"Eeesh!"

"Eeesh!"

"Eeesh!"

Letty breathes out fast with each punch she throws at Jessica as they spar inside the ring. Jessica returns her own counter combination but Letty is quick on her feet, dodging and weaving out of the way.

Letty baits Jessica, smiling as she flashes her mouthguard. "Just call me the Mexican bumblebee!"

She shuffles her feet quickly and moves around the ring, dodging more of Jessica's punches.

"Come on girl, no one can do it like me!" She continues taunting, Jessica.

"Gotta float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" Letty recites one of Mahummad Ali's famous quotes. But just as she finishes the quote, Jessica catches her with a jab then uppercut, sending Letty flying back. She lands sprawled on the mat of the ring.

I chuckle as I step in between the ropes. "Good work Jessie. You stayed patient and waited for the right moment, to make your move." I help her take her head gear off and undo her gloves.

"Thanks, Stella." She breathes heavily. They've started coming to train when they heard Bruiser was working with me, too.

Letty groans, still on the mat. I squat down and undo her head gear as well. "All that fancy footwork isn't going to do you much good, if you don't learn to protect yourself and cover up."

Letty sits up groaning and shakes her head, she pulls her mouth guard out. "I see why head gear was a good idea." She grumbles.

Jessica and I help pull her up. "Nice hit, Jess." Jessica thanks her and we climb out of the ring.

"You ready to do some grappling or you want to sit this one out?" I ask Letty. Before she gets a chance to answer, Amir and Noah approach us. Letty and Noah eye each other, briefly. 

"You want some help, Stella?"

"Sure, we're just going to be working on grappling." I tell them.

"I'll sit this one out." Letty says, walking away towards the water fountain.

"You still haven't talked to her?" Amir asks Noah, punching his shoulder.

"I tried, but she won't return my calls." Noah says, watching Letty as she talks to Bruiser who's lifting weights.

"Well, what do you expect, when you ignored her for two weeks straight?" Jessica glares at him.

"I freaked out, alright?" Noah, runs his hand through his dirty blond hair. "But I've been trying to apologize ever since."

"It might be too little too late, Noah." I tell him as we set up and start sparring on the mat.

Later, as we are packing up our things, I walk over to Letty, slinging my arm around her shoulders. "It's his loss, girl." Noticing she looks sad and not her usual bubbly self. We walk out of the gym and head to our cars.

She shrugs, half heartedly. "Yeah, I guess. I always do this to myself. I fall for the wrong guys all the time. I need to stop being such a stupid, reckless, slut."

"Whoa, whoa! I know you aren't talking about my best friend, like that!" Jessica comes up on her other side. She grips Letty by the shoulders and shakes her firmly.

"You raise that chin of yours, Queen. No man is worth moping over, especially one who doesn't realize how great you are." I watch as Jessica encourages and find myself feeling proud at how Jessica speaks to her, considering her own past.

"And you are definitely not stupid. Or even reckless. Maybe a little slutty..."

I bite back a smile as Letty scowls up at Jessica and sees Jessica giving her a playful smirk. "You're funny as hell, smart and beautiful. There's nothing wrong with letting your inner goddess out the way you do. Most women would kill to have your confidence, Letty."

"Jess is right, girl. You're genuine and that's very rare. You make everyone around you feel good. I know you did when I was the new girl at work. I don't think I ever thanked you for that. Or Michelle or even you Jessica." I smile at them.

"You guys are the best!" Letty reaches over hugging us both. "Let's do something tonight before our trip to the Big Apple."

"I'd love to but I'm doing a girls night with Lucy tonight." I tell them.

"Perfect! Then we can all do something. Don't worry we'll keep it PG...well, PG13 at least." Letty winks at me. "I'll call you guys later." She skips to her car.

"She's so cute." I say smiling.

"She's the best." Jessica watches Letty's car disappear around a corner. "She took me under wing when I got here a little more than a year ago." She laughs quietly, "I was such a mess, more than you probably think I already am."

I shake my head, "I don't think you're a mess."

"I'm sure Sean probably told you but...something happened to me a few years back...it changed me, scarred me. I was practically left for dead and my family..." She wipes a stray tear, "it changed all of us, especially Sean."

