This story is originally posted on Wattpad.

This story is already mostly written and so is its sequels. I may do some editing later, but it is what it is for now. With that said, please enjoy this work of fiction because I know I do.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Dante asked the chestnut-haired woman in front of him as the bustle of the airport terminal went on around them. He couldn't go any further than this point because frankly he wasn't going anywhere.

She looked like she was going on vacation, but really, she was just going study abroad. She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and had her hair up in a ponytail leaving the tail end to hang over her shoulder. Her grey V-neck t-shirt fit her form just enough to entice any male within a thirty-foot radius. Dante was slightly jealous.

"Yeah. I've been cooped up the last so many years and missing out on opportunities it just makes sense." She looked at him and sighed. "Do you have to go everywhere in that getup?"

"Yeah. I have to meet up with Lady later and I don't feel like going home to change." He shrugged and then got serious again. He was going to miss her sass.

"Anyway, I have to go." She said and he nodded. "I'll see you when I see you." She held out her hand for a shake and instead of grabbing it he just brought her into a hug.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Her grey eyes widened, and she felt tears coming to her eyes. She would miss him too. "You take care of yourself and make sure you don't get into trouble. I don't want to have to pay for a plane ticket just to go pull you out of trouble." He said and the sound of his voice made her tighten her grip on him.

"I promise." She said as Dante released her. She wiped her eyes free of tears and turned to grab her carryon bag. "I have to go." She took it and swung the backpack over her shoulder before giving him a smile.

"Be careful Roe." Was all he said before he watched her walk out of his life. Or so he thought.

He didn't think he would see her again seven years later at a casino ship playing blackjack next to an old man. This was certainly not how he pictured his night going. He stood on the balcony overlooking the casino floor as people were playing slot machines, poker, craps, and roulette, but the chestnut-haired beauty at the blackjack table caught his interest as she sipped on a fruity drink.

Dante being the man he was didn't show any surprise at the fact she was there. Afterall, he had a job to do and he was a little early. He had some time to kill. He decided he was going to have to join in on the fun, so he walked down the stairs to the blackjack table and sat to her left. She paid no attention to him as she sipped on what he saw was a fuzzy naval.

"Deal me in on the next hand." Dante put some chips down and sat there waiting to see if Roe would react.

"You sound very confident." She said as she threw a chip into the pot raising the bet. "Hit me." Three of hearts. He took this opportunity to check her out and she didn't disappoint. Her long hair was up in a bun, but the silver dress she wore was very form fitting.

"What is a babe like you doing in a place like this all by herself?" He asked her, hoping she would answer back with that sass she always brought to the table.

"Working." She didn't look at him. "I fold." She said before getting up and walking away. He was left a little bit disappointed and decided to follow her. She had left her chips on the table anyway and it would be the right thing to return them to her.

Dante followed her to the bar where she sat down and a man came up to sit next to her ordering a glass of whiskey. He was a gentleman dressed in a very nice suit, something you would see on a man getting ready to make a bid at an auction. She said a few words to him before handing him a small box and he looked at the object inside with a small lens.

"Are you sure this is it?" The man said. If it weren't for Dante's good hearing, he wouldn't have heard a thing.

"Absolutely. Tracked the demon down myself and gave him a good deal." Roe said as she took a sip of her drink and then set the glass down on the bar. "It's no longer potent, but you know how that goes." What had she been doing the last seven years?

"This will bring in a lot of money for the house. We already have two clients in a bidding war and a third who is really thinking about getting in on it." The man said putting the box in the inside of his blazer and standing up. "I guess you are here to track something else down then?"

"More or less. Ever heard of King?" She said and glanced in Dante's direction taking notice of his position leaning up against the wall.

"The gambler?" She nodded. "Yeah, what do you know?"

"Well, turns out there is a big Poker game going on later tonight on this ship." She said taking another sip of her drink and then downing the rest. "One of your clients, I believe the one that we talked about the other day with a gambling problem, is interested in King. I'm here to collect on that. Apparently when King sends out invitations, they come with some sort of enchanted object that endows luck to the player."

"Ah, that makes sense, but I take it there is a catch." The man said.

"Oh yes. The object is enchanted or cursed depending on how you look at it. It brings the person who has it luck at the cost of their life." Dante watched as Roe looked at the bottom of her glass and then set it down with a look of disappointment. "Either way, I can at least nullify one of these objects before it gets into your client's hands."

"Please do. We can't have one of our best patrons turn up dead because he lost a game of poker." He said before stepping away. "Always a pleasure Miss Roe. See you tomorrow afternoon."

"You too, Mr. James." She said watching the other man go before turning her attention to Dante. "Come buy me a drink if you are going to keep following me around like a stalker." Dante heard her say and pushed off from the wall to sit next to her at the bar where the bartender waited.

"Give her what she wants, and I'll have top shelf." The bartender nodded and Roe showed him her empty glass.

"Same as last time." She said as Dante leaned and arm on the bar facing her and taking in her appearance again. "What?"

"Nothing, you just seem different." He told her with a smirk. "It's not a bad thing."

"No, it's not."

"Where have you been?" He asked her, wanting to catch up and figure out how different she really was. "I got a few post cards from you before, but they stopped coming a couple years ago so I just assumed you forgot about us."

"Us? I hope you mean you and Lady." She said suggesting that what he thought of was a pipe dream as usual.

