Whisper-
"You seem awfully jumpy, care to tell an old man what's keeping you?" Luke Spencer raised an eyebrow at his son in law, at this point the couple had been married for three months and Lulu had settled into the business. Johnny had guilt even though he was the one that had supported her decision, the truth was he did think it was good for them but …what about her family? He didn't want his wife to feel the pain that he did whenever someone asked him what his line of work was. Johnny had fought a tough battle keeping her safe and out of harm's way, was he just going backwards? Was he allowing his sister to control his marriage? Lulu had to be his first priority, not his family.
"Please don't hate me." Johnny glanced over at Luke, earning an intrigued chuckle.
"That's never a good start to a conversation." Luke noted, pouring both of them a glass of Scotch.
"I may have gotten your daughter involved in my …line of work." Johnny winced as the words came out of her mouth.
"I'm not surprised, she's just like her old man. I used to be involved in the mob, before handing everything over to Sonny. Don't worry about it, Lulu told me about it. You don't have to feel guilty about anything, because it was her decision." Luke simply shrugged, sliding a glass towards him.
"You were?" Johnny asked.
"Yeah, of course. It's textbook. I grew up in an abusive household, I wanted to get me and my sister out as soon as possible…what better way to do that? It wasn't ideal but it got the job done. I got to live the lifestyle I wanted and provide for my family. If that's what Lulu wants to do, who am I to judge her? You're not putting her in any more danger than she's in just walking down the street. Relax kid, you're doing fine. Now, have a drink with me." Luke softly chuckled, clinking his glass against Johnny's as he obliged and took a swig of Scotch.
"You're right, I just worry about this sudden interest Claudia has taken. I know my sister, she's never this nice." Johnny nodded, trying to put worry in the back of his mind. Before Luke could answer his cell phone buzzed, fishing it out of his pocket he saw it was Lulu.
"Hey baby, are you okay?" Johnny answered, hoping she was.
"If you ever call me baby again, I might kill you. Lulu's in the hospital, Claudia didn't want you to know but…that's your wife." Ric Lansing's voice filled the line, dread coming over Johnny's body.
"This was Claudia's fault. Wasn't it? I'll know if you're lying to me, Lansing." Johnny took on a different tone, almost growling at him.
"If it were me, I wouldn't have let Lulu go in there alone. I know that she knew the risks but, the deal was for Lulu never to be alone in this. Claudia definitely knew what she was doing." Ric answered without any hesitation.
"That's all I needed to know, thank you Lansing. Is Lulu stable?" Johnny sighed, he should have seen this coming.
"Yeah, she's just sleeping. Carly's in there with her right now, she's doing good considering the building she was in blew up." When Ric said that, Johnny's blood boiled.
"You can tell my sister that she's dead to me." With that statement Johnny hung up the phone, angrily shaking his head.
"What about my cupcake?" Luke asked, patiently.
"You are a lot calmer than I am." Johnny noted.
"My daughter's been through a lot and always came out on top. I expect nothing less." Luke shrugged, he couldn't allow himself to get swept up in emotions if things weren't life or death.
"Lansing said that she's sleeping, Carly is with her. The building that she was in was triggered to blow up. I can never forgive my sister for that. Ever." Johnny glanced down at the bar, feeling more angry than he'd ever felt before.
"Karma always comes around, Young Zacchara. I'm not saying I want anything to happen to your sister or that I would do anything, I'm just saying the universe always acts accordingly. Go see my daughter, she needs you. Call me if you two need anything." Johnny didn't know how Luke was so calm about this because Johnny was freaking out.
"Okay yeah, I need to go to the hospital. Thanks Luke, I'll call you later." Johnny nodded his head distracted, hurrying out of The Haunted Star and driving to the hospital. Carly and Johnny nearly ran each other down on Johnny's way off the elevator, they both just stepped back to look at each other.
"I'm sorry, I know you must hate-" Johnny started but Carly held one hand up, stopping him from speaking.
"This was Claudia, not you. Don't bother apologizing because you didn't hurt my cousin, she did. Go see your wife." Carly sighed, she wasn't going to have any arguments.
"Okay." Was all Johnny could think of to say, Johnny walked into the room Lulu was inside and looked over her features.
"I knew there was a reason she was being nice to me, always trying to get rid of me." Lulu's voice was barely above a whisper, Johnny moved to stroke her hair.
"I should have seen through her, I was just so happy to have you in both of my worlds that I thought everything would just all work out." Johnny frowned as Lulu scooted over, patting the empty spot beside her. Johnny quickly obliged and she threw the cover over both of them, Johnny kissed her head.
"It's not on you, Johnny." Lulu disagrees with him, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Johnny tenderly asked her.
"Yes, it is. I'll just have to be more cautious and careful, that's all." Lulu leaned up to kiss him, Johnny returned the kiss caressing her face.
"I'll be with you all the time, because that was what all three of us agreed on. You wouldn't be alone. I've been waiting for you my whole life, I'm not losing you now." Johnny pressed Lulu's body closer against his, allowing himself to cuddle into her.
"You're not going to, I promise."
