Author's Note:

Ahem. Wow do I know now how to leave you guys hanging or what? I am so very sorry! I want to again thank everyone for reading and reviewing. You have no idea how much your comments inspire me. Unless you're also a writer, in which case you probably do have an idea! :)

This chapter might be the longest so far. And there are probably only a few chapters left before I try to get this wrapped up and back to my other story.

I had a dream I was pregnant last week and when I looked up the meaning, I found that it could be a sign of new or creative things in my life happening or that it's the right time in my life for new and creative things. So that got me back in the groove and hopefully I can keep it up!

Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER 4

Lulu pressed the doorbell again and began digging in her bag. "I know I have a key in here somewhere," she muttered, trying to control her frantically beating heart.

The door opened, and Lulu's head snapped up. "Thank God!" she cried, throwing her arms around Laura. Dante and Lucky released the breath they'd been holding, and she could physically feel them relax behind her.

Lucky pushed them all inside as Laura blinked sleep out of her eyes. "Lucky?" she asked in disbelief, and a smile crept over her face. "I can't believe you're here! Oh, sweetie, I've missed you so much!"

Lucky managed a smile as he hugged his mother. It still shocked him sometimes that he was taller than her now. She hung onto him for a moment, then leaned back, keeping her hands on his arms. Her beaming smile faded.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at the three of them, seeing Dante for the first time. He cleared his throat, suddenly more nervous than he could remember being in a long time. He glanced at Lulu, who said nothing. The silence grew uncomfortable before Lucky finally took pity on him.

"Mom, this is my partner," he explained, steering her over to the plush sofa in her living room. Laura stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes as the impact of those words sank in. This was the man who'd broken her daughter's heart.

"Dante Falconari, Mrs. Spencer," Dante held out his hand. Laura hesitated for a moment before ingrained manners forced her to shake his outstretched hand. She glanced at Lulu with concern before looking back at Dante.

"Well," she said cautiously. "I guess I'd better make some coffee."

"Okay, let me get this straight," Laura folded her hands together. "You received a photo of me and Lulu from our celebration last night, but someone tampered with it to make it seem as though we were dead, or at least, covered in blood."

Lucky winced, but she held out her hand, not letting him interrupt.

"You claim Lulu, and now I, am in some kind of danger from an international criminal. You won't tell us why you think this or what kind of evidence there is." Laura paused and looked at Dante. He held her gaze for a moment, but then looked away, certain that she could read his mind as his thoughts flashed to the photos and warnings he'd received over the past year.

"Well. Lucky, I was under the impression you and Lulu were fairly close." Lucky looked up at the ceiling and let out a frustrated sigh; fairly certain he knew where this was going.

"And Detective," she added, causing Dante to straighten up guiltily. "I realize you spent quite a bit of time with my daughter over the last few years. I find it very difficult to imagine that either of you may have possibly thought you could count on Lulu to be accommodating and fearful without having to explain yourselves, but let me correct both of your serious errors in judgment."

Lulu folded her arms and smirked.

"Sweetheart, don't gloat, it's not good for the soul. Okay," Laura continued. "You boys are going to start talking. Because I am certainly not going to allow you to drag my daughter through this insanity without having some details."

"You don't have a choice, Mrs. Spencer," Dante broke in. Three heads turned in his direction, and he backtracked. "At least not this very second, you don't," he tried, gentling his tone. Laura was…softer, somehow, than Lulu. But underneath it she had the same iron will. And he couldn't afford to alienate anyone else.

"Right now I think it's pretty important we all get out of this building. We need to find someplace that's not connected to either of you. Otherwise, we're shooting ducks."

Lulu blew hair away from her forehead. The walk from the train had been long, and exhausting, and the tote bag she carried hung on her shoulder like a sack of bricks. At least she'd been smart and thrown on flat sneakers when they'd left her apartment earlier. Heels would have been killing her by now. They'd taken 6 trains to reach their destination, and Lucky and Dante remained tight-lipped, except to refuse to allow Lulu to rent a car or use her credit card for anything.

She blew out another breath. The sun beat down hotly, and she picked up the hair off the back of her neck, savoring the coolness for the split second it lasted.

