The club isn't hard to find with it's huge La Ombra neon sign, blaring brightly. I called Sean on the way over, but he didn't answer. I left him a message, letting him know I'm in New York and heading for a work meeting.  

As I walk to the entrance, a large van pulls up to the curb. Rio, Letty, Jessica, Victoria, Destiny and Eva climb out as well as Bruiser and Roman.

"Raven!" Letty runs to me, engulfing me in a hug. Jessica scurries over to me in her heels and hugs me too. They tell me how awesome the private jet was and are excited to be in New York.

Rio walks over to me and holds my chin, inspecting the bruised cheek I have, from the attack yesterday. "I'm glad you're okay. It looks like I owe your friends a thank you for keeping you three safe." Eva hugs me, kissing my cheek, whispering she's glad I'm ok.

"Hi, Stella." Victoria walks over, tentatively. I'm surprised she and Destiny are here, but greet her, giving her a hug too.

"I heard about you guys getting attacked. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Joey and Enzo were the ones who saved us. They're the ones who brought me here. And Annalisa is with them" I tell her. She hugs me again, telling me how happy she is that they're all ok.

"It's crazy, right? Being here, in New York again." She asks. 

"Surprisingly, not really. " I look around. "It feels like I'm coming home after a really, really, long vacation or something.

"Ladies!" Rio grabs our attention. "Let's head inside."

We are met inside by a tall, man in a dark grey suit. His dark brown straight hair is styled away from his face. He smiles and greets us in Italian, but when he looks at me, he stops, making his way towards me. I step back slightly at how fast he's moving, preparing to stop him, if needed.

"It's you."

I narrow my eyes at him and then look around as everyone is watching with curiosity, while I'm confused. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"No, no." He steps back a little, "I'm sorry, forgive me. We've been looking for you for a long time and then he thought he found you in a club a while back. When I went to see if it was you, you had left, disappeared. And here you are...wait, it was you I saw practicing at After Dark, wasn't it? Are you one of the dancers?" He looks concerned. 

My heart is racing. "You've been looking for me? Who are you?"

He extends his hand out, "My name is Adonis Bertolino, but everyone calls me Donny." I take his hand and he places a kiss on the back of my hand. His dark eyes meet mine, "And the boss has been looking for you, well, was before...it's a long story," He stops and sighs deeply, "but you are Stella Bracco, yes?"

Rio steps in, possibly feeling protective, considering what happened yesterday. "This is our lead dancer, her stage name is Raven, but her name is Stella Toretto. Perhaps, you have her mistaken with someone else?"

Adonis looks back at me, "Toretto?" His surprise turns into a smile. "No, there's no mistake then. We need talk later." He tells me as he takes another step back, "Ladies if you'll follow me, I'll show you the stages, the dressing room and the rest of the facility." He smiles at me before he guides us around the place.

I follow behind everyone, taking in the features of the club. The club itself is huge, at least twice the size of the one in Miami. The dressing room is also larger and filled with all sorts of outfits. The stage for the DJ is state of the art, with fancy turntable equipment.

But my mind keeps wandering to his words and who his "boss" is. I'm probably walking into a damn trap after everything and it's Jimmy who's been looking for me or even Gio. 

Adonis proceeds to show us the sitting area, the private rooms and the bar. He runs through the schedule and the hours the club will have, while it's in its first month. He speaks to Eva and myself about the hiring process and auditions. He shows us a stack of resumes we will need to go through.

He informs us we will be performing for a small group by next week and then a larger one the next day.

"Johnny wanted a more intimate atmosphere for the first night. There will only be around 40 guests or so and then around 100 the next night." He tells us. The girls look uneasy after hearing the numbers.

"Shit, 40 guests is a huge night for us, but 100?" Letty whispers next to me. "We'll be fine." I assure her, even though it does seem daunting. 

Adonis informs us, there will be a combination of investors, shareholders and various associates, in attendance. They want a practice run of what a couple of full night runs will look like.

Afterwards, he hands Eva and Rio a copy of the policies of the clubs to review, and modify if needed. I pull Rio off to the side, "Why did you bring Tori and Destiny to something like this? It would have been better to bring a couple of the more seasoned girls."

"You're right, but I didn't know the Venue was this large and that so much would be put into these trial runs. I assumed the venue would be similar to After Dark and they could build confidence, performing in front of smaller crowds..." Rio says, and I see he looks worried. "But it's too late now, let's just hope they step up to the challenge."

I look over at Victoria and Destiny, hoping the same, but the look of apprehension, on both of their faces, has a knot growing in my stomach.

"Raven come with us in the van." Letty grabs my hand, pulling me towards the van. "There's plenty of room."

"But then you'll have to drive me all the way back here, after dinner." I protest.

Bruiser eases my mind, telling me it's not that far and that he'll drive me back himself. I smile, and climb into the van with the girls.

We spend the drive that isn't very long at all, talking about which songs they each want to do for their solo performances. The drive is about twenty minutes from the Club and my eyes widen as we come to a large iron gate.

"I know right?" Jessica exclaims, noticing my shock.

"When we first pulled up, I felt like we were going to Bruce Wayne's house or something." Letty comments.

"Have you met him, yet?" I ask as we drive up the paved driveway. A large water fountain comes to view in the middle of the driveway. The stone structure is a modern cathedral style home. A smaller version of the home is situated towards the back of the main home.

"No, he was out on business when we got here, but they gave us a tour and then we lounged until it was time to go." Victoria tells me.

