"Damn, Stella! Rio's gonna shit a brick!" Letty exclaims when I rush back to the dressing room. I'm breathless from the adrenaline after performing.

"Ask me if I care?" I laugh, panting. "Jessica, I don't know if you saw when we did the group number, but Sean is here."

"Yeah, I know..." Jessica states quietly.

I look at her through the mirror, and her eyes are wide as she looks towards the door. I turn my head to see why she looks so surprised, and then I see Sean and an older man standing next to him.

I saw Sean while I was dancing and was just as surprised to see him in the crowd, but I didn't think he'd come rushing to the back afterward.

His stormy blue eyes move from Jessica to me. He's angry. Livid. Beyond furious.

"Jessie..." The older man moves in front of Sean. Oh, man, this can't be good, and then another guy rushes in as well; he grins at Jessica before he pulls her into a hug.

"Jessie girl! Nice to see ya after all this time. Though I would have liked to get a warning ahead of time not knowing you would be shakin' yer ass up on stage." He says in an Irish accent; this must be Sean's cousin, Tommy. "Ladies, lovely show. Spectacular. Big fan." He winks at me

"Tommy," Sean glares at him.

"What? I said I'd keep my hands to myself, no harm in looking, Sunny." He tells Sean, using his nickname.

"Sean, what are you doing here?" I ask him.

"Gentleman, I'm sorry, but you can't be back here." Rio interrupts, and I see he has Bruiser and another bouncer with him.

"Stella! What the fuck?" Enzo rushes in now, just as angry as Sean, if not more. The other bouncer keeps Enzo from reaching me, but Enzo maneuvers out of his hold then strikes the bouncer, dropping him on the floor.

"Enzo, stop it!" I shout.

Enzo looks over at me, and his fierce eyes zero in on me. "Stella, what the hell are you doing?"

"Dancing," I give him a duh look.

Enzo clenches his jaw. "I mean, why? Why would you do something like this?"

"Now's not the time, Enzo. I need to get changed for my next song. So please go, enjoy the show." I turn back to grab my bag.

"Are you fucking serious?" Enzo grips me by the arms, and Sean grabs one of Enzo's hands.

"Take your hands off of her, Romano," Sean says quietly.

"Romano?" The older man questions, "You Cristians' boy?"

Enzo looks over at the older gentleman, "Cristian is my Uncle," and then he turns back to Sean, "You're going to lose your favorite hand if you don't remove it."

"Sunny, let go of him." The older man demands, and I realize there's a slight resemblance to Sean; this must be his father. I understand now why Sean is so upset. He walks closer to us and eyes me carefully before focusing on Enzo.

Way to make a first impression, Stella.

"Declan Malone," He extends his hand out to Enzo. "I'm supposed to be meeting with Cristian tomorrow; I assume you'll be with him." Enzo looks down at his hand before letting me go and shakes Declan's hand.

"So you're the famous Italian assassin, Furia?" Tommy steps up to Enzo, looking him over like he doesn't believe Enzo is as deadly as he's heard. "I heard a lass took your top spot in kills. Is that true?" He asks as he shakes Enzo's hand, too.

Enzo snorts, "She wishes, but it looks like she traded her daggers and guns for dancing shoes and poles instead." He looks back at me, still angry.

Tommy and Declan turn their attention to me, then back at Enzo, then at me again. "Holy Shit! You're sleeping with the Angel of Death, Sunny?" Tommy exclaims.

Declan smacks Tommy on the back of his head, and Tommy winces, rubbing the back of his head.

"Kills? Angel of Death?" Letty questions, looking at me, "I knew you didn't know how to handle yourself the way you do for no reason. And for real, how many freaking names do you have, girl?"

"Whoa, is something going on?" Victoria and Destiny walk in next and are surprised by all the other people in the room.

Rio tells them to get changed in the closet, and they hurry off without questioning him further.

"Baby, you're on, now," Rio announces, and Jessica attempts to rush out of the room, but both Sean and her dad stop her.

"You're not going back out there," Sean says through his teeth.

"I am, and you can't stop me. You knew this is what I've been doing, don't act so surprised or angry about it now. I'm not a damn child." Jessica glares up at him defiantly.

"You're my child." Declan states.

"Then don't watch or leave." Jessica responds and brushes past them. The room is filled with tension as we watch her walk out.

"Letty, you're on after. So, don't waste time getting ready." Rio states. Letty waves him off, and he glares at the back of her head.

"Okay, well, now you guys really need to go. We need to change, and the other girls are using the closet, so..." I prompt the guys.

"You can't go back out there, either, Stella," Sean tells me. I can see he's trying to sound calm, but his facial features give him away.

"He's right; there's no way in hell you're going back on," Enzo says, seriously.

"Is there a problem?" JP's deep voice startles us all as he stands in the doorway, but his dark eyes are only on me. I look over his dark charcoal suit and the black dress shirt that he's wearing. Of course, he has to look amazing.

"No, problem Johnny. Everyone was headed out." Rio states firmly, and I snap out of my staring contest with him, turning back to the mirror to fix my makeup, but watch him through the mirror.

"Johnny Santiago," Declan walks toward JP. "It's good to meet you in person. I'm grateful for the consideration and invitation you extended to us tonight and the gathering next week. I am interested in investing in the club. Well, as long as my daughter doesn't work here." Declan states as he shakes JP's hand.

"I don't get involved in the personnel department of the clubs I own. I have competent employees, like Rio, here, who are fully capable of doing such tasks." JP gestures to Rio, who seems proud to be acknowledged.

Declan begins to converses with JP, and I feel both Sean and Enzo's eyes on me as I gather my next outfit and walk in the closet after Victoria and Destiny come out dressed in their new outfits.

