"So what did my innate, killer skills win you, out of this bet?" Tej asks me as he spoons himself some ice cream that we are all enjoying around the kitchen island.

"Apparently, Enzo took it upon himself to bet a nice chunk of money in my behalf," I inform him as I nudge Enzo who's sitting on my other side. 

Enzo laughs. "The funniest part out of all of this is, Mateo and David think JP's going to give them the ax now."

"Well, lucky for them, I'm not someone who likes to be tied down in one spot," Tej tells him. 

"I've never not known you to be wrong when you actually listen to your gut, Stella. And when you vouch for someone, you're right on the money," Enzo takes my spoon and eats some of my ice cream. 

"Why don't you ever get your own?" I laugh as I take my back my spoon.

"Why? You're literally sitting right next to me," He says with his mouthful and then looks over at Tej. "Stella and I have shared practically everything since we were five. Sure, there was a nine year gap, followed by another three and half years, but see," Enzo takes the spoon again, and another bite of ice cream. "It's like we were never apart!" He grins widely.

"Ooh, ice cream!" Annalisa comes in dressed in a beautiful sequined pale pink gown and takes my spoon after I took it back from Enzo and helps herself, too. The guys around me laugh.  

"Babe, we are literally headed on our way to go eat," Joey says as he walk in after her in a nice suit and tie. 

"Annalisa, you are so gorgeous," Enzo comments as he looks over her beautiful dress.

"Thank you Enzo," She gives him one of her dazzling smiles. "See Joey, some people are appreciative of the way I look, rather than focused on how much I'm eating," Annalisa sticks her tongue out at Joey. 

Joey takes a deep breath and then glares at Enzo. "He'll just say whatever he can to make me look bad."  

"No, I only speak the truth," Enzo winks at Annalisa, which causes Joey to mutter under his breath. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't met. I'm Annalisa Salvatore," She extends her hand out to Tej. The smile on Joey's face when he hears her introduce herself with his name is adorable.

Tej takes her hand and places a kiss on her hand. "Enchanted. And yes, I agree with my new friend Enzo here, you are stunning." 

"Oh, you're cute," Annalisa smiles back at him, and Joey pulls her back away from Tej and she laughs. "Excuse me, my husband is a tad territorial," She pinches Joey's cheek, then smacks him lightly. 

"Where are you two off to looking so fancy?" I ask as I see Sean walking back in after he took a call from his father out in the terrace. We haven't had a chance to talk yet and I know he's getting imatient.

"The cancer benefit," Annalisa informs us. 

"Dammit! JP purposely left early so I wouldn't hound him on getting an invite," Enzo exclaims, "Sneaky bastard." And then his eyes light up, and I can see a literal light bulb turn on above his head. 

"You can get us in though right, Anna? Please?" Enzo begs. 

"I'm out. I don't want to know about this when JP loses his shit over it," Joey says as he walks out of the kitchen. 

"Oh, come on, last time it was so packed. I bet he won't even notice us," Enzo claims. 

"Sure," Annalisa shrugs. "Just give them my name when you come, I'll put down extra spots incase you want to bring Topo or Santino. See you there," She winks at us before she walks out after Joey.

Enzo stands, looking at me; he claps and rubs his hands. "Alright, time to get all dolled up." 

"Stella looks fine," Sean says.

"I was talking about me, Seanbean," Enzo grins and begins walking out of the kitchen.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I wore a suit, today," Tej says. 

"Come get me at the house," I say following them out of the kitchen to round up the kids and take them home with me.

Sean grabs my arm and pulls me back into the kitchen. "Wait. Please Stella, we need to talk. I've been going crazy the last few days not being able to talk to you or see you since the pool party."

"Sean, I'm sorry; but you can't just show up like you did and expect me to drop everything. This is part of the problem with us. And...I haven't been honest with you Sean," It's now or never and I need to come clean with him. "Since being here, JP and I, we...kissed...more than once."

I watch as a range of emotions flicker across Seans face. He turns from me and then walks back to me. "You know what? I don't care."

"What?"

"I'm fighting for you, Stella, for us. Don't you get that?" Sean pleads with me. "But I'm not an idiot. I know you still have feelings for him, too. And I can't imagine how confusing and overwhelmed you feel, but Stels," He holds both of my hands in his. "He can't give you what you need. He already bailed on you once, how do you know he won't do it again?" 