"When my cousin told me that Sean was caught and killed, I lost it. I talked to Rio about going home for the funeral." That must have been when I saw her coming out of Rio's office crying. 

"But then my cousin told me weren't doing one, afraid that it would draw Cassian back to us."

"That night on your birthday, my cousin texted me, telling me he was there to take me home, only when I went out to talk to him it was Sean who was waiting for me. As happy as I was to see him, I was so mad at him for putting me through what he did."

"I know you know this, but he really loves you."

She sighs and leans up against her car. "Yeah, I know. My dad never wanted him to be a part of the family business. Our parents pushed us to get good grades, study hard and live a life away from everything. I only met Cassian, because I happened to walk in on a meeting when I came home from school break." She looks out into the distance, lost in memory.

"But Sean, he's always been so smart. Maybe a little rebellious." She chuckles, "I remember when he got that spiderweb tattoo on his neck, my mom passed out. He didn't like them always telling him what to do, who to be. He always tried to do things his own way." I smile picturing him doing everything she's retelling.

"He really likes you, Stella."

I glance over at her. "I like him too." I smile, "Granted, I didn't like him when we were kids, because he was a big bully. But he's matured since then."

Jessica snorts, "maybe a little."

"What's the plan with you two anyway?" She asks. I look over at her, and she observing me carefully. I know she's worried about Sean and where this is going with us and the truth is, I don't really know. It's been a long time since I thought about a future with someone else.

"Um, I don't really know. We're just taking things slow and there's a lot going on with...Jimmy and I have the kids to consider." I smile thinking about the last few weeks, "But they like him and he seems to like them, too."

"Yeah, he's pretty fond of them. I can tell." She agrees. "I'm sure he probably wants to take you home to meet the family. Just be prepared for some major cringeworthy moments, no one does it like us, Irish."

I laugh along with her. "Well, I look forward to it."

<><><><><>

"Oh sure, you do all the fun stuff with Lucy!" Miles complains.

"We literally did the same thing together, Miles. You're just mad because you aren't coming this time." Lucy responds.

"And because you're going to be with the hot girls, Moms works with, too." Kai says. I glance over at him, he doesn't refer to me as moms as much as Lucy or Miles. He catches my stare and looks away smiling.

"Girls aren't beverages, Kai. A cup of tea or coffee is hot, dummy." Lucy chides Kai. To which he rolls his eyes.

"Are you packed?" I ask, Miles.

"We don't leave until tomorrow evening." Miles says plopping down on the couch, looking at his phone.

I walk behind him and snatch his phone. "Go. Pack. Now. You wait until the very last second, Miles...every time. And the flight is leaves in the morning, not in the evening." I correct him.

"What?" Miles jumps up, panicked. "Kai told me we're not leaving until 7!"

"It is seven, brah, but you assumed it was evening." Kai smiles back at him. Kai doesn't have time to react before Miles tackles him on the ground and a fight ensues. I groan and grab water bottle and start spraying them both.

"Knock it off you two."

Someone knocks at the door and Lucy runs to check who it is. She opens the door, welcoming in Letty and Jessica, hugging them both.

The twins scramble off of each other, struggling to get their footing on the wet floor, their shoes squeaking with their effort. They try to use each other as leverage and end up pulling each other down again. Their feet flying in the air and their heads smacking the floor each groaning. 

The girls look at them and laugh. "Aw, they're so cute!" Letty says.

"Sure, if you like immature, cocky, babies." Lucy shakes her head, crossing her arms looking down at the boys as they attempt to get up off the floor again.

"I hate to break it to you, babe, but that's men in general." Jessica tells Lucy.

"Not all men." I point out.

Jessica chuckles, "Sean is no exception, Stella. You guys are still in that doe eye phase, but you'll see..." She grins at me.

His ears must have been burning as his name flashes on my phone when it rings. "Desean Mustard, we were just talking about you?" I smile, putting him on speaker phone.

He laughs into the phone, "That's actually a good one, gorgeous."

Jessica and Letty give me a confused look. Lucy explains to them about my need to call him all sorts of ridiculous nicknames, using his actual name.

