by one, people dropped to the floor as Manny, Francis, Frank, and some guards moved some heavy hutches in front of the two doors.

"Hit the lights."

The guards did so and the room was pitched into darkness.

Carolyn is whimpering loudly.

"Shut her up," Frank said tersely.

"No wonder she left you," Jeff muttered.

"I wouldn't mess with him right now," Francis said.

"So what's the plan?" Blackie asked calmly.

Jason could almost see Johnny's eyes roll in his head.

"We stay put. It's too dangerous to make a move. Nick will get back to us and let us know how many men are there," Manny said.

"Jason! I know you are in here. Stop being a coward and face me," Sonny yelled.

"What a stupid prick," Piph said.

"I don't think God gave him any sense," Diane whispered.

"The cops will be here soon," Johnny said.

"He's not going to stop until I come out," Jason said.

"I'm not sending you out there by yourself."

"I'll go too," Manny said as Eva gripped his hand.

"Cut the bravado. Little Napolean could have a lot of guns and there is no way in hell I'll agree to let you hand yourself over to that egomaniac," Piph said.

A shot is fired and Carolyn yelps and then there is an explosion which takes out the door and the shooting starts again.

"Give me your gun," Jason said to Frank.

He hands it over and Jason starts to fire as the girls covered their heads.

"You got an extra gun," Blackie asked.

"Hell no," Johnny said.

"I can't let him hurt anyone," Jason said.

They still hadn't entered the room but it's inevitable.

"Crawl forward," Manny said.

Eva whimpered and he briefly fixed on her.

"I love you, Eva. I'll be back."

Jason nodded at Liz and the guards covered them as they moved closer and then there is a hail of bullets and Manny groans falls onto his back.

Eva starts to get up, but Frank grabbed her and held her down.

Jason tugs him to the side. "Talk to me."

Manny's breathing is shallow. "Kill that mother fucker."

"You better be here when I get back." He is like a brother to Jason now.

"I'll try."

Jason is furious that Sonny shot his friend. When Manny passed out, his attention goes to Jeff. "Crawl over here and help me."

"No."

"Do it or I will shoot you myself."

Elizabeth swallowed hard. "Dad, he needs you. Please…"

Jeff cursed under his breath and crawled toward Manny's body.

"If he dies, you die." Jason is not even playing.

Jeff is seething as he checks Manny's pulse.

A/N: Carolyn is played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Blackie Parrish was played by John Stamos back in the day. I've never had him in a story, so decided to mash things up and just played with his age. Nicole 27, Blackie 21, Sarah 20, Elizabeth 19. Francis has a different mom.