And with those words, the lingering doubts and fears I have over JP hit me. I gasp when I see JP standing in the entrance of the kitchen. 

Sean turns around seeing my eyes are focused behind him.

"JP, I thought you left already?" I ask, noticing he's not dressed to go to the benefit. His dark eyes move from Sean to me.

"I had to take care of something first, and I wanted to say goodnight to the kids since I won't see them until next week when I have them," He says. "I didn't mean to interrupt." He turns away. Seeing him standing there, gives me the courage to do what I need to. I turn to Sean, and hold his hands. 

"You're right, Sean. I still have feelings for JP and I also care about you. And yes, JP left me once before and a part of me does wonder if he would do something like that again. But the truth is Sean, I gave my heart to him a long time ago," My eyes fill with tears as I watch his own eyes fill. "My heart only beats for him. And I'm so sorry; I never meant to hurt you." 

Sean looks at our hands and then back at me as he takes in a deep breath. "I never stood a chance, did I?" 

"Sean---" 

He cuts me off. "Goodbye, Stella." He lets my hands go and walks out of the kitchen quickly. The pain I feel for hurting him is overwhelming and I have a hard time catching my breath. 

"Hey, why was Sean in such a hurry?" Enzo says and then hurries over to me when he sees I'm crying. "What happened?"

"I told Sean I still love JP; I hurt him," I tell him through my tears. Enzo wraps his arms around me. 

"He'll be okay, Stella." 

He pulls away after a few moments. "Let's skip the benefit. We can hang out and watch some bad TV and eat more ice cream. I'll order pizza," He wipes my face and I chuckle. 

"No," I shake my head. "I need to see JP."

"He left." 

"What?" I ask wiping my eyes. 

"He said he was going to get ready at his penthouse in the city, since it was close to the gala." Enzo informs me. 

"I need to talk to him." 

"Okay, well let's head back to your house then, so you can get ready." 

Back at the house, I rush into my room and head straight for the closet and pull out a few dresses to try on. I walk towards the bed to lay them out but stop when I see what's sitting on the bed.

It's a Columbia hoodie. 

On top of the sweater is the bracelet I thought I lost, the one I took from JP when he was in the hospital. My fingers trace over the the bracelet and then the hoodie. I pick up the small note that's under the bracelet with my name on it. 

Stella, 

I'm sitting here in the empty house writing this note, still not sure if it's the right thing to do. My mind is racing with thoughts and regrets.

All I ever wanted since the moment I met you was to see you happy, I want that more than anything in the world, more than I want it for myself; to see the beautiful smile on your face every day. 

But I know I ruined everything with how I betrayed you.

Watching you be with someone else is more painful than I thought it would be; I know it's nowhere near the pain I caused you, but I'm not as strong as you. 

Sean is the better man. He deserves your love and your heart; I know he will never cause you pain or do anything to question his love for you.

I was and still am selfish, and I'm sorry, but I won't stand in the way of your happiness. 

This sweater won't replace the old one, or the memories you had with it, but maybe that's a good thing. 

I will always look back on the love we shared for those few months when we were more than friends as the best moments of my life because I know what we had was real. 

John Paul

I set the note down, wiping at my eyes and pick up the sweater. I bring it up to my face and inhale deeply; it has JP's scent. It's faint, but it's there. He wore it even if it was just for a moment, but I can smell him.

I place the sweater back on the bed and pick up my phone to call him but he doesn't answer. I hurry and rush to the bathroom to start getting ready. 

He needs to know, I choose him. It's always been him. 

Once I'm finished getting ready, I take one last look at myself and then head to the main floor of the house. 

"Holy smokes moms!" Kai says.

"Oh mom, you're so beautiful," Lucy says. I smile at them both, thanking them. 

"Here I thought, we'd be able to blend in but now, I'm sure all eyes are going to be on us no doubt," Enzo says as he smiles at me. 

"Stella could never blend in," Tej comments and I blush at all the attention. As I tell the kids and my mom goodnight, Enzo ensures the house is covered with security and then tells the driver the address of the benefit. 

"Are you carrying, Stella?" Enzo asks me. I show him my garter that holds a couple of knifes on my thigh. He clears his throat as Tej's eyes linger on the high slit of my dress and he moves the material of the dress over my exposed leg, making me laugh.