"I told you it's a gift." I walk towards the patio. I tell him the girls are here as we are getting ready to go out.

"Is this like the Sex and the City episodes, where you compare your notes on the guys you're sleeping with?"

I chuckle, "Look at you, admitting you watch a well known, romcom. And no, not unless you want me to clump you in with the argument, that all men are immature, cocky, babies."

"Ouch."

"I for one, disagreed. Although, the ten year old you, would definitely fit into that description, no question." I tease.

"Damn, you hold a grudge worse than the Irish. I would know since I'm Irish." He says. I laugh loudly.

"I love that sound." He says after I settle down.

"You're too sweet." I tell him. "How's it going?"

"We think we've got it narrowed down to a few areas he may be in. But I don't want to bore you with the details. I just wanted to tell you to have a safe flight in the morning. Maybe we can meet up... New York really isn't too far from New Jersey." He tells me.

"Aw, are you missing me already, Sean-Sean? It's only been like sixteen hours." I chuckle.

He laughs quietly. "I don't have any problem admitting that I miss you." Someone imitates a cracked whip sound, on his end of the phone. 

"Damn Sunny, you are fuckin' whipped." An Irish accented voice states.

"Who is that?" I ask, smiling.

"My annoying cousin, Tommy." Sean groans into the phone.

"You forgot to add, charming, tall, dark, devilishly handsome, and talented in all the right areas, if you get my drift." I hear his cousin comment.

"Oh, yeah. You're definitely related. Both cocky as hell." I say laughing into the phone.

"She's saucy. I like her already." Tommy says. Sean tells him to leave him alone, and that he left the room for privacy, in the first place.

"Oi, someone's touchy, but fine, I'll leave you be with your lady love." Tommy resigns.

"He's funny, sounds a lot like you, you know. Well, except for the accent." I chuckle.

Letty opens the door to the patio. "Raven! Come on! Let's get going!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" I yell. 

"Damn, I'm that good, huh?" Sean says on his end. I laugh and tell him to be safe before I hang up.

<><><><><>

We spent the night getting manicures and pedicures. Then we went to a sports bar to eat and ended the night at an Escape Room Challenge.

"This was such a great idea. I wish Michelle was with us but she had to be some big shot Dr, in New York." Letty says as we head towards the parking structure.

"We'll that's a good thing because we can meet up with her, when we get there." Jessica responds.

"Did you have fun, Lucy?" Letty asks her, hooking her arm in hers. Lucy smiles at her, telling her she did.

"Shit, if Lucy wasn't with us, we'd probably still be in the room, trying to find our way out." Jessica says. We all laugh, knowing it's true.

"Let's hurry, I hate empty parking lots." Letty says as we scurry up the stairs to get to the second level.

I get my keys ready and walk quickly to the car. But as we approach I slow down and my heart starts to race.

"What the..."Jessica says shocked.

The windows to the car are all broken and the tires slashed. I look around and don't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. I know it's pointless, but I check the glove compartment for a spare gun I keep in there, but I'm not surprised to see it's gone.

"We need to get out of here. Now." I tell them. I pull my switchblade out to have ready.

The girls eye the knife. "What's going on, Stella?" Letty asks, me as we walk back across the parking lot.

A car facing us on the other end turns its headlights on us from a car. It starts to speed towards us. I grab Lucy's hand and we sprint across the other side of the parking lot towards another set of stairs. The car is catching up to us quickly and narrowly misses us as we jump out of its way.

I scramble up on my feet to get to Lucy as the car comes straight for her and push her with me again, barely missing getting hit.

Lucy groans from the impact of landing hard on the cement floor. I pull her up and hurry over to Lucy and Jessica, who are yelling at us to hurry but when they turn to run down the stairs, several men dressed in black, come up the stairs, guns pointed at them. I recognize one of them as the man, who was beating Ginger, outside of the club.

A car door slams and I hear the clicking of shoes walking towards us.

"If it isn't my favorite puttana." 

***********

A/N: This guy is just like a bad penny....someone kill him already hahahaha

Only a few chapters left, surprise reunions coming soon...