When Dante glanced back, his breath caught. He'd gone from seeing her every day to wondering if he'd ever see her again. Her beauty wasn't something that he'd forgotten. But just being near her seemed to make the pictures he'd carried in his mind for the last six months dull. There were so many small, insignificant things. The way she'd raise her eyebrows sometimes right before he spoke. The way she played with her finger nails when she was nervous. Each time she made a gesture or a face was like a thunderbolt to his heart. The memories raced over him every time she moved. But this was better than any memory. She was there, right in front of him, still walking slowly, her eyes halfway closed. Her head was tilted to the sky, one arm lifting all that hair away from her skin. She was wearing a light pink tank top and dusty looking cargo khaki pants that rolled up to her mid-calves. Her feet were covered with athletic shoes, but Dante chuckled as he realized the shoes had silver and pink sparkles all over them.

He must not have muffled the sound enough, for her eyes snapped open and she faced him. He waited until she got closer, hating the way her peaceful expression hardened when she noticed him.

"Something funny?" she said icily.

He shrugged and looked down at her shoes again. "I never knew you liked pink so much." When her eyes changed, became even frostier, he stepped forward. "Hey, what's -"

"You don't know me at all anymore," she interrupted, and held out a hand to stop him from coming closer.

"Fine," he bit off. A guy couldn't ask one simple question? "Whatever. Look, I don't want to argue with you the entire time I'm here. Especially not about some stupid shoes."

"Great. Then you can leave. And they're not stupid. You're stupid," she retorted. Great, now he was making her speak like a twelve year old. She needed to get a grip here.

"I'm not going anywhere, Lulu. You have to know that. And if you're too goddamn stubborn to even -"

"I'm stubborn?" she was shouting now, waving her arms wildly as the anger grew. "Listen, you arrogant pig, you want to talk about stubborn -"

Laura put an arm around her son as they watched Dante and Lulu fight. "Were they always like this?" she wondered.

Lucky laughed. "God, no," he said, rubbing his chin. "For so long they were in perfect synch, Mom, it was almost spooky. She stood by him when no one else did, he would have done anything for her." He turned to Laura, waited until she looked in his eyes. "He still would, Mom. That's the only reason he's here."

She shook her head. "He needs to be honest with her, Lucky. I can tell there's something going on here that neither of you wants to tell us. He needs to trust that she can handle it. You both do."

A strange expression came over Lucky's face as Dante and Lulu continued to argue, not bothering to keep their voices low. They were in the rural French countryside, and the houses were few and far between. But Lucky realized they had already been overheard, and he grabbed Laura's arm to keep her from turning.

"Listen, Mom, speaking of honesty, there's probably something you should know," he began, speaking quickly. "See, Dante and I had a little help finding this place."

Laura looked at him expectantly, and he closed his eyes, trying to find the words. "Okay," he tried again. "Ah, the thing is, I ran into an old associate of - " he stopped as Lulu shouted again.

"…even think about trying anything again, because I will cut off your -"

"Gumdrop, you have really stopped pulling your punches! I can't tell you how proud that makes me."

As the man's voice registered, Laura's eyes widened. Lucky made a hopeful face, and she shook her head at him, praying for patience. One did not strangle sons whom they hadn't seen in over a year, she told herself.

She turned around slowly. Dante and Lulu stood frozen in the middle of the street. Luke Spencer stood in the open doorway of a rustic looking house set a bit back from the road, a hat perched jauntily on his head, a glass dangling from one hand.

"Hello princess!" he called out, and Lulu raced up to him, throwing her arms around his neck, gripping tightly.

Luke kept one hand on his daughter's back. "Now that's quite a welcome," he said jovially, keeping his voice light. But his face darkened as he looked back at Dante, who stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk up to the house.

Luke turned to Lucky and Laura as Lulu stepped out of his arms. He smiled hugely, and felt his eyes get a little misty as he looked at the woman he'd nearly given up hope on. Laura stood with Lucky, her hands folded in front of her as she waited for Luke to reach her. He walked down the path and stopped just in front of her. She raised an eyebrow when he said nothing. Watching from the doorway, Dante did a double-take. The facial expression was all Lulu. As was the peal of laughter as Luke enveloped Laura in his arms, lifting her off the ground and swinging her in a circle.

"It's an old pal of mine," Luke said vaguely. Lucky rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Dad, I don't care who this guys is, we're just grateful for the help. It'll be good to be off the radar for awhile," Lucky stretched back in an old wooden chair. "Is the house pretty well stocked?"

Luke grinned. "With scotch? Yes. Unfortunately, the man's taste in cigars seems to be about as bad as your mother's."

This time Laura was the one to roll her eyes. "He never lets me forget a thing," she complained. "You buy a man one lousy batch of cigars and your reputation is ruined forever. It wasn't my fault I went to an actual store," she said indignantly, and Lulu couldn't stop the burst of laughter.