"Are you?" I ask Enzo, even though I know he is. He nods and pulls out two guns from his back, and one on his angle along with a couple of knives. 

Tej and Enzo spend the rest of the drive talking about the different places they've visited and compare their likes and dislikes on any places they've both been to. I fidget as I think about seeing JP, hoping he'll be happy to see me.

The venue is packed with people milling around outside and near the entrance. There is a lot of security from what we can see. 

As we pile out of the SUV, Enzo lets the driver know he'll call him when we're ready to head home and Nicky gets out with us.

Enzo gives Annalisa's name at the door and they let us in without issue. People are lingering in the hallway, but there's are large banquet room straight ahead where jazz music is drifting towards us. 

"I don't know about you, but I'm happy they're not doing any of those damn masks again," Enzo says. 

I'm about to agree with him when I hear someone call out for me. I turn around scanning over the crowd and then I see Michelle. She runs towards me and Enzo tenses up next to me. 

"It's okay, Enzo, she's a friend," I squeeze his hand. 

"Holy shit, girl! I wasn't sure if it was you, I love your hair like this. The curls look great but this is just so different." She tells me as she hugs me then runs her fingers through my hair. 

"You look amazing, Michelle," I tell her. "I'm glad I ran into you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get together when the girls where here."

"Don't sweat it, I know you had a lot of things going on," She looks around the guys and smiles at Tej. 

"Oh, Enzo, this is my friend Michelle, she was a dancer down in Miami before she came up to finish her schooling to be a Dr."

"Pleasure to meet you, Michelle," He holds her hand and kisses it. 

"And you remember Tej."

"Yes, it's good to see you again," She smiles again before she turns back to me."The hospital I work at is one of the sponsors for the benefit tonight. And the main benefactor is supposed to be here, too. Some big shot named, Santiago," She leans in. "I'm sure he's just like the rest of these pompous assholes that have way too much money than they know what to do with." 

"Oh, that's definitely Johnny Santiago, alright, a pompous asshole," Enzo grins and I elbow him. 

"You guys know him?" Michelle asks noticing the interaction. 

"It's a long story but I thought the girls would have told you about it when we first got here..."

Then Michelle's eyes widen. "Wait, you're saying he's the same one--your ex-fiancé? I remember them saying something about him but I didn't put the names together until just now." Michelle's face scrunches up."That must be interesting since you're with Sean." 

"More like awkward as hell," Enzo once again puts in his two cents. "But Sean and Stella aren't together anymore." 

Both Michelle and Tej look at me. "Thanks Enzo," I mutter before I tell them I broke up with Sean.

"That explains why he left the Villa in such a rush," Tej states, he gives me a sympathetic smile and squeezes my arm. 

"Well, shall we go so see how fast we can get the vein on JP's forehead to bulge out?" Enzo asks as he holds his arm out to me. Tej holds his arm out to Michelle and she takes it smiling. 

We walk towards the opening of the banquet hall and stop as we take in the scenery. Nicky mentions he'll stay near the entrance but will be keeping an eye on me, I nod and he moves off to the side of the room. 

I try to disregard some of the looks and stares that come my way but the longer we stand there, the more obvious it becomes. 

Enzo starts to walk forward, tugging me along with him. "What are they all looking at?" I ask under my breath, while I smile at some of the people near us.

"They're looking at you, Stella mia," Enzo says. 

"Indeed, and I can tell you one person in particular, who's attention is captured most intensely," Tej says. "To your right, two o'clock."

Enzo chuckles, "Well, his vein is definitely out." 

I glance over and sure enough, JP's eyes are on us and he looks pissed. But I can't help notice how different he looks than when I saw him earlier. His beard is now much shorter, more like a short stubble, instead of the full beard he's been wearing. 

His eyes darken as our eyes lock, but then my eyes move to his scowling date, draped on his arm. 

Charlotte. 

She's dressed in a hot pink cocktail dress. Her short blond hair is slicked back. 

"Michelle, would you fancy a dance?" Tej asks and she accepts. We watch as he leads her out onto the dance floor and begins to do a waltz with Michelle around the floor. 

"So, he can dance, too, huh?" Enzo asks.

"Apparently," I say, not knowing Tej could dance like that. "Well, I could sure use a drink.

"First a dance; shall we?" Enzo walks ahead of me and bows slightly offering his hand to me. 

I smile as I take his hand and he leads me to the dance floor as the crowd parts for us.