"There is Trish too, but you haven't met her yet." Dante said and then thought about it knowing this would cause a misunderstanding.

"Who is Trish?" She had thoughts that went dangerous places and hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. If he and Lady got together and had a kid, she was going to be happy for them.

"She's a friend." He said as the bartender placed a glass of top shelf whiskey in front of him. "She was my partner until that didn't work out anymore." He took a sip and then sighed.

"Well, you never did have luck with women." Her included. Of course, it was her decision to leave in the first place so she couldn't really place the blame on him.

"I had luck with you." He said looking at her as though she were the only one for him.

"I wouldn't call what we were a romantic relationship Dante. We cared about each other a great deal since we were kids, but we both know that you didn't love me like that." She said before standing up frustrated with how he just assumed she would go back to him. He really didn't have any skill with women even though she really loved him then and now she wasn't so sure. "Besides, you seem to have all the ladies you want now."

"Roe, stop." He said grabbing her wrist. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah well, I am too." She said and he let her go with a defeated look on his face. "Goodbye Dante. Good luck tonight." She walked off with her drink in her hand and sat at a poker table. He never did give her chips back to her like he intended.

The next morning after the poker game was over and four bodies were being loaded up by the coroner as the ship docked, he could see Roe walking away from the scene with a new piece of jewelry around her neck. It was the necklace that Lucky Amanda wore during the game, the very same one that had been enchanted by the demon witch. She had somehow lifted it off the body it belonged too and was bringing it to her boss.

When she got close enough Dante went up to her and grabbed her by the arm before bringing her to a secluded place out of everyone's earshot. She squeaked as he did this and started to protest but then calmed down once she realized what he wanted.

"Nice necklace." He said standing close to her and she blushed as she realized he was looking down at her chest. The dress she was wearing did show off a bit of cleavage.

"I won it in a poker game." Roe told him as he backed her up against the wall. "Do you like it?" She wasn't sure what was going on in his head, but she was sure it had nothing to do with the necklace.

"Maybe." He told her towering over her as he looked down at her. Inside he wasn't sure how much more he could take. He should've said something seven years ago before she left, but he couldn't bring himself to do it then. "You know that is enchanted right?" He pointed to the pendant.

"Oh yes, I know. I heard all about it from Lady when I ran into her a little while ago." She looked up at him daring him to do something. "By the way, Patty is really cute."

"Cut the crap Roe. What are you doing here?"

"I told you before that I was working." Roe told him and he let out a deep breath before locking eyes with her. His ice blue with her grey. "I'm sure you overheard my conversation with my boss."

"Yeah, so what?" He challenged her and then the fight commenced. "Please tell me you aren't doing anything dangerous or illegal."

"It's not illegal and its very legit. I've been doing it for a while now." Dante ran a hand through his hair and looked over to where Morrison and Patty stood with Lady. Roe took this moment to get free of him by reaching up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll tell you everything later." She said walking away quickly and leaving him there with wide eyes and motionless.

It took him a moment to regain his composure, but when he did, Dante had many thoughts running through his head. Shaking his head, he walked back over to the others and remained quiet. He could tell that Patty was beyond tired as he probably broke a lot of rules having Patty there in the casino and even out all night. The girl was only ten years old and honestly, she was his responsibility for the time being.

"Come on Patty, let's go." He said walking away from the group.

"Hey Dante, who was that lady?" The blond girl said as she caught up to him and grabbed on to his arm. "She's really pretty."

"An old friend." Dante said looking down at Patty who seemed to be in awe of the woman he just spoke with. "Come on, I'll drop you off at the orphanage."

"If it's okay with you, I'll just sleep on the couch at your shop." Patty told him as they made it to his car.

"I think it's better if you go to the orphanage for now. You can come by tomorrow and do whatever." Despite how he appeared to always be irritated around the girl, he really considered her to be family at this point. "I need some sleep too." He honestly needed the time alone to figure some things out.

"Hey Dante?"

"What?" He said as she got into the passenger seat of the car.

"You aren't such a bad guy after all." She said and he almost chuckled at that statement when he got into the driver's seat. "I mean you can be dense sometimes, but you have a good heart."

"Does that mean I'm off the hook for all those ice-cream cones?" Dante started the car.

"Oh no, I still want those ice-cream cones, but I guess I can cut you some slack on the timeframe." Patty said with her index finger up in the air making her point clear and Dante just ruffled her hair for it. "Hey!"

"Put your seatbelt on so we can go." Safety first for the miniature humans that seemed to hang around him.

The drive back to Capulet was at least a couple hours, but during that time Patty had fallen asleep while Dante's mind was on Roe. He wondered where she had been all this time and what she did. She was still the same woman he knew, but she was more independent than when she left. She had shown up in his life as a kid and then when his mother died, he left and disappeared on her only for her to show up a few years after Temen-Ni-Gru. She was just a normal college girl then with a talent for witchcraft and old objects. She hadn't changed and she had gotten under his skin more times than he got under hers.

Of course, she was always right. Always. Then when it came time for her to finish school, she decided it was best to go and study abroad. When she left, they were best friends that had slowly formed a deep attachment to each other. When she left it left an empty place in his heart. What happened between them had left a deep canyon between them and full of regret. He did something to make her go away and he knew it. Now that she was back maybe he could make amends with her and start over because in all honesty he still had feelings for her.

That and she had to pay for teasing him earlier.