A/N: Hee! I was planning on bringing in Claudia since the beginning. I have such wonderful plans for her! I think her and Lulu are going to get along just fine – but I'm foreseeing a run-in with Logan later ;) I'm also writing her back-story a little different than the current story line on the show. Sorry if this chapter's a bit slow or boring. Sometimes you need filler to move the story along. Anyway, enjoy! Love to all who have already read and reviewed!

Chapter 12: Ms. Zacchara

"Claudia?" Johnny hobbled over to the woman standing in front of the table. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, John," the dark haired woman said with a smile, "it's me." She wrapped him up in a fierce hug. When they separated, she held him at arms length and stared. "My god, look how you've grown up! The pictures you sent didn't do you justice. You are a handsome fella."

"You're not looking too bad yourself." He looked down at her feet. "Well, they're pumps now, but still with the red shoes, huh?"

Lulu sat back, confused at the scene before her. Who was this woman? She looked too old to be an ex girlfriend of Johnny's, but yet she was being so familiar with him. She took a good look at the lady. Her dress was black and skin tight, hugging all her curves in the right spot. Impeccable make-up, just the right amount of jewelry. What Lulu noticed most, though, were the shoes. Fire engine red stilettos. It took guts to pull off a pair of shoes like that and pull it off is what Claudia did. Carly would love those, she thought.

"Lulu? Hey, earth to Lulu."

She snapped out of her daze when she heard Johnny calling her. Lulu didn't realize how intently she was staring at Claudia. "Sorry. Zoned out for a second."

"Come here for a second."

She slid out of the booth to stand next to Johnny. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her in close. "Claudia, this is Lulu Spencer – my girlfriend."

Lulu felt warmth pool in her stomach at hearing the phrase "my girlfriend". It was really real. Her and Johnny were together. "Hi," she said, sticking out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Claudia replied with a smile. "I'm Claudia Zaccchara. John's sister."

Lulu whipped her head around to stare at Johnny. "You have a sister?"

"It's a long story," he replied with a grimace.

"One that will be told at another time as I am obviously interrupting something," Claudia said, her voice apologetic.

"No, Claud, it's been forever. Join us for dinner?"

"It's okay, sweetie, we'll catch up later. I'm going to be around for a long time," she replied, rubbing his arm. "Besides, I already ate. I'm just going to head up to my room. I'm staying in the hotel tonight and I'll be at the house tomorrow. Didn't feel like dealing with Trevor tonight."

"Does anyone ever really want to deal with Trevor?" They both shared a laugh. Johnny was amazed at how easily their camaraderie flowed after so long. Claudia leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later little brother. Bye, Lulu." She turned to walk away.

"Wait," Lulu blurted out, feeling guilty that their dinner was the reason Claudia wasn't staying to talk to Johnny. She stopped and turned around. "I know you already ate, but would you come back and join us for dessert? Please?"

Claudia smiled. "Sure. I'll come back down in an hour."

After she walked away, Johnny and Lulu sat back down at their table. "Thank you for that," he said. "You didn't have to invite her back."

"It's obvious you haven't seen each other in a long time and she wanted to be with you. I felt like I was chasing her away."

"It's okay. We have way too much to catch up on to cover over dinner. We'll have a good, long sit down tomorrow when she's back at the house."

The conversation paused as the waiter came by with their food. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Lulu's curiosity got the best of her. "So how long has it been since you've seen Claudia?"

"About twelve years."

"Twelve years," she gasped. "How did you even recognize each other?"

Johnny put his fork down and sighed. "Like I said, it's a long story."

"Well, last time I checked, we have an hour until she comes back. Tell me."

"You won't leave me alone until I do, will you?"

"Get used to it."

"Stubborn."

"No. I just want to know all about you… and your family. You're obviously close to her, despite being apart for so long. If it's something you care about, I want to know about it," she said, laying her hand on his cheek. "I just want to know you, Johnny," she finished, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

It still shocked Johnny how amazing Lulu was. She was everything he dreamed of and more. He had a feeling he was never going to be able to deny her anything she asked for. Once she turned those big, brown eyes on him, he was lost.

"First of all, she's only my half-sister. My father had an affair with a woman before my mother. I don't know what happened to her, but Claudia was always with us. Her and my mother got along okay, but we were inseparable." Lulu put her hand in his and smiled as his face grew nostalgic. "She's 8 years older than me, but she always treated me like an equal. After my mother died when I was 8, Claudia was all I had. She was 16 and needed to grow up faster than me. But we always had that bond. I'm not sure what happened, but when she was 18 and I was 10, she was sent away by my father. He insisted that she never contact him, Trevor or me again. He sent her to work in one of the branches of the family, learning the business. Why, I have no idea since she wasn't to contact us save for business. But then again, my father's nuts, so who knows what goes on in his head. Anyway, Claudia was going to have none of that. She wanted to make sure I didn't lose another person I loved. So, when she left, she left me a letter on my pillow detailing how we were to keep in touch."

"How did you do that without anyone finding out," Lulu interrupted.