When I walk back out, Baby, aka Jessica, walks in the room after her song, and Letty slips out.

"Jessie, we need to talk. At least consider it for your poor mother, darling." Declan stands behind Jessica, and she looks at him through the reflection of the mirror.

"Fine, I'll call you tomorrow. I'll get the number from Sean." Jessica tells him; she turns around and hugs him, "I promise, Dad. I'll call you and Mom tomorrow."

Declan kisses her head and turns to walk out but stops to address JP once more. "We will see you at the gathering." 

JP inclines his head in acknowledgment, and Declan turns to look at me before focusing on Sean. "Sunny, Uncle Owen and I are heading out; stay if you'd like." He walks out—Tommy eyes JP before he nods at him as he follows Declan out.

Enzo turns back to me. "Stella, you can't be serious about doing this?"

"I've been doing it a lot longer than just tonight, Enzo."

"But you don't need to do it anymore, Stels." Sean petitions.

"I know I don't have to," I point out, feeling irritated that they're both ganging up on me now. I comb out my hair, and I watch through the mirror as JP talks with Rio in Spanish about some of the things he wants to be done differently for tomorrow, and they look at something on a tablet Rio is holding.

When did he learn Spanish?

Enzo pushes himself away from one of the stations he is leaning against and blocks my view.

"All I'm saying is, you're meant for more than this, Stella."

"Exactly." Sean agrees, which only makes me angrier.

"You think I don't know that?" I raise my voice. "Do you know how many jobs you can get that pay decent where you don't need to give them details on your name and social security number? In case you both forgot, there was a fucking bounty on my head, so yeah, I did something I never thought I'd do, but I did it out of survival."

I look down at my makeup bag, not wanting to lose it in front of everyone. "You guys can leave. You don't have to stay." I remind them matter a factly.

"John Paul, come on; say something to her. I know you're not okay with this." Enzo pleads, and I look up through the mirror and see Sean look back at me with his eyes narrowed.

"John Paul?" Sean looks at John Paul then back at me before he faces JP once again. "I thought your name was Johnny." 

He knows JP is alive, but he had no idea John Paul and Johnny Santiago are the same person; I didn't get a chance to explain that detail to him, with everything else that's been going on, but at this point, I'm so irritated that I don't care that Sean looks at me with betrayal on his face.

"Don't give me that look, Sean. You sent me into a panic attack by faking your own death, and it appears John Paul did the same thing and now goes by Johnny Santiago."

"I didn't fake shit; I did get shot," John Paul states calmly, but I know he's angry, "You assumed I was dead."

I glare back at him through the mirror, "Assumed?" I turn around to face him. "Assumed? You fucking dropped off the face of the earth! Even though I saw you get shot, it didn't stop me from looking for you and found nothing!" I turn back around angrily as I fix my hair, but I can see Sean's sharp gaze on me from my peripheral vision. I pause and turn around when I see Sean walks towards JP.

"I've heard a lot about you, John Paul. It's good to meet you finally." Sean holds his hand out to JP.

JP shakes his hand. "You must be the 'someone else,' " Stella told mentioned. You're a lucky man."

"My name is Sean Malone. And yes, I know how lucky I am to be with Stella. I'm not an idiot." Sean states arrogantly. They glare at each other as their grip on each other's hands is taking longer than I'd like.

Sean eventually turns to me, "Stella, come on, let's get out of here."

I shake my head at him through the reflection. "I'm not leaving." We glare at each other, both unwilling to back down.

"John Paul, don't let her do this." Enzo goes back to beating a dead horse.

"Let me?" I repeat, furious, my attention now on Enzo.

"You know what I mean, Stella." Enzo groans but then turns to JP again, "Do something, say something!" He almost begs JP, and I never thought I'd see the day that that would happen.

Great, if anyone is going to make a scene, it's John Paul. 

I square my shoulders as he walks closer to us, prepared to fight with all of them if I have to; I try to control my breathing as JP walks directly up to me even though my pulse starts to accelerate.

He lifts his hand and tucks some hair behind my ear, and his fingers slightly graze my jawline, my mouth slightly opens unconsciously, but then he drops his hand and shrugs, one shoulder, "It's her life and her choice. She can stay if she wants or she can leave. Some people are expendable, right, Stella?"

I blink at him as I let his words register in my head; he looks back at me with no emotion in his eyes, but I know he's angry to be in the same room as Sean. I watch him carefully, wondering where he's going with this.

"I'm sure someone can replace her in the lineup, where no one would notice, like she was never there, to begin with, right Rio?" JP asks, even though he keeps looking at me.

What?

Rio looks at me for a moment and opens his mouth before he looks at the back of JP's head. "Yes, I'm sure we can make it happen." He responds hesitantly.

"Good." JP walks out without saying anything else or even looking back, and Rio follows, nearly bumping into Letty, who was coming back from the bathroom.

What just happened? I notice I'm breathing heavily, and I feel hot from the anger coursing through me.

That selfish, cocky son of a bitch!

Did he say I was expendable? Replaceable?

Eva comes in hurriedly, "Raven, you're up next, Mija." I hurry towards the door, but I'm pulled back harshly by Sean.

"Don't," I say through my teeth, and by the look, I'm giving him, he knows not to push it any further, as does Enzo when I look at him, too.

I yank my arm out of Sean's grip and turn on my heel, and head to the stage. The DJ announces my name, and the crowd cheers; I take some deep breaths to calm myself down.

I'm going to remind him how replaceable I am.

~~~~~

These two (SMH!) They sure know how to get under each other's skin!! Hahaha!

Don't forget to comment, vote and share!

Xoxo

LJ Rae ;)