We climb out of the van and a huge dog, comes barreling towards us from the side of the house. The girls scream and huddle together.

Out of instinct, I let out a loud whistle and the dog skids to a stop in front of me. He pants looking at me. He reminds me of Timo's Cane Corso dogs, but he's not as tall or as wide. I think he's an American Straffordshire Terrier, but I'm not sure.

I move slowly towards him. I position my fist near his face and he leans in to sniff and then he licks my hand. I reach around and scratch his ears and under his chin.

"Topo!" Adonis shouts and the dog runs towards him. "I'm sorry ladies, he's still in training. He was being worked with out back and made run for it. Come on in." He holds on to the collar of the dog named Topo. I smile thinking about Topo and can't wait to tell him I met a dog with his name.

We walk into the large foyer and several of the men inside the house, stop to look at us. They're all dressed alike in custom Italian suits. I feel like I've stepped back into time, walking into Timo's house. I notice a few men stare at me, with their mouths open, some even point at me.

As we walk continue walking in and a lot of hushed whispering is going on, several glances thrown my way. I catch the name being whispered and my heart picks up, the staring seems to get worse as we walk in further . 

"Okay, they were not acting like this earlier." Letty says. "They seem to think your name is Regina?" 

I don't want to to her tell her in Italian it means Queen, because it makes no sense why they would be referring to me as such and my breathing is starting to accelerate as my heart pounds in my ears.

One of the men, walks up to me. He holds me by the shoulders and kisses both sides of my face, greeting me and if I'm not mistaken, with tears in his eyes. 

"Signorina Bracco," I look back at him bewildered, "Probablimente non si ricorda di me, ma ero una delle guardie di stanza fuori dalla tua stanza d'ospedale, mi chiamo Angelo." I'm shocked, then confused again, but he hugs me before I can form words. (Miss Bracco, you probably don't remember me, but I was one of the guards stationed outside of your hospital room. My name is Angelo.)

There's a knock at the door and Adonis moves quickly to answer it. He greets someone in Italian and steps to the side as they walk in and I run towards them.

"Cristian!" 

He makes a oomph sound as I slam into him. He hugs me back firmly. He wipes my tears. "I know I'm not as good looking as Enzo, but damn I'm uglier than I thought, if I bring you to tears, piccola." He kisses my forehead.

"Stop it!" I scold him, chuckling as I hug him again. "What are you doing here?"

"Stella?" I hear Annalisa's voice behind him. Enzo, Joey, Topo and Sam are with here as well.

"What are you doing here?" Enzo walks towards me, worried.

"Me? I was wondering the same thing about you guys."

"We're here to meet Don Santiago." Cristian informs me.

We all turn when we hear a woman gasp behind us. I look back towards the foyer and can't believe my eyes. 

Isabella is walking slowly towards us. Her tear filled eyes spilling over as she looks at me. I hear the girls murmuring, probably noticing the resemblance between us. She's holding a small, dark haired boy, on her hip. He looks back at me and then shyly hides his face in Isabella's chest. 

She sets him down and runs towards me. "Mamma!" I sob as I hug her. She cries and pulls away, looking at me then hugs me again. She runs her hands over my face and hair, in shock as much as I am.

I look back at Enzo and Cristian, "What is going on?" My voice thick with emotion. My mind and heart are racing.

"There's too much to explain, Signorina." Adonis steps in. "But there's something you need to know, right now, more than anything—"

He's cut off as the front door opens again and the surprises keep coming. Santino walks in and his jaw falls open and behind him is Dean Esposito.

"Dean?" Victoria steps forward, now. Dean is just as surprised when he sees us all standing, staring back at them.

Annalisa, noticing Victoria for the first time, starts making her way towards her before Joey stops her. "What the hell is she doing here?" Victoria steps back behind the girls. 

This is too much.

"Stellina mia, too much to tell, but few of us saved. Timo's father, your grandfather send help. There was shootings, and explosions but we made it. We spend time in Italy, for a couple years to recover and hide from Gio." She holds my face and then hugs me. "We look for you but not find you, but he no stop until he find you. But...he's different now..." She glances at Adonis.

"Who?"

The door opens again and the little darker haired boy runs towards the door. "Pa! Pa!" I watch as he clings onto the leg of a tall man. He has a full beard and his long hair is pulled back into a knot at the base of his neck. His eyes are hidden behind dark aviators and I realize he's the same man, who was watching me at the club the night of my birthday.

A beautiful blonde with short hair walks in, standing next to him. She smiles at us as she slides her arm in his. He looks down at her smiling, before addressing Adonis in Italian.

"I see our guests have all arrived simultaneously, please see them to the dining hall." His voice is very deep and gravelly. My heart is slamming against my chest, painfully.

The little boy tugs on his pant leg, trying to get his attention. "Papa!" He bends down and picks up the little boy. The little boy pulls off the man's glasses to put them on his own face. My breathing is fast and shallow. I'm not sure if the distressed sound came from me or someone else.

It's JP.

Mixtures of gasps, shouts, and swearing erupt from Enzo and Cristian's group, but it's all muffled, by the loud thumping of my heart and the loud ringing in my ears. My vision blurs at the edges before I feel myself swaying.

"Stella!"

~~~~~~

Dun, dun, dun....

Well, that's it. The second book is complete! I hope you enjoyed it! Please vote and comment if you liked the story!

But it's not over...the third book is in the works!

Stay tuned....