"We passed off whatever letters we sent to each other as a pen-pal project for school. She gave me a fake name to put on the envelope. No one really cared what I did in school as long as I passed, so nobody was the wiser. That's how we exchanged pictures and general things that were going on in our lives. When I started high school, things got easier. I got my own laptop and cell phone and we were able to keep in touch that way. We don't have a Spinelli to hack computer stuff and she was always calling from the different places she was doing business in, so there was no suspicion on that front. It was easy, really."

"But there was no way that you could have seen each other at all over the years?"

"Well, you saw what my life was like. I had handlers following my every move. It was kind of hard to get away. Even when I did, they would find me. You saw that first hand."

Lulu grimaced at the memories. "Yeah. Fun times."

"And while my father was still around, she couldn't come home. But now he's incapacitated…."

"And she's finally free to do what she wants."

"Exactly."

"What about Trevor? Wasn't he the one manipulating your father this whole time?"

Johnny furrowed his brow. "Yeah, I'm not sure on that yet. I'll have to ask her about that later." He paused to take a drink of water. "And that's pretty much all there is. Despite the distance, we made an effort to remain a big part of each other's lives. It was worth the sneaking around. I don't know what I would have done if I lost her completely."

"Things might have ended up very differently and I might have never known you."

"That would have been very bad," he deadpanned.

"I don't know," Lulu replied. "It would have saved me a lot of grief. Hey," she squealed as he slipped an ice cube down her shirt, "that was uncalled for!"

They both dissolved into giggles as Johnny tried to retrieve the ice cube – unsuccessfully.

"You know, I meant to ask you before," Claudia asked when she sat down with them a while later, "why does it look like you got your ass handed to you in an UFC match?"

Johnny glanced over to Lulu. "This is your story."

"Fine," she huffed, throwing Claudia an apologetic glance. "Unfortunately, it's my fault."

"This little thing kicked your ass, John?"

Lulu laughed. "Indirectly my fault," she corrected. "My ex-boyfriend did not appreciate that I had no desire to give him another chance." She held up her wrapped wrist. "He didn't like that response."

Claudia's face hardened. "And he hurt you?"

She nodded. "And one of my friends. But, thankfully, Johnny came and took care of the situation before any serious damage could be done." Lulu threw Johnny a grin. "At least to us."

"Wait – you didn't 'take care' of him, did you?"

Johnny rolled his eyes at Claudia's ridiculous comment. "Come on, Claud, you know me better."

"Just making sure. From what I've heard, the PCPD likes you a lot."

He snorted. "That's the understatement of the year."

"So what happened to this – what's his name?"

"Logan Hayes."

"Logan Hayes." Claudia filed that away for later use. "I hope he looks worse than you."

Lulu never thought she'd relish the thought of someone she used to care about getting hurt, but every time they told the story about what happened at Kelly's, a fierce rush of pleasure came over her. "Some broken bones, lost teeth, lots of stitches. You'll certainly recognize him in public for a while."

"That's my boy."

"Now it's your turn, Claudia," Johnny said, effectively changing the subject. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but why are you here now? I mean, I would have expected a call or something. And Dad's – situation – happened over a month ago. Why now?

"Trevor. He called me." She fiddled with the ice in her glass. "Apparently, you're not being a very cooperative boy."

"So, what? Trevor called you in after all this time to try and talk some sense into me?"

"No. He wants me to take over."

"What," he yelled, slamming his hand on the table. "How dare – "

Lulu put a soothing hand on Johnny's arm. "Calm down, Johnny. She's not done talking yet."

Claudia nodded her head in thanks. "Now, as I was saying, he wants me to take over. I get the feeling that he thought he could manipulate you like he did to Daddy. Then he said you were being difficult."

"I'm being difficult. Translation – Johnny has his own brain and can think for himself."

"Exactly. So he wants me to move on in and be his puppet instead."

"You think that's his plan? He can't manipulate me, so he's going to try to manipulate you?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. He's been trying to get his hands on this organization since I was a kid. He'll stop at nothing."

"I've had a feeling for the longest time that he was up to something. I just couldn't pinpoint it."

Claudia looked over to Lulu who was intently listening to their conversation. "What do you think of Trevor, Lulu?"

She looked at Claudia, startled to be included in such a familial conversation. "Well, he's creepy, for starters. I don't know him very well, but I've always felt that he tried to hard to be sincere – his words always sound slimy, like he's trying to get something. No matter what he says, it always sounds like he's lying. I wouldn't trust him with a bag of flour."

She nodded her approval. "Good instincts." Claudia turned to Johnny. "Try not to screw this up. She's sharp. I like her."

Lulu laughed as Johnny flushed at her comment. Clearing his throat, he said, "So then, what's the plan?"

"Plan," Claudia replied. "The plan is I'm going to take over – at least for Trevor's eyes. You and me will share equal duties taking care of business. I would never swoop in and take something right out from under you."

"Then what?"

"Then," she said, putting her elbows up on the table and laying her chin on her hands, "we take Trevor out. He made a mistake in calling me. I'm not the same mousy little girl he knew 12 years ago. And if he thinks he can use me like –" She paused for a minute.

"Like what," Johnny asked.

"Like I'm still a scared little girl," she continued, eyes cold, "he's in for a very nasty surprise."