"Well, how was I supposed to know he got them from some ruffian off the street?" Laura sat back in her own chair and folded her arms as everyone else around the table tried to control their laughter. Lucky held a hand over his eyes, and his body was shaking. Lulu bit her lip and pretended to cough. And Dante pressed his lips together and looked at her sympathetically, but his eyes twinkled. She couldn't help but give in and smile back.

Luke just sat there and looked at her, smiling the same big grin he had since he'd seen her. He allowed the laughter to continue for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Okay, boys," Luke said seriously. "Let's hear it. You didn't tell me a thing when you asked if I had any contacts over here. And if I'm not mistaken, the ladies are out of the loop too. It's time to lay the cards on the table." He sat back in his chair and took a drink.

Dante blew out a breath. He'd known this moment was coming, but it went against every instinct he had to share the information with them.

"Almost a year ago I received a photo in the mail," he began, watching as Lulu's attention sharpened. "As time went on, they started coming more frequently, and with more disturbing visions. They were of Lulu," he said quietly, speaking to everyone, but looking directly at her. Her eyes gave nothing away, but he could tell she was listening. Laura made a distressed sound, and Luke covered her hand with his on the table.

"The reason that Lulu is being targeted is because of me," he admitted. After all this time it was almost a relief to say it out loud. Telling Lucky had been easier, probably because of the fact that they worked together. Lucky was a cop, and knew how a cop thought, and what the mistakes felt like.

"It goes back to a time when I was a rookie cop guarding a supermodel in New York. There are very few people who know about this. Anyone who does is in danger," he looked at Lulu again, hoping she was beginning to understand.

As he told the story, Lulu fought conflicting emotions. It explained a lot, really. Dante's insistence on turning Michael in, not wanting his brother to go through the after-effects of carrying such a secret forever. And it explained the strange bond Dante had with Brenda. After all, who knew better than Lulu what could happen when you covered up a murder? Still, he had no right not to tell her about the pictures. Didn't you deserve to know when some psycho was stalking you?

"…the worst part was, Brenda was pregnant."

The silence was deafening. Lucky got up for the tea kettle, and gave Dante a bolstering pat on the shoulder. Lulu's face was a picture of shock, and she shoved away from the table.

Dante leaped up to grab her arm as she strode past him. She looked at him in disgust.

"Lulu, not by me," he was determined she not misunderstand. "Look, she was pregnant before I even started guarding her. I saw her get dizzy a few times, but I was just a stupid rookie on an assignment. I never would have figured it out, but after she killed the Balkan's son, everything came out."

Dante tightened his grip on Lulu's arm as he continued. Everyone else was still listening, but speaking only to Lulu now.

"I was never with her that way," he emphasized. "In any way. But I did everything wrong. I should have gone straight to my captain, I should have gotten reassigned. But all of a sudden I was put in this crazy situation. I told myself I was going to fix everything. I told Brenda that too. But I was wrong. The Balkan had resources beyond my imagination. Brenda's baby had been Alexander's, but obviously the Balkan couldn't know that. I told Brenda to put my name down as the father when the time came. It was the best way we could think of to protect her child."

"Brenda was out of the country when she gave birth. She called me, hysterical, about a week after the baby was born." Dante never broke eye contact with Lulu, and they stood together, with his hand locked on her arm. Luke and Laura watched silently, and Laura already had tears welling in her eyes. Luke's jaw tightened as he guessed what had happened.

"Lulu, he -" and now Dante's voice broke, and he took another breath. "He had that baby killed." Lulu went pale, and she shook her head in denial. Dante shook her. "There was no way for the Balkan to know that baby was his grandson. He did it just to avenge Alexander. Brenda gets knocked up by some cop? Fine, kill the cop's son. Let everything settle. Let Brenda and the cop get nice and comfortable, put it all behind them. Then start to terrorize them all over again. Drive Brenda to madness. Threaten the cop's girlfriend. Make their lives miserable. And then kill them all. Don't you see, Lu?" he said urgently.

Lulu was crying now, but unable to look away from Dante. He let go of her arm and paced away and back again.

"Don't you see that he's still coming after you? All because of me, because I love you! Why do you think I let you go to fucking France? You are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and this fucking," he kicked at his chair furiously, sending it flying, "monster ran you out of my life!"

Dante looked at Lulu with an anguished expression. "And it was all because of me," he repeated quietly, before slowly walking away.

Lulu heard a door shut somewhere else in the house and turned blindly into Laura, who had risen as soon as Dante had left. She let her mother hold her while she sobbed, once again crying for the man who she'd never stopped loving. And for the tragic events that he'd only wanted to forget.